Sadly....

My gut has been telling me to cut back on this crafty blog. And in my life I have learned to listen to my gut. It has a lot of wisdom.

I know, we have only started this blog a few months ago. I've been amazed that people read it and like what I've made. I mostly started it because my personal blog was becoming a "look what I've made" blog, so I started a seperate place to post those kinds of things.

But, I feel that I have shared most of my great original ideas, and I promised myself it wouldn't turn into a copycat blog with no orginality. I'm not going to close the blog or anything. I will keep it open so people can look up old ideas. I will still post when I come up something terrific. But I guess I don't want to feel guilty when it has been a week and I haven't posted anything. I don't want to feel obligated.

I need to catch up on two years of scrapbooking, I need to make my towel closet not explode when I open it, I need to teach my four-year-old his numbers. I guess what I'm saying is that I need to prioritize. I hope you understand. I hope you still check back in case I do post something great.

Thank you for reading my blog. I've just checked something off my bucket list: Publish something that might make a difference in someones life.

PS. You may have noticed that there are five contributors. I started this blog and I asked a few of my friends to be contributors. They can of course feel free to keep posting whenever they want. Goodbye for now!

Chipboard Chunky Necklace

Roberts (our big local craft store) is going out of business. Sniff. But, I have been stocking up on some goods as they are closing out their merchandise. With some of my goods I came up with this necklace.



Supplies:
Chipboard shapes
Largish Jump Rings (I had square ones)
Pliers
Scrapbook Paper
Modge Podge
Diamond Glaze
Big Bite
Necklace Chain

So, first I laid out the shapes in a way that I liked.
Then, I traced the shapes onto scrapbook paper and cut them out. Then I applied to the chipboard with mod podge. After that I filed the edges to give it a more worn look.




Then, apply a layer of Mod Podge to the top of that and let dry. After that is dry,
add a lay of Diamond Glaze and let sit at least overnight.

Repeat for the opposite side, because the chipboard will flip. Choose the same paper or coordinating paper.

Then I used my Big Bite to punch holes through the sides.




After that I put about 5 jump rings in between each chipboard piece. Then I used my pliers to cut the chain to the length I liked, and attached the chain with more jump rings. Then I used one final jump ring to attach the chain together. (It is long enough that it slips over my head and doesn't need clasps or anything)

50 Followers!

Today we reached 50 followers. We started with three followers, and they were all people we knew. I started this blog just for fun, and I never thought I would reach 50! Thanks for following you fantastic people!

One simple laundry tip

I had three boys in a little less than four years. They are close in age. One is a little bit height-challenged and even though he is almost six can still fit in some 4's. And the four-year-old wears 4's. I wish we just had a big bin of pants, shirts, socks, etc. But they don't really appreciate that.

Sooo, awhile ago I came with a system for pants, shirts, underwear, socks, etc.
The oldest gets one cut in his tag (or one tick with a permanent marker), the 2nd one gets two cuts, the third one gets three. Then, when the item gets too small and is ready to be passed down, another cut or tick mark gets added to the item for the next boy.

It has made laundry a lot nicer.

I made a shirt!

I never thought I could actually make a shirt that was wearable! It's not perfect, but
I am in love with it. And it was really fun to make.

Even a beginner sewer figured it out.

Check out the original tutorial found here, which was featured here.

If you are interested, these posts are terrific. The only thing I did a little differently was add a band around the bottom, with a matching applique from the top material, with a zig zag stitch hem.

She also started the sizing at Size 2, and told you how to go up for additional sizes. I wanted a size 1, so I went down the recommended amounts instead of up.

Sunshine Award

We are honored to receive this Sunshine Award from Craft Envy !! We've made it in the blogging world! Never received a blog award before. Talk about making it my day. Plus, we received it on Tax Day! (The hubbie is a CPA, so we actually like tax day around here). I've been a reader of Craft Envy for awhile now. I've starred or copied more than a few of their ideas. You should definitely check them out.

So, now I get to pass these on to six blogs. If you saw my list I posted recently of blogs I read, it was significant. So, it is hard to choose six. But, here are my awesome picks:

Alchemy Junk. If you love beat- up decorating and comfortable living, not to mention learning how to make magazine type items on the cheap-this is the blog for you. You've got to check them out.

Another blog I've recently discovered and LOVE is All Things Thrifty. They give great advice on redoing furniture (and their projects look simple enough for even me to handle!)
This one is going to make you hungry: Our Family Treat will have you salivating over every single recipe. Yum!

The Creative Crate spends no time bringing you mediocre ideas. Every idea they present is awesome. Do you how many reams of paper and ink cartridges I've used printing out ideas from awesome bloggers like these?

From crafts to home tips, to delicious but simple looking recipes- you will love Its good for the heart!

And my Internet is wigging out and I can't get any pictures to work, but Simply Designing

is another favorite. They always have good ideas.

Alright, winners, here are the rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog or within your post.

2. Pass the award on to 6 other bloggers.

3. Link the nominees within your post.

4. Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Link back to the person from whom you received this award.

Samosa Breeze

Recently, we (along with my husbands brother and sister) purchased a Orlando Vacation rental home. It has flooring and brand-new furnishings in every room. We rented a vacation home when my husbands whole family went a few years ago.
It was so nice to have a place to prepare food, have privacy and have a place for the kids to run and around and swim together after playing hard at DisneyWorld.
Anyway, if you or anyone you know is headed to Orlanda, be sure to check out our website: http://www.samosabreezeorlando.com/

Three things I learned this week

The first two come from the Taste of Home Cooking School--

1) If you need to cut up apples ahead of time but don't want them to brown, put them in a bowl of 7-up until you are ready. She did say 7-up worked specifically. Other lemon-lime sodes didn't work as well.

2) When cutting up fresh herbs (basil, cilantro etc.) it is easier to put them in a small bowl, then use kitchen shears to cut them up. Much easier than a knife and cutting board.

And this one I read a couple of times recently and had to try.

For softer hair, add a couple of scoops of Baking Soda to your shampoo when you are washing your hair. I tried it yesterday and my hair was softer.

My new favorite....

Is it just me, or is one of the best moments of the day when the kids are all finally settled into their beds? I always like to grab a little snack and flip through the boob tube for a few minutes and just veg.

Growing up we had ice cream more nights than we probably should have. If you are like that, this treat is definitely going to take the place of that. And the best part-the whole thing is about 100 calories. (Yogurt=80, 1/2 cup strawberries=25)

It is key lime pie yogurt (Walmart now sells a Great Value 4 pack that is cheaper than the name brands and tastes just as good) mixed with about 1/2 cup or so of frozen chopped strawberries. I recently got a flat and froze them myself.

It is soooo good. I know it sounds really simple, but trust me you won't turn to the ice cream for awhile. This doesn't taste like you are trying to eat healthy. YUM!

Class Pictures

All of my creative/computer time lately has been spent building a new website for a new business venture we are doing.
But, I did just have a small AHA moment I thought I would share. It might help at least ONE of you.
We just got back all of our classroom pictures from the kids classes. And they (especially the four-year-old) has been obsessed with looking at, holding it, bending it... you get the idea. I ruined one of my class pictures when I was kid and I'm still sad about that. So, I was stressing about keeping them nice and how to take it away from him.
Until, I realized I have a scanner/printer. I scanned them all in, printed them out and in a couple of minutes a little bit of ink, everyone was happy. He can now hold his picture and name all of the kids to his hearts content. And the originals are safely tucked away.
Now, if only this website I'm working on was that easy. :)

Ultimate French Toast

Watching "The Best Thing I ever Ate" again, and Bobby Flay featured his favorite: Peanut Butter and Banana French Toast.

No so into peanut butter in the morning myself, but the batter intrigued me. Especially for a gal who only uses beaten eggs for my batter. If you are lucky I might get fancy and sprinkle a little cinammon on top.

And they actually told you the exact measurements on the segment. Thanks to DVR, I wrote it all down and tried it yesterday. It really is the best french toast I've ever had. It has a really nice melt-in-your mouth flavor. Try getting a little fancy next time you make French Toast.

Ultimate French Toast

Texas Toast Bread

Batter, whisk together the following:

3-4 Eggs

1/2 cup half and half, heavy cream, or milk (the more fattier options will give you a richer flavor, but your hips will thank you if you do the lower fat options)

3 T vanilla

1/4 cup orange juice

pinch cinammon

pinch salt

1 tsp. rum extract (we don't drink alcohol, but I did find some alcohol free rum flavoring, It would still taste good without this)

Dip your bread into the batter and fry on a hot skillet until golden brown on both sides.