Craft Week: Day 2

So, technically, i did this project last night.  But i will make another one of them today.

We have about 749874654143518479876846435 pictures lying around the house, and no where near enough frames to hang them all up on the walls.  Plus, i'm getting really tired of all my frames not matching.

i was going through Pinterest looking for ideas on how to make a frame or some sort of photo holder when an idea came to me: cover a piece of cardboard with fabric and glue on pictures and buttons. And it just so happens that since xmas just passed, we have plenty of boxes left over.

Please ignore my cheesy tablecloth.  It is kid-resistant-- don't judge me.

First i had to iron the fabric.  Which i hate, and is also probably the reason i don't sew more often.  

Ew... ironing.  

Then came the hot glue gun.  i only burned myself about a dozen times. [doesn't affect the kitchen injury count up!]  

Hot glue gun is hot.  Who knew?

Glue, glue, glue.  i glued on the scrap fabric, some old denim, and some lace.

i knew i kept my pre-pregnancy jeans around for something [hint: not for wearing]

Before the pictures:

After the pictures:

Aaaaaaand.... up on my wall:

i was really pleased with how well it turned out and how quick and easy it was.  i will update later when [and if] i make another.  i have some pink fabric with flowers that is calling for me.

A Craft A Day

This is my last week before going back to school after Winter break.  : [  To make the most of it, i plan on doing a craft every day this week.   i really won't have time for crafty things [and probably blogging] for the next ten weeks, so i want to let out my creative side before i am trapped in the dungeon which is math class.

Today's crafty project was photo coasters.  i received these for xmas, so i really had to do was find cute pictures of the kids to put in them.  Which is more of a challenge than it should be.  My kids enjoy ruining every picture i try to take.

Some examples of faces [in emoticon form]:  
What i want them to do ---->  :D
What they usually do ----->    :|       :P      :o     XP     :(  
And of course there are the customary bunny ears, the traditional putting your hand in front of your face, and the ever-popular turning your back to the camera.

i did manage to find one good picture of each kid, including one of my puppy-baby.  Final product:

This is also probably last week i will try any new recipes for a while.  i received an email from a health website which contained this recipe for a roasted vegetable wrap.  i decided to improvise and use up the veggies i already had in the house.  Plus, i prefer my sammiches and wraps cold.  [that's right, i said sammiches].

i used romaine, celery, carrots, red onion, cucumber and some leftover turkey lunch meat.  I cut up all the veggies [minus the lettuce] into long strips.  This is what happened:

As George Takei might say: oh, my.

Then i drizzled just a bit of honey Catalina salad dressing on it.  

And then i ate it.  And all was right with the world.  

i want to try this recipe this week.  Cheeseburger salad.  It looks delish... i just wish the Pioneer Woman would post calories and nutritional info on her site.  [sigh]. 

  

Holiday Crafts

This year, the holidays were a little bit different at our house.  Finals finished, vacation taken, i was ready to do some crafty things with my kids and without them.  First things first, i wanted to put together a holiday card holder.  Some twine, clothespins and glitter-- and of course the cards our lovely friends and family sent us.

We also made cookies.  Lots and lots of cookies.  My favorite were the gingerbread men.  It was my first time making them and perhaps the first time i have eaten any since i was a kid.  They were also more fun to decorate because they were bigger and shaped like people.

Almost cannibalism, but not quite.

i tried to make a couple that looked like skeletons.  They weren't as great as i had envisioned, but not bad for an novice like myself.

i also sent out holiday cards for the first time in my life.  The kids added their own letters for as many of the recipients, and they helped me decorate the very plain envelopes.  We used washable markers on rubber holiday stamps.  The kids enjoyed making red Christmas trees and green snowflakes.  *facepalm*

Aaaaand... a picture of cleaning the ink off the stamps, simply because it looked cool:

Also for the first time, i made latkes for the first day of Hanukkah!  My stepdaughter totally got in the way helped me in the kitchen.  The kids really enjoyed the traditional festive food.  Oh, and by the way, if you haven't seen Eight Crazy Nights-- don't.  Has very little to do with Hanukkah, and that is 76 minutes of my life that i can never get back.  Anyway, latkes!

And lastly, i made some mini pumpkin pies for Christmas at my aunt's.  Remember the last post about how much of a pain pie crust is?  Turns out, 12 mini pie crusts suck EVEN MORE.  But they are tasty.

Oh, so tasty.

That seems to wrap up the holiday season.  Almost time to go back to school.  Where did my vacation go?

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

This weekend was an adventure.  i wanted to make pies to bring to the two [2!] Thanksgiving dinners we will be attending.  So i ended up making seven [7!!!] pies.  And because i am ridiculous, and maybe also a masochist, i decided i wanted to try making my own crust.

i used Martha Stewart's recipe found here.  Thanks, Martha! And i used the pumpkin pie recipe found on the can of Libby's canned pumpkin.  [plus my own additions, because i apparently have problems just doing what i am told].  i used some brown sugar and vanilla.  Oh!  And, as a bonus, if you try some of the mix, and then take a sip of coffee, it totally tastes like a pumpkin spice latte.  yum.  

So, making pie crust is a pain.  Seriously.  But after tasting the creation, i think it is completely worth it, if you have enough time.  So, besides the grating of the frozen butter rather cutting it in with a pastry blender thingy, i learned a new ghetto innovative tip from my sister.  If you don't have a rolling pin, use a wine bottle!

The only reason i still had wine in the house is because it

was red wine.  If it was white wine, it would be gone.

Mmmmm wine... oh, where was i?  Oh, yes.  Pie crust.  So it turned out alright.  It just took a long time and was a lot of work.  But i would totally do it again.  When i don't have two papers to write, clothes to pack, and a house to clean.  

voilà!

i had extra dough left over to make little hearts to put on some of the pies and to make a little mini pumpkin pie so that i could eat some pie right now.

i got the mini pie idea from here, but i used one jumbo muffin cup and filled the rest of the cups with a bit of water.  

A bonus?  It takes less time than a regular pie, so you can eat it sooner!

Pumpkin Pie, have i told you lately how much i love you?

...no, seriously.  i love you.

Rainbow Madness

As you read this blog, just know that i really should be writing a psychology paper instead.

My most recent project has been a rainbow collage.  I took pictures from this summer's adventures, tinted them different colors using picnik.com, printed them out for about 7¢ each using snapfish.com, and put them together in my collage frame that i bought a while back for $8.  Final product:

I also put together Holiday photo cards from Snapfish, complete with envelopes, for about 42¢ apiece.  Always on the lookout for e-coupons!  The envelopes I feel are rather plain, so i have some decorating ideas for those, but that is for another day and another post.

Also, tonight: chicken tortilla soup from here.
One day: rainbow cake from here.

Want a life? Don't have kids

Kids are such a pain.  Seriously.  And that homework and those projects their teachers assign them?  They might as well be assigning homework to the parents.  

i have my own homework to do, thank you very much

This weekend was spent helping my stepdaughter with her school project on family traditions.  She was adamant on her choice of "celebrating birthdays" and on wanting to sew, rather than draw. Overall, it turned out alright, and we sewed/glued together a nice quilt square for her classroom traditions quilt.  

And as if that wasn't enough of an art project for the weekend, my son changed his mind on what he wanted to be for Halloween.  We cut some holes and splattered some blood and threw together a zombie costume.

I also adjusted the injury clock.  I had let it go, and I felt bad for letting it lie to you.  40 days without an injury?  Ha.  Only if I stayed out of the kitchen for 40 days.

Coffee Milkshake

Only a quick post... because I really should be doing homework. I just had to share with you the greatness I made last night.

coffee + ice cream = omg

Super delicious, super easy.  

1. make strong coffee, cool it
2. put cooled coffee, ice cream, and a splash of milk and vanilla creamer in a cup
3. mix
4. best. drink. ever.

In other news, I bought a cute Halloween decoration for my kitchen.

$4.  Thank you, Michaels.