FAMILY PHOTO BOOK

Vintage Photo books

I first saw this idea on Studio 5 television show sometime in 2009. I tried to find who the guest was, but their project records do not go back that far. If you know who showed this, I would love to credit them.

I started by decideing on my theme, and then looking for an old/antique book. My first book is family pictures, from the beginning to... There is always room to add a current or out of order pic.
I used an antique dictionary. These are some of the books I'v collected for albums. (Themes-baby pictures, travel pictures, wedding pictures) I use lots of vintage relative photos. Baby and wedding pictures from the grandparents, the great grandparents, whatever I can get. Copies only.

I picked the colours that I wanted and collected scrapbook papers, ribbons, tags and more.
Do you collect little things? Findings, tags, buckles, charms? Here are a few ideas. I love little old metal pieces. (I get a lot of mine from Mike's drawers @ the local antique shows.)
I used a piece of door hardware for the front of this book. I adhere pieces with E600 or Gorilla super glue.I put my pictures in the order that I wanted them in the book. I back them with scrapbook papers and use tags for dates, etc. Because I want the book to still lay flat and to close nicely, I keep my pictures simple. I do not want to add bulk.
I then set in my picture/pictures with 10-20 dictionary pages between them. After all the pictures are set in, I adhere them to the pages.
One nice thing about this book is that if you find a new picture, there is space to put it in. For this book, I added tabs with the year on each picture page.
The vintage and antique books are rarely acid-free so I put my books together with colour copies or extra/duplicate prints.




I wanted some bookmarks, so I used ribbon, a locket, lock and key, button... You know, more stuff.

I love the hunt for the old book, finding the pictures and pieces and putting it together. A fun and easy project.

I linked up to

http://todayscreativeblog.blogspot.com

http://theherberfamily.blogspot.com
http://makingtheworldcuter.blogspot.com/ and
http://thegirlcreative.blogspot.com/

FREE ZOO DAY! AN EASY RECIPE FOR DESSERT

14 February - 21 February, 2010


"It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare." Mark Twain

#1 I am happy that our church schedule allows me to watch, "Music and the Spoken Word". I enjoyed it this morning. The message is titles, "The Untold Olympic Stories", and is program # 4197. You can read it here. The thoughts expressed how I feel. http://www.musicandthespokenword.com/


(Journal entry- When I was a child/teen/young adult, the OSCARS were a big deal to me. I wanted to act. On stage. (Doug told me when we got married that if I ever needed to go to N.Y. and try, that he would come with me and watch any children. He must have known me better than me.) For many years my dad and I had a date to watch the "Academy Awards" together. It was a big deal. As the oldest of 10, this was OUR thing. (We went to plays together, too) I moved to Utah after I got married. After the Oscars on Monday night, I would still call my dad. We would discuss the jokes, music, winners... The year after dad died (1988) Richard called me after the awards. That meant a lot to me. I suppose I watched them a few more years. More of the movies nominated were R rated. The humour and people were less appropriate... One year as a winner spoke I realized that so much was heaped upon dubious talents. Unrecognized were teachers, policemen, firemen, parents who got up daily and went to work for a family and stayed home to love and raise a family... And I did not watch the Oscars again. end of journal entry) I try to see value in people based more on morals, kindness, service and... (I do still enjoy the Olympics, which leads to


#2 Doug rubbed my back for almost an hour while he (I fell asleep) watched the Olympics.


#3 Hilary had a B I G project this week. She did an activity and lesson and treat for 60+ young women with special needs and their youth counselors and other leaders. She did a great job. A kind man in our ward cut all of her blocks of wood. She took some amazing pictures of the Draper temple . (She took 120 pictures with 5 different views and only had these 2 left.) She made many batches of brownies and white chocolate hearts. Great job, Hilary.



#4 I finished a little project that has been waiting since Sept. In my defense, I was not sure where I was going to put it. I ended up just doing the tile route. #5 HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID. (His birthday was on 12 February. He really got slighted with Olympics, Valentine's Day, a migraine (mine). Anyway, today is his birthday dinner. We love you, David. We are thankful to have you in our family.

#6 I love the birds. They are back to eating from my bird feeder. And I am starting to hear them again. I love spring.

#7 (This is a sad post, but it ends well.) I was invited to lunch on Thursday with some friends that also love antiques. I was SO excited. (Actually, SO SO SO excited.) I arranged other drivers for all my carpools. Leslie said she would have Layne spend the day with her and Annie. I had everything packed for my first scout meeting. (So I could drive straight there.) On Wednesday I called to find out what I could bring, and found out the lunch was on TUESDAY!!! I had missed it. :*^( Does that look like a tear?) The good part is that Leslie had just brought home the last Michael Crighton book from the library, so I read for a little while. ((I also had no carpools and was home alone.) I do enjoy reading.

#8 I have been wanting to do a tutorial. Well, I am going to do one this week. Well, not exactly a tutorial, but I will show you the idea and what I've done. (Planning my blog makes me happy. I love the comments on recipes. It makes me keep experimenting.) I will post my project Monday p.m. or Tuesday a.m.

#9 I tried some new recipes this week. I tried 3 new breads. I changed one that I have made before. And I tried a new crockpot recipe that made me happy. This weeks big hit is Dulce de Leche. Somewhere in blogland there was a reference to it, so I went to one of my crockpot sources. A year of slow cooking. She gave the instructions-and warnings. And I made it. It was super.

First, the warnings. Apparently this could be dangerous. Perhaps the can could explode. Some food manufacters say, "Don't try this at home". I decided to live dangerously. And I am glad. I hope these warnings will absolve me if there are problems.

Now for the recipe

Dulce de Leche

recipe (and info) from http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/03/dulce-de-leche-crockpot-recipe.html

1 can of sweetened condensed milk - NOT evaporated. NOT fat-free.

I put the can on a paper towel, folded in 4ths, in my 2-2.5 qt. crockpot. (Some people mentioned that the bottom of the can rusted their crockpot. This prevented that.)

Fill it with water to cover the can completely.
Cook on low for 10 hours. Check to make sure it stays covered in water. (Mine never lost water.) You can pull out the label when it floats off. Carefully remove hot can from water. Wait as long as you can (as it cools) to open. Prepare to be amazed. It will be a beautiful golden brown. It was caramely (but not too much) toffyish (a bit) sweet and thick. It was good. How did I use it?
A I put some on top of one of Hilary's left-over brownies, with ice cream, for Doug.

B I swirled some in a piece of David's left-over chocolate birthday cake.

C Dipped apple slices.

D Ate a (small) bite off a spoon

More ideas include as a filling for crepes or cream puffs, as am ice cream topping, swirled into prepared brownie mix before baking, or as a frosting.

This was a fun recipe to try.

#10 Saturday was Ashley's family's shower. It was fun to meet more of her family.

As I have thought about my 2010 theme ("More Holiness Give Me" hymn 131)) this month, I have learned to love the word choices that P.P.Bliss uses. I daily think of the line, "More freedom from earthstains.". How greatful I am to be able to make choices.

Thank-you, Emily for making omelets every morning last week.

Wednesday, 24 February, is the last free zoo day @ Hogle Zoo (Salt lake City, Ut.) until next winter. The gates for entry are open from 9:oo-4:oo. The zoo is open from 9:oo-5:30. The weather is on it's way to warmer this week, but there will probably be rain. It is a playdate we enjoy. You can take lunches in with you. Just ask if you want directions. We will be there.

New Easy Soup Recipe

Today's recipe is one I have wanted to try for awhile and liked even longer. This is the soup recipe that Kristin always brings to the family soup dinners/parties. It comes from a cookbook that I already have. On Saturday I made the "Vegetable cheese chowder" from "Christmas Recipes From The Lion House". The Lion House is a local Salt Lake resturant.
I cut the recipe in 1/2 (which is how I have written it.) Also, I have written how I changed it for my family.

Vegetable Cheese Chowder
from Christmas Recipes From The Lion House cookbook via Kristin Homer (I adapted it slightly)

2 cups cubed potatoes
1 cup diced carrots (! used 1 1/2 cups course grated carrots-see note)
1 cup chopped celery (Not for us. Leslie hates celery. See note.)
1/4 cup chopped onion (Sorry, Mark)
1 tea. salt
2 cups water
frozen broccoli florets
1 1/2 table. chicken base
1 3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup margarine (I used 2 table.)
1/4 cup flour
1 teas. dry mustard
1/2 lb. procressed American cheese (I used 8 slices-UNWRAPPED)

Cook in soup pot until tender, potatoes, carrots, (celery if desired), onion, salt and water

Add and simmer about 5 mins. frozen broccoli, chicken base, margarine and 3/4 cup of milk

In shaker jar mix remaining 1 cup of milk, 1/4 cup flour and dry mustard. Shake well and add to soup. Stir until thickened. It does not take very long.

Stir in until melted 8 -10 slices of cheese.

Notes-I almost always use coursely grated carrots in recipes. (And I add them A LOT to recipes that do not call for carrots.) I buy them already grated at most grocery stores.
If you help in the kitchen, I will try to adapt my recipes for you.hence no celery. If I leave it out I add more potatoes and carrots in this case,
I did not add the broccoli to the soup. (Doug) I cooked it and served it at the side.
Results-Big hit. Doug loved it. Leslie loved it. Hilary loved it and took the left-overs for lunch. One thing I liked about this recipe is that American cheese is lower in fat (and portion controlled). I bet I could serve the cheese at the side and just add my own slice to my bowl of hot soup. hmmm.

I made the white bread from the "Kneadlessly Simple" (by Nancy Baggett) bread book yesterday. It worked much better this time. (The first time I made it I had a migraine and went to bed early. A daughter cooked it for me. She told me she forgot to lower the pre-heat temperature. Maybe this caused my problem?) Anyway, the white bread was enjoyed. Today I am baking the everyday oatmeal raisin honey bread. We really liked the flavour of the oatmeal raisin bread. I used golden raisins. The bread cuts better the 2nd day. On Thursday I started my pizza dough for pizza on Friday. I still have this library book for 2 more weeks.

The no-knead method is a 2 day process. (I love it. There is alot of freedom for baking the bread and you do not knead to be home during the whole process.) OOn day 1 you assemble your bread. On day 2 you shape and bake. (I have put this book on my list to buy. Harder since I am trying to live with my budgeted cash. A side note-My cash plan works well with this Sandy, Ut discovery that 2 gas stations here have had problems with debit/credit cards. A bad guy/guys found a way to get card #s from the pump machines.)

REMEMBER TODAY(TUESDAY) IS PANCAKE TUESDAY!

Celebrate the Olympics!

The Olympics are big at our house. (I'm SURE I mentioned that before.)

My favourite Olympic tradition is the hanging of the rings in the front window. We have hung them over 15 times. (This is my 3rd set.) I use hula hoops and coloured electrical tape. I can get most colours at the $ store. Sometimes I can even get the hula hoops there. I put the rings together with clear packing tape. When we take them down, I cut the tape and store the hoops in a garbage bag, hanging in the garage. Thank-you, Mark for hanging them for me this year. (Usually David does it for me.) Usually we have Super Nachos for the Opening Ceremonies. I put the toppings in large, low clear glass dishes. (pie size) Top row-l to r-blue sour cream, black sliced olives, tomatoes. Bottom row-cheese, green onions. (I also serve nacho cheese, ground beef, tortillas, tortilla chips, lettuce, refried beans, my cafe' rio dressing, black beans...)

Unfortunately, this year Mark requested them for Super Bowl Sunday.

We also try to have meals from different countries through out the events.

Don't forget mini flags. They are fun and cheap.

The running of the torch is a fun game-or easy dessert. We just use the pointed sugar cones and vanilla ice cream. To give it the "flame" we use sugar sprinkles or coloured sugar. You can get sprinkles at most $ stores. We did not have yellow so we just made some. (Put some sugar in a plastic container with a drop of food coloring. Let the kids shake away.) We roll it in coloured sugars and sprinkle the sprinkles.

(For a game, don't fill the cone. Get a red/orange light weight tennis size ball and let kids try to pass it from cone to cone-with no hands. (You can make cones with paper, but why?) You could also get the effect with a cupcake set or cooked in a flat bottomed cone. (These can be made ahead if time is an issue.)

My kids always loved Jello Jigglers and cookie cutters. We made the rings with the 5 Olympic ring colours. (For black we used grape.) I used 1 large box of Jello and 1 1/4 cup boiling water. I had my colours set up in my TUPPERWAVE so I could stack them in the fridge. Layne and I used a mixing bowl with a rim to cut out our circles. (Layne liked pulling the edges away.) (And eating them.) We loosened the circles with a spatula and set them up on our Olympic Flag. (O.K. It is really a lid from a container that we washed, well. Layne was happy there were lots of edges.
If you have younger children, you may want to watch for Gold medal behavior. On the evening of the Closing Ceremonies, have your owm Medal Awards. Make medals easily with gold coins, ribbon and a glue gun.

Spend some time with a map or globe and look at where the athletes are from.

Talk about the oaths. This is taken by one athlete and one judge at the Opening Ceremonies. It is taken on behalf of all the athletes and judges. (Integrity and fair play)

The Paralympics are held this month, also. It provides a chance to discuss disabilities, capabilities and perseverance.

For a movie activity consider MIRACLE, CHARIOTS OF FIRE, COOL RUNNINGS, THE CUTTING EDGE, ROWING THROUGH, ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER, THE FIRST OLYMPICS:Athens 1896 (TV), JIM THORPE-ALL AMERICAN are a few.

And don't forget the music. There are many Olympic cds. I love John Williams' music, and the Utah schools Olympic music.

Emily had her students make their own "pins" that they will trade for "pin trading" day.

Please post your Olympic ideas in the comment area of the most recent post. Have fun with the Olympics and your family.

linked to http://todayscreativeblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/get-your-craft-on_16.html

WHY I BLOG!

7 February - 14 February, 2010

"A man is only as happy as he decides he is going to be." Abraham Lincoln

#1 Emily did my carpool. Again. Thank-you, Emily.

#2 I had a nice lunch and afternoon with Anne. We went to Olive Garden. She gave me Susan Boyle's cd for my birthday. It is a nice cd. Thank-you, Anne.

#3 Play date made me happy. We had fun at Pirate Island. Thank-you, Lindsay for posting it on my blog.

#4 I got a new church calling. I am an assistant cub scout leader with Jean. I like Jean and enjoy working with her. And scouts? I will have fun.

#5 Olympics make me happy. Mark got my rings put up in time for the Opening Ceremony. (Thank-you, Mark.) I am going to post some Olympic ideas (with pictures) on Tuesday. Come see how you can celebrate.

#6 Valentine's Day (well, really Feb. until Valentine's Day) makes me happy. We always have a family dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's house, and exchange Valentines with our cousins. It is always fun and a bit WILD. I made the Oreo lollypops (I told you I was going to.) It took about 2 hours and 5 bags of the white chocolate (which I got on sale after Christmas-knowing that I was doing this :^) Elana and Hilary and Layne helped. It was fun. Emily and Lincoln went the cheesy route-with string cheese. Hilary and Leslie did sleeves of donuts. Layne made "you da bomb" valentines with lollypops. Logan told his valentines that they were not "airheads". Grandma did a Mexican taco/salad bar. This is a fun tradition and I was sad to miss it. ( I started with a headache that by night progressed to a terrible migraine.)

#7 I love my valentine from Doug. It is a sailor's valentine shell box from the 1800s. (Thank-you, Paula for giving him (me) such a great deal on the box ;^) He (me) does such a good job finding antique or vintage valentines for me each year. He must use a "personal shopper" (me ;^) I took some pictures of a couple he has gotten me. (Debbie did not get it (and she even knew) so I thought I better clarify. I find a valentine I love and I get it for him to get for me. That is why we are both pleased with my valentine :*)

The first one

Honeycomb ones

Celluloid ones

mid 1800s one-hand-made and written message fringed ones

my new sailor's valentine shell box

#8 I am so happy to have Doug. There are many reasons, but today's #8 is because he spent some hours on Saturday working on blog stuff for me. Thank-you. Thank-you Lindsay for always putting my pictures on. Thank-you Hilary for helping with my blog.

Blog rambles- I started my blog as I noticed some people with challenges and how their attitude affected how they lived their life. One family was negative. One family was positive. This week as I was visiting blogs, I visited 2 opposite ones. One was negative and self centred. I decided not to visit her anymore. The other showed pictures of her "day". "I may look like I have it all together", she said. "But sometimes my life is like this..." Then she posted pics of a child in a diaper-and shoes. Toys on the floor. Dishes in the sink. Her in jammies all day. You know, the real life stuff. I started blogging to draw attention to finding joy and gratitude. My blog is evolving-which is fun. Blogging has encouraged me to try new recipes, finish projects and see happiness in small things. My intention is never to make someone feel bad about their life or make mine seem perfect. It is not. I am happy with it, though. (Migraines make me emotional. Sorry.)
Thank-you for visiting my blog and sharing your comments with me.

#9 I had a fun cooking week. Well, most of it. I tried 4 new soup recipes. 2 made the cut. (I will post the recipe this week.) My bread from "Kneadlessly Simple" failed. I'll try it again tomorrow. I am trying a new crockpot recipe today. IF it is good, I will post it this week.

#10 A new season of "Amazing Race" started. We have not watched it, yet, but our family enjoys watching it together. We have contests (pick teams) and meals and fun ("Are you a candlelabra?")


Tomorrow (Tuesday) I will post some Olympic ideas.


Wednesday or Thursday I will post another soup recipe. Come visit again and leave a comment.

PIRATE ISLAND PLAY DATE

On Thursday we went to Provo/Orem for a fun play date at Pirate Island. They have a nice lunch menu with all items $5.99 (includes drink). We had fun. Lindsay wrote about it on her blog, so I asked to do a "guest post " and put it on my blog. Thank-you, Lindsay.

Today for playdate we decided to go down to Orem to Pirate Island. It is a restaurant that is all decked out in Pirate stuff. It reminds me of the Pirates of the Carribean ride at Disneyland. Not as good, but as good as we are going to get in Utah. The kids had lots of fun, although Logan was terrified when it would thunder and lightning inside the restaurant. And at any little noise that was out of the ordinary. I am not sure why he was such a scaredy cat. He is not usually like that. We can't wait to go again though. If you go on a Wednesday at 11:00 they have a pirate who reads a story to the kids and they get little goody bags. It is also very reasonable priced. We will for sure be going again!



The kids with their pirate hats on!



David and Logan playing a game.

Logan watching the cannons shoot off.

At the entrance they have a really cool fountain with a skeleton and gold. And of course I only got the back of Logan's head because he needed to keep an eye on the skeleton.