Great Friday

My 14 year old son and I are in Rochester, MN for a baseball tournament.  The best part of the weekend thus far has been the car ride here.  I will never look at clouds......or my wonderful son.....in the same way ever again!

"So there's this boy.  He kinda stole my heart.  He calls me "mom"".  -Unknown

Weekend Art Fair

 Tomorrow, I'm headed to Rochester, MN for my 14 year old son's baseball tournament.  For those of you who are able to be in the metro area, I have an outing recommendation.  If I were here, you'd find me at the Edina Art Fair.  It's the 47th Annual Edina Art Fair that takes place in the 50th and France neighborhood of Edina, MN.  It starts tomorrow, Friday, May 31 and runs through Sunday, June 2nd.  It starts at 10am and goes until 7pm on Friday and Saturday and 10am to 5pm on Sunday.  It's free to attend.

There will be "booths upon booths of ceramics, jewelry, glass, photography, wood carvings, mixed media, 2D pieces, fine art, wearables and sculptures".  One hundred percent of the merchandise purchases go to the Lupus Foundation of Minnesota.  Besides watching lots and lots of baseball, visiting the Edina Art Fair would be a great way to spend the weekend!

"When I say artist I mean the one who is building things... some with a brush - some with a shovel - some choose a pen."  -Jackson Pollock

Homemade gift box

My mom taught my daughter how to make paper gift boxes.  Now we will never be without little gift boxes!  Here are my mom's instructions:

Cut two pieces of paper.  They can be either square or rectangle.  Cut one slightly smaller than the other.  The larger one will be the top and the smaller will be the bottom.

Draw lines diagonally from corner to corner.

Found the edges in to the center (where the diagonal lines crossed).  Do this on all sides.

Cut into each side, making little flaps (see the picture below).

Fold the flaps to the inside when you fold up the edge (see the picture below).

Adhere the flaps with either tape or glue.

Repeat this same process with the other piece of paper.  This makes the top and the bottom of the box.

You can use colored paper, patterned paper, photographs - whatever paper you can fold!

"A wonderful gift may not be wrapped as you expect."  -Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Self-filled Cupcakes

Lately, whenever I have a spare hour, I find myself baking.  I've been trying to revisit recipes of things my mom used to make when I was a child.  Today, I made self-filled cupcakes.  One of my favorite childhood desserts.

I beat one egg.

To the egg, I added a dash of salt and an 8 oz. package of softened cream cheese.

I mixed it together until it was smooth.

I added a cup of mini-chocolate chips.  I folded them in gently, with a spoon, so the chips didn't break apart.

I set this mixture aside.  To a second bowl, I mixed together 1 1/2 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of baking cocoa, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of oil, 1 Tablespoon of vinegar, and 1 teaspoon baking soda.

I stirred it together until it was completely mixed.

Then I filled each cupcake half way.

Next I dropped a dollop of the cream cheese mixture on top.

I baked them in a 350 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes - until the cupcake was firm to the touch.

 They were a huge hit with my family.  A cupcake I will definitely be making again!

"I've never met a problem a proper cupcake couldn't fix."  -Sarah Ockler

Homemade Pin Cushion

I got another great craft idea from my mom this weekend.  She made her own pin cushion.

All you need to do is take two knitting needles and cast on enough stitches to be about an inch in width.  Knit every row until the piece measures about 24".

Start at one end and roll.

Attach the loose end with a few quick stitches.  You can add a piece of cardboard or felt to the bottom to keep the needles from poking through.  Great gift for a seamstress!

"You can't use up creativity.  The more you use, the more you have."  -Maya Angelou

Glass Bead Gazing Ball

My mom has been waiting for a time when my son could help her make a gazing ball for her garden.  Today was finally the day!  The only supplies that they needed were a bowling ball (my mom got her's for $1 from a garage sale); flat glass beads and silicone caulk/rubber cement. 

First, my son sorted all of the glass beads into containers of like colors.

Next, my mom cleaned off the bowling ball with rubbing alcohol.  She then set it on an old Cool Whip container to dry.  This also provided a stable holder for the ball.

My son put silicone caulk in small squares on the bowling ball and I spread it around with my fingers.

Then, we pressed the flat side of the glass beads into the silicone caulk.  Filling in all blank spaces.

We let the top beads dry for about 3 hours and then we turned it over to finish the bottom.  Here's how it looked when we were done.

My mom promised to take a picture of it in her garden and my dad promised to look for a bowling ball for me!  It was such a fun and easy project - I can't wait to make one for my garden!

"A garden without its statue is like a sentence without its verb."  -Joseph W. Beach

Cute S'more Cookbook

We are visiting my parents for a couple of days.  One of our "must dos" while here is to visit the Ortonville Public Library.  We always check out a few books and movies.  I like to look through the craft and cooking books.  Today, I found a really fun cookbook.  The title is S'mores by Lisa Adams.

It has some fantastic ideas for some non-traditional s'mores.  How about one using popcorn?

  Or one with a banana?

Or Girl Scout cookies?

Or waffles?

Or brownies?

As I was looking through this cookbook, I kept thinking that this would be a great gift for a friend who does a lot of camping.  It would also be a perfect thank you gift for time spent at someone's cabin - along with a basket of s'more supplies.  I can't wait to try out ALL of the s'more recipes in this book!

"The fire is the main comfort of the camp, whether in summer or winter, and is about as ample at one season as at another.  It is as well for cheerfulness as for warmth and dryness."  -Henry David Thoreau