Embroidered Graduation Gift

It's graduation season, so of course that means gifts for all the grads! We have this one girl who (a) worked in the nursery with my girls at church, (b) is the daughter of my hubby's old wrestling coach, and (c) is a neighbor... so we were invited to her graduation party.

I found out from her mom that she got accepted (early) to University of Florida so I decided I was going to embroider one royal blue and one orange towel (with my Husqvarna Diamond) with her initials on them to bring to college. That idea seemed great until my mom pointed out that poor and time-crunched college students do NOT sort their laundry and I didn't want all of her clothes to turn either orange OR blue. So instead, I opted for white towels, and embroidered in orange and blue.

I was hoping to digitize the free font "tinker toy", but then I got stuck with the whole satin versus fill on 5D software.... so I used one of the fonts that came with my software. I'm still pretty happy with how it turned out! (I definitely still need practice with my 5D software)

Linking up: Running with Glitter, Momnivores Dilema

Pizza Night #7 - English Muffin Pizzas

Pizza Night #7 was SIMPLE! It had to be, we were on day 1 of our Potty Training so I needed to be able to drop everything when I heard Charlotte call out "PEEE PEEE!" so we could (hopefully) make it to the potty on time.
Also, hubby was playing army and wouldn't be home until late, so I wasn't really up for a full-blown pizza night (he's my pizza dough tosser). So we went with English Muffin Pizzas.

My ingredients were:
English Muffins (duh)
Pizza Sauce (Ragu Pizza Sauce)
Mozzarella
Pepperoni

To be honest, they were kinda blah. I English muffin was soggy from the sauce and I didn't put enough on (my bad). I guess I could have broiled the muffins first so they were crispy, but I dunno... they didn't really do anything for me.

When hubby tried them he said "ooh the sauce is good!". (yeah thanks hun, it's store bought... lol)

Pizza (and movie) Night #7: eh... not necessarily a failure since Charlotte had fun... but I won't make these again unless I have to.
Movie: Beauty and the Beast

Tutu Girly Gift

Charlotte had a birthday party to go to the other day (which snuck up on me like usual... I swear I have a calendar and a planner, but those only help if you remember to write down the event). So anyway, one of Charlotte's little friends is turning 2 and her mom said she didn't really need anything but she liked girly stuff. The party was like a day away so I had the choice to spend money on something she didn't need... or make her something cute for cheaper (that she also didn't need, haha). Since I wasn't up for heading to the store to spend money, I decide to make her a tutu AND matching wand. LUCKILY, I had stocked up one some rolls of tulle a few weeks earlier so I set to work!

I made the tutu {my tututorial here} and then set out to make the wand using Sweet n Sassy Girls tutorial. The wand could not have been easier to make! All I needed was tulle (which I had left over from the tutu), a dowel, ribbon, and a hot glue gun. 

Tutu & Wand (although it looks more like a blob of tulle)



Wand

The birthday girl LOVED the wand; such a hit for a simple little gift!

Side note: I now realize that next time I take a picture of a tutu... it needs to be on a darker surface, not my white kitchen counters

Linking up: Running with Glitter

3 Day Potty Training

{I apologize in advance for all the "potty" talk... this is, after all, a post on potty training}

Charlotte is 27 month old and with all her little friends working on Potty Training, I decided it was time to do it. We had "Sort of" been trying to potty train her, but I wasn't on the ball, and plus... we go out every day so that made it difficult to keep up with it.

A few friends of mine have had success with this 3-Day potty training, so I decided to give it a shot. The catch is you have to be in your house for 3 days straight. I haven't been in my house for 3-day straight since the 3 days after I got home with Jillie (8 months ago). So I knew that was going to be a struggle. Phew!


Potty Treats
Supplies: Salsa jar, paint,
paint pens, m&ms

 So I armed myself with some 'Potty Treats' (aka m&m's), a few presents for when I was REALLY proud of her (gifts from her birthday back in February that we have yet to give her... she has WAY too many; a doctor kit, bubbles, coloring stuff, etc), also I opened up Candy Land that I bought a while back.... but she is WAY too young for that, lol; All she wanted to do was go down the "slide"... but I digress... back to the potty training.


Day 1:
Woke up, got myself ready (like the book said), had breakfast, and then "threw away the diapers". When I say "thew away the diapers", I really mean, I took a clean garbage bag and we threw the diapers in there and they are now stored in the garage until Jillie needs them.
Charlotte really got a kick out of throwing them away.

"Throwing" the diapers away

I meant it when I said "Rough" chart

I made a (very rough) chart with a column for Pee pee and Poo poo; when she successfully made it to the toilet (at least a little bit) then she got a sticker and an m&m and got to put the correct column. She also got a sticker and m&m even if she had an accident, but made it to the potty and pee'd or poo'd a little.

So for day 1 we had:
half - Accident
half - accident
half - accident (poop)
accident
SUCCESSFUL!
{dry nap}
Accident
Accident
Accident

Didn't quite make me hopeful... but at least she made it through her nap dry!

Day 2:
I am happy to announce that we had a dry bed over night!!! Although, I do admit that she hasn't ever really been much of a night time pottier.

We get up and I try to get her to potty, but she claims she doesn't have to. The whole deal with this book is you don't ask "do you have to potty?" because then it turns into a power struggle. You just remind them (constantly) to tell you if they have to go potty.

Day 2 results are:
half - accident
SUCCESS!
SUCCESS!
(of course now I'm getting cocky)
half - accident
accident (poop)
accident
accident
SUCCESS! followed 5 minutes later by...
half - accident (poop)
half - accident
SUCCESS!

Ok... I'm still not hopeful... but we have 1 more day!

Day 3:
Another dry bed over night and I'm feeling pretty confident about this whole 3-day training thing. I gave her a little more leeway, and didn't hover as much as I had the previous 2 days. I even got some cleaning done.

Day 3 results:
Success!
Accident
Success
Success
Accident (poop)
Success
Success
{dry nap}
success
success
{Bed}
Out of bed at 10... Success!

Day 4:
Ok, my 3 days are up.... time to go out (plus I am running out of food)

7:50am we have a half accident (uh oh... not looking so good)
We get ready to go out and right before we get into the car, I say "Mommy has to go pee pee, how about you try?"...
9:55am - Success!
Off to the mall to pick up our JC Penny portraits
10:30 am (at the mall) Success!
Play area -- which I was nervous about, I REALLY didn't want her peeing in the middle of the mall play area.. so after an hour I finally convinced her to go back to the bathroom...
11:25 am (at the mall) Success!!
Then we went to the grocery... once false alarm and a full grocery cart later we checked out and headed home.
{dry nap}
3:45 pm ... in the pool... with no swimmie... Accident (poop, ugh - luckily she wasn't in the pool at the moment)
3:50 pm Success!
8:15 pm Success!

Day 5 (today):
So it's Day 5 (of a so-called 3-day process) and I decided that it's time to get (almost) back into our routine! I say 'almost' because being back in our actual routine would include going to the gym... which I'm nervous about because then it's someone ELSE watching her. But I could probably time it right... I'll let you know tomorrow :)

We got up, pottied (7:40 am Success!), fed, dressed, pottied again (10:00 am Success!), and out the door.
We run to the party store then on to Lowes. When we get there I decide to head straight back to the bathrooms. I bought one of those fold up potty seat things to keep in my diaper bag so she doesn't fall in the big potty... well she used it for the first time at Lowes with NO problem! (10:45 am).
We finish shopping and head home. We rush in to (Successfully) potty at 12.
{dry nap}
Then came the real test... we went to our neighbors a few houses away to play. From what everyone tells me, getting little ones to potty when they are playing is next to impossible.
We had a false alarm and then came home for snack.
She successfully peed AND pooped in the potty... only to be followed 45 minutes later with an accident (poop)... (boo!)
Bed... then up 15 minutes later to pee one last time before going to sleep.

Not to jinx it, but... I think this girl has got it!

I know this method doesn't work for everyone... nor does everyone have 3 days to stay in the house, but I highly recommend it. Charlotte was no where NEAR potty training, she would scream if I tried to put her on the potty and she was ALWAYS asking for diapers. Now, 5 days later... things are going awesome!

Linking up: Finger Prints on the Fridge, Beneath the Rowan Tree

Tutorial: Photo 'Things To Do' Frame

I borrowed this idea from the fantastic ladies over at eighteen25; if you haven't been there... you REALLY are missing out. Anyway, I started out with their the "to do" frame {printable}. I absolutely LOVED the idea. I have ALWAYS got stuff on my To-Do list, and I try to keep an up-to-date list, but either I throw it in the bottomless purse and lose it, or it gets misplaced in the kitchen. I used to have a white board for my fridge, but a family friend's son was ALWAYS stealing the marker, and when I took it down... I lost it (go figure!).

I decided to personalize the to do list by adding a picture to the background! Plus... if this actually turned out, it would be cute for gifts for the grandparents, and heck... maybe a cute wedding gift with their new monogram in the background... OK I'm getting ahead of myself. Back to the project at hand....
Just so you know where we are going... here is my final product:

And HERE is how I did it...
1. I opened photoshop and created a new document 8 x 10 inches with a dpi of 300.

2. Then, I created the header:

layer 1 for header

To make it looked "scalloped" I'm sure I did it the hard way... but I didn't feel like googling "how to make line of dots", so this is how I did it. (It was probably quicker than googling).
- I used the pencil tool at size 343, and eyeballed it to dot across

3. Once I was done, I merged the 2 layers together by Layer --> Merge Down
4. I added the text "Things to do" using pharmacy font (it's a free downloaded font)
5. For the lines, I took the pencil tool at size 8 or so (or however thick you want the line), and drew a straight line across. (Hint: click where you want your line to start, then holding the ctrl key drag across to the end... you will get a straight line)

6. From here I just right clicked the layer and selected Duplicate Layer. Then I moved the line down to where I wanted it. I did this one more time so I had 3 layers, each with a line, at the distance apart I wanted them.

Then I merged all 3 layers together and called it "Lines". I did this so the lines were each the exact same length.

7. Then I did the duplicate Layer process to the layer called "lines" (with the 3 lines on it) a few times until you have lines going all the way down. Then merge those layers together into the one layer called "lines".
I set the opacity to 29% (circled in red) because I didn't like the harsh black.

8. Now for the boxes. I found the box by using my Character Map (this comes with your computer, go to Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Character map
I found the box I wanted in the font "Wingdings", then I clicked "Copy"

Back in photoshop, I selected the wingdings font and pressed ctrl-P to paste.

Right click the layer and select "Rastorize", this way we can duplicate the layer and merge down.
Do the same process with the boxes as you did with the lines (duplicate layer, move to where you want it, duplicate layer, move, merge down, etc).
Rename your layer boxes (I set my opacity for this layer to 29% again)

9. Now for the picture/design.
Create a new layer, and copy and paste in any picture you want.
I set my opacity to 51%

10. The next step is optional - I wanted to print mine out at home on normal 8.5x11 paper, so go to image - canvas size and change it to 8.5x11 (which is the white border)

Otherwise you can go and sent your 8x10 off to get printed somewhere.

Voila! Here is my brand new to-do list.

PS - I did have to tweak my size when printing on my computer; also don't cut off ALL the white border. Initially, it was too big and the boxes were cut off, then after I resized it and made my White border, I cut off too much and it was too small for the frame.

Hope this wasn't too confusing! Enjoy!

Linking up: Keeping it Simple, marvelously messy, A round Tuit, Lamb Around, Making the world Cuter, Running with Glitter, Sarahndipities, Nifty Thrifty Things, Vintage Wanna Bee, Homework, Not Just a Housewife, Someday Crafts, Sweet Peas and Bumble Bees, handy man crafty woman, Sew Much Ado, a bowl full of lemons, Gluesticks, Momnivores Dilemma, Finger Prints on the Fridge, Ladybirdy Ln, Bacon time with the hungry hypo, CRAFT

Wilton Cake Decorating: Week #4 {I graduated!}

My 4th and final week of my Wilton Cake Decorating class Course 1 is done!

The only thing we really learned in class was the Ribbon rose. The way you make these roses is by using the flower nail, then freezing it until it is firm. Once the rose is firm you can (more) easily place it on your cake. The rest of the class was spent decorating our cakes.

Although I DEFINITELY need more practice, I'm quite pleased with how my cake turned out.

I asked our instructor why my roses looked "cracked" or like the icing sort of had bubbles in it, and she told me that I didn't have enough Crisco in it. So I guess next time I'll add a bit more Crisco than the butter cream recipe called for.

Rose closeup

Our instructor DID tell us that in the decorating books, the flowers are likely done with royal icing, which is why they look so smooth. Now I don't feel quite so bad.

Who's ready for course #2?

Other posts in this series:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3

Linking up: Young and Crafty, CRAFT, Little Rays of Sunshine, Vintage Wanna Bee, Homework, Not Just a Housewife, Someday Crafts, Handy Man Crafty Woman, Gluesticks, Momnivores dilemma, Finger Prints on the Fridge, Ladybird Ln

Pizza Night #6: The Only Pizza You'll Ever Want Again...

Rachel Ray was not kidding! This pizza was flipping AWESOME! I can not RAVE enough about this pizza... fantastic. amazing. delicious. (sorta) healthy! Ok... so with all that cheese I don't REALLY know how healthy it was... but hey, it has broccoli, sun dried tomatoes, and basil in it :)

---

The Only Pizza You'll Ever Want Again: Chicken, Sun Dried Tomato, Broccoli, Ricotta, Mozzarella and Basil by Rachel Ray, foodnetwork.com
(I included my changes with cross outs and purple font)
Ingredients

Crust:
1 (16-ounce) package pizza dough, brought to room temperature  Publix pizza dough (bakery)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano  A LOT of shredded Parmesan

Toppings:
1/3 pound broccoli from trimmed broccoli bin in produce section, 1/3 head
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
3 cloves cracked garlic t Jarred minced garlic
1/2 pound chicken breast cut for stir fry or chicken tenders
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup part skim ricotta cheese
10 sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained and sliced
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, available on dairy aisle 8 ounces fresh mozzarella sliced
12 to 15 leaves fresh basil, torn or stacked and thinly sliced

Directions
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
On a 12-inch nonstick pizza pan, stretch out your dough and form the pizza crust. Drizzle 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil on crust and spread it with a pastry brush over the dough to the edges. Sprinkle (ETA - thanks LambAround) edge of crust with 2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. a generous amount of shredded Parmesan cheese.

In a small covered saucepan, bring 2 inches water to a boil. Separate broccoli tops into florets, discarding lower stalks or reserving for soup. Salt water and add broccoli florets. Cook covered 3 to 5 minutes. Drain broccoli and set on cutting board. Chop broccoli florets into small pieces.

Heat a small nonstick pan over medium high to high heat. Add oil, cracked garlic and chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Brown chicken breast cut for stir-fry or tenders until lightly golden all over, 3 to 5 minutes. Add minced garlic in the last minute. Chop sauteed chicken and garlic on a cutting board into small pieces.

To assemble pizza, dot crust with chopped broccoli bits and cooked chopped chicken. Dot crust with spoonfuls of ricotta and spread ricotta gently with the back of your spoon. Add sliced sun-dried tomatoes, scattering them around the pizza to the edges. Complete the assembly with a thin layer of shredded mozzarella, about 1 cup. Place pizza in oven on middle rack and lower heat to 450 degrees F. Bake 12 minutes, until cheese is deep golden in color and crust is brown and crisp at the edges. Remove pizza from the oven and let stand 5 minutes. Top with lots of torn or shredded basil. Cut pizza into 8 slices using pizza wheel and serve.

---

Ok, I can't say this enough... this. pizza. is. amazing! This is definitely going to be in our "keeper" recipe file!

Pizza (and movie) Night #6: HUGE SUCCESS!

Movie: Hunchback of Notre Dame

I'm still looking for your favorite recipes. Please share!!

Linking up: Young and Crafty