Heart Attacks - My First Silhouette Craft

So my amazing DH bought me a Silhouette Cameo for Christmas - wow, I am a serious fan!! So far, it has been so fun!

First - what's a Silhouette?  Several of my friends asked the same question when I was telling them how excited I was about it.  This is a cutting machine.  Basically it will cut out whatever I ask it to cut out.

So, for my first project, I made Heart Attacks to mail to my grandparents, my friend stationed in Baghdad, and one of my cousins in college. I got a gift card for their on-line shop and downloaded the girl with heart design into my Silhouette.  You can see how the machine cuts out parts.


I then had to take the pieces and glue them together - this created several different girls.

Note: If you are a Silhouette user, I found organizing the designs into separate color files allowed me to get the dresses, hair, etc... in the colors I wanted.  I fill the paper up since it seems each piece of paper can only go through the cutter once.  I ended up with extra pieces, but I just kept them for another day.

Then, I downloaded a cool font off the internet.  I found this font on Pinterest but really you can use any font.  The Silhouette will cut out almost every font - but it helps if it's not too "delicate" - the thinner, the harder it is to remove from the Silhouette mat without damaging it.  (As I said, I am still a beginner).

I then had the Silhouette cut hearts out of tons of different papers - different sizes and styles.  I just downloaded one sheet of heart designs from Silhouette, broke it apart, and then manipulated the hearts to fit.  I used 12x12, 8x10, and 8" squared papers.  Double-sided paper works best for this type of project.

I bought these heart envelopes at my local post office.  Packed it all up and off my "heart attacks" to bring a little cheer to someone's day.

Hug T-Shirt - Bringing Joy to Another

For the holidays, I wanted to make something for my nephew's other grandma.  She had a rough year and I wanted to give her something sentimental.  But I am not the greatest crafter , so I came up with the idea of a "hug t-shirt" - basically what it's like when a child hugs you.

So I had my nephew (her grandson) hug my husband and I traced my nephew's outline - the hands, the face, etc...with chalk.  And then I used puffy paint for the actual outline.  I then added his name to the front of it.

I think it came out cute.  I hope it brings a little joy to her life. 

Crack Bread - And No, We're Not Kidding!

We love this bread - made it several times.

I got this idea from Pinterest.  It's a great recipe from iheartnaptime.  I, however, did some tweaking and below is our cheesy bacon "crack" bread.

And we gave this recipe a 5 out of 5 stars!

Crack Bread

Ingredients

• 1 sourdough loaf of bread
• 1/2 cup basil pesto found near dairy
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese grated
• 1/2 cup Parmesan grated
• 1 tsp italian seasoning

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slice bread vertically and then again horizontally so that you have one inch squares.
3. Spread basil in between the sliced bread.
4. Combine cheese and seasoning in a medium sized bowl. Place cheese in between each slice.
5. Cover bread with foil and bake on a lined sheet for 8-10 minutes.

Rosemary Bread - Yum

I have been feeling like homemade bread for a couple of days.  But, I don't have great recipes, so of course I checked Pinterest.  This Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread sounded yummy. And we had all the ingredients already in our pantry - no special trip to the store requried.

I ate it with goat cheese...amazing.  My husband just slathered butter on his. And days later, this bread was still soft and good.

Please note this bread has to rise twice!

Rosemary Bread

*Makes 2 loaves (not large - about 6 to 8 inch circles)

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon instant yeast or 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons dried rosemary, chopped and divided
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Coarse salt for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl (or the bowl of an electric stand mixer if you have one), combine the yeast, sugar and water. If using active dry yeast, let the mixture stand until foaming and bubbly, about 5 minutes. If using instant yeast, proceed with the recipe. 
2. Add two cups of the flour (half of each kind), salt and 1 tablespoon of the chopped rosemary. Mix. 
3. Continue adding flour, gradually, until a soft dough is formed. Judge the dough based on texture and feel versus how much actual flour you’ve had to add based on the recipe. The dough should be slightly tacky to the touch but should hold its shape while still being soft and smooth. Knead the dough by hand or with an electric mixer for 4-5 minutes, adding additional flour only if the dough is overly sticky and not clearing the sides of the bowl.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, approximately 1-2 hours, depending on the warmth of your kitchen. I put mine in the oven - no draft and it's off the counters. 
5. Once doubled, gently deflate the dough and divide in half. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, a silpat liner or lightly grease with cooking spray. 
6. Shape the dough into two smooth, oval shaped loaves and place them on the baking sheet, one on each half of the tray so they have room to rise and bake without touching. Use a brush to slather the melted butter over the top of the loaves. 
7. Continue brushing on the butter until it is gone (the loaves will be well-saturated). Sprinkle the remaining chopped rosemary over the top of the loaves, patting down gently to set into the dough, if needed. 
8. Cover the loaves with lightly greased plastic wrap and let them rise again until puffy and nearly doubled, about an hour (again, the exact time will depend on temperature so judge the dough by how it looks).
9. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly sprinkle coarse salt over the top of the loaves. 
10. Bake the loaves for 18-20 minutes until browned and baked through. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Five out of five stars...amazing bread!

Brie and Jam Pops - Amazingly yummy

These Brie and Jam Pops were outstanding. I highly recommend these for anytime of the day.  We snacked on them for several days.  They are best warm.

Brie and Jam Pops

makes 24 squares (which is only 12 pops)

Ingredients

2 sheets puff pastry, thawed but still cold

1/2 wedge of brie (about 4 ounces), cold

1/3 cup blackberry jam (or any flavor you fancy!)

1 large egg, beaten

splash of milk

coarse sea salt

Directions

1. All-butter, store bought puff pastry  usually comes frozen and folded into thirds.  Use these folded thirds to our advantage by cutting the puff pastry into thirds along the creases.  
2. Cut each panel into four pieces.  They’ll be 2 1/4-inch tall and 3-inches wide.  One sheet of puff pastry will yield 12 rectangles.  Cut each rectangle in half.  You’ll have 24 little rectangles that will create 12 little rectangle pockets.
3. Combine beaten egg and splash of milk.  Brush 12 of the small rectangles with egg wash.  If you’d like to make brie bites on sticks, now is the time!  
4. Place a popsicle stick halfway up the puff pastry and press in gently.  
5. Place a small sliver of brie (rind and all) on top of the egg wash (and stick).  Top with about 1/2 teaspoon of  jam.  Take another square of puff pastry and press between your fingers to make the rectangle slightly bigger.  
6. Place puff pastry on top of the cheese and jam.  Use a fork to press the edges together. The egg wash will act as  glue.  Make sure to seal the edges well by crimping with the fork.  Prick the top lightly with a fork.
7. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Place prepared brie bites on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Brush with egg wash.  Sprinkle with a touch of coarsely ground sea salt. (I forgot this and they were still awesome.)
8. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown. 
9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.

Brie and Jam Pops

Super Hero Capes - Be Their Hero

I have to show these off.  I made my nephew this amazing two-sided superhero cape.  I followed the directions from here -- Crazy Little Projects. I made one of these -- it took a few hours - maybe 6 all together.  But, that might have been because I had to take the two sides apart and redo it since I didn't measure the center of the cape before the design was attached. I think he loved it.

First, you can get most of the hero symbols from here.  This free, safe font is downloadable to your computer.

Second, follow the Crazy Little Projects tutorial - just be sure to center your design on each side before you sew it together. 

Superhero Symbols for Capes

The Batman Side of the Cape - the yellow material is softer than the felt I used for the capes themselves.

Superman Side of Cape

Superman side of the cape.