last week.

since it's been awhile since my last post i thought i would catch you up on what i've been doing all week.

we celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary by attending a valentines dance.

it was a fundraiser for the heart 2 heart child advocacy center in our town.
craig's job puts him in direct contact with lots of children that NEED this center.
it's always a good time with great music, food & dancing.

we also spent the day watching the daytona 500, because yes, WE LIKE NASCAR!

i hit up the local thrift store for their 1/2 off sale.

 scored a cute vintage apron for 10 cents and a $5 dresser that i plan on re-purposing.

i also stocked up on some clothing to make more ruffled pillows.
i made this one last night when craig got called out to a robbery. (sorry taco tico)

my kitchen needed some new fabulous looking drink ware.

my nephew was selling them to raise money for his ball team.
i wasn't home when he came by, so craig picked some out.  ...hence the sports theme.

the weather has been nice one day and crappy the next ALL WEEK.
translation: the groundhog is bi-polar.
on the nice days i did some spray painting.
i stayed away from the train cars and overpasses and just sprayed some old trays for a later project.

i used my 18 bags of leaves we still have for a table.

i also did a little painting indoors for some craft projects.
i love how this one came out.

i did it using my beloved silhouette machine.
i also made this one for my surrogate teenager for valentines day.

she can never find anything with her name on it because of the extra N at the end.
...which is my fault since i suggested it to her family when they were naming her :)
she's 15 and just started her first official job this week at braums. (ice-cream & burger joint)
we went shopping for uniform shirts and non-slip shoes...
some shoe designer needs to help cute'n those styles up for sure!
we ended up buying another pair of cute shoes for her, to counter act the ugly ones.
and i got a matching pair :)
we also shopped at hobby lobby & michaels for some craft supplies.
we ended the evening eating at genghis grill...MY FAV!!!!


of course there was real work last week too.
a few cuts and colors.  (not nearly as fun as shopping, dancing, & crafting)
i did one color with a flashlight since the power decided to go out multiple times one day.

all i know is i am ready for some nice (say 75 degrees?) consistent weather. 
no more snow, no more freezing drizzle, no more winter!
BRING ON SOME

pretty please??

snow shovel to flip flops.

kansas weather is perplexing to me....
7 days ago the temp was -17 degrees.  MINUS!
...and we were buried in this.

today the high is nearing 80.  say what???
maybe that groundhog isn't so lame after all?

{{HEART DAY}}

butter, brown sugar & flour.

that's all you need to make the most wonderful shortbread cookies EVER!
yep, 3 measly ingredients to wow your families taste buds.

craig's mom made these for his birthday, and ever since i've been just a tad addicted to them.

here are the amounts you will need:
1 cup butter (2 sticks) softened.  you must use butter, no butter imitators allowed!
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
2 1/2 cups flour

preheat that lovely oven of yours to 300 degrees.

cream butter and brown sugar in mixing bowl.

slowly start adding in your flour.
when your mixer starts walking across the counter, finish mixing by hand.

it will be flaky.
if it is too flaky add a tad of water to the dough.
now the important part.
lay out some flour on you dough mat or counter and knead the heck out of the dough til it isn't flaky any more.
like for 5 to 8 minutes.
beat it, punch it, take out all your stress on it.
(like the fact that there is already 18 inches of snow on the ground and it is still snowing!)
have i mentioned i dislike winter?

then roll it out to about 1/8-1/4 inch thick.

(i prefer 1/4 inch)

then take your pizza cutter and cut strips about 1 inch wide.

then cut the opposite direction so you end up with 1 inch by 3 inch pieces.

if some of the pieces have crazy edges, throw them aside and roll them all back out and cut until you have used all the dough.
place on a ungreased cookie sheet.

then prick with a fork about 4 times going down the cookie.

bake at 300 degrees for 25 minutes or until bottom of cookie begins to brown.
let cool.

now this is the most important IMPORTANT part.
empty the entire cookie sheet into a bowl, grab a giant mug of hot cocoa, walk into the living room
and cozy onto the couch under a big comfy quilt, ignore the 18 + inches of blowing snow outside,
turn the TV to lifetime movie network and relax!
you just baked...you deserve it!

groundhogs are lame.

i feel like i am sitting in a giant snow globe

when i look outside all i see is giant flakes of snow falling, and falling and falling...

the wind chill is -10.

someone refuses to go outside and do her business.

sounds like the perfect time to heat up the oven and make something yummy...

recipe tomorrow :)

jealousy?

...it must be, cause i don't think she was just flossing!

 

****************************************************************

those lovely people at silhouette america must have dogs.

one quick phone call and the awesome girl on the other end 

said a new power cord  would be in the mail tomorrow!

at no charge even!!

this is the second time i have talked to someone at silhouette

(once was a techy question)

both times they have been super friendly and oh so helpful!

you just don't find customer service like that anymore!

THANK YOU SILHOUETTE!

(miley says thank you too!!!)

50 feet to craft utopia.

some girls drove 30 min.
some girls drove hundreds of miles.
some girls even flew thousands of miles.
me?  i walked 50 feet across the street.
for what you ask?

for this.

i am still on a crazy high from all the amazing women i got to
craft with.

laugh with.

 (we were laughing with you waffle, not at you)

catch up with.

eat with.

antique with.

& chat with.

all of these girls are bloggers, minus two of them....but that might change (right jana & cindy?)
to some people i know it sounds a little sketchy to be hanging out with people you meet on the internet,
but they were all awesome...like we had known each other for years.

my neighbor meg hosted all of us for a three-day crafting extravaganza.
it was a giant slumber party...
funny stories, crafting in PJ's, eating all the wrong (but delish) stuff, staying up super late, sleeping in.
this needs to be my job. :)

we made 3 different crafts...
julie taught us how to make these awesome flower necklaces.

i ended up making 2 because i was instantly addicted.
a rainbow one...

and a goes with anything (gray) one.

craft # 2 was taught by ashleyann.
they were these uber cute artsy embroidery hoops.
this was mine.

usually when i start a craft project i have a vision of what it's going to look like.
not this time...i probably sat for 30 minutes just staring at all the fabrics and felt.
i felt very overwhelmed, which is SO not me.
i finally just kept throwing stuff together til i liked it.
for once i felt a little out of my comfort zone of crafting...which turned out to be good for me.
i love how everyone's came out completely different.

craft project #3 was ruffled pillows, taught by heather.

we were buried in ruffles.
this is the one i made.

i felt very at ease with this project...i love sewing.
i was lucky enough to have a mom who taught me when i was super little.  thanks mom!
jess gave everyone ruffled pillow envy when we saw hers.
it was so full and so soft.

believe it or not, these were all made with a men's button down shirt (the back) and t-shirts cut into strips and ruffled 
(meg's blog has links to all the tutorials)
i have a feeling i will be adding ruffles to everything around here.
i'm sure craig will just love that. :)

we even took a field trip to a great antiques store that even has a huge barn full of goodness.

the little lady working there was all dressed up for "kansas day" (the day we officially became a state)
she was so stink'n adorable in her dress and bonnet.
i just wanted to make sure you out of staters didn't think that's how us kansas folk dress everyday. :)
everyone found lots of goodies to take home.
how could you not?  look at all this stuff.

little baby cole may be pre-disposed to crafting and antiques (or silverware hoarding) after spending all weekend with us.

meg's dinning room  hall, was turned into craft central.

 it looked like meg was running a sweat shop. haha.

 faster julie, faster!!!

waffle didn't seem to mind being surrounded by girls.

or being denied the use of the glue guns.

-to all the fabulous women who were there... jess, kimberlee, heather, julie, meg, amy, ashleyann, cindy, & jana.

thank you for the fun weekend.

it is something i will never forget.

i feel as though i have been blessed by meeting each and everyone of you.

you were all awesome,

and you are all so wonderfully creative & kind.

thanks to all of you, i am officially addicted to crafting retreats & enrolling in space camp.

..so when's the next one?