Sugar and Shimmer

Sesame Street Party – First Birthday Poster

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:17:00 +0000

Continuing in my series of posts about Nathan’s Sesame Street 1st Birthday Party, today I’m sharing the First Birthday Poster I made.

I loved the posters for sale on Etsy by MoulageCollection but at $52 they were way out of my price range. Instead I spent $1 on a piece of bristol board, used the expensive chalk version as inspiration and made my own with markers.

I started in the centre with “Nathan is ONE!” and then wrote around the outside about his favourites, his activities and his measurements. Basically I aimed to capture the essence of Nathan at 12 months old ;)

The last step was to dress it up by adding some doodling and then some Sesame Street chipboard characters to tie the poster to the theme. I hung it up in the living room and it was neat to see people stop and read it throughout the party. I hope I can remember that I want to make one of these every year!

Sesame Street Party – Balloon Birthday Wreath

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:29:00 +0000

If you’re a regular reader than you probably know that I’ve got a thing for wreaths. I’ve got one for pretty much every season and holiday. I hang them outside, inside, my Summer Paper Wreath hangs in my kitchen all year round. So when I started seeing variations of this balloon wreath all over Pinterest I knew I needed to make one for Nathan’s party.

It was so easy to make but had big impact and I got a lot of compliments. All you need for the basic concept is a Styrofoam wreath form, straight pins and balloons in your colour scheme. I went with 5 different colours and used just under 50 balloons in total. How many you need will depend on the size of your wreath form. Buy more than you think you’ll need because the end result is a lot better when the wreath is fuller.

All you need to do is start pinning the balloons to the wreath form with the straight pins. I tried to space out the colours evenly but I didn’t worry about a pattern as everything ends up overlapping. If you don’t like a section it’s easy to unpin and try again so don’t think too hard about it! Once I had all my balloons in place I pinned a loop of ribbon on to the back for hanging.

It was cute with just balloons but I decided it needed something else so I painted a wooden N that I had in my stash and attached the Sesame Street lamppost. I hot glued ribbon to the back and then pinned it to the back of the wreath.

All told this wreath took me less than an hour to make and cost less than $10. The bright primary colours fit the Sesame Street theme perfectly but they’re also just cheerful birthday colours so I’ll be able to use the wreath again next year just by removing the lamppost and replacing it with something to fit the next theme.

Still lots more Sesame Street Party posts to come!

Sesame Street Party – Baby Food Jar Favours

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:27:00 +0000

When I decided to make favours for Nathan’s 1st birthday I knew I needed to do something edible. I hate bringing home favours that just collect dust because you feel too guilty to throw them out. I even made edible favours for our wedding. I had acquired a bunch of baby food jars last fall for a project I never got around to making and decided favours would be a perfect use for them.

To make the labels I had Nathan scribble all over white paper and then I cut it into strips to wrap around each jar. I wrote “Thanks for coming! Love Nathan” on each one before I glued them on. For toppers I used cupcake liners. The regular sized ones fit perfectly over a baby food jar lid but I had to cut the top halves off so they didn’t cover the writing on the labels. I attached them to the lids with a glue stick.

To fill the jars – the actual favour part – I used mini M&Ms and sour jelly beans. The bright colours matched the party theme perfectly.

The favours were a hit and I’m sure the candy was enjoyed not long after it left the house. Hopefully all the jars made it to the recycling bin ;)

More Sesame Street Party posts to come so be sure to check back!

Sesame Street Party – Invitations (with Template!)

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 20:43:00 +0000

Earlier this week I posted about my son’s Sesame Street 1st Birthday Party with the promise that I’d be blogging about all the projects I made for it. I figured first things first – we have to start with the invitations.

I started with the image of the gang from Sesame Street. I don’t have a proper credit for it as it seems to be floating around on a lot of blogs and parenting sites but I found it on Google Images. I’m sure it probably originated with Sesame Street. I used a photo editing program to add the multi-coloured circles and text and done! I somehow managed to forget a picture of the finished product but I printed them 4 to a page and then backed each with colourful card stock. It was a pretty simple invite but I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on something that people were probably just going to throw out not long after receiving it. And I think they turned out pretty cute :)

If you like them too maybe you’d like to make your own! Click on the image below to get a copy of the template – all you need to do is add your text and print them out!

Lots more Sesame Street Birthday posts coming up so be sure to check back!

Sesame Street 1st Birthday Party!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 22:13:00 +0000

Hello! Yes, I’m still here and I’m sorry my posting has been so sporadic lately. Being back to work and figuring out our new family schedule has been tough and the blog has had to take a backseat despite the fact that I’ve got lots of great stuff to share with you. Well I’m hoping to correct that now but introducing a series of posts about my son’s first birthday party. We went with a Sesame Street theme – he loves the characters and I loved working in all the bright primary colours. Over the next week or two (I’m trying not to over commit myself here!) I’ll be posting about everything you see here – and maybe a few more things I couldn’t fit in the collage!

I’ll come back here after each post to add a link so it’ll be easy to find everything. Here’s a partial list of the projects I’ll be writing about:

Sesame Street Invite
Baby Food Jar Favours
12 Month Summary Bristol Board
Heart Garland
Sesame Street Pennant Garland
Mason Jar Decor
“Framed” Guest Photos
Tissue Paper Pom Poms
Balloon Wreath
Photo Garland
Table Decor

Hope you’ll come back to see all of the posts!

Guest Post - Pork Chops with Apple & Onion Relish

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 20:57:00 +0000

Happy Sunday! Is your weekend flying by too? If you still haven’t found the time to plan for dinner then check out this recipe from One Hungry Dude!

I love the flavour combination of pork and apples. There's just something about the tartness and sweetness of apples and brown sugar that compliments the saltiness of the pork so well. This is an easy recipe that requires a few staple ingredients.

Ingredients
• 4 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 4 Tbsp Margarine
• 4 Granny Smith Apples, thinly sliced
• 2 Yellow Onions, thinly sliced
• 4 Cloves Garlic, diced
• Zest and Juice from 1/2 Lemon
• 4 Tsp Rosemary
• 4 Tsp Brown Sugar
• Salt and Pepper, to taste
• 4 Pork Chops, with bone

In a large frying pan on the stovetop, heat the olive oil and margarine over medium. Add the apple and onion, cooking for about four to five minutes. Add the garlic, and cook for another three to four minutes. Reduce heat by about half, add the lemon, rosemary, brown sugar, salt and pepper, and cover. Sweat the relish for about 30 minutes, stirring often, to ensure it doesn't stick to the pan. Once the mixture is soft, and the onions appear translucent, you can reduce the heat to a simmer.

While the relish is sweating, preheat another large frying pan over medium-high. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper, then place in the second frying pan, searing each side for two to three minutes. Reduce the heat to about medium, and cook until done. Allow the pork to rest for about four or five minutes, then top with the relish. Garnish with parsley and serve.

By the Batch – Strawberry Napoleons

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 15:46:00 +0000

I’m finding fresh produce to be very expensive this winter. With a one year old who loves his fruits and veggies we’re spending a fortune at the grocery store every week so I’ve started basing my purchases on what’s on sale. A few weeks ago our local store had three cartons of strawberries on for $5 so I jumped all over that. I sliced up a bunch and froze them and I made a huge batch of Toddler Smoothies but I still had a ton of strawberries leftover. Chris loves strawberry desserts so I did a quick Pinterest search and found an Easy Strawberry Napoleon Recipe from Six Sisters’ Stuff. We had puffed pastry in the freezer leftover from when Chris made Beef Wellington so I gave it a try. Turns out it actually was really easy and Chris loved them! I’ve altered the directions mostly based on the fact that my pastry was the type you roll out.

Ingredients

1 roll (half of a 450 gram package) frozen puff pastry
1 box instant vanilla pudding mix
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup Cool Whip
2 cups hulled and sliced strawberries
Icing sugar, for garnish

Directions

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Thaw pastry according to directions on the box - I left mine in the refrigerator over night. Roll out pastry until you have a rectangle that’s about 1/8 of an inch thick. Make two cuts across the long part of the rectangle so you have three equally sized strips. Then cut each of those strips in half on the short part. Space the 6 resulting pieces on a baking sheet. Bake on the middle rack for 15 minutes or until golden. Place on a rack to cool.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk pudding mix, milk, and extract for 2 minutes; fold in Cool Whip and blend thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate.
Carefully split each piece of pastry in half horizontally. Cover bottom halves with pudding mixture and then sliced strawberries, dividing equally. Cover with pastry tops. Dust with icing sugar.

I don’t like strawberries – weird I know – but Chris loved these. I loved that they were incredibly easy to make and the only thing I had to buy was almond extract. I would definitely make these again but will wait until we’re having people over for dinner as the pastry got very soggy before Chris could get through the whole batch on his own.

Another Year of DIY Valentines

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 19:57:00 +0000

I’m so disappointed – I had Valentine’s Day projects to share but I never got the opportunity to post any of them and now the day has come and gone for another year! But I think I’ve got a pretty good excuse, Nathan turned one last week and I returned to work. It was a busy week! I’m hoping that as we get used to our new schedule I’ll find a better rhythm of posting here because I have a lot of birthday party projects I’m excited to share. In the meantime, here’s this year’s Valentine’s Day cards.

Hopefully you’ll see me back later this week!

Love Day Smoothie for your Littlest Valentine

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 23:40:00 +0000

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner I’ve been thinking of ways to get my little guy in on the action. He’s too little for most of the activities I’ve found on Pinterest and, at almost a year, he’s definitely still too young for all the awesome looking desserts I’m dying to make. But, he’s just the right age for a yummy pink Strawberry Banana Smoothie! These are super easy to make and, since they’re full of fruit they make a healthy treat for your toddler - or for you ;) I made a giant batch (multiply the ingredients below to make more) and froze it in ice cube trays for later.

Ingredients

1 cup sliced strawberries (I used fresh but frozen works too)
1/2 sliced banana
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp honey (this is optional to add extra sweetness and only appropriate if your child is a year or older)

Put all ingredients in a blender (or a baby food processor) and blend well. You can alter the above quantities to change how thick or thin the smoothies are, depending on your child’s ability. My son loves drinking through a straw but it’s a new skill so our smoothies were a bit on the runny side. Also, depending on your child, you can partially freeze your smoothie once blended to make it more of a slushy texture.

Serve these pink drinks up to your little ones on Valentine’s Day or any day you want to give them an extra serving of fruit!

DIY Valentine’s Day Canvas

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 19:36:00 +0000

February is here! My house got dressed up for Valentine’s Day yesterday and I finally found some time to work on some Love Day projects. First up is a Valentine’s Day canvas made with paint and stickers. I’ve seen this idea about a million times on Pinterest and thought it was time to try it myself!

The concept is really simple – put letter stickers or vinyl onto a canvas, paint over them and then peel the stickers off. I started by painting my canvas light pink and then applied my letters. Then I painted the whole thing with two coats of red. Sadly when I peeled the stickers off I discovered that some of the red paint had bled through a bit. I’m not really sure how this can be prevented but if you’ve got a suggestion I’d love to hear it. I cleaned up my letters the best I could with a small paintbrush and some of the pink paint but since it still didn’t look perfect I decided to give the whole thing a distressed look that might help it look imperfect on purpose ;)

I couldn’t find any sandpaper so I used a nail file and rubbed it firmly all over the canvas until the pink was showing through in places. I rubbed some of the red paint dust onto the pink letters to help camouflage where the bleeding had occurred. I love the shabby end result I’m sort of glad that it didn’t turn out perfectly!

At the moment I’m working on mastering coffee filter roses so watch for that project soon!

Guest Post – Roasted Quarter Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:12:00 +0000

After a little blogging break I am back and so is One Hungry Dude! Here’s another great recipe for you to try – and it’s an easy one so perfect for when you’re feeling draggy on a Monday evening. Enjoy!

Today I’m sharing an herb butter recipe that, while simple, packs a great amount of flavour. I like this recipe for chicken but it can easily be adapted for other types of poultry including turkey. Chicken is simple to prepare which makes it a great option for a weeknight dinner when you don’t have an hour to stand in the kitchen.

Ingredients
• Four Pieces of Quarter Chicken
• 8 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
• 4 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 Tsp Thyme
• 2 Tsp Basil
• Juice from 1/2 Lemon
• Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 C. Mix the butter, olive oil, Worcestershire Sauce, thyme, basil and lemon together in a bowl. Use your hand to rub the butter mixture onto the chicken, until each piece is thoroughly coated. Place in a roasting pan or deep, oven safe dish. Cook for about 45 to 50 minutes, basting roughly every 20 minutes, until the skin becomes crispy and the chicken reaches doneness. Remove the chicken from the oven, let sit for about five minutes, then serve.

DIY Card Week – I Adore You

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:52:00 +0000

Today I’m sharing a card that I made for Nathan to give my mom on her birthday last month. Making cards from Nathan is fun because I can create them in a different “voice” than I do the ones from me and Chris. This card started with the “I Adore You” sticker (he really does love his Nana!) and then I picked other papers and elements to match.

I liked the contrast of the orange and blue and added in the heart pattern paper as I thought it went well with the sentiment of the card. To make it stand out a bit I outlined and coloured in one of the hearts. Had I just left off there I think this would have made a great Valentine’s Day or anniversary card but that wasn’t exactly the theme I had in mind so I added the cute little tag, attached with a brad. The giraffe is adorable and it automatically helped the card to feel more like it was from a child.

As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve got even more cards to share with you so stay tuned for a DIY Card Week 2!

DIY Card Week – Birthday Clown

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:26:00 +0000

Well my grand plans for DIY Card Week have fallen a bit short as my son is sick with a cold and nasty cough. It might have to become Card Weeks and the posts will just continue next week ;). Just a quick post today to share a birthday card I made for my brother. He was turning 29 so you might not think a clown to be age appropriate at first but I thought juxtaposing the silly clown sentiment against the plainer, numbered background helped “age” the card a bit. And my brother is a fun guy anyway!

I liked the black and white with all that colour. The centre is a Sassafras sticker and I love its vintage feel. Sassafras definitely makes my go to products for card making.

I hope to be back tomorrow with another card post so stay tuned!

DIY Card Week – Birthday With Love

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 19:03:00 +0000

As I mentioned in a previous post I’ve got a backlog of DIY cards that I haven’t had the chance to share with you yet so I’ve decided to declare this DIY Card Week and I’m going to post as many as my son’s naps allow ;)

The first post of the week is a birthday card I made for my aunt back in October. I kept it simple and feminine with lots of pink and layering.

I like the idea of using the same paper for a couple of layers like I’ve done here. It’s a good way to use up scraps and it also helps to balance your composition. I inked everything in pink and then piled it on. The two flower shapes are paper whimsies from Sassafras and the paper is from one of their lines as well. The “With Love” is a sticker and so is the cupcake. I thought the cupcake helped to make it feel more birthday instead of just a generic card and I liked that it had some dimension.

I really am a convert when it comes to inking edges. I’ve never bothered before because those special ink pads are expensive, especially if you need them in multiple colours. But adding ink really does help define and separate your elements so I tried just using the edge of a marker and it works like a charm. Now I ink everything.

Be sure to check back all this week for more cards!

Guest Post – Beef Wellington

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 21:08:00 +0000

Happy Sunday! You probably won’t have time to make this recipe from One Hungry Dude for this week’s Sunday dinner but definitely consider it for next week! And check back with me this week for a series of DIY birthday cards!

I was looking for a special dish for New Year's Eve, and found it with Gordon Ramsay's take on Beef Wellington. My in-laws came over for the meal, and my father-in-law raved about it all night. I only made a few minor changes to the original recipe; no need to mess with a classic, I say. There was a bit of preparation and work put into the entree, but each individual step was surprisingly easy. I made a few rookie mistakes, but the results were delicious and impressive.

Ingredients
• 2 lbs Beef Fillet
• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 250 g of Mushrooms
• 50 g Butter
• 1 large sprig fresh thyme
• 100 ml red wine
• 500 g puff pastry, thawed if frozen
• A little Flour , for dusting
• 2 Egg Yolks beaten with 1 Tsp water

Heat oven to 425 F. Sit the beef on a roasting tray, brush with 1 tbsp olive oil and season with pepper, then roast for 15 minutes for medium-rare or 20 for medium. When the beef is cooked to your liking, remove from the oven to cool, then chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

While the beef is cooling, chop the mushrooms as finely as possible so they have the texture of coarse breadcrumbs.

Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil and the butter in a large pan and fry the mushrooms on medium heat, with 1 large sprig fresh thyme, for about 10 minutes stirring often, until you have a softened mixture. Season the mushroom mixture, pour in the red wine and cook for about 10 minutes until all the wine has been absorbed. The mixture should hold its shape when stirred. Remove the mushroom duxelle from the pan to cool and discard the thyme.
Overlap two pieces of cling film over a large chopping board. Spread half the duxelles over the beef, then sit the fillet on it and spread the remaining duxelles over. Roll it into a sausage shape, twisting the ends of cling film to tighten it as you go. Chill the fillet while you roll out the pastry.

Dust your work surface with a little flour. Roll out a third of the 500 g of puff pastry to an 18 by 30 centimetre strip and place on a non-stick baking sheet. Roll out the remainder of the puff pastry to about 28 by 36 cm. Unravel the fillet from the cling film and sit it in the centre of the smaller strip of pastry. Beat the 2 egg yolks with the water and brush the pastry's edges, and the top and sides of the wrapped fillet. Using a rolling pin, carefully lift and drape the larger piece of pastry over the fillet, pressing well into the sides. Trim the joins to about a 4 cm rim. Seal the rim with the edge of a fork or spoon handle. Glaze all over with more egg yolk and, using the back of a knife, mark the Wellington with long diagonal lines taking care not to cut into the pastry. Chill for at least 30 minutes, or up to 24 hours.

Heat oven to 400 F. Brush the Wellington with a little more egg yolk and cook until golden and crisp (20 to 25 minutes for medium-rare, 30 for medium). Allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving in thick slices.

Most Popular Posts of 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 02:40:00 +0000

Happy New Year! 2012 was a great year for me with the highlight being the birth of my son :) Tonight I want to take a look back and share my most viewed projects posts of the year.

This Clothespin Wreath was a hit on Pinterest and was my most viewed post of the year. It was really easy to do and I’m thinking about making another one soon with a Valentine’s Day theme.

People really got a kick out of my DIY Turkey Headbands this past Thanksgiving. Again, another really simple project but they turned out so cute!

Another popular post was my Paper Flower Garland. I love this one because, if you’re a paper crafter, then you’ve already got everything you need to put these together.

This template for Monthly Baby Photos was a real hit both on the blog and with my friends in real life. I post Nathan’s monthly photo on Facebook each month for my friends. It’s a fun way to watch him grow and to commemorate his milestones.

And last but not least, you guys were digging my homemade birthday cards – these three in particular! Find the posts here, here and here.

I’m really glad that my cards have been popular as I’ve made a bunch more recently and will be sharing them soon. I’m still debating on whether to have a week devoted to cards or to do one a week for a while. Anyone have a preference?

Here’s hoping 2013 is a fantastic year for all of us!

Guest Post – Hey, Turkey Soup!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 16:26:00 +0000

I’m back! We took a nice little blogging break in this house for the holidays but now that Christmas is all said and done (hope yours was great!) it’s time for some new posts. We’re starting today with a recipe from One Hungry Dude, perfect for those turkey dinner leftovers.

It's after Christmas, and if you've cooked a turkey, you're likely looking for something to do with the leftovers. So don't throw out the bones, they can form the base of a delicious and easy to prepare soup. Feel free to improvise on the amount of turkey meat and pasta. I prefer a heavier soup, with plenty of meat and pasta to sop up the broth; but there is so much flavour in this recipe, a lighter hand would also suffice.

Ingredients
• 4 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Onions, each cut in half
• 2 Cups Baby Carrots
• 5 or 6 Garlic Cloves
• Salt and Pepper
• 4 Dried Bay Leaves
• 2 Tsp Dried Rosemary
• Leftover turkey, bones and meat
• Zest and Juice from half a Lemon
• 3 Cups Fusilli
• 2 Tsp Dried Parsley

Start by separating the meat from the turkey bones. Then in a stock pot, add the olive oil, onions, one cup of the baby carrots, and garlic, and heat over medium-high. Cook until the onions just begin to brown, then add the salt and pepper, bay leaves and rosemary. Continue cooking for another two to three minutes, then add the bones. Cook for another five minutes, then add the lemon and 12 cups of water. Reduce the heat and let simmer, stirring occasionally, for anywhere between two to four hours, depending on the amount of time you have available. The longer you simmer the broth, the more depth it develops.

Strain the broth and discard the solid material. Return the broth to a simmer and thinly slice the remaining baby carrots. Add the carrots to the broth, and continue simmering for another 15 to 20 minutes. Then add the turkey meat and Fusilli, and simmer for another 30 minutes. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with fresh bread or grilled cheese.

This recipe serves five to six people.

Crafty Christmas – DIY Gift Tags

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 20:30:00 +0000

Have you seen the price of gift tags lately? Unless you’re buying the little stickers then you’re probably paying an arm and a leg for them so why not make your own? These tags were so easy to make but are really cute and unique enough that your gift recipient will take notice.

The measurements for these will vary depending on the size of tag you use but the method will stay the same. Cut three strips from a piece of double sided paper making each strip a little shorter than the last. Score each strip along even intervals and then fold them accordion style. Pinch the longest strip together a bit at the top and hot glue it on to your tag. Repeat with the remaining strips being sure that the middle strip is flipped over so you can see the coordinating pattern. The last step is to glue little paper stars to the top (I cut mine out with my Silhouette).

Simple, cute and you can make them on the cheap because, let’s be honest, they’re probably getting thrown out with the wrapping paper! I made some of these for my craft sale that were about 5 inches tall. I priced them at $2 each and sold 6 of them.

So, how’s your gift wrapping going?

Guest Post – Roasted Potatoes and Carrots

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 18:46:00 +0000

Still planning your holiday menu? Consider including this delicious new recipe from One Hungry Dude!

I love to watch holiday cooking specials at this time of the year, and Food Network is fully satisfying my craving. It seems every celebrity chef has their own take on holiday food. A few weeks ago, I saw Jamie Oliver make a roasted potato recipe, and was inspired to create my own. These potatoes were amazing, and I fully intend to add them into my regular food rotation. They are easy to make, but look and taste quite impressive. Best of all, they'll take some stress out of your holiday cooking.

Ingredients
• 2 Cups of Baby Carrots
• 8 Yellow Potatoes, peeled and cut in half
• Olive Oil
• 5 to 6 cloves of garlic
• 2 Tsp Dried Rosemary
• 4 to 5 Tbsp Margarine or Butter
• Zest and Juice from 1/2 a Lemon
• Salt and Pepper

In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add the potatoes and carrots, reduce the temperature to medium, and parboil for about 10 to 12 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 F. In a large roasting pan, add enough olive oil to thinly cover the bottom. Drain the vegetables, but leave the element on. Place the pan on the element, and heat the olive oil. Then add the rosemary and garlic, and cook for about two to three minutes, or until the rosemary becomes fragrant. Stir in the vegetables, making sure they sit in a single layer and are coated with the seasoned oil. Drop the margarine or butter, one tablespoon at a time, on top of the vegetables. Then top the vegetables with the lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper.

Place in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the oven, stir, then use a masher to gently squash each potato. Return the vegetables to the oven for another 20 to 25 minutes, until they reach your preferred tenderness.

Remove from the oven and consider transferring the vegetables to a plate covered with paper towel, to drain some of the excess oil. Then serve.

This recipe yields about 8 to 10 servings.

Crafty Christmas – Upcycled Wine Bottle Vases

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 02:17:00 +0000

Popping in with a quick post before getting the weekend started. And by that I totally mean putting on my pajamas and catching up on Grey’s Anatomy ;) But first, I wanted to show you these easy, pretty winter vases made from wine bottles. I pinned these last winter but, since we don’t drink wine, I wasn’t able to try them until someone donated some bottles to the cause this year.

Start by cleaning off any labels and giving the bottles a good scrub with some hot, soapy water. Once they’re dry give them a coat of white spray-paint. I found that one coat was enough but don’t be afraid to add a second if you can see through to the glass. Once the paint is dry give the bottles a quick blast of spray adhesive (don’t spray the necks) and then roll them in Epsom salts. Done! Since taking this picture I’ve added a few glittery flower sprigs that I originally bought to put on a wreath. I think they look beautiful and I can leave them out all winter.

These were part of my inventory at my craft sale and I sold two of them at $10 each.

A quick warning – if your cat is anything like mine you’re going to want to keep these bottles somewhere he can’t get to. My cat licked some patches bare the first night I left these out. Luckily they were easy to repair :)

Have a great weekend!

Pinned It – Did It Count: 4

Easy Hanukkah Toddler Crafts

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 18:29:00 +0000

I hope everyone celebrating the festival of lights has been enjoying themselves so far! I’ve mentioned before that while we’re not religious, my husband is Jewish on his father’s side so we acknowledge Hanukkah each year. This is Nathan’s first holiday season so I was searching for ways to get him involved in celebrating and came up with two simple toddler crafts that we did together.

The first is the handprint menorah. I’ve seen this done before but with paint. Since Nathan is only 9 months old the idea of spreading paint all over his hands and hoping he didn’t touch EVERYTHING within reach didn’t really appeal to me! So instead I traced his hands and cut them out of blue paper. I glued them together with one thumb on top of the other to make the shamos and then I cut out little yellow flames. I glued all the flames on myself but if your child is a bit older they can enjoy gluing a flame on each night when you light the menorah!

Our second craft was a simple paper chain. Nathan has just discovered colouring so I gave him a yellow and a blue crayon and had him scribble all over some cream coloured cardstock.

I cut the cardstock and some patterned blue paper into strips and then made them into a paper chain. If you’ve never made a paper chain before I explained them in a little more detail here. I hung the finished chain over one of the bigger pictures we have hanging in the living room though I take it down now and again so Nathan can shake it – it makes a great noise ;)

Happy Hanukkah!

Guest Post – Rosemary Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 21:53:00 +0000

Well the first Hanukkah present has been opened and our Christmas tree is now up and decorated – what a fun weekend! It sure did go by quickly though. On this lovely Sunday afternoon One Hungry Dude is dropping by with another delicious recipe. Since I’m a vegetarian I don’t taste a lot of what he creates in our kitchen but I have definitely sampled this Rosemary Bread and am fairly certain I could eat an entire loaf prepared this way! Seriously, you should give it a try.

There's something about rosemary that gives off a great holiday vibe. It's a strong herb, but works incredibly well with a number of festive, savory foods. This bread is a perfect compliment to a holiday dinner, especially since it's so quick to make. You may even consider using the bread as an appetizer at a party, by cutting it into wedges or halves once cooked, and serving it with vegetables or a cheese spread.

Ingredients
• 3 Tbsp Margarine
• 2 Tsp Dried Rosemary
• 1 Tsp Dried Basil
• A Pinch of Garlic Powder
• Salt and Pepper, to taste
• Four slices of your favourite thinly-sliced bread (I typically use Rye)

Place the rack in the middle of the oven, then set to broil. Meanwhile, put the margarine, rosemary, basil, garlic, salt and pepper in a large frying pan on the stove top, and heat over medium. Once the margarine begins to melt, stir to ensure all the ingredients blend together, and the mixture covers the entire base of the pan. When the margarine begins to bubble, place the bread on the pan. Press down lightly using your fingers, allowing the bread to soak up the mixture. After a few seconds, take the bread out of the pan, and place it in the oven. Broil until the bread begins to brown, then take it out of the oven and serve.

Crafty Christmas - $2 Tinsel Garland Done Two Ways

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 19:57:00 +0000

Is it just me or are Christmas decorations really shiny this year? Tinsel trees seem to be everywhere! I love the retro vibe that tinsel can have so when I found $2 strands of tinsel garland at Walmart I knew I could make them into something great. I bought two strands for a total of $4 and made two different projects. The first is my tinsel tree set.

These were really easy to make! I created tree forms with a pizza box (the kind that you cook in your oven, not a delivery box) because it was sturdy but not so thick that I couldn’t roll it. Once the hot glue had dried on the forms I used some more to glue on the tinsel. I started at the top and that way, if I ran out, I could just cut off the bottom of my tree form. The last step was to take some mini ornaments that I bought for $1 at the dollar store and hot glue those onto the trees. So easy and so cute with a real vintage feel. These cost me less than $3 to make (I had leftover ornaments) and I sold the set for $15 :)

Next I took my second garland and started wrapping it around a wire wreath form. My plan was to cover the whole wreath but I obviously hadn’t guesstimated the correct length of garland I’d need as it only made it about half way around.

Not to be discouraged I rummaged through my stash and found the pretty blue yarn that I used on last year’s Yarn Winter Wreath and wrapped it around the other side. I went back over with some random strands to try and give it a more natural look. I tied a bow with some silver ribbon and hot glued that onto the tinsel side and then added all the silver ornaments from my $1 pack onto the yarn side. I wasn’t sure about this wreath at first but I really like the way it turned out. I love the way the yarn is in such contrast to the tinsel. I was asking $20 for it and it got a lot of compliments but didn’t sell. I can’t be too upset about it though since it only cost me about $3 to make (not counting the materials that I already had).

So what do you think of tinsel? Vintage or tacky? Or maybe just trendy? While you ponder that I’ll be off working on some toddler Hanukkah crafts that I’ll be sharing next week!

Crafty Christmas – Dry Erase Christmas Countdown

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 21:19:00 +0000

Today I’m sharing another one of the projects I did for my craft sale – dry erase Christmas countdowns. I’d seen the idea for writing on glass with a dry erase marker on a few blogs recently and I thought it would be the perfect way to keep track of the days leading up to Christmas!

I started with some 8x10 black frames that I bought at Good Will for a few dollars each. I removed the glass and the ugly bathroom art and sprayed two with Nickel and one with Red paint. Painting only one coat allowed the black to show through a bit which gave the frames a kind of vintage feel.

While the paint dried I used my Silhouette to cut out “Days Until Christmas” and the little dashes to write the numbers on top. I glued my letters down on some Christmas paper and arranged some additional paper elements. Then I popped the glass and the paper back into the frames.

And it was as easy as that! I was selling these for $20 each and including a dry erase marker with each one. I thought that was pretty reasonable for decently sized Christmas decor that can be used year after year and I think they would have sold at that price in a different setting. Unfortunately, I didn’t sell any of them. If you like one of them and you’re local or you’d be willing to pay for shipping just let me know :). Otherwise, give this craft a try yourself – there’s still 18 days until Christmas!

P.S. Linking up with Clean & Scentsible, Free Pretty Things For You, Someday Crafts

Guest Post – Mushroom & Potato Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Sugar and Shimmer) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 20:17:00 +0000

This post from One Hungry Dude may be late but it sure is appropriate for the rainy and grey weather we’re having here today. All of our snow has melted away and I’ve had to keep the lights on all day because it’s so dark outside. Curling up with a bowl of this yummy soups sounds pretty good right about now!

Once the weather gets cooler, I love to experiment with soups. I find very few meals are as satisfying as a rich, hearty bowl of soup on a cold late fall or winter day. So I often make soup in batches, because the leftovers always become a tasty and quick meal option for a busy day.

Ingredients
• 4 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 6 Tbsp Margarine
• 2 Onions, diced
• 1 Cup Baby Carrots, diced
• 4 Cloves Garlic, diced
• 15 Cremini Mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 4 Bay Leaves
• 2 Tsp Thyme
• 2 Tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 4 Cups Vegetable Broth
• 10 Yellow Potatoes, peeled and chopped into one-inch cubes
• 2 Cups Milk
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese and Parsley, for garnish

In a large pot, heat the olive oil and margarine over medium-high. Add the onions and carrots, and cook for about four to five minutes, then reduce heat by about half, add the garlic, mushrooms, Bay leaves, thyme and Worcestershire, stir, then cover. Meanwhile, warm the vegetable broth in a separate pot. Cook the vegetables until they begin to soften, and the onions become translucent.

Add the broth to the large pot, then add the potatoes. Cook until the potatoes become soft. Use an immersion blender, and puree until smooth. Gradually stir the milk into the soup, so it doesn't curdle. Let the soup simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes to an hour, then ladle into bowls, top with cheese and parsley and serve.

This recipe yields 10 to 12 servings.