Pampered Chef "Ring"

Have you ever tried any of the Pampered Chef Ring recipes?  Yum.  I've tried them before, but had
never made them until now. These will definitely be showing up in my meal planning in the future!

I've tried the Reuben Ring, and the Chicken and Broccoli Ring.  But ours was a knock-off of the Chicken and Broccoli.  We did Chicken and Peas ( we had peas available, see how my cooking evolves? Make do with what you have?)

Super easy too!  Take Crescent rolls and make a circle, and add filling.

Fold points toward center and pinch shut.

And bake!

Carter was a huge fan!  So if you have picky eaters this may be an easy route to getting them to eat their veggies!  

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas!  Over the past week, I began to pull out my Christmas decorations ( because we weren't hosting Thanksgiving) and started to put some up.  When doing so, I made the executive decision of making us some new stockings. Nothing fancy, just ones for all of us that matched my not so traditional Christmas decorations.

To make my stockings, I purchased Felt by the yard at my local Joann's store in Turquoise for the boys, and Fuchsia for me.   I also picked up some white by the yard too for the cuffs.

I simply traced a stocking that I had already, but if you want a template, I found lots online.

Using my Pinking shears I just cut out my stocking and sewed them together so the zig zag edge was on the outside.  Then, I cut a rectangle out of white for my cuffs.  Sewed the front and back of the stocking together, and then sewed my short sides of my rectangle, and stitched them to my stocking!

Ah. Much better. The random stockings that were hanging on my stairs were bothering me. Not so much anymore!

Ruffly Scarf!

After seeing a bunch of these, I finally got down to it and made my own!  A friend is working on a knit version, and I want to try that one too and we have compared. The crochet is wider than the knit and takes half the amount of rows. Which is makes it super quick!

I used this pattern from Lion's Brand Yarn.

To make this extra thick, I used A "Super" sized yarn seen here:

What projects are you working on that could be gifts?

Meal Planning

I hope that you have heard of Clean Mama, because if you haven't you  need to stop over right away!  If you had heard of Clean Mama, did you follow along with her Meal Plan Month back in September?

I just found her myself, so if you haven't found her yet, your not too far behind!  But what I love about Clean Mama is that she shares tips and tricks on how to keep your life organized and some what clutter free!

I wish I had found her for Meal Planning Month, but love that I can browse through the whole month at once!  I am loving and trying oh so hard to Meal Plan.

Here's what I did:

Printed off this freebie from her site, then printed off a blank calendar off my computer.

Then sat down and filled out the freebie, and did a quick freezer inventory.

Once I had an idea of what was in the freezer, and an visual idea of what we liked, I started to randomly plug into my calendar.  There is not a right or wrong way to do this, but it was definitely a challenge. I didn't want to have the same thing week after week, and know that we normally stray away from chicken umpteen times a week. So, I tried to plug a chicken, beef and pork meal each week and then filled in from them.  

Then I thought about ingredients, say we are having Scalloped Ham and Potatoes, I think of a recipe that will use the shredded cheddar cheese like Quesadillas or Mac and cheese. And try to spread similar items out.

Once I had my weeks planned out.  (I only did Monday through Friday, and weekends are typically full of events, and whatnot.)  Then I worked on planning my groceries out next!  This has actually been the best part of all for me. I used to jot down a list right before going to the store to just have to run out during the week for one stinking ingredient. Not so anymore!

I actually sit down and right a list for every thing I would need for every meal of the week. Then when it comes time to get ready for the store, I pull my list out of my binder  (where I have began to store my meal planning sheets, extra paper, grocery lists, recipes I want to try, etc) and cross off items we already have. Then I add in the basics to the end, milk, eggs, bread, yogurt etc.

It's nice knowing whats for dinner, and if were not in the mood for something we have switched days around too. It's also nice to have everything in one spot.  I created a binder for Cook, Clean, Craft, Gift and Misc.

Do you meal plan? If so, what are your favorite tips?

Yummy. Sauce.

Do you garden?  Do you get a ton of tomatoes at the end of the season? And you just can't eat one more raw tomato?  Me neither. How about making some Yummy Sauce!

If you want a large amount of sauce you are going to need 2 to 3 times more (maybe even more) tomatoes then you will think. I am always surprised at how much you think you are going to get and what you really get.  Also, I have done my regular sized tomatoes with my cherry tomatoes, and have not had any issue.

First take all your tomatoes and either poke a hole in them or just crush with your hand into a cooking pot. I start my pot with a little garlic, onion and oil.  Let this cook down until it looks like this.

Once you have let your tomatoes cook down, strain them into a metal screen colander, over a big bowl. You may have to fill your colander a couple times before you empty your cooking pot.  Then take a spoon or pestle and crush your mixture through the screen. This makes removes your seeds and skins. See?

Once I have all my sauce through and have thrown out my seeds and skin, I place it back in my cooking pot, I add my herbs and spices and some store bought tomato paste.  The paste helps thicken it up.

The next step depends on how you want to store your sauce.  If you have a small batch, you can just put it in a jar and store in the fridge. If you have a lot and want to freeze it, go ahead and place in ziploc bags  or an other freezer safe container and freeze.  If you want to can your sauce, you will need to place the sauce in jars and boil them for about 30-40 minutes or so.

Enjoy!

Sock Yarn Ornament

After finishing up my first pair of knit socks, I had this teeny tiny ball of yarn that matched.  Knowing it was too small to use for any other yarn project it was going to be thrown out. But then looking at the ball and getting closer to the Christmas season, my automatically said "ornament".  Now I will always have my ornament to match my first pair of socks, even after they wear out ( which I know will happen because I have been wearing them constantly, so comfy!).

Here's what I did to make my ornament.  Using my ball of yarn, I cast on 3 stitches and created an i-cord.  My cord is about 4-5 inches long ( to ensure it will go onto a tree branch).

Bind off your stitches, and using the tail leftover from my cast on, I pulled it through my final stitch loop, and knotted it once or twice.

Lastly, plugged my hot glue gun in, and wrapped my ball the way I liked it, and dotted a little bit of glue on top, and added my i-cord hanger. 

Isn't it cute?  I would love to do it to all my leftover sock yarn and have my very own knit sock ornament set, but I don't know how the husband would like yarn balls all over the tree!  If your in a knitting group these could be cute gifts to give too!  

Earrings Refashion

A while back, I bought something at a store and was offered a piece of jewelry ( costume) for free. And because I was in a rush, I just grabbed these.  Never put them up to my ear nothing.  Well, they have sat in my jewelry box ever since because they were so big!

See?  They take up my whole palm!

Not anymore! With my handy dandy jewelry pliers, I started to cut away some of the "gems" and now I have a much smaller pair of earrings that will probably get worn in the near future.

Coffee Cozy

I made a few of these for the craft fair, and realized I never shared them with you guys!  These are super simple, super cute, and a great gift for the coffee  (or tea)  lovers in our lives.

If you do a google search there are a ton of tutorials out there!  Or, if you have a cardboard sleeve, trace it and sew!

Super Soft, Super Quick Blankets!

Last weekend, I did a craft fair, and was asked by someone to make some blankets that she would be sending away with her Operation Christmas box.

With that being said there were some requirements.  First and foremost, when folded it needed to fit into a shoe box. Think: Thin.

Then, we discussed who they were for: 2 boys, 2 girls.  That was pretty much all I needed to know before my mind started to wander.

Here is what we came up with:

42" by 42" Fleece blankets ( just one layer, no sewing involved!) with a nice border on the edge to dress them up.

Using a knitting cable needle ( the gold "J" looking one) I punched holes through the perimeter of the blanket.  Then, using the crochet hook, I single crocheted in each hole with a chain one in between all the way around.

They would have been finished if I could stop myself, but because they will be shipped to children oversea, I wanted to somehow let them know how far these blankets have traveled! So, using my embroidery machine, I added NY,USA on red heart and sewed them on.

The end result came out great, and everyone who has seen them loved them. I hope the children who receive them enjoy them!

Knit Baby Set: Finished

Over the summer, I started and finished this baby blanket, knowing that I had until November to finish the blanket in time for the shower.  That way, if they changed their mind and found out the sex of the baby, I had plenty of time to start over if I wanted. But they were better than I, and did not find out the sex of their baby.  So, green it is.

I had originally made a white Umbilical Hat ( From this Stitch N Bitch book) to go with the blanket, but thought it blended in too much, and was to match-y match-y for me. So I made another Umbilical Hat in green instead.

Flooring, Finally.

Our house is definitely a work in progress. We are always remodeling or refinishing something.  Some projects get completed in no time, and others drag on for well... forever.

Yesterday I finally decided I had had enough with the giant hole in the floor.  So, I went to work. Although this is probably only a temporary fix, it is much better than before!

Before:  A large gap in the floors between two rooms, that we all step over numerous times a day!

After:

Because this is a temporary fix, I just glued my hardwood together (using the groove you normally nail through) and then placed it over my gap in the floor.  I went right over the tile too, because it is un-level there anyway, and it is pretty close to being level by setting it over the tile.  I did not nail it down, because it is temporary, and hasn't slid around too bad. But if it does, I will nail the side closest to the wood floor because you can't nail through tile!

Now, I have to work on the putting up some moulding. See the green on the wall? That's not mold. Thats the carpet pad from when they had glued a carpet trim around the baseboards. Seriously?  Yuck.

One Down One To Go!

After making my first ever pair of socks, I am hooked!  I love how portable of a project it was, 5 teeny needles, and one teeny ball of yarn.  I could fit this project in a quart sized plastic baggie if I needed too!

If you are looking for a great portable project socks are the way to go! But then, you think just socks? How about a cute pair of booties. That are not only portable but quick! One bootie took about three hours.  Perfect for watching ( listening) to a movie, or a long car ride!

I used this pattern, that I found through Ravelry. Are you all familiar with Ravelry?  At last weekends Craft Fair ( more on that later this week) I got talking to a couple people who Knit and Crochet, but didn't know about Ravelry!  I was so excited to tell them about it, because it is such a great resource!

That's the yarn I am using, The blue variegated is from the Dollar Store! Can you believe it! It's Sock yarn, and no name brand but too cute to pass up!  And the light blue is a Bernat baby Yarn, and I am just pull from both balls at once.

Anyone working on some Knit projects for the holidays? If so, leave a comment I would love to see what your working on, and get some ideas. 

Are you a gift card giver?

Do you give gif tcards, and want to dress them up more than just an envelope?

Maybe you should make some of these!  Using a friends Cricut I cut out ornaments out of cards tock, and then placed some really great Christmas paper behind the ornament cut out.  Lastly, I sliced open my pretty paper, and added another piece of card stock to the back. Glueing down all of the top, and one the edges of the bottom to create a pocket.

Got Drafts?

Do you live in a climate that it is getting cold this time of year?  How about living in an older, not so perfect home with cracks, and uneven doors?   Do you use draft snakes ( the ones with rice or something else in there?) Me too.

In an effort to prevent some drafts, I have started to use these:

Yup, that foam stuff you wrap your pipes in.  It slides right under the door filling in the gap between door and floor!  If your going to go out and buy some foam insulation, you may want to measure your gap first.  I used what I had on hand and it worked out ( luckily) and then got some hand me down foam thats a little thinner, it still worked for a different door but if you have a big gap, and buy the thin stuff your still going to have a gap!