Her Kitchen and Crafts

Checkered Cake

2012-02-09T01:06:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, welcome to the first official post of February, a few days late but its better than an empty promise!

A year ago this month I received an awesome gift, a checker board cake pan set, before this cake I had only tried it once. So last week, I "dusted" it off and get to work. I took the lazy route though and used boxes of cake mix to complete this project.

First things first, make sure you have everything you need!

Insert the divider into the pan and decide how you want to cake too look, you will have two layers that are patterned the same way.

Fill your cake plans according to the plan, starting with the center, be careful not to let it drip into the center section too much!

After you have completely filled you pan remove the insert carefully. Repeat this process until all 3 of your pans look something like this...

Bake your cakes according to the directions on the box. Lightly frost between the layers of the cake, and frost the outside as you normally would. I chose a homemade chocolate buttercream because its delicious!

When your through, enjoy the beauty of your cake!

This is a really simple and fun way to impress people. The hardest part really is filling the pan! I ended up pouring my batter into measuring cups with a pour spout.

-Courtney

P.S. I totally tried to make my white cake pink by using a bit of red food coloring. It would have turned out better if I'd have used pink, however my dog decided to eat my pink food coloring right before I used it.

February!!!

2012-01-31T11:00:00.000-08:00

Well another month has passed and I totally failed on updating this blog. Please stick with me as I try to expand this blog, and maybe even launch a small business. I've got some deliciousness planned for this month! Keep coming back for more!

Homemade Marshmallows

2012-01-29T22:48:00.000-08:00

So about a year ago, I was researching how marshmallows are made. Then I stumbled upon a post on Smitten Kitchen about making your own marshmallows. I found my recipe there although I have seen it in several other places. This was pretty easy until I did not let the sugar and gelatin mixture mix long enough. I didn't notice and continued to make the marshmallows. So I had to try it again, the first portion of the pictures are from my first attempt, the rest from the second. Here goes nothing!

Ingredients:

Approximately 1 cup powdered sugar

3 ½ envelopes unflavored gelatin

1 cup cold water

2 cups granulated sugar

¼ tsp. salt

2 large egg whites

1 tbsp. vanilla

A few drop s of food coloring to spice things up

9x13 in. pan and a standing mixer or hand mixer.

Your first step is going to be to oil your pan and sprinkle powdered sugar on top of it. Make sure to get the sides too.

Pour 1/2 the water into the mixing bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it.

In a sauce pan heat the sugar, corn syrup,

the second half of the water, and salt on low heat.

Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar is dissolved.

Increase the heat and boil the mixture until the temperature reaches 240 degrees.

This took me about 10 minutes.

Pour the mixture over the gelatin mixture. Stir until the gelatin is dissolved.

Beat the mixture until it is 3x its original size. (This is where I went wrong the first time.)

Beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks.

Mix the egg whites and vanilla into the mixture.

Pour the mixture into the pan and sprinkle powdered sugar over the top.
Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
All picture above are from attempt #1, looking back on this photo I should have known they weren't going to turn out.

When done properly this is what your marshmallow block will look like.

Cut into squares or use a cookie cutter to create fun shapes! Roll the marshmallows in powdered sugar to coat the sides.

These were seriously delicious, they were pretty easy too!!

Try them out for yourself!!!

-Courtney

Happy New Year!

2012-01-08T20:28:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season! I took a little unannounced and unplanned hiatus, but I am back and ready for action! I'm no longer spending 10-20 hours a week in the car and am super excited for what this year will bring. Hopefully lots of time for blogging and travel!

I have a ton of good stuff planned for you guys this month. Including MARSHMALLOWS and CHILI!

I got some cool new baking stuff for christmas too and can't wait to share it with you all. I also bought myself a new camera, hopefully it will kick the quality of this blog up a little bit!

See you all later this week!

-Courtney

Pumpkin Bread

2011-11-25T16:40:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving!

My family had an awesome day, and we sure didn't need anymore food in the house, but I just had to make this pumpkin bread.

This is an old family recipe, and the terminology was a little funny on it. But it turned out great! This recipe makes 2 loafs and bakes at 350 degrees for 75 minutes.

Here is the recipe and how to:

Ingredient:

3 cups sugar

1 cup oil

4 eggs

2 cups of pumpkin puree

2/3 cups water

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

2 tsp. baking soda

2 1/3 cups flour

Mix the sugar and oil.

Beat the eggs and pumpkin into the sugar and oil.

Sift the flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and baking soda into the mixture.

Resist eating the batter and grease 2 loaf pans.

Pour into the pans and bake at 350 degrees for 75 minutes.

Okay I had wrote the first half of this blog while the bread was in the oven. 75 minutes was way too long!

My bread also stuck to the pan :(

However the bread was still really good! Just reduce the baking time and pour the batter slowly into the pan and everything should be ok!

Hopefully everyone enjoy this at work tonight!

-Courtney

Dinner is served part 2!

2011-11-22T20:11:00.000-08:00

I don't mean to brag but, this dinner was FREAKING delicious!!!!

Not to mention it was really easy!

On Sunday night seven of us feasted on pan seared steaks with a wine sauce, potatoes, green beans, and mini pumpkin pie croissants. (These were seriously amazing warmed up and paired with a little vanilla ice cream! Thanks mom for making them!)

Searing all of the steaks took a little longer than I anticipated, and I found it was easier to just cut open the meat to check its color rather than using a thermometer.

Alright onto the food. I found this recipe in The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. I think I said this the last time but I really like these cookbooks! This recipe serves four so make sure you make the necessary adjustments.

Here is what you need:

Steaks:

4 boneless beef stakes about 1 inch thick trimmed.

1 tbs vegetable oil.

Red Wine Sauce:

1tbs vegetable oil

1 shallot minced

3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup dry red wine

2 teaspoons brown sugar

3 tbs butter, cut into 3 pieces and chilled

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

Pat the steaks dry with paper towels, and season with salt and pepper.

Heat 1tbs of oil in a large skillet until the oil is smoking.

Brown the steaks on the first side for about 4 minutes.

Flip the steaks over and continue to let them cook to the desired doneness.

Transfer the steaks to a plate and tent with foil for 5 minutes.

For the sauce: add the remaining vegetable oil to the pan and heat.

Add the shallot and cook until soft (about 2 minutes)

Stir in the broth, wine and brown sugar.

Make sure to stir in any brown bits in the pan, they add flavor.

Simmer until thickened. (mine never thickened, but it was still delicious)

Stir in any meat juice from the tented plate.

Reduce the heat to low and whisk in the butter one piece at a time.

Add the thyme after removing the pan from the heat. Salt and pepper to taste.

Pour the sauce over the steaks before serving, or once its on your plate. :D

Alright, a friend of mine told me that my sauce wouldn't thicken with out using a stainless steel pan. Somebody try it out and let me know!

Tomorrow I hope to conquer the bangle, which I have high hopes for! That darn make-up bag, might end up in the trashcan, and those other 2 pumpkin recipes are calling my name. However the oven is going to be pretty full over the next few days. :(

Keep checking back! I have 8 days to complete October's goals. Hopefully I can pull this off!

-Courtney

Snickerdoodles

2011-11-20T13:29:00.000-08:00

It has been forever since I last posted. Sorry about that. I've been really busy with work, and trying to get other things done. In October I did raise money for Susan G. Komen by baking for donations. I was able to raise $174.00! I also perfected a new cupcake frosting!

Alright here is a post so I can cross something off of last months list. SNICKERDOOLES!

If you have never had a snickerdoodle I highly suggest making this recipe immediately, its probably one of the best ones around! I found this recipe in an old cookbook, the kind where everyone sends in recipes and then the school or organization has them printed and they sell them as a fund raiser.

Its super easy, basically you could just throw everything in the bowl and mix but here is the play by play.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup margarine (I use butter)

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tbs. sugar (set aside)

Mix thoroughly the margarine, shortening, sugar and eggs.

Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.

shape dough by rounded teaspoon or use a cookie scoop.

Combine the cinnamon and 2 tbs of sugar and roll the dough in mixture.

Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes and immediately remove from baking sheet. (This step is very important it prevents the cookies from becoming crispy.) Let cool and enjoy!

Hopefully over the next few days I can finish up that make-up bag, decorate a bangle or two and make some pumpkin bread. The pancakes might have to wait until another day. Oh and that pan seared steak with a red wine sauce is for dinner tonight! Check back soon for that post!

-Courtney

Pumpkin Pie!!!

2011-10-17T22:16:00.000-07:00

Hey all! Sorry for the lack of activity this month. I warned you this month might be rough.

Whatever I don't finish from this month I plan on finishing next month.

For now I'd like to share with you this pumkin pie I made. It was made using Paula Deen's Recipe.

Instead of buying pre-made crusts I used the recipe I used in my apple pie post.

Alright now that I've got that out of the way here is the tutorial.

First pre-heat the oven to 350.

Here is what you need:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1 cup half-and-half

1/4 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer.

Beat in the pumpkin, then the sugar and salt.

Next beat in the eggs, yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter.

Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger and beat.

Grease your pie pan and roll out the dough. It will be necessary to bake your pue crust before you bake your pie. you will need to weigh it down to prevent the dough from rising. I used foil and some change but you could also use foil and uncooked beans or foil and pie weights.

My crust still came out with a few bubble. I carefully poped them. (watch out for steam being released from the bubbles.)

Poor your filling into the crust and bake for 50 minutes. Stick a knife into the center, when it comes out clean your pie is done.

Let cool. Cut. Top with whip cream. Enjoy!

See you hopefully soon!

-Courtney

Give Away Winner!!!

2011-10-05T16:53:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to announce that the winner of my first giveaway is......

Mrs. Payne!!!! She said...

Congratulations!

I will be contacting you within the next few days, to arrange the delivery details of your prize.

Thank you all so much for participating. Check back this weekend for some pumpkin madness!

-Courtney

October!

2011-10-03T21:50:00.000-07:00

I love October. Pumpkins, crunchy leaves, and boots, what's not to love?

With my love of October comes a love of pumpkins!

So this month's baking focus will be PUMPKIN! We will be making pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie. I feel like I need to redeem myself and try another pie.

This month's dinner will be pan seared steaks with a red wine pan sauce.

This month's craft project will be finishing the make-up bag, and hopefully decoupaged bangles.

This month's cookie will be snickerdoodles.

I am really busy this month with very few days off. It is my goal to post one post a week, commute to work, sleep, work my other job/jobs, exercise and scrapbook. If all of these things happen it will be a miracle!

Happy October!!!

<3 Courtney

Craft of the month: a pencil/make-up bag.

2011-09-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

Okay. I hope you guys are ready for this! This is the last post for September.

First a little background information. I don't sew. It took me forever to figure out where to start on this project. It was almost comical.

Are you ready to see it?

Womp. Womp. Womp.

I was having such a hard time just getting to here, there are just not enough hours in a day. I will finish it though. Eventually.

When it's done I'll attempt to post a tutorial. That is if I can remember what I did.

-Courtney

Pie crust and an apple pie how to

2011-09-29T20:35:00.000-07:00

Okay guys, this was supposed to be the last apple recipe of the month, however the apple pie its self was not that great. So I thought I would share with you how to make the crust, and the basics of assembling an apple pie.

While researching this post I learned that the key ingredient to a great pie crust is

VERY COLD INGREDIENTS

I used Ina Garten's recipe for perfect pie crust.

The recipe calls for:

12 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter (diced)

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening

1/2 cup ice water

A food processor

A rolling pin

A clean flowered surface

Saran wrap

Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the food processor pulse a few times giving it a good mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse a few more times until the butter is the size of peas.

With the food processor running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball.

Divide the dough into two halves, wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll out one half of the dough on a flowered surface.

Place the crust in the pie pan.

Fill the pie pan.

Roll out the other half and roll it onto the rolling pin. This will make it easier to lift the dough.

Pinch the pie closed using your fingers or a fork.

Check the recipe for bake time and temperature. Let bake and enjoy!

Here's a tip.....wrap the endges of the pie in foil, and make sure you coat the entire top in an egg wash.

Don't forget to enter the give away! It closes on 10/5 at 12:01 am.

-Courtney

"I'm not easy to understand, but you know me like the back of your hand." - Miranda Lambert

Cookie of the month: Jumbo Black Bottom Macaroons

2011-09-28T21:15:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I still have 2 more posts to do and 2 days to do it!

I'm going to warn you right now, October is going to be really rough on me. I will be working about 50hrs a week so bear with me!

On to the Cookies!!!

A couple of years ago one of my wonder ful college roommates gave me Big Fat Cookies a wonderful cookbook full of easy to follow recipes and pictures. This is the first recipe I tried and these cookies are so DELICIOUS.

Here's how to make them.

Preheat the oven to 350 degree, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and butter the paper.

Cookies:

7oz bag of sweetened coconut

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/8 tsp salt

11/2 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg white

pinch of cream of tartar

1 tbs sugar

Chocolate coating:

9 oz semisweet chocolate chopped

1tbs canola oil

In a large bowl, combine the coconut, condensed milk, salt, almond extract and vanilla extract.

In a medium bowl use a mixer and beat the egg white with cream of tartar until they are foamy. Beat until soft peak forms, beat in sugar.

Use a rubber spatula to fold the egg mixture into the coconut mixture.

Using a cookie scoop, ice-cream scoop or 1/4 cup scoop the batter on to a prepared baking sheet.

Bake for approximately 17 minutes or until the tips of the coconut are light brown. Let the cookies cool completely.

Melt the chocolate and conola oil into a double boiler. Don't have a double boiler? Click here for ideas.

Dip the bottom of each cookies into the melted chocolate mixture. Set on wax paper, and let them harden. To speed up this process place them in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!!!

A few tips.

1. Place the cookies on wax paper after dipping them in chocolate, if not when you remove the cookie from the pan you'll loose all the chocolate. :(

2. Make more than one batch. The batch I made only made 14 cookies.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

-Courtney

"'Cause when I'm a bullet shot out of a gun

'Cause when I'm a firecracker comin' undone

Or when I'm a fugitive ready to run, all wild-eyed and crazy

No matter where my reckless soul takes meBaby you save me" -Kenny Chesney

1,000 Page views!

2011-09-21T21:22:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe it it. This little blog of mine has been viewed 1,000 times!

Thank you everyone, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you.

In order to celebrate this event here is the blogs frist giveaway!

How to enter:

Leave a comment below with your name, email, and prize you'd like to win.

Prizes:

$10 gift card to Target, Michaels, or Joanns.

A batch of snickerdoodles or tripple chocolate cookies.

A set of purple coasters.

A set of 10 decorated thumbtacks.

The winner will be chosen by using this random integer generator.

You have until Wednesday 10/5 to enter to win!

-Courtney

Dinner is served!

2011-09-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

This months dinner was supposed to be Julia Child's Beouff Bourginion. As I attempted this recipe my kitchen became Improvise Central.

After trying to write about my cooking attempt. I have decided that although I may have used her recipe from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" I definitely did not follow her directions. Since I know nothing about cooking and I didn't exactly follow the recipe, I am having a very hard time explaining what to do.

Below are pictures I took during my attempt. I have added captions so you can kind of figure out what I was doing.

Ingredients minus the mushrooms and sub bacon for a bacon rind

chop the bacon

the veggies too

This is where my dog Zoey likes to lay. I was using the stove, the counter to the right of the stove and the center island. Needless to say she was in the way.

Brown the beef.

cook the veggies.

cook for a long time.

use a bigger pot, and one that can go on the stove.

My version of a sieve set.

We had to eat this the next night for dinner because it took so long to cook!

Apparently I have learned a lot this month because I've said I learned a lot in all of my posts this month.

Well here is what this post taught me.

1: Read the ENTIRE recipe before staring.

2: Make sure you have all of the necessary gadgets before starting

3: Make sure you have enough time.

4: If it doesn't turn out you can always order pizza.

5: Make sure you understand the recipe.

I took so long to make dinner that we had to eat it the next night. It was delicious though! I am definitely going to stick to easier recipes for now. At least I can cross one thing off my bucket list.

Bon Appetit!

-Courtney

Apple Struddel

2011-09-20T22:02:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone welcome back. I am still working on the timing of theses posts. I need to do about 1.5 a week in order to get all of the done for the month and its proving to be a little difficult. Anyways onto the fun stuff.

This is the second baking post of the month, and here I made apple strudel.

Here is what you'll need:

1/2 cup golden raisins

2 TBS apple cider (I used Martinelli's)

1/4 fresh white bread crumbs (put a slice of white bread in the food processor!)

1 stick of butter

2 Golden Delicious apples peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 Mcintosh apple peeled and sliced 1/4inch thick

1/4 cup & 2 tsp granulated sugar

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

10 sheets fillo dough

Step 1: bring the raisins and the cider to a simmer. remove from heat and let sit.

Step 2: Toast the bread crumbs in 1 TBS butter.

Step 3: Drain the raisins, discard any remaining liquid. Stir in the apples, 1/4 sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, salt and bread crumbs.

Step 4: layer your fillo dough by laying down one sheet and brushing it with butter. Repeat nine more times.

Step 5: Fill the fillo dough with the apple mixture. Leave enough room to fold over the sides.

To fold your dough first fold the long sides in, then fold over the bottom. After the left, right and bottom sides are folded over. turn the envelope over its self. (I really don't think that made sense and I can't seem to find a good how too. GOOD LUCK)

Step 6: make 1inch slits in the top.

Step 7: Bake at 475 degrees for 15 minutes, turning it half way through.

This strudel was good, however the apples were not very soft. Here is what I would have done differently. I did not have a brush to brush on the butter so I attempted to spoon in on causing me to use way to much butter. Lesson learned buy a brush. I also learned to not put the pastry in a tupperware container. It turned into a huge gooey mess. I also would have sprinkled the top with powdered sugar.

Oh one more tip. Let your fillo dough though on the counter for a few hours before trying to work with it!

"Carry on, carry on, what don't kill us makes us strong." -Tim McGraw

-Courtney

Apple Muffins

2011-09-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Well I promised you a post about apple muffins and here it is!

I found this recipe on a blog called The Girl Who Ate Everything. (check it out, I fell in love with her.)

In a desperate attempt to try new recipes she asked readers to email her their favorite recipes, this one is one of those recipes.

Lets get started!

Ingredients

1 ½ cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup oil

1 tablespoon vanilla

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 cups peeled, cored, diced apples (I used about 2 ½ apples)

Brown sugar for topping

Cream together sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla.

Sift together flour salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.

Mix thoroughly

Mix in the apples. I had to mix it with my hands because the batter was so thick!

Divide the batter into a lined muffin pan evenly. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-24 minutes.

Let cool, and enjoy!

A few tips: don't let your muffin mix sit in the paper liners for too long before baking, the moisture from the batter will absorb into the paper. While in the oven, the liners will the become very crispy. Tip #2: If you're going to use a metal muffin pan try putting a cookie sheet underneath. My muffins from the metal tin turned out a litte dry! Tip #3 let them cool completely before storing them in an air tight container, mine became sticky and sweaty.

Despite my mishaps these muffins were delicious and a real hit!

-Courtney

September!

2011-08-31T16:56:00.000-07:00

Wahoo! Its time to launch my new blog plan!

Here is what this month will entail.

Baking with apples- muffins, strudel, and pie. YUM!

Sewing- for my first attempt I will make a pencil bag. (we'll see how it comes out o_O)

Cookie of the month- macaroons.

Dinner- Julia Child's boeuf bourguignon.

Some of you maybe wondering where I find my recipes and patterns. I scour the internet, cookbooks, pattern books and blogs. I will post links to all of the websites I get my info from!

Of course any other crafts I do I will document and post as well!

I really hope this works out because I am really excited about it!

I feel like this post is naked with out a picture......

How about one of my crazy dogs?

Zoey is the little one and Bear is the big one. :D

-Courtney

"Yeah, I'm chillin' on a dirt road,
Laid back swervin' like I'm George Jones.
Smoke rollin' out the window,
An' ice cold beer sittin' in the console.
Memory lane up in the headlights,
It's got me reminiscing on them good times.
I'm turning off of real life, drivin' that's right,
I'm hittin' easy street on mud tires." -Jason Aldean

Do you like guessing games?

2011-08-19T17:01:00.000-07:00

If so, check out the latest post on Megs Hand Made life. She will be giving away a prize from her Etsy shop to the commenter who most accurately guesses the manufacturing date of her new sewing machine!

While you're there check out the rest of her blog she has some great recipes, tutorials and overall great information posted! Check out her Esty shop too, that way incase you win you'll know what you want!
-Courtney

Sometimes life gets in the way of life!

2011-08-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of activity this past month. I have had a ton of stuff going on! However, I have been working on some ideas for this blog, including how I can continue to grow as a creative individual and how I can make it easier for me to update on a regular basis. This is what I will be doing (hopefully) from now on. Each month I will attempt to have a baking focus of the month where I will bake 3 things from a category or using the same main ingredient. There will be a cookie of the month, a craft project of the month, hopefully a sewing project of the month, and a meal of the month. Its a lot but I think with the right amount of planning I can do it!

So while I get this all worked out please don't give up on me!

In the meantime I would like to share with you a few of my favorite blogs! Check 'em out!

How About Orange here you will find craft projects, printable downloads & decorating ideas!
Make It and Love It Lots of sewing tutorials!
A Lemon Squeezy Home More sewing, genreral crafts, and just fun stuff!
Meg's Handmade Life DIY, Sewing, Knitting, Food, and Life!
Bakerella I think the title says it all.
Bake or Break The baking adventures of an amateur baker!
Not Martha baking, photography, and life
BeaOriginal Everything paper crafts!!!

As some of you know, when this blog hits 1,000 views I plan on doing a giveaway. So please share me with your friends and family! Leave comments with any idea, suggestions, or just because!

-Courtney

"In every state, there's a station
Playin' Cash, Hank, Willie, and Waylon
In foreign cars and four-wheel drives
There's cowboys and hillbillies
From farm towns to big cities
There ain't no doubt in my mind
Country must be country wide"

-Brantley Gilbert

Ice Cream Filled Cupcakes

2011-07-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

Yeah, you read that correctly! Here's how I did it.

You need regular cupcakes.

Some Ice cream.

A cupcake corer/plunger.

Then you.....

Core the cupcake and the ice cream.

Then you insert the ice cream into the cupcake.

Then you frost it, and enjoy.

Here is a picture of the inside. These were so good I highly recommend them. Imagine the possibilities.

-Courtney

Make your own wall art.

2011-07-05T23:32:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

Do you remember this picture?

Shortly after this picture was taken. My boyfriend and I made another one. This time I took pictures of the process so I could share with you all!

Here is a step by step for those who are interested in making their own!

First things first. You will need acrylic paint, painters tape, a paint brush and of course a canvas.

Next you will need to tape off your canvas using the painters tape in what ever pattern you'd like.

Next fillin the sections one section at a time. you should probably decide which colors go in which section before you start painting.

Let the paint dry. Id wait for at least an hour if not longer before trying to remove the tape. When it is dry carefully peel off the tape.

Voila! Your done! Hang it on the wall and enjoy!

Don't forget to leave a comment and tell me what you want to see more of!

-Courtney

Up coming blog posts.

2011-06-15T23:05:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

I want your opinion on what you want to see here on Courtney's Crafts.

Here is my list of things I want to do some are from my original list and some are new.

I eventually would like to accomplish all of them.

1. Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon

2. I want to learn to decorate sugar cookies.

3. Attempt to decorate a cake.

4. Sew something.

5. Chocolate cupcakes with raspberry frosting

6. Cupcakes with ice cream inside

7. Homemade marshmallows

8. Decorative thumb tacks

9. More cooking recipes

10. Checkered cake tutorial

Rainbow Cake

2011-06-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

I finally did it!

after several hours and a very messy kitchen.

I managed to produce a semi-decent rainbow layer cake.

Here is how I did it!

Ingredients:

1 box of white cake mix prepared according to the directions.

A variety of food coloring colors....I chose to use the wilton gels because I read somewhere that they work better because they dont add moisture to the cake.

Divide the cake in to equal parts depending on how many colors you plan on using. To make this easier I used a measuring bowl. Since I they knew how much batter I had it was much easier to divide it up.

Once the batter is divided add the colors. I had to play with the amount of coloring I put in to get the right colors.

Bake each color individually. I cut the bake time in half for each pan because there was such a small amount of batter in each pan. Once the cake has completely cooled remove the cake from the pan. I mean completely cooled. I ran into some issues with my cakes being too moist and warm. Even after you remove it from the pan let it sit before you level the layer. Once you have done this too all of the layers build your cake! I suggest doing a crumb coat first and then icing the cake. Unfortunately I do not have any advice for that portion because I did not do a very nice job of icing the cake.

Hereis a simple frosting recipe.

Hopefully I can make another one soon and improve on the look of it!

-Courtney

Coffee Cake!

2011-05-24T23:04:00.000-07:00

The first thing that comes to mind is YUM! This cake is so moist and irresistible!

No babbling, on with the recipe!

Preheat the oven to 350.

Mix the following ingredients together throughly:

1 box yellow cake mix

1/2 pint of sour cream

1 small package of vanilla instant pudding

4 eggs

3/4 cup oil

Set this mixture aside, and mix 3/4 cup of sugar and 1Tablespoon of cinnamon and set this mixture aside. Grease an angel food cake pan using butter or oil, sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture over the greased pan.

Add 1/3 of the batter to the pan. It will sort of glop into the pan, it won't really spread. the spinkle some of the cinnamon sugar mixture over the batter. Glop some more batter in and sprinkle again, and repeat one more time.

Bake for 45-60 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN BEFORE 45 MINUTES!

Let the cake cook and remove the cake from the pan, then enjoy! It doesn't matter when you eat coffee cake, it is always delicious!!

Now I have special announcement. I am hoping to open an ETSY shop where 20% of all proceeds go to the Susan G. Komen foundation!

I hope you enjoy your coffee cake! Keep your eyes peeled in the next week or so fo some RAINBOW CAKE!

-Courtney

Homemade Drink Coasters

2011-04-07T19:43:00.000-07:00

Hey there!

I am on a roll this month! 2 posts!!!!

On to the good stuff!

Today I have handmade coasters for you guys!

Here is what you'll need:

A 12X12 sheet of scrapbook paper, a paper cutter, mod podge, a sponge brush, and four 41/4 in X 41/4 in tiles, you will also need cork board.

I found my tiles at Lowes for less than a quarter each.

Next you will need to cut your paper down to 41/4 X 41/4.

Then glue your paper to your tiles and brush the mod podge over the top of the paper.

I actually found that it works best to secure the paper to the tile with the mod podge.

You will need about 3 layers of mod podge but let them dry completely before adding the next layer.

Also run your brush in the same direction each time or you will end up with hash marks on your coaster.

unless of course you want hash marks.

Next you will need to seal your coasters with an acrylic sealant so that the moisture from your cup does not disturb your design.

I sprayed mine 3 times and let it dry for 12 hours each time.

After all of the spraying, I cut down the cork board to 41/4X41/4.

I then removed the backing (I bought the self adhesive kind.) and stuck the cork board to the tile.

Almost finished!

Stack them up and tie them together with a bow or maybe a strip of paper that reads "Happy Birthday"

(Or what ever the occasion maybe.)

Now you're done!

I hope you enjoyed this, because I sure did!

-Courtney

My Tiny Kitchen # 1

2011-04-01T00:51:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Wait is there an “everyone”? Does anyone read this thing besides my family and friends? I guess that still constitutes an everyone.....

So,

Hi everyone (again),

I have decided that whenever I cook or bake and share it with you all I will call it "My Tiny Kitchen". Lame? I thought so too, but I am sticking with it. So here is my first Tiny Kitchen

Today I have a special treat for you all.

Pillow cookies!

I first saw these cookies on Bakerella. I immediately fell in love.

These things are delicious. What is a pillow cookie you ask?

Well a pillow cookie is a chocolate chip cookie with a brownie inside.

They are super simple to make and taste delicious. The down side is that since you need to squish a brownie inside of cookie dough, it takes an awful lot of dough to make a single cookie. An average size batch of dough only yields about 12 cookies. The plus side? Chocolaty deliciousness the size of your face!

They are really simple to make.

Step 1) Prepare your favorite box of brownies according to the package.

Step 2) prepare your favorite chocolate chip cookie, cookie dough.

Step 3) Shove a 1in x 1inch brownie into a half a cup of cookie dough.

(due the messy nature of this step I was unable to utilize my camera.)

Step 4) Bake at 350° for about 15 minutes.

Step 5) Remove from oven.

Step 6) let cool & devour.

Tips: My cookies were done in about 15 minutes. Your bake time may vary so keep an eye on the oven. My cookies also spread a lot and did not bake up around the brownie; it is my theory that the butter in the dough was too warm. I read later it is best to refrigerate your dough for about 1hr prior to making your first batch and then again in-between batches. I would also advise you to make a few batches. These cookies were gone in a matter of minutes!

-Courtney

"She needs wide open spaces, room to make her big mistakes." -The Dixie Chicks.

No time to craft!

2011-03-22T21:28:00.000-07:00

I am so sorry everyone for not keeping up with this blog as I had planned. I have not given up so please don't give up on me! I really hope to have something for you guys soon!

Happy Birthday to me!

2011-02-20T19:23:00.000-08:00

So many goodies for my birthday!

Hey everyone! Sorry I have been M.I.A. lately. Our downstairs neighbors say we make too much noise, so I have been afraid to do anything that might be "loud". Haha screw that...do you see all those goodies!?!?!? Looks like I'll be spending a lot of time in my tiny kitchen!

My mom and dad got me a nice FARBERWARE set, it includes: a pie pan, ramekins (don’t know what to make in those, but I’ll find something), a casserole dish, au gratin pan (see above comment), a soufflé dish, and a loaf pan (not pictured, it broke during shipping.) I also have some pampered chef on the way, a cupcake pan maybe!?

My boyfriend’s parents got me a 101 piece professional decorating set, I would tell you what it includes but the list would be really long. So here is a picture!

My boyfriend’s sister got me a checkerboard cake pan set…. see picture below….

My butt head of a “little” brother actually scored some big points and got me some M.A.C make-up and a little” created by” stamp so that I can mark my work, the best present…. he took the day off and came to lunch with my family and my boyfriend’s.

Thanks everyone who helped make my birthday awesome! For some unexplainable reason I was just not excited for my birthday this year, but it is turning out to be phenomenal! Stay tuned for some future deliciousness!

- Courtney
I love this crazy, tragic
Sometimes almost magic
Awful beautiful life
-Darryl Worley

Cute little magnets!!

2011-01-26T17:23:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

I recently came across some of those thin, advertisement type magnets and wanted to do something creative with them.

So, I borrowed the Create a Critter Cricut Cartridge from a friend and went to town.

If you want to try this on your own here is what you will need:

Not pictured: the magnet, and the paper of your choice.

First: Figure out how large you want your magnet to be. I used a scratch piece of paper to figure out how large of an image I could cut on my magnet. (I cut out the image, and placed it on top of the magnet to see if it would fit properly.)

Second: cut all of the pieces out at the same height. I set my size to 3 inches.

I also used my Cricut to cut out the image on the magnet.

Third: Glue all the itty-bitty pieces together. I had to mess around with the fox's tail stripes to get them to line up properly.

Fourth: Glue your critter to his magnet; it should line up just right.

I got into a fight with my Cricut mat, so this little guy lost some of his magnet, but he still sticks to the fridge!!!

This can be done with any image, that can be cut using the Cricut machine. Think about the possibilities.....flat seasonal magnets (easy to store), alphabet magnets, themed magnets for a party....okay I better stop before I get out of control.

-Courtney

"Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance, and when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance."

- Lee Ann Womack.

Don't worry I haven't forgotten about this thing.....yet...

2011-01-13T01:12:00.000-08:00

No, I haven't forgotten about my blog, I have just been busy. So far this year has been jam-packed with fun activities! I havent had much time to craft, cook, or bake. However, I have managed to complete a few things, and thought I would share the pictures.

First baking project of the year.... a Wall-E cake with my boyfriend's sister. It was my boyfriend's birthday and we decided to make him a cake. Right after we pulled the cake out of the oven we started asking one another what the heck were we thinking. We were seriously doubting our cake decorating skills.

Not so bad for our frist try!

First Crafting project of the year......a painting for our new apartment. With a little bit of patience, some blue tape and team work we created this little work of art. It hangs over our dinning room table, it gives the area just enough color and adds a personal touch to our new space.

Considering that our dinner lately has consisted of chicken and rice, or breakfast for dinner. I decided to make a real dinner. So may I present to you my first cooking efforts of the year!

Womp Womp Womp

We were so hungry that I didn't get a chance to take a picture, we devoured it. :(

But, I do have the link to the recipe, it has plenty of pictures!!!

I found the recipe on The Pioneer Woman, this blog, if you can call it a blog is awesome. It has a ton of information on different topics, and overall its pretty entertaining.

I'll stop rambling, here is the link to grilled chicken with lemon basil pasta. You'll have to try it!

- Courtney

"Life's a dance you learn as you go
sometimes you lead sometimes you follow
don't worry about what you don't know
Life's a dance you learn as you go." - John Michael Montgomery

This is it, I am going to do it.

2010-12-28T22:56:00.000-08:00

I have wanted to have a blog for a number of years now, and what a better time to start than the beginning of the year. I am starting off the in a new apartment, with a new work out regimen, and a refreshed out look on life, so why not. I hope to share with you all at a minimum, of once a week. I will share, my latest crafting, baking, or cooking endeavor, and occasionally what's going on in my life.

I suppose I should set a few goals on what I would like to accomplish this year.

1. Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon

2. Valentines Cards and a treat to share.

3. I want to learn to decorate sugar cookies.

4. A rainbow cake similar to the one seen here.

5. Attempt to decorate a cake.

6. Sew something.

7. Craft up something unique.

I think that that is enough for now. I am open to suggestions!

-Courtney

"Life aint always beautiful, but it's a beautiful ride." - Gary Allen