glasses

I saw this cool project for etching the bottom of a pint glass.  I thought this would be a perfect gift for my sister-in-law's boyfriend.  I used clear contact paper with my Silhouette (this machine makes so many things so much easier!), etching cream I got from Hobby Lobby forever ago, and a set of 4 small tumblers (the bases were bigger than regular pint glasses) that I got from Target.

 

as happy as I was at how well the first one came out, I thought I'd make each glass different.

I googled warnings and came across some to use,

and Matt helped out with this one - of course ;)  we're fans of The IT Crowd so I couldn't turn down one involving Rohypnol!  gotta love Moss :)

this one is probably my favorite.  it's a bit of a departure from the original idea, but still fits with the recipient's humor.

these worked up quickly and were surprisingly easy to do.  I've etched glass before and for some reason it was a big headache, but this project went very smoothly and I am excited to give them away :)

bread pudding muffins

being as absent minded as I've been lately I bought a loaf of bread, forgot I had it and bought another!  I'd usually freeze the extra loaf for later, but I noticed the date on the older bag said November 30 :(  it wasn't moldy, didn't smell and was still mostly soft, but the thought of "expired" bread made my sandwich taste bad to me even though it was probably fine.  I figured I'd make cinnamon toast, French toast or just regular toast out of it, but remembered I haven't made bread pudding in forever! I laid out all the slices to make it really dry and stale and made this recipe from Joy of Baking.

I used craisins and raisins, but I forgot to grab pecans at the store and forgot to add the apples (never tried that before and was curious to see how it would taste, oh well!) but it was fine.  doughnuts are still my favorite to use for bread pudding, but the plain wheat wasn't too bad once I put the sauce on top - that's really what makes any bread pudding wonderful!

for the sauce you'll need:

1 cup sugar

1 stick butter

1/4 cup whiskey (Jack Daniels is our favorite)

just enough water to make it liquid

heat a sauce pan up and pour the whiskey in - carefully! - and let it smoke to burn off the alcohol.  toss in the butter and let that melt before adding the sugar.  stir constantly, adding water as needed to make it nice and liquid.  pour over the bread pudding before serving.

lil fuzzies

I wanted to make something soft for Jack to wear in the hospital, so I did a chunky hat and booties from some fuzzy brown yarn I had and a 9mm hook.  I felt like I was doing it blind because the stitches just sorta disappear, but somehow they came out okay!

I made Leo some booties that were too small for his big feet, so I went a little bigger on these, but watch Jack have smaller feet!  at least if they're big he can grow into them.  I used this video tutorial to make them.

for the hat I did it like the newsboy hat by making a circle and then doing straight sides down from there and just finishing it off when I thought it looked long enough.  I like how the big hook and double crochet give it texture, but it's not too hole-y looking with the fuzzy yarn filling in the spaces.

this set took me much less time to make (maybe about an hour total) and I absolutely love them!

Christmas wreath

right after Thanksgiving we went out to east Texas for the weekend and I swiped a bunch of pine cones to use for another wreath.  I got my wreath form on sale, and picked up some ribbon and poinsettias from the Dollar Tree, and used plastic ornaments I already had on hand.  this was a group project, so I needed it to be less expensive, and it ended up only costing me about $6!

it was really simple to make.  we wrapped ribbon around the wreath and filled in with the pine cones, ornaments, and flowers.  we were a mix of seasoned and green crafters, but everyone's wreaths turned out great!

I'm so happy when my group craft projects turn out well and with minimal injuries :)  staying away from hot glue helps, but because these weren't store bought pine cones they were sharp and there was still the occasional "ouch!" whispered in the making - between the wire twisting, pine cone pokes, and wreath scratches I know I had my fair share!

one thing that I learned doing this wreath was not to turn my nose up to cheaper "silk" flowers.  the Dollar Tree by our house has a bunch of poinsettias, but they're all mushed together and crumpled and just not really all that attractive, so I was a little anxious about finding filler there for these wreaths.  I got some just to see if I could straighten out the petals and it wasn't working :(  then I looked over at the corner of the room and spotted the steamer and thought I'd see if I could get the fabric to relax with a little steam - and it worked awesomely!  I will be going back to get more just to use for holiday arrangements around the house now that I know I can fix them easily :)

baby newsboy hat

I had some yarn left over from the grey and red loafers I crocheted, so I thought I'd make a matching hat.  I google image searched and found this adorable hat :)  I didn't have the size hooks called for in the pattern, and my yarn is a little thicker, so I had to fudge it here and there.

I did the strap across the front the same as the strap for the loafers, I just made it longer.

it was an easy hat to make once I got the sizing right, and I might attempt another in the future, but for now I just like looking at this one and imagining it on Jack's little head :)

ninjabread men!

I saw this kit at World Market and just had to get it :)  I love unique cookie cutters and these were just too cool!  I can't wait to make them.  I'm not a big fan of ginger, but I'm thinking I could do molasses or just plain sugar cookies, too.

 

maybe we'll make a gingerbread dojo, too!  I've never made a gingerbread house and every year I tell Matt we have to make one (I figured he'd be on board with something that he can build and then eat) but we never end up doing one :(  I need to practice and get good at them for when the kiddos are older.