Etching Glass with the Silhouette

I have to share one of the many projects that I've been making with my new Silhouette!

Have you ever etched glass? I can't believe how easy it is to do!!

Take a look at what I did to my trifle bowl!......Would this not make a cute wedding or birthday gift? Think of all the possibilities!


By adding {enjoy} to it makes this the perfect bowl for any dessert, like Angle Food Patriotic Delight or Chocolate Oreo Peanut Butter Dessert.


I have to say though........a glass bowl is SO hard to photograph!......I must have taken 25+ pictures before I realized it showed up the best in front of the window. Still not the BEST shot....does any one know how to shoot something like this?


Want to see how I made it?!

1. Use your spiffy Silhouette Craft Cutter to cut what you want etched on the glass on adhesive vinyl.
2. remove the letters from the vinyl and place a piece of adhesive paper to the front of your vinyl stencil and rub firmly (I used my Pampered Chef scraper)
   
3. turn your vinyl over and remove the backing from the vinyl (leaving vinyl attached to the adhesive paper)
4. place the vinyl on your bowl
   
5. rub the adhesive paper firmly, allowing the vinyl to attach to the bowl. Be sure to rub out any bubbles or creases.
   
6. removed adhesive backing
7. apply a thick layer of etching cream with a sponge according to package instructions (I purchased etching cream at Hobby Lobby, my Michaels quit carrying it)
8. Leave the etching cream sit for about 15 mins.
   
9. Rinse off cream really well and remove vinyl! This makes the etching permanent, so you can not rub or wash it off. Wash bowl with soap and water, dry and it's ready to use!

So easy right?!

You could do this for a wedding or shower gift using a trifle bowl or even a Pyrex dish, just etch the couple's new last name! Add some hot pads and your favorite recipe and you have the perfect unique gift!

I will share a few more easy Silhouette project tutorials in the next few days!

Just think........if YOU win the free Silhouette, or purchase one using the special code from the post here.............you can join me in all the fun! .......And thanks again to the great people at Silhouette!




I'm linking to the following parties! Show & Tell, Get Your Craft On, We Did It Wed,

Etching cream and the Silhouette work for me!!

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Bridget {Bake at 350} comes to St. Louis!

*WARNING......this post is long!*

For all two of you who live under a rock don't know who Bridget is, she writes a fantastic baking blog called Bake at 350 and recently started up a video tutorial site called University of Cookie. She's a wonderful mom and wife and one wicked cookie decorator!!........and she is just as fabulous as I had imagined her being!

We finally got to meet in person!! Can you believe it? After more than a year and a half of emailing, tweeting, texting and phone calls, Bridget and I finally got to meet when she came to visit with me last Thursday and Friday.

I will admit, I felt like a stalker when I spotted a cute curly red haired girl in the air port and jumped up and hugged her.

We chatted, we laughed, we shopped, it was like we've been friends since childhood. Bridget was even MORE fabulous than I had imagined! We just clicked.....at least I think we did......I sure hope Bridget feels the same way ;-)

We spent SO much time enjoying each other's company, we did not take many pictures.

It was HOT here in St. Louis. The temps were in the upper 90's with heat index over 100. Luckily Bridget is used to that kind of summer heat in Houston.

Thursday after we left the airport we headed to Forest Park, it was WAY to hot to visit the zoo, but we had a wonderful lunch at The Boat House and made a quick stop at the Jewel Box on our way out.

Check out Bridget on the bottom left.....she's taking pictures too!



Thursday evening we spent at my house eating my Three Cheese Baked Mostaccioli with my crazy family. (I was trying to fatten her up while she was here because it quickly became obvious WHO eats more cookies!)

Seriously, I'm surprised that evening she didn't ask me to just take her back to the air port! My family felt so comfortable with her, they held nothing back!

I eventually took her back to her hotel room so she could get some peace! lol

Our blogging/twitter buddy, Ann Marie downloaded the flat friend files Cathe Holden made and sent a flat version of herself so she could join in on the fun!!

Ann Marie stayed with Bridget in the hotel, where she drank all of the coffee and enjoyed antiquing with us!





Back in May, you may remember, I was nominated over at i am mommy for "Best Overall Blog" and I won!! As a prize, Amanda sent me $50 cash!

Well, I promised to spend a day using the $50 to perform Random Acts of Kindness and thought it would be fun to do with Bridget!

Friday we spent part of our afternoon paying for people's groceries and lunch. It was fun and felt good! People were genuinely surprised, shocked, even embarrassed, but very grateful!!

When I paid for lunch for the ladies pictured below, one lady asked "Has the heat gone to your head?" We laughed and laughed......they even came over and gave us a big hug after they got their food.



My husband was SO excited that Bridget wanted to see his cats!! He volunteers at a wildlife center where he handles their tigers. Bridget quickly made friends with Leo the 700 pound African Lion!! She also got to feed chicken to the tigers. (we got that on video, but have not had time to work on that yet)



We did not have time to bake together, but Bridget made me some BEAUTIFUL cookies. You should read her tip about how she colored the sanding sugar, and made business connections on her flight while editing her pictures!



and of course, I made cupcakes for her. Unfortunately cupcakes don't travel well, so I couldn't send any home with her.



2 wonderful days flew by in no time!! I'm REALLY hoping to talk the Bug Man aka Mr. TidyMom or TidyDad on a trip to Houston some time!!

This picture was taken by the hostess at The Boat House after our lunch on Thursday. Can you believe how we color coordinated that day! lol....we did NOT plan that! I don't wear much purple, but I happened to wear that shirt that day, and look how perfectly it matched the purple Bridget had on!



I LOVED getting to know Bridget better and highly recommend it to any blogger who has made that "connection" with another blogger.

Thanks for letting me share our visit with all of you!!!

Meeting up with Blogging Buddies Works for ME!
I'm linking up at We Are That Family's Works For Me Wednesday

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Easy Photo Editing Tutorial {Guest Post-Amanda Padgett}

Meet Amanda! She is a "Pioneer Woman" of sorts, although, she says she's not nearly as talented, witty or culinarily gifted as the real one. Amanda grew up in the suburbs or on military bases, but ended up in the country on a cattle and chicken farm an hour from any sizeable town. She is an amazing stay-at-home, homeschooling mom to four children, ages 11 to 4.

Amanda and I really "clicked" as we started our photography journey about the same time, last spring, and it has quickly become a passion for both of us! Most of her subjects are her beautiful kids, the cows, her mother-in-law's flowers and her weeds ("they're prettier in a picture than in real life", she claims). She enjoys editing (with PSE 7) and continues to learn daily. The tutorials she writes are very basic and well documented so that brand new users can learn how to use their editing software. Amanda's tutorials have been an amazing resource for me!! I had owned PSE for years and rarely ever used it because I didn't know how.

Amanda has recently started Everyday Elements, online workshops and video tutorials for PSE users. Also, she has a photography resource blog, PhotographyHaven where you can find lots of free actions, tutorials, workshops and more. You can view her personal pictures at Moving Forward or her Flickr stream.

Today Amanda is going to share one of her basic tutorials that can be used for any picture!

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Hi there! I am thrilled to be guest posting here at TidyMom! Cheryl invited me to do a guest post and after my initial excitement, I started thinking about what to share. I tried to think of a quick, "tidy" trick to share with you and I hope this one hits the spot.

Whether you shoot with a DSLR or a point and shoot, I recommend getting some a photo editing program. There is so much you can do with your images, regardless of the camera used to capture them. The program I am using today is Photoshop Elements, but this tutorial will work in regular Photoshop (CS5 or earlier versions) just as well.

With almost every picture I edit, I do this edit trick which provides light while also boosting color and contrast.

Step 1: Open your image in PSE or PS. Create a Gradient Map adjustment layer by clicking on the half black/half white circle (see "1st"). Then choose 'Gradient Map.'


Step 2: Once the Gradient Map options pop up, navigate until you see the B&W option, click on it. If you don't see this menu, click where the * is and another fly-out menu will appear, then choose 'Default.'


Step 3: Click on the Blend Mode menu box (1st). A menu will either pop up or pop down. Choose 'Soft Light' (2nd).


Step 4: Lower the layer opacity to suit. For portraits, I usually lower this down to between 15% and 25%. For still life, I usually keep it higher.


Here is a before/after shot, with nothing else done to it, not even sharpening. I wanted to show the effect


Here is a little tidbit - I use this technique with 98% of my edits. Never right at the beginning, but usually before I finish with an image, I will have used it. I love it and I think it adds just the right amount of definition to most shots.

I hope you find this helpful. If you give it a try, let me know your blog address or Flickr stream so I can go take a peek.

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Thanks again Amanda, you are SOOOO generous with your knowledge and I learn something every time I talk to you or read one of your posts!!


Seriously people, if want to learn more about editing, head over to Amanda's sites and even consider taking some of her online workshops, they're VERY affordable and you will be amazed at how much you will learn!! The Everyday Elements Facebook page is another thing you don't want to miss........she has been known to "give out" free actions and more to those who "like" her!!

This tip "works for me".....so I'm linking up at We Are That Family's Works For Me Wednesday

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WFMW - Blogger HMTL Gadget Help

If you are on Blogger, you may have noticed a recent annoying change with your gadgets.

Are you getting this error when you try and post an HTML/Java Script Gadget with out a title?

As of last week, Blogger made an update to the HTML/Javascript Gadget making the Title field required - meaning you can not post an HTML Gadget with out a title.

Thanks to twitter, when I called out my complaint, Krystyn of Krizzy Designs was quick to offer a suggestion....and it WORKED!!

just place this code

in the title box then click "Save"

This code will allow you to post your Gadget without a title.

You will have to do it every time you update the gadget -

Blogger says -
"based upon user feedback, we will soon be removing that requirement."

But until they fix it, you can work around it this way!!

I'm linking this up at We Are That Family's Works For Me Wednesday



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Now thru midnight EST on Friday July 2, 2010 you can
use the discount code FRIEND at checkout, you will get 10% off any subscription,
or coupon code LOVECM for 20% off a lifetime subscription.

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WFMW- Make printer ink last longer

90% of the time when I print something - it's a recipe, coupon or some sort of document. Being the frugal person I am....I try to stretch my printer ink as far as I can. So today I thought I'd share my little tip with you:

When I print something unimportant (which is most of the time) I change my printer setting to "quick print" or I think my old printer called it "draft" .
It uses less ink and prints much faster.
The quality, to me is nearly the same. The print is not light at all.

If I'm printing a coupon that has color, I change my print settings to "print in black and white" and I still use the "quick print"........no need to waste my color ink on a coupon!

Here's how it looks on my printer.

Go to "file", then "print".

When the print box comes up -
you should have something that say's "Properties" - click that


Another box then pops up with your printer properties(see below)

Automatic is my default setting - so I change it to "Quick Print".

*doing it this way will just change the settings for this print, if you want to keep it set this way, you will need to go in and change your default settings...to me, I like to keep the default set on automatic*

If I have something in color, that I don't NEED in color - I also check the box Print in black and white.


Press OK, then print!

Easy peasy, and I save a small fortune on ink!....we even print most school projects this way with no issues.

*See my low ink indicator? I bought this printer a year ago- that "order ink" indicator just showed up the other day - I have ink ready to go, but I wont replace it until my pages print too light to read.



Head over to Works-for-Me Wednesday for more tips!!....this week has a "Mom I'm bored" theme (not mandatory)......but if you're looking for tips to keep your small people busy for the summer, or have some to share....then this is the place to BE!

This post was sponsored by:


want to see your ad here? contact me

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WFMW- Measuring Peanut Butter {sticky stuff}

Don't you just hate when you have a recipe that calls for measuring something sticky like peanut butter, honey or shortening? It's not really the measuring, but the clean up that's the issue!

I'm not lucky like Bridget, I don't have one of these handy gadget thingies! {but I plan to get one!}

So what do I do when all I have it a liquid glass measuring cup?

Spray the measuring cup with no stick spray before you measure your sticky ingredient!- remove with rubber spatula, and clean up will be a breeze!!

Have fun reading all the other tips over at We Are THAT Family and Works for Me Wednesday.

This post sponsored by:

want to see your ad here? contact me

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My Dirty Little Secret - WFMW

I have a dirty little secret.

Lean in real close.......a little closer…………

“I don’t wash my hair every day, sometimes I even skip 2 days”

Want to know how I do it?

I found an AMAZING product by TiGi called Rockaholic Dirty Secret Dry Shampoo.

This product is DEFINITELY too good to be true.

I just lift a few sections around my face and at the crown and spray each and then massage my head. My hair is instantly fluffier, feels cleaner and the smell is awesome!!

• Effectively cleans and absorbs oils on the scalp and hair
  
• Adds body and volume without stiffness or residue
  
• Brushes away dirt and product build-up – without flakes
  
• Light, clean citrus scent

Make sure you use it in a well ventilated area or make sure you turn the fan on in the bathroom.

Even my 13 year old daughter loves to use this stuff. I took a before and after picture of her hair to show you what it does.

You can see in the before picture the back/crown of her head is looking a little dirty. The after picture is with just a few sprays of Rockaholic Dry Shampoo, we fluffed and it looked like this!!

My oldest daughter is a hairdresser, so I get this stuff at cost, but I checked the retail prices, Amazon has it for just under $12 , or you could check with your hairdresser, if they don’t carry it, they should be able to get it for you.

I noticed some of the Amazon reviews said they got VERY few uses out of it, but those people must be using WAY too much – my daughters and I have been using this for over a year and each can last several months with weekly use. I would say if you need to use THAT much……um maybe you need to wash with water and shampoo…….I’m just sayin……..

So like the can says……."This stuff is so funktabulous” and it WORKS for ME!!

No one paid me to write about this stuff, we just love it that much! Seriously, I don't know what I'd do if they stopped making it!

Be sure to check out Works For Me Wednesday to see what's working for others!!

POM Wonderful -WFMW

I've been keeping a secret for a few months now................

This has been my new daily addiction

POM Wonderful mixed with my Sprite Zero!

Seriously people....this stuff is DELCIOUS!!

Back in late December the awesome people at POM Wonderful sent me a few bottles of their 100% Pomegranate juice to try.

My original intention was to use it in a recipe.....they have lots of amazing recipes on their web site. I thought of trying it in a sauce to serve over pork, or may in some orange muffins.

I have NEVER eaten a pomegranate or any thing pomegranate flavored, so when the box arrived I was anxious to open one of the snazzy bottles and give it a try!
My whole family stood around the table as we opened the box and passed the opened bottle around!
We LOVED it! It's a little sweet and a little tart and a whole lot of healthy!!

Did you know about all of the health benefits of pomegranates?
You can read about how you can protect your immune system with all of the antioxidants and many other health benefits on their web site.

Shortly after opening that first bottle I wondered what it would taste like to splash a little POM Wonderful in my Sprite Zero????
I was hooked at the first sip!

You can find POM Wonderful Juices in many varieties in the refrigerated section of the produce department of your local supermarket. They're a little on the expensive side, so I love that I can just add a little to my soda every day.
I enjoy the taste, the benefits and a little 8 oz bottle will last me several weeks. (I only drink one soda a day)

I'm linking this post up to Works for Me Wednesday since

POM Wonderful in my Sprite Zero WORKS for ME!!

WFMW for the next two week's (March 3 & 10) will be hosted by Shannon of Rocks in My Dryer, while Kristen is in Kenya with Compassion Bloggers

I was provided 4 bottles of POM Wonderful. I was not compensated for this review. These are my own honest opinions and experience with the product.

WFMW-Make your Blog Recipes Printer Friendly

I have another blogging tip this week.
I thought I'd share for Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.

Making the recipes I post here on my blog printer friendly has been one of the most useful blogging tips I've found.

Since I've been working on making my recipes printer friendly(I'm still working my way thru my archives), I've been getting more and more emails asking how I do it.

Sometimes when blogging about a recipe, I break the directions up with pictures, and some times people don't want to print all the pictures with a recipe - I know I don't. I wanted to find a way for my readers to enjoy reading my blog and directions, yet be able to easily print out only what they need - the recipes.That's when I found out about Google Docs. It's so quick and easy to use, and you don't need to know html, coding or anything else scary.

First you need to have a Google account, and then go to Goole Docs and get started.

Your page will look like this (you can click each of these pictures to view larger)

The first thing you want to do is click "Create New" in the upper left corner - you will get a drop down menu - choose "Document"

Now you have a blank document page.

From here I copy and paste my recipe as well as one picture at the top, just because I like a visual for my recipe, but I always size it down to a small picture. Copy and paste the picture then use the little boxes to pull the picture size down about 200x300.

After I paste my recipe and picture, I always make sure I put the name and link to my blog on the recipe so anyone who has the recipe, will know where the recipe came from.

When your recipe looks the way you want it............go to the upper right corner and click "Share"

You will see a drop down menu - choose "Publish as a Web Page"

Now you want to click "Publish Document"

Now you have a link to your recipe! There's no need to click anything else.

Copy that link and use it on our blog for your "printable recipe" link

That's it! It's that easy

Here is a screen capture video if you'd like to watch me do it in action

(you can click the big square in the bottom right corner to see full screen size - just hit ESC to leave full screen)

If you have any question..........just leave a comment
- I'll try and answer in the comments!

Hope this makes sense and helps!!