Griffins on the Go

January 13, 2011

So, I still like to play with glitter

Wanted to share a fun, afternoon project...I found some stationary and labels on sale after the holidays and grabbed some of my favorite Martha Stewart craft supplies. I had fun making my own personalized stationary with her products!

My girl Martha has it going on! One Glue Pen - check. One jar of glitter - check. A few labels and notecards ready to play with - check.

January 12, 2011

Farm food

For the weekend with friends, us girls all bring plenty of snacks and food to cook - with a group of 16, we sure need it! This time, I brought my traditional sausage and English muffins for breakfast - I doubled the recipe and it worked great for two mornings' worth. I also brought plenty of salad for the two dinners we cooked at the house. Little trick to try - for a flavorful salad, add fresh herbs to the greens...I added a pack of basil and mint to this one. Its a nice flavor punch in an otherwise ordinary salad with tomatoes and bacon crumbles. In addition, I made a loaf of Trader Joe's Beer Bread - wonderful! It was really good with jelly in the mornings, but would be great with spaghetti with a little garlic sprinkled in. As a snack for this large group, I made my sis-in-law's recipe for delicious candied nuts...I doubled the batch but think that I should have quadrupled it for this bunch- they were a hit!

For Trader Joe's Beer Bread mix, all you need is butter and a beer!

Man, it sure did look good in the oven!

While the bread was cooling, my walnut, almond and pecan nuts were cooking.
Here's how to make some yourself!
Grease a cookie sheet with butter. Beat one egg white per bunch (I did two) until frothy and coat nuts in it. Mix with 1 cup of sugar, a little cinnamon to taste and 1 tablespoon of salt. Mix well with nuts, coating evenly. Spread on sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes, stir and bake 10 minutes more.

And here is the finished product...yum!

January 11, 2011

Drawings, etc.

Gifts with a hand-made quality make for meaningful ones, both to give and receive. I wanted to share a few things I did for my Mom and a friend as well as a painting my Mom had done for our family. Doing these simple pen and ink drawings is fun for me, and if you have something you'd like immortalized in black and white, I'm your girl!

A welcoming front door accompanies a return address for my Mom, who writes lovely hand-written notes!

A drawing of their house on a few notes

And their front door too.

I cant take credit for this, but had to share. Along the same lines of special Christmas gifts, my mom had a watercolor rendering commissioned of my Baboo's living room. Its a beautiful room, and now we all have one hanging in our own homes. It was my favorite gift of the season!

My friend Amy commissioned me to do this of her husband's family farm...I loved the way it turned out!She gave it as a gift to a few of the Arnold's at Christmas time.

And gave the stationary as gifts too!

January 10, 2011

From our cozy house to yours!

We've had a fire all day, and have enjoyed looking out at our white yard!

Fun with Friends at the Farm!

Last Friday, David and I hopped in the car to make the trek to Sylvester to meet my college BFF's and their significant others. We spent the weekend at the beautiful King Farm...laughing, playing games, swapping our Secret Santa gifts, the Dirty Santa ornament swap, Quail Hunting, and shooting skeet. We love being with all of our friends, and missed Wesley who was in AZ for the AU game. It was a gorgeous weekend with blue skies...and now were are at home in Gainesville with 5" of snow! Its been a great day for blogging!