An excuse to use lots of glue
The 6th grade classroom I volunteered in was run by the estimable Mrs. S. She was a terrific mentor to me and quite a crafty person. She is also the kind of person who knows every single Starbucks barista in a 20 mile radius. Her gold Starbucks card sees some serious action. I’ve been wracking my brain to come up with a diy gift for her that would show my appreciation for all she has done when I stumbled upon these two tutorials. I found a wooden tray at Micheals and I was off to Starbucks to purloin some cards.
I went with what I hoped was a fairly neutral silver background. I gave the tray two coats of paint and then a clear top coat of a uv/moisture protective stain.
Even though I always had lots of pieces left I kept cutting up more cards to get the color variety I wanted. I went through a ton of E6000 glue, but at least you know those pieces are there to stay!
At first I wasn’t sure if this was going to look nice, or kind of junky, but in the end the plastic cards shimmer like tile and look terrific! Fingers crossed that Mrs. S will like this too!
I have an obsession with the Starbucks mugs. They are just the right size! This is the one we picked up on our trip to Munich last year.
One disgruntled bird at a time
Yes. I am an Angry birds addict. I have played all levels until I’ve gotten 3 stars. My not so secret shame. However my friend Andy is an even bigger fan (he’s replayed the game over 3 times! All levels!) So for his birthday I decided to tackle his favorite bird in cookie form.
I started with a sketch I made on thick cardstock. I cut it out and used it to hand cut all the birds. Actually the cookie shape looked very submarine like.
Then I did the black outline and slowly filled in the colors like a paint by number. It was incredibly relaxing if you can believe it. They did dry with more lumps. Here at the Cheerful Novice today’s lesson is (drum roll) – USE A LOT OF ICING! The more icing I flood the smoother it ends up.
You can see I also did a few simple circle cookies using the same colors. I loved the way they backed up the star cookie! Obviously I still have a long way before I hit icing nirvana, but Andy enjoyed his angry bird and that’s what counts.
Cupcakes with some snap
G brought over a ton of chocolate covered pop rocks. Not only did I immediately swoon into an 80s flashback, but this was a call to the bat cave kitchen!
We used the recipe for red velvet cupcakes from the Cake Doctor book. The buttermilk really created a luscious moist cake. I started buying buttermilk powder and it has been a lifesaver for everything from pancakes to bread baking. Now I’m not wasting buttermilk I buy from the store. Now if I could get heavy cream powder 😛
These are topped with cream cheese frosting and then pop rocks! You have to eat the cupcakes fairly quickly before the pop rocks get moist, but the chocolate covering gives you extra time.
Sunrise on a new year
Life decisions may be prickly, but still turn out wonderfully
2010 was an exciting year for me! Mostly it had to with with R and I, from moving in together in February to the proposal in September. I quit my job at the end of January and spent most of the year doing various bum type things. I got to work for the US Census Bureau. Not to mention the four lovely months at the end of this year, which I got to spend observing and assisting a 6th grade class. I even got to go to Science Camp with them! Banana slugs are disturbingly interesting and I think they stole my camera.
2011 is starting out intensely as well. I’m trying to study for the CSET test to apply to a teaching credential program. The test is on January 8th and I’m not making much progress. My mom is moving to Austria for a year on Jan 15th and my dad will go to join her in March. Wedding plans are going well, but will become crazy around March and lots of friends are having babies and getting hitched this year too!
So amid all this hub-bub and excitement, between the moments of activity and passing out on the couch I find that instead of being more settled, I have more questions and paths to pursue than ever. It’s a stress built out of activity though and I can’t fault that!
I would love to list some traditional resolutions, but some of them are so dependent on how the beginning of the year goes. At least as always life will prove to be exciting!
Baby cupcakes for a baby shower
Not much to say after a week of Science Camp with 54 6th graders other than need sleep! The day I got back I baked up these sour cream cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for a baby shower. Now back to that whole needing sleep thing.
Cookie pictures to follow once I catch up with everything else.
Fairy Tales and “Mad” Kings
I’ve been in Europe for the last two weeks blissfully enjoying both Germany and Scotland with R. I also happened to pick up a bit of extra jewelry…
I love R to a degree I never thought it was possible to love someone. He had made my whole world a bigger, brighter, warmer place. I’ll hold back more of the mushy stuff and stop there.
Now on the wedding planning…hmm I’m very excited about the diy possibilities! Plus I found a Neuschwanstein (the castle in the picture) cookie cutter!
Cold day in August
Penguins are good any time of the year!
Blue is the new black!
Kit-Kat Rundown: Framboise
In America Kit-Kat usually comes in two flavors. Maybe three during a special promotion. In Japan the potential of the Kit-Kat has been truly unlocked! There are dozens upon dozens of flavors. At any one time you’ll see three or four flavors on the shelf with special seasonal and area specific ones doing the rounds. Ever since I’ve left Japan I still have people who will help me score a hit, but my local Japanese supermarket also carries several varieties.
The other day I did a little supermarket dance when I found the new Framboise flavor. Framboise is French for raspberry. It also happens to be a delicious Belgian lambic beer using fermented raspberries.
Now a lot of the Kit-Kat flavors are hit and miss. A particularly foul red bean flavor comes to mind.
Here is the cross section inside. Milk chocolate outside of course.
MMMMmmmmmmmm. Heading to the supermarket again! This might rival my all time fave of maple kit-kat.
Flower Elevation Before and After
I planted a few vegetables at the beginning of this summer. If the plant kingdom gave titles mine would be “Queen of accidental plant killings”. So this year I spent a lot of time to tend to them every day and be very solicitous of their needs. Sadly the swiss chard didn’t make it. Now before you go singing herbicide my peppers are doing lovely thank you very much! I had to cut my losses though and decided to go with gorgeous cheery flowers instead.
A fun trip to the nursery and we have before and after #1.
Having the flowers sit on the ground seemed a shame when I couldn’t see them from the kitchen window or the patio door. In swoops Super Dad! My dad is a pretty handy guy with a table saw and redwood 2x4s. I gave him some measurements and in a weekend he built a sturdy planter holder. I’m amazed how much better everything looks with just a little bit of height! I also owe my dad a banana cream pie.
The new view from my kitchen!
A crabby dash of red, white and blue
A few days late, but this past Fourth of July weekend we had a birthday party for all the Cancer’s in my family including R and my mother. I decided to do marbled cookies in the patriotic red, white and blue.
I made this by doing a back and forth squiggle and then pulling the toothpick through the middle. I love the heart effect it makes.
Marbling has to be one of my favorite decorating techniques now. Simple, but beautiful and there are a ton of variations.
oops one of the ninja crabs made it into the cake!
The Cheerful Novice 