The Little Engine That Could

My husband and I have a Sharp Brand microwave oven that we bought at Lechmere in 1995. It was the first purchase we made when we moved in together.  I remember choosing this one because it came with a $50 savings bond that would mature in 25 years! We laughed back then because we figured the microwave would be long gone by the time the bond matured. We laugh now because it's still going strong {and looks brand new} and in 4 years we'll be able to cash that bond in for a fast 50 bucks!

When we first brought this little gem home, it's primary use was for heating up take out. After we were married and I learned a little more about cooking, we used it to heat up left overs. Then we had kids and the possibilities became endless. Heating chicken nuggets, sterilizing sponges, reheating and defrosting. As the kids grew older, they started using it too. Making popcorn, hot cocoa and s'mores and forming mouth guards.

As time passed, we started joking about it and how long it has lasted. It became a challenge to see how long we can keep it for. There was a short period of about 3 days where the button that releases the door was jammed and we had to pull it open while pushing the button.  We were sad to think that we had to finally say goodbye to our little "engine that could" and buy a new one.  It had been a good run though. Then, on day 4, miraculously, it corrected itself! 

Have I mentioned that it still looks brand new? This seriously was the best purchase ever! Yes, we have taken care of it all these years and here's what we've done to keep this beauty in spic n' span order.

We keep it clean. I'm sure everyone has looked into either their own, or someone else's microwave oven and been horrified at the sight. Evidence of last month's lasagna and crusty cheese from last week's casserole. How do you get it off??? Here's my trick, and it will work on that caked on tomato sauce from last month {or last year} too.

Just place a glass ramekin of water in the microwave and heat it for 60 seconds. After five minutes, open the door and wipe out the inside {don't forget the ceiling}. That's it! No chemicals, no scrubbing. If your oven has started to take on an odor, add a lemon wedge to the water before heating. On the back side of the microwave is a vent. This should be cleaned periodically. Dust bunnies love hiding here. Just use the brush attachment on your vacuum cleaner or a dry cloth to remove any debris and this should keep it running like a well-oiled machine.

Turns out, my Mother was right. As long as you take care of something, it will last a long time.

You Can Do It!

"Just Moo-ried"!

Sometimes I'm asked to create something for a friend. Once in a while it comes out better than I expect it to. This was one of those occasions. 

I was thrilled to hear the exciting news when Cindy, a very dear friend of mine, told me her daughter was getting married. I enjoyed hearing all about the bridal shower,  the Mother of the Bride dress shopping and their plans for handmade wedding favors. The bride and groom were planning a rustic themed ceremony and reception complete with accents of birch trees, burlap and a bon fire with s'mores. 

In the months preceding the wedding, Cindy and I poured over Pintrest sharing our ideas with each other as if we were planning our own weddings. Then one day Cindy said, "Soooo, do you think you could make a cake like this?" She showed me a picture of a wedding cake resembling stacked birch wood with an adorable heart "carved" into the side. Now I like a challenge as much as the next girl but I wasn't so sure about this one. I knew though, if I didn't at least try, that crazy cake would haunt me. So I agreed and we set about with a plan of attack.

Cupcake version of the cake

This was my first try. We were happy with the results so it was on! I was officially signed up to make my first wedding cake! {no pressure}

Come to find out, the bride collects cows. She was smitten with these bride and groom cows she found on line and was hoping I could make them from fondant as a cake topper. Hey, if I'm going to do this, I'm all in! Back to Pinterest for inspiration.

Usually, cake toppers are made from materials that are sustainable, they're a keepsake or memento. The bride saves her topper and either displays it in their home or stows it away somewhere never to be seen again. {But she knows it's there} So fondant wasn't going to cut it. Being a mother of two crafty girls, I knew there were various products out there that would work. I decided on Model Magic. This is an amazing product. It's pliable like clay but super light weight like foam. It hardens and it comes in lots of vibrant colors too. 

Turns out, this was quite easy! I made each body part starting with balls of various sizes. Some I rolled into log shapes {arms and legs}, others squished or shaped like an oval then flattened {snout and hat} and some pinched and twisted into ears. Poking around in my craft area, I found black rhinestones for eyes, tulle for the veil, ribbon for the bow tie and veil and some small flower details for the bouquet. I used toothpicks, super glue and tweezers to adhere the accessories and details. {The cows were placed on a sheet of waxed paper before being placed on the cake} Finally, I picked up a white gift box at the craft store and decorated it with cow print adding the wedding date and the bride and grooms names.

I had no idea I could do this. If I can do it, you can too!

You Can Do It!

Death By Chocolate!

Chocolate is my kryptonite. I could go all day and eat noting but twigs and leaves if you told me I could end my day by polishing off a pint of Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk. I cannot wrap my head around people who order apple pie for dessert over a brownie sundae or serve cheesecake with cherry topping when you could indulge in Death By Chocolate topped with Heath Bar crumbles.

So, when my daughter tells me she'd like to have a couple of girls sleep over in honor of her BFF's birthday I say, "I'll make the cake!" No one asks me what kind of cake I might make. There are no options. Just like cats are girls and dogs are boys, cake is chocolate.

I saw this technique on Face Book and have been waiting for an opportunity to try it.  It was so easy and you can do it too!

I started with a recipe I found on allrecipes.com called Extreme Chocolate Cake. Iv'e made this recipe three times now and it is by far the best chocolate cake recipe Iv'e ever had!!
Ice the cake and decorate the top with whatever you like. I used Sixlets and nonpareils. You can write a traditional message if you prefer.




Now, using a fabric tape measure {because it's pliable} take the cake's measurements. You need the circumference and the height. Cut a piece of waxed paper the length of the circumference X the height of the cake. Place the waxed paper on a clean countertop. {I placed it on cooling racks because I thought I'd be transferring it to the refrigerator but it was too long to fit so I left it out to set}














Place 1/4 C. of melting chocolate or chocolate chips in a sandwich bag with 1 tsp. of vegetable oil. Microwave for 20 seconds three or four times. Squeeze the bag between each heating to disperse the oil and melted chocolate. Just barely snip off one corner of the bag and use it like a piping bag to draw a random design on the waxed paper. Let this set on the countertop until almost firm.

Now, wrap the waxed paper around the cake and gently press your design onto the cake. Leaving the waxed paper intact, place your cake in the refrigerator to finish setting the chocolate. Probably about 20 minutes. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and gently peel the paper away from the chocolate. If it doesn't come off easily, return the cake to the refrigerator for another 5-10 minutes before trying again.





Imagine how pretty it would be made with white chocolate and the cake topped with mixed berries! This looks so amazing that your friends and family won't believe you did it.

I have yet to hear of anyone who has actually succumbed to death by chocolate, but when you try this cake, you'll think you've died and gone to Heaven!

You Can Do It!

In a vanilla world I see sprinkles.

Every wrapped package deserves a fabulous bow and a bottle of red wine deserves it's own fur coat and vintage broach. I love to see a friend's reaction when presented with a gift I've lovingly wrapped. Why should anything be boring?

I have this condition where I try to change things that are plain or boring.  It's a little bit obnoxious. If I see ecru curtains I imagine adding a colorful border to the hem.  When I make Alfredo sauce,  I add cayenne pepper to give it a kick and add a little color. And when I buy a floor lamp for my living room, I recover the plain white shade. 

I had been looking for a floor lamp for our living room so I headed out to the local big box store. {We'll call this store Bullseye} How many people have one of these lamps with a generic white shade? When I walked down the lamp aisle I didn't see white shades. I saw possibility. I opted for an overhanging model with a drum shade.  I knew the shade shape would be easy to recreate. But I needed fabric and cheap, so off to the shower curtain aisle. 

This is my favorite section at Bullseye,  my equivalent of the "Toy Aisle" as a kid. I have used fabric shower curtains for tons of projects including but not limited to Halloween costumes, toss pillows, room dividers, table cloths and of course lamp shades. The first place to look is always the aisle end cap. This is where they put the hidden treasures...clearance items. 

This particular shower curtain was originally $49.00, I got it for $4.95 {actually, I bought 2 at this price}. I made one last stop at the dollar store to get a package of wooden clothes pins {the kind that open when you pinch them} and some glue sticks for my glue gun.

Once you get the lamp out of the box and assembled, get out a measuring tape and measure the circumference and the height of the shade.  {If your shade is tapered, your measuring process will be different} Mark the dimensions on your fabric/shower curtain adding 1/2" for seam allowance and gluing on each side. If there's a specific pattern, pay attention to what's the top and what's the bottom. {You may or may not notice that my little birdie could be facing a bettor direction if I'd paid better attention to this.} You'll have a rectangle whose dimensions will be the height of the shade X the circumference plus 1/2 inch on all sides. Cut out the rectangle. Fold your fabric in half with the right sides together. Pin the fabric to keep it in place and sew a straight stitch using 1/2" seam allowance. You can use a sewing machine or you'll need to sew your seam by hand. Turn right side out and voila! You've just created a custom shade cover!!! 

Slide the cover over the existing shade. {Because the lamp comes with a white shade, you don't have to remove it. There's no pattern to show through your custom shade.} Heat up your glue gun. Once you have your custom shade cover in place, start by folding the fabric over the top of the shade frame and place glue on the inside rim. Press the fabric down and use a wooden clothes pin to hold the fabric in place until the glue dries. I recommend gluing the fabric in one spot, then in the same spot on the bottom. Move to the opposite side of the shade and do the same. This prevents the cover from ending up too short in some spots. I leave the clothespins on until the job is finished. 

Remove the clothespins and trim away any excess fabric. Your custom lamp shade is finished! Mine cost $6.95 with tons of fabric left over for other projects. {I used a small piece to decoupage a switch plate cover for my bathroom.}

The next time you're looking for that certain accessory for your home, go with an open mind. Most stores sell items in neutral colors so that they will appeal to a vast majority. Try to see the possibility. 

In a vanilla world, I see sprinkles. 

You Can Do It!

Useless Information

Almost 25 years ago, I graduated from high school. I set off for the big city with Stephanie, my best friend and partner in crime. We roomed together at Northeastern University in Boston where we quickly discovered that being on our own {partying and shopping} was not only exciting and liberating, but also expensive! My work study job wasn’t cutting it so I decided to go out in search of supplemental employment. 

Somehow I ended up with a waitressing job at The Ground Round. Most of you may remember this particular restaurant chain for their “Pay What You Weigh” kid’s meals and peanut shells on the floor. Yes, it was a very glamorous job indeed. 

As it turned out, the restaurant had just been built in an upscale shopping mall at the Prudential Building. The menu and decor reflected it’s location and they had done away with the “PWYW” and served popcorn in place of peanuts. Point being, it actually was a fine job and I happened to make quite a healthy income there. It reminded me of Cheers where everybody knew my name. We too had an eclectic group of regulars like Carwash Joe, Ellie, the grumpy elderly woman who yelled at all of us and not one, but two letter carriers!

After some time, I moved on to the bar where I took on the role of Sam Malone {or maybe Woody Boyd} and became subject to some pretty rigorous training. If you’ve ever worked for a corporate-run restaurant chain, then you know they like things done “to spec”. They like their guests knowing what they're getting each and every time and at every single location. For this training, I was assigned a traveling corporate trainer. I can’t for the life of me remember the man’s name who trained me but I vividly remember a couple of key facts he taught me that I’ve carried with me all these years.

"Where Grown-Ups Can Have Fun"

1.  When making a frozen drink, there should be a belly button sized hole in the middle of the blending beverage. If too big, add more frozen stuff. If too small, add more liquid. This formula creates a perfectly smooth beverage every time! This does come in handy, smoothies are a big hit in our house. My kids are very familiar with the belly button rule.

 2.   Every drink starts out as a Screwdriver. What? I know it sounds crazy but that traveling corporate trainer told this to me and it stuck.

A Screwdriver is vodka and orange juice. 

Add Triple Sec=Perfect Screw

Add Sloe Gin=Sloe Screw

Add Southern Comfort=Sloe Comfortable Screw

Add Galliano=Slow Comfortable Screw Up Against the Wall {Galliano in a screwdriver is called a Harvey Wallbanger}

A Screwdriver is vodka and orange juice. Now try this…

Substitute grapefruit, add cranberry=Sea Breeze

Substitute pineapple juice, add cranberry=Bay Breeze

Substitute Malibu Rum for Vodka=Malibu Bay Breeze

Substitute grapefruit=Grey Hound

Substitue tequila, add grenadine=Tequila Sunrise

A Screwdriver is vodka and orange juice. It’s true, watch this…

Substitute cream, add Kahlua=White Russian

Subtract vodak=Sombrero

Substitute cream, add Amaretto and Kahlua=Roasted Toasted Almond

Subtract vodka=Toasted Almond

I have no idea how he came up with this but i haven't forgotten it. I wonder how many other former bartenders there are out there mixing up "Screwdrivers" for their friends and family.

You Can Do It!

New Year's Revelation...

Admittedly, I'm a chronic procrastinator. I have a lot of good ideas and probably as many good intentions. I intend to organize my photos. I intend to keep in touch with friends from childhood. I intend to clean out the fridge. All year long, these intentions haunt me.  Then, the Christmas Season rolls around and all hell breaks loose!

Suddenly I'm inundated with notices from school requesting donations of canned goods, school dance poster supplies and ugly sweater days. Shutterfly and Snapfish start stalking my email, telling me that I'm running out of time to place my discounted card order {which turns into $200+ worth of cards and postage}. Secret Santa assignments are a plenty and various family members call asking what everyone wants for Christmas {as if it isn't hard enough to come up with my own list}.  It occurs to me that both of my children has 4 teachers each for whom I've gotten into the habit of giving gifts to {not to mention the Mailman, Newspaper Delivery Person, Dry Cleaner and Hairdresser who all receive a gift}.

How do I allow this to happen every year? I love to bake and create holiday goodies, I love designing a Christmas card with our girls' photo and I love showering people with gifts. But enough is enough! This year I just didn't do it. Every photo card reminder happily got dumped in the virtual trash bin.  We made various food donations in our community, and I happily baked and created sweet treats but on my own time line and for pleasure.

I feel so liberated. I decided to appreciate the teachers, delivery people and such in different ways throughout the year. I decided to focus on the true meaning of all this chaos. For example, would the Mailman appreciate a festive jar of homemade chocolate peppermint bark at Christmas time, or would he prefer cold bottles of water in July? Would my girls' teachers prefer the latest Pinterest Holiday project or some much needed school supplies in February?

In keeping with the idea of year-round appreciation, our family decided to make memory jars for the new year. Any day, any time, we will jot down a note with an event or something we're grateful for and add them to our jars. Next January 1st, we'll sit around and read our memories aloud. I'm hoping this small gesture will help all of us to stop and think about the little things that make our year special. Hopefully, I won't procrastinate and write all my notes in December and hopefully, the notes will say more than "Placed my Shutterfly order" or "Baked treats for the Mailman".  I'm hoping to at least have organized my photos, gotten in touch with my childhood friends and cleaned out the fridge!

Let's try to remember what's really important at Christmas time and all the time.

You Can Do It!

Eyebrows On Fleek {part two}

In my last post, I blogged about waxing eyebrows. Some find it difficult and somewhat overwhelming so I didn't want to give more information than was absolutely necessary. However, there is so much more to great eyebrows than just waxing them!

Everyone is different and everyone is beautiful. We just have different ideas of what that means. Some people{like Me} won't leave the house without makeup on and some can't be bothered. Whatever your position is on this, you're reading my blog so you I'm guessing you like a groomed brow or you're looking to improve the appearance of yours.

One important lesson I learned in esthetics school is that if your skin is at it's healthiest and your brows are properly groomed, you don't need {as much} makeup. It's not an accident that there are shirts and bumper stickers out there donning the phrase, "I Woke Up Like This". Unfortunately, as we get older and are exposed to free radicals, pollution, the sun, etc. we start to lose that youthful look. And let's be honest, isn't that what we are really looking for? To look as good as we did in our 20's.

No two sets of eyebrow are the same. Everyone's eyes are set different widths apart, they may tilt up or down, are more round or almond shaped. But one thing is for sure, they are the focal point of our faces. Our eyebrows frame our eyes and can make an incredible difference in our appearance.

Let's say that you read my previous post and you tried your hand at waxing. How do your eyebrows look? Do you wish they were thinner, wider, darker, lighter, extended further out, you like the shape but the brows seem like they aren't full enough.  Let's address these issues:

1. "I waxed my brows but they are still too thick". 

     First, do not wax again for a about a week. Waxing is a form of exfoliation and you have removed the surface layer of skin. Try tweezing just a few hairs. Start below the arch and go from there.  It can take a few tries to get the shape you want.

2. "I waxed and now my brows are too thin".
   
     It could be that your brows were so thick that you aren't used to the new shape. Live with it for a day or two and see if you get compliments. I find people always compliment me on my appearance when I least expect it. I love my hair smooth and my husband always says I look great when it's curly.

If in fact, you just took off too much, don't worry, they should fill back in after a couple of weeks. However, in the meanwhile, what do you do? There are so many different products on the market for filling in/creating brows that it can be overwhelming. I think it depends greatly on your makeup style and your hair color. If you wear no makeup at all, I recommend using a stiff angled makeup brush and eyeshadow to fill them in. I like to wet the brush, dip it in the eyeshadow {use a color that matches or is a shade darker than your eyebrows} and gently create the shape you want. If you wear a full face of makeup everyday and feel confident with your technique, go ahead and fill them in with a brow pencil. Make sure its very sharp and draw individual hairs. You can blend with a sponge tip or cotton swab for a more subtle look.

3. "I waxed and I love the shape but my eyebrows are too light".

     There are hair dyes you can purchase at a beauty supply store but you'll probably spend $30-$40 for a kit. Don't bother. Go straight to your local pharmacy, Walmart or Target and pick up a box of hair color in a shade you like. I bought a box the other day for $3.49 and I'll get many uses out of it. Generally, these boxes come with two bottles, the color and the developer. The instructions tell you to pour one bottle into the other to activate the chemicals. Once they are mixed, they cannot be stored and you must discard them. I measured the contents from two different brands and found that they come with equal amounts of color and developer. So, instead of mixing the entire bottles, I pour 1tsp. of each together into a small shot glass that has kitchen measurements up the side, replace the caps on the bottles and save them for the next time. This will be more than enough to do your brows. Mix with a cotton swab and you're ready to go! I have a stiff angled makeup brush that I picked up in the checkout line at Old Navy that I love. Dip the brush into the color and draw the perfect brows right over what you just created. Our faces are covered in a light colored, fine sort of peach fuzz. When you color your brows, this hair is also colored and helps to define your brow shape. Leave the color on for a few minutes, wipe off with a wet paper towel {you'll stain your wash cloth if you use it for this} then wash away with warm water and your facial cleanser. Wipe dry and decide if they are dark enough. You can repeat this as many times as you need to. Make note of the total time so that you can just do it once next time.

I have pretty full brows and they are dark but as I've aged, I've found coarse white hairs randomly popping up. I used to tweeze them out but there are many now so I color them.

4. "I waxed my brows and I love the shape but they are too dark".

     Many women lighten their hair but don't think about their eyebrows. Some love the look of dark brows with light hair. But, if that's not for you, lighten your brows too! I would recommend speaking to your hairstylist about this. He or she can do this for you while you're having your hair done.  It's pretty risky working with hair bleach at home {unless you are used to bleaching your hair yourself}. I know dark hair can turn red or orange with certain products. If you're at the salon, you're sure to leave with a job well done.

5. "I waxed my brows but they don't extend out as far as I would like"

     A fraction of a centimeter can make a big difference in the appearance of your brows. After applying your makeup, use your angled brush to apply a touch of eyeshadow or brow powder {matching or darker than your hair}.  Start in the brow and drag the brush in an outward motion.

You Can Do It!