Crafts

Ham and Cheese Egg Boats // Recipe

1 · Mar 14, 2013 · 12 Comments

Spring Egg Boats // Have you ever had an ah ha moment that makes you feel pretty silly? When I discovered this recipe a few weeks ago, my first thought was… Holy cow, why didn't I think of that!! I've been making all kinds of egg / bread dishes for years. Why hadn't I ever thought of just putting the egg right into the bread itself and baking it just like that. Total paradigm shift for me. What I love most about this recipe is how easy it is to make and yet it presents really well. This would be a fabulous Easter brunch dish idea, your guests will think you are a culinary genius! Yet it's simple enough for an easy weeknight meal as well. It's the best of both worlds.

Ham and Cheese Egg Boats

This recipe is an adaption of a recipe originally found on Spoon Fork Bacon.

Large loaf of french or sour dough bread

6 eggs

1/4 cup whole milk or cream

Tabasco sauce to taste

1 cup of diced ham

3/4 cup of shredded cheese (I used an Italian blend of shredded cheese but cheddar would work fine too.)

Goat cheese (optional)

Directions

Cut a long narrow trough in the bread and scoop out a bit of the bread to make room for the egg mixture and set a side. In a bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, Tabasco (I usually put in about 6-10 dashes, but that's up to your taste), and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese. Once the mixture has been whisked well, add the ham and carefully pour into the bread. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the egg boat. If you are a goat cheese lover, you can add some little dollops of goat cheese on top as well. I love goat cheese but other members of my family do not. So, I made one with and one without.

Now to bake this, if you are using a full size french loaf can be a little tricky. The loaf does not fit on a traditional baking sheet, so I had to improvise. I turned the baking sheet over and then used aluminum foil to create a baking dish for the loaf. That way if there were any spills, the foil would catch the mess and the inverted baking sheet provided stability. It worked like a charm.

Place in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes or until the egg has fully set. Let the egg boat cool for 10-15 and then slice into sections for your family or guests. I served mine with a lovely salad of mixed greens, tomatoes, goat cheese and pine nuts with a bright lemon vinaigrette.

Now that I've found this gem of a recipe, I can't wait to try all kinds of different variations. I can see all kinds of fun combinations with mushrooms, spinach, sausage you name it… Anything that would normally work in an omelet would be lovely. What combination would you try? Leave a comment and share and let's see what other amazing ideas we can all come up with!

Dear Lizzy 5th & Frolic // Giveaway

0 · Mar 13, 2013 · 96 Comments

Dear Lizzy Giveaway // What girl doesn't love a shinny new toy to play with? Better yet, new craft supplies to tinker with? I know this girl does. Not too long ago, I was given the opportunity to play with the new 5th & Frolic line from Dear Lizzy at American Crafts and I was thrilled. I had a chance to meet Elizabeth Kartchner, the talented designer and creator of Dear Lizzy, last year at SNAP and immediately fell in love with her style. She is one talented lady for sure! I decided I was going to make some new room decor for my daughter Emily's room with her new 5th & Frolic line…

Supplies

Old frames
Krylon spray paint in Watermelon
1-2 pieces of vellum or tracing paper
Dear Lizzy paper pack
Dear Lizzy tags
Dear Lizzy decorative brads
Dear Lizzy paper garland
Dear Lizzy burlap bows
Dear Lizzy glitter ribbon
Mod Podge
Glue Dots

Instructions

This project was sooooo easy! Emily and I found some fun room decor pieces at Target in their Valentine's Day clearance section last month…

I loved the shape of the pieces, but didn't love the whole motif. I knew with a little spray paint and some fun design elements these little goodies could be transformed into something really fun, so I stashed them away waiting for the perfect project. Along came Dear Lizzy, and knew it was a match made in heaven.

I spray painted the frames with the Krylon Watermelon gloss and then let it sit over night to cure. The next day I traced the raised elements of the frames using some vellum and cut the templates out. I then used the templates to cut out my paper that I would then decoupage onto the frames with Mod Podge. A little trick when you are decoupaging… lightly wet the paper you are using with water before you add the Mod Podge. You won't have any issues with air bubbles if you do that.

Once the Mod Podge was dry, Emily and I set to work decorating her frames. We had so many fun options to choose from…

Tags, brads, glitter tape, burlap bows… So many fun things to choose from. Our favorite was the paper garland. It was so cool how you could magically pull the garland out of the paper and not have to sit for hours cutting little triangles and sewing them together. LOVED IT!!

Emily and I had a ball! This whole project took about and hour once the spray paint was cured. What made it so easy were the stylish papers and design elements from Dear Lizzy's 5th and Frolic line. Everything looks stunning together, so it was impossible to go wrong. The only thing that made me a little sad were the other fun goodies we didn't get to add to our project. Here are a few more of my favorites..

I can't wait to play around with the stamps and the Dear Lizzy day book. The line is truly a joy to work with.

Want to play with some Dear Lizzy 5th and frolic of your very own? It's available at American Crafts now, or from JoAnn Fabric & Craft stores nationwide on March 17th. BUT… you could also win a $50 prize pack here on WhipperBerry from American Crafts!!

All you need to do is follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter box below…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday Flair Features

3 · Mar 11, 2013 · 7 Comments

Friday Flair Features // Happy Monday everyone! We were surprised by spring blizzard yesterday so, our Spring Break has started a bit chilly. No worries, we can have fun in the snow too! You know what's warmed me up… Checking out everyone's spring posts from last week's Friday Flair! There are so many fun spring post out there. Here are a handful of my favorites…

rainbow cookies // lizy b

lucky charm printable // create.craft.love

rainbow jell-o // mom on time out

leprechaun clue book // blissful roots

mac & cheese muffins // lemon drop shop

grasshopper pies // a pretty life in the suburbs

treat bag printables // make life lovely

st. patrick's day goodies // choux-choux

lucky buddy printable // pink polka dot creations

lucky sign // it's always ruetten

spring mantel // christina's adventures

speckled eggs // homework

easter printable // the diary of daves wife

bunny tail napkins // sophisticated yellow

hoppy cottontails // caramel potatoes

sofa table // twelve o eight

arrow pillow // making home base

thai peanut soup // half baked harvest

superhero room // sugar tot designs

Aren't they all so fun?! There are so many more, if you haven't already you should go check out the Friday Flair post or visit the Friday Flair Pinboard on Pinterest. I can't wait to see what you are up to this week!

Friday Flair Link Party // Bunny Pouch Edition

0 · Mar 8, 2013 · 36 Comments

Friday Flair Link Party // Happy Friday everyone!! We are heading into Spring Break this next week, so this Friday is the last day of school for a week. I'm super excited!! I love sleeping in, and hanging out with my kiddos all day. Plans are still a little up in the air at the moment, we may or may not travel to Colorado for the week. I'm a fly by the seat of your pants kind of girl… so we"ll see. What I do know is that I'm super excited to do some spring crafting. How about you guys? If you are anything like me, you have a laundry list of what you want to do and just not enough hours in the day. Here is a fun project that I found from Mer Mag…

img source // bunny pouch from mer mag

I am just in love with this sweet bunny pouch. You should head over to Merrilee's site and see how she make this easy, but super cute little pouch. Won't it be a fun addition to your kiddos Easter baskets?

Let's Get the Party Started!

How to Add Text to an Image // ViDEO Tutorial

2 · Mar 7, 2013 · 17 Comments

How to add text to an image // Last week, I asked if anyone would be interested in learning more photo tips and tricks… You all answered with an astounding YES!! The number one question was… How do I add images to my text? With this Pinterest world we live in, knowing some basic graphic design really couldn't hurt, so I put together this meaty post to shed a little light on how to add text to your images. There's a lot to cover so I'm just going to jump right in…

Why Add Text to Images

When I'm beginning to craft a post, I think of it as pulling together a layout for a magazine article. I don't want it to look just like a blog post, I want it to catch the readers eye and pull them in. I want tickle their visual fancy along with providing some valuable information as well. Think about it… We eat and live with our eyes. If your images aren't appetizing, no one is going to partake of what you have to offer. With the explosion of Pinterest having visual appetizing images in your posts is even more important these days. You need to grab your readers with your best photo at the top of your post with a headline right on the images telling your reader exactly what that post is about. That means we all need to be not only photographer, writer, editor, creative director and now graphic designer on all of our work.

How to Add Text to Images with Photoshop Elements

Now you've realized the importance of adding text to your images, but how do you accomplish that? What program will you use? There are many different options at every price point. You can invest in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop at the high end. Both amazing products that are super powerful, but with a high learning curve. You can go for the free option with online program like PicMonkey. They work alright, but are pretty basic. I tend to go with the middle of the road with Adobe Photoshop Elements. It's a very affordable program with many of the bells and whistles of Photoshop, but without the $700 Photoshop price tag. You can get Photoshop Elements for $100 so it's not too bad. Plus you are getting a pretty decent photo editor for beginning photographers.

I've made a video for you guys on how I add text to my photos using Photoshop Elements…

What Fonts to Use

Now, that you've learned how to add text and other design elements to your images, what fonts should you use? Your font choices are more important that you know. Using old and out of date fonts is like installing an avocado green toilet in your fancy newly remodeled cottage white bathroom. It's just a bad design idea. Pay attention to current trends. Remember, the way you style your photos are a big part of your brand. Take the time to make good font and design element selections.

Here are a few of my favorite fonts right now. I tend to stay pretty simple and stick to just a few standard fonts. That way when people see my photos, they know… "that photo is from WhipperBerry."

ostrich sans // learning curve // amatic // doris day // league gothic // modern no.20 // helvetica neue ultra light // reklame script // thirsty rough

Most of these fonts are free. You can download a free demo of Reklame Script that can get you by, and Thirsty Rough is $5, not too bad.

Where to Find Good Brushes

My go to gal for graphic elements is Rhonna Farrer the creator of Rhonna Designs. I have been a HUGE fan of her for some time. She has some amazing kits that you can purchase and then use to your hearts content. They come in a couple of different formats, so if brushes intimidate you, you can use the png format. Here is the kit that I used for this post… InstaPop!

Rhonna has a ton of fun kits, so you should go check them out.

There you have it… How I add text and graphics to my images. If you have any questions, let me know. I would be happy to help! Leave a comment or email me, heather (at) whipperberry (dot) com and I can see what I can do.