Ribbon Jewelry....Yay or Nay?

Ribbon jewelry seems to be all the rage at J. Crew these days.  I have been experimenting with Ribbon jewelry for the past couple weeks. I finally made something that I deemed acceptable to wear out this weekend....a purple and green bead and ribbon necklace.

I know that not everyone in the world is as big a fan of purple as I am, but what can I do?  What do you think? Is this necklace stupid, ok, or super neat?  I'm having mixed feelings on it right now.  The bow might be too big but I made it big so I could alter the length of it depending on the size of the bow I tied.  Also it might look a little like my dog's collar.  Oh well. 

Last week I also made this bracelet out of ribbon and wood beads.  I have not actually worn it yet.  What do you think?  The bow is also a little big but its pretty hard to tie if it is any shorter.

So how do you feel about ribbon jewelry?

Mo Young's Guide to Planning "Special" Bridal Shower Games.....

Um, why are MoYoung and I holding up a giant face photo of our friend's fiance?  Well I'm going to go ahead and let MoYoung tell you about that.  Take it away Mo.......

With the help of JMJE I think A-Corn’s shower had the most original if not the best games ever! Here’s what we did …

The first, and technically last, game we played at the A-Corn shower was called “Don’t Cross Your Legs.” Here is how you play: Each guest takes and wears FOUR necklaces. Then, the guests are told to NOT cross their legs throughout the shower. If they are caught crossing their legs, then they lose their necklace to the person who caught them. At the end of the shower the person who has the most necklaces is the winner. There was a tie for winning this game – $hanzie and cousin of the bride to be. I had predicted that Beezus5 would win the game, but she actually forfeited early on. Oh Beezus5. I chose this game because it was played at Dorothy’s bridal shower on the Golden Girls. Due to Mrs. Acorn’s appreciation of the Golden Girls, I thought it was only fitting that we play this game. And in case you missed this episode, Blanche won the game by a landslide. (ps-from JMJE, do not google Golden Girl Shower Games, you will get inappropriate results, trust me)

We also played a game entitled “How Well Does Future Mrs. Acorn Know Mr. Acorn.” I chose this game because it’s always interesting to see how in tune couples are – plus it ranked well on all the bridal shower websites. Mrs. Acorn later told me that her Grandma really enjoyed the game too. I had previously e-mailed Mr. Acorn some questions, which he was good enough to answer. Then, I typed up the questions and answers on slips of paper and handed out the questions to the guests to read to Mrs. Acorn. Mrs. Acorn was read each question and then she had to answer what she thought Mr. Acorn said. She did pretty well – probably getting 75% of the questions right.  (PS from JMJE-apparently there was some ambiguity about what actually constituted their first date) I was impressed, and I agree that XXLarge night shirts aren’t the sexiest PJ’s around. A key thing to remember with this game is recognizing your audience and filtering out any embarrassing answers. One of the best, and definitely the longest, questions was inspired by the show 90210 – NOT that new cast but the original, with Dylan. JMJE did a stellar job reciting Donna and David’s wedding vows, and I was impressed that Mrs. Acorn recognized the vows! She gets an A++ for 90210 wedding trivia.

The grand finale of games was “Feed Mr. Acorn.” JMJE and I had long since decided that we would like to have a giant picture of Mr. Acorn at the shower. We thought it would be funny – and a great gift for the A-Corn's. I expect the picture to be mounted above their mantle! So, in order to incorporate our love for Poster Mr. Acorn, I decided that we would play a game called “Feed Mr. Acorn.” Since the theme of the shower was “kitchen stuff,” this game completely fit! It’s like pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, only you try to stick a spoon in Mr. Acorn’s mouth. First we printed off a 30x20 picture of Mr. Acorn – with a hint of Mrs. Acorn in a low cut blue dress on the side. Then we mounted the picture on hard poster board. It was a beautiful sight. Everyone was a good sport and donned the eye mask, spun around, and then tried to stick a plastic spoon in Mr. Acorn’s mouth. The winner was Mama Robin! I recommend this game for any shower, as life size photos of people are not only fun conversation pieces but super classy!

Thanks Mo and if you are interested in finding out more information about Mo you can read her answers below to my very important guest blog survey.

Why do you think JMJE refers to you as MoYoung in her blog?

MoYoung = Morgan Young. Since I comment on MSIF via “Anonymous,” I decided to shorten my name to MoYoung in signing my comments. So exciting! (JMJE says, I like to spell it MoJung sometimes)

What is something you like about JMJE?

Her craftiness – MSIF is quite entertaining! Plus, she can drink with me into the late hours of the night. This is not always a good thing the next day, but it definitely makes for some good times.  (JMJE says, at this point it has become baking into the late hours of the night while slowly nursing one glass of wine.  Mr. and Mrs. MoYoung were, however, the last people up with us at our wedding after party.)  Plus, I admire her patience and loyalty, as she let my now husband live with us for six months while we were roommates at NCState.  (JMJE says, I never did the dishes, it evened out somehow, well maybe) We all love JMJE!

Name a character you relate to and why from one of the following tv shows? The Office, Lost, Saved by the Bell, How I Met Your Mother, or Friends?

Since I am not as much of a TV aficionado as JMJE is, I’m just going to defer to my favorite show from above, Lost. Overall I identify with the central themes – escapism, redemption, survival, and love! But, I remember years ago I was talking with JMJE and she asked me which character was my favorite. I said, “Sun.” I suppose I can relate to Sun as she is very guarded with her personal matters and more capable than many initially believe possible. However, I can be quite indecisive – so I do not like this question JMJE! – as I relate to many of the characters. This may be why I adore the show. (JMJE says, looks-wise she reminds me of a lighter haired Kate)

What is your favorite color?

Blue. So I am excited about prancing about in cornflower blue on 6/19/2010.

If you could have any job in the world what would it be?

If I could answer this question then I probably would have had a focus in college! Perhaps a writer for a travel magazine … or a professional volunteer. Yet I’ve always been scared of making something I truly adore a job as I would hate to one day wake up and view a passion as “eh, just work.”

So what do you think of our Bridal Shower games?
Is feeding the groom a little too weird or totally worth it just to have a life size photo to give your friend?
Mrs. Acorn was a pretty good sport as I'm pretty sure I banned shower games from my bridal shower.

PS-THE OFFICE IS NEW TONIGHT!  Office Thursday got cancelled for MoYoung Thursday but you should still watch The Office tonight.

Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes with a Hint of Bridal Shower

One time I lived with this girl.  We will call her Mrs. A-Corn.  She really enjoyed eating Entenmann's Raspberry Danish Twists.  She loved them sooo much that she knew the date and time the truck would deliver the fresh ones to the Harris Teeter across the street from our house.  Gradually with the help of 2 other friends I weaned her off this addiction.  So when we started planning her bridal shower, I thought maybe we should buy these Raspberry Danish Twists and cut them up in to bite sized pieces and serve them at her shower.  But then I remembered how far she's come since her addiction and decided to go another route.

I remembered that she likes red velvet cupcakes.  So I confirmed with her fiance and began looking for recipes.  Everyone said for me to just use a box but I decided to go all out.  Go big or go home.  I found this recipe (you have to scroll down a little) and thought it seemed manageable.  MoYoung and I decided that mini cupcakes would be better for a shower.  That way the ladies could eat 5 or 10 without feeling bad because eating 5 mini desserts is always way healthier than eating one regular sized dessert.  I followed the recipe pretty much but used a mini muffin tin and cooked them for about 10-12 minutes each or when the tooth pick came out clean.  Also the frosting made about 3 times as much as I actually needed for the mini cupcakes.

So what was my biggest mistake?  Well I purchased ONE mini muffin tin, which makes 12 mini cupcakes at a time.  We ended up with about 70 mini cupcakes which was a lot of batches.  So MoYoung and I were up til 1 AM baking these puppies.  With a special appearance by Beezus5, B and some wine, it didn't really seem like it took that long.

The next day we focused on icing.  I taught Mo to use my special icing tool and she managed to really excel at it.  We added some blue and yellow sprinkles (the wedding colors) and we were done.  I think they turned out pretty awesome.  We only ended up taking about half of them to the shower but by last night most of them were gone from my kitchen.  Also I may or may not be mildly allergic to red food coloring.  I sprouted a couple hives during the cooking and tasting process but that's not really that strange (for me).  And there was a full bottle of food coloring in this.  Oh well.  They are called red velvet for a reason.

PS-I had weird dreams about cupcakes last night.
PPS-And I know my face does not look super attractive in the photo above but I  needed a good action photo.

How to Make A Personalized Bridal Shower Gift....

1-Buy a plain apron at a craft store (I've seen them in Michaels and Wal-Mart)

2-Figure out the size of your friend.  If your friend is a full head shorter than most of your other friends, then you may not want to go with the one-size fits all apron but maybe instead a junior or kids sized one.  Use your own discretion.  Aprons are for making you look super cute, so you don't want one that is falling off because it's too big.
3-Make up a design/picture that represents your friend and or her celebrity couple name (i.e.: Bennifer, Jam, etc).  Or if your friend's fiance has a name that has to do with a vegetable or fruit then you may want to use that vegetable or fruit in the design.
4-Design a picture that represents your friend on Paint on your computer if you have Windows or if you are cool (I am but not at graphic design) and know about graphic design, use some other sort of high tech program.  You can also add a witty phrase or title.
5-Buy Ink Jet Transfer Paper at a craft store.
6-Follow instructions for the Ink Jet Transfer paper and use your Ink Jet Printer to print out the Image. 
7-Iron it on to the apron, following the instruction on the transfer paper box.

Now for Specifics... I made this apron for my friend, Future Mrs. Acorn, who is getting married in June.  About a year ago on a beach trip we gave Future Mrs. Acorn and her Fiance the couple name, Team A-Corn.  (and side note, it is in NO way related to this)  It totally makes sense if you knew their real names.  Trust me.  So for her apron I designed an a-corn logo using some free clip art I found on the internet and my amazing Paint skills.  I added in a title with her future last name and then printed that on the transfer sheet.  And there you have it, a lovely personalized apron for my friend's bridal shower gift.  I also got her a cookie sheet off her registry.  I don't actually think I've ever seen her bake anything though (and we lived together for over 2 years) so we will see how this goes.

***PS-And on a side note related to aprons.....There is a great apron giveaway over at Building A Kingston Castle if you are also a fan of aprons (like I am).

Eazy Peazy BBQ Chicken

As you may know, sometimes I buy a lot of chicken.  Then I freeze it.  Then I don't know what to do with it.  Then I get confused on how to thaw it.  Then I don't like the texture of it once I thaw it.  So I found this awesome slow cooker BBQ chicken recipe where you put frozen chicken directly into the slow cooker.  That is my kind of recipe.  It also cuts back on the amount of time I actually have to spend touching raw chicken.  The recipe is found here from Allrecipes.com.  I followed it pretty close (except for actually measuring the ingredients, I like estimating) and used Stubb's Spicy BBQ Sauce because it tastes good.  I also shred the chicken at some point during cooking when it just naturally sort of starts to fall apart.

And if you really want to, you can turn this in to a much healthier version of the traditional BBQ sandwich like I did here.  I'm pretty sure chicken breast bbq is healthier than pork bbq and then I made slaw using the pre packaged shredded cabbage and reduced fat mayo (I also actually cut the amount of mayo down).  I added a little extra vinegar for tang.  And then I used an Arnold's Sandwich Thins Bun which only has 100 calories.  Voila.  Healthier BBQ Sandwich.  And the leftovers of this would be great for these quesadillas.

Do you like Pork BBQ and/or BBQ chicken or is that just a North Carolina thang?

Do you have any recipes that you "lighten" up for healthiness?

Garlic Shrimp, Tomatoes, and Feta with Couscous

We have decided that we really like garlic over here.  Right?  So I went ahead and semi-made up this garlic shrimp recipe the other night.  It is similar to something that my mom may have made me before.  I think.  Sorry if I stole it.  I used a garlic theme for this one though.  And its not too bad for you or too hard to make.  This made about 2.5 servings, maybe more if you eat less!

Ingredients

3/4 pound of raw, peeled shrimp

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic (I use the refrigerated canned kind)

1 can of petite diced tomatoes

garlic salt

container of feta cheese (I used a reduced fat tomato and basil flavored one)

lemon

prepared couscous to serve with shrimp

-Preheat oven to 400. 

-Add olive oil and garlic to a pan on the stove and cook for a couple minutes before adding shrimp

-Cook the shrimp until they are light pink, not quite done

-Put the shrimp in a baking dish

-In the original pot, add the can of tomatoes and some garlic salt.  Cook until the tomato juice boils.

-Pour tomato mixture over shrimp and sprinkle with about 2/3 of the container of feta

-Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

-Serve over couscous and squeeze lemon on top before serving

Anybody got any other good shrimp and/or garlic recipes?

Black and White Earrings

These are my favorite earrings that I have made recently. What do you think?  I used beads that I bought at a cute bead shop when I was visiting Beezus5 and I went on our trip to NYC.  I have also been working on my jewelry photography and I thought these turned out decent.  I was at the beach all weekend and am now tired and headed back to work and having a hard time coming up with things to say.  That is all.  Hope everyone is having a great Monday!!

I made these earrings by stringing 5 beads onto ear wires similarly to the technique used in this Post.