Thursday, April 21, 2011

Crafting along.... and a fantastic Ain't-Your-Momma's-Chicken Dinner!

Hey there everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I've set up a post! I have been busy crafting for a swap and have some awesome results. However, I can't post it just yet since I know she has access to my blog and I don't want her to see the stuff before it gets to her house! It is a lot of fun, though, and if you're a fan of the movie the Princess Bride, then I'm sure you'll like it too.

If you haven't read the book by the same name, I totally recommend it! It is awesome! There are all the funny parts and lines from the movie plus a ton more! So get to it!

On a foodie note, we had the best dinner last night! I wanted to do chicken, but not the same old, same old. So, I pulled something up out of my brain that I thought would be delicious and it was! I marinated some chicken in a salad dressing that I made for the night before and it was soooooooo good!  I just got out my microplane (like a finer version of a cheese grater) and grated up about 2 inches of ginger, 5 cloves of garlic, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, a spoonful of orange juice concentrate and a half and half mix if olive oil and sesame oil. Whisk it all together and let your chicken marinate for about 6 hours. Cut into strips and add to an oiled skillet set on medium to medium high. Cook until no pink is left in the middle.

Part two? The roasted vegetables. Cut up two large red potatoes, two large sweet potatoes, 6 medium to small parsnips, and one onion into uniform pieces. I had to spread it onto two baking sheets with olive oil, a bit of salt, and some pepper. Let it roast on 400 degrees F. for 20 minutes. While it's baking, mince 5 cloves of garlic and two tablespoons of fresh rosemary. After the 20 minutes, mix up the veggies on the sheets so they will cook evenly and not dry out, sprinkle garlic and rosemary evenly, and more olive oil to your taste and stick back in the oven for another 20 minutes.

This dinner was so easy and delicious! The longest part was chopping up the vegetables. ;)
Hope you like this and enjoy!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Masquerade

Song of the day: Masquerade from Phantom of the Opera

Hey there all! It’s been a few days since I’ve posted, but I’ve got something fun. J My husband’s school held a Masquerade Ball this last weekend and we were each charged with making our own mask. I, being the good little girl, bought my stuff weeks ahead of time. I wanted to make a leather mask that was molded to my face. So, I went to my closest craft store and found some leather. I asked everyone if this would mold to my face when wet and they said a very resounding, “yes!”. The answer, people, was actually, “NO”!!!!
It did not mold to my face.
And while I was a “good little girl” to get all of this stuff weeks ahead of time, I was a bad little girl who did not make it/try to make it very far ahead of time. I did it two days before the ball. Gasp!
I had this awesome tutorial that I was able to mostly follow. Here’s the link: awesome leather mask!!
But, since I didn’t have the right kind of leather, and no time to speak of to go out and get said leather, I had to totally Gerry rig the back. It wasn’t too bad, though. I had black fabric and pipe cleaner on hand, plus some awesome heavy duty Loctight super glue. It looks pretty janky from the back, but nobody got to see that part (yay me!)

I fixed the rest of my mask up with little jewels and some feathers which I crimped onto embroidery floss. I think the end effect is pretty nice.

I know you are all looking at my husband’s mask right about now and asking, “Holy cow! Did she make that?” The answer to that is also a “No”. J My husband bought that mask years ago at the Northern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire when it was at the Nut Tree. This was also before we got married and worked at the same Sticky Buns Booth. Actually, that was the year we got engaged.  ;)

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Free Lucky Cat Pincushion and make it yourself No Sew Hat Pincushion!

Hey guys! Just a quick blog today!

Would you like to make your own No Sew Hat Pincushion? It's so simple and cute! Simply go here:
http://www.sewweekly.com/2011/04/no-sew-hat-pincushion-tutorial.html and follow the tutorial!
If you’re not a fan of the Sew Weekly, you should totally check them out. Right now they are doing 30 days of free pincushions. Today’s free pincushion? The Lucky Cat Pincushion by Anne Robishaw. You can find her other pincushions on etsy under her shop, Blushful. Not only that, but she is also giving everyone 25% off their order during the spring if you put in the discount code TSW25!! How amazing is that?
All you have to do to win any of these pincushions is check out the new one each day, do what you’re told to do, post it, and voila! Then you just sit back and wait to see if you’ve won. So easy. J
So, go to http://www.sewweekly.com/2011/04/lucky-cat-pincushion.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheSewWeekly+%28The+Sew+Weekly%29 to get in on this cute Lucky Cat Pincushion and these 30 days of pincushions! Stick around and see the other great deals that the sellers are offering!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Sweet Circles, Batman! To the Hospital!

Yes, I procrastinated. It happens.  Do you ever have those projects where you are really excited to get working on them and then you get frustrated and just kind of want to put it down? That was totally me. I took a break for a night (ok, two) and was absolutely set on finishing it this afternoon. Seriously, I had just finished sewing the long end of my strap closed. All I had to do was edge stitch the other side and insert the strap, sewing it closed on both ends. Then I got a horrible phone call.
My husband called (very calm, by the way) and said that El fell and slammed her head onto one of the metal chair legs at church. She was bleeding a lot, and definitely needed stitches and would I please get a hold of her doctor?
Yes, I absolutely would! Except that it was after hours. And the Urgent Care at her clinic wasn’t equipped to handle stitches. Thankfully, there was a hospital close to our house that we went to and, wonder of wonders!, the E.R. wasn’t packed! It wasn’t even busy! I think we wound up waiting fifteen minutes before we got sent in to see a doctor. She got all of the little things taken care of; heart rate, temperature, weight, etc. By this time, I hadn’t seen the extent of the damage – my husband is really good and had gotten her bandaged up with gauze and cleaned up pretty ok. She did have some blood caked in her hair and I did have to soak her dress in the bath tub, but I already knew head wounds bled a lot, so I was already prepared. But I wasn’t so much prepared when they took the bandage off. It was small, yes, maybe an inch. But it was deep. I saw bone. I almost threw up. However, I wanted to be strong for the kiddo, so I didn’t say anything. They numbed and stitched her up with five stitches and she was good to go. She didn’t even cry in the hospital. Holy cow.

Boy, was I thanking God after that mess.
My tough little girl. Did I mention she likes snakes? She got to hold one yesterday and was just too excited. She actually is the girliest girl I have ever met, but man! She has the heart of a lion!
So, long story short; snakes yesterday, almost finished a strap, blood, E.R., stitches, milkshake, bed. The stress from the purse was nothing compared to this, and I finished it in a much more relaxed manner.

Thank you, God, for putting things in perspective. Please don’t do it again.