After a very emotionally hard week of work, it was so good to do a few things just for fun! It has been fun having my good friend Saskia staying with me! We both love to bake, and I enjoy doing arts and crafts (though she is MUCH better at them than I am) so it is good having her around for projects so they actually turn out well!
We started off the week making my first pecan pie in the multiple attempts before achieving pie perfection for Thanksgiving. Thanks to Julie Barnwell (recipe provider) the first pie turned out a success! We have one more recipe we found for a chocolate bourbon pecan pie that we are going to try. If anyone wants to be a taste tester let me know! Ive always been a cake baker and this was actually my first pie ever. Come to find out that pies are surprisingly easy compared to cakes... why did I not know this??
Lindsey: Ok Sas, read the directions, I have everything measured out.
Saskia: Mix everything together and dump it in the crust and bake it.
Lindsey: ... what else?
Saskia: Thats it.
Lindsey: ... THATS IT?!?!?
Apparently the challenging part is making your own crust, therefore I must attempt this.
The second project that we undertook was a wreath for the front door. After searching online for a while to find a nice UGA door decoration for the upcoming season I was sorely disappointed. Either it was generic or it was expensive, or both. So while we were at Michaels buying yarn (for project #3), we decided to make our own wreath! Total cost: around $15! (MUCH better than the $50 ones that were for sale online!)
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| We used a foam wreath and black glitter ribbon to wrap the wreath making a beautiful sparkly base, periodically tacking it down with hot glue. I also took about 6 roses, pulled them off the stems and glued them to the wreath. |
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| I then took pre-cut wooden letters and painted them red. |
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| Once they dried, I added some polka dots! I used the top applicator of a Dr. Shoals home wart remover kit for the perfect sized dots since it is a round foam top, it worked really well! |
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| Using an online tutorial we made two different bows, the black one underneath very large, then the smaller red bow and tied them together, then attached them to the wreath. |
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| Using a small loop of ribbon to hang it up, here is the finished project! |
The third craft project (mentioned previously) is knitting a blanket! I had started a baby blanket for a friend about a year ago but never finished it. So I had all this very soft pastel colored yard (white, yellow, blue, green, and pink) just waiting to be used. Saskia found a fun and easy pattern online and we are each in the process of making a blanket. I will post pictures when I am done! Having all the generic baby colors it won't matter what Matt and I have in a few years, the blanket will be perfect!
We are also planning on making some Muscadine jam. Neither of us have ever made jam before, but we have all the ingredients so this will be a fun adventure in the next few days! We currently have about 10 lbs. of muscadines in our fridge that were picked by my wonderful brother and sister-in-law while they were walking along the nature trail in our neighborhood.
Going along with the Thanksgiving dessert theme, I have to figure out a pumpkin pie. There are two that I have found online that I am going to try, but if anyone out there has a good recipe let me know!!
Labor day is coming up which means a few things: 1) a 4 day weekend for me (since the office is closed Monday I get Saturday afternoon through Wednesday off!) which means a potential vacation to either the lake or Savannah, 2) My family will be enjoying Dragoncon which we won't be attending this year since I didn't know my work schedule I did plan on attending, 3) My 27th birthday!... I love being a Labor Day baby!
Earlier last week we received an email from the home owner's association saying there was a position open on the social committee. Ive wanted to get involved with the HOA since we moved in, especially on the social committee, so I emailed back saying I was interested. Turns out that the position that is open is the social chair (the previous chair just moved). I accepted :) Can't wait for the first event!
Thats it for now! Until next time!
