Very Cherry Pie

For Thanksgiving I wanted to make a dessert and I decided on cherry pie.  It would have been nice if I got cherries from the market, but for my first pie I used canned cherries.  I found a simple recipe to follow.  The result was exactly what I hoped for. The oozing cherries were delightful and the crust was flaky, crisp and buttery. And of course I had to have it with vanilla ice-cream! Enjoy!

First I had to make the pie crust: Two-Crust Pie (10inch)

1 cup shortening                    1 teaspoon salt                              
2 2/3 cups flour                      7-8 tablespoons cold water          

Cut shortening into flour and salt until particles are the size of small peas.  Sprinkle in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl.  Gather pastry into a ball; divide pastry into 2 halves and shape into 2 rounds.

Roll out first round and place in glass pie dish:

Poke holes into crust:

Use second round to make lattice top. Roll out the dough and cut even strips with a pizza cutter.



Cherry Pie Filling

2 16oz. cans cherries

1 tablespoon butter

almond extract

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Pour canned cherries into pie crust.  Add almond extract for flavoring and stir.  Get a tablespoon of butter and piece off small pieces and place on top of cherry filling. 

Lay lattice strips over and under to form top of pie:

Add aluminum foil to edge of pie to prevent over cooking; remove last 15 minutes of cooking. 

Bake pie for 35-45 minutes. Enjoy!!! Don't forget the vanilla ice-cream!



Etsy

Well I finally started an etsy.com account today.  I have been making jewelry and hair accessories for myself for a few years now and have been selling it recently.  I enjoy making handmade items such as flower haircombs, necklaces, bottle cap magnets and etc...

I only have 1 single item up for sale at the moment because this is all NEW to me and want to start slow and see where it goes.

Here is the first item I am selling:

 Please put this website:   http://www.jenni00117.etsy.com/ under your favorites! Thank you to all of my friends and family.

xoxo Jenni

Paper Mache Bird

There is no right or wrong way to paper mache. You can create almost anything, and, the best part is, you probably have everything you need to create paper mache masterpieces laying around your home right now.

Step #1 Make paste.  I mixed 1 cup flour with 5 cups water on stove-top.  Let it simmer and make sure to remove all clumps with wire whisk.   Pour into a new bowl and let cool.

Step #2 Gather supplies.  In order to create my paper mache bird I used newspaper strips, cardboard, scissors, wire, wire cutters, sponge paint brush & masking tape.

Step #3 Start building.  I started by making a body with newspaper that I balled up and then taped together with masking tape...the same with the head.  I used cardboard for the nose and wire for the legs.  Once you have pieced together you object you can start to paper mache.

Step #4  The newspaper strips are dunked into the paper mache mix and draped over the form, creating a skin. When this skin dries, it maintains its shape. Shazam!

wet

dry

Step #5 Paint.  Now you can paint and decorate your creation! Have fun!

Leopard Spot toe nail art

 Fun nail art can give your toes a unique look. Using an animal print pattern lets you show off your wild side if you don't want to wear a full leopard print outfit.

Step 1: Clean your nails

Step 2: Coat nails with primer

Step 3: Paint nails with desired color.  Use a cream/tan color if you want the traditional leopard print.  Or you can use a fun color (in this case I used OPI's...Do you lilac it?

Step 4: Add spots once this coat is dry.  You will need two colors to do this: in this example, black & gold were used. Using the dark color, make a small circle shape. Add a smaller circle shape of the light color in the middle of the circle.  I used Sally Hansen's nail art pens.

Step 5: Top with a clear coat once the spots are dry.

Be creative with your color choices & have FUN!

Pearls = Elegance & Funk

Inspiration

Pearls have a certain appeal and celebrities have been wearing them recently, celebrities young and old.  Not only are the classic pearl necklaces back, but young celebs have been wearing pearls as funky accessories.  My favorite look is the long strand for more of a bohemian look.

I created my own pearl necklace with matching bracelet.  I bought a bag of plastic pearl looking beads from the craft store & used fishing wire as my strand for the beads.  I also had some beads left over to make two bracelets and tied a black ribbon to combine them.  I think it turned out pretty good...can't wait to wear it to work today!

Here is what I came up with. Too Cute!

Easy Morning

My time getting ready today was cut in half when all I had to do to my hair this morning was add a few extra bobby pins to the style that I had the day before.  Shannon did a great job doing my hair yesterday evening that I wanted to keep it for a while longer...thanks Shannon :)

Start of Something New

Created my first blog.  I have so many things that I would love to share with everyone and now I have a place to put all my favorite things and show people what I am all about.