Joyful Abode

I love having a space where I can create… my sewing machine is always at the ready, my ribbons are at hand, and my fabric is readily available. My other craft materials are organized by category: yarn/crochet, adhesives, cutting tools, embroidery threads and needles, notions, art journaling accents, and so forth.

However, like every space, my craft area can most certainly be improved upon. So, I’m looking for inspiration! I traversed the internet searching for artisans, crafters, and other creative folks who were willing to show off their creative spaces to our world of readers here at Joyful Abode. Lo and behold, they answered my call!

So, for the month of February, I will be pleased to present a Creative Space each day, alongside my regular posts. Each post will highlight one person’s creative space, whether it is an entire guest house transformed into a workshop, a basement space, the unoccupied guest bedroom, or the coffee table in the living room. You will take a visual tour of the space, and learn about the creative person working within.

If you’d like to keep up with these inspiring features, you can subscribe to Joyful Abode using your favorite subscription application, or add the feed as a friend on Livejournal. If you’re interested in having your creative space featured on Joyful Abode, let me know by commenting here (and be sure to include your email address so I can get in touch).

So it’s winter, and the produce at the grocery store is looking kind of sketchy…

But you’re dreaming of spring, and you want something light for dinner.

Enter the recipe for “Skip to Spring” Pasta Salad

Start with about 3 cups of tri-color rotini. Throw it into a pot of boiling salted water, and let it cook.

Meanwhile, get out three cans: a can of tomatoes (I love when people call them “tinned tomatoes”), a can of artichoke hearts (not marinated, and a can of black olives.

I cut up my olives and artichoke hearts, but you can leave them whole if you prefer. Drain everything and put it into a bowl.

Now, drizzle a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over the ingredients. Then some garlic powder and basil or Italian seasonings. Sometimes I like balsamic vinegar too, but for this particular night, I left it out.

Now, your ingredients are melding flavors while your pasta finishes cooking. Drain the pasta and toss everything together.

It’s really good cold or hot (and topped with Parmesan cheese), and it’ll make you think Spring is already upon us.

Enjoy!

Please give a warm welcome to the newest members of the Joyful Abode family:

Stationery sets! It’s been in the works for a long time, and many, many doodles later… a huge order of paper and envelopes later, and lots of time spent digitally coloring and designing layouts later… I present to you unique stationery sets illustrated by Emily Chapelle (Yup, that’s my name! I decided to “come out” with it).

Each set includes 12 sheets of writing paper, 6 matching envelopes, and 12 matching stickers (perfect for sealing the envelopes or adding accents to your personal correspondence). These darling note sets will make perfect gifts for recent graduates (so they can keep in touch!), travelers, family, and friends.

These darling stationery sets will also help you keep your New Year’s Resolution to keep in touch with the people you love. Who could resist writing on such adorable paper? You can also rest easily knowing that the paper and envelopes are both made of recycled, 30% post-consumer paper, to help you keep your other resolution of going green (at least a little).

You’ll also be happy to know that I bought a scale and revisited my shipping prices. I had worked out a “flat rate” based on averages, and it was pretty dead-on. Unfortunately, I think it has been deterring people from purchasing less expensive, lighter items, and that’s the opposite of what I want!

I want all of my shop items to be accessible to everyone around the world. So I’m not longer offering flat-rate shipping in my shop. Instead, most of the shipping prices are lower than what they had been, but shipping for heavier items (Winter Warmth blankets) had to go up a little bit. I think this will be more fair to everyone. I hope you agree!

Mmm… does it get any better than this? Chewy cookies that are the perfect consistency for milk-dipping… Perfection!

I’m not a banana-eating person. I don’t like bananas at all. I can’t even stand the smell of bananas. I used to say that when I became a teacher, I would tell all of my students’ parents that I’m allergic to bananas (even though I’m not) and not to pack them in their kids’ lunches.

But bananas made into stuff? I love! Banana nut bread, banana pudding, banana candies, dried banana chips… delicious!

And these cookies delicious, too. I’m going to call them Curious George cookies, because when Curious George visited the chocolate factory, he got sick from eating so much chocolate. But I bet these cookies would be perfect for his little monkey tummy.

Recipe for Curious George cookies:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cream together:

• 1 cup white sugar (though I’m sure brown would be fantastic too)
• 1 cup butter

Stir in:

• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sift in:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Stir until blended, then add:

• 5 ripe bananas, mashed (I just cut mine into big chunks, and my KitchenAid mixer mashed them as it mixed)
• 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Stir until you feel like stopping.

Then, drop dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The cookies probably won’t look quite done when you take them out, and this is RIGHT… if they look done, they will not be deliciously chewy. So take them out when they still look slightly “wet” on top and let them cool on a wire rack. They’ll be perfect.

Craft: Magazine featured my Valentine brooch crochet pattern. Quite awesome.

Queen Lila posted pictures of some of the crocheted hearts she made from my pattern.

Giabella posted pictures of her package from the Joyful Abode shop… a vintage apron and a zipper pouch! I’m glad she was so excited she wanted to spread the news!

DIY Life linked to my jewelry storage solution, calling it brilliant and emphasizing that everything (bold, italicized) about it is wonderful.

Minxy Knits posted pictures of her gorgeous scarf made from my Solomon’s Knot Shawl pattern. Knitting Dragonflies wants to try out my shawl pattern, too.

Cut Out + Keep told everyone about my delicious Ranch Cheese Ball.

YumSugar shared delight in my Ritz cracker-chocolate-sandwiches.

Claverie Cruising thinks I have knitting patterns on my website, but I’ll forgive her because she put me in the same post as Pink of Perfection, whom I think is awesome.

Craft Enabled, Domestically Disabled posted a picture of her shelly scarf, which she made as a gift for a family member.

Etsy’s The Storque pointed out one of my apron listing pictures (taken by my awesome sister, edited and cropped by me) as an example of good photography.

Queen Lila made some jewelry organizers using materials she had laying around the house, inspired by my framed jewelry storage.

The Apronista has linked to my aprons twice recently. Thanks, ladies! I heart you!

Please let me know if you have seen anyone else linking to me lately! It tickles me.

One night, much to the dismay of the guy, who likes huge slabs of meat next to piles of starch… I was really in the mood for hors d’oeuvres. Call them what you will: appetizers, starters, or-dervs… I think they’re excellent. Little bites of yum, no matter what kind they are.

So I dug around the kitchen for a while until I came up with an idea. All of the ingredients are things we always try to have on hand (we stock up when they’re on sale):

• 1 package of imitation crab meat (krab)
• 1 package of bacon
• Ritz crackers
• cream cheese

Separate the chunks of imitation crab meat. If there are really big pieces, you may want to cut them in half.

Then, slice your bacon into thirds (so each piece is 1/3 of the length of a whole piece).

Tightly wrap each chunk of krab with a piece of bacon, and secure with a toothpick. The bacon is sort of stretchy, so it works out well.

Put your rolls onto a cooling rack IN a cookie sheet (so there’s space between the rack and the sheet for the grease to drip down). Place them in a cold oven, and set the temperature to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cook for half an hour, flip them if necessary, and cook for about another half an hour or until they’re as crispy as you like. The imitation crab meat is already cooked through when you buy it, so you’re just cooking the bacon.

While this is happening, grab some Ritz crackers and spread them with some cream cheese. Just a little will do; enough to “stick” the crab/bacon rolls and taste good.

When the crab rolls are finished cooking, set them on some paper towels to get any excess grease out. Then set them on top of the crackers and cheese.

Voila! Hors d’oeuvres, starters, appetizers… Crabettes!

PS if you save any bacon-wrapped crab pieces without putting them on crackers, they reheat very nicely in a toaster oven (on a baking sheet of course) on the broil setting.

Gini of modCustomJewelry is an army wife and an air traffic controller who loves to scuba dive, but she’s trapped in Missouri. Hence, the name of her shop, “Missouri Ocean Design” (mod). She loves making jewelry to help her escape her landlocked scuba-free zone.

ModCustomJewelry features a distinctive line of pendents, earrings, and other adornments.

I love the idea behind her interchangeable earring line. You buy the sterling silver leverback earring wires, and then you can choose from tons of “drops” that you can easily change for instant variation in your accessories.

Check her shop out on etsy.com!

A couple of months ago, when I was at the fabric store, I got sucked in by the flannel. I mean, I couldn’t get out of that aisle! There’s so much cute stuff in there. I ended up buying a ton of it to make baby blankets with.

I wanted my blankets to be really soft, warm, good quality items. So I knew I wanted the nicest batting I could find. I ended up getting “warm n natural” which is 100% unbleached cotton fiber, and very cozy-feeling. It was a lot more expensive than the poly battings, but much nicer. Also, I keep imagining polyester melting onto people’s skin… freaks me out. That’s why my student-aviator-husband has mostly cotton socks (I think 97% was the most cotton he could find in a boot sock). Anyway, the point is, cotton is good.

I also wanted my blankets to be unique, with an extra touch of character. I wanted them to be like something you’d find in a children’s boutique where everything is a hand-picked treasure. So, in came the hand-appliquéd accents in the corner.

Perfect.

Here’s the description of them on etsy:

My Winter Warmth baby blankets are handcrafted out of 100% cotton flannel and an inner layer of warm 100% cotton batting.
Each blanket has a hand-appliquéd accent in one corner, letting everyone know that your baby is special enough to snuggle under a lovingly handmade creation.

Winter Warmth blankets are approximately 30″ x 40″, making them the perfect size for car-seat cuddles, stroller snuggles, cozy cribs, and even naps at preschool. In fact, you may find that you’d like to keep one at school, one at home, and one in the car, for ultimate convenience.

I’ll be uploading more to the shop soon. Want to take a look?

If you like pumpkin desserts, you’ll love this quick and simple pumpkin pecan crumble. It’s sort of like a crustless pumpkin pie with a soft cake-y topping. You CAN spoon some onto your plate and eat it with a fork or spoon (with vanilla ice cream. Mmm), but It’s also great served as a dessert dip. Use gingersnaps or nilla wafers to scoop hunks of the pumpkin goodness, and enjoy the crumble with an extra crunch.

For this recipe, you will need:

• 1 package of Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Yellow Cake Mix
• 1 - 16oz. can of solid pack pumpkin
• 1 - 12oz. can of evaporated milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup nuts (chopped or whole, whatever kind you’d like)
• 1 cup melted butter

And this is all you have to do:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Mix together the pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Pour it into a greased 13 x 9 pan. Except that the last time I made it, I poured it into 2 9″ pie dishes.
3. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over the top of the pumpkin mixture.
4. Top with nuts and drizzle butter all over.
5. Bake 50-55 minutes.
6. Enjoy however you like it! Vanilla ice cream? Gingersnaps or Nilla wafers? How do you think it would be best enjoyed?

My camera didn’t feel like focusing on the nilla wafer with a scoop of pumpkin stuff on it… but that’s what I’m holding.

So, it doesn’t look terribly different from the living room my apartment in Columbia, SC or our row house in Pensacola, FL BUT I have to show off our new green wall. Whoever decided on the paint colors for this house chose them FOR ME. The green in the living room is perfect, as is the yellow of the kitchen and the pumpkin entryway. The office is a sort of goldish color that is wonderful too… but on to the Living/Dining room(s)!!!

Sorry for the blurriness. I think my camera wasn’t in the mood. (You needed to see the plane picture on the left side. haha.) The door to the right of the plane picture is our bedroom door.

Isn’t the green wall fantastic?

Annnd… the Pensacola Training Area Chart and a sectional chart… the joys of decor when you’re married to a student aviator! Also, our elliptical machine goes on that side of the couch, but we hid it because company was coming and it’s not pretty.

Across from the the couch and the pretty green wall is the entertainment center. This is the view of that side, including the pumpkin entryway, from the dining area.

The view of the dining area from in front of the laundry closet (which is to the right of our bedroom door).

And the view from the entryway, through the living room to the dining room, and the yellow kitchen beyond. The ceiling fan in here is really pretty, too.

I’m not even going to apologize about the number of pictures I just subjected you to… I love this house!