Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Beer Label Coasters
So this isn't exactly crafty, but I've had these photo coasters from Crate & Barrel lying around for years and never bothered to put photos in them... Well recently I had the cooky idea to stick my favorite beer labels in them, and I think they look really cool! The Seadog Blueberry label is my favorite due to cuteness, but the Spotted Cow (a Wisconsin exclusive) isn't far behind.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Pink & Gray Clothespin Wreath
So I'd been trolling Pinterest for a while looking to find something I really wanted to make. Then this Clothespin Wreath caught my eye. It's adorable. To me, it also looked like the kind of thing you could have up all year round, wreath-shaped or not. I decided I wanted to make one for my bathroom (had some empty wall space in there), so that helped me decide on the size and color theme before I embarked on what became two adventures to good ol' Hobby Lobby.
Here's my finished wreath:
The original post that inspired me was about a smaller wreath that used only 38 clothespins. Mine was going to be bigger. I ended up using 70 clothespins (35 larger ones and 35 smaller ones). The wreath form was 12" across on the outside and 10" across on the inside. This made for a finished wreath that is about 14" across. I made the wreath form itself out of cardboard. You'll have a compass when you do it because you're smart, unlike me, who was tracing my trash can and other random circled-shaped things. I covered the cardboard in felt as the original post suggested.
This is also a really cheap project; the materials were under $25 and I had to buy Mod Podge and X-Acto blade refills. (The refills were my second trip to H.L.) Without that it could easily be created for under $20. If you already have Mod Podge, a knife, and cardboard, all you have to purchase is felt, scrapbook paper, and clothespins. I found the larger size pins at Target and the smaller size at Bed, Bath, and Beyond (neither store had both sizes).
My bathroom is mostly silver and gray, so I chose to stick to black, silver, and add the accent color of pink. What's great is that I could switch out just the pink pins at any time and replace them with any other color for a new look. When I got to the store there were tons of papers with musical notes, so I also gave it a music theme. There are also a couple different zebra prints. I also really liked using some sheer papers that let the wood-color of the clothespins come through.
Here's a pic mid-craft:
When I got the wreath form done, I put all the clothespins on to see how many I would need, then I decided which papers to use (I ended up eliminating some I had bought), so I could roughly estimate how many of each pattern to make. I would paint a clothespin with Mod Podge, attach it to the corner of a piece of paper, then cut out the other two sides with the X-Acto knife. This was probably the hardest part, especially for the larger pins where the metal touched the paper and I couldn't slide the knife all the way across in one motion. I messed some up along the way, no big deal. With most of the papers, I also coated the top of the papers with Mod Podge, but on some of the sparkly ones it did not look as good, so I didn't for those. Trial-and-error.
Once I had all the clothespins decorated, putting them on the wreath was quick and easy. The whole project took me a day (but a FULL day). I was at Hobby Lobby at 10 am and hanging this thing up at 10 pm. I watched two whole movies while glueing and cutting.
Here is the wreath up in the bathroom, and I am really happy with the results:
Here's my finished wreath:
The original post that inspired me was about a smaller wreath that used only 38 clothespins. Mine was going to be bigger. I ended up using 70 clothespins (35 larger ones and 35 smaller ones). The wreath form was 12" across on the outside and 10" across on the inside. This made for a finished wreath that is about 14" across. I made the wreath form itself out of cardboard. You'll have a compass when you do it because you're smart, unlike me, who was tracing my trash can and other random circled-shaped things. I covered the cardboard in felt as the original post suggested.
This is also a really cheap project; the materials were under $25 and I had to buy Mod Podge and X-Acto blade refills. (The refills were my second trip to H.L.) Without that it could easily be created for under $20. If you already have Mod Podge, a knife, and cardboard, all you have to purchase is felt, scrapbook paper, and clothespins. I found the larger size pins at Target and the smaller size at Bed, Bath, and Beyond (neither store had both sizes).
My bathroom is mostly silver and gray, so I chose to stick to black, silver, and add the accent color of pink. What's great is that I could switch out just the pink pins at any time and replace them with any other color for a new look. When I got to the store there were tons of papers with musical notes, so I also gave it a music theme. There are also a couple different zebra prints. I also really liked using some sheer papers that let the wood-color of the clothespins come through.
Here's a pic mid-craft:
When I got the wreath form done, I put all the clothespins on to see how many I would need, then I decided which papers to use (I ended up eliminating some I had bought), so I could roughly estimate how many of each pattern to make. I would paint a clothespin with Mod Podge, attach it to the corner of a piece of paper, then cut out the other two sides with the X-Acto knife. This was probably the hardest part, especially for the larger pins where the metal touched the paper and I couldn't slide the knife all the way across in one motion. I messed some up along the way, no big deal. With most of the papers, I also coated the top of the papers with Mod Podge, but on some of the sparkly ones it did not look as good, so I didn't for those. Trial-and-error.
Once I had all the clothespins decorated, putting them on the wreath was quick and easy. The whole project took me a day (but a FULL day). I was at Hobby Lobby at 10 am and hanging this thing up at 10 pm. I watched two whole movies while glueing and cutting.
Here is the wreath up in the bathroom, and I am really happy with the results:
An Update & Thanksgiving Turkey Wreath
It's been a really long time since I've updated. Life got crazy and I didn't have much time for crafty things anymore, let alone the blog. However, I have managed to put together a few things lately, and I wanted to throw a couple posts up to share the results. Also, I have been thrilled with all the reposts of my Purple and Turquoise Ornament Wreath, so thanks! (It's still my favorite craft project ever.)
The first thing I want to share is from last November, a while ago, but it's so cool. I'm sure many Pinterest regulars have seen this post with a great Thanksgiving Turkey Wreath tutorial. I wanted to share mine and tell you about the couple things I did differently.
For the most part, I followed the tutorial above exactly. However, instead of using brown string to cover the wreath (that seemed time consuming), I used ribbon. Also, instead of using a styrofoam cone for the beak, I rolled up some craft foam into a cone shape. This saved some money because the styrofoam cones only came in bulk packs and were $6, and I didn't have to buy yellow paint. (The foam was less than a dollar.)
My cat enjoyed watching me:
The first thing I want to share is from last November, a while ago, but it's so cool. I'm sure many Pinterest regulars have seen this post with a great Thanksgiving Turkey Wreath tutorial. I wanted to share mine and tell you about the couple things I did differently.
For the most part, I followed the tutorial above exactly. However, instead of using brown string to cover the wreath (that seemed time consuming), I used ribbon. Also, instead of using a styrofoam cone for the beak, I rolled up some craft foam into a cone shape. This saved some money because the styrofoam cones only came in bulk packs and were $6, and I didn't have to buy yellow paint. (The foam was less than a dollar.)
My cat enjoyed watching me:
And my dog tried on the almost-finished product:
Here it is on the wall:
There are tons of these on Pinterest now if you search "Turkey Wreath," which is understandable, they are so neat!
Monday, December 3, 2012
DIY Ornament Wreath
This is my favorite thing. My favorite. I have finally gotten most of the things I wanted to blog about right off up, and I saved the best for last. After my crayon art, I was looking for another big craft project to occupy my time and satisfy my need for creativity. Pinterest to the rescue! I decided to make an ornament wreath:
There are a lot of really cute ornament wreaths out there on the Internet and Pinterest, but I LOVE MINE SO MUCH. Okay, I am bias, because it's my favorite colors (purple and turquoise), and I spent hours on it, and it goes great in my apartment. So great, in fact, that I might cry when Christmas season is over and I have to take it down. I did this back in October (before my button ornaments, which btw, have been a rave hit among my relatives and friends, and I have requests now for them and people are even paying me for them, crazy). I still love looking at it every day.
Here's some of the stuff I bought. As another blog I looked at said, you need A LOT of ornaments. I already had a couple bulk packs I was going to use, but even so, I spent like $25 on ornaments. If I didn't already have any, I could've easily spent $40+ buying them. I think it's worth it, but just beware. Not all the ornaments I bought are in this picture, not even close, actually:
Also, you will want to get unbreakable ornaments. Not all mine were and I broke a few. Plus, I would hate it if one broke on the finished wreath and ruined the whole thing. Also, I bought a 12" wreath straw form, and the whole finished thing is over 16" across. It's a good size to handle your typical Christmas ornament ball. A smaller form might be overwhelmed with standard size bulbs, and standard bulbs are easier to fine in bulk (for cheaper).
To start out, you wrap the wreath form in ribbon. I kept going with the same ribbon to make a bow to hang it from. Then, I put ornaments around the outside of the wreath:
After this, I did spend quite a while (okay, hours), trying to plan out how I was going to position everything (and running out to buy more ornaments.) I am a little too OCD for crafts sometimes. (Yes, that is a beer in the background.) I did have to let go eventually and just start gluing though. You can't plan it all.
After I just sort of had a loose outline for where I wanted the big ornaments, and then started gluing with just a regular ol' glue gun.
When I was all done with the ornaments, it looked like this. I had these tiny little black foam balls with sequins from Hobby Lobby that I added last, to fill in the gaps. Here, I had just set a couple in place.
And then, I just added more ribbon (sort of weaved it through; it would've been easier to do it before I put the ornaments on of course). I hung it on my wall with a 3M temporary hook. The thing weights under 3 lbs. I love the ribbon I found, btw. Sheer purple/turquoise mesh, matches perfect!
Even though you can spend a lot on ornaments (a good idea would be to buy them half off after Christmas), I recommend making one of these! It looks great and it was fun.
There are a lot of really cute ornament wreaths out there on the Internet and Pinterest, but I LOVE MINE SO MUCH. Okay, I am bias, because it's my favorite colors (purple and turquoise), and I spent hours on it, and it goes great in my apartment. So great, in fact, that I might cry when Christmas season is over and I have to take it down. I did this back in October (before my button ornaments, which btw, have been a rave hit among my relatives and friends, and I have requests now for them and people are even paying me for them, crazy). I still love looking at it every day.
Here's some of the stuff I bought. As another blog I looked at said, you need A LOT of ornaments. I already had a couple bulk packs I was going to use, but even so, I spent like $25 on ornaments. If I didn't already have any, I could've easily spent $40+ buying them. I think it's worth it, but just beware. Not all the ornaments I bought are in this picture, not even close, actually:
Also, you will want to get unbreakable ornaments. Not all mine were and I broke a few. Plus, I would hate it if one broke on the finished wreath and ruined the whole thing. Also, I bought a 12" wreath straw form, and the whole finished thing is over 16" across. It's a good size to handle your typical Christmas ornament ball. A smaller form might be overwhelmed with standard size bulbs, and standard bulbs are easier to fine in bulk (for cheaper).
To start out, you wrap the wreath form in ribbon. I kept going with the same ribbon to make a bow to hang it from. Then, I put ornaments around the outside of the wreath:
After this, I did spend quite a while (okay, hours), trying to plan out how I was going to position everything (and running out to buy more ornaments.) I am a little too OCD for crafts sometimes. (Yes, that is a beer in the background.) I did have to let go eventually and just start gluing though. You can't plan it all.
After I just sort of had a loose outline for where I wanted the big ornaments, and then started gluing with just a regular ol' glue gun.
When I was all done with the ornaments, it looked like this. I had these tiny little black foam balls with sequins from Hobby Lobby that I added last, to fill in the gaps. Here, I had just set a couple in place.
And then, I just added more ribbon (sort of weaved it through; it would've been easier to do it before I put the ornaments on of course). I hung it on my wall with a 3M temporary hook. The thing weights under 3 lbs. I love the ribbon I found, btw. Sheer purple/turquoise mesh, matches perfect!
Even though you can spend a lot on ornaments (a good idea would be to buy them half off after Christmas), I recommend making one of these! It looks great and it was fun.
Veggie Jambalaya - 250 Calories Per Serving!
This is a miracle meal. It's a miracle because it is so unbelievably good, and yet you can eat the WHOLE PAN for 1,000 calories. Yes, I said the whole freaking pan. This entire thing, if you were so inclined:
That calories count does not include the wine (darn it). And you probably won't eat the whole pan. You will be stuffed full after just one serving, or 1/4 of this - 250 calories! This is crazy. This should be national news. And, if you don't believe me that it tastes amazing, I will tell you that this is my (meat-eating) boyfriend's favorite meal, even though it's vegetarian. He begs me to make the stuff all the time.
The recipe calls for Emeril's Creole Seasoning, which you can buy pre-mixed in the store, but I highly recommend you don't. Make your own. I tried using the kind you buy once and it is just not near as good and the flavors are not as prevalent.
Ingredients:
1-2+ Tablespoons Emeril’s Creole Seasoning
Chop up all the vegetables. Cook zucchini in ½ tbsp olive oil with a sprinkle of creole seasoning for 2 minutes. Remove. Add to the pan the pepper, celery and onion with 1 tablespoon creole seasoning and rest of oil).
Cook for 3 minutes, then add garlic, bay leaves, hot sauce, Worcestershire. Add rice, and stir in broth and tomato paste. Cook covered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes and zucchini, with more creole and salt to taste (at least 1/4-1/2 tsp of salt). Cook ten minutes more.
You can thrown some shrimp in it too, or any protein you'd like, really; however, it doesn't feel like it needs it. It tastes like a complete meal.
The recipe calls for Emeril's Creole Seasoning, which you can buy pre-mixed in the store, but I highly recommend you don't. Make your own. I tried using the kind you buy once and it is just not near as good and the flavors are not as prevalent.
Ingredients:1-2+ Tablespoons Emeril’s Creole Seasoning
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Green Pepper
1 Red Pepper
3 Stalks Celery
1 Large Onion
1 Medium Zucchini
1 Large Tomato
2 Tablespoons Chopped Garlic
2 Bay Leaves
1 Tsp Hot Sauce
1 Tsp Vegetarian Worcestershire
1 Cup Uncooked White Rice
3 Cups Vegetable Stock
4 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
Chop up all the vegetables. Cook zucchini in ½ tbsp olive oil with a sprinkle of creole seasoning for 2 minutes. Remove. Add to the pan the pepper, celery and onion with 1 tablespoon creole seasoning and rest of oil).
Cook for 3 minutes, then add garlic, bay leaves, hot sauce, Worcestershire. Add rice, and stir in broth and tomato paste. Cook covered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes and zucchini, with more creole and salt to taste (at least 1/4-1/2 tsp of salt). Cook ten minutes more.
You can thrown some shrimp in it too, or any protein you'd like, really; however, it doesn't feel like it needs it. It tastes like a complete meal.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Muffins
Okay, here's something that's not my recipe, but I want to share my experience making. I have always been a big fan of Starbuck's Pumpkin Muffin with Cream Cheese, and so when I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I had to try it! And I have to say, they are even better than the Starbucks ones!
Here is the original recipe with the list of ingredients. I followed it exactly, except I make my own pumpkin pie spice. And I don't like clove or allspice, so I leave that out of the PPS. When you make the muffins, there are three parts.
The batter (I do not have an electric mixer and just used a whisk and it was fine):
The filling (I found the first time I made them that rolling it in a bag and slicing it doesn't work at all; however, you should freeze it to firm it up, so that it doesn't spread all over the batter when you put it in the cup. I just freeze it in a bowl and spoon it out):
And the topping (Using cold butter is a horrible process; room temperature makes it easier to work with):
First, you fill the cups with just a tablespoon or two of batter:
Then you place the rest of batter on top, covering the filling:
And top:
You bake them at 350 for 20-25 minutes (mine needed the whole 25). Here they are!
Here is the original recipe with the list of ingredients. I followed it exactly, except I make my own pumpkin pie spice. And I don't like clove or allspice, so I leave that out of the PPS. When you make the muffins, there are three parts.
The batter (I do not have an electric mixer and just used a whisk and it was fine):
The filling (I found the first time I made them that rolling it in a bag and slicing it doesn't work at all; however, you should freeze it to firm it up, so that it doesn't spread all over the batter when you put it in the cup. I just freeze it in a bowl and spoon it out):
And the topping (Using cold butter is a horrible process; room temperature makes it easier to work with):
First, you fill the cups with just a tablespoon or two of batter:
Then, you add a bit of the filling. In this pic, it wasn't frozen enough, and it spread some. My next dozen was better, because the filling was firm and scooped into balls:
Here's what happens if you don't freeze the filling. It's more of a cream cheese muffin sandwich. Still good, but not as cool or pretty:
And top:
You bake them at 350 for 20-25 minutes (mine needed the whole 25). Here they are!
My family raved about these and ate them up immediately the first time I made them. 24 went fast! I just made 24 more today for a belated "Friendsgiving" at my sister's and I can't wait to get more "ooohs and aaaahs," lol. I'm especially glad that I don't have to worry about them only being at Startbucks for a month out of the year, I can make them anytime!
Friday, November 30, 2012
Pico De Gallo & Bean Enchiladas
In case you can't tell, I LOVE mexican food! And my favorite thing to make are these enchiladas, which are vegetarian, and filled with refried beans and homemade pico de gallo. Doesn't this look amazing?
First, I could do a whole entry on making pico de gallo, but I don't have a picture if just that, so I won't. It's super easy though, and you should always do your own. I make the pico, then save a little to mash avocados in and - bam - perfect guacamole. For the pico, you need:
2-3 tomatoes
A red onion
Fresh cilantro
A jalapeno
Fresh lime juice
Salt
You really just chop up the tomatoes, onion, and jalapeno in a proportion you like, and add everything else to taste. So easy! So good! It's also an absolutely perfect guacamole base. So, you're making two things at once.
I suggest refrigerating the pico at least overnight before you eat it or use it in these enchiladas, as it gets better as the flavors mingle.
For the enchiladas, you need:
Pico De Gallo
Soft Corn Tortillas
1 Can of Your Favorite Refried Beans
2 Cans Enchiladas Sauce
2 cups Cheese
Avocado (Optional - Mash with extra Pico for gauc)
Sour Cream (Optional)
These are my favorite beans to use:
I put the beans in the tortillas, then the pico, and about half the cheese. Then I roll them up:
Top with sauce and the rest of the cheese, and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes:
This obviously isn't a fancy recipe where I make everything from scratch, but it's a fantastic combination that's quick and easy. It's also a great vegetarian alternative to "cheese and onion" enchiladas (boring). I like to serve them with rice and a Corona!
First, I could do a whole entry on making pico de gallo, but I don't have a picture if just that, so I won't. It's super easy though, and you should always do your own. I make the pico, then save a little to mash avocados in and - bam - perfect guacamole. For the pico, you need:
2-3 tomatoes
A red onion
Fresh cilantro
A jalapeno
Fresh lime juice
Salt
You really just chop up the tomatoes, onion, and jalapeno in a proportion you like, and add everything else to taste. So easy! So good! It's also an absolutely perfect guacamole base. So, you're making two things at once.
I suggest refrigerating the pico at least overnight before you eat it or use it in these enchiladas, as it gets better as the flavors mingle.
For the enchiladas, you need:
Pico De Gallo
Soft Corn Tortillas
1 Can of Your Favorite Refried Beans
2 Cans Enchiladas Sauce
2 cups Cheese
Avocado (Optional - Mash with extra Pico for gauc)
Sour Cream (Optional)
These are my favorite beans to use:
I put the beans in the tortillas, then the pico, and about half the cheese. Then I roll them up:
Top with sauce and the rest of the cheese, and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes:
This obviously isn't a fancy recipe where I make everything from scratch, but it's a fantastic combination that's quick and easy. It's also a great vegetarian alternative to "cheese and onion" enchiladas (boring). I like to serve them with rice and a Corona!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)