Birthday Blessings

On Saturday I turned 27. I don't really like the number 27, it's an odd looking number to me and I don't think I will be remembering my age very often, but regardless my Birthday was a success. I measure success on a Birthday as 1) I did not break into tears. 2) I was not unwilling to spend the day with people 3) I spent the day with people I really enjoy, and did not have the misery of "gatecrashers" who really steal the spotlight and turn my birthday into an ordeal. This year I spent my day with my two eldest cousins on my mother's side, as well as my parents, siblings and future sister in law (of course Nick was there as well, but he is kind of always there which I really like). I also spent part of my day at the neighbors, because I am lucky enough to share my birthday with Killian, who was born last year on my Golden birthday (turned 26 on the 26th, apparently when you turn your birthday date's age it is Golden) he is one lucky kid, and one adorable kid to boot! So I did have a very good day, despite having a summer cold, or allergy attack in the morning, and the weather being a threatening gloomy sort.

I didn't get a lot of gifts this year, but there are a few highlights to the gifts that I did get that made me realize that people in my family REALLY know me. Among them were a panini press, a new cook book, cook book stand, cookie jar, coach purse, and red vases. The first gift I opened all weekend was from my brother and his fiance, they gave me a bottle of wine (SCORE!) and a Vera Bradley Apron. Mind you, I will be scared shitless to use that apron, but it is an apron none-the-less that I will be proud to wear. I think because of them I can finally throw out my old work kitchen apron that I made. Although, that does bring my to today's DIY... yes I do have time for one after the whirlwind weekend. How about an apron? or a t-shirt? Waht about a tote? Thankfully you are in luck to be reading my blog! Cloth decorating is easy and quick, and all of your supplies can be found at Michael's or JoAnns.

Supplies:
-1 basic Apron, tote, t-shirt hat or other cloth item plain colored or multi-colored from Craft store (look in t-shirt department this may run you a little less that $5)
-Tulip all purpose glitter or matte fabric paint as many bottles as you desire
-Wax paper (4-5 sheets may be needed)
-Sheet of plain paper
-Printed shapes of your choosing
-Xacto knife (cutting mat for underneath)
-Paint brush
-Marker
-Optional- stamp and stamp pad

Instructions

1- Clean apron. Run it through the wash and hang it out to dry before starting. This way any dyes that are in it can run clean and won't run your paints out later.

2- Decide on your design. If you want just one color, or you want a lot of color. Depending on the items you choose will determine how many steps you have to take.

3- Print your designs, or draw them on a sheet of paper. Then take waxed paper and trace the outline of a single colored object and all other objects of the same color onto paper with marker. Do this for every different color with different pieces of waxed paper and label each piece of waxed paper with the color name. Once you have done this for All of the colors, you may move to the next step.

4- Cut out the colored portion of each piece of waxed paper to make a stencil. It's tedious, but it makes for a really great transfer of the original image. Take the darkest color and apply first with a paint brush and allow to dry before going through your list of colors dark to light. Once you have applied all of the colors, go through and touch up any sections with a small paint brush.

5- After applying the pain, most people would be done, however I like to take a decorative stamp, and stamp plain black ink onto the apron, and then trace the lines with the tip that comes on the fabric paint bottle. This way you have a neat raised design in addition to the design you created with the fabric paint.

Have fun with it, and enjoy the meals you will cook with it on in the future!

Save $ Eat Less?

We have officially cut our grocery bill by 3/4 possibly more. Basically the only thing we spend money on anymore is meat, and since we were so proactive in our freezing of meat after buying in bulk, it seems like we haven't spent ANY money on food in the past month! Here are a 5 cost saving tips for you in case you want to save money by doing things yourself!

1- Buy in bulk, freeze for later. We buy all of our meat in bulk when it is on sale, and force ourselves not to buy more until it is on sale again. That means we have to get everything that we like when it is on sale, or we miss our chance. I package everything individually in saran wrap, and then package it again with as many servings I can fit in Gallon size Ziploc bags. It's great because when I need to pull something out for dinner, I just pull out the amount of servings that I need, and let it thaw overnight. It's also great for unexpected guests that drop by and you need to throw something together for them. We also stock up on staple items like ready to make pasta salads, pastas and rice, and fill our pantry as full as we can while items like that are on sale. It makes it really easy when you want a quick meal and don't have time to go to the store for ingredients.

2- Coupons Coupons Coupons. We really use these like they are going out of style. It's kind of a pain, but I make sure I subscribe to the store fliers for stores I frequent, and clip coupons and keep them in a handy location. It makes it really easy when things are NOT on sale and we need an item. I can't tell you how many coupons I have used.

3- Make your own, anything and everything. Read labels, and if you recognize the items on the label, you probably can make it yourself. For example, I used to buy Torani coffee syrup because I loved the flavor in my coffee, and a 25.4 oz bottle of the syrup and a bulk container of non-dairy creamer was cheaper than buying flavored creamer for the same amount of servings. I read the label only to find out that the main ingredients were water and sugar, and vanilla flavoring. I knew I could handle that! So here is a recipe for you: 1cup water, 1cup sugar, 1 1/2 tbsp french vanilla extract. Mix water and sugar in small saucepan on stove on low till the sugar is dissolved, then stir in the extract and let it cool a bit before pouring it into a container of your choosing. I use an old Torani pump bottle, it fills it about half way each time and just wash it out after ever fill to keep it from getting contaminated.

4- Co-Op Farming. This is actually what has saved us the most money so far. We received ours as a gift this year, but will definitely do it again. There are many farms around NY that offer this type of farming, but it is really inexpensive for what you get. We would normally pay $475 for the full share that we get for the spring, summer and fall season that we are involved in, but the produce in abundant and ours is 100% organic. Right now we are even doing pick-your-own strawberries, and they had an emergency picking last night where we got two free quarts extra, just for going to the farm and helping them pick! It's great and I recommend it to anyone who wants to save money with produce. Many farms around have different pricing but most range from $200- $500 for a full share and much less for half shares or part shares.

5- Plant your own crops. We started a lot of our own vegetables this year, including, lettuce, tomatoes, and peppers. They are some of our favorites, and we already have a blooming crop. The stuff we have added to the stuff we get from the crop share gives us enough food for an entire week, and more. We sometimes share with my mother who lives close-by, in order to use what we need without spoilage. We can't wait for our tomatoes and peppers to start, but at least we have enough lettuce for some amazing salads! We don't have a lot of space at all, but we do most of our gardening out of large pots that we sit at the side of our porch, hanging baskets, window boxes, and in a small plot of land that we have situated under our upstairs neighbors stairs. The amount of space we have is perfect for lettuce, mesclun (salad greens) and tomatoes and peppers to last through the summer.

So those are just some ideas, we had for saving money, and I have to say that we have saved enough already to buy our farm share for next year, and will save even more. I guess all of this money we save will make it much easier to plan the wedding we want!

Chipped Ice and Soda Pop

With summer just around the corner, I am sure you, like many other coffee lovers, will find yourself running to the local (or for me not so local) Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks to indulge in a rather ridiculously price Mocha-Chip-Iced-Java-Chino what have you. Instead of spending hour after hour in line, in the car, or waiting, why not do it yourself? Of course, like everything else in my world I have a solution to the mammoth problem that hits me weekly. I want something cold, I want something refreshing, and I want something Caffeinated! Here is a little recipe to enjoy, on the house!

Mint Mocha Chip Blended Coffee Drink... With a Kick!

1/8 cup chocolate chips chopped into small bits
1 cup coffee (you can make it instant, or brew it before hand I like to brew some and keep it overnight in the fridge) Cooled to room temperature.
1/8 tsp mint extract
1 tbsp powdered creamer
3 tbsp coffee syrup (vanilla syrup works as well)
2-3 tbsp chocolate syrup
Ice

Put coffee, creamer, extract and syrups in blender. Add ice till it reaches the 4cup mark. Blend on "crush ice" setting. Once large chunks are gone switch to "high" power for about 10 seconds. Add chips and pulse three times till they are scattered into the mix. Pour a glass quick, and top with whipped cream and an extra drizzle of chocolate syrup.
**If you want "A Kick" add 3 shots of Godiva Chocolate Liqueur when first ingredients.**

You can basically change the recipe to your liking. Like it sweeter? Add powdered sugar (it dissolves faster than regular sugar) Like it bitter? leave out the syrups. Try it plain, or jazz it up with raspberry instead of mint! It will leave you with the satisfaction of a store bought beverage without the damage to your wallet!

Mad Hatter Tea Party Invites

So in the spirit of Alice in Wonderland, there has been a lot of buzz about the internet with products dealing with the movie. My sister was a huge fan of the disney movie as well as the books when she was a kid, so it was convenient that all this should come back while I was planning her bridal shower. I am still in the planning stages of a lot of it, but have finished the invitations. The great thing about the invitations was that they were offered by an online vendor at $1.99 a pop, including envelopes. However, I was able to hit a couple sales this weekend and got all of the supplies that I needed to make 40+ cards for about $30. The great thing about the supplies that I got is that I can use the cardstock I bought to make more than just the cards I made, and the stamp that I bought is versatile enough to make more items as well.

Supplies: (see picture below for help with descriptions)
-Package of invitation sized coverstock
-Clear stamping block
-Clear stamp block stamps
-cardstock cutouts of hearts and Q's (diamonds, clubs, spades, J's and K's can be used as well mine are Cricut cutouts)
-Raised Stamp pad in desired color
- Round Corner punch



Instructions:

Step 1: Print desired invitation via use of computer program onto coverstock. I used Publisher, and made my margins 3/4" wide in order to keep space around the borders for other accents.



Step 2: Cut all four corners of coverstock to to make corners round, like a playing card.

Card should look a lot like this at this point. (see following picture)

Step 3: Assemble the clear stamps and clear stamp block in a way that you feel would make a good back of the card. as you can see below, I arranged mine in a three piece pattern. Make sure that the pattern will fit, by placing the card underneath and eyeballing it.



Step 4: Stamping is difficult, but let me make it easy. With a large block it is all about ink and pressure. Ink the block by dabbing the ink onto the block, NOT by pressing the block into the ink. Dabbing the ink makes the process easy and fast.

When inking you paper make sure that you press down hard, and evenly so that you get a good picture. If you don't get a great picture, you can try to fix it by carefully looking through the block and lining up the stamp with the print already made, and pressing firmly again.
As you ca see in the picture it does sort of look like a back of a playing card at this point.

Step 5: Now is the time to flip the card back over, and stamp the corners. You will have to remove all items on the stamp block that you don't want to use, and reposition one that you do. When you are done repositioning, carefully stamp the top right and bottom left corners of the front of the cards.


Don't worry if the stamp runs off the page like mine did, just make sure you don't stamp on any of your wording, and try to get a stamp that fits well.

Step 6: the last part, and most tedious is applying the Q's and hearts. To make them look like a playing card you have to position them just right in the top left and bottom right corners. Make sure that you flip the Q and heart upside down for the bottom corner though to make it more realistic. I use a easy glide glue stick that dries clear, and sets fast to make the process fast.

Once you are done, you can place the card in an envelope, and if you are feeling extra crafty, you can even adorn the corner of the envelope with a matching stamp.

I also sealed the envelopes with a special little sticker I made that said "Open Me" but the choices are all yours!