Creativity on the Cheap

I had the opportunity through Crowdtap and Woolite to host a clothing swap party. If you don't know about Crowdtap, it is a website that companies use to ask consumers (you) questions, get feedback on products and what you buy. They currently reward you by giving you points for each question answered/party held/discussion answer. This was my first party through them. Woolite sent me 10 samples and coupons along with a $10 gift card (to help with party planning costs). So their challenge was for me to host a clothing swap. Each person brings at least 3 pieces of clothing/accessories that she doesn't want anymore and we swap them. It's like shopping without spending money!

I invited lots of people, but in the end only 4 ended up coming (one got sick and another's babysitter got sick). That number was perfect, as I live in a small apartment. Here are some pictures of the decorations (done with my cricut):

 The streamer "runway":

 Gift Baskets with a laundry theme.

 Goodies inside included a stain stick, style quiz, samples, chocolate and mini lint roller.

 

Prizes for "best dressed"

 

 Mary Kay perfumes to complete the outfit!

 Skinny Snacks! Sorry about the sideways photo!

 These are so yummy!

 Results from our style quiz:

 And some glamour shots. We were having so much fun, I forgot to take pictures until we were almost done!

Overall it was a fun night! And who can beat free clothing?!

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

I'll admit it, I have a problem (well, I've got many, but I'm only sharing one tonight). I've become reliant on Pintrest. Not for creative ideas, but to save websites when I find one I will want to go back to. Tonight I was annoyed that the website I wanted didn't have an image big enough to pin. So, I'm getting creative. I'm writing a post about it, linking back to it and posting a picture so that I can pin my blog, which will lead to the website (sorry if you are coming from Pintrest, I realize this may be a pain to come here only to link to another site). But I have a strong desire to have things in one place, and this is the only way I can think to do it.

So my sweet hubby wanted a chicken sandwich tonight and I wanted pancakes. I typically just make him something and he eats it, but tonight I asked, so I felt obligated to fulfill his request, even if I wasn't craving it. So our apartment smells a bit funky with the mixed smells.  That aside, I goodsearched whole wheat pancakes. (I don't google when I can goodsearch. Goodsearch gives a penny to a charity for each search, in my case a local group that supports children with autism. You can choose the charity and it is powered by yahoo, so the search results are good.) I had to discard the first 6 or so due to a lack of buttermilk. But I finally found one that I had ingredients for! Whole Wheat Cinnamon Chocolate Pancakes~yum! So I've been trying to eat healthy. So even though I would normally love an excuse to eat chocolate, I substituted diced apple for the chips (peeled, diced, stuck in the microwave with water for 2 minutes, then mixed them in place of the chips). They were so yummy! And get this, the first one came out perfectly! That NEVER happens with pancakes (at least not for me!). Now, I'm not guaranteeing your first one will be perfect, but it's worth a shot :D

The only thing I would change is add more cinnamon (I think you were suppose to add more with the chocolate, but I didn't). The recipe made 13 medium sized pancakes, should inquiring minds want to know. And here is a lovely shot of the beauties:

Note: This is not my original recipe. There is a link above to follow to the creator and the recipe.

Christmas Cards

 Yes, I realize I'm about 2 months late, but I figured I'd post a few of my Christmas cards anyways. I started out with a prototype, and then I got bored and made some with random other things (I dislike doing tons of the same card).The first photo (three cards) is my prototypes. Phrases are Stampi Up Stamps I borrowed from my mil. The second was me just messing around with dying buttons. Not my favorite. The third I used Paint swatches from walmart and cut them with my cricut (simple triangle).The Frosty SVG was from Nancy and can be found here. The winter scene was from Papa Sue, although the blog has changed sites and I can't find the link to the actual SVG anymore. Either way, props goes to PapaSue; blog here.

That's all, folks!

Small treat bag

I know I've been absent for awhile, I've been absent from my crafting as well  :(

The other day my sister in law pinned something via pintrest that caught my eye, I repinned it and came back to it this morning, as I found something to use it for. The original inspiration is here. Basically what I did was copy (her?) template and made a file so my cricut could cut it (I'm not great at cutting straight). In the future, I will probably add more things to dress it up, but since this was put together quickly (I needed it for this afternoon), I just added a rhinestone and some lace.  I just taped the flap closed, you could close it however you like.

 

The sides are open.

And a picture of it opening up (you can see the little gift I included from Amazon-I like to buy things like this to have on hand in case I should need a quick gift.)

So that's pretty much it! I have a feeling I will be using this cute little treat bag in the future!

Crab Stuffed Rigatoni

I've had this pasta for awhile. I picked it up on sale with the thought of, I could stuff these. With what? I had no idea, I'd never stuffed a noodle before! Although it is on my bucket list-check that one off! While shopping my husband says, we should buy some crab. Me: how on earth would I prepare it? So we bought it not quite knowing what to do with it. Then the idea formed: put them together. So I researched some recipes and realized I am not sophisticated, I don't like scallions and there were many ingredients that I didn't have a clue what they were (some were definitely foreign). But from the recipes I was able to get the gist of what might taste good with the crab. And I decided to make my own recipe-gasp!

Here's my list of ingredients:
2 tomatoes, cut like the picture below
1 garlic clove (prob would do more next time, was just what I had)
3 green onions
1 t italian seasoning
1 t oregano
pinch of salt
pinch of black pepper
8 oz of Rigatoni noodles (picture below)
4 oz cream cheese (1/2 pkg)
2 T Parmesan cheese
8 oz imitation crab meat
1 jar alfredo sauce
1.5 c chicken broth (mine was homemade, so had some other seasonings in it as well)

1. Boil water
2. Cook noodles about 5 minutes-they should not be done. These are the ones I used. About a 1/2 inch diameter.

3. Mince garlic
4. While noodles are cooking blend the crab meat, cream cheese and Parmesan cheese and garlic in blender. I use our Ninja-one of my favorite kitchen appliances.

5. Cut tomatoes and green onions

6. Drain noodles and run cold water over them.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
8. Start stuffing noodles. I used a stick from a candied apple to help push it in. This will take awhile. Place in greased 9x13 baking pan after stuffed.

9. When you need a break from stuffing, put alfredo sauce, chicken broth and spices in a saucepan. Heat til warm and turn off.
10. Stuff the rest of your noodles.
11. Sprinkle tomatoes over stuffed noodles.

12. Pour sauce over noodles and tomatoes.
13. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.


And the end result? DELICIOUSNESS!

Tee Shirt Scarf

What an idea! Taking old tee shirts and turning them into scarves! I first saw this on Pintrest and fell in love. You can find my inspiration here (no need to have an account, I linked to her blog). There I found the video on how to create several no sew scarves. The video on several scarves is here. With all this inspiration, I had to give it a try. I am part of an online garage sale site for my area, so I posted I was looking for large tee shirts to craft with. I had one generous lady give me several her husband no longer wore (although my husband snagged the batman and joker one, a kid at heart). Still, there were lots to use. I also bought some other shirts for .25 each from another lady, so I had plenty to work with. Overall I spent about a dollar and have only used 2 shirts and a small portion of another. They will go a long ways!

In the making (see links above for tutorial):


I'm a girl who likes diversity, so I made these to be changed up a bit. I deviated from the video by cutting my spirals about an inch thick, instead of 2. This made the strips longer (as well as thinner) and I didn't have to put two together. I didn't tie them together in the back. Rather, I draped them around my neck and just tied them in front. This way I can separate the white and the blue for a couple different scarves.

The flowers are also interchangeable. I used this link to make my flowers. Since I wanted to change it up, I took a strip of the tee shirts and added velcro.

Tee Shirt Vest

Ok, ladies, this isn't my typical post. It isn't paper. It's fabric. No I didn't sew :) Ok, here are the pictures. BEFORE: Shirt from Old Navy (given to me). The tutorial where I learned about this said at least an XL, I did a XXL, just because that is what I was given. Yes, I followed a tutorial, I can't take credit for this idea. You can find the tutorial here. It did probably take about 5 minutes, that isn't an exaggeration. Cute, right? Thanks Wobisobi!