Re-purposed Tray to Menu Board

On a different trip to Deseret Industries I found this metal tray.  I liked the edge, but not the mod podged paper insides.  I removed all of that using water to get the last of the mod podge off.  My daughter was saying she wanted to have a chore board and I thought this would make a cute one.  However, when I showed it to her, she said it would be an adorable Menu Board for her kitchen.  So now it is!

Her kitchen is red, white and black.  I used my Make-the-Cut software and designed the circles with the day of the week.  I then printed them on the red and white polka dot paper.  Then I cut them with the Print n' Cut feature in Make-the-Cut.  Next I used E-6000 to glue the circles to the flat glass marbles.  I waited 24 hours and added the large magnets on the back, also using E-6000.  I did need to trim the paper circles to fit the magnets better because, as you can see, they are not perfectly round so my circles hung over in a few spots.

I painted the inside of the tray with chalkboard paint and put the magnets on it and now she has a Menu Board she can re-use every week!  I threaded red ribbon through the top holes so she can hang it in her kitchen.  I think it turned out just great!  Thanks so much for taking a peek and have a wonderful day!

Re-purposed Shelf

I found this wonderful shelf at Deseret Industries the other day.  I saw it and could not figure out what somebody would have used it for!  If you look closely, there are 24 grooves on each side of each of the four sections, for a total of 96 little shelves that are 4 1/2 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide.  I should have taken a picture of it BEFORE we removed all of the little shelves.  I didn't want to put them all back in just to take a picture so you will just have to visualize it!  Can any of you think what this might have been used for with such tiny shelves....and so many of them?

After removing all the shelves my husband drilled three holes in eight of the shelves for my Stickles, sprayed everything white, I only put a few of the shelves back in, and PRESTO!  Instant craft shelf!  I love how it turned out and it is very handy!  I have a grundle of shelves left so if I run out of places for my Stickles, we can always drill more holes and add them to the mix!  As always, thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

La Creme de la Decadent

I don't even know what the title means!  It just sounded good to me!  This is a favorite at my house.  It is Chocolate Bowls filled with strawberry creme.  It is quite easy and a real crowd pleaser!  The first thing to do is place chocolates on a plate and put in the microwave one minute at a time on Power Level 2. After each minute take them out and stir. Let them melt slowly.  I use Ghirardelli Dipping Chocolate.  It is wonderful!  So smooth and creamy!  While it is melting, blow up how ever many balloons you want to make bowls.  I sometimes use the small water balloons.  This time I used the medium-sized balloons to see if I liked the size.  Also, place a cookie sheet in the freezer to let it chill.

When the chocolate is melted, start dipping the balloon in the chocolate and turning it around on the plate until about 1/3 of the balloon is covered with chocolate.  If the chocolate doesn't swirl well for you, you can use a spatula to thin out and spread the chocolate evenly.

Line the chilled cookie sheet with waxed paper.  Place the chocolate covered balloons on the cookie sheet and put them in the freezer for about 5-7 minutes.  Take them out and repeat the chocolate process for a second layer.  Return to the freezer.

While the chocolate bowls are chilling, mix one large 32-ounce container of strawberry yogurt, one 8-ounce tub of Cool Whip whipped topping, and 1 cup of frozen strawberries (cubed) until blended well.

Removed the chocolate bowls from the freezer and pop the balloons.

Gently peel the balloons from the chocolate.  If the edges are uneven and you would like them to be straight, just use a knife to cut off the excess.

Fill the bowls with your strawberry creme, garnish with a strawberry slice and a thin piece of chocolate.  Dessert in 20 minutes!

I have made this with raspberries also.  I can never find large containers of raspberry yogurt so I just use vanilla and add sugar free raspberry jello to flavor it, then mix the Cool Whip and frozen raspberries in.  It is very good also!

This is our Valentine's treat for after dinner tonight.  It is very refreshing and totally calorie-free....NOT!  I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

52 Reasons...

OK.  I am pretty sure that my husband will not be looking at this entry.  As soon as he gets home from work today we are going out to dinner with some friends and then he works tomorrow.  He better not be looking at this at work!  Anyway...I made this "52 Reasons Why I Love You" for his Valentine's gift.  I had no trouble coming up with 52 reasons...and then some...to put on the cards.

I used a deck of playing cards that has a fishing theme on the back because he loves to fish. I cut out paper to cover the front and back cards so it would truly look like a little book.   I then cut rectangular pieces of Prima Marketing, Inc. scrapbook paper, The Second Wind Collection (3 different colors),  to cover up the centers of the cards.  I didn't want the face cards showing.  Then I used one of Penny Duncan's Shaplies to make the center rectangle on white cardstock.  I used print and cut to insert the reasons on each shaplie using the Lettering Delights font "Pretty", and then cut them out with my Black Cat Lynx.  I inked the edges of the white shaplies with a Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop inks, Rich Cocoa color.  I then used my tape gun and adhered all the pieces together.  I used my Cinch and punched the holes and then inserted the two rings and presto!  My little love book for him!  I didn't want it to be too fancy or too embellished.  That would never do for him!  It is just simple so he can focus more on the reasons instead of what it all looks like.

It was a very easy project to do, but does take a bit of time.  It took much longer than I had anticipated, but I believe it was well worth the effort!  Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Busy Little Cupids!

This is my darling granddaughter who is very involved in life!  She loves to be actively engaged in anything that is going on.  She was at our house Saturday so Grandpa decided to make Valentine's cookies and she, of course, wanted to help.  The more the merrier!

I am not much of a cookie eater, especially sugar cookies, but my husband is a self-proclaimed sugar cookie expert.  He says this is THE BEST sugar cookie recipe...EVER!  I don't know about that, but I think this was the most fun he has ever had making them with our granddaughter helping!  Here is our recipe and how he makes them.

GREATEST SUGAR COOKIES...EVER

Mix well in large bowl (he uses our Bosch Mixer):
3 cups sugar                                           4 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup shortening                                  1 pint sour cream

Add:
8 cups flour                                            1 teaspoon baking soda
6 teaspoons baking powder                    2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix together until very well blended.  The dough will be very, very gooey and sticky.  Refrigerate for one hour.  On a floured surface roll out dough to 1/4" thickness.  Cut desired shapes.  Bake at 400 degrees on ungreased cookie sheet for 8 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom.  Remove from oven, cool, and decorate.  My husband likes to brush one side with melted butter and add sprinkles and then dip the other half in chocolate.  Everyone seems to like them well enough because there are never any left after only a short time of them leaving the oven!  This recipe makes a bazillion cookies, so you might want to just make a few and leave the rest of the dough in the refrigerator for a while, or you can make them all and freeze some of them.  However you do it, you will end up with a boatload of cookies!

I hope you enjoy them and thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a wonderful day!

Wedding Ring Heart

I gave this framed picture to my husband last year for Valentine's Day.  I used my mother's wedding ring placed at the fold of a book with the page that contained a love poem that was perfect for my husband.  I positioned the book just right for the sun to shine through the ring and make the heart shadow.  Then I snapped the photo!   I'm pretty sure I have mentioned before that I am NOT a photographer with any kind of talent, thus the not so great photo.  However, I am sure that you get the idea of the gift!  If any of you are wondering why I didn't use my OWN wedding ring, mine is not a band and it wouldn't have made the shadow that way.  My mother gave me her ring shortly before she passed away 15 years ago so I thought it was a perfect ring to use.  Anyway, that is what he got last year.  I can't post this year's gift yet as he reads my blog and I don't want to spoil the surprise!  I hope you enjoy this entry and I hope that all of you are having tons of  ideas of things to give to your sweetheart on Valentine's Day!  Until then, have a great day...and thanks for stopping by!

Valentine's Card

I need to make a few Valentine's Day cards for my family and thought I better get another one done.  This is just a simple shaker card.  I used a sheet of two-sided paper for the heart and cut the scalloped outline one one side, and the full-heart background on the other side using my Black Cat Lynx.  Then I glued on the acetate to the scalloped border, attached adhesive dots, filled it with some cute hearts, and glued the two shapes together.  I then added a bit of ribbon, stamped Happy Valentine's Day and PRESTO!  A very quick and cute Valentine's Day card!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope to have a couple more done before the end of the week!  We shall see...  Have a great day!

My Valentine's Memory

My Valentine's Day decorations have always been very close to my heart (no pun intended!).  When our oldest son was only three and my husband and I were still both working, we didn't have a lot of money.  However, I really wanted to do something for our decorations since my son was old enough to know what holidays were (he was extremely brilliant!).  I couldn't go shopping for any decorations, but I did have fabric and batting!  I searched through every piece of fabric I had and pulled out the ones that had red or pink on them.  I made several stuffed pillows and just put them on my shelf.  It was perfect at that time.  After a few years I was able to purchase the black with red hearts fabric and made the other heart pillows and matching curtains.  I never want to replace these as they remind me of the very sweet times we had in our early marriage.  The other decorations on the hutch are different little things that my boys and husband have given me over the years for Valentine's Day.  Some are so sweet and I can still recall when they made them or gave them to me.  They are not elaborate or fancy, but they are truly from the "heart".

Valentine's Card

Here's just a little card I made out of Core-dinations paper.  I scored the lines around the opening and at the bottom of the card and then lightly sanded them, as well as a bit around the edges.  I really like using this paper and all the fun things you can do with it!    The inside of the card actually has what you see inside the rectangle opening, and then you can put whatever sentiment you want below that.  Nice, easy and a good finished product!  There will be more cards coming so check back every once in a while!  Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!