Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Ashley over at Ramblings and Photos hosts a photo scavenger hunt every Sunday.  I'm really trying to get a feel for my fancy camera and learn my photo editing software and I figured this would be an excellent way to do it. This week's categories are: Pink, Books, Fall Colors, Leaf, and Orange. Here is what I came up with....

1. Pink

2. Books

 

3. Fall Colors - Since the call colors in AK are already gone and snow is on the ground I had to pull this one from my photo stash.  I took this one a while back when the leaves were still on the trees.

 

4. Leaf - This is a picture of one of the "leaves" on the family tree that I made.

 

5. Orange

 

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

It's October which means it's time for all things PUMPKIN! I found this recipe the other day on the food network website and I have to say I'm extremely pleased with it.  If you are one of those people (I am) who like a cake like cookie this is for you.  The recipe says that it yields 6 dozen; however,  I don't think I got that many.  Honestly I'm not entirely sure how many I got because my husband kept eating them.

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter


• 1 cup sugar


• 1 cup cooked, pureed pumpkin (fresh or canned)


• 1 egg


• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


• 2 cups unbleached allpurpose flour


• 1 teaspoon baking powder


• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1 teaspoon cinnamon


• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg


• 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped (I omitted these...)


• 1 cup raisins ( ...and these)

Icing:

• 2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar


• 1/4 cup butter, softened


• 1 teaspoon vanilla


• 3 tablespoons whipping cream, fresh orange juice or rum

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla and mix well. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir into butter mixture until well blended. Add nuts and raisins. Drop by teaspoonful onto parchment covered baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake about 15 minutes, or until golden. Cool.

 Icing: Cream confectioner's sugar and butter. Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth. (If icing is too thin, add more confectioner's sugar; if too thick, add more cream, orange juice or rum.) Drizzle over cookies.

Enjoy!

 

Fall in Fairbanks & iPhone App

Like I've said a few times already fall is definitely here.  However, the past few days have unbelievably gorgeous.  Its been 65 degrees during the day and beautiful clear skies.  We have had amazing views of the Alaska Range all week.  Yesterday I finally remembered to bring my camera with me and of course they were a bit hazy.  I did mange to get a few pics.  Not my best, but they will do:~)

 

 

Another perk, as if the beautiful weather isn't enough, is the star-gazing we have been able to do.  It really has been incredible.  And since dark usually equates to extreme cold in AK we are taking advantage.  The other night while we were outside my hubby downloaded the StarWalk app for his iPhone. Its a pretty cool app that allows you to literally walk among the constellations.  There is one available for the iPhone and iPad.  For the iPhone it is only $2.99. I highly recommend it:~)

 

http://vitotechnology.com/star-walk.html

 

Photo Gallery: Updated

We had a great weekend 4-wheeling and camping.  The weather was perfect and the sky was so clear.  We saw the Milky Way, quite a few shooting stars, more satellites than we could keep track of, and the northern lights.  I also tried grouse for the first time.  Tasty but they are tiny little buggers, you'd have to eat 10 just to get full.  Hopefully the weather holds out and we can get one last trip this coming weekend. 

But for now its back to the normal routine...school, housework, and projects.  I have a few projects I'll be working on this week. However, I don't have anything ready for today. But in the mean time, I have gotten a few good shots over the past few weeks and I have finally had a chance to add them to my Photo Gallery, so check 'em out:~) Here are a few...

 

 

 

Tutorial: No Sew Fabric Rosette Broach

It's official, fall has finally arrived in the Alaskan interior.  The leaves are yellow and covering the ground.  The temperature has been consistently below 60 degrees and its been raining a lot.

The upside to all of this is that it's time for the cardigans that I love oh so much! I'm especially digging the ones I've been seeing in stores these days.

My closet is already full of cardigans, but they are all rather plain Jane.  So my wheels started turning...why not just spice them up a little? Armed with inspiration I set out to remedy this "situation".

 

Fabric Rosette Broach

What you will need:

6 - 1" strips of fabric of varying lengths

1 piece of felt (about 10x10) cut in half

2 safety pins

hot glue gun

1. Start by creating your rosettes.  Make a few different sizes.

**Little Birdie Secrets has a fantastic tutorial**

 

2. Place your newly created rosettes on one piece of the felt. I like to lay them out the way I'll be gluing them down.

3. Glue them down using your hot glue gun.

 

4. Cut away the excess felt with some scissors.

5. The other piece of felt is used to add stability to your broach.  Cut two sets of small holes in the second piece of felt so that the back of your safety pins will slide through like the image below.

6. Glue your second piece of felt to the back of your broach (safety pins facing out) and cut away the excess.  Take care not to accidentally glue the safety pins down as they need to move freely for pinning ease. 

And WA LA now you have a super cute broach!

  


I intend to add a little spice to the rest of my cardigans and already have plenty of ideas up my tiny sweater sleeves:~)