Recent Mural

I was recently hired to do a mural. I love doing murals. I get to have a break from the kiddos and I get to paint ALL DAY. It's amazing. Usually the client gives you what they want in a very specific manner which makes things so easy. In this case I was given a photo and told to do something like it with the word "imagine" and maybe a squirrel. 

Done.

You got it.

Then over here, maybe some wild flowers. Of course.

I kind of wish this was my room.

Super fun.

I am very pleased with how it turned out. I believe I was done in around 5.5 hours. Not bad.

Rhea B

I learned how to make these pizza rolls after college when living with my roommate Rhea B. I brought it back for a light dinner recently. I am still struggling with how to best cook them because after 10 years I don't remember exactly how she did it but they are worth the difficulty of figuring it out.

Use refridgerated pizza dough in the pop open tube/can and sprinkle on powdered spaghetti sauce mix from a packet and layer on some toppings. I used black olives and green olives in the one pictured above. I baked it at 325 for 20 minutes and used aluminum foil to lay over it to avoid over browning during this time. Then I ended up cutting it in half and seeing the center still doughy. I turned cut sides out and kept using foil to cover the opposite ends. After another 5 or 10 minutes the roll was perfect. Slice and serve! MMMmmmmm. A hit with all ages.

Pinable

There is probably a really good saying about how necessity drives invention but I'm fresh out of good sayings. 

The truth is I got sick of picking up a bunch of barrettes in my bathroom everyday. I got sick of digging through the kids' barrettes to get the bobby pin I wanted.

This is what I was dealing with:

 My youngest daughter would constantly dump the basket out and pick out one barrette.

There were barrettes all over the house.

 I decided I had had enough.

 I took a hanger, some 5/8" white satin ribbon and super glue.

I fashioned a barrette hanger and used a 3M hook to give it a place in the bathroom but it could easily hand in their rooms or their closet.

The basket remains to hold only brushed and combs. The binders got sorted into a multiple tiered container that screw together and stack. (My youngest can't open this!)

It makes is much easier to find the barrette they want and even holds clips and headbands! 

This project took me no time at all and was super easy.

Chicken Stock

One of the things about working in a restaurant with a chef run kitchen serving affordable gourmet food-
I have a new obsession with food. The chefs at work do an amazing job making food from scratch to order every day. I need to do this more for my family.

So I decided to make chicken stock from scratch for the first time in my life. I used chicken bones left over from the two roasting chickens I cooked earlier in the day. I should have had more vegetables and fresh herbs but I used what I had in the kitchen.

Rewarding and very low sodium.

I used it to make a White Chicken Chili that my hubby loves for dinner that night. Way to go, Mom! (patting myself on the back)

Topiary

A favorite project of mine.

I had seen this at a scrap booking night back in May (or maybe the end of April) 2011.

It was an example from a magazine.

The gal was making them for Mother's Day gifts.

I knew I wouldn't make it for Mother's Day but I did start gathering the information and supplies necessary to complete the project.

What you'll need:

• Cuttlebug or Sizzix die cutting/embossing machine

• Sizzix Bigz Die, 3-D Flowers

 •Double sided 12"x12" paper cut into quarters

(Roughly 5 pages of 3 different coordinating patterns)

I cut 8 "flowers" out of one 12"x12" sheet and used almost 100 "flowers" so my math says that you'll need 12.5 pieces of 12"x12" paper cut into 6"x6" squares:

(you can buy double sided paper at Archivers stores or in pads at JoAnn or Michael's - it's cheaper to buy a pad than individual sheets)

• Paper Flower rolling tool (this is a must, you can try without it but good luck)

• Pearl headed quilting pins, approx 100/topiary I bought the Dritz brand  (Wal-Mart had the best deal)

• 1/3" dowel cut down to approximately 12" lenghts

• metal pail

• Floral foam cut to pail shape to push dowel into, make sure it fits tightly and then you don't need to glue it or anything. I bought green floral foam rectangles and just trimmed down the corners to fit the pail which I found in the dollar section at Target.

• 4" foam ball

............................................

 5 months later I started putting the project together

Simply roll all flowers with flower roller by placing the outer tail of the die cut spiral into the slotted end of the roller and rolling it up then removing it. Pin in random order of size and color into styrofoam ball. Leave just enought room for a dowel before you finish. Place one end of the dowel into the foam ball and the other into the floral foam. I cut a 3" circle with a 1/3" circle in the middle and slipped it on the dowel before inserting it into the floral foam to cover it up. 

Final result:

=beautiful.

The project took me around 6 hours to complete. I found it easy. There is a lot of rolling but I was able to complete it sitting in bed watching TV or next to my hubby on the couch. 

Candy Cane Vodka

My mom made some of this and I tried it. It was awesome.

Ingredients:

Vodka

Candy Canes

How to make it:

Pour some vodka in a jar. Add candy canes. Close jar. Wait overnight.

DRINK! 

How much you ask? I guess I'll have to make more and take measurements!