Crochet FREE hat patterns!

Hello fellow bloggers!
Dang I have been gone for WAAAAY to long.  I started working and I even opened up my own etsy shop!
https://www.etsy.com/people/nekoangel2?ref=si_pr < Here it is! I would love it if you checked it out.
Granted I only have 2 things posted so far BUT I am working on building up my store.

So here's what I have tested and am happy to show you guys!

Okay so here are all the things I've tested out:

http://anniespictureperfect.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-to-properly-size-crochet-hats-chart.html

^ This website here is GREAT for sizing hats.  I use it ALL the time and I wanna give props to this blogger for being so helpful.  Check it out it'll save you SO much time.  I promise you that.

Okay so here is the first pattern I did:
Ribbed Beanie:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/335166397239665384/
Great thing about this is that she shows you how to do it and you can make it for any size.  Plus it's FREE!

Drops Purse Pattern
Now I alternated this purse a bit.
The original pattern asked for 140 stitches in the pattern and I only did 100 stitches as the base.
I didn't want it so big so that's how I fixed it :)

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/335166397239653546/ < This link here is so you can see it on my pinterest the version I did.
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/335166397239620913/ < This is the FREE pattern.

Headband pattern:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/335166397239552976/

Oh my goodness I LOVE these type of headbands!  Seriously it is so nice to finally be able to make my own.
I've made several but I don't have pictures that I've taken.  Sorry!

Shelled beanie
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/335166397237853193/
I LOVED this hat so much, I'm going to try and make one for myself!  It was super easy to follow and I really enjoyed how you can make different variations of it too.
*Only thing I changed on my hat was instead of slip stitching on the bottom, I did a back post crochet with single crochet stitches.

Mini-mini cheesecake cupcakes!

So I'm giving this recipe a go and hopefully it won't turn out weird.  From what I have done with it, it seems that it will turn out pretty normal from what I can tell. Update: So they turned out delicious! I followed the recipe to a "T" exce pt I used graham crackers for the crust. They turned out super moist and creamy ^-^  This is the recipe that I'm using.




Recipe Source

Hey everybody!! Update on some upcoming pins

So I have disappeared for some time now.  I had a lot come up over the past couple months so I haven't posted anything.  That'll happen to me from time to time.

Anyway, So I was also gone for the reason being that I also had to test a shiz nit load of pins so I could blog about them for later.
Sometimes, I have to test a recipe out or a pin out more than once so that I can make sure that what I post is the best product I have and then all the things I did to improve it.

So again, Still alive!  Just remember that I will go long periods of time off when I'm testing recipes :p

Tutus galore!!!!

Please know that I am in no way a proffesional when I'm doing this.  I ended up not mixing the 2 blue colors together because it clashed with the romper I bought for my daughter.  So it became seperate because of that. 
Also, because I'm using less, you'll be able to see what it looks like to have not as full to very full. So that way you can see a difference.

Pin source


Light Blue tutu:: 7-9 yards

Dark blue Tutu: 7-9  yards

Purple Tutu: 7-9 yrds

Rainbow Tutu
1.5 yds of each color
7 yards of fabric all together.

Cut fabric 6' wide while folded in half.  (should already be like that since that's how it comes at the store.)

Now 1.5 yards is going to give you 6 cuts. You should have 12 pieces roughly after cutting the 6 you made in half along the seam.  Even if there not cut perfectly, you should at least have 12 pieces.

Tie together 3 pieces when you are forming the knot on the elastic or ribbon.
If you tie 3 together at a time it'll make it easier to see how many pieces are left.  Fairly simiple to remember.

Cheesecake (creamcheese) brownie cupcakes

Seriously the best recipe BY FAR I've done.
It was a big hit with my in laws I would say since there was only 2 left lol.

I would recommend paper cups for sure. Less mess and easier to clean up. 

Pin source

Lemon-Garlic Chicken! In the crockpot or in the oven!

Alright so I've been on a huge kick lately of testing recipes.

The one we are testing today came about because I've been in charge of dinner a lot lately and needed something that would satisfy everyone to there ideal taste and also help budget wise.

Here is a recipe I found on pinterest:
http://pinterest.com/pin/335166397238619250/

Website:
http://www.budgetsavvydiva.com/2012/07/lemon-roasted-chicken-recipe/

Budgetsavydiva is a great site that has a lot of different ways to help save money.  I highly recommend looking them up!

*The pinner I got this from said that she added 1/4 cup of water into the crock pot and didn't use ANY oil.  And that she cooked it on low for 8 hours.

What I"m going to do is I"m going to do just that except I'm going to cook it on high for 6 hours but keep and eye on it so that it doesn't dry out or overcook.

So here's the ingredients:
4 pieces of boneless, chicken breasts
Salt
Pepper
Parsley (I wanted at least one more seasoning but you don't have to add this.)
Lemon (Juice and Zest
1 CLOVE of garlic.

Step 1: put 1/4 cup of water into crockpot
Step 2: Lay chicken breasts as flat as you can in crock pot (makes it easier when adding the rest of ingredients on top for even coating)
Step 3: Season chicken with Salt and Pepper
Step 4: Mince garlic
Step 5: Zest and Juice Lemon
Step 6: Combine Lemon/garlic and add just a few sprinkles of parsley
Step 7: Take garlic and lemon juice/zest, parsley and pour on top of chicken.
Step 8: Set crockpot after placing lid on top for 6 hours

DONE!

Now make your favorite sides and enjoy!

Bacon- wrapped chicken...with a walnut, butter filling?

Alright so here's how this test came about.
I was looking for a recipe that I could do for dinner yesterday and I came across this one a few days before.  I hadn't looked into it to much which was a mistake on my part because you have to understand that my husband hates cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, ranch, salad dressing and tomatoes.
I happened to look at the recipe after I put the chicken into a bowl to thaw out.  And there was cream cheese.  Great.
I mentioned all the above things my husband doesn't like because almost every recipe I found as a filling for chicken stuffed recipes had one of the above mentioned.
I eventually gave up on not finding one that didn't have cream cheese and decided instead of that I would just use butter to replace it and then use the other ingredients.
I know the filling sounds interesting but that's what made this taste so good!

Long explanation later..... this is what I did.

Original recipe I wanted to use:
Website
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Bacon-Wrapped-Chicken?keycode=ZPIN1112

2nd recipe that I altered the filling of
website
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/stuffed_herbed_chicken_with_boursin_cheese/

Ingredients:

• 6 medium, boneless chicken breasts

CUT IN HALF and FLATEN to a 1/2 inch
Makes 12 pieces.

12 pieces of bacon strips

*Trust me when I say this.  6 pieces is not enough for 3 people.

Filling:
*When making the filling keep wet and dry separate.  It's easier to portion on each half.

Wet ingredients

• 1/2 a stick of butter (melted)
• 1/4 tsp cajun
• 1/2 tbls of Parmesan
• Pinch of salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4-1/2 tsp of oregano

dry ingredients:

• 1/2 tbls of basil
• 2 tbls of crushed walnuts
• 3 tbls of bread crumbs ( I used plain, progresso brand)
• 1/2 tsp of parsley
• salt and pepper to taste ( yes I mentioned it twice)

Step 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a 9x13 dish.

Step 2. Take chicken breast and cut in half.  Once done flaten them with a meat hammer to 1/2 inch.

Step 3. Melt in a small bowl and then combine cajun, parmesan, salt, pepper and oregano

Step 4. mix all dry ingredients together. Basil, walnuts, bread crumbs, parsley, salt and pepper.

Step 5. Take now flattened chicken and spoon on butter mixture. And with a separate spoon, portion out the dry ingredients.

*It's done this way because that way you'll get the nice texture and even mix so that way it won't be soggy when you cook it. 

Step 6. After all pieces of chicken halves are done.  Roll them up and wrap around a piece of bacon.

Step 7. Now seem side down, place the chicken in previously greased pan. 

Bake for 35-40 minutes uncovered. Then remove oven and place in another dish.  There will be lots of bacon grease and you don't want the chicken to get soggy on the bottom. 

Once transfered to another dish, put back in oven and broil for 5-6 minutes or until bacon is crispy.

*Keep an eye on the oven because the bacon grease most likely touched the heating element and you don't want to start a fire.  Broiling can do that  :P

And Voila!  

I served mine with Rice that had olive oil, sea salt and herbs de provence on them and caramelized carrots.  

My family actually like it considering that it had such an interesting twist in them.  I wish I would have made more!

Finished product!

I cook everything in a glass dish because all we have here at the moment is dark pans and that always burns my food. 

Fejiao (brazillian black beans)

So were moving onto some food recipes that I'm testing and some of them actually came out pretty good!

Here is one we did last night and let me tell you, it was super yummy and it's definitely one that I will repeat.

Website:
http://relish.com/recipes/feijao-brazillian-black-beans/
Pin source:
http://pinterest.com/pin/335166397238594468/

Now I don't have a picture of it sadly because I didn't think about it until after I ate all of it :p
I did do some variation because the original recipe was for a slow cooker but i did mine on the stove top

Ingredients: (I used)
2 cans ( 15 oz each) black beans
garlic powder
bay leaves
olive oil
1 yellow chopped onion
salt and pepper to taste
cilantro

I didn't actually measure anything to be honest.  The original recipe says that you need about a pound of black beans which is about one can of beans.

Step 1:
Drain and rinse black beans
Step 2:
Cook black beans til finished
Step 3:
In a deep saute pan, put olive oil pan and cook chopped onions on medium heat SLOWLY. It's to ensure even cooking and you'll be mixing everything together so you don't want to overcook these.
Step 4:
Once onions are done, take the rest of the ingredients and put them in with the onions and cook for about a good 5 ish minutes or until the cilantro is dark green and the rest of the ingredients are well incorporated.

Voila! Your done!
I served this over a batch of rice and let me tell you, it was again very amazing!

Weaved bacon!

Sorry that I've epically sucked at posting lately. I've heen testing different ideas from pinterest.

So you all know the pictures you see of waved bacon? Well I looked and found several ideas on cooking time and things.
Here's what I did:
Ingredients:
Just bacon

Materials:
Pam cooking spray
Tinfoil
Cookie sheet

Preheat oven to 350ºf
Step 1. Put a layer on the pan. Simple.
Step 2. Spray pam on tinfoil. It's extra insurance that the beautiful bacon won't stick. Yes I love bacon enough to call it that.
Step 3. Basket weave your bacon
Step 4: put in oven and cook between
15-25 minutes. Honestly depends on the oven you have.
Finished!
I cut mine in half so I could put it on some english muffins. Now I have it in every bite!!

Sorry for delay

I'm really lagging on posting the last update I did.  I can't find my pictures I took of it so I"m going to just probably post the finished product so you can see what I did.  I am currently working on a shoe pattern right now and I just finished making a 2 recipes from pinterest that I know I have pictures of (somewhere)

See my phone had a major melt down and it was my camera so I had to get a new one so finding pictures is going to be tricky since I had to switch. But don't worry I'm still alive and doing projects!!!

Coming up next....2 Seperate tests....DIY NYLON HEADBAND and FREE CROCHET BIB TUTORIAL!!!!

So I decided to test 2 different ones because they are fairly simple.  One of them I've already completed but I had to do a few practice runs before I go and take pictures.  On the down side of things both of my hands (one worse than the other) are acting up and I might have tendinitis with my left hand so it's challenging to do repetitious work but I'll try!


The first test will be from a another blogger called: LittleMissMomma.com. She has a lot of wonderful crafts and other projects so I would suggest checking her out!

pin source

Our other test I will be doing will be on a free pattern from: Favecrafts.com
This website has some cute tutorials that give you the instructions in the common crochet language.  If you need help with crocheting it, I have "how to crochet classes" on my pinterest account :)

pin source

I"ll be posting the results soon!

Saving crumbled makeup

So I did this WEEKS ago and forgot to post it because it slipped my mind.  I remembered that I did this test already because I found the pictures on my IPOD.

Are you tired of throwing away makeup because it broke into pieces in the compact and don't know how to use it without making smaller pieces?
Well then this is for you because it'll help save you money and the frustration as I have found.  It works AMAZINGLY and I recommend using this trick to help salvage your makeup.

Here is the pin source for how to fix the makeup with rubbing alcohol.

Step 1: Get some rubbing alcohol and fill just the cap.  It'll help control how much you put in your makeup so that it doesn't swamp it.

 Step 2: Put just enough in the crumbled make up to were it becomes a paste.
Once done take a utensil of some kind ( I took the cotton off a q tip) and stir it.

This is what it should look like after you put the rubbing alcohol in it.

 Step 3: Now let dry for a good couple hours, I left mine in a warm place and away from things so that way it wouldn't get bumped while drying. 

And PRESTO!

The rubbing alcohol will dry out and you are now left with a perfectly smooth and not crumbly make up!

Bunny cake...FAIL

So my bunny cake didn't even turn out to be a bunny cake sadly :( It ended up turning into what I wanted and I got impatient and therefore, no bunny cake...

So here was to original idea that I wanted to do...

And this is what ended up happening as the end result....

 Yea...not even CLOSE to a bunny or anything..... Just a spiky weird design cake.........

So here is the pin source for the original idea
To begin:
I needed to have a buttercream frosting so that I could decorate the cake since I had no way to get to the store.
Here is the pin source for buttercream frosting.
So I began pipping in a very simple manor.  I took my time and was excited because I was thinking that after I had layered my cake that I didn't make it tall enough.  Well I figured that I could pipe the "fur" of the rabbit and that the entire cake would look like a rabbit instead of a stump with rabbit feet.

So to explain I did it in these steps:
*I forgot to post the cake I made but it was made from a store bought cake mix that I made in two round cake pans

step 1:

I followed the recipe from the buttercream recipe I found on pinterest and made it like so.  It makes A LOT of frosting so it would be good to make if you want to store some for later.  

Step 2: I took a zip lock bag and a pipping tip and put that in the corner of the bag.

 Step 3: I then filled the bag and then closed it off so looked like so.

As you can see here I began to do it in neat pipping and pretty consistent with the amount I was putting on as well.
I felt like a pro as I carefully placed each bit of frosting. (thanks cake boss for the visual aid!)

As you can see here, there are a DOZEN different types of designs on the cake because I did't realize how long it would take to pipe.  I have to hand it to decorators.  I am definitely not meant for a bakery job in the future.

So i couldn't change what I had put on the cake so I just smoothed the whole thing out.  Pretty much gave up on making the whole cake a bunny.  So i decided to go with plan b.
Which was to then make a bunny out of frosting.

I used marshmellows as a base for the bunny because I thought it would look cool once I put frosting on top of it.
I didn't take a picture because it just looked like one giant blob of chunky frosting.
I had gotten creative before and thought that green sprinkles would be the grass.....until that idea didn't work because there was no rabbit on the grass. So it got smoothed out into the frosting. Now giving the frosting a crunch.

So in the end.....
this is what my cake turned out to be.

I just took a metal spatula and flipped the frosting upwards to create the frosting this way.
So maybe I'll try this cake again in April and have better luck next time......

Coming up next.....EASTER BUNNY CAKE!!!!

 Pin Source

So I am going to try and take a crack at making a bunny cake!  

I have a fundraiser in my church coming up and I volunteered to make something for it.  I can promise you that it probably won't end up this fancy but wish me luck! I have to make this by tomorrow so hopefully it'll turn out okay!

If you have any suggestions for me let me know!

Baby oil....for shaving your legs with?

Pin source

Soooo I'm not going to post pictures of my nasty, pasty-white legs for this one ;p

So you guys all know that baby oil is what you lather up your wee one with so that they can keep their skin moist and protected right?
 I never used mine on my baby because she has sensitive skin and oil is a pain in the butt to clean up anyway.  Especially on clothes so how would it affect my legs if I shaved with it?

Now the story behind this for me is that oiling your razor or "greasing it" will help it to stay sharp.  Makes sense because you have to keep it from dulling or else you have to go spend money buying another head for it or another razor all together.

So I went ahead with the pin idea because I'm a penny pincher, and if I can go and save some money, I will.

K so it's pretty basic on how this works out.

Step 1:
Put a dime to quarter sized amount on your leg and rub in

Step 2:
Shave legs

Step 3:
Rinse off

DONE!

So I can say that it DID give me a closer shave and my legs are JUST starting to feel prickly to me.  That was about 3-4 days ago.  But I honestly don't want to do this to often for a few of these reasons....

The pros and cons to this method to me.

PROS

• Closer shave
• makes razor last longer
• skin is silky smooth afterwards

CONS

• Leaves bathtub EXTRA slick from the oil
• Can hurt your skin if you use to much
• Pain in the REAR to clean up the shower
• Gummed up my razor and I couldn't get the extra out :/

Main issue here is that it can be harmful to use to often. As it can clog up your pores and make it to were your skin get's dry and you have a bigger problem with itching and all kinds of nasty things.  UGH!  It's not the best thing in the world to have zits or pimples on your legs which you CAN get there.  And it's NOT fun to shave. If I even do this again, I'll probably end up shaving over a wide bucket so that it'll be easier to clean.
So use sparingly.  Every once in a blue moon wouldn't hurt to use.

DIY: MINKY DOT BLANKET

Hey everyone!
I'm super excited to show this to you today.
Minky dot blankets to me have become more popular lately because of the fact that they are perfect for the new arrivals in your home.
I got one from several people and I had never even heard of this material before.  But let me tell you, I am a HUGE sucker for this blanket because I've always been a soft blanket person.

Now of course you can go and buy these pre-made.  I got mine from different friends that got them from a website called BEBE BELLA DESIGNS.
Granted I love the blankets I got from here because they always have something different.
Problem is for me is that it seems like they don't keep the patterns a whole lot from what I've noticed and it's so sad because I wanted to get the same blankets I got for my friends.
Now there's also the fact that you have to pay shipping.  Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE there blankets.  I just feel that I want to make my own and not be limited to what they sell.

So I went out and bought some of that fabric which I discovered that Hobby Lobby always has it on sale for 30 % off! in the store! Now they always want to give you an opportunity to save so they give you a 40% coupon you can use any day and don't have to wait for a special sales day like Joann's.
It may not sound like much but when you add things up it's a lot cheaper than buying it from someone else.

So here are the sources for my project today
Pin: DIY MINKY BLANKET! From ICraft
Video tutorial: Double sided minky blanket

Materials needed:

• 1.5 yards of Minky dot in the color of your choosing
• 1 yard of cotton fabric of your choosing
• Stitch Picker (because I can guarantee that you will have to fix it because mink dot is notorious for bunching up when sewing)
• Matching thread for the fabric you've chosen
• Needles
• Straight Pins

So here are the steps:
Step 1:  Lay your material out on the floor with the mink dot up and the cotton fabric facing the WRONG way on the minky dot.
What this means is that you want to sew it with the wrong side of the fabric facing you because when you turn it inside out later, you'll be hiding the stitches you made on the sewing machine.

Step 2: Pin around the entire blanket except for about a 7 inch hold on one side.  Why? Because this whole is where you will turn the material inside out later
It's important on your spacing because if you don't know how to sew like me, the more pins you have, the easier it will be to sew it so that it won't come apart and sew weird or have the problem that I did and get bunched up.

 Step 3:
After sewing around the blanket, Turn it inside out.  Once you have take the corners of the blanket and cut them.  The video tutorial will show you what I mean.
This way when you turn it inside out, the corners won't be all bulky.

Step 4: Now pin across the hole and sew across.

*optional steps
Step 5:
Now you can leave it as it is but I don't like how my blanket separates in the middle, and I didn't want to have annoying string sticking out everywhere so here is what I did.

Pin in 9 different spots on the blanket.  For me it was super easy because I had these large dots with the dogs in them to give me a good guide line.  if your material doesn't have that what  I would suggest is that you use a ruler and guide yourself across so that you are even when placing the pins.

Step 6:
Sew in a zig-zag stitch across your spots about 1 inch.
I know it's hard to see but that is what it looks like on the minky dot side.

And here you have it! All done!!!!!