Day 333: Sewing a Simple Tunic Shirt

Time: An hour?
Listening to: Christmas Music

I saw this shirt on Pinterest and figured I'd give it a try. I had this kind of sweatshirt material leftover from a previous project and have been wanting to do something fun with it. It was a lot of trial and error but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I can give measurements/instructions to anyone who is interested.

Day 332: Infinity Scarf

Time: Less than an hour
Listening to: Christmas Mix on Spotify

I worked on an infinity scarf tonight--and am happy with how it turned out! Isn't the print adorable?

Day 331: Adorable Furry Friends

Time: HOURS
Listening to: Murder She Wrote

Back on Day 306, I worked on cutting out some furry friends and I finally got around to stitching and stuffing them. Man, this was more work than I was expecting....but I'm so happy with how they turned out. I'm still not completely done with the project yet, so stay tuned!

Day 330: Felt Superhero Masks

Time: Just about an hour
Listening to: The Mob Doctor

Tomorrow is the soon to be 6 year old's birthday so I figured I should probably finish these superhero masks up! I decided to just use fabric glue instead of sewing on them--mostly because I didn't want to have to change the thread for all the different colors. Lazy, I know!

Anyways, I'm excited to give them to him tomorrow. Hopefully he will like them and get a lot of use out of them!

Here is the link again for the template that I used previously.

Stumbled On Favorites

Here are a few of my favorite things that I've stumbled upon recently!

I spent the weekend celebrating my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. I am so thankful for the time to reconnect with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. What a great family I am apart of!

A good video on book recommendations is here!

I love these framed tree branches.

I want a trampoline sidewalk desperately!

This is an awesome about me section! Thanks for the link Swissmiss!

I love Modcloth's gift guides. Such great stuff!

My brother's birthday is today and I got him this shirt. We were obsessed with Home Alone growing up so it seemed pretty fitting! I'm seriously considering buying one for myself.

Days 323-329: Knitting Thick Headband

Time: Hours+
Listening to: Chit chat

I had a great Thanksgiving weekend...road trip with my parents! In 5 days I was in 6 different states! While we caught up and saw lots of family, I tried to knit as we went. Here are my results...

PAUSE!

I'm putting a bit of a pause on my blog while I jet around the USA! I'll keep doing creative stuff though...promise! Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

 

 

Day 322: Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow

Time: 15 minutes
Listening to: Nothing

I saw this recipe for Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow and have been wanting to make it for some time. I just kept forgetting to get all of the ingredients...and there are only a few! I made a few changes to the original recipe.

You need:

2 cups powdered sugar
1 12 ounce package white baking chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
9 cups rice Chex cereal

Put the powdered sugar in a large ziplock bag or a large tupperware container. Set aside.

Melt the chips and peanut butter in the microwave--1 minute, stir, 30 seconds, stir, etc.

Stir in the pumpkin pie spice. Fold in the Chex cereal. Mix. 

Pour Chex cereal mix into the powdered sugar and mix until coated.

That is it! MM. 

Day 321: Superhero Masks

Time: Hours
Listening to: Pride & Prejudice (BBC 1995 version)

One of the boys who I nanny has an upcoming birthday so I've been thinking about what I wanted to make for him. I ran across these superhero templates here and knew I wanted to make them. I can just imagine him putting on the Hulk one and yelling..."HULK SMASH!"

I haven't finished them yet but all that is left is sewing a bit and inserting some elastic. Hopefully I'll finish these up tomorrow!

Day 320: Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

This recipe might just be my favorite. I cannot make it too often because I can seriously eat the entire pan. Seriously. I made these today at 3:00pm and there are probably only three or four brownies left now at 10:45pm. I actually am surprised there are any left!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

You need:
 
1/2 cup butter
2-oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp red food coloring
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt 

For cream cheese mixture:

8-oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

What you need to do:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8 inch square baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease.
 
In a small bowl melt butter and chocolate together. Stir with a fork until very smooth. In another bowl mix together sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and red food coloring. Add in the chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Add flour and salt and stir until thoroughly mixed. Pour into pan and spread into an even layer.
 
In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Drop onto prepared brownie batter. Gently swirl two batters with a butter knife.
 
Bake for 35 minutes until brownies and cheesecake are set. 

Original recipe found here. 

Day 319: Southwestern Two Bean Crock Pot Soup

I love using my crock pot....especially when all it entails is dumping a bunch of ingredients together and waiting a couple hours until it begins smelling delicious. My favorite kind of cooking!


Southwestern Two Bean Crock Pot Soup

What you need:

4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
1 15 oz can pinto beans
1 15 oz can black beans
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes in juice
1 lb frozen corn (thawed or frozen)
1 16 oz jar of salsa

What you need to do:

1. Put the chicken in first to the crock pot. Then pour the tomatoes and salsa over that. Then add the beans (rinsed and drained) and finish it off by adding in the corn. 

2. Cook on low for 5-7 hours.

3. When ready to serve, pull chicken apart. 

4. Enjoy! 

Original recipe was found here. I've made a few alterations.  

Day 318: Mac'n' Cheese Lasagna

Time: 1/2 hour?
Listening to: Lana Del Ray

I got this recipe from my sister a while back and decided to give it a try!

Mac'n'Cheese Lasagna

You Need:

1 box of Macaroni and Cheese--prepared
1 1/2 cups of spaghetti sauce
1/2 lb browned hamburger
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spoon half of the macaroni and cheese into a lightly greased 8 inch square baking dish.

2. Top with half of the spaghetti sauce, meat, and shredded cheese. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with the parmesan cheese.

3. Bake 20 minutes or until heated through.

Tasty!

Day 315, 316 & 317: Relapse

Hey folks. Trying to fight off a cold by conserving energy! Hopefully I'll be back to using my creative juices soon.

Day 314: Knitted cowl

Time: Hour?
Listening to: DeVotchKa

I finished up my knitting project on Sunday and I'm happy with it. It is just a cute little addition to an outfit but not overpowering. And it is so warm! I've biked with it on and it is almost overwhelmingly warm...

Day 313: Orzo with Parmesan & Basil

Made this tonight with my hubby. Super easy and tasty!

Orzo with Parmesan & Basil

You need:

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup uncooked orzo
1 (14.5 ounce) can of chicken broth
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste 
  
Melt the butter then in a skillet and add in the orzo.  Saunte until slightly browned. Stir in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Mix in the parmesan and the basil. Season with salt and pepper. 

Day 312: Eskimo Cookies

Time: 1/2 hour?
Listening to: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

A new friend's birthday is today and I wanted to make her a little treat. She is from Alaska so I thought some Eskimo cookies would be appropriate.

Eskimo Cookies

Cream together:

3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar

Add 1 tablespoon water, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 3 tablespoons cocoa. Mix well. Blend in 2 cups oatmeal.

Chill well. Shape into balls. Roll in powdered sugar. Store in fridge.   

Days 310 & 311: Knitting

Time: Hour and a half?
Listening to: My Little Pony (while nannying...)

The little boys I nanny LOVE to watch TV. We limit it but there are still times when we wind up watching it so I've started bringing my knitting along. When the boys first saw my knitting sitting out, they kept asking what it was. They had never seen knitting before! So I showed them how it was done. Once when I set it down, the littlest asked me to keep going. How funny!

Anyways, I'm making good progress. I'm thinking a new wool infinity scarf will be nice. I end up biking in the rain a lot so it would be nice to have a nice wool one so it will dry faster.

Secret Project Reveal: Baby Shoes

A couple weeks ago I made a little itty bitty pair of shoes for my hubby's cousin who is pregnant and due in December. I think they turned out pretty darn adorable, but I'm pretty sure anything is adorable that small.

Day 309: Dried Cinnamon Apple Slices

 Today I made some dried cinnamon apple slices and boy, they were tasty!

Dried Cinnamon Apple Slices

You need:

2 Apples 
Maple Syrup 
Cinnamon

Slice up some apples as thin as you can and put on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle some syrup and cinnamon on them. Bake for 2 hours at 200 degrees. 

That is it! MMM. 
  
I apologize for the terrible picture but I only had my phone with me when I made this tasty treat.

Day 308: Knitting

Time: One hour
Listening to: Revenge

Knitting, knitting, knitting!

Day 307: Popcorn Balls!

Time: 1/2 hour?
Listening to: Nothing

I grew up with this fantastic popcorn ball recipe and have always LOVED it. I got the hankering for some popcorn balls the other day so I dug out the recipe and gave it a whirl today. My mom gave me a few hints which helped make it super easy!

Popcorn Balls

You need:
3 quarts of popcorn
1/8 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of butter
1/2 lb of marshmallows
Food coloring optional

Pop your popcorn! Pull out as many of the unpopped kernels that you can....this will save your teeth later. Melt the butter for 30 seconds. Add in sugar and marshmallows and heat for 1 minute. Stir. If it hasn't melted all the way, heat for additional 1 minute. Add in food coloring if desired. Once melted, pour over popped popcorn.

Once everything is all mixed, coat your hands in a layer of butter. This is so helpful otherwise it is a sticky mess. Make a fist sized ball of popcorn that is nice and tight. This recipe makes about 10 medium sized popcorn balls. Wrap individually if you aren't going to consume all of them immediately.*

*I had seriously forgotten just how delicious these are. My plan was to wrap them individually but once I tasted them...nope. Not even going to last that long...

Day 306: Furry Friends

Time: Hour +
Listening to: Pride and Prejudice BBC 1980 version

So I saw this little mobile here and absolutely loved it. I had a whole bunch of felt in my fabric stash so I thought I'd make my own little furry friends. So far I've just done the cutting part and will soon try to tackle the harder part of sewing/stuffing.

Stumbled On Favorites

Here are a few of my favorite things that I've stumbled upon recently!

I've always loved this picture of my brother teaching me how to rollerskate.

Kid President is the cutest ever.

Youtube mashup of Gotye remakes...so awesome.

I love this installation by Kristen Hassenfeld.

This cloud is amazing. I want to play with it!

Day 305: A day in the life of Elmo (Photoshoot)

This post goes out to my mom and dad who were disappointed that they didn't get to meet Elmo on Halloween. I wanted to give them an up close introduction on what it is exactly like to be Elmo when he isn't working. Here goes...

Elmo usually likes to sleep in pretty late...notice how bright the sun is outside! His favorite sleeping pal is his cuddly whale.

Elmo usually takes a nice long shower to help wake up.

 

He isn't quite sure how he feels about this invasion of privacy during his shower time. 

 

Elmo always makes sure to brush his teeth.

And of course put the deodorant on.

COFFEE is the next demand in Elmo's life.

Then he usually takes some time to catch up on email. He doesn't like to be interrupted.

Elmo never forgets about watering his plants.

After he takes care of his plants, he usually spends some times on his favorite hobbies. Like knitting!

Or reading...

Or bird watching...

Elmo also loves talking on the phone!

And cooking!

But his favorite activity is....dancing!


The sprinkler!

Day 304: Knitting

Time: One hour
Listening to: The Voice

Knitting, knitting, knitting!!!