Speechless Sunday

 

Happy January! I just love this beautiful hand-lettered J by local artist Mary Kate McDevitt. And I like living in Portland, along with all these cool, artistic people.

The Second One With the Restrospective Christmas Craft: Handmade Cards

There was an error with my printing order for my Christmas cards, so I had to print some last-minute at Target. Eventually, I decided just to print some 4x6s of the girls and incorporate them into handmade cards for friends and family. Here are how a few of them turned out.

The paper is from Craft Warehouse. And Target prints great photos, if you're looking for a place.

The First One With the Restrospective Christmas Craft: Tree-rific Table Runner

So since I missed a couple of Christmas-related posts due to being sick, roadtripping and moving, I thought I'd share them now. Better late than never, right? That's my philosophy this year since I also just sent out our Christmas cards. Yay for me. But at least this way you can keep all these fabulous ideas in mind for next year. Hehe.
Also, do you like my clever name for this table runner? It's tree-rific, don' you think?

You may have noticed that I have an obsession with trees, especially around Christmas time. So when I saw this Christmas tree fabric at Joann's, I knew that I had to get it and do something with it. Mallory and her sister Hailey had made some adorable table runners that I saw at their house so I asked her for the inspiration and she sent me this link to Tricky Tablerunner by Laura over at Spool. I made one for my mother-in-law's Christmas present. And I still have some left over fabric that will someday be turned into another variation of this table runner for someone else. I'll just go ahead and add it to the ever-mounting pile of "to-dos". Anyway... I do think it turned out pretty well. I staged it with my paper trees from last year's Christmas decor and some LED candles... because actual candles, when combine with grabby babies, have ruined my table runners in the past. :-(

This is a really simple sewing craft if you're looking for a beginner's project, especially one to give as a gift. You can simplify it from the original by omitting the border and binding. Instead, make your top layer and cut your backing fabric to be the same size. Put your two sides face together and sew around three edges. Sew all but a few inches of the fourth side, clip your corners so that they'll lay nicely, and turn your fabrics right side out. Sew up the remaining few inches and you're done! Of course, this doesn't have to be limited to Christmas. Any fabrics could be used for any occasion. I think I need to make a spring themed one and hopefully convince some warmer weather to come our way. Our table is looking a little bare in our new house.

The One With the Chocolate-Filled Croissants

A couple of years ago, on Christmas, I came up with the most brilliant idea ever: Chocolate-Filled Croissants. Ok, it's not like penicillin or anything, but I do like it a lot.

The great thing about these is that they are so simple and easy to make, yet they feel really special. They are the perfect thing for Christmas morning, when you've likely gotten a late start on making breakfast but still want to make something a bit out of the ordinary.

Chocolate-Filled Croissants

• Croissants from the bakery of your grocery store
• Milk chocolate chips or Hershey's Chocolate Kisses 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Use a knife to make a horizontal cut  into the croissants, leaving one side connected but creating a cavity to be filled with chocolate. Put some chocolate chips or Hershey's Kisses inside. (Kisses melt better, making the chocolate gooey-er. However, chocolate chips tend to retain a little more shape which gives the croissants a nice texture. Just use whatever you have on hand.) Wrap each croissant in aluminum foil and place in the oven for about 20 minutes, or just as long as you're making whatever else goes with your feast. Might I suggest scrambled eggs with tomatoes, green onions, chives and garlic along with berries and whipped cream, and of course, a side of bacon? It's our traditional spread. And it's awesome.

There you have it. Christmas morning (or New Year's Day, or whatever special occasion) simplified.

I linked this recipe up on Tastetastic Thursday #16 on A Little Nosh. 

The One Where Olivia is 10 Months Old

Olivia turned 10 months old a few days ago.

My sweet Wia. She's got a million places to go and a million things to see. Every day is a new adventure for her. This past month has been a tough one for our whole family and she's had the hardest time adjusting to all the traveling and moving we've been doing. But she's still my sweet baby girl. Always so full of laughs. Always so fun to be with.

And she may never know that her real name is Olivia. Just the other day I was holding her and looked down and asked her, "Are you ever going to know your real name?" She shook her head no quite enthusiastically. I love that Ellie calls her "Wivvy" sometimes. "Wivvy, Wivvy, Wivvy! Come here." And she's always getting bossed around by her big sister. "Careful, Wia!" "Wia, my stuff!" But she also gets looked after. Ellie likes to make sure she has her blanket or toys. She even gets her water bottles when she notices that "Wia thirsty." Now that they share a room, whenever I go into their room in the morning Ellie likes to update me on what she's been up to. "Wia bouncing." "Wia [needs] diaper change."

And boy does Olivia cruise around. She's always poking around and into everything. Reading books and exploring toys, at least as long as she can before Ellie comes and takes it away from her. She likes to get the baskets of toys out from the little shelf in her room. The cutest thing is that she actually tries to put the baskets back when she's done.

We celebrated her first Christmas with her a few weeks ago. It's fun that she actually knows what presents are and tries to tear into the wrapping paper herself now. And apparently she strongly dislikes hats.

I just love that little girl so very much. I better get to bed so that I can be up early to snuggle her.

The One With My Favorite Recipes from 2011

In the later half of 2011 I was really trying to expand my repertoire of dinners and desserts. I want to grow in my ability to cook healthy, delicious meals for my family even more in 2012. But first I'm revisiting some of my favorite recipes from 2011. These are all good and I'm going to be making them again soon.

Favorite Family Dinners

• Turkey Stuffing Bake - easy and delicious all year round
• Veggie Casserole - meatless, yummy and warm
• Nacho Bake - easy to make the meat and beans part in doubles and make your life easier later in the week
• Chicken Wraps - always good
• Famous Sub Sandwiches - always a crowd pleaser
• Chicken Korma - a little more time consuming to make, but if you make double it's good the next day as a chip dip

Favorite Party Food

• Tortellini, Broccoli and Bacon Salad - so simple and so good
• Brushcetta - fresh, yummy, and easy to boot
• Potato Bacon Bites - need I say more?
• Passion Lemonade - a little twist on a classic
• Of course, Famous Subs and Chocolate Chip or Almond Scones are also great for parties

Favorite Sweet Things - these don't require much description. They're amazing. You should make some. And maybe I will, too.

• Egg-free Chocolate Chip Scones
• Egg-free Petite Almond Scones
• Dutch Baby Pancakes
• Salted Caramel Chocolate Pie
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Bites
• Pumpkin Spice French Toast (for Thanksgiving!)
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Fudgy Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars

Favorite Cakes and Cupcakes

• Pink Almond Party Cake
• Cherry Coke Chocolate Cake
• Lambie Cupcakes (for Easter!)
• Sweetheart Cupcakes (for Valentine's Day!)
• Strawberry Lemonade Cake
• Caramel Cake (especially great for Book Clubs discussing The Help)

 It was a good year. And I'm looking forward to the next.

The First One of 2012

 

Happy 2012!

I apologize that I've been a little MIA these past few weeks. I didn't want to worry anyone (sorry, Ellen!), but we have just been busy little bees. Christmas "break" was just about the farthest thing from an actual break. The whole family got the flu as soon as Steve took work off. Then we road tripped to Idaho to visit my family for Christmas. As soon as we made the trek back we moved into a new house. It has certainly been a crazy couple of weeks. I just unburied my laptop this morning... and still have a lot of unpacking to do.

But I have been taking pictures for you so that I can post a few retrospective posts.

First up: New Year's Eve cupcakes. How else would I ring in the New Year than with great friends, board games, s'moretinis and cupcakes.

I just made chocolate cupcakes with a mint buttercream frosting and sprinkled them with some gold pearilized sugar.

To make some Mint Buttercream Frosting of your own you'll need:

• 1 pound (3 1/4 cups, loosely packed) powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 4-8 tablespoons milk or water*
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp mint extract

First, combine the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla and mint. Blend in the water one tablespoon at a time until you have reached your desired consistency. 

*I don't notice much of a difference between the use of milk or water in this recipe. Some people think the milk makes it creamier, however, if you use milk the cupcakes must be refrigerated.

I know I'm looking forward to 2012 and I hope that you are, too! I've got lots of great things coming up and hope you'll stick around, despite my recent absence. See you again soon!