d's delights- cooking and crafts

Addicted to making stuff- I have made even more ornaments since my last post! I made some bird ones with paper piecing and a felt baby Jesus and an adorable felt Christmas tree. I feel like I am just addicted to making these thi ga and trying out new ones! And once I get going on one kind, I keep going until I just get tired of creating different versions of it! I don't even know what I'm going to do with them all! I have given some to friends or students, and plan on giving some to family... But holy cow! I honestly don't think I know enough people to give these things to! I guess it is a bit like when I get into a card making mode- I just keep creating and going... I will post pictures of all these cool ornaments I've made soon!

I was inspired by our church's project to encourage Reduce Reuse Recycle at the Cumberland Weihnachtsmarkt to try my own version of ornaments from aluminum cans. The ones we made at the market were made with aluminum cans and old sheet music. We used a cookie cutter and traced the shape into the aluminum and onto some sheet music. We cut them out, then put a hole and string to hang. I decided to try to cut out stars from a can and put it through my Sizzix Big Shot in an embossing folder. They turned out great! Then I cut out another star to hang with them. I had a stamp of Joy to the World lyrics that was the same size. So, for one I used the stamp. For the other, I just used red paper. I could have used music, because I certainly have plenty of old music-but I was not ready to demolish it yet! Here is how they turned out:

I’m still busy making ornaments! I really loved the felt manger ones I made, and wanted to do more, but I only had enough felt for those.   So, since my main form of craftiness consists of paper crafts, I decided to use my paper crafting skills for ornaments!   I found some paper piecing patterns on the scrapbooks etc .website, and printed them on my basic cream colored cardstock that I use.   I printed a stocking, a santa and a bird.   I decided to try the stocking first, because it looked the easiest! (I was right!) When I trace these, I put the template upside down on the back side of the paper I want to use.   This way, any pencil marks will not be seen, and the picture will still be facing the right way.   The stocking had 4 parts and two colors: The main stocking (color 1) and the top, toe and heels (color 2).   After I glued these together withy mod podge (this made it harder) , I then traced the entire stocking (upside down) on a basic cardstock and cut it out a smidge sma

I am really on a roll with this ornament making thing. I think I am making up for the lack of creations last year at this time. Last night, I just up and decided that I would make salt dough ornaments. I found a recipe on pinterest, of course, and got busy. I used 1 cup of flour and 1/4 cup salt, added about 1/4 cup warm water, then kneaded it and rolled it out. (use cooking oil on your hands to avoid sticking ) I tried 2 shapes- a circle and a star, using cookie cutters. I used a rubber stamp on the star to see how that would work. (put oil on the stamp first) I took a skewer and made a hole to run a ribbon through later for hanging. I cooked them on parchment paper at 250 for an hour, then checked them. I wound up turning the oven off 15 min later and letting them sit in the oven for the rest of the evening.i would say that I made them less than 1/4 inch thick. I imagine it would take longer If they were thicker. Here is how one turned out:

Christmas Ornaments! I love the idea of my Christmas ornaments having meaning and beauty.   I especially love to get handmade ornaments.    I suppose that this comes from when I was little, and my mom and I would make ornaments every year.   From the all-purple painted Virgin Mary, (which always found its way onto the BACK side of the tree) to the beaded candy canes and clothespin reindeer.  I loved this special time with my mom, and giving my hand made ornaments to teachers and friends.  I also loved pulling them out every year to recall memories of Christmases past.   These days, I try to make a little note on a post-it   to record where new ornaments came from.   This is a nice way for me to remember people and family in my life.   I hope to be able to make memories with Will when we can make ornaments together!   Felt Manger Pattern Here Since Pinterest, there is no lack of ideas for crafts to be found!   I downloaded this pattern, and decide to make these cute little mange

Tis the season …for crock pot meals! It’s definitely that time of year when it gets to be time to stay inside and make those dinners in the crock pot! A few weeks back, I found a pin about making pre-made frozen meals to throw in the crock pot.   I decided to try a couple.   The ones that I thought my husband would find the most palatable were:   teriyaki chicken and bbq chicken (which, btw imho tasted nothing like bbq and would, in the future, call it “Italian”) I made them both and they were quite easy and good.   I also made another crock pot meal that the hubby liked.   Here are my recipes: Teryaki Chicken Split between 2 bags: 4-6 Carrots (you can use a bag of baby carrots, but I don’t like the way they taste when cooked.) Red Onion, cut into chunks 1 20 oz can Pineapple chunks 4 garlic cloves, chopped 4 chicken breasts 1 C teriyaki sauce (1/2 C per bag) Freeze the bags, and when you are ready to use them, thaw them out a bit by getting them out of freezer.  

If you are a beginner at this scrapbooking, stamping or card making thing, you may want to know the best adhesive to use. I will say that there are several kinds that you can choose from, and you will find that different types work better for the different items you may want to adhere. First, for basic paper and photos, I find that a tape runner is best.   You could use glue, but it’s messy, and messes up the integrity of the paper.   Here is my favorite kind to use.   It doesn’t get gummed up, and the adhesive does not dry out with papers and pictures falling apart.   You can get repositionable tape runners for those things that you may want to move around, or for pictures you may want to take off someday. For anything bulky-like buttons or ribbons, I use glue dots.   These were the best thing I ever discovered, because it meant that I didn’t have to get my glue gun out for ribbons and buttons!   These glue dots come in different sizes and can also come in removable ones.

If you know me at all, you know that I love to scrapbook and make cards.   I am not sure why I am so obsessed with making cards, because I am so bad at sending them to people. (case in point:   I have several handmade cards that even have my thank you messages on the inside from all of Will’s showers.   If you never got one, this is why.   I assure the cards are gorgeous!) Anyway, I guess I love making the cards because you don’t have to have any pictures available, and it doesn’t take long, and I wind up with something pretty that is also useful.   The number one time when people send cards is, of course Christmas and the Holidays.   So, I find it a lot of fun to make Christmas cards for people!   Sometimes I sell them to others, and sometimes I give them to my friends and family. When I make cards, I usually am inspired to design them from the paper that I have.   I get sets of paper that work together, and then the mix and matching is much easier!   I also use some stamps

Photography…a first visit with Santa I got really excited when I saw that Beasley’s Orchard was having a Christmas day with pictures with Santa!   I thought that these would definitely be better than the obligatory mall photo (they were-   this Santa had a real beard!)   So, we went out to Danville, Indiana to go to the orchard.   We arrived to an already long line of parents and antsy children.   I would guess that Daddy and Will were in line for over 20 minutes while Grandma Hartman and Mommy looked around and bought lots of cool orchard-y type stuff.   (I have a lot of apples!) Of course, Will was a perfect angel in line.   He took it all in, watching everything…and giving looks of disbelief to the misbehaving children.   (One was even telling his mother that he hated her.)   By the time we got up there and handed him over to Santa, he was utterly confused.   Why was Daddy no longer holding him?   Why was Mommy trying to take his picture??   WHO was this man that he was sitt

I’ve seen this project on Pinterest, and have wanted to do it for a while.   So, when I was on a walk with Will in the park, I collected several sticks from the ground.   I had an old White Barn Candle Co glass container that I’d been saving… for something…???   And I broke the sticks all into sort-of-even pieces.   I wanted to make sure that I had enough sticks to go around it, so I used a rubber band to put the sticks around.   I was all proud of how it looked, when the rubber band broke, and all the sticks went everywhere.   (don’t use an old rubber band!)   Finally, I was able to find some time to actually glue the sticks on.   I got my glue gun out and went to town!     I just put enough glue on to do 2-3 sticks at a time, and I made three strips of glue going horizontally.   I made sure that I put the sticks on while the container was upright on the table so that they would be even and so the container would still be able to stand up.   Here is my finished product

I am so excited to officially welcome Karen Woods into the family in December!   I had a small shower for her, and here are some of the decorations I had fun putting together.   The wedding is going to be a very elegant evening winter wedding, with the colors being black and silver.   It totally matches the classiness of this adorable couple.   I made these tea candle holders out of- you guessed it- baby food jars.   They are just so cute, and I had been saving some up for the occasion to make something out of them!   I used some wrapping paper (that I bought AFTER Christmas really cheap!) and tied a bow around the top.   So simple, and so elegant!   You could do this with just about any kind of paper you want.   Very quick and easy deco!  I also made up these boxes (bought at Michaels) for a favor.   I added the black bows.   I think I may recycle some of these at Christmas time, and make ornaments out of them!   I love when I can throw a party and make it look themed and

Dollar Store Craft I found these little shadow box frames at the dollar store and figured I could find something to make out of them.   It has kind of been a trend in the scrapbooking world to make some scrapbook shadowboxes, but of course the ones they sell are overpriced.   It’s wood nailed together, people.   The one I bought was in a raw form, and definitely needed staining or painted.   So, I stained it with Old English!   It worked really well, and look how it turnedout!     Now…What   to do with it?     I also stained this frame which I got at the dollar store:

Wow.   I haven’t written in a while… sorry about that.   I think I’ve been just very blah and uninspired.   Hopefully I will be on an upswing soon. I haven’tmade any great new recipes lately, and haven’t had much time to be crafty. L   BUT I did do something Pinterest-inspired.   I did something to help organize my closets and clothes. I had seenon Pinterest a suggestion to use shower curtain hooks over a dowel rod to hang your purses in your closet.   I have those wire type shelves in the closet, so I didn’t have a dowel, but the holes in theshelves made a great place to put these open end shower curtain hooks . I have a lot of shawls that I accumulated over the years-   I used to wear them ALL THE TIME, especially in summer, but I figured out a way to wear them now with my sweaters.   The bulky scarf look is in these days, and I might as well be almost fashionable.   Before, my shawls were all in a basket, folded or wrinkled up.   Now,I can get to them easily.   I also need

A while back, I saw a pin about mod podging a page of an old book with a heart cut-out around a glass jar and making a candle holder. Well, I decided to try it with old music that I had. I also saw a pin about mod podging tissue paper over something to make it look more vintage or opaque. Here is my creation:   The bow is light blue thule.

Do you feel like your office or living room is just one big place full of generic looking organizers?   You know, the magazine holders, the plastic hanging file folders…the stacked paper holders? I sure did!   But I did something about it that allowed me to use my crafty skills and creativity touse. First, I got really tired of looking at the cardboard magazine holders I got to organize my smaller music scores and loose sheet music and octavos.   So, I got some scrapbook paper that I had a lot of, and covered the magazine holders.   Now, instead of ugly cardboard magazine holders, I have colorful ones that make me happier to look at!   I liked that so much, that I decided to do it to the plastic ones I had too!   Eventually, I figured out how to mod podge them to make them look a little more professional, and sturdier. The trick here, is to get paper that has some coordinating patterns so that if you are doing more than one, you have something interesting that doesn’

One of the challenges that have faced me since getting married has been trying to make healthy meals for myself and my husband.   Because a lot of the core of my work is done in the evenings, it leaves little time to give some good thought to making nutritious and delicious meals that we will both eat.   You see, my husband is somewhat of a finicky eater… and it is hard to put a finger on what he will and will not eat!   For instance,he won’t eat soups or stews, but he will eat beef and noodles and mushrooms.   He won’t eat cheese on his hamburger, but he will eat pizza… And the big one that all of his friends and family like to give him a hard time about… he will not pour milk over his cereal.   He has a glass of milk beside his dry Cheerios.   I tell you this not to make my husband feel bad about his weird eating preferences (He could survive a week on ham sandwiches, chicken patties and frozen pizza) but to give you an idea of what I am dealing with.   Trying to get him to eat hea

Photography- Another Fall Session Attempt I was so excited to take Will to a Pumpkin Patch to get some good Pumpkin Pictures of him. Unfortunately, he had not had a good nap, and he was a little grouchy… not so much grouchy, but just not his normal chipper laughing self.   Despite that, and despite the fact that the weather was cold and overcast, we still got a few good pictures that will be fun to relive in a few years. I decided to edit these in order to bring out the colors and make them more artistic images.   I deepened the colors, which works well on overcast pictures and ones with a lot of out-doorsy green.   I sharpened a few, which brought out the contrast in the nature, such as tree bark and hay.   I also used a bloom on some which softened up the skin and portraits.   Look, I don’t by any means say I know what I’m doing with this editing stuff.   I have just done a lot of experimenting to see what works well.   I use an editing program which is free called Pho