Puppy “Waterproof” Car Hammock

Found this on Pinterest and have meant to make one for the longest while, with a slight twist using Babyville fabric making it waterproof…I hope. Unfortunately, I was a bit late in making it because the puppies got stuck in the car a minute too long this past weekend, thus sparking an immediate reason to take the project on.

Here's to hoping the "waterproofing" works. J

Framed Earring Organizer

I was feeling in a bit of a crafty mood the day I made this. Not looking to make something for my jewelry specifically, but just feeling like making something, not food, with my hands. I have a bunch of 4x4x6 frames I used for my wedding table seating. They were not terribly expensive so I had no qualms about tearing them apart for a project, even if it didn’t work. Walking around the house looking for inspiration I finally decided to try my hand at an earring organizer. There are a number of jewelry organizing ideas on Pinterest, but none did quite what I wanted so I had to pick a little from here and a little from there to come up with my final product.

Puppy Crate Mattresses

So we have these 2 adorable shih-poo puppies. Just 20 weeks old. In the beginning of the process of owning dogs one must do quite a bit of shopping to make sure they’ve got all of the required supplies. One or two of the things you need to start out is a crate (if you are crate training) and bedding for the crate. I found a couple of cute doggy beds for cheap that we kept in their crates.

Pinterest Connoisseur (May 2013)

It’s always frustrating when a new recipe adventure goes awry. You’re all excited to find a recipe that meets your needs in a particular moment, and convinced that the ingredients will be so awesome when they come together and then BOOM! Turns our you were wrong, your exciting was unwarranted and you’re out a few dollars in expensive ingredients. Welcome to my world. J

Here are some recipes I found on Pinterest that were not all they were “Pinned” up to be. I didn’t hate the results, but I’ll probably never make them again.

Oh, and just so this is the most disappointing blog I put up one Pin that I really did enjoy.

A Few of My Favorite Kitchen Things - Part 3

Here are some more of my favorite kitchen things.

1. Electric Tea Kettle - I have a stove top kettle that works fine, but I prefer the electric one for ease of use. This one is also especially perfect because the kettle can removed from the electric stand for easy pouring.

2. Ceramic Frying Pan - Love this pan! I don't know if it's healthier than the traditional non-sticks for certain. It's almost a a guarantee that somewhere somebody will determine the material causes cancer, but for the time being I'll enjoy it true 'non-stickiness'. I am tempted to purchase a whole set of pots, but I have no room and I really like the ones I have already.

A Few of My Favorite Kitchen Things - Part 2

Here are some more of my favorite kitchen things.

1. Cuisinart Hand Blender and Mini Food Processor - LOVE THIS! A friend of mine introduced me to the hand blender years ago and when I moved out of my parents' house it was one of the first things I purchased. It's easier to use, clean and store than regular hand blenders, and the extra food processor is so helpful for those times you don't need to chop 10 tomatoes.

2. Rice Cooker - My mom taught me how to make rice on the stove a long time ago. I had it down to an art, where it would turn out perfectly moist/dry every time. My husband who is of Asian persuasion got this little number from his mom, when he moved away from home, and it is by far the best method of cooking rice I've ever used. Regular stove top rice is a thing of the past.

Pinterest Connoisseur

I am a Pinterest Connoisseur. Many of my recipes have come from Pinterest, as well as some of my recent house cleaning habits. It is funny to see posts from those who tried a Pin out that didn’t work, but it’s annoying when it happens to you. So far I haven’t been so unlucky to have a Pin turn out so bad it wasn’t usable, but there have been a few that I won’t try again, or I need to revisit the method. Here are three attempts at Pins, each with a varying degree of success.

A Few of My Favorite Kitchen Things

Everyone has their favorite can't live without kitchen items, and food supplies. Sometimes that list includes a certain knife or wooden spoon, pot or plate. I have about a hundred little things I must have handy. If ever I find myself without one of these items after a move it immediately goes on my "to purchase" list.

Here are a few of my favorites to start.

1. Coconut Sugar - To avoid using the dreaded ingredient of regular sugar I have invested in a wonderful substitute, coconut sugar. The cheapest I've found it at is Amazon.

2. Measure All Cup - I got this from Pampered Chef. It's great for getting sticky ingredients out of your cup, like honey or coconut oil.

3. Labels and Containers - To get rid of the multiple open bags of various ingredients in my pantry I went on a hunt for low priced, easy to stack containers. I found some good ones at Wal Mart, and had some decent ones from Ikea as well.

4. Garlic Press - I also got this from Pampered Chef. I've had some nifty garlic choppers in the past, and really wanted another one. I had gotten invited to an Pampered Chef party and had asked about which of the garlic products were best. My salesperson recommended this one and I am happy I bought it. You can use it with the garlic clove peel still on, it's sturdy (I've had ones that have broken with too much force), and it has a nifty little brushy/hole poker thingy to clean it out.

Make-Up Brush Container

I don’t have as many brushes and make up supplies as most girls, but I have enough that it gets annoying to keep fishing through my makeup bag for individual brushes. I had for a long time used a set up of a square glass and coffee beans, an idea I found on Pinterest. I even had a small plant pot with rice. But these took up a lot of room on my bathroom counter, and there was no way to avoid dust getting into my brushes. Don’t’ want that on your face. Yuck!

Red Clutch

Made a fabulous little red clutch for a Christmas party a couple of years ago. It worked very well and off set my peach outfit perfectly. 

Original Pattern 

A Puzzle Blanket of Memories

My second and biggest crochet project was a striped blanket for our living room couch. The stripes look random, and there isn’t a visible pattern to it, but there is meaning to every single stripe. I used special dates in our lives to decide on the number of crochet rows for each stripe. It’s been long enough since I made the blanket that I forgot what order I put the dates, and now it’s a puzzle every time I count the rows to figure out which represents what significant date. 

Other than my unusual way of determining stripes, there were 2 other stipulations: I wanted to make a blanket big enough for 2 people; and be super warm without having to fold it in half. That meant a whole lot of yarn (I don’t even remember how many skeins), and using a double crochet stitch. It took forever to make, but turned out just as I wanted.