Wedding Gift Craftyness

 
      A good friend from my college days is renewing her vows with her hubster tomorrow. It is their 10th Anniversary and so they are reaffirming their vows and love in front of friends and family. It's kind of crazy because 10 years ago I hadn't yet met Shauna. So, I feel really lucky that they are doing it all over again and I am lucky enough to get an invite.
     The lovely couple has asked for no gifts. However, I'm a rule breaker and I HAD to bring a little something for them. I decided to get crafty. Shauna, I hope you and Shawn like your gift...if not, lie to me and stick it on a shelf in your closet.

     On with the craftyness............I had run across a pin on Pinterest the other day where the person used crayons and watercolors to create a cool pattern. I have also been seeing cool frames with words burnt into the wood from etsy. I'm also in love with bright pops of color right now. So with all these ideas in my head I came up with my gift. Unfortunately I don't have wood etching kit, nor did anybody else in my family that I could borrow. So I decided to use the wood burning idea and put it into the crayon and water color idea. I would just put my words and ideas into a watercolor that could go into the frame. I decided that the frame would be painted a fun bright color. That way Shauna could either leave the water color inside the frame or take it out and just use the frame. She can use it however it fits best into her home.....even if that is hidden in the dark closet on a shelf! ha

In order to make my water color I used a white crayon, a large piece of card stock, and a bingo dauber (I wanted a more vibrant red than water color would offer).

I used the white crayon to write and draw and then used the red bingo dauber to wipe coloring onto the card stock. Of course the wax from the crayon repels the coloring and you can then see what I drew.

Sample of the end product after the ink is added over the crayon. Let the end product dry completely before putting it into your frame.

Next it is time to paint the frames. I chose two different frames to paint. I wasn't sure which one I would like more with the watercolor, so I thought I would have two options to pick from. Before you paint, remove the back of the frame and the glass.

First coat of paint

Paint it with two coats and let it dry completely before putting the glass and water color into the frame

Shauna and Shawn, I wish you two MANY MANY more years of happiness and love.

-Jessica

Milk Chocolate English Toffee.....drool!

    Pinterest is evil........they show you yummy pictures of foods and then I just HAVE to try making the recipe. I'm not sure if this one had me by the picture or the tag line " This is the best toffee ever. It is a vintage recipe that my husband's Grandma Utahna used to make. I have made up to 24 batches at Christmastime." OK SOLD!! I pinned the recipe and have made myself wait until December to make it. Well here it is the 7th of December........close enough to Christmas. I made toffee today!! Seeing as I am not really a candy maker, I followed the recipe step by step. The original recipe came from Pinterest, and the pin came from a blog called Red Couch Recipes. OK, well I take that back, I didn't have any nuts, and the original recipe called for nuts, so I left those out. I guess I just can't follow a recipe to the T, it isn't in my genes!!

Milk Chocolate English Toffee (from Red Couch Recipes)

1 cup butter

1 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons water

1 cup toasted pecans broken in pieces--Toast in 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.

Milk chocolate chips

     Place toasted pecans in the bottom of 8 x8 pyrex pan. Put butter, sugar, and water in medium heavy sauce pan and cook at high temperature. I always break up my butter in small pieces in the sauce pan. Stir with wooden spoon throughout the cooking time. The mix should always appear fluffy at all times. Cook until mixture turns an amber color, starts to leave the sides of the pan, and is slightly smoking, take off heat and turn immediately over onto prepared nuts. The cooking time is relatively short, depending on your stove, approximately 7 to 8 minutes with a gas stove and 10-11 minutes with an electric stove. These are just approximate times. Let toffee cool for 8 to 10 minutes. Then sprinkle with milk chocolate chips. When chips are melted, swirl around with knife. Let chocolate dry -- this takes several hours. When chocolate is dry, turn over toffee on wax paper and break into pieces.

Candy Making Notes:
While stirring, use a wet pastry brush or clean, wet dishcloth to wash down the sides of the pan to dissolve any undissolved sugar crystals. If you skip this step, the candy might sugar. Also when you pour the toffee mixture on the pecans, do NOT scrape the pan. If you do scrape the pan, this could also cause the mixture to sugar. If you are making more than one batch, make sure that your pan and spoon are clean of sugar crystals. If it DOES sugar, it tastes wonderful broken up and served on a good quality vanilla ice cream. Also, make sure that your toffee is truly an amber color before you take it off the stove.
________________________________________________________________________________

     Ok, that's the exact recipe from Red Couch, I left out the nuts because I didn't have any on hand. I think that I didn't cook my toffee quite long enough because it sugared on me. UGH! I cooked it longer than her recipe said to cook it, but I think it could have went a little longer. So next time I will cook it longer. It still tastes amazing.......just isn't quite the right texture.

Butter, sugar and water in the pan

Melting and mixing with my wooden spoon.

Fluffy and bubbly toffee

Pour the hot mixture into a well greased pan.

YUM!

Sprinkle Chocolate Chips on top of the warm toffee.

When the chips get melty, spread them over the toffee and let the chocolate dry.

When the chocolate is dry, turn the toffee out onto some wax paper.

Use a knife and break it into pieces.

 

Crafting may be hazardous to your gluten free health.

     Ok, so my title to today's blog is a little tongue-in-cheek. Sort of............

     I have been trying to do a few "homemade" items for Christmas this year. I saw this super cute idea for making bird feeders. I thought that it was a great gift idea for my Grandmas. I put the ingredients on my shopping list and set out for the store.
     The blogger suggested getting small bird food, like you would feed to a pet. So I headed for the pet department. I found the bird food. I have bought bird food before, but never really thought about what grains it contained. However, since this bird food was going to be put into my pots and pans and in my kitchen I wanted to see what was IN it. I was looking at the grains and (insert some dramatic music) it had wheat kernels. UGH! Wheat kernels are NOT going into my good cookwear. I strive soooo hard to keep a gluten free kitchen. I'm not going to screw that up for some bird feeding gifts.
      I decided I would take a walk back to the section of the store that carries outdoor bird food. I looked at EVERY bag of bird food. They all contained wheat kernels. DOUBLE UGH! I decided I would check another store, and if all else fails ask Dad. My Dad is a farmer and he would probably give me some Milo if I asked nicely. I could then just make my own mixture.
     The second store had jillions of bags also with wheat kernels. HOWEVER, they also had a couple of choices without. The bag that I picked even had allergy labeling on it. Pretty impressive, although I doubt the birds care. ha The mixture I ended up with has milo, sunflower seeds and millet. A gluten free bird's dream!
      The recipe is really easy to make. It would be really fun to do with kids on a snowday. I know I'm usually giving you guys recipes for food that WE eat, but I'm allowed to stray from the norm. Since I had to share my crazy wheat filled bird seed search, I will repay you with the fun recipe I was making.

Bird Feeders (not for human consumption)

1 Cup Birdseed (be sure to look for glutenous grains, remember that's why I wrote this post)
1/4 C Water
1 Small Envelope Knox Gelatin
Cookie Cutters, molds, mason jar lids (the open circle part)
twine or small ribbon
Wax Paper

Instructions:

mix together the envelope of gelatin with 1/4 cup of water and bring to a simmer while stirring. continue stirring until the gelatin is dissolved.

remove from heat and let cool for a minute.

stir in the 1 cup birdseed. adding a little more if there is liquid still in the bottom of the pan.

lay your cookie cutters out on wax paper and fill half way with the birdseed mixture.

cut your twine, knot the end and push the knot down into your birdseed.

continue filling with birdseed, covering the end of your twine and knot.

pack the birdseed evenly into the cookie cutter until it's full. Press it down firmly so that it is tightly packed

allow them to dry overnight. turning them over every now and then.

remove from the cookie cutters and hang them in your trees.

then wait by the window to watch for your first guest.

These are a few of the shapes while they are drying. I let them dry about 15 min. then pushed them out of the cookie cutter. Then just layed them on the wax paper to finish drying overnight.

Stocking shaped bird feeder

The finished products drying. Now just to wrap them up for Christmas gifts.