I'm Hoping I Won't Need These Too Much Longer...

A few weeks ago, I posted about a scarf I made with Wool-Ease Thick and Quick Yarn. I caught the bug (and they were on sale last week), so I made two more! See this post for directions and links.

Above is Grass and below is Charcoal.
I heart them! I love the fact that the scarf is a tube and you can wrap it two or three times, depending on how loose you want it. They are super warm of course and look great on!


While I was at it and had the crochet hook in hand (I tend to let my crafty ADD set in and never finish projects), I made myself finish the last part of my throw. I believe this color is Sky Blue and is definitely my favorite.

I was going to put in in another room, but I love how it looks with this painting above my couch.

Happy Friday!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Wow, that was quite the mouthful!

Yep, these cookies have it all. Peanut butter (one of my faves), oatmeal (mmm), and of course chocolate (well, duh).

My history with chocolate chip cookies has been mediocre at best. They always turned out cake like and chewy and were just ok. I found a recipe a few months ago that solved all that. They were easily the best choc chip cookie I have EVER made. That recipe will be shared soon. I know, I'm cruel for making you wait.

Anywho, I hit the jackpot twice because these cookies are amazing. The texture is perfect and they are nice and crisp, but yet soft inside. Mmmm...

I found this recipe at Brown Eyed Baker. Check it out, Michelle's got some awesome recipes on her site. And she's a Steelers fan. And we have the same Alma Mater. Ok, you don't care about that, but I thought it was pretty cool.

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp.
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 cup semi-sweet choc chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
3. On medium speed, cream together butter, sugar, peanut butter, brown sugar, and vanilla for about 3 minutes. Add egg and beat to combine.
4. Gradually add flour mixture on low speed just enough to combine.
5. Stir in oats, and then choc chips.
6. Using a large scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden. The outside edges will be light brown and the centers should be soft when they come out of the oven.
7. Pour large glass of milk and enjoy!

Thin Mints Love

Yes, it's almost that time of the year. Ambitious little Girl Scouts will soon be on our doorsteps pedaling their sugary love. I, for one, am a sole supporter of Thin Mints. Don't get me wrong- the other cookies are great, but I put all my money towards the green boxes. In the meantime, I thought I'd try this recipe out and make my own.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp. peppermint extract
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 1/3 cups flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 6 tbsp. cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Baker's semisweet chocolate squares (could also use dark choc.)
• 1/3-1/2 cup unsalted butter
• vegetable oil as needed
  

Cream butter and sugar together on low speed. (***It is extremely important for the butter to be room temperature so that your dough will be the right consistency. Don't microwave it!) Slowly add your milk and both extracts. Whisk flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt together and then gradually add to wet ingredients. When completely mixed, your dough should be soft, but not overly sticky.

**Alright sickos, no jokes on this picture!!** (as I'm giggling like a little Girl Scout over here)

Turn dough onto a floured surface, knead a few times, and shape into 2 even logs (or uneven as mine are!). Wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 2 hours, or until logs are firm.

Remove from freezer and slice 1/8-1/4 inch thick. One thing I learned was to try your best at making them uniform so they will bake evenly. Bake for 9-10 minutes in a 365-370 degree oven. *These cookies will burn very easily, so my suggestion is to bake only 3 or 4 in your first batch to get a feel for how long you need to leave them in. You may also raise the temp a few degrees.

You will notice mine are not perfectly round, but they look fine after you dip them in chocolate. Hey, it's not a perfect world, so why should our cookies be?!

Once cookies are cooled, microwave together 2 squares of Baker's chocolate, 1/4 tsp. peppermint extract, and 2 tbsp. butter. Do it 20 seconds at a time, stirring every time, until melted. ***Your mixture should be smooth and creamy, but not thick. Coating thin little cookies in thick chocolate is no fun. Add a teaspoon of vegetable oil if you need to thin it out. Or more butter.

This is only enough chocolate mixture to coat 10 or so cookies. I prefer to keep making the small batches so it stays warm and thin.

Toss your cookies in face first, flip em' with a spoon, let it drip for a second, and onto wax paper they go. That's it! I would recommend storing these in the fridge or freezer. I only sliced one log today and left the other one in the freezer for a rainy day!


FYI, I saw a post on this a while back, but I've changed a few things here and there on the recipe. Check it out for some other GS cookie recipes.

No, I am not a 20 something Girl Scout, but I have held onto this sash for a good 15 years now. It reminds me of when life was a little more simple, earning merit badges for cooking, business, science, sewing, childcare, volunteering, pet care, exercising, etc. Kinda sounds like real life, doesn't it? :)

Spring Fever

As promised, here's another great use for fabric flowers and yoyo's. This wreath was fairly time consuming but well worth it! It's nice to have something springy in here!

I used roughly 1/8 of a yard of 6 different prints, maybe a tad bit more. See below for tutorial on the flowers and yoyo's.

These are attached with one straight pin each so they can be easily removed for another use. For example: see flowers below. I forgot to post this the other day, but I hot glued a small square of felt to the back with a pin backing on top.

I grabbed the black authentic flower on my way out the door the other morning and pinned it on my black pea coat. I got so many compliments throughout the day! Isn't it a great feeling to say "oh yea, I made that"?


Last but not least, I would recommend wrapping your foam wreath with torn strips of a cheap fabric and securing the ends with pins. It helps to hide bare spots and blends in with your flowers.

The fabric is Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey.

It's Like Christmas...again!

It's official: NO MORE iPHONE PICTURES!!! I can now take awesome pics for my blog that I'm clueless on. Woo hoo!

Ladies and Gents (are there really a lot of gents in this crafty blogosphere?): I'm now the proud owner of a new Nikon D3000. I went with a basic model because I wanted to get my feet wet with the DSLR's before I moved on. I can get ahead of myself sometimes and I wanted to learn the basics first. This little beauty is courtesy of my quarterly bonus and she hasn't left my hands since I got her. Yes, it's a her. I checked. Now what shall I name her? I was thinking Betty. No? Give me your suggestions!

Fabric Flowers and YoYo's, Oh My!

My new tote bag! YoYo's are old as dirt but still adorable! Throw in some fabric flowers and this plain tote bag has a whole new look. I used Authentic by Sweetwater for Moda.

Flower tutorial:

Cut a strip of fabric 20-24" long and 3-4" high, depending on how big you want your flower to be.

Fold strip of fabric in half, with wrong sides together. Pin on whichever edge you want on the outside of your flower. I prefer the torn side but I did do a few with the folded edge! (speaking of, feel free to tear your fabric instead of using a rotary cutter. it looks way cooler.)

Using embroidery floss, sew a running stitch along the edge of the fold. Pull end of floss to gather fabric.

When the folds are tightly gathered, secure ends of flower together with a few stitches. To finish flowers, cut small circles of coordinating fabric and/or felt for the centers. Be creative! I like to do a couple different circles for depth and add a button from my stash.

Ok, I'm assuming everyone and their mother knows how to make YoYo's but for those of you who don't (a.k.a. me about 5 days ago), here ya go! Make a cardboard template for your yoyo's. This one is my smaller pattern and I use a larger one as well.

Again using embroidery floss (3 of the 6 strands), fold under a 1/4" seam allowance a sew a running stitch.

When you get to the end, pull string to gather your yoyo. Secure by sewing a few stitches at the end before you knot.

VOILA!

Stay tuned for my next project using these little gems!

P.S. I'm linking this to Keeping it Simple and Today's Creative Blog!

Spring Wreath

I am in L.O.V.E. with this new wreath. This was made with the same method as my Valentine's wreath shown here. I purchased a large round wreath form from Michael's for this one. I'm not exactly sure how much yardage I used, but I know it came out to be 350 3" circles!
One lesson I've learned in making these felt wreaths is the pins. You can buy plain old straight pins for the job, but pushing 350 of these suckers in with your thumb HURTS! Take my advice and buy pins with the multi-colored heads. I got 200 Singer pins at Joann's for $2.79.

The possibilities are endless with these wreaths!

Polka Dots Make Me Happy!

I heart polka dots. I really do. Check out my new table runner...and the best part? It's reversible!! If I actually knew what I was doing with a sewing machine already, I probably could have made it. But, for now, I couldn't pass it up for $9!

Ok, on to the really good stuff. My new fabric purchases for the week:

I know, I know, I'm jumping on the Neptune (Tula Pink for Moda) train a little late, but I L.O.V.E. this collection. I'm grabbing it wherever I can get it!

This is another pile I've been adding to. The picture doesn't do the colors justice, but I think it's going to make a great quilt! Polka dots...are you surprised?!
Have I mentioned that I actually don't know how to quilt yet? Hehe. I know, I'm doing it ass backwards but I think it's fun this way. Fabric seems to be my new addiction and I just can't help it! Ok, so who wants to teach me how to quilt?

Superbowl Yummies

Sooooo, I know what you may be thinking. The Superbowl was 6 days ago, and I'm just NOW posting this. Well that is the least of my problems because I had this awesome, I mean really awesome Superbowl party at my house for 15 people, made tons of really good food, and accidentally deleted all the pictures of said food. UGH!! This picture of my cupcake football cake was all that I could salvage. Well, anyway, a good time was had by all. We ate devoured:

1. Pulled Jerk Pork Sandwiches (first time making them for me!)
2. Margherita Pizza Squares
3. Sweet & Sour Meatballs
4. Tortellini, Olive, & Cheese Kabobs
5. Buffalo Chicken Dip (this was the favorite)
6. Roasted Red Pepper Dip w/ Bread Rounds
7. Heath Bar Dip w/ Sliced Apples (like Heaven in a bowl)
8. Football Cupcake Pull-Aparts
   

Yep, no healthy food here. This was one BIG recipe for a trip to the gym the next morning!

I've decided that since I lost all my food pictures, that's a great reason to try all these recipes again! Really, don't judge.

Cool Clipboards

Lists, lists, lists. I have lists all over my house! Grocery lists, craft/fabric store lists, to-do lists, to-make lists, wish lists, you name it! The little pile of lists seems to float around from surface to surface with no real home. Now they do!

I've seen several versions of mod-podged clipboards recently, and what an easy craft!

You need:

• Dollar store clipboard
• Mod Podge
• Sponge brushes
• Scrapbook paper of choice
• Sandpaper

Cut your paper to size for both sides of your clipboard so they are ready to go. Mod Podge a layer directly onto the board, and quickly place your paper on top. Smooth out with an old credit card to remove bumps. Brush 2 or 3 more coats on top of the paper, again smoothing out with the card as you go. Let dry, and sand edges for an aged look. Last but not least, add coordinating ribbons to the clip and you're ready to use!

Scarves and Snowstorms

Helloooooo from the arctic tundra! Just kidding, hello from Maryland. If you've watched the news today, you probably heard about the historic storm hitting the DC/MD/VA/PA area right now. This was taken a few minutes ago and it's starting to let up. I couldn't even open my eyes when I was outside earlier because it was blowing so hard! Snow totals? So far we're at 28 inches!!! The newscasters are saying this is definitely going to be #1 on the list of biggest snowfalls in DC history!

Well since I will be stuck inside for several days at least, it is craft central in here! See that blue scarf? I made it about 45 minutes before I went outside. I saw it on U Create and they saw it here.

I stole the yarn from my stash that is supposed to be for this half-finished throw. By the way, I LOVE Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick yarn. It's super easy to work with and comes in tons of colors!

I think this scarf was only supposed to use half of a skein of yarn, but I used almost a whole one. It wraps around my neck 3 times with room to spare.

Now- I cannot knit, and I can barely crochet (just enough for basic projects), but I thought I'd share the first two gems I made. Look at the uneven sides. Ay carumba! My crafty OCD makes me cringe looking at these, but we've all experienced something like this. They still keep me warm on the couch!