Monday, February 08, 2010

We are still alive!
We have neglected the blogging world, but are back now after surviving a long but good week of crafting, decorating, celebrating, organizing, recovering, and evading death. 

Michaela has created several hats, Courtney is still working on a rather elusive bat monster, Haylee celebrated her birthday, and we have hung lots of mirrors over the mantel place, and the house is starting to look more like a home! Michaela has reclaimed her pool table and dinning room from the craft monster that was trying to devour our lives. With a new organizational start and some spiffy new modular storage, we will be completely organized in no time! Courtney bought a sew desk at an antique store, and that now houses Michaela's sewing machine.  All in all, it was a great week for crafty progress.


(Mirrors on the table before we hung them. After pictures coming soon!)

Haylee's birthday party was Friday night, and we had tons of food, fun, and friends! There was some violence after a sword fight broke out in the living room, but most people involved only sustained minor injuries.  The sparkler candles on the Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake were a great hit and the whole night was a great success that ended in a two hour long, 10 player game of Apples to Apples!

This week we have great goals, and hope to share the out comes with you! 

Until later, Many Blessings!

Thursday, January 28, 2010



Thankfully, Thrifty Thursday is here again. We are so excited to share our finds with you! This week's scavenging has proven very fruitful!

Michaela has been stocking up on jackets this week and thank-goodness she did, considering the crazy weather we are having! Now, only three of the four jackets fit, but the other one was just to great to leave. Also, she found a charming little decorative birdcage that has been repurposed to house her fluttery yarn collection and has thus made life much easier (and more interesting).

Courtney was blessed with some great clothing finds for under $3 each. Several shirts, a sweater, a scarflett, and a precious little brooch.

We also picked up a few skirts that we are turning into work aprons, but you will hear more about them on next week's Workshop Wednesday!

So, here are our newest acquisitions:


Michaela's Striped Jacket. F. J. Malik. Goodwill of Lubbock, TX.
Black & White Plaid with cute shoulder detailing. Express Studio. Goodwill of Lubbock, Texas.




Michaela's Tan Corduroy with black griffin detail on front and on back. Miss Me. Goodwill of Lubbock, Texas.


Michaela's Orange jacket with lovely embroidered flowers. J. W. los angeles. Goodwill of Lubbock, Texas.

Michaela's Birdcage of Yarn


Courtney's Assorted Finds:







So, until tomorrow, many blessings!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

We decided to make the cake. Not a cake, THE cake.
The ULTIMATE Chocolate Cake of Awesome! (After "Muffins of Merriment +8" we thought that a chocolate cake would be, well, a piece of... itself?) Anyhow, here is the result:

Michaela & Courtney's
Double Take Chocolate Cake A Photographic Depiction in 8-Steps
(Based on a recipe submitted by BNB to allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

  • 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
  • 2 (3.9 ounce) packages of instant chocolate pudding mix
  • 1 cup of heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2 tablespoons butter (Glaze)
  • 1 can or fudge frosting (Glaze)
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (Glaze)
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan.
  2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, heavy cream, milk, butter, water and eggs. Beat for 4 minutes, then mix in 2 cups chocolate chips.
  3. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
  4. To make the glaze: Melt the butter, 1 cup chocolate chips, and the fudge frosting together in a small sauce pan over med-low heat. Stir until smooth and drizzle over cake.
Step One:
Step Two:
Step Three: Step Four:
Step Five:
Step 6:
Step Seven:

Step Eight:
May you enjoy it at least as much as we did and we pray you don't slip into a diabetic coma! Many Blessings!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Welcome to the premier of Thrifty Thursdays! Every Thursday, we will try to share with you what we have found while scavenging around the antique and consignment stores! This week's installment:

We love shopping for old things. Antique stores, thrift stores, vintage clothing shops, etc. Lately, Michaela has been addicted to looking for old hats, jackets, dresses, and anything she can tear the buttons off of. Courtney has been looking for mens belts to re-purpose for a messenger bag, costume jewelry, and anything green.

Or favorite finds of late:

Michaela's Red Jacket. Anne Klein. Thrift Store, Lubbock, TX.



Dress for our friend, Ginger. Donna Ricco. Thrift Store, Lubbock, TX.





Michaela's new cream silk and lace Dress. Gunne Sax by Jessica of San Francisco. The Vintage Rose, Lubbock, TX.



Michaela's navy hat of mystery and espionage with brooch and netting. Neiman Marcus. J. Patrick's Irish Antique store, Lubbock, TX.





Courtney's green corduroy coat of greatness with faux fur lining. Dee Dee Deb. Thrift Store, Lubbock, TX. (I will be removing all the buttons and replacing them with vintage military buttons as soon as time and funds allow.)

Friday, January 08, 2010

Is there a monster lurking in your closet? Michaela found several in hers, though they had to be coaxed from a sweater, a mans dress shirt, a t-shirt, and a sock. There was a monster or several creeping in the remnants Courtney bought at JoAnn's Fabrics.



Michaela and Courtney have been drinking copious amounts of coffee at Daybreak today and believe that there is a high likelihood that there are a great many creatures awaiting our call in MANY different things all over the world. Our new goal? Bring out the monsters, creatures, and fantastical beasts and share them with the world!!!

Life is full of the unexpected.

This blog has purpose. We cannot think of what it is right now, as our minds are befuddled with our awesomeness and that is overwhelming. Michaela is not being helpful. She is hopping around the living room and rubbing her face on a tiny dog. The only reason she is awake right now is because I drugged her with pixie sticks and good music.

Perhaps the music is the point of today's blog... The importance of music for productivity!

Our Listening Recommendations per your Activities:

Waking Up
Michaela- Evanescence- Imaginary
Courtney- Beck- The New Pollution
Teeth Scrubing
Michaela- Lillix- Tomorrow
Courtney- Of Montreal- Disconnect the Dots
Putting on Clothes
Michaela- Saving Jane- One Girl Revolution
Courtney- Falco- Puttin' On The Ritz
Eating Breakfast
Michaela- The Dollyrots- Because I'm Awesome
Courtney- The Postal Service- The District Sleeps Alone Tonight
Taking a Car Trip
Michaela- Grandaddy- Stray Dog and the Chocolate Shake
Courtney Roper- Cake- Stickshifts and Safety Belts (and anything else by Cake)
While Grocery Shopping
Michaela- Imogene Heap- Daylight Robbery
Courtney- Barenaked Ladies- If I Had a Million Dollars
Doing Laundry
Michaela- Jason Mraz- Laundry Day
Courtney- Say Hi To Your Mom- Laundry
Writing an Email to a Family Member
Michaela- Levi Smith- Overrated
Courtney- Ani DeFranco- 32 Flavors
At Work, After a Lecture from Your Boss
Michaela- Katy Perry- If You Can Afford Me
Courtney- Better Than Ezra- Misunderstood
Winding Down From the Day
Michaela- Ben Jelen- Rocks
Courtney- JoAnna Newsome- Book of Right On

Thursday, December 03, 2009

It seems that with the current state of the economy and so many people “going green” that this holiday season is truly a handmade holiday! There are so many wonderful ideas for fun and beautiful projects sprouting up everywhere I look!

Michaela & I are in the spirit too, getting ready for her hat showing tomorrow night.

Michaela will have a new hat display debuting this Friday night (the 4th) with artist on hand from six until nine. The Glassyalley Art Studio and Gallery, is located at 1940 Texas Ave. Ther will be lots of other great work there too!

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