Mugshot Monday: March Madness (at home)

Mugshot Monday: 3/24/2014

I’m writing in bits and pieces this morning, because my head is filled with choppy ideas. Sometimes “choppy” is all I have. Life right now feels like it’s disjointed, but all are good chunks of time. If you’re a reader out there, hope you’re flowing along better than me. 🙂

Hosted an “open craft table” night at home with a few pals. Definitely want to do more!

Watching March Madness and playing our annual family bracket pool. Winner picks dinner out.

Stitched a postcard for the Great Stitched Postcard swap.

Preparing to teach a paper flower workshop at TeaLula this week!

Working on another Subway Art piece for a lovely lady who won it in an auction for Kalo Foundation of Park Ridge.

Participating in the #showusyalists journal challenge. Five lists in five days, and lots of fun.

Getting ready to visit friends over Spring Break at Goldberry Woods.

Helped out a friend join Pinterest and the Twittersphere. Won’t you welcome her?

Mugshot Monday: Waiting for Spring

Another two-fer mugshot post…

Our days continue to be busy with activities, so I’m looking forward to a little break. Now whether or not it’ll feel like spring, that’s to be determined. It seems we can’t get past this warm sun-snow-freeze cycle. (Curse you, Polar Vortex!)

Mugshot Monday: 3/10/2014

Snow finally melting, except more snow on the way (March 10, 2014)

So, while I’ve been juggling the day-to-day life happenings, I’ve also been trying to sneak in some creative time when I can. I just finished my One Little Word activities for February. Got a thumbs up from Ali Edwards, herself! Eeeee.

Mugshot Monday: 3/17/2014

In case you missed out on some baked goods yesterday (like I did), feel free to check out my Irish Soda Bread and Irish Stout Coffee Cake recipes!

Monday Mugshot prompts: The Precinct

Super-easy Crescent Roll Cheesecake

Lemon Cheesecake Crescent Roll Bars

This might be my quickest dessert offering next to Crazy Cake. I made this all the time with my mom, and eventually it was my responsibility to bake this for the big family dinners. This cheesecake cuts into squares and travels well which means… easy to bring to potluck meals! (I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve actually baked this. Maybe 15 years??)

Here’s the breakdown.

2 packages of refrigerated crescent rolls
2 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese (softened)
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
Juice and zest from one lemon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
Egg white (optional)
Powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ baking pan. Open one package of crescent rolls, unroll dough leaving it in its rectangular shape. Place the dough on the bottom of baking pan and pat in place, stretching out gently to make into the bottom crust. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar, egg, lemon juice, zest and vanilla. Use a hand or stand mixer to blend the ingredients until smooth, then beat on high for two minutes. Spread this mixture on the crust.

Open the remaining package of dough, and in the same manner as the bottom crust, place the dough on top of the cheesecake mixture. At this point, you could beat an egg white and brush on top of the dough. Bake 20-30 minutes, until top is golden brown, and toothpick placed in center comes out clean. Let cool completely. Sift powdered sugar over the cheesecake before serving.

This yields (24) 2″ squares.

Mugshot Monday: On Location at Dixie Kitchen

Mugshot Monday: 3/3/2014

Day off for the hubby, so we hit up places that kids don’t necessarily enjoy, like The Spice House, grocery shopping… you get the idea.

This place seemed like the perfect spot for lunch given that the next day was Mardi Gras. Oh, how I love me some Cajun and creole dishes. Beignets were a lovely, pillowy, powdery, doughy end to some finger-lickin’ good eats. Thanks for lovely lunch, Dixie Kitchen!

More goodies here: Recipe for Lent, Broccoli side dish

One Way to Recycle Glass Jars into a Fun Party Favor

So I’ve established that I’m sort of a hoarder, and my poor husband was so nice turning the other cheek when he saw I had a crazy amount of glass jars stashed away… in the basement, under the stairs. I explained to him that I had every intention to use up the glass jars – well, I thought I had a craft for them. I just hadn’t gotten around to it. I’ve seen a lot of recycled glass jar projects around Pinterest, some of them leading to non-English tutorials, but pretty easy to figure out.

Recycle Glass Jars Fun Party Favor

Friends, grab your glue gun (Note: Super Glue did not work well), miscellaneous plastic animals from the party store (or your kid’s collection from the dentist’s treasure box), and clean, empty glass jars. Get a can of spray paint. I have metallic silver, so that’s what I used.

Wash the lids well. After your lids are clean, you can swipe them with some rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball to make sure they’re really clean. Using your glue gun, adhere your little critters of choice to the lids. They should all be secure after a minute. If you’re a good crafter, you’ll wipe away the hot glue “strings” before painting, I didn’t bother since it didn’t look too bad.

Recycle Glass Jars Fun Party Favor Spray Paint

Now for spray paint… Make sure you have good ventilation and a spray box (optional). If you can head outside and spray them, kudos to you. It’s freezing here, so I ended up spraying them in my (heated) garage. I gave the lids and animals three coats, 15-20 minutes in between. And, I still have a little touch-up to do.

You could wash all the glass jars while you’re waiting for the lids to dry. I took the labels off the same way I take off wine bottle or beer labels. And if the label adhesive doesn’t come off easily, grab some Goo Gone (Just follow manufacturer’s directions on the bottle.).

Recycle Glass Jars Fun Party Favor Plastic Animals Recycle Glass Jars Fun Party Favor

I let them dry overnight, and now my daughter will fill them up candy for her buddies.

Recycle Glass Jars Fun Party Favor Plastic Animals

I’d love to know if you end up making this project!

Click for more party ideas!

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