I'm Out!!!

Well I officially got the boot from the American Crafter Competition.

{Insert big sigh here...}

Round One- Halloween!

It really is such a "pat on the back" to even make a contest, I was beyond thrilled and super surprised to begin with. I love these contests though because they push me to try new things, to really make my brain think, and because they all have quick deadlines, I get SO much done!

Round Two- House of Order

I just wanted to give a big THANK YOU to you for getting me as far as I did. It was a lot of fun and the three ladies still in it are amazing--so keep voting, they only have one more project to go!

Round Three- Fabric!

As for me, I'm back to the saw! And oh yeah! Halloween is next week, my kids might like a costume...seriously, where did this month go?

Hope your day is spectacular, make something fantastic-

Happy Crafting.

Monday Munchies...Pecan-Caramel Spiders!!!

I ran across this recipe over the weekend while trying to find a fun treat for my girls. While they wouldn't eat this because of the pecans, I certainly would...I think.

How about you?

 Can you handle eating a spider, even the chocolaty variety? It might be worth a try...

Pecan-Caramel Spiders

From Food Network Kitchens

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups toasted pecans
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, in pieces
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 5 ounces thin black licorice strands, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 4 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
• Chocolate curls or jimmies, optional

Directions

Line 2 baking sheets with waxed paper and lightly spray with nonstick spray. Mound 30 small clusters of pecans, about 3 or 4 pecans each, spaced a couple inches apart on the pan.

Make caramel: Warm the cream over low heat and keep warm while you cook the sugar.

Put the sugar and corn syrup and in a deep, heavy-bottomed large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Stop stirring, raise heat to medium-high, and simmer until the sugar reaches the hard crack stage, or 305 degrees F on a candy thermometer, about 7 minutes.

Whisk the butter and salt into the sugar mixture. Gradually pour in the cream and vanilla taking care since the mixture will bubble up. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar reaches soft ball stage, 240 degrees F on the thermometer, about 5 minutes more. Immediately remove from the heat and cool for a minute.

Ladle a couple tablespoons of warm caramel over some of the nut clusters, to make the spider bodies. Then press 6 pieces of licorice into the warm caramel to make the legs. Repeat with the remaining caramel and licorice. (It's helpful to have an extra hand here, since the caramel can set quickly. If caramel hardens, warm over very low heat. ) Let spiders cool 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the chocolates in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1-inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. (Alternatively, put the chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Melt at 50 percent power in the microwave until soft, about 1 minute. Stir, and continue heat until completely melted, 2 to 3 minutes more.)

Spoon about 1 tablespoon of melted chocolate on top of each spider. Sprinkle with jimmies or chocolate curls, if desired. Let cool until firm.

Let me know if you were braver than me!!!

Happy Crafting.

Fall Floral Throw...American Crafter Round 3!!!

Is it still Friday! I can't seem to keep it all straight.
Anyway, just wanted to share my round three project with you. It's nothing amazing, a simple little throw, but it will serve it's purpose here in a few weeks when I can actually get around to using it!

(At this moment, I'm getting my booty kicked so if you'd be so kind as to maybe go vote for me, just so it doesn't hurt so bad, I'd greatly appreciate it!)

American Crafter Round Three Theme: FABRIC!

I chose this week to make one of my favorite {want-to-be}escapes even better.

I love sitting on the back porch with a mug of super creamy cocoa and a good book in hand {wasting?} away the afternoon...

I put together a small throw, about the size of a crib quilt, to keep me cozy while I read--it's actually been cold here in Southern Texas! I wanted to keep it in the sense of "Fall" hence the browns and yellowish-greens, but couldn't pass on a bunch of ruffles and flowers either!
It's soft flannel and super warm, just what my book and I needed.
Best of luck everyone and thanks for another fun week-

Guest Posting for Howl-oween Tidbits at the Rhinestone Beagle!!!

This is the post I shared at the Howl-oween Tidbits Series on the Rhinestone Beagle...enjoy!!!

Hello and Happy Halloween to all you Beagle buddies out there! I'm so excited to be here today sharing a little bit of Halloween magic.

My name is Wendy and you can find me crafting away my days over at Craft Goodies...

I am thrilled to be included in this group of Halloween-loving ladies but must make a small confession-I HATE being scared!!!

So yes, I am one of those lovers of "cute" Halloween goodies because basically, I'm a total wimp. 

My project isn't the spookiest but it sure was a lot of fun and best yet SUPER EASY!!!

Here's what you'll need to make one yourself:

A large clear holiday ornament

thick craft wire *16 gauge

(I used a thinner wire on my first attempt and while do-able it was a lot harder because the wire didn't hold it's shape as well as the thicker stuff)

wire cutters

Get started by twisting the end of your wire through the ornament topper to keep it in place:

From there, start wrapping the wire around and around the ornament-like making a ball of yarn!

Top too bottom, side to side, keep going until it's as covered as you like it.

Once you're done wrapping the wire, snip the end with your cutters and tuck it around another piece of wrapped wire to keep it in place.

Next cut 8 long strips of your wire to make the legs. Mine were about 24 inches long. Thread the end of the wire under the wrapped wires and pinch in half. Then Twist the two ends together tightly to  form a leg. Do this 4 times on each side of the ornament:

Make the head by forming another smaller ball of wire. I wrapped the wire around three of my fingers to get a good size started and then just kept wrapping until I liked the size and shape. Again, just like you would do to make a ball of yarn. Clip the end when you reach your desired size.

Cut another small piece of wire and use it to "tie" the head to the body.

Bend and shape the legs. You can use your cutters to gently pinch the folded ends tighter to hold the legs in a more "crawly" position.

Tie a length of thread through the ornament hanger and dangle your new little friends where they'll definitely get noticed:

Not to creepy, right? My girls think they are pretty awesome!

I still have a few left over ornaments and am thinking it would be fun to color the ornaments a bright shade of red or green before wrapping them...see, I'm slowly edging toward scary.

Thanks so much Rhinestone Gals for having over, and Beagle friends, don't be shy-

drop by Craft Goodies any time for a visit.

Until then have a wonderful, SPOOK-tacular HOWL-oween!!!

Happy Crafting.

Thanks to YOU!!!

Hey there fantastic people!

So I've been a bit missing of late, life is still pretty full and I'm finding I need to be spending my time in other places but I did want to take a second to say 

THANK YOU!!!

Because of you I'm still in the current season of American Crafter-we're up to round three. The theme this round is FABRIC and I have to say I LOVE my project.

 {It could be because it didn't involve wood or the buzzing of a saw to create, just saying...}

Here's a  peek at what I made:

...can't give it all away yet!

Check back tomorrow to see the full project. And really, thanks again for your support.

All projects will post for voting tomorrow around 10am MST. Jump on over and vote for your favorites.

Happy Crafting.

Happy HOWL-oween!!!

I'm over at the Rhinestone Beagle today taking part in their Howl-oween Craft-a-Thon series.

Stop by, say "BOO!", and check out how I made this...

See you there...

Halloween Hoots and a Goodie to Go With!

Hello there friends!

Happy Monday to you all, hope your weekend was full of rest and fun. Just a little quickie to share with you today. I found these little cuties a while back and immediately fell in love.

from wipkits.blogspot.com

Can you think of a little munchkin that wouldn't love getting one of these? So much fun! And how perfect for a class Halloween treat.

My kiddos are super picky when it comes to any sort of "trail mix" so I've been searching for the perfect one and think I might have found it...finally!

Popcorn Scramble

recipe from CountryDoor.com

6 c. freshly popped popcorn
2 c. Rice Chex ^®
2 c. Cheerios ^®
1 c. salted peanuts
1/2 c. butter or oleo
1 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. light corn syrup
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix popcorn, Rice Chex, Cheerios and peanuts in a large bowl. Preheat oven to 250 ° F. Melt butter in a large saucepan; stir in brown sugar and corn syrup. Heat slowly, stirring constantly, to boiling. Cook without stirring another 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in soda and vanilla. Drizzle over popcorn mixture and toss until evenly coated. Spoon scramble into a shallow pan and bake, stirring several times, for 1 hour. Cool. Store in a tightly covered container.


Still going to have to omit the peanuts but the rest is a keeper! Let me know if you try it too.
Happy Crafting.

House of Order...American Crafter Round 2!!!

You wonderful ladies got me through to round two of American Crafter!!! I can't thank you enough because I seriously can't stomach the thought of being the first cast out! So horribly vain I know, but it's like a childhood fear coming to life all over again...so thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

This week's theme is House of Order and any organizational thing goes. I made this...

{If you like it, I'd LOVE it if you'd go VOTE for it! voting opens at 1 o'clock MST}

One super-sized, super visible all-in-one family message center!  No more clutter on the fridge! No more matching up calendars! No more trying to remember where all my children are because it will be written on the chalkboard!!!!

Loving it already.

It fits right onto my pantry door so you really cannot miss it. It breaks the week down by days, as well as tackles the weekend events and still leaves room for the big days during the entire month-you know like birthdays, big tests, holiday breaks, etc. The board itself is chalkboard so no more paper!!!

Saving trees and my sanity...feeling calmer already.  

 

{PLUS...it gives my 4 yr old a  "safe" place to take out her artistic flares.}

So the quick how to...I painted a few glued together pieces of backing board with chalkboard paint. Hit the miter box with a hand saw and a few pieces of trim to make it pretty. Gave the trim some love with a few coats of spray paint and then ever so NOT patiently waited for it all to dry. Glued and nailed the trim into place and then spent some quality time with my cricut figuring out the vinyl. All said and done, a morning well spent, a family that much more put together and a rockin' new decor piece! I am happy...

Happy {organized} Crafting.

Halloween Candy Buckets...American Crafter Edition

A crazy (and exciting) thing happened last weekend. I received an email that I made the cut for the American Crafter Competition held on Naptime Crafter. Totally thrilled, a bit shocked, really overwhelmed! I'm so excited to get to be playing along, just a bit nervous of the timing.

All will be well, but I do need your help! This contest is totally open, no hiding behind anonymous  projects. So shameless begging for votes is completely okay, so that's what I'm doing. Shamelessly begging for votes. You'll find my project below, if you like it, jump on over to Naptime Crafter and share the love-or at least a vote!
Thanks friends...have a great weekend!

Trick-or-Treat Baskets

by Wendy @ Craft Goodies

I used the same basic tutorial found HERE to create the basket and then went to town with the details. Still have two more to go...I'm thinking a bat and either a ghost or pumpkin? 

 

Happy {Halloween} Crafting...

 

It's Wood You Like to Craft Time!!!

I got an email from my sister the other day stating that clearly I must be dead because I hadn't updated my blog in over a week! HA! Not dead just super busy, it's a crazy but wonderful time of year.

So while my posts have been lacking, I haven't slowed down any.

In fact you can jump on over to Wood You Like to Craft? to see what I threw together this morning...

It's pretty "SWEET", at least my 4 year old thinks so!

Stop by and say hi and have a super Tuesday.

Happy Crafting.