Fun and "Friendly" Jewelry
By Theresa Ragan

Wet Noodle Posse | Theresa Ragan

Long before I set out on my writing journey, my sister, Sally, and I made jewelry. We spent our weekends selling our jewelry at craft shows and/or at parties, and we spent our weeknights hovering over the stove making jewelry. It was exciting and fun and we lasted about three years...until the craze for big fun earrings sort of sizzled out. Sally still makes crafts when the mood strikes, but my youngest daughter and I usually pull out the craft supplies during the holidays. That's when we spend a few fun-filled days making homemade gifts for teachers and friends. There are MANY things you can make with friendly plastic, but I can't possibly squeeze it all into one article, so I've picked out a few of my holiday favorites.

What you'll need:

* Friendly Plastic (can be found at most craft stores or online at www.jewelrysupply.com). Price ranges from $.75 to $3 a stick, depending on size of plastic. I prefer solid metallic colors.
* Small rhinestones, beads, and feathers (depending on what you're making)
* Aleene's original Tacky Glue
* Fabric paint (I like Scribbles dimensional fabric paint)
* Scissors
* Cookie sheet
* 8 mm or 10 mm earring posts and earring backs
* 7 mm jump rings (gold or silver)
* Pin backs (3/4 inch for People Pins and one-inch for larger pins)
* Round nose pliers
* General Electric Silicone Glue
 

Directions:

Easter Egg Pin: Heat oven to 200 degrees. Use sharp scissors to cut oval shape out of plastic. Place oval-shaped plastic on cookie sheet and place in oven. Watch until plastic takes on a slight sheen (might need to practice with some scraps). In most preheated ovens, it takes less than two minutes for plastic to heat (Do NOT overcook because it will melt into a big blob). Let plastic harden and then paint any design you want using Scribbles Dimensional paint. Let paint dry overnight. Next day, squeeze one small strip of silicone glue onto back of Easter Egg pin and press pin back into glue. Wipe away excess glue or place small piece of felt over glue. Give pin 4 to 6 hours to dry before you wear it or give it away as gift!

People Pin: Cut two legs, two arms, little square feet, head and dress (see picture). Place plastic people pieces on cookie sheet making sure to overlap head and arms onto dress. Make sure legs cook separately away from dress. After cooking for a minute or less, pull out cookie sheet and QUICKLY use a nail or toothpick to make two holes at the bottom of the dress where the legs will be attached and one hole in the top of each leg. When the plastic hardens, attach the legs to the dress using silver or gold jump rings (pliers will easily bend jump rings into place.) Turn the pin over and use Aleene's original Tacky Glue to glue desired feather to back of head for crazy hair affect! (You can also use wire or yarn for hair.)

Christmas Tree Earrings:  (Most popular gift. These can also be made into pins using very small pin backs!) Cut two stars out of gold Friendly Plastic and place on cookie sheet. Then cut two Christmas tree shapes out of teal green plastic and place on cookie sheet. You can also place strips of gold on top of the green plastic as a design. Cook for one minute or more until heated and then QUICKLY use nail to make hole in top of each tree and one hole in each star. Use gold jump rings to attach star to tree. Use Aleene's Tacky Glue to adhere small gold beads and rhinestones to trees. When plastic hardens, turn it over and glue earring backs to back of stars (or pin backs!). Wait at least six hours before wearing.

Christmas Tree Pins: These can be made two ways - in hot water or in the oven. If you decide on the hot water method, fill large pan with two inches of water and heat on stove on low until hot to the touch. Use scraps to practice. I use my fingers to remove plastic, but you can use a metal spoon. But it's tricky since the plastic tends to stick to anything other than your fingers. Cut out any shape and size of red, green, and gold plastic. Overlap pieces on cookie sheet and bake or place in hot water. Either way, have rhinestones and bells and any other fun decorations ready to press into plastic while plastic is hot. DO NOT OVERCOOK. After plastic hardens, remove pressed-in objects and glue them back onto plastic using Aleene's Tacky Glue (otherwise they usually pop out eventually). Small beads can be glued on at this point too. If you want to hang a bell or trinket off of the bottom of the pin, be sure and make a hole in the plastic while it is still hot. Use jump ring to attach trinket to pin.

Teachers LOVE these handcrafted gifts. You can make animals and all sorts of fun shapes. Be creative. Have fun and good luck!

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Alpha Hero Care, Part One -

The Greek Dish!
By Trish Morey
Wet Noodle Posse | Trish Morey

So you've found your Greek tycoon and managed to put up with his insane jealousy, his insatiable passion and his brooding dark gaze long enough to make him fall head over heels in love with you - but now what do you do with him?

Well, expending all that energy scowling and making earth-shattering love to you at the rate he does is going to exact a heavy toll. Your Greek hero is going to need some serious feeding up. And what better to feed your Mediterranean dish than an authentic Mediterranean dish?

And here's one that will satisfy the most discriminating tycoon's taste buds - not to mention give you both plenty of energy for that steamy night ahead onboard his ocean-going yacht!

So here it is - Moussaka, made with minced lamb, fried eggplant and a layer of bechamel sauce topped with grated cheese and served with a gorgeous Greek salad. Hmm, life and love don't get much better than this!

Moussaka

1 kg (2 lbs) minced lamb (You can used minced beef and it will be lovely, but not quite the same authentic Greek experience you're after.)
1-2 large eggplant
90 g (3 ounces) butter
1 large onion
1-2 cloves garlic
1 8-oz. tin chopped tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg
180 g (6 ounces) grated cheese
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
30 g (1 ounce) butter, extra

Slice eggplant into 1 cm (1/2-inch) thick slices. (While many recipes ask you to salt the eggplant at this stage and leave for an hour before rinsing to remove any bitter juices, I've never done this and personally, I don't think you need to - especially if you should be doing something more important, like looking after that Greek god you've got waiting for you with a nice glass of retsina:))

Either shallow fry slices in oil until browned or spray with cooking spray and cook at 200 C (400 F) for 15 minutes, until softened and browned. Heat butter in pan, add minced onion and garlic and brown. Add tomatoes, wine and seasonings. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes or until nearly all liquid has evaporated.

To assemble, arrange cooked eggplant slices over base of greased ovenproof dish. Sprinkle over eggplant one-third combined grated cheese and breadcrumbs. Spoon meat sauce over this. Then top with a white (bechamel) sauce made by melting 90 g (3 ounces) butter, adding 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg and pepper to taste. Stir over low heat and whisk in 2 cups milk, stir until it boils and thickens. Reduce heat and cook for one minute. Remove from heat and add one beaten egg, mix well. Sprinkle over remaining cheese and breadcrumb mixture and bake in moderate oven (350-375 F) for 25-30 minutes until brown and totally gorgeous.

Consume with chunks of crusty bread, a bottle of Cretan Retsina and a colourful Greek salad composed of lettuce, fresh garden tomatoes and salad onions, topped with kalamata olives and a slab of feta cheese. Sprinkle with oregano, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and enjoy!!


Trish Morey writes stories for Harlequin Presents that feature gorgeous alpha heroes with Mediterranean backgrounds ranging from Greek and Italian to Australian (Melbourne is the Greek capital of the Southern Hemisphere after all!). To find out more about her latest heroes, check out her Web site at www.trishmorey.com

 

To read last month's Stuff to Make article, click here

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