Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Tuesday Tutorial: Mason Jar Coozy


Today I'm going to share another crochet pattern with you. I recently purchased a Cuppow. If you don't know what that is, you better find out and get yourself one ASAP. It's the best thing since sliced bread! No joke! I'm completely obsessed with it and use mine every day.

I got some pint sized wide mouth jars to use for coffee with my Cuppow and wanted to have something to keep my hand from being burnt AND keep my coffee warm longer so I crocheted a coozy! It fits on any pint-sized mason jar so feel free to use it for anything even if you don't have a Cuppow (but you still should get one!).

Start with a magic circle.
7 sc in magic circle
2 sc in each st around (14)
1 sc in next st and 2 in next st around (21)
1 sc in next 2 st and 2 in next st around (28)
Sc around (28)
Sc around in back loop only (blo) (28)
7-9 rows of hdc around (28) (until you get it as high as you'd like it)
Finish off by sc in next st, sl st in next and bind off. Sc around in contrasting color or sc around before binding off in the same color.

If you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask!


Friday, May 25, 2012

Pin-ed It Made It

Not every Pinspired project works out as planned…
Pinned Image
Nichelle Allen via Kiel Reid onto Random Awesomeness on Pinterest
…But we hope that you’ll link it up anyways!

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Your hosts are Brandi & Meig from Crafty Girl Squared, Melanna from Rhapsody of Cacophony& Jennifer from Finding My Way in Texas

Now on to the Features!

Top Viewed This Week:

Mirror Turned Chalk Board from I Should Be Mopping the Floor!

Meig & Brandi’s Top Pick:

Our favorite link up is the Nutella Fudge Pops from Heather's French Press! We LOVE fudgecicles AND Nutella. Putting them together is a great idea!!

Melanna’s Top Pick:


Maybe it's because I've have 2 girls, but I LOVE me some hair bows. I'm totally in the mood to make some of these super cute felt ones. And lucky for me (and you!) Sarah at Crafting and Creativity just posted the tutorial!


Jennifer’s Top Pick:


I love my crock pot! And so does Cynthia from Eating in Neverland :) I think this is a recipe that even my picky eater of a husband would like!
Please Remember to...

Follow ALL 3 hosts.

Post our new and fabulous button on you blog so others can join the fun. (its on my sidebar)

Visit a couple of the other links and spread some love. We all love comments :)

For all projects linked to the “Pined it, Made it” category, please ensure you link ONLY projects you were Pinspired to create and that the original post that inspired your project is properly sourced. We want to play nice :)

For the “Everything Else” category, please do not post giveaways, items you’re selling or other link parties.

Pin-ed It, Made it!:

Everything Else!:

Monday, May 21, 2012

Made it Monday


Hello everyone out there in the internets! I hope you all had a great weekend. I can't wait for my 3 day weekend coming up. I have lots of plans and family coming into town. Yay!

I only recently found all the parts to my sewing machine so I haven't really been sewing. I did hem a pair of suit pants at midnight on Thursday night because my friend needed them for a wedding on Saturday.

I've been making a lot of this:
 Strawberries are so sweet right now that they don't need any sugar at all. I absolutely love eating angel food cake with strawberries and cool whip. Yum. :) I also made the cake with my new (too small) angel food cake pan. So now we know I need to only put half the batter in it. Haha.

I planted my herbs that Brandi got for me at Lowe's. I've been tending them rather well, too. I've also used some of the basil already. I need to chop off that cilantro and make some pico de gallo!

Brandi and I snagged this beauty off the curb. It was missing a few screws on the bottom which my dad fixed (love him!) and I wiped it down...

Gave it a coat of homemade chalk paint [same method as with my door table (1c flat latex paint & 2tbsp unsanded grout)] in Tropical Rainforest green:

LOVE!! 
We (meaning my dad...hehe) are going to cut the legs down to make it coffee table height and use it as a coffee table in my living room. I need to paint the doors and legs, but the bugs were attacking us like crazy! (See below photo of my puppers looking super adorable and being so super good while I painted. He kept shaking his head and swatting at those crazy little buggies.)

I am ALMOST finished with a special order for a dear friend in New Zealand. I can't wait to finish it up but my hands have been sore lately so I've been slow in getting the hat finished.

So, that's what I've been up to lately. What have you been creating?


Friday, May 18, 2012

Foodie Friday: Bruschetta Chicken

Hello! Today I'm going to share an 'on the whim' recipe that I whipped up earlier this week. When people come visit I like to try and make something that is yummy and a little classier than my usual mac and cheese or grilled cheese (albeit gourmet with my new obsession being jalapeƱo popper grilled cheese sammies), etc. My dad has been super helpful with my move so I wanted to make this when he was around and besides, I was really hungry for something tomato-y, basil-y, and chicken-y. I created a bruschetta chicken. YUM!


Ingredients:
Chicken (I used a pack of 3 boneless, skinless breasts)
Mozz cheese (shredded or block is fine)
Tomato (heirloom, roma, whatever suits your fancy - I used one decent sized heirloom)
Basil (a heaping handful - mine was fresh from my garden!)
Half a red onion
Balsamic vinegar (about 1c)
And a little bit of salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil


First, put your balsamic vinegar in a small pot and reduce it to a nice syrup. This could take anywhere from 10 minutes to a half hour. Just keep reducing until it looks to be a little runnier than maple syrup. I like to do a bigger batch of this and keep it for the future. (Here's a great tutorial on how to do it. And here's a really yummy way to mix it up a bit!)


Next, salt and pepper the chickens and put them on the grill to get happy. I used my George Foreman G5 which is, honestly, the second best investment I've ever made (first being my Dyson - wowee do I love that thing!).


While the chickens are getting cooked, chop up your tomato, onion, and basil and put into a separate bowl and mix together. You can add a dash of salt and pepper here too, if you'd like. Also, cut your mozz cheese in slices (or at least get it out if you have shredded).


Next: assemble! Place the chicken in a oven safe dish and put the mozz cheese on top. You can choose to broil it for a few minutes until the cheese melts, or continue to assemble and bake it at about 250 for 10 minutes until the cheese melts. After the cheese comes the bruschetta topping, then drizzle the balsamic glaze and a dash of olive oil and you're done!


Enjoy! :)

Now please link up some of your favorite recipes!!

Pinned It Made It 18

Welcome to the Pin-ed it, Made it Party! We’re so glad you’ve joined us for some good old fashioned linky fun :) We are all so happy to see the party growing! Thank you to everyone that posts our button and spreads the word!
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Your hosts are Brandi & Meig from Crafty Girl Squared, Melanna from Rhapsody of Cacophony
& Jennifer from Finding My Way in Texas
Now on to the Features!
Top Viewed This Week:




Meig & Brandi’s Top Pick:

We love the June Bug Dress made by Little Rays of Sunshine! It's such a sweet dress, the colors are great and since Meig is a red head, we're always a sucker for a redheaded little girl. ;)  

Jennifer’s Top Pick


I love wrapping presents and I Love Super Heros! Why not combine the two like Jenn from Making Fun!?!?! :)


Melanna’s Top Pick:

I'm totally in love! I will now be on the hunt for damask tissue paper so I can make this for my Christmas wreath.  Thanks Lindsay for showing us how you did it. Check out the tutorial at Artsy Fartsy Mama.

 
Just a Reminder:
  • We’re no longer doing separate feature posts! The features will be posted right here before the link up every Friday. Each host will be picking their fav link and I will also be posting the Top Viewed link.
  • There will now be TWO categories! Pined it, Made it & Everything Else! That means that this party is now open to ALL projects! :)
    Please Remember to...
Please follow ALL 3 hosts.
Post our new and fabulous button on you blog so others can join the fun. (its on our sidebar)
Visit a couple of the other links and spread some love. We all love comments.
For all projects linked to the “Pin-ed it, Made it” category, please ensure you link ONLY projects you were Pinspired to create and that the original post that inspired your project is properly sourced.
For the “Everything Else” category, please do not post giveaways, items you’re selling, or other link parties.
Pin-ed It, Made It:
 
Everything Else:

Friday, May 11, 2012

Pinned It Made It 17

Welcome to the Pin-ed it, Made it Party! We’re so glad you’ve joined us for some good old fashioned linky fun :)
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Now on to the Features!

Top Viewed This Week:



Pad Thai for Beginners from Scouts Stiches!

Jennifer’s Top Pick

Three Bracelets Inspired By Three Designer Handbags

I love these bracelets from the Silly Pearl ! I think it was terribly clever to take inspiration from desingner bags!

Melanna’s Top Pick:


 I have a serious weakness for cute food. These tea cups have been in my Pinterest "to do" list for forever so I was thrilled when I saw that Confessions of an ADD Housewife gave them a try. Didn't they turn out cute?

Meig & Brandi’s Top Pick:


Our favorite item from this week's link-up is Natural Nesters' old fence turned rustic wooden box. We love upcycled items and this is a great way to re-use some old wood and create something new to use! Plus, that puppy is awfully cute. :)

Just a Reminder:
  • We’re no longer doing separate feature posts! The features will be posted right here before the link up every Friday. Each host will be picking their fav link and I will also be posting the Top Viewed link.
  • There will now be TWO categories! Pin-ed it, Made it & Everything Else! That means that this party is now open to ALL projects! :)
    Please Remember to...
Please follow ALL 3 hosts.
Post our new and fabulous button on you blog so others can join the fun. (its on our sidebar)
Visit a couple of the other links and spread some love. We all love comments :)
For all projects linked to the “Pined it, Made it” category, please ensure you link ONLY projects you were Pinspired to create and that the original post that inspired your project is properly sourced. We want to play nice :)
For the “Everything Else” category, please do not post giveaways, items you’re selling or other link parties.

Pin-ed it, Made it:



Everything Else:

Monday, May 7, 2012

Made it Monday: Moving Meig

This last few weeks have been consumed with my packing and moving so I haven't had much time to create. JJ (Brandi's daughter - for new readers) has thoroughly enjoyed my new house though. She loves chasing the dog around (it's a little more suitably laid out for dog chasing) and squeals with delight when she throws the ball for him to fetch (because he's really good at that game now!). During the move, she was a sweet little helper. Keeping Raj occupied, wiping off surfaces with a towel, putting magnets on the fridge (and the floor), and generally being a welcomed companion to all who are in this home. Here are a couple cute shots that I took this last week and weekend. Other than pictures of the 'before' the move in, I didn't take any so I figured for this day I would give you something. :)

Playing with her toys (and a random bat the previous tenant left here).


Checking out the super moon with Pappy Fred. (My dad who absolutely adores her as if she were one of his grandchildren.)

Super moon. :)
I hope this post finds you well, happy, and safe. It's rainy here so my lawn will have to wait for another day to mow. Until then I'll keep unpacking my life one box at a time. :)


Friday, May 4, 2012

Pin-ed It, Made It

A big thank you to everyone who made last weeks party the BIGGEST yet :)

Welcome to the Pin-ed it, Made it Party! We’re so glad you’ve joined us for some good old fashioned linky fun :)

pined_it_made_it_button175x175

Now on to the Features!

Top Viewed This Week:


Vintage Doily Lanterns and Bunting and I'm Interviewing for My Very Own Housewife from Desire Empire!
Jennifer’s Top Pick


Who doesn’t love Baker’s Twine! Nifty Thrifty Things shows us how to DIY it! This is sooooo going on my to do list :)
Melanna’s Top Pick:


I have such a weakness for cute cakes. This piggy from I Gotta Try That makes me want to plan a whole piggy party! I can't get over the mud! So amazing. Good job Marcie!

Meig & Brandi’s Top Pick:


We're a big fan of furniture re-dos and we also like using things for a different purpose than they were initially intended. Which is exactly what Confessions of an ADD House Wife did! :)


Just a Reminder:
  • We’re no longer doing separate feature posts! The features will be posted right here before the link up every Friday. Each host will be picking their fav link and I will also be posting the Top Viewed link.
  • There will now be TWO categories! Pined it, Made it & Everything Else! That means that this party is now open to ALL projects! :)
 
    Button

    Please Remember to...
Please Remember to...
Please follow ALL 3 hosts.
Post our new and fabulous button on you blog so others can join the fun. (its on my sidebar)
Visit a couple of the other links and spread some love. We all love comments :)
For all projects linked to the “Pined it, Made it” category, please ensure you link ONLY projects you were Pinspired to create and that the original post that inspired your project is properly sourced. We want to play nice :)
For the “Everything Else” category, please do not post giveaways, items you’re selling or other link parties.

Pin-ed it, Made it!
Everything Else!