Being Thankful

http://www.tumblr.com/dashboard

         I just wanted to share a story because I see these people everday on the street and I always wonder why they live the life they do or could they possibly be an angel in disguise and we all just don't know. I'm talking about the many homeless people that walk about my area of town that I see so often now I can say hey that's so and so from the other day and when I say that I mean a description cause I don't know their real name. Now keep in mind yes I don't know these people and yes some are just looking for a handout, but not everyone is and those people shouldn't have to hurt.

http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/11/it-is-not-happy-people-who-are-thankful.html

       Anywho, the other day my husband and I were at walgreens and he was just getting back in the car and he had a smile on his face. I ask him why and he told me that the homeless man over near the trash can got really excited  over a can. In fact he said " Alright, a can!" Now how many people can actually say that they would get that excited over something so simple as that? We are all guilty of wanting more each day and what we fail to see is that right in front of us is a perfect example of what we should be. Thankful for what we have because one day it might be all gone.

Easter Treats Part 1

   For Easter I deciced to try to make my own candy. It is proving to be quite a task in itself but it's pretty good for my first time. I decided to do my own peeps and whoopers. Since I already knew how to do the marshmallow part that was pretty easy.

•  3 1/2 packets of unflavored gelatin
•  1 cup of cold water
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• food coloring
• 1 cup of confectioners sugar
• Sanding Sugar
• Cookie cutters

      First you oil and sprinkle confectioners sugar all over the pans you are going to use. Also spray the spatulas and mixer you are going to use with oil too. You don't want the marshmallow to stick everywhere.

     In a bowl place 1/2 cup if water and sprinkle the gelatin on top. Wait for it to soften.
    

    In a 3 quart sauce pan mix the sugar, corn syrup, 1/2 cup water and salt on low heat until dissolved. Then bring up the heat to medium and without stirring bring it to 240 degrees. Then remove from heat and pour onto gelatin mixture, stirring until dissolved.

           With a  standing mixer on high speed stir until tripled in volume, which will take about 6 minutes. More if you are using a hand held.

      Next in another bowl beat egg white until hit stiff peak. I find this easiest if you throw a pinch of salt and lemon juice in to keep it moist and it will help it peak faster. Then add the egg whites and vanilla to the sugar mixture until combined. Now since you probably are going to do color you will have to seperate in different bowl like I did to add the color before you spread it out in your pan. Once the color is added to your liking, spread it out in each pan, sprinkle more confectioners sugar on top and place in fridge for at least 3 hours before continuing.

          Now comes the fun part. :) Pull out your marshmallows and place them on a flat surface. With a pastry brush, lightly wet the tops of them and sprinkle the colored sanding sugar of your choice on the top. I just did mine on top, but you can do it all over just like the real peeps. The sanding sugar I used I made myself. You can by your own, but it's really expensive and you only get a little. I got the idea to make my own from http://www.yesterdayontuesday.com/2011/06/make-your-own-sanding-sugar.html. After you sand them, you can cut them out with whatever cookie cutter you'd like. Mine of course was rather big, but I think it turned out cute! :)

     To make the whoppers are pretty easy and you could probably make the egg ones if you even wanted to. The one problem that I had was my chocolate wanting to get hard on me, so watch out for that, but other then that they really do taste like the ones in the store. Here is where I found the little recipe http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archi8ves/84272.

• 8 ounces white chocolate
• 1 cup malt milk
• 12 ounces of milk chocolate

      First melt the white chocolate and mix with malt milk. Next form into balls. For me I stuck them in the fridge for a little bit so they could hold shape better. After that melt the milk chocolate and roll the malt balls in them. Again I put them in the fridge so the would set. Now for and easter treat you can make it all white chocolate which I did and seperate the 12 ounce chocolate into different bowls and dye the malt ball different colors. :)

       
 My next task is cupcakes in an egg and chocolate molded bunnies. :)

Spring is in the air!

       I woke up one morning to a ton of leaves falling off my lemon tree and started to panic!!! What is going on?!? Turns out I was over watering it and now it is going back to normal. Yay! It even has a tiny lemon on it. Isn't it cute? :)
    Which brings me to my next little project that I've been working on, Sunflowers. I got the packet for free from Sunflower Market and figured what the heck and look, their sprouting. :) I am so proud.

 Since this worked I figured why not put some soil in an egg, plant the sunflower seed and see if it grow, right? Well I just did this so in about a week we will see if I'm good or not. :)

I love my kitties <3

         Three years ago I was at work and one if my managers came up to the front of the store with a plastic container. Inside this container was a litter of kittens. There was.an orange kitten that stood out to me and I just knew it was meant to be. This little buddy's came to be is Santana.
Every year I celebrate their birthdays with a can of wet food and I put candles just like a birthday cake. This year I decides I wanted to have birthday hats.
I just started out by cutting a piece of felt into a circle. Then I cut it down the middle half way.  After that pull together to form a cone and sew. Next you'll cut the top of the cone only a little bit to allow your strip of felt to go through. I cut four, about an inch strips and pushed them through the hole. I then sewed across and reverse stitched. Turn right side out.Finally with ribbon of choice, sew that on and you will have a cute party hat for your pal. :)

     Also I wanted to get my cat something. For the longest time I wanted to make a cape for him and I thought this would be a good time to do it. I took an old red T-shirt and cut the sleeves and front off. You will want to keep the collar. Basically adjust the collar to your pet and hem all around the rest of the cape. Then get some ribbon or fabric to sew initial of your superpet. Enjoy!

       Basically when I do my kitty birthday cake I get wet food from a holistic pet store called Holistic Animal Care and amp it up whatever way I like. When I say amp I mean candles, cupcake holders and now just got the idea to put cat treats(tuna flake etc.) on top like sprinkles. :) I love my cats! <3

Creativity runs in the family

    So just like me, my sister is a crafster as well. Her recent creation is a butterfly dress for her daughter, Charlotte. Her inspiration came from http://sewingin-nomansland.blogspot.com/2011/03/butterfly-dress-and-headband.html?m=1.
  
  You can do this any size you would like. What we found easiest since we didn't have a template was another dress and we just  fold in half. Then you would trace just like the website says. You should cut two pieces and then lay them inside out and sew all around except the bottom. Next you can hem the bottom of the dress.

     



 Once this is done put it aside so you can make your homemade bias tape. You can get the bias tape make at Joanna's for about 5 dollars. This site shows a detailed how-to on bias tapehttp://www.danamadeit.com/2008/07/technique-understanding-bias-and-making-bias-tape.html.

      Next use the tape on the sleeves and scrunch the neck. After that on the fold, cut out 2 butterfly sleeve and pin. Then scrunch up the butterfly sleeves. Finally pin bias tape all around the top and sew to top stitch. Tada you got yourself a cute little dress. :)
    You can make a slit in the back, hem and add buttons to make it easier to get out but we omitted this step.

Mornings in my growing garden

     It is now officially spring, a time for growth in nature in all shapes and forms. It actually reminds me of the Disney shorts, Silly Symphonies flowers and trees. When all of nature is waking up from it's long winter slumber and welcoming us with it's beautiful and scented song.

     Most morning's I wake up and the first thing I do is hug my cats and then go outside to water my little garden. At the moment it seem one of my plant's is doing the opposite of everything else in nature. My cyclamen is actually going to sleep so that in three months it will wake up and sing its own happy song. I also planted some sunflower seeds that I got from the Sunflower Market the other day. I'm hoping they will show their pretty faces in about two weeks. While I was doing all of this I notice some pesky little critters flying around my plants so I decided to pull out my homemade garden repellent. I got the recipe off of http://www.marthastewart.com/275371/dealing-with-pests-and-problems/@center/276996/vegetable-garden-guide. I made a few minor adjustments and I didn't keep mine in as long the first time I used it, which still worked out fine.

• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 tbsp. minced garlic
• 2 tbsp. cayenne pepper ( chipolte pepper works too.)
• 3 cups water

Place everything in a spraybottle and then put in a fridge for 30 mins. Keep up to a week with the chopped onions inside and then take them out. It will then keep for up to 3 weeks after that and leave in the fridge.

            When I was making breakfast this morning I noticed that my green onions were getting droopy so I remembered that you could stick them in water and they will grow. I put mine in soil so lets see which works better.

            I'm not a hardcore gardener yet but I'm sure it can do wonder's on your hands. I don't  mind though because I love to feel the earth between me fingers, but just in case you want your hands to return to their silky state here is the cure, http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/03/make-your-own-gardeners-hand-scrub.html.

Links:
Live Renewed

Shamrock Shake :)

          I found this wonderful recipe for how to make  a shamrock shake just like McD's on http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/952069/shamrock-shake-recipe. I made some minor adjustments considering I didn't have the 2 cups of ice cream like this recipe.

• 2 cups of ice
• 1 cup of powder milk
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tbsp. of sugar
• 1 tsp. peppermint
• whipped cream and green sprinkles

     Place all of these ingredients into a blender and blend to consistency of your liking. Place in a cup and garnish with whipped cream and sprinkles. It will make about 16 ounces.

            When I first made this I forgot to put sugar and it was very strong with the flavor of the peppermint. Feel free to adjust the sugar to your desired amount, but I thought two tbsp. would be a good starting point.

              Now just sit back and relax and enjoy the refreshing flavor mint! :)