HaPpY NeW YeAr!!

2012 is literally less than 6 hours away here... I'm happy to share with you an idea to possibly throw together for your family to start a new tradition. A New Years Time Capsule!! :) How cool is that?? Click here to see what I'm talking about. :)




When I was buying the supplies (cookie tin, scrapbook paper & party favor pads of paper) for my time capsule at Hobby Lobby the cashier told me about an idea on Pinterest that she saw and it was a memory jar. I don't have a link for that one, but for our memory jar, I just used stuff leftover from my time capsule and a jar from the recycle bin.






Hope you all have a wonderful new year!

Ideas are swirling in my head...

I have not one, not two, but three different projects swirling about in my head right now. It is 11 o'clock at night, yet I am busy trying to find a way to get my ideas able to become a reality. I am searching for items that are apparently difficult to obtain. :/ Ugh. Trying to come up with a solution that is feasible so my projects can be easily replicated if so desired. ;)

So... until I find my supplies and have them in my hot little hands, I will bid you adieu.

P.S. I should have one of the supplies in the next day or so, the other should take about a week. Then I will have to come up with the pics for the tutorials. ;)

Homemade Gifts for Moms, Sisters, Girlfriends, Neighbors, etc. :)

Lately I have been pretty obsessed with sugar scrubs. Seriously. I think that I have a new addiction to the sweet goodness that leaves my skin feeling as soft- if not softer than my 5 year old. How cool is that? :)

Anyhoo... if you don't know what a sugar scrub is, then let me fill ya in real quick. A sugar scrub is a natural exfoliator that you can use on your hands, feet, body - wouldn't recommend your face though, might be too rough/coarse for sensitive areas- to get that extra dry skin off so you can moisturize it into being smooth and silky. The bonus is that these scrubs are very inexpensive and can be whipped up with stuff you have in your kitchen cabinets right now. The basics are sugar and oil. That's it. Easy peasy. Now of course, smelling like oil isn't probably high on your "oh my goodness, I have to make that sugar scrub now!" list but hey- I said it was the basics. ;) That's why you have to add the other ingredients to make it smell super yummy!

If you head over to Brown Eyed Baker's site you can find a delicious recipe for a Brown Sugar and Spice scrub. If you would like something a little more citrus in flavor head on over to Under the Table and Dreaming for her lovely Lemon Scrub- a personal fave of mine.

In case those don't hit the spot for ya, you can go to C & H's website and get three different recipes for sugar scrubs a vanilla, spiced, and another brown sugar one too.

Now... if you haven't found a particular recipe mentioned above to inspire you to go raid your cabinets for some delightful gifts you can seriously whip up in less than 5 minutes, you can always order Erin's e-book A Year of Sugar Scrubs 24 Original Recipes for only $3.99!! I just won a copy of this from Tatertots & Jello, and let me tell ya- it is awesome!! I love how she has different flavors for different times of the year. The Caramel Frappe one, the Pina Colada one... I'm just trying to decide who to give them to! :)

So... if you are running out of time for Christmas gifts or stocking stuffers for the ladies in your life, whip up one of these little jars of pampering goodness. I promise- you won't be sorry. :)

Super Cool Earrings!

These are seriously super incredibly easy to make!

Here's the link from a lady I found through a Pinterest browsing adventure. :) Have I mentioned how much I love that site?? ;)

Here's my spin on them. I decided to make a pair of festive trees. :) Evie's blog has a great tutorial for a more mod looking earring. So hop on over there and make yourself a pair too! :) I whipped these up in about an hour. I used 2 paperclips, some embroidery yarn, beads and a pair of earring wires- all stuff I had on hand. :)

Have a wonderful Christmas! :)

Blog is under construction...

Sorry for all of the mix ups and lack of user friendliness. :^( I am trying to make this more updated and fun. I promise to get it up and running smoothly soon.

Angela

Oh my goodness...

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love to bake, cook, create, etc. My guilty pleasure though, is spicy foods. Every now and then, I get a craving for a sweet treat, but mostly, I'm a savory/spicy kind of gal. My family has moved around a lot in the past few years- so much so, that it seems as soon as we find a restaurant we like to go to, we end up moving away and the process starts all over again. Frustrating. Anyhoo... imagine my squeal of delight to have found a recipe that is pretty darn close to replicating one of my favorite foods in the entire world. Salsa. Huh? Really? Salsa? Yes, salsa.




This salsa reminds me of home, because it is so similar to the kind I used to order in Oregon at my all time favorite Mexican restaurant. I have yet to find a Mexican restaurant that I like even close to the same level in 4 different states- but I digress. My only problem is I can't have enough tortilla chips on hand for that spicy, red deliciousness. I usually and up snacking away on the tortillas and salsa before my meal arrives causing me to have no room for my dinner. You know what I'm talking about! ;) ha ha




So... where is the recipe? Here. That's where. This is the best tasting homemade salsa that my taste buds have ever had the pleasure of tasting. Seriously. It is so inexpensive and you'll see how ridiculously simple this is to make, you will never, ever, ever buy a store brand jarred salsa again. This is the type of salsa that you can eat literally from the bowl without chips. Maybe that's just me being a weirdo, but I swear that stuff is addictive! ;) Enjoy!


Go check out Brown Eyed Baker's website for other goodies. She has a ton of recipes, and even better, all of her pictures make you want to go, bake up a storm and eat until your heart's content. Her food is delish, but I'm not so sure how this is going to be on my waistline though. ;)

Dollar Tree Fashion

So, I recently found Pinterest through one of my friends on Facebook. If you haven't heard of Pinterest, or you haven't had the fun of going through all of the ideas on there, you need to. It is so full of fun ideas that honestly, I'm embarrassed to say I stayed up way too late last night going through 'pins' for inspiration. ;)

Anyhoo... today's project is inspired by a 'pin' that I found fairly early on. It is for a sun catcher ornament thing-a-majig that I had to put my own spin on. These are so simple to make, and you can make a bunch of them for hardly anything. Less than $5 and some time will get you 20 of these little gems to give out as gifts.

If you are making these with children, please use caution. I am going to be making this project with my Girl Scout troop to give to their mothers as Christmas gifts this year and will have them assembled into kits as pictured below.

What you need:

Bag of flat marbles from Dollar Tree

Crimp Cord ends (bag of 20 from Hobby Lobby- on sale for 75 cents; normally $1.47)

2 little coils of Hemp cord (Hobby Lobby- on sale for 75 cents; normally $1.47)

1 pack of Wooden beads 10mm (40 in pack at Hobby Lobby- on sale for 75 cents; normally $1.47)

E-6000 glue or other epoxy (hot glue will not work)

Oven- Preheated to 335 degrees F

Cookie Sheet

Oven mitt/pot holder

Sink or bowl of ice & water (I used my kitchen sink, but a bowl would work too.)

Pliers


Step 1: Place all of your marbles on cookie sheet. Put cookie sheet into oven and bake your marbles for 45 minutes. ** If you are doing this project with a child, please use caution with the hot oven to avoid burns. **

Step 2: When marbles are done "baking," remove from oven and immediately put into ice bath. I literally dumped mine in to my sink from the cookie sheet. Let cool for 10 minutes in water. ** If you are doing this project with a child, please use caution with the hot oven to avoid burns. **

Step 3: Remove marbles from water and dry thoroughly. They should look similar to the photo below. Each marble will crack differently; which adds to the charm. :)

Step 4: Cut your hemp cord into desired lengths. I cut mine into 45" and got about 10 from each coil.

Step 5: Flatten all of your crimp cords. This becomes your bale for your pendant. If you want to purchase bales and skip this step you can. Using the crimp cords is just a more affordable way to make a bunch of bales; since bales are fairly expensive.

Step 6: Place a small amount of epoxy to the flat side of your marble. Place bale on top of epoxy and let cure. Note: If you can't wait for it to dry the 24 hours, wait for at least 1 hour before proceeding, or your bale will not stay in place. :) Your marble pendant should look similar to photo below when complete.

Step 7: Fold hemp cord length in half- first photo below. Thread through bale on marble pendant- second photo below.

Step 8: Thread one of your wooden beads on to the hemp cord- first photo below. Slide bead to the top of your marble pendant- second photo below.

Step 9: Separate hemp cord, thread one more wooden bead on loose end as shown in photo below. You can adjust the length of your necklace at this point; however, make sure to add 1 inch to the length to make sure you have enough cord for the next two steps. :)

Step 10: Tie a knot on loose end. Place a drop of epoxy on knot and slide wooden bead over knot to secure in place.

Step 11: Tie knot on looped end of cord. Make sure it is large enough to slip over wooden bead.

That's it! You're finished!

Repeat process for as many necklaces as you want to make. :)

Hello again! It has been waaaaaayyyy too long! ;)

Okay, so I have been up to lots of stuff since my last post. We have as a family gone through a crazy, hectic, insane, fill-in-the-blank year. Life is just now starting to settle down nicely, and I feel that I can start up my blog again. Yay! I know that you are all just *so* dang excited! ;)

With that being said, this past year has taught me to be even more frugal with my gifts/crafts. I have a ton of crafting supplies that I have gathered up and pulled out of storage, so I am going to be sharing projects that I have designed and those that are in catalogs that I refuse to pay their hefty price tag on.

So... here's my first project in for-ev-er! I promise to bring up more and post them as regularly as I can.

I didn't photo these before I finished the project, nor did I photo in between steps. It is very easy to do, and if you have ever made a paper hand turkey, this should be a breeze!

Supplies:
1 canvas- mine is 8" x 10" (I bought 2 at Hobby Lobby for $2)
Acrylic paints: Brown, cranberry, orange, yellow, gold, ivory, white and black
Acrylic spray sealer
Sponge paintbrush (the ones that are 25 cents at Michaels or Home Depot)
Detailing paintbrush (narrow bristles)

Step 1: Paint entire canvas ivory. Let dry fully.

Step 2: Paint your husband's entire hand brown. Place you husband's hand on the canvas. Remove hand carefully, to avoid smearing. Let dry fully.

Note: If you don't want to wait for it to dry naturally, a hair dryer on low will work. The entire hand print needs to be dry before proceeding to the next step, or it will pull off of the canvas. :)

Step 3: Paint your fingers cranberry and your palm brown. Place your hand on top of your husband's print and place your fingers according to your own design. Remove hand carefully, to avoid smearing. Let dry fully.

Step 4: Paint your oldest child's fingers orange and their palm brown. Place their hand on top of your print and place their fingers according to your own design. Remove hand carefully, to avoid smearing. Let dry fully.

Step 5: Paint your next child's fingers yellow and their palm brown. Place their hand on top of your oldest child's print and place their fingers according to your own design. Remove hand carefully, to avoid smearing. Let dry fully.

Step 6-??: If you have more than 2 children; continue the pattern of brown palm, colored fingers until all children are printed. Removing hands carefully, to avoid smearing. Letting dry fully.

Step 7: Paint "We are Thankful" across the top of your painting in gold. (I free handed this part.)

Step 8: Paint the outline of your turkey in black to define the head and neck. Let dry.

Step 9: Paint two white dots for eyes. Let dry.

Step 10: Paint beak orange.

Step 11: Paint wattle cranberry.

Step 12: Paint pupils black. Outline beak and wattle with black also.

Step 13: Paint year in corner with gold.

Admire your new Thanksgiving keepsake. :)

That's it!