Moving

Hi there! Today, I wanted to tell you about my next big adventure! Devin and I are moving a couple of States away to Bellevue, WA  for his new job. We're excited and nervous at the same time.

I just wanted to let you all know that I won't be posting for awhile. I need to focus on packing, moving, getting settled, unpacking, and everything else that goes with moving. I'll see you again once we get settled (and internet), thanks for stopping by!

P.S. Any of you from the Seattle area? Any tips, suggestions, places we must go, things we must do?

Doll House Makeover

While Devin and I were visiting his parents, we helped his Mom repaint a bathroom upstairs. We had some extra paint and I knew just what to do with it. Repaint the doll house. The doll house is very old, but now the granddaughters are playing with it, so I thought it could use a facelift! Plus, with all those little hands, it was really dirty.

Before

After

I painted the roof and floors brown (the color of the bathroom) and the insides and outsides red. We left all the old wallpaper for sentimental reasons.

Yep, I even gave barbie a contemporary red kitchen! It was a fun project and hopefully the kids will enjoy it!

It's already Friday?

Can you believe it is Friday? This week went by so fast for me! Once again, there were some awesome projects out there in the blog world.

Boerman Ramblings made this wallet from scratch! No pattern or anything. I'm pretty impressed!

I loved the theme for this Birthday party! Corner House did an awesome job at creating a Tangled themed birthday party! I just love the movie tangled!! Would it be weird for someone in their 20's to have a Tangled themed birthday party? Just wondering...

By the way, if you're curious about the real story of Rapunzel, you can go and read it here. Just like Little Mermaid, I like the Disney version better.

I couldn't pass up posting these Oreo, cheesecake, brownies. Yes, I did just say all three, in one delicious bar. thank you Sweet Peas Kitchen for sharing this delicious treat!

Hope you all have a great Easter weekend!

Preparation time: 10min
Total time: 70min
Serves 6

Lasagna

This yummy, cheesy lasagna is sure to please a crowd

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 12 oz tomato paste
• 1 oz. spaghetti sauce mix
• 24 oz. cottage cheese
• 1 tbs. dried parsley
• 1 lb. grated cheese
• 1 box lasagna noodles

Directions
1. Brown hamburger, drain any excessive oil.
2. Stir in tomato paste, water, and sauce mix. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Stirring occasionally. NOTE: when I first started making this meal, I thought this step was unnecessary and I skipped it. I was wrong. I ended up with soupy lasagna.
3. Mix the parsely into the cottage cheese
4. Lightly grease a large baking dish, 9x13. Spoon enough meat sauce on bottom of pan to cover
5. Top with strips of lasagna (do not cook lasagna noodles)
6. Spread half of cottage cheese and then cheese on top.
7. Repeat layers. END WITH MEAT SAUCE. Sprinkle with parmesan cheses
8. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Cover with tinfoil!

Just out of the oven.

 

Serve with garlic or french bread and a salad or green beans.

Willow Spring Decor - FREE!

Devin and I went to Wyoming last week to visit our family. On the drive out there, we passed some beautiful red willow branches on the road. Naturally, I made Devin pull over so we could go out and clip some.

This particular willow grows in the Western States. They are the most red in the spring. You can also purchase them at most craft stores.

Materials:
Clippers
Willow bushes (frequently found by river beds)

Directions:
Go out and find some red willow bushes. When you are cutting your branches,  you want to cut the new growth, that is where it is the most vibrant red. Look for long, singular branches when possible.

Bring home and arrange in a vase or create a spiral hand tied arrangement like mine and set on your mantel or vignette. I decided to try making a video to explain how to make a spiral hand tied arrangement:







 

If you did your spiral right, it should look like this and will be free standing:

Good luck making your own spring arrangement!

Check out other great crafts at:

Revamp your blog!

Today I am going to teach you how to use Blogger to give your blogspot blog a face lift. No costs and NO html!! We will be using blogger's template designer. This tutorial is for personal blogs and professional blogs.


To start, go to the Setting section on your blogspot dashboard, scroll down towards the bottom and make sure updated editor is selected.

After you have done that, go to the design tab and click Template Designer

This is where the fun starts! The first step inside Template Designer is to choose your template. There are 6 different templates to choose from and they all have variations. Play around and see what you like best.

Once you have chosen your template, move down to background. Use one of bloggers many backgrounds or upload your own! Blogger will even suggest color schemes that match the background. You need to click the arrow next to the picture to see the possible backgrounds.

Next, skip the adjust widths tab and go down to the layout. Choose how many columns you want, which side to have them on, and what you want your footer to look like. NOTE: the widths readjust themselves after you choose a layout, this is why we are choosing a layout first.

Now, you can go back and adjust the widths. If you want to be able to post the extra large photos, increase your entire blog to 1000 pixels.

The last step is the funnest! Go to advance and choose which fonts and colors you want for each element. Blogger has recently added more fonts. Just make sure to choose one that is readable.

There you have it! A new blog design without coding and without spending money! Have fun revamping your blogspot blog!

Have you added your own favicon yet? (the little icon next to the url in your browser) Read this tutorial on how: Favicon

Cashew Chicken

I got this recipe from a friend of mine when I got married. She gave me a starter kit of ingredients and recipes. Since I didn't buy most of the sauce ingredients, there aren't any prices this time. It's delicious though!

Cashew Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Oil
2-4 Garlic cloves
1 lb boneless chicken breast thinly sliced
½ c cashews
1 red pepper , sliced in stir-fry chunks or strips
1 scallion, thinly sliced for garnishing (optional)

Sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1tsp cornstarch in water
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1/8 tsp white pepper (can substitute regular pepper)


Directions:
1. Mix fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and white pepper; set aside.
2. Heat skillet; add oil, garlic (cook garlic in oil for about 30 seconds) then add chicken and the sauce. Stir as chicken cooks.
3. Turn heat to high and reduce the sauce until glaze forms.
4. Stir in red bell pepper (let cook for about 2 minute). If the sauce is not reduced and is thin, add enough corn starch to thicken..
5. Mix in roasted cashews and then put on a serving dish. Garnish with scallion and red bell pepper.
6. Serve best with jasmine rice; delicious with pasta as well.