Fabric YoYo Necklace

So, as I said before, I have been busy crafting away! Today I will show you how to make a Fabric YoYo Necklace! They are selling for $20-$30 on Etsy, and I didn't spend anything on this one. Just used things I had on hand and recycled them! Super easy to make! So, go get some fabric and get on it!

I used some left over material from my apron for my YoYos. You want to think about how big you want your YoYos. When you figure it out, multiply that by 2. That's how big your initial circle will need to be. I used different sizes for this necklace.

Okay, first cut out your circles and thread your needle with a double strand. Make a knot at the end and put it through the wrong side of the fabric. Then fold your edge down about 1/2 inch.

 Okay, continue sewing all the way around the fabric (if your thread isn't long enough just inch your YoYo as you go). once you get to the end, you want to pull your needle upwards, with the thread. Your YoYo should start to bunch up in the middle. (Sorry I forgot to take pictures of this, I wasn't thinking). HERE is where I looked. :) But, this is your finished product. A big and little one.

You want to finish with just a couple of stitches, then knot and cut your thread off. Okay, for this necklace I needed several different YoYo's. Big ones and small ones. So.....

YoYoing....

Now, you want to take your YoYo's and arrange them in whatever design you choose. I used straight pins to hold mine together until I was ready to sew. Then, I just stitched them together on the backs around the edges. The Bf's mom also read that some people use jump rings and fabric glue, but most just stitched.

Here's what it looked like!

Just make sure they are secure. Now, it's optional if you want to put something in the middle of your YoYo's. I bought a box of jewlery at an Estate auction and found these faux pearls in there. So I thought they would be a cute center. So, I cut the strand and sewed them on.



Now, YoYoing some more.......

Okay, now I took the necklace I was using (another box find) and sewed the yo yo's on securely to the strand, like so

And here is it, the necklace for my darling friend Megan.



I am completely jealous of this thing! I'm going to have to make one for myself! Hope you enjoy!

-Amanda

These are some blogs I read! I (for the first time) will be linking my project up to the following blogs!

Lately blogworld

I failed to take pictures of my latest creative endeavours, but here's what I've been doing.

I made my first apron! I know, I know, this may not sound exciting to most of you, but I am pumped about it. I haven't used it yet because I really don't want to get it dirty :) I'll post pics in a later post.

I made over 50 yeast rolls for our NYE party we had. They were a success and super yummy! I will share the recipe for those later as well.

I introduced the boyfriends mom to yoyo's. You know, the cute little fabric things that you can make virtually anything out of (I'm slowly learning with each new article read!) I actually am making one of my lovely girlfriends a cool necklace since an unamed Wal-Mart supercenter LOST her photo present! Rude! Anyway, she will LOVE the necklace I'm pretty certain. I will take some photos of it and post later!

And, lastly (but most wonderfully), I made homeade soft pretzels. They were very very good! We have a small private owned shop in our mall that makes pretzels, and let me tell you, these are just as good (but MUCH cheaper!)! I'll go ahead and post the recipe below!

I start back to school Monday, so I'm sure my post will be few! I'll try my best though :)

Hope you enjoy!


Soft Pretzels

You will need:
1 large cookie sheet
a meat thermometer or candy thermometer
mixing bowl

Supplies:
1 C water
2T Yeast (I always use Active Dry)
2 t honey
2 1/2 C milk
1 stick butter
1/2 C honey
4 t salt
8 C Flour (you can use wheat or white)
extra butter and salt for the topping

Directions:
Mix 1 C water, yeast, 2t honey. Stir well to dissolve yeast, set aside. In medium saucepan, melt butter, 1/2 C honey, 2 1/2 C milk, and 4t salt and bring to 120 degrees (make sure you watch your temp!) Mix the yeast into the pan mixture. Put your mixture into a large bowl and add the flour 2 C at a time. After mixed well, knead the dough for 5-10 minutes. Place in greased bowl and let rise 1-1 1/2 hours. Punch down to get all the air out. (For this next step, I made sure my hands had a little oil on them, and my rolling surface) Pull off a "fist sized" ball, roll into long snake, twist the top, then pull the ends down to meet the bottom (I just looked at pictures on how to form a pretzel, and I also just cut the "snakes" and made little nuggests, which were really good!) Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until brown on top. Brush with butter and sprinkle with salt. You can also sprinkle them with cinnamon/sugar, or make a glaze. I served mine with cheese sauce and mustard! Very simple and fun for kids to help with!

Birthday Beer Cupcakes

Today, my main squeeze turns 25! Happy Birthday to you baby! I've never talked much about him on my blog, but if you know him, you know that he is a beer FANATIC! He loves to homebrew, drink, and research beer! He doesn't like any beers by the "Big 3" beer companies within a 10 feet radius of our humble home! At one time he too consumed those beers, then he tasted the "real stuff". I'm not the biggest fan of most of the beers he likes, but some of them I adore. Guiness is not one of those that I like. But, I've always heard of cooking with it, so I thought for his birthday I'd make him some "beer cupcakes"! In ALL seriousness, they were some of the best cupcakes I've EVER had. Cheers!



Here is the recipe that I used:

• 1 cup Guinness stout
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 2 cups dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

For the frosting:

• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/3 cup milk



THE STAR!

First, you want to preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then, in a large sauce pan, combine the butter

and the 1 C of Guiness and let the butter melt. Remove from the heat.

In a seperate bowl, you want to combine the sour cream, 2 eggs, and the vanilla and whisk well.

Now, mix your sour cream mixture into your chocolaty beer mixture and whisk well. Meanwhile, combine your flour and baking soda into a seperate bowl. After you've whisked it well, pour into your flour mixture and stir well. Next, pour your mixture into baking cups or a greased muffin tin.



YUM!



(My oven baked them in about 15 minutes, so check yours frequently)

While your waiting, make your icing!

*TIP* make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature, it will make it easier to beat.

 Beat your cream cheese until it's smooth, then sift in your powdered sugar.

(I substituted part of the milk with the left over Guiness, to give the icing a beer flavor)

Look at these beauties

Go ahead, taste one, you won't regret it!

Okay okay, now that they are cool, put that icing on!

I am by no means a professional icer! :)

Hope you enjoy these as much as we did! Happy Birthday to my beer man!

JOY TO THE WORLD

I saw a really cute idea on some blog (I should really write them down!) using a big jingle bell for an "O"
 spelling the word JOY. So I looked all over for an oversized jingle bell and couldn't find one anywhere! I finally ran across one at Target. It of course ended up being the most expensive thing of this project, but totally worth it. I have to buy some ribbon to put on the jingle bell, but for the most part it's done! I love it :) Hope you do too!

All of these materials were purchased at Hobby Lobby (besides the bell of course)

I used Christmas Green, but later on I thought it was too bright, so I painted them a lighter green. That's why they will be different in the last pictures!

Then, I traced my letters on my paper to cut out and apply to the front. I also traced the bottom of a can to put on the round circles.

And then we distress! My favorite thing to do lately!

 Then, I applied my circles onto the rounds using mod podge.

Then, I attached the letters I cut out from my paper.

Next, I hot glued my letters onto the rounds, then my giant jingle bell.

(Notice the lighter green color now!)

Here's just some pictures of my letters by the tree. It's really easy to make, and will look even better with some ribbon on the bell. I can't wait. Hope you enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

*Amanda*

Christmas Candy Cook Off 2010

1.

Chocolate Bark

You will need:

• 2 sleeves of saltine crackers (I know what you're thinking, but trust me!)
• 2 bags of chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate because I like it more, but any works.)
• 1 bag of chopped pecans (I had some halves on hand and chopped them)
• 4 sticks of butter or margarine
• 3/4 C brown sugar
• 1/4 C granulated sugar

First step, take the 4 sticks of butter and melt them in a pot, adding in the brown and granulated sugar. Bring to a boil for one minute. Meanwhile, take two cookie sheets and line them with foil. Then, place the crackers in rows on the cookie sheets.

What about my sweet butter art?!

After your mixture turns this color:

Take it off the heat and pour it over those perfectly lined up crackers like so

 Now, stick these beauties in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes... Now, take them out and pour on a bag of the chocolate chips... and stick back in the oven for a few minutes, just to melt the chocolate.

 Next, you want to spread the chocolate all over the crackers and add the pecans. Then, it should look like this:

Let your pan cool a little bit, then stick it in the freezer for a couple of hours. Once its set up, crack the bark into pieces. Tell me you don't think it awesome! The salty-sweet combination is amazing! Enjoy!



LEMON BUDDIES!

 My mom is NOT the biggest fan of puppy chow (muddy buddies), so I found this recipe using lemon instead and she loved it!

This is what you'll need:

• 2 lemons (for the juice and zest)
• 2 C confectioners sugar
• 9 C Rice Chex
• 2 Tbs lemon juice, 2 Tbs lemon zest (I add more than 2 Tbs because I like it lemony)
• 2 C white chocolate chips, melted
•  1/4 Tbs butter
• 1 Gallon ziplock baggie



First melt your chocolate chips and butter.

Then add in your lemon zest and lemon juice. Put all your chex in a bowl.

I know this doesn't look awesome, but bare with me! Mix well, then add to your ziplock bag!

 

Then, throw on some Justin Timberlake and shake it up!!!

...........

Sorry, I'm a dancing fool! Anyway, put it in a bowl and ENJOY it!

That's all for right now. I'll post my brittle pictures later in the week! These two recipes are SO easy and quick! Not to mention they are amazing!!! Happy cooking!

*Amanda*