No Fuss Crafts

Towards the end of last year, I decided to put all the creative energy I had somehow found during 2011, the year of the craft, towards this blog. Somehow I just found myself using this blog to record projects I was working on and to motivate myself to finish projects in a timely fashion. While I've never been that great with deadlines, there was something soothingly pressuring about trying to come up with a few posts a week. I quickly found many of my "Someday I'm going to make..." and "Hey that could be fun..." ideas, as well as my many pins from Pinterest, speeding by. And in doing so, I found myself providing Maddie with a lot more educational and constructive toys.

As I start the new year (yes, I know it's February), I have been coming up with a list of projects and crafts and, of course, blog posts. But before I go too far, I'd just like to say something. While I hope some of you may find my blogs useful, I want you to know that I can't promise they'll be perfect. Or for that matter overly instructional.

I am a crafter of the inexact. You'll probably notice things like ugly stitching, or, um, huge stitches like this:
(I feel like we could actually play a game how many stitches can you find?...)

Blurry pictures, often taken on a bad camera or ... gasp... my iPhone. The old version. (This by the way is Maddie reading to Black Cat who she has recently renamed "Picture" and has also recently decided is a dog.)


Or shortcut solutions like these:
Maybe you see this shortcut right away... or maybe not. When I got these patterns I was really looking for a way to make fruit pieces stick together. The apples had an easy method -- velcro cores. The tomatoes I made myself based on the patterns. They got snaps, but not obvious ones at all -- no! The oranges however actually have huge magnets in them that do not attract to each other. Oops. And some of them have little velcro patches on them too, which aren't really big enough to attach to each other. But don't worry, I have another solution -- and I shall share it for you all soon.

These mistakes were actually found all on the same roll within a range of maybe five pictures. I'm sure you've all seen the shortcuts I take, but hopefully you'll also enjoy the ride. If you get some inspiration or make an improvement on a craft mentioned here, I hope you'll share it with me. Happy crafting! And Happy Reading!

Mardi GRAS!

Last night, Rob said to me, "Hey, Mardi Gras is February 21. Want to go to Lagniappe and get some Alligator Po-boys?" To which I replied, "It's like you don't know me at all." But he did remind me that Mardi Gras is slowly making it's way.

This is a particularly long Mardi Gras season. The season officially begins on the feast of the epiphany and we have a new family tradition of celebrating the kick-off with Jambalaya and King Cake. You can get King Cake shipped from lots of places-- I suggest Haydel's (and we're lucky enough to have family who often send us the best ones from the local grocery).

Though it sure is nice to get a little bundle of love, complete with beads and doubloons, every once in a while you just want King Cake NOW. And I have yet to find a store-bought mix or recipe that quite lives up to the real thing. So I faked it (and yes, my Louisiana native, Swamp People-watching husband approved.)



Here's the super easy recipe:

Buy 2 containers of cinnamon rolls (I used Pillsbury, but make sure you get the kind that rolls, not the biscuit variety)
Food coloring in purple, yellow and green OR colored sugar in the same colors (or who am I kidding-- both.)

Spray your cooking sheet with some non-stick cooking spray. Open up your cinnamon rolls and unroll them. Start braiding them three rolls at a time and smooch the ends together, arranging them in a circle as you go. Bake according to the package directions.

** a note: you can get baby kings at any party store in the baby shower aisle. You can hide that baby before you bake or after!

Meanwhile take the frosting that comes with the cinnamon rolls and divide it into three even amounts. Add food coloring to make purple, green and yellow frosting. (You can skip this step if you are using colored sugar.)

Once the cake is done, let it cool and then, alternating colors, drizzle frosting on top. You can then top with the corresponding colored sugar. (Or just cover all the cake in white icing and stripe it with alternating colored sugar.)

***If you're a dummy like me and bought the biscuit type cinnamon rolls, you can still do it. Just smash the biscuits up and roll them a bit between your hands to make them cylindrical. Then try to layer them as if they are braided.

This is all SUPER easy, and seriously tastes pretty close to the real thing.

Of course the tradition is to have one of these every Sunday after church and whoever gets the baby in their slice of cake has to buy the next King Cake! I'll never forget the year I taught church school and all the boys fought to get the baby Jesus. Their poor parents...

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The Next Chapter

Sorry for that brief pause in blogging. I admit it, I was trapped in the vortex that is The Girl Who Played With Fire. All I can say is "Wow." It's been a long time since I read a book in less than a week, but this one I couldn't put down. I highly recommend the Millennium Trilogy to all of you.

Unfortunately my literary detour meant not much crafting around here. And not much of anything else either.

Today is my home day and I'm finishing up a bunch of little projects. I'll be back to my regular posting. I promise!


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A Resolution

At the end of last year, one of my friends commented that she had only two family pictures from the whole year. It dawned on me that we were in the same boat. My grandmother had asked me for a picture of our family of three. It had taken me two months to just cave and take a picture (and another two months to actually print it-- ah, the digital age.

So one of my resolutions this year is to take a monthly family picture. Here's our first attempt:







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