A Great Weekend....

I had a really productive weekend and that always makes this girl feel good!

First I did some relaxing Saturday morning and a little bit of laundry before heading to meet up with some crafty chicas also from Orange County...I hung with about 5 girls at the Gypsy Den in Santa Ana...(amazing food btw)...We talked craft geekiness for a couple of hours and had a blast. Knit With Love put the group meeting together and also attending was Craft Pig and Wet Paint. It was good to connect to some women with similar interests!

Next was movie night with the boyfriend...always quality time!!! I worked on and finished this cupcake hat on the knifty knitter...It was based on a picture of the Strawberry Sundae Delight that I saw on Ravelry.com ... I also added the heart shaped pom-pom; idea compliments of Zakka Life.

Then, this morning I called up my friend Pete and invited her over to bake and watch 27 dresses...We've had an awesome day cooking and baking since we decided to make 6 different things! That's right...a little overboard but fun nonetheless!

We made:
1. Cream cheese pinwheels to snack on whilest baking/cooking...
an appetizer my mom taught me to make:
mix one 16 oz. cream cheese with
one small can chopped olives (which we forgot) and
one small can chopped green onions
spread on tortillas
add a couple slices of ham
roll tortillas up (we used sun dried tomato tortillas) and
cut into small "pinwheels"
serve with salsa (we used mango peach salsa)
2. Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs in the slow cooker...
3. Brownies but in a silicone Lego shaped baking form














4. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies (which were really the reason for the baking festivities in the first place)
5. Oreo Truffles in heart shaped ice cube trays!
(these are better when dipped in regular melted chocolate - not the baker's chocolate!...and easy to dip when rolled in balls and refrigerated for 30-60min. before dipping...fyi)
6. and Mimi's Buttermilk Spice Muffins again!

Success all around...made new friends, quality time with bf, finished a hat, had a girlie day, cooked/baked 6 things and watched a movie!!!

Introducing....Mon Cheri!

In an effort to create a sewing project that encompasses learning a little sewing, embroidery, applique, and adding buttons, Mon Cheri was created! (Tutorial to come soon...) I thought up Mon Cheri this week while contemplating beginner sewing projects for the children that I work with. Right now I'm helping with an enrichment sewing club for 3rd-5th graders in the after school program that I coordinate for at an elementary school in Tustin, CA. Out of my 100 students, 20 of them are participating in the "Stitch it Up" club with myself and one of my instructors. It's a lot to handle teaching 20 children to sew with only one other body, but we're having a blast! My instructor is catching the craft fever and my brain is constantly working overtime for this club.

...Anyways, back to Mon Cheri...the first of my Mon Softies (AKA Monster Softies)!
Name: Mon Cheri
AKA: Monster Cherry
AKA: My Sweetheart (in French ;-) )
Quote: Life is just a bowl of cherries...
Interests: Trying to scare at least a fly, but unsuccessful due to the nature of being totally cute!
Hopes and Dreams: That my maker will create my offspring from real wool felt since this crappy craft felt sucks!
Friends: Mon Laddie (introductions soon)

Mimi's amazing Buttermilk Spice muffins...

I made my favorite restaurant muffins from Mimi's cafe last night! For those of you who don't know what Mimi's cafe is or that their Buttermilk Spice muffins are amazing, check out their website at http://www.mimiscafe.com/ . Their muffins are posted under the "Chef's Corner" tab on the website. I'm proud of this accomplishment since I'm a mix-in-a-box muffin maker generally...

My latest kick...

I bought myself my first knifty knitter about a week and a half ago...I started with the purple rectangular KK and made the mini scarflet from Purling Sprite Designs http://isela.typepad.com/looming_crafts/free-patterns.html ...It was so easy and turned out beautiful! It was made with Lion Brand Homespun "Florida Keys Green." I have never knitted, but always loved the elegance of hand knitted items...I picked crocheting initially for the instant gratification factor and now I'm even more instantly gratified with the Knifty Knitter!

So, on my trip to Tahoe, my best friend, Suzanne, gave me a beanie she made on the KK round looms...Intrigued again! When we made it to the city, I bought the round looms set...I've been making beanies like crazy since. I've made 4 beanies so far, and am gifting and taking orders from friends already! Here are some basic KK beanies...

New Years Tahoe!

I've been hanging with some of my favorite people over the past 2 days...I'm staying at my best friend Suzanne's house where she lives with her fiance, Ryan. Ryan's sister, Rhonda, also flew in yesterday and happens to be another one of my best friends. Rhonda and Ryan's sister, Kim, and her son, Cory, are here and I love to see them a couple times a year too. Then, in flew their dad and stepmom, and our friends Daniela and Eddy drove up too. It's a full house to say the least! We're having a great time just hanging out, trying to teach some of our friends to snowboard, and sucking in the beautiful scenery. Just checking in for the first post of the new year...