Babyface Favor Box

In my shameless, burning desire for more grandbabies, I have designed yet another baby-related shower accessory: a baby-faced favor box. 

The box is a 1½ inch cube - just the right size for a good handful of pastel butter mints or pink or blue M&M's. It is sized for cutting on a Baby Bug, but could be enlarged for a larger cutter/larger gift - maybe even to wrap the mom-to-be's gift in. I used a pale peach paper for the face, which is glued to the top flaps of the box. I also made a face stencil so that you could marker-in the areas under the facial cutouts. I used rosy chalk to give the baby's cheeks, chin & ears a blush. The face & curl can be cut from whatever color matches the new mommy & daddy's complexions/hair color.

The svgs for the box and it's components, along with the face stencil and a picture of the finished box, and a sheet of tips is included in the price of $5.00 US. Upon notification from Paypal of funds received, I will email you the appropriate files, including the scut2 files for cutting on a Cricut. Please use the "Donate" button to order, and leave a note telling me which file it is that you want. Thanks for your interest! I appreciate your business so much! 

Laura

Aunt Essie's Plum Cobbler

We went to dinner with some old friends the other night, and I invited them back to the house for some cards and conversation afterward, so I wanted to make a dessert that would please them. I wanted something that would make them feel special, but would still be homey. Once again I turned to my trusty recipe for Aunt Essie's Plum Cobbler. The original recipe was published in Family Circle Magazine as "Essie's Plum Cobbler" and attributed to The Best from Libby Hillman's Kitchen (Countryman Press, Woodstock, Vermont). It calls for unsalted butter, and no additional salt, but that's not how I bake! For years this wonderful dessert has completed a meal with friends and family, with everyone feeling satisfied at the end. 

*Note: The only changes I've made to it were according to the type of plums available, the method of preparation (I use my food processor, but you can mix it up by hand if you like), the use of salted butter,  and the addition of a little more cinnamon than the original called for. It's goes together in a snap, and tastes like Grammie's been baking (actually, she has!) I hope you give this a try - it's great any time of year, but is a wonderful finish to a fall or winter meal.

Aunt Essie's Plum Cobbler    

For a 9-10" quiche/tart baking dish 

(I doubled the recipe for my Pampered Chef stoneware baking dish, and since I  couldn't get small black plums, which are sweeter than the red ones, I used 5 gigantic red ones, quartered, then each slice cut in half width-wise. I sprinkled 2-4 T. of granulated sugar over the top of the plums before adding the topping, since they are more sour than their black counterparts.                                                          

1/4 cup light brown sugar

5-6 small black plums

1 cup flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 t. Kosher salt

1 t. ground cinnamon

1 egg

1 stick salted butter, melted

Vanilla ice cream to serve

Preheat oven to 350°F. Evenly distribute the brown sugar over the bottom of the baking dish.Quarter (see *note above) & pit the plums, and place them cut sides up over the brown sugar. In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, salt & cinnamon. Add the egg and pulse 5-10 times to make a shaggy dough. Pile the dough over the plums and smooth out evenly. Melt the butter in the microwave (usually 1 minute on high), and pour over the flour mixture. Place on a foil-lined cookie sheet (you'll thank me later), and bake at 350° for 40-50 minutes, until light golden brown on top. Let cool 10 minutes before serving with good vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Laura

God is Good!

I don't know about you, but I have been glued to the TV since I got up this morning, watching the miracle take place of the rescue of 33 Chilean miners, trapped over 2,000 feet below the surface of the Earth. Think of that! With my dislike of enclosed spaces, it gives me the willies. And without fail, with every one that is brought to the surface, 19 so far, I am overcome with joy, the tears well-up, and I am once again reminded of how great our God is, how He listens to our prayers and answers them, how He's given us the abilities necessary to invent the machinery used, the knowledge of how to employ them, and the safety He's granted to the whole operation so far. Praise Him, all ye peoples!

A big THANK YOU!!!

A dear friend in Australia has given me the honor of my first blog award!  I couldn't be more tickled! And it's even a Cherry on Top Award - the cutest of the cute awards out there! What fun!

Now, to follow the award rules:

1. Thank the dear person who gave me the award: A kindred spirit,Carolyn, of the famed blog, http://cuttingtime.blogspot.com. I am so honored that you would do this for me! I am amazed at the things you do - way beyond my capacity! 

Please visit her blog - it's outstanding. She puts untold hours into researching the intricacies of Inkscape so we can become better at our art form. Thank you, Carolyn!

2. Display the award on my blog. Done -  and thank you, again!
3. Tell everyone 3 things you love. Alright - I'll share 4: Christ, Family, Sewing and paper crafts.
4. Post a picture you love. 

This was taken yesterday, Sept 23, 2010. Two of the most important people in my world: my dear husband of 30 years, and our first grandchild, affectionately known as "Juju", having a great time at our favorite ice cream shop, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. 

5. Pass the award to 5 other blogs. - I'll echo Carolyn here - how do you narrow it down to five? Hope they're all as tickled as I am! (This was extremely hard to do!!!)

Extreme Cards & Papercrafting - "Land sakes alive!" is all I have to say. Check out CPeep's amazing blog!

Allsorts - The blog of Jenny B. Harris - an amazing resource for inspiration. I go to her play pages when little visitors come over - delightful!

MelStampz - Mel is an incredibly talented lady. I go there for inspiration as much as the great downloads she offers.

Paper Pastime - Denise Hill is one very talented lady - I always come away with ideas percolating.

From an Igloo - Northern Canadian blogger, Christine, shares adorable things to sew for the little ones in your life. Tons of cuteness!

SCORE!

c

I know, compared to some others I've seen, this little storage system of mine is paltry, but it is workin' so well for me.  A friend found a box-full of these wire grids at a garage sale, along with the connectors. I made this storage rack, then was able to incorporate shelves into it for every color and theme of paper I have (using zip-ties to hold them in place) - PLUS storage on the bottom for all my stuff...for $buckaroos! Cha-ching! Still have enough grids left over to build more, including hanging some over the paper area using Velcro-straps and for hinges and clasps, so little (sticky) fingers can't get at my colorful stash. Gone are the days of having to leaf through every piece of paper I had to find "the perfect one". Life is good!

Thanks Peeps!

Thanks so much to those sweeties who sent notes wondering if all was well, here, since I haven't posted in a while. I have been taking care of my elderly mom in our home for the past couple of months. She has osteoporosis, and fractured a disk (this is the 5th time this has happened! Her spine is full of cement!) She is back in her own home, now, and is doing fairly well, but I don't think she'll ever be able to walk without a walker again. I appreciate any prayers you feel led to pray for her.

I am working on some things for the blog, but in the meantime, wanted to share this little "Family Album" I created for my granddaughter, using the free, downloadable software from Zoom Album Creator. You can download the software here. It lets you select the photos you want to use, then helps you crop them, and then turns them all the right way, so that when you print them out all on one sheet of 8½x11" piece of paper, they are all turned the right direction. You then make just two slits in the paper (I scored all lines in between the photos first - glad I did), and begin folding to make the book. (The website has complete instructions.) I used semi-glossy photo paper, and I cut my own chipboard pieces, (by hand - I NEED a deep-cutting blade!) and taped the pages together with permanent adhesive, but you can buy a kit with sticky-backed photo paper and the chipboard cutouts already done for you from www.zoomalbum.net.

The outside cover has her picture on it, and the inside consists of pictures of the faces of all her daddy's side of the family. Some family members live far and wide, and hopefully this will not only help to keep them familiar to her until we get to be with them again, but also help her to learn everyone's names. I am making another one for her mommy's side of the family. The books are 3x3" - so cute, and just the right size for a little one's hands (or a grammie's purse as a brag book!)

Cherry Gift Card Set

Hi all!  I've been awaaaaaay from my Cricut for a long time, and it's good to be back.
I made a new gift set for a friend's birthday. She is a cherry freak, so it's a cherry gift card set. Hope you like 'em. If anyone is interested in the files for a particular card, let me know. They would be just the basic card itself and a few cherry designs that I cut - you'll have to come up with your own doodads, borders and ribbons. There were 8 cards in all, but one of the pix was so bad, I just said, "Forget it!" : ) Please forgive the numerous bad pix that actually made it on the page!

I got the directions for the gift box from Diane over at Capadia Designs: http://capadiadesigns.blogspot.com/2009/01/step-by-step-guide-to-making-note-card.html. It's not one you cut on your Cricut, but it's a breeze to put together, and her directions are great. It holds 8 A2 note cards and 8 envelopes beautifully. Thanks again, Diane, for all your creativity.