Day 298: Sewing Halloween Costumes!

I really love Halloween costumes. A day to dress up in ridiculous costumes? Sign me up. Here are some of my past favorite costumes:

Hoot hoot!

Buzz, buzz!

Crunch, crunch!

 

Gnome, gnome!

So here is what I worked on today:

A bear mask for a friend....

And my Elmo costume...

Secret Project Reveal: 65th Birthday Present!

Back on day 287, 288, and 289 (and a few other days...) I was busy working on a birthday present for my aunt. It was her 65th birthday on Tuesday so I gathered and wrote 65 different "love notes" from her friends and family and put it in a little book for her. Here are a few of my favorite pages that I wrote...nothing too personal on these ones...just cute!

Day 296 & 297: Knitting

Time: One hour
Listening to: Doctor Who

I love Doctor Who. I just made it into the third season on Netflix. Last night, he just said goodbye to Rose. Noo! So sad!

Anyways, while I watched and cried silent tears...I knitted away!

Day 295: Drawing

Time: hour?
Listening to: two little boys playing superheroes

I had a nice time drawing today during work to amuse the boys I nanny for. I drew an octopus on one boy's head, a raptor (their favorite dino) and at the request of the oldest...a butterfly on his nose. It was nice getting pen on paper--it feels like it has been a while!

Day 294: Cooking Thai Peanut Ramen

We tried out a new recipe this evening and it ended up being tasty and delicious. Much better than the last recipe I shared with you! Here goes:

Thai Peanut Ramen

You need:
2 packages Oriental flavor ramen noodle soup mix
2 cups small broccoli florets
1 medium red bell pepper chopped
1/2 cups shredded carrots
1/4 cup Thai peanut sauce
1/3 cup chopped salted peanuts
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1.  Fill 3-quart saucepan two-thirds full of water; heat to boiling. Break block of noodles from soup mix into water; stir until slightly softened. Stir in broccoli, bell pepper, and carrots; return to boiling. Boil 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender. Drain and return to saucepan.

2. Stir peanut sauce and 1 seasoning packet from soup mix into noodle mixture. Top individual servings with peanuts and cilantro.

*Recipe came from Pillsbury fast & fresh pasta

Day 293: Writing Letters

Time: 1 1/2 hours
Listening to: The Packers (win!)

I've been busy writing letters today! I'm loving my William H. Johnson stamps. Aren't they adorable? I kind of want to write more letters just to send those pretty little stamps out there into the big ol' world. 

Day 292: Knitting

Time: 1 hour +
Listening to: Pride and Prejudice

I got on a Jane Austen kick this summer after I reread Pride and Prejudice for a second time. After this, I was itching to watch the movie and finally got around to it this weekend.  The movie wasn't nearly as good as the book (I'm going to give the BBC version a try shortly!) but it has inspired a resurgence of my Jane Austen love so I will now begin to reread more of her books.What a cycle I've found myself in.

Anyways, while I watched I also knitted away. Still haven't figured out what I'm making but I sure am enjoying the pretty color!

Day 291: Knitting

Time: 1 hour
Listening to: Project Runway

I am so in love with this color that I decided to make something. I don't even know what I am making. Sometimes that is my favorite kind of knitting. Just knitting for the sake of knitting.

Day 290: Baking

So I made this Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars recipe here and I hated it!

It looks like it would be tasty, doesn't it? Nope, it isn't.

I can't decide if I did something wrong or if I just don't like the taste of pumpkin/angel food cake/cream cheese. It sounds delicious but something about it was...gross.

Bummer. Isn't it the worst when you make something and then it tastes bad?

Secret Project Reveal: Sewing a Key Chain

My mom has had some trouble finding/keeping/not breaking a key chain and told me to keep an eye out for one. I saw this tutorial here and decided to make one for her myself last week!

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I hope it lasts for a bit!

Day 287, 288, 289: Secret Project

I'm busy working on a secret project! Mum's the word!

Day 286: Knitting a Headband

Time: An hour
Listening to: The Packers (win!)

I started this project on Friday during a girls' craft night but finished it up yesterday...on my birthday! I'm happy with how it turned out. I just knit a long rectangle, stitched it together, then wrapped another rectangle around the seam. And I love the color! Yay!

Day 285: Relapse

I don't know how I didn't do anything today! Oops!

Day 284: Finger Crocheting Jewelry

Time: 45 minutes
Listening to: Watching Ellen clips online

So I taught myself how to finger crochet today after I saw this picture. I just so happened to have had a skein of Martha Stewart Mambo Yarn laying around so I figured today was the day to make something with it.

Here are the two necklaces that I made. One could be made in less than ten minutes, really, but I fussed with them a bit trying out different techniques.

Day 283 Part 2: Wooden box redo

Time: 15 minutes
Listening to:  Grizzly Bears (the band, not animals)

I had some leftover map from this project and I also had a little wooden box so I combined the two and made it into a nice little shelf to hold a few of my little treasures.

Day 283: Baking Easy Pumpkin Cookies

Time: Prep/baking/cleanup--45 minutes?
Listening to: Good ol' silence

The Easiest Pumpkin Cookies EVER!

All you need:

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
1 box spice cake mix
Cream cheese frosting
A dash or two of pumpkin seasoning

Mix the pumpkin and dry cake mix. Then plop em on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Once cooled, mix a bit of pumpkin seasoning into your frosting. Then frost those cookies. Frosting is optional as the cookies are tasty enough without it!

That is it! So good. 


Original recipe came from here!

Day 282: DIY Light Switch Cover Switcheroo

Time: 1/2 hour
Listening to: ipod mix

There were really ugly light covers in our new apartment when we moved in so I today I decided to do something about it! How ugly were they? This ugly...

If you look close, you will spy a little mouse and a cat and a dog that are partly scratched off...gross.

I picked up a map at a recycled art store and decided that would be the perfect print since it matches the rest of our map-obsession-decor.

Here they are!

Day 281: AFGHAN! FINALLY FINISHED!

Time: An hour
Listening to: Bones

Alert the press! I've finally finished my afghan! It is about time!

Day 280: GIF Dino Drawing

gif maker

Days 278 & 279: Photography of Eastern Oregon

Time: ??
Listening to: The great outdoors!

This weekend we spent some time in Eastern Oregon. It was the only side of the state that we hadn't been to yet so it was great to see the terrain. While we were there, my husband helped a fellow grad student with some surveying work and I wandered the countryside!

Day 277: Knitting

Time: 45 minutes
Listening to: My hubby playing his guitar

We took a little trip to Eastern Oregon this weekend. On Friday, we were waiting to be picked up and I knitted away hoping to finally get my last blue stripe done. When I lined up my rows today...it didn't quite make it! Boo! A few more rows to go!

Day 276: Baking Chocolate Chip Cookies

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

I've been making the same chocolate chip cookie recipe since I was a wee one. It came from this little kid's ABC cooking book and this is the C recipe. I've made a few changes but not much!

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

You need:

3/4 cup of granulated sugar
3/4 cup of packed brown sugar
1 cup of butter, softened
1 egg
1 splash of vanilla
2 1/4 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 package (12 ounces) of semisweet chocolate chips 

Here is what you do:

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix sugars, butter, and egg. Mix a splash of vanilla in. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix in chocolate chips. 
3. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 3 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake until light brown for 10 minutes. Let cookies cool slightly then remove from cookie sheet. 

Hope you enjoy!

Day 275 Part 2: Cooking Avocado Curry Egg Salad

So I made this delicious recipe for dinner and YOU HAVE TO TRY IT.

Avocado Curry Egg Salad

First off, you need four hard boiled eggs. This is my mom's recipe and it worked for me and it will probably work for you! Here is what you do: 

Place four eggs in a single layer in pan and cover then with an inch of cold water. Bring water to a boil then cover tightly with lid and remove from heat. Let stand for 20 minutes. Transfer eggs to a bowl of ice water and let stand until completely cooled. Peel and chop.

From there you need:

1 avocado (cubed)
1 teaspoon curry 
2 tablespoons mayo
Salt and Pepper to taste

And here are the difficult instructions...

MIX TOGETHER. Then eat. And enjoy. 

Day 275: Redecorating

Time: Hour +
Listening to: iTunes mix

As I previously mentioned, I recently switched two rooms in my apartment. I moved our bed into the former tiny craft/storage room. So I've been hanging stuff, rearranging, making new stuff, etc. Here are some of my favorite efforts:

Day 274: DIY Driftwood Picture Mobile

Time: 1/2 hour
Listening to: ipod mix

I collected some ocean driftwood a couple weeks ago and have been itching to make something with it. Today I put together a little picture mobile! All you need is some twine, driftwood pieces, and clothespins! Oh and adorable pictures, of course.

Day 273: Redecorating & Chandelier Hula Hoop

Time: 1 hr +
Listening to: Nothing

I got it in my head that I needed to move around two rooms in our apartment. We had one tiny room in the back of our house that I kept picturing as this little cozy spot for our bed. For some reason I've always loved sleeping in tiny spots...and this room just barely holds a queen size bed! So yesterday, I made it happen (with a little lifting power from my hubby)!

Today I spent some time making a hula hoop chandelier to put in our teeny tiny room. First I took my nice yellow hula hoop and wrapped it with some linen squares I had in my fabric stash. I used my handy glue gun to make it stick.

I then took my white lights and wrapped it around the hula hoop.

I tied it to some nails on our ceiling.

And there it is, just nicely lighting up our ceiling!