Earrings I Can't Wear. :(

I don't know why I enjoy making earrings so much. It's probably one of those pointless things I like.

There are a lot of those.

But there's a downside to it.

My ears are a 00g. I only have one "flesh" toned silicone plug that will allow me to wear normal earrings. I need one more. LAME, RIGHT?!

But when I was looking through my resin molds, I kept getting stuck on these almost triangular shapes. No idea why. I just thought they would make great earrings.

And so, I made earrings.

You can't go wrong with glitter.

Especially when it's pink and black.

The Queso Competition

Yep, I'm at it again! My next test!



And yes, I was still eating the pretzels. They're gone now, though.
This recipe can be found here.

DIY Tutorial: Covered Outlet/Light Switch Faceplate

So, I've been seeing a LOT of scrapbook covered things all over Pinterest.

I know. I'm one of them. A Pinterest junkie.

Well, with all the work our house needs, it's the little touches that really stand out to me the most. And that's where this came in.

A small statement.

Large improvement.

If you want to see how I did it, keep reading.

The Queso Competition

I'm on the hunt.

I'm scouring the interwebz to find the best cheddar cheese cause for my pretzel nugz. We consistently have blocks of cheese in the house. But never the sauce.

IT'S MAKING ME GO MAD!

So, I made some pretzel nugz...

LET THE MATCH BEGIN!

First up: Answer Chosen Best Via Yahoo! Answers.

Milk, dark, white..I love 'em all.

It got cake crazy in my house for about a week.

It started with a TROLOLOLOLOL cake I made for a friend coming back from England after a 3 week stay.

Long story short, Kyle got jealous.

Kyle demanded a cake for him.

Apparently, what Kyle wants, Kyle gets.

TONS of calories and whatnot. But SO good.

I did cheat on the frosting, though. That was store bought because it was the specific kind Kyle wanted. *eye roll*

Freebie: Coffee Maker

Okay, it's not 100% free.
Over at Gevalia.com they're running a special. I'm not sure how long it'll last, but I cashed in on it.

For $9.99 you will get 4 things of coffee or tea.
And then?

THEN YOU GET A FREE 12 CUP COFFEE MAKER.

And shipping?
SHIPPING IS FREE, TOO.



Now, yeah there's kind of a catch.
You have to subscribe to have them send you more coffee in however many weeks you say while ordering.
This ISN'T a big issue, though. Get your coffee and your coffee maker and then call the company to cancel your subscription. Easy peasy, honestly, for the deal you get.

Coffee and I have a hardcore serious relationship. This was too good for me to pass up.

Quickie: Glowing Resin

I've been really enjoying the glow in the dark look with the resin.

I handpainted the faces and noses on these bad boys.
Meet Meep and Moop. The Ear Aliens.

Oh, those italians.

I'm still not a fan of spaghetti, really.

I KNOW, I KNOW. Shoot me, right?

Still trying to find ways to actually eat it without an issue, and I think I found something to help.



Who doesn't love cheese stuffed balls?
Teehee.

June Photo Challenge - END.

I made it halfway through June. Woohoo, right?

Well, I'm over it, as bad as that sounds.
Typically, I'm not a quitter. I mean, I have a bunch of WIPs in my craft room, but I eventually see them through. But this? This just got old for me.

I appreciate what the challenge gave me. I learned a lot about how I'm comfortable to handle my camera, what the best ways are for me to shoot different things, but at the end of it all I got really sick of having to take photos of things by a list. I prefer candid shots of my kids over anything else.

I still have a lot to learn about my camera, but I'm going to do that in my own time. For now, I want to get back to blogging food and crafts and stuff. And to do that, I need to not have to worry about taking a certain photo and trying to get it to look right.

So, goodbye June Photo Challenge. It's been fun.

Hotdogtopuses.

This is something that has been floating around the internet for quite some time now. I just got around to trying it.



My kids? They were excited to see them.
They weren't as excited to eat 'em.

June Photo Challenge - Day 16

Day 16 - Mason Jars/Jelly Jars

These are repurposed jars I made for a reward system for the kids.
Okay, not "made". But...I mod podge'd the letters onto them. And then I painted the lids with chalkboard paint. I'm not sure how well that'll work yet, but I planned on making a post about the whole system. So we'll see. :)

June Photo Challenge - Day 15

Day 15 - Motion

What gives more motion than bubbles that magically float in the air?

I love bubbles. I'll never grow out of that love.

June Photo Challenge - Day 14

June 14 - Someone You Love

Oh, my dear husband.
He deals with so much craft crap.
I love him so much.

Resin, take 3.

After my first post about resin, I tried it a second time.

My resin didn't cure. I was so mad.

The curing mistake was my fault, though. My resin needed to be at a warm temperature, which I forgot to do that time. However, I was discouraged and haven't done it again.

Until now!



Hey, a girl's got to have some rings, right?

Finding Serenity.

I'll need to elaborate on this later.
My internal struggle with happiness, peace, joy, calm, tranquility.
But I'll get to that story when I can.
For now, I have this.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified. Do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. - Joshua 1:9

But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded. - 2 Chronicles 15:7
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. - Isaiah 41:10
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. - Isaiah 40:29
The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace. - Psalm 29:11
I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint. - Jeremiah 31:25
The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. - Deuteronomy 31:8
 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. - Hebrews 13:5
When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. - Deuteronomy 20:1
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. - Isaiah 43:2

June Photo Challenge - Day 13

Day 13 - Reminds You Of Childhood.

Daring duck of mystery, 

Champion of right, 

Swoops out of the shadows, 

Darkwing owns the night. 

Somewhere some villain schemes, 

But his number's up. 

(3-2-1) Darkwing Duck (When there's trouble you call DW)

Darkwing Duck (Let'sget dangerous) 

Darkwing Duck (Darkwing, Darkwing Duck!) 

Cloud of smoke and he appears, 

Master of surprise. 

Who's that cunning mind behind 

That shadowy disguise? 

Nobody knows for sure, 

But bad guys are out of luck. 

'Cause here comes (Darkwing Duck) 

Look out! (When there's trouble you call DW) 

Darkwing Duck (Let's get dangerous) 

Darkwing Duck (Better watch out, you bad boys) 

Darkwing Duck!

June Photo Challenge - Day 12

Day 12 - Sun Flare.



Lookie! There's a bunny caught in my flare!

Welcome back, Jesse!

My friend Jesse, went on a 3 week vacation to England to visit her mom. And she was missed.

She came back to the states yesterday, and the day before that her boyfriend got ahold of me.

"Let's make a welcome home cake for Jesse. Well, actually, what I mean is, let me buy a bunch of shit so you can make Jesse a cake and we can come see you when it's finished and we can surprise her. Yeah, let's do this somehow sometime."

After talking to Jesse about how I felt like baking and didn't know what, she told me that I should bake a white cake with different colored layers. So that was settled.

Andy and I brainstormed on how to decorate it.

It started with this drawing.

Initially, I was going to lay wax paper over it, trace on the wax paper with frosting, and then pop it on the cake. But that didn't happen, because I couldn't find what I needed. So I piped it all, freehanded, onto the cake.

Yeah, it's a bit rough, but for my first time piping anything onto a cake, I'm okay with it.

It's 4 layers of white cake colored pink, green, blue, and purple.

And vanilla frosting.

Around the side, it says "TROLOLOLOLOL".

And then the boring cake box turned into...

That's a direct Andy quote, right there.

The decorating skills I lack are overshadowed by the fact that the cake is delicious.

I know the cake is delicious because of the cake recipe that I used (which is already posted on this blog).

Hope you enjoy it Jessiekins! 

June Photo Challenge - Day 11

Day 11 - Silhouette

<3 My babies.

June Photo Challenge - Day 10

Day 10 - Animal.

This is Izzy, aka Isabel, aka Izzerkinz.
And I chose her picture for today because..well...I haven't yet posted any photos of the disastrous hair cut I gave her. She's uneven and choppy and just rough looking. It definitely didn't make her any cuter, though she honestly wasn't all that adorable to begin with.
Kyle loves it, though. He's always wanted a straggly looking mutt.

Click "read more" for some more photos of her before and after her hair cut.

Rollin' in the dough.

Hah. I wish.

Anywho.

I have a weird husband. I've talked about him.

Kyle..ugh. He will eat raw BREAD dough if you let him. He thinks it's delicious. I think it's disgusting.

As far as cookie dough is concerned, I can see his way of thinking. I think cookie dough is delicious, but I hate any of us eating it because of the raw eggs. I'm not a fan of putting my family at risk.

However, there IS a way to enjoy cookie dough...

...egg free!

June Photo Challenge - Day 9

Day 9 - Fresh Fruit.

Nomnomnom. I love grapes.
I hate cleaning them. And picking them from the stem thing.
But I love 'em.

June Photo Challenge - Day 8

Day 8 - Sunset

The best I can do from my back porch. You make do with what you have. :)

Taking Advantage Of Late Nights.

Last night, Riah woke up around 2am. I was just beginning to doze off.
She had a nightmare. She clung tightly to me. She wanted to stay with me.
2 hours later, we were still both awake. So I did what any mommy would do.

I put in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
I made hot chocolate.
I snuggled with my baby.
I made her a memory.

June Photo Challenge - Day 7

Day 7 - High Angle

If you couldn't tell, getting a high angle shot is pretty difficult for us short folk. However, I was able to climb ontop of the loveseat and capture the homo sapien male species in his natural habitat.

Thanks, Kyle.

You're so cheesy.

I don't know about how you do things in your home with your family, but when it's summer our family butts heads. Mainly, it's me. I hate the hot weather. Summers in Missouri kill me. I'll suck it up to take the kids to the park, but I hate the outdoors. And it doesn't help that I'm a mosquito magnet. There's only one thing we can agree on.

Summer = Grilling Time.

A lot of burgers happen, and these take the cake.

It looks like a typical burger, but there's a nice surprise inside.

June Photo Challenge - Day 6

Day 6 - Books.

I don't think that J.K. Rowling had any idea her magical world would turn into such global phenomenon.

I personally didn't get to see the moves until I was 17. I didn't read the books until I was 19 (I think). I grew up in the religious family on the block, the one that didn't celebrate Halloween, the one that judged EVERYONE and decided their faults and mistakes were their one way tickets to Hell, yeah. I grew up in that family. Don't worry, I'm not like them.

The Harry Potter series entrapped me into a whimsical world of magical creatures, unshakable friendships, and love that I never knew was possible for any family to have. They are, bar none, my favorite series to read.

Thank you, J.K. Rowling.

June Photo Challenge - Day 5

Day 5 - Breakfast Today

The mug says hot chocolate. My heart says coffee. Yes, this is a very typical breakfast for me.
The best part of my waking up really is Foldgers in my cup.

June Photo Challenge - Day 4

Day 4 - Clouds

Kinda hard to do when there's no clouds in the sky, but I did my best.

Homespun Yarn, part deux.

I caved.

I got more homespun yarn. I know, I know. I'm just asking for more headaches.

I fell for it. I love the way it feels once it's worked. I love that it's easily maintained. I love the color blends. I just love it. Way to go, LionBrand. I once hated this stuff, but now I think I found a new addiction.

This time, I made a different photography prop.

This is a "hanging" stork pouch. I use quotation marks because that is exactly what you're NOT supposed to do.

The yarn is very soft and cozy, and stretches very well (not enough that the baby will get stuck in any stitches, ofcourse).

The opening has a diameter of about 21 in. 

The pouch itself is 9 in., top to bottom.

Okay, now here's the deal. That photo with the baby doll? That's just to show you how it'll look.
In reality, you DO NOT hang a newborn in ANYTHING. Spotter or no spotter, NEVER.
The typical use of these are for composites. To take the image with the infant in one, you will tuck the newborn into the pouch while it's curled up into the fetal position. You then lay the newborn, pouch and all, onto a bean bag. Make sure you have someone standing by the newborn at all times. Remember, safety is IMPORTANT. You then have someone tug slightly on the "tail" part, to make it look like it's being hung, and then take the image from a bird's eye view. You can then composite the image so that it looks as though it's been tied onto a branch..or whatever you want. The main thing is you DO NOT HANG THE NEWBORN EVER.

I can't tell you how many people I've seen sell these saying "it'll hold the newborn safely and it's completely okay to hang a newborn in this with a spotter!" No. No it's REALLY not. There are so many things that could go wrong, I can't even begin to list a few. Please, photograph responsibly. :)

Also, if you'd like to make this, the pattern can be found here.
I ended up using a K hook and having to crochet around a few more rows after row 10.