Happy Valentine - tutorial style!

Just a little post to say thanks to all you crafty geniuses who provide awesome tutorials and free printables!

And to everyone reading, I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day.  

Wild Thing took all the heart crayon valentines (I mentioned them before, but here is the link that includes the printable card too - Thanks to Ellen at The Long Thread!) for his class.  Also, he and I painted this canvas tote bag based on this tutorial at V & Co. for his teacher. It turned out really nice!

Teen Wonder helped decorate a batch of Grandmother Orr's Sugar Cookies (secret family recipe normally used for Christmas cookies - this is the first time I've used it for another holiday!) cut out in various heart shapes for Wild Things class party and for her to pass out to some friends. But I didn't take a photo and now they are mostly eaten or given away.  Oh well!

We had a nice family dinner and traded Valentines here at home - everyone got chocolate of some sort - then finished watching "Mary Poppins".  It doesn't sound very romantic, does it?  But it was a nice evening nonetheless.  And not bad for a holiday that many people consider a "made-up" holiday anyway!

(No) time for a quickie?

(NOTE: I had to delay this post, beacuse Blogger or my connection or both conspired to force me to go to work rather than post on my blog by not letting me attach more than one photo. boo. Here is the post now with the photos included...)

At 9:01am on a Monday?  Not really...as I've taken too long to get all my (bleep) together for work this morning already. But since some of what I was doing was work, I'm going to justify a really quick post because I had me some fun with kids and Halloween yesterday and things are a bit bleak around here (and not just because of weather, but that certainly adds to the gloomy weightiness of it)...so viva la craft!

Firstly, we (meaning I) dragged out the box of decorations from years past, and we (meaning I) sorted through it all and put up what I could muster any enthusiasm for. Wild Thing picked out a few things and taped them up too, bless his heart. I think he will be prove to be the most willing participant in my fervor for holiday craziness over the years.  Case in point - Wild Thing helped me to christen the "skull cake" mold that I bought online in a compulsive craft shopping moment weeks ago.

Cool, huh?

I saw this cake pan on Not Martha several weeks ago and became quickly obsessed with finding one and then I did in short order. online. duh.

Here is the mold itself (used and unwashed), and we made the "Carrot Pound Cake" made from the recipe in the box:

While this was baking and cooling, we were meanwhile in the next room with paper, scissors, and glue (and pens and pencils and crayons...)  It was your basic garden-variety craft explosion!

We ended up with some pretty spooky and fun things to put up around the house in support of one of the best holidays of the year!

Get ready for a great Halloween!!

Kitchen explosions!

Lot of cooking going here in the past 24 hours!  Last night an old friend from graduate school visited, and I invited several other friends and family who know him to come for a dinner party. I am hooked on epicurious.com and made a recipe I'd already tried for Scallop Ceviche, then a new one for a Grilled Tri-tip (with Tequila Marinade) and a Tomato Relish.  YUM!

I would make the marinade again and maybe the relish too (easy and tasty, but not essential for the meal).  The good thing about having friends like these over is that they couldn't care less that your kitchen looks like a bomb hit it and you didn't vacuum and the bathroom is sort of grungy looking... as long as the food is good, you are all set!

A "mini-reunion" of some grad school friends. (sorry for tiny picture - I'll get better at the logistics of bloggin)

Today is all about making a blueberry pie for my dear Megan - we're going over for a visit this afternoon and what is more healing than a fresh blueberry pie?  So the kitchen is a mess again, but it sure smells good in here!

Still in the oven...

kaboom!

Inaugural Post: The LEGO Cake!

After years of following blogs, drooling over photos of knitting/quilts/baked goods/craft tutorials - I've set up a blog. What pushed me over the edge?
the LEGO cake.
When you spend a lot of time on a project, Facebook and Flickr just aren't enough to fulfill the urge to share (boast?). Anyway, I spend an inordinate amount of time planning birthday parties for the kids. It is a long-standing tradition by now and includes esoteric themes (Chinese Wizard Dragon Party, anyone?) with all accompanying accoutrement such as custom cakes, decorations, games, and even costume items. This year was "Bionicle/Lego" theme. Among our many special preparations, the best were: 1) invitations crafted from downloaded images including a special lego boy wearing a batman T-shirt; 2) the ingenious idea to haul the old train table into the backyard (party site) and dump a 6 pound box of LEGOs from ebay onto it; and 3) the LEGO cake!



yes - it turned out pretty well! This was a time consuming project though...