The Life and Times of a T.A.P.

Why do my cookies taste so bad? A lesson in baking and organizing.

2014-01-13T09:17:00.000-06:00

I would have gone outside for picture of the house, but it was cold and I had wine.

During the 2013 fall ice storm, Boyfriend and I decided to make Chelsa's Malbec Chocolate Truffles (super easy to make and they taste GREAT) and TacoFino's fiery Chocolate Diablo Cookies to take to his aunt's home for a party. Easy enough, right? Wrong.

When I'm baking I take over the kitchen. That day Boyfriend decided to "help" during the cookies. I asked him to measure out some sugar and dump it into my trusty mixer as I'm washing something in the sink. I turn around and you guessed it... more FLOUR was just added. To his credit Boyfriend did say he though the consistency of the sugar was off, but he mentioned it a second too late.

Fast forward to 2014! For Christmas, Cosmo (our wonderful dog) got me a Silhouette CAMEO. A CAMEO is a personal electronic cutting machine. It uses a small blade to cut paper, cardstock, vinyl, fabric, etc. I've been wanting one FOREVER!

So I decided my first project with my CAMEO would be to make sure the FLOUR/SUGAR incident never took place in Casa de Cosmo again.

I started designing what I wanted the labels to look like in the Silhouette design program. Since I'm just staring out I went with a fairly basic design. The software downloads on your computer and it easy to use (if I read the instructions it might be easier...).

Yes, I know it's powdered sugar. This was a test and I was tired.

I decided to test cut my design on cardstock because it's cheaper than vinyl and I had heard there was a bit of a learning curve with vinyl.

Cardstock Test Cut

I corrected my spelling and got out vinyl in my favorite color and started my "real" first cut. And got a hot mess. I immediately logged into my Silhouette group on Facebook (more about that later) and figured out my Roller Bar wasn't locked and my blade was set to cut to deep. A few minor tweaks and we went from:

Hot Mess

Perfection

I grabbed my transfer paper and cut a piece large enough to cover one of the labels. I took the grid side and stuck it sticky side down on top of my new labels and used my wiper tool and burnished ( rubbing/pressing down really hard) and made sure the label was really stuck.

The trick to getting the label moved onto the transfer tape is to place the transfer tape down and pull the old backing away! Go SLOWLY and if you find things aren't sticking to your liking use the wiper tool to burnish them.

I then eyeballed the placement (you don't get a second chance with vinyl) and once again used my wiper tool to burnish the label onto the container.

The one piece of transfer tape worked for all four labels! And the grid helps you keep things level.

Voila!

So what are the odds we have another baking disaster in Casa de Cosmo? Probably pretty good. Do these types of things only happen to us?

Want to check out more Silhouette projects?

My Silhouette Challenge buddies and I are all sharing projects related to this theme of ORGANIZATION on our blogs today, so peruse the projects below for a wealth of inspiration!

DIY Window Shutter Mail Organizer by Weekend Craft
Kids' Art Wall by Tried & True
Organizing Silhouette and Craft Supplies by The Happier Homemaker
Simple Recipe Organization by It's Always Craft Time
Put a Label on it! Herb Names for Plant Stakes by Get Silvered
Super Simple Linen Closet Labels by Two Purple Couches
Beware of the Animals Vinyl Toy Box by A Tossed Salad Life
Child desk accessories by Architecture of a Mom
Organizing & the Important of Labels by The Turquoise Home
Index Card Organizer for Easier Meal Planning by Chicken Scratch NY
Create Craft Room Labels by Dragonfly & Lilypads
Simple Storage Solution for your Christmas Ornaments by Vintage News Junkie
Organize this: DIY Planner Covers, Tags & Dividers (made with Cereal Boxes) by Black and White Obsession
How to Make a Cut File into a Print & Cut by Create & Babble
Simple Chest Freezer Organizational Board by Nearly Handmade
Vinyl Your Kitchen Canisters! by From Wine to Whine
Nursery Closet Dividers & Silhouette Cut File by Creative Ramblings
Make Custom Box Templates with a Silhouette for Drawer Organization by One Dog Woof
Organizing the Craft Room by What's Next Ma
Vinyl Wall Calendar by Crafts Cakes and Cats
Personalized Toy Storage Bins by Lil' Mrs. Tori
Personalized Routine Chart by Work in Progress
Blog Planner Sheet Dividers + Free Cut Files by TitiCrafty by Camila
Simple Project Calendar by Little Blue's Room
Dry Erase Photo Frame Menu Board + Free Cut File by Essentially Eclectic
Receipt Organization with Free Cut File by The Thinking Closet
Cute and Easy Labels by Life After Laundry
"What's For Dinner?" Menu Planning Board by unOriginal Mom
Mixing Organization and Function: An Easy Conversion Chart by My Paper Craze
Why do my cookies taste so bad? A lesson in baking. by The Life and Times of a TAP
Custom Drawer Dividers by Please Excuse My Craftermath...
The evolution of my labeling system by feto soap
Ikea Drawer labels by McCall Manor
Glass Etched Vinegar & Oil bottles by Terri Johnson Creates
Organize It: Bathroom Closet by The House on Hillbrook
Ombre Butterfly Magnet Board by Sowdering About

Easter eggs

2013-03-26T15:11:00.000-05:00

I loved the concave rainbow large eggs! They are awesome in my Wonderland mantel-scape. It's hard to decorate for Easter and St. Patrick's Day!

I'm not a fan of dying Easter eggs. It's messy and other than having Deviled Eggs at Easter brunch I don't see the point. I remember when I was a kiddo and my parents hid the "real eggs" and they were in a complete PANIC when we couldn't find them all. No one wants their home to smell like rotten eggs. So until we have kiddos of our own, Boyfriend and I decided against dying eggs.

But that doesn't mean I can't have fabulous Easter decor! Inspired by Torie Jayne: Sequin Eggs and sweetcsdesigns.com I bought some Styrofoam eggs, A TON of sequins and THOUSANDS of pins in different sizes. They are a great project for watching tv and being mindless, which after work and school I really need. I found I prefer overlapping my sequins so I don't leave white space and that by changing if the sequins are convex of concave it gave the egg a different look. Also I recommend keeping a close eye on the pins and the sequins.

Boyfriend holding Mom's blue egg. It's not that dark blue usually.

My mom wanted pastel colors for her decor and I went a little wild with rainbows and metallics.

Mom's pink egg.

How did you mix St. Patrick's and Easter decor?

This project can be seen at I gotta Create!

Green Drink

2013-03-14T12:54:00.002-05:00

Courtesy of: Kimberly Snyder

Everyone I know has a green smoothie recipe (Oprah and Dr. OZ included) and they are all different. I'm sure they all taste wonderful and are healthy.

Most of them:

Improved digestive system

Better energy

Opportunity to give your body nutrients it most likely wouldn’t receive on a regular basis

Being able to eat raw veggies(w/o a cup of ranch dressing on the side.)

Weight loss

Fight off sickness

Sleep improvement

Rid your body of toxins

Essential vitamins, nutrients, and minerals

Helps everyone get their veggies

A few months ago I started making the drink above for Boyfriend and me. Admittedly, I was a little afraid to take the first sip, but after that I fell in love. Boyfriend was more reluctant to try and it took a while for the taste to grow on him but now he complains when we haven't had it in a while.

If you try making, what Boyfriend and I lovingly call, Green Drink I have a few tips.

I don't really measure the greens. More than a half cup of something green isn't going to kill you.
Put the lid on the blender BEFORE you turn it on. You'd think that would be something I'd remember, but I ended up having a green dog and green on the ceiling.
If you need up with to much green juice before you start adding fruits don't be afraid to split it in two batches.
I've heard it's easier to make this with a Vitamix. HINT HINT HINT!
This can become highly addictive.

What is your Green Drink recipe?