JUST MARRIED SIGN

I found these really cute frames and hearts at Michael's leading up to Valentine's Day.....they were natural wood when I found them (sorry, I forgot to take a few pics before I started painting).  When I spotted them, my mind skipped right past Valentine's Day and went on to other ideas.....The first thing I thought of was the styled photo shoot my daughter and I were cooking up, plus I thought they would make an awesome "Just Married" sign for one of her June couples (we offered to make their sign for them).   Hey, what could be better?, two projects for the price of one!!!

I used craft paints to hand paint the hearts, using a sponge brush.  It went really quickly, although my usual anal retentive self, I had to go back with a small brush to get all the nooks and crannies since I didn't want the bare wood to show through.  That's okay....I just put on some great music and went to town...painting and singing away.  For the small hearts, I then sprinkled some (large particle) pink glitter on top which made them sparkle oh so sweetly!  For the larger hearts, I used an off-white as my base color and then trimmed the inside edge with pink paint using a fine brush.

For the frame, I went with spray paint...it was going to take way too long to hand paint (plus we had moved out of the below zero temps and I could use the garage).  While the paint was still slightly damp, I sprinkled a bit of the pink glitter on top...pretty.   I sprayed all of the pieces with a clear matte finish to seal and protect them.    
After we used the hearts and frame for the photo shoot, I transformed two of the hearts and the frame into a chalkboard that we could write on for the "Just Married" sign.  I had shared some chalkboard projects in a previous post and as I mentioned you can use chalkboard paint on virtually anything to create a chalkboard. So, I chose to use cardboard.  Yep....you heard me right!   In this particular case it was the perfect solution since I wanted something really light since we would be hauling it with us to the wedding, plus I wanted an easy and cost effective option to remove the chalkboard in the event I wanted to reuse the frame for a future project.  The cardboard was heading for the recycle bin, so I snagged it before it made it there.

Just a word of warning....be aware that the cardboard definitely soaks in the paint, so it takes a couple of good coats to get the right finish.  I used a really awesome font to write the words and went with chalkboard markers versus plain old chalk since I wanted it vibrant and dust free.  Last step, I opted for velcro to secure it to the frame.  I used the loop on the frame, that way if I removed the chalkboard and wanted to hang it on the wall as is, the soft side would be on the back..no harm, no foul. For the hearts, I did use my glue gun to secure the chalkboards.There wasn't much room around the inside border for velcro and I know I can easily remove them from the heart without too much difficulty since they're so small.

....and there you have it.  Can't wait for June 7th!  This wedding is going to be very unique, so this sign will fit right in....stay tuned to my Facebook page for the wedding photos.

BUSINESS SIGN

I saw this cute item on one of the shelves at Hobby Lobby....it caught my eye since the teal and grey are my daughter's business colors.  I took a phone pic and sent it to her to see what she thought; I told her I could see me using my Silhouette to finish it off by adding her logo.  She loved the idea, so I timed it to when it was 50% off and bought it.  I was surprised to find it was actually magnetic....they had this cute flower magnet on the (the first one I spotted, the flower was missing) front of it.

I made a stencil using my Silhouette machine, since I envisioned her logo actually painted on the board.  It also allowed me to have a stencil to reuse in the event we found any other cool uses for it.  This was the first time I tried a stencil, so I was a little nervous because of the nice herringbone background....rather than mess it up, I decided to trace it with a pencil and then hand paint the lettering. Maybe next time I'll try it the traditional way of taping/pasting the stencil down and painting right over it.

 I then used two colors of vinyl to add the "digital designs" to finish off her name.  I was pleasantly surprised when I stopped by Hobby Lobby on my way home intending to get one color with my 40% off coupon....and lo and behold, the vinyl was 50% off.  How could I resist? I decided to pick up two colors for the price of one!                   Cute huh?

MORNING GLORY MUFFINS

I'm a muffin lover. I admit it. I love them for breakfast, love them with a salad; but I don't love the calories in most muffins.   A while back I went to Starbucks and ordered their Morning Glory Muffin; I ordered it solely based upon the name, plus it looked healthier than the streusel covered blueberry muffin and most of the other goodies in their display case.  Some time later I stopped in again after they had re-done their signage and noticed the calorie count....Really?  380 calories for the Morning Glory muffin.  For me that's almost 1/3 of a day's worth of calories!  In digging further, of those 380 calories, 160 were fat!  Say goodbye to the Morning Glory Muffin.  Adios my friend........

But wait......I've discovered a homemade Morning Glory Muffin at 163 calories and only 4 grams of fat. Needless to say, I welcomed back the Morning Glory with open arms...."come to Mama".   In case you haven't ever had one....it's definitely a heartier muffin, loaded with carrots, raisins, apples, pineapple; definitely not as sweet as some other varieties, but very yummy!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups grated carrots
1 apple, chopped (recipe calls for peeled, I left mine on)
1/2 cup raisins
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup apple butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1 Tbsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. finely chopped walnuts or pecans
2 Tbsp. toasted wheat germ
*1/2 cup dried pineapple bits cut into pieces (* my addition)

PREPARATION:

Pre-heat oven to 375.  I used my silicone muffin cups for some (12) and paper cups for the rest.  Whisk wheat flour, regular flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.  Stir in carrots, apple and raisins.  Whisk egg, egg whites, apple butter, oil and vanilla in a medium bowl.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined.  Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them about 3/4 full.  Combine walnuts and wheat germ in a small bowl; sprinkle over the muffin tops.

Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and spring back when touched lightly; 15-25 minutes.  Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes.  Loosen edges and turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool.

I was intrigued by this recipe since it included several items I had never baked with before, namely: apple butter, wheat germ and whole wheat flour.  I have to tell you I wasn't sold on the wheat germ on the top, but I looked up the value of wheat germ and it contains several vital nutrients.  So, considering I have a whole jar of wheat germ now, I guess I'll continue to use it as I make more; or find other recipes that call for wheat germ.  :)

Thank you www.eatingwell.com for the recipe!

BUSINESS PRESENTATION CARDS

I decided to put together some pricing sheets to give to a bride when we meet for a consultation.  I also wanted a cute way to present it versus just handing her a price list.  So, I decided to use a card from the Silhouette online store....something creative and fun!  I love this design....it's so intricate and it's just perfect in keeping with the wedding theme.

I used white glitter cardstock to make the outside of the card and then glued a lilac piece of lightweight paper to the inside front of the card.  By doing that, I was able to place my price sheet on the inside back of the card; using double stick tape.  Then I just folded it once so that when the card is closed, it's hidden inside.

I chose to make the price lists in Microsoft word and printed them on a grey linen resume' paper.

Finally, I added my business card to the inside front of the card using a rhinestone to secure it.

I'm meeting with a bride tomorrow morning, so she will be the first one to see this....can't wait to see her reaction!

Today, I handed off a cathedral veil to my first bride of 2014.   It's an absolutely gorgeous compliment to her gown. Unfortunately, I won't be able to share it with you until after the wedding in September.   I'm also looking forward to making her garter set and hemming and bustling her gown.

We'll see if tomorrow's meeting ends with more business for Shea Marie Designs.   Fingers crossed!

S'MORES IN A JAR

I love the idea of serving dessert in a jar....it looks so sweet...no the other kind of sweet...you know, as in, cute/adorable.  But, it was also sweet, the way any good dessert should taste right?  I actually made this for the styled shoot I just collaborated on with my daughter.   I made a "two spoon" version using a small mason jar, but I could see making these for guests in smaller jelly jars; the perfect portion for just one person!

You will find some recipes that use chocolate pudding and marshmallow fluff along with graham crackers....in that case, you need a kitchen torch to toast the marshmallows.   Since I don't own a kitchen torch, I opted for the version that you toast under the broiler with a cake or brownie middle.

I can't site a specific recipe, since I combined some ideas from various recipes that I read.....I went really easy, avoiding any baking of cakes/brownies since my dessert was mostly for show.  I started by creating a graham cracker base by crumbling several graham crackers, adding  some melted butter and a touch of sugar.  Then, I bought a small piece of cake (in the day old/clearance section of the bakery), some marshmallow fluff, large mashmallows and a chocolate bar (for garnishment).

On top of the graham cracker crust, I crumbled up the cake and added it to the jar, alternating with some marshmallow fluff and one more layer of plain old crumbled graham crackers.....there is absolutely no science here.....I was layering based upon eye appeal..   Since I wanted the inside to melt a bit more, I put it in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds.  The final step was the most fun.....I topped it with several large marshmallows and put it under the broiler to toast (put the mason jar in a dish with approximately 1 1/2 inches of water).....I kept the oven door open and turned it periodically so the marshmallows would toast evenly.

A word to the wise......since I made mine the day before the shoot, the marshmallows had gotten crusty and of course it had cooled, which made it dry...so don't do that if you are making these for a dinner party or a special dinner date with your Significant Other.  These need to be enjoyed warm out of the oven, you can assemble them, but save the microwave step and toasting until just before you are ready to serve dessert so everything is ooey and gooey.

Put a couple pieces of chocolate into the marshmallows for garnishment and enjoy!

TIC TAC LABELS

If you do some searching on this topic, you will find some fun ideas for all sorts of party favors; baby showers, wedding showers, kids' parties, etc.  I went another direction on this one and made some labels for my daughter's photography business.    It was fun actually.....I made a prototype or two as a starting point and then we collaborated on the final design...could we change the font?, how about if we move that down?, is black too bold?   All good questions, and All necessary discussions to land on the final look.   Being a professional patternmaker and seamstress, I'm all about prototypes.

I used my silhouette cameo to develop the final product; I chose a couple of the pre-made designs from the online store (the heart design and fillagree), but more importantly, I knew it would be a real timesaver when it came to cutting the labels.   Because the label is only 1 3/8 x 3 3/4 it was important to see it printed along the way....looking at a "zoomed in" version of it while working on the computer, was really deceiving.  So tweak and print was definitely a part of the process.
There is a super cool feature in the silhouette software which allows you to duplicate the final design to make a page full in the click of a button!  So once we arrived on the final template, I clicked and the entire page was filled with labels ready to printed.

From there it was just a matter of buying some adhesive paper and feeding it through the machine for the cuts.  I bought a 10 sheet package of Avery adhesive paper at Staples, which netted me a total of 60 labels for under $17.   Voilà! Custom made labels. Aren't they cute?


Removing the old labels is pretty simple; you can usually remove them in just a couple of large pieces.  My daughter found a few online stores to choose from to purchase bulk tic-tacs (in all different colors if you want)....do a search and you will see the many ideas floating around out there, including some fun ideas for kids at holiday time.  Whatever the occasion, this project has very little out-of-pocket costs while making a gift with some fun WOW factor.

SNICKERDOODLES

I love me a good snickerdoodle....and boy-oh-boy these are super yummy!  I'm going to share two recipes, the first one was really good, but since it wasn't adapted for high altitude, they turned out a bit flat and I have a thing about super flat cookies; I'm sure they'll work great for those of you below 3,000 feet so feel free to give them a try.  For me though, since I wasn't completely sold on them I kept searching for another recipe (one which was adapted for high altitude baking).  I landed on one and tried it out this past weekend.   Not only were these scrumptious, but they looked really good too....nice and plump, just like I like them!

Snickerdoodle 
(known as Mrs. Field's Snickerdoodle recipe)

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

Cinnamon/Sugar coating:
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars with an electric mixer on high speed.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.  In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar.  Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees while you let the dough rest for 30-60 minutes in the refrigerator.  In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon for the topping.  Take about 2 1/2 Tbsp. of the dough and roll it into a ball.  Roll this dough into the cinnamon/sugar mixture and press it onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 12-14 minutes.  The cookies may seem undercooked, but they will continue to develop after they are removed from the oven.

High Altitude Snickerdoodles
    Cookie Dough:

• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla
• 1 egg
• 2 cups, plus 1 Tbsp Flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp.baking soda
• 1/8 tsp. cream of tartar 

   Cinnamon/Sugar Coating: (you can probably cut this in half and have plenty)

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp. cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla.  Add remaining ingredients ending with the egg.  Combine the 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tbsp. cinnamon in a small bowl.  Take about 1 Tbsp. of dough and form it into a small ball.  Roll in the sugar/cinnamon mixture.  Bake about 7-10 minutes (I baked mine for 8 minutes since my husband and I like our cookies soft) until the edges of the cookie are slightly browned.

What's really cool about Snickerdoodles is you generally have all the ingredients on hand....so, when you need a cookie fix, you can satisfy that craving with some fresh baked cookies straight out of the oven in about 40 minutes.  Enjoy!!

from: Baking at High Altitude:  The Muffin Lady's Old Fashioned Recipes