DIY Knitting Follow-up post

Here's the story in a nut shell: Pay for one-on-one class at LYS, learn purl stitch and instructor gets side tracked with someone else and I loose my hour of time for her to be able to explain what she means about reversing work. Ugh.

I came home and for the past 2-ish weeks, I've on and off been practicing to no avail. Nothing works. Nothing. I've got purl purl knit purl knit knit....not what I wanted!

So I've been scouring the Internet again and for the past 2 hours-ish and have come up with ZIP. (Seriously?!)

I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing and finally... I stumble across this:

So easy-peasy it's making me want to go take a nap. For all those videos I just watched, my head is screaming: "Thanks, Ash- you used unnecessary brain power for the past 2 hours. I'm rebooting in 4...3...2.."

Yeah, I'm brain dead now.

Okay, I'll shut up- here you go!

Vogue Knitting Knit 101 Basics

Chicken Broccoli Pockets

I get tired of the same thing sometimes. Sometimes I want comfort food, but I really hate the price to pay to get such a short-lived comfort.

And I must say, there's comfort in this but I'm not feeling guilty. Okay, okay, maybe a little! :)

Ingredients:

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry sheet thawed and layed flat

1 cup of frozen broccoli- steamed or microwaved

1/2 baked chicken breast cutlet sliced thin

1/4 C. alfredo sauce (jarred is fine)

1. Preheat oven to 400⁰

2. Once pastry sheet is thawed, press the folded seams flat. Then cut at a diagonal (make 2 triangles)

3. Place 1/2 C. of cooked broccoli in the middle of each triangle

4. Mound equal amounts of chicken on top of the broccoli.

5. Spread half of the sauce on top of one mound of chicken and the other half on the 2nd mound.

6. Fold the puff pastry up, making sure the seams are sealed. Wet your fingers and smooth the seams and they will seal themselves.

7. Bake until golden brown - approximately 10-15 minutes, depending on your oven.

Eat immediately and enjoy!

Hugs,

A.

DIY - Repurpose bracelets

Walmart, Michael's, Joann's and Hancock Fabrics and I together spell craft overload. Add Pinterest and I’m ready to implode. Seriously.

I’ve ran across the bracelets from Jenni at I Spy DIY and really wanted to do them but whenever I purposefully go looking for certain things I can never seem to find them. Then enter in a peaceful trip to Walmart and I'm just perusing the craft section and I finally spot similar rhinestones and cord with color. I've gotta have color!

As luck woud have it, I didn't see any chain- what good am I if I'm only going to have 2 out of the 3 items I need?? Ugh, major headslap ensues and then the lightbulb...

I've got a multi-chain necklace that it too bulky and always ends up all bunched up between my breasts. If I used one of the chains, I get to kill 2 birds with one stone- I thin the herd on the necklace and I get to make this awesome bracelet with an Ashley twist- color!

So I followed her lead: the chain is smaller but I was able to weave the cord through the holes without any hassle. But it turned out really awesome. The blue brought out the gunmetal from the chain and and for the remainder of the chain and rhinestones will make another with the pink cord.  

Before I show you the pictures of the above mentioned bracelet, I've got to add that another one of her bracelets caught my eye- her Rope Wrapped Chain Bracelet got me thinking about a bracelet that was given to me years ago but I never wore- it was too (masculine?)...I don't know, it just didn't fit my style. Thanks to a 3 pack of cord, I was able to revamp it and now, I can guarantee I'll wear it, it looks nothing like it did.

Woo Hoo- crafty stuff!



Instead of using a lobster clasp, I wanted to use something different, so I chose the adjustable knot. So I found a tutorial for this type of closure and voila- it worked! Click here.

 

Here is a close-up of the knot: 

Now, here is the bracelet that I just revamped.. I just wrapped cord around the eges and used very minute amounts of super glue on the cord only to hold it in place.



This chain just doesn't go with my girly pink nails!  lol



There now, much better!

Go create! :)

Hugs,

A.

Kefir Smoothie

Kefir?? Yup, that's exactly what I thought when a coworker told me about a smoothie she drinks every Saturday to keep things moving. Think Activia but better- in smoothie form.

Kefir is a probiotic milk that is perfect for making smoothies. No ice required. I describe it as effervescent. It really does help in the aid of digestion and makes me feel better.

Kefir comes in plain, unsweetened and then other flavors already mixed in- Berry and even Coffee flavored! I prefer the plain, unsweetened because it allows me to control what I'm putting inside me.

It's so flippin' delish that I've actually replaced a few of my dinners with it. It's perfect for a day when there is a potluck (aka Mooo!) at work and I nosh on everything and the waistband becomes a wee bit uncomfy.

My recipe:

1 C. Kefir
Cereal sized bowl of strawberries with the tops cut off.
1/2 C. blueberries
2 tsp Agave nectar.

Please try it and let me know!

Hugs,
A.

Goodbye to Moby the Betta Fish

There was a new addition to the family that was sadly short lived. A Betta that I 'took' from a coworker and brought home. Angie and I thought he was dying when she still had him at work but I seemed to help revive him when I put him in a much bigger bowl and bottled water.

Well, yesterday, out of the blue, he started acting very strange. (His water was changed Saturday night and he was reacting just fine to that, so I didn't think it would have been that.) And today when I got home from work today, he was a goner. Poor baby :(

I'll admit, in the very short time that he was living here (almost 2 weeks) I thoroughly enjoyed  him. His little happy dance and how excited he was when I bought him a townhouse was enough to make my heart melt.

I'll also admit that I shed tears over the little guy. He was a pet, a part of this family. He deserves to be buried with the rest of the animals in the backyard, not flushed down the toilet.

Here are a few of the pictures I was able to get.

His first day home and Charlie being very cautious about such a tiny little thing that can move!

Here you can see exactly how cautious Charlie is being. Look closely because Moby is just being too innocently curious while Charlie has his flight stance assumed.

Sorry the water quality isn't the best but I loved his blue color and how he fanned his fins out and made such a beautiful display of them.

Hugs,
A.

DIY Frame follow up and DIY Labels

Where has the time gone?! I swear the weeks fly by and I know that I have stuff to post but I get side-tracked with material and ideas and wanting to make something...anything, as long as my hands are busy.

I've been working on knitting and am learning a lot- mostly what not to do. I'm still using that burgundy yarn. More to come when I actually make something! :)

Here are just a couple of things that I've actually finished... hmm, time to tie up some of those loose ends!


Here is the finished frame from my Happiness for $1.50 post. The yellow is exactly what I wanted, soft yet punchy and I think it carries off the color of the yarn and paper perfectly. But that's just me! :)

Here are some hand stitched labels I made to put in some of the items I'm going to be making very very very soon- promise! :) I used felt and a little template I made just writing on a piece of paper and pinning it to the felt. I used embroidery floss (3 strands about 2 ' long was perfect for completing one label) and basic sewing skills. Make some and let me see how you did yours! :)

That's it for now, good night!

Hugs,

A.