This Stop Willoughby

If you're looking for a personalized gift that's fast, easy and inexpensive (as well as fun to create), I've gotcha covered. Magazine covered, ya know?  Instructions for this project aren't really necessary, but here are some tips. You can do this with any  software that will allow you to add text to photo (I used Photoshop). You can Google "free online photo editor:" if you need to find one, there are lots of them out there. If you're a Canva user, they have a magazine cover template you can use. Really, though, you don't need a template, just a photo you want to use and fonts you like. One quick note, real magazines measure 8 1/2 inches x 11 inches, which is not a standard picture frame size. So if you plan to frame your final product, you might want to make your cover 8 x 10. To start creating Choose a photo from your picture files or save and download from recipient's social media (only do this with a close friend or family member) Open or drag...

This is a fun, simple project you can create using supplies you likely already have (and if you don't have them, you can get everything you need inexpensively). The advent period begins on December first, so I'm a little late posting this since we're already several days into December. But unless you're an absolute purist, you can skip ahead to whatever day you get your calendar created. We'll be creating our "calendar" by making 25 tiny gift bags and labeling them with numbers, counting down from 25 to 1. You can make them with any paper you like. Christmas wrapping paper is perfect (save your scraps if you've already started wrapping gifts because you'll be using small pieces), but you can also do this with plain printer paper if it's what you have on hand. I've also used brown paper bags cut into pieces. You'll also need tape or glue and scissors. Anything else you need to complete the bags is going to be based on how you want to clo...

Easter is coming.  It's about a month and a half away, so it's a little too soon to worry about what I'm going to make for Easter dinner.  Still, I'm a little scared because I've managed to hurt myself in the kitchen on every holiday since last Easter. Along with the ham, I had decided to make scalloped potatoes.  I was using the mandolin (with the guard) to slice the potatoes, but I was rushing to get it done.  The guard slipped and I ran my middle finger across the blade.  For a split second, I wasn't sure I had cut myself because it didn't hurt.  But then it started bleeding, and I mean BLEEDING, and it hurt like crazy.  I had cut all the way to the bone.  I could actually see it.  Really.  I grabbed a gob of paper towel and put as much pressure on it as I could.  Then I put a bandage on it (which wasn't easy, I was home alone at the time and more than a little woozy after seeing bone), slipped on a disposable glove and finishe...