Paper Crafting: Two Birthday Cards

Making cards for boys and men is different.  Making cards for girls and women is easier. At least for me.  It takes much longer to think of what to make.  Here are two from this week.

The first is for a man. This entailed a Gelli print as well as die-cutting and folding.  Oh, and gluing.  I need to learn how to use glue better.  Seriously.  Still, I think the card, well, both of them, are okay.  They are just not good and certainly not great.  Maybe next time.

One of these dies is that one I said I would never use again.  I guess I cannot stand having the die get the better of me, so I tried again.  This one went better...so I will probably try again.  It would be useful to get it right.

This next card is for a ten-year-old grandson.  I hope he likes it.  Kind of hokey and still the wet glue problem...BUT...he is such a sweet agreeable boy that he will probably like it anyway, even with is multiple flaws.

This is the front of the card with ten smiley faces.

This is a pop-up card with the balloon bouquet opening up when he opens the card.  In retrospect I should have made the balloons much larger.  Next time.

News To Me: Kitchen Tip Again

Here is another News to Me tip!  And so soon after the last one.

Ill-advisedly I bought a bag of jalapeños at Aldi not long ago.  I did not seem to be using them up fast enough and found this tip.

Finely dice the jalapeños and put them into ice cube tray wells.  Carefully fill the tray with water then freeze.

When jalapeño cubes are frozen, remove them from the ice cube tray and put them in freezer containers.  They are then easy to pop into soups or other things you are cooking.

My guess is that if you are finely dicing onions or bell peppers or other things that will be added to cooked foods, and you have leftovers, then ice cube trays are your friend.  Do put water over the filled tray wells because the food items in the wells don't actually freeze together as well as you might expect, unless you add the water!

Munchie Monday: Quick and Easy Corn Pudding/Corn Bread

Corn bread is something many people love. I have not been notably fond of corn bread.  Usually it is dry and crumbly.  I do not like that unless I have some really good chili to actually crumble it into. 

We had company coming for lunch (the missionaries, both seniors and young elders).  I was making black bean chili and sweet potato soup...both new recipes.  So, why not try a new corn bread/corn pudding recipe.

The one I found was on I Wash, You Dry blog.  It turned out pretty good.

For myself, I have to say it is more corn bread than corn pudding because it was cooked in a 9 by 13 pan. I think if I make it again, I will use a 2-quart casserole.  Just for texture's sake.  Of course, it will need to cook longer at lower heat, I think, if I do it in that size dish.

This is a picture of the dish when it was just recently removed from the oven.  I pretty much had to try it to see if it was edible.  Since it was, we served it to the missionaries!

The ingredients are Jiffy Corn Bread Mix, eggs, drained whole kernel corn, creamed corn, melted butter, sour cream and shredded cheese. Very likely to clog up your arteries.... Since I made it virtually the same as the I Wash, You Dry folks, I refer you to them for the actual recipe.

The only thing I did differently was that I cooked it Saturday evening and let it cool overnight.  The next day I heated it in the oven while the 60 Minute Rolls were baking.  The pudding developed a more crispy exterior.   I think I would like it even crispier.  Still, it did taste good just as is.  It would probably be fabulous with bits of jalapeño in it.

Another Busy Morning: Organizing This Time

Are you able to make a plan to get organizing and just go for it?  Well, I am able to do that sometimes.  Lately organization has taken a back seat to getting things done that were pressing.  Or seemed pressing at the time.

This morning I was souped up about making Christmas cards.  Before we left the mission in Portland I went to Dick Blick's Art Store.  While there I found a masking fluid pen.  That really caught my interest and I instantly grabbed it and put it in my small shopping basket...small because much of the great stuff at Blick's is more costly than I would like.  So, I purchased it.  And brought it home.  Well, sent it home. Then put it on the truck to come south.  I thought it was with my art things.

This morning the need for that masking fluid pen came to the top of my list of things to do NOW.  So I started going through boxes and bins in the workroom.  This time, instead of just pawing through things, I made new homes for a mammoth amount of stuff...and tossed some things that did not make the trip to Vermont and then to South Carolina in very good shape.

At one point Dear One looked in on me (perhaps he was thinking we ought to have breakfast sometime before 11 AM, which was the time he looked in) and asked what I was doing.  He did not actually say, "Looking for something?"  but I know that was in his heart.  This is not a new thing: something is missing and I go crazy until I find it.  Finally, around 11:30, I finished all but one of the containers, which, from the top view, seems to have yarn and fabric in it.  Since the frisket pen did not turn up, I went to our best friend, Amazon, and placed an order. It should be here on Saturday.

Actually, as I just turned around in my chair to look at the shelving unit, I realize I am not as lily white as I stated above:  there is the bin of mission things still needing to be installed in my mission journal, a bin of thread and other sewing things, and two smallish bins of wool yarn and knitting needles.  It is possible that the small frisket pen is in one of those, though I don't know why it would be.

Something I did NOT find which I was also looking for:  the big slug of Butterick, Simplicity, McCalls, and Vogue dressmaking and crafting patterns I thought I had brought south. I must have given them away.  Oh, well.  I can always re-buy, except with the closest Joann store an hour away in each direction, it is not too convenient.

Maybe we can go over to the Cayce Joann after the temple in two weeks.  Assuming I allow myself the luxury of that pattern purchase.  I have decided I need a new temple bag.  I want to make one of a pretty quilted fabric that has a zipper that zips all the way from bottom to bottom and which is in a zipper tape at least 8 inches wide.  When we were at Joann the last time, I did look at patterns.  There is not a pattern for exactly what I want so the chances of making a nice temple bag is not very likely to happen.  I have not seen what I want already made up.  And I am probably too cheap to buy it if i do find it because "I can always make one".

Even with all this work, and even more chitter-chatter, I am not ready to post a picture of the workroom.  It really is still in no kind of shape, though there is much more floor space than there was.  Some day!

PS . We did eat breakfast a little after noon...French fries in the air fryer and chocolate chip cookie pieces...and the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers.

Busy Paper Crafting Morning

This morning while I was listening to scriptures, not studying, just listening to and enjoying the story, I did a bang-up job on paper crafting.  Moving on from Thanksgiving cards to Christmas cards, I found some Dollar Tree cards that I liked and brought them home.  I wanted to make tiny gifts for the kind ladies who "took me in" when we moved to the area.  Each month we have a Girls' Night Out so, with the double purpose of using up our remaining few pieces of Halloween candy and making a gift, I got right to work.

NOTE TO SELF AND OTHERS:  Sometimes mass production has its flaws.  I guess if you had a Quality Assurance agent working beside you there would not be as many problems, but, if you, like me, work alone, well...sometimes errors are also mass produced.

For example:  in this nifty little box, there is meant to be a thumb hole to help open the box.  Knowing where it was supposed to be placed, I cut them all at once.  When I began the gluing process, there was a problem.  I folded up the bottom of the box first...where the thumb notch was housed.  When it came time to close up the box, the thumb hole was on the INSIDE not the outside of the box, thus it was totally worthless and a true indication of the ineptitude of the maker.  Oh well.

Nice thumb hole, just where it should go.

So...all of a sudden it occurred to me to glue the top of the box first.  What a lucky inspiration!  Now all the boxes fit properly together. I do not know what the difference is because they are all the same size, I just know it worked for the last half of the boxes I made.

Box folded and thumb hole ready to go.  The other boxes do not have the thumb hole showing...

Now for the table decorations for the Christmas party...

In Relief Society an announcement was made that there was going to be a table centerpiece contest at the ward Christmas party.  I passed by the sign up sheet.  I am not at all good with that sort of thing.  When we went to my sister's house for Thanksgiving, I had a change of heart because some ideas came to me.  Even more came to my sister, so now I decided I will do it.

Since we will be sitting at rectangular tables seating eight people, I now know how much space there will be for the centerpiece.  As part of the evolving plan I decided to make little favors for each place-setting.  This is what they are...little green pyramids with a treat inside.  I am pretending they look like trees...!

The idea for these came from Linda Parker at her YouTube channel.    She gives all the information but I will duplicate it here.

Cut card stock 7 7/8" square.
Score at 2 5/8" and 5 1/4" in both directions.  Also make a little mark at the 4" spot on all four sides.
Next score from the 4" mark diagonally to the score at 2 5/8" and 5 1/4" which will make a little triangle.

Score lines barely perceptible.

Cut off the four corner squares and set aside for some other purpose.

The only cutting necessary is to cut out the four corner squares.

Fold on the score lines.

One each pyramid-to-be I fold back one of the squares/triangular sections so I won't forget to cut wider flaps on that side.

On three of the four sides, cut the paper at about 1/4" then also make a cut almost to the corner, which is to remove some of the bulk for when you fold up the box.

You will notice that three of the triangles have 1/4" flaps but the bottom one has about 1/2" flaps.

On the side opposite the side you did not cut yet, punch two holes with a paper punch. I used a 1/4" punch.  (That is really too large unless you are using wider ribbon.)
Now, on the side you did not cut yet,  go ahead and cut a wider tab.  I cut close to half an inch wide, then cut notch at the top of the triangle as you did with the others.

When you pull up on the ribbon and slide the little flaps into the final sides, the box becomes a pyramid.  Glue is only needed on the very first triangle's sides.  Very handy!

At this point insert a piece of ribbon in the side opposite the wider-cut notched piece.  Put glue on both sides of that triangle and attach to the triangles on either side.
When that glue is dry, if you are using wet glue, or if using dry glue or hot glue, insert the treat inside the box-to-be, pull the ribbon in the opposite side, close up the box using those wider tabs to make the final side of the pyramid, and tie off the bowl.

Done.  And fun!

Eight boxes ready to go and the party is not until the 14th!  I hope some disaster is not awaiting me.  Usually I am way behind the eight-ball.  The white box above was made from foam-core I got at Dollar Tree and has cards in various stages laid out.  Very convenient.

News To Me: Kitchen Tip

There are so many things that fall under the category of "News to me".  The newest one is this:  if you place a folded dish towel on your counter then place a bowl in which you are stirring something on it, then when you stir, you will not have the bowl slip wildly around the counter or onto the floor.

Why did I not know this before?

Very useful information.

Munchie Monday: Ginger Limeade

The VitaMix company made a new-to-me jar:  the Aer Disc jar.  This gives cooks the opportunity to make fluffy aerated things and different kinds of beverages.  The VitaMix website has a recipe for Mint Limeade.  This did not appeal tremendously to me...though if we had not already closed up shop on the deck and set the security system (something that takes about a minutes to overcome, so it is not a very good excuse...) I might have harvested some of the spearmint leaves we have on the deck.  Instead I decided to try Ginger Limeade.

2 cups cold water
2 limes, washed, with a little bit of each end cut off, and the remaining limes each cut into 4 equal slices
1/4 cup sugar
1 inch knob fresh ginger, peeled and chopped pretty finely
2 cups ice cubes

Ingredients in the jar

Using the Aer Disc jar, place all the ingredients in the jar in the listed order.  Turn on the VitaMix on low and move up to highest speed.  Let process for 30-45 seconds.

Ginger Limeade aerated and in the jar

Pour into two 16-ounce glasses.

Ginger Limeade, served.  There were two glasses of it

This was a GREAT experiment!!

It is my opinion that this same beverage can be made in any blender, with the exception that the limes should be juiced first and then added to the blender jar.

This is what the aer disc looks like.

Apparently what happens to the lime slices in the Aer Disc jar is called muddling.

You can see that most of the soft part of the lime has disappeared from the lime slices...thus muddled, I guess.

 I had never heard of muddling.  I think it means that the soft part of the lime is sucked out of the solid part and mushed up.  Whatever it is, this is a very refreshing beverage, even in the early winter...!

PS . The Aer Disc Jar was on sale on Black Friday for $99 through #LifeIsNOYOKE.  I could not resist!!!