Harts and Crafts Blog | Creative Jubilee

Afternoon Tea In the Comfort of Our Home

By Christina Lee| June 22nd, 2014|Craft Day, In the Kitchen|

One of my favorite pastimes is enjoying afternoon tea at a tea house and catching up on girl talk. It’s relaxing, fun and just a pleasant experience. While it’s fun to go out from time to time, I wanted to try and replicate this experience at the comfort of our own home. We went ahead and shopped for some of our favorite finger food, sliced and diced seasonal fruit, put together a variety of finger sandwiches (egg salad, chicken salad, smoked salmon and cucumber) and visited the local bakery for another helping of sweet treats. By the time the girls rang the doorbell, we were ready for our girls’ date of afternoon tea and crafts.

There’s something about locks and schmear, bite-sized sandwiches and hors d’oeuvres, mararons, and mini desserts – too delicate to eat – that warms the heart and opens up the conversation. Pair this lovely spread with some blooming artisan tea and it’s pure decadence.

Memorial Day Backyard BBQ

By Christina Lee| May 25th, 2014|Holiday Fun, In the Kitchen|

This Memorial Day weekend off, we’re kicking it off in style with a backyard BBQ. Corn on the cob, spicy hot buffalo wings, a rack of ribs, garlic bread and grilled artichoke are a few of the items that are already on the hopper. I’m looking forward to the grilled artichoke. I hope we can make it just as good as Hillstone’s. They ended up a little tough on the outside. One thing we’ll want to try the next time around is boiling them just a bit before throwing them on the grill, otherwise it will be as hard as a rock when eating it. Lesson learned. Post BBQ, we ended up heating them in the oven to let the artichoke heart soften. But when it is cooked right, it’s pretty darn good, especially if you pack it with some butter, garlic cloves, and salt and pepper.

Craft Day

By Christina Lee| April 26th, 2014|Craft Day, Crocheting, DIY Home, Handmade, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, Oh My Crafts!, Yarn Addict|

It’s Craft Day with this crazy bunch. Knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking and sewing… we do it all! This time around, I’ve got my special little helper, Kendall helping me crochet this blanket everyone is sitting on. Yes, that’s how big it really is – 10 people can fit on this thing! I’ve been working on this for the past decade, well I started it five years ago and took a sabbatical, so it feels like a decade. My goal is to finish this before October. It sounds like a long time away, but that’s what I said last October (!)

Floating Vases and Spring Floral Arrangement

By Christina Lee| April 5th, 2015|DIY Home, Handmade|

This is my second attempt at making, or should I say re-making this bathroom floral arrangement. I found this elegantly fun, DIY project online courtesy of ToDoDesign last year during the Fall and you can bet that previously I had a Fall arrangement. But with Spring in the air, I opted for some of my favorite colors: purple, ivory, and green to liven up the bathroom. I appreciate the simplicity and elegance it can bring to virtually any room, and all it takes is buying one or two floating vases (which you can find on Amazon), shopping for your favorite floral arrangement at JoAnns or Michaels, and then picking up an old frame and adhering it to the wall. You can also spring for some fresh flowers from the farmer’s market as well, but I chose this bunch since my bathroom doesn’t get any sunlight. It’s a great addition for the household and it’s currently a lovely centerpiece for my bathroom.

Christina’s Cupcakes

By Christina Lee| July 7th, 2014|Amigurumi, Crocheting, Handmade, Oh My Crafts!, Yarn Addict|

If you don’t already know, I’ve got one heck of a sweet tooth which doesn’t help with keeping up with my figure. Part of trying to stay lean and eat healthy is to refrain from eating sweets. And how do I refrain from eating sweets? Well, I acquired a new found hobby, amigurumi. If you can crochet and count, then you’re all set. In fact, it’s a ‘piece of cake’ if you know the basics. Each layer is it’s own separate piece from the cake itself to the frosting and the cherry. One by one you end up with everything needed to make this zero calorie cupcake and it’s all a matter of sewing it together and paying attention to the details. The eyes and the lips are what make amigurumi so cute. I finished making the doughnut the other day and since my sweet tooth is beckoning again, I decided to go for the cupcake.

Freshly baked from my house to yours, Christina’s Cupcakes. Enjoy!

It’s Casino Night at Scrapbook Expo

By Christina Lee| March 15th, 2014|Craft Day, Learning from the best, Oh My Crafts!, Scrapbooking|

The theme is ‘Casino Night’ at Scrapbook Expo and we’re ready to roll the dice and hopefully win a Sizzix or two? It’s more wishful thinking, but you never know, we could be holding the winning ticket. But ultimately, we’re to shop, scrapbook, start a new project, finish an old one, and enjoy each other’s company. And this time, I came fully prepared with a lovely spread of wine, cheese, cured meats, chips, popcorn and chocolate. After a year or two of attending these events and envying the table next to us, we picked up on the essentials and had more than enough to share with our neighbors. Think of it as fuel to keep the mid-night oil burning as we put the finishing touches on our projects late into the evening.

This time around I’m making a mini album with the paper packet I got at the door, and refining some old projects while my sister is working on adding new pages to her scrapbook album. Alicia and Keely are using their Sizzix machine to make a few cards for the teachers at school. It was indeed a fun and productive evening, and I can assure you that none of us ever leave the Expo empty-handed.

Hamburgers and Craft Day

By Christina Lee| February 12th, 2014|Amigurumi, Craft Day, Crocheting, Handmade, Oh My Crafts!, Yarn Addict|

Girls and their crafts in one house, and boys, chicken pot pie and ribs in the other. That’s a pretty good divide, don’t you think? Today will be somewhat productive without all the kids running around. On the craft agenda today is some knitting, scrapbooking, card-making and painting. There’s so much to do, but since I just started exploring my new found hobby of amigurumi, I think I’m going to continue in that direction and create a hamburger. Lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, meat and buns – just the way I like it.

I will start out with the buns and then work my way through to the meaty center. There’s lots of counting and details to make each piece come alive.

Mmm…. I can already taste the burger.

Dunkin’ Donut

By Christina Lee| January 4th, 2014|Amigurumi, Crocheting, Handmade, Oh My Crafts!, Yarn Addict|

Well, I’ve decided to pick up a new hobby and it’s about time I explored another because personally, I’ve had my run with crocheting scarves, hats and towelettes. I decided to pick up a book on amigurumi. In case you don’t know, amigurumi is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and anthropomorphic creatures. The word is derived from a combination of the Japanese words “ami”, meaning crocheted or knitted, and “gurumi”, meaning stuffed doll. Amigurumi are typically animals, but can include artistic renderings or inanimate objects endowed with anthropomorphic features. I’ve got a couple of books – one on stuffed animals and one on culinary delights. It was hard to decide which one to start with, but in the end, I let my growling stomach do the choosing and we landed on culinary delights. This donut in particular excited me. I couldn’t resist it because I am such a big fan of donuts. I decided in this expresso flavored one because it is an all-time favorite and I can just imagine myself dunking it into my non-existent coffee at the time. Plus, the best part about it is I’m on a diet and you can’t go wrong with a zero calorie donut. In fact, you can enjoy it at any moment. This donut is the first of many batches that I am going to have to make. One down, five more to go….

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