Headbands

For Christmas, I couldn't decide what to get all the little girls in my life. Well I found an amazingly easy Headband Tutorial with pattern on Pinterest and it was perfect!

A little while ago I made an adorable ladybug Pillowcase Dress for my best friend's daughter and had plenty of leftover material from it.  So I made them all those headbands! They turned out sooo cute! I will have to make matching headbands for all my pillowcase dresses from now on! 

Here's the dress that they match!

Now I just need a model of my dresses and headbands... any takers?

Penguin Ornaments

I found a cute picture on Pinterest for Penguin Ornaments.  The link to the website was just a picture not a tutorial so I had to kind of play with it until I got it right.

You will need:
Lightbulbs (however many you want to make)
Black, White, Light blue, yellow (or orange), and Red Acrylic craft paint (I didn't have glossy on hand but I think that would have done better)
Paint brushes
Black String
Black electrical tape
egg cartons

I started by painting the white belly and letting it dry (I had to do a few coats to cover evenly)
Next, I painted the backs black (that only took 2 coats)
They sat to dry perfectly in the egg cartons.

 Next, to paint the faces.  All I had on hand was light blue, red, white and yellow paint, so I just mixed them to get the colors I wanted (light blue, light orange, and light pink)

The egg cartons were also perfect for paint cups!

After they dried, I tied a back string around them and made it long enough so that it could hang from the tree. Then I secured it in place with a strip of electrical tape.

It looked great on my tree!

Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup

A while ago, I posted a link for a Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup. It seriously takes forever to make and while it was amazing, I wanted a simpler Chicken Noodle Soup recipe.  So I went hunting for recipes online and found this one.   I have made it about 3 or 4 times by now and I think I've figured out my favorite way of making it after changing it around a few times.

Ingredients:
2 cups of cooked, diced chicken
2 cups of egg noodles
32oz Chicken Broth (about 4 cups)
2 cups water
1 diced carrot
1/2 tbsp chicken bouillion
1 small, finely chopped onion
2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
1 tbsp butter
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp chopped parsley (all I had was dried, but it worked)

I freeze my chicken, so I put one frozen split chicken breast in boiling water and cooked it for about 45 minutes to an hour until it was 170 degrees internal temperature (If you don't have a meat thermometer, get one! They are well worth the money!) I diced it and set it aside.

I diced the carrots by hand but this last time making this soup I decided to put the celery and onion in my food processor. (I have a Ninja, which doubles as blender and food processor... its definetly a favorite in my kitchen!) I liked it better that way because the kids ate the veggies without even realizing it, they loved carrots so I didn't have to worry about those.

In large cooking pot, cook the celery and onion in the butter until soft and translucent.
Add all the ingredients to the pot, except the noodles and parsley.
Bring it to a boil and the reduce heat to low.
Cover the pot and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf and add the noodles and parsley.
Cook until the noodles are tender. (about 7-8 min) Stir occasionally.

Serve and enjoy!!  

I made some French bread to go with! It was the perfect winter meal!

Homemade Pizza

So using my amazing bread machine, I decided to make some pizza dough from scratch using this recipe.  

After the dough cycle was complete, I lightly coated a glass pyrex bowl with some vegetable oil and placed the ball of dough in. I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and placed in the fridge for about 30 minutes to an hour.  (The fridge slows down the rising process a bit. The first time I tried to make this recipe, I pulled it straight out of the bread machine and made the pizza. It was a big mess because it kept rising while I was trying to roll it out and put the toppings on.)

After it was done sitting in the fridge, I kneaded it a bit and cut the ball of dough in half. The second half of dough I placed in the freezer to be saved for another pizza. 

The first half, I rolled out with a rolling pin and shaped on the pizza pan, rolling the ends to make a crust.

I just used some Ragu Pizza Sauce and spread it around the pizza using a spoon. 

Then I added a good bit of shredded mozzerella cheese.

Added my desired toppings (we wanted a half and half pizza - half bacon and mushrooms, half zucchini and grape tomatoes - I typically use Roma but grape was all I had in the fridge). Then add a little extra mozzarella on top if your a cheese lover!

 Bake for 400 degrees for about 18-20 minutes.

YUMMY!!!

This was a pepperoni pizza, I made from the same dough recipe

Lego Head Jars

I know, I know I'm driving you crazy with my adorable Pinterest ideas but I have another one!

I found a Lego Head Jar Tutorial and decided to make them for all the Lego lovers in my life, which is my brother, my nephew, and of course my babies.

I saved a lot of baby food jars, pickle jars (we ate a lot of pickles that month!), and spaghetti sauce jars and used 'Sun Yellow' gloss spray paint.

My Husband had this great idea! It worked a lot better for us than laying it on cardboard, because it covered it so evenly.

I used a King Size Sharpie for the face and white craft paint for the eyes.

 

These were so much fun to make and even more fun to admire when I was done! 

And everyone loved them!

Beer Butt Chicken

My bestest friend made Beer Butt Chicken for me one time while I was visiting her, it was the juiciest, tastiest chicken ever!

So of course I asked her for the recipe, not realizing I had to violate a chicken to make it.  This may have been the most awkward chicken making ever!  But it was worth it because it tasted awesome!

Check out the recipe here: Beer Butt Chicken

That poor chicken

Oil and Seasoning

Well Cooked Bird

mmmm.... tasty!

I just think this is wrong and funny at the same time.

Hot/Cold Compress

So again with the Pinterest craft ideas, I found an awesome heating pad that doubles as a cold compress that made for an easy sew and a great Christmas present.  And now that everyone has received there presents I am able to post this.

I found a tutorial here that was very helpful!  All you need is some fabric, lentil beans, lavender (which I found at Earth Fare), a sewing machine, and a few hours to work (or less if your really good!) 

Lavender and Lentil Beans

(2) 6 x 18in pieces - I may make it a little wider next time...

Bag sewn shut with only the end opened

After putting 2lbs of beans and 2 tbsp of Lavender, Close the bag

I had some issues with the pouches and breaking the needle on the beans, so be careful! The tutorial above has the best method of sewing the pouches.

Now you have a great compress, Heat for 3 minutes in the Microwave or Put in the freezer and enjoy!