Custom "Dream Nursery" for Madison!

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You won't find this on the pages of "Pottery Barn Kids" or "Zulilly"! This is a custom nursery!

It’s your baby’s bedroom, but in the beginning, it will be you who’s staring at the walls through tired eyes while you rock, feed, change and play with baby. Here are some secrets to assembling the nursery of your baby’s -- and your -- dreams.

Safari themed baby quilt! For Madison!

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Miss Madison Lee is now 6 weeks old, and just beautiful. She's got such a sweet, good-natured temperament, and we all have fallen in love with her over and over. Mom and Dad are doing great, as are all the pet's!  

Holly asked me to develop and design a custom nursery for Madsion last Winter. The first thing we did was decide on color's, working with her and Nate we decided on pale yellow walls and lavender trim.

A Pillow Trick! Jacob's pillow!

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Laura, my step daughter, wanted a very special pillow for Jacob's nursery. She looked every where, and just couldn't find, " Just the right one"! I got wind of this, and asked if I could help. She loved the idea of having me make a custom pillow for little Jacob. She is designing Jacob's nursery around sports, so, I came up with a few ideas, she and I shopped for fabric together and I was off!

Tink's Jungle Themed Baby Shower!

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What a weekend! JJ, Laura and I have been preparing for this shower for weeks and it was finally upon us! All the hard work paid off and we put together an incredible shower for Tink. There are so many great pictures to share with you guys I am going to break it up into two posts. I want to show you guys the sugar cookie cutouts I made specifically for this event -they are so stinkin cute!! I will blog about those Friday.

Our hope is that you get some inspiration from this shower to use in an event you may have around the corner. Some of our inspiration came from a few pinterest ideas, which is so helpful when beginning to plan. 

We strung jungle themed onesie's to string and attached to the fireplace mantel. Under this we placed all the gifts. We found the foam jungle animals on Etsy. Those finished the banner perfectly!

Valentine Poppers!! Embroidered Tee's for the Grandchildren!

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There's no reason to buy those cheesy pre-packaged valentine cards when making homemade Valentine's Day gifts is as easy as this! These Valentine Candy Poppers are the simplest Valentines Day craft for kids to make for their friends or for you to make for your kids or Grandchildren. Best of all, they're a great project for using up all of those cardboard paper towel rolls, or gift wrap rolls you've been saving up! I saw this on a morning show here in Scottsdale, and knew you would love it!! 

Wonkey Weaving Gourd Basket!

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Recently I attended a class to further my education on Gourd Art. It was taught by two very patient, talented and passionate Gourd Art teachers.......

Christmas Cookies -Part Two!

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Well, my two-week long cookie making extravaganza has come to an end and I have to say that I am pretty happy with how they all turned out. Time consuming yes! So much fun to make and I can't wait for the next excuse to make sugar cut-out cookies again!! I have a champagne bottle cookie cutter and I'm thinking New Year's!!

I took a lot of photos so enjoy them and I hope they inspire you to make some cut-outs of your own! I have also included some links to video tutorials that really helped me create designs, etc. I am including the basic recipe for Royal Icing which I used on all these cookies. 

Let's make art! Gourd Art!!

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A few weeks ago I took a class to make "Gourd Art". Oh... was it fun! I wanted to share my experience with you. Jane Bogg's taught the class, "About her" is below. She is fun and wants to help you become a "Gourd Artist" outside of class. She is excited and interested in you really learning the art, which make for a wonderful experience for her students. She also sell her art from her studio, contact information is below.

Miss Muffet sat on her Tuffet!

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These two adorable cousins are our Grandchildren! Emma who is almost 6 months in this picture and Julia who turned 1, sitting on her tuffet!!

A tuffet, pouffe or hassock is a piece of furniture used as a footstool or low seat. It is distinguished from a stool by being completely covered in cloth so that no legs are visible. It is essentially a large hard cushion that may have an internal wooden frame to give it more rigidity. Wooden feet may be added to the base to give it stability, at which point it becomes a stool or a footstool. If the piece is larger, with storage space inside it, then it is generally known as an ottoman.

A couple of years ago I took a "Tuffet" class with my friend Fawn, from Myra at Northwest Quiltworks in Bellevue,Wa. We had so much fun and started making  the cutest little footstools/child's tuffet. I thought, what a perfect gift for a child! They just love to sit and have their Mom, Dad, Grandpa or Grandma read them a story. Story time was big in my children's lives, they still remember that special time. And now, I am making these tuffet's for my Grandchildren, on their first Birthday, so that they can have their own special seat for story time. Wee Bear buys three story books to complete our traditional 1st Birthday gift to our grandchildren. To date of January 2017 I have made 10 tuffets for my grandchildren and a few others as gifts. I have one more to make the end of 2017, for grand child number 11.

Let's make a footed cake plate for MOM!

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 Happy 1st Mother's Day!

Wee Bear and I are exuberant, we have two newborn grandchildren! One born October 16, 2011 and the second born April 26, 2012, almost two weeks old. Needless to say, we are thrilled. Seeing our children go through the various stages in their life, and now to be parent's themselves, couldn't make us more proud and happy. It is a special Mother's day for our two new Mom's, Congratulations  and Happy Mother's Day to Laura, Mother to Julia and to Sarah, Mother to Emma.

Cousin's! These two precious beauties will grow up together and share lots of fun memories together. What a miracle.... these little lives.

Asparagus Fries with garlic aioli! Skagit Valley Tulip Festival!

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Photo by José Mandojana

Twirl around tulip fields 

Spring is the right time to catch Skagit Valley's colorful crop of tulips in bloom. Celebrate at the area's annual tulip festival, then rent a bike and take to the road, exploring the valley while stopping for photo ops of the rainbow-striped flowering fields before you.

  

 Washington's Skagit Valley in April: To stand before fields of intensely colored flowers—cherry red, navel orange, pure white—that blanket the area. 

Month-long party: The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival (Apr 1–30). 

Fit for: Flower fiends, but even if you don’t know a tulip from a rose, the display will blow you away. 

Lay of the land: A patchwork of bulb fields stretching from Mt. Vernon and Burlington to La Conner.

Number of growers: 3 

Number of bulbs they produce: 200 million

Number of cut flowers produced: 97 million

Percent of nation’s commercial tulip crop produced: 75

   PARMESAN ASPARAGUS FRIES WITH LEMON-GARLIC LEMON AIOLI

1 bundle of asparagus, cleaned and trimmed, uniform in size
2 egg whites
1 c. Panko bread crumbs
1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. grated Parmesan
salt and pepper to taste

Aioli:

1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. dijon mustard
2 T. fresh lemon juice
1 c. grapeseed oil (olive oil can sub, but has a stronger flavor)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

For the asparagus: Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper.

Separate the egg yolks from the whites in a bowl and whisk the whites.
*Reserve one of the yolks for the mayo
In another bowl add panko, flour, grated parmesan, salt and pepper. Combine.
Roll a few of the asparagus in the egg whites, drain off any excess and roll them in the panko mixture to coat. Place on prepared pan and repeat with remaining asparagus.

Pop the sheet of asparagus into the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, flip, halfway through. Bake until golden, slightly cool and serve.

Aioli:
In a processor (can be mini), add a whole egg, the egg yolk, 1 tsp dijon and 1 T. lemon juice. Process on high. Slowly stream in the grapeseed oil, through the tiny holes in the lid of your processor, (this is a slow process) while running. Remove the lid, add the remaining lemon juice, the garlic and season with slat and pepper. Blend until smooth.

*The aoili can be made and stored in a air tight glass jar and refrigerated.

  *Aioli-There are many variations, such as the addition of mustard or, in Catalonia, pears. It is usually served at room temperature. The name aioli (alhòli)  This is a mayonnaise sauce, an emulsion sauce.

These disappeared quickly! We had four appetizers, for nine guests, it all vanisihed!! One guest was heard saying, "Oh, I need to taste this with the Mer Soleil, I need to taste that, with the Mer Soleil!" We had three bottles of the Mer Soleil!! Then we moved onto the reds! Mer Soleil available at wine on the way, icon on right column. This wine was reviewed on yesterday's blog.

                                                        ~

Hahaha! Our Easter Bunny, TT! Love it!!

Southwest Ham for Easter! Also Easter Basket making!

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 Hatching eggs remind people of newborn or reborn life and rabbits are prolific breeders especially in the spring. Because Christians are supposed to observe Lent before Easter and can't eat eggs or meat, you can see why these two would become important foods when Lent is ended.

Decorating Easter eggs dates to Medieval Europe; so does egg rolling. In America, dyed and decorated Easter eggs were brought by Germans in the later 18th and 19th centuries, especially Pennsylvania Dutch. They became popular during the 19th century as Easter celebrations became more focused on children-it's fun. Other ethic groups, Greeks for instance, use red-that's as old as the Neolithic and blood means new life.

Hiding and hunting eggs might mean hunting for a suitable mate, but more likely comes from rural traditions when people would have to find eggs laid in fields and hedges by chickens and other birds. It also means hunting rabbits. This, too, became a children's game (that's happened to lots of our holiday customs-like Halloween).

Eggs are a big part of Easter foods, whether eaten alone or in all the fancy baked breads of the season.

If Jesus ate meat at the Last Supper, it would have been lamb. Jewish Passover traditions call for lamb, and so do most European traditions. But, in north Europe pigs, were always important. Hams, from pigs slaughtered in the winter, then salted and smoked were ready to eat in the spring-before fresh meats were available. This is especially true in North America where lamb was never an important meat.

Because I am living in the southwest in the Winter, I am offering a Southwest spin on our Easter Ham this year.

Jalapeno-Pomegranite Glazed Ham
adapted from Akasha Richmond

Instant pot instructions as well as conventional oven

1 7 pound, bone in, spiral cut smoked ham
1 c. chicken stock (homemade or Swanson)
1 10 ounce jar jalapeno jelly spicy
1 c. sweetened pomegranite juice
2 T. Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Preheat oven to 325 F. Place ham in a large roasting pan and add the chicken stock.

In a medium saucepan, bring the jalapeno jelly, pomegranite jusice and lemon juice to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat until slightly thickened, 10 minutes. Whisk in the mustard, cinnamon and ginger and simmer until reduced to about 1 1/4 Cups, about 5 minutes.

Drizzle half of the glaze over the ham and cover with foil. Roast for 1 1/2 hours, basting frequently, until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the ham registers 125 F.

Remove the foil and brush the ham with any remaining glaze. Roast for 30 minutes longer, until the top is lightly caramelized. Transfer to a platter. Pour the pan juices into a bowl and serve with the ham.

 Instant Pot instructions-

1. Pour ¼ cup water into the steel basin of the Instant Pot.
2. Place the ham in the pot with the sliced side facing down. If the ham is too large, you may need to cut a portion of it off in order for it all to fit.

Drizzle the glaze over the ham. DO NOT cover with foil.

1. Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 10 minutes at high pressure.
2. Naturally release pressure (if the valve doesn’t drop after 10 minutes, then open the valve to release any remaining pressure).
3. Drain the liquid from the pot into a bowl and set aside. Allow the ham to rest for at least 10 minutes, then remove the ham to a platter.

The perfect compliment to ham-2009 Calera Pinot Noir- Wine Advocate rating is 92 points!! At $23.00 this is a must buy! Free shipping on any 12 bottles! Click on the icon to the right and you will go to their site.

How to make a cute Easter Basket
Read all instructions first! This is a 30-45 minute project, if you have all your supplies.

 Choose a Easter basket can be anything except plastic (we are using a glue gun to attach embellishment).

I am making Easter baskets, for my grandchildren. Choose a fabric that coordinates with what the child is wearing or just a pretty Spring color. When my two boys and two girls were growing up, I made the boys baskets with little sailboat fabric or ducky fabric. Cut the width of the fabric the measurement from the top of the basket to the bottom of the basket, plus 5"-6". The length should be double the perimeter of the basket.

This isn't the best picture, but, baste (long stitch on sewing machine) the fabric over, making a hem, about 2 1/2". This can vary, depending on how wide you want the ruffle to stand above the basket. Adjust the width that you cut your fabric if you want the ruffle wider.

Now you should be able to easily pull two of the threads from one side of the basting and make the fabric gather. Gather and check the length with the perimeter of the basket. It needs to fit around the basket and have some to lap over.

Now fit the wrong side out and use the glue gun to attach the ruffle to the rim. Let the fabric hang into the bowl of the basket.
*Note that if your basting breaks, it can be ruffled with the glue gun and sort of pushing the fabric, where it is going to be attached. It may take more glue, but, it can be done.

 The bottom is made by cutting a piece of cardboard the perimeter if the bottom of the basket/vessel, cut fabric 1" larger (doesn't need to be perfect) than that and glue to cardboard.

You then fit the cardboard bottom into the basket!

 Next, the fun of adding a personal touch!

Add adornments with a glue gun. Buttons, toile, ribbon, silk flowers, little toys...let your imagination go wild!

Easy squeezy lemon cheesy! You are done! You can attached some beautiful ribbons you may have in your drawer, or have purchased. Some silk flowers or anything to the handle. Grandma and Grandpa can fill with Easter candy!!