Uncommon Artistic Endeavors

Dollar Tree Custom Candleholders

2011-11-19T22:33:00.011-06:00

I like to have pretty matching candles for all of my table settings. I also like to make something useful out of a Dollar Tree find. I was able to do both for this table setting in my dining room. I have done this project before with a smaller candleholder here. I found a great tablecloth with 8 matching napkins on sale at World Market. It has a beautiful, brightly colored print on it. I happened to have different shades of tissue paper that matched the colors in my tablecloth. I bought 5 of the thick square holders at the Dollar Tree. This project was easy and it took only a few minutes to do.

You will need:
Elmer's or Alene's Tacky Glue
tissue paper
paintbrush
glass candleholders

Tear the tissue into small pieces. Reserve the edges for the tops of the holders. The straight edge looks better. I've mentioned the World Market tissue paper before. It's really pretty because it has fibers in it that show when the candle is lit. It looks like handmade paper. No, I don't work for World Market. I should, though. If you don't have a World Market in your area, here is a link to buy the tissue paper. It's called Mulberry Tissue and it comes in 2 colors per pack.

Paint the glue onto the container with a paintbrush. Dilute the paint with water if it's thick.

Add the strips of tissue, one overlapping another, until it is covered. You can see the upper edge of it in this picture and how nice it looks to not be ragged on the top.

I really like how they turned out. Definitely not like I bought them at the Dollar Tree.

I love candlelight. So cozy and peaceful.

These would be great as gifts, too!

Pretzel Candy

2011-11-18T22:37:00.005-06:00

This is a very quick and easy candy recipe that Amby told me about. Different versions of it can be found all over Pinterest. You will need pretzels, Rolos, and M&M's.

Cover a cookie sheet with parchment. Lay out the pretzels and place a Rolo on top of each one.

Bake at 350 for 1-2 minutes. This is just to get the Rolos slightly melted. Lightly press an M&M into each one. I used peanut M&M's but you can use your favorite.

Chill until hardened. These are very tasty and really cute for a party.

Colla Voce in Concert

2011-11-12T16:05:00.003-06:00

The vocal ensemble that I am a part of is performing on Tuesday, November 29. The music is beautiful and the concert is free. If you live near the Birmingham area, it would be a great way to start your Christmas season!

Cozy Autumn Decorating

2011-10-30T11:31:00.011-05:00

I love to decorate for Autumn. It is such a pleasant transition into cooler weather, chili, pumpkins, and Alabama Football (RTR!!). This is how I decorated my kitchen table this year. The tablecloth is a twin size comforter. The post about it, and more decorating ideas can be found here. I got the owl at Hobby Lobby 50% off and I found the lanterns at a yard sale. The soft glow is courtesy of World Market's new battery candles. It is a simple table, yet it makes a strong autumnal statement.

My pumpkins came from Melinda Smith's famous Pumpkin Party, plus a few from Publix. Here are some of them on my back porch. The crates are American Eagle props, (thanks Zac). I like them because they say EST 1977 on the side, and that's the year Gil and I started dating.

I used more of my pumpkins on our mantel. I added the candleholders I made last year and a strand of bittersweet. I was very happy with my mantel, but my fireplace was sadly lacking...

Ew. I know.

A few weeks ago, I was at my friend Tammy's house. She has a really great fireplace and she and another friend, Terri, had created this cool burlap/rope light treatment at the bottom. I loved it and I thought that would work in mine as well.

So I bought an 18 foot rope light from Walmart and looped it under the logs.

I bought 2 yards of sneezy burlap from Hancock, cut it in half lengthwise, and covered the lights with it.

It is a very easy and inexpensive way to to give your fireplace a cozy glow.

Thanks Tammy and Terri for the wonderful idea!

Super Creepy Halloween Crackers

2011-10-26T11:20:00.000-05:00

We had a Halloween lunch at work the other day, and I wanted to make some special treats for my friends. I decided to make personalized Halloween crackers filled with candy. The full tutorial with measurements, etc, can be found here.

I realized that I didn't have any Halloween scrapbook paper, so I searched online and found a great website from the UK called Activity Village. They had some very fun patterns.

I printed the paper onto 8 1/2 x 11 white card stock. You can cut two from each page.

I organized my candy so that everyone got the same amount.

I made personalized labels with a very scary font that I found on dafont.com. I also added spooky eyes.

And, voila! A basket full of super creepy treats.

ACLS and BLS Certification Classes

2011-10-23T21:28:00.002-05:00

This year, it became a requirement to become ACLS certified at the hospital where I work. The prospect of having to accomplish this was very stressful. Fortunately I found Brant Bice, a firefighter and paramedic, who has been teaching CPR for several years. He can come to your home, church, or workplace and teach CPR and ACLS. He provides a comfortable and enjoyable atmosphere, which is very conducive to learning. He uses the American Heart Association 2010 guidelines and combines it with his interesting insight and experiences. We just took his class and loved it. I'm very glad I found him.

If you are in the Alabama area, and are interested in BLS or ACLS, you can contact him at www.bbicecpr.com.

Mossy Pumpkin Wreath

2011-10-23T10:27:00.004-05:00

(Sorry I have been away from here for so long! I've been busy with work, family, and other various doodads. I have several ideas just waiting in the wings, and I should be able to get them posted over the next several days.)

Autumn is such cozy time of year and I love to decorate for it. I wanted to do a wreath for my back porch door and I found a picture of a beautiful one on Pinterest. There was no tutorial for it, so I had to improvise. It turned out to be really fun, although it was a bit time-consuming.

The supplies you will need are:

styrofoam wreath, preferably green, not white like mine
green paint (if your wreath turns out to be white like mine)
2 large bags of moss
about 5 small pumpkins
hot glue gun
long strip of burlap
Mod Podge Clear Acrylic Sealer

As I mentioned, my wreath was white, so I had to paint it. Mossy green spray paint would have been an ideal choice, but all I had were various shades of green acrylic paint, which I mixed together.

Oddly enough, it worked.

I painted it on the wreath and it took a couple of hours to dry. You don't have to cover it perfectly.

Once the paint is dry, you can glue the moss onto the wreath a piece at a time. I tore some of it to fit. I don't have a photo of this step. Sorry. It's probably because I was too busy burning my fingers.

Once the moss is on the wreath, glue the pumpkins on. Make sure you use lots of glue. After I glued them on, I interspersed bits of moss between the pumpkins and glued that in as well. You will be able to see that in the last photo. Spray with acrylic sealer. The moss will shed if you don't.

I tied on the burlap strip as a hanger and hung it on my door.

I recommend this project! It was fun to do and I loved the result.

Western Skillet Eggs

2011-08-21T05:22:00.002-05:00

This is a recipe that I found in the Food Network Magazine, the October 2010 issue. I followed it fairly closely, but did a slightly reduced version with 5 instead of 8 eggs. I also used onion instead of shallots, I didn't use parsley, and I added fresh rosemary. It was delicious. Perfect for a weekend breakfast.

Western Skillet Eggs

1/2 cup half-and-half or whole milk
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Kosher salt and black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 shallots, sliced
2 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 large green bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch strips
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 pound thinly sliced ham, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 slices sourdough bread, torn into pieces (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus more for topping
8 large eggs

Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Whisk the half-and-half, cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper to taste in a small bowl.

Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and cook until just softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the bell peppers; cook until the peppers are soft and the shallots are golden, 5 to 6 more minutes. Add the tomatoes, ham, bread, parsley and 1/4 cup water and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. Remove from the heat.

Make 8 evenly spaced indentations in the bread mixture with the bottom of a ladle or small measuring cup. Crack an egg into each indentation. Slowly pour the half-and-half mixture over the eggs. Bake, rotating the skillet a few times, until the whites are set, about 15 minutes. Top with parsley.

Assemble your ingredients.

Saute in an oven-proof skillet.

Make indentations for the eggs.

Crack an egg into each indentation.

Carefully pour 1/2 and 1/2 over the eggs and other ingredients.

Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes, depending on how set you want the eggs to be.

Melinda's Annual Pumpkin Party!

2011-08-18T18:57:00.002-05:00

It's that time again! Melinda is hosting another pumpkin party! She has the best, most beautiful pumpkins I have ever seen. Her party this year is Saturday, September 24 from 11-2.

Come for a relaxing day with beautiful scenery.

477 Lake Road (Chandler Mountain)
Steele, Al

Directions: From Bham, take I-59 N to the Steele Exit.
At the exit, turn left. Go 1/4 mile to Hwy 11.
Turn left and go 1/4 mile to County Road 42 (Chandler Mountain Road). Turn right.
This will take you up Chandler Mountain. As you top the mountain, look for Chandler Mountain Baptist Church on your right. Take the third paved road past the church, which is Lake Road. Turn right onto Lake Road. The Smith house is the 3rd house on the left.

I hope to see you there!

Happy Birthday Roman!

2011-07-20T18:58:00.002-05:00

My sweet little grandson, Roman, is one year old today. He is adorable and hilarious. He has a delightful smile that will warm your heart and light up your life. We are so glad he is here!

Amby made this sweet video of his first year. Happy Birthday Ro!

The Coconut Macaroon

2011-06-26T13:11:00.002-05:00

I love coconut macaroons. To me, the perfect macaroon is chewy on the outside and moist on the inside. The best ones I've ever eaten were in San Francisco. Despite my ardent fondness for them, I'd never tried to make them before.

I found this coconut macaroon mix at World Market the other day. I was impressed with the fact that it was made from ALL NATURAL ingredients. You simply add water and egg whites. It couldn't be easier.

Beat the egg whites and water with an electric mixer.

Pour into a medium bowl with the macaroon mix and beat until moistened.

Roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake according to the directions. I baked mine baked at 325° for about 20 minutes.

Until they were golden brown. Mmmmm.

They were delicious! Moist on the inside and chewy on the outside. I highly recommend this mix if you are a fan of the macaroon.

Though I wouldn't mind a trip back to San Francisco...

Julia Child Brownies, Squared

2011-05-30T16:41:00.000-05:00

My favorite brownie recipe is by Julia Child from her cookbook, Baking with Julia. They are moist, chewy, and full of intense chocolate flavor. I posted the recipe a while back and it is here. The reason I posted it again is because I tried them in a new pan. The pan on the left is one I found at Target. It is the equivalent to a regular muffin tin. I have used it for cornbread, brownies, muffins (peach), and individual meatloaves. The square shape just makes it more fun.

The pan on the right is a new one. I found it at Michaels in the Wilton section. It would be the equivalent to a mini-muffin tin and it is made of silicone.

Silicone pans are easy to use, help prevent overbaking, and can even fold for storage.

If you haven't tried a silicone pan yet, one thing you need to know is that you have to place it on top of a cookie sheet to stabilize it.

These are the brownies after I baked them. It's good to let them cool a few minutes before you try to pop them out.

Then let them finish cooling on a rack.

A sprinkle of confectioners is essential.

These are so good, and perfect for any occasion that calls for chocolate, which is every occasion.

Cheesecake in a Jar

2011-05-24T19:46:00.007-05:00

These individual cheesecakes are really fun to make and absolutely delicious. This recipe came from i am baker, which is an adorable blog, and different versions of it can also be found at several other sites if you want to google it. It is similar to the Pies Baked in a Jar post that I did, but easier because you don't have to bake it. I had never made a no-bake cheesecake before, but it is definitely the way to go with these. These would make great party favors or teacher gifts, and would be perfect for a picnic.

Cheesecake in a Jar

12- half pint ball jars
1 - 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2/3 cups melted butter
6 tbsp sugar
3- 8 oz. packages cream cheese softened
3- 14 oz. cans sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 can cherry pie filling

Yield: 12

I used these really cute, squatty, half-pint Ball jars. I found them at Winn Dixie. You can use whatever size and shape you want.

Combine graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar in a medium bowl.

Make sure your jars are clean and dry.

Place about 2 tbsp crumbs into each jar.

Lightly press into the bottoms of the jars, as Zac so expertly demonstrates.

Beat softened cream cheese and condensed milk. Add vanilla.

Spoon dollops of the cream cheese mixture into the jars.

Top with the cherry pie filling. I used only one can of it, but I left 3 of the cheesecakes without topping for those who might prefer theirs unadorned. If you like a lot of cherries, you might want to get 2 cans.

This is how they looked. I didn't go above the rim with the filling and topping.

Chill for several hours or overnight.

Oh my gosh. They are so good, and so cute.

They stack and travel well, too.

They were the finishing touch to lunch I took today for some very sweet folks at the Christian Service Mission. They have been tirelessly working since the tornadoes struck Birmingham. A big thanks to them and to all of their volunteers!

Easter Cupcakes

2011-04-18T21:52:00.005-05:00

I wanted to make some special Easter treats and I decided to bake cupcakes! I used Duncan Hines Butter Recipe cake mix for the cupcake and my buttercream recipe for the icing. The instructions can be found here.

I bought these cute cupcake liners at Michaels.

These are felt Easter stickers that I also found at Michaels. I thought they would be fun as cupcake decorations.

So I lifted the backing and placed a toothpick on the sticky part...

...then I covered the toothpick with the backing.

Voila...instant cupcake decorations. I actually ended up cutting a tad off the ends because they were extra long toothpicks.

I used clear and colored sugar on the cupcakes.

A virtual Easter menagerie.

I am taking them to work tomorrow as a surprise. Shhhh...don't tell!

Bacon Tomato and Turkey Pizza

2011-04-13T21:11:00.004-05:00

Here is a quick and easy after work supper! It is like an open faced sandwich in pizza form.

Bacon Tomato and Turkey Pizza

pizza crust
deli smoked turkey, chopped
chopped tomatoes
grated cheese
mayo
cooked, crumbled bacon (or Hormel real bacon bits)

Lightly spread mayo on the pizza crust. Top with turkey, tomato, bacon, and cheese. Black olives are also good on this. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

I like the Boboli 100% Whole Wheat pizza crust. It is Original and has GREAT ITALIAN TASTE.

Soooo yummy...

I made a pasta salad to go with it.

It is a great combo and is satisfying without making you feel too full. As long as you don't eat it all yourself.

Easter Egg Candles

2011-04-09T21:06:00.010-05:00

This is an Easter craft that is fairly involved, but lots of fun. I got the idea from here. Zac and Alex did this with me. You can find all you need for this craft at Michaels. Well, except the vinegar and eggs. Dollar Tree has some of these supplies as well.

Items needed:
eggs
Easter egg dye (we used Paas)
vinegar
egg cups or tiny clay pots
acrylic paint & paintbrushes
candle wax
wicks

Tap the top of each egg and gently break it open. Empty the contents, as Alex so aptly demonstrates. If you are neat and don't drops eggshells into it, you can use the eggs in a recipe. (On a side note, our eggs were full of eggshells. So much for my lofty quiche plans.)

You can see from this picture how large an opening we left on the tops of the eggs.

The Paas kit had tablets to dissolve in vinegar as well as some packets of a more concentrated dye. We used both.

We used these cups to dye them in. Just use whatever technique you want to, being very careful not to crack the eggs.

Crafters hard at work. Gil got involved as well.

We couldn't find egg cups, so Zac had the idea of using these small clay pots from Michaels. They were the perfect size. We painted them with acrylic paint.

I like to save soup containers from our Chinese takeout. I used it to melt the candle wax in the microwave. Soy wax takes a lot less time to melt, but is more expensive. For both kinds of wax, I microwave on high at 2 minute intervals until it's melted.

I used a measuring cup to dip into the wax and pour into my eggshells. Now I'm craving Hot and Sour Soup.

Zac and Alex used a funnel.

Once you have poured in the wax, roll the top of the wick around a pencil and gently lay the pencil on top of the egg. Make sure the metal piece at the bottom of the wick touches the bottom on the inside of your eggshell.

Let them sit like this until the wax hardens.

Here are Zac and Alex's candles. Alex painted her clay pots with pretty pastels. Zac's are kooky. Shocker.

I decided to paint my clay pots white. I plan to use them on my Easter table on the porch. I will post that when I do it.

I highly recommend this project! Just allow yourself plenty of time. And buy lots of eggs.

Birdcage Candleholders

2011-03-30T17:14:00.004-05:00

I am glad that spring is here for many reasons, one of which is getting to have dinner on the back porch again. I was having girlfriends over the other night and wanted to add a couple of fun new things to the porch to welcome my guests. I was at T J Maxx, and about to buy a large lantern for a candle, when Zac talked me into buying a large birdcage-esque container. Considering its size, I was surprised it was only $24.

I already had this uber cool moss ribbon that I purchased in Fairhope, and have just been waiting for a reason to use it.

I threaded it around the bottom of the cage.

I placed a pillar candle into a glass cylinder and then sat in on a wrought iron stand. It fit inside perfectly.

I covered the table with one of my favorite old tablecloths.

It made for a nice cozy welcome.

Oh, and I liked the black one so much that I bought this pretty white one, too. This one came from Garden Ridge. It was only $14.

These birdcages are a beautiful, yet inexpensive way to add a lovely bit of candlelight to any part of your home. Thanks, Zac.

Uncommon Dollar Tree Candles

2011-03-02T21:25:00.004-06:00

I think that battery candles are amazing. You can place them in areas where actual candles with a burning flame can't be used, such as a closed in shelf.

I found these really cool pillar candles at the Dollar Tree. They require batteries, which I also bought at the Dollar Tree. These candles have a soft light that actually flickers like a real flame.

I used this fiber-filled tissue paper that resembles handmade paper. It is available in a virtual myriad of colors at World Market.

I cut the paper to size and poured a generous portion of glue onto some parchment.

I brushed the glue onto the candle.

Then I adhered the paper to the candle, smoothing it out gently to remove any bubbles or wrinkles.

Here they are on my mantel. They add a very cozy glow without the hazards that a flame can produce.

I am going to make a dozen of these in some happy colors and line my screened-in back porch with them this spring.

Have fun with this quick, easy, and super cheapo craft!

Glass Etching 101

2011-02-13T20:18:00.006-06:00

"Would you like to see my etchings?"

A guy actually asked me that on a first date back in my college days. Turns out he was an artist and really did have a portfolio of etchings. I'm fairly sure he used that line a lot, though. Lame.

I have wanted to try glass etching for quite some time now, and it turned out to be really easy. I did learn some of it by trial and error, however, and I hope this post will prove to be helpful to those of you who want to try it.

The supplies you will need are:
Etching Cream
Glass stencils
Rubber gloves
Small stencil brushes
Lots of paper toweling
Something glass to etch onto (Dollar Tree has lots of options)

I found the etching cream and stencils at Michaels. Hobby Lobby has them as well.

Place the stencils on clean, grease-free glass, and make sure it adheres well.

Dab a generous amount of the cream onto the stencils. Be VERY careful not to go outside the stencil. You might want to block it off with tape. I had a mishap or two because I didn't use tape and some of the cream etched where it wasn't supposed to.

Leave it on for about 15 minutes.

Rinse it off in the sink. I know I don't have gloves on, but you are supposed to wear them.

We found these "Decorative Accents" at the Dollar Tree. They are some sort of polymer that absorbs water. We had to have them. Plus they were only a dollar.

They are marble-sized, and are very squishy and slippery.

The label says to keep them away from pets.

I sat a candle holder inside the glass I etched, and sprinkled some Decorative Accents in between. The extra designs you can see in this picture are what I did around the top on the other side.

It's really pretty when the candle is lit.

My friend Meagan came over the other night to do crafts with me. She etched a design onto a square candle holder.

Zac and Meagan's boyfriend, Dustin worked on candle holders as well.

This is Meagan's. I love her polka dot design. Such a creative idea.

Dustin actually poured candle wax into the container and made his own candle. The initials he etched didn't show up well, so he went over them with a red Sharpie. Very cool.

Zac poured his candle also, but first he colored some Decorative Accents with food coloring and poured them into the bottom. Then he poured in the wax. It turned out to be very interesting and volcano-esque. He outlined his letters with red Sharpie as well.

Oh, and thanks to Zac and Dustin, we know that Decorative Accents are not flammable.

Happy Etching!

Lemon Squares

2011-02-05T18:56:00.005-06:00

This is a recipe that has been around for years and years. It is a creamy baked lemon curd with a buttery shortbread crust. I needed to make these for a tea last weekend and couldn't find my mom's recipe, so I decided to use this one from All Recipes. It was very close to what I remember of my mom's. (I altered it just a tad.)

Lemon Squares

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter, melted

4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together 2 cups flour and confectioners' sugar. Blend in the melted butter. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light. Combine the sugar, baking powder and 1/4 cup of flour so there will be no flour lumps. Stir the sugar mixture into the eggs. Finally, stir in the lemon juice. Pour over the prepared crust and return to the oven.
4. Bake for an additional 20 minutes or until bars are set. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

Bake the crust at 350º for 15-20 minutes.

Prepare the filling and pour into the crust.

After the first batch was tricky to cut, I lined the baking dish with aluminum foil. After it cools, you can remove it and cut it into very neat squares. Clean-up is easier, too.

Bake until the filling is set, and a very light golden brown, which will be about 20 minutes.

They are so good. And I'm not a fan of citrus.

But I love these.

Chicken Parmesan Mini Pizzas

2011-01-23T16:44:00.003-06:00

I found this recipe in this Southern Living publication. I made them for an actual meal, but they would really be great for an appetizer.

Chicken Parmesan Mini Pizzas

1/2 pound fried chicken fingers (I used Publix)
Ragú Pizza Quick Sauce
1 loaf French bread
fresh basil, sliced and chopped
Italian cheese ( I used Sargento Artisan Parmesan and Romano)
melted butter

Slice chicken into small pieces.

Brush bread with melted butter and lightly toast at 350° for about 5 minutes.

Spread a small amount of sauce onto the bread. Top with chicken and basil.

Top with cheese and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

I served mine with a salad. These are delicious and very easy!

Create Your Own Vintage Bottle Brush Trees

2010-12-22T23:21:00.007-06:00

I have always loved the look of tiny bottle brush trees, circa 1940's. I ran across a very nice blog called Hazelruthes and realized I could make them myself. It turned out to be one of my most favorite Christmas projects ever. I think it's because the transformation is so dramatic and the result is so magical.

I started with a large bag of these little trees. I got this bag of 21 trees at Michaels. With a 50% off coupon, they were $9.99. I have seen and used these trees for years and never realized they were actually bottle brush trees.

They are a kind of ugly dark green with snow-covered tips. Not too special.

You simply fill your sink or a bowl with clorox and leave them to soak.

They start bleaching out fairly quickly. The longer you leave them in, the whiter they become. You can pull the snow off at this point if you want to.

Soak in a solution of vinegar and water for a few minutes to neutralize the clorox smell. This is how they look when they are wet.

They look like this once they are dry.

Zac and Alex helped me.

We mixed different colors of liquid Rit Dye with water and dipped the trees into it. The longer we left the trees in, the more intense the color became.

One of my favorites is the pretty blue tree that Alex dyed.

Some of them looked rusty and a couple of them broke. I simply glued them back and dyed them extra dark colors. They turned out just fine.

To decorate, I lightly applied glue to the tips of the branches with a paintbrush, then poured pretty glitter onto them. (Shake off the excess, of course). I added small pearls to some of them.

I decorated my dining room table with them. Details coming in my next post.

Who would have thought that a simple bottle brush could be so pretty?

A Garland from Fabric Strips

2010-12-15T12:15:00.004-06:00

This is a great way to use scrap fabric. This idea came from Homemade Simple. It makes a cute Christmas garland, but would also be nice in a nursery or a child's room.

I bought all new fabric for mine. I got 1/2 yd of 4 different fabrics. My garland ended up being about 2- 1/2 yards long.

You will need:
rope or twine, cut to the desired length of the garland (or a strand of twinkle lights)
strips of fabric (mine were about 3- 1/2" wide and 8" long)
ribbon, yarn, tulle, etc
lots of time

Cut your rope or twine to the desired length. I tied mine off at each end like a cowboy lariat.

Tear your strips of fabric and line them up assembly line fashion.

Simply tie them onto the rope one by one. I added ribbon, yarn, and tulle for interest and texture.

I cut the ends of the fabric with pinking shears once it was finished, but you don't have to.

I made it to drape onto the end of my guest bed.

The lariat loops on the ends were perfect for attaching it.

It adds a nice, cheerful, homespun touch. (Double-click the photo to see it more closely if you would like)

This project is somewhat time consuming, but is a perfect craft to work on while you are watching TV. It took me about 4 nights to complete it.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...Tree!

2010-12-13T13:37:00.007-06:00

I love white Christmas trees. They are so clean and beautiful. We have a traditional green tree in our den, but I began a quest last year for a white tree to go in our foyer. I actually found almost all the ornaments before I found the tree. The balls came from Target and I bought them after Christmas last year at 75% off. I really liked the colors: turquoise, purple, hot pink, gold, and bright green. Amby was with me and we were so distracted by Target's cool bargains that we lost track of time and almost missed a movie we were going to see. (We made it, though. Sherlock Holmes - really good, BTW) 50% off is great, but I truly love anything that is 75% off. It is then practically free, and very hard to pass up.

After a long and diligent search, I found this beautiful tree at Garden Ridge. It was originally $300. I paid $100 for it on Black Friday (are you supposed to capitalize black?). It was the last one, too. I absolutely love it. It turned out to be more beautiful that I had imagined.

Gil fashioned the continuous scarf up the stair rail.

An aerial view.
We decorated it with really fun ornaments, with our tiny Roman in mind. I wanted it to be magical. I LOVE this nostalgic Santa. I found him at Smith's Variety last year at 75% off.

Smith's also had these fun Dr. Seuss-esque ornaments...

...as well as these cute mittens.
Another whimsical ornament from Smith's.

A cute gingerbread man Zac picked out from Garden Ridge.

And, of course, sock monkeys!
This is a Martha Stewart kitty cat from Kmart last year. Her products are at Macy's now. I liked it better when they were at Kmart.

I still had these little mantel decorations from when I was little, circa 1960.

This Santa was part of the mantel scenario. My dad thought he needed a bag of toys, so he used one of his socks and filled it with kleenex. I'm so glad I still have it.

Sometimes it's fun to break with tradition and do something different for Christmas!

Printable Christmas List

2010-12-12T11:33:00.009-06:00

I am busy getting ready for Christmas and have several projects going. Since none are ready to post yet, I thought I would post a cute download I found on one of my favorite blogs, All Sorts. It is a cheery printable Christmas list to help you keep up with upcoming tasks in an organized manner. And I, for one, will take as much organizational assistance as I can right now. I printed mine on card stock and I am using one for each stocking I am filling, which is a total of 5. You can find it here. This is how it looks. You print three at a time.

Here are a few previews of upcoming posts:

A garland made of fabric strips and twine.

A stocking for my little Roman! It's getting monogrammed this week and I will put it together this weekend.

Bleached bottle brush trees. Hopefully I will have these done today!

I have at least two other projects I am going to try to finish. Stay tuned for more crazy Christmas fun.

Diaper Burp Cloths

2010-12-07T10:56:00.004-06:00

This is a fun and easy way to make really cute burp cloths out of cloth diapers. I found this adorable idea at Chickpea Sewing Studio. All you need are cloth diapers and scraps of cute fabric. If you want to buy new fabric just for the burp cloths, 1/4 yd is more than enough to make two of them.

Wash the diapers and then press out nice and flat with a steamy iron:

I really don't measure. I cut the fabric strips wide enough to turn down a nice edge on the sides and the ends. Then I press it down.

Pin and sew around all the edges. I used a simple zigzag stitch for these, but you can use something more decorative if you want to.

This cute way to present the burp cloths also came from Chickpea Sewing Studio.

And for a related craft, the burp cloths I made for Amby went into this basket (from Michael's), along with other gifts I had for her. I made the tag from scrapbook paper. You can buy the baby alphabet beads at Michael's, too.

These burp cloths are really fun to make and are great to go along with another gift, or just by themselves.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup: The Ultimate Comfort Food

2010-12-06T21:54:00.004-06:00

Who doesn't love chicken noodle soup? Especially on a frigid December night like tonight. Gil has a cold and really has felt bad for the past couple of days. I decided to make chicken noodle soup to help him feel better faster. I served it with Roasted Red Pepper Cheese sandwiches. He is now completely cured.

Vickie's Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

aka Miracle Cure for the Common Cold

4-6 chicken breasts
2 cans Swanson chicken broth
3 cups water
1 stalk celery
2 tsp salt
1- 1/2 tsp basil
1- 1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1- 1/2 cups dry pasta (I used fusilli)

1. Simmer chicken in a medium saucepan until tender, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool and shred.

2. Strain the water from that pan into a larger saucepan. Add remaining ingredients except for pasta. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

3. Add pasta and cook on medium high until pasta is done, about 20 minutes. You can cook the pasta in a separate pot if you want to. I liked the simplicity of cooking it all together. Just be sure and taste the pasta and make sure it is cooked through.

Enjoy and be comforted!

Personalized Baby Blocks

2010-11-08T21:59:00.008-06:00

This is a fun project that would be perfect for a baby gift or shower decoration. It is a little time-consuming, but if you are like me, you enjoy the process as much as the result.

Supplies Needed:

unfinished wooden baby blocks
unfinished wooden letters
acrylic paint
paintbrushes in various sizes
scrapbook paper
glue

I was in a little bit of a hurry when I made these and didn't take enough photos. Sorry. My first step was to paint the 2 sides of the block where the letters were going, which become the front and back. Then I painted the letters in a contrasting color. You will be able to see that at the end.

Using the block as a template, I traced around it onto the area of paper I wanted to highlight.

I used the paper on 4 sides of each block. I attached it to the unpainted sides.

I applied Alene's Tacky Glue to the paper and adhered it to the block.

I trimmed all overhang with a scissor.

Then I glued on the letters. I applied Mod Podge in a matte finish and over sanded, but neither of these steps is necessary.

These are for my grandson, whose first and middle names happen to be the same length. That's because he has cool parents.

Right now, they are on the bookcase in "his" room at my house.

A Facelft for a Built In Bookcase

2010-11-06T11:07:00.005-05:00

This is a project we did back in May of this year. We have a built-in bookcase in our guest room (which is also Amby's room), that was in dire need of a redo. In anticipation of my grandson, Roman, I decided to cheer it up with some fabric and add some of Amby and Zac's favorite children's books. This is the before picture. It was a little tired.

Gil helped me take out the shelves.

The room is an apricot with turquoise accents so I chose a fabric that would coordinate with that. I found this fabric at Joann's.

I ironed on a fusible web to the fabric to give it body. Then I trimmed it to fit. Gil applied spray adhesive the the back of the bookcase and we attached the fabric.

I added a coordinating piece of fabric to the top and bottom to hide my raw edges and add a little interest. This is the top:

And the bottom:

It added some fun and brightness to the room.

I filled it with treasures.

I made these blocks for Roman (obviously). My next post will show how I did it.

The back sides of the blocks spell his middle name.

The books are a mix of Amby and Zac's, which are old, and mine, which are REALLY old.

Gil bought this mama and baby raccoon for me when I had Amby. They were waiting for us at the house when we came home from the hospital with a sign that said, "Welcome home Vickie and Amby." I still have the sign, too.....sigh.

I painted the lids of two Ball jars and filled them with marbles to use as bookends. It took me a while to find marbles, but I finally found them at Homewood Toy and Hobby. It seemed like marbles were everywhere until I actually started looking for them. Isn't that the way it always goes?

This is the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. I bought it for my Dad when I was in Disneyworld in 1973. The smile on his face reminded me of him. He loved it and always kept it on his desk. Needless to say, it is very special to me.

These books were a series that my mom ordered for me. I got a new one in the mail every month. They are now about 45 years old.

This is a three-car grouping of a wooden train Gil had when he was little. He still has the rest of it and I'm sure it will get lots of play time soon. The train is sitting on top of a set of Highlights magazines (circa 1964-65), which belonged to my brother and me. The sock monkey is there just because he is cute and I love sock monkeys.

I found this adorable mouse at A'mano in Mountin Brook. His matchbox bed reminded me of Tom and Jerry cartoons, and books like The Borrowers, where the characters used found items to repurpose into useful furniture for themselves. I love him and I named him Maddox. I know Roman will enjoy playing with him.

I actually have more adventurous plans for this bookcase which I am not at liberty to post yet. I hope you liked my redo!

A Country Fair

2010-10-27T20:26:00.019-05:00

Gil and I attended a Country Fair sponsored by Country Living magazine last weekend in Stone Mountain, Georgia. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and Stone Mountain was the perfect setting.

It was really exciting for me to read about the fair in the magazine months in advance, and then actually get to go. It was just too close to home for us to pass up.

I loved this cool pumpkin arrangement. I think I will toss one together this weekend.

I got to attend cooking classes that were held in this tent:

My favorite speaker was Gena Knox. She is the author of Gourmet Made Simple and Southern My Way. She also has a blog which can be found here. She prepared two dishes, Onion Jam-Topped Crostini with Bacon and Cheddar Cheese, and Spaghetti Squash with Rosemary and Parmesan. She prepared each dish step by step and we got to taste them when she finished. Both were scrumptious and I plan to make them again.

There were countless craft booths which were nestled on a winding path. I didn't get many pictures, but here are a couple. These chairs were interesting. Not like your mama's wing backs.

And everyone needs one of these, whatever it is. It is only mildly disturbing.

We also attended a home makeover workshop hosted by Chip Wade, of HGTV's Curb Appeal. It was really interesting.

We had been to Stone Mountain before, so we decided to mostly concentrate on the fair for the day, but we did drive up to look at it for a few minutes before we headed home. It is pretty amazing. I researched it and found out that it is is a quartz monzonite dome monadnock. In other words, a giant rock.

The highest point is 1,686 feet The mountain is more than five miles in circumference at its base. There is a single trail up one side. We have walked it before and it is a major workout. There is also the optional skyride.

There is an impressive carving on the side of the mountain. Here is an old picture of some of the carvers at work. I like how the work required a coat, tie, and hat. They began work on the carving in 1926, but, for many reasons, it was not officially complete until 1972.

Here it is today. This is Stonewall Jackson, Robert E Lee, and Jefferson Davis. The carved area measures three acres, or about the size of three football fields. Pretty amazing.

It was a really nice place to spend a fall day.

There are fun things to do there. This is called The Sky Hike. I want to try it next time.

The shops around it are quaint and cozy. The candy shop makes pretty good fudge. Maybe the next best thing to homemade.

It was a fun day in a beautiful setting. Country Living holds fairs all over the country at different times of the year. I highly recommend going to one.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

2010-09-21T22:33:00.006-05:00

Sometimes a really delicious recipe doesn't have to be made totally from scratch. These cupcakes are a perfect example. It's hard to beat the Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Cake Mix. It is light, or should I say "light," and moist. The frosting is my version of a simple buttercream, and I love it so much that I believe it even trumps chocolate. The combination of the two makes a really fabulous cupcake.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

1 box Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Cake Mix
1 tsp vanilla

Prepare cake according to package directions with the addition of the vanilla. Spoon into a muffin tin lined with cupcake cups and bake at 375° for 15 minutes. Cool and frost with buttercream frosting. Yield: 22-24 cupcakes

Buttercream Frosting

2 sticks butter, softened at room temperature
1 lb confectioners sugar
5 tbsp heavy cream (milk or 1/2 & 1/2 are fine)

Beat butter at high speed until light and fluffy. Add sugar, vanilla, and cream and continue beating until desired consistency. Add more cream or sugar if needed.

Mix cake according to package directions, with the addition of a little extra vanilla.

Spoon into paper liners and bake at 375° for 15 minutes.

They will be a light golden brown on top:

The frosting will look a little dry until you add the milk.

I like to pipe the frosting onto the cupcake, but you can spread it with a knife if you want to. Be careful not to be too generous with the piping or you might run out of frosting. For me it makes JUST enough.

I also like to use Wilton White Sparkling Sugar Sprinkles on top for a little bit of sparkle. You can double click on this photo to see it better.

I made these cupcakes for some dear friends of mine who came over for dinner the other night. I wanted to send them home with one as well. I found these cute individual cupcake boxes (again by Wilton) at the Hob Lob.

I apparently love the combination of pink and green because I already had plenty of ribbon to choose from.

They come with inserts that stabilize the cupcake and keep it from touching the sides. Cool idea.

Tie it up with a little bit of ribbon and you have a great party favor.

I suggest having the cake mix and some of these boxes on hand so you can be ready to give a special little gift at the spur of any moment.

Chicken Cordon Blue

2010-08-29T18:54:00.010-05:00

This is a Tyler Florence (Food TV) recipe that I altered slightly. It was really fun to prepare and a delicious blend of chicken, cheese, and prosciutto. It is the perfect entree for company.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

4 chicken breasts
4 thin slices prosciutto
1/2 pound Gruyere cheese, grated
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup panko bread crumbs
4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only or about 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely minced
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs
olive oil

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lay the chicken breast between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, gently pound the chicken to 1/4-inch thickness. Remove the top sheet of plastic and lay 2 slices of prosciutto neatly over the top to cover the breast and sprinkle a quarter of the cheese over the prosciutto. Tuck in the sides of the breast and roll up tight like a jellyroll inside the plastic wrap. Squeeze the log gently to seal and twist both ends tight to form a nice log. Repeat with remaining chicken.

Use 3 bowls for your coatings. In the first bowl, add the flour and season with salt and pepper. In the second bowl, mix the bread crumbs with thyme, kosher salt, pepper, and melted butter. The butter will help the crust brown. In the third bowl, beat the eggs together and season so that the flour, the eggs and the crumbs are all seasoned.

Remove the plastic wrap. Lightly dust the chicken with flour, dip in the egg mixture and gently coat in the bread crumbs. Lightly coat a baking pan with olive oil and carefully transfer the chicken onto it. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until browned and cooked through. Slice into pinwheels.

Place chicken between two layers of plastic wrap and gently pound with a mallet:

Lay 2 slices of prosciutto on top of the chicken:

Sprinkle with cheese:

Using the plastic wrap as a guide, roll up the chicken:

Roll up like a jellyroll inside the plastic wrap and secure the ends. If you wanted to do this ahead you could stop at this point and refrigerate them.

Have the flour, egg, and panko mixtures ready:

Dredge the chicken in the flour:

Then dip into the egg:

Roll in the panko crumb mixture:

Place in a greased baking pan and bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes.

They will be crusty and browned.

Slice and serve. Boys especially like this.

Shrimp Cocktail Salad with Horseradish Dressing

2010-08-14T20:14:00.004-05:00

This is my adaptation of a recipe I found in Good Housekeeping, the August 2010 issue. My main alterations were in the dressing ingredients, and I actually don't have exact amounts I ended up using. I toyed with it a lot. It turned out to be so delicious and unusual that I still wanted to post it, even without precise amounts.

Shrimp Cocktail Salad

lettuce (I used shredded iceberg, but use your favorite)
4 ripe tomatoes, sliced
2 lb cooked, peeled shrimp (I boil my shrimp like this)
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced

Line each plate with lettuce. Top with sliced tomato, shrimp, and celery. Drizzle with dressing.

Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tsp brown sugar
3 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp horseradish

I added the following ingredients to the dressing and they are approximate. Adjust to your personal taste:
1/4 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp Caribbean Jerk seasoning
1 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp Worchestershire
salt and pepper
a few drops of hot pepper sauce

Whisk ingredients together.

The result was a fresh, colorful, light salad, and the dressing has a zingy, tasty kick.

New Orleans Barbeque Shrimp

2010-07-29T20:35:00.005-05:00

This is a delicious and easy recipe which features sautéed shrimp in a Worchestershire-spiked butter sauce. It is done in a skillet with no grill involvement, and is perfect for a meal to whip up after work. I made several adjustments to the original recipe, one of which was reducing the butter to just one stick. And yes, that was a reduction from the THREE sticks it called for.

New Orleans Barbeque Shrimp

1-1/2 to 2 lb raw shrimp, unpeeled
1/2 c Worchestershire sauce
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (I didn't have lemon and used lime)
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp Luzianne Creole seasoning
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick cold butter, cut into small pats
French bread as accompaniment

In a large skillet, combine shrimp, Worchestershire, lemon juice, black pepper, cayenne, Creole seasoning, and garlic and cook and stir over medium high heat until the shrimp turn pink, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and stir in butter , a few pats at a time, adding more only after the butter has melted. Remove skillet from heat. Place shrimp in a bowl and pour sauce over top. Serve with French bread for dipping.

Combine shrimp in Worchestershire, garlic, lemon juice, and spices in a large skillet and cook on medium high heat.

Sautée until pink and reduce heat to medium.

Add butter a few pats at a time and stir in. OMG.

I fixed fresh white corn on the cob as a side dish.

I love me some cob corn.

Place shrimp in a soup or pasta bowl and pour sauce over it. Serve with French bread.

This recipe far exceeded my expectations in terms of flavor, especially considering the ease of preparation. We ate it out on the porch with a little Norah Jones on the side. Fabulous.

A Personalized Hostess Gift

2010-06-26T15:51:00.001-05:00

Plants make great hostess gifts, but they can sometimes be pretty ordinary. With just a small amount of effort you can add pizazz to your plants!

First, start with a cool pot. I got this one at at Anthropologie. If you aren't lucky enough to have an Anthropologie where you live, it is available online. Its description reads, "rough-hewn terracotta, worn and weathered as if it's spent a dozen seasons braving the elements, yearns for a sunny indoor perch to cradle fresh herbs and aromatics." Whatever. I just think it's a cool pot.

A great place here in Birmingham to buy plants is Leaf 'n Petal. I bought this maidenhair fern there. It is beautiful and delicate. I added some wild moss from our yard to the top of the soil. You can see it more closely if you click on the picture.

I used my chalk ink markers for the gift tag. They are available online and at Michael's. I would recommend the primary colors over these earthy ones because there are several colors here that don't show up on black.

I found this tiny chalk board gift tag at World Market. Isn't it cute? I love tiny versions of things. I used a small piece of wood inside to hang it onto. A popsicle stick would do. A cute bow completes it.

Crazy Birthday Fun

2010-06-19T21:36:00.005-05:00

Today is my birthday and I had to work. I'm not whining, just stating fact. I love my job and my friends, so it wasn't too bad. Plus I received many birthday greetings all day long, which was nice. But it was, after all, my birthday and I had to work.

I seem to always have some kind of self-inflicted, overzealous cooking or crafting project looming over me. And I mean always. Since I was 12. My husband has not only been tolerant of this annoying quirk, but actually supportive of it. I guess you could call him an enabler. You could also call him a sous-chef. And an excellent one at that.

According to Wikipedia, a sous-chef de cuisine (under-chef of the kitchen) is "the direct assistant of the executive chef, and is second in command. This person may be responsible for scheduling and substituting when the executive chef is off-duty." Gil Franks is absolutely that. I took a magnanimously large chicken pot pie to work today for a fun lunch we had (totally unrelated to my aforementioned birthday). I prepared it yesterday afternoon while I was getting ready to go to my brother-in-law's birthday party, during which time I decided to bake him some birthday shortbread cookies and put them in a decorative box with a handmade tag. So goes my life. Gil helped me prepare the cookies as well as the chicken pot pie filling, and we were able to get to his brother's party on time, cookie gift in hand.

Here is the recipe, in case you would like it:

Chicken Pot Pie

4-6 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
½ cup frozen tiny green peas, thawed (opt)
½ cup sliced, cooked carrots (opt)
1/2 chopped onion, sauteed in butter
salt & pepper to taste
1 prepared piecrust in pan, such as Pet-Ritz
1 All-Ready Piecrust
1 egg, beaten

Combine ingredients. Spoon into prepared piecrust. Top with All Ready Piecrust and trim and seal edges. Brush crust with beaten egg, add cut-outs, and brush cutouts with egg. Cut 4 small slits in crust to vent. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.

I had extra pot pie filling left, and really just wanted chicken pot pie for supper tonight. I was sooo tired. Gil would not hear of me making it for myself on my birthday, so, with a few instructions from me, he prepared a beautiful chicken pot pie.

I showed him how to crimp the crust, which he did beautifully:

I gave him my tiny alphabet cutters and he decorated the top of the pie and finished it off with an egg wash. Isn't it amazing? He also prepared a delicious side salad.

He got me this gorgeous cake. Savages Bakery has the best in all the land. Chocolate cake with chocolate icing. Have you ever seen such gorgeous flowers? Almost too pretty to eat. I did say almost.

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday so happy. My heart is full of gratitude for my precious family and wonderful friends.

Create Your Own Baby Blankets

2010-06-18T12:37:00.004-05:00

The arrival of my little grandson (July!) has renewed my interest in sewing. I used to sew all the time. I made clothes for myself, my children, and my husband, and lots of gifts for friends and family. I got to the point where I was too busy to really concentrate on it and would only do an occasional project. My husband bought me a new Singer sewing machine when we were married in '79, and it was pretty worn out from extreme use, so I bought a Janome machine a couple of years ago that I LOVE. It purrs like a kitten. And now I have geared myself back up to do some sewing. Yea me.

I noticed one of the babies in the nursery at work was wrapped in a cotton gauze blanket which I thought was a really great idea. I looked up the website and thought they were pretty pricey (1 for $19.99, 4 for $44). So I decided to make my own and made them for about $7 each. Watch for sales at Joann and Hancock and pay even less. The gauze is great for summer.

I made these blankets about 45" square, which for 45" fabric, each blanket required 1 - 1/4 yards.
I folded over a 1/2" hem on all 4 sides and pressed. Then I folded over another 1/2" and pressed again. A hot steam iron really helps.

My machine does a lot of fun stitches, which I used on my blankets, but just a straight or zigzag stitch would be fine. I made some flannel blankets, too.

I found this cute alphabet print at Hancock. I love cute little animal faces.

I layered it with batting and backed it with muslin.

I machine quilted around each square.

I think there were 64 squares, but it really didn't take all that long.

It turned out to be really soft and cute.

I loved making these blankets. It is a great way to do a special baby gift. Especially for your baby's baby. : )

Homemade Pizza Dough

2010-06-14T22:00:00.007-05:00

There is nothing like homemade pizza crust. It tastes sooo much better than the best you can buy in the grocery store. I use my basic roll dough recipe that I have posted several times. It is great for rolls, cinnamon rolls, cheese danish, cheese rolls, pepperoni bread, calzones, and PIZZA DOUGH. For the pizza toppings, I also think it's fun to scavenge through my refrigerator and use ingredients I have on hand to challenge myself to create culinary magic. I know. Kinda sad.

Here is my roll dough recipe again:

Basic Roll Dough

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup water

1 egg

1 stick butter, sliced

2 tsp salt

6 tbsp sugar

2 pkg yeast (either regular or rapid rise)

Place ingredients in bread machine. I like to add about 1/2 the water first, then the flour and other ingredients, including the rest of the water. Set the machine to the dough setting. This takes 90 minutes. When the cycle is over, roll the dough out onto a floured surface and cut into the desired sizes.

My toppings were: leftover grilled chicken, fresh basil, chopped red bell pepper, grated cheddar cheese, and a few strips of bacon. For my sauce I used Ragu Pizza Quick.

After the dough was ready, I divided it in half and sprinkled it with cornmeal as I rolled it out.

Then I placed it in a greased pizza pan. (I don't let it rise).

I covered it with my toppings.

Bake at 450° for about 20 minutes or until the crust is golden around the edges. This pizza did not last long at my house.

While it is baking you can reserve the other half of the dough for future small personal pan pizzas. I divided it into 5 portions and rolled them out individually. Then I separated them with pieces of parchment paper.

I wrapped them with plastic wrap and put them in the freezer. When you want to make small pizzas, you can pull as many as you need out of the freezer and place the toppings on them and bake them without thawing them first. How easy is that?

Low Fat and Delicious Sausage Gumbo

2010-06-09T11:20:00.002-05:00

This is another amazing recipe I found in my library book, Eating Well for a Healthy Heart. This was actually a monumental recipe for me because it is the first time I have ever used turkey sausage. I was very pleasantly surprised at how good it was. I honestly couldn't tell the difference. I plan to replace the beef sausage in all my recipes with turkey sausage. It is 100 fewer calories per serving. The recipe also called for Cajun seasoning and I tried a new brand by Luzianne. I really liked it as well and highly recommend it. Very tasty.

Sausage Gumbo

1 pkg turkey sausage, sliced
2 tsp canola oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp Cajun seasoning
2 tbsp flour
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1 tsp thyme
4 cups chicken broth
2 -1/2 cups frozen chopped okra
3/4 cup instant brown rice

1. Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook sausage with onion and garlic until sausage is browned and onion is tender. Add cajun seasoning and cook for about 1 minute more.
2. Add flour and cook, stirring to coat the onion and sausage, until the flour starts to brown, about 1 minute.
3. Add tomato, chicken broth, okra, and rice, thyme, and bay leaf. Simmer for 10-20 minutes.

Yield: 6 servings
168 calories 6 g fat (2 g sat, 1 g mono)
25 mg cholesterol, 11 g protein, 3 g fiber, 631 mg sodium
High in Vitamin C and Vitamin A

Sauté sausage with onion and garlic in canola oil:

Add remaining ingredients and simmer:

This is a fabulous recipe, especially considering that it is only 168 calories.

Tie Dye, Part Two: Onesies

2010-06-01T13:23:00.010-05:00

This is my second installment of my tie dye adventures. I was inspired by the anticipated arrival of my grandson to try a onesies project. Please refer to my first post for any basic instruction, such as types of dye, etc.

I bought onesies at Walmart and prewashed them. I dampened them with water before I dyed them. For this one, I did the spiral technique. Place a fork at the center of where you want the spiral and begin to twist it.

Continue twisting...

Once you have twisted it into a circle, add rubber bands and apply dye to the front and back of each section. I used orange, yellow, lime green, and brown.

This is how it turned out.
After I finished each one, I wrapped it in plastic wrap and let it sit for several hours. I understand that there is a microwave technique that will set the heat but I haven't tried that yet.

You can also section it off like this:

I did several solid ones. They still had a mottled, hand-dyed look, which I liked.

I placed the rubber bands on the middle of this one. I don't have the pictures of it, but I dyed the onesie a turquoise color and the sectioned-off part a denim blue.

I made a pair of white knit pull-on pants and dyed them a solid denim blue to match the onesie.

And this is the outfit. The pants looked stonewashed.

I hope this helps to give you some fun ideas for tie dyeing onesies. It is a fun and inexpensive project and it makes a great gift. I will be posting a lot more fabric dyeing ideas soon!

Tie Dye, Part One

2010-05-31T11:29:00.021-05:00

I love to tie dye. If I could establish a lucrative career creating clothing and accessories out of hand-dyed fabric, I would do it in a heartbeat. But since no one is beating my door down to buy my creations as of yet, I guess I will stick to just doing it for fun.

I had so many pictures that I decided to divide my tie dye projects into two parts. This post will cover the basics, and part two is going to be how to tie dye onesies for babies. Even divided into two parts, this post is really long. Hopefully some of my trial and error will be helpful to you so that you are happy with your results.

I have tried two kinds of dye. One is the basic powdered Rit dye which has been around for as long as I can remember. It is very inexpensive and can be found at Walmart as well as most grocery stores. Rit dye is very intense and concentrated. It also comes in a liquid, which I haven't tried yet, but plan to. It seems more convenient and easier to mix to create other colors. Rit has a fabulous website which gives tutorials on various techniques and recipes for your own color creations. You can order from this site as well. Go here to see it.

There are also Tie Dye kits by Tulip, which are very convenient. They offer a variety of colors, such as turquoise, fuschia, and lime green. These are available at Walmart, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, and Hancock.

Tulip recommends soda ash to soak your shirts in before dyeing them. It is supposed to make the color adhere better. I honestly can't tell that it helps. And it smells weird. Whether you use soda ash or not, your shirt should be prewashed and damp before you tie dye.

Be sure to cover your surface with large plastic bags. The dye can leave permanent stains.

Have plenty of zip lock bags or saran wrap handy. You will need to let you shirts sit and cure for several hours. This is hard to do, by the way. I am always so curious to see how they turned out and I rarely wait as long as I should.

So, the items you will need are:

t-shirt, etc to dye (prewashed and damp)
dye of choice
rubber bands
rubber gloves
squirt bottles (Walmart-kitchen section-99¢)
large garbage bags to protect counter or table
ziplock bags or saran wrap

One easy thing I've done is just to dye a t-shirt all one color. I poured the whole package of dye into a large pot of boiling water and dissolved it. Then I dipped the shirt into the dye. The two factors that determine the intensity of the color are how hot the water is and how long you leave the shirt in the dye. I always save some of the dye I make and pour it into squirt bottles because it is reusable and it keeps for a long time.

Here is a shirt that I dyed pink. I left it in the dyebath for about 30 minutes. It is just a Hanes t-shirt (men's small) that I got in a pack of 5 at Walmart. I love how it turned out. It is really soft and comfy and looks cute with jeans.

I bought a plain beige t-shirt at Hancock (they are in the tie dye section) and decided to dye it orange. I left it in the water for about 15 minutes, stirring it every once in a while.

I took it out of the water and squeezed it out in the sink, being careful not to burn my fingers. It seemed a little boring to me, so with the middle of the shirt as my starting point, I placed rubber bands around it about an inch apart for a total of 6.

I filled a squirt bottle with 1 part clorox and 1 part water and shook it up really well. Then I squirted it onto every other space between the rubber bands. I let it sit for about 8 hours, then rinsed and washed it.

This is how it turned out. Very funky.

I had a plain white t-shirt that I got on a trip. I livened it up a little by dyeing it turquoise. I liberally squirted the Tulip dye onto it while scrunching it up in my hands.

As you can see, it ends up a much lighter color once it dries. I really like it, though. Much better than the white.

I have dyed several tank tops. Hancock has these nice simple white ones. They usually run $3.99-$4.99.

I divided it into 3 sections with rubber banding and added a different color to each section.

Here is how it looked. This is also after several washings. If I do this color combination again, I will put the purple in the middle. The turquoise and green are a little too similar and blended into each other a little too well.

This is another Hanes t-shirt.

The spiral technique is one of my favorites and it's very easy to do. First decide on where you want to center the inner circle. Then place a fork on that spot.

Begin to turn the fork clock-wise, twisting the fabric along with you.

Continue turning the fork...

...until you have a circle, kind of like a cinnamon roll.

Place rubber bands across the circle and divide the shirt into 4 or 6 sections.

Color each section on the top, them flip it over and color the bottom as well.

This is how that shirt turned out.

This is a cool shirt that Amby made for me. It is one of my favorites.

You can also dye a shirt to match something. I had some army green shorts and I dyed this tank top to match them. I used camo colors, but added a touch of purple to make it more girly.

Most importantly, be careful washing any clothing that has been dyed. I always hand wash mine a couple of times first. Then I wash in cold water only with like colors. The color can bleed onto your other clothes.

I hope that this lengthy tutorial is helpful. Stay tuned for more.

Shrimp and Edamame

2010-05-26T15:53:00.009-05:00

This is another delicious recipe selection from Eating Well for a Healthy Heart by Dr. Philip A. Ades. The actual name of the recipe is Edamame Succotash with Shrimp, but I wasn't a fan of succotash growing up. This is nothing like what we were served in the school cafeteria in the 60's. It is fabulous! The edamame is the substitute for the lima beans which are usually in succotash. I used bacon that was already cooked. It is more expensive, but much less greasy and messy to prepare.

Shrimp and Edamame

2 slices bacon (I used 4), cooked
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1-1/2 tsp fresh thyme
1 - 10 oz pkg frozen shelled edamame, thawed
1 - 10 oz pkg frozen corn, thawed
1/2 cup chicken broth (reduced sodium if desired)
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1/4 tsp salt (I used 1/2)
1 pound raw shrimp, peeled
1/4 tsp lemon pepper
balsamic vinegar

1. In a large nonstick skillet, sauté onion, bell pepper, thyme, and garlic in olive oil until tender. Stir in edamame, corn, broth, vinegar, and salt. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium low and cook for about 10 minutes.

2. Sprinkle shrimp on both sides with lemon pepper. Scatter shrimp on top otf the vegetables and cook until the shrimp is pink and cooked through, about 5 minutes.

3. Add crumbled bacon. Top it off with a few drops of balsamic vinegar.

Yield: 4 servings
307 calories 9 g fat (1 g sat, 4 g mono) 30 g protein 491 mg sodium
High in Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Iron, and Selenium

To easily remove fresh thyme leaves from the stem, grasp with one hand and run your fingers from the top to the bottom of the stem.

Heat oil in skillet.

Sauté onion, garlic, and red pepper, and thyme until tender.

Add edamame, corn, chicken broth, vinegar, and salt. Cook for about 10 minutes.

Sprinkle shrimp with lemon pepper. (I was out of lemon pepper so I just used black)

Add shrimp to skillet and cook for about 5 minutes.

Add bacon and top with balsamic vinegar. I served this as a one-dish meal. Zac said it made his heart feel better.

Mini Chile Relleno Casseroles

2010-05-26T11:34:00.007-05:00

Again, please forgive me for the long lapse in posting. I have actually been doing a lot of sewing and crafting for my grandson who is due in July. Those posts will follow soon!

Gil and I have become much more health conscious in the past couple of years and I see no reason why you have to compromise flavor in order to make delicious food. I found an interesting cookbook at the library the other day called Eating Well for a Healthy Heart. It is written by a cardiologist, Dr Philip A. Ades. The recipes looked fabulous so I decided to check it out. Literally. From the library.

This is a vegetarian Tex-Mex recipe that works well as a side dish. It would also be great for breakfast. You could use fresh jalapeño instead of the chilies if you wanted to.

Mini Chile Relleno Casseroles

2- 4 oz cans diced green chilies, drained and patted dry
3/4 cup frozen corn, thawed and patted dry
1/2 small onion, chopped, and sauteéd until browned
1 cup shredded reduced fat Cheddar cheese
1 - 1/2 cups lowfat or nonfat milk
6 egg whites
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 400.˚ Coat eight 6 oz ramekins with cooking spray and place in a baking dish.
2. Equally divide green chilies, onion, and corn among the ramekins. Top with cheese. Whisk the milk, egg whites, eggs, and salt together in a medium bowl until combined. Divide the egg mixture evenly among the ramekins.
3. Bake until the tops begin to brown and the eggs are set, about 25 minutes.

Yield: 4 servings. Two 6 oz ramekins is considered one serving.
215 calories 7 g fat (3 g sat. 3 g mono) Also high in Calcium and Vitamin C

Equally divide green chilies, onion, and corn among the ramekins

You can see that I cooked the onion until it was really brown. This wasn't on purpose but it actually added more flavor.

Divide the egg mixture evenly among the ramekins.

Bake until nicely browned and amazing.

These taste as good as they look.

I served them with grilled chicken and sliced tomato.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

2010-04-24T23:13:00.004-05:00

I found this recipe in the Grilling 2010 issue of Penzey's Spices catalog. I have always loved peanut butter cookies and this is a very easy version. It is flourless and butterless. These cookies are moist, slightly chewy, and full of peanut butter flavor. Plus they have the yummy addition of chocolate chips.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup peanut butter (I used crunchy)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp wheat germ
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix by hand. Spoon out in rounded tablespoon-sized balls onto a greased cookie sheet. Press down with a fork. Bake for about 10 minutes.

Yield: about 18

Oatmeal Pie

2010-04-07T16:28:00.009-05:00

First of all, I want to apologize for the lack of posts lately. I have been busy working and doing some spring cleaning. I really will try to post more often!

This is a delicious recipe that I found in the Penzy's Spices spring catalog. (To download the catalog and see original recipe, go here.) I love recipes that have old fashioned oats in them, and when I saw that coconut was in it as well, I had to try it. I changed the recipe a little. I decreased the corn syrup, used buttermilk instead of regular milk, and I omitted the cinnamon.

Zac helped me make this pie.

And someone was also on standby to help if needed.

Izzy loves to be in the middle of whatever is going on. She even lays on the floor and watches me iron.
Anyway, back to the recipe...

Oatmeal Pie

2 unbaked 9-inch pie shells (0r All Ready Pie Crust)
1 cup buttermilk
4 eggs
1 -1/2 cups sugar
1/2 stick melted butter
2/3 cup light corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1 small ( 6-7 oz) pkg coconut

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the buttermilk, eggs, sugar, butter, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt. Stir in the oats and coconut. Divide the batter between the 2 pie shells and bake until browned evenly, about 40-45 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before cutting.

Before baking:
After baking:

This pie is yummy, especially if you like the crunchy chewiness of coconut and oatmeal.

Tasty Low Calorie Snacks

2010-03-21T19:53:00.005-05:00

Today I am posting three of my favorite low calorie snacks. I personally do not like artificial sweetener of ANY kind, and always prefer a smaller version of something good over a large sized snack that is sweetened with something like aspartame. I have always been a believer in portion control, and all the 100 calorie snacks are perfect for that. I like them because they are just enough to take away hunger pangs without a big caloric commitment. I LOVE the Newtons Fruit Crisps. They are like thin pop tarts. I haven't tried any flavor other than raspberry, but I think they also come in apple and blueberry. I keep a pack in my purse so that if I get hungry while I am out, I have something on hand which hopefully prevents me from making a bad food choice, such as a candy bar.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 package = 1 oz (28g) (2 snacks per package)
Amount per Serving
Calories 100 Calories from Fat 15
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 2g 3%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Monounsaturated Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 90mg 4%
Potassium 20mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 20g 7%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Sugars 8g
Protein 1g 2%
Vitamin A 0%
Vitamin C 15%
Calcium 15%
Iron 4%
Est. Percent of Calories from:
Fat 18.0% Carbs 80.0%

Another tasty choice is Kellog's Fiber Plus Bars. They come in 3 flavors, all of which I have tried and really liked. Take note that there are 9 grams of fiber in each bar. That's really a lot. Be careful eating these if fiber bothers you in any way. They are 120 calories each, and pretty filling.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 bar (36g)
Amount per Serving
Calories 120 Calories from Fat 40

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 4g 6%
Saturated Fat 2g 10%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 55mg 2%
Total Carbohydrate 26g 9%
Dietary Fiber 9g 36%
Sugars 7g
Protein 2g 4%
Vitamin A 0%
Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 10%
Iron 4%
Vitamin E 20%
Zinc 20%
Est. Percent of Calories from:
Fat 30.0% Carbs 86.7%
Protein 6.7%

Anybody besides me love the Snickers Ice Cream Bar? They are amazing, but they have 180 calories. I found these the other day. It is a snack size version of the same ice cream bar, but with only 90 calories.
Yum.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 25g Bar
Amount per Serving
Calories 90 Calories from Fat 50
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 6g 9%
Saturated Fat 3.5g 18%
Cholesterol 5mg 2%
Sodium 30mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 9g 3%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Sugars 8g
Protein 2g 4%
Est. Percent of Calories from:
Fat 60.0% Carbs 40.0%
Protein 8.9%

I hope this was helpful to any of you who are looking for snacks like these. I will be posting more.

A Low Calorie Comfort Meal

2010-03-19T20:52:00.004-05:00

This post is one of several I will be doing on meals and snacks that are healthy as well as delicious. A few months ago, I purchased a book called "The 4 Day Diet" by Ian Smith. The title is somewhat deceptive because you are not actually finished in 4 days. I wish it were that easy. It is a series of several diet plans that each run over a period of 4 days. It is an excellent book, and although I haven't strictly adhered to the diets, I have taken many of his suggestions and put them to use on a daily basis.

Dr Smith suggests lots of brown rice, greens, and legumes. We love all of those things, so we eat them fairly often. Last night I fixed collards, brown rice, and field peas with snaps. Oddly enough, he suggests ham hock for flavor.

I used 1 lb of a 2 lb bag of frozen peas from Publix. I covered them with water and simmered them with ham hock for about an hour and 1/2. I seasoned them with thyme, several bay leaves, and a generous amount of salt.

I used two bags of collards and simmered them for about 45 minutes with another ham hock. Again, more salt. It takes a good bit to bring out the flavor.

For the rice I used my rice cooker. (Actually Gil did it. He is a great cook and we like to tag team in the kitchen after we have both worked.) I used 1 cup of brown rice in 2 1/2 cups of water or chicken broth. The chicken broth is better. I also add a couple of teaspoons of butter. The rice takes about 45 minutes.

The result is a low cost meal that is high in fiber and nutrition and and low in calories. It is comfort food to us. Some sliced tomato will be great with it this summer.

Uncommonly Fun Dieting

2010-03-18T20:25:00.012-05:00

Okay, so if you are like me and have spent most of your winter nights under an electric blanket watching Netflix, you are probably as ready as I am to get into better shape. That, unfortunately, takes some effort.

Exercise is very important, of course, but so is diet. Over the past few months, I have altered many of my eating habits, which has produced a slow and steady weight loss. I firmly believe that this kind of dietary alteration will provide better long term weight loss and overall health. I have never been one to stick with strict or fad diets, but I do like to glean from various diets for good suggestions. My top priority is to find foods and snacks that I actually look forward to eating. (A word of warning: I will also continue to post yummy, calorie-ridden recipes. It is still my favorite thing. Well, besides my electric blanket.)

I am going to post a series of my favorite nutritious, low calorie meals and snacks. So, maybe some of what has worked for me will work for you as well. There is no reason why food that is nutritious should not taste delicious. A pretty simple philosophy.

Cheers to renewed poolside confidence.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches

2010-03-02T18:12:00.006-06:00

This recipe comes from my old roomie, Mimi. We roomed together at the University of Montevallo and have been good friends now for over 30 years. Very simpatico. There is an island named after us called Meama-Vicka Island, but that is another story. She is an amazing cook and I've gotten a lot of ideas from her. She made this pork for us one afternoon when we were at the beach together and I have made it many times since. It is easy and yummy! I don't even remember the exact seasonings she used. Just use your favorites.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches

1 pork tenderloin
Cavender's Greek Seasoning
Colonel Paul's Cajun Seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
Hoagie rolls
favorite sandwich condiments, such as mustard, mayo, banana pepper slices, olives, etc

Line a baking dish with foil. Season the tenderloin with your favorite seasonings. Bake at 450° for about 30 minutes. Let rest for about 10 minutes. Slice.

If you line the baking dish with foil, it cuts out a lot of mess.

Season generously with seasonings on the top and bottom.

Cooking at a high temperature browns it beautifully and really brings out the flavor.

Crusty brown on the outside and moist on the inside. Slice and enjoy!

Pies Baked in a Jar

2010-02-18T17:41:00.006-06:00

I found this very cute idea on Not Martha. It is a great blog and it has a very thorough tutorial on this. You will need All Ready pie crust, pie filling, and small Ball jars. One package of crust and one can of pie filling made 6 pies.

These short, wide-mouth jars were my favorites.

Press pie crust into the jar.

Fill 3/4 full with desired filling. (This is more than 3/4 full and I don't recommend it)

Cover with more pie crust and seal edges. Do cut-outs if desired. You can put the tops on the jars and freeze them at this point if you want to. You can then give it as a little gift for the recipient to bake themselves.

I also tried it in ceramic heart baking dishes.

You can brush the tops with beaten egg if you want to in order to give them more of a golden crust. Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is golden on top and inside.

I served them warm with Breyer's vanilla ice cream.

If you place the tops on them while they are hot from the oven, they will seal and keep for several months unrefrigerated. How cool is that??

Easy Baked Rice

2010-02-18T17:11:00.004-06:00

This is one of my all time favorite recipes. It has been around for years, but I found this particular version on Cooks.com. You just throw all the ingredients in a baking dish and in a little over an hour, you have the most fabulous tasting rice ever. Seriously. I served it with Chicken that Makes its Own Gravy.

Baked Rice

1 can Campbell's Consomme Soup
1 can Campbell's Onion Soup
1 stick butter
1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
1 can (4 oz) mushrooms

Combine ingredients in a greased 1-1/2 to 2 quart baking dish Bake at 350° for 1 to 1-1/4 hours and stir before serving.

Yield: 6 servings

You might want to double it because everyone will want seconds.

Baked Chicken "That Makes its Own Gravy"

2010-02-15T14:35:00.004-06:00

This recipe comes from a book that was given to me by a sweet friend many years ago. The book is a compilation of recipes taken from the backs of boxes, bottles, cans, and jars, such as Campbells, Kellogg's, Tabasco, and Pepperidge Farm There are some really great recipes in this book. Many, such as the recipe I am posting, are nostalgic as well. If you are interested in buying this book, you can check it out on this quick link to Amazon.

This particular recipe came off of the Carnation Evaporated Milk can, circa 1964, and it comes with my personal disclaimer: The chicken does not "make its own gravy." At no time did any of the chicken in this dish make or even assist in the gravy making. I did it all on my own. It does convert from a creamy to a more gravy-like consistency during the baking time, however. I changed a few ingredients from the original, such as cheddar instead of American (gag) cheese.

Baked Chicken that Makes Its Own Gravy

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup melted butter
1 small can Carnation (I actually used Pet!) Evaporated Milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 carton fresh mushrooms
1 small onion, chopped and sauteéd in butter

Coat chicken with flour. Arrange in a single layer in melted butter in a large baking pan. Bake uncovered at 425° for 30 minutes.Turn chicken and bake until brown, about 15-20 minutes longer. Remove from oven and reduce temperature to 325°. Pour off any excess fat. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cover with foil and bake for about 15-20 more minutes.
Yield: 6 servings

Coat each chicken breast with flour. I also added a little salt and pepper.

Combine gravy ingredients. Don't expect any help from the chicken.

Okay, so these pictures do not do this fabulous recipe any justice. The chicken was tender and the gravy was delicious. I highly recommend this for company or for just a family dinner.

I hope you try it!

Custom Gift Card Holders

2010-02-13T13:05:00.000-06:00

It is so easy to make custom gift card holders. To make these, I opened up Printshop and pulled up two cute Valentine designs. I used the grid to measure the size I needed and placed the design on the far right. I added names to each one to personalize them.

I printed them off onto white card stock and folded them, leaving the design on the top.

Then I trimmed off the excess.

You can cut slits to place the gift card in if you want to. I just used tape.

Envelopes are easy, too, but that's another post.

Open Up a Can of Worms

2010-02-12T22:35:00.002-06:00

Not real ones, of course.

I like to send Amby and Nathan a box of Valentine surprises every year. For one of the surprises, I decided to make the pop top cans I posted about last Christmas, except this time with custom labels. For a complete tutorial on how to make these, go here.

I have mentioned many times that I am a font fiend. I have downloaded a large variety of fonts from dafont.com. My affinity for fonts comes in handy for projects like this one.

I used Printshop for Mac and pulled up a blank page. Then I typed in their names and nicknames in various fonts. I thought that black on white with a single red heart would look cool.

I printed the labels onto white card stock and cut them into the size that would fit the cans I chose. You can gently remove the original can label and use it as a template if you need to.

I filled the cans with Brite Crawlers. I glued the bottoms back on and placed two heavy books on top of the cans for about 30 minutes. I tried Alene's Clear Tacky glue this time and really liked it.

Ahhh... the finished product. Nothing says I love you quite like a can of worms.

I tucked them away in their Valentine box and sent it off to Oklahoma.

This project is really fun and is suitable for any occasion!

Felt Fortune Cookies

2010-02-12T17:32:00.011-06:00

This is a Martha Stewart project. The link to it can be found here. I didn't do it exactly as she suggested. I actually got ideas from a couple of her commenters.

Materials Needed:
felt
pipe cleaners or wire
hot glue
candies
fortunes

First of all, I thought her suggested circle size of 4-1/2" was too small. I made a circle (just under 5") on my computer and printed it onto card stock. I used it as a pattern for my felt circles.

Martha suggested wire to place across the middle. I used a pipe cleaner which I trimmed with a wire cutter.

I also used hot glue because it's faster. Don't burn your fingers.

Print or write out a fortune to place in the cookie. I googled funny one-liners and printed some of those. One of my favorites was, "The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the ability to reach it." Another one was, "Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad." Who doesn't love a little after dinner sarcasm?

You can also place candy inside, which I found to be quite tedious. Maybe a smaller piece of candy would work better. The Hershey Kiss did work, but I had to fanagle with it a lot.

Fold over:

Be careful to grasp the candy as you pinch the edges together:

Then fold at the pipe cleaner:

This was an arduous project, but I did finally get the hang of it, and I will definitely do it again. These would be fun for other occasions as well.

"Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes." : )

Pastel Valentine Tablescape

2010-02-07T17:27:00.010-06:00

I decided to go with a pastel color scheme for my Valentine table this year. Though totally unnecessary at a table for four, sometimes I enjoy making place cards because it gives me something else to tie in and coordinate. I printed these onto white card stock with Printshop. I cut striped scrapbook paper into strips and glued them to the bottom of the cards with a glue stick.

As I have mentioned before, I collect Fiesta Ware and I have enjoyed it for many years. It is amazingly versatile. I picked the colors that would match my table, which were pink, blue, yellow and green. I wrapped braided cording around each napkin as a napkin ring. I tied a small knot on the back to hold it.

My centerpiece was simple and edible. The post about it can be found here.

I have a set of conversation heart lights that I purchased at Target several years ago. They are really fun to use. I usually drape them around a window, but this time I used them on the table.

Yes, there is a cord hanging off the table, but it's worth it.

I covered the wire with white tulle.

Now I just have to figure out a Valentine dinner...

Sweet Valentine Centerpiece

2010-02-07T15:47:00.003-06:00

I love Valentines Day and I always enjoy decorating for it. These are the implements I chose for my table this year.

These vases were $1 each.

These suckers are marshmallow with a gummy topping...I think. Not so nutritious, but very happy and colorful. They were also just $1 each.

Here are a couple of other selections. All cute, and all $1.

Of course, conversation hearts abound this time of year. I chose the larger size.

I placed a sucker inside each vase as I poured in the conversation hearts to anchor them.I also tied a colorful ribbon around each one.

I liked how they turned out. Quick, easy, and inexpensive!

More on my table in my next post.

Valentines Day is coming!

2010-02-01T21:08:00.002-06:00

I have been taking a short break from my postings to revamp my blog a little bit. I plan to post some Valentine ideas soon. Sorry if you have been checking and being disappointed that there has been nothing new. Just give me a few more days! Thank you for checking.

Warmth and Style from the Knit Owl

2010-01-16T14:32:00.003-06:00

I recently purchased this beautiful pair of hand-knit fingerless gloves from Amby to give to a friend, and I ordered a pair for myself as well. I love the colors! Because it was about 15° at the time, I used a pair of plain gloves in a coordinating color (Target) to add extra protection from the frigid temperatures.

Amby has a large selection of beautiful handiwork that can be purchased at The Knit Owl. (Sock monkey courtesy of Smith's Variety of Mt Brook).

Go and pay her a visit!

Oven Roasted Cabbage Wedges

2010-01-14T18:54:00.009-06:00

My mom was a wonderful cook and taught me all the basics of cooking and baking while I was growing up. I remember that when my mom cooked cabbage, she would always just boil it with onions until it was fully cooked. Yes, times were simpler then.
Cooking trends have changed now and vegetables are often cooked until crisp/tender, using techniques such as steaming and stir frying. This makes them much more flavorful, colorful. and nutritious. One of the newer trends in cooking vegetables is to roast them. I have roasted potatoes many times before, but I hadn't tried cabbage until I found this recipe. It is in the January 2010 issue of Martha Stewart magazine.

Cabbage is an excellent source of vitamins K and C, and also a very good source of dietary fiber, manganese, vitamin B6 and folate, as well as several other nutrients. And it is so delicious! I discovered that roasting cabbage brings out the flavor and texture of the cabbage in a way that I had never tasted before.

Oven Roasted Cabbage Wedges

1 head of cabbage, cut into 8 wedges, core intact
olive oil
salt and pepper
balsamic vinegar (optional)

Preheat oven to 450°. Brush both sides of cabbage wedges with olive oil and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. (I used sea salt). Bake for about 15 minutes, remove and flip the wedges over. Bake for about 10 more minutes. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar if desired.

Cut the cabbage into 8 wedges, core intact.

Brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and place on a greased baking sheet.

After about 15 minutes, flip each wedge over. Return to oven and bake about 10 more minutes.

I served it with rotisserie chicken and mixed wild rice. The cabbage was so good that I could have just eaten it for dinner all by itself. My mom would have loved it, too.

Christmas Gift Toppers and Tags

2010-01-13T21:03:00.014-06:00

I am posting more Christmas ideas a little late, but better late than never! This post contains many links that you can enjoy all year. And a reminder, double-clicking will really help you to see these better.

This year I utilized resources from the internet to make gift tags and trimmings more interesting. I downloaded this and other amazing Christmas prints from A Print a Day. I printed this on card stock to use on my pop top can treat project, which was an idea I got from How Does She...

The links for the following tags also came from How Does She... I printed these cute retro tags onto photo paper. They originally came from Orange You Lucky.

These tags came from A Print a Day.

These came from Mushy.

Sometimes if the paper and tag are cute enough, you don't even need a bow.

I made my annual visit to Kmart in late November to check out the Martha Stewart decorations. I went back a couple of times because as it got closer to Christmas, it all went on sale. This year it was a sewing/knitting theme, which was perfect for Amby. This reindeer ornament is a tiny pincushion.

This is an adorable sewing/knitting basket ornament. Another Martha idea was to cut "ribbon" from coordinating wrapping paper, which I did here.

Smith's Variety had an assortment of robot ornaments that I used for Zac and Nathan's gifts.

I LOVE cigar boxes, especially unique ones. Cigar stores sell them for a fair price. Nathan's had a sliding top and Amby's had a tiny metal latch. Nathan's tag was made with scrapbooking implements and I made Amby's with Printshop and printed it onto photo paper.

Anthropologie is always a great source for ornaments. This one doesn't need a tag.

Stickers are always easy.

I like to give adventurous gifts to the grandkitties, who, despite their busy schedules, were able to make it to Birmingham for Christmas. I found this kitty font at dafont.com. It is called CatsAlphabet.
This year they got adjoining cubes. I also got them a crinkle tunnel which Amby later joined in the middle between them. I understand that Sherman has taken over the gift just as he did last year.

Here is Sherman enjoying his new adventure cube.

If you HAVE the time, then I recommend that you take the time to add fun and personal touches to all your gifts, and not just for Christmas!

Warm and Cozy Christmas Tablescape

2010-01-13T12:56:00.006-06:00

Happy New Year! I took a much needed break from blogging to spend time with my family and recuperate from our busy Christmas. I hope that you all enjoyed the holiday as much as we did.

We actually celebrated our Christmas on December 28th, so I didn't get to post this table before the 25th. I decided to go ahead and post it late because it would be appropriate to do throughout the winter.

I wanted a "lodgy" feel - rustic and warm. I found these oil lanterns at Kmart. I didn't like the stark black, so I rubbed on some metallic gold acrylic paint with cheesecloth. The only thing I didn't like about the lanterns was the oil I used for them. It was supposed to be unscented but it wasn't. It will be fine for outdoors, though.

This is the before and after:

I used the dishes my dad surprised me with on Thanksgiving of '97. Needless to say, this set of Christmas dishes is very special to me. The silver plate flatware was my grandmother's.

I bought 2 yards of fleece at Hancock to use as my tablecloth. I didn't even finish the edges. Fleece is amazing fabric and so versatile for tablecloths and such. Everyone commented on how soft is was. I used white cotton napkins and twig napkin rings that I've had for several years.

I put votive candles in small glass candle holders inside large Ball jars, then screwed the rims back on them. I alternated the Ball jars with the lanterns and tucked fresh greenery all around it.

This table provided a perfect setting for the wonderful Christmas dinner I had with my family.

Oreo Cookie Pops

2009-12-20T12:13:00.017-06:00

This is a fun project that I found on How Does She? Zac and I made these, and we went through a little trial and error, but now we totally have Oreo Cookie Pop savvy.

Materials Needed:

Oreos

Dipping chocolate (either vanilla or chocolate bark or chocolate morsels)

sucker sticks

sprinkles, M & M minis, or candy eyes

small cellophane bags

ribbon

Melt your dipping medium. This melted quickly and easily in the microwave. Just follow the directions.

I used chocolate bark and I also did Ghirardelli semisweet morsels. The bark was easier to work with, but the morsels taste better and have a gloss to them once they have set.

Open the Oreos carefully:

Dip the stick into the melted chocolate:

Lay it on the Oreo half:

Carefully place the other Oreo on top:

Hold together gently:

I would recommend letting it dry before doing display hands.

Here they are en masse, waiting to be dipped in chocolate.

We dipped the Oreos like this and also used a spoon to make sure they were covered:

Zac wanted to make sure to get a picture of these because his (on the right) looked so much better than mine. Maybe he's the one who should have a blog.

After much begging, we were able to talk Gil into getting involved as well.

Gil's was one of the coolest, very yin-yang-esque.

This project is serious, folks.

Here are the finished pops.

Place them in the small cellophane bags and tie with ribbon, yarn, or a snappy scarf:

Treats in a Pop Top Can

2009-12-17T21:29:00.010-06:00

I started to call this post, This Craft is Crazy Cute or Wish I'd Thought of This, but I figured that might make it difficult to find on a Google search. This idea came from a blog called How Does She...

Materials Needed:

pop top can ( I used small cans of peaches)
safe-edge can opener (I got mine at Walmart)
white glue (as usual, I like Alene's Tacky Glue)
cute scrapbook paper or heavy wrapping paper
candies or other treats

Open the bottom of the can with the can opener. The reason for the safety can opener is that it takes off the entire piece, including the rim. Eat the contents or place into a storage container.

Thoroughly wash and dry the container and fill with your choice of goodies. Homemade treats would be even better.

Run glue around the edges and reattach the bottom to the can. Place a heavy book on it while the glue is working.

For the first one I did, I removed the label and used it for a template on my scrapbook paper. Then I cut the paper and glued it around the can.

Apply the paper to the can. As you can see, once I made the template, I didn't remove any more labels. It is just an unnecessary step.

I downloaded this adorable paper from A Print a Day onto light card stock.

Gil helped me figure out the template for the top. You have to cut out a V shape to fit it under the pop top. Trace it onto matching paper and glue it to the top of the can.

Just such amazing cuteness.

How great would these be for stocking stuffers? You can use bigger cans, too. Just make sure the bottoms are compatible with your can opener. (Campbells Soup cans aren't, by the way).

You could also place them in cellophane bags and tie with ribbon. I downloaded the tags, too. I printed this tag onto photo paper.

I love this idea and I plan to make them year round. I hope you enjoy making these as much as I did!

Quick and Easy Gift

2009-12-16T18:10:00.003-06:00

Need a teacher gift or a small treat to add to a gift basket? Buy a scoop and fill it with pistachios, pecans, or whatever your favorite nuts are. Place it in a cellophane bag and tie it with a cute Christmas ribbon.

Quick and Easy Ornament

2009-12-16T17:52:00.005-06:00

I had feathers left from my Feather Tree and I wanted to use them to make an ornament. My original intention was to have a single feather in the bottom, but it ended up being pretty full by the time I finished. I was surprised by the beautiful results.

Materials needed:
clear glass ornaments
white feathers
white glue (I like Alene's Tacky Glue)
Martha Stewart snow glitter (or whatever you have)

Take the top off of the ornament. Gently bend each feather and push into the ornament with a toothpick. Continue until you have it as full as you would like. It is actually amazing how many feathers will fit in there. Squirt glue along the top to look like icy snow and cover with glitter. Allow a few minutes to dry and replace top.

It's just that easy.

Cookie Cutter Felt Tie-Ons

2009-12-15T11:25:00.005-06:00

Anthropologie is one of my favorite places to shop, especially for Christmas surprises. They also have very cute tie-ons for their gifts. This is the one this year, and I happened to have paper that matched it perfectly.

It is made of felt circles that are threaded onto twine. After I looked at it, I got to thinking about how easy it would be to make them, but be a little more creative.

I traced around cookie cutters onto felt with a sharpie.

After I cut them out, I folded them in half lengthwise and cut two small slits in the middle.

Then I threaded them onto twine, which I got at Hancock. (The brown felt has been washed a couple of times to give it a worn look).

I typically use tissue paper only for stocking stuffers, but both of these patterns were really cute.

I loved how they turned out!

Homemade Treats for Your Canine Friends

2009-12-14T21:09:00.003-06:00

This recipe was given to me the other day by my friend Jennifer who is an animal lover/rescuer. It has a texture like a meatloaf and she bakes it in a 13 x 9 dish. I decided to try it in muffin tins for individual servings. It is a wonderfully nutritious snack that is easy to make. And perfect for a Christmas treat!

Ground Turkey Dog Treats

1 sweet potato
1 lb ground turkey
1 egg
5 tbsp uncooked old fashioned oats
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Cook sweet potato in the microwave for about 5 minutes. Let it cool and slip off the skin. Mash up and combine the remaining ingredients, using your hands if necessary. Place in a greased baking dish and bake at 350 for 1 hour. If you use muffin tins, bake 20 minutes for mini tins and 30 minutes for regular muffin tins.

After the sweet potato is cooked, combine ingredients.

I used a smaller tin for my Yorkie and a larger one for my Izzy.

Mmmm. They smell good, but don't eat them. They are for dogs. And our dogs LOVE them.

Keep refrigerated. They won't last long.

Painted Christmas Ornaments

2009-12-13T17:27:00.004-06:00

As I shared in my last post, I really enjoy painting Christmas ornaments. I did two this year and I am posting them to show how fun and easy they are to do. They are also very inexpensive.

I got this little resin Santa at Hobby Lobby, where family traditions are started. He was 50% off and I paid $2 for him. Such a nice blank canvas waiting to be splashed with creativity.

I used regular acrylic paint, and it took a couple of coats of the red and maybe about three coats of the white. I used a very tiny brush on the parts where the two colors met. A coat of Mod Podge is an option after the pain dries if you want it to be shiny. I opted for a matte finish this time.

Here he is with his black boots, gold buttons...

...and green mittens.

He looks very much at home among the regulars.

This is a simple wooden ornament of which there are an abundance at both Michaels and Hobby Lobby. It was less than $1.
First I painted it in acrylics.
Then oversanded it a little.
I diluted some brown acrylic paint with water and brushed on some, then wiped it off to give it an aged look. Then I hung it on my tree.

Painting ornaments can be fun for every member of the family. They are also very cute to tie onto a gift for someone special.

Scenes of the Nativity

2009-12-12T20:28:00.010-06:00

We have several nativity scenes that are very special to me and we really enjoy getting them out every year. Gil brought me several back from a trip to Peru. This is one of them.
(You can click on the photos to enlarge them if you want to).

I love this one with their removable Peruvian hats and the smiling animals.

This one was made by women who were in a Peruvian prison. Mary broke into 16 pieces while in transit. I was heartbroken and glued her back together. She is fine now.

They have a beautiful glow to them in a dimly lit room.

This is the oldest and most important of all our nativity groups. I bought these unfinished in the fall of 1979, which was the year Gil and I got married. We painted them together and have enjoyed them for 30 years now. They posed this year for a photo shoot.

For many years they didn't even have a stable. Now they do.

The other day Zac asked me how all of them sprang for the stable because he grew up seeing them without one. He wondered if the three wise men bought it with their gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but then said that it would be hard for them to give something that had been stuck to them for so many years (literally). This led to a spur of the moment song, with guitar and vocal, which was titled, "Give Up Your Myrrh for God." Somehow the song went on to mention the Nina, the Pinta, the Santa Maria, and the year 1492. I know. Perplexing.

Memories and traditions have been really fun in our family. I encourage you to create as many as you can.

Christmas Quiche

2009-12-08T21:24:00.005-06:00

Ham Quiche

2 Pillsbury All Ready Pie Crusts
6 individual pie pans
1 - 1/2 cups cooked, diced ham
1 - 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
8 eggs
about 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped and sauteéd until tender
2 cups 1/2 & 1/2
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 -1/2 tbsp dried dill
3/4 of a 10 oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1. Line pans with pie crust, trim with a scissor, then leave enough to crimp the edges. (1 crust fills 3 pans, with leftover pastry for cutouts).

2.Layer with ham, cheese, and bell pepper. Beat eggs with a whisk and add 1/2 & 1/2, spinach, and seasonings. Pour over ingredients in pie shell.

3. Make cutouts with leftover pastry and place on top of each quiche. Brush cutouts with beaten egg.

4. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until firm.

Yield: 6 individual quiches. I actually had some of the egg mixture left. You could make a couple more if you had enough of the other ingredients.

Line pie pans with pastry:

Trim and crimp the edges. Place diced ham in first:

Then layer with cheese and bell pepper:

Pour egg mixture over the ham and cheese. Place cut outs on top:

Bake at 350° for about 25 minutes until firm.

Serve with soup, salad, or all by itself! It is also great to serve for breakfast. I served it for a Christmas lunch that I had with some wonderful friends.

A Feather Christmas Tree and a Snowy Mantel

2009-12-05T19:57:00.011-06:00

I decided to decorate my mantel in all white this year and I wanted something really different to place in the center. This is a Martha Stewart craft that is a little time consuming, but well worth the effort. Here is Martha's tutorial if you would like to see how she did it.

Materials needed:

1 white styrofoam cone
1 - 1/2 bags large white feathers ($1.99 Hobby Lobby)
1 bag small white feathers
hot glue gun
popsicle stick
wooden skewer or large toothpick
star for topper

Start with a styrofoam cone. I couldn't find a white one, so I just painted a green one with white acrylic paint.

These are the feathers I used.

Starting at the bottom, glue the large feathers on one at a time, making sure they flare out and extend a couple of inches from the bottom of the tree.

Use chop sticks from P.F. Changs that haven't been broken apart yet to to protect your fingers from the hot glue. Just kidding. Use a popsicle stick like a normal person.

Work your way up the tree, filling in as necessary.

Start using the smaller feathers as you get toward the top. Place a skewer or large toothpick into the top of the tree.

Keep adding the smaller feathers and work up the skewer a little bit. Then snip off most of the skewer.

I used 2 unfinished wooden stars that I got at Michael's. I painted them a couple of coats of iridescent white and let them dry. Then I gave them a light coat of glue and sprinkled them with glitter.

I applied hot glue to the tops and attached the bottoms to the remainder of the skewer.

Here is the finished tree.

For the mantel, I used 2 sets of 100 white lights with white cord. I arranged them on the mantel and covered them with several layers of white tulle. The branches are dogwood branches that I spray painted white. I found the tiny snowflakes and sparkly icicles at Michael's. I wanted a splash of color, so added these pretty birds:

I got them at Garden Ridge.

It turned out to be exactly what I wanted.

Uncommonly Cute Reindeer

2009-12-04T17:25:00.004-06:00

Zac surprised me with a these really cute little woodland reindeer yesterday. They are from Sojourns, which is in located on the north side of downtown Birmingham. (A very cool shop, by the way). I love the looks on their faces. Zac said that they reminded him of Izzy, our kooky dog that I rescued last year.

Do you see the resemblance?

Hmm... I'm thinking maybe so...

Yep, they are the reindeer version of her.