Quincy Quilt ~ Finished

I finished the binding on the Quincy Quilt I am giving my friend, who is on baby girl #4. I used the doggie fabric that I used on the inner border...it turned out splendid. I wrapped it up with a pretty bow and off it will go today. I hope she likes it, when you make something personal, like a quilt, with colors and fabrics you always take a bit of a risk...is it their style, do they like the colors? I'll keep you posted.

I also made her three burb cloths from the border fabrics. So easy and quick. Tutorial here.

I added a little baggie of dried lavender (my fav!) and a sweet gift tag from Vintage Fern.

Minimal Monday and more

Tomorrow is Minimal Monday, which means my oldest is out of school at 12:30 (2 hours earlier). Spring break is in about 2 weeks and summer feels like it is right around the corner.

This past year has flown by.

Last March/April, I was pregnant and every morning I hoped to finally be finished with morning sickness.

At about 16 weeks the morning sickness did subsided and at 19 weeks we found out we were expecting a THIRD musketeer.

The beautiful summer came and went with BBQ's, lounging by the pool and of course Tahoe!

Henry arrived and he be more perfect. The boys are so good with him and they really help Mommy.

The Holidays were a whirlwind and we've been nesting and home remolding through the start of 2011.

I hope 2011 will be as wonderful and rewarding as last year.

In church today we had a lesson on Gratitude. It was a excellent reminder. I AM GRATEFUL and I hope I can live a grateful life. Tomorrow I am going to enjoy my minimal day and take "my three musketeers"  and make it a day to remember!

Happy Minimal Monday.

My Favorite Cook Book ~ Mid Week Munchies

This is my favorite Cookbook, "The Heritage of Southern Cooking", by Camille Glenn. Before I was married I lived in the south: Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans. I loved the food, people, places, history, culture.... secretly, I have always wanted to be a southern belle. 

For the next couple weeks I want to share a few of my favorite recipes from Heritage. So stay tuned....

Next week: Homemade English Muffins!

Quincy Quilt Quilted

Over the weekend, I had the Quincy Quilt Quilted (try and say that 3 x fast). I had a soft butterfly swirl quilted in white thread. I think it turned out great and doesn't take away from the propellers and embroidery. I can't wait to sew on the binding, wrap it up and give it to my sweet friend, she only has 6 weeks to go. Doesn't every pregnant Mom need a 6 week pick me up?

Quilted Butterfly.

Salt Lake Real Soccer Game ~ Field Trip Fridays

We have a professional soccer team in Salt Lake City. In 2009, the Salt Lake Real (RSL) won the MLS Cup Championships. So needless to say we have a great team, even a few of our members played for the US national team in the World Cup last summer. On Tuesday night, my boys had the opportunity to see  teh Semi-final CONCACAF game against Saprissa. RSL won 2-0 and my boys had a blast...crazy fans, smoke machines, great gooooooals and of course the concessions.

Any Major League teams where you live?

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day. I hope everyone is feeling as lucky as I feel today....three wonderful little boys, an amazing husband, health, happiness. I wish all of you the same.

Yesterday was the anniversary of my Mother-in-law's death 4 years ago. Although she is missed, we believe she is in a much better place. I wanted to share a quilt I inherited from her when she passed. Bonnie loved quilts, loved to collect antique quilts and was also a huge supporter of the quilts I made.

I call this her St. Patrick's Day quilt. The greens are beautiful in this quilt, and the hand stitching on the white blocks is very intricate. I don't know how old the quilt is, but it doesn't have any batting, so I guess it is called a "summer quilt". I am not sure if the stars are Bethlehem or Lonestar, any opinions?

Have a great St. Patrick's Day everyone, and no pinching!!

Pot O' Gold ~Mid Week Munchies

One of my goals for 2011 was learn how to make homemade Carmel. I have always been alittle intimidated by homemade carmel; my Grandma, Mom and Sisters are all excellent candy makers...carmel included. During the holidays I am was always the first to say "Lets make Carmel", but always defaulted to letting my Mom or Sisters, actually make it. But not this St. Patrick's Day!!!

This St. Patrick's Day I had a great idea for my very own Pot O' Gold. My Mother-in-law gave me a wonderful old rusty cooking pot, that I always use at Halloween....which got me thinking.... Perfect Leprechaun Pot. After I made my carmel I wrapped my carmel in little pieces of gold cellophane, added a pine cleaner rainbow and loaded my pot full of delicious carmel gold.

Carmel Recipe:

2 cups Sugar

1 1/2 cups Corn Syrup

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups heavy Cream

3/4 cup Evaporated Milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

In a large, heavy sauce pan (I use my Gaurdian Service cookware) I combine sugar, syrup, salt and 1 cup of cream. Allow ingredients to come to a soft rolling boil and let cook until a candy thermometer reads 235 degrees. Add the additional 1 cup of cream and milk. (I like to heat my cream and milk in the microwave {2-3 minutes}this helps cut down on cooking time) Allow carmel to continue to boil until temperature on thermometer reads 228 degrees. Take off heat and quickly pour into a butter cookie sheet.

Happy St. Patrick's Day and I hope you all find some gold at the end of the rainbow.

Quincy Quilt ~ Embroidery

In my free-time this weekend I worked on the embroidery for the Quincy Quilt. I wanted to add a few  flower accents to the baby quilt I am making for a friend.

I based the flowers loosely on the border fabric (see below). I used three different shades of (DMC Thread) lavender to give the petals dimension. I add a little yellow center and a few simple stems and leaves.

Four sweet flowers in each of the corners.

Each flower is unique and different....no two were embroidered the same. The leaves and stems as well.  Because this is her fifth baby and fourth girl, I wanted to make the four flowers represent the new baby with her three big sisters.

Snow Castle ~ Field Trip Fridays

I'm not sure what signs of spring are in your neck of the woods, but here the daffodils and crocus are beginning to sprout, the days are lasting longer and my yard has completely melted of snow.  That is why last Saturday we pulled on our snow bibs, strapped on our boots, shoved on our gloves and headed up the nearest canyon for a snow day! Once we found our spot, we happened upon a totally awesome SNOW CASTLE (or in other words: snow cave!). A little boy's dream! We spent the next 3 hours digging around and playing in our snow castle. We drank hot chocolate (not as good as Hatch's) , looked at animal prints in the snow and of course became kings of our snow castle. Here are just a few of the highlights:

3 musketeers

peek-a-boo!

i'm stuck!

king of the snow castle!

inside our snow castle

yum!

Lucky Golden Horseshoe Sign

With St. Patrick's Day one week away, I wanted to share a super easy, super fun lucky golden horseshoe sign. This honestly only took me an afternoon including running to my local IFA for a horseshoe! If you feel like spreading the luck around your neighborhood, this is the sign for you.

Here is what you need:

I always seem to have a stack of wood boards in all different sizes in my garage for fun projects like this. My piece of wood (particle board)  measured 12" by 18". With my sponge brush, I painted the top and sides with a mix of three green paints. I didn't go all Monet on it, I just blended the greens until I liked the results.

I also painted the horseshoe green, but then put a top coat of GOLD! I added little accents of gold on the board too.

My neighbor has a vinyl cutter and I asked her to cut this saying out in black. If you don't have access to vinyl, you could paint the words on yourself ~ free hand or stencil. You could also cut the letters of some cute cardstock and decoupage them on to the board. Stickers. Endless possibilities!!

"Everybody needs a little bit of Luck" Cute huh?!

After attaching the vinyl and placing everything proportionately, I nailed my horseshoe to the board.

For the bow, I had some really adorable shamrock fabric that I had been holding on to for umm.....8 years. I drilled two holes in the top of the board to attach my fabric. You can also use ribbon or anything else that tickles your fancy. I attached the sign to my door knocker with a pretty bow! Now every leprechaun who stops by for a visit gets a little extra lucky or maybe even a clue to a hidden stash of gold!!

Chipotle ~ Mid Week Munchies

A new accessory in our kitchen lately is Chipotle Peppers in adobo sauce. We love it. I am addicted and so are my kids. If you have never tried Chipotle and you want to add a little bit of "whoa" to your meals this is a good place to start.  We usually add one pepper to most of our recipes {because we are still pansy} but it is just the right amount for us. Recipes that now require Chipotle:

Taco Soup
Huevos Rancheros
Omelettes
Chili
Meatloaf
Ramen
Burritos, Tacos ~ any mexican dish

The can says the peppers will stay fresh in the fridge for up to six months. We keep ours in a tupperware container and just pull out individual peppers as needed. I just chop the pepper and add. If you use Chipotle in your recipes...let me know. I am want to add Chipotle to everything.

Tom and Lucy's Spring Art Shoppe

As many of you already know, I am the owner of a local Utah Boutique called Tom and Lucy's Art Shoppe. It is a 3-day boutique where talented crafters and artisans all over the state of Utah sell their amazing handmade products.

This year Tom and Lucy's Spring Shoppe will be May 19-21 at the Ivory Ridge Swim and Tennis Club in Lehi, Utah.

We are happy to announce our annual Girls Night Out will be Thursday, May 19 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00p.m. The amazing Sassy Scoops will be joining us to help spread the word and get the party started!! We will be having fantastic vendor giveaways, yummy treats and munchies, music.... it will be the best Girls Night Out yet!!

Join our Tom and Lucy's Facebook Page and get regular updates on vendors, giveaways, and special upcoming events during the shoppe!

The Art Shoppe is currently accepting applications for vendors. If your interested or know anyone who wants to be a vendor email me at tomandlucysartshoppe@gmail.com I would love to get to know you better.

Check out Tom and Lucy's Blog, it is loaded with great information, current vendors, pictures of past shoppes and more!

5 months

My Baby turned 5 months over the Weekend.

5 Tips for a 5 Month Old:

1 ~ Tummy Time. Baby is starting to roll over and the more tummy time the better.

2 ~ Watch Out. Baby is starting to put everything in his mouth. Keep unsafe things out of arms reach.

3 ~ Get yourself a Bumbo. Perfect for making dinner and keeping baby happy.

4 ~ Get on a Schedule. Make Mom and baby happy by getting baby on a nap schedule.

5 ~ Starting Solids. Even though they resist and make a mess, start baby on rice and solids.

Bowling at U of U ~ Field Trip Fridays

We love the University of Utah's Bowling Alley. It is small (10 lanes), never busy, kid friendly, inexpensive and super fun. We come up and bowl pretty regularly, especially on rainy Saturdays when we need to let loose. I love college campuses.....they have such a great energy and the U of U is no exception. The bowling alley is located in the basement of the Union Building and it has several pool tables, arcade games and a big flat screen to watch sports.

 What boy doesn't love to huck a big heavy ball at something!!

The bowling Alley has great group rates for parties, if I remember correctly it was ($200 for 2 hrs.) call to make sure. My birthday is coming up and I may be celebrating it at the U of U Bowling Alley!

Mint Chocolate Brownies ~ Mid Week Munchies

With St. Patrick's Day on my mind,  I had a delicious craving from the past: Mint Chocolate Brownies. As a married adult I have never made these brownies so I called my Mom for directions. Here is her mouthwatering recipe:

Start by using your favorite boxed brand of brownie mixes or your own homemade recipe. Cook brownies according to boxed instructions. Little tip: when greasing pan, I like to add a coating of sugar to the bottom. It make the brownies easy to remove from the pan and adds a little touch of sweetness.

Once brownies have cooled make your mint buttercream frosting. I like to have my mint frosting be about 1/4" thick. Mix:

4 cups of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

4 tablespoons melted butter (or more, depends on what you like)

1/8 cup milk (more or less depending on thickness of frosting) 

Drop of green food coloring ~ channel your inner leprechaun for degree of green!

Allow frosting to set (harden) for an hour or so before adding chocolate.

Chocolate Top: In a sauce pan heat 5 tablespoons of butter on low until melted. Remove from heat and add 1 1/2 cups of semisweet chocolate and lightly stir til chocolate is melted and mixed. Chocolate will melt practically on its own, so not alot of stirring is required. Little tip: add about a tablespoon of Crisco to chocolate...this gives the chocolate a shiny texture which is really pretty. Once chocolate has cooled, (this may take up to a half an hour) but still warm enough to spread, spread over brownies. (Side note: I only added about 1 1/4 cups chocolate and felt like I didn't have quite enough that is why I upped the recipe a 1/4 cup, add even more chocolate and butter if you want a thick chocolate top!)

All three layers: brownie, mint frosting, chocolate. I love to put my brownies in the fridge and let them chill for a couple hours, makes them perfect with a cold glass of milk.

Perfect treat for any Leprechaun this St. Patty's Day!

Quincy Quilt

A dear friend of mine is having her fifth baby (fourth girl) and I wanted to make her something special. I had nine extra purple propellers, from this quilt, and decided to make her a baby quilt. This little gal will arrive with tons of raven black hair just like her siblings and I think she'll look so cute wrapped up in this new baby quilt. I love the little 30's minty green jack russell inner border from Aunt Grace (Marcus Brothers) I think it is the perfect match.

She isn't due for a few more months, so I want to add a few embroidered embellishments in the white borders, just to make it special. I've heard a few friends joke, because she this will be their fifth baby, they should name her Quincy! I think that is a cute idea.