Complete This Sentence.....

Okay.. so I confess... I am totally ADDICTED to Mod Podge.  I could think of a million different uses for it and it can be found on items all over my house. 

But knowing your addictions is half the battle right?  I thought that today it would be fun to do something a little different in the form of : complete the following sentence!  Leave your sentence in the comment section!

You know you are addicted to Mod Podge when....

I'll go first!  I have lots more but I will start here!

You know you are addicted to Mod Podge when...everything in your house has been covered in scrapbook paper and Mod Podged except for the hubby and kids! (yes I did use it as a verb!)  And some days both contain traces of it!

Can't wait to see what everyone else has to say! 

By the way I will be participating in the Wandering Wednesday Blog Hop @ http://paisleypassions.blogspot.com/  Hope you'll join me!

Love,

Pinkapotamus

Hoo Are You? #15

Here is this week's Hoo are you tuesday with Night Owl Crafting @ http://nightowlcrafting.blogspot.com/2010/09/hoo-are-you-15.html
I am soo happy it's back!


1. What is your Zodiac sign?
I am born on March 20 which makes me a Pisces on the Aries cusp.  Which means that I am a little bit of both.. or half crazy.. either way you want to look at it!
2. Name 3 things that are always in your purse besides your wallet.
Cell Phone
Rescue inhaler for Asthma emergencies
Keys so I can find them later!


3. Which magazines do you look at the most?
My favorite magazines are Martha Stewart Living, Runner's World and Family Fun.


4. Do you pluck or get your eyebrows waxed?
I get my eyebrows waxed.. so much better to do it ALL at once than to suffer repeatedly!


5. How often do you go grocery shopping?
I go grocery shopping atleast once a week, although I rotate the stores.  Sometimes I go to BJS, other times I go to Shoprite and still other days I go to the farmers market.  All depends on what I need!

Tune in next week for more exciting questions and answers!
Love,
Pinkapotamus

Fairy Fun!

My daughter and I love fairies!  Since before we moved.. we had planned to decorate her room in fairies.  We picked out a pretty soft lavender for the walls and my mom found a great Fairy bedspread from Kohls.   (The flowers are from her bedroom when she was 2 and we just couldn't part with them since they are so cheerful!) 

Recently I decorated her room by painting a huge lifesize fairy across the wall above her bed.   It is literally 4 feet long!

I really wanted to glue a fairy wand to her hand and hang a heart from her other hand.. but my husband would NOT allow glue on his precious new walls!

I also added a cute fairy mirror to the wall so that she can imagine herself as a fairy.

She picked out all of the colors, including the wings and skirt!

It has become a tradition in our family that in each of the kids bedroom's I paint a mural for them.  They are lots of work soo much fun to do and the kids love them.  So far we have done a page from "Caterpillar Spring, Butterfly Summer" and a garden.   Next we are going to work on a huge pirate mural for the boys.. stay tuned!  I would love to hear what kind of bedrooms your kids have and what you have made to make them special!
I am linking this up to Today's Creative Blog @ http://todayscreativeblog.net/
and at Take a Look Tuesday @ http://craftedition.blogspot.com/
and at Sugar & Spice Link Party @ http://733blog.blogspot.com/2010/09/sugar-spice-weekly-link-party-25_22.html

Love,

Pinkapotamus

Refurbed Mirror

Recently I found a mirror at Christmas Tree shops that seemed like an interesting buy.  (It was purchased before my Stashbusting began!)  I brought it home and put it away. 

My neighbor recently had a baby and was looking for some things to decorate her nursery with.   The theme was blue and brown with polka dots and the only decoration that she had were letters that spell L-I-A-M

When I saw the letters I thought of the mirror that I had.  I told her that I would repaint it for her to match Liam's room.  Here is the mirror that I started with:

I was pretty sure that she did not want a pink mirror with a seashell!  So I took off the shell, primed the mirror and repainted it brown.  Then I painted circles of different sizes blue.   Finally I got the letters to spell Liam.  I painted them brown on the sides and blue on top to match the letters on the wall.  Lastly I glued everything on and this is what it looks like!

They loved it!  Hope you do too!

I linked this project to the before and after at The Girl Creative Chick Parade @ http://thegirlcreative.blogspot.com/2010/09/creative-chick-parade-day-five-before.html

and at The Sunday Showcase Party @ http://www.bystephanielynn.com/

and to Hoo's Got Talent @ http://nightowlcrafting.blogspot.com/ and to Thrilling Thursday @ http://paisleypassions.blogspot.com/2010/09/thrilling-thursday-linky-party_22.html

and to Show Your Stuff Party @ http://firefliesandjellybeans.blogspot.com/2010/09/show-off-your-stuff-party-46.html and to A Crafty Soiree @ http://www.katiesnestingspot.com/2010/09/crafty-soiree-4.html

and to Frogs and Snails link party @ http://733blog.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-are-little-boys-made-of-26.html

and to Make it Fantabulous @ http://mommaskindacrafty.blogspot.com/2010/09/make-it-fantabulous-4.html

and at Fabulous Friday Finds @ http://froufroudecor.blogspot.com/

Love,

Pinkapotamus

Souper Soup for Sunday!

Nothing could be finer than creamy soup at the diner!  Being from NJ diners are a staple of teenage life and beyond.  I can't tell you how many hours I spent drinking coffee, hanging with my friends and eating cheese fries with gravy. 

Now as an adult I love the diner for its soup.  It has saved me many nights of cooking, especially on Sunday when they have my favorite creamy turkey soup!

So here is my own version of Creamy Chicken Leek Soup that tastes just like it came from the diner!  And by the way.. once again.. it is not LOW FAT.. but atleast lower fat!

Ingredients

The Soup

4 Chicken breasts

1 onion

2 cups of baby carrots

4 stalks celery

3 leeks (cleaned really well so it doesn't taste sandy)

2 64oz cans of chicken broth

3 TBLS canola oil or olive oil

1 cup rice

salt and pepper to taste

The Rue (yes I have posted this before but it really versatile!)

1/4 stick butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups milk (your choice of % I use 2%)

salt and pepper to taste

I make the soup first so that it has time to simmer during the day.. the longer it simmers the better the flavors.  First heat the oil in a large pot.  Then chop the onion and saute, add a little salt. 

Once browned saute all of the vegetables. 

Pour in both cans of chicken broth.  Then add the chicken.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Let the soup come to a boil then turn the heat down to low and let it go!

About a half hour before you are ready to serve the soup add the rice and make the rue.

To make the rue, melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. 

Once the butter is melted add the flour and whisk. 

 Once the flour and butter are combined add all of the milk..

do NOT let the flour mixture burn!  Stir constantly until the milk comes to a boil.  Then add salt and pepper to taste, turn the heat down to low and simmer covered for 1/2 hour.   Stir occasionally. 

Once the rue is done add it to the soup and Viola!  You have a creamy soup that is buttery and thick without using cornstarch as a thickening agent. 

We like to be really bad about this soup and top it with a pat of butter and some fresh ground pepper!  Hope you enjoy this souper Sunday soup as much as we do!

I am linking this recipe up the the Creative Chick Parade @ http://thegirlcreative.blogspot.com/2010/09/creative-chick-parade-day-four-recipe.html
and at Show Off Your Stuff Party @ http://www.firefliesandjellybeans.blogspot.com/
and at All Thingz Related @ http://allthingzrelated.blogspot.com/
Love,

Pinkapotamus

Upcycled Magazine Holder

While searching for my glue guns last week (which I STILL have not found) I came upon a lucky discovery in my basement.  It was an old wood bucket that had some golf designs on it. 

Pretty ugly if you ask me.. but it got me thinking about what I could do with it.  

Then I had an "AHA" moment and realized that it would make a great magazine holder for the bathroom!  I hate when newspaper and magazines are piled on the hamper in the bathroom and this would be the perfect solution.  The bathroom is really small so anything that saves space is great!

I found some 40's inspired scrapbook paper in my stash and quickly got to work.. here is the before and after!

This is the holder after it had been painted black.

This is what it looked like as a finished product.

Now my poor husband is going to be forced to put up a shelf in the bathroom when he gets home so that we have a place to display the magazine holder...   I mean.. so that we have a place to store the newspapers and magazines!  Can't wait!
I linked this project to The Creative Chick parade @ http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/2010/09/creative-chick-parade-furniture-fix-up.html 
and to Upcycled Awesome #14 @ http://www.thetshirtdiaries.com/
and at Organize your Stuff @ http://organizeyourstuffnow.com/wordpress/
and at A Crafty Soiree @ http://www.katiesnestingspot.com/
and at Somewhat Simple @ http://www.somewhatsimple.com/
and at Thrilling Thursday @ http://www.paisleypassions.blogspot.com/
and to Ponytails and Fishscales @ http://pinkapotamus.blogspot.com/2010/09/upcycled-magazine-holder.html

Love,

Pinkapotamus

Mr. Pinkapotamus

Today I have to pay homage to my awesome husband.. Mr. Pinkapotamus!  Although if you ask Pastor Pam who married us.. he is technically Mrs. Pinkapotamus as she asked if I would take him to be MY lawfully wedded wife!

Here he is being super daddy!

He is awesome in sooo many ways.. here are just a few reasons why I love him:
1.  He makes me laugh everyday!
2.  He can fix and/or make ANYTHING!
3.  He knows atleast half of everything, which sometimes really comes in handy.
4.  He listens to me talk incessantly about my craft projects.
5.  He is a great Daddy!
6.  He knew that I was his even before I did (he always called me MY Amie)

Anyhow, today I have to thank him profusely for saving my crafting butt.. so to speak!  I recently had a customer purchase a step stool and a name plaque through my etsy site.  Both items were supposed to have trucks on them.  However, if anyone else shops in the unfinished wood department of the craft stores you too have noticed that the supply is slowly dwindling to nothing.  After days of searching for trucks for my project I came home empty handed.  I thought that I was going to have to refund some money.. but low and behold Super Hubby comes to the rescue.  He changed in a phone booth outside and popped back into the house with his cape and said, "I can make the trucks!" 

My Hero!

Then he proceeded to draw a quick picture of a truck and disappear into the basement.  After several tense minutes of angry buzzing from the bandsaw he appeared upstairs covered in sawdust triumphantly clutching four small wooden trucks!  He had saved my day! dadadumdum!

Here are what the trucks looked like after I painted them.

Here is what they looked like after they were embellished with several wood pieces that I had in my craft department.

Here is what the finished product looked like!

Yeah!  No refunds here.. just happy customers!  I think that I owe Mr. Pinkapotamus some serious kitchen love in the form of chocolate chip cookies.. his favorite! 
I am linking this up to Frogs and Snails link party @ http://733blog.blogspot.com/

Love,

Pinkapotamus