CRAFTS!

So I'm working on something new.
Something I'll *hopefully* be done with before Beard-A-Versary.
I want people to come into the bedroom and say, "Wow, Kay, this is amazing. Where did you get that?"
Its a cork board made out of wine and champagne corks, which will hold a display of my jewelry.
I'm not done yet, nor am I half way through (You need a lot more corks than I thought!) but I'm so excited I'm going to give you a little tiny preview.

That's an awl, hammer, box cutter and self healing mat. In the 3 hours I was playing with cutting these corks I kept feeling like a pioneer splitting tiny logs with an ax. My hands kinda ache.

I got the pretty corks from The Long Beach Depot for Creative Reuse, which I'm pretty much in love with. If you've never been to the one in Berkley or the one in Long Beach and your a crafter, well you are missing out. The Depot had a 5 gallon tupperware full of old corks for 5 cents each. (on a side note, where is the cent sign on this keyboard? I don't think there is one) I couldn't believe my luck!

I sent Woody over there for more today since my picture frame, which will serve as the back of the cork board, is about 17X22 inches.


Hopefully I'll be done with this project by Beard-A-Versary and will be able to post a tutorial on it later this week. I'll miss going to school in the summer because I'll have alot less time on my hands at work to do stuff like this.

Beard-A-Versary food

I love having people over.
If I thought I could stand the 1950 or 60's misogyny, I'd have fit right in as the perfect little hostess housewife. There is nothing I love better than having my house full of people I love (and a few people I just tolerate) with a glass of something bubbly and compliments on my food.
But I really hate cleaning up after it all.

This year for Beard-A-Versary I get to plan the who shebang. Decorations, food and finally get the house in the order it needs to be in. We've got 30 odd people coming and it makes me very excited to be the hostess. But then thinking about cleaning up after everyone makes me wish I didn't like hosting things so much. On the Sunday after Beard-A-Versary, Woody, me and a few friends have planned to go camping in Death Valley. Yep, you got that right, after a night of drinking and mess making I'm going to pack my ass up and drive five hours to camp in the desert. With this in mind I've planned the menu accordingly. Everything can be done in the week preceding the party and I am taking some major shortcuts. The menu you ask?

I honestly am daunted by the idea of rolling my own meatballs. It is entirely too stressful so I'm taking that whole idea out and instead, going to hunt for some frozen meatballs to try instead.
This recipe is SO easy.

Thunder(meat)balls:
1 (2 pound) bag frozen Rosina Home style Meatballs
1 (10 ounce) bag frozen organic tri-colored sweet peppers
1 (14 ounce) can jellied cranberry sauce
1 (12 ounce) jar Chili Sauce
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Red pepper flakes, optional but recommended
Cooked rice
Instructions
1. Add the cranberry sauce, chili sauce, a pinch of salt, some pepper, and a dash of red pepper flakes to taste to a pot and bring to a simmer. Stir often and turn off heat when the two sauces combine.
2. Place the frozen meatballs, frozen peppers, and sauce mixture into a slow cooker and cook over low heat for about 6 to 7 hours or on high heat for about 4 to 5 hours.
3. Serve over rice if desired.
(Recipe by Laura Flowers)

See how easy? I might just use grape jelly because I've had it prepared with it and its so delicious! All I got to do is toss everything in the slow cooker and, presto, I'm all done.

I am so looking forward to trying this next one. Lady fingers can be bought pre-made and this looks like the only thing I'll actually have to prepare the day of.

Gold(lady)finger toasts with Chambord and Amaretto dip:
LADYFINGER TOASTS:
1 package (3 ounces) ladyfingers
2 to 3 tablespoons Chambord Liqueur (or raspberry extract) or Amaretto Liqueur (or almond extract)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon allspice
Vegetable cooking spray

Lightly spray baking sheet with vegetable cooking spray; set aside. Split and separate ladyfingers. Place on baking sheet, split sides up. Brush with liqueur or extract. In small bowl combine sugar and spice. Sprinkle over ladyfingers. Bake at 250 degrees for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and continue baking additional 15 minutes. Cool completely. Serve with Chambord and Amaretto Dip if desired (see below). Makes 24 pieces

CHAMBORD AND AMARETTO DIP:
1 package (3 3/8 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
3 cups cold milk
1/4 cup Chambord Liqueur (or 2 teaspoons raspberry extract)
1/4 cup Amaretto Liqueur (or 2 teaspoons almond extract)
2 cups frozen whipped topping (thawed)

Mix pudding and milk on low speed of electric mixer until blended. Continue mixing until smooth and creamy, about two minutes. Divide into 2 bowls. Add Chambord liqueur to one bowl and Amaretto liqueur to the second bowl. Fold 1 cup whipped topping into each bowl. Chill until serving time. Serve with ladyfinger toast and fresh fruit. Note: Chambord or Amaretto can be substituted with any liqueur you desire.

Since it is supposed to be like the James Bond film Goldfinger, I plan on using yellow confectioner's sugar for the sugar in the toasts to make it extra yellow. But I'm not quite sure how I feel about using pudding and whipped topping for the dip. I'm feeling that a combination of plain yogurt and vanilla yogurt might make it a little tangy and tasty. I'm probably going to have to try it out this weekend.

Octopussy Jello Shots:
Not going to lie, this is what I'm most excited about.
This recipe is so perfect!
Just clear jello, ice cube trays, simple syrup, berries and vodka. Lovely! I like it because they look classy and not like what you get at a kegger. My Partner In Crime had the brilliant idea to put gummy octopus inside the jello shots to make them fit in perfectly with the theme. I may have to twist her arm to get her to use Absolut's Apeach or Pears because I don't like blueberry Stoli.

Last but not least;

From Russia with Love Punch:
Ingredients:
One bottle of a bubbly drink. (a sweet Champagne, ginger ale, lemon lime soda, fizzy water, etc)
1/4 - 1/2 a can of frozen concentrated pink lemonade (or any other pink drink in concentrated form)
8 ounces flavored vodka (I'm going to use my favorite Absolut Apeach)
water to taste.

Add all to a large punch bowl or drink dispenser, mix well. Add water to taste. To serve cold in a drink dispenser, do large pieces of ice. They'll melt slower.

The frozen concentrated drink is what gives this a major kick. The sweetness of the concentrated juice will counteract the alcohol. But, can give drinkers MAJOR heart burn if not watered down properly. I had a ridiculous experience after a breakup where I was dead set on using my new blender in my brand spanking new apartment the evening after I got dumped. So I looked up delicious drinks and found the Pink Panty. Frozen pink lemonade, vodka, ice and cool whip. It was delicious, but it knocked me on my ass and the lemonade gave me excruciating heartburn because it wasn't watered down enough. I guess the four shots of vodka didn't count.

In other news, I got my mustache in the mail. It is lovely, and I'm way excited to wear it. All I have to do now is trim it so it looks more natural. I'm counting down the days till Beard-A-Versary. Its ridiculous how excited I am.

Beard-A-Versary, Decorating and Organization.

Remember those pictures I promised of my lovely organized closet? Well Woody's camera is a little bitch and for some reason refuses to load anything to blogger. Why? Who the hell knows. So in the interm, I'm going to try to post more even if I don't have pictures.

On the organizing and decorating front:
Woody and I have been able to put my closet in order, his closet in order, both of our bookshelves in order and my favorite... the "linen closet" in order. "Linen closet" is in quotes because really, there ain't much linen in it. Its this crazy weird triangular shelf space with doors above a place where a washer might have been but is no longer. It didn't really fit anything until we organized it. We've got cleaning supplies, tools of every shape and form, cat toys, dusters, and rags. Sheets and towels take up a measly shelf, which was haphazardly stuffed, which in turn made the closet doors never close. So on a lovely Sunday night we took everything out of the closet ran to Target and spent 30 dollars on Tupperware. Seriously, Tupperware. Woody had the ingenious idea to fold the towels in a triangle shape for easy storage, and I dug around for a stray fabric box to put one of the two sheet sets we have in it. Its a tight fit but who cares! More space for me!

I'm still trying to get the bedroom finished. Woody bought this lovely frame for me for Christmas and is ordering one of the beard pictures from our beard photo shoot from Costco. They do pretty inexpensive poster prints. (I think it might be 15 dollars if that) I plan on putting that above our Ikea bed and hanging smaller frames around it. On another wall we plan on hanging a limited edition print of Zombie Theme Park by Scott C. (Check out Lumberjacks at Work, its so cute!)

We went to The Framestore this week and got it framed. Let me tell you, framing is NOT cheap. We had two coupons and two pieces to frame and each piece was over $100 dollars to frame. I would NOT frame something for that much, but Woody on the other hand isn't a Cheap Bitch On A Budget so I let him do as he pleases. I'd probably make my own frame before spending that much on framing. Its going to look lovely so I guess I can't complain too much.

I tried to keep the bedroom as clutter free as possible. So we have alot of wall space. (I wanted it to be a place where we could really relax since the living room is SO FULL of books and art supplies and movies and rock band equipment and everything else in the world.... AHHHHH!) I love it because in the morning the bedroom is the first room to get sunshine. Its so great! With the weather being as lovely as it has been I like waking up to the sunshine at 7am. I love reading in bed with the window open and not having to turn on a light.

So when I was thinking about decorating the bedroom, I decided to take a look into wall decals. They are so cute and so temporary since we're renting. But the ones I was looking at (even on Etsy.com, which had by far the cheapest and most variety) were entirely too expensive. I wanted a big tree with long branches that I could "hang" pictures from in the branches. Those run like 120 dollars! Its ridiculous! So instead I saw this post about making your own wall silhouettes out of fabric and liquid starch. So the plan is to get Woody to draw a fantastic tree, that has room to grow around our room and then cut it out of fabric. From what I've been able to ascertain is that the fabric must be washed before hand (bleeding happens as does shrinkage) and stretchy fabrics are a no-no. When you get stretchy fabrics wet, they just stretch more and more. Calico or muslin are the best bet. I'm thinking something lightly patterned would look lovey! I plan on doing this after Beard-A-Versary.

On Beard-A-Versary:
What's Beard-A-Versary you say? Oh just when Woody celebrates the growth of his beard. He negotiated with me the chance to let his beard grow from December to the end of March when Beard-A-Versary is happening. Its starting to look like a forest. I was able to put a down feather inside his beard and he couldn't find it. I miss his strong chin under there.

Anyway, the point is, this year Beard-A-Versary is being hosted at our house. We have a teeny, tiny patio out back that we share with the other three apartments. After gaining the consent from our apartment mates we've (well I've) thrown ourselves into planning the best party ever. Since it is the fourth annual Beard-A-Versary the theme is Thunderbeard, after the fourth James Bond movie, Thunderball. That means fancy dresses, bow-ties and my favorite, CHAMPAGNE! Oh, and yeah beards. Everyone has to wear one. I splurged big time this year and ordered one off the internet. Behold! The Piper Mustache!

Yes! I decided to recreate my beard photoshoot with this lovely thing. It might be a LITTLE too dark for my hair color, but I figured the blonde would be too blonde. I'm going to hunt for a retro evening dress this weekend after watching Thunderball. Then I'll have to brainstorm hair and makeup ideas. Finding a tutorial on 1960's makeup and hair is a little difficult. My hair isn't quite long enough to do the rumpled just tumbled in bed look.


But besides my own costume I'm the one brainstorming food and decorations. (I always wonder how Woody would live without me. I think this is the eternal woman in a relationship question.) So far I've decided to serve in theme, Thunder(meat)balls, Gold(lady)fingers with amaretto dipping sauce, Octopussy Jello shots, and for my hoping to be skinny ass... hummus and veggies with a stray selection of cheese and crackers. I'm trying to get Woody to help me recreate the opening gun barrel scene with black paper and paint. But I guess we'll see. I love being hostess so much I always take on the even all by my lonesome because no one is as excited as I am.

Its going to turn out fantastic! I am counting down the days!