Foodie Friday: Pizza Logs

I just haven't met a pizza recipe that I haven't liked and here is another to add to the list. I tried these pizza logs from Emily Bites this week and they were delicious. I even made them while on the phone with a two year old clinging to my legs, so they are pretty easy to make as well.

I happened to make these on a night that Mr. Cherry and I were unable to eat together. When I got home he asked if I had made supper and was impressed when I said that I had. He said he really liked them.

If you are a pizza lover, head on over to Emily Bites to get the recipe!

Teacher Gift: Mason Drink Glasses

Don't you just love it when a project comes together? Peachy has been attending a park program for the last 6 weeks. I had been thinking of giving her teachers a present on the last day. I was thinking of doing acrylic tumblers filled with drink mixes. Of course I didn't start on it before this week. (Why would I have something ready to go ahead of time???)  When I went to Wal-Mart to pick up supplies I was a bit alarmed to find the school supplies out in place of the summer items. Uh-oh! What if they didn't carry the tumblers anymore? Thankfully I found an end cap with clearance acrylic tumblers!! And they weren't just any tumblers, they were made to look like mason jars! Clearance and cute? Awesome!

Similar tumbler from Aladdin

 I didn't start right on the project when I got home. (Again, why bother working ahead? I do so much better under pressure.) In the mean time I did what any procrastinating stay-at-home-mom would do, I jumped on Pinterest. There in the top of my feed were the tumblers I had just bought. The link took me to the Lil' Luna blog where Kristyn had an entire post about using the acrylic mason jar tumblers as, wait for it, a teacher gift. And wait, it gets even better! She had printable labels to match! Um, score!!!

So, I used the tags, tossed in some individual drink packs and viola! A wonderful teacher gift! See, sometimes procrastination really does have its benefits!

Heat Transfer Shirt

I know that I owe you a post on my Silhouette. I will make sure and get going on that! In the meantime, here is a new project I tried on it! Inspired by all of the cute shirts that Kim at NewlyWoodwards has been making lately, I decided it was time to give the heat transfer a try.

A while back, like several years ago, my friend and I had talked about making a shirt like this for her son. I finally got around to making it and giving it to him for his birthday. I used the Silhouette heat transfer material. I was very happy with how it cut. I did have some difficulty in getting it to stay on the shirt in certain parts. In the end I took the plastic backing off and just used a press cloth in some areas. I can't speak to how well it will hold up in the wash as I didn't wash it before gifting it. I am excited with all of the possibilities that using this heat transfer offers.

Stamp Carving

There is an awesome little store in town. They actually started from the indie craft fair that I participated in this last February and also in 2011. They carry lots of awesome handmade goodness from local artists. It is one of the first places I like to shop when looking for a present. In addition to the store, they also offer lots of neat classes. I recently participated in one on rubber stamp carving. This particular class was aimed at small business owners and carving their logo. I have always wanted to try stamp carving and signed right up for the class. I choose to carve a stamp to use for my Etsy store, kiki b omi designs. It was fun to chat with everyone there about their businesses and logos.

I am sure there are lots of great tutorials out there for stamp carving, so I won't get into lots of details. We colored over our image with a soft lead pencil and then rubbed that onto our rubber pad. Then we used a Speed Ball lino cutter to carve out our image. After carving we mounted our rubber image onto a wood block with contact cement. It really wasn't all that complicated of a project. I actually found it very relaxing. And I can see how the more you do it, the better you would get at it. I can't wait to try some other projects now that I know the basics.

Foodie Friday: Grilled Chicken Tex-Mex Pizza

We love grilling in the summer. One of our specialties is pizza. It isn't always easy, but the extra effort is definitely worth it. I came across this recipe for Grilled Tex-Mex Pizza at A Spicy Perspective and thought that we should give it a try. I used my usual homemade dough recipe. We also didn't take the time to grill the chicken first, although I am sure it would be tasty. I just cooked it up on a skillet on the stove. We used our normal method for grilling pizzas which involves a terra cotta plant saucer. It was delicious. Everyone happily ate it and there are a couple of pieces left over for a yummy lunch another time. Here is a link to the recipe: Grilled Tex-Mex Pizza, please note that the recipe makes two pizzas.

Foodie Friday: BLT Chop Salad

I love this time of year. When I can just mosey out to the backyard, cut some lettuce and spinach from our garden and make a yummy salad. Nothing beats fresh lettuce in a salad. Normally I just make my salads by throwing in whatever sounds good that we have on hand. However, I pinned this recipe from the website Key Ingredient and made it this week. It was so yummy. I wasn't sure how the lack of a true salad dressing would be, but we all loved it with just the olive oil and lime juice. Instead of the arugula, I used spinach. Otherwise, I followed the recipe. Jump on over to Key Ingredient for the full BLT Chopped Salad with Corn, Feta, and Avocado.

Foodie Friday: Texas Toast French Toast Bake

We had some overnight guests as they were passing through this past weekend. This awesome family lives in the city I first lived in when I graduated college. It was awesome seeing them again. Unfortunately only one of their four kiddos made the trip with them. (I taught their oldest son in preschool. He is now 13!!! Eeek!) They weren't here for long, but we picked up right where we left off. The sign of true friends. The girls were already in bed when they arrived, but they both had a blast the next morning waking up to company in the house.

Couldn't these girls all be sisters?

Anyway, I have found a new breakfast dish that I like to make when we have company Texas Toast French Toast Bake from Chew Out Load. It is an overnight dish which is perfect for when you have visitors. You do a little work the night before and then in the morning all you have to do is pop it in the oven. And it is soooo good. One of my breakfast specialties is from scratch cinnamon rolls, but they are time consuming and are never ready super early in the morning. This Texas Toast French Toast Bake is almost as yummy and seriously a fraction of the work.

This picture was actually taken the next morning. Let me tell you, it is just as good  the second day.