Scraptastic Wednesdays: 4th of July Banner

I was lucky enough to be asked to be a Guest Designer over at Apron Strings for the month of July, so I was able to get my hands on their Bigger Than a Breadbox kits a little early :)  I whipped up this great little banner just in time for our big 4th of July Bash using the My Mind's Eye American Made collection, my Independence Day Cricut Solutions cartridge, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Blue Frost, and Studio Calico Mr. Huey in Calico White.  Oh, and the alpha is Thickers Sprinkles.  The ribbon is from the $1 bin at Michaels and is the only thing I used not in the kit!

So who's feeling festive?!

Yummy Monday: Banana Muffins

We always have a ton of bananas in our house.  Little Man loves them, called them "Banas"  He's actually eaten 2 in a row, and asked for a third.  Now I'm not sure if you can overdose on potassium, and anything else wonderful that you get in bananas, but we usually limit his banana intake to two a day, just in case.

I digress.  Every now and then, we'll go thru a week where he hasn't devoured every banana in the house.  When that happens, the picture below is what happens to those forgotten bananas.  Now what happened to this fabulous summer recipe I promised you last Friday?  It's here, hidden in something as basic as banana muffins. 

The wonderful thing about banana muffins is their versatility.  Straight up banana muffins, banana nut, banana "crumb" chocolate chip banana, strawberry banana, blueberry banana.  I could go on.  So here's my banana muffin recipe, and below will be some ways to vary it to fit your tastes, and your summer produce buys.

2/3 cups of milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil (*health kick:  substitute 1/2 cup unsweentened applesauce*)

2 eggs

2 cups flour (*health kick: substitute whole wheat flour*)

1 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

4 very ripe bananas

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and grease just the bottom of your muffin tins (or use liners).  This recipe will make 18 regular muffins or 72 itty bitty baby muffins, or any combination thereof.  For all intents and purposes, 6 regular muffins is equal to 24 baby muffins.

Mash bananas, milk, oil (applesauce) brown sugar and eggs in a large bowl.  Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  To summerify (yeah, I just made that word up) this recipe add in:

1 cup blueberries OR

1 cup strawberries (chopped up pretty small)

To make this into a Fall recipe, add in:

1 cup finely chopped apples and 2 tbsp cinnamon

For the chocolate lovers, add in 1 cup chocolate chips

Fill the cups a good 3/4+ full.  I love a good streusel topping, however my waistline does not appreciate it as much.  I create a delicious "fake" streusel topping by sprinkling a little cinnamon on the batter once it's in the tins, and then about a teaspoon or less of brown sugar on top of that.  It gives the muffins just a little extra spice and sweetness.

Bake the baby muffins at 400 degrees for 9-10 minutes.  The regular sized muffins can be cooked at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes.  In this photo you can see I added chocolate chips to the mini ones in this batch, and 3 of the 6 regular muffins with my faux streusel topping are already gone, mere minutes after I took them out of the oven!  Enjoy!

Free-For-All Friday: First Movie

Now originally I had planned to make the Free-For-All Friday exclusively for those crafty, fun, non-scrapbooking-potentially-papercrafting other hobbies.  And I had a really good one to share with you today, no really I did.  It's just that....well.....I fell asleep. 

Running around all morning with the toddler wiped me right out.  So when we arrived back home around 1pm today, I tucked him into his bed and then went to lay down myself for just a few minutes and rest before I was going to come up here and crank out this great little project.  Except when I next opened my eyes, it was 4pm.  I'm not going to lie, it was bliss.

So off in a scramble I was to get ready for what I'm going to share with you today, which are photos from Finn's very first movie in the theatre experience.

These are our friends Scott & Nicole, with their two adorable boys.  It was their first movie in the theatre as well, and with how hectic our lives are it seems, it was so nice to spend some time with them.

Finn has started to make this face anytime I get close to him with my camera.  I have a feeling this is going to be a long-standing feud, my desire to capture everything and his desire to just be left alone Ma!  At least the husband is still smiling at me.

This face (as were all of the photos taken in the actual theatre) was taken during the previews.  He was totally amazed.

He had begun to lose his sense of humor (we challenged the attention-span of a 27 month old, I do get it) so when the movie was over, I was able to just grab one more quick photo in front of the big display outside.  This kind of sums up the movie, and at least I've got them!  Add in the ticket stub and maybe a few cute graphics from online, and I have a feeling this could be one fun layout!

See you on Monday (if not before!) with a new summer recipe that's a hit with my family, and hopefully will be for yours too!

Scraptastic Wednesdays: Easter

This is a layout I did a few months back when I was a guest designer over at Apron Strings kit club.  Originally I had done it with placeholder photos from last year, but I was able to print the current photos and place them in the layout, so I figured it deserved another shout-out. 
One of my favorite things about doing Easter layouts is the fact that I can use pink!  The mom of a boy, I rarely if ever have a use for pink cardstock, but I can justify it on Easter, so it's fun for me to take advantage of doing these pastel-y colors that normally wouldn't have much of a home in a little boy's scrapbook.

We spend our Easter morning having brunch at this fabulous restaurant in Lake George.  Not only is the food delicious, but given some beautiful weather (which we've luckily had the last 2 years in a row!) makes for some really nice backdrops for photos.  The Easter Bunny was very generous with Finn this year...

It wouldn't be Easter without little cotton tails and some pink fabric Thickers for the title!  It's hard to tell in this photo, but the fabric is actually ribbed, which just adds to the adorablness of these letters.  Did I mention how excited I was do be able to use pink?!

I'm currently working on a really fun project (my hands are covered in mists!) that I'm hoping to finish up tomorrow night, so be sure to check back in on Friday for a peek at it! 

Yummy Monday: Party Fruit Dip

A series of unforseen events has put a crimp in my plans to wow you with an amazing seafood recipe tonight.  Forgive me, I will perhaps go into more detail tomorrow as to what's going on, but for tonight, let me leave you with the most simple party dip possible.  My friends in Florida turned me onto this, it's absolutely addicting, and absolutely perfect for summertime when fresh fruit it abundant.  No photos tonight, but here's what we've got:

(1) 8oz block of cream cheese
(1) 16oz container of marshmallow fluff

Soften the cream cheese (you can use flavored cream cheese like strawberry or pineapple if you want to get crazy!) and mix thoroughly with the fluff.   I think it helps to use hand beaters to smooth out any clumps.  I always serve mine in this amazing Pampered Chef Chillzane server platter.  I believe they've discontinued this line (which is a MAJOR bummer) but you can still get one here.

Chat later!

Free-For-All Friday: Potty Charts

Short and sweet, because we're on vacation right now!

Nothing fancy about this, but my little 2 year old is starting to potty train.  Now I'm no potty training expert, but I'm pretty sure that the rewards system works.  So off we went to Target where Finn picked out a HUGE package of special potty stickers.  I printed this adorable Lightening McQueen "potty chart" online here for him to put all his stickers on.

Simple a project as it gets.  I just glued the chart onto some cardstock and rounded the edges.  Added some Thickers for his title, a little glitter around the border and some twine to hang it up and we're done!  Cute enough motivation for any little wizzer ;)



A nod to the Cape and all the wonderful seafood here, this upcoming Yummy Monday is going to be of the seafood variety, so see you then!

Scraptastic Wednesdays: Taking A Stroll

The weather is hit or miss for the end of March here in Upstate NY, which is when these photos were taken.  After an amazing birthday brunch for my dad, we all headed to beautiful Congress Park nearby, to walk it off and digest a little.  We had a rough winter, that lasted quite a bit longer than usual, so everything was still really brown and kind of yucky looking.  Luckily, at CKC Manchester just a month later, I had the opportunity to use these Basic Grey papers from the Kioshi line in my 'Think Ink' class.  Very earthy papers were perfect for documenting some pretty brown photos. 

So I broke my cardinal rule in that I photographed this at night with poor lighting, so I apologize for the poor photo quality.  The entire layout though, which I was happy with.  It had more "white" space than I'm used to doing, which is something I should do more often.  Pushed me right out of my comfort zone.

This is just a little close-up detail of a sticker & button detail with some ribbon.  Sometimes it's the smallest things that have the biggest impact.

This is my favorite part of the whole layout.  I bought these fabulous little white pockets in all different sizes from Boxer Scrapbooks.  I inked it a little bit to make it "fit in" with the feel of the rest of the layout, and then gathered up all the other photos of the day that didn't earn themselves a highlighted spot in the layout.  I rounded all their edges, stacked them neatly on each other and attached them together with a brown brad in the corner.  Perfect way to hang onto all those photos that document the rest of the story, without having to put a million photos on your actual layout! 

Well it's late, I've been packing diligently for hours, as we leave for Cape Cod tomorrow night right after work.  I'm going to go pass out and dream sweet dreams of the fabulous Hyannis Scrapbooking store that I'll be visitng this weekend.  Happy Scraptastic Wednesday, and I'll be back with more fun on Friday!



Yummy Monday: Grilled Pizzas

A couple of weeks ago, B and I went to some friends house for a housewarming BBQ.  Something about cool early summer nights, cold beers, grill cooking away and fresh produce that just take every bit of stress out of you.  They introduced us that night to pizzas on the grill, which we have since replicated at our house.
First up, roll your dough out (more nicely than we did here) with just a little bit of olive oil and lay it out on the grill.  Check it after about 2 minutes, by 3 minutes you should be able to flip it with ease.  Make sure both sides are nice and crispy and then....

Add your toppings!  For ours, we did grilled BBQ chicken pizza, using both BBQ sauce and pizza sauce, mozzarella and cheddar cheese, and chicken leftovers from the night before.  A crowd pleaser for sure!  Our gourmet friends had treated us to something a little more adventurous, serving up a sun-dried tomato, spinach & carmelized onion pizza with gorgonzola & a little parmesaen. 

After you've added the toppings, close the top and let it cook for another 5-10 minutes.  Cooking time is going to vary depending on if you are using a gas or charcoal grill, the gas grills tend to cook it more quickly.  The end result?  An amazingly delicious, dinner that's perfect for those nights you just can't handle the thought of another burger or hot dog on the grill.

For a healthy twist, try your favorite whole wheat pizza dough, and load it up with every veggie you can think of!  Serve with a fresh green salad, and maybe some strawberry rhubarb crisp for dessert?  Enjoy!

Free-For-All Friday: Porcelain Knobs

My beautiful niece Emily is going to become a big sister any day now, and is going to be sharing a room with her new baby sister, Elianna.  My mother (who is an extraordinarily talented interior designer-thanks for the creative genes Mom!) was designing the room for them, and requested that I paint some white porcelain knobs for all of the girl's refinished furniture. 

So she snuck some of the their bedding over to me for inspiration (it was a surprise for my sister), and here's what I was able to come up with:

To create your own hand-painted porcelain knobs, you first need to buy new or clean old knobs with a little rubbing alcohol.  I picked up some Americana Gloss Enamels  paint you can find online, or at any Michaels store. 

Paint whatever your little heart desires, and then let the knobs sit and air dry for 48 hours.  When they're done air drying, place them in a cool oven, and then heat it to 325 degrees for 30 minutes.  Turn off the oven and let the knobs cool down in there completely before removing.  Voila!  Hand-painted, personalized knobs, perfect for giving a "blah" piece of furniture a face-lift!

Be sure to check back for a new Yummy Monday recipe, and have a great weekend!

Scraptastic Wednesdays: Look Who's 2!

Finnian Cole.  Also known as "Finny" "Finn-Man" "Little Man" "Bugaboo" "Little Bug"  I could go on, I've probably triggered the gag relex in a few of you out there already though.  What can I say, it's an annoying mom (parent) thing :)

2 year old portaits.  It's hard to fathom that this kiddo is already 2.  I know it's cliche, but I swear he was a tiny(ish) little blob of wonder just yesterday.  Now he's a walking, talking, climbing, goofy little guy that makes us laugh on a daily basis. 

I curled up the edges of a couple of Jillibean Soup Green Grid Canvas Flowers and plopped a few American Crafts buttons in the center.  I always hesitate in using anything too flowery on layouts of the Little Man, but these are just too adorable and just masculine enough to get away with it!  I also used some Mr. Huey's Calico White spritzed right on the cardstock to give it a little more oommpf, and help make his white shirt pop!

One of my favorite purchases from the CKC Convention I attended in Manchester a couple of months back, a set of fabulous metal numbers.  Finished it off with some green brads and some orange Thickers, and it's finito!

Thanks for checking in on this Scraptastic Wednesday!  I'll be back on Friday for a fun craft project to give your kitchen, bathroom or kids rooms an easy face-lift, so check back then!

Yummy Monday: Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

This past weekend we headed off to our favorite local place to pick-your-own everything; Indian Ladder Farms.  It's strawberry picking time here in Upstate New York, so off we went to grab ourselves a few quarts of deep red deliciousness.  The husband wasn't sold on me whipping up yet another strawberry rhubarb pie (I may have made one last weekend as well) so I tried an easy variation, and made a crisp instead.  Some photos to entice you to try this easy one out at home: 

Filling

5 cups fresh sliced rhubarb

5 cups fresh sliced strawberries

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 cup OJ

Crumb Topping

2 cups quick cooking oats

2 cups flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cup butter, softened

Mix OJ, sugar & cornstarch in bowl until smooth and dissolved.  Pour over strawberries & rhubarb & divide mixture into 2 pie plates.  Mix flour, oats, brown sugar and salt.  Add in softened butter until mixture is crumbly.  Divide in half and pour over each pie place.

Place pie plates on a sheet of aluminum foil on rack (to prevent bubbling over into oven)  Bake at 350 F for 1 hour, or until filling is bubbly and topping is browned.  Top with whipped cream or ice cream and enjoy!



Hello & Welcome!

It's time for mid-year resolutions.  6 months after the beginning of the New Year, I came to the realization that I hadn't really been keeping upw ith one of my main resolutions, which was to really dig deep into this blog and start posting some great things.  So I had a moment.  A moment where I decided that not only did I want to re-vamp my old blog, I wanted to start from scratch.  Something all new to share with anyone and everyone what creative things are cooking under my roof, from great tried-and-true recipes, to scrapbooking and paper crafting projects, knitting/crocheting projects and patters, home improvement & kids crafts.


So thanks for stopping by, and be sure to check back every couple of days, as I've got some great things up my sleeve!