I found an egg…it needed a nest.

(Pine needles soaked overnight~then lovingly woven)

My mom calls this a “Rogues Gallery.” I call it “a great place to put all those old photos dad off-loaded onto me a few years ago~citing me as the ‘family historian.’” I did some research on how best to handle these (admittingly cool) pics and found great information on the National Archives site. They go into great detail about how to preserve these little bites out of history.

Make your Own Rogues Gallery:

1. Buy frames you love, or re-purpose ones that are laying around, and frame up family pictures, or any other grouping you want to see everyday.
2. Lay out a grid: clear a table or a space on the floor and figure out how you want the grouping to look on the wall. ~Since I used all different sizes I couldn’t do a regular grid. I ran four columns (top to bottom) with parallel spaces between the 1st and 2nd and the 3rd and 4th. Check out the graphic below~a picture is worth a thousand words, right?
3. Measure thrice, hammer once.

Until Tomorrow~Sarah

I finally got my Cricut Cake in mail. It is so beautiful as to be a work of art! Now if my creations can be so cool.

Yesterday, I was intimidated on several fronts though, so I invited myself over to Cyndi’s to enlist her help and expertise. My trepidation mainly lies in baking the perfect cup cake, not so much the frosting of it. And, since I’ve never worked with fondant before, I was in need of a crash course.

Now, Cyndi is well versed in the machine after watching the Home Shopping Network’s launch of the Cricut Cake three times. They demonstrated how the machine can cut fondant, gum paste, cookie dough, even meat and cheese! The Cricut peeps made an entire party from the cricut—it was something!

I picked up 2 pounds of white fondant at Michael’s with the intension of using Cyndi’s extensive library if icing pigments to mix pretty colors. We tinted the frosting pink and made three fondants: teal, purple and magenta. I rolled out the teal onto a buttered cutting board then transferred it the cutting mat. Here’s a picture of it going into the cutter. We chose images off the “Indie Art” cartridge. I picked the 8 ball and Cyndi picked the skull and cross bones, of course. We found the trick to working with the fondant is to be sure it is chilled between steps.

Now that I have the hang of it I am going to whip out a cake—chocolate zucchini with zucchini from the garden—and use the “Freshly Picked” cartridge to decorate it.

Hmmm…I think I might put on a few pounds here.

We love to throw parties, and especially one with a theme. This weekend we had our annual Belgium Party. Why Belgium? Well, it started a couple years ago after a trip to Europe. We went to visit a friend in Amsterdam, but one weekend we decided to hop a train and go to Belgium, because—we heard—they have good beer and chocolate covered waffles.

We chose that particular weekend for a music festival happening in Antwerp. And since the train ride is short, we got there in plenty of time to attain a map and get acquainted with the city. We discovered the music festival was on a bus route that ran right by our hotel.

That evening, the driver assured us with a nod (he seemed not to speak English) that he would tell us where to get off. We settled into the front seats and watched the old city of Antwerp slide by.

As the miles passed we began to notice the commercial buildings lessening and the residential neighborhoods growing. When the driver motioned we had arrived at our destination, we were in the heart of a residential neighborhood. We looked at the map again and indeed we were in the right place.

I have to admit I was a little nervous as the bus pulled away. The (American) tell-tale signs of a music festival were nowhere in sight. There were no large groups of people getting off the bus or headed the direction we were; There were no signs pointing the way; And, we couldn’t hear any music. I was afraid we were in the wrong place, or had the wrong time. With no other option but to follow our original plan, we walked a few blocks to where the festival was supposed to be.

When we turned the final corner we were delighted to see the street cordoned off and signs for the festival. We had arrived. I was instantly charmed by the Sesame Street style row houses and cheery people milling about. Children played as smiling policemen chatted with parents. I watched a nearby trashcan half expecting Oscar the Grouch to pop out, but maybe everyone was too happy for him to make an appearance.

The festival was contained in a grade school playground; The school rose four stories and completely surrounded the concrete space. A large stage was set up on one end, and food booths (mostly African cuisine) lined the opposite end. In the middle was the bar where we spent most of the night chatting with the locals and making friends.

We had a blast hearing new music and talking for hours with one chap in particular. Geert—a drummer in the band Lost Romeo—told us everything we wanted to know about Belgium, beer made by monks, and why the country is split by two languages—French and Dutch. It turns out the ad we found for the festival was in a neighborhood newsletter. Our new friends were surprised and amazed that we had come all that way for their block party. We were too. That little adventure still stands as one of our favorite happy accidents.

At the end of a very fun night we asked Geert if there was some bit of Belgium information we could take back to America to tell our friends. He replied, saying he’d like us all to know fries are Belgian not French, and they are called pomme frites. Keeping to our promise, we have a party every year and make pomme frites and serve beer made by monks. The chocolate covered waffles are part of the party because I couln’t get enough of them while there and I need a good excuse to make them here.

This year I stepped up the decorating by breaking out my Cricut and Cuttlebug to make signs. The front door says “Welcome” in Dutch and French—the two languages of Belgium. I embossed the Belgian Facts cards to make them pretty as well as informational and cut words out to stick on the beer cooler. I even went as far as to screen-print t-shirts for a few guests (love my yudu!).

This party is our homage to taking chances and following your heart—and, of course, a celebration of good beer.

With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, I had to whip out a little home decor or else I’d hear it from mom. She does such a great job decorating for the holidays, and being Irish, she pulls out the stops for St. Patrick.

Today I had to work fast. With looming deadlines and a business trip just two days away, I only had an hour to figure something out and produce it. My freshly remodeled studio helped a lot thanks to my contractor husband. He rewired, painted, and didn’t complain when I bought new Ikea furniture.

I started by covering a piece of cardboard with batting and fabric and used my favorite quick adhesive (a hot glue gun) to secure the back. Then I used my new cricut expression and cuttlebug to cut the letters and background circles. I didn’t want to go too crazy with the color, considering my front door is already a bright yellow, so I kept the palette to greens and a cream ribbon. I secured everything with more hot glue and finished it off by tying a knot in a strip of dark green fabric and attaching at the top to hang. With the yellow door, it looks as cheery as my Irish family is.

Fast, easy and festive, just the way I like it!