Sheet Music Spiral Ornament

This is a variation of the paper ornament found on this blog:  http://www.tinkerwithink.com/2011/12/xmas-blitz-day-18-paper-snowflake.html

I had started making this ornament with vintage sheet music, but the paper was too brittle and was breaking with every tiny crease and roll since each section is made with a 2 inch square. So I decided to make a much bigger version for hanging in windows or archways instead of on a tree. 

I started by cutting a 6 inch x 6 inch square of paper. 

Fold it diagonally. Start from the outside edge, measure in 1 inch and make a mark. Measure 1 more inch from that mark and make another mark, and then one more time. (You should have 3 marks). Then flip it over and start from the other end and do the same thing until you have 6 marks total. 

You will then cut a straight line, following the direction of the paper edge, starting at each mark you made. I found it easiest to do both of the outer most marks first and then work my way in. Cut until there is between 3/4 to 1 inch between the right and left cut lines in the center.  You do not want to go too far into the center or it will not stay in tact (just like the center fold on a paper snowflake). 

When you have all of your lines cut, it should look like this:

 

Next you will unfold the paper and find the small center square. Take a small piece of double sided tape and secure one corner to the other to create a small rolled paper loop.

Turn the paper over to the other side. Take the next center square and do the same thing, attaching the corners together with double sided tape.  Repeat this 2 more times, flipping the paper over to make the loops on opposite sides.

Voila! You can use a small paper punch to punch out a hole to loop string through to hang it from if you'd like. 

I hung 6 of these in a window at various lengths.

Sundried Tomato Alfredo Ravioli

1 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1-2 Tablespoons sundried tomatoes, diced

1/2 teaspoon basil

1 bag cheese ravioli  (I have used "Mini Round Cheese Ravioli" from Giant Eagle and also "Portobello Mushroom Ravioli," and both were delicious!) 

Combine melted butter, whipping cream, and parmesan cheese in a saucepan. Whisk occasionally over medium heat until parmesan cheese is melted. Add sundried tomatoes (approximately 2 tablespoons-- more or less to your liking) and basil. Turn heat down to low. Heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sundried tomatoes are softened.

During the last 5 minutes of sauce being done, bring another pot of water to a boil and then heat the frozen ravioli according to package. (The Giant Eagle one's that I used only took 3 1/2 minutes for the larger mushroom raviolis and 2 1/2 minutes for the mini round cheese ravioli.)

Satisfy Your Sugar Cravings with Vitamins

After almost every healthy meal, I find myself craving something sweet. Instead of pigging out on candy or dessert, I've found that having one or two sweet gummy supplements helps satisfy the craving. If you are trying to cut out snacking on sugary snacks during the day, you'll have a much higher success rate if you replace the craving with a better option rather than trying to eliminate it completely. Replacing a candy bar with a vitamin or supplement is definitely a step in the right direction.

If you go into any drug store, you'll see a huge variety of gummy vitamins and supplements of all kinds with many different flavors. Here are just a few examples below. Give this a try next time you want to avoid sugary dessert but are craving sweets!

VitaFusion Calcium Gummies

 Viactiv Calcium Caramel Chews

VitaFusion Adult Multi-Vitamin Gummies

The BEST Fruit Juice Drink- Light and Refreshing

I started with a half gallon of Guava Mango juice, a half gallon of lemonade (Tropicana now makes a line called Trop50 which contains 50% less sugar), and some fresh fruit. I used 1 grapefruit, 3 oranges, and 3 lemons, but you could use whatever you like and have on-hand! 

Pour the store bought juices into a pitcher. (I dilute the juice with a little water at the end, so I end up with more than a gallon. Therefore, I divide the juice evenly into 2 containers.)  Next, squeeze the juice from the fresh fruit into the pitcher. If you have a small strainer, you may want to use that to get out any seeds or large pieces of pulp that found their way into the juice.

Finally, add water to dilute to desired to taste and agave syrup (or sugar), if needed, to desired taste. I add about 1/3 of a pitcher of water to each gallon of fruit juice. I find straight fruit juice from the store to be too heavy and concentrated. This drink is much more light and refreshing!!  And although I wouldn't call this a completely healthy drink, it's definitely a healthier alternative to drinking straight sugar-filled fruit juice from the store!

Laptop (or Tablet) Kitchen Stand

One of my newest favorite things to do is try out new delicious recipes for Pinterest. I usually just pull up the post on my laptop and then get to work. The problem I run into is where to put my laptop so that it is convenient to see the recipe, but not in the way or in danger of me spilling liquid all over it!

My husband and I had discussed making some sort of simple fold out stand using a piece of wood and some hinges, but there just didn't seem like there was any good spot for that in our kitchen.  Last night, I finally thought of it--- using one of the kitchen drawers!!  It worked out perfectly. 

Now I can have my recipe on my laptop close by, but enough out of the way that I still have room to prepare the food on the counter top.

I used a drawer off to the side of the kitchen that just has oven mitts, potholders, and towels in it.