Movie Date Makeover

I am what some may call a shop-a-holic.... a fashion fanatic of sorts... and though I spend hours trolling the web doing "pre-shopping" research and outfit planning, I constantly find myself falling back on the same boring combinations of clothing, and then whining about my lack of options.  How can someone have SO. MUCH. CLOTHING. and constantly feel like I've got nothing to wear? Perhaps I am just not as creative as I'd hope.  Until, of course, I stumbled upon a new style icon: J.

I know, sounds like a Men in Black agent.  But J's Everyday Fashion, a blog I found on, you guessed it, Pinterest, may just have changed my outlook on closet options.  She finds inspiration on websites, catalogs, runways, etc., and "remakes" them from clothing in her seemingly infinite closet.  While obsessing over her site today, I read some great advice: Don't try to copy it exactly.  Rather, let the outfit (style, color, etc) inspire you.  So when my good friend Amanda asked me to join her on a movie date, I began searching my "My Style" Pinterest board for some pinspiration.  I decided upon this:

The link to this outfit was broken, so I had to settle for a cell phone pic, hence the poor quality.  However, you get the picture.  

Now, I am one of those cold blooded individuals who finds a 75 degree day "freezing."  Add to that a movie theater climate, which to me feels practically subarctic.  So I knew from square one I would wear my distressed American Eagle jeggings in place of cut off shorts.  I then examined he top half of this outfit: ivory lace, ivory blazer, waterfall necklace.  None of these I own.  But, I remembered J's advice: be inspired.  I figured the style could be summed up as follows: ultra femme tank, summery blazer, statement necklace.  So I headed to my "boring closet" to see what I could find.

I began by pulling some ideas that fit the bill, and came up with a few options:

I was already surprised by the combinations I created, as I never paired these tanks/blazers together before.  I loved the look of the mint and ivory, so I went with that.  I changed the accessories a bit and here is what I came up with:

Tank: Express

Blazer: Charlotte Russe

Necklace: Arden B. circa 2008

Jeans: American Eagle

Heels: Kenzie (Dillards) circa 2010

Bracelet: Etsy; see this post

What do you think???

My Attempt at a T-shirt Scarf

After seeing all the amazing scarves Julie made (see previous post), I thought I'd try my hand.  Here's the scarf I wanted to make:

Cute... right? The instructions came from this site.

It seemed easy enough: 1) cut shirt into 11 strips, 2) stretch strips, 3) braid, 4) secure braid, and 5) tie or glue together.  It was pretty easy, but for some reason my scarf looks a lot more like a necklace than the picture above.

***Let me preface this picture by saying that I must apologize for the creepy smile, but I felt stupid enough snapping shots of myself in my mirror a la "16-year-olds-on-facebook," so I vowed to take one and be done!!! haha!

If I attempt this again, I think I will use one of Tony's t-shirts so that my strips are longer.  I will also probably increase the number of strips I use to 14 (or maybe even 17...) so it looks fuller.  Anyway, for now, I think I'll stick with admiring Julie's scarves!!!!

Guest Blogger: Julie!!!

My friend Julie Brunner is amazingly crafty, especially when it comes to creating super-cute scarves out of old t-shirts.  A craft I have also attempted, and failed BTW (as a future post will detail).  So, I asked her to guest blog for the site, and here's what she's shared!

Pinterest Chain Scarf from http://shwinandshwin.blogspot.com/2010/09/recycled-tee-scarf.html

Materials: T-shirt (XL adult)

                Scissors

Step 1: Cut the bottom off of the t-shirt where the seam is.

Step 2: Begin cutting strips of the t-shirt until you get to the sleeves.. I cut a total of 16 strips. (the entire t-shirt)

Step 3: Wrap each ring three times.

Step 4: Your long t-shirt strips should now look like this!

Step 5: Take one of your rings and cut it into pieces. Tie the remaining rings together to create a chain feel.

Step 6: Your scarf is done! It should look something like this, depending on how many rings you have.

Step 7: Voila! Wear it and flaunt it!

And here's another chain scarf she made. (Perfect for Steeler Games!!!!!!)

Julie has made a ton of other cute scarves, too, which you can view (and buy!) at her etsy shop!

Thanks Julie!!!!!

Fabulous Felt Owls

I'm not sure why I have recently fallen in love with all things owl, but when I saw this pin, I knew I had to try this with Madison.  After doing some pre-planning, however, I realized there was a ton of cutting involved, and should most likely pre-cut the pieces to make it easier on her.  I'm glad I did, because it probably took me a solid two hours before I had cut all the pieces out.  Here are the materials I used:

For two owls:
-one sheet of brown felt (for the ears/beak)
-6 other colors, one sheet each.
-glue gun & glue sticks
-4, 25mm google eyes
-2 4 inch styrofoam balls

The template for owl two (printable here) and instructions did not actually tell me how many felt feathers to cut of each color, but I used about 20 feathers for the "belly" and about 35 feathers for the "back" of the owls.  After I cut everything up, I put them into ziploc bags and labeled them for easy preparation the next day.

So today, we began our adventure.  I "followed" the somewhat vague instructions on the DIY site, but found myself winging it at times.  Each owl only took about 30 minutes to make, and that was with a 5 year old helper, and 2 burnt fingers from the hot glue gun.  (I found this project to more of a pain in the butt than originally anticipated) Though Madison loved her owl, it really isn't a project meant for kids, and I probably wouldn't do it again with her.  However, if you are looking for some easy DIY decor for an owl themed room or party, they definitely turned out cute!

 Total cost for 2 owls: $12, 2 burnt fingers, and 3 hours of labor....

"Roasted" Chicken Drumsticks

Honestly.... I had no intentions of blogging about this recipe.  It was one of those "Oh crap... what can I do with these drumsticks I thawed for dinner...? let's consult Pinterest" kind of nights.  When I came across this recipe, I decided I'd try it simply because I had all (well, actually most...) of the ingredients, and it seemed easy.  Boy am I glad I tried it! It was delicious!

Ingredients:
-1 package chicken drumsticks (I left the skin on)
-4 tbs butter
-1 tbs olive oil
-3 garlic cloves, minced
-parsley (the recipe calls for fresh, but I used dried)
-1 tbs lemon juice
-S&P

Thats it! Stuff everyone has, right!?

Start by liberally salting and peppering the drumsticks.  I'd say use slightly more than what you think.... and heating the olive oil and half the butter in a sauté pan.  Once the butter starts to foam, add the chicken and lightly brown on all sides.

Once its lightly browned, cover and let simmer for about 25 minutes, turning occasionally.  The chicken will take on a nice caramel brown color.

After 25 minutes, add remaining ingredients, including other half of the butter.  Let butter melt and remove from heat.  Allow the pan to sit for about 5 minutes, letting the garlic and parsley flavors infuse, and continue to turn the chicken a few times to coat it fully.

I served it with a sweet potato and some green peas.  The chicken tasted like it had roasted in the oven all day.  This is definitely a keeper recipe!

Anchors Aweigh!

After seeing tons and tons of pins of adorable nautical themed jewelry, I decided to buy myself a new bracelet from this etsy shop.  Though its a little big for my tiny wrists, and it took 6 weeks to ship, I adore it... so I thought I'd continue browsing anchor bracelets on Pinterest while I admire my new bling! Cost of mine: $8.50 (plus shipping).

Angry Birds Pizza

If there is one thing my Maddie-Cakes loves... its PIZZA.  She is just like her Daddy.  Whats even better? Her favorite kind of pizza happens to be pepperoni and black olive (strange for a 5 year old, I know...) So you can imagine my excitement when I stumbled across this pin.

Though the pin led to a dead end.... the picture provided enough pinspiration for my next pin project: Angry Birds Pizza.

Ingredients:
-1 Pillsbury pizza dough (found by the crescent rolls)
-1/2 jar Prego Pizza Sauce
-lots of shredded mozzarella cheese (I use fat free)
-1 slice of mozzarella cheese
-1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
-about 5 black olives, sliced (I used about 1/2 of a small can)
-1 package pepperoni (I use turkey pepperoni)

Step one: press pizza dough into circle, reserving two small pieces for "head feathers."  Add the "feathers" once your circle is the size/shape you like.

Step Two: Spread the sauce over the whole pizza.

Step Three: Cover with shredded mozzarella.

Use pepperoni to create the top half of your Angry Bird, as seen below.  Cover thickly so he looks red.

I used the round edge of my pillsbury pizza dough container as a cookie cutter to create two round eyes from the sliced mozzarella.  Then, add black olive eyeballs and eyebrows as seen below.  Finish by placing the cheddar cheese in the shape of a beak.  *Note, in original picture, it appears the pizza maker used sliced cheddar cut into the shape of the beak.  I, however, didn't have any sliced cheddar, and found the shredded cheddar to work just fine.

Bake for 14 minutes at 400 degrees.  Turn oven light on, as your child will probably do as Maddie did and watch every moment of her bird transformation!

The result: an angry bird masterpiece! And yummy, too!  I'll definitely be doing this one again!