I’ve always loved those little mini canvases with easels that they sell. Finally, I had a reason to buy them! They were just the right size and square shape for my photos. I started by painting my canvases in colors that coordinated with the pictures (and with each other).

Then I painted the easels. Those suckers were so absorbent that took a few coats of paint for me to get them how I wanted, so you might consider priming or sealing them first. While I waited for the easels to dry, I used Decoupage in the matte finish to put my pictures on my canvases.

I really like the pops of color on my bookshelf at work. I have a few other Instagram photos I am going to do the same way. What fun and so simple!

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As a kid, I savored each and every Peanut Butter Patty cookie from that familiar red box, although where I grew up, we called them Tagalongs. It’s interesting how the same cookies have different names in different areas of the U.S., and I’m really not sure why they do it. Regardless, these cookies will always be Tagalongs to me, just as Caramel Delights cookies will always be Samoas. I suspect about half of you will agree!

For this recipe, the key component I had to include was a smooth and rich layer of peanut butter, of course. I also made sure to add a cookie crunch and a coating of milk chocolate to round it out fully. Jo and I both think this is our favorite of the three cupcake recipes I’ve come up with, although the Lemonades are very close behind.

Cake ingredients:

• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup ground Nilla Wafers
• 1 box of French Vanilla cake mix and whatever ingredients the box requires (usually eggs, oil, and water)

Preheat the oven to whatever the cake mix directions state, then work on the crust. Jo and I actually taste-tested several types of cookies/crackers to get the closest match to the cookie in a Tagalong (tough job, right?) and we found that Nilla Wafers worked the best. Grind some up in a food processor and add them to the butter and sugar,

Mix it thoroughly until the mixture resembles wet sand. Then use a spoon to distribute the crumbs evenly among 24 cupcake liners.

Using the same trick I showed you for the Thin Mint cupcakes, press a small measuring cup down into the liner to pack the crumbs down into a nice, flat layer. Bake the crusts for 3 minutes just to get them set, then pour in your prepared French vanilla cake batter and bake according to package directions.

While the cupcakes bake and cool, you can work on the decadent part — the frosting!

Frosting ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter (not margarine!)
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 12 oz bag of milk chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp vegetable shortening
• chopped peanuts (optional)

By the way, I know I tell you on all my recipes how important it is for flavor to use real butter instead of margarine, but this time I really, really mean it. There is a LOT of butter in this frosting, which is what makes it so good. If you use margarine, well, I can’t be held accountable for whatever you end up with!

Whip the butter in your mixer until it’s smooth, then add the vanilla and mix until incorporated. Add the peanut butter and mix again until very smooth and creamy.

Add the sugar and mix until thick and lovely, taste it, and tell yourself repeatedly not to eat it all.

To quickly and easily frost the cupcakes, put the heavenly peanut butter frosting into a disposable icing bag (no tip needed) and cut a pretty fat hole in the end, then just pipe swirls onto the cupcakes.

Put the chocolate chips into a glass bowl and heat them in the microwave until almost melted, then stir in the shortening. Why shortening? Two reasons. First, it will thin down the chocolate so that you can get a thin coat and it won’t be all clumpy on the cupcake. Second, it will keep the chocolate from getting too hard after it cools, which means that you’ll be able to bite into the cupcake much more easily.

Return to the microwave another 30 seconds or so to completely melt the shortening, and stir well. The chocolate should be nice and smooth and fairly thin and runny. Let the chocolate cool a bit before continuing, so that you don’t melt your frosting.

Now it’s time to dip! Take a cupcake and dunk it upside down into the chocolate, just until the frosting is submerged. Then lift it up in a smooth motion, and let it hang upside down a few seconds so the excess chocolate drips off.

Flip it right side up and you should have a nice smooth coating of chocolate on top. I like to add a few chopped peanuts to the top while the chocolate is still melted. Admittedly, there are no peanuts on a Tagalong (or Peanut Butter Patty for the rest of you), but this serves as a hint to the flavors inside, and is an appreciated “red flag” for those allergic to peanuts.

But honestly, I mostly add the peanuts because it looks pretty.

These cupcakes are so decadent on top, and the French vanilla cake adds a lovely light touch to the peanut butter. And the chocolate coating is pretty awesome, too!

I gotta say that I am now sort of addicted to cookies in the bottom of my cupcakes now. I had no idea how great a little crunch would be, but I really love it. Especially this one.

I hope you all enjoyed my trio of Girl Scout cookie-inspired cupcake recipes. I certainly enjoyed creating (and eating!) them. I hope I covered at least one of your favorites!

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I found a ceiling medallion (it’s plastic) and some letters that were the wrong color but right size for what I wanted. The paint I used is Americana Gloss Enamels, in Indian Turquoise and White. Brushes and sponge applicators rounded out what I needed.

My first step was to paint the entire medallion with the Indian Turquoise paint and set it aside to dry.

Like I said, the letters I chose were the size I wanted and the style but not the color. Simple fix! I just painted over them with white and let them dry.

Now, it was time for the puffy white clouds. I outlined the cloud shape and then filled it in with the brush.

I used the sponge applicators to go over top of the brushed cloud to give it a softer look. You can cover your sky medallion with as many clouds as you like.

After everything dried, I arranged my letters around the circle to spell out “give thanks”. My white letters are a very subtle contrast to the sky, but you can make your letters a bright color if you want it to stand out more.

Now McGeeky just had to put it in place. I love the pop of color it adds to my otherwise boring white ceiling!

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The first thing I did was go foam shopping. I thought I would get traditional foam that I’ve seen in sheets in the store, but I ended up discovering a product called Nu Foam densified batting. It’s a really dense, compressed polyester that holds up way better than foam. It’s cheaper, too — I bought a giant roll of it for half the price I would have paid for traditional foam. Once you have your foam or batting, cut it into a shape that fits your chair perfectly, making sure to cut curves at the back corners to accommodate the rails on the back of the chair.

Then fold the fabric in half, right sides together, with the folded edge farthest away from you. Line up the front (widest) edge of the batting with the folded edge of the fabric.

The next step is to cut the fabric to fit the batting, but first you need to do a little math to determine how big to cut it. The measurement you’re looking for is half the thickness of the batting plus 1/2″ for seam allowances. My batting was 1″ thick, so for me that meant 1/2″ + 1/2″ = 1″ total. If you use 2″ thick batting, the measurement would be 1″ + 1/2″ = 1 1/2″.

Use a marker and a ruler (my ruler is 1″ wide, which made this really easy) to mark the fabric all the way around the other three sides of the batting (skip where you lined it up with the folded edge), using your own custom measurement (again, mine was 1″). Make sure to mark the curves around the back corners as well.

Cut the fabric out on the marked lines, then grab your ruler because you need to take one more measurement. Stretch out the curved edge on the back corner until it’s straight and measure to see how long it is. Mine was 4″.

Add one inch to the measurement above and cut two pieces of fabric that are that long. The width should be the thickness of your batting plus one inch. For me, that meant two pieces of fabric that were 5″ long (4+1) and 2″ wide (1+1).

To attach the cushion to the chair, you’ll also need two pieces of 3/4″ Velcro that are about 5 1/2″ long. To cover the back of the Velcro, you’ll need two more fabric pieces that are 1 1/2″ wide and 6 1/2″ long.

Okay, now that all the math and measuring is done, let’s get to sewing! We’ll start by covering the back of the Velcro so it looks prettier. Take one of the long strips of fabric and put it face down on the table, and fold over one of the long sides. Put the fuzzy half of the Velcro on top, face up, and pin it in place.

Use the sewing machine to sew the Velcro to the fabric, along the edge. Continue down one long side, and when you get to the end, fold the fabric up again and tuck it underneath, then continue around. Go back along the other long side, tucking the fabric underneath again to hide those raw edges. There’s no need to sew up the fourth side, because it will be hidden later.

Do the same thing on the other fuzzy piece of Velcro, leaving you with two lovely covered pieces with three finished edges.

Now grab the main piece of fabric that will cover the cushion, make sure it’s still folded with the right sides together, and sew up both of the sides with a 1/2″ seam allowance. Do not sew the curved corners yet — just the sides.

Grab one of the corners on the front of the cover, where your new stitches meet the folded fabric edge. Pinch it so that it forms a triangle, and make a row of stitches a little ways in from the point. To determine where to sew these stitches, come in just as far as it takes to make your row of stitches exactly as long as your batting is wide (in my case, 1″).

Do this on the other front corner as well. This will create a boxy front on your cover, which will accommodate the square thickness of the batting perfectly.

Okay, now we get to have some fun… it’s time to attach the Velcro closures to the back corners. Start by opening up the cover and twisting it so that the side seam is on the table. The two corners you cut out should make a semi-circle. Take one of your covered fuzzy Velcro pieces and place it, face up, on the seam. Leave about an inch or so hanging off the bottom.

Take one of the remaining small pieces of fabric you have from before and place it, face down, on top of the Velcro. Hold or pin in place and use the sewing machine to attach everything together, about 1/2″ in from the edge of the main cover.

When you’re done, you can flip the fabric back and see that the Velcro piece’s raw edge is completely hidden now.

Fold the flap back up and pull it over to one side, twisting carefully, so that it lines up with the curved corner on the side.

It will take some finagling, but get those two edges lined up as well as you can along the curve and pin them together.

Use the sewing machine to sew along the pinned edge, and you’ll have your corner halfway made!

Do the same acrobatic twist of the fabric on the other side of that little flap, creating a fully enclosed corner with a piece of Velcro sticking out.

Grab the scratchy side of the Velcro piece and lay it, face up, on the piece, running it right down the middle of your little corner flap. Pin it in place, then sew it down across the end. Take a moment here to make sure your Velcro’s sides are lined up properly and you can form a loop.

Using the same method you just completed, add the Velcro and flap to the other corner. Your cushion’s cover is really starting to get some structure to it now!

You’ve got one wide opening on the piece, and it’s a bit bigger than we need it to be. Pinch it shut near one of the corners, and sew about two inches of it down flat, getting the stitches as close as you can to the corner flap without sewing over it.

Do the same on the other side, making sure to only sew about 2″ of it closed, so that you still have an opening about 6-8″ across.

Flip the cover inside out and check the finished cover to be sure it looks right and the Velcro pieces match up properly. When you’re satisfied, roll up the batting and stuff it inside, then smooth it out flat.

Do a slip-stitch to close up the remaining gap…

…and your cushion is all done!

To attach the cushion to the chair, just fold the Velcro straps around snugly and let them do all the work.

What a lovely addition these custom seat cushions made to the chairs in the studio!

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First, get your pans ready. I used a loaf pan and a standard 9×13. I made up the brownie batter and cake batter according to package directions. I thoroughly sprayed the loaf pan (like, a whole lot) and spooned the brownie mixture into it. Take note of approximately how thick the layer of brownie batter is.

Next, spray the cake pan (or grease and flour it) thoroughly. I forgot that part — don’t be like me. Now flip that loaf pan over into the middle of the cake pan. I know, it’s bizarre. Hold the loaf pan down with one hand and pour your cake batter all around until it’s about as thick as the brownie batter was in the other pan. You won’t need the entire batch of cake batter to do this, so you will have enough left over to make some regular cupcakes or a small cake.

Lift the loaf pan out and look at the magic! The batters did not end up blending together at all. I baked the Carownie at 340 degrees for about 30 minutes. Then, I iced the entire thing with fudge icing.

Finally, I ate it! I was thrilled with the results — delicious edge cake pieces and center-only brownies. It was divine! The whole thing was super moist and delicious and if I hadn’t told everyone that I baked both of them in the same pan, no one would have known. This might be my new favorite dessert to make!

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Creating these mosaics may seem like a daunting task, but the AluMosaic instructional DVD walks you through the entire process and makes it a very approachable art form. Jeff gave us a copy of his DVD to watch and I knew right away I just had to make an AluMosaic of my own.

I want to share my progress with you all as I work on my AluMosaic, and today I want to show you how I got started. The first step, of course, was to come up with a design!

The possibilities are endless, and you can use just about any image you can find. I had a hard time choosing just one image, so I decided to make a collage of crafty items. I was especially excited by the bright colors in each element of the collage.

Once I had the design worked out, the next step was to prepare the workspace. I used a sheet of 1/4″ thick MDF that I painted white. You can use whatever material you want as long as it’s stiff, smooth, and white. I borrowed Jo’s projector to shine the image over the board, and traced it with a pencil.

Then I used the specific measurements and technique discussed in the DVD to add a grid to my design, to aid with the placement of the tiles.

The final step to preparing the board was to apply a special glue to the entire surface, that would hold the tiles but also make them removable, so that I can make adjustments or corrections later. I’d love to tell you what the glue is, but you’ll need to get Jeff’s DVD to find out!

My board is approximately 4 feet by 2 feet wide, and I don’t want to have to keep it on a table for weeks as I work on it. To keep it out of the way and also make it easier to work on, I came up with a quick trick for making an impromptu easel. I got a couple of removable Command wire hooks and stuck them to my wall, then propped the board up on them.

Finally, it was time to start adding the mosaic tiles! First, I had to make them. I went back to the DVD for specific direction, and used the measurements Jeff indicates. Using his scoring technique, I ended up with sheets of aluminum that I could just bend gently to snap apart. It’s amazing how easily the scored metal cuts, and how perfect and smooth the edges are.

I have to take a moment to mention the special templates that you can by on the AluMosaics site. They make the tile cutting process so much easier and the tile size more consistent. Seriously, they are worth every penny. It didn’t take me long to create a bunch of tiles so that I could finally add some color to my board.

I printed my design onto a piece of card stock for easy reference, identified the area where I wanted to start, and placed me first tile. It was so exciting!

Then I just couldn’t stop until My Honey dragged me away for dinner. Searching through the tiles for just the right piece was so fun, and I was amazed at how the paintbrush came together as I added more and more tiles.

I’ve still got TONS more work to do (there are 2700 tiles), and given my crazy summer schedule, it may take me months to finish, but I promise I’ll update you here and on Facebook as I make more progress. Wish me luck!

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Since this was going to be a reading lamp, I decided to use the phrase “Once Upon a Time” (which also happens to be the title of one of my favorite new TV shows). I used my Cricut and the Storybook Cricut cartridge to cut the saying out of black scrapbook paper. If you do not have a Cricut or that particular cartridge, I made a downloadable template for you that you can print to the size you need for your lamp. I would print it onto white card stock (rather than paper) to give the finished words a little more rigidity. Once I had my piece cut out, I just used a little spray adhesive on the front of the letters and pressed it onto the inside of the lamp shade. Super simple!

I love how it looks so ordinary when it’s off but then turns magical when I turn it on to read a good book!

And guess what! Our friends over at Kirkland’s have featured this stenciled dresser on their site as part of their new Pinning Parlor! Kirkland’s is kicking off their new Pinning Parlor with a “Pin + Win Promotion” that you should definitely go check out. The Pinning Parlor, a gathering place for inspiration on MyKirklands.com, offers visitors the chance to pin beautifully styled photography, DIY projects, and design tips to their own Pinterest boards for a chance to win. Each week of the four-week promotion, one lucky entrant will win a $2000 prize pack from Kirkland’s and Formica® Flooring. They’re adding new inspiration to the Pinning Parlor each week, so be sure to check back often for more inspiration and more chances to win!

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To make these seat covers, you only need to take one measurement, and that’s around the fattest part of the headrest. You’ll need this measurement to make sure you make a hole that will fit over the headrest later.

For the materials, you need a beach towel and a vinyl tablecloth. The towel is great for soaking up any water or sweat, and it will be comfy to sit on. The vinyl tablecloth will be used as a liner on the back, to keep the moisture from seeping through to the seats. Don’t bother to get a really nice tablecloth for this, either. The thin, cheap ones will actually be more comfortable to sit on, easier to sew, and easier to fold up when not in use.

The first thing to do is make the hole for the headrest. Put the towel face down on the table and measure 10 inches from the end and make a mark. Then measure the width of the towel, divide in half, and mark the center, forming an X where the two marks meet.

Divide your headrest measurement in half (mine was 26 inches, so half of that is 13 inches) and draw a line that long, centered on the X.

Cut along the line, creating an opening.

Lay the tablecloth out on the floor and put your towel on top. Make it all nice and smooth, then cut the tablecloth so it’s about 1″ bigger than the towel on all sides.

Put the towel and tablecloth wrong sides together, and fold the edge of the tablecloth in a half inch or so.

Line the edge up with the towel and pin in place. Do this on all four sides of the towel, then use the sewing machine to sew the edges together.

When you’ve sewn all around, you’ll have a single piece with towel on one side and vinyl on the other.

You’ve still got to close up that hole, though. Use some pins to hold the towel in place around the area you cut, then use the sewing machine to sew two rows of stitches around the hole.

Finally, use your scissors to cut the tablecloth along the slit, trimming away any excess. If you want to get fancy here, you could encase the edge with some ribbon or bias tape, but I decided to keep it simple.

To put the cover on the seat, just slip it over the headrest and down onto the seat back.

A quick straightening and smoothing of the rest of the towel and you’re all set!

The cover comes off just as quickly as it goes on, and you can fold it up and stick in the trunk for when you need it. The vinyl backing also makes this a great waterproof blanket for a picnic, play date at the park, or a stint on the sidelines at the soccer field. And the whole thing is machine washable! (Probably best to line dry, though, so the vinyl doesn’t melt.)

I liked this seat cover so much that I just had to make another one for the other seat. Now I’m all set for summer!

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As happy as I was with the transformation, it still needed something more. I struggled for a while to come up with an idea, but I was finally inspired when I spotted a Kaleidoscope stencil by Americana. The design would be perfect to accent the drawer pulls! I grabbed some white paint and a sponge dauber and I was set.

I started by using some masking tape to attach the stencil to the drawer front, centering the design on the hole from the knob.

Then I used a teeny tiny bit of white paint on the dauber and pounced it onto the stencil. The key to a sharp stenciled image is to use just the slightest bit of paint at a time, and apply several coats if needed.

When the design was covered, I carefully peeled away the stencil. There’s no need to wait for the paint to dry, and the stencil will actually come off easier if you don’t wait.

I just love the design pop that this stencil gives!

I repeated the stenciled design on both sides of each drawer, then put the knobs back on.

I think this simple touch made the dresser so unique and modern. Now instead of being a subtle piece of furniture in the corner, it’s a fun addition to the room with its own personality.

It’s amazing what a little paint can do!

And guess what! Our friends over at Kirkland’s have featured this stenciled dresser on their site as part of their new Pinning Parlor! Kirkland’s is kicking off their new Pinning Parlor with a “Pin + Win Promotion” that you should definitely go check out. The Pinning Parlor, a gathering place for inspiration on MyKirklands.com, offers visitors the chance to pin beautifully styled photography, DIY projects, and design tips to their own Pinterest boards for a chance to win. Each week of the four-week promotion, one lucky entrant will win a $2000 prize pack from Kirkland’s and Formica® Flooring. They’re adding new inspiration to the Pinning Parlor each week, so be sure to check back often for more inspiration and more chances to win!

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