Saturday, July 31, 2010

It's beginning to look a lot like...Christmas?


I'll be crafting with friends today and three of
us are bringing kits. Two ladies are bringing
cards to make, and I'm bringing a garland kit.
(big surprise, eh?)
.

It's been a while since I made kits for a project.
I almost forgot how much fun it is.


I made seven to take with me today,
and there's one extra...do you want it?

If you'd like a chance to win this little giveaway (a little garland kit), please say so in a comment and I will randomly choose a winner on Monday (8/2/10).
xo

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Cheesecake Dessert - a must try!

There's this cheesecake dessert that my mom has made for as long as I can remember. It was always one of our favorites growing up, and she would usually make it for holidays or other special occasions. It's light and frothy and oh-so-yummy.
{mouth watering}

The recipe seems cumbersome and time consuming, and I vowed that I would never make it...I'll just let Mom keep making it. Well, now we have a little issue: Doug has decided that he really, really, really likes this dessert, and since we only see my mom a couple times a year, that might not be enough for him to get his fix.
.
During Mom's recent visit, Doug had a special request and his dear mother-in-law was most accommodating. I decided I'd take some pictures to document the process and share them here on my blog. I'll put the full recipe at the end of this post.

So, we set up the ingredients for this photo shoot and I thought, "How does a recipe with so few ingredients require so many crazy steps?!?"


The first thing you do is put the evaporated milk in a glass bowl and into the freezer. I know it sounds weird, but trust me...

Next you dissolve a 3 oz. package of lemon gelatin in 1 cup of hot water, then place in the refrigerator. (And it's important that you do these two things in order so that they will both be properly chilled by the time you need them further into the recipe.)

Next, crush 20 graham crackers and place in a bowl (Mom does hers a few at a time in a large bag).

Melt 1 cube (1/2 cup) of butter and add it to the graham cracker crumbs; mix well.

Press one half of the crumb mixture into the bottom of a 9x12" pan and set aside.

Mix 6 oz. of softened cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar (Mom uses a fork to blend it):

The gelatin that's waiting for you in the fridge comes out now, and gets mixed into the cream cheese and sugar mixture - and you add the vanilla at this time too.

Mom uses a wire whisk to blend it:

The evaporated milk that's in the freezer? It comes out now...and it should have frozen crystals around the edge like this (if not, leave it in the freezer a little longer):

Next, you beat the cold milk on high speed until it's thick and creamy. Who knew that semi-frozen evaporated milk would get this creamy and frothy? I didn't!

Then, gently pour the gelatin mixture into the evaporated milk, and fold the mixture together - do not stir! Mom gauges when the mixture is done by watching for yellow streaks - you can see them in the picture below - and that means it's not mixed well enough yet...

Pour the mixture onto the graham cracker crust:

Then top with the remaining crumb mixture.

Now, here's the hardest part: Refrigerate until set (usually over night). Doug had this for breakfast the next morning because he could wait no longer!


The good news for Doug? After documenting the recipe this way, I think it's something I'm willing to take on myself. I hope you will too!

*************************
.Jell-O Cheesecake
 
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
13 oz. can of evaporated milk
20 double graham crackers, crushed into crumbs
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 cup of sugar
3 oz. package lemon Jell-o (gelatin dessert)
1 cup hot water
1 t. vanilla
****
♦ Chill evaporated milk in glass bowl in freezer.
♦ Dissolve gelatin dessert into 1 cup of hot water, then place in refrigerator.
♦ Mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press 1/2 of the crumb mixture into the bottom of a 9"x12" pan.
♦ Mix cream cheese and sugar together, then add lemon gelatin and vanilla; mix well with wire whisk.
♦ Remove evaporated milk from freezer. Beat on high speed until mixture is light and fluffy.
♦ Gently fold lemon/cream cheese mixture until mixed.
♦ Pour mixture on top of cracker crust and then top with remaining crumb mixture.
♦ Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours (or overnight) until well set.
****
xo

Monday, July 26, 2010

A product of the pipe cleaner tutorial {from Presley}

My sister sent this photo to me this evening ~ the orange pipe-cleaner-girl that Presley made (using the tutorial in my previous post). I am SOOOO proud of my niece right now I could burst. She figured out a way to make hair for her.
And when my sister put the orange girl on a white piece of paper to take a picture for me, Presley yelled, "WAIT! She needs a mouth and eyes!"

I love this.
I love the fact that Presley took a simple
tutorial and immediately made it her own.
A sure sign of natural creativity.
My niece.
:o)

Pipe Cleaner Man Tutorial {for Presley}

Dear Presley ~
.
If you are reading this, that means you received your little package in the mail with a bag of pipe cleaner pieces. I made a tutorial for my blog to show you how to make little people out of the pipe-cleaners. A tutorial is like a lesson -- I'll show you pictures and tell you how it's done and you can follow along and make one too. I hope you have fun, and I hope you will make lots of these!
.
Love,
~ Aunt Deb

Welcome to your tutorial about
How to Make a Pipe Cleaner Man.

First you take two pipe cleaner pieces the same length:

Then you take one of them and bend it so it makes a circle...
This will be his head and arms.
.
Then you take the other piece and fold it in half like this:This will be his body and legs.
.
Then you put the two pieces together like this:

Then you hold his head really tight and start twisting the other pipe cleaner to make his body. {You have to get it pretty tight up by his neck so his head won't flop around!}
And you keep twisting and twisting until he has a body and some cute little legs.

For my blog readers: Presley is my 5-year old niece who lives in California. We love to craft whenever we are together - which isn't often enough!

When Carrie was little I would make these little figures out of twister-seals in the produce section of the grocery store. I can remember her small enough to still be riding in the grocery cart, playing with one of these stick figures while I shopped. She was easily entertained back then! ;o)

xo

Friday, July 23, 2010

This is Larry

The first time I saw Larry he was performing a natural act on top of our fence. (flash back) After that day, we'd see him from time to time in various places around the top of our backyard fence. Almost as quickly as Doug named him Lawrence, his name was shortened to Larry - nicknames are what we do around here!

Living in the desert, it's common to see gecko lizards from time to time. We like them - they eat bugs and are said to be good luck. Whatever. I just think they're cool. The really cool thing about Larry is that he's about four times bigger than our average gecko, and we think he's a different breed...we've never seen a lizard like this around here. Of course, that makes him even more interesting and it's more fun when he shows up here and there.

I've tried taking pictures of Larry over the past few months. Doug will shout, "Larry's out!" and I'll come running with my camera. One day I even got my telephoto lens out, but Larry was still so far away that the photos were nothing to write home about.

Then yesterday while I was on the computer, Doug yelled, "Deb! Come quick!" He was standing in our front room, pointing to the window. Larry was wedged between the glass and the screen. I ran for my camera and took a few shots.

At the time I took these photos I could see some of the beautiful blue on his belly, but when I uploaded the photos and had a closer look I was SO excited. I hope you can click on these photos and see a larger view. The scales on his tummy look like a beaded mosaic.


Nature is so amazing.

Art in the raw.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Sweet treats {and an added extra}

My grandma is turning 90 years old in a couple of weeks and we'll be traveling to California to join in celebration with my family. My mom and aunt have been busy planning her birthday party, and I volunteered to make the party favors.
.
I made the tags by creating a circle in Microsoft Word (WordArt feature). I printed 20 to a page then I stamped the butterfly with a rubber stamp once the page was printed, colored the butterflies in with a colored pencil, then used purple Stickles to add some sparkle.

And here's a sweet little secret about these tags: the font is Carrie's handwriting! We uploaded our handwriting to YourFonts.com - a free site for creating fonts using your own handwriting. I wasn't happy with the way mine turned out, but I just love Carrie's printing and I thought it was a nice touch for her Great-Grandmother's party favors.

I made 60 of these party favor bags ~ some are printed with "Happy 90th Birthday Gertrude!" and some read "Happy 90th Birthday Grandma!" My mom plans to place them randomly on the party tables. I can't wait to see these shiny bags with little bits of purple dotting the party landscape! :o)

Monday, July 19, 2010

The Floor Project

Doug and I are DIY'ers -- and our floors are no exception.
"We can do that!" we said.

I took this opportunity to plant little notes under the tiles before
they were placed. This is the message right by the front door.
:o)

The pets are enjoying this newly landscaped scenery.

More notes.
Doug and I have the same initials.
So: DJA x 2 = ♥
Get it?

And plenty of photo ops with my furry friend, Whiskers.Tail swishing too fast to be caught on film (ha!).
Doug has been working non-stop and making great progress. I helped all day on Saturday, and by Sunday morning every muscle in my body ached! Then, I reached up and around to put my hair in a ponytail and my neck and shoulders completely locked up. That put me out of commission all day on Sunday and unable to help. :o(
.
Ironic that I work with a chiropractor and massage therapist FIVE DAYS A WEEK, and I injure myself on a weekend day!?!? ~sigh~
.
Anyway! Doug and I have been in this house for 6 years now and have wanted new floors since the beginning. We're so excited to finally be doing this.
.
And I am committed to not complaining about the
dust or the speed in which the project is completed.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

What I'm up to...

Wednesday's Facebook status:
Babysitting Carrie's dog {Marcus} while she's in Orlando. Took him on a nice long walk this morning and felt like such a good grandma. Later, Doug found him across the street in the neighbor's front yard because I hadn't latched the gate. :o\ Bad grandma. I hope she'll trust me with grandchildren someday!!!

*****************************************
(yikes. I felt awful...and Carrie was not happy...)
.

Sunday's text messaging: (She misses her dog and inquires about his well being...)
Me: "We think Marcus buried his orange squeaky ball. Haven't seen it since his first day."
Carrie: "...or maybe he took it out of the backyard on his day out."
Me: "Very funny."

Marcus misses her too.
We're half way there, Buddy.
Carrie comes home on Thursday!
**************************
And on a completely different subject, Doug and I are re-finishing 1,200 sq. ft. of our floors with tile {note the flooring at Marcus' feet}. We're up to our eyeballs in dust and mortar. It's looking great but we have a long way to go. I'll post pictures of our progress soon!
xo
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