DVRocks

Being thankful for DVR is lame, I know. But I seriously love it and cant imagine life without it. I even wonder what we did before it!

Actually, I know what I did. I set my VCR timer to record shows. But it was such a pain. And if you forgot to make sure you had room on the tape, you were SOL. It actually makes me chuckle because K is so old school she asks me if I "taped" shows. Well, no, no I didn't, but I did record it. Haha

The DVR allows me to have a life and still watch all the bad TV I want. It's allows for quality time with the wife. And it helps me with my procrastination issues. How, you may ask? I will often be sucked into something on live TV knowing I have something else I need to do or somewhere I need to be. With DVR, I can press record and walk away from the TV and not feel like I am going to miss something. Most of the time when I do this, I rarely even go back and finish watching it, but it makes it easier for me to walk away knowing I have the option. LOL

The downfall of DVR is it makes me think all aspects of life should have it. Driving down the road, I will miss something they say on the radio or want to listen to a lyric in a song again and I want to rewind it like I can on TV. I even do this in real life. Someone will say something, or maybe someone will do something funny that I missed and I want to be able to rewind it. But I cant.

So, thanks to the genius that discovered DVR! It rocks!

Scarf with Pockets

Forgot your mittens?? No problem! 

A name buddy of mine had one of these when we worked together in Sacramento about 4 years ago and I thought it was the coolest thing! So ... fast forward 4 years and I finally made one!

The ironic thing about this scarf is I now live in So Cal... Where winter doesn't really exist. Sure, it gets cold... but not scarf cold. Unless you head to the beach and it's windy, then maybe it could be considered scarf cold.

I did the photo shoot for this blog by myself. I tried to get K to help me, but we just never found the time - or rather - never made the time together. I tried to make it happen on a day we were headed to the beach for a lunch date. It was probably 80 degrees out and I was in a tank top, shorts, and flip flops. I thought that outfit would carry quite a bit of irony considering where we live. Ha! No?

Perhaps I will send it to my cousin back in Indiana. I still owe her a hand made gift from 2012!! 

It's super easy and generic. I used "Loops & Threads" brand yarn. It took just under two skeins, so be sure to grab two from the store. (I had to go back.) I used an I/9 -5.50 mm hook.

Scarf
Chain 18
Row 1: Double crochet in third chain from hook, double crochet in each chain across: 15 double crochets
Row 2 - ??: Chain 3 (counts as first double crochet from here on out), double crochet in back loop only of the next 14 double crochets across.
Repeat until you get to your desired length. Remember you need about 8-10 inches longer than your desired length so you can fold over the ends and create the pockets.

I folded the bottom up about 10 rows. Lined up the two sides and sewed the sides together to the best of my ability. Repeat three more times on each side of the pocket, leaving the top open for access.

I would tell you how to sew it, but I don't have a clue what I am doing when I am sewing. I just run the needle and yarn through holes on the side and hope it doesn't come undone anytime soon. Ha! I am pretty sure you could do a better job than I can instruct.

Whether you use the pockets to keep your hands warm, perhaps to tuck your phone into, or a place to store your mittens and beanie when it's hung up... I think once you have pockets on your scarf, the regular scarf will never be the same again!

As usual, if you have any questions, I am here for you.

Treat Jar

How freaking cute is this little gem?!

Sooooo cute!

This was probably one of the first pins I pinned on Pinterest. I remember thinking we had a bunch of those fish bowls left over from our wedding center pieces and this was the perfect project for them!  

When I first pinned this, I was working in an office environment in a cubicle that was known to have candy for those in need. I thought this would be perfect for my desk. Since then, I have changed jobs and while it's still an office setting, I don't have an assigned desk so it makes it kind of hard to host a candy dish.

Anyway, the pin leads to a couple different blogs which then leads to a couple different tutorials. The tutorial posts are this one and this one. I used a combination of the two.

Here's what you'll need: 

Fish bowl

Terra Cotta pot & saucer

Wood nob for lid handle

Paint

Ribbon

Glue Gun

E6000 Adhesive

1. First I painted to terra cotta parts and the wood nob and let them dry. I only did one coat, but it probably wouldn't hurt to do more than one.
2. Then I let it sit for days because I never went back to the store to get the E6000 adhesive. 
3. I suppose you could spray the painted parts with a gloss/sealant. I didn't because I wasn't sure if I was going to further embellish or not, but since I went with not I kind of wish I would have sprayed.
4. Once I got the adhesive, I adhered. I adhered the bowl to the pot and the nob to the saucer/lid. Read the directions on the adhesive package before adhering. I got a little nervous after reading my package because it gave all kinds of scary warnings like don't breathe the fumes or you'll get cancer kind of warnings. There was another brand of adhesive at the store that was made for glass... that might have been less scary to use. By all means, if you know of a better, safer, cancer-free way to adhere - I recommend doing so. Cancerous fumes are no joke. 
5. Figure out the ribbon. For me, it was at this point I figured out who I was making it for.
6. Anyway, most of the ones I've seen just have the ribbon/bow around the bottom of the fish bowl. My fish bowl was one of those with the wavy edging (for lack of a better description - see picture below) leaving a weird gap between the lid and the glass that I didn't care for.
   I thought it would be too much to put another bow up top so I just gave it a collar. I adhered all the ribbon with the glue gun.

I wanted to embellish it a little more by writing "Treats" or "Sweets" in silver glitter, but I was going to have to free hand it and that scared me. I knew if I kept messing with it, I would press my luck, screw it up, and hate it. Why go there when I loved it in it's current state?!

I often start my projects not really knowing who I am making them for. I always have people cross my mind as I am creating, but there is usually an ah-ha moment when I discover who its intended recipient will be. For this project, it was the ribbon. I knew immediately I was giving it to my friend, Ms. Rink from Bows and Leopard. (I am sure you can figure out why.)

Initially, I thought, "She has a cubicle like I used to, maybe she'll use it for candy." And then I remembered, she doesn't really like people that much. Well, at least not as much as she likes animals... So then I thought maybe she could keep it at home and put her precious Buffy's treats in it! We shall see what she decides to do with it!

Hooded Scarf...

...because I love hoods and not all things are hooded. 

Note: I was left to my own devices for the photo shoot so they leave something to be desired. Please just focus on the cuteness of the scarf!

I am not one to buy books on how to crochet things since there is already sooo much available on the internet, but I guess there's always an exception.

While browsing in Michaels one day, I came across a gem called Hooded Scarves to Crochet by Leisure Arts. I had never seen anything like them and I knew I needed to make one!

This pattern is called "Warm & Woodsy" and I am not sure about the plagiarizing laws/rules as far as sharing the pattern, but I am gonna go out on a limb and share it with you. YOLO! 

Materials:

• Medium Weight Yarn - (5 oz, 244 yards / 141 grams, 233 meters) - 2 skeins
• Crochet hook - size H (5 mm) or sized needed for gauge

Gauge: I'm lazy and don't ever do the gauge and since I am too lazy to do that, clearly I am too lazy to type it out... so here it is:

Photo of print from book noted in above text.

Scarf:
Chain 281

Row 1: Sc in 41st ch from hook (fringe loop made) and in each ch across: 241 sc
Row 2: (Right side): Ch 40 (fringe loop made, now & throughout), turn; sc in back loop pnly of each sc across
Note: Loop a short piece of yarn around any stitch to mark Row 2 as right side
Row 3: Ch 40, turn; dc in back loop only of first sc * ch 1, skip next sc, dc in back loop only of next sc; repeat from * across:121 dc and 120 chs
Row 4: Ch 40, turn; sc in back loop only of first dc, (sc in next ch, sc in back loop only of next dc) across: 241 sc
Row 5: Ch 40, turn; sc in back loop only of each sc across
Rows 6-17: Repeat Rows 3-5, 4 times: 241 sc
Finish off.

Hood
Row 1: With right side facing, skip first 80 sc ad join yarn with dc in back loop only of next sc; * ch 1, skip next sc, dc in back loop only of next sc; repeat from * 39 more times, leave remaining 80 sc unworked: 41 dc and 40 chs
Row 2: Ch 1, turn; sc in back loop only of first dc, (sc in next ch, sc in back loop only of next dc) across: 81 sc
Row 3: Ch 1, turn; sc in back loop only of each sc across
Row 4: Ch 4 (counts as first dc plus 1 ch), turn; skip next sc, dc in back loop only of next sc, * ch 1, skip ext sc, dc back loop only of next sc; repeat from * across: 41 dc and 40 chs
Rows 5-9: Repeat Rows 2-4 once, then repeat Rows 2 and 3 one more time: 81 sc

Joining Row (Back Hood Seam): Ch 1, turn;with right side together, matching sts on Row 9, and working through outside loops of both thicknesses, sc in first 34 sc, decrease 3 times, finish off.

And that's it! The only thing I might change for next time is take away the "fringe" at the bottom.  If you give this a try and have any questions - fire away! I will do my best to help! Happy hooding!

 

P.S.

 

Santa's Belly

I know, I know! It's toooooo early for Christmas! Can we please get through Halloween and Thanksgiving before we start on Christmas?! Trust me, those that know me know that I despise how the retail industry shoves Christmas down our throats so it's the last thing I want to do to you... But look how cute this guy is!!

When I bought the glass ornament balls for my niece's Invitation Keepsake Ornament, I of course couldn't buy just one, I had to buy four. So when I saw this little guy on A Crafty B's blog, I couldn't resist making one.

• Paint black strip around the ornament (I used regular acrylic paint - I think Crafty B used puffy paint)
• While that dries, cut red card stock into strips. I did various widths and lengths. I also lucked out because I had a ton of strips already left over from a different project I had done so I didn't have to cut that many! :o)
• Touch up the black paint strip/Santa's belt. Allow it to dry. 
• I used some silver glitter glue stuff that I had in my scrapbooking supplies. (Crafty B used white puffy paint.)
• I was impatient and didn't want to wait for all that to dry before I started putting the paper in so I used a roll of masking tape as a holder so the ball would stand straight and there would be no damage to the drying paint. 
• Roll the paper strips tightly around a pen or a paint brush or your finger or whatever you see fit. Slide the paper off the contraption you use and then drop it into the top of the ornament. Don't worry - it will unravel a little. You can also roll them a little less tight to give it varying degrees of tightness. I also rolled some of mine in a spiral around said apparatus just to give it a different texture in the ball.

I think this little guy is just precious, so simple, and inexpensive! I would be surprised if everyone in our family doesn't get one for their tree this year! 

Crescent Pizza Rolls

These guys were ... interesting. At the same time, they had potential.

K first saw this recipe on Facebook. When I went to make them, of course I couldn't find the recipe of Facebook again and I knew Pinterest would have it. They did. I didn't find one that linked back to a particular blog so I don't really know who the proper credit should go to.

The recipe on Facebook was for a large family. There are only two of us, so I scaled it down quite a bit.

Ingredients:

• 1 can Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits
• Pepperoni Slices
• Jack cheese
• Cheddar cheese
• 1 beaten egg
• Parmesan, Italian Seasoning, Garlic Powder
• Pizza Sauce

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425*F
• Cut 10 smallish pieces of each cheese
• Flatten biscuit
• Put a couple pepperoni, the cheese, and a couple more pepperoni
• Fold biscuit around pepperoni and cheese
• Place face down in a 9x9 pyrex dish (I'm sure a pan would work, but I would spray it first)
• Repeat 9 more times
• Once they're all in the baking dish, lightly brush them with the egg
• Sprinkle with Parmesan, Italian Seasoning, and Garlic Powder
• Bake for 18-20 minutes
• Use pizza sauce for dipping

Sooo, these were Oh-Kay. I'm not sure I was a huge fan of the Italian Seasoning. If I were to do these again, I wouldn't use it. I also would have used mozzarella cheese. (I used what I had on hand.) I also think we had the buttery buttermilk biscuits which I think gave it a weird sweet kind of flavoring.

At the same time, I think these had potential. With the small changes I mentioned above and maybe using other ingredients like olives, or Hawaiian style ingredients, they could be better. I might make them again if my nieces or nephews were in town, but I doubt I will make the for K and me again.

Loaded Potato Slices

I never met a potato I didn't like and these were no exception.

Ingredients:

• Potato 
• Shredded cheese
• Bacon
• Green Onions
• Butter
• Olive oil

 Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375
• Rub the outside of the potato with a little olive oil
• Slice potatoes (try and get them all the same thickness - about 1/4 inch thick.)
• Brush both sides with melted butter
• Bake in for 30-40 minutes - flipping once (I did 40 minutes, 20 on each side.)
• Take potatoes out of the oven and add the toppings.
• Throw back in the oven for another 3 minutes or until cheese is melted

This recipe was modified from keyingredient.

I like options, so I served them with both sour cream and ranch dressing. The ranch dressing was definitely my preference. I threw in a little broccoli for a side so it felt more healthy than it really was.

The only thing I'd do different next time is spray the cookie sheet w/cooking spray because when I went to go flip the taters, they kind of stuck.

I LOVED these. I asked K what she thought and her response was, "They're ok... they're... different." Different?! They were delicious. I'm not sure where here taste buds grew up, but this is coming from a person that doesn't really like bacon. Who doesn't like bacon!!! LOL

S'Mores Krispies

I made these a while ago and the were life changing! I didn't take pics the first time because I was in my blogging slump, so now that I am trying to get back into the groove, of course I had to make them again just so I could blog about them!

Ingredients:

• 1 bag (10 oz) Mini Marshmallows
• 1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips + 1 for topping
• 1 box (12 0z) Golden Grahams Cereal
• 6 Tbsp Butter
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
• Non-Stick Cooking Spray

Directions:

In a 9x9 inch baking pan, spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large non-stick pot over medium heat, melt butter. Add in marshmallows and stir together with butter until marshmallows have melted and become creamy. Stir in vanilla extract.

Fold in grahams cereal until all marshmallows and grahams are evenly mixed together. Mix in 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Spread treats into sprayed baking pan. Press into pan and sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips on top of the treats, lightly press into top of treats to make sure they stick.

Place into fridge for 10 minutes to cool.

Slice into bars and serve. Devour.

Seriously, you guys... I don't really care for real s'mores over the campfire, but I freaking loved these!!

Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

I heart salty sweet combos. The other day, I grabbed a bag of chocolate chips at the store with the intention of making just chocolate chip cookies. Then I thought, I have pinned numerous versions of chocolate chip cookie recipes... Maybe I will try one of those instead. I came across this pretzel one and just so happened to have bought pretzels that day so thought I would give them a try. 

I got the original recipe from "Sugar Cooking". I modified my recipe a bit.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. of salt
• 1/4 tsp. of baking soda
• 1/2 cup of butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup of tightly packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 egg (beaten)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1.5 cup milk chocolate chips (or an entire bag)
• 1/2 cup pretzel pieces (I used butter pretzels and forgot to measure)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a larger bowl, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). On low speed, slowly add the beaten egg and vanilla extract. Beat to combine, scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add the flour mixture and beat just until there are no more streaks of flour. Stir in the chocolate chips and pretzels. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out well rounded tablespoonfuls of the dough - leave about 2 inches between each ball. Bake for 10 minutes. If you prefer crispier cookies increase the baking time by 1-2 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing.

I'm still not really sure how I feel about these cookies. They aren't amazing. I guess they're OK if you're looking to change up the standard chocolate chip cookie. And it's definitely better than putting nuts in your cookies. With that said, I'm not likely to make these again, but don't feel like I wasted my time giving them a try.

Oven Bacon

Oops! Apparently I let this blog post without actually posting anything. Ha! Well, here's the content:

I LOVE bacon. Grew up loving bacon. I don't think anyone made bacon as perfect and delicious as my Dad made bacon!

As an adult, I have often longed for bacon, but have been to uuuhhh scared to make it. I always remember my Dad swearing when the bacon would pop and hot grease would splash on him. Not only that, but the weird disposal process of the bacon grease afterwards is just gross. Therefore, those two hang ups always prevented me from attempting to make bacon.

And then there was Pinterest. Pinterest told me I could make bacon in the oven. No hot grease splashing me and an easy clean up? I'm in!!

I tried this version first. Pretty simple - line baking sheet with foil - put bacon in oven and turn oven on to 400 (do not preheat) - bake for 16-20 minutes.
I checked it at 16 minutes and didn't think it was crispy enough so I put it in for another two. This is what happened:

Uuuhh - that's a little more crispy than I like. Thankfully, I had only used half the package of bacon so I had another batch to try this with. I searched Pinterest for a different "recipe" and found one on "Dinner by Pinterest".

I knew right away I would like this one better because it told me to flip the bacon half way through cooking it. Don't ask me why that made me feel better, but it did.

Again, really easy: Preheat oven to 350 - Lay bacon of a foil lined baking sheet - Bake in the oven for 13-15 minutes (turning half way through) until desired crispiness achieved.

Muuuuuch better!!! It wasn't as good as my Dad's bacon was, but it was good enough! As a result, I made my first ever BLT!

It was freaking delicious! Although, next time I would definitely add more bacon and not toast the bread. I love the toasted bread, but it always tears up the roof of my mouth. Someone told me to try putting both pieces of bread in the same toaster slot so it only toasts one side of the bread. Pretty clever. I might give that a try next time.

Jar of Love Candle Holder

Thanks to Pinterest... I have taken to saving most jars that come into our house - spaghetti sauce, pickle jars, jelly jars, etc. I have empty jars everywhere. And this was my first time finally using one for a project. 

A few weeks ago, we were in Laguna Beach doing some touristy shopping. Yes, I know we're considered locals, but we had family in town so we did the touristy thing. Anyway, in one of the little shops, I came across Trapp candles that I had found years ago in San Francisco and never found them again. I was like a kid in a candy store! Their scents are amazing! But the prices are not so amazing. 

The little candles are reasonably priced, but then the next size up are $20+. The only problem is the little candles don't come with a candle holder. That's when I decided all the jars I have at home just might come in handy.

This little guy was inspired by a couple different pins. This one and this one. (Both inspirational photos to the left.)

The end result didn't really turn out the way I had envisioned which is pretty normal for me, but I liked the end result enough. 

Here's what you'll need: 

• Tissue paper
• Heart punch
• Scissors
• Mod Podge
• Sponge paint brush
• Ribbon or twine or string of some sort. 

First, I punched the heart out of the tissue paper, which wasn't as easy as it sounds. The tissue paper is too thin for the punch and the punch just kind of wanted to chew it up instead of cutting it. I ended up folding the tissue paper to make it a little thicker and more sturdy... that worked better. I picked which heart turned out the best and did a little trimming to clean up the edges.

Then I cut several one inch squares from the white tissue paper. 

Then I Mod Podged my little heart out.
I placed the hearts first.
I laid the white tissue paper in a scattered pattern and just trimmed as needed to make it fit.
Once all the tissue paper was in place, I let it dry for about 20 minutes and did a couple more coats of Mod Podge to seal it off. (I let it dry for 20 minutes between each coat.)

I needed something for the top of the jar to sort of clean it up because the ragged tissue paper edge wasn't working for me. I went to my ribbon reserves and couldn't find one that matched my colors so I went with colored string. I just wrapped the string several times around the top and tied it off with a cute little bow and - VWUALA! I had me a candle holder for my scrumptious new candle!

Orange Crush Cupcakes

Don't judge my cupcake decorating skills! (Or lack of skills!) I usually make K do the decorating portion, but for some reason, I did these on my own. As long as they taste good, who cares what they look like, right? Part of the issue is I see on TV the people that bake cupcakes for a living use an ice cream scoop to measure the amount of batter for each cupcake. I try this trick, but my ice cream scoop must be bigger than the ones they use because my cupcakes always overflow!

I got the recipe from "i heart nap time". She called the cupcakes Orange Cream Cupcakes... which, to me meant they were going to taste like an orange creamsicle. It didn't. But I imagine it could with a few changes. Also - you should really go check out the pics of her cupcakes. WAY cuter than my little disasters!

Ingredients:

• 1 16.5 oz white cake mix
• 1 3.4 oz pkg instant vanilla pudding
• 6 Tbsp orange jello powder save 1 Tbsp for frosting I bought two of the larger boxes of jello thinking that one might not be enough and I would be super agro if I was in the middle of making the cupcakes and had to go back to the store for more jello. One was plenty.
• 3 egg whites
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup orange soda room temperature
• 1 8 oz cube of cream cheese softened
• 1 cube (1/2 cup) salted butter softened
• 1/2 tsp orange extract
• 3 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

• Pre heat oven to 350. 
• Combine cake mix, vanilla pudding and 5 Tbsp of jello in a large bowl. 
• Beat in egg whites, vegetable oil and orange soda. 
• Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.
• Place batter in cupcake liners and bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. 
• Remove the cupcakes from the pan and allow to cool. 

Frosting:

• Combine cream cheese and butter in a large bowl. 
• With a mixer beat until smooth.
• Add jello, orange extract and powdered sugar. 
• Mix until fluffy.
• Frost cupcakes, top with a cute gummy orange candy, and enjoy! 

My opinion: They were good, but not great. I think the orange cream cheese frosting was too much.It would have been much better with a vanilla frosting - giving it more of the orange creamsicle taste I was hoping for. If I were to make them again, I would definitely change the frosting.

The Nieces

Luckily, I made these right before we had family come into town for 4th of July and they were more than happy to help us eat them. My one niece devoured hers and then raved about how good it was. A little while later, I was talking about the cream cheese frosting and all of a sudden she was saying she didn't really like the frosting that much. Apparently, she doesn't like cream cheese frosting. Kids. SMH... LOL I was the exact same way when I was her age. 

 

Honey Chicken

This is a dish I have actually made a couple times before, but it had been a while. A while as in, I think this was one of the first recipes I tried out from Pinterest.

The original recipe came from "MMM...CAFE". She offers a crock pot and an oven version on her website. I have always done the oven version so that is what I am sharing with you here.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 pound chicken (of your choice) A pound works just fine.
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp chopped onion (or 1/2 Tbsp onion flakes)
• 1 Tbsp ketchup
• 1 Tbs. vegetable oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes I skip this part.

Directions:

• Dice chicken and season both sides with salt and pepper
• Place in 8x8 dish
• Pour sauce over chicken and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.

I served mine over brown rice with a side of Edamame, which is like crack for me. It's a good mix of savory and sweet and good for leftovers.

Note: I didn't get this recipe from a Fibro cookbook, but I am tagging it as a Fibro recipe because it has a lot of the same ingredients that most of the Fibro recipes use.