lemon pepper

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Mini Photo Studio

No joke, this past Friday Rob suggested we get crafty and make an at home photo studio or light box. Little did I know, Amy and Stephanie were doing the same thing! Unreal. I'm still cracking up about it.

Rob found a tutorial online, but we can't find the link to share, sorry. After a trip to Lowes, we used PVC pipe and elbows to construct the frame. Using white cloth (leftover curtains from our wedding reception!) and white poster board, our project cost around $3.

It was very simple to put together. A few pics from my first test shoot are below. I have lots to learn when it comes to not only using the camera but lighting too.

No Flash

Flash - still shadows

A few friends: No flash

With Flash (still shadows)

Friday, January 2, 2009

My Jar-o-Gifts

Even though I didn't get around to making as many as these as I would have liked, I was able to give a few homemade jar gifts to neighbors and family.

The first is a Brownies-in-a-Jar recipe I found on Lolly Chops. She even provided the labels, which are too cute for their own good. I highly recommend her site/blog. Love it. Love it. Love it.

The second is a super easy Sugar Scrub recipe I found online. It includes:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
squirt of lemon juice
And I added a few drops of peppermint oil

I used jars found at Hobby Lobby, but I don't know how functional they are when it comes to getting the scrub out. I had wanted to provide scooper spoons with the jars. Didn't do it.

Now I didn't try either product before giving them away due to the holiday time crunch, but luckily the some of the recipients have reported rave reviews of both. Feeewww!

Thanks for the Cookies, Steph!

I'm a big fan of the "Dry Ingredients In A Jar Gift" and am thankful for the Chocolate Chunk Cookie mix we received from Wagners. Happy to report the dough was tasty and the cookies just as wonderful.

Puppydog Slippers #2

Another pair - this one went to Mom.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Upside-Down Pineapple Crush

Another divine HG recipe. Super easy. Super wonderful.

Ingredients:

One 20-oz. can crushed pineapple in juice (not drained)
1 large (6-serving) package fat-free sugar-free vanilla instant pudding mix
2 cups fat-free vanilla yogurt
1 cup Cool Whip Free, thawed
16 Reduced Fat Nilla Wafers, crushed
Optional Topping: Fat Free Reddi-wip

Directions:
In a medium mixing bowl, combine un-drained pineapple, pudding mix, yogurt, and Cool Whip. Mix well. Pour into a medium serving dish (a large pie pan works well). Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or until ready to serve. Top dish evenly with crushed Nilla Wafers just before serving. If you like, finish off each serving with a dollop of Reddi-wip. Enjoy!

PER SERVING (1/8th of dessert, about 2/3 cup): 135 calories, 0.5g fat, 296mg sodium, 30g carbs, 0.5g fiber, 18.5g sugars, 2.5g protein -- POINTS. value 3*