New Blog Discovery (249:365)

I just discovered this creative and modern blog called Made By Joel that has tons of great kid craft/ toy ideas with lots of printables too! You MUST check it out. You will thank me.

Can't wait to try out these ideas:

Cereal Box Marble Run

Pipe Cleaner Ring Toss

Blow Fish

Printable Paper City

...just to name a few...

Easy Saint Patrick's Day Earrings and Hair Clips (241:365)

I was at Micheal's recently and saw some green buttons for $1 a pack. I grabbed two packs, hoping to find some cute buttons inside.

I lucked out in the cute department and made some hair clips for myself and the little ladies, and a pair of emerald green earrings for myself and some clip-ons for Dee.

No one will be getting pinched around here on Thursday!

Presents (235:365)

Making some of these for someone special (and for myself).

Easy and way cute...may add some to my shop.

Best Strawberry Shortcake in the World (234:365)

That may sound presumptuous, but it's true.

Now, I know this isn't new to me, but it's new to you (and the Goose - if we are being technical today) and you NEED to know this recipe. 

I always use the recipe from my trusty Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.

Strawberry Shortcake

• shortcake
• 3-4 cups sugared sliced strawberries
• 1 cup whipping cream, whipped (add around a tsp vanilla - just eyeball it, and a few shakes of powdered sugar. I prefer mine less sweet, just do it to taste.)

To make the shortcake:

• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2/3 cup milk

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles course crumbs. Mix in egg and milk; stir just enough to moisten.

Spread dough in greased 8 inch round or square pan. Bake at 450 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool for 5 minutes. Cut in squares and serve with strawberries and whipped cream.

OR!

This is what I do. Make 8 mounds on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown on the little bumps. Then eat up! These also make amazing biscuits, if you don't mind all the extra (calories) deliciousness inside. Enjoy!

Baby Bootie (233:365)

I completed only 1 baby bootie today. It is for a friend who just had a baby that is adorable!

I'll post pics once both are done and ready to ship!

Apron Progress (232:365)

I am working on my almost free apron. Total cost, seriously, is $0.99. Unless you are going to be a stickler and count the topstiching thread, which I bought, not specifially having a project for, but finding a use for it here...then it's like the $1.10 apron. 

I am hoping to have it done soon.

More details to come...

Unearthing My Creative Space (230:365)

My creative space has succumbed to an avalanche of chaos and I spent my "free" time unearthing it today. Kind of a bummer job, but it helped me feel a little more motivated to start getting on some more projects.

I also made a giant list of all the projects I want to work on.

Giant.

Here's to motivation and focus!

And, today Dee read "sat" and "am". Woohoo!

Blueberry Banana Bread Bust (220:365)

I tried making a blueberry banana bread today which turnedinto a horrible mess. It never finished baking. I baked itfor about an hour and checked it thinking it was definitely enough. Tubs out no matter how long I baked it it was just never going to bake all the way through. 

I'm talking HOURS.

It was a gross soggy mess.

Do you know of a good blueberry banana bread recipe that will fill my void?

5 Minute Headband (217:365)

Yes, it really only took me 5 minutes to make this dazzling little beauty.

I got the tutorial from New Green Mama.

All you need is some old knit material and 5 inches of elastic.

I used a pair of Scott's old pajama pants 

that have some lovely HUGE holes in the behind.

They will NOT be missed.

Now they are being put to better use, making my gross hair look cuter!


How to make the headband:

Cut a 2 1/2" by 14" rectangle. 
Then slice the rectangle lengthwise 3 or 4 times, getting only 3 inches from the ends on both sides. These strips will curl when pulled tight.

Then you sew about a 5" piece of elastic, zig-zagging it on both ends. I kind of rolled up the knit material around the elastic to encase it better.

I will definitely be making more of these little darlings. 

(Headbands and kids...)

Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies (216:365)

I'm so over Toll House.

Their Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe makes flat and greasy cookies which are always disappointing. 

I found a recipe on the back of my Gold Medal Flour bag the other day (which I bought for $1.68 on sale and then used a coupon from the bag, a "pealy" to buy 4 bags of chocolate chips for $0.75 each!) for Chocolate Chip Cookies and hoped it was better than Toll House.

Image from here.

Well, they sure are! Less greasy, less flat and chewier. Yum!

I made 2 additions to the recipe.

I added 1 tsp Vanilla and 1 small box instant Vanilla Pudding mix.

Hope you like them as much as we do!

Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4	cup granulated sugar
3/4	cup packed brown sugar
1	cup butter or margarine, softened
1	egg
2 1/4	cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1	teaspoon baking soda
1/2	teaspoon salt
1	cup coarsely chopped nuts
1	package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

Heat oven to 375ºF. Mix sugars, butter and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff). Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft). Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet. Cool on wire rack.  (I cooked them for 11 minutes and should have done 10. I tend to overcook my cookies fearing rawness...I need to get over that fear!) Let me know if you like them too!

Edited Photos (209:365)

In Picasa, there is a button that allows you to edit and alter your photos in an online program called Picnik. That is what I used today for these, and I think they turned out pretty well.  

Here are a few of the pictures of sweet little Ava.

3 Berry Super Bowl Cobbler (206:365)

I suggested to Scott that we each pick a team to cheer for today.

I don't now anything about the players though, so I asked what their colors were.

Based on that info, I rooted for the Steelers so I could wear my cute yellow shirt.

(Looks like I've been eating too many Super Bowl snacks...)

Oh well, maybe I'll have better luck next year.

I still enjoyed my bangin' good 3 Berry Cobbler.

That took 3x the normal time to cook...not sure why, but it was worth the wait!

Happy Super Bowl to you!

Baby Headbands (205:365)

I don't have any shots of them yet, but my friend Kuei and I made headbands for her baby girl today. 

We made them with silk flowers. 

One with a cream colored daisy, one with 3 little purple flowers in a cluster (that turned out CUTE!) and one that is HUGE. It was more of an experiment, to be used as a prop for a photo shoot of her baby on Monday. 

It was fun to see her excited about creating something beautiful and useful with her own hands. 

Challenge:

You all know how to do/make/create something that someone else doesn't know how to do. Sometime before Valentine's Day, share that skill with someone else. Then come back here and share it with us!

Nursing Cover (197:365)

Made my first nursing cover today (for a friend, NOT me!) while crafting at my friend Julie's.

I used this amazing tutorial over at Freshly Picked.

 With help from the tutorial, I added a little corner of terry cloth to wipe the drooly baby and a pocket for such necessities as binkys and snacks for momma.

Baby Cocoon Part Duex (196:365)

Almost done...

Beginnings of a Baby Cocoon (195:365)

I know that sounds really weird, but trust me, it's gonna be cute! I've been coveting baby cocoon props that photographers have been using and annoyed that everyone charges $40 for them. Then I realized, I can make one myself! Whipped out the good old Knifty Knitter and have been working on it all night. It's probably gonna take a few days, but hopefully it will be done by the time I help a friend take some pictures of a sweet little baby I know.

For shots of cute completed baby cocoons that other people have made and used look here.

Mod Podge is Neato (194:365)

I made 16 of these this afternoon.

 

This afternoon, because I am a procrastinator and work best under stress and aggravation. 

Even still, it was fun! Dee was at preschool while Goose and I went out shopping for supplies. I went to a hardware store and bought my first piece of lumber. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. Then the man cut it up into 6x6" blocks for me. 


Once we came home I whipped out one of my cool power tool toys that my step-dad John gave me. Look at this bad boy.

I used this sweetie pie to sand down the edges of the blocks.

Then I spray painted them all a couple of times. 


I'd found the cute little saying here, that I used for the project. I printed them out on regular paper and Mod Podged them to the blocks. 


I think they turned out pretty cute! 


I made them for the Young Women at church,so they could have something in their rooms that would remind them of the Theme for the year, the admonition of Paul from Phillipians 4:8 and The 13th Article of Faith.


See more about the theme here.

To Infinity! (192:365)

I've been dying to make/ buy an Infinity Scarf for months now and actually bought this cheapy $2.50 knit scarf from Target a few months ago to make one from.

I used this quick tutorial, from HomeMadeMamas, which is an awesome blog, btw.

And, Voilà!

After I realized I'd sewn it right side out, and corrected my mistake, it really only took like 5 minutes to do. Love this tut! Can't wait to experiment more with this. Maybe a patchwork one will be coming out of my brain sometime soon... 



P.S. If you don't like this song by Vampire Weekend, there is something wrong with you.
One of my favs. Vid is cool too.

For Betsy (189:365)

 



Sent these with Scott for a personal delivery. Wish we could have gone too! Hope you like them!

Food is Good (188:365)

It was a snowy, recovery day around these parts, so I had loads of time to hang out and be busy in the kitchen. Lately I've been dying for some french bread with butter - best food in the world!!! - so I made me some. Straight out of my Kitchen Aid cookbook, this recipe was quick, easy and fantastic. (Find the recipe here.) Everyone from my baby up to my honey loved it.

Yes - that is Goose's Birthday Banner STILL up in the background...We like birthdays...

Loved it so much, we decided to snack all day on it then have meatball sandwiches for dinner.

They were better than they look...

Can you hear my lips smackin'?

Delish.

While the bread was rising, I felt a little ambitious and made some homemade graham crackers. What?! Yeah, homemade! They turned out pretty good. What I would do differently - roll them thinner and bake to a crunchier texture. Then they'd be perfect.

Find the recipe here, from The Petit Appetit Cookbook.