just some crafty girl

Caprese Dipfor the adventurous soul … Diced Roma tomatoes,...

Thu, 02 May 2013 14:37:32 -0500

Caprese Dip
for the adventurous soul …

Diced Roma tomatoes, chopped basil and fresh mozzarella.

Throw it in a 375 oven for 15 minutes then broil for 2 minutes. Done and done!

Oh hell, we’ve all needed to bake something sweet and...

Thu, 02 May 2013 14:35:40 -0500

Oh hell, we’ve all needed to bake something sweet and realize we don’t have eggs, milk and/or oil in the pantry! What’s a lazy-I-don’t-want-to-go-to-the-store person to do?

Make a soda cake, of course!

Soda Cake

1 box cake mix
1 can DIET soft drink
(dark cakes, use a dark soft drink, light cakes need a light soft drink)

Mix it all together (go slow with the soda) and then toss it in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes!

Let it cool 10 minutes or so then top with some cool whip. Done and done!

Mmmm! Who doesn’t like bread?! Crack Bread 1 loaf bread,...

Thu, 02 May 2013 14:28:00 -0500

Mmmm! Who doesn’t like bread?!

Crack Bread

1 loaf bread, sliced cheese, butter, ranch dressing mix and some bacon bits.

Using a serrated knife slice your loaf long and cross-ways. Be certain to get as close to the bottom crust without slicing thru it. Place the loaf on a piece of foil on a baking sheet.

In the “openings” shove in the cheese slices and bacon bits.

Mix about 1 Tbsp ranch dressing mix with 1/2 cup melted butter and drizzle all over that lovely little loaf of bacon and cheddar. Wrap it up in foil and put into a 350 oven for 15 minutes then unwrap the foil and give it a go for another 10 minutes.

Best eaten when still warm and happy happy happy.

This is a sure fire way to switch up the “usual”...

Thu, 02 May 2013 14:24:25 -0500

This is a sure fire way to switch up the “usual” weekend breakfast/brunch at your house … or a dish you need to take somewhere.

Orangey Biscuits

Melt 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, juice and zest of one large orange in a sauce pan.

Dredge 2 cans flaky biscuits in the mix and then place in the bundt pan – “standing up” so they eventually lean on each other kind of like a domino set-up.

Pour remaining sauce on top. Bake 35 minutes at 350. Let rest 5 minutes then turn upside down.

white trash chicken soup

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 23:55:48 -0600

i call this one my white trash chicken soup. if you are in a pinch and need a fast quick meal - this is the one for you!

cooked rotisserie chicken from your local grocery
chicken broth
refried beans (if you want super spicy - go for the jalapeno beans!)
2 cans rotel (i like the lime and cilantro flavor)
tomato paste
black beans; drained
mexican corn; drained

shred the chicken into chunks and pieces - think bite size
heat your broth in a large pot; stir in the refried beans until dissolved
add 1/3 - 1/2 cup tomato paste and stir
throw in every everything else and heat thru

if you prefer more soup - add some water

this is my go-to meal and costs less than $13 to make. we usually get 3 meals out of it. nice, huh?

doesn’t it look yummy!?

watermelon salsa

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 23:47:00 -0600

okay, i realize recipes and food aren’t exactly “crafty” but i wasn’t thinking about all that when i set up my tumblr. #dontjudgeme! :)

this is such a simple and super DELICIOUS quick make dish. i like it served over a grilled fish but it’s equally yummy dipped up with salty chips. this recipe makes more than enough to take to a party and have some for a meal at home.

did you make it? did you enjoy it?

4 cups watermelon; chopped
1 cup cucumber; chopped
1 cup cilantro; chopped
1 cup onion; chopped
1/4 basil; chopped
1 cup red bell pepper; chopped
red chile; minced (to taste for heat)
1/4 cup basil; chopped
lime juice; to taste
salt; to taste

here is what i looks like just prepped. so pretty!

and here it is all mixed up. super pretty dish and tastes amazing.

a weekend of crafty - inspired by pinterest : polkie dots

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 22:13:00 -0600

okay, okay, i know it’s really “polka” dots but for the longest time i’ve called them “polkie dots” and well, yeah. :)

i LOVE dots. i am obsessed with the pink, teal, purple matte jewel type ornaments.

overall cost per ornament was as little as $0.50 to $1. pretty simple if you don’t have OCD tendencies. for me, however, LOL - it was a bit more of a challenge but still fell into the easy peasy category.

first up -

a simple glossy black globe with teal, pink and green dots from the super fine glitter. i added a couple of rhinestones for an extra oomph. (tip: use a dry paint brush to brush away the glitter that isn’t part of the dot.) fun!

i started to wonder if i could do something with the “snow”.

the first one i made was a pure on test and i was really expecting it to be a “throw away” attempt but it turned out and i fell in love with it! i decided to make a series of similarly done ornaments.

first up - black with pink. this is my color combo for everything lately. i hand painted the base of a matte black ball with aleene’s tacky glue then dipped it in the same snow i used for the snow globes. wrapped a pink micro ribbon around it and dotted with pink acrylic paint.

next i tried a minnie mouse inspired ball. dianne love red polkies and the ribbon was just so cute. same process as the one above except i put the snow on top and dotted with red and white acrylic paints.

i absolutely love this garland ribbon i picked up at walmart so i had to figure out a way to have it make a big impact. i used teal glitter glue to make the dots. in the picture the teal doesn’t exactly show up but in person you can see the darker hue on the bulb.

next i tried a hot pink globe with the snow and a sweet black and white polkie dot micro ribbon. i didn’t think it needed anything else since it was sweet as could be just as it was.

finally, i became curious how one would look without the ribbon. this is all trial and error, right? i used two different super fine glitters (purple and hot pink) and then added some rhinestones in the middle of the purple dots for a little bling!

a weekend of crafty - inspired by pinterest : snow globe

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:58:00 -0600

i’ve seen several ornaments that had beads and whatnot plunked inside and a sweet little ribbon tied around the neck.

the sprigs i used for cherries had smaller berries that i didn’t want to waste. we picked up some silver beads (although you can’t really see them that well in the photo) and some of the “snow” you use to decorate scenes. i used red garland ribbon and small glue dots to keep the ribbon in place. i really love this one. i’d like to make more of this style.

overall cost per ornament is about $1.20 or so. this was a super simple ornament to make with great impact. i think the lights from the tree will really make the snow sparkle.

a weekend of crafty - inspired by pinterest : cupcake ornaments

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:53:24 -0600

anyone who knows me knows that i am a little freak for baking cupcakes and coming up with unique and fun recipes. so, of course, when i saw cupcake ornaments on pinterest i just absolutely had to try and make some. i ended with about a dozen cakes but i have to admit - i have about 3 that will likely make it to the dumpster. lessons learned. :)

i used ornaments from garden ridge, cake liners picked up from sur la table and my pantry stash, some jewelry beads for the sprinkles and crafting snow from joanns for the icing. the “cherry” was from an ornament sprig.

overall cost per ornament is about $1.50 or so. it was harder than i expected but once i got into a groove it turned out to be a quick go of it all.

a weekend of crafty - inspired by pinterest

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:47:00 -0600

my bestie drove in from dallas to spend a much needed weekend together and we decided instead of blowing money at a bar and buying a hangover we would instead have a full blown crafty weekend inspired from too much time browsing pinterest.

we shopped until we could shop no more! we made a trip to joanns to check prices for our coupons, then to garden ridge, the family dollar store, back to joanns, the bakery shop, sur la table, lowes and then BACK to joanns followed by a final trip to walmart. (dianne didn’t care for my murder walmart too much. LOL)

i have to admit - i laughed when we put all the goodies out on the table.