Birthdays and Crafty Love

July 1st, 2008 at 8:05 pm, I gave birth to an 8lb wrinkled crying little baby girl. Ever since then, being a mom has completely changed my life and I am a better person because of it. Yesterday, we celebrated M's 2nd birthday with the Austin family. It was a long, exhausting, wonderful day, and I am a little sad to see my baby quickly growing up. But being me, and having some fantastic inspiration from my Craft Academy classes, I made some really great things to make her party extra special!


One of the classes was a special 4th of July party pack that had some wonderful crafty ideas to throw a great summer party. One project in particular was Cupcake Ice Cream Cones. I can't think of anything better for a little girl's birthday!




I used a white cake recipe and gel food coloring to tint the batter bright rainbow colors. The rest...well, it's confidential. ;}

I decided to be sneaky and top the cupcake cones with actual ice cream, cause you can't have cake without ice cream! It also served as a great candle holder!



Another class was how to make a fabric banner. I customized mine with ribbon and some pretty cherry fabric.



It turned out so freakin' cute and was deffinately a hi-lite of the party.

I hope every year I can do something special for my baby. Because, well, how could i not want to make a wonderful birth day for this cutie?!?

Felted Friends

So my newest crafty obsession is felted things. I have spent hours drooling over some amazing and beautiful felted crafts. Inspired by it all, I gave it a try and made a little something for my small person.



M is totally into cutesy animals and loves to play pretend with them, so I know she will flip when she sees the bunny friend I made for her (she is currently sacked out for the evening, so no cute pics).

Now, I've got so many little ideas floating around in my head that I will prolly have a hard time falling asleep tonight. Maybe a panda and kitty design tomorrow? I'm thinking that it would even make an awesome DIY kit for folks, but that will come later (it's a sercret! you'll just have to stick around to find out!).

Homemade Granola

I have a total fiend for granola. After extensive research and some tasty tries, I perfected this...



It's totally customizable and very easy to make.

3c Quaker old fashioned oats
1c Rice Krispies
1/2c Honey (try organic honey, the taste is so much better)
2 tbls vanilla
2tbls cinnamon sugar (i had a mixture of equal parts cinnamon and sugar for toast and C's daily bowl of oatmeal)
1tbls brownsugar
1/4tsp salt
1/2c butter; melted (please use real butter, unsalted, you can't bake with the fake healthy stuff. it's sacrilegious)
1/2c raisens*
1/2c glazed walnuts* (emerald nuts variety, love)
1/2c almond slivers*

* You can put what ever fruit and/or nut combination you prefer. I like to keep mine simple.

Pre-heat oven to 250.

Dump dry ingredients into a big bowl. Slowly pour melted butter and honey and vanilla
and stir with a spatula. Spread oats evenly on a large cookie sheet and pop into oven. Stir every 15 minutes or so, until it has cooked for 1 hour. Remove and set aside. Once the granola has gotten crispy and cooled off enough to nibble, break apart and store in an airtight container.

I like mine with some low-fat yogurt and sliced banana.

Young Picasso

I am an art dork. As long as I can remember, I have drawn, painted, sewn, crafted, anything I could get my hands on. I owe it all to my mom; she always encouraged me to be artsy and creative. We used to make paper dolls together and watched Bob Ross paint his "happy little trees" and I have some very fond memories, and (I think at least) a little bit of skill because of it. Now that I am a mom, I wanted to do the same for my daughter. Whatever she does, I want to encourage her. But since I am an art lover; I have been eagerly awaiting the day that M was old enough to grasp a crayon and make her first little scribbles...

I found these great little markers called Crayola Beginners and are made for toddlers and are shaped to fit in their hands. They are really great and super cute!

Washable (a must), non-toxic, and apparently tasty...

Super Awesome Turkey Burgers

One of my favorite things to cook for the fam is turkey burgers. They are healthy, tasy and kid-friendly. It has taken many attempts, but i have perfect the recipes and they are awesome.

No, they are super awesome.

Recipe:

1 lb. extra lean ground turkey meat
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
dash of salt and pepper
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 green onion stalks, sliced
1 avocado
1 tablespoon mayo
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
lime juice (optional)
spinach
monterey jack cheese
red onion
bun

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Directions:

-Combine turkey, soy sauce, liquid smoke, s-n-p, garlic and green onion in large bowl. Mix thoroughly and divide into four equal balls.
-Form balls into large patties and either cook on a grill (heated to 350) or large skillet (with a bit of olive oil so they don't stick).
-Cook patties, flipping once after 6-8 minutes.
-Place on bun and top with avocado spread, cheese, spinach and red onions.

(Avocado spread - mash avo in a bowl and add mayo and mustard. splash a bit of lime juice for extra flavor)

C loves 'em