This week, Too Cute Tuesday had it's final installment of 'The Month of Giving...To Ourselves.' As the author of this blog, I got to go last. And the party lasted until 10 last night, hence posting TCT on Wednesday!
Originally I had an entirely different plan for my free labor but then, the Universe intervened. A few days ago, my neighbors had put out a bookcase in their driveway.
"You should totally take it." my friend Sean said. I hesitated, not wanting the first introduction to my neighbors being me as the cheap-o girl next door. I waited a few days and watched it sit out in the rain longingly. Then I marched myself over and was my usual direct self. I got the bookcase!
The next order of business was how to make it pretty. Enter TCT!
I love the look of stain, I was too lazy to sand down the whole bookcase. I decided instead to sand and stain the large flat areas that would be easy to do (the tops of the shelves and the front wood panel) and to paint the rest with a matte black paint. And even better is I had the TCT crew to help with the monotony of it all.
Nothing makes me feel like a woman quite like using a powertool...Imagine how I felt getting to use two in one night!
Materials Old wood shelf Cute knob (purchased for $2 at J and B Atlantic in Ellsworth) Matte black paint, 1 quart (though I could have gone with the pint looking back on it!)- $5 Stain (I got the kind with polyurethane already in it to save me that step)- $8 Tack cloth- $1 Sandpaper, one coarse sheet and one fine sheet- $1 Palm sander- borrowed Cordless drill and drill bits- borrow if you need to Rag Paintbrushes (I used a handmade brush made by my newest client, the Paint Brush Corporation)_ $2-$30 (yup, I have a nice brush!) Newspapers (for floor protection) Painters tape- $4
Cocktail of the Night: Screwdrivers (if only because Nicole has orange juice and can't find her actual screwdriver anywhere)
1 shot vodka, fill glass with orange juice.
1. Make a visiting friend help you lug the damp, slightly disheveled bookcase into your house earlier in the week. Let it dry out.
2. Before everyone comes over, drill a hole in the part of the bookcase that opens to accommodate the new handle you just bought. Good, it fits!
3. The party arrives at Craft Central with the palm sander and Sue, Sam, and Christie. Mix screwdrivers or variations on the orange juice with alcohol theme.
4. Take turns sanding the shelves and have really loud conversation.
5. Wipe down surfaces. Wow there's a lot of dust!
6. Put painters tape over surfaces to do a coat of black paint.
The staining (and painting touchups) will be done over the course of the next few days but at least TCT got the party started for me, saving me about three hours of work. I'll post the after photos when it's completely done.
A repurposed shelf saved from a landfill and saving me money? I feel so crafty!
It has long been a friend of Too Cute Tuesday Facebook friend Kate to visit Too Cute Tuesday in person in Bar Harbor. This week, she was able to make it happen on her vacation.
We tried to pick a craft that Kate could take home. I'm not sure who sent this in (so if you did, claim it in the comments and I'll credit you in the post!) but I thought sailor bracelets were perfect. Nautical and something Kate could cherish forever... you know, until we started trying to make them.
Kate to her credit found a nautical themed cocktail to go with the mixers we had on hand. Heave-ho!
My Vinalhaven friend Meg sent me this recipe for microwaveable chocolate cake. Some have called it the 'most dangerous recipe in the world' because basically once you discover it, at any moment you are five minutes away from chocolate cake. Since we had several birthdays in the group in the past month (and I had a really crazy weekend as a bridesmaid), this seemed like an easy craft to relax with friends and get back in the swing of things.
Materials: 4 tbsp. flour 3 tbsp. sugar 3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa 1 egg 3 tbsp. milk or half and half 2 tbsp. canola oil large splash of vanilla extract (Sue added instant coffee, which was good, and the recipe suggests chocolate chips, which also sound good)
A big mug
Cocktail of the Night: Limoncello (store bought this time)
1. Mix the three dry ingredients in a big mug. Pour limoncello in separate glass.
2. Stir in egg. Then add milk, oil, and vanilla.
3. Stir in extras, if you desire.
4. Microwave on high for three minutes. the directions warned it might go over the mug and it does if you have a shorty mug like I do. Sue and Sam's cakes did not do this.
The whole shebang started on Saturday night when I got a phone call from my sometimes lobsterman boyfriend. "I'm bringing you six lobsters." It was a good catch day and so Dan got to take some (not a usual thing).
I began to cook. I made a garlic olive oil sauce and a scallion butter when I got another phone call. "I told Joe and Beth we'd go out with them tonight. Is that ok?"
Of course it was nice to meet some of Dan's friends but Sunday, we also had friends over for lunch who are 'sick of lobster' from serving it to out of town guests all summer. In other words, Sunday afternoon, Dan Dan the Lobsterman went back to fishing for the week and I still had two lobsters and a couple 'sauces' left.
I decided to make lobster ravioli so that I could use what I had created in terms of Saturday evening sauces and try something besides boil and serve. Sure lobster is good boiled (especially with rice wine vinegar and butter!) but Too Cute Tuesday is all about trying new things!
I ended up modifying this recipe on the Food Network for Lobster Ravioli to not have to create the dough (not to say I didn't try of course but see steps below to see where I went wrong). Tonight, it was just me crafting... in other words, nothing stopping me from consuming a large amount of pasta unattended.
My friend John contacted me awhile back, asking if we'd be interested in doing a Japanese related craft to cobrand with a weekly tradition he has on his Facebook page called Haikuesday. (In essence, you ask him to write you a personalized haiku on a Tuesday and he will. Here's his Facebook page if you want to ask him about doing it for you!)
While the Bar Harbor branch of Too Cute Tuesday has opted to make a bamboo wind chime, Too Cute Tuesday Saint Louis is making paper koi. Here's the link to their craft (EnchantedLearning.com, the website is on, is ridiculously addicting just to warn... just start clicking some related links!)
Materials tiki torches (made of bamboo) saw (Dremel tool caused a bit of burning if you are considering that) scissors random bendable hardware twine
Cocktail of the Night: Limeaid and Pims
0. Have the world's hardest time locating bamboo. Hoping to find some of the free stuff growing around town, post to Facebook in hopes someone who had a yard would invite me to take some. Just as you are about to give up, see a few leftover tiki torches in the corner of the local hardware store. (But apparently you can buy bamboo poles at garden supply stores, in case you are looking in a more populated area.)
I just got back two weeks ago from Savannah Georgia, home of River Street Sweets and their wonderful pralines. I bought some for Chef Dan and proceeded to eat them all in the hotel room (shhh). I brought him back some pecans (in a sealed bag) and vowed to make some pralines when I got back home.
Then, I proceeded to sprain my ankle for the third time this summer. Thank goodness my pantry is stocked and Chef Dan only needed to pick up two of the ingredients on his way to Craft Central. Also, thankfully, there wasn't too much involved in praline making and people were able to 1) relax and give me sympathy for my injury and 2) recover from last week's epic craft failure, the first in Too Cute Tuesday's history.
As Sue said of the experience, "Our crafting egos needed a reality check anyway." True. But we were back on game tonight with this super easy craft. Dan whipped us up a signature drink: The Sad Lemonade to celebrate him finding blue curacao in our geographic area (for those wondering, Global Beverage Warehouse in Ellsworth).
Materials:
1 1/2 cups sugar 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons dark corn syrup 1 cup evaporated milk 2 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups pecan halves
wax paper
Cocktail of the Night: Sad Lemonade Put 1 oz vodka and 2 oz blue curacao in a glass. Fill with lemonade (or if you're fancy like us, pomegranate lemonade)
Every Tuesday, it's friends, a craft, and a cocktail. To get involved,
4 tbsp. flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
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