December Recipe Roundup or Goal #6

I have been working on trying at least one new recipe a week as a goal in my 30 Before 30 project. I've done pretty well so far but I figured to keep accountable, I should share some of the recipes
I have tried with the rest of you.

Here is the progress so far:

Week of December 1st: The Hungry Girl Crunchwrap 

If you love the Taco Bell Crunchwrap Supreme as much as I do, this is a must have. It is such a healthier option and is amazingly delicious! I have now made it a regular on the menu.

Week of December 5th: Weight Watcher's Quinoa and Apple Breakfast Cereal

This was my first time trying and cooking quinoa. It smells very weird when it's cooking but the cereal was really pretty good. I refrigerated the leftovers since it made several servings and it reheated very nicely the next day.

Week of December 11th: Chocolate Covered Katie's Genius Blondies

This blog is absolutely wonderful. She makes delicious and healthy desserts. If you have a sweet tooth, you can't beat that. I made these blondies. You might look at the recipe and think that there is no way that it would taste good but believe me, everyone that tried them could not believe that they were actually good for you. They are beyond delicious!

Week of December 19th: Pillsbury Reindeer Cookies

My grandma and I made these to take to put in neighbor baskets and to take to family Christmas. They are so easy and turned out really cute. I couldn't find peanut butter or gingerbread dough (probably because they were sold out), so we just used sugar cookie dough and they still looked great!

I also made A Busy Mom of Two's Holiday Traditions Breakfast Casserole. We decided to do breakfast for dinner on Christmas Eve when we got together with my in-laws. The casserole was the perfect thing to make before heading to church and have ready to pop in the oven when we got back. It was DELICIOUS! There weren't any leftovers to take home. I guess I'll be making that again soon, since it was such a big hit!

Merry Christmas from Crazy Daze Designs

Merry Christmas to you and your families. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Day and safe travels if you are out and about. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Last Minute Decorations

Still needing last minute decorations? I have a few quick and easy projects that you can make in 30 minutes or less. Super cheap too! Always my favorite way to make crafts!

Up first stockings. I have two designs for you - one more traditional and one a little bit funky.

The first set, I made with my friend Melissa for her house. She was not happy with her plain stockings, so we decided to dress them up a bit. We traced out some sleeves to fit over the heels and toes of the stocking on a scratch piece of paper, then used that template as a pattern for some fabric she had on hand. I added about a half an inch seam allowance on all sides. Then sewed them up to fit on the ends of the stockings. That's the pretty black and white fabric you see on the stockings in the picture above. We attached them to the stockings with Fabri-tac. To make the sleeves look nice and finished she added decorative ribbons as a border around the tops using the Fabri-tac. On the tops of each stocking, we added more ribbon and some cute buttons, also using the handy-dandy Fabri-tac. I seriously LOVE that stuff! Very thrifty project and made the stockings look so much fancier.

 The second set I made are my fun and funky stockings. I got them at Target for $1.00 each. They came with the rick-rack already on them. But they still looked too plain for my taste. So, out came the craft supplies. Fabri-tac to the rescue again! I put on buttons, ribbon, some left over pom-pom trim and my favorite - a felt flower with some tulle underneath.

The tutorial on the felt flower can be found here at Infarrantly Creative. It is super easy and probably my favorite way to make felt flowers. You can whip out a bunch of them in a short amount of time!

Next is a super fast and easy Nativity. It is not very expensive to make at all.

First you will need a plate. Whatever suits your style. You can usually find cheap ones in the clearance section of Ikea and Pier One or grab one at the Dollar Store.
That's where I typically head when I need them for projects.

Then I got out my trusty Silhouette. I found the design for the Nativity in their online store. It's the "One-piece Nativity." I cut it and weeded out the extra vinyl.

Then applied the transfer tape and placed it on the plate.

Voila! Fast and easy Nativity! This one is a gift for my mother-in-law who collects Nativities. I guarantee this is one she doesn't already have.

*If you don't have a Silhouette, you can still make this project. Look for a great sticker from Joann, Amazon or Etsy. They are all likely to have something you'd like. Apply some adhesive such as Zig 2-way glue to the back of the sticker and apply it to your plate. It should have a permanent bond and look just as beautiful!

Favorite Flower Tutorials Round-up

If you've ever looked for help on making any sort of crafty flower, you may have noticed that there are a million tutorials out there. It may be overwhelming to try and sort through and find the exact type of flower that you are looking for. Well, worry no more! I've sorted through dozens of tutorials and have compiled some of the best right here for you.

Pop Garden Scrap Flower Tutorial

Hard Flower Barrettes 

Rolled Paper Flowers Tutorial

 Video Rolled Fabric Flower Tutorial

Rick Rack Roses

 

 How to Make Pretty Organza Flowers

Japanese Kusudama folded paper flower Part 1

Part 2

Book Page Flower Ornament

 

Fabric Flower Tutorial

Egg Carton Roses

Loopy Flowers

 

No-Sew Flower Tutorial

 

Flower Puffs

Rolled Rosettes

Felt Dahlia Flower Brooch

How to Make Felt Flowers 

  Easy Layered Felt Flowers

That should satisfy all your flower needs! If there is a flower tutorial you are looking for that I forgot to include, let me know so I can add it to the list. 

A Few of My Favorite Things...

With all the Christmas presents I've been working on lately, I thought I would share some of Santa's little helpers with you. These are some things that I just can't live without this year:

Source: Joann.com

1. Olfa Pinking Blade

For those that are familiar with rotary cutters, this is for use with the Olfa Deluxe 45mm Rotary Cutter. A rotary cutter is used with a self healing cutting mat and a ruler to cut fabric and it makes cutting a dream. The pinking blade makes cutting pinked edges (zig-zag) so much easier. I've used pinking shears on so many projects but I hate how uneven my lines come out! By using the rotary cutter, the cut lines on your fabric turn out so straight and even!

Source: Amazon.com

2. Singer Stylist Sewing Machine
I recently upgraded to this sewing machine from a more basic model and I am so impressed. If I had known there was such a difference, I would have done it much sooner. This machine has more stitch functions than I have figured out what do with. It also has an automatic threader, comes with an assortment of foot attachments and is incredibly easy to use. It would be great for a beginner or even a more experienced user. It is very reasonably priced too!

Source: www.silhouetteamerica.com

3. Silhouette Cameo

The newest model is the Silhouette Cameo, it has been on my wishlist since it was announced that they were going to be putting it out this fall. This amazing little machine can do everything! It cuts vinyl - both heat transfer and indoor/outdoor vinyl - scrapbook paper and cardstock, makes temporary tattoos, cuts fabric, it can sketch designs, all sorts of great things. I've used it to make gifts, cards, home decor, t-shirts and just about everything imaginable! I really don't know what I did before I had it.

Source: www.elmers.com

4. Elmer's CraftBond Glue Spots
These handy little glue spots are great for all my paper crafts. My most common use for them is when
making cards. They are also great for scrapbooking. But using these with my latest projects - a 3D snowflake and paper chain - turned out so much better than if I had used tape like the directions said (I'm not one to follow directions anyway!). They come in a variety of sizes and I've found them all to be useful depending on the project.

Source: http://www.beaconadhesives.com

5. Fabri-tac
This is such a fantastic adhesive. Most recently, I used it to decorate Christmas stockings. I found that it worked wonderfully to apply buttons, ribbon, pom-poms and felt flowers to my stockings. Then when my friend was talking about how plain her stockings were, the first thing that came to mind was using Fabri-tac to help with decorating hers. It's great because instead of having to figure out how to sew through layers upon layers of fabric, you use a bit of this and your materials adhere quickly and effortlessly. I think it's my new favorite way to "sew!"

 Disclaimer:  I was not paid for this post. I paid for all these products with my own money and these reviews are all my personal opinion. 

What are you all loving that we should know about???