Crocheted purse with material liner and handle

Finally, after two years of putting off finishing this purse, I did it!  I started this purse two years ago, crocheting granny squares then hooking them together (i used 100% cotton sugar n cream yarn).  The purse itself didn't come out exactly as I planned but since I put so much time into it, I decided to keep it in tact.  the problem with my original design was the crocheted handles.  I crocheted handles and after using them for about three days, they stretched and pulled and it just wasn't good.  So, I decided that at some point I'd make a liner and handles out of material and sew the project done for good.  But that was almost two years ago!  Then, over the weekend I was at a craft festival and saw some handmade purses with thick padded straps.  I decided to try it.  First, I measured the purse and made a three dimensional lining for it, complete with pockets.  Then I made a tube out of material, stuck some left over batting I had on hand, sewed it flat and sewed it on to the liner.  the only possible problem I may run into is the lining ripping out of the purse, since I just hand stitched it around the outer edge but I couldn't think of another way to do it.  I guess we'll see.  It's not the prettiest thing but for the amount of hours I put into it, it's worth more to me that it would to anyone else!  Like most of my projects, I do by seeing.  I'll look at a finished product and figure out how to replicate it myself.  or, by trial and error, come up with my own idea and try to create it.  So, I'm sorry if you're looking for exact measurements and step by step instructions.  Perhaps just looking at my design will allow you to be creative yourself! :) have fun!

Valspar Paint Crystals

I saw these paint crystals on pinterest.  I was skeptical.  If Valspar can make them, why doesn't any other company make them?  How do they work?  How don't they become covered in paint?  Would they work?
The answer is .....yes, they do!
Now....I wasn't able to get a good picture of the finished room due to lighting and my cheap camera (they sparkles wouldn't show up) but take my word for it....they sparkle!!!  And it's not overwhelming.
You can get them in silver or gold-they were $6.95 for a package that is supposed to do one gallon of paint.  The package says they need to go into to Valspar Signature Paint (Lowe's paint) but I used them in Behr (Home Depot paint) and they worked just fine.  On a side note, I'm a firm beleiver in paying a little more for good paint.  I used to use the good old Walmart special for like $12 a gallon, not realizing better paint existed.....  Well, it does and it's well worth the money and the final product is worth it.  Anyway-the paint crystals....the package says to mix one package into one gallon of paint and then the paint must be used within a week.  I didn't test the week theory-all my paint was gone in a day.  But I did do an experiement.  I was worried that an entire package would be overwhemling, So I did my first coat of paint plain and then added half the crystals into half a gallon of paint for the second coat.  I used a medium grey paint.  Not sure how these are going to work on lighter or darker paints.....the package directions state that you might need two packages for the crystals to show up on lighter colors.  But let me tell you, my final result was not ovewhelming and sparkles just enough when the sun or light hits it!
Highly recommend! :)

Melted shaped crayons....pinterest almost fail.

So ever since the beginning of pinterest....well since I became obsessed with pinterest....I keep seeing these links to tutorials of breaking up crayons and melting them in shaped molds to create fun super crayons that are a multitude of colors.  I don't have a use for them but I've wanted to try to make them.  Then one day I was at a yard sale and I was looking at a silicone mold and the lady begged me to just take it for free.  So I did.  And it's been sitting in my cabinet ever since.  Until yesterday, when I stumbled upon a 64 count box of crayons for 79 cents at salvation army.  So I decided to finally try the project.....and use it as a prize in my god daughters easter egg hunt.

Basically, you hack up crayons, fill the mold and "bake" (melt) them.  After reading several ways to do this, I settled on the 225 degree for 30 minutes method as it seemed to be right down the middle.

First step, peel the crayons.  After the first pick-pick-pick attempt, I decided a utility knife would be good to slice the wrapper off in one motion.  It worked. Don't worry about making a mess of the crayon, you're melting it anyway!

Next, hack up the crayons.  I seemed to be able to break the crayons by hand into 4-5 pieces, but they still seemed too big.  So I tried sawing at them with a knife.  It was so not working.  So I got out some wire cutter pliers.  They worked, but you had to be gentle or you'll pulverize the crayons into a waxy mess.  But, the pliers worked better than the knife or my hands.  Use the cutting edge and make sure you remove the cut piece (that will probably stick) before you go to cut another one.



This was my work area, peeling cutting and sorting



Now putting it in the molds.  They settle a bit so you can fill the molds to the top or even a little over the top.  My OCD had me pairing colors together (my mold fit three crayons in each hole) so I was putting together color combinations until I realized that boxes of crayon have wayyyyy tooooo many dark colors that all look the same (browns, purples, blues, reds) Yuck.  So I then resorted to mixing them up.

Then I stuck them in the oven.  Only they weren't melting.  Then I discovered they melt basically right at the end of the process about 25-30 minutes.  But mine looked funny.  They were all clear on the top.  Then I started reading more tutorials and found out that you can't use "cheap" crayons.  The wax separates from the color.  Crayola has the market cornered.  As with most products, you get what you pay for!



 



This was right out of the oven



Here you can see the layer of wax



After about a hour, I popped them out of the mold.  Some tutorials said you can use plastic ice cube trays.  I didn't try them but I would venture a guess and a wager that you'll never get them out.  I think silicone is the way you need to go for this project.  It's pliable and they crayons popped out quite easily.  Way easier than I imagined they would!  The top was clear but the bottoms turned out ok, very colorful and pretty!  And they do work!!! So it wasn't a total bust.

Lesson learned...use the Crayola!! :)  Hope she likes them anyway!



The finished product



Crockpot Vegetable Beef (Venison) Soup

I love me some crockpot cookin'.  Nothing better than coming home and having zero prep time for a hot meal.  I also love me some good, hearty soup.  This soup is very versatile and you can substitute venison for beef without even noticing since there are so many flavors and spices in it!  I don't love venison alone but doctor it up and it's a great (cheap and available) staple in our house.

The base:

1 jar of spaghetti sauce (ragu or whatever you use)  I like to use plain or marinara but if you like the flavor of the "meat" or "spicy" or whatever, go for it.  It'll be the base flavor for your soup. 

2 cubes of beef bullion dissolved in 2 cups of water.  or you can use canned but the cubes are way cheaper.

Meat- I use a pound of venison steaks cut up into small cubes.  You can also use any cut of beef or even ground meat.  Heck, use whatever meat you want!  About a pound makes for frequent bites of meat.  Use more or less depending on  your circumstances.  Oh, and cook it up in a frying pan before adding it to the crockpot.

Vegetables and add-in's:

You can pretty much throw anything you have into this soup and you won't ruin it.  The only things I've found that make it "bad" are sweet potatoes (makes it sweet, very odd for soup) and zucchini (makes it bitter)  also, I once added too many carrots and wasn't pleased with the results.

Corn (one can or about half a bag of frozen)
Peas (one can or about half a bag of frozen)
Carrots- cut up (about 3 large or a handful of baby....a whole can was too much for me)
Potatoes (one can or about 2-3 regular sized)
Green beans (one can or about half a bag of frozen)
Celery (2-3 stalks, cut up)
Tomatoes ( a can or one or two cut up)
Beans ( a can of whatever you want-kidney, garbanzo, black...doesn't matter)
small pasta (about a half cup...add during the last hour of cooking!)  you can use orzo, pastina, alphabets, etc.
Spices! garlic powder, salt, pepper, oregano- anything you'd like, especially if your sauce is on the bland side.

Pick and choose what you want, what you have and go!  the only things you can't not add are the sauce and the broth....other than that, experiment away!  Throw it all in the crockpot on low for about 8 hours (if it's longer, it won't be ruined...if it's much shorter, the potatoes might not be cooked.)

:)

The recipe above will make about 6 decent sized bowls!

Yard sale dress into two aprons

So I love yard sales.  Sometimes i'll see things I really don't need/ have use for but buy them anyway.  This dress was one of them.  It was nwt and 25 cents....plus it was black and pink and ruffly!!.....but I knew I'd never actually wear it as a dress....but I could turn it into something useful....like an apron!  As I started cutting it apart, I realized I could make it into two.  I can't give you exact instructions but I thought posting this might give others some inspiration to re-make something, other wise headed to the garbage, into something useful!!  Here is the dress:

I then cut down the side seams and ended up sewing the front tow panels together back wards, taking the collar, cutting it off and sewing it around the new collar.  I took the belt off, cut it in half and used it as apron strings.  I used a lot of the original edges so it wasn't too much sewing.  It looks huge but I spread it out to show the detail.  It turned out like this:

I then had the back panel left.  It looked like a small apron, but I had no belt left, so I had to add ribbon for the belt and neck loop but it turned out like this:

It's a lot smaller than the first and definitely for a small person or child but at least I didn't let anything go to waste!  This is all I had left over from the original dress (and I had to add ribbon to finish the second apron)

So.....get creative with something today!!! cut it up, sew it, embellish it, and have fun! :)

Homemade chewy dog treats

I make these from time to time for our dogs and they love them!!  Super easy and they make quite a few.  

You will need:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (dogs shouldn't really have white flour)
3/4 nonfat dry milk powder
1 egg
1/2 cup oil
2 beef bouillon cubes dissolved in
3/4 cup boiling water
3 tbsp. brown sugar

preheat oven to 300 degrees.
combine all the ingredients and knead until mixed well
roll out on floured surface until 1/4 inch thick
use cookie cutters or just cut into squares with a knife
put on greased cookie sheets and bake for 30 minutes

I used little heart, fire hydrant and gingerbread man cookie cutters.  I also made two larger bones as a treat.

Sliced Baked Potatoes

The inspiration for many of my newly acquired recipes is Pinterest.  I heart pinterest.  Except when I pin something and then when I go back for it, it's a dead end, no link pin.  Ugh.  Anyway, there are sooooo many recipes and fun things to do with food on there it's insane.  I was eying up these potatoes for a while, but since I don't keep russets in the house often I had to wait until I bought some to try it out (actually, I waited until they went on sale since I hate paying full price for anything unless i absolutely have to).

The recipe called for a Paula Dean amount of butter than was repulsive so I cut back on that....basically, you just carefully slice the potatoes without going all the way though (this is tough, especially since the potatoes are so hard).  Then the recipe says to put a thin slice of butter between each slice.  Instead of that heart attack, I sprayed the thing down with some Parkay spray butter and then seasoned it with salt, pepper and some Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 450 for 45-60 minutes (depending on how big they are, idk....mine were in for about 50 and then I got impatient).  The bottoms were still a bit undercooked.  Overall, they were an ok side dish.  Maybe it was the lack of a truckload of butter but they were a tad on the bland side.  Then again, that could have just been because we are used to baby red potatoes that have a ton of flavor.  To each their own.  I wouldn't discourage you from trying it out for yourself!  And I think they look rather lovely!