10.31.2011

Toasty Seeds

Last night was our impromptu family carving night. What a bunch of winners.


I don't particularly care for pumpkin seeds, but every year the request comes from one angle or another. The worst part is picking them out of the pumpkiny goopdy goop. If you can make it through that step then the rest is a breeze. 


Give them a good washing.


Toss the ole seeds in for a little salt water bath. It's good for their skin and they like it.


Bring them to a boil for about 10 minutes. This step helps them be salty good to the core.


I chose to do a parmesan garlic version, but don't let me stunt your creativity. Shoot for the stars.


Toss in a couple tablespoons of butter and a handful or two of fresh parmesan. Sprinkle on some garlic and salt.


Lay them out to dry for a couple of hours. Here's your chance to do lunch with a friend, take a bath, or feed some trick or treaters. Whatever fits your fancy.


Toss those bad boys in the oven at 300 degrees. Stay on track here though. This is no time for that Real World marathon. Make sure you give them a tossing every 10 minutes or so. I baked mine for about 40 minutes or until they are crispy.


Plop them in a dish with a pumpkin in the middle. 


I don't know about you guys, but I'm excited to serve some ghosts and ghouls tonight.

Happy Halloween!

10.24.2011

Cupcake Jello Shots

How to arrive at a 30th birthday bash.

Step 1: Get a slamming idea from Pinterest and nail it. 



Step 2: Bring them with you and hang out with your amazing coworkers.


10.21.2011

Yarn Wreath

I've been on a sabbatical from my sewing machine. Sometimes we get into small arguments and need to be separated from one another. 

No worries, my need to create is still running strong.  I have been enthralled with all the cute wreath making blogs out there so I've been expanding my skills. Unfortunately, my front door is a bit of an eye sore. Until we get up the energy to replace it, all my creations have been given away as gifts. Unless you are a wreath hating troll, there may be one on your doorstep before you know it. 


Or you could make your own. Not difficult, I promise. Gather up some supplies.
  • Straw wreath
  • Hot glue gun and some sticks
  • Skein of yarn in the color of your choosing
  • Three coordinating colors of felt (two of each color)
  • Accent color of yarn if you so desire (for the white design that you see on mine)


Tie off one end of yarn around your wreath and get to wrapping. As demonstrated in the second picture, I wrap haphazardly and then push it all together to get a kind of messy and layered look.



Don't be embarrassed if you have to do the wrapping in a couple of sittings. It may feel like a life time. Or you can be a boss like me and knock it out in two episodes each of 'Extreme Couponing' and 'Big Bang Theory'.

The next step is completely optional. If you want to decorate with more flowers, or whatever else, then it may not be necessary. I've found that I like less flowers and more blank space, but the design makes it feel less empty.

Hot glue your starting point. Then wrap one direction, leaving equal spacing, then come back the opposite direction to make the Xs. Sounds complicated when I say it, but I have full faith that you'll figure it out.




The white flowers gave me some difficulty when trying to capture their creation with pictures so here is the blog that gave me direction (Miss Priss Blog).

For the gray and purple flowers you'll want one 2-4" circle for the base and six 5" circles for the petals.

Absolutely no comments on my circle making abilities. I'm well aware that my kindergarten teacher is ashamed of me.


Fold one of the big circles in half once and then again. Cut the bottom tip off so you have a flat base.


Then glue it to the base circle. Repeat times six. Sometimes I couldn't fit all six on the base and other times I needed a few more. Go wild.


When you have as many flowers as desired, lay them out on the wreath to get an idea of how it will look. Once adequately pleased with yourself, hot glue the flowers in place.




Insert gorgeous wreath that you would have paid an arm and leg for at West Elm.

How much do I love West Elm? Just as much as Crate and Barrel, Ikea and the Mall of America. Lucky for me, I'll be spotted at all of them next week! 


10.20.2011

MIA

I have many excuses for not posting in almost a month. I've had a lot going on. Some of which include...

  • Sustained life by eating, drinking and sleeping

  • Remained employed by arriving at work

  • Celebrated my grandma's 80th birthday

  • Played nurse to my mom after back surgery

  • Attended a gorgeous wedding with these pretty ladies



  • Watched some Husker football

  • Got my flu shot

As I said, very important things accomplished in the last month. 




9.26.2011

History

The hubs and I have stumbled upon our 2nd wedding anniversary today. Where does the time run off too? 


Our history goes a little further back.


Some 'Under the Sea' action from the Central High senior prom '03. Yikes. We thought we were so grown up.


It's been a true adventure. I've learned so many lessons in love, communication and thinking outside of myself. I'm proud of the life we've built and can't wait to see what we can accomplish together in the future.


Put on your excited face. Many more years to come.

9.19.2011

Weddings and Babies

There's no better excuse to get crafty. Weddings and birthing of babies are the fool proof events to light my fire. I think because they have a deadline attached with them. The first is a yarn wreath which I apologize for the lack of a 'how to' portion. It was constructed in the wee hours of the morning and the lighting at that time isn't ideal. Hence my hot glue gun burn. Not pretty. 


These are burp cloths turned fancy. If you gotta use something to catch puke, shouldn't it be cute? Just saying.




Wanna know how to do it? Go buy yourself these necessary items.

  • Flannel fabric of your choosing
  • Cloth diapers

Simple right? I don't do things too fancy. Just a little. Only enough to slightly amaze the less crafty minds.


Step Uno: Cut your fabric slightly larger then the diaper. Pin your cloth diaper to the right side of the fabric, or the side you want showing when it's completed. My cloth diapers had a 'nice side' to them so give yours a quick once over before you pin. Also, note the little gap on the bottom that I left open when pinning. You have to have a way to turn it inside out.


Step Dos: Give it a quick stitching all around the edges. Don't forget to leave a pocket open!


That picture makes it look like I sew in the pitch black. Ryan isn't that mean. I get a candle.

Step Tres: Turn that baby inside out, or right side out, whatever tickles your fancy.


Step Cuatro: Pin that opening closed. Give it a good ironing to make sure it lays the way you want. We are going to do a top stitch around the outside border. I used a quarter inch seam, but you can hug the edge as tight or loose as you please.

Isn't my ironing board cover cute? I catch myself smiling at it sometimes.
Step Cinco: This is where the fancy part comes in. Makes it look all professional like. Boggles those uncrafty minds. Sew down the back side stitching. Follow those pins.


Voila!



So much more fun then boring white right?

If you are of the less crafty population, did it blow your mind? Yeah, I thought so.

9.13.2011

Neighborhood Etiquette

I'm going to let you guys in on a little neighborhood etiquette. Here are the makings of a bad neighbor.
  1. Let your three homely dogs outside to bark for long periods of time.
  2. Not shoveling your walks in a timely manner after a snow fall. 
  3. House an unnatural number of cats. 

We have a winner of a neighbor that aces every item on that list. Don't let that pile deceive you. Any normal person might think, 'maybe you should lay off her because that could be 6 months worth of Tidy Cat revenue.' To this I would respond that no, in fact, that is a weekly occurrence. Go ahead and count them. Your skills aren't fooling you. There are 7 empty family size cat litter boxes and that's only the ones visible from the surface. This particular neighbor is plenty nice and normal in appearance minus her disregard for neighborhood etiquette. I'm thinking about approaching her to help with my next topic.

I have a well known fear for spiders. Terror might be a better description. I don't know if it's all the local flooding or what, but it seems like the spiders have been more prevalent this year. We haven't had any in the house, thank goodness, but the yard is completely off limits for me right now. I ventured into it though to check out this poor soul.


He was just hanging from a single nasty strand from one of our trees. I imagine something similar to this sealed his fate.


Maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but please have respect for how much anxiety I experienced from typing 'large creepy spider' into my Google Images search bar. The results were terrifying. I'm hoping I can talk the neighbor into letting out a small arsenal of her cat collection to fight off these unwanted visitors. I'm willing to have the blood of lost kittens on my conscious if it means I can walk into my back yard peacefully.