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.

Buffalo chicken dip

This is a new favorite recipe. 

2-10 ounce cans of chunk chicken, drained (or leftover chopped chicken)
2-8 ounce packages of cream cheese
1 cup ranch dressing
3/4 cup hot sauce like Texas Pete wing sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
celery sticks and/or nacho chips

Just mix all and put in a small crock pot.  Stir occassionally until it's well mixed.  Enjoy!

easy pillows



Both pillows on the chair were made this way.

 I just re-remembered this super easy way to make a pillow cover and I'm so excited that I may have to make several right away!  I think I did this when I had my first apartment, but since then I've make them with zippers and just forgot how quick and simple it is to do it the first way.

Just measure the height of the pillow form that you want to cover.  Add 1/2 inch seam allowance for the top and bottom.  That is the length of one side of the piece of fabric you will cut out in a bit.

Next, measure the width of the pillow.  You will be cutting out your fabric soon and it will look a bit like a scarf at first--short on one side and a little more than twice that long on the other side.  When you make the pillow, you will make two "back" flaps that will overlap each other, and you want each flap to be about 3/4 of the width of the pillow.  Allow an inch on each side for a hem.  So, if you have an 11x11 inch pillow, you would cut out a piece of fabric about 12 inches by 25 inches. 

the front

and the back

Now, sew a simple rolled hem on the two short sides and press the edges.  Place the fabric right side up on a tabletop.  Place your pillow form on top to check placement for sure, but you'll basically fold one side in to cover about 3/4 of the pillow.  Remove form and pin the one side in place.  Now fold in the other side, again to cover about 3/4 of the pillow and pin.  Sew across the top and bottom.  Clip your corners and trim seams.  Turn right side out, iron, and you're done!

Some hints:
If your fabric is thin, you might want to cut a piece of plain white fabric (an inexpensive sheet works great for this) the exact size as the pillow cover fabric and baste it to the "good" fabric to make your finished cover have more body. 

I sometimes skimp on the measurements a touch so the pillow really fills the cover and I wind up with a plump, cushy pillow.

If you don't want to make a run to the store or you want to save a couple of dollars, you can take a bed pillow, cut open one end, and stuff the filling into a smaller area.  Stitch the cover again, this time into a square, and you've got a pillow form.

You can easily decorate these and add embellishments any way you like!

pulled off another party




 

Last night was the Ugly Sweater Party.  It was a blast, but it took me all day to get things ready.  I made lots of food (trifle, meatballs, sausage balls, Buffalo chicken dip, steamer and so on).  I also had to get the contest stuff together.  As people came, we gave them an index card.  They had an hour in order to think of something about themselves that other people at the party probably didn't know about them.  They then placed them in the jar pictured to the right.  When everyone was finished eating, I read all of then entries.  The first person to guess the correct answer scored a point.  The one with the most points won a prize.

We also had each person vote on the sweaters--the funniest, the one I most wished I had found, and the truly ugliest.  The ones winning the most votes won.  Fun night.

recovering those old seat cushions

This fabric was actually pretty once.

Tomorrow night is our first annual "Ugly Sweater Party", so I'm getting the house ready.  You'd think this close to Christmas, everything would be in order, but I always have more projects on the horizon.  I'd also love to touch up the trim paint around a couple of doors, but we'll see if I get to that.  The seats didn't get re-covered in time for the Christmas meals, but they will get done for the ugly sweaters.  (I'll put up a copy of the invite in case anyone wants to adapt the idea.) 

We have three old chairs which I bought at a Thrift store at least 20 years ago.  I still like them, and they remain the most used chairs around the dining room table.  Every five years or so, though, I need to recover them as the covers become threadbare.

Before I made it to the store to look for an inexpensive fabric to replace the old, my friend Robin lent me some that I think I am going to love on them.  It was left over from a project of hers. . .  It's always a plus to have friends with good taste.

I'll put up some pictures to show how they come out.  I'll just take unscrew the seats from the chairs and take off the old fabric.  If you've never done this, just turn the chair over and get a long screw driver.  Unscrew the four screws that hold the seat to the chair.  Next, cut a square--or the shape of your seat--from the new fabric.  I usually leave a couple of inches extra on all sides to wrap around and staple.  

 staple it in place, and then re-screw the seat covers to the chairs.  When they are done, they look so much better and it's less work than others would think. . .that is unless you get the seats off and discover that the staples you purchased and have won't fit the inexpensive new stapler you purchased to replace the old good one that broke. . .and the staples that you send your husband to get don't fit either. . .

Oh, so much better!

bench from old chairs

I didn't really do all of this today, but it's one of my creations.  I found 3 old matching chairs at a junk shop.  They were $1.50 each.  First I removed the old covers, screws, and such and scrubbed them well.  From there, I re-glued a couple of loose spots and screwed a couple of places together to make the chairs sturdy.  Next, I primed them with some leftover primer.  Once they were white from the primer, I used wood putty to fill in a couple of gouges and places where I had added screws to make them more stable.  I sanded the putty and noticed that so much of the primer  had soaked in that I painted them with primer a second time.  After that had dried, I painted them with two coats of gloss white paint.  Next, I used a big piece of cardboard to make a pattern for the "bench seat" which I planned to use to connect the chairs.  On the pattern, I notched out spots to make it fit tightly.  I used the cardboard to cut out a piece of plywood to match the pattern.  I covered the plywood seat with some padding--actually, I split open an old body pillow and used the filling to make the seat padding. I covered that with a layer of old white sheet fabric and then used the green swirl fabric to cover that.  I just wrapped it around the seat and stapled it to the back.  Ta da--a new bench for our breezeway. 

I could have screwed the three chairs together to make the bench even more sturdy, but it held together well the way it was.

I'll post a picture of the final product.  I didn't think to photograph the chairs before I started--wish I would have!

photo photo frame

Well, it's Christmas day and not much time was spent on creativity--just lots of good time with family.

One thing I've got started is a photo frame for my daughter to give to one of her best friends.  We took a picture frame (the one pictured here is actually a mirror) that had a flat, wide frame and painted it white.  Next, I had my daughter go through her photos and pick out between 20-30 of her and her best friend. I copied them onto a couple of pages of a Word document with each photo about an inch to two inches wide.  I printed them in black and white on good quality paper.

Several pages of mini pictures

I also went through some online clipart and picked out several patterns in black and white and printed them.  If I had had any black and white scrapbook paper, I would have used that.

We cut out the pictures.  Some we left in small rectangles.  Some we cut out parts of the image.  Next, we used Mod Podge to glue them along with the black and white pattern paper onto the frame.  When it was finished and we liked the result, we coated it in a couple of coats of Mod Podge.  We re-assembled the frame and placed a large photo of the two of them in it.

It's nearly finished

Merry Christmas!

silhouette stuff

Today has been a day of wrapping presents and baking.  Tomorrow we clean and then it's Christmas!!



This is a computer print out of the original picture, darkened.

 

My creative thing today involves making silhouettes--I'm a little obsessed with them lately. 

I took a picture from a couple of years ago that showed one of my daughters standing on a deck in a vacation home.  It was already digital, so I darkened it to make her outline more distinct.  From there, I simply printed the picture in black and white on 8 1/2 x 11 paper. 

I then took a fine tip Sharpee marker and outlined her and the deck railing.  When I turned the paper over, the outline was distinct enough to photocopy which I then did. 

I used a Sharpee to outline the image and then turned it over.

To the photocopy, so I still had the outline copy in case I want to try something different to it, I used a wide tip black marker to fill in the areas in the picture occupied by her and the deck railing. 



I colored in the area with a wide tip marker.

 My next plan, which will probably have to wait until after Christmas, is to go to Staples and have them print it larger, maybe poster size, to see how it turnes out. 

I am also interested in putting a piece of clear contact paper over the image and cutting out the "black" area.  From there, I want to put what's left, basically a stencil, on something. . .canvas. . .wood. . .something. . .and then paint the cutout area in stripes or polka dots or some graphic design.  I'll add more when I do.

packaging the brandy and cakes

Last night was for packaging the cakes and brandy which we earlier made.  At some point, I'll put up all the directions for making the brandy.  I did find that straining it was much more difficult than I had expected it to have been. 

My main goal was to get it "gift ready". 

Using a funnel, I poured the brandy into the containers that I had earlier gathered.  After they were filled, I corked them and adhered the labels.  Each was tied with a pretty ribbon.  Next a couple of cordial glasses which I had had my friends gathering for me, were tied together.  Some other pictures are present with the post titled blackberry brandy.

This shows a finished bottle, glasses, and an nearly finished cake.

I took a small piece of almond paste and rolled it to be very thin.  I placed one of the little cakes on a pretty plate which I grabbed from a thrift store.   I placed the almond paste on top of the cake.  On top of that, I iced the little cakes with cream cheese icing.  A lot of people do this with fondant, but I think it tastes bad; I love creem cheese, though.

I let them set up overnight and in the morning placed ribbon on them to decorate.  I then wrapped them with celophane and they were ready.