Homemade Xmas Gifts

Anyways, so here's some of the things I made for this past xmas. I didn't get a picture of the scarf I made, I liked how it turned out though... Oh well. I knit a lot, and made a few clay things... I wanted to make more clay stuff, but I just ran out of time. 

Here's a headband I made to match a hat that I didn't get a picture of. You can't really see the pattern, but it has rib knit along the edges and in the middle it's broken rib. I think if I make another one, I'll make sure the rib and broken rib don't line up. 

Dice bag! I love the stripes. The white yarn is fuzzy and the green yarn wasn't... But, whatever. We were supposed to fill it with all kinds of dice, but we never got the chance too. 

Back scrubber! This was like knitting a scarf with the smallest needles I've used. Ugh. Took forever. 

This is what took the longest out of the clay projects. I took the box apart in order to stain it all, and I also used sandpaper to make some worn areas. I was planning on adding more clay features, but the clay wouldn't stick to the wood. So, I painted it instead. After I made the dragon! It's the biggest dragon I've made. You can't really see but one eye is open and looking up. I think he turned out adorable! 

This was for my boyfriend's new friend at school. She mentioned how she really liked the unicorns that also had wings (alicorns), so he came home and asked me what they're called so he could tell her their name. Then asked me to make her one for xmas. The last pony I made was butt ugly, so I'm happy this one came out cute! 

Peacock! This is an ornament I made for a friend. I worked really hard to make it more color-accurate, but the beak ended up become much too long and I didn't want to try to make the wings. They'd be really complicated! 

A lizard! This was actually a request, and I had planned on making more desert themed animals but ran out of time. 

Rags. I actually haven't given these to their recipients yet but they know what they are getting anyways. 

Just a hand warmer. I stuffed some jewelry into it as well. 

These were fun! Corset shaped bags! I put hand soap, sewing kits, and jewelry in these. I wanted to put more, but again I ran out of time. 

Here are the sewing kits. Thread, thread cutter, pins, needles, a zipper in one and I think some velcro in the other. They're good to keep in cars for emergencies! 

No pics until AFTER xmas.

I planned on posting all of these pictures of the things I've been making recently, but then I decided against it because I DO post my blog posts on my blogs Facebook page and I don't want people seeing all these things, deciding they like it, then finding out it was for someone else. So I'll be posting them after xmas.

Meanwhile, I've been working my fingers off knitting. Scarves are always difficult for me, because they seem to take SO long to make. I've saved the hats for last, because they go so much more quickly and feel more satisfying. I knew I'd be burned out by now, and it's only the beginning of December! After all the knitting, I've got clay figures I need to make. One will be rather simple, and the rest I haven't even decided what exactly they'll look like.

So, sorry I haven't been posting, but all I have been doing is knitting, knitting, knitting for xmas. I'll make absolute sure to get pictures of everything before I give it away, because some of the things are nice enough that I wish I could keep them. I cut a lot of people out of my gift list this year (you know, the people I never see and who never give me anything anyways) and some people I won't see until summer, so I can concentrate on those gifts at my leisure. I really wanted to start making things earlier in the year, but I couldn't decide on what I wanted to make, because my gift list was a lot longer. I usually end up making everyone one small thing, and basically mass producing the same thing to give to a lot of people, and most of them time they aren't exactly happy with that. That's the big reason why I cut the list down. The other reason is the fact that I'm sick of giving people shit when they don't return the favor. If it's been a couple of years... You ain't getting anything anymore. Or is it you ain't getting nothing? Apparently "ain't" has been added to the dictionary, so what is the proper way to use it in a sentence? Honestly I think it's an improper word, so if it's an improper sentence, it should be proper. Two impropers make a proper, right?

So, here's a link list of some of the things I'm making, in case any of you guys need ideas:

Corset Shaped Hanging Bag

Graham Knit Hat

Very Plain Knit Hat

Starfish Knit Cloth

Knit Scrubber

Knit Troubador Scarf (I did a variation on this scarf)

Double Knit Soap Sack

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Star Shaped Dishcloth

Hey, an actual project to show you guys! These will be happening more often as December is just around the corner and I'm make the majority of my xmas gifts. Here is one I threw together today:

This dishcloth still took me a few hours to knit, with the smaller needle size. I think the next one I make I will use a size up. It's a good size, probably will be better when it's wet.

I made a mistake, I thought that the pattern was to make each wedge individually and sew them together, but it's supposed to be knit in one piece and sewed along one edge only. I ended up making one wedge, cutting the yarn, and THEN checking the comments on the ravelry page to see if that was correct. It wasn't. So, I made one half, then took the wedge I made earlier and continued from it and made the other half, then sewed it up nice and neat up the middle. It really isn't noticeable!

Anyways, here is the raverly page for this project. It's free! Otherwise I wouldn't have done it... Haha. Maybe once I get that elusive job!

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Universal Studios

Well, we're back, and I'm positive about one thing: Universal Studios is WAY better than Disney World! At least for taller and/or older people. I went to Disney World when I was... 12? At the time, I was terrified of roller coasters but on that trip I learned to appreciate the large difference between permanently set up coasters and the kind they throw up in a day for the fair.

That said, I honestly think the best part of the trip was when we were watching a horror make up show and the guy was teasing a kid, and then said "See, this isn't Disney World... We don't have to be nice to the kids here." (There were two guys on stage, the other guy pretended to accuse the kid for throwing a rock, the second guy was pretending to yell at him for it.)

Now, the reason why I say that Universal Studios is better than Disney World? Sure, Universal may be half the size, but the coasters are WAY more intense! My favorite ride at Disney World was the Tower of Terror. (You're in an elevator that drops quickly. The rises, not so fast.) Universal's version of that was Dr. Doom's Free Fall. You lift about 5-10 feet off the ground, and then SHOOT into the air! The only bad thing about that was all the rest of the dropping and rising weren't nearly as dramatic. I'm not much of a screamer, but I definitely screamed on that one.

The Hulk coaster has to be my favorite, and I'm going to keep the reason a secret because it's a complete surprise. The Dragon Fight ride at Harry Potter was also a favorite. And the Mummy Ride... That one was also a surprise!

There were a bunch of rides that were pretty much a theater with seats/cars that jerk around and make it feel like you're on a coaster, with the added effects of a story plot, water, smells, fog, etc. We usually called these "4-D" rides, because some of the rides were described as 4-D (3D with the added benefit of the car/seat moving) but not all of them were 3D. We also called some of them Story Coasters, because some of them were more of a Roller Coaster, but not quite.

The biggest lesson we learned, though, was to wear very comfortable flip flops or sandals. The reason for this was because there are a few water rides in the Islands of Adventure park, (one of the 2 parks right next to each other) and our socks and hiking boots got SOAKED. I was very worried about getting foot fungus when we finally got back to the hotel hours later and the bottom of my feet were swollen with water. Our shoes STINK horribly.

The reason we even went alllll the way to Florida was for Universal's Halloween Horror Nights. They were basically mazes based off of popular movies/games, and they have REAL movie props and actors, instead of some broke teens trying to make a few bucks during the Halloween season. My favorite maze was based on the 3rd season of the Walking Dead. They had actors dressed up like some of the characters from the show, and lots of details as well. Resident Evil was a really good one as well, they had what I believe were the actual lickers props or at least full size replicas of the real movie props. Those were fun to see!

Well, all of the mazes we got to see were awesome. The details in every one was amazing. Like I said before, I'm not a screamer, but I definitely screamed a couple of times in those mazes, too!

Anyways, sorry to sound like I'm writing a long review. We didn't bother taking the camera, but we weren't allowed to take any pictures anyways of the stuff we would have wanted pictures of. I just had a GREAT time, and it was fun being there with just my boyfriend instead of a group of friends.

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Holiday Stress

It's October. It's the time of year I get depressed. And why? I didn't even celebrate the holidays for the first half of my life.


I need to talk about this. I can't afford therapy, or the medication, which I sorely need. I cry half the night for no reason that I can think of. I can't sleep. I know of several people in my life who end up drinking a lot during the holidays. I don't, and I don't plan too when I turn 21 (Next month!) because I have an alcoholic mother and it's just sad what she goes through.  Those people I know drink because of family reasons. I don't spend the holidays with my family. I can no longer stand driving 3.5 hours with my younger brothers to get there. However, holidays and family don't mean anything to me, because we never really celebrated it together.

The only reason I can think of for this deep stress and depression, is because I force myself to make things for my friends for xmas, things that are usually useless but take a lot of work. No one understood what the mug rugs were for last year. People throw away the reusable coffee cup warmers. Liners. Whatever they were. I made corn bags one year. Those were useful. Before they were eaten by mice. Thankfully, I have a sewing machine this year, but still.

So, I'm thinking about just taking this xmas off. At least, limit my craft making for close friends whom I talk to every week, instead of once in a while. I'm sick of making a bunch of small things for a bunch of people. I'm thinking I'll try to make medium things for a few people, and then maybe step it up depending on how I feel.

So. I was just wondering, does anyone else get stressed about the crafting for xmas? I can imagine some do... With the quilts, and far more complicated things for a lot more people than I care for, plus having a job!

We had the bachelorette party today, so I'm planning on posting pictures of the party favors I got everyone and the ideas I had tomorrow. Just to share and give ideas to all of you. We had a real good laugh about some of the party favors!

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Acorn Fail and Other Fails

I've decided to stop trying to get the tannin out of the acorns. (Read that post here.) It was taking way too long! I'm also not using my own kitchen or kitchen tools and I don't want to inadvertently ruin them. The tannin is sort of staining the bowl and the pot I was using. I soaked them in hot water, scrubbed them, then put comet on the stains for a while, scrubbed them again and most of it came off. Which is, you know, good.

I've been trying really hard to throw an awesome party, but one thing that I was REALLY excited about suddenly might not happen. I bought some lace to make everyone garters. I thought the lace was measured in yards, but they are measured in feet. 4 feet is not 4 yards. I.... Am sad about that. However, there are these stretchy headbands at craft stores that are cheap (hopefully as cheap as I'm thinking they are) that will work just fine. Maybe it won't be as pretty, but I'm adding ribbon to them all anyways. I might even try to make garters out of just ribbon. IT WILL WORK. Somehow. I'm making some damn garters!

I also thought I'd be making headway into my xmas craft load. Well, I've started knitting one scarf so far. I have fabric and yarn for several more presents, so at least I've made some progress. I've realized that when I decide to start working on xmas in July, it means I'm going to spend a couple of months looking up online what I should mass produce for everyone. Except that this year I can't find anything that I can make for everyone. I'm going to spend a lot of time crafting...

In fact, the reason I haven't been posting very often recently is more because I've been spending a lot of time looking up what I SHOULD be crafting, instead of actually making stuff. Or looking up how to eat acorns and wasting my time with that. Speaking of which, I've decided I want to look for some good pine trees and try to collect pine nuts next. There's no leaching acid out of pine nuts, so why not? I want to gather food off the ground!!! It seems to be some survival instinct coming out. Not sure why, but there's no reason to not feed this desire of learning what natural things I can eat that I didn't have to grow myself...

Crafters block.

For the past 2 days, I haven't been doing anything but getting on the computer, reading, eating, and sleeping. See, what happened was, the blanket that I've spent over 20 hours knitting, has a twist in it. The only way to fix this is to unravel 20 HOURS of work and start over. So, I kind of hate crafting right now...

The twist is there on the right... 

So what I'm going to do, is start over, and knit the blanket from the inside out. The amount of stitches I cast on  wasn't going to be big enough for a fully grown man anyways. This way, I can stop knitting when I can tell it'll be big enough. I can only hope I can do this in one month. Which I bet I can, it will just be a month full of agony and "why did I decide to knit BLANKETS?"

I haven't even been working on clay, which, I REALLY need to for my shop. I also REALLY need to buy some boxes and shipping supplies in order to ship things for cheap. I personally hate shipping things because it usually ends up so expensive! So, I've decided to buy the boxes online, for cheap, and not have to pay for boxes at the UPS store, keeping the cost down for both me and my potential buyers. Because seriously, paying $10 for just a cardboard box and then another $20 for shipping is ridiculous. I need tiny boxes, for tiny things. That is all.

I've also decided to do that whole adsense thing on my blog. So, click those ads, please! It nets me some $$. Which we all need, right?

Anyways. I still have the KAL set up, and I've added a link to a regular pinwheel blanket (as opposed to reverse pinwheel blanket) so those of you who want to knit up an awesome blanket, go ahead and join me here.

Hopefully, I'll start working on some other xmas presents, as well as getting my shop set up better than it is now. I've got some sewing to do, and some clay things to work on for xmas. Maybe I'll be able to do some tutorials! Or at least enough pictures to help one figure it out if they want too.

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Blog Changes

I just looked at my blog a half hour ago and realized that it still reflected my preferred dark background with bright letters. I've heard tell so many times that this is difficult to read for other people, so I took some time and switched up the colors on my blog. I hope the boring white background with black words help! I'd rather my posts be read in enjoyment instead of given up on halfway through because of the way I set it up... Everything else is still colorful and pretty anyways.

I'm hoping later this month I'll be able to get some yarn to start making blankets. My goal is 3 blankets for xmas, possibly 4, since my boyfriend has taken an interest. Then again, maybe I should make him a blanket for his birthday since he wants it for his car for winter.  Leather interior gets hot during the summer, sure, but it also FREEZES during the winter!

I'm sure a lot of people will end up being jealous, but I'm not going to knit blankets for EVERYONE! That's a lot of yarn! Plus, not everyone gives me enough for xmas to warrant a blanket. I'm still a slow knitter! It'll take a while. I'm just hoping my bf's mom won't see his blanket and demand one for xmas. She's already asked for stuff.

See, that's the problem... I have to keep it a secret from almost everyone. Or else they will get all bitchy about what I made them. Then I hate xmas! This is what happens every year. Then I get over it because that is what happens to almost everybody, and we all get over it. Sometimes.

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It's not too early to be thinking about xmas!

Since I am (1) a crafter and (2) saving more and more money every month, I have to start thinking about what I'm going to do for xmas presents. Like NOW. I'm saving a dollar per number of week in the year, i.e. the 1st week I save 1 dollar, second week I save 2 dollars and so on. Well, this month I'm hitting triple digits. I'll have a lot of money by the end of the year, but at the same time this is all money from donating blood plasma. I'm doing this without a JOB.

If you're confused about the part about me being a crafter, I mean that it's going to take time to MAKE gifts, instead of buying them. Especially since I have just decided to KNIT BLANKETS for several people. Yeah. I'm hoping I might get away with buying yarn from a couple of friends of mine who ended up not using their yarn. Aaaaaand looking out for coupons. Plus, sales. So, there's that to look forward too.

Then again, the blanket I've decided on isn't really anything complicated. It's a reverse pinwheel blanket... I was looking for something that is SUPER easy, but looks really good (No stockinette stitch blankets for me, no, it has to at least look pretty) and the pinwheel blanket fits the bill. I love knitting on circulars, plus the pattern I found on ravelry knits from the outer edge of the blanket in (hence the "reverse"). I'd rather finish on DPNs, not start on them.

My favorite one is this one:

Reverse Pinwheel Blanket

But I'm sure everyone I'm going to make one for will prefer something different. Oh well, I plan on making myself one, eventually!

I also found some other striped blanket I'll probably make for my newest nephew... Just because I feel obligated to make him something, since I DID convince my brother to have a kid. 

Other xmas gifts that aren't as important as my decision to start knitting blankets include a fancy scarf(also knit), a market bag(also knit), soap cozies(also knit), clay things, a pretty wooden box, wine coasters, regular coasters, and some corset bags. 

Anyone else starting on xmas early? Because we all know I need to! 

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It was a good 4th

Sorry no posts... I'm just waiting for my camera to come back from the repair center. I'm pretty sure it should have been back by now, but they have my contact information... I don't know whether to expect it to suddenly appear again, or if I'll get a call... I've been checking my email religiously but there's nothing there. It was an expensive camera, so I'm just worried it's going to just disappear.

Anyways! I only have crappy cell phone pictures, but I wanted to share my twice baked potatoes recipe with you. But first, I made a pie for the fourth:

Fireworks!!! 

Now, I only took one picture of the potatoes and that was after I covered them with sour cream, plus it was with my BF's new phone that apparently has THE crappiest camera ever. So, it is with great shame I show you this picture. But here it is. 

Delicious Dinner

Okay. So. That brown stuff is terriyaki steak, if you want to know. That was my boyfriend contribution to this, his mother's birthday dinner. He did all the work on that, so sorry, but I can't give you the recipe. (He just puts stuff on the steak, grills it, takes it off and cuts it into strips, wraps it up in tinfoil along with a homemade terriyaki sauce and grills it again.) He never uses a set recipe when he makes meat. But he never. Messes. It up. Ever.  

On to the potatoes. We have been craving them for sooooo long. A friend made some twice baked potatoes for a xmas party we went to and ever since then... Omg. 

What you'll need: 

4 Big Baking Potatoes. 

Package of Shredded Cheese. (I used pepper jack)

Green Onion.

Bacon! 

Mushrooms. 

1/4 Stick of butter. 

Basically, bake the potatoes, (I did them at 400 for 40 minutes) while you're baking them chop everything up (Cook the bacon first) and mix it all together. Use only half of the cheese in the mixture, you'll put the rest on top. When the potatoes are baked, cut them in half lengthwise and carefully scoop out the innards and mix that in with everything else. Then stuff the skins! Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. The cheese itself lent a very delicious spicy to the potatoes... I buried mine in sour cream because I don't like spicy that much. It was still really good though. Then put them back in the oven for another 15 minutes, or until the cheese melts. 

Also. I like to rub the potatoes in butter and salt before baking. Not too much salt, but then the skins aren't just dry and icky. 

If you ever want to make twice baked potatoes, you can honestly stuff them with anything. Vegetables, sausage, cream cheese. Whatever. You. Want. Which makes these even better! 

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Happy St Patrick's Day

I originally planned on making some kind of themed sweet for Patrick's Day, but Dairy Queen is doing some buy one blizzard get one for 99 cents. I think that's more than good enough.

Corned beef and cabbage for dinner tonight and tomorrow, both times fresh! Delicious. Although I starved all day because we didn't know when we would be having dinner. It was worth the wait.

It was good to have another nice homemade dinner. Those aren't too common for me these days, seeing as I still hate cooking and I avoid it like the plague, but we just got a bunch of red potatoes. I made some pretty good mashed potatoes for New Years, and I was thinking about trying that again. But I definitely want to try making potato chips again, and also stuffed potato skins. I'm aware that red potatoes aren't the best for some of these, but they're good anyways. Right?

Another recipe I want to try soon is stuffed mushrooms. I love mushrooms. I usually saute them up in bacon grease and drown them in garlic powder. As long as they are cooked I can't get enough of them. I have plenty of friends who aren't interested in even seeing mushrooms. I hope to change that, honestly. They can be pretty disgusting if they aren't cooked right, or if they're raw...

Anyways. I'd like some (cheaper) ideas for a beginner cook. I like having a real dinner but I prefer using the microwave. I have no problem using a stove and an oven, but I end up burning things easily.

I am picky, though.

I hate chewing lettuce. I hate oats. I don't do spicy. I don't like fish except tuna and salmon. I hate coconut. There's tons more but those are the basics. I don't eat enough vegetables, I think. Although I believe that will change when there will be an abundance of tomatoes in the summer.

So if anyone has any ideas on easier recipes for me to try, I'm all ears. If there's something in it that I listed that I don't like, I can leave it out unless it's integral to the recipe. I'm trying to find recipes myself. I just... Usually end up finding things that taste good but AREN'T good, you know? It's like trying to eat healthy at McDonalds.

Any and all help will be appreciated!

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So the Love Coupons...

While I was looking for ideas for usable Love Coupons, I read a lot about people who had made them and their boyfriend/husband never used them, or they were afraid to make them because they thought that they would never be used. Well, my bf has used 2 of them so far, and I'm pretty proud of myself for choosing ones that he likes!

As a recap, here are the coupons I made for him:

• Sweets for my Sweetie: I will make/buy your craving ASAP when you present this coupon
• Ice Cream on Me: I will buy you ice cream
• Movie and Popcorn: A movie out, all on me
• GOOD Homemade Dinner: You must have an idea of what you want for dinner, but I will make everything except meat
• Picnic Planned by me: I will plan a picnic to be enjoyed wherever you want
• Chocolate Covered Fruit: I will hand dip fruit in chocolate for you
• Craft made ASAP: Any reasonable craft you want made ASAP
• Dress me up: Pick out my outfit 
• Bonus Your Choice: Whatever you want

Anyways, he has used the Craft Made ASAP for a blanket, and the Sweets for my Sweetie for pudding. The Sweets for my Sweetie has unlimited use, the Craft Made ASAP has 3 uses, and I believe the Ice Cream on Me was a 3 use too. I KNOW that he is going to use the Ice Cream one... He loves Ice Cream. The Dress me up coupon somehow got lost, so he doesn't have that one. That, the picnic and fruit are the ones I felt like he might not use anyways, but I wanted him to have a decent selection. He might not use the movie one, either, but he has a job and I don't. So, that's kind of understandable. However, one of the movie theaters around here has super cheap prices on movies that start between 4:00 and 5:30. It's like, $5.50 for a ticket. Instead of $9-11. Which is awesome. Except it's at the crappiest movie theater.

I live in the Tri-Cities, which is pretty much 3 towns all right next to each other, and there's like 2 theaters in each town. At least! So. Yeah.

Anyways, just wanted to say that if you pick out good ideas that personally suit your boyfriend/husband (Or your girlfriend/wife... I've never seen Love Coupons for girls though) then they might use them! I was doubtful of my bf using them until I thought of ideas that I knew he would like.

How I REALLY made the Mac and Cheese

So, here's the REAL recipe and not just me guessing, haha!

 1 lb Shell Pasta
5 Cups Milk
6 TBS Flour
16 Oz. Shredded Velveeta Cheese
1 Package "Lil smokies"
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Bread Crumbs

Anyways. If you look at the recipe I wrote down before, it's like half of this plus slightly wrong. I'll make a note on that post. Although I bet it tastes just fine.

 Cook the pasta. Drain. Put into lasagna dish. Cut Lil Smokies into 3rds, mix in with pasta.

 Heat milk. Add flour and make sure it's mixed in well. Slowly add the cheese and stir until it's all melted. You will need a pig sauce pan... The picture below is only 3 cups of milk. The sauce will turn orangey when the cheese is melted. Sorry about forgetting to take a picture.

 Pour the cheese sauce into the pasta... It should just about cover the pasta. If you're worried about this bubbling over the edges, go ahead and put a cookie sheet underneath the dish in the oven, which you probably should have preheated a while ago to 350 degrees F. Bake for a half hour.

Here's what the boyfriend contributed: (Raw)

Now cooked: (Forgot to take a picture before I started cutting the leftovers up to fit into a tiny tupperware)

and here is the Mac and Cheese baked:

The picture doesn't do it justice.

Anyways, there you goo.... I warn you, while you're making the cheese sauce, it doesn't really look or taste good... But it's freakin' delicious after it's all finished! You will have a hard time to stop eating! We are all full... Literally, our stomachs are maxed out... and we keep wanting one more bite!

My BF also made sausage, but it was still cooking when I was taking the pictures. I also wanted to post a picture of me in my apron I made yesterday, but he's asleep now! Full bellies do that to you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The BF's Valentine

My boyfriend loves old world maps. Well, anytime I ever find them they're expensive, mostly because they're in a giant picture frame. Then I found a tiny book of scrapbook paper with some maps and other travel-y stuff in it. So here's what I did:

Yes, the smaller hearts are supposed to look like pasties. Because the top of a heart looks like boobs. I painted the inside brown so it will look like a nicer box than it really is. You know, more like Mahogany. 

Anyways, inside the box are 2 tiny bottles of Irish Whiskey, which I hope to combine with 2 different types of gourmet hot chocolate, if I can find them at the grocery store, which has been moving everything around recently. Also in the box are Love Coupons! 

We laugh at most of the ideas for Love Coupons, so I figured I should try to make some for him simply because it would be a challenge. I've already wrapped them up, so I will try to remember to take pictures of them later to post for you guys. I printed them off then glued them to the middle of some scraps of the scrapbook paper that's covering the box. Each piece of paper had a different design on each side. 

On Valentine's Day or the day before I plan on making him homemade heart shaped Reese's pieces. I got a heart shaped mold that's made for making chocolate candy. I've learned that buying chocolate candy melts at a craft store is MUCH cheaper than buying them at the grocery store! They taste just the same, too... I think. 

Here is my list of Love Coupons, things that I think he will appreciate more than other ones: 

©       Sweets for my Sweetie: I will make or buy your craving ASAP when presented with this coupon.

©       Ice Cream on Me: I will buy you ice cream.

©       Movie and Popcorn: A movie out, all on me.

©       GOOD Homemade Dinner: You must have an idea of what you want for dinner, but I will make everything except meat (Excluding sausage or bacon).

©       Picnic Planned by me: When you present this coupon, I will plan out a picnic to be enjoyed wherever you wish.

©       Chocolate Covered Fruit: Your choice of fruit, I will dip them all in fruit for you (excludes bigger fruit (such as watermelon) or fruits that wouldn't dip well (citrus fruits for example).

©       Craft Made ASAP: Any feasible and not extremely complicated craft you want made ASAP.

©       Dress me up: I will wear an outfit of your choice for up to a day (From dressing up to going to bed).

©       Bonus: Your choice: Anything you can think of that I’m being difficult with, go ahead and use this coupon for a realistic cooperation on my part. 

I decided to have some of them reusable  like the Sweets for my sweetie (unlimited), Ice Cream on Me (3 time use) and Craft Made ASAP (3 time use). The rest are 1 use only. Anyways...

Go ahead and use any of my ideas! That's why I post them! =)

Valentines and a Hiatus

Judging by my banner choice, you can tell valentine's is on the way! My boyfriend and I don't necessarily do much for V-day, but that's because our first valentine's together I got really upset earlier in the day and couldn't shake my mood when I was hanging out with him. 

This year, though, I am determined to at least do something nicer than usual. I have recently found (and immediately followed) a blog called Love, Actually, and it's really given me the motivation in these cold months to do something special. For xmas, I made my boyfriend homemade Reese's cups. Well, now he want's heart shaped ones for valentine's. I also want to try my hand at making bacon roses, but I don't want to buy fake flowers just to take them apart for the stems. He wants the stems to be edible, but I'm not even going to try that unless someone helpfully points me in the direction of an easy to follow tutorial for edible stems that are sturdy enough to hold bacon roses! 

I also would like to give him some kind of a spa treatment, but I'm not sure if he will be in the mood for one. He hasn't been wanting a foot rub even though the muscles are visibly knotted! 

In December, he got me this awesome plush hedgehog at Shopko and since then we have learned that it's the perfect stuffed animal. It's round, and is the perfect size to use as a pillow, or wrap your arm around it and hug it. He sleeps hugging a pillow half the time, so I would like to get him one of these animals, but I'm not sure if they are going to be there anymore or if he will like any of the other animals. I don't want to end up with 2 of the same plush just because he also wanted a hedgehog too! 

Anyways, on to the Hiatus part of my post. I don't have the room or supplies where I am staying to craft. So I'm not crafting. I plan on cooking more, so I can do some posts on that, but for now, I won't be posting very often, sadly. I REALLY hope to get back to crafting soon, as I am getting very stressed without it. Until then! 

Crafting Withdrawal!

So, my boyfriend got a job a while ago, and he works night shifts mostly. So because of this, I've slowly shifted over to his schedule in order to spend time with him while he's AWAKE. The problem with this is the fact that we don't live on our own. We are staying at his mothers.Who sleeps most of the time that I am awake.

So because of this, I haven't been crafting very much. I just got a brand new sewing machine, and I want to SEW, however it's loud and I don't have anything over there to cut up and do anything with anyways. Plus, her two dogs are probably going to start barking whenever I touch that foot pedal.

The HUGE downside to this schedule is that I don't do anything while I'm awake. Our gym is closed, it's dark so I'm too afraid to go walking around at night, (this whole 12/21/12 end of the world thing is gotten slightly out of control with all of these shootings, am I right?) and no one has seen fit to hire me on as an employed, civilized and not lazy person. Not for lack of trying on my part, of course, but I am getting more and more annoyed with jobs saying they're entry level and then say that they require 6 mo-1 yr of experience. Another thing that keeps me from getting a job is a bilingual requirement.

We got the dogs new harnesses, so when it gets light enough in the morning, I'll take them on a short walk. One of them is VERY obese, and can't handle a longer walk yet, but the plan is to get him to lose weight. My BFs mother is one of those people who have no energy whatsoever and cannot do the physical tasks required for owning dogs, so as a result neither of them are used to exercise. Or having a clean yard to poop in. My personal plan is also to lose some weight, but I'm happy with having a physical thing to do before I pass out at 8-12 in the morning. I'd rather go back to the gym, though.

AWESOME harness. Ours aren't so pretty though.

For xmas, his father got me a very large bag full of mostly craft feathers, but there are beads, (mostly turquoise and silver colored) sinew, leather lacing, and other natural beading cords, and more feathers. I HAVE been wanting to do stuff with feathers, not that anyone knew that, but I'm a bit overwhelmed. They are slightly Native American, but what's with all this stuff? Do you want me to make you dream catchers? Talking Feathers? Other things I don't know about because I myself am not Native American?

Talking Feather, found on Google

I am excited about making dream catchers though. I did make a talking feather (above, not my picture), which is kind of just a pretty dowel with a feather attached, because there was a kit for it and I was bored. It was a quiet activity, let me assure you. I like it. I don't know why, but I feel like it would be a great activity for elementary students. Plus it's cool looking. Kids would be all like, I got the feather, now shut up dammit. Except they would all make one.

A new year and guitar hero

Happy New Years!

I used to spend New Years with an old family friend, Nancy. Nancy would make stained glass stars throughout the year and she would hang them all in the very large window in her house on New Years. People would get to choose a star when they came to her New Years party, putting a label with their name on the string on whichever star they want...

It was the best. Tradition. Ever. Free, one of a kind glass stars??

Then we moved away and it's annoying to drive all the way there, drink, then drive all the way back from about 2 1/2 hours away.

This year I spent with a drink and some Guitar Hero with some friends. It was more fun anyways.

Sewing Machine!!!!

My dad only could afford to give me a $50 gift card to Joannes this year, but I also got a $25 gift card from the BF's mother and had several prepaid visa cards with a little money left on each of them, so I was able to get myself a sewing machine! The receipt is about 18 inches long because of how many cards I used!

I got a Singer Simple 3232, it was a little more expensive than I was planning on but the other choice didn't have as many accessories or stitch options. Joannes was having a huge sale on all sewing machines after xmas anways!

I have forgotten my camera yet again, so I can't show you all of my xmas goodies, but that isn't what this blog is about anyways. I was hoping to get a picture of a wire tree earring holder that I made and to write up a tutorial though, but I can still do that as it was my stepmother who got the tree. I found these perfect leaf beads at Craft Warehouse in colors I knew she would like, some of them were even gold. There were in piles on a table, where you pick out beads and stuff as many as you can in a container, and the leaf beads were mixed in with lots of other beads. There were tons of little arm beads mixed in... From below the elbow to the hand. They were really creepy!

So far it seems as though everybody "loved" my gifts, which were mainly cup sleeves and mug rugs. I hope to make more, now that I have a sewing machine that has a 1-step buttonholer, that are reversible. I can add a button hole right next to the button, then you can put the button through the hole right next to it and it's on the other side of the sleeve!

I am planning more articles for this blog, including health and d.i.y. beauty tips, reviews of products and events, lots of craft related things (obviously), things I am passionate about and crafts related to those, awareness posts, and other stuffs. I hope to flesh this blog out a little more instead of just posting about how excited I am about getting a sewing machine and stuff like that. I want it to be interesting enough to read more than just one post!

Christmas Decorations - Mini Trees

I don't know what all people usually like for xmas decorations, however I (and my stepmom) like christmas trees. I don't mean the giant real tree to put ornaments on, I mean miniature ones! 

Here are a few of my favorites. (Not all are tutorials though.)

miniature christmas trees

folded paper tree

vintage button christmas tree

Magazine Christmas Tree

My stepmother has pretty tree candles, and other store bought decorations. Now that I have found all of THESE the day after Christmas, I will make sure she has more for next year! 

Happy Suggestions

My boyfriend loves snickerdoodles. Who doesn't? Some years ago, he improved on them though. By adding honey! I highly suggest this "improvement" to anyone, however, if you do, the cookies will be incredibly soft, pliant, and thin. They are so delicious though, that it definitely makes up for it!

The other new thing I tried was making giant Reese's cups. They turned out well... Just take some candy making chocolate (idk what it's called, but it's made for melting and making your own candy) and melt it. Put it into cupcake liners (while they are in a cupcake pan to keep their shape) and line the sides with chocolate. Wait until they are hard, then put Reese's peanut butter in the middle, then cover the top with more melted chocolate. It's actually really easy, but time consuming. I made peanut butter fudge for the filling instead, and put gram cracker crumbs on top of the peanut butter.

Other than that, I had a happy Christmas. It finally snowed today!! I also was able to open my black friday grab bag from Damsel in this Dress, as it was my boyfriends present to me. I got a light green velvety corset, along with a green mini bustle skirt, a pointed fairy skirt, a pirate blouse, and an ammo belt. I am very happy! Although now I need to think up a good outfit to go with the corset to wear to events.

I also got a cow patterned foot massager thing from a white elephant gift exchange, a candle, a pair of earrings, a pretty box, a scarf, and a journal, but the rest of my presents will have to wait until tomorrow, when my parents get back from my stepmothers family's house. I'm excited... I don't get to many presents these days, regardless of how many presents I hand out to other people. Yet I think I've gotten more already this year than last year! Weird... But I'm still used to being a kid and getting spoiled. I'm only just now 20!

How was everyone else's Xmas?