paperdolls! (my comeback)

alright. fine. i win.

wait.

what?

i told you!! but now i’m back. so there!

i really was excited about making the blog. i think it’s because here’s my process. i think of something. i loooove the idea. i can’t stop thinking about the idea and it sticks inside my head like a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe. so i think about it. all. the. time. i just want my kids to leave me alone and my work to be done (like that will ever happen? either of them!) so that i can do the idea. i crave it. i want it so bad. then i do it. and the craving is gone.

but, my friends, i will overcome. i faked you out! i haven’t stopped thinking about how i haven’t blogged since the last time i blogged. i was going to blog about these really fun gingerbread houses i made last year, buuuuut since all of our family pictures from … well, the entire time we’ve had digital cameras… is on an external HD that isn’t playing well with others, alas, i cannot retrieve those pics. at this time. because i couldn’t do that, which i reeeally wanted to do, i couldn’t blog. at all. i’m weird like that.

so i have finally done something that is so worthy of a blog that i … blog about it. (stay with me, it’s late and i’m super tired!)

i saw the idea for paper dolls that had funky clothes on a really cool paper site (yes, paper site, i am a nerd). i thought “i should be able to do that!” as i do with most things in and out of my sphere of ability. but this, this i could do!!

soo…what i did was i found some jpgs online of this doll and some clothes. but, friends, that is not the hard part. (well, none of it is the hard part, but that wasn’t the part that i feel blog-worthy) i took said jpgs and cut them all up and stitched them all together and made them into some easy to print templates! i used old scrapbooking paper (from the aforementioned ill-fated scrapbook that was a great idea) and cut it into 8.5″ width (i think it is 12″ long). then printed my clothing templates onto it. i printed the doll templates onto some heavier manilla paper (though i wish i had some darker hue as well, but this is about cheap, people, cheap!).  et voila!

basically they’re not the kind of paperdolls you would dress and redress. they are ones that you would glue their clothes on with a gluestick. and…then…look at them? i don’t know. i’m the kid whose idea of playing barbies meant to get them dressed. scenarios and dialogue are overrated!

i am giving these to the oldest offspring for christmas. i hope she appreciates them. (she will.) and i hope that i don’t let her start to play with them and then push her out of the way to do it myself. (cause i may.)

I’m the worst blogger ever. I’m admitting to it now.

I’m really good at starting things. Reeeeally good. For example, I have a lot of really cool scrapbooking items. Great tools. Really cute papers and embellishments. But actually doing the scrapbook? I started one once. Knowing my “completion” block, I thought if I chose a really short period of time, a finite time, I’d actually do it. I chose my first pregnancy. Ten months. That’s it. It’s like 10 pages if you do a page a month. I think I made it to 1/2 way through the pregnancy. I loved doing it. I craved doing it. I am actually fairly good at it, if I do say so myself, but I. Just. Couldn’t. Do. It. Maybe if I had a room. And I could leave all the stuff out and just work on it a little at a time. Maybe if I sent my kids to daycare to support my creative project time. Maybe THEN it would get done.

But, knowing that those are not viable options, and knowing how I work, I have to accept that I am tamfastic (my daughter’s new exclamation) at starting things. And not so great at doing/finishing. And that is ok. And even knowing that, I am still starting this blog.

This blog will be about things that even I can make. Me, who has three crazy kids ages 1, 3, and 5. Me, who has a teeny house with no room to spare. Me, who has my own business from my house. Me, who also has another job that I do from home. Me, who totally knows how to follow directions, but can’t come up with most things on my own. If I can do these things, than surely those of you more sane and put together (you know, like you that actually brush your teeth and remember deodorant in the morning…which reminds me…I forgot deodorant this morning…) can probably do these things. And you may even like it! These are short projects, easy recipes, and the like that I find (or rarely, make up) and try. And if I like it, I’ll share it! Pretty simple.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you can nudge me if I don’t post often enough (as of this writing, my goal is a lofty Once A Week). I mean, who doesn’t want to post more when they are showered with comments?? It’s basically the reason I live on fb. Maybe THIS will generate comments!? Ok, maybe I’m not quite that bad, but hey, comments never hurt! (unless they’re thrown at me during political debates…yikes!)

According to the hubs, this is Soup Perfection

So let’s go ahead and get it out in the open that I don’t cook much. I can, I suppose. I am really good at following recipes. I just am somewhat lazy, and my mind thinks of cooking, and then thinks ahead to cleaning up and then decides that really, The Best Mexican Food Around isn’t all that bad for us, and why don’t we just go there instead.

Sometimes, though, I think, “I am SO domestic! I can’t wait to cook and have everyone tell me how great I am!” Or at least have my kids actually eat what I cook, which doesn’t happen with my chili, though I find it to be The Most Perfect Chili Ever. Apparently it is too spicy for them. Wusses.

My mom is a big soup cooker, and so I thought I could do it too. And guess what…I can! So, henceforth, I bring you my Favorite Potato Soup. And yes, last night, my husband did tell me I had reached Soup Perfection.

The cast:

1 Full 5 lb bag of gold potatoes. At least “full” meaning all the ones that aren’t too ugly. I am quite a snob about food appearance at times. I threw out almost a whole potato because it just looked ugly. I chop these puppies up pretty small…like the size of the cubed kind of hash browns. I guess I could have used actual measurements (so like 1/2″ squares or so), but I was trying to tell it to you in potato terms so you wouldn’t have to think too much. I’m nice like that.

3-4 Carrots. This last time I made the soup I only had 2. But they were big. Though 1/2 of one was rotten. Is that too much to share? So I just cut off the rotten part. But whatever you have, throw them in there.

2-3 Stalks of Celery. I don’t know why I discriminate against celery. But I do. I think, “man, celery is stupid and tastes gross,” when really, in a soup, it all basically tastes the same. And celery does add a lot. So throw it in there and cook it a bunch so you can’t taste it by itself!

1/2 White Sweet Onion. The last one I used made me cry. Really hard. And it made my nose run. I’m not big on crying, so it made me feel like I emoted, so I was like cooking AND emoting. What a wifely day for me! Again, with the textures and tastes, I chop these up as small as I can. With the latest Onion That Punched Me in the Face, I chopped as fast as I could, and threw in what ever sizes I had when I just couldn’t take it anymore.

2 Boullion Cubes

32-oz  Chicken Broth

1 Cup Water

Kosher Salt. I’d say about the size of two quarters. I’m sooo scientific!

Garlic Salt. Enough to shake lightly across the span of your pan. Or maybe a little more. I love this stuff!

Pepper. Enough to shake extra lightly across the span of your pan. Is “Span of Your Pan” a scientific measurement? Cause I’m calling dibs on © if not!

1/2 Bag of Spinach. I put spinach in everything I can. And yes, I said “bag.” That’s how I buy my spinach. If you want to buy “real” spinach (or, heaven forbid, grow it), you can buy a bag first, figure out how many cups are in 1/2  a bag, and use your snooty spinach the next time, perhaps.

I usually throw all that stuff in (adding the spinach last for some reason), then cover the pan and bring it to a boil. After it boils, I turn it down to like…Medium-High…and let it continue to boil lightly for about 25 minutes, or until the potatoes are nice and soft.

THEN.

I use my Specifically For This Purpose Potato Masher to smush it all up. This is such an important step. Esp with little kiddos – it definitely keeps it on their spoons better!

Finally, I put a ton a smattering of grated (Colby-Jack) cheese on top of the soup to get all nice and melty. That seriously is the key to my soup success!

Well, there you go. The soup secret is out! Make it. Love it. Serve it to your friends. Repeat.