last apron post!

well, it happened. my boys REFUSED to model the newest apron i made.

they should just be happy i have my wedding dress hidden behind 40 tons of 'stuff' downstairs or i'd be making them try that on. (hey-don't judge me! i don't have a daughter!)

and dear husband is in sacramento for work...driving a TOYOTA! (that is the only car to rent) yep-life insurance is all paid up. i double checked.

so i had to take business into my own hands.

that usually isn't a good thing.

but today-it worked!

this 1st photo is of my original apron. it was a gag gift from a family member who voted for obama (i did not). ha ha.

watch some jon stewart and see who is laughing now.

now here is the one i made using the obama one as a pattern. i have NEVER done this before and think it turned out pretty good!

i might even make the kids dinner tonight instead of making them fend for their selves because of their little rebellion.

ps-this isn't my usual hair. this is 'amy' hair. i just got it cut today and until i wake up in the morning, i will be extra hot!

another apron

i have this thing for aprons.


if you remember, i made one not too long ago. i used simplicity pattern 3670, and despite what it says-it is NOT sew easy. that one took way too long to make and really didn't fit me in the chest.

this one has no problem fitting me in the chest (lol). it was way easier and i cant wait to bake something!





it's is springy and girly just like the last one! i couldn't be happier!





parker, on the other hand, could be. he didn't want to model this and i had to promise that i wouldn't have his face in the photo. which is really too bad because he one handsome boy! (he looks like me!)

so apron number 2 from this pattern. i'd make this one again.

i also started (but couldn't finish due to the fact that i ran out of bias tape! darn! and i really don't feel good enough to leave the house and get some more. so maybe tomorrow.) another one but i'm being brave and NOT USING A PATTERN!


I KNOW!


mrs. lane would be so proud of me trying this!

i should really check if she is on facebook...

valentine's day dessert

i used to call valentine's day 'valenTIME's day' when i was a kid. anyone else?


anyways, i love starbucks. i'm not a coffee drinker, but a coffee smeller. aaahhh...the smell of coffee reminds me of living at my nana and pop pops home. even my kids, who aren't coffee drinkers either, love the smell.
whenever i do get to go to starbucks, i always get a hot carmel apple spice. HEAVENLY! that is the only good thing about being sick (like today) is that i can justify getting one. while i don't know how they make that little piece of love to taste so good, i do have a recipe for their cranberry bliss bars, that are only out at the holiday time.



cake

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 t ginger
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup craizins


frosting


4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
4 t lemon juice
1/2 t vanilla


1/4 cup craizins
2 oz white chocolate, chopped (i use white chocolate chips because im lazy that way)


drizzled icing

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 T milk
2 t shortening




preheat oven to 350. make cake by beating butter and brown sugar together with an electric mixer until smooth. add eggs, vanilla, ginger and salt and beat well. gradually mix in flour until smooth. pour into greased 9x13 baking pan (i use glass, but whatever). use a spatula to spread the batter evenly across the pan. bake for 35-40 minutes or until cake is light brown on the edges. allow cake to cool.


make frosting by combinding cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice and vanilla in medium bowl with an electric mixture until smooth. when cake has cooled, use a spatula to spread frosting over the top of the cake. sprinkle the 1/4 cup of crazins and chocolate chips over the frosted cake.

whisk together powdered sugar, milk and shortening. drizzle frosting across the top of the cake.

allow cake to sit for several hours before serving.

happy birthday!

i love birthdays!

mine the most, but i bet YOURS is a close second.

i try to remember my friends birthdays whenever i can (which means whenever i write them down). everyone needs to feel special on the day they were born!

so my friend jen (who isn't a follower of this blog, so i assume she doesn't read it.) has a birthday on the 11th. she will be 30 (i KNOW-so young!) and a card for a big day like this just won't cut it.

so after stalking a million blogs, i came up with this one to use as my idea starting point. i did switch mine up a bit...i covered the entire back of the notebook to give it a little more finished look. and because it is jen's big 3-0, i threw in some matching magnets.

i know-i'm always the giver.

i couldn't just throw them in a box and be like 'here you go. enjoy your day. eat another piece of cake.', so i got a metal lid from maybe an empty pickle jar (too big to be a jelly jar). after priming it and painting it a creamy cream, i put the magnets on it. i'm sure she will chuck it soon after opening it, but i wanted it to look good when she opened it.

so there you go-an easy, fast gift. but it looks like i care-which, jen, if you are reading this-I DO!

(this photo is of jen when she was running in a 5k last summer. she also did a tri last year. and she has 3 girls (9,6 and 1 years). she is a stud.)

he gets it from my side...

gone are the days of a simple shoebox working as a mailbox for a school valentine's day party. parker wanted a spaceship this year.

i think it all started when chris told the story of how as a kid he wanted his box for valentine's day to look like a spaceship from 'battlestar galactica'. he got so frustrated that he couldn't get the tin foil to go just right. chris and my mother in law aren't what you call the crafty type, so they couldn't figure out how to make it work.

i think that is why chris has so many problems now.

of course, parker has NO IDEA what 'battlestar galactica' is/was. but he was going to make a spaceship this year. and it was going to rock.

and i have to say-this was pretty cool.

it started life as a half gallon of chocolate milk container. we took the spout off and hot glued all the paper on.

the door on the side of the milk carton opens up so his friends can put the cards in. then the top lifts off so he can get them out.

like the title says, he gets his craft-ness from my side of the family!

i'm a winner!

i am a follower of utah deals diva dot com. i SWEAR by her (rather than listening to a certain old man with a bad hair dye job in a green apron. ahem)! if you are in utah, she is the one to get your shopping plan from.
this woman knows what she is doing.
in addition to showing me (well, all of us) how to get AMAZING DEALS, she also has give-aways! and guess who won?!

come on guess.

nope-not her.

yup-ME!
see here for proof!
needless to say i am way geeked out!
i also want to plug her services, if you need a newspaper subscription for coupons, please go thru her. she is a stay at home mom like me and she can get you a fabulous deal. trust me, you will make up the money in savings on what you spend on the paper.
besides, when your kid comes home from school saying that he needs to make a giant, paper mache' penguin, you will be grateful for all those newspapers!

how do you organize your 'crap' room (aka craft room)

although my craft room isn't finished (as in scraps of carpet are on the floor and most of the wall board isn't up), i love it up there! the windows are south facing and let in a TON of light! and even though it is above the garage, if i open the curtains when it is sunny, it warms up fast.

i just wanted to see how you set up your craft room-so i am showing you mine.

i have some shelves set up and i have divided all of my embellishments (except letters/numbers/some tags...you will see below) in plastic show box containers. each one holds a different color. and yes, when i get something that i'm not using right this second, i open it up and divide it out.the only colors that share are pink and purple (because i don't have much of either in a home of all boys!). this system seems to work really well, because there have been times i just needed something red and when i look in the red box-oh the possibilities! some i never would have come up with if i hadn't just searched through the box.

the other thing i do is divide out my chipboard letters by letters. there is a drawer for each one (btw-i got this from lowes. i guess men separate nuts/bolts in here. we just use empty jars. then i can mix and match the letters when i am doing a page or a card. i stuck all my numbers in) one drawer and i have a drawer for tags with words and with out words. (i just realized that i big wad of string is coming out of one of the tag drawers! oh well).

i don't put sheets of stickers in the little box-they go in the shoe boxes if they stickers are the same color.

so what does your craft area look like?