I was so tired last night, but couldn’t fall asleep. My mind was doing laps in an Olympic sized pool.
If you didn’t already know, I don’t handle stress well. I learned we’re having visitors in two weeks. While I LOVE having guests, I start to think about how I need to get my house together, make plans for meals, clean, arrange work off, etc. It becomes a lot for my pea brain. I go through this same panic each and every time. You’d think I’d have it down by now. But I don’t. So I just accept that I’m going to freak out and panic and complain while trying to clean 1,600 things at once. Then our guests will arrive and it will be fine and we’ll have fun and I’ll think, “Why did I have a melt down?”. Then I’ll remember it’s because I’m deranged.
Martha, get over to my house and make it acceptable. #Thankyouverymuch.
Hop Aboard the Crazy Train
19 JanSuper Yummy Pumpkin Cookies
21 NovA few weeks ago I pulled out a favorite cook book of mine, Martha Stewart’s Cookie Book. If you like to bake or just love cookies, you must buy this book. I’ve made about 4 recipes from the book so far and all of them have been divine. Katdaddy ate approximately 36 of Martha’s peanut butter cookies that I recently made. They were that good! These pumpkin cookies would make a great addition to Thanksgiving dessert or maybe even a nice treat to take to work or share with your friends before the holiday.
Ingredients
Makes about 6 dozen
FOR THE COOKIES
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (14 ounces)
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
FOR THE ICING
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon evaporated milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Directions
1. Make cookies: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside. 2. Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low. Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, and vanilla; mix until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture; mix until combined. 3. Transfer 1 1/2 cups batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip (such as Ateco #806). Pipe 1 1/2-inch rounds onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until tops spring back, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely.
Make icing: Put confectioners’ sugar in a large bowl; set aside. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling pan occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Immediately add butter to confectioners’ sugar, scraping any browned bits from sides and bottom of pan. Add evaporated milk and vanilla; stir until smooth. Spread about 1 teaspoon icing onto each cookie. If icing stiffens, stir in more evaporated milk, a little at a time.
Recipe from Martha Stewart’s Cookie Book or online at www.marthastewart.com
Enjoy!
Rizzle
Halloween Garland
17 OctI made a decoration for my fireplace. Although, now it’s wadded up so it wouldn’t catch fire when we burnt a fire the other night.
Anyway, you can make your very own Halloween garland to say anything you like. Such as “Boo” or “Happy Halloween”. Since I like candy, I chose the famous Halloween saying, “Trick or Treat”.
Here’s how I did it.
First I spelled out TRICK OR TREAT using a font I thought was spooky and made it 20o so the letters would be nice and big. I was going to print them out on colored card stock, but instead I was too lazy to run upstairs to fetch my paper. So I printed them out on plain, old, white printer paper.
Then I used my handy-dandy Martha Stewart Circle Cutter. I use my cutter all the time and highly recommend all crafters get one. You can buy one here or here. You could also use a round object, like a cup or bowl to trace and then cut out your letters.
Next I took an orange glittery gel pen and shadowed each letter with a little punch of color. Try to ignore the lingering dermatitis on my left thumb and my right hand which could use some lotion. It’s hard on the hands making crafts. Ha!
Theennnn I cut out circles of orange and black paper slightly larger than my letter cut outs. Once I was done with that, I used a glue stick to glue my letters to the colored paper. On a side note, I was cleaning up my craft room the other night to find that I had murdered my glue stick. I inadvertently left the cap off. Funeral services will be held today at 1 PM. The good news is the glue stick came in a two pack. Phew!
Lastly, I used a hole puncher to punch two holes about 1/4 of an inch away from each other at the top. Then I strung yellow ribbon through the holes on each letter, stringing them to read TRICK OR TREAT, duh. Not sure I had to mention that I strung them in any particular order. But then again, I think this is a good reminder since you could end up with something like EATT RICK RROT. I wonder what other phrases can come out of TRICK OR TREAT?
Here’s the finished product! Send me a picture if you make one too!!
XOXO
Rizzle
BOO!
5 OctOctober is a fun month. Fall makes is presence with cooler temps and shorter days. My birthday occurs and I get older. OK so maybe the getting older part is no longer fun. Then there’s halloween! What’s not to love about pumpkin patches, carmel apples, ghosts, ghouls and trick or treating!?
I found some cute items that are sure to make any person feel festive.
Credits: Halloween Cookies, All Pumkins, Train and Cowgirl Costumes, Witches Brew Water Bottles
The Drinks
4 OctFor the cups, I borrowed the idea from a creative blogger. (Thanks, creative lady! You have no idea who I am, but I’m stealing your well thought out idea!!) The cups are mason jars that I bought at the grocery store. My sister helped me tie ribbon around the top with each guests name printed on a brown bag. I served a red punch, red being one of the colors in the scheme I used.
For the water bottles, I peeled off the existing label, measured and designed my own using Microsoft Word. I printed them on card stock and stuck them on the bottle using double stick tape. I saved the template so if any readers ever want it, just holler.
XOXO,
Rizzle
Baby Shower Invitations
2 OctRemember when I mentioned my friend over at BradyBooBaby? Well, here is the adorable invite she created for my friend’s baby shower which was held last Saturday. I printed the invitations on photo paper, but later learned that they could have been printed on stationary paper at Shutterfly.com or at a local printer. I bought the chocolate brown envelopes at Paper Source and printed the mailing labels from this blog post.
More baby shower posts to come!
XOXO,
Rizzle
Having a Baby?
6 JulI have a friend. I know, hard to believe. This friend of mine is actually very talented and even has her very own Etsy shop! Not only is she a stationary designing genius, she can sew!
I highly recommend her work to anyone looking for a baby announcment, throwing a baby shower, or even a child’s birthday party!
I’m in the process of designing a baby shower invitation for a shower I’m throwing in September. I can’t wait to share the finished product with you. Without a doubt, it’s going to be great!
To shop Brady Boo Baby on Etsy, click here.
I told you she can sew. Check out these deliciously, adorable burp cloths. What mom wouldn’t want a set of these??
Just like all of Brady Boo Baby’s designs, this announcment is totally customizable. You could get it in cherry red if you wanted.
Look at this little cutey. I bet if you didn’t want a bear, Brady Boo Baby could use a chick or a rattle or even a goat. Okay, maybe nobody would want a goat on their baby shower invite, but maybe. And really, my point is you could make this your very own unique invitation. What’s not to love about that?
Feeling Creative
6 NovAs we all gear up for the Holidays, now is an excellent opportunity to think about ways to make gifts to perhaps save money and share something made by you. Listed below are ideas that sprung into my mind. I also recommend visiting Martha Stewart’s website for ideas or even perusing your local fabric or craft store for ideas.
Baked goods are often a good one since most enjoy sweets. Cookies are an excellent choice along with candy or how about a gingerbread house.
Homemade canned jelly or jam
Candles
Monogrammed stationary
Ornaments
Offering your time clean or babysit for a friend or family member
Embellished frame with a picture of you or your kids
What ideas to you have to share?
Cute Fire
4 NovAt the mall the other day, I stopped by Pottery Barn to pick up a Thanksgiving hostess gift. I was completely inspired when I saw these adorable match boxes. There were several different styles, but I choose the bees to accompany an autumn, smelling pillar candle. I checked the website and the matches are not available online.
I hope your Pottery Barn carries these matches too!
The Art of Making a List
19 SepDo you ever just need to make a list of all the things going through your mind that you know you need to accomplish on any given day? That’s me. Today. I have a list somewhere on my desk, a list in my head and a list in the car that I scribbled on while at a stop light this morning. Now I’m just going to make my list on my blog because I can.
I actually have a system for my lists. Let me divulge. First jot down everything and anything that is on your mind to accomplish. Second, prioritize. Third, get going on your list. Forth, scratch or check the tasks as you finish them. Fifth pat yourself on the back for finishing your list. If you don’t finish your list, that’s okay. I once had a very wise boss who told me, “whatever you don’t finish today will be there tomorrow”. I think this in my head all the time. It really helps to ease the burden and guilt from not finishing something, and at the same time reminds me I can do it tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day.
1. The Brainstorm Phase.
Today:
Fold laundry
Start a new load of laundry
Wash car
Do dishes
Sweep/mop floors
Workout at lunch
Get mail
Manicure and Pedicure
2. Prioritize from most urgent to least urgent.
In this case the dishes aren’t all that urgent. They are my least favorite chore, er um, task I mean. So I’m going to just get them out of the way.
1.Do dishes
2.Start a new load of laundry
3.Fold laundry
4.Sweep/mop floors
5.Workout at lunch
6.Get mail
7.Wash car
8.Manicure and Pedicure
3. Begin with task 1. Pardon me, while I go do the dishes. Be right back.
4. Check mark off tasks as they are completed.
We have a problem here because there is not an option for me to “strikethrough” item number 1 on my list. Stupid Blogger doesn’t have that capability. Or I just know how to do it. Now I need to add another task to my list: figure out how to “strikethrough” words on Blogger. Please pretend item 1 below has a big line through it or a fancy check mark next to it.
1. Do dishes
2. Start a new load of laundry
3. Fold laundry
4. Sweep/mop floors
5. Workout at lunch
6. Get mail
7. Wash car
8. Manicure and Pedicure
5. Kudos to you for finishing your list!
I still have many tasks to mark as completed. Wish me luck! I have a busy day ahead of me.
Rizzle
