More Stuff for Baby Girl

I have made a couple more hair clips for our baby girl who should be here anytime now :) and I also made a bow holder.

Here is a link for the tutorial I used to make this adorable felt flowers:
http://yoonie-at-home.blogspot.com/2008/09/peony-flower-felt-clip-tutorial.html

For the holder all I did was repaint an old sign I wasn't using anymore and then I added vinyl flowers. Then I hot glued the ribbon to the back and wahla! It was very easy. I plan on adding little hooks to hold the headbands and beanies but I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Flower Hair clips

So since we are having a little girl I decided with all the tutorials out in the craft blogging world I could make some flower clips for cheaper than I could buy them. Espcecially when I use coupons at the craft stores :) Here are a couple that I have done so far!

I got the tutorial from here: http://lifewiththree.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-make-cute-hair-clips-with.html

I also made a felt kind like this: http://mrspriss.com/2010/03/12/tutorial-felt-rosettes/

but for some reason my pictures of these were way to blurry with the flash on and way to dark with the flash off but you can get the idea of what they look like from the link above plus directions to make your own!

Buffalo Style Pizza

I promise I am going to post more than recipes, but I haven't unpacked all my craft stuff yet so until then I will post some of the new recipes I'm trying.

Buffalo Style Chicken Pizza


Ingredients:

3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cooked and cubed
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 (2 ounce) bottle hot sauce
1 (8 ounce) bottle blue cheese salad dressing
1 (16 inch) prepared pizza crust
1 (8 ounce) package shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

In a medium bowl combine the cubed chicken, melted butter and hot sauce. Mix well. Spread whole bottle of salad dressing over crust, then top with chicken mixture and sprinkle with shredded cheese.

Bake in preheated oven until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly, about 5 to 10 minutes. Let set a few minutes before slicing, and serve.

The hubby and I really liked this and will definetly be making it again. If you dont like blue cheese I am pretty sure it would taste great using ranch!

Recipe of the Week

So in my last post I mentioned my new cooking goal of trying at least one new recipe a week. Well this is week two of that. Last weeks was a disaster so I didn't even want to post it on here. This weeks turned out much better!

No this isn't a picture of what mine looked like. I was to hungry and it smelt to good to wait to take a picture!

Peach-Glazed Barbecue Pork Chops and Peaches

Ingredients:

3 cups chopped peeled peaches (about 1 1/2 pounds)

1 cup dry white wine (I substituted 1 cup of chicken broth since we don't consume alcohol)

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

6 (6-ounce) bone-in center-cut pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick), trimmed

6 peaches, halved and pitted

Cooking spray

Preparation:

Combine first 3 ingredients in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes. Uncover and simmer 5 minutes. Place peach mixture in a food processor; process until smooth. Add 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, vinegar, and next 4 ingredients (vinegar through red pepper); pulse to combine. Let stand 5 minutes. Place half of peach mixture in a large heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; reserve other half for basting. Add chops to bag; seal bag and refrigerate 30 minutes to 4 hours.

Preheat grill.

Remove pork from bag; discard marinade. Sprinkle pork with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Place pork and peach halves on grill rack coated with cooking spray, and grill 10 minutes or until the pork is done and the peaches are tender, turning once. Baste pork and peach halves with the reserved peach mixture every 2 minutes during the first 6 minutes of cooking.


We liked this recipe a lot and will make it again! Hubby says to give it a little more kick next time though.

New Goal

So I realize I haven't done a post on this in a LONG time...mostly life has been crazy but after watching Julie & Julia last night I decided to make a new goal. I am going to try at least one new recipe a week. That may not sound like a lot but when you tend to make the same stuff all the time it is. I will probably up it to two new a week but decided to start out with one and see how it goes. Since we are in the process of packing and moving this will have to wait until we get settled out east but I will be sure to post the recipes when I start.

Of course I will still try to do crafts as well. I am hoping there will  be more craft supply stores where we are heading.

Easter Decor

So I finally was able to go to a craft store. Sadly I didnt really find much of what I was looking for craft wise. I did find the following though (actually we were about to leave the store when hubby found it...on sale!).

So after we found the block letters we went to the paint section and was immediately overwhelmed by how many choices so I got the great idea of going over to the scrapbook section and using an Easter themed paper as a color guideline. It was lots of fun painting them. Can't wait til I find the next thing to work on.

Hope everyone has a great Easter!!

The List

So I haven't been able to go to a craft store since my last post so I havent really thought about posting. But then this morning I realized I've actually been working on a couple projects. I dont have pictures of them yet because they arent done.

But here is what I've been working on:

• Bridal Shower Invitation for my sister
• Wedding Photo montage for my sister
• Scrapbook pages
• Weight loss (well its technically not a craft but it is something I am working on)

Hopefully a trip to the craft store will be in the near future. Here is hoping for a weekend without fog!

Great Find and Herb Garden

So last night Scott and I were doing our weekly grocery shopping and I decided to see what was left from Valentines stuff. I found a great deal! These cute little buckets were only 37 cents each...so I got 3! Not quite sure what I will do with them yet. Something simple like filling with candy next year or maybe putting a floral arrangement in them. Many possibilities!

Another thing we have been working on is a herb garden. We are growing cilantro, basil, and a couple other herbs I can't remember right now and the dog is asleep on my lap or I would go look. Anyways... heres our little garden as of today.

My list of crafts I want to do is growing longer everyday. Heres to gettin supplies and getting started soon!

Scapbook Pages

So I have found a TON of great ideas!! Thanks for help and Jonelle thanks for those two links! They lead me to a bunch of others and I found a lot of projects I will love to work on. Now I just need to find a craft store where I can get supplies! Until then I have been working on a couple scrapbooks. Here are a couple pages I have done so far for our wedding scrapbook. Let me know what you think!

Ideas?

I need some ideas of different crafts I could do. I am having a hard time thinking of things to do. Any ideas will be helpful. Until then I will keep on scrapbooking and baking :)

Another Recipe

ok so I promise that I will do more than just food...but lately I have been in the baking mood and have a great system down. I make the full recipe. Scott and I eat what we want that day and then I send the rest to work to give to his employees. It works out great because they get treats, and I am not home alone tempted all day with yummy treats that will hinder my weight loss goals.

So last night I made a Peach Crunch Cake. It was SO easy and so yummy! I got the recipe from a cooking blog I follow called Bakerella (http://www.bakerella.com).

Here is the recipe:

Peach Crunch Cake

24.5 oz jar of sliced peaches in light syrup
1 package yellow cake mix
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), cut into 16 pieces
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Layer ingredients in a 13 X 9 dish, in order starting with the peaches.
Bake for about 40 minutes.
Serve warm or cold… with or without ice cream.

Enjoy!

Practice Makes Perfect....

or at least I hope so! Today I finally did it...I make cookies, frosting, and decided to try the decorating techniques that I should have learned in class a couple months ago.

Back in Utah...in November, I signed up for a fun decorating class with Laura and Connie. Well after one class where the teacher was late AND unprepared and two cancelled classes, the whole class was cancelled. Since I was moving out of state soon I never got to sign up for another one. Yes I'm still slightly ticked off about it....

Anyways, I still had all the tips, tools and instructional book so I've decided I will try to teach myself. The thing holding me back until now is that I am trying to lose weight right now and the last thing I need is cake tempting me all day while Scott (aka my diet monkey) is at work.

Well today I decided that I would make sugar cookies instead of cake or cupcakes. After making a huge mess and catching my oven mitt on fire, I think I have the star tip down! Next I think I will try more tips and maybe try on cupcakes at least :)

The mitt caught on fire because our stove is to almost to small to fit the cookie sheet in and my hand (luckily in the mitt) slipped and hit the hot coil on the bottom, causing the mitt to catch on fire and stink up the house. Ugh...

Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings

So my mother-in-law made this awesome dessert for us back when we lived in Arizona. If you know us we love mountain dew so we really love this dessert!

Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings
2 pkgs. Pillsbury crescent roll dough
2 Granny Smith Apples (peeled, cored & sliced) each apple slice into 8 pieces
2 cubes of butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 can of mountain dew

Butter 9x13 pan. Roll 1 crescent roll dough around 1 sliced apple, (continue doing this until you have a total of 16 pieces) Place in pieces in your baking dish. Melt butter, sugar & vanilla, then pour over top of rolls. Pour 1 can of mountain dew around edge of pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake 350 for 40 min. You can serve these with whipping cream or ice cream if you would like, enjoy!!

Documenting the Journey

Hello Everyone!

So I decided that I would start a second blog documenting my mishaps and hopefully at least a few successes in the craft and cooking world. I am teaching myself how to cook, decorate cakes, and hopefully some other crafts along the way.

I will try to post recipes, projects, and any other tid-bits or what nots along the way. Any helpful tips or advice are welcome!