It's been a while

Let me start off by saying I am SO SORRY for not posting on here for 4 months! OMG, I can't believe it's been that long. Things have been so hectic around here that I haven't stopped to get on here and make updates. First off, in August, I had a pretty big audition and call back that took up about 3 weeks of my life. No, I didn't get the part, but it was a wonderful experience to have been a part of. Then in September I went on our yearly vacation to Big Bear with my mom, and then two weeks later I found out I was PREGNANT. Well, we were all (and still are) very excited about the new baby, and then the morning sickness struck with a vengance when I was only 5 weeks along. For about a month or so I couldn't even drag myself off the sofa, and that's with the anti nausea meds that I am on. Lets just say that this new baby is giving me a run for my money. Anywho, on the productive side of things, I've been working on a few new tutorials that I put together for Amanda over at the Quilted Fish. She's got a new paper line that she started up this year, and I made her paper crafting team. Yay! The first tutorial is already up on her blog (you can see it HERE), but I'll post it here as well in the next day or two. The next two tutorials I just completed today, so I'm really excited about those going up up within the next week. They're all easy tutorials that help get us ready for the holiday season. Amanda has this great holiday paper line with Bazzill Basics Paper called "Holiday Style," and it is too darling for words. I used this paper to create two gift boxes (one mini and one medium sized), as well as a paper gift bow that I also use in my larger gift box tutorial.

Anyway, my appologies a million times over for my absence these past few months, and I PROMISE to get you some new tutorials on here ASAP!

Frilly Fabric Flowers

Hello everyone! Today’s fabric flower tutorial is actually going to be part 1 of 2, in the making of a beautiful, shabby flower covered lamp shade tutorial. The plan is, that by next week I will have a lamp shade, and we will be applying these fabric flowers that we make today, to it.

Now... since my internet has been giving me the hardest time ever today, shutting down on me everytime I start downloading my photos, as well as half way through typing my tutorial for you all, I had to come up with another way of getting my tutorial to you all. Since my computer didn't want to cooperate with me typing straight onto my bog, I compliled it into a nice and easy PDF... did I mention that this is printable? It is! Not that this tutorial is so difficult that you'l really need to print it out, but just in case, you can!

SO... with all that out of the way, you can go ahead and find my easy Frilly Flower Tutorial HERE

I have plans....

Ok... so, I have had this plan for a tutorial for about a month and a half now, but am struggling to find the neccessary materials, at a price which I am willing to pay. Frustrating... I know! I feel horrible about not posting a tutorial in the longest time, but I can't find what I need to get it done. With that said, I have grown tired of waiting, so as of next week, I will post phase one of the tutorial, and then phase 2 when I can get my hands on what I need.

Enough of being cryptic... here is what I am planning... a Fabric Flower Lamp Shade.

If you're not as excited about this as I am, then you just don't understand what it is I'm exactly talking about. Have you ever seen those uuber cute silk rose covered lamp shades? You know, the ones that cost upwards of $50+, or more (if you get the one from Pottery Barn, as pictured to the right). Well... I came up with an idea (All on my own, mind you!) for something along the same lines, but that costs next to nothing; and, if you are a quilter, sewer, lover of fabrics, etc. then you probably have everything but the lampshade already. (See above mentioned "missing materials"!) Now, while my lampshade isn't as cute as Pottery Barns, and doesn't have perfect little roses, it does give a nice illusion to being flower covered, and it adds a nice shabby chic touch to a room, since the ends are rough, and all the petals are gathered and frilled.

There are ways to acheive a very similar DIY looking lampshade, but it requires purchasing silk roses, cutting the stems off, and gluing them all over (as seen in the picture to the left, the tutorial for which can be found HERE), but this will add at least an additional $15 - $25 (depending on the size of the lampshade and roses used) to the total price, and that is just too much for me to spend on a DIY craft. Already I'm being super picky, because I insist on finding a lampshade for $10 or less, and am having some difficulty with that. By the way, not to get too far off topic, but has anyone ever noticed how damn expensive lamp shades are?? It's ridiculous. $30- $50 for a plain lamp shade? I found one at Target for around $12, and I'll probably end up getting it, but I'd really like to find one for $6. When your husband doesn't freely fund your crafting, you try to pinch and save where you can!

Anyway, since I am still looking for the perfect lampshade, I've decided to post a tutorial for my Frilly Fabric Flowers here next Tuesday, and then hopefully by the following Tuesday I'll have found a lampshade - or convinced my husband to cough up the $ for the one I already found - and then I'll complete my tutorial, by showing how to attach the flowers to the shade, and finish the project off (We all know how to use a glue gun right?).  I'd ideally like to pair the lampshade with this darling pink "crystal" lamp base found HERE at ToysRUs, but am trying to find away around spending $30 for it... cheap, who me? ;) This finished product will then move to it's permanent residence a top my daughters dresser in her newly designed ballerina room, and hopefully give it just the right finishing touch.

Ok then, now that you know my plan, I look forward to "seeing" you back here next week, when I'll be diving into the oh so easy tutorial of frilly flower making. In the meantime, resist the urge to throw away your scraps of fabrics, and cut yourself a 2" circle template (makes this process go SO much faster if you have a template to cut around).

See you then!

Unbelievable Macaroni Salad!

So, I've gotten a little behind on my posts lately, but hopefully this recipe will make it all up to you, and all will be forgiven as soon as you take your first bite! I'm not including a full photo tutorial with this recipe, since I won't be making it until the 4th, but I wanted to post the recipe now, so that everyone out there will get the opportunity to try the greatest Mac Salad you've ever had, and be the hero at this Monday's BBQ.

This recipe comes from my father, so it's a really big deal that I'm leaking this one out, since I guard his recipes with my life. If I haven't ever mentioned it on here before, my dad is the best cook I have ever known - actually I should probably call him a chef since he's owned and operated a few restaurants in his time. My love of cooking, and everything that I have learned, has come from my dad. It still blows my mind how damn good he is! He'll show up to visit for the weekend, and manages to whip out the most flavorful gourmet food you've ever seen, and he does it effortlessly to boot. If it were me making the meals that he makes, not only would they not taste as good as his, but it would look like a tornado had ripped right through the middle of my kitchen. Not my dad, though.... he's the best I've ever seen, and I'll stand by that to the grave.

So... here goes! You're in for a treat!

"Never Go Back to That Deli Stuff"

Mac Salad

Ingredients

1 lb, small Elbow Macaroni

5-6, stalks Celery

1, large Brown Onion

1, small jar sweet pickles (or gherkins)

8oz, Longhorn Cheddar Cheese

1 C, Mayo

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions

1) Cook macaroni according to package directions. Allow to cool completely.

 **Tip** Add a drizzle of evoo to the water to keep the macaroni from sticking.

2) Finely dice celery, onion, pickles, and cheese.

3) Add veggies and cheese to cooled macaroni. Add mayo, and stir to combine.

4) Add salt and pepper to taste.

**I've found it's best to add less S&P, and allow others to add more if they desire.

So there it is! It's really simple, but Oh Man does it blow the competition out of the water! Trust me on this. Make a batch this 4th of July, spread the love around to your friends, and see how everyone just praises you for your amazing Mac Salad. The best part... ya, there's a best part! This salad actually gets better as left overs. How many recipes can do that?!

I'll post the full tutorial this coming Friday, pictures and all, so that you all can see exactly how I dice up my veggies and cheese... according to my dad's instructions!

Please let me know how things turn out for you if you do end up trying this recipe. I'd love to hear your feedback!

Cook, Eat, and Enjoy!

Foodie.... Saturday??

So I completely forgot about Foodie Friday yesterday, so I'm going to go ahead and make up for that today. My family was in town this week, and were leaving yesterday, so my entire day was geared towards meeting up with them before they flew out, and as a result, Foodie Friday didn't happen. My sincerest apologies!

Anyway, this week I had planned on linking to other bakers sites for my Foodie Friday tutorial. I'm not sure if any of you remember, but I have a few favorite food blogs that I like to frequent - The Pioneer Woman has already been posted about all over this blog - and in the past couple of weeks I have been on a cookie frenzy, testing out cookies from two of these sites. What I have discovered is some truly divine (and guilty) pleasures! I would blog about them myself, but these women do such a wonderful job at it, and since these are their recipes, I'll just link you to them!


First off, back on the week that I made my A-Mazing Chocolate Chip cookies, I also made Oatmeal Raisin Cookies for my husband, since they are his favorite. I'm a bit picky when it comes to oatmeal raisin cookies, and I found a wonderful recipe on the Smitten Kitchen blog. If you'd like to test out this recipe for yourself, you can find it HERE! From my personal experience, I had better result with the cookies when I didn't chill them first, but you can try both ways if you'd like.


My second recipe is for the best Sugar Cookies my husband and I have ever eaten... I mean, seriously, these things are dangerously good! The recipe comes from none other than the extremely talented I Am Baker, and she uses a secret ingredient to her sugar cookies that just puts them over the edge... almond extract. I can't even begin to explain to you what this does to the taste of these cookies, you're just going to have to trust me, and try this recipe out.... right now! My only comment on this recipe is for you to be sure to not over cook these cookies. Trust in her cook time, and they will be wonderful. They may look under done, but when they cool, they are perfectly chewy... so trust in what she says! You can find her sugar cookie recipe HERE!


So there you have it... two more AMAZING cookie recipes, that have found a permanent residence in my recipe box, and I am sure will find their place in yours as well. If you happen to make these for yourself, I would love to hear about how you found them to be for you and your family.


Until then....

Happy Baking! Happy Eating!

Get Covered!

Todays Tutorial Tuesday, is going to be one of those where I just link you oiver to someone else's cool idea. I know... it's kinda lame, but hey, this tutorial changed my life this week. You see, everything I have in my sewing room, I basically "inherited" from my mother-in-law... including my ironing board... which has never had a cover. So for the past 2 years I've been ironing on a board without a cover, and for every day of those last two years, I've been telling myself that I have to get a dang cover for it. Finally, after all this time, I sat down a couple of days ago and began to google (my favorite thing to do!), and I found a pretty easy ironing board cover tutorial, that ANYONE can whip up in less than an hour. How awesome is that? See how this could change a girls life? No? Ok... well maybe I just get overly excited about things, but after 2 years of not being covered, all that is about to change. Additionally, I just moved and re-decorated my entire craftroom, so I'm going to make an ironing board cover to match... that can make a girl excited in and of itself!

Ok... enough talking, lets get down to sewing! If you would like to check out this quick and easy ironing board tutorial, click HERE.

Happy Sewing!

A-Mazing Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I LOVE chocolate chip cookies, but I've always been on the hunt for the perect one... and I think I finally found it. Here's my feeling on the whole thing, brown sugar makes the cookie. So for about an entire week I sat on the computer reviewing recipe, after recipe, after recipe... and I think I've found it! I've made these cookies a few times now, and every time I do my husband just sings their praises. I can't remember exactly where I found the recipe (I reviewed WAY too many), but I think it was from someone on Allrecipes.com. I love that site! Anyway, back to the whole point of this post... Let me share the recipe with you!

A-Mazing Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Makes 40 - 45 cookies

Ingredients

1 C (2 stks), Butter - softened

1/2 C, Sugar

1 1/2 C, Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

2 tsp, Vanilla

2 3/4 C, Flour

3/4 tsp, Sea Salt (not table salt!)

1 tsp, Baking Soda

1 1/2 tsp, Baking Powder

2 1/4 C, Chocolate Chips

1 C, Walnuts - chopped

** Apparently my head was not in this when I was taking the photo, because the eggs are missing, and I am showing 1 C sugar instead of a 1/2 C. Don't be like me... follow the ingredient list above!

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 

Cream butter and sugars on Med-High for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Add eggs and vanilla, and beat an additional 2 minutes.

In seperate bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Add dry indredients to wet ingredients, 1 cup at a time, scraping the sides after each addition.

Gently mix in chocolate chips and walnuts.

With a cookie scoop, or a Tablespoon, drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet.

Cook 12 - 14 minutes

Let rest 2 minutes, then remove from pan and cool an additional 3 minutes.

Eat and Enjoy!