ABC Book #1

I am in the process of making E, my 21 month old daughter, an alphabet book. This all came about because I found these awesome slide door books (Piggy Tales) on clearance at 50% off! I bought two and have decided one will be the ABCs. It took a LOT of planning because there are only 8 pages (and as many sliding doors!) So I'm getting creative with it :-)

I work on this in small pieces. I'm borrowing Everyday Paper Dolls and Paper Dolls Dress Up (Cricut cartridges!) from friends, so I want to get all my pieces/parts figured out before laying out the majority of the book. I am also heavily relying on Animal Kingdom, Hannah Montana (I know, I know), and Doodlecharms.

This is post one in the series about the book. I have a lot more bits done than big pieces, but here's the overall effect I'm going for: 

Then you will slide the door and there will be:

I haven't decided if I will be putting the word for the picture on the book yet. I'm working with about 2x3" spaces here....

RAK #2

This card went to an amazing military mom of three whose hubby is currently deployed.

If *anyone* on this planet deserves a day out, it's her. I wish I could have done more for her!!!

RAK #1

2010 hasn't had the best beginning for lots of people that I know. So somewhere in the middle of last month, I decided I wanted to give people something little to smile about. So I picked up a small stash of gift cards. This round of RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) cards contained a gift card for Starbucks.

I picked up the most adorable stamp set with all of the "coffee" themed stamps. These are my first two cards. I'll try to post these as soon as the recipients receive them. I wouldn't want to ruin anyone's surprise :-)

I used Bo Bunny paper on this card. 

The second card was a scalloped rectangle that I bought and folded in half. The coffee cup and phrase are from my stamp set. The "whipped cream" on my coffee is from a Snow Pen. This can also be done with Liquid Applique (which I found out on Saturday night!)

  Hopefully I'll be posting LOTS more of these in the near future!!

Cappuccino TO DIE FOR Cinnamon Rolls

Ok, ok, so I might have added to the recipe title a bit. But they are OH SO DELICIOUS! And I didn't want you to think I'd forgotten about the blog! I've been busy working on some TOP SECRET paper projects, which will be revealed shortly. But until then.....

 I found this recipe in a Taste of Home magazine article last spring.  We tried them on Easter and I was HOOKED!

I won't lie, they are a lot of work. But they're worth every second it takes to make them!

I tried them again when I got my Cuisinart stand mixer for my birthday (one of my top two favorite appliances ever! Thanks Hubby!) Since I didn't intend to make this for a blog, I don't have wonderful photographs of every step. So for today's purposes, it went something like this:

 
Dough after first rise.

Log of cappuccino-cinnamony goodness

Into the oven they go!

Meanwhile, I made the icing. Mmmm icing.

The finished product is a GORGEOUS and huge cinnamon roll!

 

This is a sneaky picture from Easter (hence the Easter basket in the background) but it's just to prove that these *always* turn out beautiful!

And unfortunately I don't have any pictures of them iced because, well, my hands were too gooey and my mouth was too full.   I do, however, have a picture of the Hubby voicing his approval:

Cappuccino Cinnamon Rolls

• 12 Servings
• Prep: 45 min. + rising Bake: 25 min.

Ingredients

• 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
• 3/4 cup warm milk (110° to 115°)
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1-1/4 teaspoons salt
• 5-1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 
  FILLING:
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons instant coffee granules
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 
  ICING:
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 to 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons cappuccino mix
• 1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the warm milk, buttermilk, sugar, butter, salt and 4 cups flour. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky).
• Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Punch dough down; turn onto a floured surface. Roll into an 18-in. x 12-in. rectangle; brush with butter. Combine the brown sugar, coffee granules and cinnamon; sprinkle over dough to within 1/2 in. of edges.
• Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 slices. Place rolls, cut side down, in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
• Bake at 350° for 22-28 minutes or until golden brown. Place pan on a wire rack. In a small bowl, beat the icing ingredients until smooth. Spread over rolls. Serve warm. Yield: 1 dozen.

Nutrition Facts: 1 roll equals 436 calories, 9 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 22 mg cholesterol, 328 mg sodium, 82 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 7 g protein.

Hoppy Birthday!

I made this card for a niece. She was turning 6. She's a girl who likes to kiss frogs from the pond in her backyard :-)

I used the Animal Kingdom cartridge for my Cricut to make the frog. The party hat is from the Celebration cartridge. The font is from Plantin Schoolbook, with some of the letters "real dial" sized.

Inside I added a gift die from the Celebration cartridge.

Spaghetti on the Wall

Throw spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks: (v)

                                                                         Joe-Ks

I've been contemplating a blog for my crafting, sewing, cooking etc for awhile. My hurdle? A name. I was THAT hung up on a name that it's been MONTHS since I first started thinking about this. 

And here we are. Spaghetti on the walls. We're going to throw stuff at the screen and see what sticks.  I'm going use this blog to encompass all of these areas, possibly even my husband's photography hobby will come into play. Such as this:

From FOOD This is my homemade pizza. Maybe we'll get to that in the next entry.