Crafty, Yummy & Funny

Lemon Blueberry Loaf

2012-02-02T12:54:00.000-08:00

I pinned this recipe on Pinterest a while back, and every time that I look at my "Yumminess" board on there, this pin catches my eye. It just looks SO good! So when I saw blueberries on sale at Sprouts a couple of weeks ago, I decided it was time to try the recipe out. I love how this yummy recipe turned out! Looking at the pictures makes me want to make another one. Now.

When it came out of the oven looking like this, I was so happy!

And then the recipe told me to put a lemon syrup on it. And a lemon glaze. That just made me even happier. I was having a tough day and this little loaf of deliciousness made it a whole lot better. And it gave me an excuse t play with my camera too, so that was even better. I just had to take a picture of it. It was too pretty not to.

Here is the recipe from the Sweet Pea's Kitchen blog:

Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf

For the Loaf:

1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt*
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (approximately 2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed (I used fresh)

For the Lemon Syrup:

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar

For the Lemon Glaze:

1 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom and sides of one 9 x 5-inch loaf pans; dust with flour, tapping out excess.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing loaf to a wire rack on top of a baking sheet.
While the loaf is cooling, make the lemon syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir together the lemon juice and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Once dissolved, continue to cook for 3 more minutes. Remove from the heat; set aside.
Use a toothpick to poke holes in the tops and sides of the warm loaf. Brush the top and sides of the loaf with the lemon syrup. Let the syrup soak into the cake and brush again. Let the cake cool completely.
To make the lemon glaze, in a small bowl, whisk together the confectionersâ€™ sugar and 2-3 tablespoons of the lemon juice. The mixture should be thick but pourable. Add up to another tablespoon of lemon juice if the mixture is too stiff. Pour the lemon glaze over the top of each loaf and let it drip down the sides. Let the lemon glaze harden, about 15 minutes, before serving.

Yields: 1-9×5 loaf

* I didn't have any whole-milk yogurt because I just didn't see any at the store, so I used a cup of greek yogurt and it came out perfectly.

I love Pinterest and I love making new recipes that I find on it! This one is definitely a keeper, it is so yummy!

{Finally} Learning to Use my DSLR - Manual Mode

2012-01-07T12:58:00.001-08:00

I finally found a very small amount of time to play with my camera some more and take a few pictures in manual mode. It wasn't quite as scary as I was expecting it to be, but it is a bit tricky. I can tell that it will take some getting used to, but I'm really looking forward to practicing with it more and feeling more comfortable shooting in manual.

I tried to drag my almost 4 year old out back with me one day so that I could try taking her picture in manual. I knew that it wouldn't be easy because she's my one kid that always looks in the opposite direction of the camera when I say, "smile!", but it was worth a shot. In the first picture I was just trying t get my aperture and shutter set to the right settings so that my picture wouldn't be over or under exposed. It took metering a few times and playing around with it, but I eventually got it right. This one was perfectly exposed. Yay! I love the bright colors in it thanks to her shirt, headband and Pretty, Pretty Princess jewelry.

f/10, S: 1/125 sec., ISO 400

I realized that I was running short on time, so I decided to switch to subjects that stand still on their own because I wanted to try using manual to shoot up close, like I would want to for portraits. I'm really happy with how the aperture worked for me on this next picture because the leaf, {which isn't even a very pretty one, ha!}, is clear and crisp and the background is nice and blurry, so your attention is automatically drawn to the leaf.

f/5.6, S: 1/160 sec., ISO: 400

I used the same exact settings for this last one of our little dear statue that sits in our planter. He was here when we moved in and I've grown attached to him. I call him Van Gogh because he's missing part of his ear. Is that distasteful? Any-who, in comparing this to the picture of the leaf, it is a good example of how having the background farther away from the subject helps it to blur more, and having it closer keeps it in slightly better focus. I hope that makes sense!

f/5.6, S: 1/160 sec., ISO: 400

I didn't think the shots were too bad for round one of shooting in manual. I want to venture out though and find some fun subjects to practice on. Or maybe I'll bribe my 6 year old to sit still long enough for me to get some good practice time in with her!

Everything's Amazing & Nobody's Happy

2011-12-28T10:28:00.000-08:00

I found this link on another blog about a month ago, and this interview with Conan O'Brien and Loius C.K. on YouTube made me laugh. A lot. So I thought I'd share it. I've watched it and shared it several times and I still love it. I hope you do too! Click below to check it out:

Everything's Amazing & Nobody's Happy

My Pink Rose Cake

2011-12-02T11:24:00.000-08:00

I love the blog i am baker. Amanda over there creates some really beautiful cakes and all sorts of yumminess. When I am looking for something fun to make, or something challenging, her blog is the first place I look for inspiration. When she posted her Rose Cake Tutorial back in February, I couldn't wait to make one of my own! So, when my niece turned 15 in April and her mom asked me to bake a cake for her, I jumped at the chance.

Here is Amanda's amazing cake:

She can do some seriously awesome things with the inside of a cake too!

And here is my version:

Lauren's mom wanted something pretty and girly, so I colored my icing pink. I was/am so happy with how this cake turned out! It is one of, if not my all time favorite cake that I have made. The best part is that it was SO easy to do. You only have to use one icing tip, (a 1M), and you get such a stunning result.

I have also made a couple versions of Amanda's ruffle cakes too, which were inspired by Martha Stewart's Ruffle Tower Cake. I made a Christmas Tree cake like hers last Christmas and it was super easy too. Unfortunately, I don't think I got and good pictures of mine, but if I happen to stumble across one, I'll be sure and post it.

The next cake tutorial of Amanda's that I would love to try is her Hydrangea cake.

Isn't is pretty? I love hydrangeas. I can't wait to give it a try. Now I just need a good reason to bake one. Like a birthday. Or a bridal shower. Or a Saturday.

If you haven't checked out i am baker, you really should!

{Finally} Learning to Use my DSLR - Aperture

2011-11-29T10:30:00.000-08:00

This morning I decided to get my three ring binder out again and move on to lesson two of the photography class I started two and a half years ago. : ) {See previous post.}

I knew it was on aperture/depth of field, and for some reason, this part always worries me. It's simple enough, right? You use depth of field to determine what area of your picture is in focus. Is the background in focus, or is it blurred? The higher the number, the more in focus the background is. The lower the number, the less focused {or blurred} the background is, causing your eye to be drawn to the main subject of your photo. Then why have I had such a hard time getting it right when I've practiced this before??? Maybe it's because I needed my trusty tripod to help keep the camera steady enough to take a clear picture. You see, when you adjust the aperture, you're adjusting the amount of light that comes into your lens, so when you use a small number or small depth of field, your shutter has to stay open long enough to get the right exposure. So, when I took the first photo below, I was shooting in A mode on f/36 {the highest f stop my camera lens has}, and my camera decided for me that the shutter had to stay open for 4 seconds to get a photo that was exposed correctly. I could never hold my camera still enough for four seconds to get a clear shot. I do not have a steady hand. It is a good thing that I never wanted to be a surgeon. So, all of those times that I tried before and thought I failed, I just couldn't hold my camera still enough for long enough to get a clear shot because all of the camera shake I was causing. I made my pictures blurry. I fixed the problem today.

I just used what I had on hand - Christmas decor - to practice with, but taking my time with this lesson and typing out why it worked this time really helped me to better understand aperture and depth of field. The part that still confuses me though, is how I can manage to use aperture mode without enormous amounts of light to help keep the shutter speed fast. Otherwise, I'll just end up with blurry pictures again. Oh well, there is a reason I signed up for this class so long ago. So I could figure this stuff out!
On to lesson three - Manual Mode! I'm scared. I just don't see yet how I am going to make it all work together, but I am sure going to try. I'm hoping to get lesson three done this week and post about it by Friday. Check back soon!

Edited Friday, December 2nd:
I read lesson three this week and so far it all seems to make sense. Now I just need to get my camera out and practice using manual! The last few days have been busy, {and insanely windy here}, so I haven't gotten around to trying it out. I'm hoping I can this weekend though!

{Finally} Learning to Use my DSLR - Shutter Speed

2011-11-29T09:57:00.000-08:00

When my husband finished his MBA program about 2 and a half years ago, he bought me a Nikon D60 as a graduation present. He's the one who finished his Master's Degree in what must have been record time, but he bought me a gift for being so supportive. He is awesome. It is one of the favorite presents I have ever received. I LOVE my camera! I really wanted to jump right in and learn how to use it. Really use it. Like, use the manual mode. I'm embarrassed to say that this much time has gone by and I'm still shooting with the various automatic modes 90% of the time.

I took photography in high school, {and a little bit in college}, and I loved it. It was a whole lot different then though. We used film and even got to develop it in the dark room! I loved that part of it too and I even miss it. When I got my camera, I signed up for a digital photography class online. I took this class through Jessica Sprague's site and it is great! I did the first lesson and kinda did the second one, and to be honest I really don't remember why I slacked off after that, but I did. Maybe it was because I knew that I had all of the lessons in PDF form and I could access all of the class info forever through her site. Or maybe I just got busy with our kids. Or maybe I was just lazy. It was probably the latter.

So this summer I got out my three ring binder full of all of the lessons and I decided to start with lesson 1 again - Shutter Speed. The shutter speed determines how long the shutter on your lens stays open to let in light. The assignment was to take one shot of a moving object with a fast shutter speed, letting in lots of light and capturing the movement. And then I had to shoot the same thing with a slow shutter speed, letting in less light and blurring the movement. Then I had to compare the two. I always have moving objects fluttering about so this was easy for me. Here is my proof:

I've always understood shutter speed pretty well, so I didn't feel intimidated by this assignment at all. It was also a nice sunny day out, so I had ample light to shoot in. This made the assignment even easier for me. Thankfully, I didn't have to adjust the ISO (or how sensitive the camera is to light) while taking these pictures. That part confuses me a little bit too, so I'm hoping to learn more about it in the next few lessons. I was happy that lesson one was something that I felt familiar with.

Not the case with Assignment number two - Aperture. {See my next post.}

I am also happy with how these pictures turned out, even 3 months later {haha!}, when I was finally ready to move on to lesson two.

I have decided to post all of my lesson assignment results. You see, if I post them here, I'll feel more encouraged to keep moving right along so that the two and a half people that might actually read this little blog can see how I am progressing with my photog skills.

I am also testing myself to see if I have the self discipline to take on and commit to a project 52, {my smaller version of project 365, where you take and post a picture a day for a whole year}. I'm a pretty realistic gal and I just know that if I start a project 365 I will be lucky to make it a whole week before I miss a month. I'm hoping that the smaller task of taking one picture a week and posting it will be much more do-able for me. I wanted to do it this year, and clearly it never happened, so I plan to start it in January.

I am excited to learn more about my camera and hopefully take some great photos along the way. Wish me luck!

Halloween Trick-or-Treat Ruffle Tote

2011-10-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

Last year I had planned on making my girls trick-or-treat tote bags - and it just never happened. So, when I kept seeing adorable ruffle totes popping up all over Pinterest, I thought that it would be awesome to make some Halloween-ish ones for my girls trick-or-treat totes. I had so much fun working on this project!

I have three little girls, so I was uber happy to find a three pack of black canvas tote bags at Joann's. It was even better that I had a 40% off coupon to use there. I don't remember the exact price, but I know I paid around $4 for all three. I then headed over to the fabric department where I found some cute black, white and orange fabrics to use for my ruffles. When I thought up my plan, I didn't want to use fabrics that weren't typical or obvious Halloween fabrics. I wanted to use fun "everyday" type fabrics in Halloween colors. As I was looking around, I found the cute, orange spiderweb fabric {that's sparkly!} and I couldn't resist it. I knew that my kiddos would LOVE the glitter! They also had this white fabric with black jack-o-lanterns on it, which I felt was kind of subtle too, so I grabbed it. I found the two black fabrics on the regular racks. I am really happy with how the fabrics work together, it turned out just as I was hoping it would!

This was a really great beginning sewing project for me. The idea of making the tote bags was a little overwhelming for me, so I was glad that I could buy them and then just embellish them. I followed this tutorial from Tania Willis at Fiskars to learn how to make the ruffles and attach them. I followed Heather Bailey's awesome tutorial on how to make a yo-yo flower. And I made the other two on my own since I had actually made some similar fabric flowers before.

This project was simple enough for me to get three identical bags done without having any type of a nervous breakdown, {I expect way too much from myself - i.e. perfection, which is totally unrealistic.}. It gave me a little bit of experience using my sewing machine and I got to make some cute fabric flowers too. I may even make a few cute ruffle totes to give away as gifts. Or maybe I'll just make a fun one for myself. : )

Happy trick-or-treating!

I'm Makin' a Comeback

2011-10-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

Well, it's only been about two and a half years since I last posted to my blog here, but I am glad that I didn't take it down, because I'm finally feeling like I have a little bit of extra time to be crafty again! It sure has been a busy couple of years around here!
Since I last posted, our family has: moved, welcomed baby girl #3 into the world, dealt with some serious health problems concerning baby girl #3's sweet little heart, survived preschool and kindergarten with our oldest, and just been kept busy by the crazy daily routines and shenanigans of a fun family of 5 with three kids ages 5,3 and 1. Phew!

I am just now beginning to feel like I can breath again. Or read a book. Or take a bath. Or exercise for 20 minutes here and there. Or learn how to do something new - like sew! I'm excited that our kiddos are getting a little bit bigger and things are becoming a little bit easier. I just don't want them to go growing up too fast. I love the sweet stages that they are in now.

Any-who, I have finally decided to breath life back into my little blog here. I started it so that I could have a place all to myself to share the things I've made, along with anything else I want to share. Because I can. Because it's my blog. : )

I hope you'll enjoy visiting and come back often to see what's Crafty, Yummy and Funny around here!

Spring Cleaning

2009-04-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

Need some motivation to get moving and get some serious spring cleaning done? I do! Simple Mom is having a giveaway that ends tomorrow at noon for a copy of her e book, Spring Cleaning Whenever. She's also going to be having a spring cleaning party from May 4 - 15 if you want to follow along and get some spring cleaning done. Be sure to check it out!

Have a great day!

I Try To Do Too Much

2009-04-01T11:33:00.000-07:00

This is something that I have been pondering for a while now . . . I try to do too much . . . I really do. I always feel like I have so much to do and I never have enough time to do all of it. I have a list of things that I would like to get done around the house, and they never get done. This is mostly because something else comes up and the housework becomes less of a priority than I had intended it to be. Yes, sometimes those last minute things are more important than touching up the paint around the house, but seriously, this has been on my list for far too long now!

There are several reasons why I try to do more than I actually can. Some of them are obvious to me, and others I just never think of. That is why I appreciate today's post on Simple Mom. Today's post is "Why Do We Say Yes When We Really Mean No?" by a guest columnist, Lisa Byrne. Her post basically hit the nail on the head. It lists several reasons as to why we say yes instead of no so often, and I fit into every category! I'm not surprised, I've always been this way, but it was nice to have it spelled out for me. My biggest issue is prioritizing and then sticking to my list! I'm so much more easily distracted than I ever thought I was. I need to keep my most important priorities in mind, and when someone asks something of me, and I realistically can't do it, I need to have the courage to say no. Saying no has always been hard for me, since I'm that person who likes to please everyone, so it is something that I need to work on.

I was recently called to be the Young Women's President at church and I love it! I was already serving in the YW program and I am so excited to continue working with the young women of our church. They are awesome, and inspiring and we have lots of fun. However, with my new calling, a whole new slew of tasks that I need to complete on a daily/weekly/monthly basis comes with it. It is a big challenge for me to add something so time consuming to my already hectic routine, but church is a huge priority for me and so I am happy to do it. One thing that I have learned about myself while being in this calling is that I need to be better about asking for help and delegating tasks. I serve with amazing women and they are so very helpful. I have been working hard on handing some tasks off to other people and trusting that they will get the job done. I just can't oversee every little detail, so I need to trust that others will get the job done and do it well. This has already helped me a lot and taken tons of pressure off of me.

With everything that has to get done and everything I want to get done, I don't always find time to keep my blog updated. That's OK. I started it so that I would have a place to share ideas, and more importantly, I wanted to have fun with it. So I may not post often, but I'm going to keep it going because I really do enjoy it. I just can't spend as much time on it as I would like to. I haven't even been keeping my family blog updated!

I think I'm going to spend a couple of days focusing on my most important task - being a mom - and have some fun with my girls. I also want to update our family blog since it is a way that we keep in touch with our family and friends, as well as start working on our 2008 family blog book so that my girls have a record of all of the adorable and funny things that they do when they get older.

First I'm going to be a loving wife and mother, then I'm going to work on everything church related until I get caught up. Then, I'll tackle the housework that isn't part of my everyday routine. I just need to prioritize and stop trying to do more than I actually can all of the time. It may mean saying no when I would actually like to do something and/or help someone out, but I need to keep what's most important to me in mind.

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;

~ D&C 88:119

Bee Values Bookmark

2009-03-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

I'm involved in the Young Women's program at church and we had our New Beginnings program last month. One of the girls organized the whole thing and she did such a great job! The theme was Bees. Instead of using Gordon B. Hinkley's 6 B's, she and the YW president created the 8 Bee values. They asked me to make a bookmark for the program and this is what I came up with. I typed up the text in MS Word and then stamped and colored in the bee with Stampin' Up! products. I'm really happy with how they turned out and I think that the girls were too. I hope it's something that they will keep and it will help them remember the Young Women Values.

Valentine Treats & Custom Made BINGO Cards

2009-02-20T14:45:00.000-08:00

I really haven't had much time to be crafty lately, so I really haven't had much to blog about. Most of the crafty type things I have been doing have been for church, so I thought I'd post a cute idea I used for a lesson I taught in our Young Women's program last week. I taught a lesson on homemaking and I wanted to make it fun and interesting since I feel like the girls drift off from time to time, so I decided to play a game of BINGO that went along with my lesson. I used this site to create the BINGO cards and it was so super easy! You just type in 5 words per column and they scramble them up for you on 10 different cards (if I remember correctly). I just used words that pertained o my lesson and they had to listen and cross them off as I went. Whenever someone got BINGO, they had to tell me one thing that they were most looking forward to as being a homemaker. It turned out to be a lot of fun and it didn't take much time to throw together.

For the Bingo prizes, I put Valentine colored M&M's in little treat bags and made simple toppers for them. I used a retired Stampin' Up! stamp that says "Wishing you love" and they turned out so cute. The girls and the other leaders loved them.

I love this idea because it can be used for any thing. It could be used for other kinds of lessons, a fun game to play with your kids, a fun game to play at the holidays with family and friends - seriously anything! Just change the words on the cards, change the type of or color of the candy and make a simple topper that goes along with the theme. I'm sure I'll be using this idea again!

Love Birds

2009-01-28T08:46:00.000-08:00

When I saw the "Love (doves)" vinyl in my new Uppercase Living Idea Book, I knew I had to get it! I'm really loving all of the cute little birdies that are popping up everywhere lately, and fell in love with this right away. All I did was buy a 12x12" frame from Michael's (it was already 40% off so I didn't even need the coupon!), then I stuck the vinyl on the glass and put a 12x12" piece of scrapbook paper behind it. So simple, and now I have a cute decoration to display for the spring and especially Valentine's Day!

Love (doves) vinyl (Item #15527). Love (Part 1 in Chocolate Brown) and the doves (part 2 in Whipped Cream). Email me anytime to ask a question or place an order!

A Frameworks Welcome

2009-01-28T08:38:00.000-08:00

I bought the "Welcome" vinyl for my handy-dandy Frameworks frame a while back, but I hadn't even used it yet since I was busy displaying all of my holiday themed vinyl for the last couple of months. So I was pretty excited to change it out and hang my simple "Welcome" sign in it last week. I'm happy with the way it turned out. I just really love the font that Uppercase Living used for this vinyl. I also stuck a piece of retired Stampin' Up! scrapbook paper behind it again. I think the Frameworks set looks great with the wall color showing through, but I always find cute paper that I'd rather display with it instead. It just makes it stand out a little more, don't you think?

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Simple Mom

2009-01-27T09:15:00.000-08:00

There are a few blogs that I try to read every day, but Simple Mom is one that I have to check in with on a daily basis because it is so awesome! I lover her ideas for organizing the home and I'm even putting together a home management notebook using several of her ideas in her Home Management Notebook series. Hopefully it will help me stay a little better organized and more on top of all of the things I tend to put off doing . . . like cleaning my floors! Tsh is even nominated for a 2009 Bloggie for her work on Simple Mom. Click here to check out the information and vote for her.

Another great thing that Tsh does is Giveaways! Who doesn't like those, right? This week is her Week Of Giveaways! You can click here, here, or here to see what she's offered so far, but be sure to stay tuned because I'm sure there will be lots more great stuff to come!

I hope you'll take a minute to stop in at Simple Mom to check it out, it really is awesome and I'm so glad that Tsh takes the time to share all of her great tips, tricks and ideas with us!

Here's another great giveaway too! Click here to check it out!

Issues

2009-01-06T12:44:00.000-08:00

Sorry I've been MIA the last couple of weeks. My family and I were really busy over the holidays and I have honestly had nothing but issues with my camera. So I obviously couldn't post any pictures of anything I've done myself anyway. But the good news is that Uppercase Living released their new catalog yesterday and there are tons and tons of new and exciting products to check out. Throughout the day today, (and maybe tomorrow if I can't get to all of it), I'll be posting lots of info about everything new that Uppercase Living has to offer this year, including some really great promotions you won't want to miss!

I hope that everyone had a great holiday season, and happy new year to all!

Some Homemade Christmas Gifts

2008-12-23T17:27:00.001-08:00

This year I decided to make some of our Christmas gifts myself and I had lots of fun doing it! First, I wanted to throw together some "gifts in a jar" to pass out to some family members and friends from church. My sister-in-law, Charis, let me borrow her set of Gifts in a Jar books and I decided to use their "Oatmeal Scotchie Cookies" recipe but I changed it to oatmeal, chocolate chip cookies since it's a family favorite of ours. Here's another recipe for oatmeal, chocolate chip cookies in a jar that I found online, and it's fairly similar to the one I used. I filled the jars, typed up the directions for how to bake them, then I printed them out and attached them to my jars with some simple ribbon. It was pretty easy and I had a good time putting them together!

I also made some homemade hot cocoa mix this year because I knew of a great recipe that Julie used last year and it sounded easy enough. Instead of breaking the mix up into 18 individual servings, I decided to put it in jars and layer the mini chocolate chips and marshmallows. They turned out really cute and these were even easier to make than the cookie jars (thanks to less ingredients!). Click here to see the recipe.

And of course there always has to be something from Uppercase Living, right? I painted a couple of 9x12" plaques with a simple ivory paint and applied this adorable, "home for the holidays" expression. It was of course simple to make, just as all of the UL projects I have put together have been!

I used the plaques for two gift baskets that I made for my mother-in-law and my husband's grandma. They each had one of the plaques, a jar of hot cocoa mix, a mug with a bag of peppermint sticks inside and a homemade candle as well. I made the candles at my friend Melanie's house since she has all of the tools to do it, so I won't pretend that I'm any kind of an expert in that department. It was all her! But did you notice the UL "believe" expression on the candle? It fit perfectly and works perfectly for the Christmas season.

I hope that everyone out there has a wonderful holiday season!
Thanks for stopping by!

Uppercase Living Christmas Items

2008-12-10T08:03:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to share a few of my favorite Christmas projects from Uppercase Living. They have some really great vinyl for the holidays this year and it's been tons of fun and really simple putting all of these projects together!

My very favorite is this advent calendar! It is so cute. The vinyl is placed on a $4.00 pizza pan from Walmart and the magnet is one of the pre-painted wood pieces from Micheal's that is glued to a small round magnet for crafting. I just found some pretty Christmas ribbon and used hot glue to attach it to the back of the pan. Easy!

I also love my Frameworks "Merry Christmas" vinyl. The Frameworks set comes with the frame, the ribbon to hang it with and 4 acrylic pieces that you can stick your vinyl on. Then you can change them out depending on the season. I think it's one of the best products that Uppercase Living carries because it is so versatile! With this one, I did the same thing that I did here. I just stuck some Christmas scrapbook paper behind it so it would look even more Christmasy. Without the paper, the color of your wall shows through, which is nice too!

For my "Joy to the World" block I stuck little adhesive clear gems in the middle of each flower just to embellish it a little. Sorry it's a little hard to tell here, but it's super cute in person! I then tied wire rimmed ribbon around the block and made a pretty bow. So simple and fast.

I used this cute little box as a hostess gift. I ordered the snowflake in a 2" size and stuck it on a blank porcelain ornament that I bought at Michael's. It matched this adorable take-out box from Walmart so well and I didn't even realize it until I was putting it all together. I threw some Hershey's Kisses in and I had it together in no time at all.

This "Family" magnetic frame has been quiet the hit. I got the idea from Julie, who originally saw something like it in a store. I bought the 9x12" piece of wood at Michael's for $1.99, such a deal! The heart magnets came from there too. Once again, they're just the pre-painted shapes and I just glued them to the small round magnets for crafting. The metal piece is a metal shingle that you can buy at Lowe's or Home Depot. I painted the wood, applied the vinyl, glued on the metal shingle, glued the magnets together and stuck a family picture on it. I used this project for a "Super Saturday" craft day at my church last month. Between that event and orders I've had for them since, people have made about 50 of them. They are so easy to put together and they make a great gift too! The picture can be changed out so easily, and you can even change out the magnets if you want. Thanks for the great idea Julie!

Susie Sims Murals

2008-12-06T19:33:00.000-08:00

My mother-in-law has a really close friend that she has known forever and she is an incredibly talented mural artist. She paints everything by hand and she can literally paint anything and everything! She has painted murals, borders and custom lettering in most of the homes in our family and each one of them is beautiful and unique. I'm excited to say that Susie Sims just launched her own web site! Click here to check it out and see her work for yourself. If you're ever in need of a great mural artist you should definitely contact Susie. I'm sure you will love her work!!!

Here is a picture of castle bed that she painted for one of her customers. I saw it on her site and thought it was so adorable, I just had to share!

I'm Back . . .

2008-12-04T16:44:00.000-08:00

I've honestly been nothing but tired these last couple of weeks! I feel like I can't get caught up on anything and that I haven't gotten much done - like blogging!

On another note, here is another great blog I found through my friend Kristen's family blog. Simple Mom is awesome and she frequently has great giveaways too. Like this one that ends tonight. Sorry I didn't get it up here sooner, I just saw it today. Either way, you should definitely check out her blog, it's great!

I have a bunch of cute Uppercase Living Christmas projects that I'll be posting here over the next few days, so check back to check 'em out!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and thanks for stopping in!

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things . . . For Thanksgiving

2008-11-20T11:25:00.001-08:00

I can't believe that we're only a week away from Thanksgiving! Time is just flying by and I doubt it will slow down before Christmas has come and gone.

I've found a few really cute Thanksgiving things online over the last week or so, so I thought I'd share!

I love this Thanksgiving Countdown! The picture shown is from Pottery Barn Kids, but if you click the link you can see the post I found it on as well as how the one that Angela over at A Bushel and a Peck of FUN made for her family. Her blog is great too! I just discovered it and she has lots of great, creative ideas.

Then I saw this Gratitude Tree as well as these Pumpkin Place Cards over at another blog I just found called My Insanity.

The tree is such a great idea. What a great way to remember to be grateful for the things you have every day in the month of November. I also think these place cards are so cute! I want to try and remember to make them next Thanksgiving when it's my turn to play host again for my side of the family. They seem so simple to make too!

Last, I think these Pumpkin Votive from Martha Stewart are neat too. Easy and the finished product is super cool.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

The Creative Homemaker

2008-11-13T09:05:00.001-08:00

Found a great blog I thought I'd share with all of you. Check out The Creative Homemaker for great tips, ideas and inspiration!

Tai Pan Trading Company

2008-11-12T13:44:00.000-08:00

I've found the best store ever! A few ladies I know had told me that a Tai Pan Trading Company store was opening in Rancho Cucamonga and that I had to go. They have a few locations in Utah and everyone who has been there said it was awesome. So when I found out that they had opened, my sister-in-law Julie, and I went to check it out. The store is just as wonderful as everyone said it would be. First of all it is enormous! We spent well over an hour in there just checking everything out. They have all of their Christmas stuff out, so it was like walking in to a beautiful catalog full of everything Christmasy. Their prices are really fair too! We went a few days before Halloween and all of their Halloween decor was 50% off so I got some great stuff for next year. We heard that all of their fall stuff is now marked down too and that the Christmas stuff would be marked down about two weeks before the holiday. So needless to say, we will be returning to Tai Pan very soon to take advantage of the great deals! If you love home decor, crafty things and even kitchen ware, you have to check this place out . . .

Julie's Autumn Vinyl Projects

2008-11-07T15:15:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law Julie had an Uppercase Living open house last month and she has put together some really great Autumn projects with our products, so I just had to share! I've been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to get much done so here's a huge THANK YOU to Julie for sharing her ideas and even her photos with me and my crafty blog. Thanks again Julie, you're the best! Enjoy!!!

The first is a glass block, ($4.38 at Lowe's), with the vinyl on the front. This one is 2-part vinyl, so the pumpkin is in Terra Cotta & the "Autumn Days" is in Chocolate Brown. Then the ribbon has pretty fall leaves on it in coordinating colors. Julie said it took about 5 minutes to make! The glass blocks look so pretty when you put a little battery-powered tea light behind it. It has a great effect! These make great gifts too! They have really cute ones for Christmas too, which will be here before we know it! (Item #14261)

Next project is a wood board for Autumn. She just painted the MDF board (Uppercase Living sells them ready to go) with Chocolate Brown paint. Then distressed the edges with sandpaper. Next Julie applied the Mocha Brown "AUTUMN" & then the Fresh Linen "we rake, we pile, we jump" over it. Again, this was so easy to make & she'll have it to hang in her home for years to come! (Item #14025)

This one was soooooo easy! She had this plain white plate & just stuck the "FALL" vinyl on it in the color Terra Cotta right in the center & then stuck it above her cabinets in the kitchen. Done!(Item #14258)

Julie bought this trifle bowl at Wal-mart (around $6) & then bought some fake fall vegetables/acorns on sale at Michael's to put inside of the bowl. Last, she stuck the "Give Thanks" vinyl in the color Soft Copper onto the outside of the bowl & she now has a new fall centerpiece for her kitchen table. (Item #14279)

And yes, I know Halloween is long gone now, but I'm that behind on everything right now, so I'm posting this one from Julie anyway! I thought this was super cute! "Spooktacular" is in Matte Black and the jack-o-lantern is in Valencia Orange. (Item #14255)

For more great ideas for the holidays or any other occasion for that matter click the links below:

These projects are so easy and fast to make and they make great gifts for the holidays too! If you have any questions or want more information feel free to email me anytime or visit my Uppercase Living web site.

Kraft Food & Family Magazine

2008-11-03T08:34:00.000-08:00

I've been getting the Kraft Food & Family magazine for over 2 years now and I love it! I look forward to getting it every quarter and I end up trying several recipes from each issue. Everything I've ever made from the magazine has been really easy to make and really tasty! I haven't been able to find a link to sign up for their free magazine for forever now, but I think I finally figured it out. Click here to sign up! I hope you love it as much as I do! Enjoy!!!

Twilight

2008-10-27T20:01:00.000-07:00

Several of my friends have been talking about the Twilight series for at least the last year, and I finally started reading the books a couple of weeks ago. They all said to wait until I didn't have much going on because once you pick them up you won't be able to put them down, so I waited and waited for a time that fit that description and I finally realized that it wouldn't be happening any time soon. So I started reading . . . they were right! I couldn't put the first 2 books down! I read Twilight in 3 days, which is so unlike me! I read New Moon in 2 days . . . even more out of the ordinary considering it was longer than the first. And now I'm about half way through Eclipse. I had to make myself take a 3 day break in between the second and third books because I was not getting anything done! I had to do laundry, plan a lesson for Sunday School, eat, sleep and pay some attention to my girls and my husband. It's ridiculous how addicting these books really are, but I'll be the first to admit that I'm a little obsessed with them now. I love 'em!

So my point . . . if you haven't read them yet, you should! The Twilight movie comes out in exactly 45 days according to my awesome new widget, so you have until then to read at least the first book and not have any of it ruined for you by movie trailers, spoilers, etc.

I could keep going on and on, but honestly, I'd rather be reading Eclipse . . . so I'll check ya' later!

Heart To Heart Web Site

2008-10-22T19:48:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon this great web site today while I was looking online for cute butterfly wings for my daughter's Halloween costume and it is so adorable! It's everything girly and whimsical. I'm in love! You should definitely check out Heart To Heart if you have a girly girl like me! The picture above is one of their cute rose scrunchies and it's only 99 cents! Some of their stuff is a little pricey and some of it is a little more reasonably priced, either way it's super cute!

Yummy Fall Recipies From Martha Stewart

2008-10-22T14:53:00.000-07:00

I actually caught the first few minutes of Martha Stewart today and I saw her make these delicious recipes with her first guest. This first one actually looked easy enough to make! Most of her recipes are just a little too complicated for me, so I was pretty excited about these yummy Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.

They look so good and of course are perfect for this time of year!

They also made this awesome looking Classic Diner Style Chocolate Pie, and of course it looked equally delicious! It isn't as much of a "Fall" recipe, but in my opinion, chocolate is good any time of year so I thought I'd share it too! This one also seemed a little more complicated to make but it looks like it would be worth it!

I'm more likely to try and make the Whoopie Pies so I'll let you know how they turn out . . . I'll probably make them around Thanksgiving.

Christmas Card Camp Reminder!!!

2008-10-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that if you're planning to come to my Christmas Card Camp on Saturday, October 25th, you must prepay by this Friday, the 17th!!! (Cash, check, Paypal or credit card accepted.) Also, please let me know which cards you would like to make. If you don't include the info in your RSVP/payment info we'll just assume you'd like to make 5 cards of each of the 4 designs.

Please email me or Julie to RSVP and prepay.

Hope to see you there!!!!

~Friends, family & neighbors welcome too!~

Crock Pot Chicken Cordon Bleu

2008-10-13T16:22:00.000-07:00

I got this great recipe from my friend Melanie a while back and finally made it for the first time last night. Since I couldn't find the recipe that I had written down, I did a quick search online and found one that has to be just about the same since I remembered most of it anyway. I tweaked both a little bit and it turned out really, really yummy! You gotta try it!

Crock pot Chicken Cordon Bleu

4 - 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 - 6 slices of ham

4 - 6 slices of swiss cheese

1/2 cup of bread crumbs

1 small can of cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup of milk

Pound the chicken to 1/4 inch thick. (I had really thick chicken breasts, so I just cut mine in half instead which gave me 2 pieces from each breast). Place a slice of ham and a slice of cheese on each chicken breast, roll it up and secure it with a toothpick. Place the rolled breasts in the bottom of a greased crock pot. Sprinkle bread crumbs over the top of the chicken. Stir together the soup and milk and then pour it over the top. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or until cooked through.

-OR- if you don't want to go through the trouble of rolling them up, you can layer the ingredients in this order (from the bottom up): Chicken, bread crumbs, ham, cheese and the can of soup and milk combined. Even easier and I'm sure just as good!

I had a few slices of ham and cheese left over so I threw them on top of the chicken and bread crumbs before I poured the soup mixture over, just to use them up. All of it was super yummy. I also made white rice to serve with it because one of the web sites I had looked at suggested it since it makes a good amount of sauce too. My husband was a little skeptical of the recipe but he's complimented it several times since we had it last night. Even the left overs were good today.

If you love your crock pot just as much as I do, you should check out this blog called Crockpot 365. It was started by a lady who decided to use her crock pot for 365 days straight and she posts all of the recipes on the blog. It's pretty cool! Enjoy!

Um . . . Not So Yummy!

2008-10-09T20:46:00.000-07:00

I saw this article called "The 20 Worst Foods in America" today on MSNBC and I just had to click on it. It is super interesting and I suggest you check it out. It's basically the worst food in each category, such as: worst kids' meal, worst "healthy burger", worst salad, worst drink, etc. Some of the "worsts" were pretty surprising! I was happy to see though that none of the things on the list were things that I order. I will admit however, that my heart did skip a beat when I clicked on the "worst desert" and the first couple of words I saw were, "Chili's chocolate . . . ". Most people know that one of my very favorite deserts is the Chocolate Molten Cake at Chili's and I thought for a moment that it was named the worst, a.k.a. unhealthiest, desert in America. Thankfully they were talking about the Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream! But okay, lets be honest, the Molten Cake probably isn't far behind the winner, but until I see it named as so on a list of the worst foods in the country, I am going to pretend that it's not all that bad and indulge in my fave dessert when I get the chance.

Trick-Or-Treat!

2008-10-06T14:15:00.000-07:00

I ordered the Frameworks frame with inserts from Uppercase Living and I'm in love with it! The frame comes with 4 acrylic inserts that you can apply vinyl to and they even have about 25 different pre-designed expressions that fit perfectly in this frame. You can also of course design your own expression with the MyDesign Tool so that you can have it say anything that you want! The expression is just on the acrylic, so the color of the wall usually shows through, but I wanted to make this one even more "Halloweenish" so I placed a piece of scrapbook paper from Stampin' Up! behind the acrylic to get this look. I love how it turned out and I can't wait to play with the other expressions that I got for this frame! The ribbon that it hangs from even comes with the frame. It doesn't get much easier than that!!!

Here's how I made it:

I bought the Frameworks frame and the "Trick-Or-Treat" expression.
I stuck the vinyl on the acrylic insert.
I cut a piece of scrapbook paper to size so that it would sit in the frame behind the acrylic.
I tied the ribbon through the frame and hung it up. So easy!!!

Frameworks item #300108 & "Trick-Or-Treat" item #14681 in matte black.

Christmas Card Camp - San Jacinto/Hemet

2008-10-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited because I am having my second annual Christmas Card Camp with Julie here at my home this month!!! Here are the details:

Get your Christmas cards made now and enjoy some early holiday cheer before the craziness of the holiday season sets in!

DATE: Saturday, October 25th

TIME: Open house style, come any time between 10-11am

PLACE: Bethany Monroe’s House (San Jacinto)

COST: $25 (You will make 20 cards, envelopes included)

RSVP: You must PREPAY by Friday, October 17th
(cash, check, Paypal or credit card accepted)

*Friends, family & neighbors welcome too!

Here are the cards we will be making:

*For this class you can choose which cards you want to make from these 4 designs! You will be making 20, so just let me know how many you want to make of which design(s). For example, you could still make 5 each of the 4 designs, or you could make 10 of one design and 10 of another, or you could make all 20 of the same-whatever you want to do! If you don't tell me how many of each design you want to make then I will just assume that you want 5 each of the 4 different designs.
If you have any questions please email me or Julie!

Nilla Apple Crisp

2008-10-01T09:22:00.001-07:00

This last week has flown by! I have been so busy, but it's one of those times that I look back and wonder what exactly it is that has kept me constantly running.

I don't have anything new and crafty to show so I figured I'd post a yummy fall recipe that I'm looking forward to making asap. I made this Nilla Apple Crisp from Kraft Foods once last year and it turned out great. It suggests serving it with Cool Whip, (which I am a huge fan of), but I've also never met an apple crisp that didn't taste delicious with some vanilla ice cream served along side of it. So I would highly suggest adding some of that too . . . Yummy, Yummy, I can't wait to make it!

Live ~ Laugh ~ Love

2008-09-23T12:26:00.001-07:00

I've had these three cute heart hooks hanging above my kitchen sink, well, pretty much forever now, and I still had not done a thing with them. I decided a while back that I wanted to hang vinyl expressions from them, I just hadn't taken the time to do it. So I used the My Design Tool on my Uppercase Living site to make the expression in the exact size, font and color I wanted it to be and I finally got exactly what I wanted.

Here's how I made it:

I bought 5 x 7" wood blocks with a routed edge from Michael's and they were only 69 cents each!
I bought a tube of red paint.
I painted and distressed the wood.
Appied the vinyl (Seriously . . . so easy!!!)
Attached the ribbon to the back of the wood with my handy staple gun and tied the bows.

A super easy project and it gives the area the touch of color it really needed.

The letters are 2", in the University font and are printed in Matte Black vinyl.

The Ornaments of a House . . .

2008-09-23T12:09:00.001-07:00

This is one of the free vinyl expressions that I received in my Starter Kit from Uppercase Living. (I got so much great stuff in my kit!!!) I bought a frame from Michael's that was on sale for only $4 (Yay!!!).

Here's how I made it:

I removed the mat and backing that came with the frame.
Cleaned the glass.
Applied the vinyl to the glass, which was so easy. (Have I mentioned how easy this stuff is to use???)
I put a few drops of hot glue in each corner of the frame and then stuck the glass back in.

This frame had the obnoxious little pieces of metal that you bend to hold the backing on, so my wonderful and helpful hubby pulled them out for me with a pair of pliers.

That's all I did and I now have a great expression that is ready to hang on my wall. It only took me about 10 minutes total, and that included gathering everything I needed to make it.

A big thanks to my friend and fellow UL demonstrator Katrina for the idea and the heads up on the great sale price for the frame!!!

"The Ornaments of a House . . ." expression is item number 100226 and can be found on page 16 of the Fall/Winter 2008 Idea Catalog.

How I Met Your Mother Starts Tonight!

2008-09-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty excited because season 4 of How I Met Your Mother starts tonight! I think I like it so much because it's fairly similar to one of my all time favorite shows - Friends. The cast is awesome and Neil Patrick Harris is hilarious in it! He was even nominated for an Emmy last night, but he didn't win . . .

It's a little crass, yes, but it makes me laugh out loud more than any other comedy on TV. You can check it out on Monday nights on CBS.

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things . . . For Halloween!

2008-09-21T13:28:00.000-07:00

I've been out and about looking for cute things to cover in vinyl since I started with Uppercase Living, and everything in the stores right now is for Halloween. It has totally gotten me in the mood for Fall and everything Halloween related. The Fall has always been my favorite time of year (along with Christmas). My mom always decorated our house so cute for Halloween each year and she usually made our costumes by hand. I'm sure her creativity and the fun atmosphere she provided for Halloween is a big reason that I look forward to it each year.

My oldest daughter will be three years old on October 30th, (the day before Halloween!), and this year I really want it to be fun for her. She's already looking forward to her birthday and now she's looking forward to Halloween too since I've been dragging her and her little sis to most of the stores with me. I want to make it lots of fun for her, so I'm excited to get our Halloween decor up in the next week or so, so she has some time to enjoy it.

Enough of my ramblings! Here are a few of my favorite things for Halloween this year:

My Hocus Pocus tray. I of course got the vinyl through Uppercase Living, and I found the tray at Home Goods. I love that store and they had lots of great things in their kitchen department . . . perfect for sticking vinyl on!

I love Julie's Halloween Treat Jar. So simple and cute and it would make a great little gift. She filled it with orange slices and used Stampin' Up! Rub Ons to decorate the jar.

I first saw these adorable Martha Stewart vintage theme Halloween decorations at Michael's and then I saw them on Craft Pad again and decided that I had to have them. I bought the Vintage Trick-or-Treat Garland yesterday. It's so cute!!!

These Vintage Honeycomb Decorations remind me of a couple of Halloween decorations my mom had when we were growing up. I'm going back for those just as soon as I spot a 40% off coupon for Michael's. (I'm a frugal kinda gal).

I saw these Boo-nilla Shakes on Martha's web site too and I think they're awesome. I don't really see myself painting the inside of the glasses with chocolate as described in the recipe, so I'll probably make them and improvise somehow.

I've been looking around on Martha Stewart's site a lot lately and she has tons of cute ideas (of course!). I signed up for her "Craft of the Day" and "Halloween Idea of the Day" as well as her "Halloween Workshop." I get emails every day with great ideas and I check out the ones I like and delete the ones I'm not too interested in. Love it! Click here and look at the "Daily Inspiration" section to sign up.

Sticky Chicken

2008-09-19T08:44:00.000-07:00

Every other month I organize a recipe exchange with a group of ladies from church. Last night was our "Favorite Dish" night where everything goes: main dish, side dish, salad, dessert, etc. We had a really great turn out, (thanks to my friend Katrina for hostessing!), and we had an awesome variety of yummy dishes.

I decided to take Sticky Chicken, which is basically homemade sweet-and-sour chicken. I must say, it is really, really tasty. After having it, it's hard to ever have sweet-and-sour chicken from any Chinese food establishment ever again because it can never be as fresh tasting as it is when you make it yourself. I got the recipe from a missionary from our church who was serving in our area about a year ago and it's become a yummy favorite that I cook up every once in a while. If I could remember his name, I'd give him proper credit . . . but I have a lousy memory, sorry!

4 – 6 pieces of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 tbs. ketchup
½ cup pineapple juice
2 tbs. soy sauce
1 tsp. salt
1 ½ cup sugar
1 tbs. vinegar
dash garlic salt
2 beaten eggs
1 cup corn starch

Combine ketchup, pineapple juice, soy sauce, salt, sugar and vinegar and set aside. Dip chicken in beaten eggs then roll in cornstarch. Fry in oil until just brown. Sprinkle chicken with garlic salt. Line baking dish with aluminum foil and place chicken inside. Pour the sauce over the chicken and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Serve with white rice. (Serves 4)

Side note: I tried to snap a picture of the finished product for blog sake, but it came out blurry . . . I'll try again the next time I make it.

Stampin' Up! Simply Sent Card Elements Kit

2008-09-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

At Julie's card class last month I won this Stampin' Up! Simply Sent card kit in a drawing and it is awesome!!! It gives you everything you need to make 9 cards - three of each of the cards shown on the cover. It even gives you step by step instructions on how to put them together, including what size to cut all of the paper to - so easy! While my almost 3 year old watched a Disney movie and my baby took a nap I was able to put all 9 cards together (plus 2 more I made with the left-overs) . . . Time is precious around here and I appreciate simple, easy to do projects. This kit is also perfect for people who are just getting into paper crafting and it would also make an awesome gift for someone who is crafty.

Here is the kit cover so you can see how it comes:

I didn't have the stamp set featured in the instructions so I used some clear stamps that I had recently bought at JoAnn's. I'm happy with how they turned out. Here is the final product:

There was enough card stock left over to make 2 more cards so I threw these together. I still have some patterned paper left over too. I also have to mention that I'm in love with the textured card stock. Just adds a little detail and a nice touch in my opinion.

Uppercase Living!!!

2008-09-11T16:44:00.000-07:00

I'm super excited because I recently signed up to be an Uppercase Living demonstrator!!! If you haven't heard of Uppercase Living yet, we are a catalog based company that sells vinyl lettering & designs that you can use to decorate your home & really anything else too! The catalog is huge & has tons of amazing ideas in it, and the vinyl is so easy to use & apply! The options really are endless! You can even create items using the MyDesign Tool on the website. You can view all of our products (there are a lot!), order online, design your own expressions with customized fonts & colors, or get information about becoming an Uppercase Living demonstrator by clicking here. Have fun!

Feel free to email me if you have any questions or would like more information about Uppercase Living.

~Thank you!!!~

The Beginning of Crafty, Yummy & Funny

2008-09-11T16:31:00.000-07:00

I am a full time wife & mommy and I love everything crafty, yummy & funny - hence the name of my blog. I started this blog so that I have a place all to myself to be creative and share any great ideas that I may happen upon along the way.

I read lots of other blogs all of the time and I get ideas for my own blog pretty much everywhere. I will admit that I have a crummy memory, so I may not always remember where the idea came from, but I’ll at least always try to give credit where credit is due.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me any time at craftyyummyandfunny@gmail.com.