30 Monday Nov 2015
09 Monday Feb 2015
Posted in Decorating
Tags
craft, crafting, custom art, decor, dining room, DIY, gift idea, home decor, plaques, wall art, wine, wine label
Yesterday, I showed you my image transfer flop. This project has been in the works for years, and I’m so happy to finally have it done and up on the wall. I took photos of the project last night so the lighting was awful.
I created the wine labels using the a free online photo editor, Fotor. I had to resize them before I printed them onto off-white craft paper. On Saturday, I found the picture frame at Michael’s. It was on sale for 40% off the original price, and my teacher discount gave me an additional 15% off the sale price. 
Have you recently salvaged a flopped project?
XOXO,
Young Wifey
08 Sunday Feb 2015
Posted in Creating, Decorating
Tags
craft, custom art, decor, dining room, DIY, gift idea, home decor, plaques, wall art, wine, wine label
When Hubster and I first married, I sketched plans for custom wine labels. About 18 months ago, I purchased and painted the wooden plaques and designed/printed the labels. Unfortunately, this project has been on the back burner for well over a year.
Finally, I dusted off the plaques and my project resulted in a big FLOP! My images ended up slightly wrinkled and discolored. My paper started to shrink as soon as I put the Modpodge transfer medium on it. 😦
Don’t worry… I’m currently working on another fix.
See my completed wine label wall art here…
Have you had any project flops recently?
XOXO,
Young Wifey
22 Wednesday May 2013
Posted in Life
I love that our town flaunts its German heritage. Afterall, what fun is a town without Oktoberfest, Christkindl Market, and Mayfest? This past weekend, was a small winefest, which was part of a larger Mayfest. Our family & friends came to visit for the event as well. While Hubster & Pumpkin were not part of the winefest, they could eat and visit with us at the picnic tables. Our group purchased a few cheese platters which had an assortment of cheese, fruit, and 1/2 a baguette.
There were 9 Pennsylvania wineries participating, and each ticket holder received a commemorative wineglass. I went to 8/9 wineries since one is right down the road, and I’ve already visited it a few times. Usually I prefer dry and semi-dry white, but I’m very particular about the those wines. I surprised myself and drank quite a lot of sweet wines.
The employees at many of the wineries were genuinely friendly and seemed to be enjoying their day as well. While some were sweet and kind, some were really playful. I overheard this conversation at one winery’s tent:
“Wow, this is the classiest winefest I’ve ever been to.”
“Yeah, the people are really friendly and nice”
“And no one has fallen over drunk.”
“Or got arrested.”
“It’s quite a nice change of pace.”
Even though they had a wine check available, I wanted to keep my load light. I still had plenty of bottles at home. I did however buy multiples of my favorite ones My picks for the day?
Sandcastle Winery: Alpine Spice (which I always drink warm in the winter, but tried cold for the first time)
Bastress Mountain Winery: Autumn Blush, Jack Ass Red, and Group Therapy
Seven Mountains Wine Cellars: Tickled Pink
Armstrong Valley: Midnight Desire
Shade Mountain Vineyards: Six Dwarves Mint Wine (excellent mixed with iced tea)
In addition to wine, several of the wineries were selling trinkets and misc. foodie items. One winery was selling gourmet salsa, and unfortunately they sold out of the strawberry salsa before I made it to their tent. Another stand was selling locally made wine jelly, and I bought a jar of their delicious Blackberry Merlot.
The temperature was perfect and the company lovely. I look forward to attending the winefest in 2014.
To which spring event do you look forward?
02 Thursday Dec 2010
Posted in Creating, Entertaining, Holiday
Tags
beverage, beverage charm, Christmas, Christmas Dinner, Christmas party, cocktail charm, cocktail hour, cocktail party, craft, drink charm, food, frugal, Frugality, gift, gift giving, gift ideas, handmade, handmade gift, Holiday, holiday menu, holiday season, holiday traditions, homemade, homemade gift, hostess gift, party, party favor, party favors, personalized gifts, second day of Christmas, stemware, thank you gifts, vino, wine, wine charm, wine glass
On the second day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me her Wine Glass Charms and Glass Globe Ornaments…
Simple and elegant as a gift or party favors. Make them match your holiday decor and give them to guests to keep as party favors. Customize them with a monogram and give them as a gift to the wine lover. Create a festive set and bring them to a party as your hostess gift. Kids can help create this simple craft.
Wine Glass Charms
How To:
Select a charm and several beads, slide on hoop in desired pattern. Make sure each wine charm is unique to help guest easily recognize their glass. Place a bead of clear drying glue under the last bead to hold them on the hoop.
Approx. Cost of Project:
package of 10 hoops = $1, assorted beads = $2-4, 2 sets of charms = $5, you can make a set of 10 for under $10!
*If you’re hosting a holiday party, hand out wine charms at the beginning as a party favor. Set up a wine charm craft station; arrange little bowls of beads, charms and hoops, then your guest can each make their own wine charm.
Unfortunately all my stemware is in our storage unit, so I couldn’t model the charms in the picture. Remember to check out my blog tomorrow to see what gift idea I’ll be sharing.
2009’s Christmas Countdown – On the twelfth day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me, her chocolate Christmas fudgerecipe, chocolate bonbons, coconut clusters, cranberry almond bark, chocolate amaretto cherries, pecan turtles, raspberry chocolate truffles,gingerbread fudge, peppermint bark, dark chocolate peanut butter balls, cracked glass candy, and her peanut butter fudgerecipe…
17 Friday Sep 2010
Posted in Cooking
Tags
basil, chicken, chicken recipe, cooking with wine, dinner, food, meal, pasta, pasta dish, pasta recipe, penne, provolone, recipe, Red Cat, sweet wine, wine
This is known to Hubster as Red Cat Chicken Penne. Hubster is very picky when it comes to pasta, he either wants spaghetti & meatballs or spaghetti & meat sauce (and on occasion fettucine alfredo with chicken). He doesn’t like most sauces, or any vegetables on his pasta. He even complains about the pasta shape, telling me that farfalle (or as he says bow ties) doesn’t look as good as spaghetti. So, I was surprised at how much he enjoyed this dish and quickly got seconds before I had even eaten half!
Red Cat Chicken Penne
Ingredients:
12 chicken breast tenderloins, 3 Tbs. olive oil, 1 lb. package of penne, 2 c. Red Cat (or other sweet red wine), 4 medium tomatoes, 1 1/2 c. fresh basil (cut into thin strips), extra sharp provolone, 1/2 clove of garlic minced, fresh cracked black pepper, fresh ground sea salt, 2 Tbs. butter
Directions:
Cook penne according to package directions. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic. Add tenderloins and brown on each side, make sure center is no longer pink. Add 1/2 c. Red Cat and simmer 2 minutes. Remove chicken from pan. Add tomatoes, basil, pepper and salt to pan, cook until tomatoes are soft. Remove tomatoes and basil, toss with chicken. In pan, add remaining Red Cat and butter, stirring continuously. Loosen any food stuck on the bottom of the pan. Simmer and allow sauce to thicken. Place pasta in dish, top with chicken & tomatoes, sprinkle with provolone and pour sauce over pasta. Serve hot and enjoy!
Hubster wanted me to type this one, before I forgot how I made it.
13 Saturday Mar 2010
Posted in Creating, Decorating
Tags
destress, fine art, kitchen, landscape, painting, relax, relaxation, Tuscan, Tuscany, vineyard, wine
It’s a rainy Saturday morning and I finally had a moment to relax. No students, no rehearsal, no Hubster and no Pumpkin, just me in my quiet house…
Ahh… Then Hubster calls to see how my morning is going (2nd time today), and proceeds to give me a list of chorus he wants me to do today. Seriously? I ended the call and turned off my phone, I just need some time for me.
I pulled out a few canvases, my paints and brushes and began to relax. So I decided to paint a Tuscan Vineyard for my kitchen. We’ve been looking for paintings to go into the kitchen but haven’t exactly the right fit (with the large price tags, why would you settle?). We want our kitchen to give a Tuscan feel, yet that’s hard to accomplish without rust colors in your palette. Our kitchen has shades of brown, tan, blue and green. I didn’t have canvas that fits the space, so I made my painting on two panels. To keep it cohesive, I used packing tape to tape the frames together in the back of the frames. Two hours later, I’m not stressed (phone’s still off)… and I’m ready for a glass of wine.
My Tuscan Vineyard
Detail of my Tuscan Vineyard
I couldn’t get a good photo due to lack of natural sunlight today, but I just wanted to share it with you anyway.
How do you like my painting?
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