Have Great Labor Day Weekend Everyone!

To start off your weekend I thought I'd share this beautiful picture I took of a the sun setting while I was at work. :)

Happy Birthday, Tina!

I did it! I completed all the amazing gifts I wanted to make my sister's 21st birthday truly special! Now all I have to do is figure out how I'm going to get this all to Red Lobster. :) 

If you want to learn how to make  this amazing sushi cake go to my post Sushi Birthday Cake. 

As well for the bouquet and the charms that are dangling from it. Those can be found at my  More Clay Creations post.

Of course I didn't make whatever what was in the Crate and Barrel box. It's sushi dishes. I made the sushi jewelry myself and you can find the tutorial for that at Easy DIY Clay Creations. I made them from dry clay not polymer. The box is an origami box and I just placed batting squares to protect the jewelry. You can find that tutorial here Paper Box by Instructables. It's very easy a very well explained here. Finally the cute bow on the top of the box was found at Milomade. Her's was out of paper, but I decided to make mine out of ribbon. What's great is you can even use this tutorial to make a bow for your hair!  

More clay creations!

Well I decided to be ambitious and make some charms to tie to my sister's birthday bouquet. I think they came out pretty good. :) If you want to find out to how to make these awesome charms go to my post about Easy DIY Clay Charms. It's mostly about sculpting to your hearts content! :)

Goodbye Phone

I'm writing this because I don't want anyone to go through what I did with my phone. Sadly Sunday my phone took a dive into the toilet. :( Which probably had been ok if I had know not to turn it on after the fact. Booooo! So long story short I had to get a new one. Just remember if this happens to you to keep it turned if for 12 to 24 hours and let it dry out completely. Rice also helps. In case your wondering why you shouldn't turn it on so quickly is becahse of the electric flow that happens when you turn it on. It's kind of like electric shocking your phone. :(

30 Minute Lasagna

I've decided after experiencing such great food and dessert this weekend that I'm going to try to be even more diverse with my food making skills then ever before. I even narrowed down which type of culinary school I would prefer to go to if I got the chance in the future, French Culinary School. When I say that I mean specifically for the pastries part. Anyway back to what I'm really going to talk about, Lasagna. Ha! Ha! Yeah I know it's Italian. This recipe is pretty darn awesome and so easy to make!  This recipe takes about 30 minutes to make.

You will need:

• 7 lasagna noodles
• 1 table spoon of olive oil
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 cup of tomato sauce
• 1 cup of pasta sauce ( I used leftover sauce that I had)
• 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1/3 cup ricotta cheese
•  1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 6 tbsp. parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup basil

First start out by pre-heating your broiler. We started out by putting out on the low setting but ended up on the high. It all depends on what works for you and what your oven is capable. Then fill a pot three inches deep with water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and then add lasagna noodles. Cook until al dente, about 11 minutes, drain and transfer to a cutting board to cut the noodles in half.  

Now heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook til browned. Add the tomato sauce, pasta sauce and red pepper flakes. Let simmer for about 5 minutes. Add ricotta cheese and simmer on low. Season with salt and remove from the heat. Take mozzarella and parmesan and place in a bowl, set aside. 

Cover bottom of your baking dish with a layer of noodle, meat and then cheese mixture. Repeat this step and the lay left over lasagna noodle on top. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and olive oil. Place in oven for 3 to 5 minutes until golden and bubbling. Top with basil. Enjoy!

                                                                 

Good Monday Morning Everyone!

Ha!Ha! I know everyone is still sleeping but I had to post this to start off the week. Does anybody remember this exercise show? It's Mousercise! I use to love this as a kid! :) Well have enjoy everyone and have a great week!

Beignet Mix

While we were out today I ran across this wonderful Beignet Mix! I remember tasting the one's in New Orleans from the exact place that this mix is made from and they were amazing! My next goal is to really learn how to make them though.

If you get this mix you won't be disappointed. It's really simple and they taste awesome! Make sure to make the square shape like it states. I thought I was being smart by using my candy corn cookie cutter because surprisingly I didn't have a square cookie cutter and for the second time this week I learned the reason why certain things have to be a certain way. They will not puff up very well if you don't do a square.

If you want to get this mix you can go to you local World Market or order it online.

Easy DIY Clay Charms

If your like me and always see all those cute charms, but are thinking "which one would I pick" or "I wish I could have them all". Well I found an easy way to ease the my charm addiction and it's super easy!

You will need:

• Crayola Air Dry Clay
• Acrylic Paint
• Paint Brushes
• Mod Podge
• Glitter
• Floral wire or Jewelry wire
• Chain of choice
• Clasps
• Jump rings
• Imagination :)
• And pretty much anything else that will help make your charm

My first creation was inspired by my sister. I saw a bunch of sushi charms that I liked but if I waited for them to arrive it would be way past her birthday when they got here. So I said what the heck lets try this and I was amazingly surprised at how great it turned out. I used dry rice, nonpareil orange sprinkles and black sesame seed to make it look more realistic. To make the shape I just made a sphere and then flattened it into the sushi shape.Then I took a piece and made it into a cylinder type shape. I flattened that one too and placed it around the other piece. I then added all the items above and then for the middle I made different shapes to represent the crab, avocado and green onion. Make sure to cut a piece of wire so it can link to whatever jewelry you are doing. Now I just waited for it to dry. Once it had dried I painted and then placed Mod Podge on it. Now it's time to add your charm to your chain. I got the roll of chain because I knew I was going to more, but they have smaller amounts. Place a jump ring were you want the charm and close tightly so that the charm can't break loose. Then add a jump ring where your clasp is going to go and same thing make sure they are secure. I didn't put a jump ring at the opposite end cause I didn't feel the need, but if you want the clasp to attach to more then the end of the chain do what's best for you. That's all there is too it! :)

It's pretty much the same process for all the charms. The only difference is the way you mold your creation and make it yours!

Macy's Shop for a Cause

If your heading anywhere near Macy's tommorow or it happens to be one of your favorite store make sure to drop in and purchase a $5 savings pass now through Saturday and save 25 percent on purchases made in any store with limited exclusions – or purchase and use your savings pass online at macys.com on August 25th only. 100% of the savings pass goes to help babies!

Sushi Birthday Cake!

Ok it only took me 3 tries but I finally accomplished the recipe I have long been waiting to try, Trimisushi by Sprinkle Bakes. I made a few adjustment to fit me and my needs for this recipe, but I am so excited. I cannot wait to see my sister's face when she see these on her birthday!

You will need:

Chocolate Roulade:

• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. water

Cream Cheese Filling:

• 1 cup of cream cheese
• 1 tbsp. confectioners sugar
• 1 tbsp. coffee liquer

Mocha Sauce( Optional)

• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 tsp of instant coffee
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

 Make sure when you get cocoa powder that it's unsweetened and not sweetened. I know this sounds dumb and I know myself that I should know this, but for some reason I couldn't get that through my head the first two times I did it and it made my recipe whole lot harder then it had to be. Now I really know what they mean about baking being so precise. 

Ok lets get started shall we. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Now butter a 9x13 pan and place a parchment paper in it. Also take two towels and sprinkle confectioners sugar for a later time.  Start by combining the first three ingredients in a small bowl and then set aside. Now place the eggs, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and mix til its three times it's size. Once you've done that gently fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Now fold in  the melted butter and water.Take the batter and pour it in your pan evenly with a spatula. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn half way through baking.

Once it it done baking quickly turn it out onto a cooling rack and cut lengthwise down the middle. Place the two pieces each on their own towel and roll them. Let them cool for about 15 minutes. this would be good time to make the Cream Cheese Filling and do clean up.

The filling is basic, all you need to do is combine all the ingredients and your done!

Now that the cake part has cooled gently unroll and spread the filling inside. Re-roll and place in the fridge for an hour. Mocha sauce time!

Basically combine all the ingredients except the vanilla in a small pot and bring to a boil. Let it boil for one whole minute. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla.

I almost for got I used nonpareils to resemble the red roe. I didn't have any fancy sushi sets or anything to hold them, but I think they came out great! Especially since this is the first time I've made a Roulade.  

I hope you enjoy making these for a sushi lover in your life as much as I did! Have a great weekend!

21st Birthday Bouquet

Back in May I made my parents an anniversary bouquet. So as a request from my sister for her 21st birthday I decided to make her one as well. Learning from the spontaneous adventure of making the first one I decided to put a little more thought on this one. I would suggest giving yourself a day at least to do it and probably have a buddy help you to make things move more quickly.

You will need:

• Duck tape ( color of your choice)
• Card stock, wooden sticks or sturdy paper straws
• Floral Tape
• 18 miniature bottles ( Micheal's sell these)
• bucket
• ribbon
• tissue paper 
• scissors
• Glitter Glue (optional)

 I made duck tape flowers to place the bottles in. I would start out by cutting out all the pieces you will need.  You will need about 500 squares that are about 2x2 inches. Then you will need to shape all those pieces into what will look like little houses.

                         

Now places about 24 pieces around each bottle so that they look like the petals of a flower. 

When I tried holding up the bottles with the straws I wrapped duck tape around the straw first leaving some of the sticky part at the top so it can attach to the flower. Then I took four small strips and wrap it around the bottom of the flower and the straw. Now I took floral tape and wrapped that over the duck tape. It kind of reinforces the stem and everything together. I found this method is best used in a bouquet of less then five in a small bottle.

                   

I used card stock with mine and it worked perfectly. Just roll each piece up and apply tape to keep from rolling open. Now just like we did with the paper straw do that same method except you won't need to place floral tape. 

                                     

Place all the flower bottles on the bucket now. They should be able to stay up on their own and you can now place any beverage of your choice in them. I forgot to mention that I brushed glitter glue on my flowers but that is totally up to you. Now you can add tissue paper and ribbon and you'll be all done!

How to prevent your pet from spraying 101

Ok I would now like to say that my husband and I are one of the very few who have graduated in "How to stop your pet from spray 101." :) It sounds funny but you would not believe what we went through just to get our kitten to stop. She is a very special cat and isn't afraid of anything. We wished we had named her Merida because she is so adventurous. So because of this finding method to stop her was going to be tricky. Here are some methods that we tried and worked to keep our other cats from touching those areas ( they have never sprayed though).

• Homemade citrus spray

1.  You will need one cup of orange or lemon peels, 2 cups of water and 1 tbsp of citrus soap ( I had a natural, non-toxic kind). 
2. Place peels and water in a pan and boil for 15 minutes. Then you will let it cool until manageable. 
3. Now take out the peels and stir in the soap.
4. Using a funnel pour the mixture into a spray bottle. 

• Lavender Spray

1. This one is really simple. Fill your spray bottle with distilled water and add a few drops of lavender oil. 

•  Two separate litter boxes or more depending on how many cats you have.

1. This works pretty good except our cats all decided to use the new litter box opposed to shifting between the two. 

• New litter

1. We were using a pine type of litter that was pretty awesome and smelled so much better, but the kitten prefers the clumping kind so that's the way we will have to go. 

• Herbal Extract

1. We are using one that we got from our Holistic Pet Store that is met for spraying. You can rub it in their ears or place it in their water. If you go to http://www.azmira.com/products/herbal-extracts/  you will find what I am taking about. They have tons that work for all sorts of thing and they work wonders.

There are tons of ways to help stop your pet from spraying, but only you will know what's right for you and your pet. New litter and herbal extract was the way for us and I'm pretty happy about it. :) 

Good Very Late Sunday Evening Everyone!

I know my presence has been absence lately, but I assure you all that it's with good reason. Who would think one bad week could put such a rut in everything, right? I'm just glad to have made it bravely on the other side and I'll be all the better for it in the end. :)

Well I just wanted to share a few things. One is the cake that I made to celebrate what would have been the first birthday of our daughter, Libby. I apologize if this upset anyone, but I just love to celebrate and talk about my children that I may have lost too soon like they are still with and apart of me. In fact today on carlymarieprojectheal.com people who have lost a child can share with other's and remember. Any who the plan was to make a cake myself, but of course crazy life means no time so I bought one at the Super Target near us and it was pretty good. I just added a cute candle, homemade Hungry Caterpillar and piped the words myself. : ) I looked amazing.

Next on my agenda was to make my own rubber stamp. Oh and guess what? I did! :) It's now perfect , but I do believe it's pretty awesome for being my first one. What do you think?  I basically lightly traced what I wanted to make out on the eraser with the tip of the knife. Once I was satisfied I started hacking away. I learned that if I want to do detail that it should be done lightly on whatever it is that's being created. Try not to get all crazy and cut to deep. 

Finally I bought some duck tape because I wanted to see if I could make a duck tape flower like I always see on Pinterest. If I could I was going to use the concept later for another project. Well it was pretty easy actually. Cut 2x2 in pieces of tape and start by folding one side in to the corner, but only until it looks like an "L". You want  there to be some sticky parts still showing. Then fold the other end in making it look like a tent. Once you have complete about 24 pieces it's time to start making the flower. Take one piece and roll it in. Now start adding another and another piece. It should look like a flower at the end.