Thursday, December 4, 2014

turkey cookie platter


When I visited my parents a few weeks before Thanksgiving, my mom dug out one of her recipe magazine's cookie edition. She wanted to show me a turkey platter that was featured in it (funny enough, it was created by my cookie idol over at sweetsugarbelle.com. I guess similar taste runs in the family).

Mom: Isn't this cute? 
Me: Yeah. Do you want me to make you one for Thanksgiving? 
Mom: No. You don't have to do that. But isn't this cute? 

Translation: my mom wanted the cookies.


Mind you, she is well aware of how time consuming they are to make, so she really was trying to be nice and not inconvenience me. However, the only thing I was able to convince her to let me bring to dinner was pie from the bakery at Chris's work (she only let my siblings bring booze, so at least I scored a food item).


But the platter turned out quite adorable, so I'm really glad my mom suggested it to me. I'm also learning to better my royal icing technique, which is always good too. Practice makes perfect. Or in this case, practice makes more tasty cookies for my family to enjoy.


Saturday, November 29, 2014

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

#25craftsofchristmas-nights 3, 4, 5

This past weekend I got my maximum craft on by hosting craft parties on Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday. (I also attended a craft fair on Saturday where I seemed to accumulate multiple objects of the moose persuasion. Shhhh. We're not going to talk about it).

The craft party themes were "Christmas Countdowns," "Ornaments," and "Cards." With the help of my friends, we plowed through 12 more crafts! Woohoo!


Friday night: Countdowns
7. Chalkboard Countdown - (pinspiration from item no longer on etsy)
8. Pocket Advent Calendar - (link to pinspiration no longer working)
9. Santa Beard Countdown (not yet numbered) - this was a shape I purchased from the silhouette online store


Saturday night: Ornaments
10. TMNT filled with glitter - Allison curated project
11. Cement Light Bulbs and Trees - pinspiration
12. String Words - pinspiration
13. Melted Crayons* - pinspiration
Bonus Ornament: Melted Snowman with olaf quote
*Only 1 ornament was dropped and shattered on the concrete floor in the making of this craft.


Sunday ended up being a quiet crafternoon (do you see what I did there?) for Allison and me. We used my silhouette to cut out some simple shapes to make lots of adorable cards.
14. Santa Suit - pinspiration
15. Wrapped Packages - pinspiration
16. Paper Tree - pinspiration
17. Ornaments - (pinspiration from item no longer available on etsy)
18. Ribbon Tree - pinspiration

See projects from nights 1, 2, 6, 7, and 8.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

#25craftsofchristmas - night 2

You know what I really enjoy? Watching my "non-crafty" friends create some awesome stuff. I think they enjoy it too. :)

Last night I hosted my second night of Christmas crafting with "More Winter Decorations."


4. Sharpie Mugs - these are alllllllll over Pinterest. However, we used oil based Sharpie paint markers after I read through a lot of tips. Hopefully this produces some long lasting work, because these ladies made some adorable pieces.
5. Paper Snowflakes - pinspiration. I pre-glittered all the paper (of course), which was slightly messy but mega sparkly.
6. Tinsel Trees - pinspiration. I am totally making a million of these to put everywhere. Soooo sparkly!

See projects from nights 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

#25craftsofchristmas - night 1

Sunday kicked off the first of eight craft nights I am hosting this year for the "25 Crafts of Christmas" challenge I am completing with my friends.

For night one, I planned three projects for the "Winter Decorations" themed craft night.


1. Puff Paint Window Clings - this was an Allison curated project. The Pinterest inspiration (pinspiration. Is that a thing? I'm going to make it one. So just roll with it) can be found here. (Please note the age group for this... yeah. Kids at heart?)
2. School Glue Snowmen - pinspiration.
3. Painted Kitchen Towels - this has been an evolving project. Tutorial coming soon.

See projects from nights 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

craft night

It's no secret I am pinterest obsessed. I just love the overwhelming source of crafty inspiration it provides. So when Allison sent me 3 emails in a row with craft projects she had found, I started formulating a plan.

I love doing crafts, and I love sharing that satisfaction that comes from creating. So as a "Christmas present" to some of my lovely friends, I have decided to work through some of my pins and host "The 25 Crafts of Christmas."

Yes, that is correct. 25 crafts.

I am aware I am insane.

Here's the deal: I'm starting early (typically I am a no-Christmas-before-Thanksgiving kind of girl), I'm spreading it out into multiple craft nights, and I'm keeping it easy. So fingers crossed this works.

I will be hosting a total of 8 craft nights (or afternoons) for my friends to come join me. I've arranged for 3 or 4 projects each night and tried to have a theme for each set. My friends are invited to come to any nights of their choosing and work on whatever projects interest them.

It's going to be a blast, and I can't wait.


Monday, September 22, 2014

Royals Cookies


My grandma is adorable. She is such a HUGE Kansas City Royals fan. Always has been and always will be. I think it's because she's actually been around long enough to remember them being good. (In case you were wondering, that hasn't been in my lifetime).


Grandma has been extra excited this season, because the team has gotten her hopes up that they might "make it all the way."


I could care less about the team, but it makes her happy.


So in honor of her birthday this month, I whipped up a batch of cookies celebrating her most favorite pastime.


Unfortunately, I didn't leave myself enough time to let the colors set while I decorated, so the blue and gold bled horribly before I was able to give them to her.


But I got pictures of them before that happened, so at least there was some proof they didn't always look horrible.

Plus, they were delicious. And seriously, that's all that really matters.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Thursday, August 21, 2014

motivational flower pots


I kill everything. Seriously. I cannot keep a plant alive to save my life.

At the beginning of summer I tried planting sunflowers from seeds. I was actually really proud of myself. I had quite a few growing, and they seemed to be going strong. So I bragged to Chris about how well they were doing.

"Well yeah. I've been watering them every time I come over to visit you."

Oh...

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Sunday, August 10, 2014

five bucks of fun


I am basically a small child. I should not be left in a craft store by myself. Somehow, Chris didn't get that memo. Even after I told him he had to physically remove me from the section of fall decor with hedgehogs all over everything (omg, I almost grabbed ALL OF IT), he still let me wander off by myself.

In my defense, the cardboard cutouts were 50% off, so the welcome sign only cost me $5. Not bad for going rogue.

I used the same paint from my livingroom to make it pretty, so the entire ordeal ended up being relatively inexpensive.

Seriously, it could've been worse.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

coooookies


It all started with my Christmas present from Chris last year. He showed up at my house proudly toting a box of 100 assorted cookie cutters for me (smart man). Now if I was a normal person, I'd just use those to make a few fun-shaped sugar cookies, slap some icing on them, and call it good.

But we all know I'm incapable of normal.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

one year


As of July 26th, I have officially own my cute little house on Lynnrae for a whole year. I know, it's crazy! This time last summer I was spending ungodly amounts of money on new paint, taking on my first tiling project, dragging my tired self back and forth EVERY night between the house and my old apartment, and moving in all my worldly possessions (aka all the crap I'd accumulated this far).

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Sunday, February 9, 2014

birthday cookies

My girl scouts are probably the biggest fans of my pet hedgehog, Russell. They're dying to meet him. And since I'm not planning on letting him come to robotics practice any time soon, they are hedgehog deprived.

Since my birthday coincides with the robotics season, I usually bring in a special treat to share with the girls. This year I went all out.


So adorable. They took absolutely FOR-EV-ER to make, but I think the end product was totally worth it.


Thursday, February 6, 2014

January Project Life

My life is so busy right now that I'm not sure why I added another project to it. But I started running across Project Life stuff all over Pinterest and became intrigued. I love scrapbooking, but it's usually such a hassle and time sucker that I never get around to doing it. But this concept looked fairly straightforward, so I decided to attempt it for 2014.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Friday, January 24, 2014

hello!

I have officially now painted every room in my house. So I'm done painting now, right?

Ha. Hahaha. Of course not.

Unfortunately, both my front door and door in from my garage need some serious TLC. I'm not planning on tackling either of those any time soon, so I needed to do something to hold me over for a while.

Silhouette to the rescue!


Simple. Quick. Adorable. :)

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

A Not So Subtle Hint

Last Friday my boyfriend brought me something. No, it wasn't flowers or chocolate (although I do receive those more often than I deserve), and it wasn't tasty beverages in adorable bottles (that was earlier this week). Alas, I received another chalkboard. ;)

His store uses a few for displays, and he has been a big fan of my work lately (because he's a sweetheart like that). He asked if I would do a valentine's day one for him with the directions of: "I dunno. Put candy on it or something."

Helpful.

So I came up with this:


I figured I could use it as a suggestion. Great idea, right? 

Monday, January 6, 2014

Boards for Beer

I've mentioned before that my brother started his own business last year, and I was nice enough to decorate a chalkboard sign for him over Thanksgiving.


Well I was home for Christmas and he asked if I'd do a few more for him. And being the wonderful sister that I am (and having absolutely no other plans whatsoever while I was in town) I happily obliged.

Friday, January 3, 2014

Painting the "Storage Closet"

After looking at dozens of three and four bedroom houses on my search to find my home, I decided that a two bedroom house was more reasonable for my needs. Unfortunately, since I've moved in it's been more like a "one bedroom house with a really big closet for storing all the extra crap I haven't unpacked yet."