3 Minutes to Decadence

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Shauna

Brownies don’t photograph very well, do they?  Seriously, it doesn’t matter that this looks like a pile of ick.  It’s just too good and too easy to make for me not to share the recipe.  The real dangerous part?  You microwave your very own portion.. and you can mix the dry ingredients ahead of time.  Yeah, not good at all!  At the end of the day, when I’m ready to crawl into bed, I often crave something sweet, and here it is.

The original is a mug brownie recipe from Julie Van Rosendaal, and oh my goodness did she ever do something right!  You can change it up by adding a bit of peanut butter – cut out some of the oil, or chocolate chips.. ooooh, or caramel chips! They’re delicious in this.  Top with some black cherry sorbet and you’re golden.

If you have 3 minutes to spare, you can enjoy this ooey gooey deliciousness.  I found the portion was a bit large, but sometimes that’s totes not a problem, right?  Don’t worry, you can make a half portion super easily!

How it works:

Mix up your dry ingredients really well.  You can make a big batch then measure out your portion if you like.  Add the oil and milk (or water, almond, soy milk, leftover coffee.. you’ve got a lot of options here!), and any add-ins.

Stir it up so everything’s moistened. Gross.

Microwave. 1 minute for the full portion, 45 seconds for a half.. but you should check on it since your microwave might be more or less powerful than mine.

Here I plopped it onto a plate. It wasn’t too happy at me for that. 

Dress it up!

3-minute Mug Brownie
Adapted from The Family Kitchen

Single Portion:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 Tablespoons cocoa
pinch of salt
2 Tablespoons Canola Oil, or 1.5 Tbsp. oil and 2tsp peanut butter
2 Tablespoons milk or alternative (water, coffee, soy milk, almond milk, etc)
2 tsp. add-ins such as chocolate chips or caramel chips (optional)

Mix dry ingredients really well.  You can mix a bunch of little packets in ziplock bags to use when you get a future craving – just shake them and squish them up until mixed well.  Add them to a microwave-safe bowl.
Stir in oil and milk and add-ins until combined, then microwave for about a minute. 

Half Portion:
Mix up any multiple of the dry ingredients and store in a container.  When you’re ready to use it, measure out 5 tablespoons of your new brownie mix into a microwave-safe bowl.  Stir in 1 Tbsp. oil, and 1 Tbsp. Milk, and your add-ins.  Microwave for about 45 seconds.

Enjoy!

Shauna
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Rue Des Fleurs Vintage Thanks

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Shauna

Hello again,

Today I’ve been having lots of fun playing with some items I got in my Occasions Mini order.  If you haven’t seen this catalogue yet, you really need to take a look.  There was just so much that I didn’t want to live without ;-)  The items there are available until the end of April.

In case you missed the little bit of cheekiness on this card, check out that image – it’s a boostier filled with flowers.  Sort of goes along with the sentiment – “Thanks for the support.” har har.

The colours used here are Pool Party, Poppy Parade, Soft Suede, Very Vanilly, and Daffodil Delight.  Everything’s been sponged with Soft Suede to give it a nice aged look.  Kind of like the old tea dying we used to do, right?

The stamps are from the new Rue Des Fleurs set, and the DSP is called Attic Boutique.  I’ve used some of the brand new dies that I’m crazy excited about!  There’s the ruffled scallop Adorning Accent Edgelit die, and then the Labels Collection Framelits dies.  *swoon.*  A piece of Victoria Crochet Trim finishes off the look.

Cheers,

Shauna
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Fresh Vintage Birthday Card

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Shauna

Heyyo!

Backache, please go away.. don’t come back another day..   You’d think I’d take the hint and not be on the computer quite so much, seeing as it contributes a bit to the backache.. but most things do.. like card making, and I’m not giving that up!

This one’s using some materials from the upcoming annual Sale-a-bration!  That’s right, just a few days to go!  For every $60 purchase, you can choose one of the free items from the sale-a-bration catalogue, and there are some gorgeous options!  I’m a little bit in love, not gonna lie.

This card uses the Fresh Vintage Stamp set, paired with the most beautiful Designer Series Paper ever – Everyday Enchantment, and the Elementary Elegance stamp set.  See what I did there? So many great free things you can get!

The colours here are Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Soft Suede, and Calypso Coral.  That ribbon’s the beauuuutiful 3/8” Ruffled Ribbon.  I’ve sponged all the edges with Soft Suede ink too.

Other items: Eyelet Border Punch, 1/2” circle punch, Backgrounds 1 – Texturz Plate, Circles #2 die, and the Big Shot.

Shauna
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Little girly baby dress

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Shauna

Man oh man, I need to work on getting better pictures.  Someone give me some light to work with!

I had fun making this little baby dress.  It looks big on the hanger here, but might fit a 3 month old cutie.  It was pretty straightforward to put together, too.  I made another (coming soon!)

You can find a pattern and tutorial over at Prudent Baby.  Just pick out some fabric that you love, some lacy edging, and some single-fold bias tape.

Maybe soon I’ll have pictures of a real life baby in this dress :o

Shauna
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Doily Birthday Card

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Shauna

Hi hi,

Busy week.  You too?  I’ve been good with getting “me” things done before baby comes.  Dentist, eye dr., hair done did, car maintenance.. whew!  I even taught a class and have one more this weekend.

So meet today’s card.  We’ve got Basic Grey, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, and Whisper White all working to make beautiful things happen here.  You could easily swap out the new Stampin’ Up! doily die for the one I used here, and it’d look fabulous.  I have plans to try that out.

I made crème brulée last night.  Am excited to use my torch on it tonight and give it a try.  Hopefully it turned out.  I was really having a hard time getting the custard to set – the egg yolk to cream ratio seems low.

Cheers,

Shauna
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Wish big lollipop

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Shauna

Heyya,

I managed to make a card, and take pictures of it, while feet were jabbing my ribs in Twilight style.  Ok, not that bad, but she does have a penchant for rib kicking!

I felt like these colours would be very clean and fresh looking – a nice contrast to the heavy food I’ve been gobbling up over Christmas and New Years, yet still with a bit of a winter touch.  And hey, you could easily make this card in about 5 minutes.

I’ve used a combo of Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Melon Mambo, and Pool Party.  It’s going to be a very sad day for me when Pool Party gets discontinued.. but maybe it won’t happen?

The lollipop’s punched out with a 1” circle punch.  Easy!

Reminder:
I’ve got a couple classes coming up.  One is tomorrow (Wednesday) night at 7pm, and the other is on Sunday (the 15th) at 1pm.  Let me know if you’d like to sign up to make some beautiful cards!

Shauna
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Pillowcase to Bassinette Sheet

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Shauna

I got all sewy with it today.  This is the family heirloom bassinette that little peanut will sleep in for the first 4+ months of her life.  It’s been in Nathan’s family for at least as long as him and his cousins have been around.  We figured it’d be much nicer to use this little bassinette to start with, rather than setting up a huge crib, just to have to move it again.  She can snuggle in right next to mom, and being that it’s made of wicker, we can move it around the house without any difficulty.  Double win!

The mattress has a waterproof cover, but only one sheet.  Yeah, I won’t be doing laundry at 3am and waiting for it to finish before putting baby back down to sleep, so I made another sheet for it. 

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You can see that it’s fashioned out of an old pillowcase that I had lying around.  I just traced around the mattress, added some extra fabric for a seem allowance and for the thickness of the mattress, put the “wrong” sides together and sewed everything other than the top flap together.  I also zig-zag stitched along the edge, since I don’t have a serger.   The pillow case is juuuuust barely big enough to act as a sheet here.  I sewed on some Velcro to keep the top closed, and for easy middle-of-the-night removal.

I’m pretty impressed at how easy this was.  Hooray for upcycling an old sheet!  And it’s pink even.  I should probably make another, eh?

Shauna
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Dark Chocolate Mint Truffles

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Shauna

Happy 2012 to you!

It’s been an amazing year for me.  Lots of crafting, cooking, a trip to Mexico, a baby on the way, much time spent with friends. This makes for a year that I can appreciate and look back on with fondness for years to come.

I’ve got some little treats for you.  Now that it’s the new year, I’m trying to eat a bit more healthily, but sometimes I need a little chocolate at the end of the day.  Nothing fits that spot better than these dark chocolate mint truffles.  They’re a dark chocolate centre, covered in more dark chocolate, with crushed candy cane on top.  This gives a subtle chocolate mint flavour that is melt-in-your-mouth-amazing.

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Start with a bunch of Baker’s dark chocolate, or a good quality dark chocolate of your choice.

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You’ll melt that up with some whipping cream and butter.  Allow to cool, then form into little balls.

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Using a double boiler (like my fancy glass bowl in a pot of water contraption?), melt more dark chocolate and dip in your truffles.

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Set them on some waxed paper, top with crushed candy canes, and allow to cool (the freezer comes in handy here).

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Package them up all nicely.  Give as gifts, or horde for yourself.

Dark Chocolate Mint Truffles

Makes about 24 truffles

16 squares Baker’s Dark Chocolate, or 16 oz dark chocolate
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 Tablespoon butter
1 crushed candy cane, or other toppings if you prefer, like chopped nuts.

Chop up 8 of your chocolate squares (save the rest for dipping), and place into a microwave-safe bowl.  I like to use a chef’s knife for the chopping.  Add the cream and butter, and microwave on medium for 1 1/2 minutes.  Stir until it’s all nice and smooth.

Refrigerate for about an hour until you can shape it into balls.  Shape your truffles and set them on a wax-paper-lined baking sheet.

Using a double boiler, melt the remaining 8 squares of chocolate.  Using a fork, dip each truffle into the melted chocolate, and place onto your waxed paper.  Top each of them with some crushed candy cane pieces.  Place in fridge or freezer until set, then enjoy. 

Store in fridge.

Shauna
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Peppermint Sugar

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Shauna

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Happy Holidays!!!

I’ve had a really nice Christmas.  All that food prep I was doing last week really paid off, allowing me to relax and enjoy all the parties and gatherings we went to.  One of my favourites is our annual friends Christmas potluck and gift exchange.  About 20 of us get together for magical Christmas fun.  I brought a delicious French onion soup and the yummiest sticky toffee pudding.  I’d be happy drowning in that stuff.

This peppermint sugar is part of a gift I gave to a dear friend.  It’s super easy to make, and smells fresh, minty, and wonderful.  My recipe made about 3/4 of a cup, but you could easily just add more sugar and it would work out perfectly.  Use it in baking, add to coffee… yum yum yum.

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Start with your candycanes.  Peel off the wrapping (duh), and break them up.

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Pop them into a food processor, or a magic bullet.  I used the grinding blade on my bullet, which worked perfectly.

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Pulse until you get the sized pieces that you want.  You want it fairly fine for a sugar that you’d bake with.  If this is way too fine for your tastes, you can pop those candy canes into a ziplock bag and smash carefully with a meat pounder.

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Add your sugar and mix to combine, then pour into our jar.  I just used a baby food jar that I snagged from a recent baby shower (yes, they made us taste the stuff).

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Make it pretty.

Peppermint Sugar

2 candy canes
3/4 – 1 cup sugar

Peel and break up your candy canes.  Add them to your food processor or Magic Bullet with grinding blade.  Pulse until the pieces are the size you want.  Make it pretty fine for a baking sugar.

Mix in your sugar – you can add more if your jar’s bigger.  Fill your jar and add labels and tags to make it pretty.

Source: adapted from The Family Kitchen

Enjoy!

Shauna
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Christmas Bags

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Shauna

Hey hey,

I’ve been going full-tilt with this whole Christmas thing this week.. mostly because I was soooo disorganized!  Can I come up for some air, please?  Shopping, crafting, wrapping, more shopping, more wrapping, lots of making, and baking.  The baking still has to happen.

A few of my gifts really only work in gift bags, and I’m determined not to go back to any store!  I happened to have a couple plain gift bags on hand.. they didn’t look great (I’m reusing.. or upcycling here), so I decided to spiff them up a bit with some Christmas flair.  Voilà, Christmas bags!

This bag.. I think a pair of slippers came in it from my Christmas shopping.  Shopping for myself, of course.  Every girl needs a new pair of slippers, right?

Glitter makes everything wonderful.

Bag #2.. very plain Jane to begin with.  Ignore that little ink mark.  Wasn’t me!  I love the look of the pool party cardstock here with the kraft, cherry cobbler, and lucky limeade.

So easy! I think I’m in need of another bag or two, but I may have to start hunting for boxes in the recycling instead.  Yes, I’m that desperate, and that determined not to go to a mall!

Shauna
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Baby Mary Janes

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Shauna

Hi!

I’ve been excited to share these little baby booties with you.  I’ve adapted a few patterns to work for what I wanted, and I’m pretty happy with the result.  Bonus – these weren’t quite as frustrating to make as the first pair!

I do intend to post a pattern and instructions at some point – promise!

I’m excited to slip these wee booties onto our little girl, although I’m pretty sure they won’t fit for the first 6 months or so.  For now I can just look at them on a shelf.

Warning:  These take several hours to make.  They aren’t a project that you can whip up in an hour.  I just try not to look at those $10 pairs of booties that I keep seeing everywhere because it’s a bit depressing knowing that these would have to sell for a heck of a lot more to make my time worth anything.  But that’s OK!  There’s a really nice feeling of pride at making something yourself and having it turn out.  Plus, Walmart doesn’t have this cute fabric, or a fun little hairclip to match!

Shauna
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Rosette Hairclip

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Shauna

Hi there,

I’m getting all giddy about this whole upcoming Christmas thing.  Are you?  I love getting to plan out gifts that I can make, and baking that I can do.  Hooray!  It’s not like I always get around to doing it all, but I do enjoy the planning part.

This little hairclip? Totes not a Christmas thing.  More of a baby thing, but all this baby stuff is being mushed into Christmas stuff in my brain, since she’ll be coming pretty soon after the holidays. Planning for baby things? So overwhelming.. but making cute things like hairclips is much more doable!

This one’s a no-slip clip, using a little piece of shelf lining on the inside.

You can see a bit of glue.. oops..

The poofy flower was option #2, but I don’t like how so much of the “wrong side” of the fabric shows with it.

This little hairclip matches another baby project that I’m excited to show off soon.  Hang tight!

Shauna
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Pink or Red Stocking Card

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Shauna

Hey hey,

I just had one of those “worst teaching days in a long long time” kinda days.  Un-fun.  The crazy part is that it’s not like it was an entire day that added up to all kinds of bad.  It was just the very last 45 minutes.  The class I had was incredibly disrespectful, talking LOUDLY, constantly, to the point where nothing I tried worked, and I have a lot of ways to get attention!  Finally, I had to yell at them as loudly as I possibly could, and BOOM, the class was dead silent.

Having to resort to yelling like that is no fun at all.  I’m not a yeller.  It stresses me.  I went home with a grumpy and stressed attitude, a headache, and a sore neck.  I’m convinced they’re all linked, as I didn’t have any of that trifecta going on earlier in the day.

It took me a few hours, but I did eventually cheer up!  Nathan gave me hugs, and I made myself some crazy good praline candy stuff.. check it out on Julie’s blog.  Heaven in a bowl. Yup.

And double yay, I have cards to share!  I liked this one so much that I made two versions.  Ok, the real reason is that I thought the pink might not be Christmassy enough for some people.

Yeah, the pink has a bit of a baby card vibe to it for me (think baby booties), but I still love it.

The red still has that modern, non-traditional touch that I love.

And a bell makes everything great!

So I hope your day’s been better than mine, or at least that it turns out as well as mine has.

Shauna
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Handmade Wine or Bottle Tag

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Shauna

Hi there,

So I may not be able to drink a glass or two (or three) of wine whenever I feel like it right now, but that doesn’t stop me from giving it as a gift from time to time.  And let me tell you, I sure miss the stuff.. so gift giving is a far off second to actually drinking it..

So check out these funky wine tags I’ve made that turn a plain ol’ bottle of wine into a fancy schmancy gift!  They’re super easy to make, and I’ve got some instructions/measurements for you.

Bonus?  You can make these for any occasion, dressed up however you like.  Think fun bottles of liqueur for Christmas.

How’d I make them?

2” x 7” piece of cardstock. 
Score at 2”.
Punch at the top with a 1 1/2” circle punch.
Round top corners, and cut out triangle to make the bottom a bit fancier.
Now you can decorate it up however you like.  Add ribbon, gems, buttons, punched images.. whatever you love.  I’ve used an embossing folder to get the fun dots.

Shauna

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Cranberry Cinnamon Bagels

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Shauna

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Guys, guys, I made something from my “I’ve never made before and would like to try that” list!  Bagels!  These ones are even kinda healthy, as I used some whole wheat flour.  This recipe was pretty easy, but the kneading got a bit tiresome.  Hey, I’m wimpy like that.  I think next time I’ll use my stand mixer with the dough hook.

They tasted pretty darn good.. cinnamoney, little bits of cranberry, chewy… great with peanut butter and honey.  I like that combo too much to have tried them with cream cheese, but Nathan confirms that the cream cheese is a hit on these guys too.

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You make little snakes of dough and then make your bagel shape.

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That’s the pot where I boiled them.  Boiling = bagel chewiness.

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Fresh baked!

Cranberry Cinnamon Bagels

2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp canola oil
4-5 cups flour – I used 1.5 cups whole wheat.
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup dried cranberries

In the bowl of your mixer, stir the yeast and sugar into the warm water to dissolve.  Let stand for 5 minutes to foam up.

Stir oil and 1 cup of flour into the yeast mixture, then add the salt and 2 1/2 cups of flour to make a soft dough.  Now you can start kneading with your mixer’s dough hook, or by hand.  Keep adding flour to get a smooth and elastic ball – 10-15min.  Cover and let it rest and rise for 15 minutes.

Divide into 10 pieces and roll each piece into a rope, then shape into your bagel, making sure to pinch the ends over each other.  Let rise for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, start boiling a large pot of salted water, and preheat your oven to 425F.

After the bagels have risen, turn the water to a simmer.  Lower a few bagels into the water and simmer for 1 minute.  Flip them over and continue to cook for 30 seconds, then remove with a slotted spoon to drain on a wire rack.

Spray a baking pan with nonstick spray and lay your boiled bagels down, not touching one another. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden

Makes 10.

Source:  Adapted from Julie at The Family Kitchen 

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