Banner Day: A Tutorial

My first tutorial to be exact! *Disclaimer alert* I am no Martha Stewart, but I enjoy crafting and creating pretty things, even if they don't turn out exactly 'as pictured'. They are made with a whole lotta love.


A banner day, indeed!

Real Simple: Entertaining & Cooking

Party planning is fun, but it can also be very daunting. Trying to stick within a budget, plan the perfect menu and then to actually make it all, can almost drive a girl crazy (and believe me, my husband has seen it happen.) I have discovered some easy entertaining tips and quick easy recipes that are a cinch to make and will impress your guests too!

My husband and I organize small get-togethers with the youth of our church as well as a christian apologetics meetings. Any excuse to try out some new recipes and make a pretty table-scape, I am down. But first...

Organization is key to make hosting a breeze. There are six questions to answer to get started: What is the date? How many guests will be there? What is the location? What type of party will it be? What is your budget? Is there going to be music or entertainment?

For our particular parties, we don't have too much involved but it still requires some delish food to share. This last weekend we had a game night on Saturday and then a belated Mother's Day celebration with the family on Sunday. Both days I tried out these simple yet tasty recipes.

Inspired by Ina Garten's recipe, these beauties took only have the work but sure tasted like the real deal. The secret is in the frosting. Homemade is always the way to go- none of this store bought stuff!

And the cupcakes themselves were equally as easy to make. All I had in the house was a box of Betty Crocker yellow cake mix but to turn my yellow cake into chocolate cake, I added 1/4 cup cocoa powder to the dry mix before adding the rest of the ingredients. You never would have known it was yellow cake. Put a nice dollop of the frosting on the cupcakes and voila, dessert perfection!

For our Mother's day dinner, I made spanish rice to go on the side. In the latest issue of "Everyday Food", Martha offers a simple recipe that is sure to please. I substituted the white rice for long grain rice and cooked it a little bit longer but it was oh so good. Jeremy asked me to make it again for his lunch this week. It must have been good for him to ask for it twice in one week! I was faced with a dilemma, however. I usually buy the tiny 6 oz. cans of tomato paste, but my husband bought the ingredients this time and he opted for the larger, 15 oz. can. What to do with all the leftovers? I certainly won't be using all the rest within the next week.

I looked around my kitchen and found these foil cupcakes trays. After using them to bake my dessert in, I cleaned them out and filled them with remaining tomato paste and stuck it in the freezer. After they have frozen, you can remove the pieces individually and put them in a bag. The next time you need one tablespoon of tomato paste, you don't even need to measure it. Just take one of your tomato paste balls from the freezer and drop it into the saute pan!

Party planning shouldn't be so involved that you can't even enjoy the celebration. Take some time to plan ahead and prepare for the big day, pick out some simple recipes and enjoy the party!

Sewing Kit in a Mason Jar

How come mason jars are so cute? I think it is the old fashioned charm they give off. Whatever it is, I love them. I am so tempted to buy the mason jar mugs from Pottery Barn. Our wedding had a 'country chic' theme and we filled some jars with white sand and candles to light the way into the reception hall. Too cute!

When I saw this on Martha's page, I had to make one! But I recently found a full tutorial with pictures to walk you through each step. With just a small list of supplies: fabric scrap, jar with lid and band, cotton balls or fiberfill, card stock and glue gun, it's so easy and definitely a nice addition to your crafting room (or in my case, just a desk but someday :P). I think this would also make a great gift for friends, Mom or beginner sewers. Who wouldn't love to get one of these charming little jars?!

Sewing 101

I have mentioned before that I am no Martha Stewart. I can't whip up fancy meals with the ease that she does, I can't plant container gardens with as much success as she does, I can't dye beads for craft projects as good or mess free as she does, and I certainly can't sew baby booties as well or cute as she does.

Well, I have an even more embarrassing confession to make. When I first got my sewing machine I was instructed by a friend on the basics. My friend, who is self taught and been sewing (gorgeous things of course) for years, taught me so surely I would end up being as good as her, right?! When I put my machine to use after that, I couldn't understand why all my projects were turning out like this.

I just couldn't get it, sewing couldn't possibly be this hard, right!? I about gave up and moved on to other crafts while my sewing machine sat dormant. I read this blog and was inspired to try one more time to figure out what the problem was. Turns out, I missed a very important step. That very important step is where you slide the thread through the tension slit on the bobbin. I was just pulling the thread straight through the hole and not through the very tiny side slit, therefore giving the thread no tension.

Boy am I glad for the internet and it's limitless ways of helping me solve problems, answer questions and give me delicious recipes and craft ideas from other bloggers. After that small incident, I turn to the professionals now: How to Thread a Bobbin. Which also reminds me of the episode from one of the funniest shows in existence where Lucy attempts to make her first sewing project- a homemade dress. Oh Lucy, I can totally relate! :)

Lovely Spring Inspiration

The wait is over

Martha sure knows how to turn an ordinary product into a hot commodity. This was the case for the Knit Wit. After it was featured in her magazine, demand became so high for this knitting tool that orders were backed up for months. I was supposed to receive mine for Christmas but my order too was backed. It has been 2 months since it's order date and it finally arrived.

In anticipation for my long awaited new crafting tool, I looked online for inspiration and ideas. What I came up with were some very pretty shawls and scarves. It is starting to look a lot like spring over here in Seattle, despite being the middle of February, but there's no harm in getting a head start to the scarf making season, right?!

I'm going to be testing my new toy out this weekend and will post the result next week!

My Love-Hate Relationship

Let me start off by saying that I am no Martha Stewart, and it is something I am trying to come to grips with.

Maybe it's just me but whenever I make something from Martha's Everyday Food magazine, the finished dish bears little resemblance to the one in the picture. As I've started sewing, I am coming to realize that too is a lot harder than it looks in the magazines or on the website!

Here is my rendition of the baby booties I posted about earlier. So cute when Martha did it and a little less so with mine. I know she has tons of very good crafting and/or cooking experts working for her, but they sure put my stuff to shame. Well, at least it gives me something to strive for; crafting perfection!

Embroidery is a little bit easier. I'm taking a liaison from sewing to work on this. My idea is bible verse nursery decor. This is the start of a pillow to be placed on a rocking chair and the next project is an embroidered Noah's ark alphabet blanket. We'll see how it all turns out!