Owl love you forever

I tend to fine one thing I love and then run with it.  I have had a really busy week at work- talent show at school, report cards, admissions, and the second grade performed a BUGZ play yesterday. I have not had much time to craft at all.  When I got home from work yesterday I realized that I have a lot of owls in my house. I also realized that most of them have a special memory with them.  I think I may need to take it easy though...

These are little owl pin cushions. When I saw the pattern I knew I had to make these!

I changed them up a little- I added the bow on this one and enlarged the pattern a good bit from the first one.

They were very tedious to make but so cute!

These guys have made it back to my mantle again.

Owl journal where I write down my craft ideas and hope to get around to them.

This is an amazing book.  For Valentine's Day this year one of my students gave it to me.  Their  mom put the book together from real photographs a friend had taken in their back yard.  

It has cute little poems inside.

Of course the dog's toys are even owls. He has a blue one too, it is hiding.

This is a beautiful handmade owl that one of my students gave me this year.

More owl gifts.

This was from my 2nd grade class this year for my birthday.  They all wrote reasons why they love me and they gave me owl salt and pepper shakers. So sweet!

Salt & Pepper shakers. The middle ones did not photograph well- I found those at an antique store and they are really pretty. 

Happy Thursday! Almost to the weekend!

I am one of them....

I read A TON of blogs- one might say too many.  I love looking at everyone else's idea of cute and seeing their creativity in different ways.  I always get frustrated when I come across a blog I like reading and they update a lot and then nothing for weeks or months, I am now one of those people.  I was trying to be consistent but something got the best of me (it may be that I am trying to train myself for a 10k, conferences just ended at school, my husband has been in town, I watch entirely too many shows, or my obsession with my Halloween quilt in progress). Since I decided not to decorate my mantle or house for St. Patrick's Day this year I have not changed much around my house this month.  I am really excited for Spring to arrive so I can pull out my cute stuff!

The past couple of weekends I have been working on this - I can't get enough.  I really love applique. It is a work in progress because I can only find time during the weekend to sit down and really put together a square.  It is a lot of work and has been going a lot faster with the help from my mom, there are a lot of steps involved.  This is what I have completed so far......

The mummy was my first square- very detailed.

The cat was fun because it had some hand embroidery on it.

The spiders legs are beads.

My favorite so far. 

He is obviously not finished.  He needs an eye ball and more machine appliquéing .  

I got a bunch of fabric in the mail from etsy this week so I am really excited.  I am also working on some other projects for a shopping day at school next month, lots to do! (Maybe I shouldn't have spent the last three hours glued to the tv watching the Bachelor finale, I get so attached).

I think the main reason I love putting things together with fabric is because I love to match fabrics. 

March

I can't believe it is here already.  I can't say I am sad, it's one step closer to summer for this teacher! Since I decided not to decorate my house for St. Patrick's Day this year I still had to do something for my classroom.  I always change the wreath on my door each month so I hung this guy up:

I made it last year while I was home with the stomach bug (a not so lovely part of being a teacher).  It was super easy but VERY time consuming.  It is such a great basic wreath that you could add anything on top of it or hang something in the middle.  I hot glued the ribbon to the wreath hanger and hung the ornament on the hanger so that I could use it for another occasion if needed.

The only supplies you need are a foam wreath, paper lunch bags, a scalloped punch, and oodles of hot glue sticks.

You simply fold the punch out in half and then fold it again and put glue on the tip and repeat about a zillion times.  Good luck!

Roasted Cauliflower Risotto

Oh my.  This has to be one of the best risottos I have ever had.  I have made risotto before but this recipe was a little different, it was actually a little easier.  It also made a lot!

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower, florets cut into 1/2 inch pieces

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups short-grain Italian rice (I used arborio)

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup dry white wine

3 cups low-sodium chicken broth

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 ounces Italian fontina cheese, grated (1 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 475 degrees F. Toss the cauliflower florets with 1 tablespoon olive oil on a baking sheet. Spread in a single layer and season with salt and pepper. Roast on the upper rack, 5 minutes. Add the almonds and roast until the cauliflower is tender, about 15 more minutes. 

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a dutch oven over high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until the onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. 

Add the rice and garlic and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the broth, 2 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt; cover and bring to a boil. Transfer the pot to the lower oven rack and bake until the rice is tender, about 15 minutes.

Remove the rice from the oven and add the butter, fontina, and parsley, stirring vigorously until the risotto is creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. 

Divide among bowls and top with the roasted cauliflower and almonds. 

Enjoy!

I had this guy staring at me while I ate, waiting for something to fall his way...

A little too ambitious

I have been off work all week for Winter Break and it has been amazing.  I have slept in past 5 am, worked out every day, met friends for lunch, and worked on things around my house.  I was feeling a bit ambitious today so I went here with my mom to look around. They have the most amazing fabric but it is much more than Hobby Lobby or JoAnn with a coupon and my teacher discount.  I found the pattern to make this quilt and fell in love with it!  The name of the quilt is eeeek! and eeek it was for $24, I couldn't resist.

While I was in the store I was all excited to get working on this tedious Halloween quilt in hopes to finish it by Halloween 2011.  Once I opened the pattern in the car I realized that it may be closer to 2012...I don't get much accomplished when I get home from teaching during the week.  I am thinking about making two at the same time because I have a feeling I will never want to make one again!  

(Sorry for the Halloween post in February, I like to plan ahead...)

Holiday withdrawal....

I took down my Valentine's decorations earlier this week and the house looked empty and sad.  My husband asked me what holiday was going up next and I didn't have one!  Last year I put up a few things for St. Patrick's Day but I looked at them this year and realized they were not so cute.....plus I'm not Irish and clover green is not really my color.  So....I went with a neutral bird theme until it is officially Spring! I already have some really cute Easter ideas for my mantle.

My front entry table normally has frames on it for each season and holiday so this was the first time I had to think of a way to decorate it.  I love birds and wanted to spell out "home" but then thought I would go the Pottery Barn route and I went with "nest."  I really like how it turned out.

The two twirly looking things on the sides were 70% off at JoAnns so I snagged those up and knew I would use them in lots of different places.

My mantle was a bit of a puzzle this time.  I usually fill it up with holiday decorations galore but I tried to keep it very simple this time.  I of course went to Target and easily found multiple things to buy.  

I LOVE the wreath I found, it has a great texture and neutral color.  

It reminds me of shaved pieces of tree bark.

I have had these two bird things for a while now but was always looking for something to fill them with. I found these miscellaneous items at Target and went with two boxes of brown/white and one green. 

Don't even ask how long it took me to get these full and not spilling out when I flipped it over.  Good thing I was alone....

  

Guilty

I can't deny a dessert with fruit in it.  I have a good friend that I teach with who makes the BEST sugar cookies ever.  I started using the sugar cookie mix that she uses once she told me about it, the secret ingredient for her cookies is in the frosting....
The other day I came across this recipe that was so simple and it used the cookie mix!  I made it a few weeks ago and then made it again last night for some boys coming over to watch a dunking competition (not my cup of tea, I ate my dessert and read an US Weekly).

This is the cookie mix

Triple Berry Cookie Crumble

Ingredients:

1 pouch Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix

1/2 cup sugar (I used a lot less the second time because it was really sweet)

2 cups fresh sliced strawberries

2 cups fresh blackberries

2 cups fresh blueberries

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350F. Spray baking dish with cooking spray.

2. In small bowl, mix 1/2 cup cookie mix and 1/2 cup sugar. In large bowl, toss together strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Sprinkle with cookie mix-sugar mixture. Toss gently until berries are well coated. Place fruit mixture in baking dish.

3. In medium bowl, mix together remaining cookie mix and cinnamon. Using pastry blender or fork, cut butter into cookie mix until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evening over fruit.

4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until topping is golden brown and fruit is bubble.  Serve warm or room temperature.  

It's so good that you may end up sitting at your computer eating a bowl full.  Guilty me...