Sunday, January 24, 2010

What's for dinner?

Well, at our house, this was!

I had forgotten how easy and delicious this slow cooker recipe was, I don't know why I don't make it more often. I found it here, at Sparkpeople.com and the best part is that I usually have all of these things in my pantry so it's a no brainer.

Here's what you will need:

Put your chicken breasts in your slow cooker *mine were frozen* and sprinkle with taco seasoning.


Mix your soup and salsa in a bowl *I didn't have Cream of Mushroom soup so I substituted with Cream of Chicken-works beautifully!* and pour on top of your chicken. Set on low for 6-8 hrs.

Here's what you get! I have used this chicken for a bunch of different things, tonight I shredded it and put it over baked potatoes. The recipe says to put it over rice but it is really good for shredded chicken tacos too.

I made these also:

They were met with mixed reviews by the boys. They didn't like the topping *wha? They can't be related to me!*. I told them "It's streusel people! How can you not like streusel?!" Blasphemy. Anywho, I found them here. They are banana-streusel-deliciousness.
Have a good week :)
Jill





Monday, January 18, 2010

Easy glass etching

I am always looking for new gift ideas and was running out of ideas for Christmas this year. I found the cutest salad tongs for my friend here and needed a bowl to go with them. I couldn't just find any bowl for my fabulous friend so, one night while I should've been sleeping, cleaning, doing laundry, etc. my mind went on a rampage! I had done some etching years ago for some bathroom cabinets but never decoratively. I remembered it being a big ol' pain but thought, what the heck...let's try it again! I found a great bowl at Cost Plus and had a lady on Etsy make me a monogrammed vinyl.



These are pictures of a vase I made for another friend last week. I didn't take pictures of the original bowl-what was I thinking?!



I found this vase at Crate & Barrel and it worked out perfectly. You want to find something that is flat and isn't too curvy or your stencil won't stick right and you will have leakage :( That is very bad in the world of cream etching!

This my friends is Armour Etch it can be your best friend or your wicked enemy. Be nice to it and everything will work out fine. It can be tricky to find but my local Michael's has it but you have to ask as it is locked up-remember the wicked side!? This is a small bottle and it did 2 small projects with a smidge left over.


So I apparently forgot to post the picture of just the vinyl laid out on the glass. Sorry. What you need to know is that you can have vinyl cut for you *like I did*, use your Cricut to cut out your image or you can go real old skool and cut your image/word/letters out with Contact paper and an exacto knife. Whatever you choose to do will be fine, you must listen carefully though. Whatever you choose must stick well to your surface or, well, you're screwed.


Once you line up your vinyl on your glass where you want it you have to rub it on the glass until all the air bubbles are gone and your edges are stuck. You don't want to see any creases because creases = leakage!!! Remember, leakage is BAD people!


Ok, on to the next step. Give your Armour Etch a good shake and then poor a thick, generous layer on to your vinyl, like this:

This is not the time to be stingy or your etch will look spotty and weird.




Spread it around with a toothpick or an old paintbrush until your image is totally covered. Be very careful you don't get any outside the lines *remember, it can be wicked and won't come off!*


The back of the package says to let the cream sit for 5 minutes. I am not a rule follower and let mine sit for 10, I know, I live on the edge! The first project I did I followed the directions to the 'T' and my glass looked spotty and kind of greasy so now I let it sit for 10 minutes and it looks great.


When your time is up, carefully wipe off all the excess cream, then rinse it off and THEN peel off your vinyl. If you peel your vinyl first, it will leak and remember, leakage = BAD!!


Be very careful when wiping off the cream because even the tiniest speck can fly off and ruin your project! Also, this cream will also etch your counters, sink and pretty much anything else in it's path *it's wicked, remember?* so be careful! And for goodness sake, keep it away from your kids and animals! PSA over. On to the finished product...



Etching is kind of hard to photograph so here is a little better picture.

This is a very fun and economical project. It takes a bit of time to get the hang of but is well worth it, I promise.
You can usually find 40% off coupons for Michael's which you can use on your Armour Etch. Your glass piece will probably be the most expensive part of the project but you can find cute jars, bowls or vases at Wal Mart or Cost Plus for cheap. It will be a unique gift that any gal *or guy I suppose* would be happy to receive!


Have fun!

J






Sunday, January 10, 2010

Super cute ribbon topiary

I have been dying to make a ribbon topiary for months now and I finally got 5 minutes *ok, a couple hours* to make one. I was inspired by Whitney Caroline Designs so I made one for Valentine's Day. Here's the lowdown:


You will need:
1 wooden dowel
Ribbon cut into 3" strips
Straight pins
Styrofoam ball (mine is a 3" ball but you can get them itty bitty to huge!)
Container/pot to put it in
Floral foam or styrofoam to fit inside your container
Spanish moss (forgot to show that-sorry)

Take your ribbon strips and loop them around like this:
Stick your pin through your loop and into the styrofoam ball:


Keep pinning *and pinning, and pinning, and pinning* and voila! Here's the finished product:

Super cute, right? The only downfall is this:

I was watching E! and wasn't paying enough attention apparently. Oh well. It was so easy and I think really cute. I can't wait to do more!