Spread the Love

Valentine's Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. Okay, maybe I'm a little biased because I'm with the love of my life and he treats me very well throughout the year AND on this special day. But regardless, I wish there was "Valentine's Day Season" like there is "Christmas Season" because I could keep up the hearts and other V-day decorations for months. I wish I had expendable cash to spend on pink and red flowers for throughout the apartment and I can't wait to pack heart-shaped PB&J's in kids lunch boxes someday. I might whip up a batch of Red Velvet cupcakes for J and I (and to share) and maybe I'll find a way to include Ollie in the festivities.

Here is the decorating I've put together for this year in our apartment. Our lovely entry shelf that I decorated for Christmas, fall, and introduced when we first moved in is now the lovely home to a few easily updated candles. I had three plain red candles laying in a drawer and with a little white card stock and thread I love how they turned out. I simply cut out the paper hearts, used a needle to thread them on the string and wrapped them around the candle. I attached the ends by melting the candle just slightly on the side, sticking the end of the string through the melted wax and letting it harden over.

Also using card stock and some red construction paper I made an easy paper mache "XO" for our entertainment center. They were completely free and gave me something to do to occupy my time one afternoon. Once they were dry I covered the outside with a couple coats of modge podge to give them a glossy finish.
I've also redone the frame that hangs above our couch a couple times before (same previous links as the shelf from above) and I have to admit, I felt like I was back in elementary school making this project. I used an empty frame, removed the glass and placed scrap book paper on the inside. To make the heart I cut squares out of red tissue paper that were approximately 1.5 inches on all sides. Then using the end of an unsharpened wood pencil (you know, the classic yellow ones) I wrapped the square around the base, dipped it in a little watered-down Elmer's glue and placed it onto the cardboard heart I had cut out. I repeated and repeated the process making sure to glue them close together so you couldn't see the white cardboard from underneath. I glued the finished cardboard-heart combo to the scrapbook paper and used some left-over red ribbon to hang it. I love the finalized texture of the paper heart.
My final project, that I finished just yesterday, was this love-ly (haha get it, love, Valentine's day.... I'm dumb) throw pillow. I got the image and printed it from this site. It's supposed to be used inside a cute frame but I decided to use Freezer Paper stenciling (I wrote a tutorial here) and put it on a pillow instead. A little scrap muslin fabric to make a pillow case, some black, red and white fabric paint mixed together and some hand-stitching later and I had this cutie. I was able to reuse my Christmas red and white pillow and I love them together. I like the "love" pillow enough that it might end up on our bed after V-day.

So what about you, do you decorate for Valentine's Day?

Do you love the love holiday?

Crafty Nook Case

If you've read my blog for a while (and checked out my I'm Reading What? page) you might have learned that I am the proud owner of a Barnes and Nobel Nook. J got it for me for Christmas last year and I have been obsessed with it ever since.

I take it with me everywhere so I have to protect it from the randomness (like pens, bobby pins, spoons, chapsticks) that might be laying in the bottom of my purse. However, while the Kate Spade or Jonathan Adler cases are adorable, I'm not about to spend $30 (let alone $85) on something like this. So with my trusty "50% off one item" coupon in tow, I headed to Joann Fabrics last night and this is what I came up with.

I picked this fabric because it was on the clearance rack is a home-decor fabric so I'm hoping it will be more sturdy than a normal cotton fabric. It's tougher but still elegant and I love that the base color is black. I hate when purses and wallets of light colors start to look dingy after not too long.

I used my coupon to splurge on an impressive clasp to close the case. I was originally searching in the aisles for a plain button but when I saw this one I knew it had to be mine. Granted I cringed a little while I saw that a single clasp was over $4 but since I only needed a small amount of fabric I knew my coupon would go towards this.
I lined the inside of the case with off-white fleece so that it's extra comfy for my Nook. And it will hopefully remove dust and/or fingerprints from the screen in the process.
Since the outer fabric was tough and the fleece was thick, I had a little bit of trouble sewing on the top flap to the back of the case. This lead to some awkward stitches showing through on the inside and the black thread on white fleece didn't look so pleasing. So I hand stitched a little message on a scrap of fabric and attached it to the inside.
This is the back of the case and while I wish I would have managed to place the flap between the fabric and the fleece pieces, I made this work. I made sure to attach it very well since it's on the very outside.
I bought 1/4 yard of each fabric which cost me around $2.20 and with the discounted clasp, this project cost me under $5! I have a good amount of fabric left over too. Maybe I'll make another case but I don't know anyone else that has an eReader so for now I'll hang on to it and wait until a project strikes my fancy.

Now I'm off to read :-)

Thankful v1

I am thankful....

+ that it's Friday and I don't have class or work or anything specific I have to get taken care of today. It feels nice to have a day to myself to watch reruns of ANTM and maybe do some crafting.

+ for the interview that I have with Panera on Sunday morning. I really need a job since I only have class Tuesdays and Thursdays and could always use more moneys. Wish me luck.

+ that I took one of these bad-boy mondo hair clips (they're about as big as my thumb, for reference) and some scrap fabric and made something cute for my hair. I constantly pull one side of my hair back and this looks much better than a few plain bobby pins. Plus it cost me a total of $0.25! The pack of four was a dollar and I used fabric I already had.

+ I also made this braid headband while I had the hot glue and felt out. I've been trying to not use heat (aka blow dryers/straighteners/etc) on my hair lately so this is a perfect way to dress up a messy bun.

+ that I have made such amazing connections with the people I work with at Hospice. Every week I feel like my volunteering is appreciated and recognized by each and every person there and it makes it that much more worth it. I have had some awesome experiences there and hope to continue making memories and strides in health care.

+ that my birthday is in officially 8 days! A whole day just for me? Yes please!

+ for an easy semester this spring. After studying for the MCAT and then studying some more last spring and then working on applications from about the end of June until the end of December, it's nice to have time to relax. There's nothing I have to do or should do. There's nothing pressing on my mind or stressing me out and I am beyond thankful for that. Thank you 9 units of class, let's make it a great end to undergrad!

+ that I found a nail polish I bought a while ago and completely forgot about! How does that happen? Finger Paints "Hue Left A Message" is a sparkly mauve-pink with white sparkles. I like that a single coat could be fairly sheer to use over another polish and that three coats can make it opaque to wear alone.

+ last but definitely not least, for my amazing little family. I love spending time with my two boys and I couldn't be happier. J has been so amazing to me lately I feel like I'm falling in love all over again. And our Ollie boy is such a perfect angel and I can't imagine our life without him now.

Breakfast Recipe

I'm normally a huge breakfast fan... of any kind. Omelets, pancakes, breakfast burritos, pastries, yum. Give me any of it (and a latte on the side) and I'll be a happy girl. But I've been having a weird obsession with muffins lately. Just ask J. Starting Friday I would wake up and ask him to bring me a honey oat (or zucchini walnut) muffin to me in bed. Unfortunately, we had no muffins so this morning I was on a mission.

I must make some muffins!

When I was at the grocery store yesterday the blueberries were on sale. They're never on sale! Buy 1 get 2 free, yes please. So I pulled out my trusted Betty Crocker cookbook and made a new version of the classic blueberry muffins I've made many times before.... Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Muffin Batter

3/4 c. milk

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1 large egg

2 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. fresh/canned/frozen blueberries

Streusel Topping

1/4 c. all purpose flour

1/4 c. packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 tbs. firm butter/margarine

[1] Mix milk, oil and egg until blended.

[2] Add flour, sugar, salt and baking powder at once. Mix until moistened. (make sure not to overmix)

[3] Fold in blueberries

[4] Combine dry streusel ingredients in small bowl.

[5] Cut in butter with pastry blender or two table knives in opposite directions. Should be clumpy.

This is how my streusel was turning out. I don't know if my butter was too firm or if I'm just horrible at using two knives to mix but it clearly wasn't working for me.
I decided to just have at it and stuck my hands in the bowl. I basically kneaded the ingredients until it was all mixed (and the butter clumps were gone) and I think it came out great. Messy, yes, but it did the trick.
[6] Fill muffin cups with batter and sprinkle each with about 1 tbs. streusel mix.

[7] Bake at 400*F for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

[8] Remove immediately from pan and let cool

[9] EAT!

It is not my fault if you are drooling at this point. I'm sorry.

They turned out absolutely fabulous. They have just the right amount of crunch on top from the streusel and are warm and gooey on the inside. I love how much better fresh blueberries taste compared to frozen ones so if you can splurge (or catch the sale) I highly recommend the fresh ones.
I was able to make 16 medium sized muffins (the recipe said 12). Now the hard part is going to be not eating all of them today. I promised to bring a few to class tomorrow to share and I have to stick to that! I'll limit myself to a few or three and know that I can always make more later.

Happy muffin Monday everyone!

Fun Outing Friday

Today, this little guy and I went on a hike. It's a gorgeous upper 70's day here in SD and I figured he needed a change of scenery than our typical walk route. So we packed up the water (for him and for me), collapsable bowl, and potty bags and were off to Mt Cowles.

Isn't he just too dang cute. Good thing his bowl was empty. Silly dog, you don't stand on that.

This was early on in the hike. Wanna know how you can tell? His mouth is closed... aka he's not panting like a mad dog.

We only went 1 mile up because mom was tired we were a little crunched for time but it was still a great view.

This is the panting I was talking about. And yes, his tongue hangs out the side and drips/flings drool everywhere when he's like this.

I think we need to do this more often. He loved it and was flying down the mountain at the end.

I love going out hiking because it's a great work-out for both of us and the scenery is definitely better than the inside of the gym. We had a great time on our hike and I want to go back again soon before it starts getting too hot outside. Maybe J will come with us next time.

TGIF everyone, have a great start to the weekend!