The Moldy Cannoli

Chrits and Little Baby's Birthday

2012-01-02T14:21:00.000-05:00

Oh boy, posting has been sporadic as of late because on December 21st D. and I welcomed little baby Georgie into our lives. He is our sweet sugar pie who makes us sooooo sleepy, but I will still try to come on and post semi-frequently. I don't know how I feel about posting pictures of him on my blog, so for now, no pictures but let me tell you he is the cutest little baby I ever did see!

Aside from baby news, around these parts we celebrate Christmas until Epiphany, which falls on January 6th and commemorates the visit from the magi to baby Jesus. I like celebrating the full 12 days of Christmas (yep, that's where the song comes from, the first day is December 25th ending with the feast of Epiphany), that way the day after Christmas doesn't feel like such a letdown. You know what I mean? With that being said, here are a couple of Christmas cookies that didn't turn out quite right...

It's actually more difficult than you might think to try to spell things backwards. I had problems spelling "Christ's Birthday" with the cookie stamp, and there weren't enough "s"s to spell Jesus correctly. :)

Christmas Cookie Extravaganza!

2011-12-24T19:29:00.000-05:00

This year I had a plethora of cookies I wanted to bake, and boy did I make a lot! Here's the cast of characters.

A whole lotta butter. I got a Costco membership as a wedding gift last year and I like going and eating samples and buying jumbo sized packages of things. I ended up not need as much butter as I thought, but hey, it freezes well.

Next up, some good recipes... I use a delicious sugar cookie recipe that was D.'s grandma's and I found a recipe last year for gingerbread boys that I like to make. I also made marshmallows, yes I know back a couple of years ago I made a horrible batch of gloopy marshmallows but I found a new recipe from Ina Garten and they turned out great!

Fixins for spritz cookies and sprinkles for the sugar cookies.

Cookie stamps that you can customize, these are fun but a little difficult to cram the little letters into place.

See, my marshmallows turned out just right and they were the yummiest topping for chocolate surprise cookies, I just didn't add the chocolate frosting that would actually make these cookies a surprise. Delicious nonetheless, recipe here.

The final product: spritz.

I made some "fancy" sugar cookies which means I bought meringue powder and iced them. It was labor intensive but they turned out pretty cute.

I couldn't help myself.

I passed these out to our neighbors, but D. was afraid I was giving too many away. Don't worry D. we still have about 4 dozen left! Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, homemade marshmallows are scrumptious on hot chocolate.

Merry Christmas Eve!

It's A Wonderful Life

2011-12-15T19:44:00.002-05:00

That's true, it is a wonderful life. Little baby will be here any day, D. is going to graduate this Saturday (good job!), and Christmas is right around the corner.

The other night while we were watching It's A Wonderful Life, an annual favorite of ours, I couldn't help but take note of the illustrations used during the opening credits of the movie. I am such a fan of vintage illustration, that I had to pause the movie every few seconds and take screen shots of the artwork.

I can imagine making the tree into a felt applique with sequins and glitter, how cute!

More glitter bells, I am a fan of glitter.

Festive poinsettia with fern embroidery stitch.

I think it's funny how some people watch movies to get ideas from the set design, others because they like the costumes while I watch movies and get craft ideas from them. In fact I think I am going to whip up a felt applique for little baby's Christmas stocking right now!

More Christmas DIYs

2011-12-13T16:00:00.000-05:00

I just can't help myself, whenever I come across Christmas DIY projects I feel the need to share them on my blog, so here is another round of festive projects from around the web. Enjoy!

1. Christmas Pyramid Cake // 2. Tinsel Garland Wreath // 3. Hot Air Balloon Ornament // 4. Falling Stars Advent Calendar

5. Felt Snow Ball Ornaments // 6. Finnish Star

Do any of you have any wonderful DIYs to share? I would love to see them, just link them up in the comments. In other news, today is little baby's official due date, we'll see if he comes today!

Double Date Day

2011-12-13T09:52:00.001-05:00

Knowing that little baby is soon to arrive, D. and I took advantage of our last few days together as just the two of us. On Sunday we had two yummy dates, and this never happens in one day! Oh what fun we had. First off, Panera Bread.

Yeah, yeah I know Panera is a chain but one just opened within walking distance from our apartment, and their breakfast is my absolute favorite. I just can't say 'no' to a scrumptious bagel breakfast sandwich. I suppose technically I could, but I don't want to.

While it is true that I spent 2.5 years of my life working at Panera Bread, I still enjoy eating there. Consequently I perfected my ideal breakfast sandwich. What does this consist of, you ask? It's an egg and white cheddar cheese on a jalapeno bagel with tomatoes, peppadew peppers and ancho sauce. For a long time, we (the employees of Panera) all thought 'ancho' meant there was anchovies in the sauce. This is because we are all little dorks. We later found out that ancho is a type of pepper and that's when I started eating it. No way was I going to eat anchovy sauce!

I realized this picture looks kind of disgusting with our trash, but I just wanted to show you how much we enjoyed our sandwiches (I got D. hooked on my sandwich too!)

On to the next scrumptious little date at Anh Hong Pho...

This place is so good, if you have never had pho before, you really must try it. It consists of a ginormous bowl of broth with rice noodles, veggies and in our case tofu. You top it off with mint, bean, sprouts, jalapenos (if you're so inclined, and I always am) basil and a squeeze of lime, and then they have a myriad of spicy sauces to add to the broth. Oh man, so good and inexpensive.

Mmm, we like pho! See that little cup with the metal thing on top? We got Vietnamese coffee, which is strong brewed coffee with sweetened condensed milk. Doesn't that sound rich and decadent? I think I could eat here every day. Too bad there are about a million traffic lights from the time you get off the freeway to the time you reach this little gem, but it's worth it! Little baby will be making the rounds here with us in no time, of this I am certain.

Christmas DIY Roundup

2011-12-07T08:00:00.001-05:00

The blogosphere really is an inspiring place, here are a few things that have been striking my fancy lately.

* Glitter Nails by...love Maegan

I love the sparkle, I believe I am going to try this out today.

* Activites Advent Calendar by Jordan Ferney

I've always wanted one of these little wooden hutches, and what a cute idea to fill it with advent presents and activities to do.

* Advent Calendar Iron On by Oh Happy Day

I'm a little late to make this for 2011, but I am definitely keeping it in mind for next year!

*Hand Made Gift Giving Guide by Design*Sponge

I especially like the sound of the Home Spa gift, I've been on an essential oils kick lately, there's just so much you can do with them!

* Paper Bows by Creature Comforts

Nesting To Do List

2011-12-06T10:17:00.002-05:00

Saturday was my last official day of work, which means I have some time to do some things around the apartment before little baby comes. So being the list maker that I am, I decided to make a to do list to keep me on track.

(source with added text by me)

1. Laundry.

Uggh, no fun. Let me tell you, that little baby has enough clothes for me to not have to do laundry for a long time after he's born. That's the hope anyway! And of course I used this laundry detergent.

I also have one of these handy guys that help with the laundry (I hang dry almost everything and this laundry octopus from IKEA saves a lot of space, I have named it the Under-Octo).

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2. Make Copious Amounts of Food and Freeze It.

This is probably one of the most important things to do, so that all of us can eat in the days following little baby's coming home. D. was so nice and went on a ginormous shopping trip with me last night to pick up groceries. I've been a busy little bee in my teeny weeny kitchen cooking up food. Last night I made a big batch of minestrone soup following the recipe in the book above. Then I made a huge pot of beans so I can make these scrumptious sounding freezer burritos by Shutterbean. And the food list goes on and on, but I shan't mention any more.

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3. Finish Up School

So this doesn't really fall into the "nesting" category but, finals are on the Monday, and little baby's due date is Tuesday---eep!

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4. Clean the bathroom

I ate-hay eaning-clay the athroom-bay. I really, really do. I'm going to use this recipe for a bathroom cleaner spray, and try using this idea as a scrubbing method.

(source)

5. Mail out Christmas packages.

I like the way this one sounds, nice and fun!

Things I Will Eat When I'm No Longer Pregnant

2011-12-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe that my little bun-in-the-oven is due in less than two short weeks. At that time I will safely be able to consume the following...

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Eggs benedict with smoked salmon.

I have informed D. that this would make for a wonderful Christmas morning breakfast, I get excited just thinking about it.

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Mimosas, hmmm I think this would go nicely with the eggs benedict.

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Sushi. Yum. I will have to eat this on a different day than the two aforementioned items. Sushi and mimosas sounds a little weird.

O Christmas Tree

2011-11-30T08:59:00.001-05:00

The other night upon returning from visiting D.s family for Thanksgiving, we decided to stop by Lowe's to pick up a Christmas tree. We really wanted to chop down our own at a Christmas tree lot, but it was going to end up costing 3x as much as a tree from Lowe's. We chose to be economical. Whomp, whomp. Anyway, our car was loaded with stuff, since we were just returning from his parent's house after a 4 day stay and we had newly installed Little Baby's car seat and had loads of other stuff in the car as well (like 2 weeks worth of laundry we did at their house). So where did we put the Christmas tree? Well since we didn't have any rope, and even if we did we didn't know how to tie the tree on the car, we put Frasier Jr. (yep, this one's got a name too) in the front seat, just like last year. We had to ~~shove and cram~~ move a lot of stuff around but we made it work.

When we got home we decorated the table for Christmas too, we like to change the table according to the seasons. It's our thing. While I was putting away the fall decor that was on the table, I found an old Nutcracker that was hiding behind a bunch of stuff on a shelf. It's D.'s Nutcracker, I think it's funny that he likes it and won't let me get rid of it. He must have been afraid I might donate it, which is why it was hiding in the back corner of a shelf behind a bunch of tea canisters. I think Nutcrackers are weird.

We decided we needed to take posed pictures of us gazing at the Christmas tree with the Nutcracker. Can you see him, he is hiding. Sorry for the dark photos, we were doing this at night.

Me and the Nutcracker and a really cute bow headband/earwarmer from people webs etsy shop. P.S. I remember last year when I could button that sweater, and not just the top button.

My mom was really big on Avon ornaments, this is my Noah's ark collection, the poor little penguin is missing his mate. Where'd she go? She's been missing for awhile. Ummm, I just realized the penguin isn't even visible in this photo, but he's there.

Some of my favorite ornaments are the ones that my mom made me long, long ago. This one is all fancy and decked out in gold puff paint.

My "name" is on it, I still don't know why she called me J.D.

Very soon I'll have another Baby's First Christmas ornament to add to the tree. Only two more weeks until Little Baby is here!

Christmas Cartoons: Chip N Dale

2011-11-29T20:26:00.004-05:00

Growing up, my mom had recorded two VHS tapes (yep, VHS tapes) full of Christmas specials for me and every year I loved digging them out and watching all of my favorite Christmas episodes of TV shows and cartoons. Over this Christmas season I'll share a few of my favorites with you. First up, this Chip N Dale Christmas cartoon.

When I was little I thought it would be so fun to live in this Christmas tree with Chip and Dale.

Mickey Mouse and Pluto are also in this cartoon. That black thing is Pluto's nose but Dale thinks it's a Christmas light. If I've piqued your interest and you're dying to watch it, you can see it here.

And The Winner Is...

2011-11-28T20:43:00.000-05:00

Congratulations Brooke! Please email your address to themoldycannoli AT gmail DOT com

Christmas Shop Update

2011-11-25T07:45:00.001-05:00

The Christmas season is officially upon us, so bring out the decorations, the festive candles and the egg nog! Yah, hoo! And p.s. my shop has just been updated with all kinds of Christmas goodies, so head on over and take a look!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T14:47:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, I hope you all have a lovely day with your friends and family filled with good food, good drinks and lots of fun games!

Stay tuned for a Christmas update in the my etsy shop tomorrow, and don't forget to enter my Martha Stewart giveaway!

Martha Stewart December 2010 Issue Giveaway

2011-11-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

By now you probably know that I really like Martha Stewart, I like her T.V. show, her craft line, her cookbooks, I don't like that she spent some time in jail but that is a story for another time... In honor of Christmas fast approaching I am giving away a brand new issue of her December 2010 magazine. That's right, brand new December 2010, I wound up with two copies last year and I decided to save one for a giveaway this year.

Inside this wonderful issue you can find out how to make these cuties:

These candles:

And so much more:

To enter the giveaway just leave me a comment telling me your favorite Christmas tradition. Winner will be chosen at random and announced on November 28th. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only (sorry international peeps!)

Maternity Photos

2011-11-21T08:00:00.002-05:00

A photographer friend of mine, Jim from The Bakers Photography, trekked up to PA to do our maternity photos for us a a few weekends ago. It just so happened though that we were having a freak snow storm here in October. But they braved the snow, even though their car's driver's side windshield wiper conked out, and took some really great photos of D., myself, and our little bun-in-the-oven.We decided to take pictures the day after the storm, which surprisingly was sunny and bright even though you can still see some snow in some shots.

Thanks so much Jim, we love the way they turned out!

All photos The Bakers Photography

Little Baby's Wips

2011-10-13T13:04:00.001-04:00

What is a "wip" you ask? It is a work in progress. I could have just abbreviated it W.I.P, but that resembles something else too Halloweeny. Anyway I have a long list of things I want to make for my little baby but as soon as I begin one craft project I want to switch and start making another project.

I have been working on #1...

The raccoon and the hot dog patterns are from Sublime Stitching's Camp Out! transfers.

Camp Out!

And I've also been working on #2...

It's a little lamb mobile from the book Baby Stuff. Now, to just get these two "wips" finished before jumping on to the next project!

Things For Baby DIY

2011-10-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

Having a baby on the way has made me interested in a whole new realm of things that I never thought was possible. Like this for instance.

I am actually quite excited to try making these. Yes, it is possible to be excited about baby wipes!

While we're on the cleanliness topic how about this?

I've mentioned this DIY before, but it is worth mentioning again...homemade detergent is really inexpensive to make and is perfect for washing cloth diapers (since it's free from dyes and perfumes).

On to the cute stuff...

This birdie mobile.

Cute way to document the age of your baby, just pose him next to the correct number and word and snap those photos!

Striking My Fancy

2011-10-05T20:25:00.001-04:00

The internet is such a vast expense of time consuming blogs and websites brimming with creativity. Here's what's been striking my fancy lately.

Royal circus animals.

Clever way to store your tea.

Cupcake paper flowers.

Present in a jar.

Cupcake liner garland.

Oh, and this website. Warning, you could really spend a lot of time here.

Happy Autumn

2011-09-23T19:41:00.001-04:00

I am quite sad to see summer go, but I will wish everyone a happy autumn today and think about next summer when I will spending those warm months with D. and our little baby. To think that next summer there will be a baby!

I made these perfect circles with this...

A circle cutter. I could have spent a lot of time yesterday making perfect circles. There really are craft tools for just about everything.

In honor of the beginning of autumn, I've been crafting a harvest looking wreath. The change of seasons does inspire me to craft, I have a whole long list of projects to make.

(source)

Here is the wreath I am crafting, click here for the DIY from A Beautiful Mess.

Yummy Soup

2011-09-22T18:44:00.002-04:00

Last year as a wedding present, I was given a year's subscription to Martha Stewart Living but sadly this is my last month to receive the magazine. (I can't believe I've been married almost a year already!)

The current issue has a delicious recipe for Chinese Broccoli and Soba Noodle Soup. My honey and I decided to make it the other day and it was sooooo good!

The empty tea cup was soon to be filled with ginger tea, which was the perfect compliment for the Asian soup.

Topped with limes and chilis. We are fortunate enough to live close by an Asian grocery store so we easily found the Chinese broccoli (I never even heard of it until I made this recipe) and the soba noodles. The soba noodles were quite tasty and rather filling since they are made out of buckwheat flour. If you happen to pick up the current issue, you won't be disappointed in this yummy soup!

Daydreaming of a Cuckoo Clock

2011-09-21T13:50:00.002-04:00

Last week my mom went to Germany for the weekend, she lives in Belgium so she can easily do this kind of thing, and I asked her to keep her eyes peeled for a cuckoo clock for me. Well she found some...all priced between $750-$1,000! Now I don't doubt that the craftsmanship is excellent, but that is definitely not in my budget. Then I remembered how I saw this picture on hello, friend's blog.

(source)

This got me thinking about how I could just make my own cuckoo clock. Today, while in my history of WWII class, I found myself gazing out the window at a pine tree thinking about how excellent some dangling pinecones would look hanging from my soon-to-be cuckoo clock. I will be sure to post how I make my clock once I gather all of my supplies. In the meantime here are some cute clocks made from Black Forest Works.

Timber Wolf Clock

Black Bear Clock.

I like this one, I think I will be adding some bears to my clock, but I also want to add some fawns and don't bears eat fawns?

There's A New Boy in Town

2011-09-15T16:39:00.000-04:00

That's right, there's a new boy.

And he'll be here in about 13 more weeks.

We are quite happy. ♥

A Mini DIY Roundup

2011-08-29T10:13:00.000-04:00

D. and I decided to flee from the path of Hurricane Irene so we've spent the past few days up with his parents in safe central New York. I was planning a much more interesting post for today, but I left my camera at home! So instead I will share some links to two very cute DIYs.

Rick rack roses, would be cute added onto shoes, or jewelry.

Wrap bracelets in every color!

Christmas in...August?

2011-08-23T10:36:00.001-04:00

That's right, I've been Christmas crafting away these past few days in the middle of summer! Normally this is something I would never do, but I foresee a very busy few months fast approaching and I decided it would be a good idea to get a jump start on making Christmas presents. For my sister and her family I am making vintage-inspired Christmas stockings, influenced by the one my grandma made for my mom when she was a little girl (and she still uses every year!) Now I don't have pictures of the mentioned stocking, but trust me it's really cute, with her name spelled out with shimmering star sequins and adorned with felt appliques.

First step in stocking making: gather inspiration for handmade appliques. I went perusing through etsy and found this cute pattern (notice that the top left corner of the pattern says "Not suitable for chubby girls"). If I had a little girl, I would buy this pattern, learn how to sew and make her this romper. But as I do not have a girl, I made the snowman applique instead.

I added some silver cording to his hat and glove, I affixed it with Fabri-Tac and kept the edges from fraying with Fray Check. I highly recommend both products, Fabri-Tac is the only glue I have found that will actually work with felt and Fray Check really does keep frays in check.

Next up this pattern featuring Santie Claus and Christmas bells.

I love the Colonel Sanders-esque mustache.

I thought the original appliques from the pattern were a little too stream-lined 1960's, and we're going for sparkling goodness here, so I added some beads, sequins, metallic pom poms and gold trim to the mix.

And finally there are the wreath and the candle appliques. I want to add a halo of gold sequins around the candle, just for some extra oomph! Now that the appliques are done, I just need to find some plain red flannel or felt stockings and some sequin stars. I am quite excited by this little project, but boy is it time consuming!

More Decal Fun!

2011-06-30T16:32:00.000-04:00

I've been having fun with the decals from my mom...

These can all be found in my shop and are part of my Vintage Floral collection. I'm sort of impressed that I did an etsy update; a New Year's resolution that I'm following through with.

What's Cookin'?

2011-06-30T15:37:00.001-04:00

The other day, I was incredibly bored at work so I began perusing through the cooking magazines that we have for sale. I came across an interesting looking recipe for chicken salad sandwiches (which I modified a teeny bit). Perhaps you are taken aback that it was a recipe for chicken salad since I am a pescatarian after all. Well I haven't fallen off of the bandwagon completely, but I do have my reasons (and a very good one at that).

Rio De Janeiro Chicken Salad

Shredded Chicken

Plain Yogurt

Minced Yellow Onion

Minced Celery

Lime Juice

Salt and Pepper

Mix all of this in a bowl.

In another bowl add:

Shredded Carrots

Cilantro

a little bit of Olive Oil

Lime Juice

Salt and Pepper

Toast two pieces of whole grain bread, put on a piece of lettuce, chicken salad, and carrot relish. Enjoy!

My Etsy Treasury

2011-06-30T12:37:00.002-04:00

So you know those treasuries that are always on the home page of Etsy? Well I made my very first one today in honor of all of my Oregon memories. If you would like to look at my treasury up close, click here. In August, my sisters and I are all going out to Oregon to visit our dear grandparents and I cannot wait!

When I was younger, my family lived in Oregon but after we moved away I would still go back for the summers. I love my grandparents so much and am really looking forward to seeing them. If you are curious as to each specific memory that the Etsy item represents, just ask...

Latest Project

2011-06-24T17:54:00.002-04:00

A year ago my mom sent me tons and tons of vintage Meyercord decals, housewives used to adorn everything from their kitchen cabinets to cotton ball jars with these once inexpensive decals. I've been busy myself with them...

(See what I had for lunch? It was a Veggie Delight sub with extra, extra jalapenos.)

The final product, and here it is in my shop if you would like to take a look.

Me and my Honey

2011-06-24T15:26:00.002-04:00

D. and I are pretty bad about taking pictures, but a few weeks ago some pals of ours from Maryland came up to visit us and on our walk to get coffee and play Settlers of Catan, we stopped at took some pictures at an old church.

This picture makes me smile. :)

Photo by Jim Baker Photography.

Things I Love Thursdays

2011-06-09T15:08:00.002-04:00

It's time for another sporadic Things I Love Thursdays

These super cute Harajuku Lovers wedges.

Clear glass jars that I will soon be turning into craft projects (thanks for the idea mom!)

These delicious double caramel magnum bars. I did not look at the nutritional information, I was too scared.

Vintage decals waiting to be used.

Well I don't know if I love these homemade granola bars yet but I'm pretty sure I will. I'm just waiting for it to get below 90 degrees outside before I turn on my oven, no AC after all.

Homemade rosemary hummus with veggies (perfect on a roasting hot day), on a little snack plate I picked up at a yard sale last summer. Would you like the recipe? Here it is...

Rosemary Hummus

1 16 oz can of chickpeas

1/4 C. liquid from can of chickpeas

3-5 T. lemon juice (depending on taste)

1 1/2 T. tahini

3 garlic cloves

1/2 t. salt

2T. olive oil

1 T. fresh rosemary

Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Blend until thoroughly mixed and smooth. Cover and refrigerate whatever you don't gobble up immediately. Serve with veggies and pita bread.

My ABC's

2011-06-01T10:51:00.005-04:00

Happy June 1st everyone! June is my most favorite month since it is a mixture of spring and summer and I love summer! Today D. and I will be taking a jaunt to IKEA to buy some pots for our herbs and tomatoes we are going to plant. There is nothing like vine ripened tomatoes (that are not ripened with ethanol) they are delicious. I think you should plant some. Anyway, here is a fun little questionnaire of sorts, reminds me of the emails all my pals and I would forward to each other in high school. :)

My ABC's

Age: 25

B. Bachelorette?: Married

C. Chore that you hate: Cleaning the bathroom, yuck!

D. Dogs: Dachshunds, I love them even if the two I had were strange

E. Essential start to your day: Sitting down for breakfast

F. Favorite color: Green

G. Gold or Silver: Silver

H. Height: 5'7"

I. Instruments you play: Not really anything.

J. Job of Dream: Designer/crafter/chef/farmer

K. Kids: none yet ;)

L. Live: PA

M. Magic or Miracles: Miracles

N. Nicknames: at one time it was Chicken Bone

O. Overnight hospital stays: none

P. Pet peeve: blowing nose very loudly while sitting next to me in class

Q. Quote from a movie: "Did you know Gilbert Blaithe is dying?"

R. Right or left handed: lefty

S. Siblings: 2

T. Time you wake up: 6:30, except when I don't do my homework from the night before then it is 5:00

U. Underwear: Uh, what?

V. Vegetable you hate: I like all vegetables, I think.

W. What makes you run late: lingering at breakfast

X. X-Rays you've had: my teeth

Y. Yummy food that you make: risotto primavera, vegetarian enchiladas, salsa, hummus (mmm, that sounds good RIGHT NOW!)

Z. Zoo animal: Elephant

A Whole Lot of Nothing

2011-05-30T17:51:00.000-04:00

While I am roasting in my air condition-less apartment, I am having fun perusing through new blogs and taking pictures around my apartment (while successfully avoiding writing a summary of an article for my English class tomorrow). Here are some fun things to share with you...

Cute DIY found here via here. I will be making some of these in the very near future.

I just changed up my table, I have so many vintage tablecloths I have to be sure to rotate them frequently. I'm sure that the butter is melting in the butter dish right now as I type, it is just too hot in here! I think I need to make a special trip to IKEA so I can get a jumbo pack of candle tapers for my candlestick. Yes, I would make a trip just for that.

My buttercup mug and D.'s every growing collection of books.

Cute little notecard for someone's belated birthday package.

Strawberry Picking

2011-05-24T21:00:00.006-04:00

This past Sunday D. and I decided that we wanted to get out and do something fun, so we headed over to Linvilla Orchards to go strawberry picking. I had only ever gone berry picking once before.

Yep, I'm the one being carried by my sister. We were going blueberry picking. It looks like I was just going along for the ride.

Anyway, back to Linvilla... D. and I had such a grand time here, they do fruit picking from late spring to early fall and I can't wait to go back for peach picking, yummy!

The farmer's market sold food, as you can see some very poor choices were made. What you cannot see is the bag containing half a dozen apple cider doughnuts. Man, those were good.

We took a "hayride" to get to the fields. It was really a pickup truck with some hay on the bed, but I liked it.

Before.

After.

They may be tiny, but they are oh so delicious. There is just something quite unnatural about the behemoth strawberries that you buy at the grocery store. Strawberries should not be the size of apples, very unnatural indeed.

D. proved to be an excellent picker (that is after I told him he should not be picking berries that were half white).

So long Linvilla, we'll see you in peach season!

We made steamed lemon pudding with our fresh picked strawberries. What a delight!

The Magic of Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

2011-05-20T20:31:00.002-04:00

Whoo, hoo, "school's out for the summer..." Quick name that tune! Okay, well school is only out for me until Tuesday, I decided to take a summer class after all. But I am thoroughly enjoying this extra time I've had between finals and summer classes, mostly doing nothing but that is fine with me. I was perusing a new-to-me blog today (the velvet bird) and I came across the most interesting post about clearing up problematic skin with apple cider vinegar. Although I had pretty much perfect skin in my teens, it decided to act up in my 20s, much to my chagrin, so I am going to give this apple cider toner a try.

(buy me here)

Anyway, the post sparked an interest in apple cider vinegar and I began googling the benefits of this acidic stuff and let me tell you, it seems to be the cure for what ails ya'. Well not every ailment, I mean this isn't snake oil, but I do love finding out about natural remedies. It is important for the cider to be organic and raw (it contains the nutrients and bacteria not found in the clear apple cider vinegar that has been processed) and has been known to help with high blood pressure, cholesterol, problematic skin, diabetes, allergies, and arthritis. Of course there isn't the necessary research for doctors to prescribe this as a treatment (and why would there be because then pharmaceutical companies wouldn't have anything to gain...) but I think it's worth a shot. Just be sure to dilute the ACV (through my googling I learned that is how all the in-the-know peeps refer to apple cider vinegar) with water, it is vinegar after all and highly acidic. ACV is inexpensive and can be found at most supermarkets and health food stores, go on google it for yourself I know you probably are just a teeny bit interested in this wonder vinegar.

Gag. Yuck, yuck!

2011-05-04T18:45:00.000-04:00

I'm supposed to be writing out a lesson plan and rationale for my ed. psych class, but I needed to take a little break. I can't help but think of how pointless this assignment is since I changed out of my education major in the middle of my semester. Now I am forced to plod along in all of my education classes until finals, which thankfully are next week. Since I never plan on teaching I feel very unmotivated to create a lesson plan. Sigh, sigh, sigh. Back to the plan...

Easter Cake

2011-04-15T13:06:00.000-04:00

Easter is just around the corner and I would love to try making this cake for the holiday. How cute!

Footloose and Fancy Free

2011-04-08T12:44:00.000-04:00

Ahhh, what a lovely day, I got so much accomplished and I found out that I don't have to take summer classes to be on track with my major. Pheww, what a relief! Accelerated chemistry was not sounding fun. I decided to go to the grocery store and pick up a frozen pizza for lunch. I've had my heart set on a frozen pizza for awhile. Weird? Oh well. A frozen pizza while watching and old movie on a rainy April day sounds like a good time to me.

Things I Love Thursdays 6

2011-04-07T08:00:00.003-04:00

Hello, and welcome to another sporadic edition of Things I Love Thursdays. Uhm, so maybe this won't be a weekly feature, but I still like doing them. Without further ado...

I know it might sound disgusting, but Peeps flavored Rita's is delish. Believe me, I was a doubter at first too.

Super cute pom pom tutorial. I like pom poms, I think you get a lot of bang for your buck.

Who wouldn't want to stitch up some of these funny veggies? They would be oh so nice on some dish towels. I think the tomato must be repulsed at the idea of eating vegetables, a type of cannibalism to him. Technically he is a fruit though, just saying...

Since I'll be stitching away some veggies, and can't find my pair of embroidery scissors, I need some owl embroidery scissors. Now of course I don't need them, they're just cute.

My children's literature class is causing my to reread all of my childhood favorites, including Make Way for Ducklings. I like how Mrs. Mallard is counting her eggs with her foot. She even looks like she's smiling, a smiling duck. How cute is that? (On a related-ish note, when I was in highschool I thought for sure I would get a pet duck and I was going to name her Dixie. I never got a duck. I guess reading Make Way for Ducklings is my way of vicariously owning a duck.)

Beverly Cleary and Ramona Quimby

2011-04-04T17:44:00.004-04:00

Currently I am taking a Children's Literature class and was assigned to read Ramona and Her Father. Growing up I absolutely loved the Ramona series by Beverly Cleary and I especially like the early illustrations of some of her books done by Louis Darling.

(via google images)

This assignment led me to my nearby library to check out several more Ramona books that I remember liking so well from my childhood. I feel a little funny checking out so many children books, but the assigned reading caused me to remember just how much I really like Beverly Cleary.

I decided to write her a letter thanking her for her contribution to children's literature.

The original Ramona, she has since gone through a few makeovers to keep up with the times, but this original version will always be my favorite.

I am doing a presentation on this book. You could say I'm going through my childhood Ramona craze all over again. And that's okay with me.

Thrift Shop Finds

2011-03-29T21:03:00.001-04:00

D. and I walked over to the local church thrift shop to drop off some stuff and I found these:

Several back issues of Martha Stewart Living in perfect condition. You do know I like Martha, right? (See here, here, here, here okay you get the idea.) Best part, they were only a quarter each. Yesssssssssss.

I really need to do what this articles says and organize our very messy desk. Uggh.

What I Wanted to be When I Grew Up

2011-03-28T12:17:00.001-04:00

Like most children, I had a vague notion of what I wanted to be when I grew up, but these phases never lasted too long, I thought I would share with all of you what some of my "dream occupations" once were. I do hope you get a good chuckle or two. They will be posted in chronological order. :)

(found via google images)

I really have no idea why, but the first thing I ever remember wanting to be was an American Gladiator. And this was the event that I wanted most to do.

(image found here)

Now this one lasted quite some time, I wanted to be a model. I am not sure where this idea came from either. But it lasted a long time. I even, yes it's embarrassing, filled out an application for America's Next Top Model. My cousin filmed my audition tape. It was really corny.

(found via google images)

Heavily influenced by Steve McGarrett from my favorite tv show of all time, Hawaii Five-0, I wanted to be a cop. Yep, and I was going to be a cop in Hawaii on the imaginary task force Five-0. I was a devotee of Hawaii Five-0, I used to watch the old reruns every day.

(found here)

From watching too much E.R. I decided I wanted to be a nurse. It took me a couple of years to realize that I do not like blood and guts, I am even afraid of getting vaccines!

So, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Things I Love Thursdays 5

2011-03-25T09:59:00.005-04:00

I know it is Friday, I meant to post this yesterday but I got distracted by a Molly Ringwald movie last night. And that doesn't happen very often, well ever really.

I have liked these paper orbs for such a long time and I just stumbled upon the original source of the photo by chance. Sometimes the internet is not as big as you think. They are made by Cathy of California, who also specializes in 60s-70s crafts. Take a look at these...

Flowers made on a flower loom. Kits can be found here. Oh the possibilities are endless! Maybe I need one? Well, maybe I don't but it would be nice to have.

Wow, this is sort of an homage to Cathy of California. On to more things I love.

I have this bad habit of forgetting to take my multivitamin in the morning. I thought I could put my vitamins in this owl pillbox and carry them around in my purse. D. never forgets to take his vitamins, which explains why his vitamin bottle is much lighter than mine.

I like the nostalgic feel of this print. And what can I say, I like real food.

I would love, love, love to make myself a springtime flower crown.

My mother-in-law got me this darling dress for my birthday. I'm being good and saving it for Easter. It is soooo cute!

This tea set was compiled from thrifted items, I like the eclectic mix. A fun idea for any tea drinking friend.

Good Morning

2011-03-23T09:34:00.001-04:00

This week is my spring break and I am so glad I did not tell my job that I could work more hours this week. This way I actually get a break. So what's earning a few extra dollars? You know what they say "Mo' money, mo' problems". Ha, ha, ha! Anyway... Whilst I am enjoying a cup of coffee from my ginormous teacup, I thought I would share with you some of my favorite blogs and a few of my favorite posts from them. It is soooooooo nice not to have to rush off in the morning!

♥ A Beautiful Mess- what's not to like? Elsie is super creative and very hard working, it's fun seeing her hard work pay off through her and her sister's cute little shop Red Velvet. Check out this post.

♥ Here's Looking At Me Kid-a line in reference to one of my favorite movies, Casablanca. Mandi posts reviews about movies, shares pictures of her cute apartment and does regular vintage outfit posts. I like how she only bought local or handmade gifts for people at Christmas time. I would like to try that all year long for birthdays and holidays.

♥ Casey's Elegant Musings-The first blog I started reading daily, almost three years ago. Casey is quite the seamstress who loves vintage and enjoys baking. I read her post for homemade vanilla extract, and made some myself. Her blog reallly makes me want to learn how to sew, so now I am saving my pennies for a machine.

Well there you go, I do hope you have a lovely day and relish in the fact that it is spring!

Fill In The Blank

2011-03-22T19:44:00.004-04:00

While perusing through the archives of this scrumptious blog (I must make these tiramisu cuppity cakes), I came across a fun little questionnaire, and since I never do questionnaires I decided to do one. Here goes...

1. When do you feel happiest? When the weather is warm, the sun is shining and I am crafting something that I was inspired to make. That would actually make me feel sort of overwhelmingly happy. The sunshine just does that to me.

2. How do you take care of yourself? I'm a vegetarian (ok, pescatarian) but I do oh so love homemade sweets. I try to stay away from anything that comes in a brightly colored package or that has some sort of cartoon-ish looking character on it. Even as a child I thought those brightly covered frozen TV dinners with the penguin on it look scary and weird. I never, ever ate one. I think making food from scratch is the best for you since you are able to control the quality of what you're eating.

3. Are you internally or externally motivated? Internally, I think you have to want to do something without the promise of being recognized or rewarded.

4. What do you do for fun? Cook with my dear husband, it's our weekend thing to do. Sunday is our only day off together so we find a yummy recipe to make, drink wine, listen to American Roots on NPR and watch old movies. I also like to find deals at thrift stores, embroider, craft, write letters to pals, and eat breakfast. I really like breakfast.

5. What intimidates you? Hmmm, I'm not sure.

6. What is something you are proud of? I'm really proud (is this like tooting my own horn?) of the work ethic that my parents instilled in me.

7. Finish the sentence: I never... want to eat goat cheese or go on a cross country bus trip EVER AGAIN!

8. Favorite vacation spot? My grandparent's house, it has been the one constant in my nomadic life and I love them so much.

9. Today is a (rate from 1 to 10) Around a seven I guess, nothing too grand but it is getting warmer. Yay spring!

10. Finish the sentence: If you knew me really well you'd know... I think I was born in the wrong time period. In fact I'm off by about sixty years. Yep, sixty. No television sets, computers, cell phones or internet for me. I'd be totally cool not to have any of these things, this blog included, and to live in a small town where my primary mode of communication was talking to a person face-to-face. Everyone would know me and I would know everyone. My occupation would be a farmer who made crafts. I would have cows, and chickens and lots and lots of vegetables. *Sigh* My heart is pining away for the farm I never had and the people I never knew.

The Loot

2011-03-01T08:00:00.003-05:00

I celebrated my quarter century birthday on Sunday (OMG times 93!), what a lovely deceptively spring like day it was too! I didn't even wear a jacket when we went out, I probably should have though, since I nearly ran to the car so I wouldn't catch a chill. I thought I would share pictures of my fun birthday loot.

Flowers from D.

D. and I watched Donovan's Reef last night, his first time watching it. The funny thing is it is supposed to be set in French Polynesia yet they speak Hawaiian. Hmm...

A super cute owl teapot to add to my ever growing collection of teacups, tea and teapots.

New tea.

Can never have too much Martha.

Thanks Grandma!

A new craft to try.

Yay, a new ukulele! D. already gave me a lesson, since it's been 11 years since I've played, and I am well on my way to learning the Times They Are a-Changin'. That D. sure is a good teacher.

(The blurr in my right hand is an Indian cookbook that I am violently shaking for some reason.)

Gold Locket and Happy Anniversary

2011-02-28T08:00:00.001-05:00

The day before my wedding my grandma gave me her gold oval locket. It was a very special moment for me, because as I child I remember that locket as being one of pieces of jewelry she would wear every single day. I always loved opening it up and snapping it shut.

Her name is on the locket, so every time that I wear it I think of my beautiful grandma.

I have an idea of the picture I want to put inside...

I adore this snapshot ♥. Happy 62nd anniversary to the most wonderful grandparents in the world. I love you both so much.

Spotlight On...

2011-02-25T18:20:00.004-05:00

Pocket TheSaurus is a new little etsy shop created by my friend Kira. I met Kira when we were both working at summer camp and attempting to teach children that there are crafts outside of god's eyes and boondoggle. Uggh. Anyway...

Kira, always so creative and crafty, finally has decided to sell some of her wares in her shop, focusing on little plushie pocket dinos. She will also do custom orders. For Christmas I custom ordered two 16 inch dinosaurs for my little nephews (and they loved them!) All of her dinosaurs are completely sewn by hand from eco-friendly felt and stuffed with hypo-allergenic fiberfill.

Violet Sky Plushie

Custom Dinosaur Plushie

Head on over to Pocket TheSaurus and get your fix of little plushie little dinos!

Oh, here we are at summer camp going through craft catalogs. Kira is the second on the right and I am the second on the left, with blonde hair, eek!

Valentine's Tags

2011-02-04T12:13:00.002-05:00

The other day I had a Valentine tag making party, I was the only member at the party, but it was a party nonetheless. (Well, if you look hard you can see a groundhog eye through the second heart) :)

I punched out sixty hearts and thought for sure I'd have a giant bruise in the middle of my palm from pushing down on my punch so hard. I'm happy to say my hand is bruise free, let the punching continue!

I piled up all the little hearts into my rabbit dish which holds my sweater clips. I saw the little mushroom container and just couldn't pass it up at Anthropologie. Maybe it is a bad thing that I live within walking distance of there...

A few of the tags which you can still find in my shop, happy weekend to you!

Things I Love Thursdays 4

2011-02-03T08:00:00.003-05:00

Another frosty east coast day. Ugggh. Perhaps this list will make you smile and remember that the groundhog saw it's shadow yesterday which means spring is just around the corner. Yay!

Sweet Valentine gift.

Rear Window. D. and I are on a roll with the Alfted Hitchcock movies. Another winner, I highly recommend it for your viewing pleasure. Normally if we're watching a movie at night I fall asleep on the couch around ten o'clock, but this movie was so good I was glued to the screen.

Pretty, pretty perfume bottle. Anthropologie really is my favorite store.

I love, love, love this bright, cheerful, summery kitchen. Summer come soon!

My hands down favorite coffee of all time. You can only get it in Hawaii but I am lucky enough to have a sister living in the islands. I think this would make a fabulous birthday present. :)

Bedroom Update and Happy Groundhog's Day!

2011-02-02T12:25:00.002-05:00

My bedroom does not have a headboard so I've been thinking of what to do to make it not look so boring. I saw this picture last year,

(source)

and I loved the lanterns and ruffle tissue paper pom poms hanging above the bed.

I found this pom pom kit at TJ Maxx for a steal, I thought I would use them for our wedding, but never did. I decided to use them for above the bed.

The kit was easy to follow, in fact you could have made them without a kit (it's just folded tissue paper) but the kit came with prescored paper.

I really like the way the bedroom looks now, the bed definitely needed something. (No, we do not normally sleep with stuffed animals on the bed. This is just in honor of groundhog's day. D. and I made these little groundhogs while we were dating.)

In case you're wondering, their names are Winnie and Winston. :)

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Snow, Snow, Snow

2011-02-02T11:52:00.005-05:00

So far since the beginning of my semester, I have yet to have a full week of classes. Why you ask?

Well, when I look out my window, this is what I see.

An icy, snowy east coast winter, and this is what has caused two snow days and three two hour delays. I don't even know what is going on with the syllabuses. Oh well, it just means more crafting for me!

Lisa Hannigan while working on crafty projects. Wow, my iPod sort of looks ancient now. This fabulous clock/radio/iPod player was a sweet gift from my mother-in-law in my most favorite shad of blue-ish green.

Things I Love Thursdays 3

2011-01-27T16:33:00.002-05:00

It's that time of the week again, I really like doing this little feature; making a mental list of things that I've been enjoying lately and then sharing them all with you. <3

To Catch a Thief, what a fun movie with plenty of tongue-in-cheek dialogue with two if the most elegant and charming actors. I do believe it is one of my favorite movies.

This cow shadow box, how fun it would be do have a menagerie of animal shadow boxes all along the wall.

Pretty felt necklaces.

Lovely red lipstick. This semester I've decided to wear red lipstick every day to school, it is rather fun. Red lipstick just has a way of making a person feel oh, so glamorous.

There is a list of the latest, I'm off to write some papers!

Giveaway Time!

2011-01-21T18:18:00.001-05:00

Since Valentine's Day is just a few weeks away, I'm giving away ten of my Valentine's Day tags over at The Army Goes Rolling Along, so jump on over to her blog and enter to win!

Things I Love Thursdays 2

2011-01-20T18:22:00.005-05:00

Wow, this week went by so fast! Here are a few more things that I like...

Vintage inspired oxfords.

A very informative post on making laundry detergent. I am so excited to try it out. Yes, it is possible to be excited about making laundry detergent. :)

I loooooooooove this collection. The shelving is actually a converted baby changing table, so inspiring!

How I would love to be at this crafting party!

It Has Begun

2011-01-18T08:34:00.004-05:00

The busyness has officially begun, classes three days a week and ten hour workdays in

between. I don't want to forsake you little blog; really I just want to craft all day, take photos and be inspired. But there is little time for crafting now. *Sigh*

(source)

Of Boots and Hobo Shoes

2011-01-15T08:42:00.006-05:00

This week my boots bit the dust. They were my $30 special and lasted about a year; I can't expect too much out of $30 after all. They started falling apart and the toe started lifting so much that they started to resemble an old fashioned hobo shoe. My boot kept flapping up when I walked, which wouldn't be too bad but there is snow on the ground. I decided that I should invest in some quality boots that will last awhile, and I found these lovelies.

And guess who makes these? Ugg. I know it, I can't believe it either. The price is a bit of a jump, considering I paid $30 for my last pair of boots, but I told you how far thirty bucks got me. :) I am trying to think up some clever ways to earn some extra money on the side so that I don't tap into the budget. So I've listed some old books on Amazon, and of course there is always my little shop.

Things I Love Thurdsays 1

2011-01-13T11:05:00.003-05:00

Today I am starting a new weekly feature where I will post about things that are currently striking my fancy. I know love is a strong word, I really mean "like a lot" but love sounds better. I have this habit of pulling pictures that I like from the internet onto my desktop, but not remembering where I pulled them from. So if anyone knows the original source of these photos, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due.

(One) Love the teeny cranes and the colorful clothespins, hmm what a good idea for my bedroom!

(Two) The cutest idea for a vintage suitcase.

(Three) What my desk could possibly look like if I kept it decluttered.

(Four, I do know the source for this one; me) Frosty sitting chairs.

Mini Shop Update

2011-01-12T17:25:00.003-05:00

I am sticking to my resolution by updating my shop, yay! The update is mini, but the items are mini too. And it has a Valentine's Day theme. <3

Pom Pom Fun

2011-01-10T17:52:00.002-05:00

Last year around Valentine's Day, I recruited D. to help me make an Anthropologie inspired pom pom garland I saw online. It took quite a long time (we did it the "old-fashioned" way by wrapping the yarn around our fingers), but now it is proudly displayed over my vanity mirror.

D. you really are a good sport, thank you.

For Christmas, D. bought me these Clover pom pom makers in the large size and the small size. Now I can whip up uniform sized pom poms lickety split! Here are some other things you can make with pom poms.

This cute necklace/scarf; here is the DIY.

This charming fireplace garland. I love the use of canisters on the mantle. I do like to see how people display their canisters. I've somehow acquired 4 sets of them and I can only decant so much flour and sugar!

Fare Thee Well Frasier

2011-01-07T19:10:00.004-05:00

It is a sad day today, we took down all of the Christmas decorations (we keep them up until epiphany, which was yesterday) and got rid of dear Frasier. Frasier sure did make our apartment cheerful and cozy. But before we took the lights off of the tree, I hung up our first Christmas ornament that I finally finished today.

D. glued the rickrack on the gingerboy on the right and had the idea for him to hold the candy cane. The one on the left is a girl, see her eyelashes? I didn't have any lollypop stems so I used a q-tip for the stick.

I will have such fun pulling this gingerbread couple out year after year and thinking about how happy our first Christmas was. Oh, look at the love in their little felt eyes. <3

Pictures

2011-01-06T10:46:00.000-05:00

D. and I realized that we don't have many pictures of the two of us, and the ones that we do have are all in digital files somewhere. There is something so nice about have an actual printed picture to hold and look at, so I am going through the daunting task of finding the photos, printing and organizing them so that they won't get lost in the digital cloud.

My mom had a plethora of Chinese hats (why, I'm not sure) we all had lots of fun taking pictures.

We were country mountain circle dancing at summer camp, we were supposed to dress up western, I rebelled. This combo is kind of like Nelly and Tim McGraw.

Halloween 2009, too much fun. The two of us, plus my sister and her baby, dressed like this to go out to breakfast. Oh, the stares we received. Three pirates and a Tigger.

My favorite. <3

Fun With Naturecraft

2011-01-05T12:08:00.003-05:00

I was going through some of my books today and I opened up this vintage craft book that I picked up at a library book sale several years ago.

It's full of great ideas of cute little things to make out of natural objects. And every chapter begins with the word "fun", what could be better?

I like this chapter "Fun with Nuts" even though I dislike walnuts immensely (they squeak when you eat them), many types of projects can be made out of their shells.

One of my favorite projects out of the book would be this walnut raft. If only my nephews lived nearby we could craft up a few of these and let them float away.

The teepee scene is just too cute, I am going to have to go out and hunt around for twigs to make into trees, rocks to make into boulders and a big piece of bark to use as the ground. This idea reminds me of hunting for rocks last year...

An alternative to a bird feeder; a threaded spool for birds to make their nests out of string.

Forget about a ship in a bottle, how about a cucumber in a bottle? I remember trying to grow a cucumber once, but I watered the plant too much and killed it. But this cute project is worth another shot at growing cukes.

A New Year Means New Things

2011-01-04T19:05:00.001-05:00

Well, I am officially getting back into the swing of things around here, after all of the holiday excitement it's back to business as usual. School starts in less than a week (so soon!) and then I will be a very busy little bee indeed. I made this scrumdiddlyumptious dessert for New Year's Day.

source

It is a Buche de Noel, which resembles the traditional yule log. It turns out that most of the people that I made this dessert for had no idea what a yule log was, *gasp*! My log was the less fancy version of this one, since my candy thermometer was broken, (that explains why I burned the sugar so badly for the frosting, the result being a frosting-less log). I will definitely be making this as a yearly tradition. I do love traditions <3.

Since I am on the subject of New Year's, here are

I like making resolutions, they are like making promises to yourself and setting goals for the new year. And by posting them for everyone to see, it is a way to keep me accountable too. :)

1. Update my etsy shop semi-regularly, for now I will try at least once every 1-2 months.

source

2. Learn to crochet and not get mad. Something about crocheting just doesn't click with me and I end up with a long chain and nothing else. Then I just unravel the chain and wind up with a tangled mess of yarn. I will use these little lovelies as my inspiration.

3. Get 1,000 blog hits per day, now this is an ambitious one but with the help of Elsie's fabulous e-course Blog Love it can be done.

4. Pick up the ukulele again, when I was a young'n I lived in Hawaii and used to play, but I have since long forgotten how.

I'm excited to get started. Hooray for 2011!

More Tags

2010-12-23T11:38:00.001-05:00

Not only am I fixated with punches this Christmas season, but also with making tags. Here is another quick way to make festive tags.

To make your own glittery tags, dip a rubber stamp into a glue pad, stamp it onto tag and sprinkle with glitter. Easy peasy!

D.'s been using the tags too. What a nice boy. :)

Frasier and Friends

2010-12-23T11:26:00.003-05:00

Well, my sister wanted to see my Christmas tree, so here is Frasier and some of his inhabitants.

Frasier is pretty little and is crammed between our table and the wall. We didn't have a tree topper of any sort, so a few days ago I found a cereal box on the stairs (why did someone leave an empty cereal box on the stairs? I have no idea), cut a star out of it, covered it in glitter and tied it on the tree with a piece of baker's twine.

My first Christmas ornament. D. left all his ornaments at his parents, too bad; I wanted to see his baby ornament.

Two of my all time favorite ornaments. I used to love The Rescuer's Down Under, and here is Bernard and Bianca decked out in their Christmas finest. I still have the boxes they came in from McDonalds in 1990!

An ornament made for me by my mom's friend (the one at whose house I used to craft rubbish bracelets, thus beginning my crafting career). For some reason I really liked that it was wearing little golden leaves around its neck.

Snoopy too is a childhood favorite. My mom used to always let me rent Charlie Brown videos from Blockbuster. For some reason they were only 49 cents to rent. I couldn't pass up camping Snoopy, since that is how D. and I met; working at a summer camp.

So there you have another glimpse at my tree and its occupants. Merry (almost) Christmas!

Tick Tock We Need a Clock

2010-12-21T19:11:00.001-05:00

There are several little clocks around our apartment, but in our eating/sitting area the only clock we have is on our microwave. Eww, yuck; a digital clock! In case you are wondering, the microwave is on top of the fridge which happens to be in the living room. Anyway, we need a cute wall clock. I found all of these over at the etsy shop decoylab.

I really like this one, it reminds me of a vintage flower tray of my mom's.

D.'s been wanting a cuckoo clock, but I'm not sure that this is what he had in mind...

My personal favorite from their shop, but it's reserved for someone else. Sniff.

Punch Love

2010-12-20T08:00:00.002-05:00

Here I am, crafting with punches again. Every so often I get stuck on one particular crafty thing, and for the past several weeks it's been craft punches. My dad's birthday is this week and knowing how much he likes trains, I bought a train punch and made him a birthday card. Here is the how to.

What you will need; cardstock, patterned paper (I used origami), a glue pad or glue stick, scissors, paper slicer, bone folder, double sided tape, and an edge punch. Martha Stewart carries a nifty little line of edge punches at Michael's.

The punch I purchased happened to be on sale at TJ Maxx for $2. Normally they cost about $16. Oh, I do love a good deal.

Cut cardstock into the length and width you want your card to be. Save scrap pieces. Fold cardstock almost in half, leaving 1/2 and inch at the top.

Position edge punch at the top of cardstock and punch across the top of card.

It should look like this.

Cut patterned piece of paper smaller than the front of your card and tape down with double sided tape.

Use your scrap piece of cardstock to cut into little squares. One square per letter.

Cut letters out of cardstock square and affix to card with a glue pad.

The finished product. I also used the edge punch on his gift tag for a little extra dose of trains. I do hope he likes his card!

Paper Punches

2010-12-17T08:00:00.002-05:00

You know, as of late I've become a teensy bit obsessed with paper punches. I never could figure out what to do with a punch before, but thanks to the "craft team", I've been running wild with them. For instance, here is one of my latest creations.

(you can find here)

I punched the tags out with a large tag punch (which is now my new best friend, I've been making all of my Christmas tags from it) and I punched the cardinal with another punch. The bird punch also punches out a wing, which you glue onto the bird body, making it a little dimensional.

Here is a cute, last minute gift idea that is made with a paper punch.

(source)

All of these items could easily be picked up at an office supply store and personalized with a punch of something the recipient likes. I'm going to store this idea in my archives...

Gingerbread Houses

2010-12-16T18:19:00.002-05:00

Last year my sister bought your run-of-the-mill gingerbread house kit:

And here is what we turned it in to:

I think that our house turned out pretty unique, it was her idea to give the house a "thatched" roof with pink strawberry frosted Shredded Wheat. D. and I bought the same kit this year, but we need to make it soon, Christmas is just next week!

Here are some little gingerbread houses that I really want to make...

You can find out how to make them here.

So cute, I wouldn't want to eat them!

Trimming the Tree and Decking the Halls

2010-12-14T08:00:00.003-05:00

Being newly married, this is D. and my first official Christmas together. I grew up in a family that always used a fake Christmas tree, while his always had a fresh tree. I was never very fond of the way my family's thin fake pencil tree looked so D. and I decided to go out and buy a live tree. I quite liked the experience of picking out a real tree, even though we just went to Lowe's. I was a bit silly though and failed to bring a coat, scarf, gloves, hat or anything that keeps a person warm in December, with me. D. kindly offered me his coat. We picked out a nice little 6 foot frasier fir and put him in the front seat of our car. It was kind of funny riding with a Christmas tree in the passenger's seat. We didn't have any way to strap it to the top of the car, so this was the next best thing.

D. with Little Frasier (I named him).

We found this record this summer at Salvation Army, it's now one of my favorites.

"Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, how lovely are your branches."

Here's a peek at some of the ornaments we put on our tree.

In honor of my little dachshund who lived to be sixteen. She passed away last month.

These are fun, I really do love Lucy. These are all from my mom and they all do some kind of motion; the one on the left stomps grapes, the middle one has knives that pop out, and the one on the right has a conveyor belt that moves chocolate.

When my nephew was little, he couldn't say Santa Claus, he said "Wannie Claus". And it just kind of stuck. So this is old fashoined Wannie Claus. He looks okay from the front...

...but the side is a little questionable.

Cupcake Mail Out

2010-12-13T18:07:00.005-05:00

Oh, it is such a bother to trek to the library any time that I want to use the iternet, maybe someday I'll have wireless. Here is a recent batch of ornaments that I've sent out.

Getting the cupcakes ready to go to their new homes.

My mom sent me little favor boxes, from TJ Maxx of course, that fit the cupcakes perfectly.

Ready to stuff in a stocking...

...or nestle in a tree.

Bon Voyage little cupcakes!

Holly Pins

2010-12-10T20:00:00.045-05:00

While visiting my parents in Korea a couple of years ago, I bought a bunch of felt from a mega craft warehouse, it is the best quality I have ever stumbled upon and it has been serving me well. And here's what I've been doing with it of late...

These vintage inspired holly/poinsettia pins are pretty quick to make and only require a few supplies. It's so much fun to mix little berries with different types of ribbons and pom-poms; the possiblities are endless! All of these can be found in my shop.

This particular one is good for either a girl or a boy, since it isn't too feminine. I made one for D. too, he is such a good sport when it comes to wearing my creations.

I can't help but think of the old Grinch cartoon when I look at this one. Which reminds me, I have yet to watch that this year.

While making these I had to also make a few for myself, I made a copy of this one for me. My mom has a Christmas table cloth from the 1950's covered in poinsettias, this pin reminds me of that vintage tablecloth.

Icy cool

Even though these are pins, sometimes I put them in my hair as well. I make them serve double duty. Hop on over here, and pretty soon you too can be gazing at your Christmas tree with a little holly pin in your hair or on your sweater.

Ginger boys and ginger girls

2010-12-09T08:00:00.001-05:00

I decided to make a felt gingerbread ornament, kind of like this one from a few years ago.

It was my intention to make a ginger boy ornament, but I only had pink rickrack. I made a ginger girl instead and she turned out really cute.

I scribbled out a little pattern on a piece of paper and cut her out of two pieces of brown felt.

I glued her rickrack icing and pom-pom buttons on with fabri-tac, which is by far the best glue for felt. It is the only glue that I have found that actually will stick to felt.

I love the way she turned out, so much better than those ginger boys from a few years ago.

Wrapping Packages with Baker's Twine

2010-12-08T08:00:00.003-05:00

Did I mention how much I like baker's twine? Here are some packages tied up in string, these are a few of my favorite things...

I saw this wrapping technique in the latest issue of Martha Stewart Living. Oh my gosh, I mention Martha Stewart wayyyyyyyyyy to much. I can't help it, I like her crafts! I know that she has a team who creates these crafts and it really isn't Martha herself. So I like the "craft team".

To make the mini package garland just sandwich the bakers twine between two white circular labels.

The snowman is really a chocolate bar that I wrapped up in a recycled white paper bag.

Another idea from the "craft team".

I bought this tag craft punch a few days ago and I am having such fun making Christmas tags. I don't think I'll ever buy labels again! I've also been wrapping some Christmas presents with newspaper, I'm liking the way it looks.

Craft Kits and Christmas Table

2010-12-07T08:00:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago my mom sent me an early Christmas package and lo and behold there were Martha Stewart craft kits in there! I've been having such fun scouring TJ Maxx and Marshalls for Martha craft products, which for some reason have been quite abundant in those two retailers. My mom has been on the lookout for me too and this is the one she sent.

This kit makes 20 circular Christmas ornnaments in various sizes, it includes such cute patterened papers.

The contents: pre-cut paper disks, a little glue bottle, and gold metallic thread. Of course I am going to replace the thread with my baker's twine. The best thing about finding these kits at TJ Maxx and Marshalls is how inexpensive they are, I've seen kits at Michael's for three times the price!

Assembling the ornaments.

I decided to put some of the ornaments on top of my milk glass vases on the table, but D. and I keep knocking them off when we hit the table legs.

I caved and finally bought this milk maid butter dish from Anthropologie. It's a good thing that I waited so long to buy it, I went into the store and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was half off! Good things do come to those who wait...

The current Christmas table display.

Christmas Carol Garlands

2010-12-06T08:00:00.011-05:00

The baker's twine sure is coming in handy for all of my crafty endeavors. Last year I saw this photo and wanted to make some garlands of my own.

(source)

I put together a little DIY for all of you who would like to make some festive Christmas carol garlands.

Supplies needed: red cardstock, scissors, tape, baker's twine (or any thin string), and a paper cutter.

Cut cardstock in half, each piece can make one letter.

Cut letters out of cardstock, I free handed all of mine; and it really is easier than you think.

Tape the letters to the string.

The finished product, I love how it turned out, it makes the apartment so festive! Tape garland to the ceiling, it is pretty light weight so the scotch tape is strong enough to keep the garland from falling.

In the bedroom, this is such a quick project and adds so much to the overall look of a room.

Sneak Peek

2010-12-04T17:52:00.002-05:00

A peek into Monday's DIY post, I give you my front door...

Let's just say I've gone a little crazy with cutting out red letters and using my baker's twine.

Cuppity Cakes

2010-12-03T08:00:00.006-05:00

Christmas crafting is in full swing around these parts and I am delighted to show you the my latest confection.

A no calorie coconut cupcake!

What's Cookin'?

2010-12-02T12:50:00.003-05:00

Today's post should be "what's bakin'?" oh well, mere technicality. I saw a recipe in Martha Stewart Living (of course) for popovers and I decided to try my hand at making them. Popovers are one of those recipes that intimidated me but I found out they are really simple to make. The recipe is so easy, but it does require that you have a popover pan. I had a merchandise card from Williams-Sonoma left over from my wedding plus 20% off so I stopped in my local store and picked up one of the funny looking pans. You can also find it on their website.

They turned out picture perfect, I was pleasantly surprised.

Something about having these for breakfast was Christmas-y, always a bonus. I will certainly be making them again and again, so delicious with apricot preserves.

Popovers

2 1/2 C. whole milk (I used skim)

2 1/2 C. flour

1 t. coarse salt

6 large eggs, lightly whisked

Heat oven to 425 degrees. whisk together milk, flour, and salt. Whisk in eggs. (Mixture will be slightly lumpy) Heat two 6-cup popover pans in oven for 5 minutes, then quickly brush cups generously with butter. Fill each cup a little more than halfway with batter. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes. Turn our popovers, and serve warm.

Note: If not serving immediately, poke a small hole in each to release steam. Reheat before serving.

Makes 1 dozen.

Baker's Twine

2010-12-02T12:24:00.003-05:00

Oh, I am so excited! As you might have gathered from my blog, I've been wanting a spool of baker's twine (10,080 feet of it to be exact) for quite some time now. I've been eyeballing it on Amazon thinking of the endless possibilities of that magical string. Well, yesterday dearest D. surprised me with an advent gift. I have never heard of an advent gift before, but far be it from me to look an advent gift in the mouth!

As soon as I opened the box I went right to work on Christmas crafts, which I will be showing on the blog over the next several days. Just in case you too would like some baker's twine, here is where you can find it.

Iced Tea

2010-11-11T15:36:00.007-05:00

Yesterday was so deceptively summer-like, I decided I need to make some iced tea and fast, before the late afternoon chill set in. The only problem was that I didn't have any ice cubes made and how can you have iced tea without ice cubes? I remedied the situation and 3 short hours later I had my ice cubes and iced tea.

This passion fruit tea has such an intoxicating scent, makes you think it's the middle of June out in the tropics.

This is my magical faux Mason jar mug, drinking out of it makes me feel like I've gone back in time to the good 'ol summertime of the American south in the 1940's and that I've just come back from a country fair. Whenever I drink out of it I just imagine I'm sipping fresh squeezed lemonade through a red and white striped paper straw. And the lemonade is garnished with a sprig of mint. Corny I know.

Enough daydreaming, back to the iced tea....

Eight passion fruit tea bags, 1/8- 1/4 C. sugar, 4 cups boiling water for 4 minutes. Remove tea bags and enjoy.

Oh, and don't forget the ice! (I did mention I was a pescatarian, right?)

Christmas Crafting

2010-11-10T14:24:00.002-05:00

While it might be too early to pull out the Christmas decor and start listening to Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas (yes it is too early for that dear sisters of mine) it is not too early to start Christmas crafting. I went to a Christmas Craft Bazaar this past Saturday, hoping to walk out with a bit of inspiration, but it turned out to be quite a disappointment. I'm sorry, but button covered roosters just aren't going to cut it anymore. Fear not, here are a couple of inspiring online Christmas craft magazines for everyone's enjoyment.

Inspired Ideas, The Christmas Edition

Gifted

Hop on over and get inspired!

Fall is Here

2010-11-05T13:50:00.004-04:00

A peek into my drizzly, fall day...

Copious amounts of loose leaf tea.

A little bit of Cat Power.

I recently checked out The Grapes of Wrath from the library. Interesting book which gives insight into how farming is today. Recommend watching Food, Inc. after reading this. Sadly, it all makes sense now...

About to make this acorn garland, I just need to get my hands on some more cereal boxes...

What do you do on drizzly, fall days?

Giveaway Winner

2010-11-03T09:25:00.004-04:00

The winner of the giveaway is, drumroll please....

Kari

"I think what I love about handmade is that you know each and every item was someone's total focus at least for a little while...there is no mass production, this isn't just one of thousands! I also really like that when you buy handmade, you are supporting a person's art and not a corporation's investment."

Kari, please email your shipping information, within 48 hours, to themoldycannoli (at) gmail (dot) com. Thank you to everyone who entered my first giveaway and for everyone who follows my blog, 18 and counting! Please be sure to stop by my etsy shop, The Moldy Cannoli, for other little treasures.

My Etsy

2010-11-01T20:22:00.000-04:00

Oh, the excitement! I listed my first items on etsy, head on over to my shop and take a look if you like...

And don't forget to enter the giveaway for the lamby necklace from my shop!

Blast from the Past

2010-11-01T18:46:00.000-04:00

D. and I had nowhere to go on Halloween, except for Chipotle, but that didn't keep us from dressing up! Please pardon the mirror photo and poor lighting, it's the best we could do!

The beatnik and the go-go girl. (I am such a fan of the 1960's effect on picnik)

I drew a little mustache and goatee on D. I told him it kind of resembled el diablo. The Ray-Bans helped to pull the look together though.

This was a pretty easy costume to throw together, if I wasn't planning a wedding during the month of October, I might have had more time to invest in my costume, but overall I liked the look. My boots turned out pretty good too! D. and I had so much fun wearing our costumes, we grabbed our donut masks and headed out the door to Chipotle. We came back and handed out candy to four trick-o-treaters. There weren't too many around, which turned out to be a good thing since we only had a small bag of Werther's.

Sunshiny Day

2010-10-30T18:18:00.001-04:00

Can I tell you how excited I am that I have 17 followers now? Woo, hoo! Thanks for reading my little blog everybody.

Today was so lovely and fall like that I decided to take a picture of my sunshiny happiness in my slightly cluttered bedroom. I hope everyone has a fun weekend and a Happy Halloween-y!

Chipotle's Annual Boorito

2010-10-30T18:08:00.003-04:00

(source)

It is no secret that I am the biggest fan of Chipotle Mexican Grill; my sister and I used to take dates there every Friday and would split their giant veggie fajita burrito. Every Halloween Chipotle runs a special promotion where if you dress up like a Chipotle food item, you receive a free burrito/burrito bowl/etc. This Halloween they changed it up a bit, if you come dressed up like a horrible processed food, you receive a burrito/burrito bowl/etc. for $2. The proceeds go towards Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution (click here to find out more), a very worthy cause. I decided to dress as a donut to get my scrumptious burrito tomorrow, and I posted a little tutorial on making your very own donut mask.

You need several more items for this: a small circular object, brightly colored paper scraps, hole punch, box cutter, ribbon, packing tape, and glue. Sorry, I didn't think about these things until after I took the picture.

1. Trace the large circle on the cardboard. I found this giant cardboard box out in the dumpster, little did its former owners know it would be made into a donut.

2. Trace the small circle on the cardboard, this is the donut hole.

3. Cut out both circles with box cutter. Be careful, it's sharp!

4. Add your base coat, this is going to be a pretty iced white donut.

5. Paint on your frosting.

6. Punch out your sprinkles and glue them on the frosting.

7. Flip over donut and tape on ribbons.

8. Finished product! I traced the frosting and sprinkles with the Sharpie, just to make it stand out more. I added "I'm a donut" so people wont think I'm a pink egg.

I can't wait to go to Chipotle as a donut, I made one for D. too, he is such a good sport.