WIP 2.1 (Sounds like a computer program)

Such a busy week! We're trying to get some projects finished up before a dinner party tomorrow. It's nice to have a deadline to motivate sometimes. I'm sure Jason wouldn't agree with me, but really...it's the truth!

TIP: A few weeks ago I saw on a fellow Work in Progress blog post (sorry I can't remember who it is!) that the person had kept their projects in separate clear bins. While on one of our MANY Home Depot runs, I found some clear shoe boxes for $1.17 a piece. I picked up five and figure I shouldn't have more quilt projects than that at a time...we'll see! I love being able to pick up a bin and go - very handy! And please don't count the quilt projects in progress...

Completed Projects

•  none...

Projects in Progress

• Wee Woodland Flying Geese Quilt - finished blocks are up to 12! That means I actually made 6 blocks this week.

• Farmer's Wife Quilt Along (FW) - I've amassed quite a stash of fabric and can't wait to work on a few more blocks. None this week though.

• Queen's King Quilt - I've redesigned the quilt from my original thoughts, so I recut the strips accordingly. See the lovely clear bin?! Awesome.

• Hand Towel Apron - no progress
• 2012 Christmas Planner - no progress
• Basement Sewing Table - no progress
• Baby Quilt 1 - fabric and pattern picked out

• Baby Quilt 2 - fabric picked out

New Projects

• Bee Blocks for February arrived!

Stats

Completed: 0

New: 1

Total In Progress: 9

Home reno...baseboards, shoe moulding and the last stinkin' piece of door trim (which really isn't the last piece) are all stained and varnished. Both closet doors are stained and hung. Varnish to come soon. We're going to take them down and spray them all at the same time. Stairs, stained and one coat of poly. I'm wiping on the second coat right after this blog post. 

Here you can see both the closet doors and the stairs. Love blue tape. I think it should stay there. Don't you love the teeny shoe sitting in front of the closet door (love the littles). We're thinking of framing the closet in with trim as well. We'll see. Jason wants to change all of the door trim in the house now. I think I'll have to wait a little bit for that. I also bought a new rug for the front door as well as an area rug for the front room. This might be a good time to take some whole room shots...right before the party. We'll see!

And I'm happy to say that every piece of Christmas decor is down and put away. It took me WAAAAY too long this year! I've updated my curio with my regular goods. I just love all the little treasures it holds!

Linking up here...

The PIN IT Button

I know that in terms of reality TV, news headlines, music, movies, etc. I am WAY behind the times. I mean I just found out who the Kardashians are! And my brother had to tell me! Eek! (it was maybe 2 months ago!!)

But...I know the Internet. Not the news sites obviously, but the crafty ones. I've known about Pinterest for a long time. I didn't request an invite for a while, but now that I have, I really enjoy looking at all of the fun things and scrolling and scrolling and scrolling!

Some friends of mine have talked about how they pin things and I suddenly realized...they don't have the PIN IT button! It's so easy to pin things from websites and stores that you like using the Pin It Button. So...let's get that fixed right away.

1. Head on over to Pinterest.com and log in. At the top of the screen you'll see an "About" drop down menu. Click on that and you'll see the directions for the Pin It Button!

2. Don't worry if you don't use Chrome. The proper directions pop up for whatever browser you're using...talk about cool!!

3. Once the Pin It Button is installed, you can use it to pin things from blogs, shops, websites, etc. If you are on a blog, be sure to click the title of the post that you want to pin. This gives you a direct url to that post. It sure makes it easier for yourself and others to find what you've pinned! Otherwise it may just pin it to the general url of the blog. Not so helpful if it was a tutorial from 1 year ago or something!

So. Make sure there is a direct url and then click your Pin It Button.

4. A row of images will appear. Choose the one that you would like to pin. Click Pin This

5. Now you're familiar with these next steps...put it in the right category, add a description and click the Pin It Button and you're done!

If you'd like an invite, let me know and I'll get you one. If you'd like to follow me, click on the Pinterest button on the sidebar. Happy Scrolling and Pinning!

The Power of the Costco Sample

Also known as: Put-It-On-A-Toothpick-And-They'll-Eat-Anything

A friend clued me in to this awesome tip. Let me just say that it is pure genius. Ditch the fork and spoon and grab a handful of toothpicks. You won't regret it. Next time I'm trying it with broccoli!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread and Water Parks

I am branching out and taking risks with my MAD bread making skills! We had planned an overnighter at an indoor water park hotel and I thought this Cinnamon Swirl Bread would be perfect for a late night or early morning snack. 

I WAS RIGHT!!!

It's absolutely delicious!

I used this recipe from The Idea Room, but I had to tweak it a little since I didn't have rapid rise yeast.

Here are my revisions (based on some super advice from a bread guru)...

I decreased the milk to 1 1/4 cups.
Then I dissolved 3 tsp. of active dry yeast in 1/4 cup warm water

She said that you want to use the same amount of liquid, but you'd need water to dissolve the yeast. Very smart.

(P.S. I didn't heat the milk on the stove top either. I just warmed it in the micro at 45 second intervals until I thought it felt right)

You may have to adjust the rise times a little, but I didn't really. It came out beautifully except that it sort of looks like the elephant man version of cinnamon swirl bread. It was ginormous! Next time I'd like to try to use longer pan from IKEA that The Idea Room mentions.

Here's a little snapshot of the Water Park Weekend too...

A little bit of sunshine on the COLDEST day of the year so far!

Whoa...Google Reader just got BETTER!

I love Google.

I love Google Reader.

I love Google Reader Next Button.

Check out this post to find out how to get your own!