Sassy Priscilla's Craft and Life Journal

Daniel Craig Wednesday Hot Shot DOUBLE FEATURE repeat DOUBLE FEATURE

Just because I completely forgot this insanely hot shot. Enjoy.

Daniel Craig Wednesday Hot Shot

a) Real Tan
b) Spray Tan
c) Makeup
d) Madame Tussaud's Runaway
e) WHO CARES? Still smoking hot.

Definitely e.

Who Here Hates Easy Peasy?

I'm not talking about easy things, I'm talking about the actual phrase "easy peasy." It grinds my chaw everytime I see those words written and I have no explanation why. Overused on craft blogs, perhaps?

At left is our neighbor squirrel, Acorn, doing something that is not easy peasy. She is munching on our spent sunflowers (picture taken on a warmer, less dismal day).

What phrases annoy you and why?

Valentine's Day Cookies : Lovin' Colored Playdough Cookies Recipe

The last two days we've had "cold days" (think snow day except replace "snow" with "-12F with -40F wind chill"). So Aidan I decided to warm up the oven and make a twist on our playdough cookies by making them in Valentine colors.

Instead of the red, blue and yellow colors, I used food coloring gel in the colors of pink, hot pink, and red. We couldn't tell much difference between the pink and hot pink so I'm thinking a third contrasting color would have worked better. However, dipped in red sanding sugar, these cookies were a fun treat!

Playdough Cookies
Adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
assorted colors of gel food coloring
white sanding sugar

Directions

1. In a bowl cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until smooth.
2. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir till soft dough forms.
3. Divide dough into thirds. Tint each with a different food color. Working with each color, shape dough into 3/4 inch balls and place on separate plates for each color. Wrap each plate in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. For each cookie place a red, blue and yellow ball together to make one large ball. Shape into a 12 inch long roll (like a snake). I find that the best way to do this is to roll from the middle out to the ends.
5. Starting at one end, coil roll to make a 2 3/4 inch round cookie.
6. Put sanding sugar on a small plate. Dip top of cookies in sanding sugar.
7. Place cookies 3 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheet.
8. Bake cookies for 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool and store in an airtight container.

For Valentine's Day : Fabric Hanging Heart Flag Garland

This is a re-post from February 13, 2008. It is such a great technique that I thought I would share it again. In fact, I love this garland so much I leave it up all year.

I really have a thing about garlands and buntings. I find flags/garlands/buntings so hard to photograph so I apologize for the quality of my photos. However, I'm so excited! I used my new stiff fabric technique that I learned about to make fabric paper airplanes and made this fun garland out of fabric.

Last week I saw on Chicago Apartment Therapy and then on bb-blog the fabulous heart flag garlands designed by Cori Kindred. Her garlands are made of vintage paper and really are so wonderful. Looks like she sold out of them in her Etsy shop (see her image at right - you can click on it to enlarge).   You can now find them in Cori's web store.

I decided with my new stiff paper technique that I wanted to make some of my own and had fabric on hand that would kind of replicate her papers. So I set to work and am really tickled with how they turned out!

First of all, I want to say that I felt a little funny about blogging about an item that I basically copied the idea from. So I contacted Cori to ask permission to blog about mine and show hers and she was kind enough to give me the OK.

I used the fabric origami technique I mentioned in this post to stiffen the paper. When dry, I cut out the fabric in various square and rectangle sizes. I used a large heart paper punch to punch out the hearts. I then steam-ironed the end of the fabric over a pencil so that I would be able to string the fabric pieces. When complete, I strung the garland over hemp twine.

There are larger pictures here and below. Sorry about the craziness of my mantle. I have Aidan rocks (he gives me rocks and pebbles from every place he visits), Ephraim pottery, a dusty clock, dead daffodils, chalkboard Valentines from Aidan and paper Valentines

Lavender Scented Playdough

Every Friday is a "special day" for Aidan and me. We might see a movie, go to the zoo, play games, etc. Not that we don't have fun the other days but we try to restrict chores and errands on Fridays.

Today we are staying home and playing games including board games and LEGO STAR WARS video game. I almost regret ever getting Lego video games or letting Aidan watch Star Wars or have him play Lego Indiana Jones as our life has converted from being about Cars (Lightning McQueen) to being about whips, lightsabers and the like. However, it is just too dear. We haven't let Aidan watch Indiana Jones but he was so enthralled with the game that he made his on whip out of paper. He asked Santa for a whip and we told him that we wouldn't allow it but once your kid starts making his own whip and lightsabers (lifesabers, as Aidan sweetly calls them), you kind of break down and remember a few things you didn't get as a little girl (I'm talking Easy Bake Oven here).

Oh shoot - where was I? Oh yes, I'm quickly writing this post as Auntie Heather stopped by to visit Aidan. We made lavender playdough and it is wonderful! Those specks in it are lavender buds. There are tons of make-your-own playdough recipes out there so you could just use your own or the one below which I got from Aidan's school (sorry - I don't know who to credit).

Lavender Scented Playdough

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
4 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 cups water
red and blue food coloring (or purple)
lavender essential oil
dried lavender buds (optional)

Instructions
Put flour through water ingredients in medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir constantly. After it is nicely mixed, add 8 drops blue and 10 drops red food coloring. When it starts thickening, add about 1/4 cup lavender buds if you like. Remove from pan when it becomes a soft doll.

Put ball on lightly floured countertop and surface. Let cool for a minute.  Make a well in the middle of the ball and place 15-20 drops essential oil in the middle. Fold ball over itself, dust top with flour and knead. Let ball cool and store in a plastic container or zip top bag.

There are so many things you can do with playdough. You can make smaller balls and color differently after you have removed playdough from the pan. You can use other natural scents such as vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, peppermint extract. Other dried flowers can be added or even confetti and glitter. Go to town.