Baby Decorative Canvas

I love Pinterest for so many reasons and one of those reasons is that it is a great place to stalk find things that your friends are interested in.  I have a friend who is expecting a little girl soon and I have had the hardest time finding something special for her.  Well the other day I had noticed that she had posted a a canvas quote on Pinterest. 

Wow, this might be something that she would enjoy, and I know her colors so off I went to start gathering my materials.

I used a 14x11 canvas so she could hang it in a smaller area.  I painted the canvas a light beige and decided to do pink lettering and accents.  Vinyl lettering does not stick to canvas very well so I used my vinyl cutter to cut the quote, I weeded out just the letters and used it as a stencil. If you choose to use your vinyl as a stencil on canvas DO NOT paint using strokes.  Paint gets under the vinyl this way.  To keep your paint from bleeding just dab the paint.

After everything was dry I slowly removed the vinyl.  I then hot glued pink ribbon on back for a tie hanger and on the sides of the canvas to give it a finished look.

Coffee cans...Continued

Coffee Cans turned into Classroom Box Top Containers

This is a continuation of my other post "Coffee Cans...What to do"?  Since I had a few more cans staring at me I decided to make Box Top holders for the boys' classrooms.  My school gives an ice cream party each quarter to the class who collects the most Box Tops.  Most teachers just keep them in a bag or envelope. I thought that they might appreciate something new, more sturdy, and a lot prettier.  Super easy, super cheap, and very much appreciated.



She-Crab Soup

A few years ago we took a wonderful vacation to Beaufort, SC. While there I had plenty of opportunity to try the local seafood.  I cooked everything from Shrimp Grits to She-Crab Soup.  I thought that I had lost the recipe but after cleaning drawers I found my recipe.  This has to be one of the best recipes for She-Crab Soup that I have ever had.  Please note.....This is NOT a diet friendly dish.



Yields: 4 servings
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min

Ingredients:

2 Tbls butter, divided
2 Tbls all-purpose four1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups cream (half & half)
4 tsp finely-grated onion
3/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and white pepper to taste
1/4 tsp ground mace
1/4 tsp red (cayenne) pepper
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1 1/2 pounds flaked blue crab meat*
1/4 cup crab roe or boiled egg
2 Tbl dry sherry
1 Tbl finely-chopped fresh parsley leaves (top)

* If blue crab is not available, other types of crabmeat, such as Dungeness, snow, king, or rock crab, may be substituted.

** Two crumbled boiled egg yolks may be substituted for the crab roe. Recommend

Preparation:

In a large pot; melt butter on low heat, add flour and blend until smooth. Slowly add milk and cream; whisk until thick.

Add onion, Worcestershire, sauce, slt, wht pepper, mace, cayenne pepper, and zest.  Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low.  Add crab and roe (boiled egg). Simmer uncovered for 5 min..do not boil.

Remove from heat add sherry and stir.

Makes 4 servings.

Coffee Cans....What to do?

We love coffee in my house so I am always stuck with empty coffee cans.  I hate to just toss them in the trash so I end up saving them.  I was looking in my pantry when a box of cans came falling down on my head.  At that point I knew I had to do something ASAP. What do you do with coffee cans?

After searching for a few ideas I decided on a craft room must.  I don't know about you but all of my craft supplies are in drawers, most things fit perfectly but some need their own space.  My markers, paint pens, and scissors need to be somewhere easy to get to.  I decided to use some color coordinated scrap paper to cover the cans.  The size cans that I have are a little bigger than the paper so I had about 1/4 inch space.  I used this space to apply the hot glue.



After I measured the paper and glued the cans together.  NOTE: Because of the cans' lip you need to your hot glue thick. 



I have seen others do this but with many cans. My space is limited so three were perfect for me.

Now I have two more cans left so I think that the boys will be taking one to their teacher for a perfect place to store the class boxtops. This time I will be able to use the lid.  I will just cut a slit in it for easy insert.