Progress, Backwards

I digress. Am I even using that phrase correctly? I don't think so. But it sounded good. What I really mean to say, is that I am not getting better, only worse! But, I am trying to look at the bright side of things..... at least I'm consistent. And if I can get even a little bit closer to hubb's moms talents, then I'm doing great!

So, tonight I made this

Hubby Rating: 2.5*s

Improvements: Dried Tomatoes, a little bit more olive oil, chop up artichokes more, more garlic

Changes I made: I put fresh garlic in, in addition to the garlic salt. I also served the pasta with peas, which hubby ended up stirring in, so for the leftovers, I just mixed it all together (for tupperwares sake) I think it actually tasted better. ;) I also added a little bit of parmesan cheese. (to taste) Not that my opinion counts for much, but I thought it was pretty good.

In closing, I have to give myself a little bit of a pat on the back for cooking so much this week!

Mod Podge, I love you.

You know how you have tons of papers laying around? Bills that you don't really want to look at but know that you need to get to eventually.... But you don't want to spend money to buy anything to organize all of it? Well, I found a solution!

Last night I made these, from the blog, Babblings from Brook.

Mine turned out like this:

This is a great idea because if you eat cereal, and you are already a crafter, you're bound to have the other stuff around! Very cute idea, and very personalized!

P.S. Mod podge is this girl's new best friend. ;)

Try #2

Tonight, I made this.

I'm trying really hard to use ingredients that I already have in my kitchen, and not buy anything else when I don't have to. And, I didn't do a very good job in planning all of my meals out ahead of time as I would've liked. Not to make excuses but....when hubby goes grocery shopping with me, I always feel rushed! And sometimes he questions what I'm buying! Does anyone else have this issue? Needless to say, I'm going to have to find some way to ditch him for my grocery shopping trips. Somehow though, I ended up with one of those significant others who likes to spend every moment that he can with me since we don't see each other at all during the day. How was I so blessed?=)

Changes that I made.....

I did not include ham. Partly because I do not like ham. (Sam I am). And partly because I had none in my kitchen (probably because I don't like it). I also didn't use mozzarella cheese. And two changes that I made because again, I made due with things that I already had... used garlic powder instead of fresh garlic (gasp!), and I used the pre-bagged brown rice from Trader Joe's, that we had left in the freezer.

I served it with broccoli. I just took the first bite, on my own (because Andrew is on a business call) and I have to say, TASTY! I do believe that this one will be going on my list of quick and easy go to recipes in my permanent book! That is, if I get the hubbies stamp of approval.... we shall see!

Also, I took a container full of last nights cookies to work today. They got two thumbs up from every person that ate them! So, see yesterdays post for a link to the recipe.

Hubby's Rating:

2.8*'s--which is a controversial score. I asked him what I could do differently. He said nothing, I did the best with what I had. And I said, "so then it's a 5*?" And he said no. So in this case, I'm going to say that actions speak louder than words.... he gobbled a huge bowl up! He said 2.8, but I think it's doubles night....we'll call it a 5!

Culinary Disaster!

I have a confession to make......

I'm a culinary disaster. Really, I am. Somehow, in my teenage years, I never grasped the whole cooking thing. I accredit this to the fact that sports were the center of my middle and high school world. I was too busy playing basketball, volleyball, soccer, running and rowing, to pay any attention to anything having to do with the kitchen, unless it was to make myself a grilled cheese sandwich because my mom wouldn't at the moment..... (I really wasn't a spoiled brat, I promise). Thus, I feel as though my cooking growth was stunted, or rather, never really began.

And so, friends, almost two years into my marriage, I have decided that I will make a really true, honest effort, to perfect my non-existent talent. And my journey begins here. I'm going to utilize this blog to keep you up to date on my culinary adventures, as well as my crafting adventures. Because I believe that they are very closely related. All creating something, and helping to make my home a better place.

So come with me as I embark on this new journey!

And as a side note and disclaimer: my husband is what I like to call a "food snob." Or what some others like to call a "foodie." Thanks to his mother, my husband was spoiled with amazing food as an adolescent. I don't think that there's anything that she makes that isn't amazing. And so, I have her standards to live up to. Which gives me an idea: after each meal that I make, I am going to ask for his rating, on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best, and also to get his opinion on what he thinks could make it better. For next time, if there is a next time.

One more disclaimer: Hubby is not a sweets connoisseur. Take it or leave it for him. Needless to say, I am a little bit more apprehensive to ask his opinion on these types of things. However, in the spirit of this blog, I will anyway. And if he rates it a 5*, you will know that it truly was amazing!

Bon apetit!

Tonight, I made this

And these

Hubbies Rating:

Southwest Egg Rolls: 1.5*'s

Change: more spices; green peppers, more black pepper, salsa (in addition to avocado sauce). Sauce had too much ranch and maybe try sour cream in it next time. And chunkier chicken.

Cookies: 3.7 *'s, (he says, probably higher if you like chocolate)

Change: a little bit less cocoa and add macadamia nuts or walnuts. (quote: "whole walnuts would have been amazing in that!)

Hi! I know that it's beena terribbly long time since I've done anything crafty!

Believe me, I have many, many crafts in the cue. I just need to find the time to do them! It's hard working full time and trying to take care of a husband AND myself AND craft!

Rest assured.... I will be back soon with projects!

Trial and Error

This my friends, was a craft of trial and error. One canvas I liked, one, not so much. That being said, the one that I don't like nearly as much, has still made an appearance on the wall in our bathroom. And the one that I did like, is making an appearance on my 7 year old sister in law's wall.

Let me start by saying that the way that these turned out, is not anywhere near how they began. I started by painting them a goldish color that I thought would be really pretty. My husband was convinced that they were orange, not gold. And I did not want a gold canvas hanging on my wall. So, I used some different paint that I had laying around. I painted one black, and one a tan color. I used my Cricut to cut out all of the letters.

We'll start with the canvas that I didn't like.....

I used a quote that my brother shared with us at the beginning of his mission that I just love. I used regular paper cut out the words in order to use as a stencil. Lay your stencil onto the canvas and use paint and a brush to fill it in. I also used tape around the edges to paint a border.

Reasons I don't like it:

I used the same size and type of font for all of the words, yet the g's look like they're smaller. And number two, for some reason, I'm straight line challenged. I just cannot put anything in a straight line!

And the canvas that I love......

I took President Hinckley's 6 Be's and made a canvas for my sister in law. I used a different patterned scrapbook paper for each Be. I cut out each one, in a different size, but same font. Such as:

Be Clean-size 2", purple paper

Be True-4", green paper

I then used just regular glue to glue down the first Be. Then I started the next Be right next to it, I let them all run into eachother and into the next line, for character....

Lastly, I used a few coats of Modpodge to seal the deal. And once it's dry, you get this!......

(Sorry the picture is sideways!)

I have soooo many crafts in the cue and I'm trying to find the time to try my hand at them. I quit my second job so I now have more time on my hands. So expect some heartfelt tries at some craftiness!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy belated Mother's Day! I made a special new dessert for Andrew's mom and grandmother and step-grandmother. I got the idea here.

I just bought a large artificial sunflower from Michaels, cut off the stem, and plopped it into the center of the bundt cake.

This was so easy and so delicious and so pretty! Bon apetit!

Shag Wreath

So I have to admit, I tried a few different crafts today. The first one didn't turn out as planned. So, I chose to move onto the next one. At 11:30pm. Here my husband and I sit, watching criminal minds, and I break out the sewing machine. My husband very patiently asks me what I'm doing with the sewing machine at this hour. I felt guilty for interrupting his quiet T.V. watching time, and decided that I was going to try to find a way to do this thing without using the machine. And so I did. And as it turns out, I like it even more than I like the tutorial, which you can find http://sunshinemamasite.blogspot.com/2010/04/ruffle-wreath-tutorial.html:

So yes, I changed it up. I have learned as I have been updating this blog, that I am not good at explaining how I craft. So I will do my absolute best....

For the interchangeable flower, I used 4 different ribbon colors. I used one as the base color and paired it with one other color for each layer. I did purple and pink, then purple and blue, then purple and a darker purple. All I did to create the flower was create a loop, then glue it to itself, loop again, then glue it to itself. And I apologize that I have not done well in taking pictures of each step, I will get better, I promise. At the end, I hot-glued a pin to the back so that I can change out the flower according to the season.

For the wreath, I purchased a $1.99 wooden, blank wreath, from Michaels. I had some heavy-weight fabric left over from some valences that I made a few months ago. The tutorial that I got the idea from used a ruffling techinque. I had a hard time replicating that technique, and Andrew wasn't having the sewing machine thing at midnight tonight, so I just cut my fabric into strips, then ran my hand along the cut edges to fray the edges. This created a really cute effect on the material once the wreath was done.

My first step with the wreath was to wrap fabric strips around the base of the wreath, as seen on the tutorial. I hot-glued pretty much every time around. Then I covered the wreath with my strips. I applied a line of glue, then would scrunch the strip and place it on. I did it by row. I did about 5 rows. By the time I was done, it was pretty frayed and looking super-duper cute! Even my husband loved it. And he's pretty hard to please as far as crafts go.

Coming Up....

Greetings unimaginative crafty followers! I am just now realizing that I have already begun to post on this blog much, much more frequently than my every day life blog. Perhaps this is because the rest of my life is super monotonous and my husband and I haven’t been able to find the time to take a vacation in which pictures would be taken, in quite some time! Yes, yes, I believe that this is what I will try to convince myself of….

Anyhow, I have the next craft in the queue and believe that you all, as well as I, will be quite impressed. I am waiting on some things to be shipped to me though before I can start it up. Alas, it is another one where I can’t remember where I found the idea but, I have been doing a lot of research on it. I ordered supplies today for “metal stamping.” I will be making jewelry that is personalized and so cute! I can’t wait to start. The supplies have so far proved to be pretty inexpensive when you’re going the cheaper route….. I’m going to venture to Home Depot this weekend to see what I can find in the way of washers to use as my necklace charms. As a matter of fact, I just got another idea, to combine two separate projects that I was going to do. I think that I will save that for the actual post though. Anyhow, other tools needed; a hammer, a solid surface to stamp on top of, fine point sharpie marker, and a chain for your necklace. Or, I have some other ideas as far as metal stamping goes. We will see…..

Just as I had hoped, my creative juices have begun to flow!

Also on my upcoming list:……..

1.Reupholstering two ratty Walmart pillows to match our new dark brown couch
2.My next Cricut cutout plaque with my brother’s favorite saying from his mission on it.
3.Spring/Summer decorative blocks
4.Canvas wreath for my front door
5.Picture frame “Nothum” on a rod (some of these are hard to explain without showing pictures!)

Project #2!

I know that all three of my followers have just been waiting in anticipation for this first big project. And I am happy to say, that it has been completed!

It has not yet been shipped to my sister in law for her birthday, even though it’s tomorrow, but she will be at Disneyland all day today and tomorrow so I am hoping that she doesn’t browse my new blog until after she’s opened her gift. Here’s to hoping.

I found this idea here: http://cleanmama.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-to-make-recipe-binder.html

This was not my original idea for her birthday gift. But I thought it was a great idea once I found it! I have a really hard time making recipes from magazines and books that haven’t been tried out in my own family or by a friend that has enjoyed it. So, I compiled a recipe book of favorite recipes from my own family, her family, and some good ones that I found that seemed pretty simple and were sure to be tasty!

This really was a very simple project. And it turned out really cute. The most tedious part of it was typing up the recipes. I think I typed about 90 in total. Lauren’s mom helped me out with about 15-20 more that I can’t wait to make myself!

All you’ll need is a binder of your choice as far as color and ring size, clear packing tape, sheet protectors and your scrapbook paper of choice. ( I also used my label maker and my Cricut machine.)

The first two tabs that I created are not for recipes. I did a menu section, where you can pull the recipes that you’ll be making for the week and insert them into this section for easy access over the course of the week. The second tab has a master grocery list that’s breaks down the grocery store by section. So at the beginning of the week, or whenever you do your grocery shopping, you’ll pull your recipes and highlight (at least that’s what I do) the items that you need on the master list. If you would like a copy of my master shopping list, let me know and I can email it to you as a Word document and you can modify it to your needs.

The other tabs that I mad were breakfast, breads, appetizers, snacks, sides, entrees, dessert and cookies (because I have so many of these, I thought they deserved their own section!).

All I did to make the dividers is to insert your paper of choice into one of the protectors and use my label maker to print out that section label (ie: bread). I stuck the label to a small, cut out piece of paper and attached the tape to both sides of the divider and folded the tab into the middle of it. (I know that sounds terribly confusing. Sorry.) I just repeated this throughout! I used my Cricut machine to cut out letters to put on each scrapbook page as well, just to spice it up a little.

I also put a measurement conversion chart at the very front of the book for easy access.

And just in case it isn't painfully obvious, Lauren LoVeS pink! So I made sure to humor her on that one....

And just for Erin, here's a close up of one of my button magnets. Cute picture, right? Honeymoon picture. For some strange reason, this ended up being the only close up I took on my camera phone. Not the best ever but, you get the idea.... I just layered a large and small button and used a hot glue gun to do the job.

I would love to see your version of the book should you decide to make one!

Over Achiever.....

I am going to brag. I did something great this weekend. I completed (or at least almost....) 2 whole projects.

The first one s nothing much to write home about. But it was a project all the same. I made butoon magnets. I've had tons and tons of extra buttons just laying around in my junk drawer and sewing bins, forever. And I could never figure out what to do with all of them! So, I came across this blog that gave me such a great idea! So cute. And so simple! The photo magnet board, I made at a R.S. activity. Also very cute. Also not my idea.... Disclaimer: I DID find this idea on another blog, however, I cannot remember or find where I found it. I forgot to save the link. So, I at least want to say that I am not taking credit for this idea in any way, shape or form. But its a cute one!

As for the other project, I cannot show pictures or disclose what it is yet. It is my sister in law's birthday this weekend and I made it for her. She is turning the ripe old age of 20. Happy birthday Lo! I don't want to take the chance of her reading this before she receives the gift in the mail and spoiling the surprise. So, pictures to come probably at the end of the week.

Happy Birthday Lauren! You are wonderful and such a great sis in law! Hope you have a terrific day!

Here Goes Nothing....

So I feel like I've just had a sheer stroke of genius!

I've been bitten by the crafting bug lately. I don't know why or how. All I know is that I'm itching to get out there and start stocking up on supplies for my evergrowing list of crafts!

I can't help but laugh to myself because not but 9 or so years ago, my brothers and I would sit at my parent's dining room table making fun of my mother for making so many "craps," as we so lovingly referred to her crafts. And now, here I am, wanting to create for my own home! To my mother, I apologize for our relentless ribbing. It was all out of love.

This blog post is just a preface. I have not started yet on this journey. It is an account of things to come. And, as you can see by the title of my blog, I am unimaginative. I have been told, more times than I can count, that I don't have any imagination at all (I like to think though that those people were referring to my disinterest in fantasy movies....). While I may not be able to think up these crafts, I can replicate. And I'm hoping upon all hopes, that as I begin to copy-cat peoples great ideas, that I will be inspired to come up with my own ideas!

I have been scouring others' craft blogs for the past several days. I'm not savvy when it comes to cooking, creating, refinishing or repurposing. However, this does not mean that I am not ready and willing to try! I am so ready!

So here goes nothing. On my blog, you will see photos of my new adventures, which will be copied from others. And of course, I will be inserting links to those peoples blogs, in which they can give you directions for the same craft, recipe, etc.

I can hear you asking yourself what the purpose then is of my blog? Well you see, I'm fairly certain that I would draw inspiration from another woman who claims that she has not a creative strand of hair on her head. If she could do it, then I would think to myself, SO CAN I. So, maybe I'll inspire someone. Myself included.

My husband cooks more than I do. And pretty much the only thing that I've been able to think of to use my beloved Cricut machine for is to make greeting cards and sayings to put on placards. So in short, I'm not the most domestic woman you've ever met.

If you find a craft that you think I might like, send it my way. Or if you know of a better way for me to do something that you see I've done, please let me know! I want lots of ideas!

I'll also be posting links to some of my favorite crafty blogs for your enjoyment.

Here goes nothing!......