Baba's Clam Dip

For all of our family BBQs we'd always ask my Baba (grandmother) if she was bringing her clam dip.  My mom never made it much, it was something special Baba did.  The problem was, she would only bring a batch or maybe 2.  With a family of 5 and parties of at least 10 people 2 batches were never enough. Finally my mom and I were able to get the recipe. While its one of our favorites, we don't always make this dip for our family gatherings, it still is a special item for special days, usually for Mother's Day, Father's Day or the Superbowl.

Makes about 1 cups. For parties, I recommend making 4 to 6 times the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1 8oz box of cream cheese at room temperature
1 can minced clams
2 T mayonnaise
1 T lemon juice
1/2 t sugar
1/2 t Tabasco sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Chill at least 2 hours.
3. Serve with vegetables or sour cream and onion chips (Lays with ridges taste the best with the dip!).

New Design Studio for under $1,000 from Ikea

For the past year and a half I've been using our spare guest room as my craft room.  The room was a nice size with a queen bed and some chests of drawers, but things got very tight when I'd set up a 6 foot banquet table to cut and sew on. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done.  Recently my sister asked if she could have the queen bed. A quick call to my in-laws, our usual guests, verified they'd be fine on a sofa bed or air mattress. Suddenly the possibilities were endless! I could have a real design studio!

It took a while to dream up what I think might work, then a day and a half of graph paper planning and online browsing to make my shopping lists. Besides for the items I had already, the entire room was made from Ikea products for under $1,000!  Really! Here is the Ikea shopping list if you want the same sewing or crafting workspace. 

Now for the tour...

Hutch
I completely fell in love with this Hemnes hutch. It was supposed to go on a desk, which is sold out, but it worked out even better on the sofa table.  I especially love how I added an inspiration cork board to the middle of the hutch (using Command Strips) where a monitor would usually go.   It's also the perfect size to store my sewing machine when not in use or hold a laptop.

Potluck Four Bean Salad

This recipe is a family favorite and is perfect for BBQs and potlucks. The vibrant colors of the different beans looks great and the dressing really brings out all the flavors.

I call it Grandma Freda's Bean Salad but I've been told its derived from a Betty Crocker recipe but I haven't found it on their web site. My Great Grandma Freda died 6 years ago and I always get nostalgic when I eat this salad. It reminds me of summer vacations I spent at her house as a child.

Makes about 10 cups.

INGREDIENTS

2 cans cut green beans
2 cans wax beans
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 red onion
1 bell pepper (yellow or orange looks best)
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup salad oil
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Open all cans of beans, drain, and place beans in a large bowl.
2. Slice bell peppers about the same size as the green or wax beans. Add to bowl.
3. Cut onion into medium squares, about 5/8". Add to bowl.
4. In a 2 cup glass measure, combine all remaining ingredients for the dressing. Whisk and pour over beans in the bowl. (I love the dressing so much, I usually double the dressing compared to the beans)
5. Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours prior to serving.

OPTIONS

Mix the ratios of beans based on your preferences. I like to add an extra can of wax beans. I don't like bell peppers so I don't usually include them unless its for a potluck while my grandmother leaves out the onions.

Custom Cover for an Ikea Henriksdal chair

Since we got married, we've had the leaf in our table to accommodate all of our house guests and have been using folding chairs for the extra chairs. It is about time the dinning table grew up! So this weekend I purchased 2 Ikea Henriksdal chairs for the ends of the table. The chair is about $60 and you can buy different covers for $10 to $30 based on the fabric.  But why not make your own custom cover to fit your decor?

PATTERN SUPPLIES

1 $10 Ikea Gobo White cover
Large paper, like wax or wrapping paper or paper grocery bag

MATERIALS

2.75 yards of 54" fabric (more if matching stripes)
0.25 yard of muslin or simple cotton
4 yards of 1 to 1.5" velcro... just the loop (soft side) only

Seasonal Decorating: Springtime

Decorating for holidays has always been a big tradition in our family. On the first day of every month my mother would have us all help take down the past month's decorations and put up the next month's.  Now I'm 'nesting' with my husband and creating our own holiday decorations.  We got married in October so I started decorating for my favorite holiday, Christmas. You can see a few pictures of the decorations in our Facebook photo album. I also kinda decorated for Valentines but didn't take any pictures because we had decided to upgrade our TV which lead to us getting a new couch, a new TV stand, a new coffee table and a new clock. It was a lot of work but we've finally finished rearranging our living room! Then it was my turn to decorate!

Springtime Decorations

The decorations all started with a remnant from Joann's. I love remnants!  They are small pieces of fabric, usually a yard or less at the end of a bolt and are 50% off!  We get a lot of remnants because most of our projects like our historic Barbie dresses don't need a lot of fabric.  The remnant was beautiful, but it was only 18" and I needed 18.5" inches to make an 18" pillow cover. So my mom, Jeanine, and I spent 15 minutes hunting for the bolt or roll of this beautiful modern cream, mustard, teal, green and brown leaf fabric that was perfect for my room.  Unfortunately, we couldn't find it anywhere.

April 2011 Craft Day: Pysanky Ukrainian Easter Eggs

My mother and I named our handmade gift company Creative Tradition because we have such a rich family history of making unique handmade items.  One of the biggest creative traditions we have is Pysanky or Ukrainian Easter Eggs. At this month's craft day we rediscovered our passion for them and shared the tradition with some friends and family.

What is Pysanky?
Pysanky are Ukrainian Easter Eggs, decorated using beeswax and dyes that are applied in layers. Melted wax is applied to the eggshell. This hot beeswax will harden almost instantly. The beeswax covers and seals the shell where the wax has been applied. A special tool called a kistka is needed to heat and apply the beeswax.

Pysanky in different states of completion

First the beeswax is applied to the egg's white shell. The beeswax seals the white color underneath it. Next you place the egg into a light color, usually yellow.  You remove the egg, dry off excess dye, then apply beeswax to what you want to remain yellow. You continue with more colors, going light to dark. 

A custom Disney Sleeping Beauty Rose (peasent Aurora) costume

For my sister's 20th birthday, she wanted a Disney costume party.  I knew who I wanted to be from the beginning, my favorite Disney character, Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.  My costume was easy to decide on, the Rose forest dress, but harder to find the exact pattern I was looking for.  I knew I wanted a black corset,  a nice flowing skirt, and a three-quarters sleeve collared shirt.  It couldn't be THAT hard to find right?