And.... she's back!

Well, hello! Yes, it's been a lonnngggg time. As my son says, don't judge.

I wanted to share my latest little project, which uses a beat up frame to make a lovely door kind-of-wreath. I tried to think of a clever name for this, but it isn't happening. A frame that becomes a wreath... maybe a Freath? That felt sort of creepy, as I could also use it to describe a freak on meth. Not really the image I'm going for to welcome people to my home.

Here's how I made it:
I wanted to make the frame-wreath something I could change up with the seasons, so I decided on neutral paints. First I painted a couple of layers of a sea foam shade of acrylic paint on an empty frame. I then painted 3 coats of white acrylic paint over that. I didn't bother with taking too much care with neatness since I knew I would be distressing the paint after it dried.

Note: I am not a great painter. Distressing is such a fabulous thing for those of us not gifted in this area.

After the paint dried, I distressed the paint with a sanding block and a heavy duty nail file. I find that a nail file gives me greater control in creating small pockets of distress. Great band name: Small Pockets of Distress.

I glued down thick pieces of felt on the corners of the frame. This keeps the back of the frame from scratching up or chipping the glass on the door.

Now, what to put in the middle? Since Valentine's Day is just around the corner, hearts seemed the best way to go. I took a medium-sized heart-shaped foam wreath and wrapped it in red and white chevron ribbon, gluing it down along the way with E6000. I had a wooden heart with a chalk board center from Hobby Lobby, so I pinned that into the foam wreath to allow it to dangle. On the chalk board, I wrote Love Lives Here. I'm kind of afraid to see what the guys in the house might change this to say.

I had my frame ready and the middle ready, but how to put them together? I didn't want to permanently affix them together, since I want to be able to change out the middle. It was time for my favorite solution for hanging things: tiny 3M Command strips. I put one on the back of the frame, added a ribbon loop to the heart, then hooked the ribbon on the tiny Command strip.

As a final step, I added museum putty to the back of the frame in strategic spots to anchor the bottom of the frame to the glass. This should help keep it from banging around against the glass.

Let's hope my next entry isn't How to Repair Your Glass in Your Front Door.

Cause Nothing Motivates Like a Brownie

My dear crafty friends—

I know I have been horribly remiss in publishing this blog. I’m still crafting, but my heart just hasn’t been in writing about it. I apologize for leaving you hanging.

So what has motivated me to dust off the blog? This time, it’s a dessert that I just have to share: Grady's Good Gracious Brownies.

 

My son has been fortunate to be in with a group of fellow high school boys who meet nearly weekly for Bible study. I’m in awe at their dedication. Because I’m trying to raise a boy who knows not to just show up at someone’s house empty handed (and because I like to bake but don’t want a lot of baked goods around my house), I have been making goodies for him to bring with him to these meetings.

There are a few of the boys in the group who have become big fans of the weekly baked goods. One of them, Grady, particularly loves brownies, so I threw myself into coming up with a brownie recipe just for him. These brownies are amazing! You start with Ghiradelli Dark Chocoloate Brownie mix. When that’s how you start, how can this be anything but great? After that, you add mini Rolos, a caramel frosting, and crumbled bits of pretzels. Lord. Have. Mercy. Hope you enjoy!

 

Grady’s Good Gracious Brownies

Ingredients

Box of brownie mix (as well as whatever the mix calls for, such as eggs, oil, or water)

8 oz bag of mini Rolos

1 stick (8 T.) butter

1 cup of packed brown sugar (light or dark, or use ½ of each)

¼ cup whole milk (don’t use skim here!)

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

½ teaspoon of sea salt

1 cup crushed pretzels

Note: for crushing the pretzels, I used a food processor and advise against doing that. Too much of them was pulverized to a powder, so I had to use a slotted spoon to remove them from the food processor bowl so as to leave behind the pretzel powder. Just throw them into a baggie and whack with a wooden spoon until you have pieces large enough to be recognizable as pretzels, but small enough to sprinkle on top of the brownies.

1.     Make your favorite brownie mix according to the directions on the package. I used Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Brownies.

2.     Preheat the oven according to the box (325 degrees for mine) and spray an 8x8 glass baking dish with Pam for Baking (this stuff is amazing, but hold your breath when you spray it; if you accidentally breathe it in, you will be coughing for a while afterwards).

3.     Pour in half the brownie mix and distribute evenly.

4.     Place mini Rolo candies into the mix, again, distributing evenly. For an 8x8 pan, I used a 6 rows, 6 columns distribution method.

 

5.     Pour in remaining half of the brownie mix, spreading over the Rolos until all are covered.

6.     Bake according to package instructions (mine was 40-45 minutes).

7.     Remove from oven and let cool.

8.     In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, add the butter and brown sugar. Stir frequently and bring to boil, 2-3 minutes.

9.     Add the milk in a thin stream while continuing to stir. Bring to a boil again, then remove from heat.

10.  Add the vanilla and salt, and then sift in the powdered sugar. Mix with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula (don’t use a hand mixer) until well blended and smooth.

11.  Immediately frost the brownies while the frosting is still warm. You will have frosting left over (what a shame!). We found this perfect for dipping pretzels into. I popped the rest into the fridge, and may melt it later in the microwave to pour over ice cream.

12.  Top brownies with crushed pretzels (I used Snyder’s pretzel sticks).

13.  Let the brownies and frosting cool completely before cutting into squares. These things are super rich, so I recommend cutting into at least 16 squares rather than 12 larger squares.

Let the choconalia begin!

Jenny