Pixie Dust

Sparkley Christmas ATC Tutorial

2011-11-14T14:33:00.000-05:00

Today I am sharing the ATC cards I made for the November Swap at Your Paper Pantry, Enjoy!

Step 1) I cut my patterned paper down to size (3.5"x2.5") This is from a DCVW stack from 2 xmases ago.

Step 2) I inked over the whole paper piece with Festive Berries Distress Ink from the Winter 2011 Limited Release. The polka dots on this paper have a glitter coating that worked as a great resist.

Step 3) I misted the whole piece with Pearl Glimmer Mist.

Step 4) I inked some small pieces of white card stock with Forest Moss Distress Ink. I did this before cutting my shape b.c of how delicate the die cut is.

Step 5) Here you can see the die cut. I used Sizzix sizzlets Christmas Tree #5. After they were cut, I misted them with Evergreen Chalkboard Glimmer Mist.

Step 6) I covered the little star on top with Silver Stickles.

Step 7) I adhered my paper to light weight chipboard bases for stability. Then I used my 1/4" corner chomper on all four corners.

Step 8) Seems I missed taking a few photos, oops! I cut white card stock using Spellbinders Labels 18. Then I used a Silver Ranger Dabber to paint the whole shape with two coats.
Step 9) I used Staz-On in Jet Black to stamp a sentiment from Inkadinkado's Warm Holiday Wishes.

Step 10) Here are all the pieces so far adhered together.

Step 11) The corner needed a little something, so I stamped these holly leaves on white card stock in Memento Tuxedo Black. The stamp is from a $ bin set at Michaels. I colored the leaves with Copic BG78 and the berries with R27.

Step 12) I stamped Perfect Medium all over the entire piece of paper and dusted on Perfect Pearls in Pearl. Don't forget to set them with water like I almost did :)

Step 13) I cut out each little leaf set and adhered it with dimensional adhesives to the corner. Tip: I like to run the marker I used around the shape after cutting out to sharpen the edges.

Step 14) I still wanted some more glitter so I used white glue all around the edges and dipped them into some chunky silver glitter.

Step 15) I still needed a bit more sparkle so I randomly adhered some rhinestones to the trees.

Have a great day!!

Back with some Mini Cards

2011-11-10T15:41:00.000-05:00

Hi there! It's been a long time since I've posted anything. What can I say? I lost interest in posting and then I found it again. I've gotten really into paper crafting over the last 2 years and most recently Copic Markers. Here are two fun little cards I made recently.

Both cards have a 4x4 brown card stock base and a piece of 3.75x3.75 white card stock divided into 5 sections. I also trimmed all the edges with a Fiskars postage stamp decorative scissors.

The hearts, sweetie, lollipop and cupcakes are from a stamp set I found in the Target $ bin a few years ago. The fudgesicle is from Pink Paislee Hometown Summer stamp set and the dotted lines are from Lawn Fawn's Ornate Ornaments. For the coloring I used copics - R81, R83, R85, E15, E18, E31 and spica clear over all the hearts, letters and bow.

For this card I used all Lawn Fawn stamp sets - Ornate Ornaments, Making Frosty Friends and Winter Fox. I used B000, B02, B05, YR68, and W1 on the snowman; G82, G85, R46 on the ornament; G85 on the branches; B000 on the snowflakes; E13, E15, E00, B000, B05 and W1 on the fox.
I then inked the background using Iced Spruce from the new Tim Holtz Winter 2011 distress set and sprayed the whole thing with Pearl Glimmer Mist.

I hope you liked my cards! I'm a little rusty, but I'm looking forward to getting back into blogging:)

eBay Listings

2011-11-08T16:36:00.000-05:00

I have two chipboard mini albums listed on eBay - click on the picture to check them out!!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T14:21:00.000-04:00

I wanted to share the mini album I made this week for my sister.

Monday night I scored 7 Martha Stewart Crafts Halloween punches on clearance at Michael's and they were my inspiration for the mini.

The screaming ghosts are my favorite punch:

Here is the front cover:

First inside page. I used paper bags and a binding technique I saw at Following the Paper Trail. I used the bat punch on this page.

Cracks punch on the second page:

Third page:

Fourth page:

I also made a tag for each pocket, they generally all look like this:

And open up with two spots for photos or journaling with the double edge spiderweb punch.

The back of each has some clip art that I enhanced - witch's cauldron with paint bubbles:

Prima downloadable with bling:

Ghost with distress ink:

And candy corn with glossy accents:

My favorite part of the whole album are ghost tags I made using my cricut with the googly eyes.

For the embellishments I used recollections bling and brads, celebrate it! ribbon, and making memories spook alley brads and rub-ons.

October Swaps

2010-10-27T17:09:00.000-04:00

All of my creative energy lately has been going into scrapping and swapping - I hope you aren't getting sick of me, but I wanted to share my ATC cards and Flowers.

I took a collage approach to building the base of this card. I used three different papers, glimmer mist and stamps.
I then glimmer misted a prima flower, added some black lace behind it, and a making memories brad in the center.
Each card got a rub-on and stickers that I enhanced with glossy accents.
After all this, I felt the card was really busy and it needed a focal point - so I cut a bat from my cricut and added googly eyes to it. I also cut some witches and heat embossed the broom copper.

Here are my flowers, I did the grunge type roses and dressed them up with glimmer mist, rhinestones, and little chalk bead center things.

And can anyone tell me why the borders I add to my pics only work half the time? I just don't get it.

Dream Vacation ATC Swaps

2010-10-25T14:51:00.000-04:00

First off, I have to mention that Today is my One Year Blog Anniversary. Woo-hoo. {and tomorrow is my 7 year anniversary}

I got my ATC cards back a few days ago and would you believe that of the 7 girls in my group, 5 of us chose Paris?!?

I decided to make a mini album to keep them in after seeing this YouTube video.

The paper I used has postage stamps all over it - very fitting for a travel theme. The large white flower came from my goody swap and the center flower and lace is from Prima. I also used a Tim Holtz hitch post to loop the lace onto as a closure.

These two cards have a Moulin Rouge feel. The one on the left is from Deb and the one on the right is from Marelys.

These two cards have a more vintage feel - and how cute that they both had the same charm? The one on the left is from Kim and the one on the right is from Eileen.

These last two cards round out the group. On the left, FayeCat wants to be On The Road and Dawn wants to travel to Australia.

I really enjoyed this swap. I've already sent in my October cards and I've been working on November.

Baking Challenge - October '10

2010-10-19T18:03:00.000-04:00

Last month I talked about how I was going to change up the "rules" on my baking challenge.

I decided that instead of making the last page article recipe of MSL every month, I was going to start making all the recipes I have been saving over the years.

The first recipe I chose was Tiramisu Cookies. Tiramisu is one of my all-time favorite desserts and I've been hanging onto this recipe for over two years.

Start by beating 5 yolks with 1/2 cup sugar.

Then add 3 tbsp. instant espresso powder (i had to use instant coffee).

Then add 1/2 cup cake flour.

This batter is thick!!!

In another bowl, beat 5 egg whites with 1/4 tsp. salt. I took a tip from Beth at Stories of A to Z and cleaned my bowl right before using it - I really think this helped!

Once it got foamy, I added 1/2 cup sugar.

Check out those peaks!!

Finish up the batter by folding the white mixture into the yolk mixture.

You are supposed to pipe the batter into 2x1 rectangles - I obviously need to work on my piping skills.

The cream was very simple - mascarpone, confectioner's sugar, amaretto and vanilla extract.

Spread the flat side of the cookies with melted chocolate and allow to harden.

Make a sandwich with two cookies and a dollop of cream.

The cookies definitely have the elements of tiramisu but they don't hold a candle to the real thing.

I really like simple cookie recipes - if a recipe is more involved it has to be worth it and these weren't. I'd rather spend the time making a real Tiramisu.

Shabby Chic Flowers

2010-10-18T12:21:00.000-04:00

I received my first round of swap flowers this weekend and I was so excited to see them all.

These flowers are from Roxy. I was so excited to get flowers from her because I watch her youtube videos (roxyfur) and she created the Your Paper Pantry site that these swaps are hosted on.

These are from Dawn, they have such awesome texture and pretty little centers.

These are from Barbara, she made such awesome shapes and they are all glimmered up!

And these are from Tami, she got such great height on her flowers - and then there are the stick pins. I have seen them in videos, but in person they are amazing! I'm starting to gather supplies so I can make them, too!

CSN Giveaway Winner

2010-10-04T09:59:00.000-04:00

Oops! I'm a little late getting the winner posted, but here is is:

moreofhim said...

How exciting!! Please enter me in your giveaway.

I really like your blog and have bookmarked it. I, too, cross stich and am really enjoying seeing all your beautiful projects.

Julie

Congrats, Julie!! Check your email :)

Let's Do a Giveaway!!

2010-09-30T11:55:00.000-04:00

The wonderful folks over at CSN stores have offered a $35 gift certificate to one of my readers!! You can use it towards anything you'd like from their 200+ stores where you can find everything from stylish handbags, to modern bar stools, or great dinnerware!

I love this fall dinnerware set - Pfaltzgraff Plymouth Dinnerware Collection - 426 Series

I am obsessed with with fire pits - Bond Canyon Ridge Fire Table - 65224

But the best part is, you get to choose whatever you like!! To enter to win the $35 gift certificate, just leave a comment. That's it! I'll choose a winner Sunday night.

Baking Challenge - September '10

2010-09-26T17:24:00.000-04:00

Oh boy, this one was a disaster!

Blackberry Cloud-Cake with Pistachios - another overly ambitious, silly dessert from the Martha Stewart Kitchens.

Let me first point out two things:
1. I always struggle with whipping egg whites into stiff peaks.
2. I have yet to make a successful jelly roll.

I went all Pioneer Woman here and did a "Cast of Characters" shot. I bought frozen berries because the fresh ones were very expensive. I also skipped the pistachios for the same reason. That container of egg whites equals 8 eggs, so that was a shell and yolk saver :) And I used white wine instead of white wine vinegar.

I decided to skip preparing the berries for the garnish.

I whisked and whisked those eggs and could not get those stiff peaks, so I gave up and finished my batter anyway. And poured it into the pan:

Wow, that filled up the pan completely!!

With six minutes left to bake, the cake looked like it was about to explode in my oven.

Exhibit A - you can see the cracks

Exhibit B - you can see the cake going over the edge.

After all this drama, I kept on going and made the mousse - uneventful.

Then I flipped out the cake.

a bit weird looking; sticky, too

I spooned on the mousse and rolled it up:

What a work of art!

And then had a slice

what is that strange gelatinous looking layer?

It didn't taste too great and it was so ugly - I just dumped it. Disaster averted.

I started this challenge almost two years ago in order to try out new recipes, techniques and tools; and I've learned some things along the way.

I really like making cookies, brownies and cupcakes.
I don't like working with fruit.
I don't like whipping egg whites.
I don't like making "fancy" desserts.
I made up this whole challenge and I can change the rules whenever I want!

So starting next month, I am going to do things a little different :)

I can't think up a good title for this one...

2010-09-23T12:41:00.000-04:00

I stumbled upon this cool site called Your Paper Pantry this summer. It is an online community for crafters/scrappers but what really drew me in was all the monthly swaps you can join. The two that most appealed to me were the ATC and Flower swaps so I signed up for September.

The theme for the ATC group for September was your dream vacation destination. Of course, I chose Paris, being such a francophile and all.

I used a box of cereal to cut out the 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch cards. I started by painting the cards with gesso, then added a layer of white acrylic paint. I then did a layer of crackle medium and finished with a pale pink acrylic paint.
Then I used SCAL to cutout the eiffel tower in gray cardstock and added black embossing powder to give it a metal-ish feel. I tied a pale peach ribbon around each card and tucked three flowers into each bow. All the flowers came from one bunch that cost about $1 in the wedding aisle at Michaels.
I also stamped Paris and a fluer-de-lis in black ink and added two black rhinestones to the corner.

The theme for the flower swap was Shabby Chic.

One of the requirements for this swap is that you must package them as if they were being sold.
I cut a super large tag on my cricut out of a manila folder and glued ledger style paper on top.

I then used this awesome french script stamp with vintage photo distress ink to cover the whole tag and inked the edges with vintage photo as well.

For the flowers, I used four different colors of pink seed beads to make five petal flowers with white centers and two green leaves. I then backed them all with white crepe paper circles.

In a week or two I'll be receiving my packages from all the other girls with their swap cards and flowers - I can't wait!!

My Goody Swap

2010-09-17T11:30:00.003-04:00

I participated in a Goody Swap hosted by Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions. My partner was Kristina @ A Cozy Cup of Tea and she sent me the coolest stuff!!

She made this cute little fall banner. I'm not sure where I want to put it, but I love it!

She also made this pretty paper rose corsage and scrabble tile sign - so cute!!

Some very nice stickers.

A mini frame stamp, the prettiest pink glitter I have ever seen, a pretty paper flower and luxe velvet flowers.

Lots of handmade tags.

Some paper glitter crowns and a rhinestone crown - and the loveliest little paper ornament that will go on my Christmas tree.

Kristina lives near Disney, so she sent me a little Mini Mouse head. And that little pumpkin bag was filled with candy corn that I ate immediately :)

Kristina, thank you so much. Everything you sent was totally me and I want to be you when I'm crafting :)

Hooray for Fall!

2010-09-12T11:50:00.002-04:00

Fall is by far my favorite season. Every year I come to hate summer more and more. I am just not cut out for heat. And so, by the day after memorial day I am desperate for fall and I could cry tears of joy when September comes along.

I need to move North, like Alaska north. Well really, upstate NY north, but whatever....

My trip to HomeGoods was so-so. There was a lot of Halloween stuff left, but the really cute items were gone and a lot of the merchandise was damaged.

The second I walked in the door, this pumpkin plate caught my eye and I snatched it right up.

I love the pretty taupe color and the 3D metallic stem

I found a yummy smelling candle and it is currently burning on my coffee table.

The main reason for my trip was to finish up my mantle - I don't have much Halloween decor. Here is a reminder of the before:

And here is my after:

Moving from left to right:

The Beware sign is a new HG purchase - they have a bunch of words there but the little ghost and swirls won me over.

The plate was already there, the ceramic pumpkin came from Target last year and the wire pumpkin from Michael's last week.

The mirror was an awesome find from HG last January (can you tell I love HG??).

My husband picked out the No Evil gargoyle trio at Michael's last year. The barn star was also found at Michael's last year.

The witch is my other HG purchase. Her skirt says "are you a good witch or a bad witch?" - Love It!!

Her packaging came with some black marabou, so I took it off to wrap around my candle holder.

Then we have the other two halves of my pumpkin sets and finally the hurricane filled with silk leaves.

I'd still like to find some more goodies. I need a taper for the candle holder and I really want to get some purple up there. I'd also like something sparkly or twinkly to add some light - it is feeling a bit drab.

Happy Fall Y'All!!

Let's Get Ready for Fall!!

2010-09-08T11:44:00.000-04:00

Now that I am back from my Labor Day vacation, it is time to get ready for my favorite season - Fall!!

My mission today is to get my mantle cleared and ready for my shopping trip tomorrow.

Here is the photo of my mantle this morning - it has been this way since before Memorial Day:

With all the summery things cleared, only the mirror, candle stick holder, plate and hurricane remain. What a nice, neutral palate to start building on for Halloween/Fall.

And finally, a few things to start it up. The barn star on the mirror is the same as the turquoise one - I bought three and have two that are still unpainted. I filled the hurricane with silk leaves from last year and replaced the blue ribbon with a purple one. I got the pumpkin salt and pepper shakers last year and the wire pumpkins Monday at Michaels (they are placecard holders from the Celebrate It line)

I'll be going to HomeGoods tomorrow to raid their Halloween section and then I'll share what I got.

Baking Challenge - August '10

2010-08-27T09:57:00.001-04:00

Do you ever feel like making brownies just so you can eat the batter? Then make these!!

The recipe that should have been my August challenge involved nectarines - get it here - but since I have not enjoyed my last few baking attempts with peaches I decided to choose another recipe from the issue. No-Bake Fudge Brownies - here we go.

Always have to start by prepping your pan - this time line a square baking dish with plastic wrap.

Then start to melt your chocolate and evaporated milk together.

Once that is all melted and incorporated, add your vanilla and reserve 1/3 cup of the chocolate sauce.

Grind your cookies (the recipe calls for chocolate wafers, but it is much cheaper to use oreos) then add sugar and salt. I omitted the coconut and peanuts, but this is when you would add them.

Then add your chocolate sauce and stir to combine.

Pour your batter into the baking dish and then spread the reserved chocolate sauce on top. I thought it was just going to blend all together but the sauce actually stayed on top as I spread it around. Again, if you are using coconut and peanuts, you would sprinkle the rest on top now.

Pop it in the fridge for 2 hours and then slice. Martha says to cut 24 brownies but I don't know how to get more than 16 out of a square pan.

These were really good. Eat them cold from the fridge and it is much more like fudge. Let them come to room temperature or microwave them and it is ooey, gooey goodness. If only I had had vanilla ice cream, I think that would have been the perfect combo.

Leather Flowers

2010-08-16T10:45:00.000-04:00

I've always enjoyed ripping apart my clothing and turning it into something new. Usually I do this to t-shirts, but this time it was a pair of shoes that starting calling my name.

I bought a pair of baby phat shoes last fall that looked really cute in the ads. They were OK in person, but they seriously hurt my feet - I think I wore them a total of three times. They are covered in leather fringe petals, hmm petals , so.... I cut them all off.

Here is the before and after:

aren't the petals fab?

Ok, so petals.. you must know that I am going to make flowers!!!

I started by roughly cutting a circle from an old t-shirt and gathered up all my petals:

Then I starting hot gluing them in a circle. The pattern on the shoes was silver, copper, silver, platinum; so I followed the same.

Once I got to the third layer, I began overlapping the petals.

Then I finished it off with some prima heart bling for the center.

I had a ton of petals left, so I made three more flowers using each color on it's own:

The platinum flower got a light pink bling center that I adhered with both hot glue and stickles.

The copper flower got a pearl center - the bead came from an old necklace.

The silver flower also got a pearl center from the same necklace.

I glued a brooch pin onto the back of each flower - I think they will look awesome on a fall coat.

Teen Mini Albums

2010-08-15T13:44:00.000-04:00

Since I discovered mini-albums a few months ago I have totally fallen in love. I'm sure a lot of scrappers have events that they make minis for, but I have the desire to make a mini and then I have to find a reason to make it.

Here are three that I made recently and how I came about them. Each one is going to my teenage sister and cousins.

Back in December I bought some paper grab bags at Big Lots. I fell in love with one sheet of paper, DCWV's Sweet Fruity Glitter, but I didn't know how to use it then. I wanted to make a paper bag mini and I had some pink, green and blue bags I bought years ago. Ta-Da. The paper is pink and green, I have pink and green bags, I LOVE pink and green - a theme is born!!

So here is the cover. The little tropical pineapple is from the Sweet Fruity Glitter. I cut up all the little images to use as embellishments throughout the album. The background paper is DCWV Lady Bug Stripe. I got the chip alphas in the Target $pot. These are my first attempt at embossing, using glitter and UTEE together.

On the left, I took a cute card I received, rounded the corners and covered the note inside with paper. Now there is a fun photo mat. The right side is Lilly wrapping paper scraps with a prima flower and bling center.

I made a bunch of tags and photo mats to fill all the pockets, using a various DCWV papers I had. They got embellished with the cutouts, some rub ons, bling and prima flowers.

Then came another paper bag mini, this time using pink and blue bags. I received some papers from Prima's Signs of Spring collection, and I used those exclusively for the pages and tags.

How cute are those little birdies? I glitter embossed the letters again and used prima flowers and bling in the corner.

I made a bunch of tags and photo mats again using the remnants of paper (and I still have 9x8 remnants of each sheet!) These have prima moonbeam flowers and bling on them.

This last one is straight out of the Live with Prima crate kit that Marion Smith did. I used the Peaches paper pad that came in the kit and followed the folding technique that Marion showed in her video.

Glitter embossed letters again with prima e-line flowers and bling. I fell in love with those pandas - they just had to get top billing on the cover.

The pages are folded so that a photo can be tucked inside. I used the prima moonbeams and kisses to embellish.

Here is what the other pages look like with more moonbeams.

I made all these earlier in the summer and fell into my lull before they were complete. I finally finished these while I was working on my decoupage box.

Now I have one mini in progress and another that started and finished last night.

Decoupage Box

2010-08-09T21:16:00.000-04:00

Hi, I'm Back! I finally have my appetite for crafting back and I've been on a roll.

OK. So ever since we got back from Vegas, I have been wanting to head back. AND we keep getting offers from all the MGM|Mirage Hotels (this includes Aria and Bellagio) for free nights. I am just dying to get a trip out there planned, so I decided to start a Vegas fund to get the ball rolling.

If I'm going to be squirreling away spare change, I need a cute place to put it. I used a box and letter H I received in a swap a few months ago, the Vanilla Cream paper form the Basic Grey Bittersweet collection, and a Prima trellis rose to make this:

I started out by painting all the edges of the box with metallic taupe paint:

The H was a silvery industrial color so I painted that metallic taupe, too. (this is the before)

I used one 12x12 piece (and I still have a big square leftover) to cut the 5 faces (bottom is bare). I used Mod Podge to glue them all down.

After the first layer of mod podge dried, I used a nail file to sand all of the edges to be flush with the box and to distress it a bit. I also touched up the paint in the areas where I sanded it off. I added another layer to the whole box and when that was dry, I sanded over the whole box. Then came my final third layer, with another sanding after it was dry.

To embellish the box I hot glued the H and flower on top. The flower was white and I brushed glimmer mist and liquid pearls on the petals to make them pink and shimmery.

It is so pretty, I just love it!!

A tip for Vegas/AC/Indian Casinos: sign up for the player cards!! You earn points on these when you gamble, and depending on the place, you can redeem them for things like food and free play. This is also how you receive offers for free rooms, show tickets, free plays, etc. Also, when we checked out of the MGM, almost all of our room charges were comped - and I charged every food, gift shop and entertainment item.

And now I need a tip from you!! Mac users, what do you use to write and publish your posts? Blogger is driving me nuts!!

Baking Challenge - July '10

2010-07-28T12:56:00.000-04:00

This month we have Marshmallow Cookie Sandwiches. Don't click on the link. Seriously, don't bother.

This was the most aggravating, disappointing kitchen experience I have ever had. Let's get started, shall we?

1. Coat a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray; line with parchment. Sprinkle gelatin over 1/3 cup water in the bowl of a mixer; let stand for 5 minutes.

Martha's recipes are known for their specificness. She did not say to spray the parchment, so I did not - remember this. We then sprinkle on the gelatin.

2. Heat granulated sugar, corn syrup, remaining 1/3 cup water, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until syrup reaches 238 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 5 minutes.

This step was simple and straight forward, except it took 15 minutes, not 5. Therefore, my gelatin sat on the water for 15 minutes, not 5 - remember this.

3. Whisk gelatin in mixer on low speed, adding syrup in a slow, steady stream down side of bowl. Whisk, gradually increasing speed to high, until almost tripled in volume, about 8 minutes. Whisk in vanilla. Transfer to baking pan. Smooth top. Let stand until set, at least 3 hours.

Whee! Fun, it was like making Fluff. I forgot to add the vanilla, oops. But once the marshmallow was in the pan, it was break time. Clean up was also very easy because the mixture dissolved in hot water.

4. Cut out nine 2 1/2-inch square marshmallows using a cookie cutter or a knife dipped in confectioners' sugar. Dip surface of crackers into chocolate to coat, and transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until set, about 10 minutes. Sandwich marshmallows between crackers, chocolate sides in.

Here we have my marshmallows:

The sugar would not stick to my knife, so I sprinkled it on the top. I still had a hard time cutting, so I slid the whole block onto a plate and used kitchen shears - so much easier! Coating the graham crackers in chocolate was easy peasy.

Then it was time for assembly. Remember how I didn't spray the parchment? The recipe didn't say to do this, so I assumed that meant I shouldn't. When you assume, you make an ass out of you and me. The parchment paper would NOT COME OFF. I wound up using my kitchen shears to cut away the bottom layer.

And remember how the gelatin and water sat for 15 minutes? I did not wind up with marshmallows, I wound up with taffy. See Exhibit B:

I spent so much time fighting with this darn goo, it just kept stretching instead of cutting. And I certainly did not end up with pretty squares; just blobs.

But I finished and managed to make 9 sandwiches. However, because I was so mad, there was no plating to be had. Those suckers could stay on the baking sheet.

They were also a mess to eat and weren't that tasty either. Too much marshmallow goo, not enough chocolate.

I've decided that no kind of homemade, gussied up little "marshmallow cookie sandwich" will ever complete with a regular s'more. So I will continue to buy Jet-Puffed, chocolate bars, and graham crackers, and burn my marshmallows, and I will love them so much more than this horrible misguided creation from Martha.

CSN Review

2010-07-22T08:42:00.001-04:00

When CSN stores offered me the opportunity to do a product review, I was really excited to see that I could choose the Rabbit Aerator - a product I have been wanting to try for a while.

Just after I opened the bottle of wine, I realized my camera battery was dead - so sorry, no pics!
This is the product pic from CSN's store - WineRefrigerator.com

Ok, so I opened a bottle of red and poured a glass. Then I put the aerator into the bottle. It popped right in without any struggling to make a seal. Then I poured a second glass.

{pretend there is a picture here of two glasses, labeled A and B}

So I took my sip from glass A and it tasted just like a freshly opened bottle of red - not ready just yet. I normally let a bottle breathe for at least 15 minutes, longer if I can stand to wait.

Then I took my sip from glass B. WOW - this aerator works! The wine was great, it tasted like it had been breathing for an hour.

I am totally loving this product - no more waiting on a bottle of red, I can get my drink on as soon as I want.

The checkout process with CSN was great, too. I didn't have to click through a million pages to place my order, all the fields were laid out clearly and I was able to place my order quickly. My order shipped out the day after I placed my order with UPS.

I am so happy with both my rabbit aerator and CSN's service - you will be, too!

I'm in a Rut :(

2010-07-07T09:24:00.002-04:00

I've been in a rut lately and that means no projects to share. Mostly because it is summer, and if I'm not on a beach (and I'm not) I do not like the temperature to go past 84 degrees. Side note: at 9am it is 90 degrees and it is going to reach 101 today :/

I did get some new toys this weekend - a heat gun, embossing glue, and UTEE. My first project is to cover some chip letters with UTEE and glitter.

I've only made 5 of the 14 letters I want to do. This new technique is very different from anything I have tried before. It's taking me some trial and error and I think I need to re-watch some youtube videos.

But I think the main reason this rut came on was that my brain has shifted from "fun and crafty" to "glam and girly". I've been a wee bit obsessed with....

Luxurious skin care:

Pretty dresses, like these two from Halston Heritage:

And shoes, I think these would be great for my cousin's wedding Labor Day weekend:

Then there is this Dooney & Bourke iPad Case, I ordered an iPad and it will ship July 20th, I can't wait!

I think I might stay in La La Land a bit longer.

I haven't gotten a big response for my swap idea, so here is a bit more info: I would place participants in groups of four. You would send your 3 group mates the same recipe along with some goodies to help them make it. So if you are interested please let me know!!

CSN Review Coming Soon!

2010-07-06T08:29:00.001-04:00

I'm so excited - I am going to have my first product review coming up shortly with CSN Stores!

They are a great company and I enjoyed working with them last month on my 100th post giveaway. Rebecca got her apron and loves it! I love how large their inventory is, you can decorate a whole room with CSN. Just pick from their selection of dining room tables, china, and chandeliers. I love one stop shopping and unlike Pottery Barn or Ballards, you can do all your shopping and your house won't look like the Summer 2010 catalog since CSN carries many different brands.

Many products ship for free and all orders over $69 ship for free, too!

If you haven't browsed their site yet, go check it out now - and then keep your eye out for my review coming soon!

You Win Some, You Lose Some - HAPPY UPDATE!!

2010-06-30T16:57:00.000-04:00

After I posted the story of my giveaway prize gone wrong - full story here -I got a bunch of responses sharing in the outrage and also a few letting me know about their own giveaway dissapointments.

But now I can share my happy ending!! It turns out the Post Office did in fact deliver the package to the wrong address, and the recipient wrote "wrong address" on it and sent it back to the PO.

A few weeks later, the lovely Christine received it back!! She brought it back to the Post Office and they agreed to re-ship it for free - yeay!!

So I now have my super cute tote bag and all is right in the world :)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I also have an idea for a Swap. It would be a recipe swap with a fun twist. And this twist is oh so fun, and I think, super creative :) I don't want to share my idea yet, but please let me know if you are interested. If enough people say they would want in, I will post the idea and get the swap started!!

Also, please let me know if you would prefer a $10 or $20 swap and if you would want one swap partner or if you would be more interested in doing this in groups - thanks!!

Baking Challenge - June '10

2010-06-24T17:19:00.000-04:00

It's time again for another Martha Stewart baking challenge. This month we have the Stone-Fruit Trifle with Lemon Mousse.

According to Wikipedia:

A trifle is a dessert dish made from thick (or often solidified) custard, fruit, sponge cake, fruit juice or, more recently, gelatin, and whipped cream. These ingredients are usually arranged in layers with fruit and sponge on the bottom, and custard and cream on top.

So we have three components to make for this dessert - the lemon mousse, the cooked peaches and the cake.

The lemon mousse was simple to whip up and definitely the most delicious part of the whole dessert.

Then the peaches - AAH! Those suckers are so annoying the pit and slice. After getting annoyed with them for this dessert and struggling with a peach dessert last summer, I am vowing to only use canned or frozen peaches from now on. I know, I know, it's terrible - but so are those peaches!!! Anyway, toss your peaches with a bit of sugar and roast them:

If you have leftover cake or scraps, those would be great. You can also be really ambitious and bake a cake. Or you can be like me and pick one up from the grocery store :)

Once you have all three elements, you just start layering! I don't have a pretty footed trifle dish, so I just used a glass bowl.

Mmm, mmm. The lemon mousse was definitely the star. This is such an amazing summer dessert - on it's own, with any kind of cake, with any fruit (i bet blueberries would be so good!). If you don't want to make this exact dessert, make the mousse and serve/eat it however you desire.

Joyful Heart Muffins

2010-06-21T09:29:00.000-04:00

Some nights I get quite a hankering for sweets. OK, who am I kidding? I have an over-active sweet tooth every night, it's only some nights that I get off the couch and bake something :)

One recent night I decided to try out a healthy recipe to ease some of the damage. I chose the Joyful Heart Muffins from Naturally Thin by Bethenny Frankel {Full Disclosure: I am a total freak over the entire Real Housewives franchise, I even blogged about my encounter with NeNe back in November. And my copy of Naturally Thin is signed :)}

Ingredients:
nonstick cooking spray - I used Pam for Baking
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract - I didn't have any, but I did have Disaronno
1 teaspoon canola oil - I only had olive oil
3/4 cup oat flour - I was in too much of a rush to grind oats so I just used bread flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash of cinnamon
1/2 cup semisweet vegan chocolate chips - vegan? uh, I just used nestle

In one bowl combine the wet ingredients plus the sugar and allow the sugar crystals to dissolve:

My version of almond extract:

In another bowl, sift together the rest of the ingredients {except the chips}:

Ok, so I whisked instead of sifting - I was in a rush to eat these suckers!!

Now combine the two bowls and the chips, too!

Get your oven to 375 degrees and grease your muffin tin. The recipe is designed to make 8 normal size muffins, but I wanted minis. I was given a tip years ago, that if you don't fill all the wells with batter you should fill the emptys with water to ensure even baking.

And here they are baked. I couldn't take this picture fast enough so I could get those suckers in my mouth.

They do have a different taste since there is no white sugar, butter or eggs, but they are still great! They are very dense and I thought they were more like a brownie than a muffin. And my hubby - who is ridiculously picky - ate and liked them.

Cocktail Napkin Swap

2010-06-16T14:22:00.000-04:00

Pink Martinis and Pearls hosted a swap recently with the cutest theme - cocktail napkins!

I went over to Homegoods to pick up the goodies for my recipient, Stuttering Shell, since they always have great stuff. I ended up finding a gift set that included napkins and wine charms in a cute summer fruit theme:

And my sender, Sweet Southern Prep, sent me these:

"Cocktails and Shopping could be Dangerous" - too cute!

Here's to a great Summer!

Well Hello Again!!

2010-06-13T22:19:00.000-04:00

Wondering where I have been and what I've been up to?

I've been here, reading:

The Pioneer Woman

I started to hear all about Ree back in the fall when her cookbook came out. I was interested in checking out her blog and did so, but I was totally overwhelmed by the vast content and I left pretty quickly.

Then, almost two weeks ago, the TV was on but I wasn't really watching - I was playing on my computer. Any way, a rerun of Bonnie Hunt was on and Ree had a segment talking about Thanksgiving food and I decided to check out her blog once again.

This time I took a lay of the land, figured out how to tackle it all and chose a starting point. And let me say I very quickly got sucked in and there was no leaving until I read It ALL. That was 11 days ago and yes that is how huge her blog is - 11 days worth of reading. Way more than most books. And I didn't do much else besides eat and sleep - I found her blog to be all consuming. (I do admit - I did not read every photography or homeschooling post. I don't have the fancy camera equipment so lots of the info went over my head and I don't have any punks *hehe* so much of a the homeschooling posts were lost on me, too)

Now that I have gotten it out of my system, I can return to life as normal. But first I have 311 items in my reader :)

CSN Apron Giveaway Winner

2010-06-05T10:04:00.000-04:00

We have a Winner!!

Thanks to Random.org...

The winner is Rebecca Anne

"Oh my goodness that pink and black apron is so cute! I've been following you for a while through my google reader, but I only just literally hit the "follow" button. :-)"

Congrats Rebecca - please email me at henderson1026@gmail.com to claim your prize.

100th Post and a Giveaway!!

2010-05-30T19:46:00.001-04:00

Wow, I can't believe this is my 100th Post - Let's Celebrate!!

Have you heard of CSN stores? They have everything, from sofas to cookware to shoes. There are over 200 CSN stores and they are so easy to navigate to find the products you are looking for. And guess what - Ashley from their promotions team would like to send one of you a super cute apron!!

This cupcake apron is my fav!!

But these are super cute, too...

To enter to win just leave a comment on this post. For additional entries become a follower and leave a second comment (existing followers can leave a second comment too) and/or blog about this giveaway and leave a comment letting me know you did so.

The winner will get their choice of apron from this link.

Giveaway closes Friday Night!!

You Win Some, You Lose Some

2010-05-29T19:46:00.000-04:00

Did you all enjoy the 2000 celebration at Funky Junk Interiors? And did you see that I was lucky winner of giveaway #1 - an adorable tote bag from Tangerine Totes!!

This is the bag I won, how cute?!?

Unfortunately, I never received it :( Christine from Tangerine Totes sent it out super fast - it was scheduled to be delivered 2 days later. But my local post office screwed up. They marked it as delivered, but the package never made it to me. They are trying to tell me that it must have been taken from my door step, but I'm not buying it. I think it never made it or they brought it to the wrong apt. And if it is the latter, that "neighbor" has failed to return it to me.

I'm pretty bummed that I won't get to use that awesome bag, but I am even more disappointed in whoever it was that blocked me from receiving this package. The universe does have a funny way of working and I am sure it will all be worked out in the end.

Still, I'm sending out a huge THANK YOU to Donna for hosting such a fun party extravaganza and to Christine for offering and sending such a great prize.

Vegas Mini Albums

2010-05-23T08:00:00.001-04:00

I'm headed out to Vegas this morning with my hubby. We are meeting my parents, brother and sister there to celebrate her 21st birthday. Sis and I have been there once before, but we were 18 and 13. She vowed on that trip that she would be there on her 21st birthday. Her birthday was 2 weeks ago, but I'd still say she got her wish.

Since I needed a) a birthday present for her b) a mother's day gift for my step-mom and c) an excuse to get scrappin', I made us each a mini album for the trip.

Since I watched the Live with Prima videos marathon style, this album is a combination of techniques from many videos.

The Cover fits us Kaplan girls very well - zebra, pink and bling :)

Can I tell you again how much I love Sure Cuts A Lot? I was able to cut the actual Vegas logo with it!!
I also made some beaded flowers for the spine.

Here are a few of the inside pages:

I'll be back late Wednesday night!!

Happy 101 Award

2010-05-19T14:49:00.000-04:00

I've received another blog award - YEAY!!

Alicia from Thrifty and Chic has bestowed the Happy 101 award upon me.

So here are 10 things that make me happy:

#1 - my hubby :) he is simply the best

#2 - phones call with my sister

#3 - reading books and magazines

#4 - crafting

#5 - anything vintage french/parisian inspired, especially in shades of pale pin and cream

#6 - a good glass of french red wine especially bordeaux and burgundy

#7 - the ellen degeneres show - she is so funny and generous

#8 - glee - I look forward to 9pm on tuesday every week :)

#9 - donuts - so simple, so delicious

#10 - daydreaming - I love getting lost in my thoughts, it's just fun.

Now, I must pass this along to 5 other bloggers, but how do I choose? Many of the blogs I read are "big" bloggers and I feel funny sending to them. There are also a lot of girls who just don't do awards and I don't want to end up giving awards to the same people over and over. So I've decided to let you choose for me!! The first five bloggers who leave a comment sharing something that makes them happy will be the recipients and I'll post a link to your blog below, too.

So, what makes you happy?

I'm a Winner!

2010-05-17T10:00:00.000-04:00

Do you read Blue Cricket Design? Becca's blog is full of great tutorials, a weekly blog party and great giveaways. I was the very lucky winner of her recent giveaway with Charleston Scrapbook Company - a $30 gift certificate to spend however I want!!

In my comment, I said that I loved the Oceanside stickers because that is my hometown. Of course, the first things I put into my cart where both sets of stickers and the matching papers.

Maybe I should fine my old cheerleading pics and do a layout.

I got three rolls of scor-tape...

And some fun rub-ons.

Two packs of prismatic cardstock,

Some fun papers, the top two are Paris themed and the bottom two are flocked.

Three sheets of paper and the coordinating ribbon from the Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie Collection.

And six sheets from the Basic Grey Bittersweet Collection.

Laurie, the owner of Charleston Scrapbook Company is so sweet!! She surprised me by sending the Bittersweet coordinating stickers...

And this cool Fiskars 6-in-1 tool!

Laurie has a great shop and amazing customer service - please check her store out.

Thank you Becca and Laurie for hosting this fab giveaway :)

SCC Supply Box Swap

2010-05-15T17:30:00.000-04:00

Gina @ The Shabby Chic Cottage hosted a supply swap for all of her readers and it was so much fun!! She paired me up with a wonderful girl named Andrea. I got my box today and it was filled to the brim with the most amazing stuff!!

Everything came in a cute fabric box. Inside was this wooden birdhouse. Too cute! Can't wait to decorate it. There was a also a huge spray of little pink flowers.

When I finally get a sewing machine, my first project will be turning this gorgeous piece of fabric into a pillow.

A package of brads, pretty paris stickers and a keyhole applique - swooning!

There is a metal H with hooks on the back so I can hang it up. Isn't that little hanger the cutest thing ever? And see that green packing tape? It's actually patterned.

How pretty is that?

More cuteness - two fun clips, flower stickers, a white satin ribbon that says "love, cherish, together, forever" glitter and twine.

This star deserves a picture all its own. I LOVE IT! I am going to have to design a project entirely around this :)

Some more amazing metal pieces and a white box for me to decorate.

The cutest metal tin and vintage magnets out there!

And tags!! I love tags!! The baby shipping tags are adorable - I love the way Andrea decorated them; and I have always wanted those white tags with the silver frames.

Andrea, thank you so much for everything! Anytime you have extra stuff you can send it to me :)

And thank you to Gina as well for hosting.

Silly me forgot to take pics of what I sent to Andrea - sorry :/

Baking Challenge - May '10

2010-05-13T15:19:00.001-04:00

So May's dessert wasn't baked, it was an ice cream float. The recipe was for three different flavored syrups - blueberry, strawberry and mint. I chose to make the blue berry because it was the easiest :)

Start out by placing 9 oz. (2 containers) of blueberries and 1/4 cup sugar into a saucepan. That is all the ingredients!!

Cook them over medium for 10-12 minutes. Here they are halfway through...

And here they are done!

Pour the berries into a strainer, but don't push down on the berries! I gently moved them around to try to get most of the liquid to go through.

Discard the solids - there were a lot!

I don't like floats, so I had a sundae instead. I used vanilla frozen yogurt. The recipe said to let the syrup cool in the fridge, but I wanted it warm on my sundae.

Mmm, it was so good!! I'm gonna have to try the other flavors too. The next morning I used the leftover syrup in my yogurt and that was really good too!

I Heart Prima

2010-05-12T11:08:00.000-04:00

I mentioned before that I started watching the Live with Prima videos on Ustream. Once I started I couldn't stop! I finished watching them all a few days ago and I am so hooked on Prima!

They have a great blog where they share all kinds of great products, projects and updates.

They just shared their May picks, a bunch of flowers in the most gorgeous shades of purple, look:

I'm dying - I want it all!!

I just finished a project using Prima products and techniques I learned from the videos. I can't share it yet because it is a gift, but here is a hint - it is a mini album.

Cricut Bags are Back

2010-05-10T09:56:00.000-04:00

My friend was organizing a woman's breakfast at her church this past Saturday and I offered to help her put together the favors with the aid of my cricut. Last year she hand cut each template (ahh!) but this year we let cricut do the dirty work.

The templates were cut, assembled and ready for decoration. We found some flower packs in the $1 bins at Michaels and used brads to attach the blooms.

We made 52 bags in all, but only stuffed and took 40 to the breakfast.

Inside we placed two teabags, tied together with string and a cute steamy mug label.

The favors were a huge hit!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

2010-05-05T15:57:00.000-04:00

Happy Cinco de Mayo Everyone!!

Are you having chips, guacamole and margaritas today?

I wanted to share this fun little card I made:

The margarita glass has a glittered salt rim :)

I used Sure Cuts A Lot (I am so loving this program) to turn this screen shot:

Into this cut-able image:

How cool is that?

Apple Barrel Chore Chart

2010-05-03T13:35:00.001-04:00

While I was visiting my aunt and cousins last month, the little craft fairy started planting ideas in my head about making them a chore chart.

I had the notion of apples in a bucket and this is how it turned out:

There are two components to this project - the apples and the baskets. I worked on them both at the same time, piecing everything together until it worked, but for clarity's sake we'll talk about one and then the other.

I used Sure Cuts A Lot to make the apples with the words cut out. I cut those onto red card stock and then cut blank white apples and glued them together.

After procuring some popsicle sticks I glued them onto the white part of the apples.

Then I cut more blank red apples and glued those on to cover the pop sticks.

Part One Complete!!

Onto the baskets...

I found these berry baskets at Garnish and fell in love!

I painted the rims in burnt umber and the sides in latte acrylic paint. Latte is almost the same color as the wood. I did this very rough so the wood still showed through and to protect it a bit. I later went back and painted the inside rim burnt umber, too.

Now here comes the wacky part. I needed a way to keep the pop sticks standing up and my light bulb idea was egg cartons! I used the plastic kind and cut two four bump sections then mangled them up like so:

I cut off the sleeve of an old green sweatshirt and hot glued it onto the cartons fuzzy side up so it kinda looked like grass. You can see it peeking out below.

To finish up, I cut more apples to say "chores" and "done" and put them together the same as before, minus the pop sticks. I did add an eyelet to each. Then I took some twine and wove it around the baskets to kind of lock them together. I'll be sending this out later in the week. I really hope my cousin has fun with his first chore chart - he is 3 1/2 so these aren't so much chores as daily tasks, but hopefully he has fun and learns about responsibility.

I've been a busy bee, so I have lots more things to post coming up!!

Derby Hats

2010-05-01T08:37:00.004-04:00

In recent years I've become a bit obsessed with the Kentucky Derby. There is something about the mint juleps, pretty dresses and hats - THE HATS!! You also get a strong sense of tradition and ceremony from the derby and I love it. I'd love to have a Derby party one year or better yet, attend the real deal.

Back to the Hats - look at these beauties from years past:

horse-races.net

So classic, I love how they each went monotone

horse-races.net

I love anything pink and zebra!!

horse-races.net

That is a lot of feathers! It is so OTT but perfect for the Derby.

If you want to get in on the action, just go to etsy:

unexpectedart

Add some flowers for the Derby and take them off for the Beach.

AwardDesign

Very classic Southern Belle.

AwardDesign

Very glam and it will go with everything.

But we're all crafty girls - why not make your own? Start with a basic hat and do it up!

J. Crew - $34

Ralph Lauren - $38

Start with one of these hats and pile on the embellishments. Silk scarves look great tied on for a simple look. For something more custom, get some ribbon and attach flowers, feathers, bling, etc. Tie the ends in a bow or just knot and let the ends hang down your back. Why not make a few in different colors so you can make your hat work with any outfit?

Hmm, maybe I should get that Ralph hat... I think I'd make sashes in pink, turquoise, and mixed metallic.

The Derby starts at 4pm EDT on NBC.

Blog Award

2010-04-29T11:32:00.000-04:00

Pink Martini and Pearls gave me this wonderful blog award - thank you so much!!

I'm going to share 10 things I love and then pass this award onto 10 bloggers.

10 Things I Love:

1. International Delight French Vanilla, I use this in my coffee every morning. Why ID over coffee mate? ID does not use partially hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup.

2. Baking

3. Wine

4. White Jeans - the perfect summer clothing.

5. diamonds and pearls - so classic I can never have enough! I also like morganite, kunzite, and aquamarine.

6. pretty, sparkly craft supplies

7. Sandra Bullock's wardrobe in the Blind Side - this totally encapsulated how I would like to dress everyday.

8. Peonies - they are so incredibly lush I almost can't take it! My farmer's market starts next friday and there is a vendor who always has gorgeous ones. I can't wait to pick up a whole bunch.

9. Blogging - I love seeing what everyone is up to - I have learned so much from all of you!

10. Kentucky Derby - I love all the tradition behind this event but mostly I'm obsessed with the hats!

I'm passing this award to:

Crafty Brooklyn Army Wife

French Vintage Magnet Board

2010-04-26T10:39:00.001-04:00

I found this hanging sign at Marshall's a few months ago. I was so in love the vintage french feel of the ornate swirls, distressing and glitter! I had the intention of making it a chalkboard sign, but that's not what happened.

Then I got bit by the inspiration bug: Carmen @ Beyond the Fringe mentioned the live with prima videos on her post last week so I went to check them out. These videos are great learning tools, but be warned they are all an hour and a half plus!! If you are so inclined, you can find them at ustream.

The first video I watched did a kind of random quilt pattern decoupage and it got me wanting to try a more structured harlequin pattern. But what to put it on? It dawned on me that my intended chalkboard might be magnetic - and it is! So rather than a chalkboard, I went for a magnet board.

Before I got the fun part I had to do some prep. I soaked the paper with a sponge and I was able to easily get it off. I also used rubbing alcohol and a light sanding to get it really smooth. I know a lot of you are thinking "can't you just go over it?". Well, yes you can, but my neurosis just can't handle that. And it's so pretty all clean.

After finding yourself a magnetic base, you will only need mod podge and two sheets of pattern paper to make this project. I just purchased Sure Cuts A Lot so I used it to cut a bunch of diamonds, but you can always do this with a ruler and xacto. I penciled on lines to mark the center point and starting laying out the diamonds and glueing them down with mod podge.

A little while later it was all done and I used a ruler and xacto knife to remove the excess paper to get a nice edge. Then I sealed it with two coats of mod podge.

I added this eiffel tower magnet that my husband found in his office at work. Who could leave such a fantastic magnet behind?

The prima videos also demonstrate how to alter their flowers a lot and I am thinking that maybe I want to add some flowers to the corners of the board. I'd also like to make some magnets for it so you may be seeing this project again.

Cricut Gift Bags

2010-04-24T10:39:00.000-04:00

I had another fun assignment from my online Cricut class that I wanted to share. We made gift bags using the Plantin cartridge.

How are cute are they? especially the little ones. I think these would be great to use as party favors or treat bags. I punched three holes at the top - the center one for the brad and the two outside ones to thread the ribbon through. These were just for fun to try the assignment, I have no idea if and when I'll ever use them, but I can totally see making them in the future when I have a need for them.

Baking Challenge - April '10

2010-04-21T14:16:00.001-04:00

It's time for another Martha Baking Challenge - Chess Tart (a.k.a pie).

What is a Chess Pie, you ask? Wikipedia says:

Chess pie is a particularly sugary dessert characteristic of Southern U.S. cuisine. According to James Beard's American Cookery (1972) chess pie was brought from England originally, and was found in New England as well as Virginia. Recipes vary, but are generally similar in that they call for the preparation of a single crust and a filling composed of eggs, butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. What sets chess pie apart from many other custard pies is the addition of corn meal.

All I know is that when I saw the crust was made from Nilla Wafers, we had a winner. My husband loves these little cookies more than me anything.

To get started, you must grind your cookies. Then combine them with butter, sugar, and salt. The recipe said "mix" but since I already had the food processor out I let it do all the work.

I used a drinking glass to press in the crust into a tart pan with a removable bottom (side note: i was able to pop the pie out but the bottom stuck on good! I'd recommend lining it with parchment paper). Then gently press the crumbs up the side.

This gets baked a bit before the filling goes in. The filling consists of sugar, brown sugar, cornmeal, salt, eggs, vanilla, and butter. Fill the crust and bake again. Then Chill.

I thought it was so cool that the filling forms a crust and stays all gooey inside. And it is so yummy!!

This was pretty easy to put together. Inexpensive and easily accessible ingredients. I did have to buy the pan, but I got it at Homegoods for $6. You should definitely give this one a try. You could also toss in some choc chips or nuts, or make them mini.

I'm a bit disappointed with May's challenge - a spin on a brown cow. I love ice cream, but there is no baking involved. However, I will be making a flavored syrup from scratch.

Linking to: A Soft Place to Land DIY Day

It's My Birthday!

2010-04-15T09:10:00.000-04:00

Yeay!! Today is my birthday!!

I'm 26 today. I'm a really, real adult now :)

I'm gonna lounge around this morning, go for a massage and pedicure this afternoon, and then out for dinner with the hubby this evening - a wonderful day :)

Choc Chip Cookies

2010-04-14T18:55:00.000-04:00

Today I got to know two really great girls who live in my apartment community. We were all getting together because we enjoy crafts and wanted to work on some projects and share ideas.

I'll use anything as an excuse to bake, so I made chocolate chip cookies to bring to them.

I used the recipe from the April MSLiving Best Of... Series. I'm pretty loyal to the Tollhouse recipe, but I'm willing to give anything Martha a try. The main difference between the two recipes is that Tollhouse uses equal parts white and light brown sugar and Martha uses twice as much dark brown sugar to white sugar. This made her cookies a bit denser and a lot chewier. I like them both, but Tollhouse wins - I love how it keeps a bit of the raw cookie doughness even after it is baked.

I also made some little tags using the Sentimentals cartridge on my Cricut and some pink rhinestones.

How do you like your cookies? Chewy, soft, or do you just eat the dough raw?

When Disaster Strikes...

2010-04-13T10:02:00.001-04:00

... it strikes twice!

It started with my washing machine. Here is the wonderful, 20+ year old washer/dryer that was original to my apartment.

Pretty, right? Check out the vintage fonts and colors!!

It also came with some character. How did that happen?

The cold water had been on the fritz for a while, barely trickling in. It took at least 2 hours to run a cycle. I called maintenance to come take a look and they told me I'd be getting a new machine. I snapped some pics while they were swapping the old one for the new one. Brace yourself, this is gross!!

Ahh!

AHH!! They removed that disgusting, broken pan and cleaned the floor before installing the new one.

Here is the new and much smaller washer/dryer I got. It works, it does quick cycles, and the dryer beeps when it is done - yeay!!

So, the same day I got my new washer installed, my microwave decided to get in on the action. I was making popcorn and heard a load pop/bang noise. The glass plate shattered!!

How does that happen? It totally freaked me out.

I was able to find a replacement part online and a few days later I had a new plate. It is a little smaller, but it works.

I was waiting for a third disaster, but I guess this was just a two-fer special.

Beautiful Blogger Award

2010-04-12T09:40:00.001-04:00

I'm a bit late on accepting and sharing my award, but I wanted to put some thought into it.

Alisha @ Crafty Brooklyn Army Wife awarded me with the Beautiful Blogger Award

The rules are to share ten things and pass it on to ten bloggers.

10 Things You Didn't Know About Me:

1. Thursday, April 15th, is my birthday - feel free to guess how old I am turning. I'll share it on my birthday.

2. I don't have a driver's license. It is a major pain in the butt and I know I need to get on with it.

3. I have four tattoos - a cluster of stars on my right hip, a plumeria on my back a.k.a. tramp stamp, a dragonfly on my left foot, and my hebrew name on my left wrist. I also have my nose and navel pierced.

4. I got married when I was 19 and didn't tell my family about it. A year later I told them I got married but shaved a year off. I finally told the truth last year.

5. I have a BBA in marketing and my career ambition is to be a SAHM.

6. I constantly struggle with my weight. I am just shy of 5 feet. At my heaviest I was 185lbs, at my lowest I was 127lbs. Right now I am 155lbs. I want to get back to 140lbs. I feel comfortable at that weight and I don't have to fight too hard to stay there.

7. I am the oldest of four. My brother is a film editor, my sister is a junior in college, and my little brother is in middle school. My sister-in-law is also in middle school and my brother-in-law is in elementary school.

8. I love the entire Real Housewives franchise. Andy Cohen - I think you realized that DC doesn't have much to offer b.c I haven't heard anything more about it. Please go to Dallas next - I want to see some Southern Belle cat fighting.

9. I do not like the area I live in (Virginia just outside DC). It just doesn't do it for me. I am hoping to move this summer.

10. I am lucky enough to have two moms - my mom and stepmom (I guess I have three b.c my mother-in-law is awesome too). Neither of them is very domestic, so I adopted Martha Stewart to teach me how to cook, clean and take care of my home.

And here are the ten ladies I am giving this award to:
1. Beth @ Stories of A to Z
2. Mandi @ Finding Home
3. Sherry @ Creations from my Heart
4. Cate @ A Tree Lined Street
5. Carmen @ Beyond the Fringe
6. Autumn @ design*dump
7. Jennifer @ Hope Studios
8. Amanda @ Imperfectly Beautiful
9. Dee @ September the March
10. m^..^ @ Tales from an OC Cottage

Beading - I'm Hooked!

2010-04-09T09:56:00.001-04:00

After getting the craving to bead, I picked up 6 colors, played around Wed night and went to town yesterday.

Martha has been promoting her new Sewing and Fabric Crafts book like mad this week. I did pick it up the other day, but I also pulled out the Encyclopedia of Crafts that came out last year. I was flipping through looking for a project to tackle and the beaded bugs and flowers really caught my attention.

Using the instructions I made a dragonfly, butterfly and two bees:

I also made a daffodil:

And then I started playing around with lots of other flowers:

My plan is to start using these as embellishments for all kinds of projects. Like this card:

I totally want to keep going, but I am starting to feel limited by the six colors (black, white, gold, yellow, hot pink, green) I have. I really want to get some pearly pastels and keep cranking out the flowers and bees.

This is so fun and it is the perfect craft to do while watching TV.

A Call to All Scrapbookers!

2010-04-03T11:22:00.000-04:00

Have you ever heard of My Creative Classroom?

I stumbled upon it a few months ago and it is really cool! There is a free class you can join just by signing up for the newsletter and every 2 weeks you can download new pdf tutorials for that sessions craft theme. I think it is glimmermists right now. There is also a whole slew of classes that you can sign up for (these have a fee).

So the first one I took was Cricut Expression 101. I've figured out quite a bit on my own, but I wanted to make sure I was doing this correctly and see if I was missing out on anything. There is also a 102 starting in two weeks that I plan on taking.

Well, the last assignment was to use the cricut to make a scrapbook layout. Hello?!?! I don't scrapbook. Yes, I am totally obsessed with scrapbook items and can't help buying them. I bought my cricut because I had been hearing about, watched the infomercial and fell in love. Since I'm a good student, I went ahead and tried my hand at a layout.

Apparrantly there are things called page maps and my instructor showed us this site - Page|Maps by Becky Fleck
How cool! I used one as a very loose guide for my layout - here it is:

I need your advice!! Please tell me what I can do to make my layouts better. This was pretty fun and I'd to keep trying out new ones.

This is what I did:
I knew I wanted to use the mountain border since they recently moved to Colorado. I picked out two colors to use for the mountains and another that worked as the background. I cut out the mountain range in each color, and glued the negative of the brown onto the tan. I found this sticker ribbon that looked good and then felt I needed a strip of the brown underneath for balance. So I glued the mountains and the strip the paper and placed the ribbon over the seam.

I printed out the two pics I wanted with a white border(the kids faces are disguised for this post only - I don't know if my aunt wants their faces out there). Then I used the same color as the mountains to make a mat for each. I fiddled around with placement and glued them down. I totally love tags, so I cut the white one and also cut the little circles to go around the holes. Stamped CO on the tag first with a light color and then with a dark one (this was a happy accident - the first color was too light) I lifted the ribbon back off to thread the tag on and then stuck it all back down.

I wanted it to have a kind of rustic/western theme and I also wanted to stick the Plantin School Book because that is what the class is using. I cut out a bunch of stars on red and white paper in varying sizes and layered them together. I punched two tiny holes in each and used embroidery floss to tie it all together with a button - no glue. Just a little glue stick on back to stick them to the page.

Finally the big tag. I cut this one out a while ago and painted the glaze from my family sign onto it. I used the leftover floss to make the tassel. I cut a square of the red paper and glued it on. Then printed the location and date from computer. Cut that down the size and inked the edges. I placed it on the tag and used the remaining sticker ribbon to make two parallel stripes underneath it.

If you read all that - THANK YOU!! I know it was a lot. If you have any tips, please please please share them. And any suggestions for further decorating this layout are much appreciated as well.

Thank you, xoxo,

Easter Eggs

2010-04-02T19:59:00.000-04:00

Last year I got into glittering Easter eggs. I blew out a dozen eggs {and lost one along the way} and had a very preppy easter with my pink and green eggs.

This year I wanted to add some more color and save myself the trouble of blowing out eggs again. I picked up some plastic eggs and new glitter colors, and now I have purple and blue too!

And since I had four leftover eggs, I tore up some pages from an old book and decoupaged the rest.

I love that I can keep my eggs and add to them every year!

Early Spring/Easter Mantle

2010-04-01T09:40:00.000-04:00

Hi! I'm back from my trip to Denver. I was so busy visiting family, playing with my cutie pie cousins, and visiting the aquarium that I had no time for blogging!

A purple Starfish!?!

Look at that funny face.

I was also battling altitude sickness that finished off with a fever the night I got home. Now that I'm feeling back to normal, let's talk mantles.

After Valentine's Day, it was time to swap out all the red for some more cheery colors. I also wanted to get some eggs up there for Easter.

For Valentine's, I had a pink heart hanging from the mirror. After having it naked for a few days, I knew I liked it a lot better dressed. I painted a barn star turquoise and now I love it!

I found this great lantern at Marshall's for $17. If you can see, inside there is a white pillar candle with a seashell and raffia belt. I swapped the red taper candle for coral and added a starfish in front. Turquoise and Coral are always paired in jewelry, so why not in decor? And then a bud vase of tulips for some life. {these were on their last leg in the photo and they are gone now}

Where is the Easter you say? Right here in my topiary! I got this at target last year and I love it! I wish I bought more than one!! The hurricane jar has the remains of a bag of peanut mnm's that I've been munching on. And then there is my family sign.

After Easter this Sunday, I'll be taking down the topiary and tossing the stale mnm's. Then it's time to re-do the mantle with more of a late spring feel.

Check out all the other great mantles and vignette's at Beth's Party:

Sneak Peek in My Bag

2010-03-23T08:00:00.003-04:00

I'm off to Denver today to visit my Aunt and her family and I thought it would be fun to share what I'm taking in my carry on! I haven't taken a flight that was longer than 2 hours since I was a kid so I am a little nervous about how I'll handle a four hour flight! Thank god it is non-stop.

I found this bag right before my holiday travels started this year at target for like $12. It is a great size and it has lots of compartments for all my stuff.

Inside I have my travel itinerary and most importantly my laptop:

I rented The Blind Side on iTunes to watch on the plane and I'm debating between Precious, Coco Before Chanel and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee for the return trip.

The other electronics I'm taking are my camera, phone, iPod and Nintendo DS.

Then I have my creature comforts:

A mini blanket (it is actually a faux pashmina I got at the Charlotte airport for $10 years ago. I've washed it so many times it is all fuzzy and cozy), some fuzzy socks, my sunglasses (great for napping), my wallet, my Lilly planner and my book. I'm currently reading Mating Rituals of the North American WASP. I'm 1/3 through - it is a cute book so far based around a set of unusual circumstances and the hi-jinx that ensue.

Do you notice the absence of magazines? This is the first time I am traveling without any. I wanted to make my bag lighter and since I subscribe to so many blogs I know I'll have lots of reading everyday.

And finally, my make-up bag, transferred to a quart size ziploc.

tissues, lip balm, my inhaler (I have asthma and I never want to be without it!), John Masters Organics Blood Orange & Vanilla Lotion - this smells soooo good, MAC Resort Life Lip gelee, mirror, those wisp things (I haven't used these yet but my mouth always feels icky when I travel), a hand wipe, some toothpicks, tylenol, and a nail file.

I'll try to post once or twice from my trip, but my main focus is spending quality time with my cutie pie cousins, they are 3 1/2 and 15 months and I am going to eat them up!!

Cross Stitching Series - Finishing and Framing

2010-03-22T08:00:00.014-04:00

Welcome to Part 6 of the cross stitching series - this is the last post! If you missed Parts 1-5 click below.

1) Selecting a Kit
2) Prepping your Kit
3) The Stitches and following a pattern
4) Outlines (back stitch) and Details
5) Personalizing a kit
6) Finishing and Framing

When I first wrote about cross-stitching, Kathy from Creative Home Expressions and I started talking about our love for it and all the projects we've done over the years. She has done way more than I have and I knew that she had lots of great information to share. I was so thrilled that she agreed to write a guest post!! (esp. on a topic I could use some help myself!) Kathy, take it away...

Heather at Pixie Dust is doing a series on cross-stitch and I really enjoyed following along because I used to be a cross-stitch fiend. You know how you stay up late to blog? Well, I used to stay up late to do “just one more row” of cross-stitch! Heather has graciously allowed me to participate in her series with a post on finishing and framing your cross-stitch piece.

As we go through the different ways you can finish your cross-stitch, I thought I’d share some of the many pieces that I’ve done over the years.

Probably the most popular way to finish off your cross-stitch is to frame it. I always took my pieces to a professional framer to have it done right. You can have the matting done so that it enhances the piece whether it is the color of the mat or the way it is cut. Non-glare glass works really well on a framed cross-stitch as it doesn’t distort the way it looks. If you are comfortable framing your own work ~ more power to you!

Another way to finish your work is by making a pillow. This pillow covering came this way and I used a pattern from a cross-stitch magazine.

This little tiny baby pillow I made from a found pattern {very simple to do, too, if you need a gift for a shower or new baby gift in general}. I put it together with a linen fabric and ribbon. I used to sell these and would do them in pink, blue, mint green, and yellow.

Like the pillow cover above, you can buy Christmas stockings that are already finished off and you just need to add the cross-stitch pattern. I bought these quilted stockings several years ago at Michael’s and cross-stitched my family’s names on them using an alphabet pattern that I adapted to fit the aida cloth part of the stocking.

I’ve also made switch plate covers and eyeglass cases. I have even used dissolvable aida cloth to sew cross-stitch designs onto sweatshirts and t-shirts!

You can find some great kits that come with everything you need to do the cross-stitch and even include a way of finishing or framing. If you look through some cross-stitch magazines you will come across some novel ways of finishing off your cross-stitch. That’s what happened when I found this one and was able to order the mitten frame. I put this one together myself.
Here is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I did for my son back in the early 90’s when he was into them.

Many of my cross-stitch projects became gifts and there were such a variety. I did baby blanket and pillow sets; bibs; framed pieces with shaped mats; glass cases; baby alphabet samplers; baby hooded bath towels and much more.

This is the last one I finished. If you notice, the bottom is dated 2000.

I have a couple of others in various stages of completion. I have a very cute Winnie the Pooh sampler that I will be finishing off for my daughter; all it needs is the personalization and framing.
The manner in which you finish off {or frame} your cross-stitch is limitless! Have fun with it!

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Wow, those are some awesome tips! The dissolvable aida cloth sounds so fun! I am going to have to keep an eye out for that. I love the thought of finishing a design as a pillow and now I know to ask for non-glare glass if I ever go to a framer. Thanks Kathy.

Hope you all enjoyed this series,

Baking Challenge - March '10

2010-03-21T15:19:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned last month, March is the kosher-for-passover Flourless Apple-Pecan Torte.

I thought it was kinda funny, but also pretty cool, that Martha was offering a kosher recipe. I'm jewish on my father's side but I don't practice or do anything to celebrate the holidays. Every year the holidays come and go and I feel guilty and sad that I do nothing to acknowledge them. So it made me very happy to bake a little cake and give a nod to my heritage, even though I was a week early. Passover begins March 29th.

Anywho, onto the recipe.

Start out by softening the apples with butter, cinnamon and sugar. Yum! Do we even need to go further?

Add a little Manischewitz to make them syrupy. Ahh, Manischewitz, what are Hannukah and Passover without you? The very first time I got drunk was at Passover. I was 16 and allowed to have one glass of wine. My cousin and I were sitting away from our parents with a bottle of Manischewitz at our end of the table. If you never let your glass get empty then its still one cup right? Needless to say, we drained the bottle and I got groggy and fell asleep. Ooh, check out that steam!

Here we have egg yolk, sugar, apples, ground pecan, matzo cake meal, and cinnamon.

And here are my glossy and stiff eggwhites.

Gently folded together and into the greased pan. The recipe calls for a springform but I don't have one so I just used a 9-inch cake pan.

I should have let it cool more before I flipped it out because the top stuck a bit.

That's OK. I'm not serving it to anyone, and if I was the powdered sugar would cover it up. Except I was all out of powdered sugar. So I made whipped cream instead. I substituted granulated sugar and it came out just fine.

Next Month: Chess Tart. A nilla wafer crust and brown sugar filling? This is going to be a hit in my house!

Dressed Up Candles

2010-03-19T16:12:00.000-04:00

I have this little cabinet and candle holder in my entryway and for about two months I have been trying to find five white candles for $1 each. It seemed the cheapest I was going to find was $2 a piece, so I picked up two three-packs at target.

These are my old candles:

And with some little ribbon belts added, here are my new candles:

This was the easiest thing I've ever done. I cut 9 1/2 inches of ribbon per candle, and taped it at the back with double stick tape. I'd love to find some type of medallion to add to front.

Since I bought them in three packs I had one leftover candle to play around with. A glittered fleur de lis perhaps? I took a fleur shape I had and pushed it onto the candle using my bone folder.

I scored around the outline with the tip of the bone folder and peeled off the pink shape. Then I used this tool from my cricut tool kit to dig out a bit of wax and make a well for the glue.

I added the glue and the glitter...

And it looked like crap!! It was all wonky and weird and bad.

But the little Tim Gunn angel on my shoulder told me to "Make It Work!"

So after some thinking, then some ignoring, then some thinking again,

I cut out another fleur on the cricut and glittered that!

And glued it to the candle :)

Tim would be so proud. I give myself a pat on the back for that one.

And then I shoot myself in the foot for this one. I was at Home Goods yesterday and passed up on a candle holder. It was one of those pedestal kinds, it was a dark silver metallic with chandelier-like crystals draped all around. It was the only one left, in the clearance section for $10. I've thought about going back but who knows if it is even still there. Bah!

My Shoes

2010-03-18T17:17:00.001-04:00

Darling Beth at The Stories of A to Z has done it again - she is hosting her second "Virtual Sleepover". Last time we showed our bare faces and our make-up, this time we are showing our shoes!

Here is a peek into my closet:

I keep my shoes on the floor. Most of them are in the original boxes. My boots and gym shoes are just hanging out and my flip flops are all in that pink bucket.

I wear these babies pretty much every day:

But there are some goodies lurking in my closet. Like my favorite sandals:

They were expensive, but I wear them a lot (you can see all the nice toe marks and such) because they go with everything and they are really comfortable.

And these are my favorite heels right now:

The first and only time I wore them they gave me really, really bad blisters. They are super stiff and they were rubbing my heel. I hope that I can wear them around the house enough before going to Vegas in two months. I really want to wear these in the casino!

Yes, that is a real tattoo on my foot. And yes, it hurt like a b*tch. It's a pink and green dragonfly and it is one of four :)

Bee-utter Knife

2010-03-16T17:59:00.000-04:00

You know those wonderful harry and david corporate gift baskets? The kind that get sent out to company's around the holidays. Well back when I was still doing the 9-to-5 in December, I nabbed a butter/cheese knife from one of them. It was free! and it was an ugly brick red.

So with some charcoal and green tea paint and a stencil via contact paper and the cricut - I fixed it!

The little bee is so springy!

And for an amusing story - I was mistaken for a high-schooler today. It is officially Field Trip to DC time. I was waiting on a train platform this morning and there was a group of students behind me. The teacher wanted to have everyone's attention so no one would get lost. So you put her hand on my shoulder so I would turn around and pay attention. I turned and sweetly told her that I wasn't her student but I understood because I was the shortest one! She seemed a bit embarrassed (I was too!) but we all had a good laugh.

Cross Stitching Series - Personalizing

2010-03-15T15:28:00.001-04:00

Welcome to Part 5 of the cross stitching series. If you missed Parts 1, 2, 3 or 4 click below.

1) Selecting a Kit
2) Prepping your Kit
3) The Stitches and following a pattern
4) Outlines (back stitch) and Details
5) Personalizing a kit
6) Finishing and Framing

I always like to add something to my kits to make them more special and personal.

In order to make my turtle hooded towel extra special and cute, I stitched my cousin's name onto it.

I found an alphabet template from an old kit to make the letters.

I also made a towel for his little sister this past week.

I used a girlier font on hers. It is centered on the hood but it is off from the lion - bah!!

It's also nice, especially on a design that will be framed, to add your initials and or date in the corner of the design. It's very easy to add your initials in a simple back-stitch.

There are also ways to add some sparkle and texture to your design. You can find metallic and sparkly filaments at the craft store in the needle-craft aisle. You can either add these to or substitute them for colors in your design. They are so pretty. I used light blue to make a twinkly sky once and white makes snow look amazing.

Beads and other charms also make great embellishments. You can attach them while you are working your cross-stitches so that they are very secure. Just use anything you find pretty and inspiring and I'm sure you can find a way to incorporate it!!

A Little Distressing does a Caddy Good!

2010-03-11T21:02:00.000-05:00

I bought this vintagey looking bottle carrier on Tuesday while browsing the shops in Occoquan, VA.

What I loved about it was the Maison de Campagne sign on both sides. When I got it home and set it on my counter, I realized you couldn't see the lovely little plaque at all!!

All it needed was a bit of distressing to make the words and design pop!

I though I could glaze/whitewash it but that didn't work very well. It looked great when I painted it on, but when I wiped it off nothing stayed behind in the crevices.

And then a light bulb went off. I didn't need to add to it; I needed to subtract!

So I took some 400 sandpaper and lightened the areas I wanted to stand out.

Now it's perfect!

How to Remove a Wine Label

2010-03-10T14:08:00.000-05:00

Over the summer I started to collect wine labels - my goal was to have only pretty french ones with chateau sketches on them. Since those are hard to come by, I've included anything pretty and elegant.

Getting them off the bottle can be tricky, so I'll show you my two methods of doing so.

You first want to determine whether you have an old world or new world label. Old World labels are paper labels that are glued onto the bottle. New World labels are stickers that get slapped onto the bottle.

More often than not, you will be dealing with a new world label and you can test this by peeling the corner on the back label. If it's sticky its new world.

First remove the remains of the metal wrapper. I don't know if this is necessary, but I don't want to take chances of melting and burning. Also make sure that it is rinsed and totally dry.

Set your oven for the lowest temperature possible and place the bottle inside. I put mine in as soon as the oven goes on; no waiting for it to pre-heat. Leave it in for about 5 minutes.

While the bottle is cooking, gather your supplies. You need a mitt or trivet to set the bottle on, a mitt to hold the bottle with, a craft knife or razor blade, and a sheet of paper to place the label on. The labels are very tacky when they come off and it is best to place them on tissue or printer paper and smooth them out.

Whoopsie! I didn't check my label, I just assumed that it was a sticker. After it came out of the oven I realized it was old world and the method for that is...

Fill the bottle with warm to hot water until the water level is above the label. Fill a container with the same temperature water - I used a pitcher. Place the bottle inside and make sure the label is completely submerged.

Mine label was ready in two hours, but if it isn't coming off easily keep on soaking.

This step is the same for both methods. Use your sharp edge and starting from one corner gently lift the label away from the bottle.

If you soaked it, let it dry. If you baked it, it is ready to go.

Now you can store or use your labels however you like!!

Cross Stitching Series - Outlines and Details

2010-03-08T15:18:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Part 4 of the cross stitching series. If you missed Parts 1, 2 or 3 click below.

1) Selecting a Kit
2) Prepping your Kit
3) The Stitches and following a pattern
4) Outlines (back stitch) and Details
5) Personalizing a kit
6) Finishing and Framing

After a bit of slacking, I cracked down and finished all of the cross-stitches on my Turtle Towel.

It may look done, but the turtle and starfish have no faces and the entire design lacks definition. This is where the back-stitching comes in! Here are a few tips.

I like to try and have the outlines look just as good on the back as the front so I like to stitch a running stitch and then go back with another running stitch to fill in the gaps. This circle has an octagon shaped outline. I started by stitching the straight lines clockwise...

...then stitched the diagonals counterclockwise.

I worked in a similar fashion on the larger outline. Look closely at the outline one the pattern to see where it touches a hole. I like to go no more than 4 holes in one stitch, but if a diagonal needs 5 or 6, so be it. I worked a running stitch in one direction...

...and worked back to finish it.

Now the french knots can be tricky. These are used a lot to add eyes and other misc. details. This design used them for eyes and random bubble dots.

Bring the thread through the correct hole and pull it taught. Hold onto the needle with your dominant hand and the thread with your other hand. Place the needle behind the thread and wrap it around so it crosses and looks like the picture below. Then place the tip on the needle back in the same hole. I've had issues with french knots popping out, so you can actually place the tip of the needle inbetween the fibers right next the hole to secure it better.

Next, pull the thread taught so that the knot forms.

Keep the thread held taught and pull the needle through. You'll end up with a french knot!

See how nice it looks with all the details added.

Next week we will go over finishing up and the different ways you can personalize your designs. Plus I'll show you what I did to this one to make it super special!!

Magazine Storage Solution

2010-03-05T15:13:00.001-05:00

We all love our magazines right? I sure do! I currently have 8 subscriptions -though 3 are about to run out and I am not renewing them-

I have my fashion/beauties - Lucky, Allure, Elle and Vogue (Elle and Vogue will be leaving me soon)
And my house mags - MS Living, Real Simple, House Beautiful and Country Living (Real Simple is getting the boot)

Every month I mark a ton of pages for products I want to try and little bits I love and want to remember.

I think we all struggle with how to store these articles.
We can save the whole magazine, creating stacks and stacks that take away space from more important things. Then go try to find what you are looking for - haha jokes on you.
Tear out the pages and hopefully have an immaculate filing system for them.
Find the link online and try to organize all the bookmarks on your computer.

I've tried them all and while it may work for a bit, it's no good for the long haul. I do have my Martha binders that I've kept since my very first issue. Each article I want to save goes into a sleeve and then into it's appropriate tab i.e. good things, crafts, gardening, halloween, easter. Looking for a good thing from March 2006 - present? Ask me, I have them all!!

No other publication is allowed into my sacred binders though, so I came up with a solution for them!

First I have all the products I want to try. I took a scrap piece of pretty cardstock that was 12 by 4 or 5 inches. I folded it in half, then folded it in half again to make a little accordion. I also used a corner punch to round the edges. I put an italian paper clip (that's what the tin says) on each section. I have spots for 8 different articles.

I want to try: Neutrogena 5 Minute Facial from Ageless Restoratives, L'Oreal Ideal Skin Genesis Complexion Equalizer, L'Oreal True Match Blush in Barely Blushing, Aveeno Nourish + Shine Shampoo

Sally Hansen 14-Day Nail Shield, L'Oreal Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base, Philosophy Soul Owner, Caress Velvet Bliss Body Wash, Johnson's body care oil infused indulgent body wash

I can toss this little folder into my purse so when I'm out shopping I know exactly what it was I wanted to try.

My other little idea was a way to store all of the home decor ideas I love. I cut out each little image and glued them to an index card. I also wrote the magazine and month on them and left lots of white space for notes. I also rounded the corners of each card because I am obsessed with my new corner punch :)

I am in love with these tiles and I think they would look amazing in a powder room.

This bathroom reminds me of the spa I visited over Christmas and I wanted to move into it!

This little birdie hook is so sweet!

I've put them all into this little coupon holder. Whenever I need a little inspiration I can take a peek through here and quickly find what I'm looking for.

Let's hope my new system works in the long run. If not, I had fun playing with my corner punch.

Mini Master Makeover

2010-03-04T14:37:00.000-05:00

Ooh, are we loving the alliteration?

This makeover was super mini - there were only 2 changes I made, but they has a huge impact: a painting and a bedskirt.

Here was our bed before:

Exposed boxspring - yuck! and you can see all the stuff we store under the bed, mainly off season clothes and our board games :) After three years of this I finally bought a bedskirt.

I chose black because I knew there was no way I could match the comforter and I didn't want to. I also felt that it would blend in with our black furniture and look less like a skirt and more like a platform.

The second change was adding my quatrefoil painting to the formally barren wall.

You may be wondering about my barren bed. I have no decorative pillows :( We have a nicely sized bedroom, it obviously accommodates a king very well, but there is no place to have a bench or other piece of furniture to place the pillows on while we are sleeping. And I hate pillows on the floor! So much that I'd rather have no pillows at all.

My Ballard Inspired Wall Art

2010-03-01T19:13:00.005-05:00

I love quatrefoils! I think it stems from my love and desire to own a piece of Van Cleef and Arpels Alhambra collection - so gorgeous!

So you can imagine my delight when I saw all the new items Ballard Designs decked out with these little gems.

umbrella stand

chandelier shade

Marquee Hand-Painted Canvas

Friday night I began thinking that I could probably knock-off that canvas. By Saturday morning I was full-blown obsessed and running out to Home Goods in search of a canvas that I could use to make my little dream a reality.

What I found was this:

In the little girls section. It is 24x24 - the same dimensions as the Ballard. I paid $30 for it although I was hoping to spend $20. This was the best I could find and I was too anxious to keep looking.

Before I could paint, I had to get the glitter and rhinestones off. Scrape, scrape, scrape away with a craft knife. Look how awesome my hand looks!

I found a quatrefoil lurking on my cricut storybook cartridge and used a piece of card stock to make a stencil. The Ballard piece has the quatrefoil in the center, but I decided to place one in each "tile". I sketched the shapes out and started painting each quatrefoil green, then a tan border and finally a pink background.

When I was done, not only did I have a killer headache from not opening the window for good ventilation, but I hated it! Instead of the classy palm beach look I was going for - I had this tacky, cheesy 70s mess. So before going to bed, I decided that by changing the colors and enlarging the design I could save it.

Sunday morning, I got to work adding a white-wash over the pink to tone it down.

Then I repainted the tan a darker brown and the green to blue.

Much better! That is the calming, sophisticated look I was going for. I would have liked if the blue was paler, but I'm learning by trial and error here and I'm pretty happy with how this turned out - especially since I've never tried to replicate or just paint a canvas period! I added some lines with a sharpie to mimic the look of four tiles. This was $30 considering I already had the paints instead of spending $139.**EDIT** Whoa!! Just took a closer look at the pricing. They are $139 EACH SQUARE or two for $129 each. I would have had to spend $516 to get this look from Ballard!!!

This project is part of my mini-bedroom makeover. I'll show the finished room later this week.

Linking up to the following:

DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land

So You Think You Can Decorate Viewer Inspiration
Room to Inspire: Be Inspired
Finding Fabulous: Frugalicious Friday

Baking Challenge - Feb '10

2010-02-25T14:48:00.000-05:00

The recipe for this month is Pear-Raspberry Heart Pies.

Sometimes I like to cheat the recipe by buying my dough. This time I cheated with the fruit - canned pears and frozen raspberries - they were organic!

The recipe called for a 4-inch cookie cutter to yield 10 pies. I guess mine was a little bigger because I only got 6.

And I was a little sloppy filling them :)

I was not loving these like I normally love pie - maybe because I cheated on the fruit? or maybe because I don't really love pears.

They still look cute:

So, in the battle between January and February, January's Lemon Souffles win.

I'm reading my march issue now and next month will be a kosher for passover, really?, apple-pecan torte.

CRICUT BARGAIN ALERT!!

2010-02-24T12:56:00.000-05:00

If you live anywhere near the Kingstowne, VA Walmart and you want a Cricut - RUN!!

I just got back and there was a black expression on clearance for $250. It comes with the Plantin and Serenade Cartridges - Serenade is very rare. I seriously thought about buying it even though I already have one. It is at the back of the party supply aisle.

Right next to it were some crop-a-dile sets with a bonus case and 240 eyelets for $20. I don't know much about this tool - just that it seems very popular and useful. And I need a hole punch so I got myself the pink one :)

A Winner and A Makeover!!

2010-02-23T13:58:00.001-05:00

First,the very important announcement of the scentsy give-away winner:

AnneLoyd from The Loyd Collection

Anne, please email me at henderson1026@gmail.com with your address so I can get your package out to you!

Now the crafty business.

My knife block broke. Somehow the glue failed and the two pieces separated. Since I had to do a re-hab, I figured I might as well do a re-fab too.

So I glued those two back together with E-6000. Still stinky, still goopy, but it holds, so ok.

Doesn't he looks so regal?

something about this seems male to me

I mixed up some antique white with a splash of burnt umber again, gave it two coats, and made another faux glaze. This time I used charcoal paint in the water. Unfortunately, there were no lovely crevices for the glaze to settle into :(

And then, because I love them so much, I stenciled on a FLeur de Lis using my cricut and some contact paper. I used the same charcoal as I did with the glaze and then added some champagne metallic paint to add a border. Topped it with some varnish and he is now back in the kitchen, ready to help me make dinner and residing right next to my life-force, a.k.a. the coffee pot.

Cross Stitching Series - The Stitches

2010-02-22T14:37:00.002-05:00

Welcome to Part 3 of the cross stitching series. If you missed Parts 1 and 2, click below.

1) Selecting a Kit

2) Prepping your Kit

3) The Stitches and following a pattern

4) Outlines (back stitch) and Details

5) Personalizing a kit

6) Finishing and Framing

So your kit is all prepped and you are ready to start, but where? Take a look at your pattern - the design is in a grid and each square has a symbol. Each square on the grid is one stitch. You will also see a color chart on your pattern. This lists all your colors and what symbol they are represented by. It will also say in parentheses how many strands to use and let you know if they are cross-stitches, half-stitches, back-stitches and french knots (or other additional stitches your kit may include).

Decide where you are going to start your pattern. For my towel, I am starting with the turtle, then the stars, then the bubbles and details. On the seaside cottage kit I've shown, I started with the houses, then the sea, beach, trees, and sky.

Start by placing your fabric in the hoop. Loosen the screw and separate the two pieces. Place the smaller hoop under the fabric on a flat surface and place the large hoop on top, over the area you are working. Push them together and pull the fabric taut while you tighten the screw.

Find your first square and determine which color it is. Most of your stitches will be 2 strands. Each length of floss has 6 strands in it. Pull out one strand, fold it in half and thread the loose ends throw the eye of the needle.

Working from the back, insert the needle into the bottom left hole of your starting square, bring it through and insert it into the top right hole to make a diagonal stitch. Flip your fabric over and thread the needle through the loop of thread, pull tight, this will secure the thread and do it very neatly!

Keep stitching from left to right, bottom to top until you have completed the row as shown on your pattern. This is a half-stitch. If your pattern calls for this stitch, you can continue the next row by working right to left, the third row from left to right and so on.

To complete the cross stitch, insert the needle into the bottom right corner and cross over to the top left, working from right to left. Then do the next row from left to right, then right to left.

The back of the fabric will stay very neat by working this way. Here is what it should look like:

When you do not have enough thread to keep working, finish it by threading through the straight stitches on the back, 5 or 6 should be good, and cut the excess.

Sometimes you will realize you have made a mistake. Un-thread your needle and use it to pick out the incorrect stitches. Re-thread the needle and start working again.

You may also get knots while you work. To prevent them, let go of your needle every so often and let it unwind itself. If you do get a knot, insert the needle into the loop and tug, it should come right out. Some knots are tougher and may need more tinkering, but I have gotten 99% of my knots out.

One more thing, while 2 strands is the most common, sometimes your pattern will call for 1, 3, or tweeding, which is one strand of two different colors stitched together. When you are working like this you can't secure your first stitch with the loop. Leave a bit of a tail and work your first few stitches so that they cover the tail. This is pretty much the opposite of how you secure the end.

You can always email me or leave comments with questions. I'm happy to help.

Two Cleaning Mistakes

2010-02-21T16:17:00.000-05:00

Oh boy, I had two oopsies happen while cleaning this week.

While I was cleaning the bathrooms, I decided it would be good to throw the bath mats into the wash. Mine is light pink, hubby's is hunter green. Cut to me taking them out of the dryer....I now have a lovely sage green bath mat. At least it was an even dye job.

Then I gave the flooring by the front door a good scrub. The vinyl tiling is old and has lost it's protective coat, so the dirt gets in there fast and good. I guess I used a little too much elbow grease because my right shoulder and elbow were KILLING me for two days after. It took me quite a while to even realize why I was hurting so bad.

Live and learn, right?

50 Follower Give-away!!

2010-02-18T22:16:00.001-05:00

You did it!! You got me to 50 followers and I promised a give-away for helping me reach this goal! There is no sponsor for this give-away, it is my way of saying Thank You.

One lucky reader will win a Scentsy Starter Set. This includes the Plantation warmer and three scent bars:

This one is my absolute favorite!!

Mochadoodle Scentsy Bar - Delicious roasted coffee beans and cocoa balanced with sugar, caramel and heavy cream.

Rustic Lodge Scentsy Bar - Warm fragrance of cedar, oak and musk with traces of wood smoke and fallen leaves.

Toasted Caramel Sugar Scentsy Bar - Warm milk with caramelized sugar and toffee, swirled with the scent of sweet vanilla musk.

The warmers have a little light bulb inside that melts the wax. You can leave it on all day with no worries unlike a candle. The three scents included are yummy winter scents that will hopefully make these bleak last days of winter a bit more enjoyable.

My friend Jessica introduced me to Scentsy and you can go to her website - click here - to find out more about this unique brand. Scentsy is offering a 10% discount through the month of February, too.

Leave a comment and you are entered! I'll announce the winner on Tuesday.

Lavender Sachets

2010-02-18T11:02:00.000-05:00

I found these cute baby girl mittens around Christmas at where else? the Target $ spot. I love anything pink and green so I had to have them.

I also bought this bag of dried lavender after reading the memoir The Unlikely Lavender Queen by Jeannie Ralston. I fell so in love with her farm while reading the book - I had to have a piece of it.

The two together make the perfect pair. I filled up the mittens with the lavender to make sachets, sewed the tops shut and added some floral embellishments. Now my drawers are smelling lovely.

My Face Is On!

2010-02-17T13:10:00.003-05:00

I have a confession: I used to be a beauty addict. The evidence: you may have seen another blog on my profile - champagne and lipgloss. A few years ago I was writing about make-up everyday. And yes, that means I was buying new stuff almost as often.

I am so much better now, but when I saw that Beth at Stories of A to Z was having a Get Your Face On Party I was in!!

Here is all my make-up. I used to have at least double this.

And here I am with nothing on my face.

E-gad - break-outs and all. I made it through my teens with fairly clear skin and then found myself battling the breakouts in my 20s - what gives? I swear I look better in person. I go out a lot with no make-up. Grocery shopping, other errands. Sometimes I could care less. Or sometimes I care enough to put on mascara.

One thing I noticed while taking this picture was that my eyebrows were more jacked up than I realized. So before I did my make-up, I tweezed and trimmed my eyebrows. Yes trimmed - I was born with the most luscious, full unibrow you could imagine. My mom started tweezing the middle when I was 7. I had some pretty enlightening school photos. So there isn't much still growing between them, but they are very long and curly and I have to trim them.

And here I am with my normal make-up. Yes, I wear a lot. I know for a lot of you this probably looks like night make-up, but this is day for me. For night I would just darken up my eyes more. My look is always a darker eye and lighter glossy lip.

Here is what I used:

foundation primer

foundation

under-eye concealer

blemish/redness concealer

powder

eye-shadow primer

eye-liner (inside upper and lower rims) doing this really makes your lashes look fuller as it fills in all the gaps

vanilla eye shadow

light brown eyeshadow

sparkly wine eyeshadow

two coats mascara

bronzer

blush

lipstick

lipgloss

So there you have it, or me I guess.

UPDATE: SMOKY EYE HOW-TO
A lot of people have been commenting on my smoky eye and eye-liner - it is so easy, you can do it too!
I like to line my eyes first. This is the most intense and dramatic of the liner, shadow, mascara trifecta. By doing the liner first I can better judge the intensity of the final result. If I did my shadow first I might go too heavy and then adding the liner would be too much.
I start by pulling down my lower lid so I can see the rim inside my lashes. Use a mechanical or pencil liner and color that line in. Fool-proof - you don't make the line, your eye does it for you. Then place the liner in the corner of the rim, close your eyes a bit and run it along the top. Doing the bottom is pretty easy, your eyes may water the first time though. Doing the top is Bizarre. This will take a lot more practice and getting used to. For a long time I was able to only do the outer corner. I could not get the pencil to deposit color on the inner corner, but it still looked good. Just take it as far as you can. Any color helps intensify your lashes. The liner is going to boost your mascara by filling in your lash line. This will help make you lashes look lush and full. I use Chanel Style Yeux in Ebene, yes it is expensive but I love it.

You need three eyeshadows, a light, medium and dark. I used Brule, Cork and Trax - all MAC. I also used the sephora professional #10 brush "fluffy eyeshadow" and MAC 219 "pencil brush".
I used the fluffy brush to blend the light color all over my lids up to my brows. My blending motion are small moving circles. Then I do the same thing with the medium color just on the lids, from the outside and stop where the white of my eye starts again. This keeps that inner corner light. I also blend it from the outer corner up on the diagonal to the edge of my brow. Start with a little bit of color on your brush. You can always add more, but if you do too much you may need to start over. You can smudge out mistakes by blending a lighter color over the mistake area.
Then use the pointy pencil brush to dot the dark color onto/into your crease. This just depends how deepset your eyes are. Mine are pretty deep. Then use your fluffy brush to blend the dark color in. No color on the fluffy brush this time. Apply with the pointy and blend with the fluffy.

Right now I am loving MAC Studio Fix Lash. Place the brush at the base of your lashes and wiggle it while slowly moving it up. Then do a couple swipes. I use a metal comb to separate my lashes after.

Some times it is easier to watch when you are trying to learn make-up application, and since I am an ex-addict and not an artist, you should check out Kandee Johnson on youtube. She is a pro make-up artist and I love her videos. She does the same eyeliner that I do and she does lots of smoky eyes, too. Dig around all her videos, some of the ones from last spring are the best. I love her Carrie Underwood and Megan Fox looks.

Family, Couple? Sign

2010-02-16T20:10:00.001-05:00

My nuclear family is just my husband and me. When I refer to my family, I'm talking about my parents and siblings. Ronnie and I are just a couple; just the two of us. I feel weird calling us a family since we don't have kids yet. Hence the title of this post.

On to the crafting!! I had all these leftover sticks from my christmas ornaments and I knew that I wanted to make a fence out of them after the holidays.

I hot glued them all together...

And started to paint. I mixed antique white acrylic paint with a drop of burnt umber to get a nice cafe au lait color.

I don't have any ralph lauren glaze, sniff sniff, so I mixed more of the burnt umber into water to make my own. I wanted this little sign to look like a weathered old fence. I was so happy with the results, I had to restrain myself from glazing my entire apt.!!

I used the cricut and contact paper to make stencils - last name, year we got married*, cute bird on a branch.

I needed to get some blue/turquoise paint. Since these paints are on sale for 25cents each this week at Micheal's, I stocked up :)

And here is my new little beauty. I used burnt umber and laguna blue (top row, fourth from left) paints and added a key embellishment and some ribbon.

I used that E-6000 glue to attach the key and some wooden triangles on the back so it would stand up. Boy is that stuff stinky!! It was also globbing up and not very fun to work with. I have seen so many crafty bloggers raving about this - any tips for me on how to love this, too?

*yes we are going on 7 years and have no kids. why? we were both 19 when we got married. ~~he is~~ we are close to ready but not quite there.

Cross Stitching Series - Prepping Your Kit

2010-02-15T12:03:00.003-05:00

Welcome to Part 2 of the cross stitching series. If you missed Part 1, click below.

1) Selecting a Kit

2) Prepping your Kit

3) The Stitches and following a pattern

4) Outlines (back stitch) and Details

5) Personalizing a kit

6) Finishing and Framing

Now that you have your kit, there are a few things we need to do before we start stitching.
I am going to be working on a child's hooded towel kit as we go through the process. It is a terry cloth towel with aida fabric in the hood.
Let's open it up and make sure that everything is included. Most kits will contain Aida fabric, colored thread, needle(s) and instructions. Some will also have a thread palette and accessories for the finished design.

Grab a gallon or freezer size plastic zip bag to keep all of the contents of your kit in one place. This is will also keep everything clean and protected when you are not working. You should also place your hoop and embroidery scissors inside {if you don't have embroidery scissors, any small pointy scissors will work, even manicure scissors).

There are two more things to do before we are ready to start - sort colors and prep the fabric.

If your kit included a thread palette, lucky you. If not, they are so easy to make! Just take an index card or a piece of card stock and punch a hole for each of your colors {if you have more than 6 lengths of any color, give it two holes}. Your pattern will have a key for the colors - it will tell you the colors, how many lengths of each are included, and the symbols used for each color. Sort the colors by the order they are listed on your chart and label each color. DO NOT CUT THE THREAD.

Now the fabric for the kit I am starting is already a finished part of the towel, so I can skip this step, you can too if yours is finished or you have a plastic canvas. Otherwise, the edges of the fabric need to be protected from fraying. Use some of your own thread for a blanket stitch around the perimeter. If you have a different stitch you prefer, use it, as long as it will prevent fraying.

Next, fold your cloth in half width-wise and length-wise. This will mark your center point. Most kits will tell you to start working here. That drives me nuts!! I need to start my pattern from the top and work down, so here is my special tip for the day. All patterns are marked with darker lines that separate the pattern into 10x10 squares. I use black thread and insert my needle into the center from the back. Count up 10 squares and go back in. My pattern has 34 lines above center, so I have 2 black lines showing, and I have taken the thread back through to the front 4 squares later. I then do the same running stitch working towards the left corner, then go back to the middle and work towards the right corner. I now have a T shaped grid that corresponds to the grid on my pattern.

Take your time doing your prep work, this will make the whole process much easier. Please comment with any questions - I'm here to help! It's also a good idea to read all the information in your kit.
Next week we will go over how to read your pattern and how to make the stitches.

Clipboard Makeover

2010-02-13T10:53:00.000-05:00

One of my daily musts are the crossword puzzles my aunt got me hooked on while I was visiting back in January. You can get hooked, too - click here.

I print the puzzle, attach it to my clipboard, try my best, check my answers online, cheat a little, and then I'm done!! But I am getting better at them and cheating less :)

My clipboard, you ask? It was plain brown, but now she {oh yes, it has become a she} has been dolled up to make my puzzle time even more fun!

scrapbook paper front and back, grosgrain ribbon, glitter die-cuts

Let's Get Organized

2010-02-09T15:20:00.001-05:00

The DC area got one of the biggest snow storms this area has ever seen on Saturday. The federal government is still closed, which means hubby is home with me!! Our car is blocked in by snow, so we took a walk to the grocery store today - can you believe some of the side roads are still not plowed? And we are getting another foot today?!?

Anyway, all this time cooped up at home means I needed to get my desk organized. Look at that mess!

Everything needed to be put away, and that meant I needed to find a box for my files. I was about to through away my dremel box, when I realized it was perfect for a revamp. I started by opening it up and cutting off the top.

Then I angled the sides to mimic store bought file boxes.

And hot glued it back together.

Then it was time for mod-podge!! I used some Martha Stewart Wrapping paper I bought when she first launched her line at Micheal's. I was able to cover the whole box using one piece of paper.

Here she is all finished and filled up.

Aah, now my desk is all nice and clean and perfect for the list of projects I have to work on. {the file box is not in the pic because it is tucked away in a cabinet}

Cross Stitching Series - Selecting a Kit

2010-02-08T15:53:00.006-05:00

I'm really excited to start my very first series. I've never taught anyone how to do cross stitch before, so this is going to be a new experience for me.

I've broken this series into 6 topics:

1) Selecting a Kit

2) Prepping your Kit

3) The Stitches and following a pattern

4) Outlines (back stitch) and Details

5) Personalizing a kit

6) Finishing and Framing

Sometimes I think the hardest part of making any cross stitch project is picking out a kit! There are so many styles out there, and most of them don't appeal to me. I really do not want to make a snowy owl, a geisha, a Navajo scene, or a menacing tiger, so sorting through all of these kits to find ones I like can sometimes be challenging.

Two of my favorite themes are babies and Christmas. I rarely see a baby pattern that I don't find adorable, and the birth records make wonderful keepsakes. The Christmas ones are also very cute, and you can make banners like the one I did below, stockings and ornaments.

There are also lots of other cute kits, but I usually find those by digging through all of junk to find the good stuff. I also prefer to shop for kits online instead of Micheal's or Joann's, etc. b.c the stores often have a very limited selection and they tend to stock all the kits I don't want.

Dimensions is a great brand and you can shop from their website - just remember, we are looking at counted cross stitch kits.

Twinkle Twinkle Birth Record

(this is the one I made for my cousin)

ModZoo Birth Record

I'm really excited about the website I found this morning doing research for this post, The Stitchery, I have never found such an abundance of kits I love all in one place, take a look at what I found:

Trimming the Tree Stocking

Penguin Ornament Set

Where Your Story Begins

Wedding Record

Spring Jar Wrapper

Olive Branch Sachets

I have never seen the jar wrappers or sachets before. The sachets even come with lavender to fill them when you are done!

The kits come with everything you need to work on your projects except for the hoop. I have 5", 7", 9" and 12" hoops so that I can choose the appropriate size for my canvas. The fabric for the kit I am working on now is 22" x 11" so I am working with a 9" hoop. You should choose a hoop that is 2-3 inches less than the shorter length of your fabric. I didn't see hoops on either of the sites above, but I bought all of mine at Micheal's and Walmart (in the fabric, not craft, section).

Next week, we'll go over how to prep your kit.

A Gift for My Brother

2010-02-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

My brother is one cool cat. He went to school for film editing and he has worked on some pretty cool projects since graduating - including music videos for Def Jam.

He is also in a band, Royal City Riot. They are a Reggae band and my brother plays the organ a.k.a. keyboard.

I found this clapper keychain at Michaels on super sale and I had to buy it for him. I finally got around to getting it ready to mail to him. You like?

I cut the city scene from the Plantin cricut cartridge and his bands logo and glued them onto black cardstock. I love how to logo kind of looks like a moon.

I dipped a pencil into white-out to write on the plastic.

I hope he likes it and doesn't think it is too cutesy.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2010-02-07T07:00:00.001-05:00

There is a law that you have to bake on snowy days, right, no? They should pass one.

I've been wanting to try Red Velvet cupcakes for a while and today was the perfect day to make them. I used the recipe from Martha Stewart Cupcakes {the link will take you to the recipe on her site} The whole time I was in the kitchen, I was singing Black Velvet to myself, expect I only know the chorus and I'm sure I have the words all wrong.

After mixing the sugar, oil and eggs, I added the red gel coloring - Yowza! that is bright.

They toned down quite a bit after baking. They are more of a red/brown.

Add some cream cheese frosting and viola, scrum-diddly-umptious.

Here are a few of my attempts at artsy cupcake shots:

My Crafting Secret

2010-02-06T11:03:00.000-05:00

Before I ever started working on all the crafts and projects that I have been sharing here, I started cross-stitching. I got hooked in the summer of 2004 and wow, it has been almost 6 years!! I always seem to get really into it for a while, then lose interest and it takes me a really long time to pick it back up again. One example - I started working on a birth announcement for my aunt when she was pregnant with her first baby. I took about a year long break and finished it in time to give it to her second baby.

The project above was started last summer, it's probably been about 6 months since I've worked on it. It's almost finished, I'm now working on the rest of the sky and then I have all the outlining to do. I know that cross-stitching is something I'll always go in and out of wanting to do. The stitching process can be very soothing and I love how the Aida fabric makes neat, perfect stitches so easy. I'm very type A, so I love all the counting and how easy it is to make it perfect.

I don't know if this is something that interests you all; I don't think I've ever seen someone share a cross-stitch project before. But please let me know if this interests you or not, and if it does I have lots of tips to share.

Sweatshirt Revamp

2010-02-04T14:58:00.000-05:00

When I took my trip to Florida last month, I did not pack for the cold weather we ended up having. I was quickly running out of warm tops so I picked up a couple of sweatshirts - one of which was a navy zip-up from Target. It is very cozy and very warm - it is also very plain.

I found some little Fleur de Lis iron on patches at Michaels and it has taken me til today, a whole month later to finally decorate my sweatshirt!!

I put a silver one on the hood and three more on the front pocket. I was really hoping to find a very large design to put on the back, but I couldn't find something I liked.

In other news, the leak behind my fridge has been repaired, but the drip inside has come back. I'm pretty sure it is about 20 years old {I can't believe 1990 was 20 years ago!!} and I think it just needs to be replaced - but as a renter it's not my call.

The DC area is expecting 10-12 inches of snow tonight which means a snow day - third time in a week!

A Quest for Clean

2010-01-31T13:44:00.002-05:00

Oh boy, this is going to be a long story...

Let's go back to 2006. Two huge books were published that I wanted very much: Emily Post's Etiquette: 17th Edition and Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook. I bought Emily first and my plan was to read that cover-to-cover and then buy Martha.

Let's skip to the end of 2009, I'm only about halfway through Emily. I realized if it took me 3 years to read half that book, it will take me another 3 to finish, so I went ahead and ordered Martha from amazon.

Before I even left my job I knew that the biggest task I wanted to accomplish once it was over was all of the cleaning I never had the time nor the energy to tackle before. And my method for accomplishing this? Read through Martha and clean each item as she lists it.

The book starts in the kitchen, so that's were I started. So far I've wiped the cabinets, cleaned out drawers, cleaned the sink and disposal, the range and hood, the microwave, and then yesterday - the fridge.

Amusing Cleaning Story #1

Up until yesterday, none of this was exciting and certainly not worth blogging about. Cleaning the fridge was not a big deal, except I knew the coils had to be vacuumed because we have a constant drip in the fridge. I'd never done it before because the thought of unplugging the fridge and vacuuming it scared me. But I bucked up and did it!! And the dripping inside stopped!!

But then... a few hours later I noticed a puddle coming out from underneath the fridge. Hmm, I thought "I must've got the drip pan to spill out a bit", so I cleaned it and no prob. But the puddle kept coming back so I pulled out the fridge and discovered the source - the water line had a drip close to the wall. I tried to sop it up and put towels along the wall to try to prevent more puddles. I kept staring at, willing it to stop and getting frustrated that I didn't know how to fix it. My husband kept saying, "call maintenance that's what they are for" but I knew no one could come until morning. I even had bizarre kitchen themed dreams....

The maintenance guy came today and confirmed that the pipe is busted. He turned off the valve, which was under the sink - a ha! I was looking for it behind the fridge, esp. because the sink is on the opposite wall. Tomorrow they are coming to repair the pipe - torches on fire and all.

Less than two weeks into my cleaning project and catastrophe strikes!! What else is going to happen? Either way I'm sure I'll have wacky stories or tips I've discovered {like below}, and of course a cleaner home!

New and Better Ways to Clean

2 cups water + 2 tbsp. dishwashing liquid = all purpose spray cleaner

Valentines Mantel

2010-01-28T20:21:00.001-05:00

Up until now, my mantel has served a very important purpose in our apt - my husband used it to store his wallet, watch, keys and misc. junk at the end of the day. Ahhh! It drove me crazy. Every Christmas I'd steal it back, but after the decorations get put away, he would inevitably take it over once again. 2010 is the year of reclaiming the mantel. I knew I had to act fast so he couldn't get to it before I did.

Last Friday I went to Homegoods with two things in mind: Mantels and Valentines. And Homegoods treated me right. The centerpiece of the whole mantel is the awesome mirror I found for $40. Love it!!

The clear glass was $5 and the red one was $3. Right now the clear has conversation hearts in it and the red has a tea light. The red will probably go away for spring, but the clear can hold any seasonal item throughout the year.

The candle stick is one of my family pieces. Sadly, the other candlestick broke in transit :( I used to have the photo in our bedroom, but it works well for the holiday esp. because we are sitting at a red banquet.

The be mine sign was another homegoods find and the pink heart came from michaels.

I'll still be on the lookout for both seasonal and permanent pieces to add - I'd like it to be a bit more full. I'm just so happy that it's mine and it's cute.

Linking up to Beth's Mantel Party

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