Thursday, October 22, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Autumn Banner
14 years ago, I embarked upon my first craft project that would be for public display. A dear friend and I stayed up into the wee hours of the night, eating JELLO Pudding Pops and painting our High School Senior Shirts!! TOOOOO FUN!!
She deemed our little shop, Just a Little Creativity. Therefore, in honor of a super fun memory, any of my craftiness I choose to post will be under the title, A Little Creativity.
DISCLAIMER!!! I am VERY new to organizing, inking, and gluing pieces of paper! I am aware that I have A LOT to learn!! Thankfully, I have Great Teachers!! Here and Here!
Enjoy!!
She deemed our little shop, Just a Little Creativity. Therefore, in honor of a super fun memory, any of my craftiness I choose to post will be under the title, A Little Creativity.
DISCLAIMER!!! I am VERY new to organizing, inking, and gluing pieces of paper! I am aware that I have A LOT to learn!! Thankfully, I have Great Teachers!! Here and Here!
Enjoy!!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Circus Fare--Popcorn Balls
We are starting something new at this here circus! Barnum, Bailey and The Bearded Lady will be cooking it up in the kitchen on Sunday to share with you on Monday!
First off.....The World's Easiest Popcorn Balls!!
Barnum is popping the popcorn and performing QA testing on the Caramel Bits!! (Thank you heaven and Kraft for the Caramel Bits!!)
Yum, yum good!! It is a GO on the Caramel Bits!!
Here, Barnum is carefully considering QA testing on Mommy's finished product.
Barnum PERFORMING QA testing on Mommy's finished product.
Good gracious hallelujah!! They are deemed worthy enough to feed to little brother!!
Why is it sticking to my hands?? I'm not so sure about this!
I LOVE it!! Oh, how I LOVE it!! More, more, more!!!
The World's Easiest Popcorn Balls-courtesy of Grammy
First off.....The World's Easiest Popcorn Balls!!
Barnum is popping the popcorn and performing QA testing on the Caramel Bits!! (Thank you heaven and Kraft for the Caramel Bits!!)
Yum, yum good!! It is a GO on the Caramel Bits!!
Here, Barnum is carefully considering QA testing on Mommy's finished product.
Barnum PERFORMING QA testing on Mommy's finished product.
Good gracious hallelujah!! They are deemed worthy enough to feed to little brother!!
Why is it sticking to my hands?? I'm not so sure about this!
I LOVE it!! Oh, how I LOVE it!! More, more, more!!!
The World's Easiest Popcorn Balls-courtesy of Grammy
3 regular bags of Orville Redenbacher's Natural, Simply Salted, popcorn-popped
1 11 OZ package of KRAFT Caramel Bits
2 Tablespoons of water
1/2 stick of butter (to use on your hands to form the balls)
- Pop all of your popcorn and place in a large mixing bowl. (It may take 2 bowls.)
- Melt an 11 OZ package of KRAFT Caramel Bits and 2 Tablespoons of water in a microwave safe bowl. (It took us 2 minutes in the microwave. Be advised...cooking times will vary ;)
- Pour melted caramel into bowl of popcorn and stir with a spoon to mix.
- Greasey up your hands with the butter and TEST THE TEMPERATURE OF THE CARAMEL!!!! You DO NOT want to start stirring up the caramel and popcorn with your hands unless it has cooled to a bearable temperature. We learned the hard way!! Sorry, Barnum!! Please forgive Mommy!!! (PLEASE note..it wasn't a burn just more of a SHOCK!)
- Begin forming popcorn balls to your preferred size and place on wax paper.
- Drizzle with extra caramel if desired and let set for 10 minutes to dry.
- Gobble them all up or store extras in sandwich bags!
Also, it would be selfish and sinful of me to not share the additional awesomeness I happened upon this morning!! Because I do not desire to be selfish and sinful:
Prepare to die a thousand deaths from AWESOMENESS!!!!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Application ACCEPTED!!!
Many thanks go out to my loyal readers!! Because there was much discussion regarding our failed attempt at rescuing a dog, we are now the proud owners of a DOG!!
A friend told a friend, who told her scrapbook club and (well, you know how it goes!!) about our experience with trying to rescue a dog. A member of said scrapbook club was horrified by our experience and CAME TO OUR RESCUE!!!!
The Scrapbooking Diva very generously GAVE us our sweet Little Ruby!!
A friend told a friend, who told her scrapbook club and (well, you know how it goes!!) about our experience with trying to rescue a dog. A member of said scrapbook club was horrified by our experience and CAME TO OUR RESCUE!!!!
The Scrapbooking Diva very generously GAVE us our sweet Little Ruby!!
Not only did she give us Little Ruby, but she gave us 2 leashes, 3 dog beds, a see through kennel, a bag of toys, a bag of dog food, and 3 bags of treats!!! The Scrapbooking Diva admitted to referring to her three Shih Tzus as "The Nieman Marcus Dogs!!" I cannot believe she was so willing to part with one!!!
I have to admit...Little Ruby has been in our possession for over 3 weeks now!! I have just been bombarded with life and my dream of becoming a paper crafting queen that I haven't updated the blog. My apologies!! Ruby is the SWEETESTand most well behaved dog I have ever owned. She doesn't make a peep (NO barking, growling, grunting!!), she doesn't jump on or off of furniture, she demonstrates an INSANE amount of patience with Barnum and Bailey and she is perfectly housetrained.
WE LOVE OUR RUBY!!!!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
On Horseback
Our newest adventure is horseback riding lessons. Barnum is very excited about being a cowboy and riding a horse like Woody from Toy Story. However, he is NOT excited about his new "Cowboy Hat!"
I kept trying to talk up his "NEW" cowboy hat. I kept telling him how special it was and yada, yada, yada. His reply, "MOMMY! I have seen LOTS of cowboy hats and this IS NOT a cowboy hat!!"
"Ok! The gig is up. But here is the deal...If you want to ride the horse....you will wear the hat."
He chose to ride the horse!!! (OK, he really just got a pony on his first day. Apparently you have to start small.)
He completed all of his exercises and chores and was rewarded with getting to trot and play a game of red light/green light.
I kept trying to talk up his "NEW" cowboy hat. I kept telling him how special it was and yada, yada, yada. His reply, "MOMMY! I have seen LOTS of cowboy hats and this IS NOT a cowboy hat!!""Ok! The gig is up. But here is the deal...If you want to ride the horse....you will wear the hat."
He chose to ride the horse!!! (OK, he really just got a pony on his first day. Apparently you have to start small.)
He completed all of his exercises and chores and was rewarded with getting to trot and play a game of red light/green light.
Stay tuned to see how this Rhinestone Cowboy makes out!!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
National Sewing Month
In honor of National Sewing Month, a story:
During a conversation with my mother and sister, I stated that I would like a sewing machine for Christmas. My sister strolls over to her closet, grabs down a box and hands it to me. It is a brand new sewing machine!!
Well, I mean it appeared to be a brand new sewing machine because the box had NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, not in NINE years been open. NINE years. (Keep in mind she is the mother of 2 girls, ages NINE and FIVE.)
I excitedly started dreaming up my first project. BAILEY's napmat for Mother's Day Out!! Two months later, I found the PERFECT Napmat tutorial online, bought all the supplies and then.......
I packed up my BRAND NEW SEWING machine, pattern/tutorial/whatever you want to call it, and supplies and drove straight over to my sis-in-laws house. Why?
She's the one that knows how to sew!!! I can't sew a stitch!! What was I thinking??? A NAPMAT??? I should probably start with something basic like...THREADING THE MACHINE or sewing two pieces of fabric together!!
Good decision making on my part because this is how precious it came out!!!:
Bailey LOVES it!! He lays right down and goes straight to sleep....from what I hear!!!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
APPLICATION DENIED
I'm sorry to report that our Circus Spectacular FAILED the interview at Houston Shaggy Dog Rescue. F-A-I-L-E-D.
It took me MONTHS to talk The Strong Man into getting a dog. Then it took MONTHS to locate a dog that met his specifications on Petfinder.com. (His SPECS include: house trained, low-shedding & low-maintenance coat, doesn't bark and is no more than 30 lbs. You know, something straight out of Hitler's regime.)
I locate such dog. I fill out the online application. I buy Barnum and Bailey each a squeaky toy to play and interact with the puppy on "Visitation Day." The Strong Man takes off of work and we drive an hour to the Rescue to meet said dog.
I am by no means naive to the fact that I am the mother of two young boys. YOUNG BOYS=LIVELINESS, MISCHIEVOUSNESS, ROUGHNESS. However!!!!, Barnum and Bailey were on their BEST behavior!!! Calm, somewhat reserved and totally uncharacteristic.
The owner of Houston Shaggy Dog Rescue had previously stated to me that the particular dog we were interested in was on "HOLD" as a lady was flying in from Chicago to look at him. "Fine," I said. "Just contact me afterwards to let me know."
Never heard, never heard so I send an email. Her reply, " She did indeed chose the other dog, however, blah blah blah two young boys are too lively, blah blah blah I think such and such dog would be better for you."
My reply, "If it is okay with you, we would really like to try said dog. He is the one that fits the criteria that we are looking for, he got along well with the children and he is the one that lead us to your rescue. Of course, his needs are very important to us and if at any time the boys prove to be too much we will bring him back immediately."
NO RESPONSE. Houston Shaggy Dog Rescue was never to be heard from again. Our application, DENIED. FAILED.
I have since then located 1 other precious angel from Basset Buddies Rescue of Houston. (Who have proven to be a delight!) Unfortunately, The Strong Man is off of the bandwagon. NO MORE DOGS. WE TRIED IT. IT DIDN'T WORK OUT. IT's OVER.
Devastated and Dogless,
The Bearded Lady
It took me MONTHS to talk The Strong Man into getting a dog. Then it took MONTHS to locate a dog that met his specifications on Petfinder.com. (His SPECS include: house trained, low-shedding & low-maintenance coat, doesn't bark and is no more than 30 lbs. You know, something straight out of Hitler's regime.)
I locate such dog. I fill out the online application. I buy Barnum and Bailey each a squeaky toy to play and interact with the puppy on "Visitation Day." The Strong Man takes off of work and we drive an hour to the Rescue to meet said dog.
I am by no means naive to the fact that I am the mother of two young boys. YOUNG BOYS=LIVELINESS, MISCHIEVOUSNESS, ROUGHNESS. However!!!!, Barnum and Bailey were on their BEST behavior!!! Calm, somewhat reserved and totally uncharacteristic.
The owner of Houston Shaggy Dog Rescue had previously stated to me that the particular dog we were interested in was on "HOLD" as a lady was flying in from Chicago to look at him. "Fine," I said. "Just contact me afterwards to let me know."
Never heard, never heard so I send an email. Her reply, " She did indeed chose the other dog, however, blah blah blah two young boys are too lively, blah blah blah I think such and such dog would be better for you."
My reply, "If it is okay with you, we would really like to try said dog. He is the one that fits the criteria that we are looking for, he got along well with the children and he is the one that lead us to your rescue. Of course, his needs are very important to us and if at any time the boys prove to be too much we will bring him back immediately."
NO RESPONSE. Houston Shaggy Dog Rescue was never to be heard from again. Our application, DENIED. FAILED.
I have since then located 1 other precious angel from Basset Buddies Rescue of Houston. (Who have proven to be a delight!) Unfortunately, The Strong Man is off of the bandwagon. NO MORE DOGS. WE TRIED IT. IT DIDN'T WORK OUT. IT's OVER.
Devastated and Dogless,
The Bearded Lady
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