*Dessert is the Thing*

 For those of you that like Mint Oreos and/or butter,

introducing...

Mint Oreo Bars

16 oz. pack or oreos- mint or regular
3/4 cups butter-melted
1 small can sweetened condensed milk
12 oz. of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Crush cookies and combine with butter. Pat into 9x13 pan.
Combine milk and one cup of chocolate chips. Melt until smooth.
Pour melted mixture over crust. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. 


 Yes, they are good. Very good.

Have fun! :)

The Letters-No. 4

 This was by my friend, to me. :) She used tea to stain the envelope a vintage brown, and then added the flowers. She printed the flower template off Martha Stewart, and then used a crafting knife to cut out the flowers by hand. I heard that she gave me the gift of time in making this letter. :) 

Friends, friends, don't you love them?

For Such a Time as This

This is the final issue of the magazine my sister Jalisa did with her friend Sarah. Due to complications with posting it on her blog, it's here at me. :) 

Enjoy the final issue!

 

Musical Happiness

"A violinist should always be happy when he is playing. If he is playing well, he should be happy that he is playing well. If he is not playing well, then he should be happy because it will soon be over." 
-Jascha Heifetz-


Smiles. I like this quote. 

Links-I-Love

This is one of the coolest websites I have ever seen. Every day this website has one crafty item for sale. The things they sell are fun, interesting, pretty, and a good deal. :) Yeah, pretty awesome.

Writing and Folding a Regency Style Letter

Because I am a fan of all things Regency (for a definition of Regency click here) I am going to show you how to write and fold a Regency Style Letter! I learned this from The Jane Austen Handbook which happens to be in the possession of my friend Kate. I looked at one of her letters to me for the folding technique, and read about the style of writing in the book.

 So, first write the letter. I made this paper look a little older by soaking it in coffee, and then made a oh-so-fun attempt to write a letter, Regency Style! For the tutorial on aging paper with coffee, click here.
You know, Regency style isn't exactly like modern American style. No perfect pages were effortlessly typed in uniform font back then.

In order to preserve paper, letter-writers from the Regency period would write like so:

 

And not only that, but they also wrote in a third direction: diagonally! I didn't attempt that feat. :) 

I also put a white paper with dark black lines on it underneath the brown paper so that I would have some lines to guide me.

 

 

Once you are done having fun writing the letter, you can now fold a letter Regency Style.

1. First fold the letter in from the sides two times, meeting in the middle. 

 

 Then fold the letter up from the bottom. Fold it into four sections. The picture above illustrates the sections without the folds.

Sorry, I don't have a picture of the first fold. 

Leave the top section a little shorter to leave space to put a wax seal.

To finish it off, seal it with a wax seal. Gartner Studios has great seals.

And by the way, I got a really awesome box to keep my letters in. I got it at Ross, since they have a big selection of them. 

 

Pretty cool, huh? 

Have a happy Saturday!

The Gift of Singing

As long as we live, there is never enough singing. -Martin Luther
 

If I cannot fly, let me sing.-Stephen Sondheim 

Some days there won't be a song in your heart. Sing anyway. -Emory Austin

Faith and joy are the ascensive forces of song.-Edmund Clarence Stedman

 

 Singing is awesome! Chorus practice tonight. Love it. :)  

Have a happy Tuesday!