#22 - Done!

I finished another "40 Things To Do Before I Turn 40" goal!

22. Crochet an afghan (or two!)

I crocheted this granny-square blanket for my sister as part of my hand-made Christmas gifts.  It had twelve different colors and by the time I got to the outer rows it was taking me a little over an hour to do one round.  I was pretty happy with how it turned out and I hope that it keeps Jen warm for years to come!

I have about 40 granny-squares that I was hoping to turn into a blanket for mom and dad, but I just didn't get it done.  Plus, it doesn't seem quite big enough.  I'll have to try to figure out something else to do with all of those squares.....

My "To Craft" List - Holiday Edition

With the holiday season fast approaching I hold no illusions that I'll get to all of these this year, but these little projects are definitely on my "to craft" list!  Clicking on the pictures will take you to the how-to or inspiration posts....

Felt house ornament from The Floss Box

Felt Polaroid ornaments from katie.cupcake

Coats & Clark crocheted snowflake garland

I've already started making circles for this garland from Quilt While You're Ahead

Perhaps something inspired by these Kaboodle penguins....

And of course some Kaboodle-inspired owls

Button snowmen from About.com

I'm thinking embroidered ornaments based on these Red Velvet Art patterns

Or these (also RVA)

Perhaps something based on these for a little Jordan I know (RVA)

I also have an idea for more mini-snowpeople that, since I can't find any tutorials on the interwebs, I might just have to make using the old trial and error method.  Heck, if they turn out cute perhaps I'll even do my very own tutorial!  *Note to self - use light and dark wooden beads.  I'll know what I mean!*

I'll show you my progress on these little projects as they come along.  I think #34 (Decorate a Christmas tree using only handmade decorations) is shaping up quite nicely, don't you?

#31 Bites The Dust!

 31. Bake a cake (or cupcakes) from scratch - including icing

I chose to try the Lemon Cream Cupcakes recipe that I found on allrecipes.com.  I picked it because it had the most (and best) reviews, so I figured that surely someone else with my same basic skill level tried these.  Overall I would have to rate them about a 7 out of 10 - I was hoping for a little more lemon taste in the cake.  The frosting is good but VERY rich - probably a side-effect of being made with 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and not a significant amount of anything else.  Here are some pictures from my little project:

The uncooked batter was actually really good!

I used Great Grandma Lula's Sunbeam Mixmaster - it's a beast!

The batter was thick

  

Definitely not too bad with some milk!

 

Yeah, I made it!

Nothing but crumbs baby!

Some fun facts about this evening:

*Tonight was the first time that I had ever zested a lemon.  I actually zested two lemons, which the kids were happy to eat afterwards.  They actually like to eat lemons by themselves with some salt.  They apparently learned this from Shad.  He's weird.  So are they.

*I love my great-grandma's mixer.  I've had it for years and years and years now and it's amazing.  I've used it to make divinity several times as well as numerous cookies, cakes, etc.  Every time I think that it's going to give up the ghost it keeps beating on.

*I asked Shad to buy me a cupcake pan when he went to Wal-Mart this afternoon.  I really needed another one, and I know that if I asked him to pick one up for me he wouldn't pick out the cheapest one and would instead get me a decent one.  If I bought it, I'd probably go cheap and regret it.  It's nice to know that he won't!

*I really need a bigger mixing bowl.  After all of the ingredients were finally added, I ended up slopping batter hither thither and yon throughout the kitchen.  Of course Shad and the kids had to comment on it any time that they came into the kitchen.

*I used an ice cream scoop to get the batter into the cupcake liners.  The recipe said to use 1/4 cup of batter for each cupcake, so I eyeballed it and decided that the ice cream scoop was pretty close to 1/4 of a cup.  I must have been at least close, or else the exact amount wasn't really that important.  It was actually pretty cool - I didn't get as much batter on the pan as I usually do.  I absolutely can't take credit for the idea because I'm sure I must have heard/read about it somewhere.  I just can't remember where right now.

*I used a bunch of bananas to support the camera when I took the picture of me with the cupcake.  Right before I (finally) got the shot set up, the cupcake fell over and the top fell off.  I had to hold it on for that picture.  I know that you can see my bra strap.  I think the shirt makes my eyes look really blue.

*We've been incorporating random plates, coffee cups and silverware into our house.  Most of our "new" stuff is 1970s'ish and brown, yellow, cream, orange and green.  The plate that I ate the cupcake on is one of my favorites!

Two down and 38 to go!

Working on #29

Thanks to mom, I'm one step closer to completing another one of my "40 Things To Do Before I Turn 40" tasks -

29. Make banana bread from scratch.

Now all I have to do is hide three bananas for long enough to actually make the recipe.  Okay, that might have sounded a little weird.  What I meant was that I have to keep the kids from devouring three of the dozens of bananas that I bring home every month.  We're potassium-lovin' folks......

Cross Off #10!

From the 40 Things To Do Before I Turn 40 List, I direction your attention to #10 - Make and wear an item of clothing. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you:

That's right, I rocked the owl gloves at last weekend's football game!  I'm so glad that VBF and her elfish daughter were there to properly oooh and awww over them, since the people at my house just treated me like I was some delusional craft addict hell-bent on embarrassing them with my handcrafted accessories.

One down, 39 to go!

How I Spent My Day

Seriously, almost my whole day. 

The Ingredients

I'm pretty proud of myself for finishing this project in only one day - well, not really one day if you count the fact that I started this project two other times last night and determined both times that the crochet hook that I was using wasn't the one I really wanted - but still...

My inpiration came from a guest post that Twinkie Chan did on Elsie's blog.  It almost had to be fate - after all, I have only recently posted my "40 Things" post, and #10 was to make and wear an item of clothing.  Twinkie's project was super-cute and well within my abilities, so I kept my eye out for some cute yarn to use.  The blue/grey mix that you see above came from Big Lots and cost all of $1.00.  I thought that it fit the bill perfectly.

I wish I was better at taking step-by-step pictures so you could truly appreciate all of the hard work that went into my day, but alas, I am not and there's no use crying over spilled milk.  Yeah. 

Wihout further ado, here is the inspiration for my project.

Twinkie Chan's Mummy Gloves

And here is my version:

As you can see, I made some changes but still used the same basic pattern for the glove.  I chose to stitch the top of the glove to make separate finger-holes instead of leaving the top open and (obviously) ditched the mummy wrappings for a cutie-pie owl.  Here's a closer shot of the owl:

Hello there!

Overall, I'm pleased with the end result(s); after all, I did make two of them.  You can't one-hand a sweet homemade owl glove ala Michael Jackson - you have to rock the deuce!

Okay, I owe you all a nice long rambly post (heck, maybe it will even be funny) but it's not going to get done tonight.  I'm so tired I'm getting punchy.  I'm also going to get started on the contact paper challenge here pretty soon.  Maybe tomorrow *yawn*.  Night night!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Any guesses as to how old I'm turning this year?

I'm technically posting this just a tad early, but I have the time and the inclination to do this now so I'll go ahead and claim the extra year now, two hours early.

I decided that I wanted to make a "40 Things To Do Before I Turn 40" list and then take a picture and do a little blog each time I accomplish one of my goals.  I figure three years will give me enough time to save for some of the big ticket items (See #1) and time to plan some of the more time-consuming tasks.  Some of these things are small, some silly, some practical, but all are things that I haven't done yet (or want to do again!) and want to do before I get too old.  :)

Without further delay........

40 THINGS TO DO BEFORE I TURN 40

1.  Take Shad to Italy

2.  Host a dinner party

3.  Get/Make/Acquire a headboard for our bed

4.  Go to a Postsecret event or send in a secret (or two!)

5.  Get another tattoo - if I find one that I like

6.  Do a photo shoot with/from the motorcycle

7.  Participate in a play at our local theater

8.  Volunteer at a Habitat House

9.  Have my VBF take a family portrait of us

10. Make and wear an item of clothing

11. Renew my wedding vows with Shad

12. Get a perm

13. Gather emergency supplies for tornado/zombie attack

14. Wear my Little Black Dress

15. Perfect a go-to recipie

16. Make sushi

17. Drive a squad car (with lights and sirens!)

18. Have a taco salad at Parkside restaurant in Sycamore, Illinois

19. Start (and regularly use) a Flickr account

20. Take family portraits for my sister-in-law and her family

21. Go to a Rob Zombie concert

22. Crochet an afghan (or two!)

23. Learn motorcycle maintenance from my dad

24. Skydive or bungee jump

25. Transfer our old home movies to DVD

26. Get mom's carrot cake recipe

27. Have an over-the-top Halloween party

28. Do a girls-only roadtrip

29. Make banana bread from scratch

30. Participate in a charity 5K run/walk

31. Bake a cake (or cupcakes) from scratch - including icing

32. Go to a Renegade Art Fair event

33. Participate in the St. Jude motorcycle ride to Memphis

34. Decorate a Christmas tree using only handmade decorations

35. Go to a drive-in movie with Shad

36. Pay off all unsecured debt
37. Trace my family tree back at least five generations

38. Redo or install hardwood floors in our front rooms

39. Take a dip in the ocean

40. Go to Detroit for a hockey game

Sometime in the next 1096 days I intend to do each and every one of these things, so stay tuned!