Archives for August 2009

My good friend Emily from Texas made these a while back and I was enthralled.  I wanted to make them but was waiting for the perfect opportunity.  I finally decided to make them for the Strawberry Lemon themed baby shower last week.  I followed Emily's directions exactly, but I think next time I may skip the ice bath.  It seemed to cool down the lollipops a little too quickly!  But it made some nice swirlies in the coloring when it got too thick to mix anymore and I knew I had mere minutes to form into lollipop shapes or end up with a bowl full of candy.  Luckily I had Debbi, my friend to help quickly shape the lollipops!  (*I'll probably add … [Read more...]

I've had this idea bookmarked for a while and have been mulling over the best thing to do with it.  I figured that since it's back to school time there are lots of lunches being made.  One of my favorite things growing up was that my dad hid little notes in our lunches for us to find.  Based off this memory, I made some cute little joke cards for you to sneak in your child's lunch! So gather up your supplies and let's get going: 1 Free Joke Card PDF printed on white cardstock (click the link to download) Foam Paint Brush Acrylic Paint in coordinating colors (I used Pumpkin and Paradise) Coordinating Glitter (I used Martha Stewarts … [Read more...]

Last week I had the opportunity of co-hosting a baby shower!  The theme that we went with was Strawberry Lemonade, so all the decor and many of the appetizers and treats were based around the colors of pink and lemmony yellow! The first thing I decided to make was dipped Oreos, but I wanted to make it easy to decorate them.  I made royal icing flowers the night before.  They were super easy and turned out really well!  They were so tiny and cute! Royal Icing Using Meringue Powder: 4 cups powdered sugar 3 tablespoons meringue powder 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 - 3/4 cup warm water Mix all ingredients in an electric … [Read more...]

This past weekend was super busy!  On Friday night I led a project at the Chicago Craft Social.  This event was the 2nd of its kind and is put together by the lovely ladies Jess from How About Orange, Megan Heep from My Plum Pudding, Amanda from Ammeliorer, and Megan Hall.  I had a fabulous time teaching and there were so many awesome projects put together by some super crafty people.  If I hadn't been leading a project I would have had a very hard time choosing which project to participate in. I had 6 lovely ladies at my table that were a joy to teach and were so fun chatting with.  They taught me all about Chicago in the winter!  I taught … [Read more...]

by libraryman While most of the summer here in Chicago has been VERY mild, the last few days have been in the 90's and without air conditioning in our apartment it's gotten a little warm!  I decided to whip up a quick frozen treat to help my husband and I cool down.  I thought I'd share with you this simple recipe for making your own Frozen Limeade Pie! Frozen Limeade Pie Ingredients: 1 graham cracker pie shell (or make your own) 1 8oz. container Cool-Whip (I use the Lite or no fat one, it works fine for this recipe) 6 oz. container frozen limeade concentrate 2 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream Here are the super difficult … [Read more...]

Ok, so I got a little carried away with these ribbon flowers and made a few extra.  Then I experimented with some different widths of ribbon.  Here's a card I made with a few of them. The larger flower was made from some 1 1/2" wide satin ribbon.  I LOVE how it turned out!  I added a fancy brad in the middle for a little accented touch.  What do you think?  I'm thinking they would also make great hair clips, brooches, or embellishments on a little handbag! … [Read more...]

I found this awesome striped ribbon on clearance at the fabric store and knew I could do something with it. I let it sit for a few days on my craft table while I mulled over what to do with it...and here's what happened! Want to make your own?  It's easy!  Here's how: Gather the following supplies: Ribbon for napkin ring, flower and leaves. Needle and thread Hot Glue Gun Cut a 5" piece of ribbon for the flower and one for the napkin ring.  I used a plain pink satin ribbon for the ring part. Turn under one edge and hand stitch (or machine if you prefer) to make a ring.  Do this for both the flower and napkin ring ribbon. Set … [Read more...]