A Warm Escape

In an attempt to find some warmth and with half the county under several feet of snow, I thought I would post some photos I took while in a warm, tropical place. I could really use some warmth right about now. This time of year gives me a chill right down to my bones.

I am really looking forward to our next trip to Florida,

and so are my boys.

Enjoy and Stay Warm!!

White Chocolate Apricot Bread Recipe

This bread is D-E-V-I-N-E !!! 

When my parents were visiting last fall we purchased some fresh white chocolate apricot bread from a local bakery.  It was so delicious!  It is perfect toasted with a smidge of butter with my morning coffee.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago when I invested in a Cuisinart Convection Breadmaker.  After trying a few of the basic recipes, I found one white bread recipe that was just a touch sweet but not sweet like a cake bread (i.e. not like banana bread) but like a real fresh white bread.  I thought to myself that it tasted just like the bread part of the white chocolate apricot bread I had last fall.  I purchased dried apricots and white chocolate morsels and began experimenting with a recipe and by gosh I did it!! 

This is so good I thought I would share it with all of you!

White Chocolate Apricot Bread

Bread Machine Recipe

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Milk

1 1/2 Tablespoons Butter, at room temperature

1 Egg, large, at room temp

1/2 tsp Salt

1 Tbsp Granulated sugar

2 1/2 cups Bread Flour

2 tsp Yeast, active dry, instant or bread machine

6 oz Dried apricots halved

1/3 cup White Chocolate Morsels

*Note: instructions are for the Cuisinart Breadmaker, I assume all bread makers pretty much run the same.

From Milk to Yeast, place ingredients, in order listed, in the bread pan fitted with the kneading paddle.  Place the bread pan in the breadmaker.  Select as follows: White bread cycle, 1lb loaf, light crust (or as desired) and make sure the mix in signal is selected.  This will indicate when to add the apricots and chocolate.  Press start.  When the mix-in signal sounds (this is in the middle of the long kneading cycle), pause the machine and add the apricots and chocolate. (I actually take the dough out and try to put the apricots and chocolate inside so it gets nice and mixed through).  Place pan back in bread machine and continue (unpause) and let the machine finish the job.  Let cool for 20-30 minutes before slicing.

Enjoy!!

I LOVE Cardboard ... a tutorial

How to make art from cardboard

A few years ago, I made a wall hanging for my husband for Valentine's Day. 

So sorry for the awful pics.  The natural lighting in my house is just horrible.

This same year I made a cardboard Valentine for my son's teacher.  It was a single square of cardboard and had a picture of a Victorian woman on it.

Materials needed:

Cardboard
Brown paper grocery bag
Cereal box cardboard for stencil
Pencil
Scissors
Glue gun
Ribbon
Card stock (optional for behind photo)
Paint
Photo
Brads

To start, find a good sturdy piece of cardboard that has the zig zag (that's what I call it) center.

Start peeling away one side of the smooth covering.  You can take as little or as much as you'd like. The above example has most of the covering peeled off and the one I made while creating this tutorial I left more of the smooth covering on.

Set the cardboard piece aside. 

Now take a firm piece of cardboard (like from a cereal box).  Draw a flower to use as a stencil for your brown paper bag flowers.  Cut the flower out.

Trace the on the brown paper bag.  Make several because you will use 2 for each flower and you can always store the extras away for another project.

After the flowers are cut out, crumple them up in your hand. Make them quite crinkled up.

Open them back up and flatten them.

Now, take some paint and just wipe the flowers and the cardboard with paint. For this craft I used green, white and blue to match what I am going to do with the guest room.

After you have painted the paper flowers, grab some brads and put 2 flower layers together to make 1 flower.

Now it is time to assemble your creation.  With some ribbon and a glue gun arrange the flowers where you would like them and glue them to the base.

Take ribbon and glue to the back to use for hanging on the wall.

Now add your picture!

I would love to see your cardboard projects!

This post is linked to:

Have Fun!

The Watchers

Sneak Peek at what is coming this Week!

New Fractal Art

 crop of "Watchers"

Also coming this week .... a tutorial on what you can do with cardboard and brown paper grocery bags!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by during Funky Junk's SNS and giveaway for the 1000 Follower Event!  Please continue to check out Funky Junk daily as the party continues all week long!




See you later this week!

It's a Party!!

It's a Party! and I am Sponsoring a Giveaway!

 Hi Everyone!  My blog friend Donna is having a 1000 Followers PARTY!  I am so excited to be a part of this event and share a bit more about me. 

For those who are visiting me for the first time, my name is Christine and I am married to a wonderful husband who supports my craft supply addictions.  Bless his heart!  I am also the mother of 3 boys (1 is not pictured as he has grown up and is now on his own).

The name JAZ Creations comes from the first initial of each of my boys and I also wanted the name to incorporate anything I do or create.  My main passion for the past couple years is digital art.  I started digital scrapbooking a few years ago and learned many techniques.  While searching through a digital scrapbooking forum, I came across the word "fractal".  I had no idea what this was and decided to search.  The fractal images that came up in the search were so breathtaking that I knew I had to learn more. 

That was February of 2007.

I knew digital art was for me, especially fractal art, when one of my first pieces Summer Breezes received 'honorable mention' in a 2007 international art contest.

In 2009, Aubergine was chosen to be in the 2010 Fractal Universe Calendar for the month of March. 

This calendar is sold in the US and Canada and online.

All of my artwork is available as prints in my Etsy Shop JAZCreations.  Take a look around!  There are several different pieces available.  My Etsy Shop includes prints that are ready to ship; however, orders may be places for any images seen.  I am always available to answer any questions!

My artwork can be seen here Fractal Art .

This includes artwork that is not in my Etsy Shop but is available to order.

I am working on new fractal art pieces so keep an eye out for them!

In addition to digital art, I have an addiction to crafts, yarns, fabrics and paints.  My Mother was quite crafty and taught me at a very young age how to knit and sew.  Look for more crafty posts in the future!

Now let's return to the Party!!!

I am pleased to offer the following 2 choices for this giveaway:

1) A set of 10 Fractal Art note cards with 5 different designs

OR

2) A set of 10 Fractal Art note cards with the image "Melody of Love"

Each set of notecards includes 10 envelopes.

Be sure to return to:

 To enter your chance to win!

 Have fun at the party and thanks for coming my way.

 If you'd like to keep on top of my newest creations, feel free to follow me!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon!

Glass Painting with Delta Permenamel Glass Paint

Years ago, when I had more time for DIY and being creative, I purchased Delta PermEnamel™ Glass Paints.  I had some plain wine glasses that I wanted to spruce up.  I get so many compliments on these wine glasses that I thought I would share them with you.

I don't have step by step pictures because I made these years ago.  The directions are very easy to follow and the results are fantastic!

Apply the paint to the outside of the glass following the steps on the packaging.

The finished product is durable and permanent.  It is important that you hand wash the glasses as the dishwasher will remove some of the paint.

I used these wine glasses on my Thanksgiving Dinner table.  I loved all the rich golds and blues and how the blue/red grapes on the wine glasses tied in with the blues in the dinnerware.

I also painted some fun Champagne glasses with a tropical color scheme.

Be creative.  Add polka dots and swirls and layered stripes. 

Paint the bottom of the glasses layering so the design shows through.  Here I painted the yellow dots first then painted the aqua over the dots then sealed it.

You can also paint plates, cups, bowls, etc.

You can purchase Delta Permenamel glass paints at Michael's.  I have not personally looked to make sure they have it but their website says they do.

Have Fun!

Easy Christmas Light Storage

This post might be too late for those who take their Christmas decorations down right after Christmas.  For those who wait until the New Year here is a super way to store your Christmas tree lights.  I don't remember if I actually had this great idea a couple years ago or if I saw it somewhere but I am sharing it with you all.

Save the cardboard tubes that your wrapping paper comes on.  They are the perfect size to hold 1 strand of Christmas tree lights.  No more tangled mess next holiday season.

Cut a slit in each end of the tube to hold the plug end and the light end of each strand. 

Start by securing the plug (or other end whichever you prefer) end to one end of the tube and start winding the lights around the tube to the other end and secure the other end of the light strand in the slit on the end of the tube. 

Your lights are now neat and easily stored upright until next year!

This post was linked to Trash to Treasure Tuesday

Have Fun!

Reflecting on 2009

Today I am reflecting on 2009 and what changes I have made for the better.  I won't be reflecting on the problems or bad times.  That would serve no real purpose.  I will, however, remember the bad times and problems as to not make the same mistakes.

2009 was filled with Family, Travel, Changes, Learning, Growth, Health, Friendships - Old and New, Career Changes and Farewells.

Family - We traveled to where our family is this year, Florida, Maine and Michigan.  What fun times!  I don't think I will cram those 3 trips into one summer again anytime soon though and boy did we have a nightmare flying to Maine this year!  Sheeesh!

Travel - see above

Changes - This whole year was filled with changes!  I changed jobs, changed some decor in the house, changed mortgage providers and insurance companies.  I changed my artwork website to a blog so I could add more crafts and DIY projects.

Learning - By making changes that improve my life, I am learning to be a better person.  I took a weekend Photography Seminar with Rocky Mountain School of Photography and participated in the World Wide Photo walk.  Just need to find my notes so I can remember what I was learned.

Growth - My 10 year old grew 5 inches this past year!  Wow!  Now his voice is changing.  Too much growth if you ask me.  Next thing you know he will be asking for the car keys.

Health - I took steps this past year to become healthier.  I have lost and kept off 10 pounds.  I am eating healthier and drinking my water.  I also started including exercise.

Friendships - Old and New - I reconnected with my very best friend in the whole world.  She is my person.  I missed her so much and am so grateful we are back in touch.  New friendships made while trying to get this blog up and running and new friends at work.

Career Changes - well, I quit one job and took another that better fits my needs.  One with less hours and enough flexibility to spend time with my boys and be here if they need me.

Farewells - While quitting my job I had to say goodbye to the little munchkins I was caring for. It was so hard to say goodbye, but I was ready.  I am now in retail part time at a job that I had 5 years ago.  Loved it then, Love it now. 

I also said goodbye to my personalized coaster business.  It was time.   If the tumbled marble hadn't gone off the market at Lowes and Home Depot I would probably still be saying "One more Year".

Now it is time to say goodbye to 2009.  While it was a year filled with many wonderful things, I am looking forward to 2010 and many more wonderful things.

See you in the New Year!

Easy Rum Balls

Quick, Super Easy Holiday Treat Recipe!  I Love these Rum balls!

Easy Rum Balls

Ingredients:

1 (11oz) pkg. Vanilla Wafers (most pkgs are now 12 oz, just use a very small tad more rum ;) )

1 1/2 c powdered sugar

1/2 c chopped pecans (optional)  I do not use these

1/4 t salt

1/2 c Cocoa Powder

1/2 c Rum or Bourbon

3T lt corn syrup

plus extra powdered sugar in small bowl or plate

Instructions:

Blend wafers into fine crumbs.  Pour into bowl.  Add 1 1/2 c powdered sugar, nuts, salt and cocoa to crumbs.  Mix well.  Add Rum or Bourbon and corn syrup.  Stir with fork until moist.  Mix with hands until completely combined.  Shape into balls then roll in powdered sugar.  Store in covered container.

Notes:

To substitute rum extract, add 1 T extract plus milk or water to make 1/2 c.

Enjoy!!

New Item?

I find it increasingly difficult to think of something for my Grandmother.  She is 91, lives in a small condo and really doesn't need or have room for anything.  Last year I made a photo book for her at Shutterfly.  Photobooks are always a hit but I like to combine a couples years of pictures so the next one is not until next year or the year after.

A couple years ago I had this great craft idea in my head.  I started collecting supplies for it for when I had the time.  I now have the time so I made this desk clock.  My Grandmother's favorite color is blue and it is small enough that she can put it just about anywhere!

I plan on making several of these desk clocks with different themes and putting them in my Etsy shop!

Birth of Tomorrow

I am Sponsoring a Giveaway!!!

Hey Everyone!  I am sponsoring a giveaway over at Donna's place, Funky Junk Interiors





 I am giving away a set of 10 Fractal Art Notecards!

Stop on over and enter to win!!

If you are interested in purchasing a set of these notecards you can send me an email

 Good Luck everyone and have fun at

Holiday Picture Frame Ornament

This is a SUPER cute way to display holiday pictures!  Makes the PERFECT Grandparents gift too!  You can either hang them on your tree or make several and display them as a collage on your wall.

Supplies needed:

Candle ring (I used a 4.25" candle ring, measuring the inside of the ring frame)

Photo of your choice

scissors

chip board (for circle template, I find this easier to use than try to trace the candle ring directly onto the photo)

Glue gun

ribbon

First I pick out the candle ring I want to use, keeping in mind the size of picture that needs to fill the opening

Then I turn the Candle Ring over and measure its opening, this will tell me what size picture I need

My candle ring was 4.25" in diameter.  I chose my photo(s) and sized them to 4.25" square then printed on plain paper to test the size before printing on my photo paper.

Too much of the white edge was showing on the inside so I increased the size to 4.4"  I then printed the photo(s) on photo paper and made a template out of chipboard to the size of the candle ring and then used the template to cut our the photo(s).  Take care to center the template on the photo or you will get a white edge on one side or more.  You should really only be cutting off the 4 corners.

It is ok to have a little bit of white edge as this will be covered by the base of the candle ring.

Once you have the pictures cut out you can now glue them to the base of the candle ring.  Leave a space at the very top to tie your ribbon on the base for hanging. I used hot glue but you can use any other means of attachment that works for you.

*** Please note attach your ribbon before glueing if you are going to glue around the whole ring!

Finally, tie a ribbon onto the base to hang your new picture ornament!

This post linked to:

  she's having a give away!  

Have Fun!!

Getting into the Holiday Spirit

To get into the Holiday Spirit I decorate.  I spend a couple weeks decorating.  I have a few areas in my home where I can display an arrangement of decorations and Holiday items.  I didn't have them before.  Everything had to be out of the reach of little hands.  Just wanted to share some pictures of the display on my front entryway stand.

I also started wrapping gifts and putting them under the tree.  I Love the look of a Christmas tree with lots of wrapped presents underneath!

What do you do to get inot the Holiday Spirit?

Abalone in the Moonlight

Vintage Frame Wreath

About 20 years ago my Grandmother gave me a set of wooden, oval antique frames.  They sat in my garage for 20 years until I figured out how to use them.  Recently, I saw an article at BHG.com on decorating empty frames.  For the holidays, I have temporarily attached red/cream/gold berry sprays to the frames and added a gold shimmer bow.  Eventually I will paint the frames to match my antique guest room that will be getting a complete makeover this spring, but for now the frames are adding to my holiday decorations!

This post linked to:

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving ....

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had.

I am so thankful for so many things. I am thankful that we were all together this year. Thankful we are all so healthy (aside from the high blood pressure and high cholesterol).

I am also thankful that I have more time now to spend on making things, crafting, sewing, knitting, creating my artwork and posting about it here! 

And so VERY Thankful for all the new blog friends I am making!  It warms my heart!  I don't know why I didn't start this sooner!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Easy Festive Decorating

A super easy way to add pizazz to your holiday entertaining area is to hang outdoor icecycle lights indoors!

(pardon the darker pictures but a flash would have ruined the lights)

My counters are quite dark and I had this idea a few years ago when I hosted a baby shower.  There were over 40 people and I needed a way to light up the area where all the food was.  I took one strand of our outside icycle lights that we hang along our eaves outside and some 3M Command hooks (my favorite) for holding wires and ran the hooks along the underside on the cupboards and strungs the lights along the hooks.

I leave the lights up year round and use them for Christmas parties, birthday parties, etc.

A quick, easy way to brighten up your entertaining areas.

This post is linked to:

Enjoy!

Closing off a Room without closing it up ....

Recently, I redecorated our "front room".  That is what we call it, "Front Room".  What it actually is is the formal dining room turned into a game/toy room turned into a mini-living room for our 7 and 10 year old boys. 

I am a very visual person and really need to see the big picture in my head before I make the move to do something. 

My problem with this room was:

1.  My boys spent most of their time in there.
2.  They are boys and really don't have neatness on the top of their list.
3.  This room is the first room people see when they walk into our home.  The same home with 2 boys who have better things to do than pick up after themselves.

What I wanted was a room where my boys could be comfy, relax, do homework and play games and at the same time I wanted people to enter my home and not want to turn back around.

Here is a before picture and as you can see there is a large arched entry:

 The room itself is quite small to begin with and I wanted to somehow close off the room, seperate it in a way from the outside world.  I had thoughts of French doors, sliding doors and just could not think of what to do.  One day I was picking up my son from his friends house and I saw, in their dining room they had a curtain as an accent on the edge of the wall.  There was my vision.  I now knew what I was going to do with the wide open archway to seperate the "Front Room" from the entryway.

I will get into the rest of the redo for this room in later posts.  This post is about the curtain, the archway and how I accomplished it without nails.

Here is the after from the same view:

I am also making over my kitchen and used the curtains from the kitchen to make the archway partition.  I cut the curtain to fit the arch. 

I didn't want nails so I had to figure out how I was going to get the curtains the way I wanted them without using nails.

More after pics:

notice the beach painting on the wall that I posted yesterday?

Closeups:

To attach the curtains to the top of the arch I purchased some foam board from the local craft store.  It is flexible yet sturdy so it would mold with the curve of the arch.  I cut it to 3" wide and measured the archway to include the curve.  I cut 3 pieces of foam board, 1 for the center and 2 equal length pieces for either side.  I then made a casing from some muslin that I had enclosing the foam board and also creating a base for the valance.  The valance was to hide the hardware I was going to use in the center and to create the illusion of the curtains being able to move across the archway. 

I used 3M Command mini hooks and attached them to the underside of the muslin covered foam board by cutting a slit in the muslin so the hook would attach to the foam board.

To attach the muslin covered foamboard valance to the archway I used 3m Command picture hanging strips!  It is like an adhesive, velcro picture hanger!  They hold up to 30lbs each. 

I just attached them along the arch and the other side of the valance measuring equally.

To hang the curtains I used cafe hooks to clip to the curtain then hung the hook part of the clip from the hook part of the 3m hook on the valance.

Now our mini-family room is semi closed off yet still open and airy because I used a sheer curtain.

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Enjoy!