Etsy Shop Now Open

I just wanted to let you all know, my Etsy Shop, Homemade Heartland, is now up and running. It will be a place you can buy some of my original oil painting, watercolors, and other random art pieces.  Be awesome and buy your loved ones original oil paintings for the holidays!

Morning Car Rides

First of all: HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY to all of our active and former military members (and my brother of course!).  We're so proud of you all and so thankful you do what you do to protect your home as well as others. 

Second of all: I am not a morning person.  I generally don't like to be talked to until around 9 am.  When I get up in the mornings I blindly stumble into door jambs, trip over dog toys, etc.  Plus, I'm not a huge coffee drinker (green tea for me!), so it takes me a while to get going.  The drive to work can be a great time to really wake up to some great tunes.  Plus, it would be helpful to be awake on the road for other reasons as well... So, with that in mind, here are some great fast-paced songs for your morning commute.  It will make the drive go by fast, I promise!

1. "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" by The Darkness. Super cheesy, Freddy Mercury knock-off, but I love it.
2. "I Want to Love you Madly" by Cake.  Just a fun sing a long.
3. "Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi.  Somehow seems perfect for traffic.  Plus you can't go wrong with Bon Jovi.
4. "Somebody to Love" & "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen.  Queen is the best.
5. "Anything, Anything" by The Lucky Boys Confusion.

I hope you enjoy these tracks to get you going in the mornings!  What do you like to listen to in the car?

Kryie Foundation Silent Art Auction

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 6:00 - 11:30 PM, KANSAS CITY, MO

I just wanted to take this moment to let you know about an event going on this Friday in the Kansas City Crossroads Art District.  It's the Metamorphosis 2010 Art&Gift Benefit for the Kyrie Foundation - which raises money for pediatric brain cancer.  The event is a silent auction with lots of art donated by wonderful local artists (myself included).  The ticket includes admission to the silent auction, a live performance by Lilith Fair star Sara Swenson, a chance to win tickets to the GRAMMYS, and lots of yummy food from Whole Foods, 3 Women and an Oven (their cakes are amazing), Panera, Cabot Creamery, and Much More!

Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.  That may seem a little steep especially around the holidays, but it's for a good cause.  Instead of spending the money eating out this Friday, help out the Kyrie Foundation and have a great time doing it!  For more information about the event and to buy tickets, CLICK HERE.

DIY CRAFT: Children's Memory Game

So in my quest to make as many Christmas gifts by hand this year as possible, I decided to try to do something cute for my niece and nephew (ages 2 and almost 5).  They don't read this blog, so I'm not worried about spoiling the surprise :).  I decided to make a cute little memory game for each of theme.  The theme for the 2 year old is family faces and will have 8 pairs (16 cards), and the theme for the 5 year old is cowboy/Kansas and will have 16 pairs (32 cards).  You will need:

Foamcore
Scrapbook Paper or Wrapping Paper
Photos or Computer Images printed and cropped to size
Ruler and exacto knife
Rubber Cement

Scrapbook paper comes in 12" square sheets.  I wanted the first game to be fairly easy with only 8 pairs.  I divided the 12" square sheet into 16 individual 4" squares.  Math is fun.  Before I did any cutting, I covered the entire back side of the scrapbook paper with rubber cement and set aside.  I then covered a large portion of black foamcore with rubber cement.  When the pieces were dry, I mounted them together and THEN made all my squares. A corked back ruler and exacto knife makes the cuts clean.  Then I mounted all my images on the opposite sides of the squares using the same dry-mount rubber cement technique.  Overall a pretty simple game.  My husband and I tested it out.  I won...

Now I just need to think of a cute way to package these!

DIY CRAFT: Christmas Packaging

I was inspired for this project by Autumn over at Design Dump.  She's a super talented interior designer and her house always looks amazing for every holiday (check out her Halloween decor this year).  She puts me to shame.  But I'm trying to be better this year by doing my own packaging for Christmas Gifts.  All you need are the plain cardboard boxes from Hobby Lobby, paint, glue, scrapbook paper or wrapping paper, ribbon and any other decorative things you might want on your boxes.  I bought a bunch of Christmas picks at the HL which subsequently kept stabbing me through the bag as I was bringing them home.  But I digress...

My Hobby Lobby stash.  I managed to get out for under $100, but not by much.

One of the boxes after I painted it a light sage green.  I love that craft paint dries so fast!

I covered the top of the box with scrapbook paper.  I prefer to use rubber cement.  The trick to using rubber cement is to apply it to both surfaces separately and LET IT DRY before putting the two pieces together.  I just coated the entire piece of scrapbook paper with rubber cement and the entire top of the box and when the two pieces were dry, I pressed them together and trimmed the excess with an exacto knife.

Add a fun Christmas pick or other decoration such as ribbon with hot glue.  The good thing about these boxes is that you can reuse them year after year - no wrapping required!  Here's all six that I've done so far but I'd like to do more!

Closeup of some of the pretties.

This box was my favorite.  It's painted copper.

GRADUATE

Congratulations to my brother, Adam, for graduating from a tough Army Intelligence AIT program today.  Way to go! We're looking forward to visiting you soon at your new duty station.

That's him in the middle...naturally.

He texted my mom a picture in his dress greens.  That's a rifle marksmanship medal he's got on there - so don't mess with him! :)

He's always SUPER happy to have his photo taken - can't you tell?

On The Menu: Cheesy Chicken and Vegetables in the Crock Pot

This is the exact crock pot I use.  It's a little large for just two people, but it gets the job done.

I know I haven't posted an "On The Menu" in a while.  Mainly because things have been pretty busy with us traveling and trying to sell our house.  I've been subsisting on frozen pizza and turkey pot pies...mmmm, salty.  The Crock Pot has become my savior (when I remember to get things ready the night before).  I got one from my mother-in-law last Christmas and I am always looking for new recipes.  It's hard to find Crock Pot recipes that don't serve twelve people, so I usually have to convert them to make 2-4 servings. 

This recipe is super simple and only requires 5 ingredients!  Hooray for cheap!  Here's what you need:

• 2 - 4 frozen chicken breasts
• 2 Cans Campbell's Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (that's a lot of alliteration)
• 1 Can Campbell's Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
• 1 Bag of Frozen Mixed vegetables
• Minute White Rice

1. Lay the chicken breasts (whole and frozen) into the bottom of the Crock Pot or other slow cooker.
2. In a bowl, mix together the three cans of condensed soup.  Do not add water.  Pour on top of the chicken and make sure you distribute it evenly.
3. Stir in the frozen mixed vegetables.
4. Cook on low 8 hours.
5. Serve over cooked white rice.

This is pretty easy and is a nice, hot, comforting meal for the fall and winter.  I love coming home to the smell of dinner already prepared when I get home!