World's Easiest Key Lime Pie

Now this is not my recipe, but it's a recipe that's so easy to make that both my mom and I make it all the time. It's cold and refreshing and perfect for summer.

Here is the original recipe from the food network. All you need is a graham cracker crust, sweetened condensed milk, cool whip and limes. After making this pie a time or two, Mom and I have come up with a few tips on how to make it. First, combine the lime juice and condensed milk, then fold in the whipped topping. This makes it so much easier to get it all combined. I also like to add some lime zest right into the pie filling and sprinkle some on top of the pie too, for nice specks of green throughout. Then just pour into the crust and freeze.

This is a great treat for the summer and the perfect dessert for any picnic or barbeque. I hope you enjoy it (especially since it's so easy to make) and have a great summer!

8 weeks to a better me: Week Four

Week 4 is here. Wow, we are half way through this thing already. Last weeks goals came at the right time for me. It really helped me out with my workouts and I totally am feeling better/fitter!

Now this weeks goals are all about loving yourself. I consider myself pretty self-confident. But we do all have our moments. This week setting the goals has been the hardest for me, but here goes...

1. Get rid of clothes that doesn't fit/isn't me! I still have a bunch of clothes that just doesn't fit me. It also feels like that clothes is from another life. So it's time for it to get out and go to the Goodwill. I only want clothes that feels and looks like me and that makes me feel great.
2. Take a little time for me. I'm always juggling so much, I need to carve out time to just chill. I forsee a pedi for myself this week.
3. Accept all of me. When I was younger I hated having red hair. I was different and that was so not fun being called Strawberry Shortcake and Pippi Longstocking. Now that I'm older I know my red hair is one of the things that makes me unique and totally me. I have to accept all of me that way... my stomach pooch and all.

Kitchen Curtains

So to go with our pretty new kitchen (we just had new cabinets installed), grandma had been wanting a new curtain for the window. So we headed out to JoAnn's earlier in the week and found the perfect fabric. It has a beige background with veggies all over it. It totally compliments all of her kitchen accessories which have fruits and veggies on them too.

She had seen a curtain in the Anna's Linens flyer and wanted to copy the shape. It was cafe curtains at the bottom with a valance that was longer on the sides. I think it came out great. She even added some rick-rack along the edges, which gave it a perfect touch.

When we were getting the fabric, Grandma, in all her genius, decided to buy all of the fabric that they had (maybe about 4 yards). With the rest of the fabric she made a cute tablecloth for the little kitchen table. She trimmed it with rick-rack too. It looks so cute.

So what do you think of our kitchen curtains? I love home dec projects. They are so easy and quick to whip up. Our next project will probably be new curtains for my bedroom.

Grandma's fabric stash

I know almost every crafter I know has a stash, some small, but most of the times really big. I did a minor cleaning to my stash not too long ago, and it was so nice to be able to fit all of the fabric I had into one dressser.

This weekend I told my grandma I'd help her whittle down her huge fabric stash. we had some of the old cabinets from the kitchen put into the garage to hold all her fabrics. We just hadn't filled them up yet. After some breakfast, we go into the garage (which is her sewing space) and got down to business.

This mess of fabric on the floor is not even half of what she had. Since she made custom clothing for so many years there were tons of different kinds of fabrics. Satin, crepe, piques, poly blends, organzas, silks, tons of linings, and even some heavy duty cotton (from when she made scrubs). Since I make mostly aprons, wallets and pouches, I only have scraps that are less than a yard sometimes. But grandma had tons and tons of yardage. We found one cut of home dec fabric that was over 20 yards!

 

As she pulled out the fabric we had 4 piles: keep, trash, give to her sister and keep to make clothes for us. When we were done we filled up an entire pantry sized cabinet. We spent all day sorting and folding, but it was well worth it. We found so much stuff we didn't know we had in there. I found enough fabric to make myself 3 or 4 dresses. We also found tons of notions and a lot of lace. 

Anyone jealous of her stash? We're affectionately calling it "the store" now, cause we have almost enough fabric to open our own fabric store.

My new do

So after getting a coupon on Couptessa, I snagged myself a cut, treatment, style and blowdry for about $50. I wasn't looking for anything drastic, I just wanted to give my mop some shape and get it out of looking so blah.

I grabbed the first appointment of the day last Thursday, since I'd be going to Orlando later that afternoon. The fabulous Gus asked me what I wanted done, and he totally got what I wanted. He gave me tons of layers and thinned it out a little so it wouldn't get too poufy. Gus also suggested a side sweep to frame my face better. I love it. Plus, I still have plenty of length left, so I can do all of my crazy vintage hairstyles.

Here I am fresh out of the salon, all blow-dryed and fabulous.

And here it is curly, like I usually wear it:

I feel awesome with my new hair! It's so much lighter which always helps in the 90 degree plus weather, plus it looks so cute. Don't you love how a great new do makes you feel?

8 weeks to a better me: Week Three

Last week due to the Everglades being on fire and the smell of smoke in the air, I wasn't able to get on my bike. But I plan on getting a ride in tomorrow morning.

Now onto this weeks goals which are all about Healthy Eating. I've been trying to eat healthier to go along with my exercise. So this set of goals seems to be coming at a perfect time for me. So here goes...

1. Drink more water (at least 2 of my bottle-fuls a day)! I always seem to have problems with especially when I get home from work. At work I have a water cup next to me all day and am able to get through at least two 16oz. glasses a day. Now I have to keep it up at home.
2. Eat better breakfasts. I have to make time to get my breakfasts at home instead of on the way to work. I have much more healthful options here.
3. Have healthy snacks on hand. This is another big one. Grabbing chocolate when I need that snack at 3pm at work just won't do. I'll pick up fruit and nuts and other healthy things to keep at my desk.

I'm having a great time reading other people's goals and seeing how their 8 weeks are chugging along. So how are your goals going?

Orange-y Tunic Top

So here it is the top I made on Easter. I'm so happy I finally got around to making this.

I didn't make any alterations to the pattern. I used the smallest size, and though I thought the armholes would be too big, they weren't. I've learned to accept the fact that the ruching in the yoke is a mess. I'm loving the graphic print and the bright red-orange.

I'm always super intimidated when making clothing. I hem and haw and put it off forever. But next time I have to just jump in and do it. Once I get started it's always easier than what I had thought.

I plan on making a nice easy summer dress next, with help from Grandma. I'll have a details on the construction of that one, cause I want her to show me how to make it from scratch. (EEK!)

So what do you think of the top?

8 weeks to a better me: Week Two

It's time again for the week's goals. I'm so glad I got my 3 posts in last week. I hope to be able to keep that up from now on. So let's move on to this weeks goals, which are about fitness.

1. Workout at least 5 days this week. The Friday-Sunday time span is always hard for me.
2. Get some more workout clothes! I'm in dire need of them. I've started working out more, and I just need more clothes to wear to do this.
3. Ride my bike this week. I've had it since Christmas, but have barely ridden it. I think I may take it for a spin on Tuesday night before it gets dark.

Art Rock 2011

This year I attended Art Rock, which is another great show put on by Amanda of Stitch Rock. Now this show is more geared towards artists, so designed by Diana really didn't fit the bill. But I convinced (okay maybe strong-armed is a better word) my friend and awesome artist, Eddie Beis, to apply.

setting up the table

This was Eddie's first show, but I told him there was no need to worry, I'd help him every step of the way. So after weeks of back and forth emails, he was finally ready-ish. He had some prints and stickers and some original pieces too. Plus he was doing custom stickers and drawings while you waited.

 working on a custom piece at the show

After I got there with the tablecloths, we set up the table and got ready for the doors to open. I walked around to say hi to some of my crafty friends, then came back to help Ed at his table. Lots of people came by and talked to Ed about his art. He even talked to some aspiring artists and gave them some tips. So many people had such great things to say about his art. It was awesome to see all of the people interested. He got one person who wanted a commission and another that wanted a drawing on the spot. It was awesome.

I'm so glad Eddie got to do this show. I know next year he'll do even better. This was my first time at Art Rock and it was so great to see all the awesome art that comes from local people. 

Sweetness Bake Shop & Cafe

A little over a year ago, Sweetness Bake Shop & Cafe opened its doors just around the corner from my house. I noticed the cute little bakery and planned last year's Etsy party there. And from my first taste of their cupcakes, I was hooked. Sweetness is a true family business with a whole family working together to make all of the delicious sugary sweets.

Cinn City Cupcakes

When you walk into the Sweetness you get a look at the day's cupcakes, but at the Sweetness it's not just your run-of-the-mill cupcake flavors. They have 5 house flavors that appear every day: Thrilla in Vanilla (vanilla with vanilla buttercream), Chocolate Cubed (chocolate cake with chocolate chips and chocolate buttercream), Red Velvet (with cream cheese frosting), Guayabera (guava cake with guava maramalade and cream cheese frosting) and Oreo Overload (oreo cake with oreo buttercream). Each day you also get 3 special flavors which are always rotating and on special days are even themed. I was there on Cinco de Mayo, so they had Tequila Sunrise (with real tequila), Margarita cupcakes (also spiked with booze), Cinn City and Churros con Chocolate. Just follow them on twitter or facebook to find out the day's flavors. The cupcakes are all amazing, plus they are mini-sized, so you can try more than one flavor without getting sugar overload. And at about a dollar a piece, you can't beat that.

Margarita Cupcake

But Sweetness isn't just all about the cupcakes. They also have dessert shots (black forest cake is my favorite!), cakes, pies, cheesecakes, pretty much anything you can think of, but they all have that Sweetness slant on it. And the G.O.A.T. cookies are just insane! G.O.A.T. stands for greatest of all time, and that is the truth. They are chocolate chip cookies on the outside and have a gooey, fudgy center. So freaking good!

Sweetness also has a food truck called the Sugar Rush. Though I haven't visited the Sugar Rush yet, they are stocked with the best of the Sweetness and some truck-only specials like deep fried cupcakes and cake and shake milkshakes.

I couldn't help it... I had to eat one!

Besides the fact that they make all sorts of deliciousness, the best part of the Sweetness is the people. They are just so nice and really get to know you. It's great in a big city like Miami to have that mom-and-pop shop feeling when you go somewhere. They are also super supportive of Handmade Miami, and we've had a few workshops and crafter-noons there. We will also be holding the Etsy Craft Party and Handmade Miami 1st Anniversary at the Sweetness on June 10th.


If you are ever in Miami, I totally recommend hitting up the Sweetness. It's not in the glitzy touristy areas like South Beach or the Design District, but you'll get to see what the locals really love. And taste the delicious sweet treats that they have in store for you!

Appreciating the Miami Heat

And I'm not just talking about our fabulous basketball team that just won game 2 of their series against the Celtics! White Hot HEAT! (Sorry for all you haters... hehe)

I'm talking about the actual heat outside, which right now is 86 degrees, but feels like so much more. It's pretty much officially been summer here for at least about 3 weeks now. Going out to lunch is a struggle of heat and trying not to sweat to death before getting back into the car.

But I did have a stroke of luck today. Being a natural redhead, the sun and I are not good friends. Last summer I lost my beloved straw hat that I use for the pool, beach or really anything that involves being outside. Well I just found a great new replacement! Do you like it? I def need this for my hanging at the pool this weekend, which is what my mom wants to do for Mother's Day on Sunday. Plus it's pretty plain, which means I can jazz it up with some DIY flowers or even a cool fabric band to match every outfit.

Now this fabulous hat has to be one way that I can appreciate the Miami sun and heat. Cause wearing something like this in the midwest just might be a bit odd, but poolside, looks just right.

8 weeks to a better me: Week One

I've become a sucker for joining these blog along things, but this one sounds like a good one. It's from one of my favorite blogs, Sometimes Sweet. Each week has a theme and then you set 3 small goals about that topics that you will complete this week. This week's theme is:


So here are this week's:
1. Blog at least 3 times this week.
2. Review/interview a local business.
3. Blog about the little moments.