I’m fairly new to the contact paper world.  In fact, I bought a roll of super cool stainless steel looking contact paper and had it sitting in my closet for months before I knew what to do with it.  I know, it’s shameful.  But after hours of online window shopping one day, it dawned on me.  This stuff can make anything look like a million bucks!  My first project:  classic clear vases.  Although they’re pretty on their own, with the help of some sticky paper, it now looks modern, fresh, and well…expensive.  Here’s what you need:

A rotary cutter or scissors, a ruler, an X-Acto Knife, maker or pencil (not pictured), and of course, contact paper and the vase

Measure the area you want to be covered.  I only wanted the bottom half of my vase to be covered, so I measured up to half of it and cut.  I decided a on a cool river rock pattern because the design is simple, modern, and cutting it out would be easy.  Then, carefully stick your new design to the vase being careful not to make too many bubbles or creases.  If you run across a bubble, with your X-Acto knife, just pierce a tiny hole and flatten.

Tada!  Enjoy a fresh new vase with minimal cost!  Ah, I ♥ crafting.

Pom Pom Flowers Tutorial by Domestifluff

I love Dandelions.  They’re probably the daintiest weed sprouting on your lawn and just the thought of them reminds me of my childhood–I honestly believed that if you made a wish on them it would come true.  But, I like many humans suffer from allergies, so it’s not always fun to play with them.  You can still get the look and it’ll last longer with this project from Domestifluff.com.  (By the way, how cute is the name of that website?)  These can make some great home decor accents, gift toppers, and much more!  Best part, no allergies.  Unless you’re allergic to yarn, wire, or creativity.

Yay!  About 2 weeks into this blog and we have our first bit of recognition.  (At least what I know of.  Maybe I should google myself.)  The awesome, awesome blog, One Pretty Thing has featured my pattern of our favorite cat–Ramses.  And the coolest part–maybe tied with the fact that we’ve been featured–is that my very good friend, Amy from Mod Podge Rocks, project got featured as well!  Well, she wrote the project for a blog swap she did with Somewhat Simple.  Phew!  That was a lot of links for one post!

Thanks again One Pretty Thing!  And make sure to check out the other links.  But make sure you have time because you can get lost in all the great projects and posts in these blogs.  I ♥ crafting.

I love plushies.  They’re soft, cute, and they’re a fun and quick project!  I was like you about 4 months ago.  I loved them but it seemed impossible to find free patterns online of plushies that were simple to make.  Fortunately, I somehow woke up with the knowledge one day of how to make them and now I’m sharing the wealth!

Ramses is a new member of the Janie XY family.  Here’s his story:

Ramses was named after the great Pharaoh (um, his name was Ramses in case you were wondering).  Unfortunately, this cat doesn’t like all the attention or responsibilities that comes with being someone in the public eye.  He enjoys his privacy, likes to read under the dining table,  and in his own words, “excels at mediocrity”.  His parents don’t always approve of his behavior as they’re celebrities (you might have seen them before–they were extras in The Aristocats) but Ramses could care less.

Download the Pattern by clicking the link below:

Download Ramses the Cat Pattern

If you like Ramses, check out my shop!

We love fruits at our home.  So much that whenever we see a good deal, we stock up.  I mean, Y2K stocking up.  Raid the grocery store of all the prettiest apples, peach, pears, etc; go home and lock ourselves up with our groceries and wait for the end of the world to pass.  Well, the first half of that was true.  We still live our lives normally.  I promise.

The only thing is that we can only eat so many fruits a day, so we always get left with those apples that go soft and at that point, who wants to eat that?  Well, I couldn’t let it go to waste (and I’m not that fond of apple sauce) so I decided to bake up some apple streusel muffins.  One word:  YUMMY!  And the best part is that they’re super easy.  I would say they’re  fail proof, but I don’t want to get angry emails about how I mislead people into thinking they could let their 4 year old kid and their dog bake the muffins.  (Although, they probably could… just saying)

Apple Streusel Muffins

Time:  1 hour total

Difficulty:  Are you kidding me?

Servings:  Makes about 18 Small Muffins

Here’s what you need:

• 1 chopped apple
• 1 shredded apple
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

For Streusel Topping:

• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp butter

What you need to do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Place baking cups into cupcake tray.
2. In a small bowl, combine apples and white sugar.
3. In a large bowl, combine all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
4. Mix in the apples and sugar mixture and combine until the batter is thoroughly mixed.  (Be careful not too mix it too much, that creates bubbles in the batter.)
5. Scoop batter into the baking cups and it fill it 3/4 full.
6. To make streusel topping:  in a small bowl, combine brown sugar, all purpose flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Cut the butter into the mixture to create a course texture.
7. Sprinkle streusel topping onto the prepared batter in cups.
8. Place in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer is inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs stuck to it.