New Addition

Pin It Sorry for the break in posts.  I have been a bit busy lately.  A couple weeks ago I found out my baby was IUGR (intrauterine growth restricted).  He was measuring nearly 4 weeks too small.  I was just over 36 weeks along when we found this out.  They decided to induce me early so he could get the nourishment he needed outside of the womb since he wasn't getting enough inside.

So on Monday December 26th I was induced.  Baby's heart rate started to drop every contraction, so I had to get a c-section.  Baby boy was born at 11:54 a.m. weighing in at 4 pounds 15 ounces and 17 inches long.

He's had a bit of a challenge eating and is currently in the NICU.  We're hoping he can come home soon. We sure do love our little guy!

Car Seat Cover Tutorial

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I realize there are a lot of tutorials for car seat covers out there, but I decided to make one of my own.  I tried to make it a little more easy to follow than some of the tutorials I've seen.  Let me know if you have any questions!

What you will need:
1 yard of main material
1 yard of contrasting material
Sewable Velcro
Thread
Straight pins
Scissors
Fabric marker
Tape measurer
Straight edge
Plate
Embellishments (buttons, ribbons, etc)

Not necessary, but nice to have:
Rotary mat
Rotary cutter
Rotary ruler
Binding tape

First you'll want to fold your fabric in half and cut it 17" wide and 42" long.  This will leave you with a rectangle that is 34"x 42".  You also need to cut 2 rectangles of each fabric that are 3"x 7 1/2" for your straps.

 Once you have cut both fabrics to the correct size, use a plate to help you round the edges of your rectangles.  I found it best to cut both fabrics at the same time so the corners would match up.  If you have a really sharp rotary cutter, you are able to cut all the corners and both fabrics at the same time.  If you don't have a good rotary cutter, you can use a fabric marker to draw the rounded edge and then cut it with scissors.

 Here's the cut corners.

 Line up fabrics right sides together and sew around the outside using a 1/4" seam.  Make sure to leave a few inches open though so you can flip it right side out.

 Before flipping it right-side-out, cut little notches in the around the corners (careful not to cut your seam) to help your edges to stay nice and round.  

You can finish your edge however you like.  I decided to use binding tape.  Some other options are to just leave it as is, but make sure to iron the seams so they are nice and sharp, you could go around the outside edge with a 1/8" seam, or your could serge around the outside.

With your 3" x 7 1/2" rectangles, sew right sides together.  Once again leaving an opening so you can flip it right-side-out.

 Cut the corners a bit before flipping it so you can have a sharper edge.

 Once it's been flipped right-side-out, iron the seams and then sew a 1/8" seam around the outside - making sure to close up the open area.

 Figure out which fabric you'd like to show on your straps.  I wanted to keep them matching the top fabric and attach velcro accordingly.  

 Fold your cover in half and measure 18" from the top and then 3" over and draw a 2" line.  Do this on both sides.  These lines are where you will sew on your straps.  FYI the 18" side is the back of your cover.

 Here is my line.

 Next take your straps and draw lines at 2 1/2" from the top and from the bottom.

 Here is a little diagram to show you the measurements of those lines.

Line up the line you drew on your strap with the line you previously drew on your cover.  You'll want to line them up so that the part of your strap that you want to be on top will be on the drawn line.  Make sure that the 18 inches is the back part of your cover.  Once you have pinned the straps in place sew a square around those two lines.  Attach your straps to the car seat and you're done!

 Here is the finished product.

I apologize if that was confusing.  Please ask me questions if you have any!

Thumbprint Cookies

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I had a recipe exchange party last night.  I tried out a new recipe, and people seemed to like it, so I thought I'd share it with you!  The one nice thing about them is that they aren't a super sweet cookie, though that could also be a negative because you can trick yourself into eating too many of them haha.


Ingredients (will make about 12 - 18 cookies)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg, separated

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

2/3 cup any flavor fruit jam

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets. Separate egg, reserving egg white. Cream butter or margarine, sugar, and egg yolk. Add vanilla, flour and salt, mix well. Shape dough into balls. Roll in slightly whipped (I whipped them for about 30 seconds with a fork) egg white, then walnuts. Place on cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove cookies from oven. With thumb or spoon, dent each cookie. Put jelly or preserves in each thumbprint. Bake for another 10-12 minutes.

Copycat Jamba Juice Caribbean Passion Recipe

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Sorry I haven't been so great about posting lately.  I've been busy with photography, being a mom, traveling and getting wrapped up in the holidays.  BUT I hope this recipe will make up for my lack of posts.

I found a recipe for a copycat Caribbean Passion Jamba Juice.  I've been on the lookout for this recipe for some time now because it's my absolute favorite flavor. 

1 Cup Passion fruit mango juice blend

1 Cup Frozen strawberries

1/2 Cup Frozen peaches

1/2 Cup Orange sherbet

1/2 Cup ice

Put all of the ingredients in a blender and blend on high until it's "smoothie" consistency.

SO easy right?  I will admit, I couldn't find the right fruit juice so I ended up using Doles Orange Peach Mango juice and it was simply delicious!  I had to add a little more juice to get it to the right consistency.  You should definitely try this recipe out!

Better Than Takeout Orange Chicken

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I found a recipe for "Better Than Takeout Orange Chicken" on Pinterest a while back and have made it two times now.  It really is delicious and I highly recommend you try it out!  The biggest pain is frying up the chicken just cause it takes so long.

The sauce is super easy and really yummy!  If I were you, I'd double the sauce.  I'm a sauce kinda gal.   The first time I made it was was left wanting more.

Just so you know, 3 chicken breasts was enough to feed 6 people and we still had left overs.  So the chicken goes a loooong way when you fry it up.

Also, when frying my chicken I used about 5-6 eggs, a whole box of panko and probably 2 - 2 1/2 cups of cornstarch.  So make sure you have extra of those ingredients.

Orange Chicken (adapted from Blogchef.net) serves 6

Chicken

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 1-1/2” cubes
• 1 ½ cups corn starch
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 2 eggs, beaten
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• Oil (for frying)

Orange Sauce

• 1 ½ cups water
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon orange zest, grated
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon ginger root, minced
• ½ teaspoon garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons green onion, chopped
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water

Combine corn starch, salt, and pepper.  Prepare a bowl with beaten eggs, another with panko bread crumbs and another with corn starch. Dip chicken in egg mixture, dredge in cornstarch, then again in the eggs and finally in the panko bread crumbs, set aside.  Heat pan with vegetable oil to 375 degrees, fry chicken in batches until completely cooked.

In a large saucepan combine 1 ½ cups water, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Blend well over medium heat for a few minutes. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest, ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil.

Combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and mix thoroughly. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into sauce until it thickens. Pour sauce over breaded chicken, and if desired garnish with green onions.

Mini Witch Hat Tutorial

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My daughter is going to be a witch for Halloween, but I couldn't find a hat that was small enough to fit her.  Well that's not totally true, I could have paid $30 for a witch costume at Target which had a hat included, but that would have been crazy.  I finally decided just to make one for her.  While a normal sized hat would have been fun, I thought a mini witch hat would be cute.  What did it cost me?  Well, nothing since I had all of the supplies on hand, but if I hadn't had the materials on hand, it probably would have cost around $1 or so.

Here's what I did:

Using this pattern, I cut out my foam sheet.

 I wrapped the foam around into a cone and hot glued the seam.  I then added on little strips along the inside of the cone in order to glue the cone to the base a little easier.  You could definitely skip this step and just put hot glue all around the bottom on the cone as long as you're planning to cover up the seam somehow.  Otherwise, you'll see the hot glue.

 I glued the cone to the base.

 I then added some tulle to match my daughter's tutu.

Last, I hot glued some elastic thread to help keep it on.  The elastic thread was perfect, it didn't bother her so she actually kept the hat on.  Yay!

Chicken Pot Puffs

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 I have a recipe that we call "Chicken Puffs" in our house.  It's one of my grandma's recipes and has been one of my all time favorite foods since I was a kid.  I decided to do a spin off that recipe and do a chicken pot pieish filling.  I'd love for you to try them out and let me know what you think!

Ingredients
Filling
-  1 Large Chicken Breast
-  1/2 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
-  4 Oz Cream Cheese, slightly softened  
-  1 Large Carrot, or several baby carrots, chopped/sliced  
-  1/4 Cup Frozen Peas
-  Salt
-  Pepper 

Outside
-  1 - 2 Packages Crescent Roll Dough
-  1 Stick Butter, melted
-  1 1/2 Cups Italian Breadcrumbs

Sauce
- 1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
- 2 - 4 Oz. Cream Cheese
- 1 Can Chicken Broth
 

Directions 

Boil your chicken breast until cooked through.  Chop or shred your chicken breast, set aside.  Par boil your carrot slices for about 5 minutes, so they start to get soft, but aren't completely cooked through.  In a large mixing bowl, mix together the cream of chicken soup and cream cheese.  Then add in the chicken, carrots, peas, salt and pepper.  Stir together with a spoon until well combined.

Take your crescent roll dough triangles.  They them out and gently push them outwards to make them a bit wider.  Put a dollop of your filling in the center of each triangle.  You will be able to get 8-12 crescent rolls filled depending on how much filling you put inside.  Wrap the dough around the filling and make sure all the sides are closed up (this takes a bit of practice, and in reality if you have a couple of holes it's not the end of the world, your filling will just seep a bit when you bake them).  

Dip your dough in melted butter and then in seasoned breadcrumbs until it's covered everywhere.  Place on a non-greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

To make the sauce simply put the cream of chicken soup, cream cheese and chicken broth in a medium sauce pan.  Bring it to a simmer.  Stir or whisk until all of the chunks are gone.  Let it reduce until it's a good sauce consistency, not runny like it starts out.

I hope you enjoy this little twist on a chicken pot pie!

Broccoli Potato Cheese Soup

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Well it's starting to be that time of year where you look outside and just want to stay in and eat some nice warm soup.  This is one of my favorite soups.  This recipe makes a fair amount of soup, but it makes for good leftovers. It is pretty easy to half. I had a recipe that is similar, but I revamped it to my liking and added potatoes enjoy!

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 2 Pinches nutmeg
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves – or 1/4 - 1/3 tsp dried thyme leaves
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 6 cups chicken broth (or 6 cups of water with 3 bouillon cubes)
• 1 - 2, 12 oz packages frozen broccoli, thawed
• 3 medium potatoes quartered then sliced - boiled until tender
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese – grated

Directions 

In a medium pot, melt the 6 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add onions, salt, pepper, and nutmeg and cook, stirring, until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme cook, stirring, until fragrant, for 20 seconds. Add the flour and cook, stirring until the mixture is well blended and smells fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Slowly add the broths, whisking constantly, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until it begins to thicken. Add one package of broccoli and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.  

Remove the pot from the heat and puree with a hand-held immersion blender or normal blender. 

Add the cream and bring to a simmer add the remaining ½ - 1 package of broccoli depending on how chunky you want your soup and simmer for 7 minutes (if you don't want chunks of broccoli, don't add the extra package, it is still very delicious!). Add cooked potatoes and once the broccoli is tender, add the cheese and cook over low heat, stirring, until melted.

Serve and top with grated cheese.

Candy Corn Wreath

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I know these have been around a lot lately on the internet, but I love them so I had to make one to share with you.  To make the wreath, I bought a foam tube at Home Depot that is in the plumbing section for 97 cents.  I then cut the tube to the size that I wanted and then used duct tape to keep the two ends together.  The one issue I ran into by doing this method was that it didn't stay a perfect circle.  I've also heard of doing the same thing using a swim noodle.  I just didn't want to spend $5 on a foam wreath when I could get away with only spending $1.

Next, I wrapped the wreath with black duct tape.  Then I hot glued candy corns onto the wreath.  Just a warning, this will take you a while haha.  I changed the direction the candy corns were facing each row.  Then I wanted to make my wreath a little different than all of the other candy corn wreaths out there, so I added a little sign that says "Trick or Treat" on it.  I purchased a really thin piece of wood at Robert's for $1.80 or so.  It was way longer than I wanted, but it was the right thickness and width.  I broke the wood so it would have rough edges.  I then outlined Trick or Treat on wood and painted around the words.  I decided that I liked the plain wood look for the letters rather than painting them in a different color.  I sanded down the sign a little bit so it would have a distressed/scary look to it.  Then all I had to do was tie a ribbon to the top so I could hang it.  I've seen where people have used a really thick ribbon to hang their wreath, which I think looks nice, but I didn't think it would look as good because of my sign.

I have talked to a few people who made these last year and their wreaths actually ended up melting!  So you may want to preserve your wreath.

Vintage Earring Holder

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The other day I was trying to sort through all of my earrings.  When I finished finding the different pairs and deciding which ones I'd actually like to keep, I had nowhere to put them other than in a ziplock bag.  I decided right then and there that I was going to make something to organize my earrings.  I've had plenty of jewelry boxes in my day, but my earrings still didn't seem that organized in them.  I had seen some framed jewelry holders floating around the internet.  This one was my inspiration.  I loved the look of the lace. 

I kept my eye out for an oval frame....but I couldn't find any that were a very good price.  I headed to DI and found a long and skinny frame that I thought would work and it was only $3 (I actually ended up liking better than the oval frame look).  I had purchased some lace at Hobby Lobby.  The lace was 50% off so the two rolls cost me a total of $2.50.  I have lots of lace left over and look forward to using it for some other projects.  I just love lace!  Next I got some Ivory spray paint at Walmart for $3.50.  So that brings my total cost to $9, but I have plenty of lace and spray paint left over that I'll be able to use for other projects.

This is what the frame looked like to begin with.

 I spray painted the frame and then antiqued it a bit.

 Then I simply attached my lace.  I used hot glue because that's what I had, but if you have a staple gun, I'm sure that would be more secure.  The hot glue seems to be holding up just fine so far though.

 I hung it up on the wall and hung my earrings and it was done.  Such an easy, quick craft!

Amazing Walmart Clearance Sale!

Pin It Today I went to the Orem, Utah Walmart and they were having a huge clearance sale on their girls summer clothes. 

How much did I pay for all of these clothes you ask....$12!!!  That's right!  They are selling these adorable outfits for $1 each!  And the shirts on the top came in sets of 2 for $1.  Sure, I went all out....but now I'm ready for next summer!  Check out your local Walmart to see if they are having the same deal.  It's seriously amazing!

Eyeball Cake Pops

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Looking for a fun treat to serve at your Halloween Party?  Well, these eyeball cake pops are perfect for you.  The best part is that you don't necessarily have to cover them with chocolate absolutely perfectly.  I left a bit of white chocolate in the back to look like the optic nerve.

To make the pupil and iris part, I simply melted some milk chocolate and then piped out little circles on some wax paper.  After the chocolate had cooled, I pipped some colored white chocolate around the outside if the milk chocolate dot.  After that cooled I was able to peel them off the wax paper.  Right after dipping the cake pop in the white chocolate, I placed the pupil/iris circles on the eyeballs.  Then I piped some pink colored white chocolate (you could definitely do red...I just didn't want to go through the pain of dying the chocolate red).

Maternity Band

Pin It With my ever expanding waistline, I've been considering getting a bella band since I've heard such great things.  However, I found a great tutorial on Make it and Love it on how to make your own maternity band.  I made one for myself and will definitely by making some more.  When I make my next one, I'm going to make it longer than her dimensions and also not as wide.  Every body is different so you can measure and see what will work for you. 

Jack-O-Lantern Veggie Tray

Pin It I made this for a little get together we had last Halloween.  However, I didn't really do any Halloween themed posts because my husband had blown out his knee a few days before the 31st and I was busy taking care of him.  SO I thought I'd post it for you this year :)  It's super easy to do and fun for a Halloween party.

Little Boy Tie Tutorial

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Last week I learned how to make little boy ties and thought I'd share what I learned.  They are so easy and so cute!  Plus, it's one of the few crafts I can make for my little guy on the way.  I hope my step by step tutorial helps you out.  These are probably the size you'd want for a 1 1/2 - 2 year old.  If you want to make them for an older child, just make the pattern longer.  If you have any questions please ask!

Using the pattern found here, cut out your fabric.  You will need to cut two layers of fabric - one being the pattern you want to show for your tie and the other being a backing (this one will only show on the little corners in the back).

Put the right sides together and sew the corners together using a 1/4" seam allowance.

 Clip the fabric on the corners - making sure not to cut the actual seam.

 Flip the fabric right side out and iron the corners so they are nice and sharp.

 Fold the tie in half with right tie pattern sides together and sew down the edge.  Once again using the 1/4" seam allowance.  DON'T sew the corner ends, only the long edge.

 Press the seam open and then using a safety pin, flip the tie right side out again.  You do this by putting the safety pin on the corner and then feeding it down the hole on that same side.

Press your tie again so it's edges are nice and sharp.

 This is what the back of the tie looks like.

Cut a piece of fabric that is approximately 2 3/4" wide and 16" long.  Feel free to make this strip longer or shorter if you need to.  This is what will be going around the neck.  Put the right sides together and sew a straight line using a 1/4" seam allowance.

 Flip it right side out (again with the safety pin) and then press your fabric. with the seam being in the middle.

 Sew the ends shut - if you are wanting to do elastic for part of your neck piece, simply put it about 1/2" into the end and then sew your fabric shut.

 

 How to Tie the Tie

Place your tie like this around the neck piece.

Bring the back of the tie across the front.

 Pull the back piece up high so if looks like a normal tie not and then wrap it around to the back. (Look at the images - it will help a lot ha).

 Tuck the back of the tie through the front.

 Now move that little piece that is sticking out of the front to the back.  You just have to slide it around.  Tighten the knot by pulling on the neck piece. Using a needle and thread, stitch the little back piece to the second layer of the front piece, but only through that layer so it won't be seen from the front.  This will keep it from getting untied.

 And here is your tied tie.

 All you do after this step is add Velcro or snaps to the neck piece or whatever else you are wanting for your attachment. 

These are some ties I made for my little guy this weekend.  Aren't they so cute???

This are super easy to make and use very little fabric.  I would recommend getting about 1/4 of a yard - and you will definitely have some extra fabric with that.  You could maybe get by with 1/8 yard, but it would be close.

If you'd like to see my new tutorial on how to make clip-on bow ties go HERE