Place Mat Mini Tutorial

Hi there.

I want new place mats.

Ive seen a few cute ones in stores lately, but the crafty side of me ALWAYS says, I could make that!

So I did.

Disclaimer: These are in no means perfect. I was kind of rushing, and I was really hot. Im always a little irritable when Im hot. Sorry. But they are just for casual dining around here, so perfection really doesnt matter! Ok. I feel better now that thats off my chest.

I found some super cute fabric at Walmart and I got a half yard in all five colors. I had to stalk around a lady who was trying to buy the same fabric. I have no shame, especially at Walmart.

First, cut your fabric 1/2 inch larger than you want the final product to turn out. I used some other place mats I have as a guide. Mine measured 19 1/2 inches by 14 1/2 inches.

Cut your batting (it can be as think or this as you want) 1/2 inch smaller than the fabric, so 19 inches by 14 inches.

Sew your fabric front sides together, leave a little hole to flip it inside out. I forgot to do this on at least one. Hello Seam Ripper, old friend!

Stuff the batting in and top stitch all the way around the edge making sure to close your flipping hole at the same time.

Quilt the mat. I chose to do a diagonal stitch about 3 inches apart. I just eye balled it. Not going for perfection here remember? But you could get as lazy or fancy as you want here.

Iron it flat and there you go!

Set your favorite Hula plates on and fix yourself a Spam musubi. Too much?

Ive got 4 more of these babies to whip up and a few coasters for my work peeps. But right now, Ive got some pizza to make! (and some Samoa ice cream to eat)

Have a great weekend!

Aloha!!

Rosemary Garlic Rolls

I have some crazy big herbs growing in my yard. Its one of my favorite things about living in Hawaii. My rosemary plant is so pretty. It smells so good when the sun warms it up. But I hardly ever use it. Can you see the basil forest in the background? HUGE! Wonderful.

Today I was determined to use some! What I did was super simple and really really tasty.

I just whipped up my go-to breadstick/pizza dough recipe. I love this one because its EASY and fast. It doesnt require hours of rising.

After the dough was ready I scooped it into balls then brushed it with melted butter garlic salt and chopped up rosemary.

Pretty!

So good! Brad better get home from work soon. I bet I could polish off this whole pan.

My basic dough:

1 1/2 C warm water

1T yeast

2T sugar

1t salt

3-4 C flour

Topping:

3-4T melted butter

garlic salt sprinkled on top

chopped rosemary

Add yeast, sugar, and salt to the warm water. Let it sit for a few minutes.

Add flour a cup at a time. If dough is too sticky add more. Kneed it a few times.

Let the dough sit for about 10-15 min. Put it into you pan (see below for options). You can bake it now, or let it sit again. Either way is good. Just depends on your schedule!

Then bake at 425 till lightly brown usually about 10-15 min.

Make sure you spray the pan with non stick cooking spray! I learned that one the hard way.

You can either make this into pizza dough (one x-large or 2 meds or in my case, one large and two kid size) or smoosh into a cookie sheet, add butter and garlic salt, cut into strips before baking, or make small rolls like I did this time. You could also spread with melted butter and cinnamon and sugar.

And the winner is...

Thanks to everyone for participating in the giveaway!

Congratulations to the winner, Michelle D!

Dont feel bad if you didnt win, your are all "winners" in my book ;)

I hope you all have a great week! Im excited for this week for some reason.

Maybe its because its Monday morning and my house is pretty much clean!

Maybe its because Im back to my 2 work days this week (rough right?)

Maybe its because my injuries I got when I feel down the stairs a few weeks ago are finally healed up (mostly) and I can go running again!

Maybe its because Im super excited for my awesome cousin to come visit next Sunday. She'll be here ALL SUMMER! Yay!

-Artsy

Filling the shop!

Aloha!

TGIF! Its been a crazy week around here!

And to kick off the weekend, Im stocking the shop!

Im also going to do a little GIVEAWAY!

To participate in this giveaway all you have to do is:

1. "Like" me on Facebook

2. If you already "Like" me on FB (thank you!!), post a FB status update about the giveaway and link to the shop or this blog post.

If you aren't a Facebooker, don't worry I've got plans for another giveaway soon! So stick around...

Go HERE to like me on FB. If you post about my site leave me a comment on my FB page and let me know!

The winner will get to choose one item from my shop!

The winner will be announced Monday morning Hawaii time.

Hot Buns

This is the perfect recipe for all your upcoming grilling! I came across it first on Pinterest, my new love. (follow me here!)

Homemade Hamburger Buns!!

I have been wanting to try this for a while. Especially with a package of buns (and not even the good ones) going for about $4.50 at my local grocery store.

So Avery and I whipped these babies up!

Go HERE for the recipe.

I had to make a few changes. Sadly I didnt use any whole wheat flour. I brushed the tops with a beaten egg and sprinkled sesame seeds on top. I think they will be perfect with the terriyaki turkey burgers Im making for dinner. Im hungry...

Pineapple Whips

Ok friends! What Im about to share with you, will very likely MAKE your summer. Its made mine and summer hasnt even started! But to be fair, its always summer here :) It is a wonderful invention called "Pineapple Whips" or if you are at the Dole Plantation, "Dole Whips"

But first, a little pineapple lesson. Did you know pineapples grow on a plant that pretty much looks like the top of a pineapple? One plant will only produce 1-2 pineapples and they take 14 months to grow. Thats longer than a baby! Here is Baker looking at a little pineapple, around here they dont grow in barrels but in really big fields. I would hate to be the one to have to pick them by hand!

And now for the whips!

I want to give a shout out to my super awesome friend Kelsey for giving me this recipe!

You will need:

1 fresh pineapple cut up. The canned variety wont do.

1 cup of sugar

3 T lemon juice

First cut up your pineapple into chunks

have your other ingredients handy

Put them all into the blender. I had to do two batches, just split it all as evenly as you can without getting two precise, just eyeball it. And blend it up!

Pour the mixture into empty ice cube trays and re freeze.

After the cubes are nice and frozen, put them into the blender or food processor. I had a hard time getting mine to really blend will in the blender so I switched over to the food processor. I think the blender would work if your cubes arent frozen really hard, just mostly frozen.

Here is the action happening! (Just keeping it real with my messy-ness)

And voila! Pour into bowls or glasses and enjoy right away! I prefer mine with a long tea spoon from my childhood :)

Just when you thought there wasnt anymore pineapple fun to be had...

Kristen playing the ukulele! Aloha Kristen!

The two cutest pineapples in the bunch!

Aloha! Jus doing a little pineapple hula. You're welcome.

Doily Love

Hello, my name is Autumn. I love doilies.

After my Grandpa died recently :( , My Grandma decided to move into an assisted living apartment. When she moved all of their possessions were cleaned up and cleared out so my cousin could move in and take care of their old home (see here for her cute blog and what she has done with the place, it looks GREAT!)

Anywho, with all the belongings were being sorted I inherited some really special stuff! One of my favorites are these fantastic doilies! I cant even tell you how much I love them. From what I hear, most of them were made by my Great Grandmother Edna. These things are so beautiful and intricate! As the "crafty" type usually when I see something the first thing that comes to mind is "I could totally do that", but with these things Im in awe!

Check them out:

Classic doily, so pretty and delicate.

What kind of doily owner would I be if I didnt use at least one under a figurine?

Pink and green anyone? I love this one's little spidery leggs

This one is pretty large, look at the amazing pattern!

Another look, it seriously perfectly done!

Some fantastic linen napkins with a beautiful edge.

This one is peach and cream swirl. My sister made the silhouettes, I just love 'em.

A pretty red and green number, very Christmas-y (sometimes blogger underlines and I cant make it stop!!! Urg!!)

Then there is this little fancy one. It has a funny little ledge underneath and i couldnt figure it out! But my Mom solved the mystery:

Behold! A TP decoration!! You know you want one!

It made me think of these:

Cuz why not put a creepy little crochet doll in the bathroom? Makes my TP doily look actually pretty!

There are SO many fun ideas out there for doilies (that will spare your house from looking like the 100 year old cat lady's next door)

Here are a few of my favorites. I probably wont do anything with my inherited doilies, they are too special, but you know Im going thrifting soon...

Doily Table Runner

Doily Lamp Shade

Doily Light Up Wreath and more

Paper Doily Wreath

How I Spent My Weekend...

... covered in sand! (thats my head below. Im getting buried by my favorite beach bums)

With a beach like this 10 minutes from my house, I didn't get around to much blogging this weekend. Or much house cleaning for that matter. I have priorities!

Check back soon for a doily-licious post! Raise your hand if you love doilies too!