Winner/ 3-D apple art

Thanks everyone for entering. Our first give-way winner is Jen. Congrats!!! Please e-mail me lilbirdz1@yahoo.com to claim your prize.

By the way, I've had a few questions on what it means to "follow" a blog. Pretty much the same as "liking" something on facebook. You won't get any e-mails or be contacted in anyway. It's just a way of saying, "I think this is a fun blog". So if you think this is a fun blog, please become a "follower".

So I loved the above idea. Find the link here

I thought it would be cool to make one of my own. First, I thought I'd do something for St. Patty's, but then I decided to make an apple for my kitchen.

Step 1: Find a bunch of small objects. I mostly used a bunch of assorted buttons. Then I Sprayed painted them w/ my oil-rubbed bronze (man am I getting my money's worth out of that can). Tip: Spray paint objects in a box it cuts down on the over spray.

I used a piece of fabric and wrapped it around a piece of 8x10 cardboard. Then I cut out a piece of card stock in the shape of an apple to use as a guide. And then hot glued all my little goodies on the fabric.

After comparing mine to the original, I think I like the original better. I may re-do it w/ fatter objects. Also, I just noticed that my stem is a little long and it looks more like a cherry than an apple. Stay tuned.

2 Minute Stencilled Brownies

My hubby works with the 12-18 year old boys at our church, creatively named "Young Men".

Sunday night they had a planning meeting for the adult leaders and my daughter made treats. She was frustrated with our lack of ingredients to fancy them up. She finally asked, "Can we just stencil something w/ powdered sugar on top?" We busted out our regular Cricut and the "Inspired Heart" cartridge and cut out "Young Men" in size 5 1/2 on card stock. Then we laid the cut-out on top and sprinkled on the sugar. (I took pics of the during, but they didn't turn out so use your imagination.)

I think it worked out pretty well and we are so doing this again.

If you haven't had a chance yet, please enter my give-away here. Currently you have a 10% chance of winning!

Contest ends @ midnight on Feb 22. Good Luck!

St. Patty's Decor

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I'm exhausted and a little excite that the kiddos all have to go to school to make up a snow-day. At first I was upset and thought it un-American to have to go to school on President's Day. Then I realized that my kids would all be in school and my hubby would be home. That's the makings for a great holiday. So remember this (If not click here)? I had never decorated for V-day (and certainly never St. Patty's Day) before and so when I made these, I stenciled St. Patty's Day stuff on the back. So I just flipped them all over. Twice the decor and 1/2 the storage.

Since my living room is already green, I made them black and white and used my Paperdolls Dress-up Cricut Cartridge (click on the v-day link for more details).

I have a few more ideas to Irish up my house so stay tuned.

If you're new. Welcome. I love clicking my stats and learning that I have readers all over the world. 

What I'm reading Fridays:Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

First of all, my coaster idea is working AWESOME-only 5 dirty glasses. The kiddo's thought it was really fun to each get their own custom coasters and they actually followed through. Hopefully we're not just in a honeymoon phase. I'll update you in a month.


Amazon Best of the Month, April 2009: It's the beginning of a lazy summer in 1950 at the sleepy English village of Bishop's Lacey. Up at the great house of Buckshaw, aspiring chemist Flavia de Luce passes the time tinkering in the laboratory she's inherited from her deceased mother and an eccentric great uncle. When Flavia discovers a murdered stranger in the cucumber patch outside her bedroom window early one morning, she decides to leave aside her flasks and Bunsen burners to solve the crime herself, much to the chagrin of the local authorities. But who can blame her? What else does an eleven-year-old science prodigy have to do when left to her own devices? With her widowed father and two older sisters far too preoccupied with their own pursuits and passions—stamp collecting, adventure novels, and boys respectively—Flavia takes off on her trusty bicycle Gladys to catch a murderer. In Alan Bradley's critically acclaimed debut mystery, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, adult readers will be totally charmed by this fearless, funny, and unflappable kid sleuth. But don't be fooled: this carefully plotted detective novel (the first in a new series) features plenty of unexpected twists and turns and loads of tasty period detail. As the pages fly by, you'll be rooting for this curious combination of Harriet the Spy and Sherlock Holmes. Go ahead, take a bite. --Lauren Nemroff

I read a lot and am always on the lookout for a good book recommendation. I saw this on my friend's blog here .

You should check out here review, b/c it is much better than mine and I love her favorite quotes section.

She mentioned that her son loved it and so I thought it would be a great book that both my daughter and I could enjoy. She never really got into, but she's super busy and isn't doing any reading. I'll have her try again this summer.

Except for a few chapters I read at a kid's practice, I listened to it while sewing for my etsy shop. I actually actually, enjoyed the audio version so much more. It was just such a great story to be read aloud. It could also be that sewing is more fun than sitting at basketball practice.

I fell instantly in love with the precocious Flavia. She reminded me a little of Anne from Green Gable's fame. I also loved all the references she constantly made. If the the Gilmore Girls were set in 1950's England and were obsessed with Chemistry, it might be something like this book.

Overall it was simply charming and a much needed break from "teenage paranormal romance". (does anyone else feel like the publishing world these days is a little stuck on vampires?)

There's a few more in the series. I'm a little scared to check them out. I can't imagine they will be as good.

Too many dirty glasses solution

I made the coaster on the right last year for teacher/neighbor gifts. I just found a Christmas stamp and used a permanent ink pad. I put on a good coat of polyurethane. My youngest's teacher like them so much, so requested some non-holiday ones for everyday use. I whipped up some with her initials out of vinyl. Since they were such a success and we've moved cross-country, I made some more this Christmas.  They are super quick and cheap -each tile only costs about $.30.  So much better than coffe mugs and lotions (trust me every elementary school teacher in America has a cupboard full of mugs and baskets full of lotions).

This is what my kitchen looks like on a regular basis. No we did not have a party and there are only 5 people in my family. All the dirty glasses drive me crazy-especially since most only held water. I've tried assigning everyone a color-coded glass or writing names on each glass, but it didn't work. I decided to make each member of our family a coaster (and a few extra for guests) and then institute corporal punishment for anyone that doesn't put their glass on the assigned coaster.

I bought these tiles at Lowe's for about .30 a piece. You can use those felt furniture protecting pads, but I was out. Instead, I used a hole punch, some craft foam, and craft glue to make my own

I was going to do initials, but thought symbols would be more fun. I used these 2 cartridges

Then I stuck the vinyl on each coaster and sprayed them w/ a quick coat of polyurethane. Easy Peasy.

Guess which one is mine?

Mom's 60th B-day Gift

Subway art is so prevalent on all the craft blogs these days it's almost a cliche. However, I love it and my Mom doesn't read craft blogs. She mentioned a while ago that she needed something to hang by the front door and I thought this would be perfect. She loved it and it was hanging by the front door before she blew out her candles.
There are lots of tutorials out there, but this is how I made mine:
Step 1-Paint large canvas black
Step 2 -Cut out a bunch of sayings with freezer paper
Step 3-realize that freezer paper will not adhere to painted surfaces and re-cut out everything w/ contact paper.
Step 4-Paint in the stencils
Step 5-remove contact paper
Step 6-Mix one part glaze w/ 4 parts paint and apply to canvas. Rub off excess.

Romantic dinner for 5

Since a romantic candlelight dinner wasn't going to happen, I thought I'd make a special kid-friendly Valentine Meal. It really wasn't any more work than normal-just more fun.

I feel I missed the opportunity to make the craisans into a heart before I tossed the salad-next year.

Spinach Salad
(My kid's don't love veggies, but will eat this stuff like it's Captain Crunch. We eat this salad a few nights a week)
Blend in blender:
3/4 cups olive oil
3/4 cups red wine vinegar
1 cup sugar (or splenda)
3/4 t dry mustard
1 1/2 ts salt
1/2 red onion

Mix w/ spinach, craisans, candy almonds, chopped red onion. (it gets soggy fast, so don't put the dressing on until right before you serve it)

*How to make candy almonds: Put a few Tb of white sugar in a pan on medium heat and throw in some sliced almonds. Stir until the sugar melts and coats the almonds. (It takes about 5 minutes and smells amazing).

Mom's Meatloaf
(b/c what says I love you more than heart-shaped meat)
Growing up, I could never figure out why meatloaf has a reputation of being only slightly tastier than liver and onions. My Mom's was always awesome. As an adult, I've had the misfortune of eating dry spongy masses that other people call meatloaf. However, this one is like a big yummy gourmet burger and even my pickiest kid had thirds. Trust me.
Mix together (works best w/ your hands)
2 beaten eggs
2/3 cups milk
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 slices cubed bread
chopped onion
2 lb ground beef
Bake @350 for 1 hour.
Mix together:
1/4 cup catsup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1T mustard
Frost meatloaf w/ catsup mixture and return to over for 15-20 more minutes.
I always double the sauce so I have some to serve w/ the meatloaf.

Pink mash potatoes

Fruit pizza

(can you see the heart. My fruit-art skills could use a little work)

It was a fun, tasty meal.