Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Card Crazy!


Lately, I have been in a card creating kind of mood. Here are some of the cards I have created lately.




Lana helped me create this card for Ken'ts birthday. She picked the paper (stars) because she said daddy ROCKS. As she said this it reminded me of the Hannah Montana Cricut Cartridge. Turned out cute! Lanas favorite part was embossing the silver paper because she got to use my heat embossing tool.


This happy birthday card was quick because i took three different pieces of paper and incorporated them into one card. The floral detail at the bottom was floral felt


Chocolate Chip Cookie Cinnamon Rolls!


This past weekend my sister Mary came to visit. We made several crafts (Halloween Crafts for Lana's Daycare-pics and post coming closer to halloween when the goodies inside of  the craft get made).

For breakfast Sunday morning since I was off my diet this weekend I decided to try out a new recipe. Chocolate Chip Cookie Cinnamon Rolls I got this recipe off of the pioneer woman blog. (tastes just like a chocolate chip cookie with the goodness of cinnamon rolls.

This is the first step of the process. This is my 2nd batch. (Note to self: read the directions carefully before starting-I added an extra cup of flour). Below are pictures of the process of making these cinnamon rolls. I have included the recipe at the end instead of doing so at the bottom of each picture. Also at the end is my tips that I found out while making this recipe.












I think Mary's dog Rozai wants a taste of these yummy cinnamon rolls.

On a side note I took a picture of my "brown sugar" bear that I thought made for a great picture. This brown sugar bear is a ceramic type bear that you put in with your brown sugar to keep it soft. I must say it works "GREAT".

These cinnamon rolls are good but VERY RICH they tasted more like a dessert instead of a breakfast.

The recipe is listed  below (note: the dough is a double batch the amount they have you make.) Half the recipe will make 6 x-large cinnamon rolls. I used the other dough the next day to make some regular cinnamon rolls to take to Lana's Daycare. Here I just mixed white sugar with cinnamon and then the brown sugar. I made these smaller so the other half of the dough made 2dozen.

I must say the dough is the best I have made for cinnamon rolls VERY YUMMY!

Another Note: I roll the dough out as thin as I can get it I don't follow the directions to make it a specific size because I found the thinner you roll it the better cinnamon rolls they make.

A good tip in the recipe was to put 1/2 cup of melted butter in the botoom of the pans before placing the rolls in. YUMMY and helps them not to stick.

These are the smaller cinnamon rolls before the icing. YUM-O

Ingredients


• ROLLS:

• 4 cups Whole Milk

• 1 cup Sugar

• 1 cup Canola Oil

• 9 cups All-purpose Flour

• 2 packages (4 1/2 Teaspoons) Active Dry Yeast

• 1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt

• 1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda

• 1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder

• 1 stick Butter

• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

• 1 cup Brown Sugar

• ½ cups Sugar

• 1 teaspoon Salt

• 1-½ cup Chocolate Chips Or Chocolate Chunks

• 1 cup Chopped Pecans (optional)



• Icing

• 1 package 8 Ounce Cream Cheese

• 3 cups Powdered Sugar

• 1 stick Butter, Softened

• 1 cup Whole Milk

• 2-½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract

• ¾ teaspoons Salt

Preparation Instructions

Mix milk, 1 cup sugar, and canola oil in a pot. Heat until very warm but not boiling. Allow to cool until slightly warmer than lukewarm.

Sprinkle yeast over the surface of the liquid, then add in 8 cups flour. Stir gently until totally combined. Mixture will be very wet and sticky. Cover with a tea towel, keep in a draft-free place, and allow to sit for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, add in an additional cup of flour, as well as the salt, baking soda and baking powder. Mix until combined. Refrigerate dough, covered, until you need it. (Refrigerating the dough helps make it easier to handle.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread melted butter in the bottom of pie pans or 9 x 13-inch baking dishes.

Divide dough in half. Store one half in the fridge for another use. Turn the other half of the dough onto a floured surface. Roll into a large rectangle, about 24 inches wide by 10 to 12 inches deep. Add vanilla to melted butter, then drizzle mixture all over the surface of the dough. Use fingers to spread evenly. Mix sugar and salt and sprinkle it evenly over the butter. Follow with the brown sugar, chocolate chips, and chopped nuts.

Beginning at the side furthest from you, roll dough toward you until it’s in the shape of a tight log. Pinch the edges to seal. Slice into 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick rolls and lay, cut side down, in buttered baking dishes. Allow to rise for 20 minutes, then place in oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until deep golden brown on top.

Make the icing: Mix 1 stick butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt in an electric mixer or until smooth and pourable.

Remove rolls from oven and allow to sit five minutes before drizzle icing all over the rolls. Be sure to get the icing all around the edges and covering the surface so they’ll be nice and moist! Sprinkle tops with extra chopped nuts.

Serve warm or at room temperature.





Halloween Decorating

I like to decorate for the holidays and my focal point for decorating has become my kitchen stove area. This is a small area that I can decorate even for the smallest of holidays ( being that halloween can only be out a month).



These towels I found last year at JoAnn's. I love the embroidery on them. Makes them look more home-crafted.

These little pumpkin lights I found at Kroger last year on the after Halloween Clearance rack for only $2. I have another string but not sure where to put those yet.

Here are what the lights look like when its dark. A nice glowy effect.

This is a the Scentsy Jack-O-Lantern warmer that I love! Its perfect for halloween. I just got the black cake stand this morning at Hobby Lobby and thought it would be great to put some halloween decorations on.

I like the way it glows when the lights are off.


Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Fabric Flowers

Yesterday and today I have been a little busy making some fabric flowers for my Aunt's Garden Party meeting. I made these flowers into brooches that they can wear. They turned out cute!

Making these flowers is a process. Lucky for you I took pictures along the way and will share. (if you want this little flower tutorial in a beter PDF format I have that I can email to you just let me know)


These are the fabrics I started with. My Aunt wanted pink and brown colors.


I cut the material into 4" circles I used a paper circle made with my cricut machine.

I then cut the circles in half

Then I folded them in half and pressed them wrong side out with an iron to make sure they lay flat.

Then I sewed up the open straight edge side

I sewed them in one long string. After they are sewn cut them all apart and turn them right side out.

these are turned right side out and are now ready to be sewn together

I used quilting thread to thread 8 petals onto a string. Tie the string together at the end tight to form a flower.

Next, add a matching fabric button. I made the fabric button using a button kit. (walmart or hobby lobby)

The front sides are finished

To finish these I added a small felt circle and hot glued a pin to the back.

My flowers with all the backs

Of course the flowers could have been finished at the picture above this one but I wanted to incorporate some scrapbooking and made these cute little flower pot cards to put the pins on to make them extra cute to hand out. ( I used cricut cartridge "walk in my garden" and cut them at 3").


Monday, September 20, 2010

Luau Party

Yesterday me and Lana went to a Luau birthday party at a friend's house. I made the cake and all the llittle girls and parents loved the cake. I  must say it turned out pretty cute and I think my best cake thus far.

To go along with the theme I made the birthday card as well. I made the card using my cricut, paper dolls cartridge. (This has been my current favorite for my last few projects).
All in all it the party was fun and Lana had fun swimming in their pool.

While I was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on the cake I noticed my friend's little spoons that she has hanging in her kitchen. They are so cute! I must find me some.