"Wallpaper"

An apartment has to be the worst living arrangement for a crafter. I can't put up curtains, shelves, and flooring. The worst part for me is the walls. I hate houses with walls that are all one colour. My solution was to make some "wallpaper."

Chevron is everywhere right now so I decided to take advantage of that and apply scrapbook paper to the bathroom walls. 

(It's really hard to get a good picture of the whole wall when there's another wall right there)

Cross Stitching

I've been really into the cross stitching lately. I made a commercial cross stitch pattern.

Slow Going

I've been very busy on my etsy shop. I've posted and sold and shipped a bunch of sailor scout baby outfits.

Home-made Laundry Detergent

Up until we moved, we had to pay for the community washer and dryer. It cost us $3.50 a load! We wore jeans and shorts for a week until I could bring myself to spend that much money on wash. My habit of changing sheets weekly turned into changing sheets monthly. Yuck. With all that money spent on merely running the washer and dryer, I couldn't stand buying laundry detergent.

Black Bean Burgers with Guinness Braised Onions

We are moved into our new apartment! We're in a swanky, brand-new place with a major bonus. A kitchen that isn't the size of a broom closet! I would be lying if I said that the kitchen wasn't my entire reason for moving here. Luckily, the rest of the apartment is great too. For one of our first meals in our new apartment (our first meal pizza, but I won't count that) I decided to make some burgers. 

How to Cover a Box Spring

We bought a mattress and box spring set about a year ago. Since we move so frequently we try to cut down on furniture as much as possible. Because of that, we never bought a bed frame and our bed looked a little sad. Living in an apartment can make one feel a little beige. My solution was to cover the box spring. I've seen tutorials which just have you cover the box spring with a fitted sheet. Come on. You are so better than that. 

Crack Cookies

I've been a little lax about posting lately. Two jobs, moving, and all my at-home projects have been keeping me swamped. Excuses, excuses, I know. But now my husband is on an underway so I suddenly have too much time on my hands. Any spouse who spends weeks at a time alone knows that nothing makes them miss their loved one more than idle time. So here I am!

Coffee Infused Vodka

Coffee Vodka. Is that not the most wonderful combination in the world? My husband loves any type of coffee flavored drink so when he and I went out to dinner he ordered a cocktail with coffee vodka in it. It was perfect. I knew I would have to attempt to recreate it at home otherwise we would end up going to that restaurant every weekend just for a drink. Spending $12 for a cocktail I could make at home? No way. 

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Almonds Copy Cat

I love Trader Joe's. I don't think I have purchased a single product there that I didn't love.

Their cereal? Love it.

Their guacamole? Love it.

Their pizzas? Love them.

Crock Pot Chicken

My husband and I are kind of weird. 

For a lot of reasons actually, but the one I'm focusing on today is that we both don't really like chicken. 

Every once in a while I do try to make some sort of chicken dish in order to change our minds. Those are the days that our son (AKA our dog) is the totally psyched about because he gets the majority of our leftovers. 

Wedding Bouquet Part 3

In the first post about wedding bouquet construction I showed you how to make origami lilies.

The second post showed how to make paper roses. 

This post will finish up the project by showing the final bouquet construction.

Shepard's Pie

Ahhh March. The month where everyone is Irish.

Not that I'm complaining. I can buy Guinness in bulk for the rest of the year. Guinness, Baileys, and Jameson recipes abound and the color green is everywhere. (My favorite color by the way). But my husband actually is Irish so we make corned beef all year long. Irish food is not a once a year occurrence.

Breakfast Sandwiches

My husband goes to work at 5:30 AM. That does not leave a lot of time for a well rounded breakfast. I don't even want to think about eating breakfast at 5 AM let alone cooking it. Hitting the button on the kuerig is about the only thing that I'm capable of doing at that point.

Reuben Casserole

WARNING!

This is not a diet friendly meal.

Meat + crescent rolls + cheese + dressing = many many calories

So naturally, this is my husband's favorite meal.

Thai Coconut Shrimp Soup

Sometimes I wonder why I never cook shrimp.

I like the taste of shrimp, but I always seem to be reluctant to make it at home. Then I make a recipe with shrimp and I have an 'aha!' moment. Peeling and deveining shrimp is the biggest pain in the butt. Nothing

Passion Fruit Lemonade

I love tea, but I can be somewhat of a tea snob. I only like tea that actually has tea leaves in it. Herbal teas just make me feel like I'm drinking flowers. Unfortunately, friends and family know I drink tea so they buy it as gifts. They always give me those tea towers that have ten different types of tea bags which I never drink. I offer them to company when they come over, but I still end up with a bunch of flowery teas.

Wedding Bouquet Part 2

Wedding Bouquet Part 1

This post will show how I made the paper roses for my DIY wedding bouquet. I chose to use a dictionary and cut out petals from pages with meaningful words. You could also use a favorite novel or a flower field guide would give a splash of color. Keep in mind that you want a book with very white pages if you are wearing a white dress. If the pages are slightly off-white it will show up harshly against a white background. 

Gin and Jam Cocktail

The first time I heard the words jam and cocktail used in a sentence I was quite confused. It seemed like two things that did not belong together. Kind of like when people add bacon to drinks. But weirdly enough, the jam really works to sweeten this cocktail.

Coconut Body Butter

I have been using coconut oil as a moisturizer for about a year now. I like the really low price, I love the smell, and I love that it's all natural. But I still have not gotten over that gross, oily feeling you have immediately get after spreading the coconut oil over my skin. I know that a lot of other people avoid using coconut oil for this reason. So I decided to make a body butter that absorbs better, but still has all of the things I like about coconut oil.

One Tray Sausage and Vegetables

This meal is so quick and easy. You pretty much just throw everything onto a tray and pop it in the oven. And it's done in less than half and hour.

Wedding Bouquet Part 1

I loved preparing for my wedding. I know a lot of people get really stressed and go nuts over little things (looking at you, Bridezillas). But I loved the idea of being able to make our wedding totally crafty and a little nerdy. (Bonus: making most of my wedding elements saved a TON of money).

Now, I have seen nerdy weddings. They are cute and fun, but only to those who are also nerdy. I am not a fan of making the entire wedding video game, anime, whatever themed. There will be relatives there that will have no idea what is going on and they won't have as much fun. This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but I think that you should throw a wedding that is fun for everyone, not something that only the bride is happy with. 

Pappa al pomodoro

You know how amazing grilled cheese and tomato soup is?

This soup is like those two things mixed together.

With wine.

Baby Quilt

I am absolutely horrible at following directions sometimes. I’m an avid reader, but when it comes to reading tutorials my eyes just glaze over. I’ve been meaning to try quilting for a while, but I needed to read a tutorial.

Kale Soup

I can't name too many things that I love more than soup during the winter. It just warms you up from the inside in the most pleasant way.

Which is why I don't get my husband. He doesn't like soup, stew, stoup, gazpacho. If the dish is eaten with a spoon, he is not a fan. So when the husband's away..... I eat soup.
Exciting right?