PL365: 2/10/13 - 2/16/13

ProjectLife365: Week 7

This week I spent the majority of the week downtown Seattle for the National Association of School Psychologists annual conference. Because I was on the convention committee, I ate, drank, and slept conference all week, but was still able to find some fitting daily inspirations! :)

SUNDAY: #lucky

MONDAY: #good_times

TUESDAY: #steps

WEDNESDAY: #tasty

THURSDAY: #romance

FRIDAY: #reward

SATURDAY: #heavenly

christmastime crafts.

Although this wasn't a big crafting season, I was able to finish a few projects.  For my work holiday party, my good friends Reetu and Laura helped me put together these centerpieces.  Thanks to Pinterest for the idea!  I took wine and beer bottles (labels on or off, it doesn't really matter), spray painted them with white primer, and let them dry for several hours.  Then applied Modge Podge to the bottles and rolled them in Epsom salt mixed with silver and gold glitter.  Platters and ornaments are from the dollar store.  Quick and easy, and looked great on red table cloths! 

You'll see a theme in my craft endeavors this year, most came from Pinteresting.  For a few friends, I decided to make lightweight infinity scarves, something that would work both in our cold Pacific Northwest winters and cool summer nights.  I used a brown linnen fabric, and a border of blue or white poms.  There were some tricks and turns to be overcome during this project, but in the end I was happy with how they turned out!

I've been wanting to make body scrub for a while now.  It's always shocking to me that a tub of this stuff runs $10 - $15 at body shops.  That's a lot for body scrub! So I used a few different recipes, added and took away, and came up with a Lemon-Brown Sugar Body Scrub.  Ingredients are as follows: Lemon peal, lemon juice, brown sugar, regular sugar, and safflower oil.  I just mixed all ingredients, adding a little here and a little there, until i seemed to have the right consistency.  I suppose you could use any oil you want, I chose safflower for a less potent smell than, say, olive or vegetable.  Of course, I had to sample the product before I gifted the jars.  Although you have to give it a quick mix before each use (easily done by hand in the shower), in my opinion, this stuff works great! Try it out!

I did make my momma something for Christmas too, but as usual, I gifted it before I got photos of it!  I'll have to get ahold of it again and snap some photos, so be on the look out for those!

-shauna

beer obsession continued.

Lately I've been a bit obsessed with beer. Beer brewing, brewery hopping, and now beer has crept into my cooking adventures. Last year before the holidays, I came across a recipe for Beer and Pretzel Soft Caramel Candies on one of my favorite baking blogs, Brown Eyed Baker. Mom tried them out, and they were awesome, but I never got around to doing it myself.

Fast forward to Father's Day this year. What do you get for a dad who has everything? Food, of course. And since he had taken a liking to The Drunken Monk, I thought this would be a great opportunity to test out my beer caramel-making skills.

For my first time attempting caramel, I'd say things went as smooth as possible (except for realizing I was out of sugar after beginning to melt the butter - oops!). At Mom's suggestion I added sea salt to the bottom of the caramels, and I decided to use a little more beer than was called for too.

These suckers are tooooo tempting to keep around the house. And if you do, believe me, they won't last for long. I took a sampling to work and people were busting down my hypothetical-cube-door for a taste!

Then came the true test.... I sent them off to Dad and.... Drumroooooll... Dad loved them! We've got a winner here folks! I hear he even hid the 3 lb box of candies from everyone in house. I guess on Father's Day, you don't have to share.

I was on a baking roll, so later that week I decided to make some mini-cupcakes for a potluck at work. I happened upon this post by joy the baker and couldn't resist. I decided to make them mini, and went for cream cheese frosting instead of meringue marshmallow frosting (let's not get too crazy here...). Let's take a look...

Aw look at those cute little babies! And man oh man, were these delicious!

-shauna

a much needed update.

I meant to post about all the little projects I've been working on for a while now, including Christmas gifts, however I suppose I've just put it off until now!

First, back in October, my family had a graduation party for my little brother. I supplied some decorations in his school colors.

For the holidays, I tried to make as many gifts as I could. Here are some of the gifts I managed to get photos of!

Gifts I didn't get a chance to take photos of were an apron for Grandma, a few little zippered pouches for friends, and a tote bag for the Guinn Family Handmade Gift Exchange.

I've got a few things in the works now, I'll post as soon as I manage to finish them!

-Shauna