Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Irony

This week I finally broke down and bought a new point and shoot camera.  You can see that I was finally able to take some pictures of the projects I have been working on lately.  I found a great little camera that I got for $69.99, it is a Kodak Easy Share M341.  It is teeny, tiny and will be great to take all those places that I don't want to have to worry about my big camera.  The irony is that I finally got it and got it working so I could take pictures today.  Immediately I got a call saying my lens was finally fixed and I could pick it up.  Now that I have missed nearly the entire summer of picture taking, I have two working cameras.  LOVELY!

In other news, these are pictures of two projects I have had a lot of fun with lately.  The first is a garland I made to use on my decorative shelf for the patriotic holidays.  It was super easy and turned out darling.  It took a little time, but was the perfect brainless activity to work on in front of the T.V.  I found the tutorial at  The Crafty Crow and they got it from Saltwater Kids.  I made my flags a little bit bigger, I used an index card as a guide and I also used my sewing machine to stitch the flags to the twine.  Other than that, I pretty much followed the tutorial. 

The second picture is a cedar chest I bought on KSL.com.  A few weeks ago I decided that I needed something to keep my shoes in because my closet is so small.  I thought a cedar chest would be perfect.  I have always wanted one, so I headed to KSL.com .  I quickly found the cheapest one I could find that was realtively close to my house.  The outside was a little beat up, but that didn't matter because I planned on painting it anyway.  I followed the tips found at http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/
I spray painted it with Kiltz spraypaint primer, then spraypainted it with Krylon aqua and used the tips for glazing and it turned out great!  It was so much easier than I expected and I am thrilled with the results!  I definitely see more furniture painting and glazing in my future.  It was fun and completely rewarding!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Vacation?

We took a little weekend trip to Park City this last week.  The trip itself was great, unfortunately it did not end well.  We planned to come home Saturday night.  My 3 year old, Paige, was swimming at the hotel pool with my husband Saturday morning,  while I was shopping at the nearby outlet mall.  Mid-shopping trip I got a call from my husband saying Paige needed stitches.  She had been jumping off the side of the pool and turned and hit her chin on the side of the pool.  It was a nasty gash and really deep.  I ended up taking her down to Primary Children's Hospital where she ended up with 3 interior stitches because it was so deep and 10 outside stitches.  She was a trooper though and for her the worst part is that she can't go to swimming lessons or the pool for 2 weeks.  Once we got home and started to unpack, we thought we had seen the worst of what the day had to offer.  Boy were we wrong.  That evening, my 8 year old started throwing up and didn't stop all night.  Before I went to bed, I checked on my 1 year old.  She had thrown up all over her crib and had to be woken up and bathed and her sheets changed.  Then I finally fell asleep only to wake up and throw up myself!  Why oh why must vacations always involve blood and throw-up!  I think I'm staying home for awhile!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Broken Camera Lens

I think I just may lose my mind if I can't get my camera lens back shortly.  On the 3rd of July I realized my camera lens was broken.  I have Nikon D40, nothing super fancy, but I love it and use it nearly daily.  Unfortunately, I have never gotten any other lenses besides the 18-55mm kit lens that came with it.  I about died when I found out it was broken.  It took all kinds of research to decide if I should fix it or buy something new or what.  I found out that the 18-55mm lens was a great versatile lens and only $100, so after debating for a week or two, my husband said, just go into Inkleys and buy a new one.  Inkley's had told me that it wasn't worth fixing because a new one was only $100 when I went in to talk to them.  When I went in a few days later, after searching online and realizing I couldn't find that lens anywhere online for anything close to $100, I was told, "You can't just buy that lens, it only comes in the kit with the camera, which is not even available any more".  Are you kidding me!  Anyway, the search started over.  I have checked into every option, including buying an entire new camera and I have finally taken it to a place here locally that fixes lenses for a fairly reasonable price, but their wait time is at least 2 weeks and now they are waiting for a part to come from Nikon.  I have essentially lost the entire month of July for pictures.  I am realizing that I really need at least a little back-up point and shoot.  I have several craft projects that I am dying to post about here and I can't because I can't take any pictures, not to mention the fact that I can't take any pictures of my kids and during this time my baby has started walking.  When I talked to the camera shop today, they said the part only has to come from California, but Nikon randomly will have parts on backorder and it might take 3 or 4 weeks.  I really don't know what I am going to do if it doesn't come soon!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Mary Elngelbreit's Nursery Tales

Mary Engelbreit's Nursery Tales: A Treasury of Children's ClassicsMary Engelbreit's Nursery Tales: A Treasury of Children's Classics by Mary Engelbreit


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I blogged about wanting this book back at Christmas time. I got it and I have absolutely loved it. Fairy tales have always been a favorite of mine and I love Mary Englebreit's artwork, so I was sure this would be a hit and it didn't disappoint. The thing that I really love about this collection of fairy tales is that the stories are fairly simple and there are lots of pictures. Three and Four year olds seem to always love fairy tales, but so many of the fairy tale collections have few pictures and lots of words. My three year old and I read this collection regularly!



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Friday, July 9, 2010

Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore

Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen: A NovelLooking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen: A Novel by Susan Gregg Gilmore


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen is a great read. It is funny, sweet, and quirky, complete with several unexpected twists and turns. It is the story of a young girl growing up in a small town with dreams of experiencing more in life than her little town has to offer.



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Sunday, July 4, 2010

Fourth of July Sugar Cookies

Sorry that the photo is not great.  I am having some issues with a broken camera lens.  Sugar cookies have long been the bane of my cooking existence.  I NEVER make them!  Unfortunately, with young kids, they are a necessary evil.  Cookie decorating is the joy of nearly every holiday.  I have tried and tried to get them right and they just never work out.  They are always falling apart as I try to cut them out and move them to the cookie tray.  I never have the patience to chill the dough.  They seem to require such a time commitment and they have always seemed so tempermental to me.  So at my house, when we decorate cookies, I order them already baked from my local grocery store bakery, a solution that works out fine with me for the most part.  However, there is this annoying part of me that is always bugged by the fact that I can't get something that is supposed to be such a cooking basic right.  Anyway, since the 4th of July is not typically one of those "cookie decorating holidays", so the pressure for perfect cookies would be minimal, and because I have several awesome star cookie cutters.  I decided that I was actually going to attempt some sugar cookie making.  I figured that if I volunteered to bring them the the barbeque at my parents house for the fireworks, if they bombed, I could just make something else and take it for desert.  I did in fact make some carmel popcorn to take along with these cookies because I was so unsure of my cookie making skills.  I think I may finally have figured a few things out.  I knew I had to actually chill the dough, which must be the true secret.  I have also discovered that I tend to roll the dough too thin and to cook the cookies too long.  Next time I will be a little more careful on both those points, however, note that I am suggesting there will be a next time.  I started with the most basic.  I got my recipe for the cookies from the Martha Stewart website.  It was called "Ideal Sugar Cookies".  The recipe was great,  I did use milk instead of the brandy it gave as an option, but other than that, I followed the recipe exactly.  Next time I would double the recipe, because it wasn't a ton of dough and if I am going to go to all the work of making sugar cookies, I am going to make plenty.  Here's a link to the recipe.  After the cookies had cooled completed I used a sugar cookie glaze recipe from allrecipes.com that was awesome.  Here is the link and below is what I actually did (I read some of the reviews and made a couple of changes). 

Sugar Cookie Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tblsp light corn syrup
2 tblsp milk
1tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients together.  Then dip cookies in glaze.  (can add food coloring for varied colors)

After dipping my cookies in the white glaze, I dipped them in red, white and blue sprinkles.  They were a hit and maybe now my kids will grow up thinking that sugar cookies don't have to come in a plastic container!

The Corinthian, by Georgette Heyer

The Corinthian The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer



My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this book. It was funny and face-paced. It was a romance, but not in the least bit "cheesy". Predictable, like all of Heyer's, but an all around fun read. Heyer is a favorite of mine because she delivers romances without smut.  Perfect summer read!



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