Hey - I Can Do That

Whilst we were out Christmas shopping I came across these signs at a local gift barn that simply said "Someone in _______ Loves Me".  They go over a doorway or window frame, or I guess they could be hung on the wall.  Well, anyway, I couldn't see myself buying one when I knew we had wood scraps, paint, and paint pens at home.  I did buy other things from the store so I don't feel guilty about taking the idea and using my own materials but, it's not something that I would sell to others though as it wasn't my original idea and I did not purchase a pattern.  I think the ones in the store might have been done with vinyl, but I used a paint pen for the lettering.  It took a little while to pencil in the writing to get it centered and everything, but I was glad to have a paint pen for this because years ago when I was selling crafts, the things that I lettered were painted and I am really out of practice with that.

We made one each for the grandsons.  Well, actually, we made four because the first two that I completed were ruined by trying to use very old spray fixative.   HWNSNBP noticed that there were blotches of the clear sealant on the wood after he sprayed it and when he tried to smooth it out the lettering smeared.  Was I happy about that - no, but it wasn't really his fault in trying to fix it.  If we hadn't had more wood I would have been more annoyed, but this just took some more time.

So I mentioned cookie cereal in my post for the Jingle Belle challenge last week.  If 8-10 year-olds could do it on the Kids Baking Championship show, so could this grandma.  I found a recipe on Pinterest (click here) for chocolate chip cookie cereal and gave it a whirl.  I got 6 trays of cookies from the batch of batter.  I would put them closer together next time because they don't spread out very much at all and it would take less time baking and use less parchment.  I used the mini chocolate chips and a pastry bag without a tip to squeeze them onto the sheet.  I did notice that the longer I held the bag the more the chips were melting inside because they were so small.  So I would work faster next time.  

You can see the average piped size in relation to a penny.  They could be even smaller next time.

I divided the finished product into three portions - one each for the grandsons and one for here.  We got to deliver one yesterday and the other will be mailed as they are quarantining because GS2 does have covid this time.  The school nurse told Rachel it was probably only a matter of time before she and her husband started showing symptoms even though they are vaxed and boosted.  GS2 is too young for the vaccine, but so far his symptoms are very mild, in fact, Rachel says he's bouncing all over the place much more than usual.  Go figure.  

And lastly, I found a use for one of those plastic coffee stirrers that Panera puts in the top of the cup lid so it doesn't spill.  It makes a perfect scarf/shawl closure...... which I would only use at home of course.  It's been so cold that I've been wearing this shawl when I sit at the computer.  We moved a piece of furniture to where the bird cage used to be behind me and I think that it's blocking the heat from the baseboard behind it.  There's already a larger cabinet under the window there and this just blocks more of that area so we're going to try moving the cabinet off to the side for the colder months.  I also had to move back the lemon tree to that area and away from the sliding glass door because it was too cool there and the leaves were curling from the cold temps as you sometimes see the evergreen shrubs like rhododendrons do in the extreme cold.  I'll just have to water it more frequently being nearer to the heat source.  

Okay, time to refocus on some Valentine projects.