Easy DIY Wrap Bracelet

This is a DIY wrap bracelet. Yes, it is crochet. Don't panic! There are only two stitches in this and there is a video you can watch to show you the step by step process. If you don't know how to crochet you can go there and follow along! If you know how to crochet the following post is the pattern!

Here they are both wrapped and unwrapped.

It wraps around my 7.5'' wrist four times loose or five snug.

Supplies
Scissors

5mm beads with large holes (any color)

Worsted Weight Yarn (any color)

Tapestry Needle (18)

Button (inch)

Step One: Thread 36 beads (or more if you want it longer. It is about an inch for each bead. So, if you add one extra bead it will be an inch longer.)

Step Two: Chain 6
Step Three: Join with a slip stitch to form a ring like below. Chain one.

 Step Four: Work 12 single crochet into the ring. Join with a slip stitch to the first single crochet.

Step Five: Chain 6. Slide a bead down the yarn until it is snug against your work then secure it with a chain stitch.
Step Six: Chain 3.
Step Seven: Slide a bead down the yarn until it is snug against your work then secure it with a chain stitch.
Step Eight-Thirty Three: Repeat Steps Six and Seven until you are out of beads.

Step Thirty-Four: Cut your yarn (leave a LONG tail when you cut because you are going to sew your button on with this tail) and pull it through your loop creating a knot.

Step Thirty-Five: Thread your needle and sew your button onto the end making sure to wrap some extra yarn around the base of your button to make it more secure. 

Step Thirty-Six: Sew in both tails!

VIOLA! Wear and enjoy your new wrap bracelet.

DIY Pink Yarn Bow w/video walk-through

I filmed, edited, and posted a video about the products I have used up. I didn't like it. When I made it, I made it because I thought people expected that kind of video. It was wrong of me and set me off balance. I knew I wasn't taking my YouTube channel in the direction I felt comfortable. I'm not a beauty expert or "beauty guru" by any means. So, I sat down and made of list of things I am an expert in. Two things were at the top. Lipstick and Crochet. The only beauty videos that will ever be on my channel will be about lipstick, that's okay. My YouTube channel is for me and my family and if others like to watch it, that is great too!

Sorry about that long intro! I just want to be clear that anything I post on my channel is there because I want it to be. I do this for fun! These are things I love. There has to be someone out there who loves lipstick AND crochet right? Or at least someone who loves lipstick and wants to LEARN a craft. That works for everyone.

Here is the video walk-through of the DIY PINK YARN BOW (this is crochet... I'll teach you!)

Don't worry! This tutorial walks you through not only how to make it but how to buy your supplies.

SUPPLIES
Scissors
A Tapestry Yarn Needle (not sharp)
A crochet hook that fits your yarn
Yarn (Size 4 Worsted Weight)

1. Buying your yarn! Go to a Walmart or craft store and find the yarn section. Then look at the label. They all have something like this on them. On the far left you can see the little yarn picture with a number FOUR in the middle? That is where you look for the number. They ALL have something like this. This is the size you'll need. There will be a wide variety 1-6. You'll notice right away #1 is TINY thin yarn and #6 is HUGE THICK yarn. We want a #4. Honestly though if you want a smaller yarn it will still WORK. It will just be a MUCH smaller bow.

2. To chose your crochet hook you'll need to look at this same label. The second square over says the knitting needle you'll need for that yarn. The third over has a picture of a crochet hook (a stick with a hook at the end) and it says the SIZE you'll need. For this yarn label it says I need a size I or 9. Here is my I-9 in the picture below. See it says US I9 then the mm that makes it an I-9. Easy as pie. You can buy a SINGLE crochet hook for $1 something or a pack of them.. it doesn't matter. They are super inexpensive like these! Make sure the pack you're buying has the size your yarn needs.

Before I go on let me explain the crochet hook sizes. Just like yarn is a 1 for small and a 6 for large.. crochet hooks get smaller the closer to a size A you get and larger the closer to a size Z you get. You need a specific size hook for each size of yarn because the hook at the END needs to be big enough to HOOK your yarn. If you have a size F crochet hook (small) and try to use it on a size 6 (large) yarn... the yarn will SLIP off. Not saying it can't be DONE! As far as I'm concerned even if you your yarn SAYS it needs a size I... you can use a size H and J just as well. The difference is literally millimeters. That being said if you DO chose to use something smaller the piece you are making will also be smaller. See the example below.

Now I don't remember if I used a different crochet hook on the one above. The hook I used for the one below was an I-9. I also held my yarn SUPER loose while making the below one because I made it on camera LOOKING through my camera so I could see what I was doing. That is why in the video I'm a little STABBY with the crochet hook. Ha ha. The results are the same though. This is the kind of difference you'd have using the wrong crochet hook. It isn't the end of the world.

3. Here is the VIDEO! Follow along!

If you already know how to crochet here is the pattern for this bow

CROCHET PATTERN
1. Begin with a magic circle with a LONG tail (1ft)
2. Chain 2, work 6 triple crochet into the circle, ch 3. sl st into your circle.
3. Repeat step 2.
Pull your beginning tail to tighten your circle and close the hole. Wrap that tail around the middle of your bow to hide this hole. Sew in ends.

If you do make this bow make sure and sent me a picture below in the comments, on instagram, or in the youtube comments! I'd love to see your creations!

Thank you so much for following along!

Crochet Alice in Wonderland Doll and Mad Hatter Hat

As previously posted there are an abundance of baby showers. The one we are going to on Sunday (June 29th) is Alice in Wonderland themed and her nursery will be the same. That is exciting!

I know that it is going to be difficult for them to find a lot of "baby" items that are along with this theme though.. so I contributed. Here is a link to my previous post which included a picture of the registry present we got them in addition to these.

Two items:
1. Mad Hatter Hat (decor)

2. Alice doll (I'm amazing lol)

I'm going to preface this (kind of?) with the fact that I didn't write this pattern. I'm not doing a blog post on how to make either of these items because they have been done before.

Click here for the mad hatter pattern
Click here for the Alice doll pattern

That being said I'm kind of going to tutorial the hair for the Alice doll because it wasn't covered extensively in the pattern. I found this part particularly challenging.

The main differences between my finished doll and the pattern provided are as follows:
1. I used larger eyes. I decided to use size 25mm safety eyes (the size used for the pattern wasn't provided)
2. Her smile is larger (I think I had to make it bigger because of the large eyes
3. I crocheted a chain and sewed it on for her headband instead of using 3 pieces together.
4. I went traditional Alice and didn't give her stockings. Alice only has red/white stockings in Through the looking glass.

The main differences between my finished mad hatter hat and the pattern provided are as follows:
1. I made it green!
2. I didn't at the pins because it is for a BABY'S room.
3. I used blue/green ribbon instead of ..fushia?

Disregard the quality of the mad hatter photo by the way.... I didn't take it. :/ I actually snatched the photo used off of her Facebook page.

Hair Tutorial!

1. Cut strands 14 inches long. I honestly have NO idea how many I used but it was something like 160?

2. Fold the piece in half and create your hairline first. Use one strand in ALL holes all the way around her face. Just in an upside down U shape around her face. There is no need to make a hair line in back as the hair we put in later will cover this. For the hairline I recommend counting stitches out from the eyes. Don't try it willy nilly because pulling them out later to make it symmetrical, sucks. COUNT!

 3. Push your hook through the hole and grab onto the loop you made and pull it through the hole.

4. Then grab the strands and pull them through themselves (the loop on my hook I just made)

I started from the base of the hairline I made on one side and went around the back, every other hole, until I reached the other side of the hairline. Then I added one every other hole for five rows.

For the top of the head (just as the original pattern suggests) I used one strand in every hole to fill it in. This covers the holes skipped. In some places I noticed some thinning and added a second strand to holes just to get more coverage. This is the reason I can't remember the exact number of strands I cut. I also did a lot of backtracking.

She absolutely LOVED them though. :D I'm planning on making two more of these but giving them regular outfits and matching their hair to the child. I'll place those updated photos below.

Thank you so much for following along!

Super Easy Peanut Butter Fudge

It's almost JULY! That means Picnics, BBQ's, Baby Showers and Weddings, right?!?!?

I'm booked for one picnic and two baby showers already. Plus, east coast vacay in July. I have mixed feelings about the trip. A little anxiety that I think everyone has before flying. Airport/Plane/Packing/etc...

I'm taking the summer off from school (mainly because there aren't any classes offered for my degree.. lol)

Both of the baby showers I'm going to are "potluck" style. I need things to BRING! This is the dish I decided to bring to the first! I always bring sweets to potluck events.

PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE

This looks super easy and I already have all the ingredients.

Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup peanut butter

Directions:
1. Bring the sugar and the milk to a boil.

2. Boil them for 2 1/2 minutes, then remove from the heat. (Make sure not to overcook. If its turned brown you've cooked it too long!)

3. Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla.
4. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper (I'm using a 8x11 because..I can't find my 8x8 lol), grease it with butter, or use a cooking spray like I did.

5. Pour the mixture in quickly! Don't over-stir like I did. Just stir until its creamy and pour it in.

6. Pat into the corners.

Let set for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator. Once set cut them into 1 inch squares. This will make approx. 16 pieces. (Unless your me.. in which case you chop indiscriminately and end up with a weird collection of choppy pieces)

And you're done! Stay tuned for the next treat I'll be making.

Here is one of the gifts we chose!

Adorable, right? We chose this as a gift but I also made two customized gifts for them which will be in the next blog!

Couldn't help adding a picture of it wrapped up. Isn't this wrapping paper ADORABLE? Ahhh. The mother-to-be loves owls too.

Thank you so much for following along!

Spinach and Mozzarella Egg Bake

This is a Spinach and Mozzarella Egg Bake. Think .. crust-less quiche. That is what I call it. Its SUPER easy to make and VERY low calorie, filling, and full of protein (that's the eggs.)

I found this recipe on shape.com here is the link to the recipe on their website. I'll also be posting the full recipe here.

Spinach, Mozzarella, and Egg: Bake

Serves: 6 (or 3)

Nutrition score per serving: 160 calories, 10g fat, 2.5g carbs, 14g protein

Ingredients:
Nonstick cooking spray
1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil
4 packed cups spinach
1 1/2 cups shredded low-fat mozzarella
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
8 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon Spike seasoning (or any all-purpose seasoning mix that's good with eggs)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray an 8 1/2-by-12-inch glass or crockery casserole dish with olive oil or nonstick spray. (I used a 9x12 worked perfectly)
3. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, add spinach, and stir just until wilted, about 2 minutes.
4. Transfer spinach to the casserole dish, spreading it around so the bottom of the dish is covered. (It won't stay covered. So, don't worry about being too precise with this step)
5. Beat eggs with seasoning, salt, and pepper, then add the cheese and onion to the mix. Stir until combined.
6. Pour into the casserole dish. Use a fork to gently stir so eggs, spinach, and cheese are evenly combined.
3. Bake about 35 minutes or until mixture is completely set and starting to lightly brown. Let cool about 5 minutes before cutting and serving. (The dish will settle down some as it cools.)

Okay, this is MY take on the recipe. If you'd like to see theirs then you can click this link! My way is easier and looks practically the same! Here's a picture of mine.

I may have let mine get a little TOO brown. All they did differently really was layer the cheese/onions on before adding the eggs but it all gets stirred up in the end anyway. My way is easier! :D

Not sure if I have mentioned this in the past but I'm on a diet. Yup! Its working too. It's ridiculously easy and I'm not sure why I didn't try it before. I'm counting calories. That is it. I've lost 45lbs since October 1st 2013 (that's in 7 1/2 months.) More than 6lbs a month! At that rate I'll be at my goal weight by 2017. Well, that was a little discouraging. Ah well... I'll get there and in the easy life changing way. I'm not eating things I don't LIKE to eat and I'm cutting out the things I ate out of convenience.

My friends and family will tell you I've never had issues eating healthy things. I'm terrible at eating too much bread and ZERO protein. I've changed that and I'm loving it.

I'm not gonna lie and say that it is effortless because nothing is. I count calories but eventually I could remember what was what and as long as I don't eat out much I don't have any problems. :D Okay, so that was a really long epilogue but the point of this blog is I found this meal and I'm WILD about it and it has protein. A protein that I don't typically eat. I hope you can enjoy this as well. I've made it twice already!

Thanks for following along!

Pinterest Frustration

Find the source of a picture! OR How to find pictures that look like what you are looking for?

I've been doing this for years, even before Pinterest made it a necessity. I've written this as comments on several pins but there are too many people bemoaning the fact that they'll never know where to find information about the picture taken. I can't keep up.

Today that ENDS. It is really easy once you know how.

1. Right click on the image.
2. Select "Copy Image Location" or "Copy Image Address" or "Copy Link Address" or if you are using IE go to properties>highlight and copy the address at the bottom.

3. Paste this address into the Google search engine and hit enter.
4. Once it tries to search just make sure and click on "SEARCH BY IMAGE."

Voila! You'll see where this picture has been posted (if it has been.) You'll also see pictures that are LIKE it. Mine for example has never been taken from my blog and used elsewhere so we won't see it here. These are all pictures that are similar though don't you think?

Google can be so neat sometimes! Thank you for following along. :D

Herby Easter Eggs

Happy Easter to those who celebrate!

I can already smell the ham and deviled eggs. I decided to do a little tutorial for you this year. Shapes on your eggs! Any interest? Well, too late. I waited until the last minute to do this last night. So, you're getting it!

Supplies:
Hard boiled Eggs
Food coloring
Nylons (I used on leg for 7 eggs)
Cups
White vinegar
tiny rubber bands
Herbs/Stickers

Step One: Cut your nylons into 3 inch sections and place an egg inside each.
Step Two: Tie each end off with a tiny rubber band, making sure to twist the nylons until its tight.
Step Three: Pull both ends with rubber bands together, twist, and secure with another rubber band.

Step Four: Lay out your cups (in my case 7)
Step Five: Put a 1/2 cup hot water and 2 tsp of vinegar in each cup
Step Six: Add your dye. There are recipes for certain colors on the box. Or you can find more HERE
Step Seven: Gentle place your eggs in the dye with your tied end facing upward for easy removal.

Step Eight: Let them sit in the cups for five minutes (TIME IT!)
Step Nine: Remove your eggs, cut off the nylons, and remove the herbs. (Don't bother removing the stickers they are fine for now)
Step Ten: LET your eggs SIT. Do not handle them until they are completely dry.

As you may or may not be able to tell I ran out of herbs. What I have here is a weed, shamrock, a weed, another weed, and parsley! I also used oregano but I somehow cut that out of the picture. The 7th item I used was a heart I just cut out of duct tape and put on the egg before submerging it in the dye. :D

Thank you for following along!

How to Buy Your Man a Valentines Day Gift

For actual men with individual personalities.

I get frustrated when I start shopping for presents for Hubbins. I have a strange URGE to look up lists like I will find a magical one that was made specifically for him. They usually look something like this:

1. Cufflinks
2. Shaving Kit
3. Wallet
4. Watch
5. Tie

6. Cologne
7. Beer Making Kit/BBQ Kit
8. Tools
9. Clothing
10. Games
11. Jewelry
12. Weird Novelty Items
13. Random Tech Gadgets
14. Accessories for Tech Gadgets

Cufflinks? I have never met anyone (outside of a wedding) who was wearing cufflinks. Only rich people and car salesmen look up LISTS for gifts apparently. Maybe it is because I'm below middle class but the same goes for ties. Shaving kit? My Hubbins keeps a full beard so that is out.

Case in point THREE emails I received with Valentines Day lists. Amazon, Walmart, and Etsy.. Lets compare.

Amazon's List Walmart's List Etsy's List

Amazon: Where is the "for him" section? I see several "for her" sections. Oh on the left bar there is a "fashion for him" but looks like other than that you are stuck looking for gifts in the "Gifts for the..." sections in the middle.

Walmart: Down toward the bottom there is a "Gifts he really wants" Which suggests a tablet, cologne, and a watch (surprise, surprise.) After clicking on it it takes me to a list of cameras, computers, tablets, and watches. There is a ring called Forever Bride 1/10 Carat T.W. Sterling Silver Men's Comfort Feel Diamond Ring in this section. It looks like..this.

 I support men wearing gems 100% but I feel like this "mens" ring is pushing that envelope. I mean... my husbands ring looks like THIS.

It is the one on the left with the ruby (mine is on the right.) It has a ruby.. correct me if I'm wrong.. but even the manliest of men couldn't sport this without some raised eyebrows.

Etsy: Out of all of them Etsy clearly shines. I wasn't expecting much... honestly. Even though I personally shop on Etsy F.O.R. everything. They have a lot of the most common suggestions wallets, a tie, cuff links, and shaving implements. I see so much more though.. customizable cell phone covers/cases, messenger bag, compass (love this idea), personalized pocket knife, and soap? I approve of this list. It could really get your ideas flowing. So B- for Etsy!

Anyway. You get the idea. Here is how to shop for YOUR guy.

Do what I do... make it a gift for HIM the easy way.

The first step is to pay attention to him. Does he complain about ANYTHING and can one of those complains (because I'm sure he does) be FIXED with a gift?? That is the easiest way to make someone happy. If his chair is uncomfortable get him a new one and have someone make a SEAHAWKS cover for it if he's crazy about his home team. (12th woman!)

If you don't find inspiration down that road here is a sure fire way to find SOMETHING for him.

1. Make a list. This is a list of everything he LIKES to do. Does he play video games? You don't have to be specific yet. Just make a list. Sports, Video games, Fishing, watching TV.. etc. Whatever it is. If he likes to DRIVE. If he likes to SIT OUTSIDE. Just make a list.

2. Make a list of things he uses. Does he have keys? Keychain. Does he WEAR jewelry? Rings? Does he wear CLOTHES? Does he drive a car? What kind of phone does he have? Does he read (bookmarks).... etc. Or even things you THINK he would LIKE to use.

3. RANDOM ITEMS! Just FUN stuff like magnetic poetry for the fridge, posters, and models.

Now that you have those chose something from 1 and something from 2 and put it together. If you want extra small stuff to go with more expensive items mix 1. and 3.

Examples:
1. Hubbins likes the game Eve Online
2. I got him a keychain that was the symbol for his favorite empire.

1. One of his favorite book series is The Wheel of Time
3. I had a woman on Etsy print the map from under the cover onto canvas

1. Quote from favorite show/video game/movie
2. PUT it on something. Shirt, book mark, cell phone case...

1. Hubbins doesn't love hunting
2. Don't make things CAMO! lol

Personalize with inside jokes, memories, or names.

We ALWAYS have spending limits for every occasion and they are never over $50 usually. So, we never have extravagent gifts. We never give each other anything we "need" but that doesn't mean they are always crazy. Last year one of the gifts he got me (not sure for which holiday) was an iced tea maker... its amazing. I didn't even know I wanted one.

On Valentines Day 2014 I will update this list with what we got each other so you can see how it worked out. I don't see Valentines Day as a "present" holiday so our spending limit is $30. This doesn't include dinner/flowers/chocolates we would like to get each other.

I'm excited. The presents that I chose for him this year are both very small. One of them is a fun item and one is a personalized (by this system) gift. Its on the sweet side because of Valentines Day.

Good Luck and don't stress. I'm sure if I got Hubbins a paper bag puppet he would love it.

LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE

Thank you so much for following along!