Monday, January 12, 2009

sugarhouse ink giveaway

We are so excited to announce our classy new sponsor and a fabulous giveaway! We love Sugarhouse Ink's professional yet totally hip photo announcements and greetings for new babies, weddings, holidays, invitations, and anything else you can dream of (they have custom card options!). Their designs are fresh and their prices are very reasonable. And if you visit their site and pick your favorite, then leave us a comment, you'll be entered to win one of THREE $25 gift certificates!



Check out some of their totally cute Valentine cards!

And we love the hip look of their wedding invitations and save-the-date cards.



These baby announcements are almost as cute as the real thing!




So if you love these designs like we do and think you might have even the remotest reason to send a photo greeting card in the near future (these would be the easiest Valentine's cards you ever sent!), enter our giveaway for a $25 gift certificate! Just visit Sugarhouse Ink's Web site, then come back and leave us a comment with your favorite design. We'll draw three winners on Saturday, so be sure to have your comment in by 11:59pm PST on Friday, January 16. Good luck!

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Sunday, January 11, 2009

valentine card swap

While we were planning out some of our Valentine's posts last week, we had an epiphany. We need to host a Valentine's card swap! If you haven't participated in a card swap before, it is so fun. Here's the lowdown:

Everyone who's interested signs up by e-mailing us. We make a list and tell everyone how many cards to make (design one card and make multiples of it). Everyone sends us their cards with a pre-paid return envelope. We "swap" them so everyone gets one of everyone else's cards, then send them back out. You get an envelope in the mail with a bunch of Valentine's cards and tons of new ideas!

Sound fun? Okay, then here are the rules:

1. Sign up by e-mailing littlebirdiesecrets@gmail.com with your name and address by Saturday, January 17, 2009.

2. Make your cards (we'll e-mail you and tell you how many) and mail them to us by Saturday, January 31, 2009. Include a pre-paid envelope so we can mail them back (we'll give you an amount once we know how many cards will be in the envelope).

3. We'll swap and return your cards by Saturday, February 7, 2009.

We know, it's a pretty quick turn around from sign-up to mailing your cards, but you can always start designing your card now, and then sit down and mass-produce them in an evening once we give you the final number of cards you'll need to make. You can do it!

Jessica and I were so excited about this that we got together and made a few Valentine's cards, just for fun. It's interesting to see how two people with the same design change things up. Maybe these will get your creative juices flowing. Enjoy!

(See the difference in these two?)

Just a little switcheroo!
This button-heart card is another card we're planning on copying in the near future. It's by the incredibly talented Kristina Werner of KWerner Design Blog. Check out her how-to video here for this awesome card! If you're a card maker and you haven't discovered Kristina yet, you're going to go crazy over her blog!

Don't forget to sign up for our Valentine's card swap by e-mailing your name and address to littlebirdiesecrets@gmail.com by January 17th!

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happy birthday, stacy!

Happy birthday to our favorite craft-a-holic! Today is Stacy's birthday (she's 25 again!), and we wanted everyone to know how much we love and adore her. (Please don't kill me, Stace!) Without Stacy, Little Birdie Secrets would be nothing. She comes up with an endless supply of projects and ideas, and she's so incredibly talented. Thank you for being a wonderful friend and amazing example of true womanhood. We love you!

~Mandy & Jessica

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Friday, January 9, 2009

gruyere cheese bread


New Year's Eve tends to be pretty low key for the Birdies, mostly because we all have little ones who should never be kept up past bedtime (if we know what's good for us). So we got together early for a fondue party and watched the ball drop in NYC at 9:00 our time. Good times! And great food--we sampled rich cheeses and two flavors of chocolate fondue with tons of delicious dipping morsels.


There was some leftover cheese the next day, so I made this recipe from King Arthur Flour's Web site. It's called Gruyere Cheese Bread, and it's pretty much an exploding volcano of deliciousness. Stop licking your screen, please, and go make yourself a batch. Yu-mmy. Oh, and you don't have to buy expensive Gruyere cheese if you don't want to. Try a mixture of provolone and mozzarella--it's just as tasty!

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Thursday, January 8, 2009

easy valentine's wreath



Just a little more than a month until Valentine's Day, so here's our first Valentine for you. This easy heart wreath is a fun project you can do with your kids (and a good way to use up your fabric scraps!).

Scrappy Heart Wreath Tutorial



What you'll need:

*Scraps of fabric cut into 2 inch squares (these can be all the same fabric or a combination of different fabrics)

*Elmers glue or Tacky Glue

*Styrofoam Heart

*Pencil

*Ribbon (enough to hang your wreath where you want it)


Okay, let's get started!

1. Fill a shallow paper bowl with glue.

2. Place fabric square on pencil tip with right-side facing the pencil. Be sure the pencil tip is in the center.


3. Dip the fabric covered pencil tip into the glue. You don’t need too much. Just a little on the end.


4. Press the pencil tip into the Styrofoam.


5. Remove the pencil--your fabric should stay in place.


6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 until your heart is completely covered.


It should look nice and full like this.


7. Add a ribbon and hang up. We tied a small loop around the finished wreath with string, then threaded the ribbon through that.



Isn't it sweet?

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Wednesday, January 7, 2009

personalized chop sticks

Today we have another fun idea for your Chinese New Year celebration. (If you're not already planning one, you'll want to with all our fun ideas this month!) We made these cool personalized chopsticks in just a few minutes. And they were cheap!

We bought a pack of wooden chopsticks at the kitchen store--10 pair for about $2. You'll need a wood burning tool like this one. You can find the Creative Versa-Tool by Walnut Hollow at Michaels or JoAnn Crafts for about $30, and use your 40% off coupon on it. It will probably be in the leather/wood section. This tool has 11 interchangeable points to do everything from wood burning to soldering to photo-transferring. However, you can find cheaper wood burning tools with fewer features.
You may want to practice on a chopstick first. It is a little tricky to make detailed images, which is why we stuck with simple lines and dots. But if you're really ambitious, you could try Chinese characters or full-on fortunes.

Try a different design for every pair, or make them all the same. Wrap up each pair and include a cute tag for a great party favor!

Stay tuned for some great recipes to eat with your chopsticks later this week!

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Tuesday, January 6, 2009

tabletop ironing pad tutorial

I don't have a big craft room (yet!) where I can leave out all my crafting necessities, like my ironing board. (Even simple sewing projects usually require you to press something in one direction or another.) Love, love, love this simple ironing pad that you can use on any tabletop, so you don't have to drag out your huge ironing board to press one little seam open. Check it out.

Tabletop Ironing Pad Tutorial

What you'll need:
*Insul-Brite (a heat-safe material found at most fabric stores)

*Cotton fabric of your choice

*Thin cotton batting (we like Warm & Natural brand)

*Coordinating ribbon

*Ironing board material (this can be found at most fabric stores--it's silver and a little shiny)

*Basting spray or spray adhesive

1. Cut Insul-Brite, fabric, batting, and ironing board material in the size you want.

2. Find the center of your fabric. I folded it in quarters and then ironed the corner so I would have a crease telling me where the center of my fabric was.

3. Find the center of your ribbon by folding it in half. Sew about one inch of the middle of the ribbon to the middle of your cotton fabric. We used a little zig-zap stitch. Make sure the ribbon tails are laying parallel to long sides of the fabric, so when you roll the pad up, the ribbon can wrap around it to tie it closed.

4. Use spray adhesive to baste all four layers together, cotton fabric on top, right-side up, then the Insul-Brite, then cotton batting, then the ironing board material. We don't recommend using pins, since the pin holes in the ironing board material will be there forever.

5. Quilt the three pieces together. You can do as little or as much as you want. We just did a few straight, parallel lines. Watch out for your ribbon--don’t sew it down!

6. Bind the three pieces with bias tape. Here is a great tutorial by Angry Chicken on how to sew bias tape if you haven't done this before.

7. While watching the bias tape tutorial, check out the 5 minute skirt tutorial. . .

8. Roll up and tie in a bow. Easy and space-conscious!


FYI: You're meant to do your ironing on the shiny side--that's the side that will reflect the heat back to your iron, not through to your table! The pretty fabric is all for looks!

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Monday, January 5, 2009

misfortune cookies

Okay, so maybe “misfortune” is an exaggeration, but these cookies are for sure not your typical peace, love, and harmony fortune cookie. Growing up half-Asian was great. The food is probably one of the best parts. I mean, in what other family do you get turkey AND fried rice for Thanksgiving (true story)? So thanks to my mom for introducing me to kai lan and bok choy on the Asian side, and thanks to Pops for introducing me to spuds and fortune cookies. *Gasp!* I know you are all wondering, but the truth is, these little sweets are a modern American creation. And since I am a true-blue American, it is my cookie.
Ever since having custom made cookies at my wedding reception, I’ve always wanted to make some more “not so traditional” cookies. With the help of Tsue Chong Egg and Noodle Co. in Seattle, I was able to make some professional cookies with a little punch. I wrote up my list of "fortunes" and gave it to them with my cookie order. Here are a few sample sayings:

Help! I’m being held hostage in a Chinese Bakery!

Soon fortune cookies will be all you can afford.

I cannot help you for I am only a cookie.

You’ve turned into your mother.

Looks can be deceiving, but you are not fooling anyone.

Eat your vegetables.

Only a fool would look to a cookie for wisdom.
Well, you get the picture. Think of the possibilities. I may have some chore fortunes made up for my kids. They will beg to do their chores if it comes from a cookie, right? You all are crafty/creative folks, so I know you are thinking right now of how you can personalize your own cookies. Give Tsue Chong a call--they run from $5.50-$12 per lb. (about 65 cookies), and for a little extra you can get exotic flavors like ginger, banana, mocha, and mint. Or, why not make your own at home? Here's a recipe for a do-it-yourself version. For those of you that want a non-edible cookie, you can find tutorials here and here for fabric and paper fortune cookies.

Check out these beautiful fabric fortune cookies by Megan at Brassy Apple.

And the tutorial for this easy paper version by Kimberly at For the Love of Paper is wonderful!

These would both make fabulous favors for a Chinese New Year celebration! (It's January 26 this year, in case you were wondering.) We'll be posting more ideas to help you celebrate Chinese New Year 2009 throughout the month. Enjoy!

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Saturday, January 3, 2009

getting organized = more crafting

Okay all you resolution makers, we've got another one for you. If "get organized" is on your list for 2009, you have to try this new, *free*, online organization site. It's called cozi.com, and it makes organizing your family's activities easy as pie. Pie you're not going to eat because of that "eat healthier" resolution, right? Good. It's day 3 and you're still sticking to your list. Good job.


So here's the run-down on Cozi's features. It lets you manage and coordinate schedules, organize and store shopping lists that can be accessed from any mobile phone, send quick updates or reminders to family members, and lots more.

Calendar
You've got a calendar with each family member color-coded, so you know at a glance who needs to be where and when. You can even e-mail or text message reminders to family members from the site. Plus, you can print your calendar by day, week, or month if you're a technically-challenged family.

Lists
There are also endless list options, including a to-do list, grocery list, what-I-need-to-make-that-cute-thing-I-saw-on-Little-Birdie-Secrets list--you personalize the list, so it's totally you. Plus, you can send your list to your cell phone, PDA, or call Cozi to have your list read to you! How cool is that? I can totally see myself using that feature at the grocery store while rifling through my purse, looking for my grocery list (it happens to me weekly).

Journal
If you're like me and lack of time has been making your personal blog suffer, but you want to keep track of funny things your kids say, your feelings about a special family occasion, or record the details of a family trip, there's a cool journaling feature that even lets you upload pictures. They say in the near future you'll be able to share your online journal with family and friends.

Free family calendar

I know you're thinking, 'How much did they pay these guys to write about their site?' Not a dime. Seriously. We just believe that the more organized you are, the more time you'll have for the fun stuff, like reading our blog and, of course, crafting! So, you're welcome. Go get yourself organized, then come back here for some incredible crafting tutorials, ideas, and tips. We've got tons of cool stuff planned for 2009!

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Friday, January 2, 2009

healthy recipes

2009 is here, and with that comes New Year's Resolutions. My personal resolution is to not fool myself into believing I will actually keep a resolution. Therefore, I am not making any. We know plenty of you out there do make them, and do actually keep them! Because of that, and the fact that the most popular resolution is to be healthier, we've decided to offer you a few healthy recipes to start the new year off right.

A wonderful site, eatbetteramerica, is a great resource. The site offers diet and fitness tips, as well as tons of healthy recipes. Below are two of their recipes for you to try. When they take some already favorite recipes and make them a bit healthier, who wouldn't want to try them?



Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
2 cups Progresso® reduced-sodium chicken broth (from 32-oz carton)
3 tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander or cumin
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
1 cup Green Giant® Niblets® frozen corn, thawed
1 cup shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend (4 oz)
1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
8 corn or flour tortillas (6 or 7 inch)
1 medium tomato, chopped (3/4 cup)
4 medium green onions, sliced (1/4 cup)
Salsa, if desired

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In 10-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender. In medium bowl, stir broth, flour, coriander and pepper with wire whisk until blended. Slowly add to hot mixture in skillet, stirring constantly. Cook and stir 5 to 6 minutes, until mixture boils and thickens slightly. Remove from heat. Stir in sour cream until well blended.
3. In another medium bowl, mix chicken, corn, 1/2 cup of the cheese, the chiles, cilantro and 1/2 cup of the sauce. Place 2 tortillas at a time on microwavable plate; cover with paper towel. Microwave on High 10 to 15 seconds or until softened. Spoon about 1/3 cup chicken mixture down center of each warm tortilla. Roll up tortillas; arrange, seam sides down, in baking dish. Top enchiladas with remaining sauce. Cover with foil.
4. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until sauce is bubbly. Remove from oven. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Just before serving, top with tomato and green onions. Serve with salsa.


Garlic Shrimp Pasta

8 oz uncooked multigrain angel hair (capellini) pasta or spaghetti
4 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
1 1/2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
3 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
1 1/2 lb fresh medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and tail shells removed
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup dry white wine or Progresso® reduced-sodium chicken broth (from 32-oz carton)
1/4 cup Progresso® reduced-sodium chicken broth (from 32-oz carton)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons butter

1. In 5-quart saucepan or Dutch oven, cook pasta as directed on package. Drain; return to saucepan. Stir in spinach, tomatoes and 2 teaspoons of the oil. Cover to keep warm.
2. While pasta is cooking, in 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook and stir 1 minute. Add shrimp, garlic and pepper flakes; cook and stir 2 minutes.
3. Stir in wine, broth, salt and pepper; cook 2 minutes or until shrimp are pink and firm. Remove from heat; stir in parsley and butter until butter is melted. Add shrimp mixture to pasta mixture in saucepan; toss to mix.

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