Feelin Crafty

As I was browsing Pinterest last night, I came across this link for 101 Handmade Christmas Ornaments. There were a lot of cute ideas, but #45 caught my eye right away. Anything involving felt and birdies is  right up my alley! 


After reading the tutorial at A Feathered Nest, I was surprised to find that it didn't seem too difficult. I pinned the link, thinking I may come back at some point totally intending to come back and make some of the ornaments. ;)

I don't know what got into me, considering it was after 11 pm. I think it was a combination of boredom, frustration with the Pinterest app and inspiration from all the pretty Christmas-y pins and tutorials. But anyway, I got the idea in my head that even though I can't sew, I could totally make one of those little birdies!


I gathered up my supplies from random drawers and boxes around my house. I found some soft, pink cotton fabric, red and white felt, and a few random spools of thread in red, pink and green.

Now, I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that this took me about 2 hours to complete... I think most of that time was spent threading needles and trying to tie knots! If you can sew, it definitely wouldn't take you that long!


I deviated quite a bit from the tutorial, based on what supplies I had on hand. I didn't have a fancy vanishing fabric marker, so I just used a pen to draw a wing shape on the white felt and then freehanded the stitching. I did use her stitch guide to get some ideas and help for the wing embellishments, but mostly I just did whatever I thought might look cute. Then I made sure to cut inside the pen line so that you wouldn't see the tracing.
For the body, I found a picture I liked online and then just traced it onto a piece of computer paper. Then I layered the stencil onto two pieces of the pink fabric and cut it all out. So easy, and no pen marks needed! Oh, and I didn't use an embroidery loop, because 1- I didn't have one, and 2- I honestly don't know what she used it for! :) 


After all the parts were cut out, I used felt glue to attach the wing to the top piece, cut out a little beak from the red felt and glued it in between the two pieces and then just started stitching both pieces together. I had no idea what I was doing, really, so the stitches are all randomly spaced and uneven. But we'll just call that, along with all the frayed edges, "shabby chic". :)
I forgot about the eye until I was almost at the end! Oops. I tried to read several stitching tutorials, but I could not figure out the "french knot" for the life of me! Instead of getting frustrated, I just used black thread to make a little X and called it good.


I stuffed it with some tissue and that was it! I was pretty happy with how it turned out, although it isn't as Christmas-y as I hoped. I like it even more this morning. She's so cute! 


Pretty good for someone who can't sew, huh?

Very Pinteresting

I made something that I pinned on Pinterest! It almost makes me feel justified in all the time I spend on there. :)


I had pinned these Pizza Balls a long time ago and have been thinking about them all week. I was thinking they might be like the pizza rolls from Old Chicago, but easier!


I didn't have any canned biscuits, so I decided to try it using this recipe from Baby Loving Mama (which I had made once before and they were delicious!).


Because I don't like to get my hands dirty and gooey, I decided to mix the pepperoni and cheese into the biscuit dough with a spoon. I added the melted butter/milk, stirred it a few times, added the pepperoni & cheese and then finished mixing it all together until it was all combined.

I spooned the dough into a cupcake pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Then I topped them with fresh grated parmesan, because I like to be fancy sometimes.

Now cooking was a little tricky... The biscuit recipe said to bake at 450 for 8-12 minutes, but the pizza balls recipe said to bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes. If you use the made-from-scratch biscuits, I would definitely recommend going with the 450 degree oven. I tried it at 400 and they weren't cooked after 15 minutes. I bumped it up to 450 and they were golden brown in 5 minutes.

They came out more like pizza muffins instead of balls. And I thought I had used a LOT of pepperoni, but when I cut into the biscuits, I could hardly find any! Next time I would use more, or at least make sure they are more evenly dispersed through the dough. And add lots of cheese.


Serve them with marinara sauce.

Overall, they were not as good as I had hoped. If I make them again, I will probably use canned biscuits. 




Anyway, I still ate them while I watched Eclipse. I'm having my own Twilight Saga Tuesdays at my house. Except it's more like "Twilight Saga Wednesday, Thursday, Fridays" because frankly, I don't want to wait a week in between watching each one. :)


Okay, I'm off to go find more things to pin!
Happy Weekend!

I've moved!

My blog has  a new home!

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:-)

The Best Dinner I Ever Made

This week Steve and I started meal planning. Therefore, I've been cooking (and baking!) a lot more. I like it, I feel so domestic. In the past week I've made spaghetti with garlic bread, delicious steak sandwiches, banana nut bread, shepherd's pie, strawberry cupcakes and (the star of this post) the most amazing pasta dish.

I had been craving my favorite dish from the Cheesecake Factory: Farfalle with Chicken and Roasted Garlic
It's the only thing I ever get there and it is so delicious. 
I put it on the meal planning menu and then freaked out a little since I had never made it and had no idea where to begin. After searching the internet a little, I had a game plan.


Pasta with Chicken and Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce

serves: 4


Ingredients:

• 2 cups pasta          
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces   
• 4 pieces of bacon, diced        
• onion, diced    
• mushrooms, sliced (optional)
• sundried tomatoes (optional)
• canned tomatoes (optional) 
• roasted garlic       
• 1/2 cup milk         
• 1/2 cup cream         
• butter         
• 1/2 cup peas         
• parmesan cheese, grated

Ahead of time, roast the garlic. Take off as much of the papery skin as possible. Then, cut off the pointy end to expose a little of each clove. Set on a piece of foil, drizzle with olive oil and wrap in the foil. Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes. Let it cool before using.


Begin by cooking pasta to al dente. Drain, reserving at least 1 cup of the pasta water.

Cook the diced bacon in a pan until crispy, then set aside. Remove half of the bacon grease and add 1 tbsp butter to the pan. 
Add the onions and carmelize. 
Once the onions are cooked, you can add the optional ingredients  (mushrooms, tomatoes) and cook until they're soft.
Then, add as many roasted garlic cloves as you like (I used about 6) to the pan and mash in the pan with a fork. 
*Note, roasted garlic has a sweeter, less intense flavor than fresh garlic. We REALLY like garlic and 6 was plenty for us.

Next, turn up the heat on the pan. Season the chicken with pepper (and any other seasoning you like, just don't add salt at this point.) Add the chicken and stir.
Add 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water and reduce heat to a simmer.
Add 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of cream (or 1 cup half & half).
Simmer until the chicken is cooked and no longer pink inside.


Once the chicken is cooked, add the bacon back to pan. Add 1/2 cup of frozen peas. Stir.


Add 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese and cook until sauce is thick. Check the seasonings and add salt/pepper if needed.


Stir in the pasta. If the sauce is too thin, add more parmesan cheese. If the sauce is too thick, add a little more pasta water.

Serve and enjoy!
I shaved a little more parmesan and cracked black pepper on top.


It was delicious! It was very similar to the dish at the Cheesecake Factory and definitely cured my craving. I was proud...I'm pretty sure this was the best dish I've ever cooked. :)



Hope you enjoy!

Randomness

• I've decided (unbeknownst to Steve) that July is going to be our "Month o' Doing Stuff!" (We'll work on the title later...) Essentially, I just want to do fun activities. Two that I have in my head so far:
  -Elitch Gardens on July 10th, specifically to see Jason Derulo in concert. I get a deal on tickets through work! P.S...Steve won't ride the roller coasters, so I need a buddy!
  -Rockies baseball game. I've never been to one! In fact, I've never been to a professional sporting event at all. Ever. Shocking, I know. But I've heard that the "Rock Pile" seating is pretty fun, and it's only $4!
  
• For the past oh, several months, my face has decided to rebel and act like a 15 year old's. It has not been pretty. I'm here to tell you that months of major breakouts is not good for a girl's self esteem. I'm thankful for a sweet boyfriend who tells me I look pretty even when I don't feel it.
• Today is the first day in a long time that I have liked my hair. I would take a picture, but that would involve showing you my face. (See above.)
  
• I've decided that cute clothes make coming to work approximately 1% less excrutiating.
• I may or may not freak out a little every time a trailer for Eclipse comes on tv. In related news, I am not really 15 years old. It just seems like it. In further related news, how hot is Robert Pattinson??? *sigh*
• I'm getting excited to move into our new apartment...even though it's still like 6 weeks away! (more to come on this...)
• However, the idea of decorating a whole apartment is really daunting and is stressing me out more than I'd like to admit.
• Steve bought me us a "fake" Le Crueset. Ok, it's not really fake. It is a Martha Stewart enameled cast iron dutch oven, and cost almost as much as the other kind, so I don't think it really qualifies as fake. ANYWAY, I'm in love. It's red and beautiful and it makes me so happy to have it in my kitchen. (Nevermind the fact that we've only made chili in it once so far... it will get it's time to shine come winter!)
• I go through phases where I am addicted to one thing on the Internet and spend all of my time reading/watching until I'm completely finished or caught up. Usually it's a blog or website or topic, it varies (and may or may not be Twilight related). For example, a few months ago it was the Pioneer Woman's love story, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. Right now, it happens to be Twilight related... I'm reading listening to The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella. (In preparation, of course, for June 30th!) Because I feel that's it's absolutely necessary to devote every spare second to this addiction, I'm thankful for internet on my phone!
• In general, but more so in light of recent news headlines, the mere thought of Miley Cyrus makes me irate.
• It has taken me over 5 hours to write this blog at work. Maybe someday I will actually post something that doesn't consist of bullet points and random thoughts. Oh, I know! I promise a real blog about the impending move and my thoughts on living with....dum dum dum, a BOY! :)

vampires in the workplace

A little while ago, I walked to the other side of the building and saw this:

A girl had this huge poster (along with other Twilight paraphernalia) plastered on her cubicle wall that faces the main hallway.

Immature? Probably.

Inappropriate for the workplace? Most likely.

But is he unbelievably drool-worthy and sexy? Definitely!!!

I'm just glad she did it so I don't have to... (kidding! I would NEVER get any work done with those eyes staring at me all day!)

I'm just sad she didn't go with this one:

I think I need to go take another walk to the other side of the building now...

P.S. Only THREE more weeks until Eclipse! Yay!

Grateful

Today I am grateful for sunshine, lunch at Panera with a friend, getting off work early and Robert Pattinson. (hey, I'm just being honest here.)



Happy Friday!




p.s. Remember Me in theaters today!