Mr. and Mrs. Wedding Craft Idea

A friend of mine needed some creative crafting help with a wedding basket she was putting together.  She saw an Etsy item on my "Favorites" and thought I had made it.  I told her no, but I probably could!  Then I did!  It was a set of "Mr" and "Mrs" ink stamped eggs in a nest.  She needed it the next day, so there was no way she had time to order.

I experimented on wooden eggs as well as various stones and rocks.  For the wooden eggs I first painted them Robin's Egg Blue, then stamped them.  I used "StazOn" ink pad for the letter stamping.   Then I just put them in a small next filled with shredded paper.  Oh, and added a couple little white feathers.  It was such a fun and fast project, and would be cute on wedding reception tables, or as a gift to the new Mr. and Mrs.

Another fun thing I've been playing with this week is Crayola brand "Window Markers".  They come in various tips and sizes.  I found a set at WalMart for about $4.  K-Mart had them, too, in the thicker sizes. What fun we've had writing on our windows!  I wrote a Bible verse out on the window above my kitchen sink, an easy way to memorize. 

Ellie was over the other day and she had fun playing with them, too.

Now a word about Pinterest...found this Pumpkin Pound Cake:

(as pictured on Pinterest)

It really is like having a new magazine daily.  I found this recipe a week ago on Pinterest and made it.  It was delicious!  Try it out.  It's one of those cakes that taste better great right out the oven and even better the next day or two!

(my cake)

Needless to say...Pinterest continues to rock!

Blessings, Heidi 

Linked to Cindy's My Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday,
 and Nifty Thrifty Sunday #26, and the DIY Show Off Blog Project Parade.

Final Days of September

.......ah, the final days of September........

Melissa (oldest of our two daughters) is now a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant!  If you need or want to order anything from her (help support her family!) you can order directly from her website and it can be shipped directly to your home. Here she is setting up for a party last night:

Here's she is during the presentation (with one of guests):

Jessica (younger of our two daughters) is officially the Cupcake Queen! She's just got the talent it takes to make cupcakes both taste yummy and look great! Here's a photo of a batch she's taking into her work today for a surprise shower:

Here's a photo of Jessica on Saturday when she was able to stop by home on her way to an event (with her new camera from her husband!):

Now....hang on to your seats....Mark and I went salmon fishing on Saturday...

(the Coast Guard cutter came in right next to us)

(the seaplane took off next to us)

(the bay was calm)

... and guess who caught her very first salmon? 

Yep, I did!  It was so exiting. It measured at 31 inches but we forgot to weight it.  We had fresh salmon for dinner Saturday night, then froze the rest in packages. 

Another September event, I ran my first "official" race!  It was our local Prefontaine Run, a 10K race (6.2 miles).  My goal was to place in the top 5 of MY age group, and I did!  I placed 5th.  I ran 8:48 minute miles on a somewhat difficult course, it has several "agony" hills! 

I am really loving these early autumn days.  A few of then were "Indian Summer" days, and now today the rain has returned!  And I am spending a little too much time "pinning"...LOL  Here's one I found, you can print out and frame:

And another:



Fall Blessings to you all!  Hugs, Heidi

Pinterest and my flop!

Just keeping it real here, girls.  I love Pinterest.  I've made several recipes from Pinterest links, with great results.   Until this one, Strawberry Lemonade Bars.  This one took a couple weeks to make, as each time I set out to make it I would be short an ingredient.  So finally this week I got my act together and made it, carefully following the "test kitchen" recipe.

(these were not mine, but from the K&K Test Kitchen blog)

I had made these to take to my ladies Bible study, but had to leave them home! Yep, not even sprinkled powder sugar was going to make a save:

I'm not sure if I should try again or not?  Have any of you made this recipe yet?  Maybe I should just stick to lemon bars!  And eat my strawberries with plenty of whipped cream on the side!

If you'd like to take a look at my "Baking Corner" board on Pinterest, you can see my collection here:

Heidi's Baking Corner

I really want to make the Texas Roadhouse Copy Cat Rolls next......hope my yeast doesn't let me down! 

Back to work now....I'm painting sign orders, and also packaging up "Vintage Scrap Packs" for Jenn's event next month, "Once Upon a Dream", which I am a sponsor.  I'm sure the girls there will have fun, Jenn's got lots lined up and she throws an event like no other!



Blessings, Heidi

 



Natural Love

When you live on the Oregon coast, where we get so much rain, you MUST not miss any opportunities to enjoy nature when it doesn't rain!  Hence the reason I have not posted a blog in a month!  Lakes, mountains, rivers, oceans, runs, biking, swimming and more have filled my days (when not working!).  I have a million pictures to share....(seems like a million).

Today is a very special day.  It's the 10 year anniversary of our oldest daughter's wedding to her high school sweetheart.  They met in junior high, and were married in September, the year she graduated from high school.  Kris is the hardest worker you'd ever meet, always the first one to help anyone in need--he's perfect for our Melissa! They have gone through tragedies (the death of Kris's brother and cousin), crisis, times of joy and so much more, but have always kept their eyes on God, both focused on Him, therefore always having their heads and hearts in the same place.  They now have three children and live on just under 20 acres out in the country.   They'll celebrate with a weekend trip to Newport, to take the kids to see the Newport Aquarium!

Kris and Melissa on September 15, 2001

On Sunday, September 18, our younger daughter and her husband (we have two) are celebrating their 1 year wedding anniversary!  They met while in college, Corban College, and had the love of God, sports and movies in common!  Craig is the most easy going guy you'd ever met---perfect for our Jessica.  They also have already experience great sadness in their first year of marriage, the death of Craig's sister, as well as the joy of  new family members (Craig's sister's baby, and Melissa's baby).  We wish they lived across the road, but are thankful they at least live on the west coast just 4 hours from us.  They'll celebrate this weekend with a trip to Seattle, where Craig had proposed to her!

Craig and Jessica on September 18, 2010

Jessica and Craig's reception was held under a big canopy on our front pasture, the evening was magical:

(magical, with soft rain pattering on the top...)

Now a quick photo of our recent vacation...





Sunset....our canoe awaits us....this is just the cove of the beautiful Waldo Lake.

Waldo Lake is worth finding!

Hugs, Heidi

Save the Date - Save the Day - Save the Recipe

Summer doesn't mean slower days, I guess, as it seems we're busy as ever.  The only difference is we are adding into our days so many more outdoor activities.  So every weekend we try to "play" one day, and "work" the other, with Sunday as our resting day (although there's still plenty we do on Sundays!)  We are so fortunate my Mark has Friday's off, and I am usually able to sneak away from work as well. 

Last Friday we drove through the Rogue Wilderness, on U.S. Forest Service logging roads.  What a blast that was with the top off our Jeep.  I couldn't stop looking UP at the beautiful tall trees, so majestic.  We did make our way down at one point to the Rogue River, and got a chance to talk to some of the people rafting and camping the river.  Also, it was...mighty hot!  We got to go through the Rogue River Ranch,  which has a museum and more.  Oh, it was...mighty hot! 

We sat under a huge old black walnut tree and ate our lunch.

Our lunch included tuna sandwiches, made with home canned tuna.  Melissa and I had spent a day or so earlier canning tuna, after Mark cut and filleted about ten large tuna fish.  We can buy them right off the boats here on the coast.

Back to the Rogue River Ranch...

I loved the table and bench set inside, I think it was made of madrome wood....

I also loved the shade of red they had painted the main house, with the white trim....

Back home....I realized how much cooler we are here on the coast, even on our "hot" days!  The next day we were splitting firewood, after an hour or two (with me at the wood splitter), I said, "I need to stop and go play in the kitchen!"  Off to the kitchen to make something!  I made a yummy sour cream pound cake, and then a batch of cream puffs. 

When it came time to fill the cream puffs I whipped up the whipping cream in my KitchenAid, as I always have, but it just would NOT whip.  That was a first for me.  As a quick stand in we filled a few of them with canned whipped cream---I know, not very Martha-Stewartly.  Have I ever mentioned we don't live close to grocery stores?

The sour cream coffee cake recipe I use is included in my "Taste of Oregon" cookbook.  I *highly* recommend this cookbook. 
















Here's the recipe for you to try out.  I made mine in a round bundt cake pan, but you can use any cake pan you have.

SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups butter
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder.
    TOPPING:
    1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    3 Tablespoons brown sugar
    1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

Cream together the sugar, butter, and eggs.  Add the sour cream, vanilla, flour, salt, and baking power; mix together.  Combine topping ingredients. Pour half the batter into a greased tube pan. Cover with half the topping.  Add the rest of the batter and top with the remainder of the topping.  Bake at 350F degrees for 1 hour.  Cover with foil for the last 15-20 minutes to prevent the top from getting too brown. 

Serve warm or cooled---great either way...

I've been having fun painting some "SAVE THE DATE" signs for Etsy buyers.  I needed a photo of a couple holding my sign, to show as an example, but only had Mark and I to use.  I laugh everytime I see this photo, as we're holding the SAVE THE DATE sign and we've now been married over 30 years.  We still save OUR date as one VERY SPECIAL DAY!

Blessings!   ~Heidi

(EDITED to change the recipe name.  It was sour cream coffee cake, not pound cake as I originally had written in error!)

Summer Days

Summer days are the best...

Early morning just outside our front door...the swing just waits for the grand kids to come over...

My clothes can be hung on the line...

Watering the berry garden, tasting the raspberries. Unfortunately we are still working with the deer--they also want to taste the raspberries...

My parents and other family members were here visiting...

Playing around Pinterest way too much, but getting some great ideas, such as this wonderful dessert (chocolate chip cook dough cheesecake bars)....

(this is the pan before baking, they were really-really-really good!)

This is the photo I saw on Pinterest...

Hiking the wilderness...

Painting signs daily....thank you all for the order!.....

Hope you are also enjoying your summer!

Hugs, Heidi

Love is sweet.... forever and ever....

Oh my goodness there must be a lot of sweet stuff happening at weddings these days.  I continue to sell more "Love is Sweet" signs than any other sign currently.  Some of the girls tell me they are buying it for their wedding reception candy bars.  I have to admit, I wish I could follow along with the sign straight to the candy bar, I'm a candy lover.  

Some of the brides are buying them for their cake tables, or cupcake tables.  Some for other areas of their wedding.

Last week I painted a custom rustic "Love is Sweet" sign with the wedding date and last name.  This is really getting fun now:

I just wish I had more hours in the day to paint all the wonderful ideas regarding "love is sweet".  I do love to paint these custom signs!