Yes, these are rocks

I took Koren's good advice and did not 'over think' the project this week and success was mine. I found a great recipe online (which I modified a bit) for rocks. Now, you have to use your imagination a bit as these are cooked rocks. Yes, you read that correctly. And try to ignore the fact that the recipe is very close to the play dough recipe for kids I almost wore out about 20 years ago:

Things You'll Need:
¾ cup plain flour
¾ cup salt
1/2 tsp. essential oil
2/3 cup boiling water
Food coloring of your choice
Bowl

Step 1
In your bowl, mix the flour and salt thoroughly with a sifting spoon.
Step 2
Add your essential oil(s) and the boiling water to the dry mixture. Mix well.
Step 3
Add food coloring of choice a drop at a time until you have the desired color achieved. The color may lighten a bit after drying.
Step 4
Form into balls or "rocks" and allow to sit out and dry. Once dry, place the scented rocks into dishes or vases, or wherever you want to use them. Enjoy the appearance and scent of your new scented rock potpourri.

I used blue + red food coloring to make mauve (sorry they look grey here but then again that is more rock like) and lavender essential oil. Used disposable gloves getting the soft moist dough into the rock stage. Going to put them in my closets.

Uncle

Okay, you win Koren, I pass. I went as far as obtaining some yellow paper and downloading oragami instructions but....as Kaleb said "didn't look like it worked out". All I have are some offerings for the recycle pin. The Green Party would not be pleased with me. And I do like the towels. So... the theme for next week will be:

rock

as in rock, paper, scissors not rock n roll.

Buenos Dias

I have been feeling pretty ansty today so finding the paitence to complete this project has been the challenge. I am going to post the 1st picture now but I plan on working on this a little further this evening. I was afraid I'd run out of the energy to post so I took a picture of my progress. I was at Wal Mart the other day and saw 6 handtowels for $6. The yellow first caught my eye but the price certainly sold me. This is the first time I have done free hand embroidery and I think it went alright... the letters don't look quite right... the o looks like an a but I think I can fix it. I plan on adding some viney type things with flowers. I have some ideas for the other 5 but I have not settled on any of 'em yet. I could use some cross stitch type patterns... maybe make a Super Mario one for one of my Nintendo loving sisters. I know Gina is redoing her bathroom right now, I'll have to think of one for her too. Anywho; here's the W.I.P.
Any ideas for some good sayings for them? Can't wait to see what Mom picks for next week.

Home Tweet Home

I looked and looked today for the conectors but I couldn't locate them. But, when it is finished, it stands up and will look kinda cute. Hopefully I can update this tomorrow when I am less tired and have finished the project.

This week was for the birds

Well, I have no one to blame but myself as I was the one choosing the theme but in hindsight I could've picked something more amenable to my creativity. I struggled all week to come up with something, reviewed websites, cruised the craft sections while shopping and still nothing. When I asked Tim for suggestions he thought of roasting birds and then taxidermy so definitely no help! I considered bird feeders, bird houses, stencilling, filet crochet, cross stitch and more. Finally acknowledging to myself that something with/for birds is really hard.

So...I have settled for a craft which is just a bit of a stretch to call it new. I scrapbook for sure but this style is one which is new to me. I borrowed the pattern from an online source and modified to my taste and used it as the cover of two small albums. I searched online and printed two birds as the subjects and then started experimenting.

I have to say that I'm quite pleased with my efforts and even more pleased that I won't have to choose the theme for next week!

We're a crafty pair!

Well, after a bit of a hiatus due to lack of time and logistics of cooking in foreign environments we have consulted and decided to reinvent – if not ourselves, the blog – so here is the plan….Since we’re both pretty creative and would like to prove it - the blog will focus on crafts with the following criteria:

Has to be a small project which can be completed in a few hours ex. an evening

It’s okay to try something new even if it doesn’t work that will be part of the learning experience

Have to use materials on hand in the house, or if purchasing the materials can’t cost over $10

We will follow the same format of posting a photo and description on Sunday

The theme will allow for varied interpretations ex. tree could be something to do with the Christmas tree, shrubs in the yard, tree shapes etc.

We alternate weeks for choosing the theme – I’m starting the choosing off this week with….

birds

Sorry about taking away the vote, we were never really a democracy anyway as I'm more of a benevolent dictator. And it's kind of hard to have you vote for a favorite project as there's no blinding with the posting. So...here we go again.

Maja

Carrots in Cookies??

Well, I was looking for something really different and ....I found it with the carrot cookie recipe. The only change I made from the one on allrecipes.com was to lower the oven temperature. They sound very strange but are very tasty, trust me as I've eaten enough of them in the past few hours to know. They aren't dry like some oatmeal cookies but chewy.

Peanut Butter Carrot Cookies

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream together the margarine, brown sugar, white sugar, and peanut butter.
Add in the egg and the milk. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda and stir in. Stir in oats. Add in the carrots and chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoon onto cookie sheets and bake for 15 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen.

We were discussing / rating the cookies at supper tonight and Crystal and Beth decided that it's sort of like when you use zucchini in cake and you don't taste it but as I mentioned "you can taste carrots when you cook and eat them separately though, zucchini are still tasteless". They both gave them a 7/10, although Crystal found them quite sweet and would've added some sort of spice. Tim obviously enjoyed them (even though he's not a fan of peanut butter cookies) gave them an 8/10 and ate 4 or 5 this afternoon. So, a definitely make these again attempt. I'm thinking they'll likely keep well with the carrot to keep them moist.