Jamie Cooks It Up!

Dear hubby is back at school this week so I've had some free time on my hands.   Thus the 2 posts this week.    Anywho...I was looking at this wonderful blog Jamie Cooks It Up! and I thought that I would share it with you.    Go to Jamie Cooks It Up! by clicking HERE and you will see all kinds of wonderful recipes.   Jamie is very funny and walks you through the prep on all of her recipes.   And does she ever have some wonderful recipes.   YES!!   Here are some samples:

Sugar cookie bars (easier than cut out cookies and just as pretty)

Healthy corn muffins

Chocolate candy bar cake

York Peppermint Patty Brownies

Macaroni Grill Bread

Oreo Bon Bons

And if you think her desserts look good, my gosh, her dinner recipes are just as wonderful.   We tried one of her side dish recipes, Baked Zucchini with Mozzarella.   Yum!!!

She has a ton of recipes on her blog.   Unique recipes.  Recipes that look fabulous and that make you say "I want to make that".  All nicely organized.   Go check her out.   As I was looking through her recipes, I was saying Oh, Karen would like this, Kim would like this one, Wendy would like this or I know Joni would like this one.    Let me know what you think of her recipes.  

Bye for now.

beautiful women and girls

I finished some scrapbook pages that I started at the Mega Meet with Karen in May....   Yes, it took me that long...       The photos don't do them justice, but I wanted to share them all with you.   If you click on the picture, it will open up in a larger window so you can see it better.   I hope you enjoy looking at all of these beautiful women and girls.

Jessica's prom.   Jessica was 18, Emily was 3.

Kim and Manny's Wedding, June 6, 1999.   Wendy was pregnant with Erik and Karen was pregnant with Anthony.    Is there anything more beautiful than a Bride or an Expectant Mother?

This was taken at my house sometime after 1988.   Not sure the exact date.

My God Daughter's wedding.

My Mom, sometime in the mid-40's I'm guessing since I was born in '47.

I've been getting some things on my list done so it's time to share.    I took a photo-editing online course from JessicaSprague.com and I've been working on restoring some old photos.    Here is a before and after:

What do you think?   Cute kids!   Wendy, Kim and Shel.  Here's another of me.

  

What do you think?   Was the class worth it?   Each photo took me a couple of hours to fix, but I'm just learning.   I'll get faster as I do more.   If anyone has a photo they would like me to work on, I would be glad to do it.  Just let me know.

I also finished the bags I was working on.   One for shopping and 2 for recyclables. 

This bag is made out of a large birdseed bag.   It took me a couple of minutes to whip it up.   It's quite large and holds a lot of groceries.   I found the instructions here.

We've been using plastic shopping bags to hold our recyclables in the house until they get carried out to the garage.   Since we are using our own bags for shopping, we don't have as many plastic bags anymore, so I needed something to hold the recyclables.   I actually needed two since sometimes one bag gets a little wet or dirty, so I need a spare for when one is in the wash.    I had these cute "vintage" pillow cases that I just couldn't part with, so I whipped them up into some bags.   Aren't they super?  And they work great.   If anyone has a pillow case they would like made into a bag, just let me know.   They are a piece of cake to make and I'd love to do it for you.

   

After I finished the bags, I had to make a slight detour to make this cute little chalkboard to label my STUFF.   Could this be why I have trouble finishing projects.....I get side-tracked so easily.    The chalkboard is decorated with rolled paper flowers.   Instructions for this little gem came from Here.

Okay, lastly, I finished the door stop for home.    A little hedgehog.   Isn't she adorable?

 

And her baby, too?  I got the hedgehog instructions here.

One final thing.     I never wanted this blog to be all about ME.   I'm hoping that something you find here will inspire you to try something new or perhaps you'll see something that you would like me to make for you.    I'll do it gladly for you my family and friends.  Luv ya!

Hi...I'm still here

I've been feelin' bad because I haven't updated you all on what I've been up to in a while.   Trouble is, I've been up to a lot of things, but nothing (and I mean NOTHING) I've been working on is done yet.    I don't know why I start so many projects and then get stalled on them.      I'll get them done.  I have to because they are sitting all over the house in various stages of unfinishedness.    I think I just invented a new word, here.    Until they are done enough to show you, I will just tell you that I have been:

• Taking an online class on "Restoring Old Photos".     I've just begun scanning old photos and working on restoring them.   
• Making some new t-shirts.   Four to be exact.    One is done, three are in process.
• Making tote bags for groceries and recyclables.   One is done two are still on my sewing table.
• Stamping cards from the card sets I bought at the Mega Meet.     About 1/2 way through that project.
• Trying to finish the scrapbook pages that we started at the Mega Meet.   Laid all the stuff out on the table (with the cards) and haven't done much.
• Fixing/repairing jewelry.    Got Lisa's jewelry fixed and back to her.   Still need to fix Wendy's necklace.
• Trying to make 2 doorstops.    One for the condo and one for home.    Started a crocheted one...didn't like it...scrapped it.    Started another one.   This one is done with a counted cross stitch sailboat and sunset on it...we'll see how that goes.
• Coasters.   This is a new project.   Dick asked me to make a set of tumbled stone coasters for a fellow teacher that is retiring.    We also need another set of coasters at the condo, so I thought I'd make a set for there as well.    These are both still in the planning stages.
• Working on some wall art for the condo....not making much progress.

Here is my daily dilema -

Are you still awake?    Boring stuff....nothing to show for much of this.     I promise pictures next post.

Lisa's 13th Birthday Party

Lisa celebrated her 13th birthday with a Glittery Spa Party.    I put together a scrapbook page (actually a double page) to help her remember the day.   Lisa is the lovely young lady with the red and white glasses.   She's also the one using cucumbers to remove those pesky "slumber-party" bags under her eyes.   Click on the picture to see a larger version.

Spring Break in Arizona

Here the highlights of our trip to Arizona.   I won't bore you with all of the pictures that we took (148 of them).    All of the cactus were in bloom so it was a picture takers (Me!) field day.    The main reason we went to Arizona at Spring Break was so that we could take some hikes when it wasn't too hot.    Last summer when we were there it was close to 100 degrees every day in Sedona and 110+ when we were in Scottsdale.    Much too hot to hike after 10 am.     This time the weather was perfect.   In the 60's and low 70's most of the time.    The first hike we took was the pathway near Bell Rock.     Here is a picture of Bell Rock.

Some people were going up the rock, but we stayed on flat ground.      Here is a picture of part of the Sedona landscape including Bell Rock.

This is what Sedona looks like in almost any direction, just the rocks change.    Most of the rocks have names like Bell Rock, Snoopy Rock, Cathedral Rock, Courthouse Rock, Coffeepot Rock, etc.  Lots of rocks in Sedona.  We flatland Midwesterners sometimes get caught calling them "mountains".

Our next hike was at Red Rocks State Park.   Unfortunately, Arizona has been hard hit with the recession (much like Michigan in that regard) and is closing 20 of its 29 State Parks this year.   This is one of our favorite parks and it's scheduled to close in June.    We took a Ranger guided hike here and saw some cactus blooming on the side of the rocks.

Our final hike in Sedona was to Crescent Moon Ranch Park.     Here we were on the lookout for the "most photographed site in Sedona".     This is it.

Here's a closeup of the beautiful red rocks.   All of the rocks in Sedona are this beautiful color and with 300+ sunny days the sky is almost always this color.   Love it!!!

When we left Sedona, we spent almost 2 full days in Scottsdale and we spent both of them at the Desert Botanical Gardens. The first day we also did "Jazz in the Gardens", a lovely evening under the desert sky listening to Jazz, sipping wine and nibbling on a wonderful cheese platter. Wow, what a great night that was.

The next morning we checked out of our hotel and headed straight back to the gardens. This is a picture of the glass structures at the entrance to the gardens. They were done by the world famous glass sculptur, Dale Chihuly. The garden is trying to raise the funds to keep the structures there permanently.

Again, almost all of the cactus were in bloom at the Botanical Garden.     Here is a picture of the opening gardens.    The Desert Botanical Garden is a fabulous place and very large.    We never get tired of going there.

OK, I can't resist....   Here's a saguaro cactus shaped collage of ALL of the 100 photos we took at the botanical garden.    If you want to see it larger, just click on the picture.

We're back from Spring break in Arizona and I'm catching up on my blog reading.    Here are some super cute things I've seen while reading.   

Mix mingle glow made this uber cute centerpiece with PEEPS.   Isn't it sweet?    Have to file that away in my memory bank for next year.

And this idea from Midwest Living magazine.   Now I'm on the lookout for an old umbrella.   Has to have that wonderful curved wooden handle.

Here's a printable menu planner that I really like.   I've seen these many times before, but this one fits my style of planning perfectly.    Here is where you can get your own copy if you like it, too.

Here is a great idea!    I'm thinking this may be an idea for a corner of the small bedroom at the condo.    It's made out of a bi-fold door and some moulding.   If you would like the instructions, you can find them Here.  It actually looks very easy to do.    I think I could even do it by myself ;-)

And this just blows me away!     I saw this and wanted to get dressed (I was still in my PJ's) and rush down to the Ann Arbor Reuse Center.   They ALWAYS have these old light fixtures there.   Then I though....where would I put it?   I don't have a large hallway like they do.   How about over the table at the condo?   Need a new light there, but NO, the drum shade would take up a lot of space in that small area.    Oh, well, I'll keep thinking....    Look at the before and after of these chandeliers.   Wow!!!

From this.....

To this....

Do you believe that?    If you want to see the complete how to do it....go Here

That's it for today, I've caught up on everything that was happening in my little corner of blogland.    Later this week I'll share some details of Spring Break.   See you soon.