Project 52:7 • Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button?

February 17, 2012 / Abbi / One comment


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No matter what my husband and I are doing: working on the computer, watching a DVD, fixing something, cooking, cleaning, etc, you can bet if there’s a button involved, Beau is ready to help!

Perhaps it’s not just a boy thing, but more a toddler thing. I LOVE the way Beau’s face just lights up when he presses a button and it makes something happen.

Oh, to find magic in everyday things! With the click of a button, my son is teaching me about noticing the simple joys in life.

***

Check out some other folks doing Project 52: Lucas & Mahina; Shawna at StyleBerry; Wicked Kate; WokAbout

If you are participating in this year’s Project 52, leave me a comment and let me know…I’d love to link up with you!

Category: Challenges, Personal Growth, Photography, Project 52 / Tags: , , , , , , ,

#50: Creme Brulee

February 13, 2012 / Abbi / No comments

In September 2009, I started a cupcake adventure. (At this rate, I may never finish! And, I’m not sure I even want to, so, ha!) If you haven’t read about it yet, you can do so here.

***

Doesn’t that just look yummy?! You can almost taste that sweet caramel on top, can’t you? Mmm!

These cupcakes start with dry ingredients mixed together and set aside while the butter and sugar get creamed together.

Egg yolks are added and whites are saved for later.

That makes the base of our batter.

Milk comes next…

and alternates with dry ingredients…

…to form a more complete batter:

Then the real excitement begins! Grab a tube of caramel ice cream syrup.

And add it to the batter.

Nom nom!!

Remember those eggs whites we set aside earlier? They are going to come into play now.

Whip it…whip it good!

Until the whites form stiff (but not dry) peaks like so:

Fold the beaten egg whites gently into the batter.

Portion out your batter into cupcake papers and while those are baking, mix together the ingredients for the frosting.

Over low heat, melt together the frosting ingredients.

It’ll start to get frothy as it warms up.

We want to slowly bring the mixture to a boil, stirring non-stop, for one minute.

We allow that concoction to cool a bit, add vanilla, and beat until it’s thick enough to spread.

Now that these beauties are done baking, it’s time to top them off!

I wouldn’t necessarily call this “frosting”…probably more like a glaze. It took several tries to figure out how much to put on top of each cupcake. Too little and they didn’t get adequately covered (and a cupcake frosting shortage is a shame!); too much and it dripped over the edges.

But there were some, like this one, that were p-e-r-f-e-c-t!

Here they are, packed and ready to go…off to the home of a hungry family!

If this recipe (or any other from the Abbi/Gail Adventure) intrigues you, I highly recommend getting Gail’s book. Your local library may even have it. This Creme Brulée recipe is on page 93!

 

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Category: Abbi-Gail Adventure, Baking, Challenges, Cupcakes / Tags: , , ,

Project 52:6 • Baby, It’s Cold Outside

February 10, 2012 / Abbi / One comment

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Considering that this time last year, we had blizzard-like conditions in our city, this has been a very mild winter. We’ve had several tank-top weather days, even! And it has been awesome. I’ll take heat over cold any day.

But Beau? He doesn’t care what the weather is like. He wants to play outside! Bundling him up sometimes takes longer than the amount of time we actually spend playing (nothing like frozen noses and chattering teeth to take the fun out of any activity!)

His winter coat keeps him perfectly warm, but the way it makes him waddle always reminds me of this scene from “A Christmas Story” :)

But he’s my son and I love doing what he loves. Even if it means being outside in the cold!

***

Check out some other folks doing Project 52: Lucas & Mahina; Shawna at StyleBerry; Wicked Kate; WokAbout

If you are participating in this year’s Project 52, leave me a comment and let me know…I’d love to link up with you!

Category: Challenges, Personal Growth, Photography, Project 52 / Tags: , , , , , , ,

#106: Dessert Cups

February 8, 2012 / Abbi / No comments

In September 2009, I started a cupcake adventure. (At this rate, I may never finish! And, I’m not sure I even want to, so, ha!) If you haven’t read about it yet, you can do so here.

***

Need a simple way to make a dessert that doesn’t require many ingredients? You’ve come to the right post!

Ingredients:

  1. Candy Melts by Wilton or Make’n Mold wafers or other baking chocolate (regular chips in chocolate, white chocolate, mint, etc. work fine, too.)
  2. Cupcake papers (save your cute ones for another project…this is a good chance to use up those out-of-season or mismatched ones!)
  3. Fruit or other “filling.” I chose to use thawed, frozen strawberries from my grandparents’ farm. Yummy!

You start by melting the wafers in a microwave or double boiler.

You then use a pastry brush to get a dip of chocolate…

And “paint” a layer of chocolate all over a cupcake paper like so:

Here’s what a single layer looks like. You can tell by the transparency of the chocolate in the bottom that it’s important to do several coats! At least with candy melts. I’m not sure you’d have the same problem with chocolate chips or other baking chocolates.

I did a total of three coats and had some issues getting a smooth coating. The first coat was a little tricky to get on, and after that, subsequent coats of warm chocolate kept melting the previous coats.

So…they looked a little globby, but since they were going to be covered up, it wasn’t a problem! :) I refrigerated them for 15-20 minutes to make sure the chocolate was nice and set.

Once the chocolate had cooled and hardened, next came the really fun part! Peeling off the paper! The three coats made them nice and sturdy, but I still worked carefully to remove the wrappers.

Here they are peeled and ready to be filled!

I drained my strawberries and placed a scoop in each cup. I wish I had had more berries to go around and some whipped cream to top them off!

The original recipe suggested drizzling the fruit with raspberry sauce, but I just sprinkled each one with a pinch of sugar instead.

Darling!

Since making these, I’ve thought of so many fun ways they could be used! Mini ice cream bowls, “baskets” for Easter treats, pudding cups, yogurt parfaits.

You could even use them as mini serving bowls to hold nuts, mints, sprinkles, garnishes, and other small party foods.

And since Candy Melts come in so many colors, you could even make these bowls in pink or blue for a baby shower or in a bride’s wedding colors.

The best part? No dishes to wash…just serve and eat!

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Category: Abbi-Gail Adventure, Challenges, Cupcakes, DIY/How-To / Tags: , , , , ,

Green Bambino Guest Log

February 6, 2012 / Abbi / No comments

It’s so fun when a new local store opens up and sells exactly what you need exactly when you need it! For me, Green Bambino is the perfect example of that truth.

The eco-friendly cloth diaper/natural baby products store opened up just months before I was due with my first baby (now known as Beau the 19 Month Old!)

I took a Cloth Diaper 101 class, registered for baby gifts, took a baby-wearing class, and got to know the incredible owner, Morgan.

Morgan’s #1 concern in her shop is providing an excellent customer experience. And, boy, does she! Not only does she have vast knowledge about diapers and natural baby products, she also has the heart of a teacher. Which keeps people coming back time and again.

Last year it became clear that Green Bambino was out-growing its location and Morgan made the decision to relocate…across the street!

Since I now consider Morgan a friend, I offered to make her a guest book for her new store.

In keeping with the store’s philosophy, I used only repurposed fabric or recycled paper to create their book.

All great guest books have a place to keep a pen!

I had this green fabric leftover from my wedding nearly 3 years ago. Its bright color fits perfectly with Green Bambino’s fresh and earthy decor. A brown ribbon gave the fabric a nice, finished edge.

I then used a scrap piece of acid-free davy board and carved out a baby footprint (no easy feat with davy board, let me tell you!)

For the inside pages, I used repurposed letterhead from my old job! They were just going to throw it away. Can you believe that?! So, I cut the top portion off to get rid of the logo, and printed a motif on the cover page of the book.

Then, the inside pages were filled with lines where store patrons could write their names and hometowns. Though Green Bambino is a local store, it’s the only one like it in Oklahoma City. Even people from surrounding states travel here because they have no such stores at home!

Last time I was in the store, I saw several pages full of signatures, but I didn’t get a chance to really look through it. I can’t wait to see how far people have traveled to experience Green Bambino! It’s a terrific place.

If you are expecting or know someone who is, I highly recommended swinging by the store (or their website) to see how their offerings might make your life better! :)

Category: Books, Paper / Tags: , , , , , ,

Project 52:5 • What’s Cookin’?

February 3, 2012 / Abbi / 5 comments


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Oh, Beau-Beau. You love cooking utensils more than toys, son. Ever since you could sit up by yourself, you’ve been whisking ping-pong balls around in a ceramic bowl.

Nowadays it’s a wrestling match to see which one of us gets to use the good silicon oven mitt (FYI: I usually let you win).

You have your own set of pots and pans. You even have a favorite “pancake flipper” and when it gets washed and accidentally ends up in the canister with the rest of my tools, you are quick to point out that it’s not in YOUR drawer where it belongs.

I can only hope this interest in cooking and helping in the kitchen continues throughout your life. I have no doubt you would be an excellent chef…or at least skilled enough to bless your future wife by giving her a night off. :)

As your mama, it’s my job to make sure you don’t move out of our house without knowing how to cook more than macaroni and cheese (unless, of course, it’s completely from scratch, in which case makes it fancy!)

At the rate you’re going, you’re learning a LOT and you’re learning it fast! So, what shall we cook next, bubba?

***

Check out some other folks doing Project 52: Lucas & Mahina; Shawna at StyleBerry; Wicked Kate

If you are participating in this year’s Project 52, leave me a comment and let me know…I’d love to link up with you!

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Category: Cooking, Personal Growth, Photography, Project 52 / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Nothing But the Blood

January 30, 2012 / Abbi / No comments

In college I took a class called “Experimental Bookmaking.” In the class we were encouraged to explore a range of materials, try new stitching techniques and even redefine what “book” means.

It’s always fun when someone hires you to make a book and they trust you enough to just let you run with it. The book below is a perfect example.

Theresa has had me make several books for her over the past few years. Mostly she has ordered gifts for others, but this time, she wanted a prayer journal for herself. And she said I could design it any way I wanted! :)

I experimented with exposed board for this book. I cut ruby-red bookbinding cloth in a wave shape to cover the spine and connect the covers, and the white part of the cover is raw Davy board, which I shaded with a white Prismacolor pencil.

I then added snowflake brads to the spine for symbolism and to give the book a little embellishment.

Inside the book, I designed the paste pages. I printed the lyrics to the worship song “Nothing But The Blood” and accented that particular line.

I knew Theresa was planning to use this book as a prayer journal, and I wanted to keep this reminder at the forefront of her mind every time she opened her book.

Theresa: Thank you again for being such a loyal customer. I always enjoy designing books for you. I hope the pages of this book are now filled with answered prayers and reminders of God’s provision in your life!

Be blessed!!

Category: Books, Paper / Tags: , , ,

Project 52:4 • Get In The Middle

January 27, 2012 / Abbi / 4 comments


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Boys certainly have their own agenda. If they want it, they are going to get it. If getting it requires too much effort, they just find a way to place themselves in the path of their desired object.

Such is the way with Beau and the toy box lately. I can understand his logic: it IS much easier to put one person inside the box than it is to pull forty-seven toys out of the box. And it’s also cleaner, which helps Mama maintain some of her sanity. Win-win! ;)

***

Check out some other folks doing Project 52: Lucas & Mahina; Shawna at StyleBerry; Wicked Kate

If you are participating in this year’s Project 52, leave me a comment and let me know…I’d love to link up with you!

Category: Personal Growth, Photography, Project 52 / Tags: , , , ,

Glitter is a Girl’s Best Friend

January 25, 2012 / Abbi / 6 comments

My artist-friend and resident fairy-godmother, Teresa, is one of those souls who just SPARKLES. There’s just no other word for the way she lights up a room and one’s soul with her presence.

If there is one thing Teresa loves more than red, it’s glitter! So, in honor of her upcoming birthday {I think she’s going to be 25…something like that, right, T? ;) }, I made her a special sign for her studio:

I found the perfect candy-apple red spray paint and gave the frame a makeover. Then, I used my Silhouette cutter to make a stencil, which I then painted in white acrylic on black matte board.

Sure, I could’ve just cut the letters from white vinyl and been done, but there’s something so authentic and organic and lifelike about seeing brushstrokes within the letters! They just make a work of art seem more like, well, a work of art.

Then, I added the finishing touch: GLITTER. Red glitter. And lots of it!

To say Teresa loved this would be putting it lightly. She immediately shared the above image on Facebook and Instagram and people started demanding to know where she had gotten it.

Though I intended this to be a one-of-a-kind, Teresa has not only given me her blessing to make replicas, she’s downright encouraged it. {I guess when you love glitter like she does, you figure there can never be too much of it in the world!}

So…BIG NEWS!

I will be making more of these in the weeks to come and you can get one of your own!! The color of the frame and glitter can be customized to suit your tastes {everyone has “their” color, right?!}. Each one will be individually handmade and cost $35 plus shipping.

For those who live in the Edmond/OKC area, we can arrange pick-up or delivery {for an extra fee} of your art. For those of you outside OK, I am researching shipping options to keep these as cost-effective for the buyer as possible. I hope to update this post soon with approximate shipping charges.

If you would like to purchase your own, feel free to leave me a comment on this post or email me privately.

Category: Decor, Personal Growth, Wall Art / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Burlap Book

January 23, 2012 / Abbi / No comments

I mentioned in this post that I love making books for other artists. Some times, other artists are even willing to trade their art for mine. Win-win!

Abi and I were meeting up to do a photoshoot for BodSchool, my personal training business. She takes incredible photos and I wanted to bring a thank you gift that I could give her until I was able to make her official sketchbook.

In college, I purchased a book that teaches how to bind books without any glue. As you can imagine, that makes the process much quicker, as you don’t have to wait for anything to dry!

I had some burlap scraps another friend had given me and decided that would be the perfect material to try something new.

I chose to make a “quarto” sized book (a fourth of a page) from 8.5 x 11 paper. The final size was roughly 4.25″ wide x 5.5″ tall…a great little book for stuffing in a purse or camera bag!

I burned the edges of the burlap to give it a more finished look (and also in hopes it would keep it from fraying so badly). Have you ever smelled burnt burlap?! Eww.

Since Abi loves green, I chose olive-colored paper for the pages. It also looks really great with the earthy burlap, don’t you think?

The stitching I chose was Long Stitch/Link Stitch. The sections are sewn together so the stitches are exposed on the spine like this:

I really like how you could see the stitches if you knew to look for them, but that the twine also blended in nicely with the burlap.

This was a really fast book the make. The thing that took the longest was learning the new stitch, but even that went quickly once I got the hang of it.

Abi, thank you again for being willing to trade art! I love making unique things for unique girls like you!

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Category: Books, Company, Fabric, Paper / Tags: , , , , ,
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