Shop Update: Fun and Festive Goodies

Check out the shop: Now stocked with festive goodies for the Holiday Season, including the new 2010 Christmas Art Journal Kit. I don't have many of these kits, so be sure to grab yours now! :) Have a great rest of your weekend :)

Giveaway: Getting Ready for the Holiday Season

Happy Friday! Thank you so much for all of the lovely comments yesterday about menu planning and budgeting. I'm excited to dig in :) And now, thank you to all of you fabulous followers out in blogland! Thank you for taking the time to read my little blog and for all of your comments (I love reading each of your comments :)).

So, to celebrate reaching 500+ followers, I wanted to do a fun giveaway - just in time for beginning the wonderful holiday season. Up for giveaway is your choice: a retired 2009 Christmas Art Journal- I only have 2 of these cuties available from last year! Or a Knifty Knitter (remember this post? I LOVE my Knifty Knitter :) - super easy and fun to make beautiful scarves... Christmas gift idea!)

To enter: Since this giveaway is to celebrate all you fabulous loyal followers, leave a comment if you are a follower (if you subscribe via RSS, google reader, etc. that counts too :)) and which fun goodie you are interested in :) Also, please leave your email address so I can contact you if you are the winner :) One entry per person please :) I will randomly pick and announce a winner sometime on Monday, November 1 (it's almost November?!) :)

+ Be on the lookout for a shop update this weekend. New 2010 Christmas Art Journals are ready, along with some fabulous Christmas embellishments (read: flashcards, numbers... all sorts of goodies!)

Menus. Groceries. Budget. Ideas: A Mini-Series

Welcome to a mini-series on: how I plan menus; tips and tricks I use to save money when it comes to groceries; and stretching my food and food budget as far as possible. So, whether you're on a tight budget, just want to learn some ideas for having a food plan or just want some ideas on saving money, I hope this mini-series will help. :)

A little background on our food budget and bragging on my amazing husband ;) Currently, my hubby is a full-time Master's Degree student (a 90-hour Master's program, so pretty much another Bachelor's degree ;)), and is also working full (over) time to provide for our little family. I am truly blessed to have an amazing man that is working so incredibly hard to: a) earn his Master's and maintain A's and B's b) working 4 part-time jobs (he has his own business, is a soccer goalie coach, teaches 8 private guitar/drum lessons per week and edits/writes weekly for a national church sound and production magazine) c) finding lots of time to spend with our sweet son and myself and d) serve in our church... all the while with a genuine smile on his face and an amazing God-trusting attitude (even when mine might not be ;)).

God has been so faithful and provided for every need, and it has been a challenging season of making every.single.penny.count. :) And as far as our food goes: It's been a great time of growing and learning how to grocery shop and create nutritious, filling meals on a super-skinny food budget :) Now of course, we do work in the occasional weekend Chinese food take out, as well as other extras here and there such as a trip to the bakery to have a bagel, a $5 Little Caesars Pizza, or a trip to Krispy Kreme (which is a little over a mile from our house and the "Hot Donuts Now" sign is ALWAYS on. Mmmmmm. I have to pass it every time I go to Target ;)). Sometimes we will also purchase extra ingredients to make special meals or snacks. So thankful for these little extras. :)

With all of that being said, I've been writing down ideas that work for our family - I realize that these might not work for each person or family out there, but hopefully you can glean some useful tips. Please comment with any sort of tips or ideas you have about how you make your grocery budget work, what kind of meals you prepare, what works for you! :) It's always fun to learn new ideas and info!

This week to start, I wrote down a list of staples that I have in my pantry pretty much at all times. These are items that you don't necessarily use a whole lot of (like spices, crisco, soy sauce, etc.), and most of them have a long shelf life, so they aren't needing to be purchased frequently. If I see a particular item on sale for a great price and I know I am running low or (getting ready to run low) on that item, I will incorporate it into my budget (and if necessary, shave something else off- like foregoing a certain side dish for a meal that week). Feel free to print out the list, add to it on the blank lines, and keep an inventory of your pantry! :)
Over the next couple weeks I will be posting about various subjects related to groceries and food, such as: creating a food planning binder, menus, my thought process of creating a menu/grocery list, recipes, creating a price book and more :)

Recipe Day: Cheese Straws

We had a fun event at our church this past weekend- Women's Day - a day full of fabulous food, fellowship and awesome workshops taught by women in our church - everything from Gardening 101 to Motherhood to Breadmaking to In the Kitchen (and bunches more). It was so fun to take several different workshops and learn a ton of new things. One class I took was "In the Kitchen" with an amazing cook in our church. She is a fabulous cook and had so many tips, tricks and ideas. She also made fun little cookbooks and had some fabulous food samples. One was cheese straws. Oh.My.Word. I've made cheese straws before, but they never come out nice and crunchy. Hers were perfect.

So Jimmy and I made some this morning (and there are almost none left ;)). These are perfect for the upcoming holidays - perfect for get-togethers, and quite simple to make.
Cheese Straws
1/4 lb. coarsely grated extra-sharp Cheddar (1½ cups)
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
½ tsp. salt
Rounded 1/8 tsp. cayenne
1½ Tbsp. milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with racks in upper and lower thirds. Pulse cheese, flour, butter, salt, and cayenne in a food processor until mixture resembles coarse meals. Add milk and pulse until dough forms a ball.
Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 12"x10" rectangle (1/8" thick).

Cut dough with a lightly floured pizza wheel or lightly floured sharp knife into 1/3" wide strips. Carefully transfer to 2 ungreased baking sheets, arranging strips 1/4" apart (If strips tear, pinch back together).
Bake, switching positions of sheets halfway through baking, until pale golden, about 15-18 minutes. (If you don't want to bother with switching the racks, just cook on the middle rack, but will have two batches of straws to bake). Cool completely on baking sheets on racks, about 15 minutes.

*Cheese straws can be made 2 days ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

Tuesday Tutorial: Handmade Silk Flower Hairpin

So the other night the ladies from my bible study small group got together and made these fabulous (faux) silk flowers. My sweet friend Rachel taught us how to make them and I told her I would definitely be doing a tutorial on my blog about these :) Thanks Rachel! :)

The fun thing is, you can make these as a hairpin, a pin to pin on your clothes, or you could even use elastic to create a headband (or purchase a ready-made headband!). Ooooh or what if you attached one to a Christmas gift as the bow? :)

Supplies:
+ Fake Silk (rayon? - the fake silky stuff you can buy in the fabric section at Wal-Mart for super cheap) - not much is needed, a ¼ yard would be waaaay more than enough to make a bunch of these flowers
**EDITED: satsumaart said...Nice tutorial! Yes, you definitely need to use rayon or some other synthetic fabric, and not real silk. Organic fibers (like silk) will char when you burn them, so you'd get a blackened edge instead of the cool melty effect that happens with synthetic fibers. :)** Thank you satsumaart! :)
+ small glass beads (or any other type of small bead to go in the center of the flower)
+ scissors
+ coordinating thread and needle
+ lighter (or open flame on a candle)
+ hairpin clip, pin backing or elastic, depending on which you prefer to make (I pictured all three options below)
Start by cutting out 5 circles from the fabric. They don't have to be perfect circles- I kind of make mine in oval-circle shapes. The diameter of the largest one on mine is about 2¾". Each circle should be a little smaller than the last, so as to have a tapered (flower petal) effect once we put it all together.
Now, using the lighter (or open flame) - be careful! - quickly run the edges through the flame so they will start to melt and curl up. Be super careful, the material can quickly catch on fire and quickly burn since the petals are small (Thanks to my hubby for doing this part so I could take the picture - you should have seen when I was trying to light the lighter, run the petal through it and take a picture ;) I'm sure it was quite entertaining).
It's ok if you burn the edges, just cut that tiny part off and try again.
Now you have five lovely and curly petals.
Take the larger two petals and sew the hairpin (or pin or elastic hairband) to them. Be sure to make several stitches so it will be nice and secure.
Take the top three petals and sew those all together, sewing the beads to the top at the same time.Ok, the tricky part. I'm sure there is a simpler way to put this all together (let me know if you can think of one), but this is what we came up with ;) Beginning at the back of the flower (where the hairpin is sewn on) stick your needle through four petals and close to the center. Your stitches will be hidden by the top (fifth) petal. Stitch a couple times to reinforce. (The arrow below is pointing to the needle - see how it is under the top petal and that the stitch won't be noticeable?) *Note: We chose to sew the flower in two different parts and then all together so that the hairpin would be super secure and there wouldn't be a bazillion stitches all over the place under the top petal.Voilà! A super cute, easy to make, silk flower hairpin!
Perfect for adding a cute little whimsy to an outfit and spritzing up your hairdo:)

Monday Faves: Trick or Treat

1. Your Favorite Slippers in Pumpkin Orange by jenster76
2. Orange Crush Rose Hairpin Set by thehairpinharlot
3. Pumpkins for Sale - Fine Art Print by maryvican
4. Trick or Treat Banner - DIY Printable by FrogPrincePaperie
5. Trick or Treat Burlap Pillows by myadobecottage
6. Little Knit Pumpkins by PreciousKnits
7. Halloween Vintage Craft Kit No. 2 from SaturdayAMVintage
8. Pumpkin Needle Felting Kit from bearcreekdesign
9. Tiny Pumpkins Cookies by cookierush

Get Ready: Product Review

Happy Friday! Feeling much better today :) So remember awhile back I had the opportunity to do a giveaway from the fabulous CSN Stores? Well, I'm super excited to be reviewing one of their awesome products very soon.

Can you tell I'm pretty excited! ;) I would tell you what I am going to review, but I think I'm going to keep it a surprise (Read: Haven't quite narrowed it down yet). You see, CSN has so much to offer! They have everything from beautiful furniture such as an ottoman coffee table, to kitchen gadgets, to kids stuff, to office and school supplies. Wow!

I have a couple of ideas in mind, though, so be sure to stay tuned! Have a fabulous weekend :)

Under the weather.

Be back soon- have a slight cold :(
Coming soon...
+ Giveaway for reaching 500 followers, so stay tuned :)
+ 4 weeks of budget friendly menus, ideas, tips and recipe links
+ Christmas Art Journals - waiting for another delivery and putting it all together. Super excited about this year's journal.

Fresh Apple Cake with Streusel Topping

I made this fabulous dessert this past weekend while my in-laws were in town- it was absolutely a.m.a.z.i.n.g. You can top the cake with frosting or with streusel, which is what I opted for. Perfect served warm and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Fresh Apple Cake (from SouthernLiving)
1½ cups chopped pecans
½ cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2½ pounds Granny Smith apples (about 4 large), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick wedges

Streusel Topping
2 Tbsp. melted butter
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350°. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 5 to 7 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.

Stir together butter and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl until blended.

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture, stirring until blended. Stir in apples and 1 cup pecans. (Batter will be very thick, similar to a cookie dough.) Spread (press with hands) batter into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch pan.

Prepare streusel topping - pour melted butter in a small bowl, and stir in ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour and 1 tsp. ground cinnamon. Add 1 cup chopped pecans, stirring until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over apple cake.

Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack (about 45 minutes). *If opting to use a frosting, omit streusel topping. Spread your choice of frosting over top of cake; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup pecans.

Frosting: Browned-Butter, Dark Chocolate, Cream Cheese

Tuesday Tutorial: Drawstring Bag

My older sister (seamstress extraordinaire) makes her own gift bags to be reused for Christmas each year. Brilliant! We each have a few and put some of our gifts to each other in them and then trade around each Christmas. I adapted what she makes into a more permanent, lined drawstring bag - this could be used as a gift bag (I might do a tutorial in the next couple months on creating her quick gift bags), but could also be used in the everyday. Wouldn't it be fun to make these to be part of the gift itself {Read: Put a handmade gift inside and voilà! Two handmade gifts in one!}. So, this tutorial is part of the "Handmade Christmas".
After many tries, I came up with this cutie. It is perfect to stow away a few things such as a notebook, camera, pen, change purse or wallet.

Materials:
+ 2 pieces fabric (1"x24") - these will be the drawstrings, or you can use ribbon or drawstring-type material - I wanted my strings to coordinate with the bottom section of the bag
+ 2 pieces fabric (3"x 10") - these will be the top pieces of the bag that the drawstring goes through (the polka dot fabric below)
+ 1 piece fabric (10"x16") - this is the patterned fabric you see the majority of on the bag
+ 1 piece lining fabric (10"x22") - use muslin or some other lightweight fabric
+ Scissors
+ Safety Pin (if you are making your own drawstrings)
+ Sewing machine, coordinating thread
+ Rotary cutter, metal ruler and cutting mat
+ Iron

Start by making the drawstrings (skip this step if you are using ribbon or cord). Fold the 1"x 24" strips in half, so the wrong side is out. Carefully press with an iron.

Sew along the open edge, as close to the edge as possible. To flip the drawstrings right-side-out, I used a safety pin and this method. Brilliant! I then tied off each edge into a knot.

Now, pin the 2 pieces of 3"x10" to the large 10"x16" piece, right sides facing each other. (see picture below).

With a 1/4" seam allowance, sew up each long (10") side and then press seams open with an iron.Now, place the muslin fabric piece on the newly stitched outside piece - right sides facing out. Fold the long edge in 1/4" and press with an iron. Repeat for the opposite long edge. Now fold the already folded edge in again 1/4". This will give the insides a more finished and clean cut look - no rough edges.
Stitch along these folded edges.
For the short edge, fold it over once 1/4". Press with the iron and stitch a straight stitch with 1/4" seam allowance.
Now, fold over these short edges about 1.25", press with the iron and stitch a straight stitch about 1" down from the edge. I used the stitch in the ditch method, so as not to make an extra seam (and I can't sew in a straight line that well ;)). This "pocket" is where the drawstring will be housed.
Almost finished! Fold the bag in half with right sides facing in, wrong sides facing out. From the bottom of the bag, stitch a straight stitch up each side (I stitched along the folded edge again). Be sure to stop before getting to the drawstring "pocket" - see arrow in the picture below. You don't want to stitch the drawstring opening closed!
What the bag is looking like (pardon my less than straight seams ;)).Attach one side of the drawstring to a dull pencil or a pen and thread through one "pocket". Untie and tie the other side of the drawstring to the pencil and pull it through the other "pocket".
Now, in order to get the drawstring effect, do the same as above to the other drawstring, except thread these ends through the other side of the openings of the "pockets" on the bag. See picture below- one drawstring is coming out one side and the other is laying on top of the bag as a visual- this is how it should be threaded through the "pockets".
Snip off any access drawstring - to whatever length you desire. You can also tie each end together or leave them open, like I did.
Voilà! A fabulous drawstring bag!