Nora's cake

Overdue...
Nora's birthday cake. Super easy,  a ten inch round pan and an eight inch round pan. I used the eight inch pan to cut the semicircle in the larger cake so the 8 inch cake would fit nice and snug on the bigger cake. I did cut in half and fill the cakes before fitting them together. Then I frosted in white and decorated on top using a super small round tip for detail, a large round tip for the handle, and a star tip for the pink.

Headboard Redo

Here is a picture journal of a king sized headboard redo.

Ugly fabric, great shape. We marked the edge of the border with a marker then pulled it off with hammers. Keep the upholstery nails (not staples) that attached the boarder piece, save them for when we reattached the boarder.

The Marker mark is red- we put it there to make sure the staples went past that point.

We laid the upholstery weight fabric backed with batting over the  center, then stapled along the outside edge of the marker guide we drew. then, cut away the extra fabric.

We wrapped extra batting around the boarder because the fabric was gathered and we were too  smart/lazy to remove it... I wish I would have got a picture of how truly hideous the fabric was. we just wrapped it and put a few staples in to keep it in place.

Cuteness.

more cuteness

we stapled the fabric only to the inner curve of the boarder piece so we could wrap the rest of the fabric around to the back side of the headboard. Lift the fabric on the boarder gently and tack the boarder to the main headboard by using the nails we saved from when we removed the boarder.

We didn't have enough fabric for one continual piece around the boarder, so we covered it with three separate piece of fabric. Then we folded the fabric under and overlapped it at the corners. Pulling it tight and stapling it to the back.

Three hours later.

It needed a little something. So we added nailhead trim. Beautiful!

Jewelry hanger

This a a project I worked on with my mom last summer. Her jewelry was always in tangles in the jewelry box and she could never see all the pieces without digging around and making more of a tangled mess. 

To do this project you'll need:

large cork bulletin board

Fabric

Spray adhesive

Cup hooks

It's really quite easy. Align the fabric over the cork board and then use spray adhesive to attach it to the cork board. I cute the fabric just barely bigger (like 1/4 or 1/8 of an inch) than the inside edge of the frame. Then, I used a utility knife to shove the fabric into the crack between the edge of the frame and the edge of the cork.

Next, we laid out all the jewelry onto the surface and came up with a plan for the lay out of the hooks that would accomodate all the jewelry.

I used a marker and a ruler to evenly mark the spot where the hooks were going to be attached.

Last, we just screwed in the hooks by hand. Some took a little more elbow grease than others, but it was pretty easy once you broke through the fabric.

Then, we hung it up and put on the jewelry- super easy!

A little trick that might help when it's time to hang the jewelry, take a picture of the original layout of the jewelry when you are making the plan of where to put the hooks, that way if you forget how they were all suppose to fit, you have a frame of reference.

Kind words

In January we sit down as a family and pick a goal we can all work on for the year. Our family decided that we needed more love in our house. So each week we are going to pick something to work on and a way to make it stick.
The kids decided that we shouldn't say mean words to each other (I love it when they know exactly what they are doing wrong :)... Then I asked them what we should do when someone breaks the rule. They brainstormed all sorts if crazy ideas, but we all settled on picking a chore out of a jar.

Now it's up to mom (me) to implement all the ideas so that they are doable and practical enough that we'll stick with it.

It's pretty straight forward, you'll need:
A wide mouth jar
Some pretty scrapbook paper
Two wooden skewers
A printout of the chores
Scissors
Glue

I wrote out a list of quick chores, service, and kind actions on the computer.
Printed them out and cut them into strips.
I printed out "Show Love! No Name Calling!" in a nice font and a large font size. I glued (actually i sewed it so it would look cute) the saying onto the scrapbook paper. Then, I hot glued the skewers to the paper- wider than the mouth of the jar and at an angle so they would fit into the jar, see the photo. You can use Elmer's glue if you don't have a hot glue gun. Then I glued another piece of craft paper to the back to finish it.
I put the sign into the jar and folded all the chores and put them in the jar, done!

New Year, new to-do list

2013 To-Do

- Finish Single Girl Quilt (if it kills me!)
- Finish strawberry birthday cake quilt
- Repaint and restain kitchen table (spring project)
- Paint powder bathroom
- Paint Boys bathroom
- Create an amazing backyard oasis (on a limited budget)
- plant garden
     Jalapenos, basil, tomatillos, tomatoes, cucumbers and maybe watermelon
- create some inventory for my etsy store, I'm thinking doll quilts
- make my craft room fabulous!

I think that's good for now ;)

Week's Menu

Monday
Slow cooker Chicken Cacciatore
Rice

Tuesday
Empanadas  (I use the crust recipe from this- I double it.) My filling recipe is at the end of this post
Rice and Beans
Tomatillo Dressing


Wednesday
Chicken Alfredo Roll-ups
Salad
French Bread

Thursday
Kendra's Nachos  Recipe at the bottom of this post!

Friday
Pizza
Apples
Carrots

Saturday
Creamy tomato tortellini soup
Wheat Bread

Sunday

Scooter's Spaghetti (baked spaghetti)
Green Beans


Kendra's Nacho Recipe
(I usually use leftovers from the fridge, so even though I put exact amounts- usually I just wing it)

Bag of Tortilla Chips
Re-fried Beans (I like black beans best) - heat up in the microwave and add a TBSP of water so you can spread the beans easily
2 cups Shredded Meat (pork, beef, or chicken- whatever you've got! if the meat isn't flavored then you can sprinkle it with taco seasoning. I usually use left over rotisserie chicken) - warm it up in the microwave
2 cups Shredded cheese (mexican blend or cheddar)

Line a large baking sheet with tinfoil. Spread the tortilla chips across the bottom. Spread the warmed, runny re-fried beans across the chips, then the warm meat, and finally top with cheese. Broil in oven until the cheese is melted.

Toppings:
Pico de Gallo and guacamole
Sour cream
tomatoes
shredded lettuce or cabbage

I pull the nachos out of the oven, put about half of them on a platter, add half of the toppings, stack the rest of the nachos on top and finish off with the rest of the toppings.

Kendra's Chorizo Empanada Filling

1/4 white onion diced finely
2 or 3 potatoes diced into small cubes
1 zucchini diced into small cubes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb Chorizo
White Mexican cheese (crumbly kind)

Brown the potato, onion and zucchini until the potato and zucchini are cooked through but not mushy. Add garlic, stir. Then move the mixture to the edge of the pan and cook the chorizo breaking up into small clumps as it cooks. 

Fill the empanadas (I usually use 3 inch circles of the dough) with 2-3 Tablespoons of the filling, sprinkle in some cheese. Fold over, seal with a fork, poke holes into the top with a fork, and brush top with an egg wash. Place on a cooking sprayed foiled or non-stick cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 25 minutes, until golden. 
 

This week's Menu

Now That I'm doing the Dave Ramsey thing, I've got to be more thoughtful about the shopping list.
I was sitting here in front of the computer planning out the meals for the week, and I realized that most of the recipes were on Pinterest.  I don't mind looking them up on my phone everyday when I go to cook, but since I was clicking on all the links anyway to check to see what ingredients I needed from the store, I decided I might as well post a weekly menu with links to the recipes I'm going to use.

Monday
Stew (MIL recipe in the crockpot) recipe at the bottom of this post!!
Rolls
Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Tuesday
Stuffed Zucchini
Caesar Salad

Wednesday
Lemon Angel Hair Pasta w/chicken and spinach
Garlic Bread

Thursday
Rice and Beans
Pico de Gallo
Tomato, avocado, lettuce and red onion salad

Friday
Leftover/pizza/hot dogs or whatever is in the fridge day

Saturday
Chili
Corn Bread (Jiffy)

Sunday
Pork tacos
Tomatillo Dressing

Maybe that will give you some good ideas for dinner this week... Yes I know it's a very fallish menu, I can't help it if I'm trying to convince the weather to get cooler with my cooking!
Anyway, one thing I know for sure, I'm going to be glad I only have to go to one place in order to find all the recipes I need this week!

Crock Pot Beef Stew

This is the recipe for (Brian's)Mom's crock pot beef stew that we have enjoyed for years. It is one of my favorites.

• 1 pkg stew meat (remove any fat, I also cut up the large pieces into smaller sizes)
• 2 or 3 carrots (peeled and sliced)
• 2 or 3 potatos (peeled and cubed)
• 1 onion (sliced and halved)

Put all of the above in the crock-pot, starting with the meat first. Then add:

• 3 Tbs Kitchen Bouquet
• 2 Tbs tapioca (it thickens the stew)- I actually don't add this
• 1 large can of diced tomatoes

Let cook on high for 5 to 6 hours. About one hour before serving, open lid and add:

about 3/4 bag of petite frozen peas (more or less depending on taste)

Stir slightly. Put lid back on and finish cooking. This is best if it cooks for a long time.