Pinecones...take two.

Now I want to make one with plaid paper.  How cute would that be?  I'm nearly out of pins so I can't make another one until I go to the store...aargh.

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

I'm not as 'crafty' as I used to be...but every once in a while I get the urge.  My go-to place for scoping out new crafts is a site called One Pretty Thing (thank you, Keira).  I happened to take a glance a week or two ago and found the cutest pinecone - the instructions are on a site called The Hybrid Chick. It looked easy enough, and even better, it didn't take a ton of specialized equipment that I would never use again.  I used the pages from a Betty Neels book (The Mistletoe Kiss)...so I used mistletoe on the top.   The only things I had to buy for this craft were styrofoam eggs ($3.99 for a 4 pack at Craft Mart), straight pins ($1.99 at Fred Meyer for 250 - I may have used about half) and a sprig of fake mistletoe (on sale for $1.40 at Craft Mart - I only used half of a sprig on one).  Total time?  About an hour - maybe less.

Step 1. Cover the pointed end with a strip of paper about and inch wide.
Step 2. Fold a one inch square of paper so that it has a pointed end.
Step 3. Repeat step 2 a bunch of times.

Step 4. Pin pointed paper pieces onto the styrofoam egg.  The ones near the bottom should be overlapped some - you can just use one pin in that case.  Work your way up the egg in rows, adjusting your spacing as needed.

Step 5. When you have gotten pretty much to the top, add a ribbon for hanging and any embellishments you want.  I cut apart a sprig of fake mistletoe for mine...I also trimmed the mistletoe leaves down a little - so they weren't quite so long.

Ta Da. 
I'm calling this: "The Mistletoe Kiss.  Chapter One."

Snow Day

It may not be a lot of snow...but it's enough.

Enough to cancel seminary...and school for Alex (the college is closed).

This is one of those days when Danny wishes he went to a 'brick and mortar' school.  There are no snow days at WAVA. He'll be in good company.  Steve will be working 'virtually' today.  Turned out that his van pool van didn't come equipped with snow chains.  After a nearly two hour commute, he ended up parking it about a mile away from our house.  He could drive it in to work today - but since none of his riders will be going, he'll be logging on to work from here.

Hawaii 5-0

We're back.

I can't say that we had a relaxing vacation - but we did have a heck of a lot of fun. 

Now it's time to get back to work and rest.

I should be making a list...

 

Yay! Vacation this week! 

Steve and I are leaving VERY early on Thursday.  Very early. That means we need to be packed by Wednesday night.  Which means that I should be making a list.  Actually, I should already have a list.

• reading material
• swimsuit
• umm....

There.  Anything else is gravy.

Shortbread

It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago - one of my presents (actually two of my presents) was/were two shortbread pans. I've been wanting one for years - but they are surprisingly hard to find.  I should probably warn the ladies I visiting teach...I'm thinking these pans will come in handy for Christmas... Valentines... Easter... Mother's Day... Memorial Day...

From the look of the final product, I think I need to work a little on my technique - but the taste is spot on. I do love a recipe that uses staples that I always have on hand. Here's the recipe that came with my pans:

Classic Shortbread

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 325'. Grease pan.

Cream butter until it's light. Cream in powdered sugar, then vanilla. Finally, work in flour. Knead dough on an unfloured board until smooth. Firmly press dough into pan. Prick surface with a for (I forgot to do this). Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool in pan for about 10 minutes. Loosen the edges and invert on cutting board. Cut into serving pieces while warm. Yum.

Style is My Middle Name

Steve has a campout this weekend with the Scouts.  That's fine, I got three new videos for my birthday...I shall don my awesome new Totoro slippers, pop some popcorn and cozy up in the recliner for a vid-fest.