Win a Cricut Expression 2

Want to win a Cricut Expression 2??!! I sure do!!  Head on over here and enter to win a Cricut Expression 2 Anniversary edition from FaveCrafts!


Good luck!! 

New Background

I have been wanting to make my own blog background for a while now, and thanks to a tutorial here at the Cutest Blog on the Block, and the tutorial here at Beta Templates on " How to Add Your Own Image as Blog Background in the Template Designer", and the completely adorable kit "Sunny Daffodils" I got from this blog train. I DID IT!! What do you think?

Start the blog train to download it yourself, start here:






I also learned how to center my header text here (I plan to put an image there eventually, but haven't quite gotten around to that!) . This was a much needed change in my blog layout! I am so happy for the being able to Edit the CCS.


I am so grateful for all of these talented people who share their tips, tricks and hints on how to customize blogs, and for the people who make such beautiful digital scrapbook kits! 


Valerie


Click HERE to see where I party


http://todayscreativeblog.net/

Creme Brulee

My husband's favorite dessert is Creme Brulee. So, instead of paying for it at a restaurant. I decided to learn how to make it! So far, this has been a fail proof recipe! I got my original recipe for this here. But with the ingredients I had on hand I had to tweak it a bit, this is what I have come up with that works for me:

Creme Brulee

Ingredients

• 1 quart heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 6 large egg yolks
•  hot water

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Place the cream, vanilla into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. (if you put this into the egg mixture when it's too hot, it will curdle the eggs)
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. 
4. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually. 
5. Pour the liquid into 6 (7 to 8-ounce) ramekins. 
6. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan. 
7. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. 
8. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. (I have found that it takes a bit longer in my oven- closer to 50 minutes).
9. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
10. Remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Divide the remaining 1/2 cup sugar equally among the 6 dishes and spread evenly on top. 
11. Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top. Allow the creme brulee to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Here's the pictorial-how-to:

Place the cream, vanilla into a medium saucepan set over
medium-high heat and bring to a boil.Remove from the heat, 
cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the
egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color.

Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually.

Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan.

Pour the liquid into 6 (7 to 8-ounce) ramekins.

Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Divide the remaining 1/2 cup sugar equally among the
6 dishes and spread evenly on top.

We also like to use turbinado sugar on the top instead of white sugar

The torch we used (got it at Amazon)

Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top

(white sugar)

The turbinado sugar 

Yummy crunchy layer over smooooth and creamy! Yummy!

This is definitely one of our favorite desserts! :) Hope you try it!


Thanks,


Valerie

Places I party:

Sweet Summertime {Freebie Printable}

With summer just a hop, skip and a jump away (ok, it's already ARRIVED in southern Arizona), I thought I would make a little printable for summer. I played with the colors a bit, so feel free to print the one you like best! Enjoy! Oh and I made them to fit an 8x10 frame. 

Where I party!
Today's creative blog
http://www.sistersofthewildwest.blogspot.com 
thanks,


Valerie

Fabric Bookmarks

So, I saw this tutorial from Skip to My Lou, and loved it! I don't have any "teacher appreciation" gifts to create, but I sure have a couple of appreciation gifts to give, so I thought I would try it out! My first one (red) wasn't exactly what I was trying to make (and it turned out a bit short), BUT I think the blue one turned out pretty cute!

The only difference in my flowers were that I used hot glue, I didn't have any fabric glue (ok, I did, but it didn't hold fast enough for my patience!).

Go check out the tutorial and make some yourself! :)

Thanks for reading all about this "mess" (which it really wasn't!),

Where I party!

Valerie

More Onesies

I had 2 more onesies to decorate... so, I did! I think they turned out pretty cute. I used a tutorial for the tie from Crap I've Made, and even used her pattern. I didn't sew it, and hope that doesn't matter in the long run.

I think they turned out kinda cute!

ha, I saw this and thought it was so cute... and to replicate!

The tie.

Thanks for reading about my mess,

Valerie


I am linking up here and here:





This post was featured:

Only Child {Big Brother} T-Shirt

So, I saw this idea the other day when I was looking for ideas for the "big brother, little brother" shirts I made (miss the post? see it here!). My brother called (the dad to these two kiddos) and our conversation about the oldest of the 2 (who's only 18 months)...

"How's David doing with his new brother?"
"Good, but he's spending lot's of time in Time Out!"
"Why?"
"Well, he's used to being 'King of the House', 'The Only Child", and now... not so much!"


LOL! Poor kid, so I made him his own shirt:

The back

The front (can only find pocket-tees for some reason)

The back

Hardly a mess, except for the first one I printed (onto the cloth no less) turned out Lavender... grrrrr....

Thanks for reading about my mess,

Valerie


I am linking up at these parties

and here too:

Onesie & Pocket Tee {Appliquéd}

I was so excited to hear that my brother's wife had their second son on Saturday, a beautiful baby boy! I am so excited and cannot wait to meet him! :) I wanted to make him something, so.... I had seen various versions of this around, and I wanted to make one myself. So, I came up with a graphic, printed it onto printable fabric (iron-on), and then cut it out and ironed it in place! :) (I toyed with the idea of sewing them on, for added insurance.... BUT I decided that for sanity's sake- I would just "trust the product"! (Here's to hopin' that the appliqué doesn't come off in the first washing!)

I made one for both the BIG and LITTLE brother:

The back of the Tee and the front of the onesie

Close up of the onesie

The onesie (again) and the front of the Tee

And that's it! As for making messes... this was barely even a mess! So fun and easy to do!

Products used in this project:

Onesie

HP Iron-on Transfers for Color Fabrics (6 transfer sheets, 8.5 x 11-inch)

Easter Egg Art {Free Printable}

I am in love with spring time! :) So, I played around a bit and came up with these printables! I made them to fit a 8x10.

Enjoy, and leave a comment and tell me which one you liked best! :)

Blue

Pink

Blue egg with yellow background

pink with yellow background

green with yellow background

multiple eggs

blue egg with yellow background

DIY: Easy Cornice Board

I had a yard of left over fabric from my chair reupholster in the guest room (go check it out), so I figured I would make some sort of window treatment for it,and was a bit intimidated by the project, but after reading this post by Katy Harper, and the post she referenced at Little Green Notebook, I decided that this method was for me!

Here's my "before & after", and it was so EASY, I was done in about 2 hours (not including the "drying time").

Before & After

Making the Cornice Board:

Materials/Equipment needed:

• Material (1 yard)
• Enough foam core board for your project (I used 2 30"x20" boards from Walmart for $10)
• Coordinating Trim (enough to go along the edges of your project)
• Krylon Easy Tack Spray (spray adhesive)
• Pen/Marker
• Duct Tape
• Fabric Glue
• Cotton Batting
• Staple Gun, Staples (3/8")
• Glue Gun
• L-Brackets (2")
• Hooks for hanging the board

What was needed (sans glue gun, duct tape, L-brackets and Hooks)

Instructions:

After gathering the materials, cut the board to size using razor blade or exacto knife (I cut mine to 12" wide). If you can find the board in the correct length for your window, go for it! But I couldn't, so I had to duct tape 2 pieces together. (My total board size was 12"x38" for ~ 36" wide window)

Duct taped boards

Then cut 2 sides for your board to allow it to be in front of all of your other hardware on the window. I needed my sides to be 2", but from what I read online, if you have curtains, you may need to have a 4" side. My sides were 2"x12", and I originally used duct tape to attach them, and thought they were a bit flimsy. I fixed that flimsiness later, but you should do it now! :) Use 1 L-bracket to stabilize the sides of your board. Use whatever size brackets fit your project, my sides were 2" wide, so I used 2" brackets. Oh, and I just used hot glue to adhere them to the board. (there will be pictures below)

A side, sans L-Bracket

An overall view of the sides/middle with duct tape (sans L-bracket)

Next, lay out cotton batting on the front side of the board, and cut it to the correct size to cover the board and the sides. Spray the board with Krylon Easy Tack (or some other spray adhesive) and put the batting onto the board. I left  a little extra to go around the top and bottom of the board too.

Next cut the material to fit the board (about 2-3" more all the way around, so that you enough to work with when stapling it to the board). The hardest part was getting the corners to look square. But I did it, so can you!! :) I forgot to get a picture of this, sorry!

Add the trim: Use fabric glue to adhere the trim onto the board, I chose to put it along the top and bottom of the board.

Laying out the trim

I had to use straight pins to hold the trim in place until the glue dried a bit
 (but don't leave them in too long, or it's nearly impossible to remove the pins!!)

A close-up of the board while the glue was drying

Adding the hardware to hang it

This board is so light that it can be hung from a couple of nails. But this is the point where I decided that the whole thing was a bit flimsy, soooooo... here's the fixes:

Hot glue another piece of foam board over where the 2 pieces of board adjoin.
This worked nicely as a place to adhere (with hot glue) the hooks to hang it on.

Just make sure that you adhere the hooks the same distance from the top of the board, or you may struggle with hanging it level.

A close up of the hook

Then to sure up the sides, we added the L-bracket (which is why I would suggest doing this BEFORE the material was all in place)

See the L-Bracket? It makes a world of difference!!

Finally, hand the board!! :) My husband put a couple of screws in place after marking where they should go-- and wah-lah:

A finished cornice board, that matches my new chair, and bedding! :)

This project is not as hard as it seems, and really was done quickly! And on a mess scale of 1-10, 10 being messiest. it's was about a 4. 

Thanks for reading all about my mess,

Valerie