Painting Project

Can you guess what I'm working on?

Well, that's not much of a clue, so I'll have to tell you...

I'm painting the bathroom vanity and cupboard shelf in our main bathroom!

Now, here's the thing...

Despite my love of abstract or modern painting styles, I tend to keep things safe.  And I've stated here on this blog before that I am NOT good at decorating, so everything I've done over the past year has been inspired by the wonderful craft and decorating blogs here in blogland.

But this project is going to be wild.  

First my 17 year old chose coral, but I didn't like that idea so I suggested orange:

 

Of course, it is just the vanity we're painting.

Then pink was suggested - both the 15 yr and 17 yr liked that (me too):

Photo from HouseBeautiful.com

 

The pink we liked was a lot darker.  But again was voted down unanimously.

So I started musing about being "safe" and I came up with something...  and I bought the paint today and will start the project when I get home from work. But in the meantime, here is a taste of a crazy artsy vanity. 

Enjoy!

You can purchase this furniture by going to Mad Tea Party Furniture's Etsy shop HERE

 

Forty Cloves of Garlic

This post was prompted by Sara over at Your Thriving Family and her GARLIC link up!!

I haven't been crafting a lot lately - I've got a LOT of home projects going on and I also have my wonderful blog My Evident Faith (I haven't figured out how to combine the two blogs, yet) - but of course I have been cooking.

So, one of my favorite recipes is Forty Cloves of Garlic.

Forty Cloves?  Yes, 40. People hear this and they freeze, thinking it will be so strong - but honestly, over the cooking time the cloves turn soft and sweet, and not overpowering at all.

I highly recommend giving this a try if you like chicken AND garlic :)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees with rack in the center. 


Step 1:
1/3 c. flour 
2 T paprika 
1 T kosher salt 


Combine flour, paprika, salt, and pepper in a large plastic bag. Coat chicken in seasoned flour. Shake off excess flour.  



Step 2: 
1 T black pepper 
3 T olive oil 
3 pounds of chicken, cut into 6 or 8 pieces (or your preference) 
40 cloves garlic, peeled (about 3 heads)
3 stalks celery, diced 
1 med. yellow onion, sliced 


Heat oil in a large ovenproof saute pan over medium-high heat. Brown chicken on both sides; remove from pan. Add garlic, celery and onion; saute until lightly browned.  



Step 3:
1 cup white wine
1 c. chicken broth 
2 sprigs fresh rosemary 
2 sprigs fresh thyme 
2 bay leaves 

Add wine, broth, and herbs, then arrange browned chicken on top, skin side up; bring to a simmer. Cover the pan; transfer to the oven and braise 45 minutes. 


Pour the sauce with the cloves over the chicken in a serving dish and serve.

Enjoy!

The top and bottom photos in this post were free from Microsoft.

Sharing here (won't you come over, too?)

Believe...

Lel4nd

2 Corinthians 5:7

New Living Translation (NLT)

For we live by believing and not by seeing.

Layered Fruit and Cake

I call this Diana's Dessert.  

Last night I brought home a bunch of groceries. We had company coming for dinner in less than an hour, and I had worked late. I told my daughter what we had and I asked her to make dessert. 

This is what she created.

It is AMAZING!

One - Bakery-Made Orange-Cranberry Cake ($4.99 from the grocery bakery)

One container of whipped topping

Two Kiwi Fruit, peeled and sliced

One cup of Blueberries

One and a half cups of Grapes

One Whole Banana, sliced

She sliced the cake into thin pieces, and layed them in a 9 X 13 inch glass baking pan, then she covered that with a layer of whipped cream, added another layer of cake and whipped cream, then topped it all with the fruit.  Couldn't have been much more simple, and could NOT have been more delicious! 

What is everyone else making when you are not in holiday mode?  

BTW, yes, I'm also eating this for breakfast this morning!  :)

Winner of the Digital Scrapbooking Software

The winner of the Digital Scrapbooking Software is Sarah. Pretty much a bust as far as turn out went for this game, but I know Sarah will enjoy the software.

The best thing about the My Memories software is that it is so easy to use.  I'll ask Sarah to post some of her projects here too, or on her blog, Everyday Keepsakes.

Have a good week!

Check my post about my new digital scrap-booking software adventure HERE.  Then read below about my give-away this week...

To enter, you'll need to visit the My Memories website and take a look through their products. Then come back here and leave a comment below telling me what interests you the most along with your email address so that I can contact you if you win. 

You can earn additional entries by doing the following and leaving a separate comment for each:

• Follow the My Memories blog
• Like My Memories on Facebook  
• Follow My Memories on Twitter
• Follow Kitchenfunk on Pinterest
• Add Kitchenfunk to your blog list
• Put a Kitchenfunk button on your blog
• Subscribe to Kitchenfunk in a reader or by email 
• Follow MyEvidentFaith.com
• Add MyEvidentFaith to your blog list
• Subscribe to MyEvidentFaith in a reader or by email
• Follow MyEvidentFaith on Twitter

That's a LOT of ways to win!  Be sure your post either includes your email or attaches to your email, so I can let you know when you win. 

Winner will be chosen on Friday, December 16th at 5pm!!   If I email YOU as the winner, and you don't get back to me within 48 hours, then I will choose another winner.  So check your email...

Party Food for Holiday Visits

With family visiting for the holidays, we have lots of food planned for the next few weeks. 

This weekend is no exception, we are finally decorating our tree.  Finally!  

So I am planning a menu.  I'm thinking maybe hot roast beef sandwiches and some brie and crackers, and something with fruit...  I know, this sounds  like a lot of trouble for just decorating the tree, but I have found that making an EVENT (key the music) out of something that really doesn't take a lot of time, keeps my teen and young adult children IN THE MOMENT for just a little longer.

One of the dips I am thinking of making is Hot Spinach and Artichoke: 

It is delicious, but it is a little overload on the Spinach is you aren't already a big fan.

For this you need:

1/2 pound of cooked bacon, crumbled

8 oz cream cheese

1 package frozen chopped Spinach (thawed/drained)

1 can marinated Artichoke hearts (drained)

1 cup Parmesan cheese

8 oz sour cream

1/2 cup mayo

Mix the cream cheese, beating until creamy.  Add all other ingredients and mix until smooth.

Bake at 400 degrees (preheated) for about 20 minutes, until hot and bubbly. 

I am definitely going to have veggies, too.  

 I love to play with veggies. ALL of my kids love them like this (NOT the hubby)... I made this last week and they ate almost all of it before the family came over.  I am going to put it out again this week long before I put out the roast beef. That way they will be sure to eat their vegetables!

Finally, I think the best thing I'm going to enjoy when we're decorating the tree will be 

Double Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Cookies!

These photos were taken by my daughter, Sarah, who will be making these cookies for me again this weekend, when she is home from college.  YUM, can't wait!  

To see Sarah, I mean.  

:)

She makes THIS recipe using Dana's recipe from MADE (Dana-Made-It.com).  

What are YOU making (or eating) for the holidays?? 

Sharing here...
at Catch My Party and
Cook Bake Nibble, and also:

Another Give-Away

I am excited because I just got a NEW TOY that is so awesome!!  And I am happy to say that I can give one away for free as well. 

I was given a full, downloadable version of My Memories Suite Version 2.0 digital scrapbooking software (a $39.97 value) to give away to one of my readers!

I LOVE it!  

It is SOOOOOO Simple !!!!

I had to give mine a spin for a few days before I put it up as a give-away. I wanted to see how it worked.  It's fantastic!

Here are some of the things I've done with mine... I created everything on this "day of the wedding" page using some elements from the program.  I was really trying to keep it simple, because you could just fill up the page with all the great embellishments! Oh! and I LOVE being able to add shadow to everything, if you can't tell.  


The photo of groomsmen was taken this summer at the wedding of our son's best friend from high school.  The wedding was in Washington state so we didn't get to go, but I love the pictures. Our son is the one with his arm raised.  I didn't even ask...

These next photos were done using a simple template.  My oldest daughter took the photo of the fence.  I put a bible verse on it. 

You can manipulate the templates and change their size and the location of the photos on the page, but you an also just leave them in the templates that My Memories has created, so you don't even have to figure out how to do anything, its done for you!  Voila!


Another page I worked on was from the recent wedding of my nephew.  I wanted to play around with the type, and boy this was FUN!  Look...

The letters are "painted" with one of the photos from the wedding, in which all the members of the wedding party are raising their glasses for the toast.  I just love it!  


To enter, you'll need to visit the My Memories website and take a look through their products. Then come back here and leave a comment below telling me what interests you the most along with your email address so that I can contact you if you win. 

You can earn additional entries by doing the following and leaving a separate comment for each:

• Follow the My Memories blog
• Like My Memories on Facebook  
• Follow My Memories on Twitter
• Follow Kitchenfunk on Pinterest
• Add Kitchenfunk to your blog list
• Put a Kitchenfunk button on your blog
• Subscribe to Kitchenfunk in a reader or by email 
• Follow MyEvidentFaith.com
• Add MyEvidentFaith to your blog list
• Subscribe to MyEvidentFaith in a reader or by email
• Follow MyEvidentFaith on Twitter

That's a LOT of ways to win!  Be sure your post either includes your email or attaches to your email, so I can let you know when you win. 

Winner will be chosen on Friday, December 16th at 5pm!!   If I email YOU as the winner, and you don't get back to me within 48 hours, then I will choose another winner.  So check your email...

3 Ways to Be a Super-Hero

My daughter is in LOVE with the Hippie Tote I made last week, and even though I have lots of requests for more from my other daughters and their friends, I have been trying to make some headway in my house - it's a wreck and I can't even set up for Christmas!

Oh! Did I tell you that I am going to have another Give-Away this week?

However, it takes me forever to get anything done, because I get so EASILY DISTRACTED (see above, lol).

In fact, recently I have been enlisted to be the newest super hero...Easily-Distracted Woman!

How did I do that?  Nice of you to ask!  By doing a few things...

#1.  Making MORE cookies... (recipe adapted from HERE)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Craisin Cookies adapted from Smitten Kitchen

#2.  Making some pretty scarves...

 #3.  And I have ALSO been ignoring my cleaning and decorating because I've been using digital scrapbooking software, which I will be posting about here in the next few days.  I started playing around with digital scrap-booking after I went to that "crop" in the spring, because I just loved that I could create beautiful images and vignettes using my photos that I have in my computer.  I can't wait to show off what I'm working on!

So stayed tuned for THAT, and my next GIVE-AWAY!!

 

Hobo Bag (or Hippie Tote)

Using the reversible tote instructions that I used on my first tote-bag, I created this reversible Hobo Bag:

I have wanted a bag like this forever! I plan to take it to the farmer's market, to fit into my fantasy scenario that has me wandering the stalls every weekend.  Unfortunately I don't go to the farmer's market too often, since it means driving out of my way (thus I have my own lovely garden). But I can and will take this bag there on my occasional trips, AND to the grocery store.

You can see I was playing around on picnik.com with these two photos, because I took them with my daughter's i-phone and the lighting was awful (insert i-phone lust <here>, she is paying for it herself but do you think her PARENTS could get one?  nope, lol).

Okay, not this bag, because Beesha (said i-phone holder) just claimed it for her school books.

Here is all the pinning I had to do:

Then the sewing.  What you see here is me adding a length to the bags because I didn't measure the width of the bag handles to the width of the bag itself. No, you won't see many, if any, pictures of that debacle!

But actually I'm not thrilled with it because I didn't take into account that with the fix the handle would be SUPER long!!

I'm such a newbie at sewing but I have so much fun doing it. I will be making a few more of these bags and I'll post a tutorial, since they are a little different than the original tote.

I hope you get the chance to be creative today! 

Sharing my craftiness today with:

Wedding Fun and Give-Away Winner!

First some party photos from this weekend, then on to the AMAZON GIFT-CARD GIVEAWAY!

This past weekend I had the privilege to be in attendance at my nephew's wedding.

 Isn't this the cutest photo ever?? This is my nephew & his bride right after the wedding vows.

They look so very joyful!

My nephew, a widower, has a young son, and this wonderful family lit the candles together.

I was also lucky enough to spend some time with my amazing family who live far from me!

And look at these cake pops!
They were each shaped like tiny little fancy two-layer wedding cakes!

Aren't they adorable!?  The bride chose this instead of traditional wedding cake for the guests.  They tasted absolutely delicious, you could tell they were NOT made from a mix (says the Mix-Queen, I)...

A wonderful time was had by all!!  

Now, onto the GIVE-AWAY WINNER!!  

This was Noreen at www.make-homemade-gifts.com who said:

Swedie said...

A Christmas tradition I loved as a child was for all the family to gather at my Grandparents' house on Christmas Eve. That tradition continued at my parents' house with all their children and grandchildren.

Congratulations, Noreen!  You've won the Amazon Gift Card!  

I will contact you by email to make sure I have your email correct, 

and then you will see your gift card in your email box!  

Thank you all SO MUCH for stopping over and playing!!  

I love a good excuse for a party!!  Now if only I could get my camera hooked up to my son's laptop (yup, still haven't fixed my pc since the flood), 

I could actually put up some photos of my crafts!  

I hope to have something up soon, and in the meantime, 

I hope you get the chance to do something creative today!!

I'm stillll heeeere! $20 Amazon Giveaway

Yes, I'm still around.  RECENTLY I've gotten some crafting done - imagine that! I will post those projects this week.  In the meantime, one of my favorite blogs, Sew Many Ways, is hosting a blog giveaway link party, and I'm hosting a $20 Amazon gift card blog giveaway.

Isn't that an awesome idea for a link party?? 

So go check out some blogs and win something!!  

BUT not before you play MY giveaway.  I have no reason to do a giveaway except that I LOVE parties!!!  So grab a drink and some hors' d'eouvres, and comment below.  Here is the party game: 

1. Share your favorite holiday tradition (any holiday) in a comment box on this post!  It can be something you have done, or just something you would like to do. 
2. Be a follower or become a follower of Kitchenfunk. If you are already a friend(follower), then just make sure one of your posts tell me you are. 
3. You get 3 comments to yourself, the follower comment counts in those 3 chances. The other two should be traditions you love!

I will be emailing the WINNER the link to the Amazon card, 

so DON'T forget that email address or to make sure you have a profile!

This party will run until Thursday, November 21st, at 7pm. NOW Let's start this party!

My New Bento Boxes... Yay!

I haven't checked in here for a number of reasons, mostly because I haven't been able to craft lately and this is, after all, my crafting blog.

But I miss being over here where things are light and fun, so I HAVE been reading blog posts, even though I haven't been posting here.

I just wanted to say that if any reads this and wants to know how my Laptop Lunchboxes are working out, I can give you lots of great testimony!  The kids are finding it fun to pack, and I've been inspired to buy or make some foods to make changing up the boring lunch a FUN lunch. 

Bento Boxes

Turkey & Swiss, veggie stix, peaches, & yogurt with strawberries

I remember when Lunchables came out.  I thought the packaging was so cool, but but I refused to buy them too often.  Not just because of the salt content, but because what I was impressed with was actually the little tray they packaged the lunch in!  So at home I just put the same food items in baggies and throw them in a lunch sack and send the kids out the door.

Just looks sort of boring compared to the top photo...

But I love the idea of a package designed like that, so I looked into the history of bento boxes - which are really just old fashioned Japanese lunch boxes. Instead of American style lunch boxes which consist of one large empty container, the bento box is a group of smaller containers - currently very similar to small Gladware containers.

I just think the different designs they have are so cute.  And I don't mean the panda style!  I like that it's a way to make lunch fun.  Even for a few months.  AND I like the fact that the portions are set, so the dietary intake is limited by the size of the containers.

So I did another search online and found:

I'm so excited!  I ordered two bento boxes like this:

Okay, but WITHOUT the food!   And like this:

...and the little containers come with lids, and they also come in a rectangular lunchbox that closes.

I can't wait to use them this week!  Plus the company sent along a free recipe e-book... well, I thought it was a recipe book until I opened it.  It is actually an e-book organized by season, full of photos like those two above, listing the ingredients in each photo.  So while it is not exactly RECIPES it is INSPIRATION!  And I love it, too!

I'll let you know if they are as practical as they are CUTE!!