Sponsor Everyday is a Holiday in July!

Hey guys! Me and Aaron are finally done writing the book and are therefore free to get back to doing what we love most...Making lots of new artwork and putting together awesome step-by-step tutorials for this here blog! And it's so great to still be in book mode, (meaning...still thinking in instructional mode) but without all of the deadlines. Also now our project ideas won't have to wait for publication...we can make, shoot, and post to the blog on the very same day. The other day we kicked off our summer art and craft tutorials with a great seasonal / patriotic project. We know that so many of our readers are aching to get creative with us once again and we can bet that our ache to share our process is even greater. 

So for July you can expect a whole lot of activity on Everyday is a Holiday. We've got dozens of back-burnered ideas just waiting to sizzle up the summer. So by all means...if you were considering being a sponsor of Everyday is a Holiday...now is a great time! 

 Everyday is a Holiday readers lean towards a creative, artful lifestyle. They love to make things with their hands and support artists who make things with their hands. They've got style, and love to cook and bake.
Does this sound like you? More importantly...does this sound like the people you'd like to hang with, chat with, and laugh with? If so...we'd love to hear from you! It's time to expand your own blog audience, get your art or products seen by the eyes of more like-minded peeps. Our feature spot is booked through September but we still have large spots which include a group spotlight containing photos and links...and there are medium ads to be had as well! If you'd like all the deets on this front be sure to pop over to our Sponsor info page.

We'd love to work with you!

xo Jenny & Aaron

Chipotle Chocolate Chicken Chili

Are you intrigued? A little scared maybe? Trust us...this is gooood chili. Aaron, the reader, is a big fan of alliteration, so when he heard the title he was thrilled to nickname this one "Ch Ch Ch Chili" - (and you can say it like the Chia Pet commercial if you like). So, I kid you not...Chocolate is a magical enhancer of flavor when it comes to chili! Get rid of the idea of a Hershey Bar. We're talking about chocolate in its more natural form. Think of it along the lines of cinnamon. If you taste cinnamon right out of the spice jar, or if you licked a stick of it, there is nothing sweet about it. It's a spice. But when you add sugar, vanilla and butter and all that stuff...you've got yourself some snickerdoodle cookies. So chocolate is the same thing. It's like a man before he meets the perfect woman. All of his best qualities are brought out only after living closely with this amazing gal. (wait...are we still talkin about chocolate or am I venting a bit?? ; ) ) Well, cocoa powder, or a block of unsweetened dark chocolate can easily be used as a spice...no candy or cookie or cake involved! Follow me? 

There is a Mexican restaurant La Tapatia in Asbury Park, NJ that we love. And one of our favorite dishes there has a mole sauce. (please imagine the tilde above the e in mole so as to not confuse it with the adorably nearsighted subterranean dwellers)...Now, until Alton Brown did a break down on Mole', we assumed what many others did...that all mole sauces contain chocolate. Well its not the case...but it is the case most of the time. Anyway, this chili is a little nod to those flavors. 

We had been talking about doing a Mole' style sauce the other day while we were at Costco stocking up on pecans, walnuts, hot sauce, spinach, and grabbing one of their big and underpriced rotisserie chickens. So we got home and concocted a meal that tied in chocolate and also attended to our craving for some good chili. And oh my gosh! No seriously...it was so so delicious! And even better the next day! Holy Crow man! Aaron says it was the best chili he had ever had! And my brother Walt...the manly man who blasts country music whilst covered in grease, mud, Carhartt and Dickies...well he was licking his spoon upon finishing a giant bowl. 

Ok so are you feeling brave? Trust us? C'mon...live a little! Let's party! 

Here's what you will need:

1 rotisserie chicken shredded (or 3 breasts)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion diced

3-4 teaspoons garlic chopped

3 teaspoons Ancho chili powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

3 tablespoons brown sugar (more if you like a sweeter chili)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

dash salt & dash pepper

2 chipotles in adobo sauce chopped (with 1 teaspoon of the sauce)

4 cups low sodium chicken broth 

1 can (28 oz) fire roasted diced tomatoes 

1 can (15 oz) kidney beans (rinsed & drained)

1 can (15 oz) black beans (rinsed & drained)

1 1/2 cups chopped peppers (we used a variety of red, yellow and orange)

2 oz (2 baking squares) chopped unsweetened chocolate 

To serve:

diced avocado

fresh chopped cilantro

shredded cheddar cheese

sliced green onion

First things first, gather up your ingredients. Do your chopping, measuring, rinsing, draining...

Shred your chicken in a large bowl, put to the side. We used the aforementioned rotisserie from Costco.

In a large pot or dutch oven, add your tablespoon of olive oil and heat over medium. Then add your onion and garlic, stirring occasionally until the onions become translucent and begin to caramelize. Should take about 25 mins.

Now add your chicken, tomatoes, beans, peppers, chipotles in adobo sauce, brown sugar, and all of your spices. Mix really well to incorporate all of the flavors. Cook (covered) about 10 mins. stirring occasionally.

Then, add your chicken broth and stir well. Let it cook about 8-10 mins. (Here is where both Aaron and I took a "before" taste to really get an idea of how much the soon-to-be-added chocolate enhances the flavor of the dish)

 Then, stir in your chocolate! It's actually kind of exciting (so what if I live  a somewhat under stimulated life) Anyway...stir it in...with a big smile on your face! Now cover and let it cook another 30 mins or so. Or until it reduces and reaches your desired thickness. 

Now serve it up!! Topped with your cheddar cheese, diced avocado, green onions, and cilantro...or whatever your fave chili toppings may be!

And like I said before...this is even better the next day! And don't be a lazy bones on day 2...don't just micro yourself an unadorned bowl...please chop up them fresh toppings for the full flavor experience! ha!

We really hope you guys give it a shot! 

xo Jenny and Aaron

Patriotic Mixed Media Collage Fan Decorations DIY (using pre-made paper fans from Target!)

We are just so excited to be back in the swing of things over here. For the past few months we were hard at work on the book and fell into a great groove of putting together projects in a much more focused and methodical way...always with the exact steps clear in our mind. 

So now that we've got the book done it feels great to still have that same methodical mindset in place but without any of the pressure. And we love that we were able to get this project out into the world pretty much as soon as we finished it. So, we hope you love our first craft tutorial of the summer! 

It's good to be back!

We popped into Target the other day and were loving all of the super fun 4th of July decor and party stuff...but out of everything, these paper fans were calling our name! We knew exactly what we wanted to do with them right away! They are made of a sturdy paper with a satiny finish, and if stored with care you should really be able to bring these out for many summers to come!

This is a mixed media project but don't be scared if you aren't super duper crafty. It's all about gathering together some good stuff and assembling it in a creative way. Really, if you have basic scrapbooking or crafting skills you can do these! 

Here is what you will need:

Pre-made paper fans from Target. (or you could make your own)

Patterned papers 

Mod Podge

Glue Gun and Glue sticks

Assorted ephemera, trims, and embellishments

Vintage Photos (we made enlarged color copies)

watercolor paper

paint brushes - a 3/4" flat brush and a round detail brush 

acrylic paint

spray mists (we used Maya Mist, Color Shine, and Mr. Huey's)

stencil (ours is from Crafter's Workshop)

3 pieces of chipboard or mat board, or even the back cardboard on a pad of artist paper works great 

Distress Ink (we used Gathered Twigs)

German Glass Glitter (we buy ours from Retro Cafe Art)

Aleene's Tacky Glue

chipboard stars (from Heidi Swapp)

foam daubers (from Martha Stewart Crafts)

First measure and cut your pieces of chipboard or mat board. These will be the bases of your collages. We made ours big enough so that there would be a good amount of space showing around our vintage photos.

To start our collages we first went with a neutral, beachy, aged selection of papers...mostly white and cream with punches of black to ground the bright reds and blues. We ripped them and placed them on our boards so that they overlapped. When you like the placement of your papers, then adhere them to your boards with a wide brush and mod podge. Wait a few minutes before sealing with a top coat. This helps to prevent bubbles. Put to the side to dry.

Now, if you are a regular reader of our blog or are familiar with our work, you'll know that we work within a tight color palette. Cobalt or royal blue are not colors we normally dabble in. So even though we have hundreds of scrapbooking papers, we really couldn't find any blue hues that worked in this project. Perfect time to use our favorite sprays and stencils to create our own patterned papers! To do it, just grab a piece of watercolor paper, lay down a stencil, and use color mists to make patterned papers in hues you might not have on hand. We used these three mists to create the colors we needed.

Then we cut a little scallop out of our homemade misted papers for two of the collages and used a red gingham for the third. We then placed them accordingly and adhered them with some mod podge and then sealed.

Once your collages are dry, add some speckling and dots of paint. To speckle, mix one part water to one part paint to thin it out, then dip your round detail brush into the thinned paint, hold the loaded brush above the collage and tap the fore end of the brush so that the paint speckles the collage. And for the dots of paint these Martha Stewart daubers are great. We placed ours around each board so that when we lay down the photos later there will be bits of color peeking out. 

We almost always back our photocopied vintage photos with watercolor paper. It makes them super sturdy and holding them in your hand you'd swear they are originals! Even the creases in the photos show up in the copy. We also added some stamped 'photo corners' to add instant charm. Then with the same colors we had used for our speckling and paint dots we added some bits of color to our photos. Just use your round detail brush, a tiny bit of watered down paint, and brush color onto some areas. In tinting vintage photos, less is more. Don't go nuts with the paint. Maybe add a touch of color to the belts, or polka dots on a swimsuit? Accent all three photos and put to the side.

Now, if you are anything like us, you love your Tim Holtz Distress Ink. Sure, you can use a paint wash...but with all of Tim's colors and the ease of application you just gotta go with Distress Inks. It is fool proof and in minutes your projects go from good to great! Instant age! We just stamped some "gathered twigs" onto the applicator and rubbed the edges of each collaged board to give them an antique glow.

We are nuts for German glass glitter. We've been using it in projects for nearly 15 years. And nowadays it is so easy to find! It is so beautiful! And in time it will actually tarnish and lend a real deal patina of time to your project! (If you do not want it to tarnish you may want to use regular silver glitter)

Now the fun stuff! The embellishments. We Used Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue to adhere our embellishments. We added a vintage ice cream cup lid, and you can see that we applied just a touch of Distress Ink to the edge, then punched a hole and tied on some red & white bakers twine. Down in the corner a vintage rose die cut, and finally our glittery letters.

Isn't it looking so fun?! Check out those boys! It looks as though they are pretty exhausted from a hard day of playing.

We love these acrylic dots. A few different Scrapbooking companies make them and they come in some super fun colors! They just work perfectly for adding pops of color with a bit of dimension. We also used some vintage board game letters to spell out JULY, some chipboard stars that we first misted, then a bit of red, white and blue ribbon. And down at the bottom we assembled a little cluster of stuff...a little flag cupcake pick, a chipboard number 4, and a bit of sparkly silver star garland.

We love how all of these elements can work together to create the perfect little moment. Even though we do not know these folks (we found these photos at a flea market) we are giving them a history.

Here we added a little wood veneer "talk bubble" and some text, a plastic rose cupcake topper (to adhere this we used a hot glue gun) and some more chipboard stars.

These gals look like they are having just that...a "wonderful time"

Now that your collages are complete all you need to do is hot glue them to the center of your paper fans! It doesn't take a ton of glue. We did one big swirl in the center of the fan, pressed the collage on, and held for a minute.

And there you go!

Ready to hang! Ready to Celebrate!

We hope that you enjoyed this little project! If you did, we'd love it if you shared a link to it! Feel free to blog about them, or pin them on pinterest! We love hearing from you! If you have any questions about anything we used just leave a comment!

Thanks so much for joining us!

Happy Crafting! Happy Summer!

xo Jenny & Aaron

Friday Favorites

I like having the ability to reign supreme over the days of the week every once in while. I mean, it's not too much for a girl to ask...and nobody gets hurt. Maybe Monday loses a bit of his self loathing, maybe Wednesday gains a bit more confidence in her identity and feels less like a hump and more like a respectable day. What I'm getting at is that I think me and Aaron turned yesterday, which was Thursday, into Sunday. It was raining and dull and dumb...so we turned it into a day where we weren't responsible for much. Just food shopping, making a good meal, watching a horror movie. And now today, on Friday, we feel like storming the castle and turning this weekend into the opposite of a weekend. Like sure, we'll make certain to have a good time doing whatever we're doing...but we wanna get a ton done...work and art-wise. I wish any on the clockers had the ability to call in and say to the boss "ya know, today just feels like a Saturday to me...so I'll see ya tomorrow if it ends up feeling like a Tuesday." It would be good for the soul. 

So yeah, today the sun is shining, we threw a bucket load of spinach into our smoothies in hopes of channeling our inner Popeye, and the art is flowing...with all of these Favorites on the brain of course.

Love This shade of pale aqua above. And in the second pic you can see that there is no better compliment to leopard print. Like really, it's just a close up, blurred shot...the edges of a flower peeking in, a scant bit of shirt, nearly no hint at a face...and yet here I am...inspired ta bits!  

Yeah I know...IKEA again! They just so so so have my number right now! Last week it was those cabinets...this week its these rugs!! Just love them both so much! I really really need to get there asap! The black and white graphics remind me of doodles in the pages of my Art Journal, and backgrounds and textures of paintings that I'm working on.

Both of these beautiful pots over at Anthropologie. I'm an aqua/teal girl for sure. Just such soothing tones for me. And I'm also a container girl...I've got too many. Hopefully the deck will get going soon and I can grab some of the plants I've been coveting.

This home in London...I'll take it! simple as that.

This Fringed patio umbrella might be slightly more fancy than what I'm going for with our deck...but maybe in some future vignette it'll fit right in. Makes me think of a warm slow day with a gentle breeze, the scent of tahitian vanilla and cool coconut drinks.

Ohhh my worrrrd! Get on my feet now! These are adorable! Gold Glitter Espadrilles form Le Bunny Bleu. Like really, these need to be my summer kicks.

Ok, back to the artwork. We're making sure to be tutorial and step by step minded. We're thankful to the book writing process for making that our default way of approaching a project. Like we don't even think twice...there is NO jumping ahead...pics must be taken...the process must be shared. "We give it to the people...spread it across the country." Ha!

Happy Friday kids!!

xo, Jenny...and Aaron

A GIVEAWAY with StickyGram! (CLOSED Winners announced below)

So excited about this Giveaway from the folks at StickyGram! I know how much these magnets brighten up our fridgie and I'm so happy to be able to share this great item with you guys. First off, making StickyGrams is like the easiest thing in the world. Ok, you've got your Instagrams...you go to StickyGram, click on your fave pics...and then in a few days an envelope shows up at your door with these perfect little magnets of your pics.
We spend all day long with our eyes are on our screens. We keep all of our best images locked up inside technology...and I like the idea of pulling those pics outta there and peppering them throughout my life in other ways. I just love going to the fridge and seeing some of my fave Instagram pics staring back at me.
And they make great gifts! Perfect for Grandparents! I know my mom would flip for pics of our niece Olivia all over her fridge! 

 Your StickyGrams arrive in a square of nine magnets that you can pull apart and display wherever....fridge, locker, file cabinet. The imagery comes out crisp, and the magnets have a soft matte finish. I'm totally impressed by the quality and the service.

OK...so if you would like to win a set of StickyGrams...Entering is easy!

Here's how: Leave a comment on this post and let us know that you're a follower of Everyday is a Holiday and StickyGram. Here's where to find StickyGram on Facebook or Instagram. 

The Giveaway will be open from today until Tuesday the 18th. We will be picking 2 winners! And make sure to leave info in your comment here on the blog so we can contact you.

And if you seriously cannot wait to see if you are one of the lucky winners...and just need to order your very own StickyGrams today...use code: FRIENDMPQD for 2.00 off!

They are 14.99 for a sheet of 9, with Free shipping worldwide!

Each StickyGram is 50mm x 50mm. That’s approximately the same size as they appear on your iPhone.

 And StickyGram LOVES to hear from their customers! Check out their Pinterest boards to see all of the amazing pics from their customers all over the world!

Good Luck everyone!!!
xo, Jenny & Aaron

CONGRATS to our WINNERS!!!

Jiffy Jambalaya

We love spicy over here, and usually add at least a slight kick of heat to any recipe we can. So ok, my little brother and his girlfriend had just got back from New Orleans where they spent a few days helping build houses with Habitat for Humanity. In the evenings off they took time to try some local eats. They hit Cafe Du Monde for chicory coffee and beignets. And on another occasion...Gator! Walt loved the gator Po-Boy he had so much that he had gator 2 more times over the weekend. I do not think I'd be able to do it...I feel like it would be equal to eating a dinosaur. But...just hearing about all of the other non-dinosaur spicy food gave us a craving for one of our favorite recipes. 

Aaron named this recipe Jiffy Jambalaya, because of it's resemblance to Jiffy Pop. And you really can make them in a Jiffy! Most store bought Jambalaya mixes, are just loaded with insane amounts of sodium and fillers...and really, why bother? This take on the classic is full of flavor, and  has great texture. You're using fresh veggies...nothing dehydrated or whatever. And because you're using Instant Brown Rice these pockets cook up real quick! Seriously takes no time to whip them up. Everything gets stirred together in one big bowl...that simple. And you could even do them on the grill this summer! Oh, and you can totally substitute your proteins. We used shrimp and some chicken sausage. But you could even go vegetarian, with some tempeh or tofu.

Here is what you will need:

1/2 lb raw shrimp deveined/tail on

2 all natural chicken or turkey sausage ( we used Applegate Organic Andouille Sausage)

1/2 medium white onion diced

1 green bell pepper diced

1 rib of celery diced

1 1/2 medium vine ripened tomatoes diced

2-3 teaspoons minced garlic

1 1/2 tablespoons salt free Cajun seasoning

1 cup instant brown rice

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Olive oil cooking spray

First thing, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Chop your tomatoes, celery, green pepper, and onion...put to the side.

Measure out your spices, salt and pepper, garlic and brown rice.

Prepare your sausage and shrimp.

Now in a large bowl combine all ingredients! Your veggies, rice, garlic, salt & pepper, spices, shrimp, sausage, and broth.

Mix well! Try to coat everything. You want the rice to be well blended throughout and moistened by the broth.

Now cut 4 rectangular pieces of tin foil, fairly large so that you've got enough slack to fold up into nice pockets. Spray the surface of the foil with your cooking spray, then measure out a 1/4 of the mixture for each. Place the mix in the center of your foil.

Making foil packets is super easy, and it's a great way to make all sorts of fab meals! Especially this summer on the grill!  Just bring the long ends to center to meet each other and fold down about 3 times depending on the length. It'll be like a long tent.  

And then fold the sides in a few times till you meet your filling. 

Place your packets on a cookie sheet and pop in the oven for about 25 mins. At the 25 minute mark you may want to open just one of the packets to check on your rice. Taste a few grains to see if its tender. If not, fold it back up and pop them back in for another 5 mins.

As far as serving, you can open all 4 packets and pour them into a large bowl, or you can do what we do and place your packets directly on plates and eat 'em like that. Again, this adds to the Jiffy Pop allure, and makes them sorta summery and festive.  

We hope that you Jambalaya lovers who are looking for a healthier and easier version will give this a try! If you do we'd love to hear about it!

Thanks so much for popping in!

Happy Cooking and Eating!

xo Jenny & Aaron

*adapted from Clean Eating Magazine