leonas many projects

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Just a quick post - a card I recently made.

<-----Here is a close up image of the coloring on the card I made for a friend. I used her wedding colors as inspiration :)

She is going for a candy theme - I can not wait to complete an invite for her wedding!

DIY sewing lables

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

I often sew things for my girls. I also have always thought it would be cute to have a handmade tag to go with it. I saw this on a blog here. I created a little something in Microsoft Word. It has my initials LAC and over laying that says Stitched with Love along with the address to this blog. I got them to print on the reverse onto iron on transfer paper.

Once I decided on the length of the tag, (I used a white polyester ribbon for these) I cut a bunch of the ribbon along with the iron transfers. I cut theses as tight as I could to the image so that they fit the ribbon width that I had cut.

I iron the transfer to the right side of the ribbon.

This is what the tag would look like with the transfers on.

I took a new tag and sewed it into Grace's apron.

Thanks for stopping by :)

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DIY Lightbox

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

I have been wanting some clearer, crisper images of the items that I posted on my blog. After searching on Pinterest I found directions to create my own light box for this purpose.

I came across this. I made my variation of it as you can see below:

I started with a box I had laying around. I took my square rule and used that to mark off my openings. I hate measuring so I just laid the rule on the corner and two sides, traced the ruled, flipped the ruler and repeated. This gave me cut outs that each had the same width of box remaining on the edges.

I then took some tongue depressors to reinforce the edges. I knew I would be putting weight on top of this box so I wanted to make sure it could hold the weight. I glued these on both sides of the cardboard.

This I took some white muslin and lined both the inside and outside of the box. As you can see in the next photo you can see that I am not using a typical light source. When I went to Kent State, in their fashion design program, we were advised to have a light box for figure drawing. Once we mastered our figures we were able to use the base drawing with our light box so that we may draw clothing to the proper dimensions.

Below are a few pictures I snapped - I love how clean they look with little background noise.

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Please Remember

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:57:00 +0000

I had not anticipated the lack in posts for the last few days. Nothing seemed appropriate to allow to post on my behalf.

On Monday, February 27th, 2012 a kid came into my Alma Mater and opened fire in the High School Cafeteria. 6 were wounded, 5 needed immediate medical attention. 3 have now passed away due to their injuries.

Not only does this touch home for me because I graduated from this school, I also have every intention of having my children graduate from this school as I felt I received a great education. But I also am close to a family whose son passed away. Please keep the King family as well as all the families affected by this tragedy in your prayers.

I have over 500 friends on Facebook, many in which I met while attending Chardon schools - the pictures you see posted here today are what you see through my feed on Facebook - nearly 200 of those friends have all changed their profile picture to a photo such as these to show their support. The vigils are amazing and the support these students have received has been amazing. People all over the country have change their profile photos to show their support.

According to the prosecutor this was not planned, these children whom were injured were picked at random. This was not about bullying or drugs. Because of the internet and social media - there are many stories out there that at this point a speculative. Students whom witnessed the shooting said this kid what not just shooting randomly, but looked as if he had targets in mind. Many have said this was about some fake drugs sold to him, others say he may have been bullied or this was over a girl. Some say that the girl whom was also shot was also an ex of the shooter. Who really knows at this point? I can only by what is being stated by investigators. I do feel that this was premeditated, regardless if targets were in mind; this child planned how he was going to go to this school and just shoot people. He took a knife as well - I am glad we will never know how much worse this could have gotten if the staff at CHS had not responded in the manner in which they did. I do know that it is the intentions of the prosecution that they will charge this child as and adult for the crimes he committed.

Please keep the families of this tragedy in your prayers!

Rest in Peace Daniel Parmertor, Russell King Jr, and Demetrius Hewlin

You are most defiantly in my thoughts and prayers.

Zipper Pouches

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Aren't these the coolest little bags! I made one some time back with the Skittles wrappers; now that I figured out the 'issues' with how I made it. I was able to alter the project to work for me.

Directions here

Big Time Rush - Grace's FAVORITE. So I took some images I found online, printed them onto iron transfers, transferred the images to some white fabric I had. Then I attached the iron on vinyl, sewed, lined etc to make her a custom pencil pouch - she was a very happy girl!

Front

Back

Front

Back

So, for Madelyn, she got her 'love' Taylor Lautner. I followed the same process as above. I now have to make another Taylor one and a Justin Bieber one for her friends.

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2 Upcycled Jean Purses and a Fairy Door

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Pin from Pinterest

My version.

I saw this denim purse on Pinterest and had to make it! I loved the concept - up-cycling - turning something old into something new. My sister in law's birthday was around the corner so I made one for her. I used stencils, some fabric paint and some fun stitching on my machine. She really liked the purse and uses it often! Then, for Christmas I thought each of the girls would love one. The pictures below are the front and back of Dakota's purse. It's a modified version of original. On her purse there are beads, buttons, Disney princess ribbon, stenciling etc. Time did get the best of me and I was unable to finish the purses of the other girls. Once they are complete I will be sure to post them too.

When I saw this fairy door on Pinterest I immediately thought of my sister in law Mary. She loves faries and other whimsical type things. I knew I had to also make this for her for her Birthday. Go to Pinterest and see all the things that come up for fairy doors. There are a lot of great idea out of there.

In the picture below is my own version of the fairy door. I went outside and pulled bark off some chopped wood, found some branches that I could cut to size and in half. I had the fake moss from a previous project. I got the hinges from Pat Catans. The door base is Popsicle sticks that I glued together and stained. The Fairy stone is a fake pearl that I glued to the center and used black stickles over some puffed liquid applique. I really like the outcome - so did Mary!!

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Poptab purse

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

This pop tab purse is what I made my niece for Christmas! It's a very unique and trendy gift for anyone. Madelyn has requested that I make her one and I have someone else wanting to pay me to make her one! These are a lot of fun and can test your patience at times. This particular purse is over 700 tabs. the front panel is 5 rows, the back panel and flap is 9 rows, the sides are 2 rows and then the shoulder strap.

You'll first want to start with a huge stash of washed pop tabs!! I stress this - WASH them before hand it will make it a much cleaner, smoother process.

Next your need some Sharn aka Shirt yarn - made from jersey knit t shirts in your preferred color. There are also many other things that can be made with sharn; check out pinterest to see all the things that are made with it.

Second you need to follow this basic weaving pattern for the pop tabs. I alternated two colors of sharn for this.

After all of your pieces are made then you sew them together. I used a thin yarn, I would not use it again. I would consider some sort of cording that would coordinate with the colors of the sharn.

Once you have completed putting the purse together, you are able to pick some sort of closure, I used a loop made of sharn and a black button.

For my first attempt - I was pleased, I can not wait to tackle another tab project!

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Pinterest ROCKS

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Yes this stain is GROSS - almost wanted to rearrange the furniture to cover it.

I saw this on Pinterest!

This is the gist:

You take equal parts of Ammonia and Hot water (I used boiling). Spray stain liberally, place white towels over the spot and then iron the spot. I keep the iron there until it stops steaming.

I started with the big stain pictures above:

After I sprayed and towel steamed - you can see that half of that big old thing was already gone!

Here's another spot

Well - la! Gone!

Here is a picture of the area I worked on after I filled a mop bucket with dirty white rags!

I am pretty impressed for my first pass through with this concoction. I see that certain areas need multiple passes but this is defiantly a secret I will make sure my daughters knows.

Spinning Leprechaun

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:54:00 +0000

I got another SCS challenge done! I am excited about finding the time to do these again!! For this card; which came together as I worked it out. I couldn't 'see' this in my head like I can with other cards - all in all - I Love it!
This card includes the following challenges:
Free for All F4A103 - use a rainbow in some way
Ways to Use it WT362 - Bountiful Borders
Inspirational Challenge IC323 - pick an image from the ones offered and let it inspire you.

In the IC323 one of the pictures were of some rainbow colored chairs (above) which caught my eye and it also worked with the F4A103 challenge.

In the photo below you'll see all the stuff used to create the card (minus the boarder scissors, cardstock, SU Craft White ink, and a stamp set by the Angel Company). It is hard to see - but in the lower right corner there are two sizes of pop dots. One is pretty thin and is out of pop dots - but I use the entire sheet anyway - I just cut what I need in strips. This works great when you want some height and because i use strips it does not collapse.

For this card I used a rainbow of Palette Inks: Noir, Violete, Iris, STarry Night, Giverney Green, Sunflower, Orangerie and L'Amore Red. I also used Tria Pantone and Prismacolor markers to color the leprechaun.

I first cut the black cardstock to size, stamped the white shamrock background, then trimmed with the boarder scissors. I used the CM cutting system to cut the black apart into two pieces; then mounted on the base.That is where the little clovers are. Then that is when I decided to make a penny slider card. I took the CM cutting system and cut the track for the penny. Because I had to cut thru the two layers of cardstock I placed a layer of black cardstock on the backside of the front. I used the foam sticky strips that I cut from the old pop dot adhesive.This gave room for the penny to be able to slide on its track. I used a wide popdot to hold the two pennies together then glued the leprechaun to the penny after he was colors and cut.

Here is a little clip of the leprechaun spinning.

Hair Bows

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

All little girls need bows for their hair. When you have 4 little girls like I do you start to wish you learned how to make these bows a lot sooner since they are so stinking expensive at the store, or poorly made and fall apart, or hurt their little heads. So I got a ton of inspiration from Pinterest, here is my board.

By following some pretty simple instructions found on the MANY blogs/websites/YouTube out there in the virtual world and burning my fingers with a lot of hot glue I was able to come up with some pretty cute bows that the girls, Brooke and Dakota especially LOVE.

Some things I have learned - Gator clips are great for all four of my girls hair and stay in well. They work great when I use the corkscrew pom poms with their ponytails. My girls range from having thick wavy hair, fine hair, or very little, 'newish' hair - Dakota does not have a lot of hair, but her hair is very short, fine and wavy.

Also, by covering the gator clips with ribbon (I'll post a pic when I make the next set of bows and link back here; I have a two more valentine's bows to finish up - even if its already past V-day) so that the metal gator clips do not just slip out of their hair.

Using the spring barrettes to make the loopy bows (St. Patties Day bow above) are harder to do when you are using a smaller barrette but still worth it if you have the patience.

The pink bow is using a fatter ribbon, I would not suggest this for the little gator clips as it looks to bulky.

The periwinkle bow is the twins favorite bow and can be worn with most any type of outfit - I need to make a lot more of these. Madelyn, who is 11, also finds these to be fun to put in her hair.

Lastly, hotglue is not my friend when it comes to make corker bows. The easiest way I found to make these were to take cut to size corker ribbons and run a needle and ribbon through the center of each, pull tight, wrap and knot. Cover the gator clip with a coordinating ribbon and hot clue to clip. These are a lot of fun - and less painful on my fingers!

On my list of projects is a hair ribbon holder - I love this one:

Found Here!

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DIY Crayons

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Sorting and Peeling the crayons

The crayons chopped and separated

I LOVE Crayons! My girls had a gallon sized ice cream bucket full of crayons. Many were from when I used crayons - so nearly 15+ yrs old. We had all sorts of colors - mainly Crayola. As you can see in the above photos it was a process - shorting, peeling papers, chopping and bagging the individual colors. Then we put broken crayon pieces in the little compartments. Each of the girls picked color combos...it was fun.

I did this project because they had a lot of crayons - many broken and I found 4-5 brand new boxes of crayons so I thought it was perfect to use the older crayons for a fun project. (*side note* Brooke had decided to break 90% of those new crayons - so I am looking for a good price on crayons....probably when the back to school sales start.

Melting Crayons in a silicon form

Bake at 265 degrees for about 6-8 minutes. Be careful with the silicon forms - or use a cookie sheet underneath. It is hard to remove the form from the oven without the possibility of spilling the crayon wax everywhere. I got the directions from here. (There are a lot of other fun things on there to make at home for your kiddos.)

Here are a few of our finished crayons that we made. Some of our color combos were red, white and blue, orange, purple and green, brown and cream, red, yellow and orange, white, red and gray and the last one is pinks and reds with a few spots of gold and gray...they slipped in there. I have a TON of crayon pieces left. So, I think I will make more - I have a cute snowflake mold that would make some fun shaped crayons! When I make those; I'll be sure to post them!Pin It

White Holiday Wreath

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 17:21:00 +0000

If you ever make wreaths for decoration you know that the foam green things are EXPENSIVE! While at Micheals I was trying to find a cheaper alternative. I made the wreath below using a MDF formed circle. I think they were only $2-3 and I knew I could make it look like a wreath. I took some quilt batting that I had on hand and wrapped the wreath until I got my desired shape. As you can see below I got a nice plump round wreath out of the deal.

Then I took the stuff below to decorate my wreath. I started with some white outdoor type fabric ribbon and wrapped the wreath so that all of the batting was covered. I has some string pearls around the house and bought some iridescent type pearls and used the crafting beads to get the final results that I wanted.

Below is the final result - I topped it off with a spray of glitter and it made a wonderful addition to our door.

I made a Valentine's day wreath out of the same MDF circle - I have picture on my phone before Brooke decided to make it better and put a TON of pink paint all over it.

Here it is before Brooke added her special touch!

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Sugar Cookie Recipes

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:01:00 +0000

There are a ton of GREAT blogs out there that will teach you the ins and outs of cookie making and decorating. I couldn't do nearly as good of a job with my blogging and picture taking ability. I found all of this information while on Pinterest. If you are interested in this site - you'll need an invite if you do not already have an account. I would be glad to do so. Just shoot me a message.

Image from Bakers Royale

To start I went to Bakers Royale; this post. This gave me the directions broken down on how to start decorating with the royal frosting. Great blog with tons of great images etc. It is also broken down in very basic terms so really anyone can do this!

Amazing work from Sugarbelle

Then I mosied over to The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle for some amazing inspiration. I also started with her recipes for Sugar Cookies and did the following for my own adaptation; because I double the recipe for enough cookies adjustments have been made to the original recipe:

2 c. of REAL unsalted BUTTER, softened
3 c. confectioner’s sugar
2 egg
3 tsp caramel flavoring
3 tsp vanilla extract
5-5.5 c. all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt

Cream together softened butter and confectioner’s sugar. Crack the eggs into a separate bowl, and add the flavoring. Add that to the butter sugar mixture and mix until the eggs are thoroughly incorporated. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then add little by little to the mixture.

Next is her Royal Frosting icing - found here. This post has a lot of info, great pictures and my kids love the frosting...very candy like in flavor after it hardens.

For information on coloring and preparing the frosting go here. Another great post by Sugarbelle that tells you about consistency of frosting etc.

Lastly, this video is a great demonstration of how to color your frosting and fill your bags that produce easy clean up! An awesome concept!

With all the information I provided above I was able to create the cute Halloween cookies that I also posted today!

Sugar Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

I love to make Sugar Cookies and decorate them with Royal frosting. The cookies below are one's that I made back in October for the girls class party and their halloween party that we hosted in our garage. These are time consuming, but I love the outcome and I got a lot of compliments. The cookie recipe I use holds up and bakes well, but they do not get hard as rocks. They are a caramel vanilla sugar cookie.

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Happy Valentine's Day

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

I made 50 of these cute little Valentine's for Madelyn and Grace's class parties. For years I have wanted to make their Valentine's but time always got away from me. There is a fun paper store not too far from me: Hollos. They sell cardstock for about $1 a lb. GREAT place. The last time I was there I was looking at envelopes etc and saw stacks of precut cardstock. These originally are a little bigger than a card front size of 4.25x5.5. I used my new Martha Stewart score board and scored these in half.

Next, I used my Creative Memories cutting system to cut the white and red/pink circles. Followed by stamping the images and coloring them with the Tria Pantone and Prismacolor Markers.

Due to time and the fact that most people toss these cards, I wrote 3 of the 4 sayings on the cards as I did not have those sayings in stamp form. These were pretty easy to mass produce - the coloring was the hardest to do.

Inside I cut two slits for the pencil to be secured and we added a packet of Fun Dip.

Also for the class party both Madelyn and Grace took in these yummy Betty Crocker treats in to celebrate Valentine's day with their friends!Pin It

Recipe found here!

Will you be mine?

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:23:00 +0000

I have been crafting away for months, but have found little time to blog about it. Now that the twins are nearly 3 they are getting better and better with letting mommy create! I am thankful for that. I have many photos that I hope to post soon and get back on my to blogging more frequently (I am beginning to feel like a broken record :) )

This masculine card was a combination of 3 recent SCS challenges. Sketch Challenge SC372, Color Combo CC362 and Ways to use it WT361.

I used the following colors - night of navy, bashful blue and crumb cake to make a non-traditional colored valentine. This card looks very masculine because of the color choices!

After cutting my papers, and using Creative Memories cutting system for the circle I stamped my images with Palette Prussian Blue ink.

I used prismacolor pencils on the image as well as using gamsol and a blending stump to give it that graduated water color sorta look. I really like how using pencils that are similar to the paper colors really add to the image and it does not look lost like I thought it may look. I have never used colored pencil and gamsol on colored cardstock - I like the results.

I got a little carried away with running the ink on the edges of bashful blue but I still like it!

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Bare with me on the photo quality - I am reading up on how to get better photos of my work...this one was taken on my iPhone.

The Best of Volleyball and Soccer

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Both Madelyn and Grace played fall sports this year so this kept me very busy driving to and fro from all the games. Madelyn played volleyball. She has developed a nice overhand serve this year. She is turning to be a rather sporty girl.

Grace came out of her shell this year and played soccer - she really liked it...I really do not like soccer, but I do like how tired she is after playing. She has enough energy for 5 children, so this is really the sport for her!

She is #65

The photo below is from the Volleyball dinner. Madelyn and her silly friends. Left to Right - Cami, Jessica, Marisa, Olivia and Madelyn.

Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:00:00 +0000

I got some photos of my camera - finally :) and I wanted to share a few from Trick or Treating. I also hope to get some from our Halloween party - the kids did have a great time this year!

Grace (Cleopatra) Rachael (cowgirl) Olivia (Justin Bieber) Madelyn (Spongebabe) Dakota (purple crayon) and Brooke (pink crayon)

Madelyn, Rachael, Teigan and Olivia

Hayden, Grace and Kayden

Dakota and Brooke

Dakota sitting and playing cards with the others trick or treaters :)

Candy Wrappers turned Pencil Pouch

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:00:00 +0000

The last project I did on my Sunday Craftday was this candy wrapper pencil pouch, also another Pin from pinterest. from Punkin Patterns

I followed the directions from the above mentioned blog. I decided to leave the opening at the bottom of the candy wrapper covers - I will try a different version and use different thred for the next time I do this. I call the one below my prototype. I really like it but I need to figure a few things out with it. I did use bigger candy bags then the ones from the blog, but that is not an issue. I think you could really use any thing in any size that you'd like. I just want to make sure it looks more 'professional'. All in all I am pleased and this one below was ment for Brooke as she loves skittles. I may end up making another for her, or work on this one some more to fix the bottom seam. (sorry for the unedited photos - they were snapped quickly and I am not thinking I should have put it in my white box that I typically use for photos).

Upcycled Apron

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Also on my crafting day this past Sunday I made another item that I pinned on Pinterest. It is an upcycled Apron. Here is my visual from A girl and a glue gun

I dug out my Thrift store finds / Hand me down pile and found a pair of jeans that would not fit anyone in the house. Some scrap fabric (that I got off freecycle) and my sewing stuff. I followed the directions on the above blog and wella - my new apron below:

This one will be for cooking. I am planning to make another one with on of hubby's jeans and use the bigger pockets to make a craft/painters smock. My sister-n-law and I are also planning to make some seasonal aprons as well. They are so simple and very thick...if you ever watch me cook/craft etc I am a total mess...and I ruin a lot of clothing :)

New Ironing Table

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:54:00 +0000

Good morning! I am so grateful for the people in my community. I use freecycle to look for things that we may need/want before we go out and buy it. It helps keep the landfills less full etc. I am also addicted to this new website to me -www.Pinterest.com its like a virtual google with a story board feel. I can find things I like and file them under the board that I like and they make great reference points for me!!

So - because of Pinterest I have a TON and I mean a TON of ideas brewing in my head. Before I go to the store and buy what items I do not already have - I look on freecycle. In the last week I received wool to make felt, beads, buttons, ribbon, Christmas decor, glass bottles etc. I am just blessed by the people in my community.

I got inspired - and got my Art room cleaned up and yesterday I got started on my projects.

The first one I got from this Pin from Texas Freckles

I saw this picture (didn't think I needed the directions) and pulled out the following supplies: the cover and foam from my ironing board that just was not working for me (I would start to put pressure on it and it would collapse) I also got out some thread, elastic and pins.

I sat there, it was early and I was not about to fight with the elastic and adding a trim to slid the elastic thru etc. I did not want the headache. So I went back to the above site and was directed to Oh, Fransson! A TV tray press board. She used staples - low and behold - with I had the wrong staples or the gun was jammed...so I turned on the hot glue gun - and set up me table, foam and fabric and glued that sucker on!

Here is my lovely press board! And it works great for my projects!

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:34:00 +0000

Hello Everyone!

I miss my blog, a recent visit to another local crafters blog (http://www.saving4six.blogspot.com/) got my blog envy juices flowing again...if that even make sense.

Several months ago, one of my long time friends announced that she was pregnant with a little girl! I made her this card and some fun stuff for her scrapbook on my cricut.

I took these photos, and just recently (after I already mailed her baby shower gift) found the card and the fun scrapbook goodies sitting on my table. So, I am posting the photos here and getting them out in the mail - ASAP before the baby is here in a couple weeks!!

I love this card style. I can not remember where I saw it originally but I have made several cards using this type of layout.

The bottom of the card was embossed with my cricut using a folder by Darce. Then I colored over the raised embossed lines, applied glue and then glitter. The stamp set was a set by the Angel Company called Special Delivery. I colored the images with Tria Pantone and Prismacolor markers. Very carefully I used an exacto knife and cut a few slits long the image lines so that I could attach the ribbon to make it look like it is the blanket wrapped around the baby.

Because its been a few months since I made the card I do not remember all the details of marker colors etc.

Below are the fun items I cut using my Cruit and my SCAL software!

Thanks for stopping in again and hopefully it wont be 6 more months before I post again!

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 17:08:00 +0000

Canning already!!

A couple weeks ago I took some of the strawberries that I had purchased and made strawberry syrup with them. If my research is true this was a lot like boiling down maple syrup. It did take a little while but it smelled yummy!

This would be great to drizzle on a plate with some cheesecake or to top your pancakes or waffles.

I half the original recipe because I did not see the need at this point to have 12 jars of this especially if no one but me uses it on my pancakes.

Strawberry Syrup

5 cups crushed strawberries
11/2 cups water (divided)
1 strip of lemon peel
11/2 cups sugar
11/2 cups corn syrup
1 tbsp lemon juice

Combine strawberries, half of the water, and lemon peel. Heat to boiling and boil for 5 minutes.

Pour into a jelly strainer and let drip for 2 hours.

Combine the sugar and the remaining water and cook to 230°F. Add the strawberry juice and the corn syrup. Bring to boiling and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Fill hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Add lids and process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

Here are a few photos of the twins riding the powerwheels a few weeks ago - on one of our nice spring days.

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:43:00 +0000

Tie Dye Cupcakes!!

These were a HUGE hit at my house this past weekend.

It is really a very simple recipe. Take a standard cake mix and make according to directions. Then divide the batter into 6 bowls (about 1 cup each) and mix to your desired colors. I used Red, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue and Purple gel dye. Then you layer by the teaspoonful. I just dolloped the spoonfuls in rainbow order. I then Baked these for about 15 minutes until a clean toothpick inserted came out clean. While cooling, I mixed 2 tubs of white frosting with 3 different colors of dye - Red, Yellow and blue. In a pastry bag I put the frosting inside by the spoonful alternating colors until I got all of the frosting in the tube. Starting at 12 oclock I piped the frosting onto the cupcakes.

Here is where you can see the rainbow effect of the frosting on the cupcakes.

I love how vibrant the colors on the inside of the cupcakes came out!! I will definatly make these again.

I am thinking I will make some in badger colors for the girls...Purple and gold. The frosting I could do in Purple yellow and white to make sure the colors do not get too muddy.

This is one of my walmart clearance shopping trip. This order before coupons about about $70 and I walked spending about $10 it was a really great trip!

This was my Giant Eagle Stock up trip. Aprox $130 in items, my total out of pockets was $28 after coupons and sale items.

Lastly, These are the newest memebers of our chicken coop. We wanted a rooster and we got a hen along with him :) He is very 'Rooster-y' and doesn't seem to like me coming into the coop to collect eggs. I am trying to get him to see that I am not scared of him...but I am a little...my shin hurts from where he tried to get me out of the coop!

I am sure there will be more to post very soon, some birthday invites that I am doing for a friend of Madelyns, Madelyn's diorama, spring cleaning, more planting, hopefully the start of the green house...ahh the joys of a busy life! Until next time!

noreply@blogger.com (~*Leona*~) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 14:21:00 +0000

Spring in here!! LOL - at least it is in my Kitchen. I bought an indoor green house and planted all of my bulbs that I failed to get planted last fall. They are doing great - except the flowers are dying off...either way it gives me something to get planted as soon as I can get in the dirt...maybe even get another flower or two :) Dougnuts!! These were really easy to make and I will for sure make them again!! I have been searching for the 'best' recipe. So after reading many and taking all the comments into consideration etc I put together a recipe that I thought would work....it did!! The key here is the cake mix - this is where you can easily change up your doughnut flavors and its easier then trying to guess how much to use. For these doughnuts I used a French Vanilla cake mix. I am sure I could use any flavor for this. Strawberry, lemon, spice, chocolate etc. I would use a good quality mix. These tend to be full of flavor. I mean quality as in Duncan Hines or Pilsbury. Recipe: 2 (1/4 ounce) packages yeast 1/4 cup water (105-115) 1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk (scalded, then cooled) 1/2 cup sugar 1 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1/3 cup shortening 2.5 cups all purpose flour 2.5 cups your favorite cake mix, or yellow would be fine. canola oil Creamy Glaze 1/3 cup butter 2 cups powdered sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 6 tablespoons hot water 1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in 2.5 quart bowl 2. Add milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortenng and 2 cups flour 3. Beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. 4. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally 5. Stir in remaining flour until smooth 6. Cover and let rise until double, 50-60 minutes 7. (dough is ready when indentation remails when when touched) Turn dough onto floured surface; roll around lightly to coat with flour 8. gently roll dough 1/2 in thick with floured rolling pin 9. cut with floured doughnut cutter 10. cover and let rise until double, 30-40 minutes 11. Heat vegetable oil in deep fryer/skillet to 350 degrees 12. slide doughnuts into hot oil with wide spatula 13. turn doughnuts as they rise to the surface 14. fry until golden brown, about 1 minute on each side 15. remove carefully from oil (do not prick surface) drain 16. dip the doughnuts into creamy glaze set on rack to cool. Enjoy!!