Favorite Things: Color

November 2, 20161 Comment

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When I go to Home Depot or Lowes I usually come home with paint chip colors. I can’t help myself. Now they have cards with color combination suggestions, which has made the problem even worse. I want to do something with them, but I’m just not sure what yet.

So when I came across the Wilton Performance Color System with its color formula chart I bought it. I wasn’t sure when I was going to bake something that required such fine tuning of colors, but if and when I did, I was going to be prepared!

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Halloween provided that opportunity.

I found my old recipe for a pumpkin cake (actual size) that I was able to use my formula chart to calibrate orange- dare I say Pumpkin Orange!

You start with 2 Bundt cakes

Weight: 7.43 pounds (plate weight 1 pound)

Smile needs work…

Hope you had a fun Halloween!

I can’t wait to make a Thanksgiving Turkey Cake.

Favorite Things: Spooky Cake

October 27, 20161 Comment

What’s there not to like about Spooky Cake?

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We call it Spooky Cake but I found my original recipe (from 1996!), and it apparently was called “Ghosts in the Graveyard.” It was fun to make together when my children were young. Once they went away to college, I continued the tradition and sent the ingredients so they could make it with friends. I substituted the box of pudding with already made pudding cups and used Peeps instead of cool whip (sorry original recipe!)

Our cakes don’t turn out as nice as the professionals but they sure taste great!

Our first Spooky Cake. I’m not sure why we put lollipops on it…

Spooky Cake: The College Version

We got a little more sophisticated.

Favorite Things: My Own Mini Masterpiece

August 24, 2016August 24, 2016Leave a comment

CM landscape portrait

A couple of years ago there was a Facebook challenge to post your favorite masterpiece- or maybe we were given a name of an artist and had to choose a painting of theirs for everyone to enjoy. Whatever it was, I liked the idea. I liked seeing artists and their famous works that I never knew of. I also liked seeing what my friends chose.

That was when I decided that one of my favorite paintings was the portrait of Juan de Pareja by Velazquez. The more I looked at it, the more I liked it. He looks proud and beautiful (and I also really like his collar.)

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So I posted it!

Recently, I found a blank canvas that I had bought to do something with and decided to use it to make a mini masterpiece for my desk. This is how I did it:

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The canvas was 4X4 so I had to crop the image as a square.

Then I printed it out with borders on 4×6 photo paper.

CM supplies for mini masterpiece

I cut the extra white space using my rotary trimmer so that the edges were crisp.

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I used dots to adhere it. (I have used Mod Podge in the past, but I am thinking I may be able to use the canvas for another picture since the dots are removable.)

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I bought a small easel from Michaels and there it is!

CM wide view mini masterpiece

Favorite Things: Postcards Scientifically Proven Positive

August 17, 2016August 17, 20161 Comment

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I feel happy when I send a picture postcard to someone I love. Now I know why because Bill Phillips, Editor-in-Chief of Men’s Health just told me.

Sending postcards is among the 21 scientifically proven ways to instantly improve your life. After publishing this fact in the January issue, people responded to this by… sending a postcard to Men’s Health! Full circle.

Who doesn’t want to instantly improve one’s life?

After reading this I made this postcard from a picture taken at a recent family reunion.

Where did I put those postcard stamps?

Favorite Things: Grilled Avocado

August 10, 2016Leave a comment

As I wait for my avocados to “get to know one another” and “bear fruit,” I found an avocado recipe in an unexpected magazine– Esquire. It looked delicious so I tried it.

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It was delicious!

Favorite Things: Picture Postcards

July 25, 2016July 25, 20161 Comment

Michigan Postcard_Fotor.jpg

I like to think of postcards as old fashioned texts. They are a fun way to use photos that otherwise get lost among the hundreds of digital photos on my computer.

The first time I sent a picture in the mail repurposed as a postcard, I wasn’t sure if that was something the postal service would be okay with. So I looked online and found instructions and decided to go for it.

USPS Postcard Template

I bought 10 postcard stamps so that I always have some on hand when a picture might be a good fit.

And they are cute too!

CM postcard template

Here are some examples of picture postcards I have sent:

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I thought I should include my “rules” for sending postcards, but I think I only have one- the postcard should not embarrass the receiver so I don’t send pictures of people (except superheroes.)

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This one was sent to my entire family! Who doesn’t need a Captain America postcard?!!

Favorite Things: Independence Day

July 4, 2016June 23, 2016Leave a comment

Happy 4th of July!

Favorite Things: Brown Paper Packages Tied Up with String

June 13, 2016June 9, 20161 Comment

Because I live several states away from most of my family, I have to mail presents. We used to exchange Christmas and birthday presents with everyone. As our numbers grew, we lowered the number and decreased the expense of gifts by picking names among adults and children. Some families exchange birthday gifts and some don’t, but regardless, I have mailed more gifts than I can count at this point.

Because so many gifts were being exchanged for some years, I had plenty of opportunities to experiment with wrapping and packaging presents. I like to tailor the package to the person just as much as the gift. My goal is for the receiver to see a cohesive display of gifts from the moment they open the box that hopefully makes them smile and feel special.

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One wrapped present that I was especially pleased with was the “bow-tie ribbon.”

Our friend is a snappy dresser, so I decided to make a “bow-tie ribbon” for his birthday package.

I used brown craft paper for the gift wrapping and had fabric left over from a Birthday Quilt Runner I made for a quilt guild contest (another story for another day– it ended badly) that I thought would make a festive looking tie.

I found wonderful directions and a pattern on the site Tie-a-Tie.net. I measured the circumference of the box, which was 16 inches, so I made the pattern that length. Pattern