LydMc

Flyer courtesy of NaNoWriMo You think writing blogs is fun? Try writing a novel. Like, seriously, try writing a novel! It is National Novel Writing Month after all. If you haven't heard of it before, the goal of National Novel Writing Month (a.k.a. NaNoWriMo ) is to sit down and finally finish that novel that's been swimming around in your head for years. Or alternatively, to start a new idea and chase it to the end. The challenge itself: write 50,000 words in one month, which is approximately 1667 words a day. Difficult? Yes. Ridiculous? Sometimes. Worth it? Um, YES! Writers, start your engines! It's true, 50,000 words in a month is quite the challenge, and the first two times I attempted NaNoWriMo, I barely made it halfway through. Still, I was 20-30K more words along than I would have been in an average month of writing. And, like they say, third time's the charm. Since I like to start NaNoWriMo with no plan at all (as I get to discover a whole ne

Happy Halloween! Nothing makes a party quite like a character cutout board. Sticking your head through a wooden mural to become someone else is especially advantageous for Halloween - instant costume!  My friend Erin had the brilliant idea of making a Peanuts themed one of these for the harvest festival her church was hosting this year,  but she needed a little help pulling it off. Hmm, did I hear someone say project? I'm in! Tabula Rasa From the very start, our materials for this project came together quite nicely. For instance, our canvas was actually the back of an 8' x 4' wooden board used previously by the church for a sign. For our purposes, we simply flipped it over and got to work sketching out our ideas on the back. You're a good reference, Charlie Brown. As for the art, we chose to paint the famed cast of Peanuts by Charles Schulz chilling in a pumpkin patch. Specifically, we had Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Sally and Linus (complete with

Ring ding ding ding ding ding ding! October is a special time of year for many reasons - autumn colors, pumpkin-flavored everything  and, of course, jack-o-lanterns! Carving your very own pumpkin is a fun and creative task in and of itself, but it doesn't have to end there. Indeed, what about the pumpkin's insides? No need to throw those delicious seeds out, try roasting them for a tasty and healthy snack! Or even better... try making a tasty and slightly less healthy twist on the classic - kettle seeds!  The Great Pumpkin First things first, to make an epic jack-o-lantern and your delicious roasted pumpkin seeds, you need a pumpkin. I chose this 18 pound beauty seen above. After selecting your prize pumpkin, it's time to gather your tools and prepare for battle. I like a classic bluntly serrated pumpkin knife for general carving, a sharper knife for detail work and a pencil for sketching my design. The toothpicks are for later. The pumpkin's maw. A n

Mawwage is what bwings us togevver today... There are few occasions more exciting than a wedding. Not only do two people in love pledge to keep loving and caring for each other forever, but it's also a great time for family and friends to gather, meet and eventually return home with even more family and friends than before. The source of this ponderance?  This very weekend, my brother Joey married my beautiful, wonderful new sister-in-law Melinda! YAY! :D Wood you marry me? To help personalize the celebration, Melinda asked me to paint some crafty wooden cake toppers for the wedding. Apparently the concept is not new, as she got the idea and the wooden bride and groom dolls from Etsy. You can get them personalized and pre-painted, too, but this way they were extra meaningful. Dress up time The general plan for these wedding cake toppers was to make simplistic representations of both the bride and groom. You can see from my sketch in the background, th

Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles It's officially fall now, and we all know what that means. Cozy socks, long sleeves, rainy days and of course, pumpkin-flavored everything. From pancakes to lattes, M&Ms to marshmallows, 'tis the season for pumpkin spice.  With that in mind, I decided it was time to spice up one of my favorites, too. If snickerdoodles are already so yummy, why not try... pumpkindoodles?!  But, before getting crazy with the pumpkin, let's start with the basic Snickerdoodle recipe.  Melt-in-your-mouth snickerdoodles... teehee! The recipe I use already has a slight twist on run-of-the-mill snickerdoodle since most recipes call for shortening, but I steadfastly choose butter. As I mentioned in the  π r Delicious: Pi Pies   blog, I'm not a fan of hydrogenation and instead find ways to substitute more natural ingredients. If I'm going to eat junk food, it's going to be natural junk food!