Pattye Duffner's Blog

Sucker...

A fun way to say thanks for coming, or to escort them to their seats is with a lollipop display.  It is as Yummy to look at as to receive.  Take a wooden box and paint it red (candy red of course), add a Styrofoam insert available at floral supply stores. Hot glue gumdrops over entire Styrofoam (of course they will no longer be edible).  Insert each Lollipop directly into Styrofoam in-between the gumdrops.  To make labels simply do a text box in word cut into circles and you are done!  Imagine having names on one side and the table setting on the other for a fun casual wedding.  Or names on one side and a “thank you note” on the other side for your guests as they leave your next birthday bash!!!

Quick bread

This chocolaty loaf calls to mind pound cake, but it's lighter and somewhat more textured. It's great with a glass of milk, but the swirls and ganache make it fancy enough to offer with dessert wine.

Makes one 8 1/2-inch loaf

·      8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan

·      1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

·      1/2 teaspoon salt

·      3/4 teaspoon baking powder

·      8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

·      2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

·      4 large eggs

·      1/2 cup whole milk

·      1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8 1/2-by-4-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pan; dust with flour, tapping out excess. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder into a medium bowl.

2. Melt 5 ounces chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth.

3. Put butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Add sugar; raise speed to medium. Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two batches of milk. Mix until just combined.

4. Pour half of batter into melted chocolate; stir well. Alternating between remaining plain batter and the chocolate batter, drop large spoonfuls of batter into the prepared pan. When pan is filled, use a table knife to cut through mixture with a swirling motion.

5. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. (If bread browns too quickly, tent with foil.) Let bread cool slightly in pan on a wire rack, about 10 minutes. Run a thin knife around edges of bread to loosen; unmold. Let cool completely on rack.

6. Make ganache: Put the remaining 3 ounces chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until just about to simmer. Pour cream over chocolate; stir until mixture is smooth. Let stand 10 minutes to thicken slightly. Using a small offset spatula spread ganache over cooled cake; let stand until set, about 1 hour. Bread can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 2 days.

It's a Wrap
Try these simple packaging ideas -- they're as easy as the breads themselves. Present muffins in the tin they were baked in, with any drips wiped off, of course. Wrap it in a cellophane bag and then in linen with frayed edges; tie on a tag -- and the recipe if you like -- with twill tape. Bake cornbread in wooden molds, which then serve as gift boxes (they can't be reused for baking). Cover bread in cellophane, then put in a loaf box from a baking-supply store and wrap with loose-weave cotton fabric and sewing thread. Bake bread in a can and cover with rounds of waxed paper, then a round of tissue paper or striped cotton; the whole is neatly tied with waxed-linen thread.

On your marks... get set... go!

Its guests will never forget a two year olds birthday if you plan it right!  Having a hot wheel theme with cars galore is a fun way to celebrate your little ones day!  Complete with little burger sliders for them to chow down on.  Road walkways and décor with the details on the street make this one party they will not even want to leave.  Have your guest arrive on his or her own wheels (bike, boards anything will work) and have a parade as one of the events. 

Fall Feasts

In celebration of fall this event was planed with details in mind.  Making your centerpieces out of clear glass vases, filling with fruit, water then the color flowers of choice will take your table from ordinary to extraordinary.  Grouping like flowers in a bunch will give visual impact and make a stronger statement.  Differing the heights of your single arrangements spread out over several containers may be the perfect backdrop to your fall feast. 

Design Essentials

Installing the flooring on the diagonal makes the room appear wider.  Recessed lights in the ceiling follow the perimeter of the room, washing light on the cabinet doors and counter top work areas.   Under cabinet lights ensure plenty of illumination for cooking.  Good or bad lighting makes or breaks a kitchen.  Properly positioned, lighting can make wood tones glow, sculpt cabinet details, lend drama to painted finishes, and make that stainless sparkle.  Place recessed fixtures relatively close to the cabinet fronts... about 12 inches from the faces and centered on the cabinet doors.... so they illuminate counter top and work areas as well as the cabinet interiors.  If you are doing a cosmetic redo there are other options...   

Dear Mom,

If I had one day to spend with someone whos gone... Who would it be?  What would I do?  This is something I read from the Sunday paper last year and thought to myself who would it be?  For me it was easy and I documented it in a simple dedication scrapbook page to my Mother.  Today 21 years ago my Mother passed away in a horrific car accident.  In remembrance of her I would like to share this page that has helped me somewhat cope with the “whats” of that question I read in the paper.  I challenge you to journal this question yourself.  If you had one more day to spend with someone that has passed away who would it be and what would you do?  What would you talk about?  Where would you go?  I look forward to reading your answers…

A Very Un Birthday To You....

In honor of my dear friend Stephanie’s birthday I wanted to share some very un birthday ideas for a Alice in Wonderland bash!  I hope you have a great day Stephanie, I love you lady…

The invite is printed backwards with a hand mirror attached with the colors if the party.  You would need to hand deliver these invites and the guest will need to use this mirror to read the details….  having a cake that looks like a madd hatter will top off the event!  Color coordinating of course!

The place cards are large playing cards with the name of the guests put on with rub-on letters.  Gluing 3 together to form a triangle it will stand all alone.  Another idea is to build a card house at each place setting and glue it together with names… how fun would that be???  To finish off the day you will need to give a white rabbit to every guest...  Can't be Alice in Wonderland with out a white rabbit!

Are you ready for Fall???

 

Try making your own garland for fall with store bought tissue leaves.  I found these leaves at the grocery store of all places.  I bought 2 different sets from 2 different stores.  Albertson’s and Vons to be exact.  I randomly picked the leaves to mix them up and simply machine sewed them together by running the stitch down each leave.  I never stopped the machine to attach the next leave.  Just go for it and don’t stop!  You will end up with a garland for years to come that you can use from September well into November.  Do you have an idea of a garland that we could do this same sewing technique with???  Please share… 

New Life... Old Paper

I was wondering if you could answer a question about a product I saw
on one of your videos a while back.  You were in a
Beverly Hills paper store and had cut out some butterflies
from some wrapping paper and had glazed them with clear glue so
that they were raised. I was just wondering what product you use.
You said that it took you about there coats to get it to look right.
It was such a great idea for using old pretty wrapping paper and
scrapbooking. I am hopping you can answer my question. 

Thank you.

I am so glad you asked…  Here are the directions

1.   Cut out shape of paper on patterned paper of your choice.

2.   Apply versa mark ink directly to the shape

3.   Sprinkle with clear Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE)

4.   Apply heat gun immediately to melt the UTEE

5.   Repeat 4 times after each layer has dried

Great question.  Keep them coming!

Well Loved

I just love taking a quilt class and making quilts that take me 9 months to make when I am expecting the babies...  This is one that I made for Ella when we were waiting for her.  She is now 5 and it still looks great.  Maybe even better now that is has been well loved!  Here are the directions....

Finished Quilt Size
41 1/2" x 53 1/2"

Number of Blocks and Finished Size
35 Rail Fence Blocks 6" x 6"

Fabric Requirements
... Butterfly novelty print (blocks) 2 yards

… Pink novelty print (blocks, border, binding) 1 3/4 yards
... Yellow print (blocks) 5/8 yard
... Green print (blocks) 1/2 yard
... Backing (piece widthwise) 2 3/4 yards
... Batting Crib size

Other Materials
... Sewing thread
... Monofilament thread (machine quilting)

Cutting the Fabric
... Pink novelty print *4 strips 6" x 45", cut on lengthwise grain
... 6 strips 2 1/2" x width of fabric (WOF)
... Yellow print 6 strips 2 1/2" x WOF
... Green print 6 strips 2 1/2" x WOF
*Cut first 

Step 1. Sew pink novelty print, yellow print, and 2 1/2" x WOF green print strips together. Make 6. Press in direction of arrows. Cut 35 segments 6 12' wide to make Rail Fence Blocks.

Step 2. Arrange and sew 7 rows of 5 blocks each, rotating Rail Fence Blocks as shown. Sew rows together. Sew pink novelty print 6" x 45" strips to sides; trim even with top and bottom. Sew remaining blue strips to top/bottom; trim even with sides.

Step 3. Layer and baste quilt top for quilting method of your choice. The pink novelty print in the blocks was machine quilted in the ditch. A meandering butterfly design was added on the butterfly blocks. Border quilting lines (spaced 2" apart, extending from the Rail Fence Block seams) run random in the borders, squaring up in the corners. Bind quilt with butterfly novelty print fabric.

Back To School... 283 Days Until Summer

Back to school here in the Duffner home is a mixed emotional day.  Happy for the little ones, sad inside for me.  I will miss them terribly.  Here is the Back to School project for this year.  The clipboard I made after seeing Stephanie’s in her home a few months back while working on her scrap room (which by the way will be aired on Scrapbook Lifestyle On Sept. 10^th) and thought this would be a perfect 1^st day of school gift for the teachers.  I did a bit of a twist on it and came up with this… It is a mini clipboard with a notepad that has the calendar of how many days until summer. I had to fill in the numbers so that took a while but I did save the file so if you are interested please leave a comment telling me and I can easily e-mail you the doc. 

Along with this I wanted to give them the more traditional gift of an apple but as you know me I have to twist that up too!  I bagged a red apple on top of raffia and put caramel dipping sauce on top and tied it with a raffia ribbon.  Supper easy and fun to put together with the kiddos!  I hope the teachers like it as much as we do.