"Travel Memories" Christmas Ornament + 2 life lessons

 I think this is my last little guy of the 4 pack of plastic ornaments I bought from Hobby Lobby weeks ago.  It's somewhat sad, I have enjoyed messing with these buggers.

I had this really cute DC scrapbook going, right? All these cute things from my trip and pictures and I was nowhere near done.

And then shutterfly sent me an offer for a free book.  Darn them.  So now my DC scrapbook is an 8x8 book that they are printing for me that I threw together in 2 hours.  Well, at least I won't feel so guilty about working on the other one slowly.

I am not sure how shutterfly affords to have me as a customer.  I cannot think of a single thing I have ordered from them that was not heavily discounted or free. 

 Oh yea...back to the ornament.  You need an ornament, obviously, Mod Podge, and papery bits from your trip.  You can also use photos, but I recommend keeping them EXTREMELY small so that you can make them form to the ornament.  And you will need puffy paint and polyflake.  Which as far as I am concerned are now staples of life. 

You will want to slather on some MP on the ornament in a small area and stick down whatever it is you want to start with.  You will be over and underlapping things so I would put too much stress on what you put down first.

Small things are better, thin paper is better, but whatever yo need to use just bend it and crumple it a bit so that you can make it lay down a little better when you mod it on there.  I usually use my nails to make creases in things as I stick them down in order to make everything sit nicely.

 So you want to stick things just around the circumference of the ornament.  You can also do this around the vertical circumference, if you will, and have the opening be in the front center, like those cute easter eggs made out of sugar that have scenes inside.

After you get everything just like you want it, you can either put another MP coat around the whole thing or you can save that for later.  I saved it for later, just because I was tired of being sticky.

Words cannot describe how bad I hate being sticky.

Anyway, get out your handy dandy puffy paint and put you a cute puffy border around what you have stuck down.  This is also a great way to keep some of the trickier pieces down, as you can basically pipe in puffy paint and it will cement them in as it dries.

I chose to put tickets in mine.  I had a couple I had not put in my scrapbook so I let them live in here.  In hindsight this will be problematic if I ever want to finish that scrapbook, but I honestly don't see that happening.

Polyflake the heck out of this little guy, and hang him somewhere to dry.

Originally I considered printing out tiny tiny pictures and making a film strip design across this ornament, but that is just going to have to wait until I buy ink. 

Things just don't always go like you plan...




Which brings me to my life lessons.

Today I really had every intention of this blog being about calzones.  I was going to make some homemade dough and have these yumtacular goodies for dinner.  Life lesson #1 is do your research.  I had a recipe for "no need to knead" bread.  This bread from what I read on the internet is actually really easy and "foolproof" and makes positively delicious bread. 

And it likely does...unless you get it out of the book my sister has.

ALWAYS DO YOUR RESEARCH.

The recipe calls for 1.5 c lukewarm water, 2 pks yeast, 1/2 c sugar, 1.5 tsp salt, 1/2 c shortening, and 6-7 cups of flour and an egg.  In hindsight, the dead giveaway that this was a terrible calzone idea should have been the sugar.

When you really start looking at this recipe, it definitely strikes me as a high sugar ratio to other ingredients.  But did I think about that beforehand? No.  It never occurred to me.  So I made the recipe, which I halved because I did not want that much bread dough, 6 cups seemed outrageous.  And it, of course, came out the consistency of really thick cake mix.  Which makes sense now that I think about it because I am pretty sure a box of cake mix is about 3 cups of flour and you mix it with eggs and water, and brownies you use like a third of a cup of oil in or something (I really can't recall all of this with no boxes to look at).  So all this is, in a way, is essentially doubling the flour and adding yeast.  Thick cake batter.

Now, after reading online a lot of the articles do say that real no need to knead bread is sticky.  They also say that you need to refrigerate it about 18 hours for the yeast action to go to work.  Did my recipe say to do that? No.  It said cover and refrigerate, with no time specifications. 

So I added a crap ton of more flour than what the halfsky should have "needed" in my mind.  And I mixed and I mixed and I added and I added and it would occasionally form into a ball and then instantly go back out of it.

I imagine because this dough had no time for gluten to build up.  Turns out that is what the 18 hours is in there for.  Or not in there, in the case of my recipe.  So I used my entire cannister of flour, still tried to make a calzone and low and behold it bakes up somewhat decently, albeit looking flat and I am super happy.  I go grinch mode and my heart swells 3 sizes. 

And then I taste it...AND I MIGHT AS WELL BE LICKING A SUGAR CUBE DIPPED IN MARINARA.

Ok seriously I had 1/4 c sugar in it and a crap ton of flour and I kid you not all I could taste was sugar.  I couldn't even taste the super delicious garlic topper I had put on it.

Life lesson learned.  Do your dang research on a recipe.  Had I seen that many of the other recipes out there called for no sugar, no butter, and no eggs, I would have thought something was highly suspicious about this recipe.  I am not saying that this stuff might not have worked if I had done the original, but I highly doubt it would have tasted anything other than sweet. 

It makes sense why we have never noticed it, because my mom only uses it for cinnamon rolls.  And they are super sweet.

Life lesson #2 is embrace your failures.  I learned more today about bread than I ever would have if this had been successful.  I think we prefer to only blog about how cute something is we made or only show off our successes, but you and I can both learn from each other's failures. 

My life is far from being the perfect blog where everything is delicious and the crafts are just darling and the page is covered in cute colors and dainty lace things.

I am a walking mess.  I am a hurricane.  And I meant it when I added "shenanigans" into my title.

Oh, and helpful advice.  If you want to pick the perfect cantaloupe you need the Melon Trifecta, or Melofecta, if you will:  1) Must have hint of orange in its skin, not predominantly green 2) must smell like cantaloupe.  Don't smell the sides, smell the navel (I don't know what it's really called but it reminds me of a navel orange). and most importantly 3) must be ever so slightly squishy.  And I do mean ever so slightly.   If you hit the trifecta you are going to need to cut him that night and eat him soon because chances are he is going to be dead on.  I have really only picked out one melon so I can't say I am pro cantalouper, but I find these qualities to be similar in many fruits.  I always pick pineapples by the smell.  And trust me, this one cantaloupe I chose could not have been more perfect.   

Onward, shenanigans await.

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The Italian Crunchtaculars

Let me preface this by saying I think all recipes should have fun names.  Who wouldn't want to try an ITALIAN CRUNCHTACULAAAAR! (you yelled that in your head I hope)

Let me warn you this will sound like a very odd recipe.  It stemmed from a cheeseball I "invented" and I have used it on a million things ever since.

You need:
-French loaf, baguette, something yummy from panera, good quality bread.
-EVOO, just a drizzle (or butter, because you know I love butter)
-Cream Cheese (I never buy anything more than reduced fat and often by FF)
-Pesto, just a smidge
-Craisins (hang with me, I swear it is delicious)

Ok so this is really simple, you cut your bread into thin slices.  You drizzle melted butter or EVOO over them so that they will crisp in the oven.  Then you slap on a layer of cream cheese and a thin thin layer of pesto.  Pesto is strong and there is no need to overload here.  Next you top with your craisins.

Actually, there are two ways of doing this.  The first one is and likely the one I did in this picture is you toast your bread in the oven before you add your toppings.  I usually do 350 until they are golden, but you can broil it too if you really watch them closely. 

OR you can put your toppings on and then pop them in the oven, which also works just fine because I use this same ingredient list on a pizza that is divine. 

It is a really nice little snack that is high in flavor and richness without necessarily having as much fat as some other snacks would.  And it's crunchy. 

HOW COULD YOU NOT LIKE CRUNCHY?!

Again, I know this sounds like the oddest combination, probably more so since it is coming from a college kid but if you like pesto, you will love this.

If you hate pesto, I suggest(o) you don't try it.  Haha.  Pesto Suggesto.  That's gonna stick.

Snackin' not slackin'! Pin It Now!

BOGO! Earrings Turned Pendants

 Lucky YOU! It's browse one get one time! Not only am I going to show you how to turn an earring into a tree pendant, but I am going to show you another one you can make out of the second earring!

I have seen a lot of these trees on pinterest, and was raiding my old jewelry and found a pair of gold hoop earrings that I am fairly certain I never wore.  Big shocker there.  Anyway it got me to thinking about all the misfit hoops out there that lost their buddy and people toss out.  Well...DON'T!  Let's upcycle them into something wearable!

You need a hoop earring, copper colored wire, and small green beads.  That is all.  Ok fine scissors or wire cutters.

I cut a length of wire, maybe 6-10 inches or so and started making my tree.  I don't like to work with long sections of wire and prefer to do it bit by bit.  I wrapped it diagonally on direction and then diagonally the other multiple times to form the two branches and begin to form the base.  As you can see I wrapped the wire around the parts of the base to pull them in together.  There is no set method on how you need to make a tree, so if you find a different pattern that is easier for you, by all means use it!  Basically, step one is just make a tree shape.

Next, I cut a new piece of wire to begin forming my canopy.  I strung various green beads onto the wire and worked in small sections, beading about 8-15 beads and wrapping the wire around the hoop a few times to secure them in place.

DO NOT limit yourself to just putting these across the front.  Send some strands across the back, and send others from back to front, etc.  This will give it more of a 3D look when it is finished. 

 Speaking of, here is my finished tree. 

Hold the phone! Ok..so this is a tree...on an earring...case closed, I have crafted a tree ring.

No but seriously You can see the little guy here next to his buddy that is going to be a ridiculously awesome bird's nest in oh...say...4 pictures? 

You don't have to stick with green, you can do a fall tree, you can do an apple tree, you can do a cherry tree...do whatever you want.  I like green, so my tree is green.  I also like trees.

I also like free jewelry.  This project has me written all over it.

Now, completely free of charge I give to you this ADDED BONUS of a bird's nest for our second earring.  To start, I wrapped my wire around the side of the hoop, then across the span of the hoop, around the other side, and repeat repeat repeat.  After at least 6-10 rounds of this, I started wrapping it down the sides and around at an angle to start building the sides of the nest.  In hindsight, the only thing I would change is making the nest cover the earring closure...but that honestly did not occur to me at the time.

Sometimes with wire wrapping like this, it is simpler to get the wire where you want it if you wrap in complex patterns.  Counterintuitive right?  Simpler due to complexity?  No but seriously once you get the first part on tight and secure, you can lace others through it and it will keep them where you want them.

If it is giving you extreme issues, defer to our good friend E6000 and let him keep those pesky wires in place.

 Next, I began wrapping the wire "around and down" to start building the bowl shape of my nest.  Instead of around the sides of the hoop, I went around the sides of the already placed wire, across the bottom of the hoop, up and around the opposite side, and repeat repeat repeat.

Don't wrap all of your wires going the same way.  Cross some under, cross some over, wrap some around more times than others or around the bottom and some not, that way you will develop a nest-y look.

Once you have this bowl shape, continue alternating between wrapping the sides around and wrapping the undersides of the bowl up and around. 

Remember, the nest does not have to be perfect and every ounce does not have to be filled in, the gaps will actually give it character and charm.

Here is my finished nest.  LIke I said I like to leave gaps, I feel like it is more natural looking than perfection would be.

After you get this done, cut a new length of wire and secure it to the bottom of the base of the nest, and then stick the remaining wire up through the nest from the bottom.  Thread a bead onto it (I used shiny bronze beads) and then lace the wire back through the base, securing the bead in place. 

Continue this process with however many beads you want to make it look like eggs in the nest.

Next, I wrapped the top part where the earring closure is with bronze wire and hung a bird bead from it.  I would prefer to use a larger, bronze, vintage looking bird charm for this project, and will be swapping them out when I go to Hobby Lobby next.  However, I put this tiny white bird on to give you an idea of what can be done.

I attempted to make the top of it look like leaves and a branch using green beads and wire, but I really was just not feeling it.  You may find a way to make it look very cute and crafty, and if so more power to you. 

I may come back to that idea later, but so far I really like this pendant as is.

Some other things you may consider: wrapping the entire hoop in copper wire to make it look like a basket (easter-wear, anyone?), putting in the birthstone colors of your children for the eggs, using different colors of wire and white beads and making a SAILBOAT PENDANT!! (that's a cool one if I do say so myself), putting an owl charm on this and making it an owl's nest without the eggs...

There are really a lot of cute ideas that you can do with these, and you should not feel limited to trees and birds.  Anything you can think of that you can break down into basic shapes can potentially be fair game for this type of project.


Here they are both together.  I am so glad that we all sat down and had the talk about the birds and the trees.

Hehe!


Happy crafting!  Pin It Now!

Stretch Ring DIY

My sister loves stretch rings.  And I have to admit, a lot of the ones I see are very cute.  This one, I will warn you now, is not as elaborate as ones you can buy, but it does not mean at all that you cannot make one that is as elaborate as you want.  Part of my challenge has been to use what I already own.

Materials:
-Beads the size of smaller pearls but that have a hole big enough for string to go through twice
-Small beads, the cord will not go through twice on these
-Stretch cord
-Charms or desired embellishments

 Cut a length of stretch cord, enough so that doubled over it has enough room to go around desired finger with at least an inch or so to spare for tying.  I like to err on the side of extra.

Put the bead (pearl in my case) on the cord so that the cord only goes through once and the bead is in the middle of your length of cord.  On each side, put a smaller bead.  Put your next pearl on, sending both sides through the bead from opposite directions.  They will cross through the bead so that the left side cord becomes the right side and so on.

Repeat this process with your bead selection until you have enough to just stretch around your finger (you don't want it to be too loose).  If you find that you have run out of beads, do what I did and use two starkly different beads where your charm will hang.

 If you find that some of your beads have a small film blocking their hole, just poke through it a few times with wire or a toothpick or anything you have on hand, like a needle, to clear the passage for the cord. 

Some of my beads just did not work and I had to use others, so have extras on hand.

To attach my two sides I simply laced one end of the cord through the first part of the strand and tied the other side to it.  I put about a triple knot in it, just to make sure it was secure.

Attach your charms with a jump ring in the center or between your statement beads.



You could also do this with any larger pendant or charm or whatever you desire, as long as you find a way to attach it to your bead strand.  For instance, you could make a wire base for a pendant or similar and attach that to the center of your ring.
You can also use much larger beads or different shapes than pearls.  It is worth experimenting with to determine what you like best.

This is a very easy project to use up some of those leftover beads that inevitably are lying around after you finish some other project.

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Nutella No Bakes

Nutella is spectacular, let me just start out by saying that.  I am not a big fan of chocolate (weird, I know, for a female) nor am I obsessed with peanut butter by any means, but there is something about nutella that just really works for me. 

I also love peanut butter no-bakes.  And so, a beautiful hybrid was born.  You can use any no bake recipe you have, just cut out the chocolate and swap out equally the PB amount for Nutella. 

In my opinion, it ends up far creamier tasting and a million times better than the chocolate ones ever thought about tasting.  One of my friends claims it is the best no bake they have ever had.  I would hands down say it is the best chocolatey no bake I have ever had.

I really don't think peanut butter and chocolate ones are comparable...but still.

Nutella No Bakes:
-2 cups sugar
-1 stick butter
-1/2 cup nutella
-1/2 cup milk
-1 tsp vanilla
-3 cups quick cooking oats

Combine the milk, sugar, and butter in a saucepan on medium heat.  Make sure you use a pan big enough that you can put the oats in..just sayin'.  Heat until boiling and let boil for one minute.  Remove from heat and mix in nutella, vanilla, and oats.  Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper to cool.

They will look like your standard chocolate no bake, so if you want to keep it our little secret that it is in fact nutella instead, I won't rat you out.  Everyone will wonder why yours are so much better, and you and I can chuckle about it.

I also think nutella would be a much better ingredient than the PB/Choc combo in puppy chow, though I am not sure but what if it would not change the way that it sets.  That would require some experimentation.  Nutella is AMAZING with fruit and granola wrapped in tortillas.  And I think it would make the best fudge ever.

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Flat Cap Necklace

I have a large supply of caps.  That is no secret.  If you have beer drinking friends, it is surprisingly easy to get them to save you caps.  Which just goes back to my inner psychologist idea that everybody deep down really does want to help others out.

For this one, I wanted to flatten them.  For a while I was using pliers to smoosh 'em down and that was a nightmare.  It works, but it is slow and it will make calluses.  So I did something I am very good at to smash them...beat the crap out of them with a hammer :).  That is not only faster, but it is fun AND a great stress reliever.  I have no desire to buy another machine just to smash them, and I am not looking for perfection.  I love the dents.  SO I smooshed and I smashed and I smashed and I smooshed.

I have a double top secret extensively larger project in the works as well, but since I do not know which of all my friends reads this I cannot tell you what it is.

Here are my smooshy caps.  I laid them out in the order that I wanted them as I wanted to put some on top of others. 

For the ones I wanted to be on the bottom, I drove a hole in the middle of them with a hammer and nail.  Super simple, very quick. 

For the ones that would be on top, I punched a hole in each side.  My goal was to end up overlapping these. 

I originally tried to tie them together with cord.  Does not work, at all, so I opted to just use thin wire. 

Here is a shot of how I "tied" these together with the wire.  I only looped it around once because I want them to be able to move and shift a bit.

I laced it through both and twisted the back like a bread tie to secure them.

I cut the remaining wire and continued lacing down the line.

Once I had all these laced together I used wire to connect them to the chain. 

I currently have these on a chain long enough so that the whole thing fits over your head.  However, I would suggest making it with a closure and making it more around a 16inch length.

If you were to prefer a bracelet, try lacing these with wire to small sections of chain so that they can move.

That could also be done with a necklace for a completely different look.





I would also like to take a moment away from crafting, and tell you about something I am happy to reveal.  If you are solely here for crafts feel free to go back to web surfing and pinteresting.

I recently downloaded the app from Maryland Community Church which is in Terre Haute.  I used to go to it and really enjoyed it, and finally realized I could have it with me anywhere that I go.  I was watching a few of the sermons and one was about having a functional life.

And they spoke about how people in Africa have basically next to nothing and yet they are so happy.  They are content without all the stuff and happy to have their life and their family and their surroundings.  Yet here in America, we have managed to work ourselves into a frenzy about having things and about storing things up yet never are satisfied.

So I thought to myself, why aren't we?  What is it that makes us so unhappy?  And here is what I have decided:

First, we try to fill holes and mend scrapes with material things.  Instead of trying to work things out we go shopping.  Or instead of trying to mend a relationship, we go buy a new tv.  Because we are unhappy with something or someone in our lives, we become unhappy with our stuff.

Instead of fixing our REAL issues, I think we try to fix our material issues. 

So I started examining me.  What was I holding on to that would make me unhappy with things.  I love to get to the bottom and psychoanalyze myself even though I am not trained in psychology.  I watch a lot of TV, and that is pretty close to certification.  I watch cop shows all the time :).

Anyway, I realized that I was still unhappy with past relationships.  I had never really forgiven and let go the things that I should have.  So I sat myself down and looked at my life.  And I realized, that it was all for the better.

I very likely would not be where I am today if I had stayed in those relationships.  If Jordan had not married someone else, I might have dated him again.  If I had stayed with Brian who knows if I would have wanted to go away for 2 more years and get my Master's Degree or if I would have opted to come home, or go to a lesser college just to be closer. 

Girls are stupid when it comes to boys and that is all there is to it.  We make dumb choices in attempts to keep boyfriends and think that if we lose them we will never be able to find another.

My response to that...

GO GET YOUR DEGREE.  If the boys are worth it they will wait.  If they are not they will prove it.  If they aren't you will find a better one.  But you owe it to yourself to do it.  And the same for boys. 

I also think I might have had a few remaining issues over the hole "dad never being around thing" and what I finally figured out in life was God gives you exactly what you need.  Some of us don't need a male to look up to in our lives to make it.  Do we make it as easy as those who do? No not always.  Does it potentially give us issues relating to a figure like God since our father was never around? Possibly.  But I think we are also given the abilities to get passed that.

I needed a father to get me on this planet.  From there on out I truly believe that I was given the ability to make it without one here.  And I don't have a bad relationship with mine by any means, I just don't really get to see him.  But if I have a crisis he does help out.  And really, I am ok with that.

So finally, I have been able to let go of what has been holding on to me and bringing me down.  It has been a huge relief.  I think you can really see your baggage when you look at your blocked list on your facebook.

And now I have a new prospect of someone to hang out with, and could not be happier.  I truly believe God puts in your life who you need there.  And the ones who have walked out may very well have brought you down.

I also feel like this may be a more common occurrence, crafts with deeper analysis.  I miss my soapboxes.  Crafts are cool and all, but there is so much more to it than that. 

NOW GO UPCYCLE SOME CAPS DANGIT! Pin It Now!

The Fancy Flea Market Bracelet

This was such a lucky moment.  I needed to buy WildFire cord but I was out too late to go to Hobby Lobby, so I bough cord at Wal-Mart instead.  It just so happened that it had this plastic band on it that just happened to fit my wrist!  BRACE(LET) YOURSELF FOR THIS! Here we go...






I used a plastic band that came on my cord to make a bracelet.  If this band is not a comfortable fit on your wrist, cut your own cuff from a plastic bottle! You will also need paper and a clip on earring (or some jewel-y bit).

 

 

 

 

 

    Using Mod Podge, attach the paper on and around the band (you will want to cut it off to just longer than the band).  Apply a few more coats of mod podge, letting each dry, to get your paper down really well.

 

 

 

Afterwards, you will use E6000 and attach the clip on earring.  I used a lot, because I am just that kind of person, and you may want to rotate it a few times in the first five to ten minutes of it drying or some of it may run out of the bottom.

 

 

You can continue to apply mod podge, and will want at a minimum five layers of it.  Five is my magic number.  You could always paint a bit of resin on it as well.  Or sponge it on with a makeup applicator, since they are cheaper than brushes.

 

 

 

 

Here is a picture of what it looked like, you can continue to smoosh the pieces around the back down as you coat.  If they don't end up laying down, cut them off with an Xacto knife and mod podge the edges a few times.

The plus side to using the plastic bottle is you can make one as wide as you want.

 And here is what it looks like on my wrist.  I think it is actually super cute! This is a great way to reuse those plastic bits when you have to buy new cord.  It could be very cute with other pearl bracelets on.

And yes, I will still be buying WildFire the next time I go to Hobby Lobby. 

Because it has spoiled me.


If you use a plastic bottle to cut out a thicker cuff, look for a vintage lapel pin to stick through it.  You can cover these in fabric as well, either c

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