Lemondrops Simple Stuff

Little Heart Boxes

2012-01-27T12:40:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe that we are well into the New Year and Valentines Day will be here in a couple of weeks! Really, where does the time go?????????????

Here is one of the Valentines projects I have been working on. These cute little boxes are filled with Hershey Kisses and Hugs. Perfect for gift giving!

The little boxes came from Beau-Coup a great site for wedding favors! With some paper from Joannes and some tools from Stampin' Up, this was a quick and easy little project. The Stampin' Up heart punch and heart embossing template are my favorite tools right now!

Hope you had a great week!

Tina

It is better to give than to receive

2012-01-21T10:01:00.001-08:00

It has been sooo long since I posted last! I am sorry and I am guilty of taking ideas from pinterest.com and my crafty blog friends but giving nothing in return.
I have only been making time to load my pinterest boards with recipes and craft ideas and whatever else I can find. I must admit I believe I have become a pinterest addict.
Ignoring facebook and pretty much only spending time to check emails and pinterest.

Since my last post I married my wonderful husband John, celebrated Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year without sharing one thing!
It is not that there is nothing to share, I have just been selfish and taking but not giving back.
That being said I promise to start sharing again.
I will start by telling you that our wedding in Monterey/Pacific Grove was beautiful! We could not have asked for more beautiful weather! It was a simple ceremony at Lovers Point followed by a delicious lunch at Fandangos in Pacific Grove. Although it was a very small wedding it was beautiful!
I have since kept busy with family and friends, exercise, crafting, baking, cooking, shopping, and so on! Now I will find time to share with you some of the great recipes I am trying, as well as clever ideas and the crafts that I make.
I start today by sharing a clever idea I found at pinterest. The idea is another use for a kitchen item.
This 3 tiered dish was purchased at Kohl's and was intended for the kitchen, however I chose to use it on the vanity to hold my makeup and skin care products. It looks clean and sleek!

I will be back soon to share all the Valentine things I have been making!

I hope your 2012 is off to a good start!
Cheers!
Tina

I have Halloween fever!!!

2011-08-17T12:22:00.001-07:00

Yes it's true! I haven't even completed the wedding favors yet, but I have Halloween on my mind.

This is my first Halloween project of 2011. It is an easy one.

Start with a frame from the $ store, add striped cotton ribbon, buttons, scrapbook paper, adhesive, glue gun, and the pennant punch from Stampin' Up.

You end up with this cute little decoration to put on a table or desk.

I think the possibilities are endless with the pennant punch, so come back soon for more ideas.

I hope you are having a great week!

I'll be back soon.

Homemade Wedding Invites & Favors

2011-08-12T06:13:00.000-07:00

I am sure I really didn't to make invitations for our immediate families, but I thought it would be nice for them to have a memento of the occasion.

This card was made with paper from Joannes. The stamp, embossing folder and heart die cut are from Stampin' Up. We wanted simple elegance with a dash of color for our October wedding. John has a creative eye and helped me with this.

We accidentally discovered something pretty cool, if you use 2 sided, 2 color paper, the color on the back will show through when you emboss the paper, creating a very cool effect! Take a close look at the black paper.

Used the same tools from Stampin' Up for the petal cone and small pizza box. Again going for simple elegance. Used vellum for the heart with our names and date. Only change I will be making is to get more of the stamp on the petal cone and add a small gem in the flap.

If you need any dimensions, directions, or information on the Stampin' Up tools, please let me know.

See you soon!

Hope you have had a wonderful week!

Wedding Ideas -- I need some creative advice!

2011-08-04T22:04:00.000-07:00

These are my preliminary (which means "rough") ideas for our wedding invitations and favors.
The scroll stamp in black is a keeper for sure, the paper will be a little more textured and not stark white. All because two people fell in love is a keeper too. I know the card has to be bigger and needs a little more detail.
The box size is good to put personalized M&M's in. The heart on the box is too plain.
We like the black and white and want to add a little bit of burnt orange or rust.
Help!!! Does anyone have any suggestions? Need to make these "pop" just a little more!

Thanks!
Hope you are having a great week!

I love Saturdays!!!!

2011-07-30T10:55:00.000-07:00

Saturday 7/30 checklist

1. Cinnamon tea with honey! check

2. Make Sugar Donut Muffins (recipe found at Pintrest). check

3. Go for a 45 minute bike ride. check

4. Get a 1 hr massage and sugar scrub with a 50% off Groupon. check

1. Started my Saturday morning with delicious Mexican Cinnamon tea and honey!! I love this stuff just as much as my Starbucks Skinny Vanilla latte and it is less expensive! I found the tea at Rancho San Miguel Mexican market. So far this is the only straight cinnamon tea I have found. If you have found a good one elsewhere please let me know.

Then it was on to trying a new recipe I discovered while perusing pintrest.com. Had to make these Sugar Donut Muffins. We all liked them and I will be making them again! Perfect to make for breakfast or brunch! You can find the recipe here: http://bakingbites.com/2008/09/sugar-donut-muffins/

If you have not discovered pintrest yet, you have to check it out! I am totally hooked. It is a site for everything creative, photography, wedding/event planning, recipes, and everything else!!!

I am still figuring out how to navigate through it, but I have already found great wedding ideas and several recipes I have to try. I even found an origami star pattern for my son to make.

(pintrest.com)

Next it was on to a nice cool morning bike ride. I have been taking advantage of breezy mornings and evenings to get lots of bike riding time! I love riding my beach cruiser!!!!

Then after a quick shower I headed off to take advantage of a wonderful groupon that I purchased a few months ago. I got a total body sugar scrub and 1 hour massage for $40.00!! Score!!

It was wonderful and much needed!!!! Another site you have to check out if you haven't already, groupon.com. You sign up to get daily emails of great discounts in your area.

After the massage I noticed Kat's Cakes was accross the street and was able to order our wedding cake.

I love Saturdays!!! I hope you had a great one too and have a wonderful weekend!!!!

Talk to you soon!!

Getting back into the swing of things

2011-07-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted since before Easter!!! What the heck?

I have let my job stress me out and keep me from doing some of the things I love!!

No crafting, no blogging make me a crazy girl!!!!!

I haven't even kept up on checking in on my favorite bloggers!!! Nor have I made any effort in the arrangements for the quickly approaching October 9th wedding!!!!

I can say that the big project at work is coming to an end!!! The stress should go way down by the end of the month!!!

Tonight I perused a few of my favorite blogs and this is what I found!

My friend Emily is back up over at Bunch of Scrap! Glad to see her back!

I also had to print out recipes that I must try from Crafty Sisters (Apple Toffee French toast bake, Blueberry Pecan french toast bake and Breakfast Egg Casserole) and Lick the Bowl Good (Chewy lime coconut sugar cookies)!

And I see my friend Julia at Julia Luvs 2 Stamp is making some great cards!!!

Hope you have been having a great summer!!! I am loving these cool evenings!!!

Hope to get back to you soon with some recipe reviews and some wedding favor creations!!!

Be back soon!

An elegant egg!

2011-04-08T11:54:00.000-07:00

This picture just does not do justice to this beautiful elegant egg basket! Went to Lynn Hampton's monthly Stampin' Up club last night and made this beauty! This is gold paper with gold embossing powder. We added the egg tag with a couple of gem brads to finish off our elegant egg basket. I have been afraid of embossing with a heat tool, but found that it wasn't so difficult after all. All of the supplies were from Stampin' Up of course. We used an egg stamp, the lovely swirl stamp, heat gun, gold paper, double sided adhesive, gem brads and gold embossing powder. I think I have officially overcome my fear of embossing with a heat gun and look forward to using the technique to make wedding invitations. Have a wonderful weekend! Be back soon!

A Crafty Sisters Jelly Bean Topiary

2011-03-28T20:45:00.001-07:00

Spotted this lovely jelly bean topiary over at Crafty Sisters Blog and had to try to make my own!

For this project I needed 1- 3" craft ball, floral foam, a wooden dowel, floral tape, 1 12" piece of ribbon, 1 small clay pot, off white paint, pink paint, 1 bag of jelly beans, hot glue gun and lots of hot glue!! The most time consuming part of the project was gluing the jelly beans. (got everything except the jelly beans at Joannes, purchased the jelly beans for $1.00 a bag at Super Wal-Mart)

It was worth the time! I have supplies to make 5 more! Can't wait!!!

A big thank you to the Crafty Sisters for all of the great projects they share! They have a great variety of projects and an Etsy shop! Head on over to their blog, you will not be disappointed!

Springy Pastel Mini Milk Cartons

2011-03-27T19:34:00.001-07:00

Here are the finished milk cartons (batch #1). Didn't have any Easter stamps, but had some pretty flowery scrapbook paper and the butterfly stamp and punch from Stampin' Up. The die cut for the milk carton is from Stampin' Up as well. The die cut machine used is the Sizzix Big Kick from Michael's, purchased today with a 40% off coupon. Score!!! These little milk cartons are absolutely adorable! Looking forward to making many more of these little cuties. I am loving these spring colors!!! Really perk me up after all the rain we have had the last 2 weeks!!!!

Pancake Batter = Funnel Cakes who knew!!!!

2011-03-27T17:56:00.001-07:00

My daughter loves to watch The Cake Boss. She recently saw an episode where he said that funnel cakes were pretty much pancake batter fried!!! I never knew!!! She wanted to give it a try and made some for dessert last night. She has a pic of the finished product on her cell, but I didn't get a pic!!! She made regular pancake batter per directions on the box and added a dash of cinnamon. She heated up the oil and then put the batter in a sandwich bag and cut off a small tip of the bag. Then she made squiggly messy lines of pancake batter in the hot oil and behold she had funnel cakes!!! We topped with powdered sugar and strawberries. The only thing we were missing was the whipped cream! Darn! Next time! I am sure that there will be many next times because everyone enjoyed them and they were easy to make!!! I will take pic's the next time! I had such a nice visit with my daughter! We did some shopping together and made dinner and dessert together. (We made a baked mac and cheese from scratch that was a big hit as well-- I will post the recipe and pic's next time I make it) Today I started working on these tiny milk cartons. Still looking for ideas for the embellishing. Do you have any ideas? I am going to make these in pairs. Come back soon for the finished product! Hope you had a great weekend! Be back soon!

The 50th Anniversary Cruise & Moving On

2011-03-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

My parents 50th anniversary could not have been more memorable! The cruise was wonderful. The weather was great! Everyone had a wonderful time on Catalina Island and Ensenada.
The actual Renewal of Vows ceremony and celebration were beyond my expectations. Carnival took really good care of us! It was worth every penny and more!!!!
Here's to many more Mom & Dad!
John took all of the photos on our trip. We love this Catalina shot! Blew it up to 11X14 and it now hangs in our bedroom as a lovely reminder of our wonderful vacation.

I loved this one too!!! This is the sunrise in Ensenada taken from the ship.

The vacation is over. We are getting pretty settled in our new place. Garage is almost ready for my craft spot! Hoping to get to some Easter creations this weekend.

Now that life is getting somewhat back to normal hope to be posting more!

Hope you have had a good week despite all the rain!!

Friendship boxes and some catching up to do

2011-02-21T19:39:00.001-08:00

Well my bloggie friends if I have any left :) 2011 is off to a bang for me. Very busy, lots of things going on good and bad.

I will only speak of the good This lovely couple is my parents on their wedding day March 4Th 1961. In just 7 days, 53 family and friends will be heading out on a 4 day cruise to celebrate this momentous occasion. I am down to the last few details this week before we set sail! Can't wait!!! Aren't they the cutest couple? Although the cruise is not a surprise, we have some special things planned during their renewal celebration that will be a surprise!!! We have this photo in

8 X 10 size within a large matte that can be signed by all their guests. They will love that!!! We also have a DVD presentation with lots of photos and several really cute and some hysterically funny Jib Jab's that John prepared!!! It is going to be a hoot!!!! Happy 50Th Anniversary Mom & Dad-- your love is inspiring!

We are also moving to a larger home this week. Good and bad again. The good is that it is a much bigger home, with a big kitchen with an island, and a big bathtub in the master bath!!! Yippee for me!!!! We start moving Thursday and the cruise is Monday! YIKES!!! I have most of the kitchen packed so I know we can do it!

I have a non profit group lunch on Wednesday. We haven't had a meeting in months and I fear that members are losing interest. So,,,, I offered a "surprise" for all members who attend. This small pizza box is the "surprise". Found the nice "Friend" paper at Joannes and I had the tiny friend stamp and tiny tag punch previously purchased from Stampin' up. The photo doesn't do these justice. (The box is filled with mints).

Sweet Valentines!

2011-01-14T14:47:00.001-08:00

Thanks to my craft sister Julia, I have my Valentine craft mojo going!!
She sent me a picture of Hershey nuggets dressed up in scrapbooking paper and put into pretzel stick bags.

Items needed for this project:
6 Hershey nuggets per bag
Pretzel bags (found at Joannes or Michaels in the cake decorating section)
2 to 3 colors/patterns scrapbookking paper
adhesive
paper cutter
paper scorer
stapler
embellishments

1. cut 6 strips 1" X 3" of paper to wrap the nuggets with. Wrap paper around nuggets and glue or tape closed.
2. cut 1 piece of paper 2 3/8" X 6" and score at 1/2" on both long sides so you end up with a long sleeve that folds up on the sides. This holds 6 nuggets.
3. cut 1 piece of paper 2 1/2" X 4" and score at 2" on the long side, fold in half.
4. place 6 wrapped nuggets on the sleeve and slide this into the pretzel bag, fold the top of the bag over
5. staple the 2 1/2" X 4" paper over the top of the bag
6. embellish however your little heart desires

This is what you end up with! Very cute, very sweet :) This project can be used for any occasion or holiday. Easy and cute, my two favorite things!!!!
.

Here is my "batch" of $1.00 Target stuffed animals. All packaged up with Hershey bars or

mini pizza boxes filled with Reese peanut butter hearts! I am sure the recipients of these cuties will be pleased! (6" X 5 1/2" pieces of paper wrap perfectly around a Hershey bar)

A little Love! I'm back, anyone out there??

2011-01-08T19:40:00.000-08:00

Hi there and Happy New Year! If you are reading this, thanks for coming back. I am so sorry for not sharing over Christmas. I figured it is too late to show you pics of what I made for Christmas, but I did craft A LOT! I even had an order of 30 favors for a Christmas dinner!! Woohoo! That is huge for a little ole' crafter like myself :)

Now on to love! My parents are celebrating their 50th anniversary on March 4Th.
They will celebrating aboard the Paradise Carnival Cruise ship with 53 friends and family!
These are the party favors. Sorry the picture isn't clear enough to show the embossing on the white paper, then a thinner strip of paper with the word "love" all over it! Topped off with a black ribbon and a hanging tag that reads: Stan & Emily- 50Th Anniversary-March 4Th 2011.
These were then wrapped up in a clear cellophane bag and tied with a ribbon. I am really happy with them!
Now I need to make a matching guest autograph book, so all the guests can write them a little note to remember and treasure this very special occasion! Thanks Julia for telling me about these cute little critters at Target in the $1.00 bin!
I am showing you 2 ways you can complete them.
1. The pink bear is holding a Hershey bar wrapped in 6" X 5 1/2" piece of scrapbooking paper, tied with a ribbon. A hanging heart tag is added. Then finish it off by putting it inside a clear cellophane bag and tying it up with a ribbon! And there you have an adorable inexpensive and cute Valentines day gift! Cellophane bags are available at most craft stores and dress up anything!
The giraffe is holding a small handmade box filled with candy. He too will end up all dressed up in a cellophane bag!

Merry Christmas!!!

2010-12-19T19:53:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been nearly a month since I have posted. Not that I haven't had things to blog about. I have tried new candy recipes, made a couple of rag quilt purses and have been quite busy. But I just couldn't seem to bring myself to sit down and blog about any of it!!! For that matter I rarely use my computer at home anymore. It wasn't until about a week ago that the light bulb went on and I figured out why I don't want to use the computer at home anymore.

WORK!!!! My job has become so computer intensive that when I get home I don't even want to look at the computer!! I didn't even figure this out on my own. One of my coworkers commented on our new "program" at work and how we have to spend so much more time on it now, that he never goes on the the computer at home anymore!!! That was when it hit me and I realized why I don't like to go mine either!

That being said, I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas!!!! Hope you are baking, having fun with your family and friends and enjoying every day of the Christmas season!!!!

I do hope to develop a balance on my computer use sometime in the near future so I can get back to blogging about fun stuff again!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Mints and neatness!

2010-11-20T08:44:00.000-08:00

Happy Saturday Morning!!! I am grateful to have a few minutes this morning to post. Please forgive the photography, switched computers and can't figure out how to edit my photos yet.
I am also grateful to have had some time over the last couple of days to make a lot of these sour cream containers filled with Wintergreen Lifesavers that will be at each place setting at my parents house and Johns sister's house on Thanksgiving. I made so many that I can give them to my co workers on Wednesday too! I love making these because they are sooooo EASY!!!!!!
I used 4" X 6" pieces of scrapbooking paper for these. Cutting from a 12" X 12" sheet of paper leaves no scraps!!! YEA!!!!!!!!
I get a little over zealous when I make things to give away. So I already dropped a batch off at my moms. This is an embellished box for Johns sister filled with the little mint containers.

I just had to add this because it looked so neat and clean!!!! I wish I would have taken a before picture, what a mess!!!!! Last night I cleaned out the cupboards in my laundry room and made room for all the junk that was sitting on the dryer. Lots of junk!!!!!

I had seen the idea of a lamp in the laundry room at other sites in the past. We had an extra lamp we didn't know what to do with and voila' found a spot for it!!!! I found the laundry sign at the Lodi Street Faire last year. Nice touch!!! Grabbed a table runner I had on hand and now I have a nice clean little laundry room!!!!!

Have a wonderful weekend and A Very Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Remember to count your blessings and be generous with the hugs!!!

Thanksgiving 2 weeks away? Get out of town!

2010-11-09T17:37:00.000-08:00

Seriously, Thanksgiving is really only 2 weeks away? I can hardly believe it! Although I am still in disbelief I am going to go with it and get ready for it!

Luckily my Stampin' Up club met last Thursday night and we created a couple of beautiful cards and a mint container to put on the Thanksgiving plates.
These of course are all supplies from Stampin' Up. I love this stamp set that includes the tiny little acorn, the lovely fall leaves and the Gratitude stamp and the cool flower on the left.We also made this little sour cream container that holds a couple big Wintergreen Lifesavers. I am going to make these for our plates on Thanksgiving (more to come on that) I swear to you that these are so easy you don't even need pictures! These little guys take 1 piece of scrapbooking paper 4 1/4" X 2 3/4". For a quick tutorial go here.
I also plan on making a little plate of these cuties again this year to put out for pre-dinner snacks. I found this cute idea at Jen's Lipstick and Laundry blog last fall. Another very super easy thing to make.
You need mini vanilla wafers, Hershey Kisses and chocolate frosting. Unwrap the kiss dab a little frosting on it and stick it to the bottom of the vanilla wafer. You then dab a bit of frosting on the tip of your knife and dab on the cookie to look like a stem! Cute project to get the kids involved with too!!!!

The crisp air, the raindrops, thoughts of getting together with family for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some of the reasons I am so in love with Fall!!!!!

Hope you too are getting ready for the upcoming Holiday Season!

Hope you are having a great week too!

Happy Veterans Day!

The last Halloween craft post of 2010 I SWEAR!!!!!

2010-10-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

I really thought I was done with Halloween crafts last week. Then I remembered that Julia had given me several of these clear tube/bags for M&M's. We had made these at craft day at my house a couple of months ago. With Halloween stamps, and 2 sizes of scalloped punches and and adhesive these are packaged up and ready for our Annual Pan Aurora Halloween Bake Sale at work on Thursday. This bake sale is our biggest of the year. So I do hope these will grab some interest.
When the M&M's were done, I thought that was it. But then Saturday night I thought I would try the sour cream containers that Dawn had told me about. She said they were super easy!! Oh yes, they were the easiest craft I think I have ever made. The tutorial for this easy one is over at Splitcoaststampers. I am not kidding when I tell you they were the easiest. I made a bowl full of them for the bake sale. And now I think I am officially done with Halloween crafts.
Have a wonderful week! Talk to you soon!

A Halloween Collection & A good thing to share

2010-10-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

I live in a small house so I try to not to collect too much stuff. But, I discovered these little Lori Mitchell Halloween figurines a couple of years ago at the Alameda County Fair. I fell in love with them! I bought 2 then. Then 2 more a little later and so a collection begins. They are whimsical and vintage at the same time. I bought the candy corn and bat this year. I found a local store (Ciara gifts and decor in Stockton Ca.) that carries them. They aren't very expensive and I don't feel too bad just adding a couple new ones each year. I have to pack them better this year, did you spot the missing antennae? :)

Here is a little closer look at their cute little faces!

This is my good thing to share. Can't remember the blog I found this site at, but

A Side of Peaches is a great site for daily bargains. They only post 1 bargain a day and I haven't bought any Christmas gifts yet, but I am hooked on checking everyday. They do sell out quick, so you have to check early in the morning. They had a great deal on adhesive runners but I was too late!!! Definitely worth checking out!

And We Have a Winner!!!!

2010-10-21T15:56:00.000-07:00

A big thanks to Tammy over at T's Daily Treasures for posting about my giveaway and sending me some new friends. Thanks to Emily, Jen, Lesa, Julia,Val and Happy at Home for visiting my blog and entering the giveaway.

All of your names are in a bowl and drum roll please. My 12 yr old son Zachary is picking a slip of paper with Lesa's name on it!
Lesa please email your information so I can get your package in the mail asap!!!

Thanks again to one and all for the visiting and leaving a comment!!!!

Have a wonderful evening!!!

A SPOOKY GIVEAWAY!!!

2010-10-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

Here it is, my little homemade Halloween 2010 giveaway! Just a sampling of the things I have made recently. A spooky theme going on here, with a candy jar filled with pumpkin taffy, a BOO banner with lots of details and a 5 X 5 spooky card perfect for framing!!!!
Here is how you can win:
1. Leave a comment and don't forget to leave your email address
2. Link my giveaway on your blog for a 2nd entry, be sure to let me know.
3. If you don't blog and don't want to leave a comment, send me an email at lemondrop45@sbcglobal.net
Deadline to enter is 12 noon on Weds 10/20, winner will be announced at 8pm on Weds 10/20
Good Luck!!!!!

More Halloween stuff, hang in there....

2010-10-02T22:21:00.000-07:00

OK all, these are the last 3 projects I am making for Halloween this year.
First we have these cute little milk cartons, with little tiny clips. Julia was kind enough to lend me the Stampin' Up die cut for this project. I guess I better return it now. :)
I used plain orange heavy cardstock purchased from Joannes. The little pumpkin stamp came from a cool circle stamp set John found at Marshalls. The ribbon used was purchased in the $1 bins at Target last year. These will be filled with candy. I saw this project last night at Crafty Sisters blog. I wasn't going to start any new projects but I had to add this one!!! Way too cute!!! John found a candy corn template online. I printed out a large and small template. I used the small template for this banner. I love it!!! I think I will add some black ribbon to make it pop. Thanks for this one Crafty Sisters!

Lastly, just a different take on my BOO banner. I have made this one with squares but went round on this one. Making sure to add the cute little witch hat and boots on the bottom.

I am actually going to try to sell some of these items.

Be sure to come back next week, with all this Halloween stuff I have been making, guess what
I will be giving away to one lucky reader??? :)

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend! Be back soon!

Yes, more Halloween! Sorry I can't stop!!!

2010-09-27T20:35:00.001-07:00

Here are the 2 variations of the pizza box. 6' X 11" for the larger box and 5 1/2" X 8" for the smaller.
The Splitcoast tutorial calls for the 6" X 11". I think I like the small box better??? What do you think? Yes more bags! I got this idea from Angie's ChicnScratch blog. I used my 4" X 8" bags for these. Cutting the bags down to a 4" height and cutting a 4 1/4" X 5 1/2" piece of black cardstock then a slightly smaller piece of patterned paper to go over that. Punched a small oval on top, embellished and tied up with a piece of ribbon! Now I have even more containers to fill with candy! I am still loving the witch hat and boots stamps. I have one more project to do with those! Then I will put them away til next year.

Have a wonderful week!!!

Time to put my toys away and get to my chores :)

2010-09-25T07:30:00.001-07:00

Yes, it is time to clear off my kitchen table and clean up my mess :(
I am sitting here blogging and drinking a cup of tea to get myself ready for HOUSEWORK! YEA!! Someone has to do it right? Wish it was a housekeeper, but for today it is me.

I have made these little boxes every season. I never get tired of them because they are so easy! With different paper and embellishments for each holiday or occasion they look new every time!

I got the instructions for this box last year at Splitcoaststampers tutorials. This is called a pizza box and their dimensions are a little larger than I use. I use a 5 1/2" X 8" piece of card stock. Scored at 1", 3 1/2", 4 1/2" and 7" on the long side, and 1" and 4 1/2" in the short side. I will try the larger size this week and post side by side so you can see the difference. These boxes are so easy to put together. I used mostly Stampin' Up; supplies here except for the green and orange paper. Stampin' Up has the best Halloween stamps! If you want to see them for yourself click on over to Julia's blog.

Have a great weekend!

More Halloween Stuff!!!

2010-09-22T19:53:00.000-07:00

What to do with a 4" X 8" white bag?

Cut it down to a 4" X 4" size. Then cut out a 4" X 4" piece of paper to cover the front, and a 4" x 5 1/2" for the back so that you can fold it over the front. Then cut a slightly smaller square for the front, and embellish with stamps, stickers or whatever you have and make these cute little Halloween bags. You can also turn these bags into baskets. Either way works. They are easy and cute!!!

I think I got this idea from Angie over at Chic'n Scratch. She loves Halloween and has been kind enough to offer 12 weeks of Halloween crafts. Presenting a Halloween craft tutorial/video every week for 12 weeks. Way too cool!

If you love Halloween you have to check out her blog and catch up on all the things she has been creating!!!! If you don't feel too crafty she also offers prepared kits! Her blog is a must see!!!

A good weekend and a cookie recipe!

2010-09-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

Even with 2 trips to the Lodi Grape Festival and painting a bedroom, I was able to notch out some time to try a new cookie recipe and make some crafts this weekend!!!
Cookie making, creating, painting, live music by Edgar Winter, and a great Beatles Tribute band called the Fab Four at the Lodi Grape Festival! What a great weekend!

I really like Monica's Lick the Bowl Good blog. I have tried several of her recipes and have had success with each one! I am looking forward to making her 3 packet pot roast one day this week.

What I tried this weekend was her No Bake Cookies. As you can see in the photo below, not many ingredients required. As the recipe claims there is no baking, just a little boiling on the stove. That wasn't too difficult, no candy thermometer required. These were pretty easy and they are very good! A mix of cookie and candy all in one!!!

Here are the yummy nutty chocolaty goodies cooling off.

Here they are cooled and ready for a co-workers birthday tomorrow. I packaged them in 4" X 6" bags. Hemp cord and a Stampin' Up Birthday Stamp cut out with a scalloped oval punch finish these off nicely.
Halloween crafts coming up.......

No bumper crop! Bummer!

2010-09-17T16:05:00.001-07:00

I was so excited about growing my own pumpkins this year! I was so excited that I think I promised one to everyone I know!!! Sadly, my 4 pumpkin plants (that grew like crazy!) only sprouted 4 actual pumpkins. 1 of which died :( The vine it was on was very thin and got broken somehow??)

This is a photo of the largest one of the three that are left.

I am keeping 2 and giving 1 to Em at Bunch of Scrap. She is the kind crafter who made my bike basket liner. I swapped some crafts with her and promised a pumpkin in trade for her sewing skills. My apologies to everyone else I promised a pumpkin to! Next year I guess I will have to do more research on how to grow a "Bumper Crop".

I guess 3 isn't bad for my first ever growing something experiment. :) ?????

Hoping to get some crafting time in tomorrow, so please come back next for another Fall and Halloween post!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Bewitching!!

2010-09-04T11:17:00.000-07:00

Have I told you that I love love love Halloween? No, I am not a wicken or anything like that. But I love the fall colors and all the cute decorations and pumpkins, shall I go on?
I got to do a little Halloween creating Thursday night over at Lynn Hampton's (Stampin' Up demonstrator) in Linden. She has a craft club that meets on the first Thursday of each month. She was extra generous this month and gave us the supplies and directions to make this very super cool BOO! banner. It not only has layers of colors and designs, but the little witch on the bottom is way too cute! Look closely at all the details!!! We stamped spider webs on the BOO letters. There are also a couple of bat punches placed here and there. She liked the witch stamp so much that we got to make two projects with her.... scroll down for project #2. I really am working on my photography skills, but sometimes......
Hopefully you can see all the detail going on with this card. Bat punches, spider web stamps, layers of paper and be sure to look close to check out the teeny tiny clip. This card is way too cute to give away, so I am going to get a frame for it and add it to my Halloween decorations.

All the supplies for both of these projects are of course from Stampin' Up. I happen to know two great ladies who contribute to my craft supply habit, Julia and Lynn. I am in so much trouble! :)

I am thinking that I am on such a Halloween crafting roll that I might make lots of cute things this year and sell them! I will get back to you on that!!!

Have a great Labor Day Weekend!
Talk to you Soon!

Keeping the Halloween Mojo going!!

2010-08-30T06:17:00.000-07:00

I was only able to create 1 thing this weekend. But 1 is better then 0 right? :)
Julia told me about these cute little hand sanitizers over at Bath & Body Works.
They are cute all by themselves.
But create a container for them and you have way too cute!!! Julia found the directions for this project at Pink Buckaroo designs.
Last week the hand sanitizers were 5 for $5 at Bath and Body Works. So there you have it if you want to try these yourself.

The inside of the container. The possibilities are are endless for designing these cute little packages. Here is part of the reason that I didn't do much crafting this weekend. Took a carload of kids and my parents to Monterey yesterday to check out my daugthers new place. We checked out the house she is renting with her roomates in Marina. Then we went into Monterey for pizza at Gianni's (Great pizza!) Then we did a little bargain shopping and headed to the beach for a bit before heading home. This photo is of my kids, my neices and Johns daughter goofing at the beach!!! Have a great week! Talk to you soon!

Getting some Halloween Craft mojo going!!!

2010-08-21T19:02:00.000-07:00

Julia and her twin Judy came over today to show Dawn, Dawn and I how to make a few Stampin' Up Halloween goodies!!!
We had fun!!!! I made Laura Bush's Cowboy cookies, salami rollups and cut up a watermelon. So we all had a snack then began creating!
Don't you just love all these fall colors! On your left is a peppermint pattie with a purple scallop and a bug eyed spider stamp! We even glued tiny "googlie" eyes on the little spider!! Next we have a cute 3 X 3 owl card. We textured the brown paper and used the owl punch to put this little cutie together!
Then we move on to the darling milk carton. Can you see the "to open" stamp, just like a real carton of milk!!! We used a die cut for this one. This die cut is on my wish list! I will be getting it soon!!! Love love love the milk carton!!!! Love it down to the itsy bity clip on top!!! Julia was kind enough to lend me the die cut so I can make more more more!!!!!
Then we have the cool little M&M tubes. Julia found these clear packages at papermart.com. We used the scallop punch and the scaredy cat stamp!! Cute Cute Cute!!!
Yes, I think I got my mojo back!!!! Sure hope it lasts for a little while!!!
I was trying not to make a mess on my kitchen table anymore, but you should see it tonight! Stuff everywhere!!!

Thanks to Julia and Judy our sweet teachers! And thanks to Dawn and Dawn for joining us on craft day!!!!

Hope you are having a great weekend!!!
Talk to you soon!
(if you want details on any of the Halloween crafts we made today, hop on over to Julia's blog and leave her a message)

A girls gotta dream!!!!

2010-08-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

I dream of a great big huge kitchen and family room someday. I may or may not ever see these dreams come true.
I do however have a smaller dream. This fabulous project table from from Pottery Barn.
Not sure where I would put it, but I want it!!!
I know my craft lovin' friends out there can apreciate this cool table!!!! Wish I had a nice big studio to put in as well!!!! I would have to put it in the garage!
I posted my dream pic on the frig and John asked how much it was. I answered "It is on sale for 900 and some odd dollars" He said, "Huh, I could make something better for way less!!! "
I say go for it John!!!! Hope he comes up with some ideas soon!!!!
I am having a Halloween Crafty day at my house this Saturday at 1pm. My friend and craft mentor Julia is bringing over 3 Halloween Projects with Stampin' Up supplies! Still a couple seats left if anyone near Lodi CA wants to join us! Just send me an email!!!

Hope you are having a great week!

Just a little catching up...

2010-07-31T12:16:00.000-07:00

It is so hard for me to believe that my daughter will be entering her 4th year of college in August. Even harder to believe that my baby boy started the 7th grade this last Tuesday. Here is my handsome young son on his first day of school. Seems like just yesterday my daughter was starting 7th grade! Wow! I planted 4 pumpkin plants a couple of months ago. This is what they looked like a month or so ago. This is what they look like today! WOW!!! I think I am going to have lots of pumpkins!!! It has been so much fun to water them and watch them grow!!!! I can't wait for the harvest! Pumpkin pie anyone?

I just love the blooms! I sure hope I get some nice big pumpkins this fall!
Other than school starting and watching pumpkins grow, I have lots of irons in the fire.

Still working on my parents 50th Anniversary cruise in February. And although, we aren't officially planning our small wedding until after that, I have been doing some internet surfing and have found some cool wedding cupcake tiers, some cool favors and have found the style of wedding dress I want. Just saving the info for later.

Thanks for stopping by! Sorry I haven't posted in a couple of weeks.

I have 2 crafting dates scheduled for August so I promise to do a couple of crafts posts soon!

3 cool things to share! Blogging madness!!!!

2010-07-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

Wow! I went from barely posting at all to having so many cool things to share that I squeeze 3 posts into 1!!!

First I must thank Emily at Bunch of Scrap for making me the coolest basket liner for my bike!!!
Here is the finished product lined nicely in my Bell basket!!!

Emilie wasn't sure of her sewing skills, but check out the matching zippered pouch she made with the leftover fabric. I am so impressed!!!! I don't even sew, let alone figure out how to deal with a zipper!!! Great job! I say thanks thanks thanks for sewing for me! I may hot have any sewing experience, however I know my way around paper and ribbon :)
I saw the tutorial for this purse over at Card Scraps Blog. I didn't think it looked too difficult so I gave it a try last night. I was right, not too difficult at all!!! Luckily, I had the top note and scallop die cuts from Stampin' Up. Just needed the adhesive, ribbon and embellishments and voila!! a cute little purse!!! I think these would look so cool in leopard and zebra print paper!!! I wish I had a luncheon or shower coming up to make these for!!! Anyone need some for a special occasion? I would love to make them!!!!

Lastly, just something cool to share! Did I tell you I love Chinese Lanterns? Well I do.

When we had my daughters high school graduation party I decorated the backyard with them.

I found these nice bright colored nylon lanterns in the Avon catalog of all places! These lanterns take 2 AAA batteries. They look really cool in the trees. When summer is over I will remove the batteries and store them away until next summer.

Hope you are having a great week!

Emilie's Scrappy Saturday & a bike basket liner

2010-07-10T11:49:00.001-07:00

I am just like a kid at Christmas today! My friend Emilie at Bunch of Scrap posted a pic of her cruiser bike with a basket and basket liner she made for it! I love it!!!

I have had my Electra Hawaii Cruiser for a little over 3 years and I love it!!! We ride to Lodi Lake alot! We also haul them to Monterey and ride there as well.

Here are our two cruisers loaded in the back of truck ready to head to Monterey on 5/30/10.

Here we are with our cruisers in Monterey at Lovers Point on 5/31/10, the day we got engaged. Awwww :)

A couple of months ago I saw this Bell bike basket at Wal Mart. Not very expensive, but I didn't buy it. I was waiting, not sure why, but I waited.

Then behold, last week while visiting my blog friends I saw this darling liner in the exact basket I wanted over at Emilies.

I shared my excitement with Emilie and was going to get the pattern and head over to my moms for some help (I don't sew, I don't even own a sewing machine). But, Emilie was so kind, she said if I bought the fabric she would make it for me!!! So here is the fabric I picked. To see the finished product head on over to Emilies Bunch of Scrap today! If you go there today you can also participate in her "Scrappy Saturday" feature!!!! So hurry click on and go!

A little bit of crafting time....

2010-07-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday!!! This was the last official day of my vacation. I haven't won the lottery so I will be showing up to work Monday! CRAP!!!
It has been a week of little things, like going to see Grown Ups and Eclipse, window shopping and swimming. Got to spend some real quality time with my son.

Today however, I had some time to make a mess on the kitchen table and whip up a little something. What a great week!!!!!!

I recieve weekly emails from Splitcoaststampers.com. There is usually a cute project and a link to the tutorial. This week, I got really excited about the project I saw and couldn't wait to try it.
It was this drawer box and matching cards.
I kept the design pretty simple. Using some vintage design scrapbook paper that I am sure came from Julia. This project was very simple!!! The most important tool you need for any box project is a good scoring tool. (I use the Martha Stewart tool purchased at Michal's)

If you like what you see and want to give it a try, here is the link for the tutorial.

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/drawerbox/

Have a wonderful weekend!!! I am hoping to "make" time for my crafting, so come back soon to see what I get going for Halloween.

Getting Ready for Halloween! :)

2010-07-07T11:33:00.000-07:00

Yes I know I should have weeded this little pumpkin patch a little better before I took the pic, but too late now.
This little triangle was a weed and junk patch not too long ago. Thanks to some hard work from John, Zach and myself we are now down to a minimum on the weeds and zero on the junk.
This is now my little pumpkin patch. This is the first garden I have ever had.
I have been watering these little babies every morning for the last month. I had to be out of town for a couple of days, so when I called to check on my kids everyday I also checked to be sure my pumpkin babies were being watered and that they were still alive.
Hoping for some nice big pumpkins this fall!!!
Fall/Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. I become inspired to craft and decorate!! So I guess I am off to an early start this year! Hope to have some crafts going on real soon!!!
Come back later to see how my crop comes out :)

A little time for baking and some card making!

2010-06-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

Don't know how it happened but I had a free evening!!! No one home but me! I have a friends birthday tomorrow and a family bbq at my house Saturday, so I took advantage of my time to make lemon bars, and try a new recipe for Pecan Pie Cupcakes. OK, they don't look so pretty, but these pecan pie cupcakes are addicting!!! Not only are they delicious they are easy to make!!! This recipe is from http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Pecan-Pie-Cupcakes-61081 and it only has 5 ingredients!!!!

Recipe:
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup melted butter
2 eggs.

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine all ingredients and mix well
3. Spray a miniature muffin tine with non stick coating spray
4. Fill each 3/4 full
5. Bake in preheated oven for approx. 18 minutes.

I had a little batter left so I made 3 more little cupcakes for tasting ;)
Ooooh, and they tasted so good!!!!
OK, not by any fault of my own, but I think I have become a Stampin' Up addict!!!!
It all started when my friend and craft mentor Julia signed up as a demonstrator. She has shared many ideas and supplies. She has done craft day at my house twice.
Sadly, Julia lives far away :( so I don't get to craft with her very often.
However, a couple of months ago a co worker told me about a Stampin' Up monthly club nearby. I missed my monthly Moments craft group so much, I had to sign up!
Between Julia and the club I am hooked hooked hooked!!!
I guess baking and paper crafts are my "thing".

This card was made with the Stampin' Up top note die cut, the butterfly die cut, the bird punch, oval and scallop oval punch and stamp set. Then I made this little box/bag with 2 pieces of 8' X 8" scrapbook paper, scored at 1" on 3 sides. Made 1 cut at each corner and used two sided tape to put together. Used the bird and butterflies again and now I have a gift bag/box to hold the matching birthday card I made and some candy.

I hope you are having a good week! And I hope you get a little time to yourself to do whatever your "thing" is. :)

Father's Day and a little catching up.....

2010-06-18T20:09:00.001-07:00

If I have any blog readers left, I apologize to you for not posting for soooo long. I think since Mother's day. What the heck is wrong with me?

I posted on Mother's day, so I have to post for Father's day! Can't forget dear old dad!
John found an alphabet stack of scrapbook paper at Marshalls for $5.99 a few weeks ago. I have used it to make 3 cards already! I think I have already gotten my moneys worth!!! This is the Father's day card I made for my kids to give to their dad. It was way too simple!!! A black piece of paper. The B and everything else are cut from 1 piece of paper! Just needed some glue!
Here is another use for the alphabet stack, peppermint pattie bags for Dad. Way too simple as well!!! Found a set of clear stamps at Marshalls for $3.99. Little circles with sayings for Valentines day, Mother's Day, Fathers Day, Easter, Halloween, Graduation and Thanksgiving. These are the perfect size for the Pearson Peppermint Patties. I think I have already gotten my moneys worth from these stamps too! Score!!!!! You can't tell with these pictures, but this paper is glittery! Love it! Johns birthday was May 30th and we went to Monterey to celebrate. We took our bikes and had a wonderful time!!! We both love Monterey! Once while we were there we witnessed a couple getting married at the park at Lovers Point. We both thought that was pretty cool! We have talked getting married there ourselves.
When we took the exit to get home in Lodi, John said he needed to make 1 more stop. I had a funny feeling something was up and I was right. He took me to the place where we first kissed and asked me to marry him.
We plan on getting married at Lovers Point in Monterey next June.

Again I apologize for not blogging much lately. If you are reading this, thanks for coming back to check on me!

A little candle re-do

2010-05-16T19:38:00.001-07:00

Hi there! Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Was almost like summer Saturday, not so much today, and it looks like rain may be headed our way again. So, I hope like me, you took advantage of the nice weather yesterday and got outdoors!
As the weekend is winding to an end and John and I were sitting on the couch after dinner, I took a look at my mantle and thought it needed a little something. ???? I remembered I had some really nice vintage looking scrapbook paper that Julia had given me. So I took these plain looking faux candles (purchased the set of 5 at Costco a couple of years ago for $35 or $36) And I transformed them into this:

I cut 2 pieces of 3" X 12" pieces of paper, with 2 - 1" X 12"pieces of contrasting paper to center on the 3" paper for the small candles on the end. For the 2 candles surrounding the middle, I cut 4" X 12" and 1 1/2" X 12"contrasting pieces. For the large candle I used a 5" X 12" piece of paper and a 1 1/2" strip for the center. I used fine twine to tie them around the candles. They can easily be removed when I get tired of them.
I am already thinking of what cool 4th of July paper I can use for these candles.

Here is a closeup so you can better see the paper. Nice vintage paisley print with stripes. John suggested the stripes. Good call!
A quick and easy change to the mantle!!!
OK, I am going to sit down again to relax and try not to look around to see what else I can change tonight. :)

Have a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

2010-05-09T21:03:00.001-07:00

Here she is my beautiful mom Emily hugging my beautiful daughter Valerie. I love them both so much! What can I say except that my mom is awesome and I hope to be just like her when I grow up. :) She's my hero! Her grandchildren adore her too!

We have had a wonderful Mother's day weekend. Let's see, it all started Thursday when I won 2 not just one Mother's Day Raffle baskets!!! I could hardly believe I won these awesome baskets. I gave my mom the Reading basket. It was filled with books, magazines, chocolates and so much more! I swear it weighed 10 pounds, and I am not exaggerating. It also contained 2 $25.00 book store gift certificates! She loved it!!! I couldn't keep it a secret until Sunday, I gave it to her on Friday.

Friday evening I took her to an Elegant Women's Dinner at Bear Creek Church here in Lodi Ca. We got the chance to dress up and enjoy a ladies only evening.

This morning my mom, her 4 grandchildren and I attended church. My brother later made dinner for us at her house and I was finally able to present her with the cake slices made out of paper. It was a great Mother's Day Weekend.

More Mother's Day Gifts and an Award!

2010-05-04T21:30:00.000-07:00

I guess I am on a craft frenzy just in time for Mothers Day. I had gotten the tutorial for these Ghirardelli Chocolate favor boxes from Kay here is the tutorial. These little boxes are easy to put together. Kay has many awesome boxes and containers on her blog! I loved the cake slices so much that I made a couple more. This tutorial was purchased from Kay. These too will make cute little Mothers day gifts for friends.

I must also mention that my friend, craft mentor and biggest fan Julia gave me an award on her blog for being one of her favorites!!! Thanks Julia!!!!

Hope you are having a great week!!!!

Calorie Free Mothers Day Cake

2010-05-02T17:29:00.000-07:00

It's another one of those days, where there is much to be done around the house and yard, but I was on a mission to make my mom this cake for Mother's Day. Just about every night this upcoming week there is something going on, so today was it.
I saw this lovely idea over at Kay's Creations on Paper. I purchased the tutorial for $4.99.
My nice and very generous friend Julia at Julia Luvs 2 Stamp was kind enough to cut the scallop circles for me and give me the brown paper for the chocolate part of the cake.
I will admit that I do not like following written directions and this was a big tutorial. I managed and I am sure when I make the project again it will be easier. The roses were the easiest part. If I could figure this one out anyone can!!!
I am going to fill each little slice of cake with a goodie for my mom. One slice will have a Macy's gift card, another nail polish, another tea and so on. I am sure you get the picture.
I think my mom will love this!!!!!

Thank you Kay for the great idea and tutorial and thank you Julia for your encouragement and generosity.

Ahh, the payoffs of a little hard work

2010-04-25T16:53:00.001-07:00

Just a couple good things to share today. Had a pretty productive weekend.

Yesterday, John, the kids and I volunteered at a Sacramento elementary school to help with some cleaning, planting and just plain sprucing up of the school. John and the kids shoveled bark all morning. I planted vegetable and flowers. It was fun! The mayor even showed up! The kids were on the KOVR 13 news yesterday. That was pretty cool.

Today while Zach visited a friend and John and his kids visited his mom, I set out to tackle what has turned into a jungle in my backyard.
After a lot of sweat it is looking good. I had to stop because I overfilled my garden waste can and then I couldn't move it!
1 $5.oo container of begonias (Wal-Mart) is enough to adequately fill a large planter!!! Great deal! So I filled 2.

With a lot of trimming I tamed the jungle!!! I am ready to BBQ!!!!

And since I was on a roll with the sweat thing going on, I tried out my new Leslie Sansone dvd in my garage. I love it!!! Maybe my broken vcr was a blessing in disguise, because this dvd is much better than the one I had. It is a great bargain as well. I got it at Target.com. It comes with the dvd and the resistance band for $14.99. I highly recommend it!!! I hope you had a wonderful weekend!!! I better go take a shower now! :)

By the way, my daughter said it is 70 degrees in Monterey today!!! Wow!

What a great weekend!!!!

Paper Roses

2010-04-22T21:16:00.000-07:00

If you love paper roses, then you must head over to Kay Sha's Blog.
I had previously gotten directions on her site on how to make tissue paper flowers. Love them!
She has several different flower tutorials. My friend Julia was kind enough to send me some supplies to try a few of these roses. Mine don't look quite as nice as Kay's yet, but I will work on it. These were pretty simple. I used hot glue for quick drying. It worked.

Kay has paper cake slice boxes with these roses on top on a cake plate for a birthday gift. I love this idea! My goal is to make one for Mother's day for my Mom!!! (thanks for the idea Julia)
Check out Kay's cake and come back soon to see how mine turns out!!!

Still trying to be the best I can be

2010-04-13T19:09:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I posted about my commitment to myself to get in the best shape I can be before I turn 50 in just over 1 and 1/2 years.

Well, let me tell you, after an entire adult life of hit or miss on diet and exercise, I have realized this journey is not an easy one for me. However, I have learned a few things over the last few weeks that I would like to share.

1. Even when I get home from work and feel dead tired and just want to eat and lay on the couch, I have to force myself to exercise FIRST!!! Once I do that I have the energy to get through the rest of the evening. This one is tough for me, because I truly do come home many nights just exhausted from work and exercise is the last thing I want to do.

2. Vegetarians can eat fish and fowl. I did not know this. I think I can do this!!!!
Two of my favorite veggie dishes right now: a bean tostada with Parmesan cheese, diced tomato and avocado. YUMMY!!! The tomato sandwich I wrote about last post will also be a new favorite!!
I must eat much MORE of this:
I must each much LESS of this! :) 3. Keep up the journal. It is good to look back and learn about your habits, your pitfalls and your strengths. It kind of keeps you honest somehow?? I have slacked off a little here.

I still need to work on portion control and my sweet cravings.

No excuses, but my old vcr finally broke down with my Leslie Sansone 3 mile ab walk stuck in it. So no Leslie for a couple of weeks. I did find a DVD replacement at Target. com. Yea! Should be here any day!!!!

Still loving my Lotte Berk Muscle Eats fat. I will admit that I don't do it everyday, but I still feel the results in my thighs.

So there it is, the good and the bad of my quest to be the best me I can be. I guess I will be a work in progress for the rest of my life. :)

A little vegetarian cooking

2010-04-09T16:01:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago my very dear friend Terry had a mini stroke. She is ok and on the mend. It was a real wake up call for her and she has had to make a huge change in her diet. Her Dr. has her on a vegetarian diet.
I wanted to make lunch for her today, so I did a little research and found a couple of yummy looking dishes on the internet.

This is Minestrone with Sun Dried Tomatoes and White Beans. I found the recipe at Vegetarian Times.
Lots of nice crispy veggies, garlic, onion and seasonings. We topped this soup with some parmesan cheese and it was dee-lish!!! I will make it again. I may try diced tomatoes rather than sun dried tomatoes next time.

I found a recipe for Mama's Best Broiled Tomato Sandwich at allrecipes.com. I used light mayo rather than regular in this recipe. Didn't matter, these too were dee-lish!!! Here they are before broiling.

Here they are after broiling!!!! Terry, Sherry and I all agreed that they were delicious!!!! I will make them again!
This was a great lunch!! It was nice that I was off today and could take my time and enjoy cooking! I should do it more often! :)

Have a great weekend!

Easter Decorations---Finally!

2010-03-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

Easter is only a week away and I finally got the decorations out. Pretty minimal but at least it looks like spring around the house. The items on the mantle are my favorite from my little collection, especially that sweet bunny! Not much on this table and Holly decided to get in the pic. See the tole painted bunny basket on your right? Well I made that over 25 years ago! I didn't take to tole painting so well, but the bunny was worth keeping. This bunny table runner and glass bowl were both great garage sale finds and the speckled eggs I have used in my jars and in the bowl were purchased at Joannes last year.
I think I found this little bunny at the $ store and the little hanger on the door knob is from Avon.I replaced the candle on this candleholder with a plastic easter egg. Just a few items on my vintage record cabinet.

Hope you are having a lovely weekend and that you are ready for Easter too!

The Happiest Place on Earth!!!!

2010-03-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

Call me silly, but once you step onto Main Street in Disneyland, you have to be happy!!! The fun music playing, the atmosphere, you can't help but smile and wonder what ride you are going to run off to first for a Fastpass!!!!
My parents, neices, my children and I just got back from 4 days of Disneyland and California Adventure. We all had a wonderful time!!! Don't know why this photo is so small but here is our little groupHere is my son being his silly self! He wore this hat everyday! So I guess he got his moneys worth!
Here is the whole group of kids ready to go onto Toy Story Mania in California Adventure. A very fun ride! You play virtual arcade games in 3D!

Just gotta love Tigger and Pooh!!

I have never sat directly in front of the Castle at night for fireworks. If you have never seen it, it is a definite must! It was beautiful!!!!

OK, back to reality. Hmmm, what crafts do I need to make for Easter?

Hope you are all doing well! Have a great evening!

Easter is on the Way!!!

2010-03-10T21:34:00.001-08:00

These are the easiest boxes I have put together yet. You can go HERE for the tutorial.
You need heavy cardstock, adhesive, a scoring tool (remember Martha Stewart has an inexpensive one at Michael's) a couple of brads and some embellishments.

Three Cadbury type eggs fit perfectly in these, but you could fill them with any Easter candy.
I made several of these in a short amount of time.

More different style boxes to come for Easter!!! So come back soon!!!!

The Diet and Excercise Adventure is underway

2010-03-06T13:06:00.000-08:00

I promise that I am not changing my blog to a diet only page. I plan on getting to some Easter Crafts soon!!!!

I didn't post about my diet and exercise plan to fish for compliments. However I have to thank Julia over at Julialuvs2stamp for her kind words and encouragement. And thanks to Tammy over at T's Daily Treasures for her kinds words and for her encouraging story of diet and exercise success. If you go back 1 post, be sure to read her comments. Very encouraging!!! Way to take care of business Tammy!

I have managed to keep my exercise commitment this week. I did try the Lotte Berk Hip Hugger Abs and must tell you that I have weak abs! This DVD was tough for me. Maybe it will get better after a few more tries. I guess I do better with the Muscle Eats Fat because that focus is more on the legs, and I do have strong legs.

I do find that "social" life is going to be tough for me. There is always a lunch or dinner out for some occasion. There are always parties with lots of goodies!!! I really have to figure this one out. That will be my focus this week.

I am finding that the journal is a very handy tool. I look forward to looking back in a few months and re reading to see what I have learned.

I must admit that I did not make the Weight Watcher meeting as we ended up celebrating my parents anniversary that night. I will start that this Wednesday. Although, I didn't sign up, I have been tracking my calories in my journal. That is still a start! :)

I will come back with an update and hopefully some helpful hints in a week or so. In the meantime I have to get some crafting done so I can post on that!

I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Being the best me I can be

2010-03-02T18:08:00.001-08:00

I normally don't write long blogs. So bear with me, this is a long one. Is is not about crafts or baking. :) It is about my life long battle with dieting and exercise.

I think well over a year ago I blogged about the Lotte Berk Muscle Eats Fat DVD. I had heard about it from Skinny little Kelly Rippa (no jealousy here) on Regis and Kelly . She said it really worked. So I ran right on over to my local Target and picked it up! While doing the workout I could feel the muscles in my thighs and abs working. After a few workouts I could feel the difference in my legs. Even with the results, I did not keep up with it consistently.

Time goes by, life happens and my weight goes up and down and I exercise "now and then". I just lacked the "stick with it" attitude that is necessary to reach goals!!!
Last Thursday I took out the DVD and I did it, then I took out my Leslie Sansone 3 mile ab walk with belt/bands and did that too! I felt so great that night!!!! I was off the next day, so I did the two workouts again the next morning. And let me tell you, I felt wonderful Friday!!! I thought, how could I ever let anything come between me and exercise?? So, I am continuing to exercise and added a jog/walk (weather permitting :) around the block with dog, to keep her in shape too. :)
I also did some research on Lotte Berk and found that she also has a Hip Hugger Ab workout DVD. I read some of the reviews and they were good! So I ordered it! Her DVDs are inexpensive and well worth the small investment. If you are interested check Lotte Berk method site.

All this being said, I have decided that I do want to hip hugger abs and I do want to be in the best shape of my life before I turn 50! Which will be on December 12, 2011. I don't know how that can be true, but it is! It is very scary how quickly my years on this earth have flown by.

How am I going to do this you ask? Well, I am going to share my entire plan with you! And I will come back with progress updates. I hope to see results for myself, and also to inspire others to get moving and get healthy. Maybe we can start a group, who knows where this will go.

OK, here is the plan:

1. Keep a journal where I will keep my food diary, my exercise diary, and any notes of encouragement, helpful hints and any useful tidbits.
2. I will walk/jog my dog around the block a minimum of 4 days a week. I will do the Leslie Sansone DVD a minimum of 4 days a week. Lastly, I will alternate the Lotte Berk DVDs a minimum of 4 days a week as well.
3. I am going to join Weight Watchers tomorrow with my co worker.

I have already started to become more conscious of the food I am eating and started having oatmeal for breakfast. Today is the first full day of my journal. So far I have written down everything I have eaten today.

OK, I think that is enough for a start! whew!!!

Have you been successful exercising and dieting? If so, please share!

Random Stuff -parties, shoes, trees

2010-02-24T18:39:00.001-08:00

This week is just kind of getting away from me. Figured I could find some random "stuff" to share with you before more time gets away from me!

Sunday is my neice Shelby's 16th birthday. Her dad is having a party for her and I offered to make favors and have an ice cream sundae bar. There are going to be lots of guests so I chose something inexpensive for the favors. These are the small size York peppermint patties. Scrapbooking paper and 2 different sized scallop circle punches and a small round punch were used to make these Sweet 16 favors. I already had this cute plate thingie (I know it has a real name, but can't think of it at the moment).

I love black and white! As you can see here! I love my new converse shoes too!!! I would like a pair of red and navy blue ones too. Can a girl ever have too many of any kind of shoes?? I think not!!!!

I took this photo last Saturday. Good thing! Because today after all the wind and rain, most of these lovely petals are on my lawn and driveway! I don't know the actual name of this tree, but I call it my lovely tulip tree.

I have a busy weekend ahead, watching John's band play friday night, serving at a crab feed saturday, and helping with the Sweet 16 party on Sunday. It is going to be a busy weekend! Busy but FUN!

I hope you are having a good week, and I hope you too have some fun things planned for the weekend, or maybe not, and just get to relax for a bit!!! Those relaxing weekends are often times much needed and welcomed!

I have been in the house too long- 2 posts in 1 day!

2010-02-16T18:49:00.000-08:00

Yes, I have been home for 5 days in a row! I should have gone to work today, but my son had a fever last night and this morning so I stayed home with him. He is a tough kid, so he is fine now and I will be back to work tomorrow. But 5 days off! Yikes!!!!!!

My neice Shelby will be turning 16 on February 28th. Her dad-my brother is having a Sweet 16 BBQ at his house for her. She is a sweet girl and I really want to help make this party memorable for her. I have promised her a Sweet 16 banner and a Sundae bar. I also promised party favors. So now I am stumped on what I can make that isn't too difficult, because I don't know how many guest she will be having. The crafting twin Judy, sent me the link for this cute gable box. It was very easy to make. Actually, any box pattern that requires scoring is now easy for me with the Martha Stewart score tool. I posted about it last week. If you love crafting and haven't bought one yet, get your Michael's 40 or 50% coupons and get one! It truly is great!

Anyone out there have any ideas for Sweet 16 party favors???

The little things in life

2010-02-16T09:39:00.000-08:00

I had become so overwhelmed with all the "things" I needed to get done at home that I didn't know where to begin. I think the funky weather wasn't helping either.
Luckily we have had several days of sunshine here in Lodi CA!
As I finally got to my yard work, I found a few of these perfect gardenias in my front yard! I had to cut a couple of them. Something so small yet so beautiful.
I am thankful for the sunshine and for the beautiful flowers that it brings.
I was also able to get to the other chores that were burdening my mind. My garage looks lovely!
I am so thankful for the days of sunshine we have had. My weekend was not all work though, John and I went out to dinner on Valentines day. That was wonderful too! So I can say I had a productive and fun weekend.
I am home again today because my son is sick. So I will stay in to keep an eye on him. Hope work isn't too horrible when I go back tomorrow! :(

Did you get a chance to get out and absorb some Vitamin K this weekend? I sure hope you did!

Another little box!

2010-02-12T18:41:00.000-08:00

Well now that I have my handy little Martha Stewart scoring tool, I have been experimenting with box patterns. This particular box pattern and flower idea came from Kay over at Creations on Paper.
I photographed the box next to my wallet so you can gauge the actual size. The box is small and is designed to hold 3 Ghirardelli chocolates. The only thing I did differently for the pattern was change the 3 11/16" to 4" on the pattern. The box was very easy to construct as well as the flower. For this flower I used regular scrapbooking paper rather than tissue paper. You have to go over and visit Kay to see her version of the flower made out of tissue paper! It is beautiful!
The belly band is just a strip of paper with the flower hot glued on. So simple, yet so sweet! I must admit, that I should not be playing around with crafts right now, as my house is a mess as well as my garage and yard. I guess there is so much to do I became overwhelmed. I am hoping for some energy to get to the chores tomorrow!!!! I am going to put away all evidence of crafts and hope for the best!

A luncheon and a product review

2010-02-09T19:52:00.000-08:00

My sweeties mom is having a Valentines day themed luncheon tomorrow. She purchased these trays at IKEA for the luncheon. She wanted to dress them up a bit, so we added some heart shaped doilies and a few hearts. Cute, but not too much.
She is having 8 guests and was going to go to See's candy for some treats. I couldn't let her do that! I made these little boxes and filled them with Hershey nuggets.

Much cuter than See's ;) and a little less expensive. Now for my bargain buy/product review of the month!!! The crafty twins Judy and Julia clued me into this one. This is the Martha Stewart scoring tool. It fits a 12 X 12 sheet of paper and the measurements are clearly marked. There is a place to store the tool. The best part of this is that with a 50% off coupon at Michael's, this little prize cost me a total of $10.89.

And it works great!!! Perfect for all those boxes I love to make!!!

If you have ever looked into a scoring tool, you probably saw the Scor-Pal. That item cost about $40.00. I just didn't want to spend the money on it! So I am very happy with the Martha Stewart version!

Wedding Bells will be ringing-so make favors

2010-02-01T19:41:00.000-08:00

Where to start, where to start today??? The fact that I am becoming a Stampin' Up addict! Or the stress over coming up with a wedding favor sample for a friend of a friend who is getting married.
Well, let's first start with my addiction! Like being addicted to sugar wasn't bad enough!!! Now I keep finding more and more things I just must add to my crafting collection!!! However, as Julia can confirm, I keep a wish list and get a bit at a time. And I get my moneys worth of each item I buy. You all know about my Top Note die cut mania! I share it every Holiday!!! :) I must apologize for the photo, too dark without flash, too light with flash! So here we have a crappy photo! What's a girl to do?
These are the 2 samples I was messing around with for the wedding. The wedding colors are black and pink. The darker pink box standing up is made with the Matchbox die cut from Stampin' up. The die cuts and scores, so this one is really easy to put together. It would be filled with 4 Hershey nuggets. All pieces except ribbon and tiny tags are from 1 die cut. Then I tied with pink ribbon, embellished with a little bling and the tiny tags. I just received the tiny tag punch and stamps this weekend! Yes, a Stampin' Up purchase. But don't worry, I will use these like crazy! Don't know if you can see it or not, but Mr and Mrs is stamped on the middle tag. The tiny stamp is included with a set of stamps specifically designed to fit the tiny tag! The box on the bottom, is cut and scored by hand using a pattern or template. Much more difficult. I am torn because these are more difficult, but the Hershey nuggets just seem to look better in single file. Can that be considered OCD for wanting to line the nuggets in a straight line? Addictions, OCD! Geez, I am a mess! :)
Oh, I am getting off track here. The box and cover are black paper, then a pale pink piece scalloped with a stamp that reads "A Day to Remeber, A Lifetime to Love" Perfect for a wedding! Then a ribbon with 3 tiny tags, one reading Mr. and Mrs.

Again, I apologize for the bad photo, but what do you think? Would you use these at your wedding? Any additional ideas?? Help! Coming up with an idea for the perfect wedding favor is stressing me out! :)

Making some Valentines samples

2010-01-26T20:01:00.001-08:00

Trying a few more crafts to add to the list of things to make for Valentines day.
This is a cute little box! I saw one with a link to the tutorial over at Julia's.
It was pretty easy. I like this because the box is bigger than the ones I have previously made, and I don't have to cut the die cut down. I use the full cut.
The directions show dividers for 4 spaces in the box. I only divided into 2 for my sample.
Here we have a couple of ideas with Ghirardelli squares (the small ones). I made 3 X 3 cards, decorated with scrapbook paper and punched a small hole for a ribbon tie. The ribbon tie holds the chocolate in pretty well, I didn't use adhesive for the chocolate on this one. I used 1 top note die cut folded in half, and I did use 2 sided tape to hold the chocolate in that one. And I tied a ribbon around it. It needs some embellishing, but remember these were only test runs tonight.

These things can only get better!

A lovely afternoon of crafting with some lovely ladies

2010-01-24T18:06:00.001-08:00

Yesterday afternoon I had some of my favorite crafters and bloggers over for some Valentines crafting. My friend and craft mentor Julia (that I mention frequently in my blog) is the lovely lady on the right. Julia got me started with card making many years ago and is truly my craft mentor! The lovely lady sitting down is my longtime friend Laura. I am hoping to craft again with Laura. I want her to get the craft bug like the rest of us!

Julia had posted these cute mailboxes and some other very crafty Valentines day crafts at her blog. Julia and her twin sister Judy, pre-cut all our supplies and had everything ready to go for our Valentines mailboxes. They showed us how to put the mailboxes together and helped us make 3X3 Valentines Day cards. These 2 ladies love love love paper crafts and love to share! They rock!

Then we have the lovely Jenny and Emilie, my crafty friends and bloggers. These two ladies host Moments (Moms Off the Clock) events at their home. Used to be monthly, but with busy lives and a new baby for Emilie we haven't been able to get together like we used to. Jenny has a blog called Lipstick and Laundry and you will find many great posts at her blog. Jenny is very creative and great writer! Emilie has a blog as well titled Bunch of Scrap .

Emilie is also very creative and a great writer!!! These 2 ladies got me back into the craftbug and inspired me to start a blog! Thanks Ladies!!!

Then we have the lovely Dawn. We work at the same company and are members of an employee non profit group. I found out Dawn was a fan of Stampin' Up and was also looking forward to crafting. She is my newest crafty friend!

Here we have the lovely Sheri giving you a nice view of our little mailboxes. Sheri is a member of Moments as well. Sheri loves crafting and has a blog too!!! Hers is titled Daughter of an Artist. Again, another great writer who shares her passion for her family and friends, baking, crafts and so much more. Sheri is so sweet she already blogged about our fun craft day! So if you want to see more hop on over to Sheri's blog.
We had fun! It was so relaxing to sit at the table and chat and create.

When we were done making our mailboxes and cards we had Kahlua Bundt Cake.

I was going to try the Blueberry Sour Cream cake, but decided to go with a cake that I had made before and knew for sure was dee-lish. But come to find out Jenny tried the recipe from

Lick the Bowl Good and says it is very good! Like a blueberry donut! So I do need to try this recipe someday!

1 baking idea and a little bit of crafting

2010-01-18T17:59:00.001-08:00

The recipe for these gooey S'Mores cupcakes came from Bakerella' s blog. They were the most complicated cupcakes I have ever attempted. But I did figure it out. If you attempt to make them, they do take longer than the 15 minutes it says on the recipe. I think it is more like 20. I thought they were ok, not over the top delicious. However, one of my daughters friends asked for the recipe and Johns daughter Gillian asked me to make them for her birthday. So try them for yourself and see what your favorite taste testers say. I finally shut off the oven for a while :) and spread out my craft stuff on the kitchen table. I made several boxes to fill with Valentine Candy and wrap up with ribbon and stuff some time soon. (directions for the box are at Splitcoaststampers tutorials)

I put together a few cards with items I had on hand. The flower on your right is made out of three graduating size circles. I wet the paper and scrunched it up, let it dry then glued together, and topped off with a part of a broken bracelet. Very easy! The paper doilies are from the $ store.

Every season I find myself using my favorite Stampin Up' Top Note Die. Started with Easter last year, then Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and now for Valentines Day. Guess that about covers the year! So I am certain that my investment in this die cut was a very good one!

Small # 4 white bags, scrapbook paper, ribbon and buttons and adhesive of course are all that is needed for this project. And the die cut of course.

Have a great evening! Talk to you soon!

I swear I am not trying to make anyone fat!

2010-01-12T18:44:00.000-08:00

Honestly, I am not showing all these cool sweet recipes to make you fat! I just love baking and sharing this stuff with you. I am hoping to get off the baking binge soon and go on a crafting binge. But this weather is just really doing a number on me, and I think baking makes me feel better?? Unfortunately, so does eating this yummy stuff! So I promise to stop with the goodies after just a few more posts.

The Kahlua cake I made last night for the birthday at work was delicious if I must say so myself! But I wasn't the only one sayin' it! It was rich and creamy and oh so fudgy!!!! I will definitely make this one again! It does not need any frosting or drizzles of anything because it is so rich. Just a light sprinkling of powdered sugar will do the trick!!!

I just had to do it, I had to go back and visit Monica at Lick the Bowl Good today, and what did she have but an easy yummy looking recipe! My Favorite! If you haven't checked the blog out yet, you must. These are made with fresh sliced bananas, pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon and Grands Flaky Biscuits! Who'd of thunk it? Sorry folks, but I had to add this one to my list of must make! But I do promise to stay away from baking posts after I finish the current must try lists.

Just so you know there is hope of seeing crafts again on my blog, I am having Julia and some friends over on Saturday January 23rd for a Stampin' Up Valentines crafting afternoon! Of course I will be baking one of my must tries then, but we will also be making some cool paper crafts that I will show you as well. Talk to you soon! Have a great evening!

I didn't make the Blueberry Bundt Cake :(

2010-01-11T19:48:00.001-08:00

I am sorry I lied! I said I would be making the Blueberry Sour Cream Bundt cake Sunday night. I ended up making chocolate chip cookies instead (due to laziness). I apologize. I will not make any more promises!
I really wanted this Pampered Chef cake pan! I had to borrow my friends pan for the last 2 cakes.
My wonderful mom, who knows my love of baking, got me the pan for Christmas!!! So now I don't have to borrow Jenni's pan, I have my own! But I did have to borrow Kahlua from my mom! (I will explain shortly) I made chocolate chip cookies for my co worker Bob, his birthday was Sunday. At 4pm today after Bob had gone home from work, he called me and said "Hey did you know it is Nate's birthday tomorrow?" I said NO I didn't know this!
So after work I got the ingredients I needed to make Sue's Kahlua Cake. I don't know Sue, but this recipe looked good and easy! Two of my favorite things!!!! I got all the ingredients I needed at the store except the Kahlua. I know my mom had a bottle of homemade Kahlua, so I borrowed a 1/2 cup from her. Next Bundt cake I think I won't need to borrow anything!!! If this cake goes over well at work tomorrow I will buy my own bottle of Kahlua :).

Recipe:
1 chocolate cake mix (w/pudding in the mix)
(the only one I could find was Pillsbury Moist Supreme Devil's Food)
2 eggs
1/2 cup Kahlua
1/4 cup oil
1 pint sour cream
12 ozs chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients except the chocolate chips. When well blended fold in chocolate chips and pour into a bundt pan (I sprayed the pan with Pam). Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until done.

I do promise to post again soon to let you know how it went over at work.

I do plan on trying more baking soon. I have to put my new pan to good use!

I don't know when or in what order, but I plan on trying the following recipes:

S'More Cupcakes that I found at Bakerella. You have to check this out! They look wonderful!

The Blueberry Sour Cream Bundt from Lick the Bowl Good (I was supposed to make this last night, sorry)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Nirvana (this one is for John, because he loves chocolate and peanut butter) This recipe was posted on our message board at work, so I don't have a link. So you will have to stay tuned for photos, recipe and reviews in the near future.

Cold weather + hot food???

2010-01-08T18:06:00.001-08:00

OK, I am not sure if it is this cold dreary weather that makes me want to stay home and hibernate and cook, or the discovery of Monicas Lick the Bowl Good blog, or watching Julie and Julia last weekend, or a combo of all the above. But I have been checking out recipes like crazy and I just want to cook and bake!!!!
My mom had given me this No More than 5 Ingredients cook book some time back. I went through it and flagged a bunch of recipes I want to try. I think my mom bought this from a school fundraiser somewhere. I checked half.com for this book and they don't have this exact one, but if you search for 5 ingredient recipe books, there are others. First two things I tried were the Cheesy Potatoes and Artichoke Chicken.
I liked them both, my kids not so much. Too much stuff for them??
Here is the recipe for the potatoes: 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 cup sour cream, 1 bag frozen country style hash brown potatoes, and 2 to 3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (I used 2 cups and that was plenty) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix soup and sour cream together in a 9X13 baking dish. Add frozen potatoes and stir until well coated. Bake for 30-45 minutes depending on the depth of your dish. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake another 15 minutes until cheese is melted and begins to brown. Serve immedietly.

At the same time I also made the Artichoke Chicken recipe.

1 15 oz can artichoke hearts drained and chopped
3/4 grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts-halved

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix together the artichoke hearts, parmesan cheese, mayonnaise and sour cream and a pinch of garlic pepper (I used garlic salt and black pepper) Place chicken in a greased baking dish and cover evenly with artichoke mixture. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes in the preheated over, or until chicken is no logner pink in the center and juices run clear.

Then on to dessert! This is the Snickerdoodle Blondie recipe from Lick the Bowl Good.

My kids sure liked dessert! You can tell by Zach's thumbs up! (but he wouldn't eat the chicken! )

And to mix all this stuff I have my handy Montgomery Wards 5 speed hand mixer that I received as a wedding shower gift in 1983 from my dear aunt Frances. This appliance is nearly an antique! haha! It brings fond memories of someone I love very much and miss very much!

Hate to do it, but I must say Bon Apetit! just one more time! I just can't help it.

I plan on trying the Blueberry Sour Cream bundt cake from Lick the Bowl Good sunday night! So check in again on Monday!!!! Have a great weekend!!!!

Do you love collecting recipes? I sure do!!!

2010-01-05T08:43:00.000-08:00

I am home today with a very painful neck and shoulder. An ongoing problem for me, usually treated with lots of stretches and lots of ibuprofen. But it is getting too painful, so I am hoping for pain meds and muscle relaxers today. Waiting to hear back from my doctor.

On a happier more creative note. I love to collect recipes! I use all sorts of sources, magazines, cookbooks, internet recipes, recipes from family and friends. I don't cook that much, but I do love to collect the recipes. And slowly but surely I will get to them! Recently I made homemade chicken soup, and last night made homemade mac and cheese!!! I wanted to try it with asiago cheese, but Food 4 Less isn't the place to find it! So I settled for medium cheddar. It was very good! But I will try again with asiago soon!
Last night my friend Julia sent me a link to Lick the Bowl Good .
What a fabulous blog!!!! Recipes, recipes and more recipes. She sent me the link because she knew I would love this bacon and eggs recipe made from pretzel sticks, white chocolate melts and yellow M&M's. So very clever!
But not only did this blog have these cute novelty recipes, she also has lots and lots of other recipes! And the photos are wonderful!!! I am looking forward to trying her blueberry sourcream bundt cake recipe, and her snickerdoodle blondies recipe!!!
If you love recipes like I do, head right over to Lick the Bowl Good and check it out!

If you want some more inspiration be sure to rent Julie/Julia. It inspired me to break out some recipes. Bon Apetit!

Family Get Togethers at my house

2010-01-03T09:40:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we celebrated my daughters Dec 27th birthday, my brothers Jan 6th birthday and my neices Jan 13th birthday at my house. Just a little family get together! To set the mood I made these banners. Just cut paper into 4" X 4" squares and used the Cricut for the letters. Simple, not too time consuming and it really makes the mantle pop. These are the ice cream pies from Coldstone. We had chocolate chip cookie dough and pecan turtle. Yummy!! Everyone liked them! I didn't forget the monogrammed cupcake tower idea from Imperfectly Beautiful. I will use that for my neice Shelby's 16th birthday coming up Feb 28th. Looking forward to that one and will blog it for sure!!Here are our birthday babies. My daughter Val on your left, my brother Bobby in the middle, and his daughter, my neice Sydney on the right.

My brother Bobby gave me an outside fire pit for Christmas!!! I love it! We made use of it last night. I don't know what it is about sitting around a campfire, but I do love it! Here is my mom, sitting by the fire holding Eva. Ahhh, so sweet!

Here are John and I and there is little Eva again! Oops she blinked!

Here is Grandpa who tries to be too cool to smile! And here is my brothers older daughter Shelby, who was really giving us a big smile!!! They too were enjoying the fire pit in the backyard!

I forgot to mention and take pictures of the delicious food we had!!! I made a greek salad and it was yummy! My mom made empenadas and Puerto Rican rice! This food was so delicious! Everyone loved it!!! (even our non family non Puerto Rican guests haha!) Luckily, we have some leftovers for today. Hmm, is it to early for rice and empanadas???

Have a great day! Talk to you again soon!!!!

No more slacking, got to get crafting!!!

2010-01-01T17:29:00.001-08:00

I have been on vacation since Christmas. In the last 7 days I have been to the movies 3 times! I have rented 7 movies and by the end of the night I will have watched 10 movies in the last 7 days! I think that may be a record for me. I feel so guilty!!! At least I can say that I have kept my house up (somewhat )as well as the laundry and made homemade chicken noodle soup today (I guess watching, Julie/Julia may have inspired me to cook just a little bit). So I am not a total slacker right???? Yikes! I think I need to get back to work and get in a routine again! I also got a trip to San Francisco squeezed in with my kids to celebrate my daughters 21st birthday. But I still feel like a slacker!!!!
We are having a 3 birthday celebration at my house tomorrow. I was planning on copying an idea from Imperfectly Beautiful for a monogrammed cupcake tower, but am now leaning towards something different, like the $12.99 ice cream pies at Coldstone Creamery. The cupcake tier would be impressive, but the ice cream pies will taste better. What to do??????

After the party, I think life will get back to normal and I will look forward to getting into some Valentine crafts.

I took an inventory of what supplies I had on hand. Thanks to Julia I have lots of paper!!! I also found some ribbon and embellishments, just need some fresh ideas! Have any you want to share????? Stay tuned, I will figure out something to do with these supplies soon! I promise ;)

Happy New Year! Peace!

2009-12-30T19:06:00.000-08:00

Well I just can not believe how quickly the years fly by. I turned 48 this month, Christmas flew by and my daughter turned 21 December 27th. Where has the time gone??
This year has been tough for me with matters of the heart. But, I am finding my way. John and I are hanging on to love and hoping for peace in 2010. We have pretty much figured out that everthing starts with love peace and happiness, and then things can only get better from there.

Which brings me to the true subject of my post today. The wish of peace for all! It begins at home. Here are some "peaceful" moments in my home.
Here is my son Zach and our dog Eva enjoying a quiet moment. Don't they look comfy? Eva has turned out to be such a perfect fit for us!
Eva and Holly seem to be "tolerating" eachother as they rest on my bed. Dog and cat side by side, how is that for peace?

Here they are sharing the attention with mom. They have their moments of disagreement, but then they seem to just co exist peacefully. Hmmm, just like with humans? :)
I do truly hope for peace in the New Year, for myself, my family and friends, and you my faithful blog readers. Happy New Year! May you reflect on your blessings with thanksgiving and look forward with hope to a wonderful 2010!!!!!!

A busy pre Christmas weekend!

2009-12-20T18:57:00.000-08:00

We started our Saturday by volunteering to host a childrens Christmas party for a local non profit family organization. Several of us and our children helped the kids with crafts, a hot dog lunch, some cookie decorating and a visit with the big man Santa of course!!! It was hectic but fun!
My 11 year old son even enjoyed his time with Santa! I think he Believes! :)

I will never be too old to visit with Santa!

Later in the day we had a family party to attend. It was a great evening!!! We didn't get home until almost 2 am. I didn't wake the kids up for church this morning. But I went with my parents and todays music was Christmas carols of course! My favorite!!
The message was about finding PEACE, and these days who doesn't need to find PEACE. The message was very touching.

Then off to get my baking supplies for the week.

I tried to make candied walnuts, but I was out of parchment paper and thought I could use wax paper. I was wrong! The walnuts stuck to the paper! So that didn't quite work out.

Then it was on to making "Cracker Candy". I got this recipe from a friend at work. The recipe says that it is from Aunt Libby's Kitchen. I don't know Aunt Libby, but I am thankful for her recipe.

Ingredients:

35 to 40 Saltine Crackers

1 12 oz package of chocolate chips

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions: Line a greased 9 X 13 cookie sheet with crackers, one layer thick only. Melt butter in sauce pan. Add brown sugar and stir until sugar is melted, blended and bubbly. Pour over crackers (crackers may float-that is ok) Place in preheated 350 degre oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Add chocolate chips to to top, spread until melted evenly over crackers. Add nuts if desired. Bake again for 15 minutes. Remove and cool. Cut into squares.

It took quite a while for the chocolate to set. Here is the packaged finished product.

A Christmas Crafting night!

2009-12-15T20:56:00.001-08:00

OK, so I take 2 hours vacation and ditch work to go see Blindside with my son and parents this afternoon. What an inspiring movie! If you haven't seen it yet, go see it.
On my way home from the movie I got a ticket for not stopping at a stop sign. I saw the lights flashing and thought what the heck did I do. I don't even remember going through this particular stop sign, that I have gone through many many times. I guess I was on autopilot!
CRAP!!! I haven't had a ticket in years! Like 20 I think??? Bummer!!! Hmmm, was I being punished for taking a last minute vacation from work????

I didn't let that stop me from having a good evening. After dinner and walking the dog, I got busy on some bags and boxes. I actually have had 3 orders for the bags! I certainly won't get rich from the orders, but it is nice to know that people like my work. This was my last order of 8 bags. I found the poinsetta's at Beverly's. The paper is from all sorts of sources and the pretty ribbon is from Stampin' Up.
Here are more of the 3 tier boxes that I am really liking!!!! Julia sent me this lovely paper and I bought this gold ribbon at Costco a few years ago. I found the bells and gift tag on clearance at Pier 1 after Christmas last year. I am really liking the gold!

I just had to put in a pic of Eva as she lounges in my leopard print robe. She is such a sweet girl! Just love her!!!!

I am in love with our furry new addition!

2009-12-12T06:31:00.000-08:00

Zach and I picked up Eva yesterday. I am not exaggerating when I tell you this little girl is a love! I must admit that I need her right now more than she needs me. It was my sons weekend to go to his dads so it is just me Eva and my cat Holly this weekend. I am adjusting to being single again and with the Holiday season I will tell you that it is not so easy.
Eva went potty when I took her outside! Yippee!!!
Then she snuggled by me while watching TV. And being the bad pet owner, I didn't put her in the crate to sleep. I let her sleep in my bed. She is such a little snuggler!
Holly the Queen cat is even adjusting. She slept by my feet and is just checking out this new addition with much caution. We think Eva is part Toy Fox terrier and Jack Russell Terrier, but you would never guess that by her mellowness. As I sit here typing she is lying down in my lap as content as can be.

Had to buy her this cute little sweater! My friend said if we start wearing matching clothes, she is going to have me committed to a mental hospital :)

My son really didn't want to leave for the weekend with his new puppy here. But he will have plenty of time to bond. Since I am the Momma, I think it was perfect for me to be alone with Eva for the weekend to get her adjusted to her new home.

How to dress up a Hershey bar

2009-12-08T20:22:00.001-08:00

Who doesn't love some Hershey chocolate?
One way to dress up the bars is to wrap them in scrapbooking paper and tie them up with ribbon and a tag. Makes for a nice little thank you gift or hostess gift. I found the regular size bars in a package of 6 for $3.18 at Wal Mart. I also found the large bars at Wal Mart for $1.50 each. I just received some new paper and ribbon from Stampin' Up today. Gave me a little motivation to create tonight. I am still making the little bags with the top note die. This time I just embellished with a nice bow and button! Simple and easy. I used the same paper and ribbon for the Hershey bars.

Here are the large bars individually wrapped and the 3 stacks of regular size. I made litte tags for them and that is it! Now I have to snap out of my craft mode and fold some clothes and clean the kitchen! YUCK!!!!

A furry new addition to our household!

2009-12-07T20:48:00.001-08:00

My son Zach and I went to meet Eva the Diva tonight. She looks bigger than she really is in this photo. But she is a tiny little love bug with long legs. The foster mom said she believes she is part Toy Fox Terrier and Jack Russell. We don't really care what breed she is, we just fell in love with her sweet personality. The nice foster mom has potty trained her and says she is about 6 months old. Can barely wait til Friday to get back and pick her up!!!
This is my new baby girl! (oh wait, this is Zach's puppy!) :) We all know who will really be taking care of her anyway now don't we? :)

December 4th??? Are you kidding me???

2009-12-04T07:28:00.001-08:00

Really, I just can not believe that Christmas is just around the corner! It is scary how fast time flies. I do plan on finishing up my shopping today. I have really cut the list down, probably just like everyone else. Although I cut the list down, I still have to make my packages look pretty!!! I am loving this paper and ribbon purchased at Costco. Such a great deal! The ribbon comes in a roll of 50 yards! I have enough for gifts and crafts!!! Score!!! I also purchased the gift tags at Costco, they are very pretty, and there are so many different designs that come in the package. There are even gift card holders in the package. The paper came in a two roll two sided set! Since I am cutting back on my shopping I probably won't even use 1 roll this year. I love the blue white and silver snowy look!!!! Great deal!
I found this cool sparkly bow at Big Lots for $4.00. I love the color! I really didn't need it, but I hung it on the inside of my front door, for me to look at while I am in the living room!

I guess my kitty is getting in the Christmas spirit, she decided to lounge in the top of a box with a bag and watch we wrap gifts. Silly cat!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! Gobble Gobble!

2009-11-26T08:49:00.000-08:00

Good Morning and Happy Thanksgiving! I look forward to a wonderful day with my family. I have so much to be thankful for today and everyday. My list of blessings is long, but here are the top blessings: My children, my parents, my friends, a great job, a home and a nice comfy bed. We often forget that there are many who do not have these things.

I am sure all my crafty blog buddies have much to be thankful for today. I thank my blog buddies for sharing their ideas and inspirations. Speaking of inspirations I thank my blog friend Jen over at Lipstick and Laundry for these cute little goodies! So simple to make!!!
Mini vanilla wafers adhered to a Hershey kiss with a dab of chocolate frosting, topped with a dab of chocolate frosting for a stem and there you have it Sweet Little Acorns!

Dessert is done! Doesn't it look yummy? This one is so easy and goes over very well.
This is the recipe:

1 package Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix

1 26 oz can of pumpkin

1 12oz can of evaporated milk

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups of sugar

4 tspns pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tspn salt

1 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts

1 cup of melted butter

Cool Whip or Rediwhip for topping

Grease the bottom of a 9 X 13 pan. Combine pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, spice and salt. Pour into greased pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly over the top, sprinkle with chopped nuts. Drizzle melted butter over the top. Bake 50-55 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve with whipped topping! Dee-Lish! I promise!

More little boxes

2009-11-19T19:11:00.000-08:00

I am sorry and I hope you can forgive me for my OCD. When I find something that is simple yet very cool, I have to keep making it!! I am sure if you have read my blog for any length of time you have figured that out. So thanks for coming back and bearing with me.
Here are the little boxes again. I can make them now without looking at the tutorial. Sweet! These are providing great stress relief therapy for me :). I had to post these because I love the colors. They are not for Christmas, they are gifts, but if I changed the ribbon to snowflake ribbon, then they could be used for Christmas.
I do hope my recent crafty posts are inspiring you to create! Have a great evening!

A couple of cards

2009-11-19T06:19:00.001-08:00

Just a couple of cards to post today. I haven't made many lately. I actually needed these for work. Our employee non profit group is donating Thanksgiving groceries to 2 families on Monday. We thought it would be nice to give them a Happy Thanksgiving card with the groceries. I cut a 8 1/2" X 11" piece of cardstock in half to make a 5 1/2" X 4 1/4" standard card. I used heavy cardstock to cut out 1 top note die and cut that in half, then added ribbon and a button to that. I then cut a piece of 3" and 4" scrapbook paper and put it all together. I used the computer to print out the greeting.

The second card is for an employee who is part of our non profit group that is leaving work. This card was also easy. 2 top note die cuts, I cut the perforation off of the pink piece so you could see the brown behind it. I used the curly set punch and stamp from Stampin' Up for the greeting and piece of ribbon hot glued and tied and a little button for the finish. I am really loving the pink and brown.

A little more Christmas Crafting

2009-11-17T19:28:00.001-08:00

To keep myself from going insane. I have narrowed my crafting this Christmas down to 3 paper projects and a couple candy making endeavors. Both of the boxes in the photo are made from the tutorial over at Splitcoaststampers . The only difference between the two is I didn't add the top note die to the stacked boxes. These little stacked boxes are so easy to make and all you need for them is heavy cardstock paper, something to score with, adhesive (I use hot glue so they don't fall apart) and a small round punch. Actually, you don't have to use the round punch if you don't have one. Finish off with pretty ribbon and a little tag. I think they would look beautiful sitting on each persons Christmas dinner plate. I will make alot of these two and the little bags that I showed 2 posts back.
For my candy making this year I have decided on candied pecans and almond roca. Yummy! The homemade candy will go in clear cellophane bags with lovely ribbons and tags. Mints and kissses and other bagged candy will go in the boxes and bags. Ready, set, go! I want to get the Christmas stuff done! :) Happy Crafting!

A Christmas Box

2009-11-15T12:01:00.001-08:00

There are actually tiny little pizza boxes under this pretty paper. Julia gave me the tutorial and a sample (the snowflake box) Friday night. She spoils me just like my mom! Love them both!
Have I mentioned I am not good with hardcopy tutorials? However, I was feeling a little brave this morning and tried this one. Not so difficult after all! These are now on my Christmas crafting list. I am really loving the brown paper with snowflakes and blue ribbon! Here is a photo of the actual box that the cute top note dies are adhered to. You might want to try these! Here is the link to the tutorial Splitcoaststampers.

This top note die has been the best craft investment I have ever made. If you want one go on over and see Julia. If you don't want to or can't buy one right now I would be glad to cut some out for you if you want to try this project or any of my other top note die crafts. Just get in touch with me via email or comment to make arrangements. My Christmas gift to you, my blog peeps :)

Craft Night

2009-11-14T15:44:00.000-08:00

It was so nice to see my crafty friends Julia, Judy and Mona last night.
This was the first item Julia had us make. This beautiful reindeer card. All Stampin' Up supplies. Then we made this oh so cool, yet oh so easy gift card holder. I am showing you the inside and out here so you can see how cool it is!!! If you want directions to make either of these items or need to order Stampin' Up supplies go over and visit Julia at her blog.The gift card fits perfectly in the center fold.

Lastly, I am posting this to show Julia, Judy and Mona how cute a ribbon looks with a button in the center! I just love this look! Happy Saturday and Happy Crafting everyone!

I'm back!!!!! Christmas crafting has begun!!!

2009-11-12T20:22:00.001-08:00

Well I hope y'all hadn't given up on me!!! Today is Nov 12th--and Christmas will be here in the blink of an eye! I decided drastic measures needed to be taken to get my Christmas crafts going. That along with a little nudge from Julia ;). Thanks Julia!!!

I figured if I put up the folding table up in my daugthers room I could leave everything out and have a place to work!!!! (no I didn't kick her out of her room, she is away at college) I enlisted the help of 11 year old Gillian and we set out to cut a lot of top note dies to make some of these cute bags! We also used the Stampin' Up Curly set for the Christmas stamp. Gillian thinks that her Mom, Nonnie, Grandma, my mom and her teacher will really love them! I am sure she is right.

These were made with supplies I already had on hand. Not bad. But tomorrow night I get some crafting time with Julia my friend and Stampin' Up demonstrator and my crafty friend Mona. I am hoping to come home with some great ideas, so be sure to come back soon!

No crafts, but a good recipe for dinner

2009-11-09T20:40:00.000-08:00

Still don't have my craft mojo going yet. But I did make a decent dinner tonight. I have a lot of recipes saved on pillsbury.com. This was one of them "Zesty Italian Crescent Casserole".
It was fairly easy, no expensive ingredients and I get a thumbs up from my taste testers. I liked it too! It was like a crescent lasagna. As Rachel would say "Yumm-O". Made a salad to go with, and there you have it, easy, inexpensive and tasty!
If you haven't checked out pillsbury.com yet, I would highly suggest it. Lots of recipes to peruse.

I love every other Friday!

2009-11-06T07:51:00.000-08:00

I am on a work schedule that allows me every other Friday off (and every weekend). Today is my Friday off! So I get to act like a stay at home mom and make pancakes for breakfast. I know I have said this before, but it is these little things in life that make it so worthwhile!
Now if I can muster up the energy I need to clean house and run errands, life would be Grand!!!!!
I have just had a lack of energy for the last couple of weeks. It sucks!!!! I haven't even crafted in over 2 weeks! What is up with that? So to you my few blog peeps, I apologize for the lack of creativity on my blog. I hope to come up with something soon! In the meantime enjoy your day, have a great weekend and stop by to visit again soon.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T19:20:00.001-08:00

Halloween has come and gone like a whirlwind. But boy was it fun! My weekend started with a day of errands on Friday and a wedding at 4:30 in the afternoon.
Saturday it was on to prepping for a Halloween party Saturday night. Followed by some clean up and un decorating and a little rest today.

Let's start the photos with my cute boy Zach! He dressed up as a businessman Friday. He learned how to tie a Windsor knot on You Tube. Took him about an hour of practice, but he figured it out! I was so impressed! I guess I liked the costume too much and made too big a deal over it and embarrassed him. So he dressed as a zombie for Halloween instead of a businessman! I was so disappointed! He was so adorable in a hat and tie! I must say that having a 60's themed Halloween party makes for some very colorful photos!

See what I mean? Loved all the colors and great costumes!!! It was so groovy!

Lastly, a new use for a picture frame that I found while watching Sandra Lee Semi Homemade on the Food Network. She took a frame and put some Halloween scrapbooking paper under the glass and then used it for a serving dish. It worked great for my pretzel ham rollups!

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! Now looking forward to a Wonderful Thanksgiving!

Getting Ready for Christmas!

2009-10-19T20:15:00.001-07:00

Yes I am already on the lookout for great Christmas ideas. I don't do very well following tutorials, however I saw this one over at Kay's Creations on Paper and had to give it a try. Kay has made some very cute Christmas boxes and was kind enough to set up this easy to follow tutorial for them. If you want to copy her creation exactly, you can purchase a kit for $1.00 per box plus shipping and handling. Seems pretty reasonable to me! I may purchase some kits because I love her color combinations and matching tags. Kay has many other great ideas at her blog. Definitely worth checking out!

This is my sample. They will get better as I go along. (I didn't have a scallop edge to use and this is not Christmas paper.) I look forward to making lots of boxes for Christmas to be filled with my homemade candy!

Retired Women Rock!!!!

2009-10-15T15:26:00.000-07:00

My mom is 66 years old, soon to be 67. She and her friends Pam 58 and Wanda 57 planned a 9 mile hike today at Lake Chabot in Castro Valley CA. Since I was on vacation they invited me to tag along. Although I did ride my bike this weekend and did a yoga and ab workout on Comcast on demand yesterday I would say I am not in the best shape. My workouts are just not as consistent as they should be.
Nevertheless, I decided to take them up on the challenge and hoped I could keep up. Keeping in mind, that Wanda and Pam have played soccer, Wanda belongs to a rowing club, walks everyday and does these hikes a couple times a month. My mom and Pam walk and go to Curves several times a week. All 3 of them had also done this hike before.
Well I made it! (They did too of course) The uphill was a little rough and my feet and hips were a little sore after the hike. After lots of liquids, a motrin and some good food I am happy to say that I am feeling fine!
I am so inspired by these active women!!!! I hope that I can be as healthy and fit as they are when I am their age!!!!
Mom, Pam and Wanda you truly rock!!!!!

In case you were not aware there are many beautiful hiking trails in the Bay Area. There are weekly Wednesday hikes and you can get all the information at East Bay Regional Parks. I think the next time my son is on vacation we may try one of the Wednesday hikes.

I hope you are inspired by my mom and her friends to get out there and move!!!!

The last of the Halloween Crafts I promise!!!

2009-10-14T18:24:00.000-07:00

Thought I was about done with Fall crafting, but my friend Julia sent me this link Hearprints . Yet another idea with the Stampin' Up Top Note die. This die cut has been the best crafting investment I have made so far! So just before I packed it all up and put my kitchen table back in order I had to try a few of these cute little bag/baskets. I have made them before, but a little differently.
I used the Top Note die from Stampin' Up to cut the scrapbook paper for these baskets. I adhered ribbon to a small white bag cut down for a handle. More scrapbook paper for the words and the scalloped circles and stickers from Target finish off my last project.

I hope you are all enjoying Fall, and looking forward to Halloween. (and then comes Thanksgiving and Christmas yikes!)

Now I have to start thinking of clever ideas for Christmas! It will be here before you know it!

If I could just win the lotto!

2009-10-11T20:05:00.001-07:00

I often dream of winning the lottery, especially when I am on vacation or on the weekends. Why you ask?? Well, let me begin by telling you that I was able to sleep in until 7:30 the last 2 days. I got up to a quiet house and had a cup of Constant Comment Tea and a Medi Fast Peanut Butter Bar! Yum! I then went for a nice long bike ride on my cool cruiser bike!!!! Then I was ready to face the day! Housework, yardwork, errands, my son's football game! All good!!!

If it had been a work day I would be up at 5:30 am at the latest and out the door at 6:30, no time for tea or a bike ride. I guess I just love my little bit of solitude in the mornings.

Secondly, I am on vacation this week because my son is on break. We are headed to Monterey to visit my daughter Val who is going to college there. We will hit the beach and aquarium. I love Monterey!!!!! Wish I was going to college there haha!!!!

Thursday I am off to the Bay Area for a 9 mile hike with my Mom and her friends. Hope I can keep up with them!

Friday John and I will be taking our kids to the San Francisco Zoo and Pier 39. It may not be a trip to Hawaii, but this is going to be a good week!!!! If I could only win the lottery I could have my tea and bike ride everyday! And make nice little mini trips like this whenever I wanted to!!! And of course there would be many trips to Hawaii and many other wonderful places!!!

A girls gotta dream!
Monterey!

Still crazy for my Little Pumpkin Snowman!

2009-10-10T21:22:00.001-07:00

OK, I know you are sick of this little guy! But I just can't help myself. I promise this will be the last time you see him this year. But I can't make any promises for next year ;)
I had some round coasters leftover from a Christmas project. I cut round circles out of scrapbooking paper, 2 for the front and 1 for the back. I made a loop out of black ribbon and hot glued to the back of the coaster, I then folded crepe paper like bunting all around the back of the circle. I covered it all with 1 piece of scrapbook paper cut in a circle. I like it!

Sew Girlie Monogrammed Scrapbook Giveaway!

2009-10-09T09:44:00.001-07:00

Gotta love the crafty bloggers giveaways! I enter many, and have actually won once!
Here we have a new one from SewGirlie. It isn't even Halloween and I am having Christmas shopping ideas. I think the monogrammed items are so nice to give as gifts!!! Go to SewGirlie,
and check out all of the great items she has available!
Here are the entry instructions:
Good luck!!!

Bunco Party Decorations

2009-10-04T22:01:00.001-07:00

I have two crafty bloggers to thank today for inspiration of these Fall themed Bunco decorations.
First, I saw a Bunco decoration kit over at A Cottage Industry. She used red and turquoise and everything looked beautiful! She made a banner, a vase with pennants and tiny little pennants for cupcakes. So clever! She went all out!

I thought it was a great idea for any occasion! Baby Showers, Wedding Showers, you get the idea.

I used a regular empty clean veggie can for a vase, decorated it with scrapbooking paper, twine and a button.
I made small pennants with 2" X 8" strips of scrapbook paper folded in half. I used my trusty Cricut for the letters and ice cream sticks for the stems.
Then on to the banner. I use banners for every occasion nowadays. I love them! I seem to tweak them a little more each time thanks to all the cool banners I see over at Cherry's Jubilee . She is all about vintage and designs beautiful banners and pennants. She has an online shop where you can purchase her beautiful creations.
I used fall scrapbooking paper for this banner. Julia gave me tons of paper and this nice fall collection was in the mix.

One last little Bunco decoration. A little vase, the caramel flavored candy corn nobody liked anyway a ribbon and a couple of pennants and now we are done!

You know this is such a nice little way to put a little "POP" into a party!

These are all going to my friend Jenni's house for her Fall Bunco party. I will just have to tell her not to let anyone eat the candy. It's for looks only LOL!!!!!

kraftfoods.com Gram's Best Brown Sugar Cake

2009-09-30T18:15:00.003-07:00

I am not sure if I should be embarrassed about this or not. As much as I love to bake, I have never made a bundt cake. Maybe I was intimidated by the pan? Maybe I was too cheap to buy the pan??? For whatever reason I never in my life made a bundt cake.
Then comes along my fall issue of Food & Family from Kraft Foods. (side note: If you do not get this free quarterly magazine you are missing out. Go to kraftfoods.com and sign up for it. Great recipes, and did I mention it is FREE!)
I saw a recipe for Gram's Best Brown Sugar cake in this issue and it looked yummy! Still being too cheap to buy a bundt pan, I called my mom because I thought she had one. No luck! She hasn't seen hers in years. But as luck would have it my friend Jenni had the silicone pan from Pampered Chef on hand! She lent it to me and I bought the ingredients required. This cake was so easy to make! And I love this pan! I sprayed it with Bakers Joy and when I tipped it over the cake fell right out!!!! And the pan was very easy to clean as well! Beautiful!!!
Now the cheap streak has to end because I have to have this pan! I took the cake to work and everyone liked it. It is so tasty and sooooo moist!!! I highly suggest you try this. Just click here Kraft for the recipe, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Pumpkin Snowman Mania!!!

2009-09-27T22:11:00.001-07:00

Yes I have fallen in love with this little guy!!! I found the frames and put 5 of these together today. I used Stampin' Up paper for all of the projects today. The little stamp is from Stampin' Up also. Each one is a little different.

And then I thought he would look cute on a goodie bag.

And cute on these little goodie bags too!! Told you I was going to wear out this little stamp! :)

In total I have 5 Pumpkin Snowman frames, 3 orange and 3 green bags, and 3 white bags.
Not bad for a Sunday afternoon. I did manage to go to church, do 1 load of laundry, make dinner and change the kitty litter box. So I don't feel like I totally ignored everything else. The rest can wait until tomorrow or maybe Tuesday??? haha!!!!

The Pumpkin Snowman

2009-09-26T08:41:00.001-07:00

This is my version of the Pumpkin Snowman Julia made for me. The only difference is I did not drill holes for the ribbon, I used hot glue for the ribbon and buttons and I kept the "you make me smile" with the pumpkin snowman.
This little pumpkin stamp is going to get worn out before Halloween because it is the cutest little stamp I own!!!
This frame measures 8" X 8". I think I must make more, if you want one I am going to sell them for $5.00. I have to find more frames so I can't promise they will all measure 8 X 8. If you want one of these little guys send me an email.

What a mess!!!!!

2009-09-25T09:51:00.001-07:00

Are you an organized crafter? Or do you keep pulling more stuff out and make a bigger and bigger mess before it is all said and done?
Wasn't sure if I should post my mess, but this is me, this is how I roll. The mess gets overwhelming. I legitimize it because I don't have an actual office or craft room. Someday I will have the office/craft room, but for today it is the kitchen table.
My kitchen table is small so that makes the mess look even worse!!!

I eventually get it all together and narrow it down to 1 basket full of supplies for 1 project. Who'd of thunk it! That is what I should do every time. But I get all these ideas and start making 1 or 2 or 3 different things at a time and just keep making a bigger mess. Maybe I need to control my adult ADD :) and focus on one thing at a time. What a concept!!

This basket holds the supplies to finish up 20 of these cute little Top Note die cut Fall bag/baskets to donate to a bake sale at work supporting the United Way.

A Good Day!!!

2009-09-23T21:06:00.001-07:00

Why yes indeed, sometimes it's the little things in life that make it so great!!!
I received this little cutie from my friend Julia. I spotted this in the holiday Stampin' Up catalog and fell in love with this little snow pumpkin and she made it for me!!!! Love you Julia!!!
This looks tiny in the photo, but it is actually pretty big, about 8" X 8". This alone would have made my day!!! But things just kept going well!

I had 20 raffle tickets to sell for Tokay Junior Tiger Football and sold them all before lunch! Woohoo!!

Met with my friend Melinda at lunch to taste some MediFast food and talk about the plan. Surprisingly, I liked everything I tried. I am hearing nothing but good things about this program. People are losing weight, getting off of high blood pressure meds, lowering their cholesterol. Melinda and her husband Mike are both on the plan and are looking great!

If you want to get more information from Melinda let me know and I can put you in touch with her.

After work John, his kids, my son and I went to dinner at Habanero Hots in Lodi. Not only was the food dee-lish, but we had a $25.00 gift card so it was a deal too!!!! If you want to find out about the $25.00 deal go to restaurant.com. There are a few conditions but it was certainly worth it.
After dinner we took a little trip to Joannes and Bed Bath and Beyond. It was a nice evening.

I then came home and tried another idea on my Halloween Peet Pot baskets, and I am liking these better than the ones I made last night. More color. What do you think?

Halloween Peet Pots

2009-09-22T19:22:00.001-07:00

I found another use for peet pots! Very simple. Crepe paper, ribbon, rickrack, construction paper, buttons and a little hot glue and we have Halloween Baskets ready for some candy!!!

I cut a large circle of crepe paper using a large mixing bowl as a pattern. I tucked paper into the peet pot tucking and pushing inwards to the bottom of the pot. Then I cut a strip of heavy construction paper for a handle and glued the handles inside the pot. I tied ribbon around either end of the handle. I then hot glued a ribbon or rickrack around the outside of the pot, and embellished with whatever I had on hand, sticker on a scallop circle, or a button with twine. I am thinking I better go out and get some orange crepe paper and can do even more with these pots!

Smooth Criminals!

2009-09-21T17:29:00.001-07:00

I really need to vent today. But I promise to leave you on a happy note!

Last Friday was payday, I paid some bills, was feeling good and decided to treat myself to a long overdue pedicure after work. Life is good, paying bills, getting toes done and it is the weekend!

But when I get home my daughter tells me the bank called and I am to call them back. I do and am asked if I wrote a check in Texas for $2600.00. WHAT??? I said "Hell no". To make this long story short, somehow, someway, someone got access to my name address and checking account number and mailed a bogus check with my return address in Lodi, from New York NY, to someone in Allen Texas and that someone walked into Chase Bank in Plano Texas and tried to cash the check for $2600.00. Luckily the assistant manager thought something was wrong and the check was not cashed. She was able to get a copy of the postmarked envelope the check came in and a fingerprint of the person who tried to cash it.

After getting all my banking squared away and opening a new account I took the information the bank gave me to the Lodi Police department this morning and filed a complaint. All the information was forwarded to the Plano Texas police department and I sure hope they act on this to prevent this from happening to someone else! What a nightmare!!!! How do these criminals sleep at night, how do they get the information?? I am just perplexed and angry as well!!!! Thanks for letting me vent! I feel better! :)

Now I will finish on that happy note I promised. I still have lots of ideas for more and more Halloween/Fall crafty stuff!!!! I made the pocket folds last year and I still like them so they are on the list again this year. These are very very simple to make. The candy and the embellishments are the big hits in these.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to have no more negative venting to do for a long long time.

I should be doing housework,,,,, but I'm not

2009-09-13T11:51:00.001-07:00

Yes there is laundry to be done, my kitchen table is a disaster zone with craft stuff all over it and the carpet could use vacuuming. But I just want to craft! I really wish I could make a living at this stuff, it is so much fun!!!! I'm on a BOO banner binge. Can you tell? :) I am loving this vintage wall hanging. I am debating on keeping it myself???? I used lots of elements and I think I am liking that!

These were put together last night by John and I. A poster frame, poster paper and scrapbooking paper purchased at Joannes will help keep this memory for Johns son Zach. We are going to add 2 more elements to this to complete it.

Did I already say I love doing this stuff and wish I could do it full time???

Same thing here, but this was for John. He wanted to keep a memory of being an extra in this movie. We are going to add 1 more photo to it.

Well, it's still early and there is a load of laundry in the washer, so I am sure I will get something done around the house today. I think I am just happy to be home!

Fall/Halloween YEA!!!!!!!!

2009-09-12T08:44:00.000-07:00

My son came in last night and told me that the neighborhood kids were laughing because I already had the house decorated for Halloween. I told him I didn't care. I LOVE HALLOWEEN, deal with it. And it's September for goodness sakes, I didn't decorate for Halloween in July. Geez!I made this sweet little BOO banner with paper from Stampin' Up. I used tissue paper behind the letter and circle. Added a little rickrack for a "pop". I don't think this picture did it justice. Really like this banner, going to tweak it a bit and make some more!

Made this banner with Stampin' Up paper also. This is two sided paper, you can see the other side on the mirror. Just added buttons and little orange sparklies to finish this one off. I am loving these banners!

Put your pumpkins on a pedestal. It just makes them look so elegant!

It is fall in my house! This little mantle setup will stay up until after Thanksgiving. Then.... time for Christmas decorations!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend! I hear thunder now and it may rain later! Bring on the rain! Maybe Fall really is on the way. :)