Under My Rock-Cheap Photo Duplication

Welcome to the rock I live under. I always wonder if I'm the last person on earth to know little things, and thus, when I share, I then wonder if people just smile and nod when I share a 'discovery'?!? I'm OK with that.
So, here is my public service for today. ...and when I say public-I mean me, myself, and I.
Something I do all the time is take old pictures I want to use in scrapbooks, shadow boxes, frames, projects, liter boxes, whatever and have copies made so I can keep the original in their 'original' condition. When I play with pictures my play usually involves glue, and glitter, and brads, and lots of travel (and potential harm). Sure, I have disks and back ups saved of all my recent pictures, it's the 'old ones' that don't have a back up. I just don't want to mess with the original. You can take them to a photo shop and have them copied, BUT I discovered years ago that you can have a 8.5x11 paper of picture(s) copied at Kinkos for 58 cents on their regular old color copier, and they turn out GREAT. Once it's in a frame, in an album, or in a liter box, you can not tell the difference between photo paper, and paper-paper. This has saved my life, or at least many old pictures through the years, and there is no guilt in the glittering. I have also copied whole scrapbook pages, and made 'duplicate' scrapbooks for friends/family. This has saved my sanity, and lots....and lots of money. Even rhinestones, and 3-D flowers copy with shadows giving them the effect they need. Here's my latest example:

This picture is irreplaceable. There is a neat story behind the photo. This is a picture someone (we don't even know) took 28 years ago of my Dad just a few days before he passed away in a hit and run accident. My Mom received it in the mail from this unknown person who just happened to have stopped by my Dad's shop and was playing around with their camera and snapped a picture of my Dad. I cherish it. I take lots of pictures with this in mind. You just never know who's going to love those memories captured on film years later. I can't tell you how much this picture means to me, but I also have no copies. I'm about to start a shadow box with some old mementos in honor of my Dad, and I definitely wanted this picture as the backdrop, but it already has some wear and tear from age, and no back ups. So, I went to Kinkos, and I copied it. I think the results are fabulous for 58 cents, plus, I now have a backup!
And now you know. What next? *You* nod and smile.

In Appreciation of Our Bus(zzzzz)y Administration Team: Lemon Honey Cupcakes

I saw this recipe for lemon-honey cupcakes with lemon-honey icing in a Woman's Day magazine about a month ago. I wasn't as interested in the flavor combo as I was in the Peanut M&M bumble bee flying around it's hive. I 'needed' to make these, and conveniently, we also needed to appreciate our administrative assistants this week b/c they:
A) Should be appreciated, and
B) The calendar said it was time, plus
C) They put up with people like me.
D) This brings us back to...
A) They should be appreciated.
They are 'busy bees." At least, that's the angle I went with to justify why this was the 'right project.'
I halved the recipe for the cupcakes (listed at the end of this post) that said it made 24 cupcakes. I was only making enough for three people (it made 11 b/c I like to fill 'em up real full). I made the full icing recipe b/c I like a lot of icing to work with on desserts. If I made the full cupcake recipe, I'd double the icing. I also used melted chocolate to make the bumble bee stripes and eyes instead of the suggested materials. I think I'll go with their suggestions next time b/c my ziplock/melted chocolate was a tad messy. Or was that my piping skills? Here's my first of about 16 bees. They did get slightly better, but nobody is going to be paying me to make these anytime soon, so I'm OK with imperfection, messy lines, etc. I also used some Reese's hard shell egg candies I had from Easter instead of PB M&Ms. I ate all the other colors of Reese's that weren't yellow. Eating the other colors was an important step. Don't forget it, or your cupcakes won't turn out.

Does this bee make my hand look fat? Or, maybe that's all the other colored Reese's I ate?
....back to the project...
Pick your favorite method of bee creation if you choose to make these, and then tell me what it is b/c I need help. Oh man, do I need help on so many levels.
Next up...'my' dozen cupcakes. My dozen=11.

Puffy. Puffy is good. They smelled good too. Smelly, puffy, goodness.
Next, I iced. I sprinkled. I 'bee-dazzled.' Sorry, it had to come out. I can't be held responsible for these sort of comments. It's just how God made me.

This has nothing to do with anything, but I did snag a cloche at the store when I was buying some supplies for a project I'm creating next week. I just wanted to know how it would look. I've seen these all over the web, and I was feeling left out...

I'm better now that I'm part of the 'in' crowd. I may use this cloche in every post from now on, because I can. Maybe not.
But really...
No project is complete (this month) without chalkboard paint. What does this have to do with anything? Nothing! It comes out black, and black is good for a bee project. That was my justification. I went to get trivets to hold the cupcakes, but they were a little pricey, so I slid next door to the Dollar Tree, and found these plates on 'sale' for 50 cents each. Did you know they have sales at the DOLLAR store? I didn't.

I sprayed them with chalkboard paint, b/c it's kinda my thing. They look better black, and now they can also double as a fun catch all tray you can write messages on...OR something to throw at me if I get too annoying in my request for help.




How did they taste? I don't like lemon desserts too much, but I gave the extra to my Mom, and she liked it. I took a small bite, everything tasted fresh, and lemony. This is a good/bad thing-depending on your taste preference!
Here is the full cupcake recipe. (Makes 24 if you aren't me. If you are me-makes 22. If you are me, we need to talk.)
INGREDIENTS
Cupcakes
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp each baking powder and baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 T grated lemon zest
4 T lemon juice
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
Lemon-Honey Frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 T grated lemon zest
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
7 t lemon juice
4-5 drops yellow food color
Bumblebee
Tootsie Roll (I used melted semi-sweet chocolate.)
Yellow peanut M&M
Brown food marker (I used melted semi-sweet chocolate.)
Clear spice drop candies
Small cookie cutter (I just molded the spice drops with my (clean) hands.)
PREPARATION
1. Cupcakes: Heat oven to 350°F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
I just combined steps 2-4 and mixed them all at once with a spoon. They turned out fine, but if you like to be particular about your baking....follow their instructions...
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl to blend. Whisk sour cream, milk, lemon zest and juice in a small bowl until well mixed.
3. Beat butter, honey and sugar in large bowl with an electric mixer 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until blended.
4. With mixer on low speed, beat in half the flour mixture, then the sour cream mixture. Beat in remaining flour mixture until just combined.
5. Spoon about 1/4 cup batter into each muffin cup. Bake 18 to 20 minutes until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
I also just combined all the frosting ingredients, and mixed with a mixer, but here are the magazine's instructions...
6. Frosting: Beat butter, honey, and lemon zest in large bowl with an electric mixer until creamed, about 2 minutes. On low speed, beat in confectioners’ sugar until blended. Beat in lemon juice and a few drops food color until mixture is fluffy and pale yellow.
7. Spoon into a large ziplock bag, snip off one corner and pipe honey comb on top. (I also had to 'snip' my corner a little bigger after my first attempt, my 'comb' had too many layers, and even doubling the recipe I was running short, but with a bigger cut, it seemed to go further with fewer 'layers', weird, but true.)
P.s. I should say at this point I thought this cupcake would be super duper cute inside a mason jar. I got some kitchen tongs out and slowly lowered one inside. I added some black and white dotted ribbon to the outside, and decorated the lid. It looked awful. My mason jars have failed me. :Frantically searching for a therapist who can conduct an emergency session.:
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Entertain Exchange


Funky Junk A Vision to Remember

Chocolate Sundaes Keeping it Simple Sweet Thursdays

Scenes from the Last Week-The Not So Personal-Personal Stuff

1. Meet Max

...I just did!
My good pal, Sandye did the unthinkable-moved to Houston when her husband acquired a new job. She also acquired a new baby (after 9 months of pregnancy, and who knows how many hours of labor (I'm not allowed to ask those sort of questions, I want to want to have one or 4 of my own someday, so....it's best not to know)). I saw him last week. He's precious. He's walking. He speaks baby Spanish (thanks to his Daddy's heritage, and the language spoken to him at home). I can hardly speak baby anything, so when you throw in the Spanish babbling version, we just looked at each other and smiled. He used a lot of hand gestures. There was a point where he punched his fist into the air while he babbled to punctuate his point. Whatever that may be, I hope it's good. I can't wait to see him again. Come back Max, I'm really good at spoiling!
2. Have you heard this new song by Amy Grant? I love it, and it speaks to me. God's lessons sometimes hurt, but after 2++..ok... + decades of learning, I can say without a doubt, all the pain has a purpose. It's hard to find it in the moment, but this song is such a hug!

3. Aimee's Bachelorette Party went well last Saturday evening. There was a crush of girls that love her and wanted to celebrate the upcoming marriage. These are the only pictures I'll share:
Amy, creative gal extroidanaire, made these cute rings for all the guest. She said she saw the tutorial on Martha Stewart. So fun!

There is a new bakery called Elizabeth's Bakery Maggie arranged to grab some cupcakes from for our desserts, and I'm really digging these festive colors, and the mound of icing.

Hello, Hostesses and Bride!

4. For the first time I went to THIRD Monday Trade Day in McKinney.


It's certainly a lot closer than Canton, not as big, but still fun, and I scored some really fun finds. I wanted more, but I have this whole boring thing called a 'budget' I try to follow, and I'm about to enter a whirlwind of out-of-town activities that require this other thing called money. BOR-ING. Regardless, this is my favorite find for 12 bucks...

I'm hanging it from my grandfather maple out back(just made that up...grandfather...psssh). The tree used to house 5 different size/shaped glass and brass lanterns I loved up until the point the branches broke in a storm, ooops. I found a couple of other really cute things, and I'll go back for more....much more....sometime soon. There is also a whole row of puppies, and it made me sad b/c I didn't want them to be there. I want them to all come live in my house, but there are, like, city codes against having 643 puppies at your house.
5. Last, and perhaps most importantly. I won glitter on a blog giveaway!

I got it in the mail last weekend, and I'm just a LITTLE excited. It's too pretty to use, but please notice two of the three colors are my Baylor green and gold! Sic'Em! Here is the site I received my goodies from: http://www.lifeonpossomtrot.com
She also included a really adorable card she crafted with her glitter. I'm off to glitter every other object in my house now....every other object b/c the 'others' have all been sprayed with chalkboard paint and are still drying. That...or I'll sleep with the jars under my pillow b/c I like glitter...a lot!

:Cough Chalkboard Cough: Kitchen Canisters

I must type fast before they take me away.
:Pushes soapbox (sprayed with a little chalkboard paint) towards the front of the blog stage.: 1 Score and 7 hours ago, I discovered a little something called chalkboard paint. Sure, I knew about it, but I didn't KNOW about it. Now...I know, and I'll never be the same. Never ever. The end.
The cool thing about my chalkboard spray paint is that it's never ending. It's true, it just never runs out...ever. I'm on about my 12th chalkboard project now (though I'm only blogging about my 5th project, and maybe someday I'll blog the rest, but probably not too many more b/c I want to keep some friends). With this spray paint though, I'm like Mary Poppins with her magical bag of tricks. Except I have a spray can, and I can't sing, or dance, or talk with a british accent, or fly kites successfully, and there isn't a whole lot of 'tricky' parts to these simple projects. I can nanny two kids that are not my own though, and I know a thing or two about sugar, so we are, like, practically twins. Oh, and I also have a boyfriend who sweeps chimneys. You haven't met him? Me neither. But, I know he's out there, and I can't wait to meet him because, boy, is my chimney dirty after this cold winter filled with fires.
On to my expertise on spoonfuls of sugar.
I had this pickle jar for months. I'm scared to throw anything away because I know the second the garbage truck pulls away I'll come across some blog with some cute idea for dust bunnies or something, and they'll be on their way to the dump, and you can't just invent dust bunnies over night. Back to my pickle jar (we will worry about those dust bunnies and their project, later)....it's been sitting on my counter for a scary long time. I was sitting with my spray paint can, wondering if I could get the local nail salon to maybe polish me up a chalkboard pedicure next time I go in, and then I thought....I have a perfectly good jar sitting right here just SCREAMING to be decorated. I also have a pantry full of half used flours and sugars...wheat, bread, cornmeal, powdered sugar, masa....and they want a home, a real home.
I have these (below) sitting on my counter in the galley the realitor told me was a kitchen. I love my little cracker jars, they are so convenient for day to day scooping....maybe another chalkboard project someday?

By the way, these little scoops in the picture have saved my sanity...I love them. I got them at Cost Plus World Market. They also double as the scoops I use with candy bars at parties. If I ever make a survival kit, it's one of the items I'm adding. If I get stranded on a desserted island, I'm gonna need them. I will!
Alas, there is no room at the inn for the rest of the flours/sugars to get a container and counter space, and I never got around to buying them their own cracker jars for my pantry shelves (8 years and counting).
I just needed a magic can of spray paint to motivate me.
I marked off my little square with painter's tape (and also discovered, the hard way, it's best to cover the rest of the jar's sides with newspaper to avoid dripping (though it scraps off pretty easily with the edge of my nail, if it does drip, it's annoying).

Just fyi, it only takes one coat of paint for these projects, it's insane. That can is magic. I'm going as the chalkboard fairy next Halloween. (I have a feeling I just got marked off everyone's guest list with that announcement. Rightfully so, I can see me now spray painting *your* toilet seat lid with a little chalkboard paint so I can leave messages.)
I then took the lid, and found an old can of red spray paint in my garage from a past project, which conveniently matches the direction my kitchen was going (red, black, and white) before I gave up on decorating the inside of my house 3 days after moving in, and took up underwater basketweaving instead....I sprayed the lid red, in case they are cleaning the pool or something, and I can't attend my class, and feel like taking up decorating again, right after I finish unpacking those boxes (or was it nine years ago I moved in?) I'll decorate the place, and the red will go with the rest of the things. This red spray took several coats, no magic in regular red spray paint, I guess. I imagine you could also use a fabric cover/mod podge process for the lid, but I decided this was probably the easiest to keep clean. I then took the pickle jar (filled with baking soda to get rid of 'that smell') cleaned, and refilled it with the closest thing at hand....powdered sugar....I buy this in bulk form, so it won't all fit in a counter container). I like the chalkboard front because you can write the date it expires (trust me, this won't be around long, but the other misc. flours live here awhile).
Now, I just need to go buy and eat about 5 more jars of pickles so this little fella gets some friends to hang out with in my pantry. ...oh and I need to come up with some recipes to make for wheat flour, cornmeal, masa, splenda, and, and, and....
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Reinvented...because it says it's for items 'from trash to treasure' and that's half true for this project. ;o)

Before and After-Alexis' Nursery Name Letters

I bought these letter's for one of the decorations at the baby shower I threw for Alexis' family a few weeks back.

I knew I'd paint them when I was done, and add those to the little gift basket I'm putting together when Alexis arrives in a few short weeks. Her nursery is a safari theme of mostly pinks and mochas. You can see some of the bedding in the photos of my personal account of the Cowgirl shower blog entry, but I'm not reposting it b/c there are also some foreign objects I don't want to give more time to that happen to be a rival to my alma mater. I also knew I wanted to do animal prints, and Laine, at work has a really precious set of these above her door that her sister, Taylor (also at work) made for her. I took a picture, but I won't post since it's her last name, and I don't know if that would be appreciated! I asked, and Taylor painted the sides black, then used scrapbook paper for the letters, and a coat of mod podge. They are c-u-t-e. I added brown to the sides of my letters and I really think it makes them pop out more, clever Taylor. I googled animal prints since there aren't a plethora of pink and mocha print patterns out in the scrapbook store (if only...), and tried to come up with a different print for each letter, not using anything but the two colors...I began to attempt painting animal prints. This is my first attempt at painting animal furs/skins...whatever....I guess I've lost my shot at ever being a member of PETA with this sort of promotion/passion for the prints. I can live with these letters, even the snake skin X...here's hoping Alexis feels the same way! Ribbon to be added upon arrival, and parental approval (bows are a 'sometimes' thing for Carla (mom), so I'm double checking before I attach them). :O)

Pimento Cheese Cupcakes

I have a, not so secret, love of cupcakes, so when I saw this recipe on Down Home with the Neely's on Food TV, I did not pass go, I did not collect 100 dollars....I stopped all I was doing, printed, and planned.
I also have a slightly less well known like of pimento cheese. I've tried out two recipes I really like I'll post sometime, with one more in the works after this, so this was RIGHT up my alley. My alley is not a scary place, obviously, because it's filled with cupcakes and pimento cheese.
Here's a run down of the recipe, what I did, what I didn't do well, what I'd change, and what I'd try next time. As always, don't listen to me, I don't know what I'm doing, but feel free to add your two cents, it can only help. ;o)
First, I halved the recipe for both the cheese, and the muffins, because I'm a party of one, and I said I liked pimento cheese, not that I want to marry it or anything, and if I had made the 24 muffins, and pile of pimento cheese it called for, I think we would have been commonlaw married by the time I finished it up, I'm just sayin'...
On that note, I only got 9 muffins out of the batter mix. I filled the cups more than 3/4 full too, and it's not like they were crazy puffy even at that, so....expect less than 24 if you make the full recipe.
In addition, I used cupcake liners, and day one the batter stuck to the cupcake liners, but by day two, they popped out cleanly. I think I'd make the muffins a day before if I were a planner, and I am. So, for the future.... I really liked the green onion/onion combo in the muffins, though I wouldn't mind a little more 'corn' flavor...I'll investigate this someday....maybe with real corn? Or a bigger mix of cornmeal vs. flour mix? I dunno. With the pimento, it's great, so it's not as obvious. They were still really....reeeaaaaallly good. The pimento cheese was super yum, with a trace of heat. I would definitely do this again! I think the cupcake form holds the wow factor. This would be a fun dish to bring to a picnic potluck, July 4th party, shower, evening home alone watching The Real Housewives of Orange County...whatever. AND in making this I had a really fun idea (fun...in my head) I have GOT TO TRY OUT soon, I just need to find a reason, and then I'll share...the words never do the picture in my head justice. Off to find my reason now because I'm going to lose sleep over this until I get it out of my head and onto a table. Moving on, here is the recipe:

Gina's Pimento Cheese Cakes
"Frosting"
Cook, crumble, and set aside 4 strips of bacon, for garnish.
Cut, and set aside 4 chopped green onions, for garnish.
Mix and chill for 2 hours:
12 oz extra-sharp white Cheddar, grated (I love Cabot)
1/4 c. grated extra-sharp yellow Cheddar
7 oz. pimentos, drained, and finely chopped
1/2 t. black pepper
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
3/4 c mayonnaise
1 T Neely's BBQ seasoning *see below
(Just fyi, I didn't do this exactly. I just looked at the recipe below, and put a dash of each of the ingredients to the proportion I felt the whole mix would have called for, but I'm not math specialist.)
Batter:
1 c. self-rising cornmeal
1 c. self-rising flour
2 T. sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 c. buttermilk (You can make your own buttermilk by adding a T of vinegar to 1 c. skim milk, and letting it sit for five minutes)
3 T melted butter, plus 1/4 T cold butter
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
1 t. seeded and chopped jalapeno
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
7 oz green chiles, drained and chopped
Directions for Batter:
Preheat oven 375 degrees.
In a large bowl add the flour, cornmeal, sugar, eggs, buttermilk and 3 T melted butter. Mix well to combine.
Saute onions and jalapenos using 1/4 T butter, about 2 minutes. Add salt, and pepper and chiles. Remove from heat, cool slightly and add to batter.
Spray 24 muffing tins with nonstick spray.
fill the pans 3/4 full with batter. Make for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
Let cool and frost with pimento cheese mixture. Garnish with bacon and green onion.
*Neely's BBQ Seasoning:
3/4 c. white sugar,
1 1/3 c. paprika
3 3/4 T onion powder
Mix and store in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
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