Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

This one goes down in the books as a Pinterest SUCCESS! Seriously. I found THIS pin on pinterest and decided to give them a whirl. Several things I learned, make the cinnamon goo a little thicker than you anticipate, so that it isn't so runny when it comes out of the sandwich bag. I just made my standard pancake mix (from a box) and then used her cinnamon mix:

1. 1/2 cup butter, melted
2. 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3. 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
5. Cream Cheese Glaze:
6. 4 Tablespoons butter
7. 2 ounces cream cheese
8. 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
9. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

SOOOO YUMMY - This one is going in the books as a Pinterest Success!

Tunisian Crochet update 1

Throughout this year my friend Lindy and I are going to be attempting to make a Tunisian crochet blanket from lion brand. I began this year knowing nothing about how to Tunisian crochet. A few days before the new year I went to my local craft store and picked up my needle. I am hoping to use up lots of yarn from my stash to make this project, I may towards the end need to buy some, we'll see how the year plays out. Anyways, the throw consists of nine different stitches. I have begun with the basic Tunisian crochet, which thanks to youtube, I picked up fairly quickly, my gauge isn't exactly what it should be according to the pattern but apparently according to the reviews lots of people have this problem.

Serious rollage

finished square number 1 only 35 to go

First thoughts and lessons learned from the first square:

• relax - the tension must be fairly loose
• the ends curl - it seems 99% of people have this problem
• I am going to need a border
• Ending a square is not hard but not as easy as I would have liked at first
• I have a year, I can do this. It is only 36 squares and 9 stitches. I have a year.
• Yes, this is me giving myself a pep talk, thanks for listening
• I am loving having a project to challenge me, sometimes I get bored with doing the same projects over and over again
• 35 squares to go, I can do this

Anyone else taking up a year long project?

Are you learning anything new this year?

Any random goals for the year?

366 in 2012

It is finished. I LOVE IT! I successfully managed to take a picture every day this past year as well as get them all into a shutterfly book. I just finished it and cannot wait for shutterfly books to go on sale so I can order it. I used Becky Higgins Project Life Turquoise edition for my book. I am loving her designs and the option of digitally making books rather than having to do them with actual scrapbooks. As I was finishing 2012 I was a little sad because I knew it was over, I was sad because I wouldn't have any more layouts to design, or the challenge of taking a picture every day, sooooo I have decided to continue it for at least one more year. I am taking it on a year by year basis, not committing to doing a photo a day book forever (that could get old and I don't want it to be a chore, I want to love the project). Without further ado here is a glimpse of my 2012 book. I can't wait to order it and for it to arrive so I can sit down and slowly page through it. I will probably do one more proof of it before I order it, I would hate to have stickers in the wrong place or have a typo. Either way I am jazzed.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Looking back on the year there are a few things that were important as I made my book:

• The first few weeks seemed like I was always looking for the "big moments" the major things that happened, while yes, there are a few major things that happened last year (like getting engaged) my life is really made of of small moments that leave a big impact - yes, I go to work every day and it isn't always glamorous and sometimes the messy desk is the most appropriate picture for the day
• Shoot lots of photos & shoot often - I don't always know what my photo of the day will be until the day has ended and I am looking over my photos - I shot thousands of photos this past year and in turn had to make a general 2012 album as well (or really a 2012 album is in the works - I will post it when I get it finished)
• My photos come primarily from three different cameras - I always (or 99% of the time) carry my iPhone 4s [which takes pretty good pictures], I often carry my Nikon CoolPix AW100 [which takes great pictures], and sometimes I carry my Nikon D60 [which if it weren't for operator error would always take amazing pictures] and my book is a combination of all three of those cameras 
• Play with your layouts - sometimes certain layouts look better than others 
• Work with it every week - it gets ridiculously overwhelming if you have to remember back and do more than a week at a time - every Sunday night or Monday morning I updated my album
• Go with it - not every picture will be worth a million dollars - but looking back is sooooooo much fun

Anyone else do a photo a day book?
Are you enjoying the project?
How many years have you done it?