Liz 2.0

You now can login to my comments section with your Facebook login!!!
I’m not sure if you are like me, I can’t stand having to register at every site I visit just to make a comment or check out interesting information.  One of new developments in this area is Facebook Connect.  Similar applications, are OpenID and Google Friend Connect.

Okay so let me show you how you can easily log into my site to make a comment using your Facebook account.
Find an interesting post that you’d like to comment on.  Click on the Comments link.

You will have 4 options for commenting.
1. Unclaimed – this is how you leave a comment without registering for anything.
2. Register – If you’d like to register for a Disqus account.  (Disqus is the comment manager I use on my site.)
3. - Use this option if you already have a Disqus account.
4. - The newest login option is using your Facebook Account. 

Today we’ll focus on using our Facebook Account for posting a comment.  Select the Facebook option under the comment box.  You will see a new button appear as shown below:

Click the Connect with Facebook button and a new window will open up:

Enter your Facebook login information and click connect.  The Window will close and you will be logged into my site with your facebook account:

You will see that you’re profile picture pulls over and you have a little facebook f on your image.  Then you’re all set to comment!  Very simple don’t you think?  The best benefit in my opinion is that you don’t have to register at yet another site!
Facebook users leave me a comment and try it out.

Here is a slide presentation I put together a while back that explains a little bit about what RSS Feeds are and how to use a Reader to manage many RSS Feeds.

Okay do you get RSS Feeds now??  Have you signed up for a reader?  My preference is Google Reader, however there are many readers out there just google to find one.
Now that you have a reader and understand RSS Feeds let’s discus how you can subscribe to my blog.  I know you never want to miss out on a post so lets get connected.
You can subscribe to all posts on my blog in three ways. 
1. In the URL Bar:

2. At the top of the blog header:

3. Via E-mail:


Now a another feed you can subscribe to is the Comments Feed.  Subscribing to this feed will keep you current on all comments made on any blog post, including reply posts by me.


Now you’re all set to start subscribing to my blog and using your reader to start subscribing to blogs all over the web.
I’d love to hear your your thoughts on RSS Feeds & Readers.  Which Reader are you using?  What are your favorite blogs?

So my first give away is over.  I hope to get a few more giveaways going here in the new year.

Since palmtreefanatic is my cousin I already know you’re address I’ll send off your scrapbook goodies tomorrow in the mail.

Congrats!

Okay so this is a meme and most I don’t do but I thought this one was a fun one.

If you’ve seen over 85 movies you need to get a life. Or so I've read on Barb’s Blog.

So here is a list of 239 random films that have broad appeal.  I’ve checked off the ones I've seen and totaled it up at the bottom.  Scroll down and see if I should be searching for a new life.

(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show 
(x) Grease 
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest 
( ) Boondock Saints 
( ) Fight Club 
( ) Starsky and Hutch 
( ) Neverending Story 
( ) Blazing Saddles 
(x) Airplane 
Total so far:5

(x) The Princess Bride 
(x) Anchorman 
(x) Napoleon Dynamite 
( ) Labyrinth 
( ) Saw 
( ) Saw II 
( ) White Noise 
( ) White Oleander 
( ) Anger Management 
(x) 50 First Dates 
(x) The Princess Diaries 
(x) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement 
Total so far:11

(x) Scream 
(x) Scream 2 
(x) Scream 3 
( ) Scary Movie 
( ) Scary Movie 2 
( ) Scary Movie 3 
( ) Scary Movie 4 
(x) American Pie 
(x) American Pie 2 
(x) American Wedding 
( ) American Pie Band Camp 
Total so far:17

( ) Harry Potter 1 
( ) Harry Potter 2 
( ) Harry Potter 3 
( ) Harry Potter 4 
( ) Resident Evil 1 
( ) Resident Evil 2 
(x) The Wedding Singer 
(x) Little Black Book 
( ) The Village 
(x) Lilo & Stitch 
Total so far:20

(x) Finding Nemo 
( ) Finding Neverland 
( ) Signs 
( ) The Grinch 
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre 
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning 
( ) White Chicks 
(x) Butterfly Effect 
(x) 13 Going on 30 
( ) I, Robot 
( ) Robots 
Total so far:23

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story 
(x) Universal Soldier 
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events 
(x) Along Came Polly 
( ) Deep Impact 
(x) KingPin 
(x) Never Been Kissed 
(x) Meet The Parents 
(x) Meet the Fockers 
( ) Eight Crazy Nights 
(x) Joe Dirt 
( ) King Kong 
Total so far:31

(x) A Cinderella Story 
(x) The Terminal 
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie 
(x) Passport to Paris 
(x) Dumb & Dumber 
(x) Dumber & Dumberer 
(x) Final Destination 
( ) Final Destination 2 
( ) Final Destination 3 
(x) Halloween 
( ) The Ring 
( ) The Ring 2 
( ) Surviving Christmas 
(x) Flubber 
Total so far:39

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle 
(x) Practical Magic 
( ) Chicago 
( ) Ghost Ship 
( ) From Hell 
( ) Hellboy 
( ) Secret Window 
(x) I Am Sam 
(x) The Whole Nine Yards 
(x) The Whole Ten Yards 
Total so far:43

(x) The Day After Tomorrow 
(x) Child's Play 
( ) Seed of Chucky 
( ) Bride of Chucky 
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You 
(x) Just Married 
( ) Gothika 
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street 
(x) Sixteen Candles 
(x) Remember the Titans 
( ) Coach Carter 
( ) The Grudge 
( ) The Grudge 2 
(x) The Mask 
( ) Son Of The Mask 
Total so far:50

(x) Bad Boys 
(x) Bad Boys 2 
( ) Joy Ride 
( ) Lucky Number Slevin 
(x) Ocean's Eleven 
(x) Ocean's Twelve 
(x) Bourne Identity 
(x) Bourne Supremacy 
( ) Lone Star 
( ) Bedazzled 
( ) Predator I 
( ) Predator II 
( ) The Fog 
( ) Ice Age 
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown 
(x) Curious George 
Total so far:57

(x) Independence Day 
(x) Cujo 
( ) A Bronx Tale 
( ) Darkness Falls 
( ) Christine 
(x) ET 
( ) Children of the Corn 
(x) My Boss's Daughter 
(x) Maid in Manhattan 
( ) War of the Worlds 
(x) Rush Hour 
(x) Rush Hour 2 
( ) Rush Hour 3 
Total so far:64

( ) Best Bet 
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days 
(x) She's All That 
(x) Calendar Girls 
( ) Sideways 
( ) Mars Attacks 
( ) Event Horizon 
(x) Ever After 
(x) Wizard of Oz 
(x) Forrest Gump 
(x) Big Trouble in Little China 
( ) The Terminator 
( ) The Terminator 2 
( ) The Terminator 3 
Total so far: 71

( ) X-Men 
( ) X-2 
( ) X-3 
(x) Spider-Man 
( ) Spider-Man 2 
( ) Spider-Man 3 
( ) Sky High 
( ) Jeepers Creepers 
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2 
(x) Catch Me If You Can 
(x) The Little Mermaid 
(x) Freaky Friday 
( ) Reign of Fire 
(x) The Skulls 
(x) Cruel Intentions 
( ) Cruel Intentions 2 
(x) The Hot Chick 
(x) Shrek 
(x) Shrek 2 
( ) Shrek 3 
Total So Far: 80

( ) Swimfan 
(x) Miracle on 34th street 
(x) Old School 
( ) The Notebook 
( ) K-Pax 
(x) Krippendorf's Tribe 
(x) A Walk to Remember 
( ) Ice Castles 
( ) Boogeyman 
(x) The 40-year-old Virgin 
Total so far: 85

( ) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring 
( ) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers 
( ) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King 
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark 
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 
( ) Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull 
Total so far: 88

( ) Baseketball 
( ) Hostel 
( ) Waiting for Guffman 
( ) House of 1000 Corpses 
( ) Devils Rejects 
(x) Elf 
( ) Highlander 
( ) Mothman Prophecies 
( ) American History X 
Total so far: 89

( ) The Jacket 
( ) Kung Fu Hustle 
( ) Shaolin Soccer 
( ) Night Watch 
(x) Monsters Inc. 
( ) Titanic 
( ) Monty Python and the Holy Grail 
(x) Shaun Of the Dead 
( ) Willard 
Total so far: 91

( ) High Tension 
( ) Club Dread 
( ) Hulk 
( ) Dawn Of the Dead 
(x) Hook 
( ) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe 
( ) 28 days later 
( ) Orgazmo 
( ) Phantasm 
(x) Waterworld 
Total so far: 93

(x) Kill Bill vol 1 
(x) Kill Bill vol 2 
( ) Mortal Kombat 
( ) Wolf Creek 
( ) Kingdom of Heaven 
( ) the Hills Have Eyes 
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman 
( ) The Last House on the Left 
( ) Re-Animator 
( ) Army of Darkness 
Total so far: 95

( ) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace 
( )Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones 
( ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith 
( ) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope 
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back 
( ) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi 
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage 
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor 
Total so far: 96

(x) The Matrix 
( ) The Matrix Reloaded 
( ) The Matrix Revolutions 
( )Animatrix 
( ) Evil Dead 
( ) Evil Dead 2 
( ) Team America: World Police 
( ) Red Dragon 
(x) Silence of the Lambs 
(x) Hannibal 
Grand Total: 99

Oka so it looks like I am a loser :-)  and in the spirit of full disclosure I must share that the list of movies I’ve that isn’t on this list is probably 2 times as long.  Leave me a comment and let me know your number from this list.

From our family to yours!

Okay so I’m a list maker and my To-Do list is NEVER ENDING.  I have some exciting news.  First let me tell you about my love for Gmail.  I have completely abandoned all email clients like Outlook and Thunderbird as they bog down my computer and really don’t offer anything more than Gmail.  Well maybe the Tasks or To-Do lists options.  But I was more than happy to do with out my to-do lists for the ease of use of Gmail.  I use Gmail for EVERYTHING now, it manages with ease all 7 of my email addresses.

A new feature that Gmail has released in it’s Labs section is Tasks. It’s first on the list.

The features that I really like is when you have an email selected go to the More Actions menu and select add a Task.

Your task is now linked to that email!! How cool is that???  You just click on related email and it takes you right to the email you made the task from!!  I love that feature.

You can add your tasks without linking to an email and fill up your to-do list that way.

Remember Gmail’s Lab Feature policy: Gmail engineers come up with new ideas all the time. Gmail Labs is our place to try them out and get your feedback. None of these features are really ready for prime time yet, so they may change, break or disappear at any time. Learn more about Gmail Labs

From what I’ve read Tasks has been a much requested addition to gmail…so perhaps it will become a full fledged feature of Gmail soon.  Let me know if you start to use Tasks with your Gmail account.

Found this really great website that lets you pick a child’s artwork and send it as a printed postcard to a service man/woman stationed overseas. I love that you can brighten a soldier’s day with some of the coolest artwork by young people from around the country.

This is a great opportunity to show your support and appreciation for our troops.  The project is sponsored by xerox and it’s free.

Maybe you’ve seen me twitter that God had recently blessed us big time.  We’re getting a new oven!  Our 30+ year old oven (pictured below) had caught on fire (a small glowing fire) during the summer and we have not used it since.  And after not having a working oven since then it has been rough cooking everything in the toaster oven/stove/microwave. The landlord wanted to just replace parts Ken and I really felt like that wasn’t the best solution as the oven is original to the house.  I finally wrote down our need for a new oven in my prayer book and started praying for that need in my 2 hours a week prayer time (per my service contract with the ministry).  It didn’t take but a week of prayer when the landlord called and said he’d send someone out in a week or so to pull out the old oven and replace it.  He called back and said he’d be over even sooner.  Last Saturday they came and took out the oven!!!  We have a big hole in the kitchen but it’s very exciting :)  We should be getting the new oven on the 18th.

So my next part of this post is I need help what should I cook my first time in the new oven???  Leave your favorite oven recipes in the comments and help me decide!!!!  Hey if I pick your recipe I’ll send you one of my felted wreath ornaments!

And don’t forget my other give away where you can win some scrapbook embellishments!

I’m having my first giveaway here on my blog and I want you to win!  One person will will win these 2 Christmas themed scrapbook embellishment packs. Perfect for scrapping your Christmas photos from this year…or last ;) Great for Hybrid projects and embellishing album covers.  You could even make holiday cards.

To win all you need to do is post a comment on this blog post with one of your favorite holiday memories.  The giveaway will be open for comments until December 21, 2008 and then I’ll pick a winner.  I’ll announce the winner and you’ll email me your address and I’ll mail them to you.  (I have to limit this giveaway to those who live in the USA)

Thanks for playing along!

Felted Wreath Ornaments

Supplies:

• a green 100% wool sweater (goodwill finds work great!) Suggestion – Different colored sweaters or a sweater with more pattern will add more dimension and color to your felt pieces.
• scissors (Adult size not child safety scissors)
• large needle
• green embroidery floss (I used 1 1/2 packages)
• 5/8” wide roll of ribbon (I used holiday red)
• hot glue gun
• a washing machine
• laundry detergent
• a Pair of blue jeans (optional)
• zippered pillow case (optional)

Step 1: Felt the sweater.  Felting is taking the loose wool fibers and matting them together to make thick dense felt. (yes you can buy the felt at the store if you so desire)

Put the sweater, laundry detergent, the blue jeans into the washing machine adjust your settings so the wash is HOT water and the rinse is COLD.  Run the cycle. Repeat until the sweater has shrunken and is dense. Dry the sweater on HIGH heat in the dryer.

HINTS: Putting the jeans in with the sweater helps agitate the fibers more quickly than the sweater by itself.  I read online that you can put the sweater into a zippered pillow case and that will contain the left over fluffies that result from the felting process.  I however did not use a zippered pillow case and there weren’t too many fuzzies to easily clean out the washer.

Once finished the sweater should have shrunk to approximately 1/3 the original size.  And the fibers should be very dense.

Step 2: Cut the sweater.

I found it easiest to cut the sweater into sections along the seams, you can leave the seams on the material for this project they won’t interfere with your end look.

The cut the material into strips.

Cut the strips into squares, triangles, or random shapes.  I did squares.

Step 3: String your felt squares.

I purchased a pack of Yarn Darners needles at Walmart for $.88 and the embroidery floss was $.33 at JoAnns. 

HINTS: I liked working with a bigger needle it was easy to handle and it easily pushed through the felt. I was able to line up 6-8 squares on the needle before pushing them onto the string. Also it was very easy thread the needle.  I did not cut the string ahead of time I strung on the felt while it was still connected to the floss bundle.

Thread as many felt pieces onto the the string and cut the string from the bundle and leave 3+ inches of string on each end.

HINTS: I liked staggering the felt pieces rather than just threading them through the center of the felt square.  It really gave more dimension to the wreath.

Cinch the strings together and tie a knot with the string.

Use the extra string and tie another knot at the top and you have the loop to hang it from the tree. Just trim off the tails.

My sweater yielded eighteen wreath ornaments.

Step 3: Adding the finishing touch.

One thing I learned was that glitter just doesn’t work for this project.

I used a holiday spool of ribbon and tied little bows and hot glued them at the top of the wreath. The red ribbon adds just the right amount of color and finishes off the wreath perfectly.

Thanks for checking out my latest craft project.  I love how these wreaths turned out and can’t wait to give them away to friends and family.

Handmade Holiday Craft Series

• Part 1 – Making Hard Candy
• Part 2 – Snowmen Boxes
• Part 3 – Felted Wreath Ornaments

Snowman Boxes

Handmade Holiday Craft Series

• Part 1 – Making Hard Candy
• Part 2 – Snowmen Boxes
• Part 3 – Felted Wreath Ornaments

We are all trying to save $$ this holiday season.  Even within my family we’re hand making, buying used, or not giving anything to each other for the holidays.  We are all just excited to be able to spend time together as a family and everyone will be there.

One of the projects we’d done in the past was make homemade hard candy.  My sister Rosie had said she’d like to do it again this year. I jumped onto that band wagon too as I wanted to make my gifts too.  She oversaw the purchasing of the ingredients (with coupons) and then we ordered the flavoring from GetSuckered.com through Amazon.com (because it was cheaper).  We decided on Cinnamon and Peppermint flavors.

Here is the recipe we used:

• confectioners' sugar
• 3 3/4 cups white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
• 1 cup water
• 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon oil or peppermint oil (We found that 2 1/2 tsp was more flavorful but not too strong.)
• 1 teaspoon red food coloring (we used the Wilton icing colors concentrated paste – which required much LESS coloring than a traditional liquid food coloring)
• A candy thermometer

DIRECTIONS

1. Line a baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil. Sprinkle the foil very generously with confectioners' sugar.
2. In a large heavy saucepan, combine the white sugar, corn syrup, and water. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Stop stirring, and boil until a candy thermometer reads 300 to 310 degrees F (149 to 154 degrees C). Remove from heat.
3. Stir in the cinnamon oil and food coloring. Pour onto the prepared foil, and allow to cool and harden. Crack into pieces, and store in an airtight container.

We gathered our ingredients

Lined our baking sheets with foil and covered generously with confectioners’ sugar (this was rosie’s job)

Measured our sugar, light corn syrup, and water. (this was rosie’s job)  **Tip – we found that if you put the syrup & water in first then the sugar on top it is easier to stir together.

Stir CONTINUOUSLY on medium – high (#7 on my stove) until the mixture begins to boil. (this was my job)

Once the mixture begins to boil you STOP stirring and let it boil and cook until your thermometer reads 300 degrees. That is when you get your flavoring oils and food coloring ready. (rosie’s job)

Continue to watch the mixture boil until you see it reach the Hard Crack stage which is 302 degrees+ once it hits hard crack stage remove it immediately from the heat and begin to stir in your coloring and flavor. (my job)
***WARNING*** this mixture is 300+ degrees when you pour in the flavoring and coloring it will begin to steam up. See all that steam in the picture???? MOVE YOUR HEAD!  The Cinnamon/Pepperment flavoring will get VERY intense and shoot right up your nostrils and into your eyes.  I don’t recommend the hot cinnamon steam facial.

Once you’ve completely stirred in the coloring and flavor you are ready to pour your mixture onto your foil and powdered lined baking sheet. (You’ll notice the pot is different. We didn’t get a pouring shot of our first batch of red) (my job)

Then you let it sit and cool.  This is when you can start your next batch or take a lunch break or a rest on the chair.

Once the candy is hardened you’re ready to crack it.  We found the best method was to first crack it into large pieces then put it in to a ziploc bag. Then pour it all into a strainer, pull out the bigger pieces and put them back into the ziploc bag.  Use a small hammer and whack it into pieces that would fit in someones mouth.

Once you’ve cracked the candy pull out the good pieces and put them in the gift containers.

In your ziploc bag you’ll have little bits that are too small to give away and you’ll have powdered sugar. Pour that back into your strainer and separate the little bits from the powdered sugar.

The little bits you can have to treat yourself or put in your coffee/tea for a flavored sugar.  Don’t toss the powdered sugar TASTE it!! YUMMY the powdered sugar has now been flavored with whatever flavoring you used. You can add this to a sugar cookie or to top a muffin or cake.  Very tasty.

And that is part one of our Handmade Holiday 2008.  Tomorrow look out for how to cleverly decorate chinese food boxes.

Handmade Holiday Craft Series

• Part 1 – Making Hard Candy
• Part 2 – Snowmen Boxes
• Part 3 – Felted Wreath Ornaments