Quick Chicken 'n Dumplings

This is a fast (and cheap!) method of cooking "chicken 'n dumplings".
Have you heard of it? You only use one pot - what could be easier?
Your kids will love it too - Serenity does and she's a picky eater!


Ingredients:
Salt
Pepper
2 tbsp of olive oil
3 cups broad egg noodles
2 lbs chicken breasts
1 26-oz can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 cans of water



Cut the chicken in cubes, add pepper, tiny bit
of salt (or not!), and brown in olive oil on high
heat until the chicken is fully cooked!



Add the soup and water. Stir.



Add the noodles, stir and bring to a boil. Lower
the heat to medium-high. Cook for 9 minutes;
giving it a stir a couple of times.



Enjoy!



Have fun!

Felt Pop Tarts

I'm completely addicted to making felt food! My latest are a couple of delicious pop tarts with sprinkles. They are pretty simple to make too - I'm still sticking with the basics for now.

Here's how I made Pop Tarts for Serenity:


Materials needed:
2 pieces of 4 1/2 " l x 3 1/2" w light brown felt
2 pieces of 3 1/2" l x 2 1/2" w white felt
colorful tiny beads
upholstery thread
embroidery thread
needles and pins (not pictured)
scissors



Sew the beads on a piece of white felt:



Arrange both pieces of white felt in the center of one piece of
brown felt and sew (machine or hand stitch) around the edges.



Place both pieces of brown felt together and embroidery
around the edges using a blanket stitch.



All done!



Simple, huh? Serenity likes them! Wouldn't it be neat to make chocolate, strawberry, and blueberry pop tarts too?!

POST-IT-NOTE: I used craft felt but I really, really want to try 100% wool felt! I hear it's so much easier to work with and your results are much nicer! I need to start searching for places to get it online!

POST-IT-NOTE 2: I would like give a HUGE thank you to One Pretty Thing for linking this post!


More felt foods I've made:
Felt Bow-Tie Pasta
Felt Agnolotti Pasta
Felt Tortelloni Pasta and Tin
Felt Valentine's Day Fortune Cookies
NO-SEW Felt Cheese & Spinach Ravioli
Felt Eggplant Spinach & Tomato Lasagna

I hope y'all like this latest felt-food addition!

Have fun!

My First Embroidery Project

I made this needle book yesterday, and it's my first real attempt at embroidery. What I mean by that is I did this free-hand - not cross-stitching! I've certainly never hand-stitched on felt before either.

So I'm excited I did it! I'm planning a surprise for Serenity's birthday (or Christmas) and it will require a lot of embroidering on felt. The needle book is my practice piece, so ignore all the mistakes. It's a kinda whimsical (the flowers are as big as the bird!), so I don't think the mistakes look all that bad. Or not?!

I used lots of different guides (books & blogs) to learn how to embroidery and how to do it on felt.

Futuregirl has an wonderfully detailed tute how to sew felt together using a blanket stitch that is priceless.

AND I found the link from Futuregirl to the most magical knot-making tute EVER! If you haven't seen it yet, you really should. It's called My Favorite Knot. I think it should be call The Magic Knot!

Feeling Stitchy showed me how to use a water erasable pen to draw a picture directly on the felt.

These are the books I used: The Embroidery Stitch Bible, Start to Embroider, and Doodle-Stitching. All three of them were very helpful.

I found the Hand Embroidery Network from One Pretty Thing after I finished my needle book, but I definitely plan to follow her awesome tutes to make Serenity's surprise.

Have fun!

Halloween Crochet Bracelet WINNER!

CONGRATULATIONS TO Kim! She's the winner of the Halloween crocheted bracelet! I hope Brianna likes her new bracelet!





Thank you to everyone who participated! Stay tuned for my next GIVEAWAY!!

Have fun!

Felt Bow-Tie Pasta

I put this little set of Bow-Tie (Farfalle) pasta together using One Inch World's easy tute! I used the colors like Haba's Biofino Store Farfalle Noodles 'cause they are so bright and colorful!

Please ignore my sad little bow and plain label! I can't tie a bow and I have a horrible handwriting!

I think I'm going to add these little bags of Bow-Ties (18 per bag) to the party favor bags I'm planning for Serenity's birthday. If I do, I think I'm gonna ask my sister to write the labels -her handwriting is much better than mine!

I hot glued these together since I don't know how to needle felt (yet!). I ruined quite a few before I got the hang of it too. I kept putting way too much glue on the "noodles"! Guess what? Hot glue is HOT! Yep, it's true!

If you're going to use hot glue to hold your noodles together, here's a few tips I learned:

FOLD the noodle first. Rub your folds to get good creases.


Add a small, thin bit of glue down the middle.


Pinch the noodle together until the glue dries a bit.


Once the glue has dried completely, cut any excess glue that might have beaded up while you were pinching it. I always had a tiny bead of glue I had to cut off.


It was easy once I somewhat got the hang of the glue gun. But I'm slow - I wonder if I could needle felt it faster? I wanna try!

I've just been using regular craft felt - not nearly as nice as wool felt! But I can't find wool felt around here - I'd have to order it online I think. Well, maybe one day if I get better at making felt food I might get some!

For more cool felt food tutorials from One Inch World, you've got to check out her felt tomato and Ravioli - they look so real!


More felt foods I've made:
Pop-Tarts
Felt Agnolotti Pasta
Felt Tortelloni Pasta and Tin
Felt Valentine's Day Fortune Cookies
NO-SEW Felt Cheese & Spinach Ravioli
Felt Eggplant Spinach & Tomato Lasagna


I hope y'all like this latest felt-food addition!

Have fun!

Felt Agnolotti Pasta

This is the first felt food I've made. I picked something pretty easy to do for my first time - Agnolotti (filled crescent-shaped) pasta like Haba's Ravioli Tin Biofino!

Supplies:
yellow felt
yellow thread
stuffing
something round to trace (I used a Magic Sizing can)
pinking shears
erasable fabric pen

Trace it:

Pink it:

Stuff it:

Pin it:

Sew it:

Cook it:

This project took about 20 minutes.
You could squirt it with water to get the blue markings off, but I didn't do that since I figured it'd just wear off.
One piece of craft felt produced ten Agnolotti.

The next felt food I want to try is even easier than this one! It's Felt Farfalle Pasta from One Inch World. It looks just like Haba's Biofino Store Farfalle Noodles! One Inch World has other wonderful felt food tutorials (right-hand sidebar) that you definitely should check out and try! She makes it look so easy and realistic, it inspired me to make felt food too!

POST-IT-NOTE: Ever wondered what all those different pasta shapes are called? Check out this neat site!

POST-IT-NOTE 2: I would like give a HUGE thank you to One Pretty Thing and (I hope I've got this right) Que cache ma Boite á Belette? and Dollar Store Crafts and Ohdeedoh for linking this post!

More felt foods I've made:
Pop-Tarts
Felt Bow-Tie Pasta
Felt Tortelloni Pasta and Tin
Felt Valentine's Day Fortune Cookies
NO-SEW Felt Cheese & Spinach Ravioli
Felt Eggplant Spinach & Tomato Lasagna


I hope y'all like this latest felt-food addition!

Have fun!

Halloween Crochet Bracelet GIVEAWAY!

I'm giving away this Halloween crochet bracelet to one of YOU! It'll be a quick giveaway - only today through Wednesday! It'll end early Thursday morning at 12AM - so hurry and enter NOW!


Giveaway Details:
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment and I'll randomly pick a winner!

Rules:
1. Everyone is eligible to enter - no matter where you live!
2. Enter before this Thursday, September 17th at 12AM (Central time).
3. Make sure to leave your email address in your comment if it isn't available through your blog or profile!

Extra Entries:
1. Follow my blog and leave a comment telling me you did!
2. Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment telling me you did!
3. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment telling me you did!


Have fun & good luck!

Crochet Toddler Bracelets

Dishtowel Dress Idea and Pattern by Trey & Lucy
Striped Pants from Target (sz. 3-6M so they'd fit like leggings)
Crocheted Beaded Bracelet by ME!

Serenity loves to wear bracelets - what little girl doesn't, right? She's too young right now for any of those cute plastic toy bracelets to fit her - they just fall right off. Well, after seeing those rubber bracelets (like from the 80's) my friend's tween Bethany wears - Serenity started wearing elastic ponies so she can have "a bracelet like Bethany, Mommy!". She even puts them on her ankles! I thought about "dressing up" the ponies - kinda like they do with crocheted scrunchies and socks. It was a instant hit with Serenity! She loves her new bracelets! And since she liked it so much - maybe your little girl will too. They are simple and quick to make.

Win a Halloween Crochet Bracelet by entering here!

Supplies:
Size 1/2.75 mm steel crochet hook (or any hook small enough to fit through the hole of a pony bead)
size 10 cotton crochet thread
elastic ponies
pony beads
small bell
tacky glue





Halloween Beaded Bracelet: 1 sc onto elastic pony, *ch 2, insert your hook into a bead, yo and pull the thread through the bead, yo and pull through lp, ch 1, insert your hook into a bead, yo and pull the thread through the bead, yo and pull through lp, ch 2, 4 sc onto elastic pony, repeat from*, all the way around. 3 sc, sl st into first sc. Fasten off, weave in ends, add a dot of tacky glue.

Don't forget to enter here for your chance to win a Halloween Crochet Bracelet!









Chunky LSU Beaded Bracelet: 1 sc onto elastic pony, *ch 2, insert your hook into a bead, yo and pull the thread through the bead, yo and pull through lp, ch 1, insert your hook into a bead, yo and pull the thread through the bead, yo and pull through lp, ch 2, sc onto elastic pony, repeat from*, all the way around. Sl st into first sc. Fasten off, weave in ends, add a dot of tacky glue.











Bell Bracelet: 1 sc onto elastic pony, ch 3, yo and draw thread through the bell, ch 3, sc onto elastic pony. sc all the way around the elastic pony, sl st into first sc. Fasten off, weave in ends, add a dot of tacky glue.











Butterfly Bracelet: Sc onto elastic pony all the way around, sl st into first sc. Fasten off, weave in ends, add a dot of tacky glue. Attach butterfly.












Shell Bracelet: Sc onto elastic pony all the way around, sl st into first sc, ch 3, turn. Do a basic shell stitch (2 dc in first sc, * ch 1, skip 1 sc, sc in next sc, ch 1, skip 1 sc, 5 dc in next sc; repeat from *) all the way around. Fasten off, weave in ends, add a dot of tacky glue.












80's Retro Bracelet: Two elastic ponies looped together!








Abbreviations:
sl st = slip stitch
ch = chain
lp = loop
sc = single crochet
yo = yarn over

POST-IT-NOTE: Little beads would look good too! Crocheting with beads is really very easy! Over 1,000,000 results popped up when I Googled: "how to crochet with beads"!

POST-IT-NOTE 2: I would like give a HUGE thank you to One Pretty Thing and Dollar Store Crafts and Kraft Mum and Crochet Poet's Pattern Collection for linking this post!

Have fun!

Dishtowel Dress For Under $3!

Tanya over at Trey & Lucy posted the cutest set of pictures the other day of her daughter wearing a dress she sewed using Halloween dishtowels she picked up in the cheap aisle at Target (I am the Queen of run-on sentences!).

The dishtowels were only $2.50 for 2! They have four different ones: kitty cat, candy corn, ghost, and pumpkin. My Target store only had 1 candy corn towel set left and a dozen or so of pumpkins. Awww, no fair! Never fear! My Facebook friend, Tiffany said she's going to mail me some she got at her Target as a birthday gift! Don't 'cha just love Facebook? Thank you Tiffany!

I couldn't wait to try sewing this! It was so easy and quick - it only took me about 15/20 minutes. I'm slow, so it wouldn't take most people even that long! Just follow Tanya's super easy bandanna tute!

Have fun!

Computer Tips 101

I'm good with PC computers, but I don't know very much about a MAC. I haven't worked on a MAC since I was in High School - which was a very long time ago! Sorry MAC users! But from what I hear, your computers run pretty smooth without too much fuss! Lucky!!

Everything I know is self-taught and mostly trial and error, so I'm not like a computer major or anything. But I do alright. I know a few tricks and tips and for years, I've cleaned up my family and friend's computers.

There are a few pretty basic things you should know about your PC to keep it healthy that I'd like to share with you:

You don't need an anti-virus.

You do need a firewall.

You should "clean-up" your computer at least once a month - preferably once a week.

Everything you need to do this you can get FREE.

So stop buying all that crap software Best Buy and other stores has sold or tries to sell you. It's loaded with spyware and that is a prime reason your computer has slowed down to a crawl!

Your computer is like your car - it needs maintenance. Your car needs gas to go; your computer needs to be cleaned to run smoothly. It's not hard - I promise! In fact, nowadays programs have become so advanced all you need to do is sit back and click "ok"! Alright, I might be exaggerating a bit but it's really very easy to upkeep your PC.

Okay, the following programs are the ones I use - and they are completely free and more importantly, they work!

Firewall: Agnitum Outpost Firewall
Computer Cleaners: CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) and Spybot: Search and Destroy (you never can have too many good ones)
Anti-Spyware: SuperAntiSpyware Free Edition or Spyware Doctor (you really only need one)
Browser: Firefox

After removing all the so-called "helpful" junk Best Buy sold you, install these programs and follow the on-screen instructions to use them. If you have any problems, each program has it's own helpful FAQs and guides. Using these programs will go a long way to help keep your computer running smoothly and will stop it from becoming bogged down.

Make sure to either manually check for updates or give the programs permission to preform the check. Always try to keep your security software as up-to-date as possible!

Don't install any toolbars! Ever!! Even if they don't have spyware, they will slow your computer down! Resist the temptation!

As for the browser, I prefer Firefox over Internet Explorer. It's faster and more secure. I've got to admit that IE has gotten better over the years, as a matter of fact it's copied a lot of Firefox's customizable features, but FF is still my personal choice. I would recommend you take Firefox out for a test drive and see how you like it!



You're probably wondering why you don't need an anti-virus. Well I've learned that even the lightest, smallest program out there will cut your computer's speed down by 25% to 50%. Look, if you're not downloading "questionable material" or going to, uh "mature or the like sites", then you don't need an anti-virus. It's just baggage. If you decide to rid yourself of your clunky anti-virus, then make sure to tell your household - just to be sure they know that you'll know if they disobey your strict instructions to stay away from all those aforementioned sites! I haven't had an anti-virus for almost a year and nothing has happened to my computer. In fact, it's very fast! It was pretty fast before I decided to get rid of my anti-virus, but I was looking for ways to make it faster - without adding additional hardware. For me, trashing the anti-virus was the answer!



BTW: I don't have to tell you NOT to open email you don't know who it's from, right? Everyone knows that, right? Okay - just making sure!




Next, make sure - sure - sure to clean your computer at least once a month!!! It's very important! I would actually recommend once a week, but once a month is better than not at all. If you allow your computer to become sluggish and slow, and do nothing about it, eventually it'll crash - then you'll spend a small fortune getting it fixed or get it in your head you need to go out a buy a new one. Avoid doing that prematurely!

I have a theory that there's a "big conspiracy" between computer companies and software companies. Computers come pre-loaded with tons of software that's chock-full of nothing but pure spyware. Most of the software isn't even the full version anymore - so after a while you can't use them. But get this, unless you've uninstalled them - they are still on your computer running in the background and slowing it down! So what happenes? You break down and end up buying the software thinking it'll speed up your computer. But buying the software doesn't help - in fact it slows your computer down even more! That continues until you get fed up and bring it in to an over-priced Best Buy computer tech, or your computer crashes, and 2 years later you're in the store buying a new computer again.

It's a vicious cycle! {sigh}

What I'm telling you how to do would normally cost you around 300 bucks (or more) - 'cause that's what you'd pay a computer tech to do the exact same thing - once it's gotten past the point you can't do anything about it! In fact, they'll probably use some of the same programs! Once they've fixed the crash problem, they will run security/maintenance/anti-spyware programs to clean up your computer - guess how long that will take them? Minutes. And you'll pay dearly for each one.

I can't fix a computer once it's crashed. If the dreaded "blue screen of death" comes up - I'm stumped. I don't know how to correct that problem. So I've learned to avoid the "blue screen of death" - at all costs!

To avoid that scenario, run the programs I've listed. Simple, huh?

POST-IT-NOTE: Clean up all your shortcuts!! Do you really need 50 icons on your desktop? How many of those programs in your "Start" menu do you actually use? Get rid of ALL the icons on your desktop except your "trash can". Remove ALL the programs in your "Start" menu that you don't use everyday! You haven't deleted them off your computer - they are still there - you're just removing the "shortcut" to that program! If you've uninstalled a program (and I recommend uninstalling a program if you don't use it!), always make sure you've deleted all the shortcuts for that program off your computer! Too many shortcuts slows your computer down too and removing them is a quick and easy way to boost your computer's speed.

Think about it this way, say you pick up something in your closet and on the door of your closet you leave yourself a note reminding you exactly where the item is in your closet. Then you leave another note on your bedroom door, and another note on your ice box, another one in your purse, one on your front door, one in your car - and so on. Well if you followed all those notes back to the item in your closet, it'll eat up all kinds of time before you actually find it. In the end, all you really needed was one note - or none at all. That's kind of what your computer is doing. It's leaving "notes" all over the place to find one item. Multiply that by how many programs you have installed (don't forget Windows - that's one big program with tons of shortcuts), and all the websites you've visited - then the clutter on your computer becomes massive. It will continue to build, slow your computer down, and finally crash it if you don't run a quick maintenance cleanup at least once a month!


You know, after pondering the situation a bit, my PC gives me very few problems. It pretty much does what I ask it to without any fuss - so I guess you could say it's a MAC in spirit!

If y'all liked this post, let me know and I'll make it a regular (maybe monthly) post.


Have fun!