A pie for New Years

This is my first post on Poshish. I've been meaning to post something for months, but quite frankly...I am not all that creative nor am I good at DIY projects. I am only now beginning to have courage when it comes to sewing and crafting. However, I consider myself an excellent cook and hope I can share some of my favorite recipes with you. We are going to be watching a lot of football over the next few days, and we feel like there isn't a better way to watch football than to watch it with food. Here's a delicious french silk pie (chocolate cream) recipe:

French Silk Pie
3/4 c. butter, softened
1 c. white sugar
3 one ounce squares unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
2 tsp. pure vanilla
3 large eggs

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter for 1 minute. Add sugar, 1/4 cup at a time and continue to beat until light and fluffy. (3-5 minutes) It must be mixed long enough so it is no longer gritty. In a separate pan, melt chocolate in a small bowl over hot water. Do not let the chocolate harden up. Slowly add chocolate to butter mixture until mixture is smooth and creamy. On medium speed, add eggs one at a time, beating after each one before adding the next egg. Scrape bowl. Add vanilla and mix again. Spread over pie crust.

Cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 c. powder sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
chocolate curls

Mix cream, sugar and vanilla until thick. Spread over chocolate. Add chocolate curls if desired. I just shaved a hershey's bar on top of the pie.

My pie crust
1 cup flour
1/3 plus 1 Tbsp. shortening
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 Tbsp. cold water

Cut shortening into flour and salt mixture. Add cold water. Mix well. Roll thin and put in pie pan. Poke crust. Double foil the top and put in oven at 400 for 8 minutes. Remove foil and cook for 6 more minutes. 

If you want more baking recipes, I added 12 yummy treats during December under the tag "Peanut creations" on my blog: A handful of peanuts... If you want more recipes, let me know and I'll continue posting them here.

Sunbeams

I just got called to be a Sunbeam teacher! I am so excited, and my cute little girl is in my class. I found this fun idea on PINTEREST my latest obsession.

I was worried because I was a nursery leader for ever and none of the kids would ever sit still for a lesson. So I searched and searched for some ideas and this was the winner.

Cut out an egg for each of the children and they have to sit on it and keep it warm just like a mommy duck

Then at the end of your lesson if they've sat on their egg you let them have a baby duckling made out of pompoms and googly eyes. my kids were so excited when I was making these so I hope the sunbeams like them too!

I made the red one and thought it looked a little like an Angry Bird! haha hopefully the parents don't think I'm letting them play that at church!

pine tree sprigs

this was another fun idea I got from my favorite place, pinterest!

just cut some little sprigs off your pine tree or if your lucky like me the tree lot will have tons of trimmings they'll let you take for free! get lots of little glass jars (baby food jars work great and I know you all have some of those around!) fill them up with water and your trimmings. It made a really cute center piece for our Christmas dinner

Pumpkins with Vines

I should have posted this awhile ago, since it is now the week of Halloween.  This is a really easy craft to do for Halloween.  I'm not a huge fan of the guts and gore decorations for Halloween.  I thought this was a little bit classier decor.  What you need is small decorative pumpkins, black dimensional paint and black craft paint.

This is an example of dimensional paint.

Now you just paint vines with the black dimensional paint directly onto the pumpkin.  The dimensional paint I used came out gray at first, which freaked me out a little bit, but luckily it dried black.  Also, if you mess up, the dimensional paint wipes right off the pumpkin and you can try again.  It's pretty much fool proof.  Let the pumpkins dry over night.  Once the dimensional paint is dry, paint the stalks of the pumpkin with normal black acrylic craft paint.  Here are how my pumpkins turned out.

Side View

Top View

Fun Treat for Fall

I saw this idea on pinterest.com.  It is really simple and was quite the crowd pleaser at our last get together.  All you need is doughnut holes, chocolate frosting or nutella, chocolate sprinkles and pretzel sticks.  However, it took a lot more chocolate sprinkles than I expected.

Little doughnut acorns in a row

magnet board

magnet board

Supplies:

metal sheet from hardware store, cut to size, I did a 3x3

fabric

duct tape

ribbon

This was so easy to make, (except the cutting, but my wonderful husband did that for me!) all you do is cut your fabric leaving about 2 inches to fold over the back, pull it tight and tape it down.

Use a punch or a screw driver and a hammer to poke 2 holes in the top for your ribbon and tie it up.

We made this coat rack to hang coats at the bottom. just a 1x4 paint it black and put some hooks on it!

Kite mobile

I made this for the nursery I am putting together for our almost here baby girl.  It was VERY cheap.  The only thing I had to purchase was the felt and I got that on Etsy.com... I just searched "wool felt sheets" and there are quite a few venders, all have a variety of colors so just find what vendor has the colors you are looking for and you can purchase a nice stack.  When the felt arrived there was orange and white twisted string holding it together so I just used that as my mobile string. I got a screw in top hook from a friend (but you can find at any craft store), and then the sticks from outside.  You can make a mobile with what ever shapes or hanging items that you want... I chose to make mine a kite mobile (diamonds with sticks on the back :) ). My only tools were diamond patterns I made out of cardboard and a glue gun.
1) I made 3 different sizes of cardboard diamonds just using a ruler and "eye-balling" it. I then picked the order of the felt colors I wanted for each diamond set (I wanted a layered look, as you can see) and I cute out my shapes and placed them into the groupings I liked. and then glued them together.

2) Next I went and searched out the straightest small sticks I could find to glue onto the back... I did this to make it look like a kite and to help the diamonds keep their shape.  I broke the sticks to create the proper length and glued them on.  The cross stick I glued onto the other stick in the middle and on the two edges.

 3) I then found 3 sturdier sticks that I liked the look of to use as the arms of the mobile.  And leaving enough string at the top to hang the mobile I measured down how far I wanted each stick and secured it in place by wrapping the string multiple times around the middle (or where ever the stick balanced the best) and then tied a double knot to secure it... I did this for all 3 sticks.

4) Then I proceeded to add the kites to my sticks.  I only made 5 so on the top two sticks I added a kite to each side and on the bottom I hung one down the main middle string.  I attached the string to the kites by wrapping the string multiple times around the back stick and tied a knot and put some glue attaching the string to the felt as an extra security. and then wrapped and tied the top end of the string to the main stick, also adding a little glue for extra security.

5) And after doing that with all the kites my mobile was complete! I just screwed in the hook to the ceiling and wrapped and tied the string multiple times to the hook to make sure it was secure.  I may add the letters of her name to the front diamonds (if we can figure out what to name her any time soon) but for now this is how it looks....

There are a ton of ways to make a mobile, but I really loved the natural/rustic look of this one... if this is your style, give it a whirl... its cheap and easy!

Baby crib bumpers

I am not going to write out all the directions on here as I copied them 100% from this website I founds... i'll post it below so anyone who is interested can do the same.  The instructions were very clear and I was able to accomplish my goal (my first sewing goal since about 13 years ago in highschool) of making my baby girls crib bumpers.  The only thing I did differently than this blog is I made my own crib ties, I didn't just use ribbon... I'll be honest, making your own takes probably 5 times as long as just cutting and sewing in ribbon, but I personally like the look of it a lot better, so I'll show you how I did that...
Here is the link to make crib bumpers
And here are my tid bits...
1) pick out the type and thickenss of batting you want to use, I just went to the fabric store and looked at the batting on those big rollers and used the measurements of my crib to determine how much to buy.  Fabric wise, I bought 2 1/2 yards just so I would have enough for seams and all that jazz.
2) Make your pattern (how ever small or tall your bumpers are is up to you), I used wax paper and then cut off about an 1-1 1/2 inches off the width and then rolled it out one inch longer than the length of the side of my crib and cut.  I used the same piece of wax paper for all four sides, I just measured and cut the long sides first and then cut the wax paper to fit the short sides of the crib and then cut those... Walla!... I had all my pieces (the rest you can read about on the link I posted).

Now for the ties...
1) I suggest getting a partner in crime for this, it was much easier having help with cutting and measuring, and it went a lot faster.
2) Determine the width and length you want your ties, I didn't care if they could tie a bow, I wanted more the knot look so we cut mine 11 inches long and about an 1 1/2 inches wide... different sizes will have different looks.
3) We made this SUPER easy.... we cut one long strip the width and length we wanted and then we folded over the fabric, pinned that one to the next segment and cut another one and just kept using the last one we had cut as our pattern... the length of our fabric was such that we could just cute one long strip the width I wanted and then we divided it by 4 (which was 11 inches) and after we cut all the strips we needed we cut them into 4ths and walla (I had 8 long strips total which each cut evenly into 4 11 in pieces) (in the end you need 24 ties).
4) the next part took the longest, once you have all your 11 in x 1 1/2 in strips (or what ever length you choose)... you fold it in half, right side of the fabric facing in and you sew around two of the open ends leaving one of the small ends open (I did a zig zag and a straight stitch, doubled up, to ensure no fraying would occur), and then you start to turn it inside out, first start with your fingers, then you can use the end of a wooden spoon to push the excess fabric through (it really does take a while.), and then you can tuck in the raw edges of the open end and sew the end shut, iron the pieces flat, and there you have it... ties. (follow the link to show you how to sew them into the bumpers.)

Finished product...

clip board

My one year old is getting quite a clip collection and we needed somewhere to put them all where we could see them. I can't claim this idea as my own, I saw it somewhere, I just copied it, but it's really easy and turned out pretty cute!


All we did was wrap some fabric around a canvas and secure it with staples. Then stapled some ribbon on and hung it up on her wall. Easy Peasy.

painting fabric

I've had these chairs for a while now and just was never happy with them. I covered them in a solid fabric that ended looking the same color as the paint on our walls, blah. It looked totally different at the fabric store. So I painted numbers on them! a cute friend suggested this and I've been seeing it a lot in Pottery Barn and stores like that.

Fabric paint is really easy and cheep, and I just made the stencils by printing numbers on card stock and cutting them out with a razor blade.

(and check out the beginning of our Halloween decor, the bats hanging from the chandler)

quick update for scrapbooks

This was a cute idea I snagged from a friend. I am really good at keeping up on scrapbooks for my kids, just sticking pictures in each month, nothing fancy! So I have 10 books sitting on my shelves that are just really dull and mismatched.

I'm going to cover each kids in a different pattern. I found 4 different but matching fabrics.

Super easy to do (if you have a sewing machine).

Use your book for a pattern.

Cut out, sew all 4 edges over for a nice edge.

sew the 2 ends to make pockets to hold the cover of your book.

and there you have it! 3 of them at least, I figured that was enough for today considering all the other projects I have going at the moment.

Quick Bookshelf Improvement

I saw this idea on pinterest.com and I decided to try it out.  It is an easy way to add a little color to any room.  All you do is take the back off of a bookshelf, spray paint it the desired color of your choice and then nail it back on once it is dry.  I thought it turned out really cute.

Before
(Kind of boring)

After

watermellon

This is just about the best thing I've learned this summer.

My family loves watermellon and I hate cutting it up, trying to keep it from rolling around, it always makes a huge mess, and I feel like I wasted a lot of it. So I saw this in Martha Stewert...

Cut the two ends so that you can stand it up then shave of the sides and there you have a it, just the inside of the mellon! it's so great!

ENJOY!

tent

This was a really fun quick project, for anyone that has kids you should make this!

I saw it in Pottery Barn Kids and thought why would anyone pay this insane price when all it is is a couple sticks and fabric? it cost me just under $10. and a few scraps of fabric I already had.

Supplies:

7 2x2's any length, mine are all about 4 ft.

a few nuts and bolts

some fabric for the cover, I just pieced a bunch of canvas scraps that I had together.

and a handy husband who has the day off, or if you like to use a drill go for it!

1st step: make the ends that will cross as the opening, this is where we used the bolts/nuts so it could open and be closed for storage.

2nd: screw the bottom slats and the top one just sits in the X's

3rd: paint if you want and put your fabric on! my kids love it!

Rag Wreaths

My sisters and I got together to make rag wreaths for the 4th of July.  They are really simple to do.  I would suggest this as a group activity and have everyone bring different patterns of fabric to share.  Plus, that way you have someone to chat with while you are tying all those knots!

First cut strips of fabric in the different colors you would like in strips of 1"x7".
We chose patterns of red, white and blue for the 4th of July.

Next, bend a wire hanger in to a circle.

Then you tie the strips of fabric around the hanger, as my sister Noelle is doing.
(And she is so excited about it as well.)

Ta da!  The final product!

she wore flowers in her hair...

now I will have that song in my head all day and think of dumb and dumber! ( I hope I'm not the only one remembers that haha)

a cute girl in my ward made these little felt bows, so I had to give it a try...

what you need:

glue gun, felt, clips, scissors, needle/thread

cut some circles, they can be as big/small as you want. start with 1 for the base and pinch the middle of the other circles and attach them to the base circle with your glue gun, the more circles you put on the cuter. Once you get going it makes sense. I didn't do very many on this one and I wasn't very happy with it. but I love my white one(you'll see it later...)

this one was a lot easier. cut out a row of petals, keep them attached to one another. then stitch across the bottom then gather into a flower. on this one I cut out 4 small circles and pinched the middle to make a cute center for the flower, I LOVED it! and it helped to have an amazingly cute model!

there are endless ways to put these together, SO FUN!

now there is peace

I made this little prayer chart for my kids in hope of peace and happiness! (does that really exist?)

Every meal and every time we go to bed the issue of who gets to say the prayer is just out of control and the whole being reverent part is smashed to the ground by the time we're done.

SO this is what I came up with totally simple, just grabbed some paper that I had and ta da!

And then there was peace... for a bit

Decoupage Eggs

I'm posting about a craft I actually haven't done yet, but I plan on doing for Easter.  I figured if I posted about this after Easter, it wouldn't be very useful.  I think these little decoupage eggs would be so cute in Easter baskets or by each plate at Easter dinner.  The instructions are found here.  Since I haven't made them yet, I don't really have any tips, but it doesn't look too complicated.

(Here's the follow up, I did make the decoupage eggs and posted on my blog how they turned out.  I thought they were really cute, but too much work to just have them broken open again!  Ha, oh well.)

Felt flowers wreath remake

I made a wreath for Valentine's Day with felt flowers a couple months ago, glued the flowers on a grapevine wreath, and hated it. It was huge and bugged me every time I looked at it. And it took probably 5 hours to complete, which only made me like it even less. Something that takes 5 hours should look amazing, right? SO... I decided to redo the wreath. And now I love it! Took the flowers off, wrapped a styrofoam wreath with felt, then glued all the flowers on it. It's much smaller and much more full. And now I only have to wait 10 months to hang it up : )

CD organizer

I've been trying to figure out a good way to organize all of our CD's and finally came up with this. I keep all of our music in a huge CD case, but will keep the ones I want to listen to that week and a few of the kids CD's in this organizer for easy access. We don't really have a place to hang it right now, but eventually I want to have one hanging on the wall next to an old CD player that the kids can use so they can listen to their music whenever they want to. This project was very easy and very quick!




Start out by cutting eight 5.75"x4" and two 5.75"x13" pieces of felt (you could also use vinyl or any other durable piece of material that won't fray).


On one of the big pieces, mark where to sew the pockets... 1" apart.


Next sew ribbon on top of all of the pieces that will be the pockets.


Starting at the top, sew on the pockets (just a stitch across the bottom).


After the pockets have all been sewed on, put the other large piece on the back and stitch all the way around. If you want it to hang, sew a loop of ribbon on to the top.


And there you have it! CD organization complete in less than an hour. I know you can buy things like this, but it's much cheaper to make. And depending on what fabric or ribbon you use, these could be really cute. I just used what I had lying around.