Entwined...

It's been a long stretch...

 T-Money has been on the road since last Sunday, hitting the British pavement in search of customers...

While I sort of empathize with his long and winding road of sales pitches,
reminiscent of George Clooney's life in the movie "Up in the Air",
unlike George,
Tommy has a family back home... 

And at home, it's a long, hard campaign not for the meek... 

Between battles to get the troops out the door each school morning,
to complete homework,
to find the elbow pad to wear to lacrosse
or to remember the ballet bag,
this drill sargent is tired of shouting orders... 

By Friday I have degenerated into barking one word commands,
"Shoes!" 
"Coats!" 
"Math!", repeatedly until my distracted and uncivilized recruits fall into line... 

It's a tough job and someone's gotta do it... 

While the Pinot G or Chocolate are decent crutches to help me make it through,
another salvation of mine is the errant craft project...

 I saw these wonderful monogram door wreaths on Pinterest, the new love in my life...

Don't worry, T-Money...  It's just a fling... 

Anyway, I just had to make them... 

The fantastic creators on Etsy offer them at a very reasonable price of $35.00,
so if you don't have the time nor inclination,
please purchase them here. 

I, however, viewed them as a challenge to make them on the cheap... 

I purchased an H for Herlihy and a L, for our tenant's door... 

No reason to subject them to our H, too, I say...

The letters were $3.99 each, with 40% off with my JoAnn coupon. 
I also bought a spool of green grosgrain ribbon for $3.25 and some felt that I ended up not using.  At the Home Depot I purchased two rolls of twine for $2.99 each. 

The paper for the flowers and the glue gun plus glue sticks were in my craft cabinet already. 

I was rarin' to go! 

The tedious part is covering the ends of the letters with short pieces of twine
and then the endless wrapping
to cover the whole letter. 

I tacked the twine with hot glue every now and then
 to keep it from slipping later. 

 Voila'!

Making the paper flowers was the fun part and I found this excellent tutorial here on Pinterest. 

Do love the Pinterest, I must say!! 

Next I made the ribbon bows and tacked the ribbon hanger on the back
by gluing them to the back of the letter... 

Don't they look snappy for early spring? 

So, for about $9.00 per letter, I made them myself... 

Funny that I had to force myself to stop working on them at 11:30 at night,
when normally I'd be dragging my exhausted kiester to bed at 9:30... 

A good creative project gets my juices flowing!   

Speaking of salivating, This recipe rocked my world the other night....

A good, light meal that is so satisfying!
  
Asian Rice Salad With Shrimp
Recipe courtesy Food Network Magazine

Prep Time:30 min

Cook Time:10 min

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and grated
• 3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• Pinch of sugar
• 3/4 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined and halved lengthwise
• 1 large carrot, shredded
• 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 2 cups snow peas, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 cups cooked white or brown rice
• 1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
• 1 cup mung bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup chow mein noodles and/or chopped peanuts

Directions

Whisk the garlic, ginger, sesame oil, vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in a large bowl. Transfer 2 tablespoons of the dressing to a medium bowl, add the shrimp and toss. Add the carrot, celery and snow peas to the remaining dressing and toss.

Heat a large skillet over high heat and add 2 teaspoons vegetable oil. Add the shrimp and stir-fry until they turn pink, 3 to 4 minutes, then transfer to the bowl with the vegetables. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons water to the skillet and scrape up the browned bits with a wooden spoon, then add the liquid to the bowl with the shrimp. Let the skillet reheat, then add the remaining 1 teaspoon vegetable oil and stir-fry the rice until toasted, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Add the rice and scallions to the shrimp-vegetable mixture and toss. Divide among bowls and top with the lettuce, sprouts, chow mein noodles and/or peanuts.