Fancy House Road

Inside FHR: House Hunting and Josephine Update

camberley — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 13:52:16 +0000

A new post has published to Fancy House Road

Dallan and I recently put an offer in on an older house here in Mesa. Now we are going back and forth with the seller on the results of the inspection – we’re hoping they will make a few fixes or come down in price a little bit. In the meantime, our minds keep on wandering. We’re planning out the details of our renovation (i.e. cabinet selections, flooring, drywall…), and anxiously waiting to get contractors in there so they can start giving us bids. Maybe someday the dreams in our heads will become a reality.

Instead of daydreaming about the possibility of things to come, I’m trying to fill my spare time with Josephine. She’s growing up quickly (I think I failed to mention that she recently turned 1). Now, she’s walking here and there, talking here and there, giggling, kissing, dancing, and jumping. At least, she thinks she’s jumping – her feet don’t really get off the ground.

Being a mom is wonderful.

The post Inside FHR: House Hunting and Josephine Update appeared first on Fancy House Road.

DIY: Puffy Heart Kids Craft

debbie — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 13:02:07 +0000

A new post has published to Fancy House Road

Valentine’s Day used to be the most exciting day of the year back in Elementary school. We passed out cards, received candy and even managed to get out of doing school work. As a person grows older though, it takes on a different meaning. Couples take a special day to recognize their love for each other, and single people go home and hate their lives…. but they don’t have to! If this is you, why don’t we take a small step backward, remember what it was like to be a kid on Valentine’s Day, and make a fun little craft. This adorable puffy heart craft is simple and entertaining to do with kids. You can hang them in your house or give them out to friends. Click below for the step-by-step instructions.

You’ll need:
• Scrapbooking paper
• Ribbon
• Scissors and glue sticks

Directions:

1. Place 6 pieces of construction paper together and fold them in half. Cut out half a heart along the seam. (You’ll end up with 6 identical hearts. If you cut them all at once, it may be a job for strong adult hands.)

2. With the hearts still folded, glue one half to the next half. (Don’t get any glue inside the folded hearts.)

(If you decide to write numbers on the back of each half to help your child, make sure that you use a writing utensil that doesn’t bleed through the paper.)

3. Before you glue the final heart half to the first one (to get the 3-D effect), lay a length of ribbon or yarn as close to the inner fold as you can. When the final heart half is glued down, the ribbon will be in the middle of the hearts.

4. Gently open out the hearts to arrange them evenly.

Helpful Tips:
• If you can, cut out all the hearts at once so they will be identical. Or — if they don’t match perfectly — trim them once they’re glued together. You can also trim hearts with scalloped edged scissors
• Experiment with colors. How about a pink, purple and white heart? Or make your puffy hearts using heart shaped doiles.

The post DIY: Puffy Heart Kids Craft appeared first on Fancy House Road.

Recipe: Valentine Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

camberley — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 21:12:02 +0000

A new post has published to Fancy House Road

I’ve gotten into that nasty baking rut again and have found myself only trying out a new recipe every two weeks or so – is there a way to buy more time in a day? With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I decided it was the perfect excuse to bake some Valentine themed cookies. Instead of making my favorite sugar cookie recipe (which I tend to make for Valentine’s Day and Easter), I decided to switch things up and make Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies. Follow the “Read More” jump for a list of ingredients and directions.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons buttermilk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon red food coloring

FOR CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
Red food coloring (optional)
Sprinkles (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time. Then beat in the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and red food coloring. Once combined, add the dry ingredients to wet. Mix until thoroughly combined.
Place dough in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes (this step is optional, it will just make the dough easier to work with)
Onto a parchment lined sheet tray, drop batter using a Tablespoon. (Note: the cookies will spread so space them apart)
Bake 8-10 minutes, until baked through. Cookies should be cake-like and light. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla, and one drop of red food coloring together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.
Spread the cream cheese frosting between 2 cooled cookies and roll the edges in sprinkles, if desired.

This recipe will make about 12-15 sandwiches.

*Recipe adapted from here.

The post Recipe: Valentine Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies appeared first on Fancy House Road.

DIY: Valentine Heartbreaker Cards

camberley — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 22:18:30 +0000

A new post has published to Fancy House Road

As Josephine grows bigger, our house grows smaller. That, or maybe Dallan and I have too many hobbies (i.e. Drums, piano, fish tank, craft room/office…). So, we’ve decided it’s time for us to pack up and move. Our recent house hunting adventures have taken twists and turns. Currently we have an offer in on a house, but it still needs to pass the home inspection (fingers crossed). If all goes as planned, we’ll be renovating an older home and moving in this spring. I’ll keep you posted.

Between house hunting and work, I found time to pull together a little Valentine’s card craft and download. Earlier this week, I came across a creative idea that I just had to copy for myself. To make these little “Heartbreaker” cards, just print up my downloadable hearts sayings download (link below), cut them up, staple them and shove some candy inside. You can hand these out at parties or make some with your kids to hand out at school. To get the candy out, your Valentine will just need to go breakin’ your heart.

MATERIALS:

Cardstock or paper
Stapler
Candy
Heartbreaker Download

DIRECTIONS:

Print up this Valentine-heartbreaker download.
Cut out the hearts.
Staple half of the way around the edge of the heart, then insert the candy.
Staple the remaining edge.

*Adapted from a craft on MADE

The post DIY: Valentine Heartbreaker Cards appeared first on Fancy House Road.

DIY: Muslin Bag Valentine’s Day Cards

camberley — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 17:42:56 +0000

A new post has published to Fancy House Road

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought it would be fun to repost some of our projects from last year. These muslin valentine’s day cards were one of my favorite DIYS. The beauty of iron-on paper is it allows you to customize sayings, names and artwork on your cards.

Move over Dallan, I have a new love in my life. Iron-On Transfer Paper. Who cares about the baby I’m birthing this week.

Since my recent Iron-On Transfer Paper purchase, I’ve been brainstorming DIY Valentine’s crafts. One of my ideas was to make small Valentine’s Day Cards from Muslin bags. So, I stopped by my friend Amazon.com and ordered up a Muslin bag storm. Everyone needs 100+ Muslin Bags in their craft supply closet, right?

Once the muslin bags arrived, I started playing around with different sayings I could print out (I couldn’t have done this step without Kiersten’s help. Thanks boobie!).

Click here to download your own printable Valentine’s Day sayings Note: they are about 2 inch x 1 inch in size, so they’re pretty small. Let me know if you’d like a different size and I’ll email it to you.

After designing the sayings, I printed them on Iron-On paper and got my ironing on. FYI: you need to print the pdf in reverse so the image is flipped when it’s printed on the paper.

For a complete list of materials and directions, visit our post over on Brides.com

No related posts.

The post DIY: Muslin Bag Valentine’s Day Cards appeared first on Fancy House Road.

My 2013 New Year’s Resolution

camberley — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 21:54:42 +0000

A new post has published to Fancy House Road

I spend late summer and fall romanticizing Christmas. I imagine cozy, rainy days, mugs filled with peppermint hot chocolate and marshmallows, snuggling under a blanket next to the Christmas tree, burning Christmas candles… Then, once the Christmas season gets here, I find that reality doesn’t live up to the picture I’ve painted in my head.

I don’t just do this with Christmas. I do it with almost every holiday. Maybe my expectations are too high? Or, maybe, I don’t take time to notice all of the little bits of joy going on around me?

I don’t typically set New Year’s Resolutions for myself- because I feel like we should be setting goals and working towards accomplishing them year round. However, this recent inner reflection has lead me to believe that I need to pause throughout the day and take note of the things going on around me. A slight breeze, sunlight, laughter… Instead of romanticizing the future, I need to live in the moment and enjoy it.

The post My 2013 New Year’s Resolution appeared first on Fancy House Road.