Speedy Recovery cards

Another day another card....or two.

Bandages seem to be my new obsession. A couple weeks ago I made some to use as cupcake toppers and now I am making them for cards.

Never let a leftover scrap of paper go to waste no matter the size. That’s my motto and look what I found in my stash of scraps. The perfect paper for my little bandages. I love it.

The first card I made was a full size card however once it was finished I wanted to change a few things so instead of taking it apart I just made another card in a different size.

For these Speedy Recovery cards I added medical monitor lines which were drawn and cut by hand to fit the cards. To make the heart I used a template to draw the shape and then I drew a jagged line down the middle to use as a guide for cutting it apart. After that everything was glued into place. 

On the notecard I wanted to try something a little different and layered the front to give it more definition which I like. 

The wavy lines on the paper are made with a handheld roller.

I used different amounts of pressure as it went through the rollers to give it a softer look plus a little texture.

After adding another little heart on the backs of my Speedy Recovery cards

they were finished.

Happy Thursday!

DIY iPhone Birthday Card

Spring is card making time here, particularly April since we have birthdays and other occasions to celebrate.

This iPhone card was fun to put together and pretty easy too. I have a couple of cute old date roller stamps that also have little sayings on the side so I chose "kind of a big deal" and the birthday "date" to stamp in the speech bubbles. Since text messages are usually short and to the point I tried to follow suit.

The speech bubbles were cut by hand as well as the smile face. I used coins as a size guide and as a template for my smile face circle and then traced and cut it out. I used small heart stickers for the eyes and a couple different punches for the other hearts. 

This card could be tailored for almost any occasion so there might be more to come.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

DIY Monkey Birthday Card

April is a busy birthday month in our family so when it comes to making cards I need to come up with several ideas if I plan on making them all. I knew that I wanted one of them to have a monkey on it and was going for something easy. Well it doesn’t get much easier than this.

All it took were a few basic shapes stacked on top of one another and a few embellishments. 

I drew the mouth on the oval and used a paper punch for the nostrils, eyes and also the flowers and leaves. Her arm was cut freehanded although I admit it did take three tries. The first arm was too thin, the second one was a little better but too short and the third one was just right.

Then all this cute monkey needed was a birthday banner in her hand and the card was finished.

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Weekend Breakfast - Jalapeño Popper Egg Bakes and more

These egg filled ramekins were something new I intended on making Saturday morning however time got away from me and I only had enough to time to make sweet treats which seem to always take priority around here. Not sure how that happens but it is all good and I was able to make these on Sunday instead. 

The idea of easy, single serving breakfast entrees has been on my mind recently. Something that is more of a grab~and~go or easy to serve type of thing like you see in the glass cases at coffee shops or cafes. My first attempt were some Pig Newtons I made recently which we really liked and prompted the idea of these individual egg bakes last weekend. They seemed like another great thing to serve when the kids are home for a visit or weekend Coffee Klatches. The concept didn’t seem too difficult so I just set in. The goal was to make two, a his and hers so to speak, so I figured five eggs would be about right. I added a little milk and whipping cream in equal amounts since that is all I had on hand and gave it a stir. Next I shredded cheddar and pepper jack cheese, chopped some jalapeños, diced red and green peppers and chopped a little onion while I  cooked  a couple strips of bacon. Once the bacon was cooked and had a few minutes to drain on a paper towel I crumbled most of it but saved a couple small strips to lay on top. The veggies and bacon were added to the egg mixture as well as some salt and pepper. I stirred it all up and poured it into the ramekins however I ended up with enough for one more serving for a total of 3. A little bonus breakfast bake. 

Before putting them in the oven I garnished the tops with a couple cherry tomatoes, a small strip of bacon, a slice or two of jalapeños and a bit more cheese.

After 15 minutes I checked them and they definitely needed more time. They ended up taking about 30 minutes to bake so that will be good to know for planning purposes next time. 

They turned out really well and were easy to make so will definitely make them again. Of course, we also had some poppyseed mini muffins I made the day before to go with our Egg Bakes. 

In fact, the Poppyseed muffin recipe makes more than enough for us so I usually like to make a few mini loaves of bread as well to either put in the freezer for later or give away. This time I sent a loaf home with our friend to share with his wife. 

And, we needed some cookies too so I made Chocolate Caramel Bars since we have not had those in a while. They are a favorite however I only made a half of a batch so that I can make something new soon. They do have a good amount of oatmeal baked in so I think that could count as a weekend breakfast or brunch treat after a warm, hardy Jalapeño Popper Egg Bake.

The kitchen was certainly busy over the weekend.

Happy Monday!

Happy Earth Day

Have a beautiful day!

Pig Newtons

Over the past couple months Mr. Wonderful has been telling me about this wonderful pastry he has been ordering when he meets his buddy for coffee in the middle of the week. The more he told me about it and how much he liked it the more interested I became. Since I had never been to the coffee shop or ever had anything like it before it was difficult to know exactly what all was inside this wrapped up little breakfast bundle so I had to rely heavily on his description as that was pretty much all I had to go on.

To get things started I cooked some link sausage while I waited for a sheet of puff pastry to thaw. 

Once the sausage was cooked I set it aside to cool down a bit while I shredded some cheese and chopped some jalapeños. Then it was time to assemble the little breakfast bundles. I placed two sausages on the puff pastry and topped them with a little cheese and some jalapeños.

Next, I rolled them up, sprinkled some more cheese on the top and baked them at 400° for about 15 minutes.

They were a success. The hubs loved them and said I don't need to change a thing as far as he  is concerned so I asked him what he thought we should call them.

He suggested Pig Newtons so we are going with that. 

Happy Monday!

Blueberry Cream Cheese BABKA

It has been awhile since I have made a Babka but last weekend a blueberry version sounded good so I thought I would try squeezing it in between the cinnamon rolls and strawberry pastry I had on my baking list and the goal was to have it all ready before the sun was up, as we had a schedule to keep. In retrospect, it may have been better to cut back and only bake the original one or two things however my thinking was that it would not take much more time or effort so I might as well go for it.

The baking plan included giving away most the cinnamon rolls to family members that I would see later that morning and the pastry was a request from the hubs for his regularly scheduled Saturday morning coffee klatch at the house with his buddy who usually swings by after soccer. After considering all of that, adding a couple loaves of Babka seemed reasonable so I quietly began preparing the weekend morning treats.

It was a successful morning and all things sweet were ready before we had to leave. The Babka turned out wonderful in spite of the busy morning. It was tender and sweet and might have even worked well as a dessert but definitely was great with coffee. 

Check out my other Babka here.

Happy Thursday!

Happy Spring Doodles

Blessings!

Easter 2021 ~ recap

Easter was so early this year that it is hard to believe it has already come and gone. We had a birthday to celebrate the day before so there was a lot to do over the weekend. My sister hosted Easter this year so I had time to make a couple things to contribute to dinner.

Angel Food Cake was one item I offered to bring which I like to make from scratch whenever possible so scratch it was. I had also decided to make cakelettes instead of one large cake this time and top them with my homemade lemon curd and a dollop of lemon curd mousse.

It did not take much to fill the small well on top of the little cakes which left quite a bit left over.  It is so good I could not let it go to waste so I made mini Easter parfaits by layering it in some small glass yogurt jars. A few sprinkles and a chocolate Easter egg on top made them even more festive. 

Once the dessert was finished I made an asparagus tart which was really quick and easy to put together. 

I spread Dijon mustard over the top of a sheet of puff pastry, arranged the cleaned and trimmed asparagus on top of the mustard and then covered it with shredded Gruyere cheese and baked for about 15 minutes.

There are a few family members that I knew would not care for the tart so for those I made foil packs of seasoned asparagus and butter to put in the oven to bake just before dinner. 

We had a lovely Easter with our family, my sisters table was beautiful and dinner was delicious. 

Happy Friday!