An Outting to Art on Tap

For those who know me, I'm a pretty crafty person. I love making stuff! Although I enjoyed my time in shop class while in high school, I'm still kicking myself for not taking an art class... It was the one class I was so excited to take when I was in elementary and junior high, and then never did when I reached high school. The other month, a good friend of mine invited me to join her at Art on Tap. I had never heard of it before, but it sounded fun so I was all in. After checking out their website, I discovered it's  a weekly event (you have to RSVP prior) that takes place at one of the wineries or distilleries around town where an instructor teaches you how to paint the featured picture. Mini-art class? Heck yes! And it was so much fun!

When Miss Megan and the rest of her posse arrived at the Montgomery Distillery, the five of us staked out our easels, and headed to the bar to claim our free drink (it's included in the class and who can say no to a free drink?!) Mine was delicious - had vodka, honey, a few other things and a rosemary twig for garnish. 

 I would guess there was enough easels for about 40 people, but I would guess that maybe 25 people were there. We, obviously, started with the background, and she demonstrated how to bend the colors. I stuck with the same colors the instructor was using. A lady behind me added purple streaks to hers, which I loved and wish I would have thought of that too. Next time!

Then we had a short break so the backgrounds could dry. During the intermission, we added more paint to our trays and mingled for a bit. There was a poker game going on at the distillery as well so it was a little louder than I had expected it to be, but it was enjoyable none-the-less. After our break we dove into painting the flowers after she demonstrated the shapes and how to shade. I clearly missed something with the shading. The featured painting had orange flowers with yellow highlights, so maybe my problem was the different color flowers. I tried to add some red highlights, but then I ended up with a pink color, when I still wanted it to be purple... It all came together once we added the stems. 

It was fun to walk around and see everyone else's paintings. All the same, but all different at the same time. 

These are two of the many pictures the instructor had on display. My favorite ones by far! The wheat in the corner along with the wheat fields remind me of home. I don't know what it is about the trees, but I love that one as well. Maybe sometime I can recreate the wheat one...

As soon as I arrived home from Art on Tap, Perry helped me hang my flowers at the end of the hall. I had taken down a picture Kimberli drew for me and moved it to my gallery wall (which is missing one thing, and then I'll show you that!) and since then this spot has been bare. We didn't notice it around the holidays because this is where we hang a couple stockings, but as soon as the decorations came down, the blankness started to bother Perry. Problem solved thanks to an enjoyable afternoon! I'm definitely going back soon!

Look Whoo's Turning 1!!

A year already! Say what?! 

When she was a newborn, I wondered what she would look like when she was a year old. Now that it's here, I look at her and think, "When did that happen?" 

This little girl took two naps today because I knew she would need the extra rest. She woke from her second nap right before dinner, which gave me just enough time to change her into her birthday outfit. (Nanny bought it for her nine months ago, and it still fits...) She is just so CUTE! I held her hands as she practiced walking to the living to see all of her party guests. I helped her balance there for a while, but eventually she forgot because she was too distracted by her beads. Every day she's getting better and better at standing alone. 

 I was pretty determined for her to wear this headband, but she's at a point where she hates any kind of headband. I hate it. She looks so adorable with them on...

I have yet to post a tour of her room, but it's owl themed. Sticking with the theme, so is her cake! The top reads "Look Whoo's 1!" And this girl knew it - she was such a show off today!

After dinner, Charlotte opened her presents, with *a lot* of help from Hunter and JP.  

 She has the cutest giggle and shared it with us when she was checking out this toy from Nanny. 

 I spoiled her a little this morning and let her play with this cabbage patch doll before I wrapped it. When I handed it to her, she snatched it up and gave it a kiss. So sweet!

It was a gorgeous day out today, so I opted for us to do her cake smash on the deck. 

 She didn't go too crazy with it. At first she just picked off the letters on the top before she eventually went for the owl head. 

 Before she could devour it, Hunter came to the rescue to free the bird head from her mouth, and the body from her hand. 

 

 A couple minutes later, she was done. She realized she had that dreaded headband on, so she took it off and scooted away. 

 After all that decorating, this is what is left of her cake. So much work just to be smashed, but totally worth it!

"Owl" always love you!

To see her party in motion, go here!

Hair Bows

I've been on a felt kick the last few days. I'm anxious to learn to make different flowers, but until then, I'm working with what I know.

These are the hair clip bows I worked on tonight. Super easy to make. And quicker than the flowers!

Using a hot glue gun, quickly glue the edges of the clip and add felt to it. CAUTION: The other side of the clip will be hot when you press the felt to it. (I learned this the hard way a few times!) I say do this quick because the cold clip cools the glue pretty quickly.

Once its fully dry, cut the excess off around it.

Next, using the same color that you covered the clip with, cut out an oval and a little rectangular strip.

Pinch the sides together in the middle and glue the crease together. Once dry, glue the strip over top and secure on the bottom as well. Glue bow to clip and your done!

I thought these were cute hair clips too!

T-Shirt Scarf

I have a TON of old t-shirts that are just packed away in boxes. Initially they get put there because I either needed more room in my dresser, or I just simply hadn't warn them in a while. Seasons changes and the boxes get shuffled around a bit but the same shirts remain in the boxes time after time. I can't throw them away because what if one day I wanted to wear it again. Ugh! Plus some of them aren't just shirts. Some of them have memories attached to them. Like the one I brought home from Odessa when visiting a friend, or the one I received at State BPA. Clearly they are all at least 6 years old and haven't been wore for about 4 years.... So now its time I start making them into something that I will wear again.

My younger sister was passing through tonight so I wrangled her into helping me out with this one. I didn't tell her what we were making - I just told her what to do to help : ) Turns out its hard for a lefty to use right-handed scissors. Initially we were going to make two scarves, but we merged them into one. Here's how we did it:

1. Lay out the shirt flat. An ironed shirt works better than a wrinkled one. Cut the bottom hem off and save it.

2. Grab a 9'' paper plate. You can either trace around it and then cut it out, or do like we did, pin the plate to the shirt and then cut around it. In total, you want to aim to make 10 circles. Using XL or XXL probably works best. I used size Large and could only get 8, which is why we ended up putting ours together. After you cut one out, place it on top the shirt and pin it. This makes cutting them out easier.

3. One you have all 8-10 circles, your going to do what I did when I made the felt flowers. Cut the circle into a long strip, approximately 2'' wide. The skinner you cut the longer it will be. Keep in mind, one of these pieces equals half a length of your scarf.

4. Once you reach the end, Hold the piece from what would have been the middle. Start at the top and gently put down on the fabric. This will stretch it out a bit and create a wavy look.

5. After all the circles are cut and pulled out, match up the lengths as best you can. (Robin had to cut one to make it shorter as it ended up 6'' longer than the rest because she cut it too thin!)

6. Using fabric glue, glue the matched pieces together. I glued the end of the strips together that would have been the middle of the circles.

7. If you used different colors like we did, mix them up a bit once they are all glued together.

8. Bunch up the strips of fabrics, holding all the glued pieces in the same spot. Using the hem strip, wrap it around the glued part to cover it up and then tie it in a pretty knot to hold it all together. 

And Wah-La! A t-shirt scarf. Good to dress up, or dress down any outfit!

Pancakes

Okay, so they aren't perfect, but the boys loved them anyways! Yesterday we had a family day. Perry and I very rarely, unless we request it, have days off together. We started it by sleeping in...til 8:30a. (A rarity at our house.) And finished the morning with a nice family breakfast.

I received a "I don't know what you call it" tube container thing in my stocking from Santa. It has a little piece on the end for you to draw out your shapes with. The first time I used it, my batter was too lumpy and think so they didn't turn out very well. This was my second attempt at using it before I hid it in the back of the pantry.

Hunter requested a pig. JP didn't know what he wanted so I created him a car. Turned out WAY bigger than I had pictured it in my head, so the boys ended up splitting the car and I at the pig. Perry requested a triangle. ( I later made him the letter "P" ) Aunt Kile showed up for breakfast just in time to request her heart shaped pancake.

Wine Bottles

This year my sisters and I agreed not to get each other presents, which is rather untypical of us. Sometimes its a free for all, other times we draw names and get a gift for one person. And then sometimes we'll draw names and a get a gift for that person, and everyone else still. Regardless, we settled on no gifting this year.

And then I found this really cute idea and could not say no! I was going to get them each a nice bottle of wine but...Nanny has how many cases left from my wedding? Kile is probably a wine connoisseur by now. Not sure if Kim and Robin are wine drinkers so I went the easy route and a purchased three Arbor Mists (all of different flavors of course!) and my mom my favorite wine - Barefoot's Pinot Grisio. Love this stuff and it goes great with pizza! Here's how they turned out!

Easiest thing to do! Get a pair of knee high sock and stick a bottle of wine in one. I tied the end in a knot and left the open end in the knot. With the other sock, I tied in into a make-shift bow. I found some inexpensive scrap booking paper and cut out name tags. I used a hemp like material to tie the tags to the bottle, but ribbon or yarn could easily be substituted. And then Ta-Da! You have a pretty little gift good for, in my case, Christmas. Also a nice hostess gift too! Why just bring a bottle of wine next time?

 Here's your cost break down:
Socks: $2.50 each at Target (Lot of fun ones there!)
            or $4.97 for a 3 pack at Wal-Mart
Wine: $3.57 for Arbor Mist (variable at your discretion)
Total: $6.07
Not bad at all!

Merry Christmas to all!

Baking Baking Baking....

This past month or so I've been in a baking mood. And cooking for that matter. At the end of October, our neighbor across the street brought us a HUGE bowl of plums from his backyard. You can only eat so many before you really shouldn't eat anymore. (I didn't let the boys have any specifically for this reason.) I would say the cupcakes from scratch started my baking mood, but these plums really added to it. I made....8 pie pans of plum crisp. We gave most of them away. Hunter and Jim were great helpers on the first few. They helped me sort through the bowl for the good ones, and de-pit them. (Hunter was much more successful at this part than Jim).

 Here's the recipe I used. It was SO yummy!

Plum Crisp

Filling: 

  4 c sliced plums

  1 tbs flour
  2 tbs sugar
  1 tsp vanilla
 1/2 tsp cinnamon (I added extra!)

Topping:

  1/2 c flour
  1/2 c oats
  1/2 c brown sugar
  1/8 tsp salt
  1/4 c butter or margarine melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl toss plums, flour, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon together.
3. Pour into ungreased 1 1/2-quart baking dish.
4. In a small bowl combine all topping ingredients.
5. Mix with a fork until crumbly.
6. Distribute topping mixture evenly over plums (I use my hands for this).
7. Bake in 350 degree oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until topping is crispy and golden brown

Last week I tried my hand at meal planning. It made grocery shopping so much easier! Monday we had Baked Cavatelli, Tuesday was Sloppy Joes (or Sloppy Jims at our house), Wednesday was Saucy Stuffed Shells (really good!) (we brought the leftovers to Perry at work. As soon as we got out of the car and started walking up to the store, Hunter yelled loud enough for the entire parking lot to hear "Daddy I brought you supper!" Super cute) Thursday my dad joined us for dinner having Chicken Cacciatore. Friday Aunt Kim and Uncle Ray Ray joined us for leftover chicken and Greenbean Casserole. I was surprised Hunter didn't eat it as he loves greebeans. 

On Saturday Mom and Dad Patrick and Mom and Dad Dustin and Kim and Ray joined us for the Cat/Griz game followed by Hunter's 3rd birthday party. I made Hunter a firetruck cake this year. He has told us a few times that he wants to be a fireman when he grows up. Needless to say, he loved his cake! 


I'm lucky I started early though! This is cake #2. I glued the wrong piece on top for the body. This was also my first time using fondant. I think it turned out fine : ) 


All day the only thing the boys wanted to do was to open the fridge to look at the fire truck. Jimmy enjoyed picking the lights off the truck to eat them and surprisingly Hunter didn't mind that he did. Hunter and Jimmy left with Papa Craig on Monday and have spent this week farming and the like with him. Sounds like they're having fun!

October 21, 2011

Needless to say blogging is not one of my strong points. Here goes my 2nd attempt at blogging regularly.


Hmm...where to start! After going to the DMV today and finding out you had to have an appointment to renew your license (though I'm only updating my name), I returned home and told the boys we were going to make cupcakes. I thought we had the box mix. Turns out we didn't so we had to make them from scratch. Not exactly what I was planning on but we made it work. 


While they were baking I started to prepare lunch, at 10:30a. I knew from my experience last year it was going to take a while. We made Halloweenies. Same thing as pigs in a blanket but you wrap the lil smokies up so they look like mummies. Hunter and Jimmy loved them.

As I was wrapping them, Hunter picked up 2 and said "This is mommy and this is daddy." He proceeded to dance them around the tray and finally said with a big smile on his face "They're getting marrrrried!" I then asked him if he wanted to get married. He says he wants to marry Aunt Kile. I told him he'll have to take that one up with Uncle Chris since he asked her first. 


Our afternoon was fairly uneventful. So after naps we went to Wal-mart to get some things for dinner and saw daddy. Hunter also believes he saw Aunt Kile and Uncle Chris outside the store... While cooking dinner, the boys nicely played in Jimmy's room, or so I thought. I found this when I opened the door: