Spooktacular!

So, I meant to post this the week of Halloween, but life got in the way. I am going to post it anyway and maybe you can use it for next year!

Supplies Needed:
length of cheesecloth
latex balloon
wax paper
Styrofoam cup
a bottle of "Stiff-n- Stuff" or other fabric stiffener
large bowl you don't normally use for food
tiny bit of Vaseline
black felt cut into 2 medium sized ovals

Steps:
Blow up balloon, not too big

Poke hole in bottom of cup, turn upside down and thread balloon knot through

Rub Vaseline all over top of balloon

Place balloon/cup on sheet of wax paper

Empty fabric stiffener into container ( you will not need the whole bottle for just one project) and dredge cheesecloth in it. Be sure to thoroughly soak/saturate the material

Remove the cheesecloth and squeeze to get rid of excess solution

Unfold and drape over the balloon allowing the excess to puddle onto the wax paper. You can arrange the excess any way you like.

Dip the felt ovals into the solution and use you fingers to press out any excess

Stick the ovals onto the cheesecloth
this is what it will look like:

Allow to dry thoroughly

Pop balloon (don't worry I have never had one explode on me, just get a slow leak) and remove wax paper, cup and balloon from your masterpiece.

What have you got? An adorable ghostie who can stand up on his own!

I have made this project with about 7 different classes of preschoolers and it's a hit every time!

Fast and Yummy

This is one of my most favorite appetizer recipes. It's one of those that is so bad for you but tastes SO yummy! Any time I have made it I never have leftovers.

Brown Sugar Smokies
(can be doubled)

1 package "Little Smokies" sausages
1 package bacon
1 box brown sugar
toothpicks

Cut bacon strips into 3rds. Wrap cut strip around little smokie and secure with toothpick. Spray a slow cooker with non stick spray and layer sausages and brown sugar until there is none left. Don't be afraid to use that whole box! Cover and cook until all the sugar is melted. If you want them ready fast cook on high, if you want to cook them all day, turn it on low.
Use a slotted spoon to serve. Finger-lickin' good!

Scraping up a storm!

My B&B weekend was so much fun! I didn't have much to do to catch up so I was able to get a little more detailed on my pages. Believe me, my pages don't always look like this! I was really proud of how some of them turned out and wanted to share them. All the pictures were taken while on a trip to the Chattanooga Aquarium in Tennessee. Sorry they are sideways, I don't know how to turn them. if anyone else does, please let me know. Blogger "Help", wasn't.



My seahorses, I tried to duplicate the look of the coral on the pages. I drew out my shapes and then hand cut them. My "critters on a log". Again, the log was hand drawn and then cut. I used chalks to give it some depth. I am thinking about adding a hand drawn alligator skull on the top of the second page. What do you think?

My Penguin page! Torn vellum at the bottom, hexagons cut from vellum for the ice cubes and then the dimension added with a silver pen.

My "jellies." Many, many tiny thin strips of orangey colored vellum cut on a wavy cutter with a deckle edged blade. Many, many strips. Many, many. This one took a while! Lettering cut from the same vellum with a die cut machine.

Oh, but look, it has a secret! It's a three page spread! Hiding behind the orange jellies are the ones that have been turned all kids of crazy colors by the lighting!

Underwater creatures. The left page is strips of the many blues I saw in my photos that have been cut on a wavy cutter. It reminds me of the current maps you see sometimes. I really like the effect. The right side is hand drawn, each piece separately, and then put together. Brought to you by my memory of the Jaws poster.

Here are some close ups of some of the more detailed pages.

I hope you enjoyed my pages as much as I enjoyed making them!

Something I didn't create

So, I am a YouTube addict. I admit it. I find one thing and then that leads to another and then another and then I have been sitting for two hours watching YouTube videos and I need to wash my hair and pack a lunch and.......



ANYWAY, in my peeking and poking around I found this little tidbit. I LOVE it. I love this style of dance, I happen to love the song (wish I knew who was doing the cover though) and I wish, wish I could dance like this. I've learned however, as a singer, I tend to think in musical phrases and not 8 counts!

I just wanted to share this you guys.



This is from the Australian version of "So You Think You Can Dance" and the "featured" male dancer in this piece was the eventual winner of the show!

I am off to a weekend long crop at a nearby B&B tomorrow and I'm excited about it! Maybe when I get back I will have some fun pages or new products to talk about. Maybe both!

Poppy Seed Chicken and Pasta Salad

Hi, all! I was way too exhausted to post last night, sorry about that. I'm all rested up now though and ready to post the promised recipe!

Poppy Seed Chicken and Pasta Salad

1 1/3 cups uncooked spiral pasta

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup bottled poppy seed salad dressing

Boil chicken breasts until done. Set aside to cool and then shred. Cook pasta according to package directions. I use the stock from my boiled chicken as the cooking liquid in order to add a little more flavor. Rinse pasta in cool water and drain well. Combine first 6 ingredients and mix well. Drizzle dressing over top and toss to coat. Chill until serving.

This makes 4 lunches for me, or probably one meal for 2 (with a little left over).

If you decide to use it as lunches you may want to add a bit more dressing (just a squirt) on the 3rd and 4th days. I always divide it up into 4 storage containers ahead of time.

Also, a tip on the almonds. I just toast mine in the microwave. I spread them out in a single layer on ceramic or glass plate (DON'T USE PAPER!) and micro for about 2 minutes. Stir and then micro again for 1:30. Keep stirring and microwaving until they are to your liking. Be careful though, it's a fine line between toasted and burned! It usually only takes me the 2 rounds to get them where I want them, but all microwaves are different.

You may see what looks like burned spots on your plate. Don't be concerned. That is just the oil from the almonds. If you run water over the plate when you are done it washes right off.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend and some yummy food!

Festively Fall

Wow! Thanks, everyone, for the warm welcome! I even got a follower on my first day! Look -->
Hi, Jaime!

As promised, here is last night's crafting project.



I'm pretty happy with how it turned out AND it cost me less then $10! The grapevine wreath and leaf garland came from the dollar store. The beaded pumpkins, berry stems and ribbon for the bow came from Hobby Lobby, at a 40% discount! I tried to post closeups of the pumpkins and berry stems and of the bow but Blogger keeps reorienting my photos so they are sideways. If anyone knows how to remedy this or why it's happening let me know. If I can fix it I'll post the other photos.
Tomorrow I will move on to another of my 3 "C"s - Cooking! So, be ready for a yummy new recipe to try out this weekend!

Wow, I'm blogging!

So, my sister-in-law, Kacey, is OBSESSED with blogging (you know you are!) and has somehow pulled me over to the dark side. Well, at least the blogging side.... I wanted my blog to be ABOUT something 'cause, goodness knows, my little life isn't interesting enough to write about! I decided to let this be a place to express my creative juices, a place to put what I create out there and hear what the world thinks of it. At least, if it thinks positive things! Like any normal human being I adore positive feedback and I would love to have the opportuinity to hear what someone other that my sweetheart thinks. Not that his opinion isn't valuable, but.....
So, without further ado, here is my first post and my first project.
I "borrowed" my project idea from Joy's Under Five Bucks & Under Five Minutes! at "Joys of Home" (love her stuff btw) and modified it a little . Mine actually cost me between $10-$15 and took a little longer.
Here is my finished project:





The extra cost came from my idea to make it a hanging plaque for the back of our front door. I bought a magnetic hook and a knob that I liked from the local "home improvement store" and had my hubby drill out the hook. That also made the hole big enough for the knob to fit into. The casing around the magnet was painted the same color (Burnt Sienna) as the back part of the plaque. Who knew it would match so well?!

Finally, here is a closeup of the letter plaque itself. The flash has made the color appear "off". In real life, the 'R' is a wine color that matches the accent wall of my living room (and the ribbon the letter hangs from) not barn red! I also used the Burnt Sienna as a wash over both the letter as well as the paper under it to help antique it a little.

I am really happy with how it turned out. I always feel like the backs of doors are so naked. We spend a lot of time looking at them and I just wanted my front door to feel pretty on the "inside"! The only thing I am unsure about are the "tails" of ribbon. I though that they added a little extra flair but now I am not sure. What do you think?

PS. I was crafting away tonight during Project Runway when I wasn't texting Kacey (can you BELIEVE Kenley? You do NOT sass the Tim Gunn!) so I should have another fun Fall project to post tomorrow!