long time coming!

Well, I started to sell Pampered Chef and that has been my big creative outlet!  I've actually had a blast and am glad I did it.  A few more hours in the day would be a nice surprise, but I don't think that will happen any time soon.

renewed again

I just saw in our local free paper Picket News that a neighboring town is hosting a "Green Fest" in early May, and they are looking for Green Vendors. 

Hmmm.  I think I'll do it.  The more I think about it, most of the things I make are done from repurposed and recyled items.  I just made a quick sign for it

but I'm not sure I love it yet.

I'm thinking I'll try to make and sell

• packs of --4 or 6?? those fabric napkins made from repurposed men's shirts--just love them!
• tea cozies
• silhouettes mounted on recycled fabric
• tote bags made from recycled fabric
• pillow covers made from yep, recycled fabric

Hmmmm.  I do love an new obsession.  Now I just have to find someone to run my daughter to tournaments that day!

homemade cleaner

I am so boring that this actually makes me happy!  I've found a homemade cleaner that works. . .and it's super cheap! 

 

I hate buying utilatarian things.  You waste all that good money and have little to show for it.  I don't care if I have cute undergarments or socks--no one really sees them!  I don't want to spend money on sneakers and such--they get the job done.  I really hate to spend good money on cleaners.  Yes, I want to be able to clean things; no, I don't want to spend much to do it.

 

Homemade spray cleaner:

• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Borax
• 1/8 cup Dawn dish detergent (other would probably work)
• 1 cup hot water.

 

Based on the directions I saw at moneysavingmom.com, I just put vinegar, Borax, and hot water into a spray bottle.  Next I nearly filled the bottle with cool water and added the dish soap last.  It said not to shake, but of course, I did.

 

It really worked well!

I just saw this shower curtain on the Anthropoligie site and think I just might have to try and make something a little like it--it's just so cool. 

I'll have to see how much it would cost in fabric to create it.  I'm thinking I'd use a plain sheet for the back and several colors of simple cotton to gather for the ombre ruffles.  The one Anthropologie sells is $118.  I think I'd try making it in 2 or 3 sections (maybe 3 ruffles/section) and then joining the sections so there isn't so much fabric at once at the machine.  Hmmmm.

ad stuff

The school's PTSA is preparing to host a dance and I got roped into helping.  Below is the "ad" I created so students could post it on Facebook, the president could get flyers printed, and they could get posters made to advertise the event.

homemade vanilla

The presents I made for Christmas were such a hit, that I'm already thinking ahead.  I read about people making  homemade vanilla extract, and I'd like to give it a try.  As my siblings and closest friends are bakers, I think it would be appreciated.

As the recipe is supposed to set for 6 months, I believe I'll make a small batch to see how good it really is.  I'll try it about 4 months--should be able to get a feel for its quality then, and if it's good, I'll go ahead and make a gallon like the recipe says.  Then, by Christmas 2011, it should be good and ready.

I saw at least 6 versions of this recipe, so I don't think I can give any one person credit.  Below is what I intend to do for the full batch.

Items needed:

• 1 gallon pickle jar with lid
• 1 gallon vodka (two 1.75 liter bottles)
• 3/4 pound Madagascar vanilla beans

Directions:

• Use kitchen shears to slice through each bean lengthwise.  Leave 1 inch uncut at one end.
• Put beans in the jar
• Fill jar with vodka
• Put on lid
• Store in a dark place for 6 months
• Occasionally shake

At end:

• Strain beans from vodka.  Bottle.

I priced the Madagascar vanilla beans online and both Olive Nation and Amazon.com have them for similar prices.  I may use 1/2 pound instead of 3/4 since it's less expensive. . .if anything, I'll just decrease the amount of vodka a bit.

The recipes said to use any quality of vodka, but I'm not sure about that yet.

fabric napkins, part 2

On Dec. 20, I decided I wanted to make napkins from men's shirts--mainly because I saw a tablecloth and napkins that I loved while Christmas shopping.  (I got the tablecloth and napkins for Christmas, by the way--yeah family!) 

I was just going through some old magazines, and found the following page in a June 2005 Country Living article. . .about several companies that make lovely fabric napkins.  I love the mis-matched look of the spread.  Check out the price--the first example sold for $300/set of six, yikes!

I think they're lovely and want to get home to get busy making some!  Hmmm, I may make them in mulitples so I can give a couple of sets away as presents.

those Christmas cakes

My side of the family finally got together to celebrate Christmas. . .so I finally got to give my siblings the blackberry brandy and Christmas cakes that we had made.  They were a big hit.  Looks like I just might have to make them both next year.

Since I never recorded the recipe when I made them, I'll put it up now.  The finished, "aged" cakes were surprisingly good.  Definitely too strong to have more than a little taste, but with the two main ingredients being butter and rum. . . just how bad could they be? :)
Fruit:

• 8 ounces golden raisins
• 8 ounces dark raisins
• 5 ounces dried cherries
• 8+ dried apricots
• 6+ dried prunes
• zest from 1 orange
• juice from 1 orange  

Other ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup molasses  
• 3/4 cup orange or apple juice (or rum)   

I put all of the fruit in a glass bowl and put the orange juice and about 1/2 cup of Captain Morgan Spiced Rum over them.  I then let them soak for a couple of days.  Right before mixing with the other ingredients, I dredged the fruit with 1/2 cup of flour.

I preheated the oven to 275 degrees and greased and floured the pans.  I used 7 small pans.  They were actually ramekins and worked really well.

I mixed 2 cups flour, baking soda, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, and salt and set aside.

In mixer, I creamed butter until light.  From there, I gradually added the brown sugar and eggs.  Next, I alternated between adding the molasses and juice mixture and the flour mixture.  I folded in the floured fruit.

Put in pans and bake.  The recipe called for 3 hours, but because my pans were so little, I only baked them for a little over 1 hour.  I removed from pans and cooled on a rack. 

From there, I lined a really good Tupperware container with waxed paper and put the cakes on that.  With a toothpick, I poked lots of holes in each cake and put about a tablespoon of spiced Captain Morgan rum over each.  I put a piece of waxed paper on top and a dishtowel  over that and sealed container.  At first, I turned the cakes over about 2 times a week and reapplied the rum.  After a while,  I only did it one time a week. 

A day before giving them as presents, I rolled a thin circle of almond paste and put it on top of each.  One set of directions said to do this--I'm guessing because the cakes are damp.  I did one without the almond paste, and it was fine, so I may forego using it next year.  I then iced each cake with cream cheese icing and let it sit out to dry overnight.  I then used red grossgrain ribbon to make a bow on each and wrapped in cling wrap.

Cute, I think!

Alzheimer's fundraiser

I've spend a lot of the last couple of days stragegizing on how I could pull off a really big fundraiser to raise money for Alzheimer's research.  I've got a long way to go, but it's starting to take shape in my mind.

I've already started doing some research on organizations that are doing the best work right now in terms of Alzheimer's research.  I've got a way to go here and have a few leads I want to follow.  It would be awesome if one of the local medical research facilities were doing great work, but I just don't know that that's true.

I'm picturing first doing some major advertising to let people know what's coming.  Of course, I know local people best and will rely on them to buy into the idea and get things going, but I hope, with the Internet as a tool, I can get people from all over the place to buy into it.

I hope to, from a website--perhaps this blog ? :) --explain the concept and state the guidelines/rules. 

Basically, I hope to run a contest a month.  I've got 10 ideas that I think would be great, but don't know if doing that many will become too hard to manage. 

For each contest, participants will create something following some basic rules/patterns.  The idea is for the projects to have some uniformity to make them "judgeable" but to allow for tons of creativity too. 

My conflict/challenge right now is to come up with a way to promote the idea so that the products created are truly artsy and desirable to a broad range of personality types and not just crafty country items.  I would love for there to be lots of variety, but definitely want some items to have the feel that Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, Ballard Designs, Pottery Barn, and similar places have. 

I saw that allpeoplequilt.com, under their "APQ Quarterly Challenge", did some things last year along the line of what I have in mind--they're mostly quilts which I'm not particularly focused on--but I like the layout/platform.  I don't think they awarded a winner.  I'd like to have as many people participate as possible and then, by a deadline, have them post a couple of pictures of their finished product.  Judges would then pick a winner who would receive a gift card.  The big hope is that most of the participants would then be willing to donate their creations to be auctioned off at a big auction in 6-12 months.

Hopefully that auction could attract a lot of people interested in spending some money and picking up some great customized decorative items.

For now, I'm thinking about the challenges being to create the following:

1. a messenger bag following a provided pattern
2. a framed silhouette
3. a pillow made following a provided pattern
4. a sexy apron following a provided pattern
5. a scarf following some provided guidelines
6. a necklace
7. a tablecloth using a certain technique
8. a framed black and white photograph
9. a beach bag following a provided pattern
10. a covered journal following provided guidelines

fundraiser!

I've spent the last several days trying to find a way to meld together a couple of the things I care most about.  I love making things; I want Alzheimer's disease eradicated.

I'm thinking that I can put together a set of contests and at the end of them the items created can be auctioned off to raise money for Alzheimer's research.  I don't totally have this figured out yet, but I'll work on it. . .

apple discovery and silhouettes

So, yesterday I made the apple stuff for the family.  It was all made the traditional way and I'm sure it was quite good--I didn't have any.  I'm rather sick of eating. . .I know that sounds ridiculous.  For nearly two weeks, I feel like all I've done is eat! 

I decided to try and make some baked apples that were healthier than the yummy version.  After all, I do have to go back to work tomorrow (ugh) and I've got to start watching what I eat more carefully or I'll gain back the 25 pounds I managed to lose.  I figured I could take a baked apple for lunch each day. 

I cored apples just like for regular baked apples.  Next--sorry, I didn't measure--I mixed some whole wheat flour, rolled oats, honey, agave nectar, cinnamon and a little molasses.  I stuffed it down into the apple holes and just sprinkled what was left around the pan.  I poured a little water in the pan and baked it a while.  Maybe 25 minutes or so. . .didn't keep track.

They're pretty darn good!

I also started to play with a silhouette of Mindy this morning before church.  Think I'll go play with it more now. . .

apple yummy bread and baked apples

I've got the remainder of a bushel of apples that needs to be used before they spoil. . .and no one especially likes them, so, into Apple Yummy bread and baked apples they will go.  I know Apple Yummy Bread is a goofy name, but it's what we've always called it. 

We've made this since the girls were little.  In the fall we'd get a bushel of apples from the local orchards (great thing about living here!) and make several loaves.  They'd each take a loaf to their teacher and we'd freeze several to eat later. 

It's such an easy recipe--even little ones can measure, help cut apples, and hand stir the ingredients.


I'm also going to make baked apples for dinner.  I think this is pretty much the way my mom used to make them when we were little on the farm.

Recipe for Baked Apples
Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 4 large good baking apples
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup chopped currants, raisins, or cranberries 
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3/4 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Leave the skin on but remove apple cores.  Use a pairing knife or apple corer.  If you can, try to leave the last 1/2 inch of the bottom of the apple in place (to hold the goodies inside). 


In a bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, pecans, and currants/raisins/cranberries.  Place apples in a square baking pan.  I personally like stoneware for recipes like this.  Stuff each apple with 1/4th of the mixture. Top with a dot of butter.


Add boiling water to the baking pan. Bake 30-40 minutes, until tender, but not mushy. Remove from the oven and baste the apples several times with the pan juices.


Serve warm.  Goes great with vanilla ice cream.