Happy New Year

The last few moments of 2008 are upon us! Here is to a great new year with more adventures and fun times. See you next year!

For Dinner Tonight : Turkey Quesadillas

What to do with leftover turkey

Ingredients:
a touch of butter (or oil)
2 flour tortillas
1/4 pound turkey (cooked, shredded)
2 tablespoons cranberry sauce
1 jalapeno (chopped)
1 green onion (chopped)
1 handful cilantro (chopped)
1/2 cup shredded cheese (Monterey Jack or Cheddar etc.)

Directions:
1. Melt the butter in a pan.
2. Place a tortilla in the pan and rub it around in the butter to coat.
3. Heat the tortilla until air pockets form, flipping a few times.
4. Repeat 2-3 for the second tortilla and leave it in the pan.
5. Place the turkey, cranberry sauce, jalapeno, green onion, cilantro and cheese on top followed by the other tortilla.
6. Cook the quesadilla until golden brown on both sides and the cheese is melted flipping once. (You can place a plate on top of the quesadilla in the pan and then flip it onto the plate and slide it from the plate back into the pan to easily flip it without loosing the contents.)

photo and recipe via Closet Cooking

Crown Bookplates : Free Download

Today my neighbor is turning 3. And like a huge majority of 3 year old girls, she is obsessed with Disney princesses. I got her a book of stories and stickers about all her favorite royals and thought I'd make a nice bookplate to put in the front.

If you'd like this bookplate for yourself, click here to download. When you download you will get a PDF file containing 6 of these cuties. Print onto label paper, cut out, and stick into your little princess' library.

Holiday Magic

I hope that everyone had a beautiful holiday! We sure did!

My nephew loves nothing more than laying on the floor and watching his trains zoom by, inches from his face. Pure and simple enjoyment!

Glad to be back and working on some new things for the shop!

New Year's Eve Ideas

I've never much been a fan of New Year's Eve. So much pressure to have a fun time. Every year I struggle with making plans and this year is no different. G and I still don't know exactly what we are doing.

When I was little all the aunts and uncles and cousins would get together. We'd sip white grape juice from plastic champagne flutes, have tons of noisemakers and confetti, and wreak havoc on the poor host's house.

When I got to middle and high school, I went to the same party every year. It was a birthday/New Year's thing and we'd watch movies, play pool, and stay up half the night.

For the last 10 or so years, it has been a struggle to make it "perfect". Last year we were invited to a black tie wedding. I think a lot of people would be against this idea because they'd want to make their own plans. I on the other hand was ecstatic. A fancy affair, good food and entertainment, surrounded by friends, and planned by someone else!
With that said, if I were planning on doing something fun for New Year's Eve, I would most likely use the following ideas. They all look super easy and super cute. See for yourself!
Hostess With The Mostess has some super cute ideas...including directions for this awesome sparkler cake!

Check out Hostess With The Mostess for these New Year's drinks.

Visit Martha Stewart to get instructions for this noisemaker centerpiece.

Visit Martha Stewart to learn how to make these confetti favor bags.

Free Labels : Red and Teal Circles

Print these cuties out on some label paper and stick them to all your gift, jars, scrapbook pages and what not. It's Friday and it's my gift to you. Happy weekend. I'm off to make cranberry apple turnovers!

Download labels here

Apple Cranberry Turnovers

I'm in charge of dessert tonight at our annual family sleepover and I'm making these bad boys. Apples, cranberries, brown sugar...oh my! Plus it does not hurt that I have most of the ingredients on hand.
Here is the recipe via Dragon's Kitchen

These adult turnovers taste great with a Bailey's coffee or spiked apple cider. For a more kid friendly version, just replace the brandy with some orange juice. Enjoy!

Makes: 8 pastries

Ingredients:
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 tablespoon brandy
2 medium apples, chopped to 1/4 inch pieces
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
zest of a small orange
pinch of salt
2 sheets puff pastry sheets, thawed
2 tablespoons butter, cut into bits
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon milk
Course sugar to garnish

Directions:
1. Combine the dried cranberries with the brandy and let it sit for 15 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 375F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. In a small bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, salt and orange zest. In another bowl mix cranberries, apples, brown sugar and maple syrup. Add the flour mixture to the apple mixture and make sure that everything is well coated.

4. Unfold the thawed pastry sheets on a lightly floured surface. Roll the each pastry into 10x10 inch sheets. Cut each sheet into 4 equal squares.

5. Divide the apple mixture among the squares, leaving a 1-inch border. Dot the mixture in each pastry with a little butter.

6. In a small bowl mix the beaten egg with the milk. Use a pastry brush to brush the egg mixture on the border of the pastry. Fold each pastry into a triangle, enclosing the filling, and crimp edges with a fork. Brush the tops of the pastries with more of the egg wash. Sprinkle the tops with some course sugar.

7. Bake turnovers for 25-30 minutes or until puffed and golden. Cool turnovers on a wire rack before serving.

DIY Garland

Looking for a cheap and simple way to decorate your home for the holidays? Garlands are a good bet. They can be made from fabric scraps, cranberries, eucalyptus, paper snowflakes, or just about any pretty thing you can find around the house. Click below for DIY garland ideas and links to projects...

Coffee Filter Garland via Pam Garrison

Snowstorm Garland via Craft Stylish

Cupcake Liner Garland via AT:SF

Fabric Flower Garland via Creature Comforts

Party Garland via The Purl Bee

Hallway Renovation : Before and After

G and I have been renovating our house since June. Tear down, can't live there, very dusty renovating for six months. This is the first project that is actually completed (almost).


This is the side door to the house. It was once a creamy yellow color from the ceiling to the trim to the door. If there had not been carpet down I feel for sure the floor would have been painted to match.

Fast forward a few months and many hours and you'll see the end result. The door was stripped and repainted, the carpet has been replaced with tile, the walls and trim have been painted, and a light was added to the ceiling.For anyone interested:
Door and Trim - Poplar White from Sherwin Williams
Walls - Bunglehouse Grey from Sherwin Williams
Tile - Lowes
Drink cup sitting on the shelf - Noodle and Company (yum)
Dirty handprints on the door - My husband
Light - Madison Collection from Progress Lighting
All I need to do is put the little metal strips back on the bull nose and touch up the paint!

Snowman Cake Toppers

Saturday was for celebrating at our house. It was my father-in-law's birthday party and he is notorious for not wanting anything to do with Christmas at his birthday. We went the safe route and decorated the cake with snowmen this year and there was hardly any mention of the big holiday waiting patiently in the near future.

All you need to decorate your cake with snowmen are:
Marshmallows (big and small)
Icing (white for snow & another color for scarf)
Candy corn
Smarties
Candy Necklace candies
Toothpicks

Be careful when you light the candles. We had a slight snowman catastrophe. (Unless you like your marshmallows lightly toasted)

Grapevine and Evergreen Holiday Wreath

Warmly welcome your guests with this festive holiday wreath.

Materials and Tools:

large grapevine wreath (26" to 30" diameter)
3' to 6' artificial evergreen garland
2" wide wired red ribbon
shiny eucalyptus sprigs
7 red berry sprigs
pine cones (scented or unscented)
assorted sprigs of contrasting seasonal greenery
1 35-light strand of red Christmas lights with a green electrical cord
1 small grapevine ball
1 medium grapevine ball
1 large grapevine ball
fine gauge wire

Steps:

1. Wrap garland around base of grapevine wreath. Arrange the evergreen branches for a more natural look as you wrap. Next, insert small sprigs of contrasting seasonal greenery to break up the texture of the evergreen garland.

2. Wrap lights over garland, tucking cord between branches. Wrap so that the plug is positioned behind wreath, at the bottom.

3. Tie red ribbon to the grapevine wreath to secure it, then weave ribbon through the garland.
4. Wire grapevine balls to the wreath.

5. Finally, tuck in red berry sprigs, eucalyptus sprigs and pinecones; if necessary, attach them with wire.

via HGTV

Free Printable Labels and Tags

Time to get those presents wrapped! Stick a label on the package courtesy of Martha. Get yours free here!

D.I.Y. Tea Tray

I was recently inspired by a tray project that the Youngsters over at This Young House did.

Well, I took their idea and made it my own. My sister is a huge tea drinker and this tea tray will be an awesome Christmas gift for her.

I found the silver colored tray at Pier One Imports for $15. The striped paper and flower paper came from my local scrapbook store. The "Tea Revives You" print is something that I did at home with good old Adobe and my Okidata laser printer. (Inkjet ink may bleed...be cautious) The liquid resin came from Michael's. Once I had everything like I wanted it, I taped it all down and mixed up the resin. Be sure to mix this well!! Then...it was time to pour. Make sure you get a nice even layer over the whole tray. If you get little air bubbles in your resin, lightly blow on them to make them pop.
Let the tray set without touching it for a few days...and voila...you've got yourself a homemade tray.
Thanks to the Youngsters for putting my photos up on your blog!!

Construction Party

My husband and I are painstakingly restoring our old house and want to throw a construction party when it's finished. I need some creative ideas that we could incorporate without it being too "Bob the Builder".

Here are some quick ideas that came to mind. Help Me!!


Dump truck filled with mixed nut or candy

Paint chips as decorations from any home improvement store

Nail party picks from Kitchen Kapers

Address Label Bands *For Sale*

I had a special request through Etsy over the weekend.

I love your address labels that wrap around. Are you coming out with any more designs? Say a black and white one?

Well, in response to that, I got right to work on some new designs. I love when people ask for something specific. That way I don't feel so random. I enjoy having a purpose to make something specific. I hope these fit the bill.

#1 : Rowan...buy it here
#2 : Cirque...buy it here
#3 : Dotty...buy it here

These are listed as a PDF file that I will e-mail to you. $8.00 to print as many as you want & no shipping. They measure 8.25 x 2.25 and wrap around the side of your envelope. 5 x 7 envelopes work great. Like this...
If you want to download the Santa labels that I made last week...get them here or here or here!

More Thanks

I'm coming to realize that the blogging world is a strange (in a good way) and wonderful place. So many creative and helpful folks out there. I couldn't post a PDF on this site, so I contacted a few others and voila...address labels to share.

So...THANK YOU to Vintage Glam blog for posting about my Santa Labels today. If you are interested in a vintage wedding, this is the site to check out. She also has tons of FREEBIES to download!! (including my labels)

Many Thanks

A big THANK YOU to Creature Comforts blog for posting my Santa Labels yesterday! Check out her blog for a serious dose of daily inspiration and to download the labels!

Click on the photo for info on her latest D.I.Y. project!

Vintage Santa Address Labels

Just in time for sending out your Christmas cards...

I've made some super cute wrap around address labels that I want to share with you. The labels are 8.25 x 2.25 and wrap around the side of the envelope. The return address is on the back.
The file will come to you as a PDF that you just have to print out on your home computer. There are 3 images per sheet, so print as many as you'd like on some label paper.
Leave me a comment with your email address if you'd like me to send you your very own copy.

Hermes Kelly Bag

This is such an adorable download: a free print-out "kelly" purse from Hermes. It can be designed with the pattern of your choosing. Just go to the Hermes website and click on the picture of the paper bag to download. Do you know of a little girl who would love this?

A Few Of My Favorite Things

The internet is full of wonderful things. Wonderful free downloads. Here are just a few of the ones I love.

Bookplates via Craftsanity

Four Seasons Gift Tag via Fog and Thistle

Lunchbox Stickers & Magnets via Rachel Ray

Candy Bar Wrappers via Rachel Ray

Vintage Handcrafted Product Labels via HP

Boarding Pass Template via Vintage Glam