Father's Day Blueberry Cornbread

 

While our sons were growing up, my husband cooked breakfast almost every Sunday. He usually made cornbread using the recipe on the cornmeal box.  The kids enjoyed it and I got to sleep in late. This year in honor of Father's Day, I decided to make my husband some cornbread. LOL!  To step it up a notch, I added blueberries, melted butter and heavy cream. Whenever we have excess blueberries and/or heavy cream, I freeze the extras and so I usually have them on hand to enhance everyday recipes.  Here is the recipe I created for Father's Day Blueberry Cornbread:

1 c. ccornmeal

1 c. all purpose flour

1/4 c. sugar

1 T. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 c. heavy cream

1/3 c. melted butter

1 large egg beaten

1 c. frozen blueberries

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.  Combine the liquid ingredients and add them to the dry ones. Carefully fold in the blueberries and pour into a parchment lined 9 x 9 baking pan. Bake the cornbread in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven and let cool before cutting into individual pieces. Enjoy! 

Resin Mofusand Coasters and Sumikogurashi Trinket Tray

I purchased a package of blank cardboard coasters from Daiso quite a while ago.  I finally decided what to do with them.  The inspiration came from some Mofusand stickers I bought in Japan.  Of course HM Ben Franklin Crafts has hundreds of sticker packages you can choose from to design your coasters.  It is simple work to adhere the stickers and then apply the UV resin (Padico) and set it with a mini UV kught (reasonably priced ones are available at HM BFC).  Apply just a thin coating of the resin or your coaster will warp.  Slight warping can be corrected by leaving the finished coaster under a heavy weight. Coasters like these would make great party favors and can be personalized with a name or message before applying the resin.  I only applied resin on the front of the coaster.  Before applying the resin, put the coaster on a jar cover over parchment so you can catch any excess resin drips.

I think this Sumikogurashi  sticker trinket tray turned out very well.  It was so easy to do . I started by applying a large sticker onto a printed cardboard tray .  I think I purchased the tray from Daiso or HM Ben Franklin Crafts. Next I poured Padico UV Resin into the tray and brushed it up the sides of the tray.  A UV light was used to set the resin and that required several timed exposure to insure the resin was dry.  The back of the tray was done in the same way.  Although, the resin makes the tray waterproof, I asked the resin manufacturer if the finished resin surface was food safe and he said the resin was designed to make beads or charms.  I guess this means that the resin coated tray should NOT be used to hold food.  I plan to use this Suikogurashi trinket tray to hold my current favorite jewelry pieces for easy access.  Making a simple tray like this is so rewarding.  It makes the recipient (me) smile everytime I look at it.  A big Sumikogurashi Smile to YOU! 

Vintage Ceramic Treasures Discovered

While traveling, I often peek into antique shops in the hope of finding something unique and irresistible.  During a quick stop at the Cambridge Antiques store in Boston, I uncovered two vintage ceramic pieces. This first one was made by the Roseville company in 1944.  The glaze color and unique shape made it stand apart from all the other 'stuff' on the shelves of ceramic items. For a piece of pottery 82 years old it was in great condition, having a lovely glaze with no cracks or chips.

From the top view, you can see the frog holes that are meant to hold the flowers or greenery.  I need to find a large glass bowl to set the frog in so I can arrange some flowers in the piece.  I think gardenias from our garden will look great blossoming from this vintage piece.  I paid very little for this flower frog and after research I discovered it was a real 'find' worth several times what it cost.

The second ceramic piece that I 'discovered' at the same antique store was this small matte glazed pitcher.  Although this piece doesn't have an impressed mark to identify the maker, I think it probably at one time had a foil sticker with the maker's name and date of production.  If I would have to guess, I think it likely was made in California during the 60's or 70's.  It just has that west coast 'hippie' vibe...like me!  It doesn't take much to make me happy and for just a few dollars this little pitcher really brought a smile to my heart. I'm sure many would disagree (especially my kids) but I believe that we should surround ourselves with items and people who make us smile and bring back memories of happy times.  Yes, I've become one of those old ladies who has a story to go with everything in her house.  I can tell you stories about every collectible so don't ask unless you have lots of time. LOL!

Chiikawa Figure with Macrons on Jar Top

 Here is the second Chiikawa figure jar that I've made.  Like the prvious blog post the components were adhered to the cover with Padico UV resin that was set with a UV light.  The little hearts are actually confetti (HM Ben Franklin Crafts). 

The macrons were made from Hearty clay and were formed in a silicon mold.  I can't remember where I purchased the mold from but I think you could hand form the macrons.  Like the previous Chiikawa jar, this one is waterproof so it would make a great washable food jar...I suggest a sweet treat! It doesn't take many supplies to make a cute jar like this and it comes together quickly because of the 1 minute setting UV resin  available from HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  You don't have to use a Chiikawa figure...look around and I'm sure you'll find something that will make a perfect cover topper. Cute, useful and handmade are the perfect ingredients for a great craft project. Give it a try!

Chiikawa Figure with Flowers and Butterflies on Jar Top

When in Japan we saw many people eager to purchase some figures with large round heads and expressive faces so we bought some, too! Hahaha! Copycats!  I later learned that these figures were the rage because of their association with Manga.  The packages I purchased were mystery ones meaning that I couldn't see which one I was getting.  It turned out that two of the six figures were duplicates so I decided to use them to deorate some glass jars from Daiso. The first one had a very bald head  and I decided it needed something whimsical so I added a butterfly.  On the rest of the jar lid I added flowers, leaves, and another butterfly before pouring Padico UV LED resin over them. It just took a few minutes to harden the resin with a UV light.

Some of the flowers were actually confetti and others were tiny artificial ones. Both of them and the plastic leaves (from Daiso) were easily adhered with resin (Padico) and cured under a UV light. A bit of resin was also applied to the sticker butterflies to firm up their wings.  This jar lid is waterproof so it can be washed and used to hold edibles.  I think this jar made good use of an extra plastic Chiikawa figure and it will probably will make a Manga fan very happy. I was really pleased to make another pretty and useful container. You can do it too....really!