party favors

My mom had a bunch of white boxes that she had di-cut laying around, so she gave me some of them. I had so much fun using them for my friend Michelle's baby shower last weekend. I stamped on them, added an embellishment, and filled them with candy. I only had to make 6 of them, so I felt like I could go add a lot of detail. Fortunately, even with the extra details I added, it didn't take long!

:: I stamped a heart shape with the word "baby" around the sides in brown and blue (ink and stamp were both Stampin' Up).

:: On the top, I stamped a blue circle in an eye friendly pattern. I also added a brown smudge around the edges of the top. NOTE: To smudge the edges, take a sponge piece (I get the orange craft sponges and cut them into wedges). Then, I dab it into my ink pad and "flick" it on the edge of my paper starting from above and working down.

:: Then I punched out a brown circle and a blue scalloped circle for each one. On the brown circle I stamped the word "baby" (also a Stampin' Up stamp) with my Top Boss tinted ink pad and embossed it with white embossing powder (also Stampin' Up). I taped the two together and punched a hole using my rectangle punch and tied it to the top of the box with a piece of blue ribbon.
:: I filled them with candy and placed them at each guests' place at the shower. I was so excited to find Hershey's Miniatures. . . that use dark chocolate!!!! Don't worry, I did throw in some milk chocolate treats, too!

Banana Bread

Happy Tuesday everyone! WOW! 2 posts in a row. . . I must be on a roll.

I made this bread several weeks ago - pre oven break-down. I wasn't sure if I was going to post this recipe, but I decided I needed to, because our weekend heat ripened my bananas incredibly quick (I always forget about the disadvantages to summer heat) and since I am heading to a beautiful beach house with a working oven. . . I need my recipe readily available and that would be here, on my blog.

I found this recipe several years ago over at the food network website (it's by Emeril Lagasse) and it has since been my go to recipe. . . it is so moist and delicious!

Here's the recipe:

10 tbsp. + 1 tsp butter

1 cup mashed ripe bananas

1/2 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 cups cake flour (I just use all-purpose)

3/4 cup + 2 tbs sugar

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup toasted, chopped walnuts (I don't always put these in)

Preheat oven to 350.

Lightly grease your loaf pan (or pans if you are making mini loaves).

Puree the bananas, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla in food processor (when I am lazy. . . i just mix them really well in my stand mixer).

Sift cake flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer with whisk attachment. Add the remaining 10 tbs butter and mix on medium-low speed until blended, about 30 seconds. Add the banana mixture in 3 batches, scraping the sides of the bowl and mixing on medium speed between each addition. Fold in nuts.

Pour into loaf pan(s) and bake until lightly browned and bread bounces back to the touch, about 1 hour & 10 minutes (less if using mini-loaf pans). Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes. Dig in. . . you might have to fight for it. . . it sure doesn't last long in our house!

I made mini loaves and gave a few to some appreciated people! I wrapped them in clear, plastic wrap, tied a ribbon and stamped a butterfly (Flight of the Butterfly, SU) and a thank you (it came from a word collection that was probably hero arts or something from JoAnns). The paper and ink were eggplant envy (I think?, which is also stampin' up). I like to sometimes tear the bottoms of my paper, which gives it a nice textured effect.

All the Best. . . . right?

I started this post yesterday while waiting for the appliance guy to fix my oven. Unfortunately, he just stared at the oven, inspecting it and searching for non-existent numbers and talking on the phone (he was on hold a LONG time!). Needless to say, my post was incomplete because I was distracted (yes, I was eavesdropping!). So, my oven is broken and I am not sure whether to be excited or bummed. You see, on Friday I made enchiladas. . . well, I made them early so I could stick them in the oven when Jon got home from work. When they got put in and the oven turned on, a light show began and the element broke. So, the enchiladas were taken out of the oven and transfered to the freezer where they will stay until they can be baked. We ended up at a local Carl's Jr. for dinner (no complaints here!) and now we wait. As it turns out, our oven is so old, they couldn't find the model number, only a catalog number and the parts are no longer made. As a new homeowner of an older house, we were actually praying for appliances to break during the first year, because our insurance covers the replacement of appliances. However, we laugh, because we have had something happen each month we have been here.

:: December - we had something die in our attic right before we moved in and were welcomed with maggots falling from the vents in our bathroom as a housewarming present. . . lovely!

:: January - Our heater broke. . . not the best time to find this out. . . it was sooo cold!

:: February - Flooded kitchen . . . a pipe burst under our kitchen sink flooding our kitchen. It was quite a mess!

:: March - Garage Door broke. . . that was an easy fix . . . just some muscle power on behalf of Jon.

:: April - Air Conditioner/heater . . . Jon new how to fix it, so he and his dad climbed to the roof and clicked some buttons and fixed the system.

:: And now, we are just barely into May and our oven has broken.

Obviously, homeownership is far from boring! We are really enjoying this adventure despite the frustrations. I am just very thankful that it's not the week of thanksgiving (like last year) when I have a ton of baking to do and my element breaks (in that case, the apartment was on the ball and quickly fixed it!). We will have to wait at least 10 days until we know the fate of our oven. Until then, I am on a baking hiatus. . . and plan to explore the world of no-bake cookies. But, I thought I would share some cards I made a few weeks ago. These are from a stamp set, called All the Best. . . . which is one of my favorite sets.

this one is one of my favorites! The floral print pattern is Amy Butler (available at Michaels).

Well, I am going to go and work on some other projects and watch some TV. Enjoy your day!

Botanical Blooms

Last week, I made a huge mess in the office and stamped like a mad woman! It was so refreshing just to get in there and be creative for an hour a day. I borrowed my mom's new stamp set, Botanical Blooms by Stampin' Up. It is a really neat 2-step stamping set with soft, subtle petals. Sometimes it was hard to match up the top view flower with it's outline, but I gave up perfection with that set. I had a lot of fun playing. . . so many possibities. . . here are a few of the cards I made.

I used the circle cutter with this one.

Cardstock: brown, buckaroo blue (SU), white, and printed (SU)

Ribbon: brown grossgrain

Ink: Buckaroo Blue, Almost Cocoa (both SU)

Ribbon: pink grossgrain (SU)

Punch: Martha Stewart loops

Paper: White cardstock, Lavender Lace (SU), printed paper (SU)

Words: Heard from the Heart (SU)

Ink: Lavender Lace, Pretty in Pink, Garden Green, Basic Black (All SU)

Cardstock: white, mauve mist (SU), ballet blue (SU), printed Amy Butler

Ribbon: white grossgrain

Ink: ballet blue (SU)

Words: Whimsical Words (SU)

Valentine Time

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know, the holiday has come and gone, but I am so behind on my blogging that the next few posts will be full of Love. . . just for you!

My mom bought this cool new set of stamps, called Sweetheart through Stampin' Up. With the use of the heart punch and these new heart shaped treat containers that fit right into the punched out heart, it makes the cutest card! I had so much fun playing. My mom let me have a few of her containers and I new that I was going to make something for the gals at my MOPS table. Instant inspiration! I decided I was going to fill the hearts with Red Hots (which by the way, are a bit harder to find than expected. . . Cost Plus World Market had them!). Then I decided to go with a red and Black theme. I kind of copied an idea out of the SU website, but used one of my Martha Stewart punches for the white strip and then a red and white polka dot ribbon. I had so much fun!

Now, I will note that there is a down side to this card. . . not very mailable. Thankfully, I just put them at there place at our last MOPS meeting. You probably could mail them, with extra postage and maybe a cushion-y envelope. . . but I probably wouldn't.

So, Happy Valentine's Day to you. I have a camera full of blogworthy posts to blog about that I just uploaded. . . so, I hope to catch up really soon. Have a wonderful weekend!

I like it a latte

Recently I had the opportunity to borrow this really fun set of stamps from a friend. I had so much fun playing with them that I couldn't resist making a bunch of cards to keep for a rainy day. The set is Stampin Up's "I like it a latte." The scrapbook paper came from a SU kit from 5 years ago and I don't remember the name. Inks are Cranberry and Buckaroo Blue. I used Dazzling Diamonds to accent the frosting with 2 way glue. The hearts on the coffee cups are 2 dimensional. I used some leftover rubber from my rubber stamp scraps. . . that I keep on hand for times like this.