Our New Home... For now!!

I haven’t been able to blog for the last few weeks because we have been packing and getting ready to move into our rental house. So that doesn’t leave much time for crafting, cooking and projects. I am so excited to have a yard and to unpack the other half of our stuff that has been in storage for 6+ months. Plus I have more than 5 cabinets in my kitchen in the rental house.  It is the little things that I enjoy now! J Ha ha ha ha. We decided to rent because we don’t know how long we will be in Tulsa (this could be a short stay) and we just sold our house in Texas after 5 and a half months of being on the market. I know that isn’t bad in the housing market today but it was still quite stressful.  So we decided that renting was the best, plus my hubby knows a home builder that his company does a lot of business with and he had a rental available right after we sold our house. Here are some pictures of the blank space without any furniture in it.

Now, that we have a house and space I have a huge list of projects I want to do. Being in a rental makes a lot of my original ideas a little hard to do but these projects won’t be as major as some of the upgrades we did to our last house since we can’t make permanent changes to the house.  I think my list will last me awhile though, what do you think??? J

I should be able to start on these soon once we unpack everything, (another joy of moving)!!

Swarovski Crystal Lanyard

I just realized the other day that I have not had a jewelry craft post since I started my blog. That is changing today! I used to be real big on making jewelry but I have only made a few pieces for special occasions in the past few years. To me jewelry making is fairly easy and somewhat relaxing. There are frustrating patterns and pieces but for the basic stuff it is pretty simple.  With that said this will be my first jewelry tutorial post and hopefully not the last. J

Last night I decided to make a lanyard for my work badge. We are required to wear our badges at all times and it has to be visible from the waist up. The only problem with that is we have to use our badge all the time to get into different areas of the building so it is easier if it is on a lanyard or retractable clip. I decided to combine the two into something fashionable (well as much as a badge can be! J ). Here is my lanyard that was issued with the badge.

Not so pretty, right?

Supplies needed:

34-40 inches of bead stringing wire (I used Beadalon 7 strand that I had on hand)

2 crimp tubes or crimp beads (whichever you prefer)

2 jump rings

1 large split ring (key chain sized)

1 small split ring

1 retractable badge clip

Jewelry crimpers

Chain nose pliers

Lots of beads or crystals (I used all Swarovski clear crystals, 4- 12mm cosmic bead, 6- 16mm Cosmic bead, 21- 3mm Helix bead, 15- 10mm Helix bead, 18- 6mm Bicone bead, 12- 6mm Round bead, 7- 8mm Round bead, 16- 6mm Briolette bead, 4- 12mm Graphic bead and 12- 10mm Disco Ball bead). This part is completely up to you so be creative.

All of these items can be found at any craft store. The bead choices will vary by store and I buy my Swarovski crystals from Bluemud online because they have a huge selection and are reasonably priced.

Okay to begin you need to figure out how long you want your lanyard. I am tall and didn’t want the badge to be up too high so I measured out my wire to be 40 inches, plus you want to be able to take it on and off over your head. This gives me the length I want plus extra wire to play with when crimping and finishing off the end. My actual finished lanyard is 34 inches.

Slide your crimp tube/bead on the wire and hold it in place towards the end of your wire. Take the end of your wire and slide it back into the crimp tube to make a loop.

Make sure you have excess wire (1/2 inch) on the other side of the loop and crimp tube; this will be covered by the beads and gives extra support at the end. Now take your crimpers and crimp the bead and then round it.

*For novice jewelry makers look at your crimp tool and notice that it has 2 different shaped notches, the bottom is the crimper (elbow macaroni shaped) and the top is the rounder (circle shaped). You place the crimp tube/bead in the crimper part first and squeeze and then place it in the rounder and squeeze to make it pretty.

You should have a loop like this:

Now you can start stringing your beads. This is the easy part!! Make sure your first couple of beads cover up the 2 strands of wire that are at the end so that none of it is poking out.

I used a bunch of various shapes and sizes and I did not do a particular pattern when stringing my beads. You can do it like this or you can use a bead board and design a pattern to follow. I just used my bead board to separate my types of crystals.

As you are adding beads keep in mind the length you want it to be and work from there.

Once you have finished stringing the beads you can string your other crimp tube. You will want to do the same as you did in the beginning by stringing the wire back through the tube and making a small loop.

(I left a little bit of room for my beads to move around because I still have to add the retractable badge clip to the middle.)

Crimp and round the bead as before. You will now need to trim the excess wire or if it isn’t a lot then you can just string it through the beads to hide it.

Now take your 2 jump rings and open them up a little with your chain nose pliers. Slip the loops from your lanyard into the ring and then close it. Be sure it is fully closed so that it can’t slip out. Before you close the second jump ring attach the first closed ring to it so that you have a necklace that can slip on and off of your head.

Now you just have to add the retractable badge clip. Take your large split ring, the one that looks like a key chain ring, and hook the clip to it. Now slide your small split ring onto the large one.

Lay your lanyard on a flat surface and find the middle of the necklace. This is where you need to attach your small split ring that is attached to the badge clip. I just slide mine onto the wire like you do when you attach a key or a key chain to a split ring. You may need to use your chain nose pliers to create an opening if you aren’t a pro at taking keys off of key chain rings. (Be sure that your badge clip is facing the right way before you attach it).

Voila!!

Now you have a beautiful and fashionable lanyard for your work badge!

Linking up to:

Tatertots & Jello

Serenity Now

Serendipity & Spice

Positively Splendid

Healthy Wrap for Lunch

I just wanted to make a quick blog post about these awesome wraps I recently discovered called Flat-outs. A friend of mine at work goes to Weight Watchers and she was told about these Flat-outs and all of the awesome things you can do with them, plus they are healthy. So of course I went out and got some! I bought the Light version in Original, only 90 calories for one wrap and they are good size. Here is a quick recipe that I made for lunch the other day, the best part is the turkey wrap I made was only 236 calories and very filling:

1 flat-out (Original Light)

1 wedge Weight Watchers Jalepeno spread cheese

3 thin slices Jennie-O Cracked Pepper Turkey Breast

a handful of baby spinach

3 slices of a Roma tomato

1 1/2 slices turkey bacon (cooked and refrigerated)

Spread cheese on entire flat-out, lay turkey breast on top of cheese. Spread spinach evenly on the turkey, then add the tomato slices. break the bacon up into pieces and lay on the top. Then roll the wrap up and wrap in saran wrap and pack in your lunch box/bag.

I brought some carrots with mine but you can bring anything with it. Delicious!!!

Crock Pot Ranch Pork Chops

Tonight for dinner I made crock pot ranch pork chops, garlic parmesan mashed potatoes and oven roasted green beans. Yummy and super easy! This one is a keeper.

I found the pork chop and mashed potatoes on Pinterest and changed the potato recipe a little, click here to see the original recipe from Chef in Training. The green beans are a go to recipe of mine that I love. I have shared all three here.

Crock Pot Ranch Pork Chops:

4-6 boneless pork chops (I used 4)

1 can Cream of Chicken soup (I used Campbell's Healthy Request version)

1 packet Ranch Dressing mix (I used Hidden Valley)

Place the pork chops in the crock pot and pour the soup over them. Add the ranch dressing mix and stir together. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.

Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes:

My recipe is quite different than the one I linked above because of how I like my potatoes. I used less milk and did not roast my garlic. I also do not use a mixer to make mashed potatoes. I don't think you need a mixer, use a little muscle and they are fine. :)

6 med-large red potatoes (about 2.5 lbs)

1/3 cup skim milk

5 Tbsp. of margarine

3 cloves of garlic minced

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Peel and cut up your potatoes, place them in a pot and cover with water. Bring potatoes to a boil and boil them until fork tender. Drain potatoes and put them back in the pot. Mash the potatoes with a masher, and then add the milk, cheese, garlic and margarine. Mash and stir all ingredients together.

Oven-roasted Green Beans:

1/2 lb fresh green beans with the ends snapped off

1 Tbsp Olive oil

1/2 tsp. of kosher salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Rinse green beans and snap or cut the ends off. Place them in a bowl and add olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to make sure they are all covered. Lay them out on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Roast for 15 minutes, halfway through stir.

This is a great, quick and healthy meal. I hope you enjoy it.

Linking up to:

Tatertots & Jello

Serenity Now

Serendipity & Spice

Positively Splendid

Monogram Fabric Wreath

So I was on Pinterest again and I saw this cute wreath idea made from fabric. I love wreaths as some of you may know so I was very interested in making this one. The wreath design is from The Patriotic Peacock blog which I now follow because she has some great ideas and cute stuff in her Etsy shop. The link to her wreath tutorial is here .

I like to make things my own even if I get the idea from someone else. On this one I added a wooden initial that I painted white because I plan on putting this at the entrance to my cubicle/office space at work. I have wanted to do a wreath with an A on it for our front door but I haven’t figured out what type of wreath for that project yet. So, now with this wreath I can have one with an H on it!! Plus I love anything monogrammed!!

Here are the supplies and steps to make your own monogram fabric wreath:

Supplies:

Straw/Styrofoam wreath- I used one that was 18 inches in diameter (Straw wreaths are cheaper than the Styrofoam ones)

½ yard of fabric (maybe less or more depending on your wreath size, I had very little left over)

2-4 sheets of felt (I used 1 and a half sheets, depends on flower size)

Straight pins

Pearl head pins (I used just white head pins to match my fabric better)

Wooden letter

Paint

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Assembly:

I painted my wooden letter first so it would dry while I was assembling the wreath. I used Americana white paint and painted on 2 coats. Set it aside to dry.

 

To start on your wreath, cut your fabric into strips that are 2-3 inches wide.

 

Then start wrapping your wreath. (Tip: Leave the plastic on your straw wreath so it stays neat and the straw won’t fall off and get everywhere.) To wrap your wreath, use the straight pins to secure the fabric at the start and end of each strip, shown in the picture below.

 

Continue to wrap until the wreath is completely covered, like so.

Now you can start on your felt flowers. To make the flowers you will need to cut out circles from your felt. I used the top to a candle jar because I can’t freehand very well with scissors. J You can do any size circle you want depending on how big you want your flowers to be and you can cut as many circles as you want to have lots of flowers or just a little bit. I made my circles about 2 inches in diameter and cut 30 of them.

Next time I would do bigger circles because I thought the bigger ones looked better but I had already cut my circles. Trial and error!!

Now take your circle and fold it in half.

Then fold it in half again.

 

Pin this flower on your wreath with a straight pin and continue with as many flowers as you want. (Note: As I pinned I opened the flowers up a little since mine were on the small side.)

Once you have pinned as many or as few flowers as you want you can start adding the pearl head pins to some of the flowers to accessorize. I placed some in between flowers as well. Don’t push the pin all the way down because you want them to “pop” with the flowers not hide within them.

Now you can add your painted wooden initial, if it is completely dry.

You can hot glue your letter to any part of the wreath you want but I think it looks best opposite of the flowers. I wanted my flowers at a diagonal so I put the letter on the upper left hand side of the wreath. Be sure to glue any part of the letter that hits the wreath so that it is secure.

 Now you have a gorgeous monogram fabric wreath!! The fabric/felt combinations are endless!! I can't wait to make more.

Linking up to:

Tatertots & Jello

Awesome Chicken Enchiladas w/ Salsa Chicken

Recently I made the best enchiladas I have ever had!! I found the enchilada recipe on Pinterest and made a few minor changes of my own. They were awesome!! Here is a link to the original recipe.

Here is what I did:

Chicken Enchiladas w/ green chili sour cream sauce

8 flour tortillas (I used Mission Carb Smart)

2 cups shredded Salsa chicken (see recipe below)

2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

3 Tbsp. margarine

3 Tbsp. flour

2 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 cup light sour cream

1 (4 oz) can of diced green chilies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9X13 pan with Pam. Mix chicken with 1 cup of the Monterrey Jack cheese. Roll the chicken mixture in the tortillas and place in the pan. Set aside. In a sauce pan on the stove, melt margarine, stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add chicken broth and whisk until smooth, heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Stir in sour cream and green chilies. Do not bring to a boil; you will curdle your sour cream if it boils. Pour sauce over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese. Bake the enchiladas for 22 minutes and then for another 3 minutes under the broiler on high to brown the cheese.

The Salsa chicken recipe I found on this blog. It is a great recipe because you can use it for so many different things. We had a lot of leftover chicken so I am going to make chicken nachos later this week to use it up. Plus it is good by itself. Here is the recipe:

Salsa Chicken

4 frozen boneless/skinless chicken breasts

1 pkg. Taco seasoning (I used McCormick)

1 16 oz jar of Salsa (I used Hell on the Red)

Put all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours. The original recipe said 4-6 hours but I was at work all day so mine was more like 9 hours. It was perfect. Take out of the crock pot when finished and shred with 2 forks. It falls apart because it is so moist. Use this in the chicken enchiladas, adds a ton more flavor than plain shredded chicken.

I served this meal with my go to Spanish rice and we were full and happy!! I will be making this again and again.

Goodreads

Last year I found this great social media reading site called Goodreads. It's like Facebook but you track and review books you've read. You have friends and can see their books and reviews and it is a great way to get suggestions for new books. Plus I love reading so this is perfect for me. I usually read during my lunch hour at work and then on the weekends but I guess you could consider me a bookworm.

I also like the feature where you can challenge yourself to read so many books in the year. Last year I challenged myself to read 106 books, 2 a week. It was a little too much of a challenge. I only did 71. So this year I made it a little more realistic.

This year I plan to read 75 books. Since I almost met this goal last year I figured it wouldn't be hard to do. I tend to be fairly consistent with reading but with us moving this last year I had a few months where I didn't read hardly at all. I am hoping that I can keep on track this year. Plus my sister and I have a little competitiveness with this so that makes it fun too!!