Wednesday, October 27, 2010

First Roast Chicken!


So I've done a few turkeys for special occasions, but when I came across this recipe by the Barefoot Contessa today on foodnetwork.com I knew it would be... wait for it... chicken tonight! :)


I love to find great base recipes online and make little (or sometimes big) changes. In this case I just cut up some carrots that I had in the fridge and added them to the roast. After simmering in the lemon garlic for an hour and a half they were perfectly sweet and amazing. A terrific snack while my fiance carved the chicken!


Bottom line, I'm so proud of myself for creating an amazing dinner by following a few steps and not being afraid to try something I hadn't done before. Sure, cleaning the chicken and removing the 'giblets' was a bit unpleasant, but the result was well worth it :)

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Thanksgiving Design: Final Table Setting

The finished tree is anchored with a Ball Jar stuffed with rocks, colored wood filings and some of the leftover acorns. Each place setting has a place card with the persons first initials. The place cards mirror the design of the accordion folded ornaments to tie it all together. Here are some final images:


Thursday, October 21, 2010

Thanksgiving Design: Paper Ornaments

Since the reason I'm creating the Thanksgiving Tree and Placecards is for a design team project with PSA Essentials I had to incorporate a PSA Peel & Stick stamp. These stamps are very versatile and the line has TONS of to choose from. I chose the Hello Kitty line with the kitty dressed up as a Pilgrim and tied the design in with the gold glitter on the acorn ornaments. This is my favorite part of the tree by far.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

My Idea has been Realized!

I've been working on the invitations for my wedding (date is finally set! May 21, 2011) and want to do a really long label on the RSVP envelope that wraps around a little bit on one. I saw this done and figured it would be easy to do on my own - not so much. I couldn't find pre-cut labels anywhere that were the perfect size.

Finally, I saw a product in Michaels that can easily add adhesive to the back of basically any paper! It's called the Xryon 150 and was only $12.95 (well, just under $8 with my 40% off coupon). The Xyron 150 comes with 20' of permanent adhesive and is very easy to use. Check out their special Breast Cancer Awareness line for October:

It feels so good to have an idea in my head and make it a reality. Ready to start using my Xyron!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Officially a Published Crafter!

Earlier today my Halloween projects were posted on the PSA Stamp Camp blog, making me a published crafter! Check it out:

PSA Stamp Camp: Halloween Decorating Time

Monday, October 11, 2010

Thanksgiving Design: Acorn Ornaments

I'm working on some Thanksgiving table decorations for the PSA Essentials design team project that I've been assigned. After brainstorming some ideas, I decided to continue with my "tree" theme (see Halloween Tree post below) and create a tree that can be a centerpiece at your Thanksgiving Dinner. The color scheme is glittery gold, deep purple, a little bit of red and a little bit of orange. For the first part of the tree I created some acorn ornaments. I'm very happy with how these came out! I'll post more images as the tree comes along.

Thanks to Judy and her man Steve for gathering the acorns!


Saturday, October 9, 2010

Diaper Cake

This is by far the best diaper cake I've ever made. These make great centerpieces (and conversation pieces) at baby showers. You can customize them for boys or girls and even gender neutral. This specific one was for an elegant baby shower.
I had some extra material leftover so I decorated the back of the cake too:

Party Banner

How cute is this party banner? It can be used for a birthday party, holiday decoration or even a girls night!


Halloween Tree

Exciting news! I've been accepted to a design team with PSA Essentials! They manufacture peel & stick rubber stamps in all themes and patterns. I will be posting all of the designs that I create using these stamps so get ready!

First project was for Halloween and I created a Halloween Tree.

Hand Embroidered Cloth Napkins

Luke bought me an interesting new book all about embroidery called Embroidered Effects by Jenny Hart. The designs and techniques are very modern, it's not your grandmothers embroidery!

There are many stitches to learn so I came up with a little project to work on as I learned the stitches. Split stitch is by far my favorite. Check out these napkins I monogrammed with different fonts and colors of the letter "D".

Baby Shower Tea Pouches


A few of us girls planned a baby shower for a great friend, Ashley. I was in charge of making the party favors for this Afternoon Tea themed party. I came up with the idea to sew pouches and put a couple tea bags in each pouch. My sewing skills were rusty in the beginning but my work definitely improved as I made each pouch.



UPDATE: Owsley Anne Gammon was born on September 27, 2010 and is a healthy and beautiful baby. Congrats Gammons!