The Evil Goodness of Pinterest...

I've always been interested in the website Pinterest....I've heard so many people talk about it and this and that, and that it was an invite only site or something, so I never really checked it out.  Then my friend Deanna invited me....(the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem)....I'M FREAKING ADDICTED!!!!  :-p  This site has so many awesome ideas, from easy couple hour projects, to crazy intense quilt designs I'll never have the patience to do, to travel, to house of your dreams, to anything you can imagine.  I'm mostly on there for food and craft project ideas.  Occassinally I'll come across some other stuff I put up, but seriously...FOOD AND CRAFTS!! :-D

Here is one that is REALLY easy.  Anyone can do it.  Just make sure you do it outside so you don't get high off the fumes...It's frosting glass items you already have.  I don't know about you, but I have so many vases around my house that no longer hold flowers, that need something else to be done with them!  So last week Deanna and I got together and frosted some of our stuff.  You can find this in the spray paint aisle at Lowe's.  We used rubber bands and painters tape to create the designs, and put some paper towels inside with painters tape to keep the inside from being frosted too. Before and after!

I would also suggest a top coat, maybe matte finish??  We didn't use a top coat and unfortunately some of our frost is coming off, and doing a top coat after you remove the tape or rubber bands just ruins the effect.  We haven't perfected a finish yet to keep it from scratching, so if you try this and are successful, let me know what you did! :-)

Pinterest seriously has me wanting to make more and more stuff (bad idea, I already have so much stuff to make! lol).  This week I wanted another quick project that I could make in a day, so I decided to make custom dry-erase boards.  One for a weekly menu, and one for other notes.  We already had this in my house, but one was a huge chalkboard that I thought took up too much room and a whiteboard/pegboard combo in the kitchen.  I wanted something a little more classy, and prettier.  So I made these.  Simple enough: get a couple picture frames with glass, some scrapbooking paper and stickers, tape, ruler and scissors and you got yourself a couple dry-erase boards!  You can pick whatever size frames you want, whatever colors you want, etc.  Someone had said they didn't think dry-erase markers showed up very well on theirs so they use the Vis-A-Vis wet-erase markers.  You can use whichever.  Just make sure the paper you use is light enough so that at least a black marker will show up! :-)

These pics aren't the greatest....I took them early evening and due to the front being glass, having the overhead light on, or using the flash on my phone just created a glare so you can't see the color scheme very well.  Trust me, they're a combination of tans and browns with a light blue.  I just love these!  They came out so well, and are very useful and tasteful instead of big and bulky.  I used an 18.5" x 8.5" for each.  Now I just have to buy one more frame to replace with saved wine corks to make a new chic pegboad! :-)

More Baby Stuff...yay!

As I've said before, it seems like everyone I know is pregnant, or just had a baby, which is awesome.  Baby stuff is so cute to make, and is fairly quick to make which satisfies that need for semi-instant gratification of a project!  Recently my friend Abby had her first child, Peter, and he is really cute!  (Sorry, don't have a picture)  Anyway, I met her when we both worked at the bank in KS, she moved on to another job and eventually another state (CO), and we've managed to keep in touch over the past few years.  So when I saw she was expecting, I knew I had to make her something!  What I originally was going to make, wasn't working the way I wanted it to, so I yanked it all out and started on what is below.  Thankfully she had posted a picture on FB of the nursery theme they had come up with, so I could sort of match colors.  Since she lives in CO, I knew winters would be cold, so I made this adorable baby afghan to match her colors and to keep little Pete warm!  Here are a couple pics:

I wanted to make something else too, and after perusing the web for a while, I came across a free crochet pattern to make a small whale.  This was perfect since their theme is baby arctic animals!  The name of the pattern is Frank the Whale, I don't remember where I got it from....probably from someone else's blog. :-p  One thing I changed from the pattern is I made it into a rattle.  How do you do this?  Simple!  Just add in a cat toy jingle ball (not used obviously!) when you put the stuffing in!  Here is Frank the Whale!

And of course the two projects together.  Frank the Whale was made from leftover yarn from the blanket, so he matches.  :-)

That's my last baby project for a while....I'm currently working on another, but it's a much bigger project and will take a lot longer to make.  But no worries!  Other stuff will continue to be posted! :-)

Happy Creating!

Hoppin' John!

For as long as I can remember, my mom has always made Hoppin' John on New Years Day.  The story goes that even if you only have one bite on New Years Day, you will have good luck all year.  Well, as a kid, I always thought it was too spicy, so I just had that one bite, but now I love this stuff and really don't know why we don't make it more often as just a meal!  And the best part is you can make it as spicy (or not spicy) as you want!  Here is what you will need:

Ingredients:

·         1 cup dried black eyed peas

·         1 pkg bacon

·         1 medium onion, chopped

·         ½ cup celery, chopped

·         ½ green bell pepper, chopped

·         1 clove garlic, minced

·         2 cups water

·         1 tsp salt

·         1 bay leaf

·         Generous dash of cayenne and black pepper

·         3 cups cooked rice (about 1 ½ - 2 bags Minute Rice)

Directions:

1.       Soak black eyed peas in cold water overnight.  (If you forget, you can just boil them same day until they are rehydrated.)

2.      Cut up bacon into bite sized pieces.  In a large pot over medium-high heat, brown bacon, onion, celery, green pepper, and garlic together.  (See picture below)

3.      Drain black eyed peas and add to the pot.

4.      Add 2 cups of water and all seasonings (salt, bay leaf, cayenne and black pepper).  Cover and simmer 40-50 minutes or until black eyed peas are tender.

5.      Remove bay leaf and stir in cooked rice, cooking another 5-10 minutes.

So I forgot to take this last picture before I started chowing down, so it's only half a bowl. :-p  Yum Yum!!

Home is where the Army sends us!

You've seen the signs before....Home is where the *insert branch of service here* sends us.  Well, we didn't want a generic one, we wanted to make our own to put up different pictures of the different places we've lived and so forth.  And while our sign isn't as "neat and perfect" as the ones you can buy online, or at a store, we like it because we made it and each place means something different to us.  We got all our supplies from Hobby Lobby (again, my favorite store ever), except for some spray paint from Lowe's.  Here is what we have so far....the one for our next duty station will be made after we get there and get to experience the area and what it has to offer (besides lots of snow!!).  P.S. You can't tell from this picture, but the dates for Fort Riley are painted in purple....a symbol of all the K-State friends we made while there! ;-)

And then my sister in law Lydia made us some really awesome location signs for Christmas!  They go perfectly with our sign, and now surround it on our wall.  They will probably all stay together as we move on, and she will have to continue making them as the years pass so they stay the same design.  And check out her stuff too on her blog at: http://lideyuhisdazedandamuzed.blogspot.com/

Here's the finished product!

Crock Pot Moroccan Chicken Stew

A while ago I started following a page on Facebook called Skinny Crock Pot (now Skinny Ms Slow Cooker due to trademark issues with the name), and I came across this recipe and thought it would be interesting to try.  Moroccan food has quick a unique flavor with the spice combinations, and not everyone will like it.  For me, I have to be in the mood for something like that, and this past week I was.  Here are a couple pictures and the recipe (the rolls aren't part of the recipe, just leftover from Christmas dinner).  It does make a lot, and did not fit in my 3 quart crock pot (had to use my 6 1/2 quart one), so if you have a small crock pot, be sure to cut this in half.  If you have a big enough one, it will definitely make enough to freeze for later!  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

·         1 ½ pound chicken breast, cut into cubes

·         3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

·         1 onion, diced

·         4 cloves of garlic, minced

·         1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks

·         1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

·         1 ½ Tbsp tomato paste

·         2 ½ tsp cinnamon

·         2 ½ tsp ground cumin

·         ¾ tsp ground coriander

·         ¾ tsp cayenne pepper

·         1 ½ cup green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces

·         Chicken stock (about 3-4 cups)

Directions:

1.       Place all ingredients into a 3 ½ or 4 quart crock pot and add enough chicken stock to cover.

2.      Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours.

3.      Remove chicken and shred.  Return to crock pot and stir to combine.

4.      Serve over whole wheat couscous or brown rice if desired.

**May substitute pork for chicken**