Feature Friday - Signs of the Times

My wonderful friend Andrea is basically the female version of my husband.  Her name is even the female version of his name.  It's so crazy.  We laugh about this often.  She's so fun and she is extremely talented.  She even has her own company making these...

 This is her real laugh and I absolutely LOVE this picture of her.  Isn't she adorable?

Aren't they awesome?  So yeah she sells these custom chalkboard designs.  She can do anything you want.  I am going to get one, but I don't know what I want.  I need some suggestions.  Tell me, tell me, tell me, your fickle friend, what to get on her chalk board.  I really want a huge one, but I don't know where I would put it, so could you also give me your house?  Just kidding.  I'm going to have to start with a small one and work my way up to the one on the left because it is my all time favorite. 

So now that I am done rambling about my indecisive ways go to her facebook page here and "like" Signs of the Times and order your custom chalkboard sign today.  They make GREAT Christmas presents and Christmas is just around the corner. 

Also, if you're wondering what to get ME for Christmas you should go to The Painted Dresser's facebook page and "like" it too. 

I suck!

I realize I have really sucked this week. I could have posted about how I was sick for Mishap Monday or done a tutorial of how to clean out your storage unit for Tutorial Tuesday, but I didn't. I didn't even post for Rescue Thursday which I was so excited about because I have these fabulous tables I did. They look awesome. My neighbor, who doesn't even have the same style as me, came in my house and saw them and said they were really cool. That must mean they're really cool right? Anyway, I will post those tables next week along with what I'm working on tonight, but in the meantime it's Feature Friday, so make sure to check out my post about SIGNS OF THE TIMES! Seriously an awesome little company! Love it!

Made from Scratch Sundays - Caramel Apples

Hello all! My name is Joelle (aka Kitchen Dweller), and I was asked by Jessica to share a delicious recipe with you. And boy, do I have a treat for you?...literally! Caramel apples! There is something so satisfying about a caramel apple in the fall.

Disclaimer: Before you view the following photos please note I do not profess to be a professional caramel apple decorator. I am more the type to just throw on the goodness because I will just be eating it right after the picture is taken. Am I alone in my thought process? I think not.

The first step in making caramel apples is unwrapping the dreaded little caramel squares...very time consuming....very rewarding.

Make sure you have all your topping laid out, because you will need to act quick when the caramel is hot.

 Melt the caramel and milk together on low heat.

 Place the apple in the caramel and use a spoon to cover the apple with caramel. (Wax paper was a terrible idea, I would just use a greased cookie sheet next time.)

 Cover with your favorite toppings.

 Slice and enjoy!

Ingredients:

4 granny smith apples
1 14 oz package caramels (I just bought bulk and used 47 pieces)
2 tbs milk
4 popsicle sticks (if you want to put them on sticks, I didn't)
any delicious toppings you desire

Directions:

1. Grease a cookie sheet. Melt caramels and milk on low, stirring constantly.

2. Once caramel is melted cover apples with the caramel and place on cookie sheet. Decorate wtih your favorite toppings.

If you like what you see here, come on over to www.itkwib.com and check out my other recipes and daily happenings!

Sewing Saturday

Today is supposed to be the first Sewing Saturday, but it's Sick Saturday for me so pretty much nothing, but sleeping and surfing the Internet has happened.  I did however participate in my very first link party.  I totally want to start these as soon as we get enough followers.  It's on the blog Under the Table and Dreaming so go check it out and link up your own projects so people can check your out.  So fun!

Feature Friday - Eyes Wide Open Photography

We had our family pictures taken about a week ago from the most amazing photographer.  She is here in Utah and she is seriously the best which is amazing because she is also the cheapest.  haha.  For $40 a session which includes a CD with your awesome photos.  I think she's seriously under priced, but I won't tell her that just in case you want to get your family pictures done.  ;)


Here's the before picture.  We asked someone at the mall to take our picture.  This was on our Christmas card last year.  So sad, but I was pregnant and we didn't have $100+ dollars to shell out for professional family pictures.

This is the after.  WARNING:  THERE ARE ABOUT A THOUSAND PICS!!! 

I think the pictures speak for themselves. And since you are now dying to do your own pictures visit ewophoto.blogspot.com or email our photographer Erica @ ewophoto.gmail.com  Then you can come rave about her on this blog post.  Oh yeah and You're welcome.  haha

The Plan

After contemplating the direction of this blog and viewing the method to other blogger's madness I have devised a plan.  Does that sound evil?  Halloween is coming up soon so I guess that's OK.  Everyday I will be posting a different type of post.  Here are the titles I came up with.

Mishap Mondays - Crafting is not an exact science and I am not very good at science anyway, so I have a lot of mishaps.  You will get to see these on Mondays.  Seriously, sometimes I'm an idiot, so these should be fun.

Tutorial Tuesdays - On these days I'll show you how to make something. 

Wisdom Wednesdays - These sort of go along with Mishap Mondays.  I will share wisdom I have learned through trial and error.

Rescue Thursday - On these days I will post pieces of furniture or other things I have rescued from their ugliness.

Feature Friday - This idea I sort of stole from someone else.  I don't remember who, but I tweaked it a little.  I will be featuring a newly started or newly found by me business of the artistic type.  This will be fun because I will get to talk up companies or purposes that I am a fan of.  If you have something that you love feel free to email me with a company you think I should feature.  You can email me @ jezzica_rabbit@hotmail.com and put painted dresser in the subject line. 

Sewing Saturdays - I will obviously sew something these days

Made from Scratch Sundays - This will be our cooking segment.  I don't cook, but my husband is an excellent cook and I have some amazing cooking friends, so I will be turning the blog over to those people to work their magic.

I will often need guest bloggers to show off their stuff, so if you are interested please contact me and let me know.  Thanks for reading.  Today will be the first Feature Friday so make sure to check that out.

Fabric covered canvases

The wall above my couch has been bare as long as I can remember.  We moved here a year ago with plans to move 4 months later, but obviously that didn't happen.  We will be here forever.  jk.  In an effort to find a spot for all my crafty stuff I decided to use some of it that has been stored away for the past year.  My mom gave me four canvases and some craft paint for this project she wanted me to do with my kids.  Well, that was several years ago and I have since had another child. I'm pretty sure I have OCD because I didn't want to do the project until I was done having kids (which might be now) and I have three kids and there are four canvases.  Anyway I did away with the craft project involving the kids and did fabric covered canvases instead.  One I already showed in this post that I did with an old T-shirt to make our nightstand more "manly" and the other three I did and hung above our couch.  So fun.  I picked up some remnant fabric from Walmart and already had all the other stuff.  So, it only cost me about a dollar.  I like it.  What do you think?

All you have to do is stretch the fabric as far as you can over the canvas and hot glue it to the back.  Then make the fabric flowers from this post and hot glue those on.  So fun and super easy.  Make some.