The Craft OFF: Stapler Edition

Went to Target this morning with daughter # 1. She wanted to get a stapler for a friend.
She was hoping to find one that was all bling-a-fied (Daughter #2's word). No such luck.
She did find 2 clear acrylic staplers for $2.08 a piece. Score!
I told her I had some ideas of how to cute it up, so she got them.
We decided that we would have a Craft smack down and see who could redo the best stapler.
Ok, after an hour or so later, here are the results.

Stapler Y

Other side of Stapler Y

Stapler X

Other Side of  Stapler X

Vote for the one you like the best in poll to the side! You have a week to vote! Comment on which one you like best and why!

Mr. Goodwill Hunting

     Hey, fellow bloggers out there. I thought that I should blog since it's been a while.
Everyone has such great ideas and so many cute crafts to do. Where to start?
If Maren will show me how to link to some of my absolute favorites, stay tuned.


     Because I haven't figured out how to do the pinterest that is so popular, I always bookmark everything. Then I get on an organizing kick and think I should do some deleting. It's so hard to decide which ones still make the mark. Anyone out there have the same problem?
      It takes me forever because I have to open them and see if I still want them or not. Then I get side tracked looking at the creative ideas.
   So, I have put on my brave hat and just randomly deleted ones that I think I don't need. I figure I can always find them again if I want. Sound crazy? We'll see.


   I have a huge crush on Nate Berkus. He is on NBC.  Can I say that he is so yummy?I love that last week on his show, he had a guest on that only shops at thrift stores and redecorates people's homes with his great finds.
        This super hero's name is  Mr.Goodwill Hunting. His mother calls him Rashon Carroway.  The budget is $300.00 and sometimes he comes in under budget. Any clients dream come true.
On this episode Goodwill Hunting found at the Goodwill (hence his name) a sideboard (in mint condition) that at Bakers Furniture retails for $17,000. No that's not a typo, that's right $17,000. Nate was so impressed.
      Want to know what Mr. Goodwill Hunting paid for it? He paid $74.25. It was marked at $99.00 but he asked if the guy would come down in the price and he got 25% off just for asking.
It pays to ask.
      Then he takes all the treasures back to the workshop, where he and his crew repurpose's, repaints everything. 
The tip he gave that I loved is when shopping thrift all that matters is that the end products are cohesive. Don't be afraid if there are nicks or scratches in the furniture, most can be sanded out and fixed. Hate the color? No problem, repaint it.
Mr. G.H. found a chair that he redid the fabric, I loved that chair. I wanted that chair so bad!


You know you did a good job when the client shakes and cries at the same time in the reveal.

Sweet Hand-Sewing: Sock Softies & Cupcakes

Hey everyone,

       Here's a cute hand-sewing project I love to make, Stray Sock Softies and stuffed cupcakes.
The cupcake is made of felt and fabric. It has sprinkles that spell out sweet, that are beads. The swirl of frosting is just circles of felt layered on top and the little cherry is made of felt.
      My cute little frogs are made of socks ( here's the awesome book that teaches you how to make them) and fabric.
I hope this inspires you to go out and make some sweet creatures of your own!
~ Maren   

Quiche facile or easy quiche.

Ok, tired moms and women every where, here is the easiest recipe known to the world of cooking.
This is one of my go to recipes. What is a go to recipe? It's when you haven't thought about dinner and it's 5:30 pm going on 6:00, the natives are getting restless and you have brain fog.
I keep a recipe card of 7 or so easy, quick to make recipes, go to recipes.
One of my families favorites is Quiche. When I make this my family blesses my name, I become a great cook instead of the Mom who never cooks anything.

Okay, for the recipe! The one I use is from the Lion House cookbook. The ingredients are simple and fairly inexpensive: eggs, bacon, green onions, swiss cheese, and pie crust. For the pie crust you can make your own, use ready to use or my favorite Jiffy pie crust mix.
3eggs well beaten
1 cup grated swiss cheese
6-8 pieces of cooked bacon
1/4 cup of chopped green onion
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
 Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 9 inch pie pan with cooking spray, place rolled out pie crust in pan, poke 5-6 times with fork. Bake for 5 minutes, remove from oven.
Spread Swiss cheese, crumbled bacon, green onions in the bottom of pan. Whip eggs and heavy whipping cream together in bowl, add to pie pan.  Place pie pan on a cookie sheet to avoid having to clean oven later.
I haven't had any problems with this recipe spilling over the sides but you don't want to have to clean the oven, right?
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until firm.
This can be eaten right away or is good cold, that is if it makes it to the fridge at all. Bonne Appetite!
- Nancy

Okay Adventure fans, took me a minute to figure out how to post again. I post so little without Maren to walk me through all the steps, I am pretty lost without her.

This morning I was reading in the business section of the Deseret News (S.L.C.) about couponing vs not couponing.
For those of you who love couponing, this is not to offend your mad awesome money saving gifts. The article was saying you could save more by buying generic brands and by not buying so many processed junk foods.By looking at weekly grocery ads and planning your meals on whats on sale can save $$$.
Some plan meals by the week, month and I'm sure out there somewhere some super organized person has a years worth of meals planned.

Wow, I am just trying to figure out what to eat for breakfast, where my glasses are, and answer the phone.
I went on the website suggested Go Gingham. It has so many really interesting ideas. Check it out!

The blogger mentioned for spring break, her family is house trading. What an interesting and novel idea.
For those of you who have never heard of this, it's when 2 different households trade houses for a determined amount of time.
So say you live in Scotland and I live in England. I want to vacation in Scotland for one week. You live in England and want to vacation in Scotland for one week. You travel to my house in Scotland and stay for one week while we travel to your house in England.
You are responsible for your own meals and travel costs. Bedding and such is usually supplied by the home owners. Sound fun? Anyone want to swap houses for a vacation?     Nancy

Sweet 16 Birthday Decor

      My birthday was last month and I made the cutest decorations for my party. I made a banner out of scrapbook paper and yarn, some tissue paper pompoms, and I strung some twinkly lights. The menu was potstickers, panko chicken, chips and salsa, and cake of course! My sister made the Chocolate Mousse Crunch Cake  from the gals at Ourbestbites.com, she left out the heath bits and well it didn't exactly turn out pretty. But it tasted great! And everyone loved it! I also got some nice presents from my friends, and we played Maren Jeopardy and Accent Draw ( were everyone gets an accent and has to talk in that accent the rest of the night). We also played the tape game (its kinda like musical chairs) and Just Dance 3. We couldn't get them to leave.  Probably the best birthday ever! Sorry about the picture quality I wasn't planing on posting the decorations and food.
     ~ Maren

Isn't The Cake just lovely?

My Cousin Geogia and My Sister Josie 

Cake and icecream, don't forget the Ginger Ale

Scrapbook Banner in the background with my balloons and twinkly lights

mini orange pompoms

The guys enjoying their cake

More decorations

Upcoming Blogs

It has been so long since I have blogged. I have been quite busy with school and projects. But we are always to something crafty we just never post it. It is my goal to post my creations this year. Please support me in my crafty endeavors!

Some of the stuff I have done lately is, made cupcake pincushions, sewn a medieval top to wear to a medieval etiquette dinner, I am also working on a dress for a fashion design contest completely made of reused and recycled materials. I plan on putting up the pictures soon! But I can't promise anything.

~ Maren