Fun with baby headbands

I've been creating new things for me and my mom's crafty booth. Here are two ideas I was playing around with. A tutu made with rolls of tulle and a fabric flower for a baby headband.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Explosion

I had to make my husband some kind of dessert for a potluck at lunch tomorrow. So I went looking for something amazing but easy and that I had never made before. Voila! I saw Picky Palate's Brownie Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies. I didn't follow her recipe, I made a box of brownies and then my standard chocolate chip cookie recipe with extra flour to make the batter stiffer. I did follow her directions to wrap the brownie in dough. The task was rather daunting at first, but once I knew what I was doing it went quickly.

And these make GINORMOUS cookies. I got a total of 13. 12 for hubby and 1 for me and the kids to split. It was wonderfully good. Crispy cookie outside with gooey cookie and brownie inside. I will definitely be making these again.

I'm an idiot and can't figure out hyper linking on my iPhone in this blogger app, so below is the link to the original post where I got the inspiration.

http://picky-palate.com/2011/02/07/brownie-stuffed-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Tutorials are back up!!

Sorry for the problems!! I let my site lapse at godaddy and then I got busy and forgot to move it somewhere else. I'm an idiot.

I've been feeling so guilty for never posting anything here. I swear I never sit down...well the only time I do sit down is if I'm nursing the baby. There is just not enough time in the day. Hence, why I'm posting here at 2:30 in the morning. I've been in organizer mode the last few days, so maybe I will figure out how to organize blogging time into my day. I swear I'm going to make an effort.  I am never this kind of procrastinator.  I was that girl in high school and college who turned in papers WAY early.  I don't know what my deal is now. 

Anyway, tutorials should all be functioning. If you find one that isn't, please email me at stephanickety at yahoo

 My youngest dd's birthday is in 6 days. I can't believe she's turning 2!! I'm going to make her a little top or onesie to go along with this awesome little Gymboree tutu I found at a thrift store. I was looking at the birthday tees over at gymboree.com and they have this cute little cupcake one that has a swirling ribbon as the "icing." Totally cute, but no way am I paying that kind of money for a birthday shirt. So in the next day or so, I'm going to whip it up and sew and show here. Maybe I'll be smart enough to make a tut for it.

After we moved last year to a very tiny, less than 2000 people town, our access to a decent library went out the window. The library here is not nice. There are never any good new fiction books, the librarian is a total witch, and when I request books from their "partner libraries"  in other small towns, I wait 6 months. I'm still waiting for most of them.

So, we finally shelled out $50 for the entire year to have a wonderful library. It's just like the one we left, and there are 3 branches and LOTS of new fiction. We went last Sunday and came home with 2 giant stacks of books, with some for everyone. I even found Mr. Wizard DVDs. Remember him on Nickolodeon? My son was mesmerized. He's gonna be my little science genius when he grows up. I'm going to have to check out the entire collection for him. I digress...

To get on with something sewing related about the library, I found these adorable little "softies" books for my tween crafter. Out of all the books, she chose to make a Poo Baby. A Poo Baby!! Then she made me do all the work. He is an upcycled poo baby. The directions called for felt, but we used a bag of t shirts for a future garage sale and then some felted wool from some sweaters I cut up. I'll be happy to post the pattern I made, if anyone would like to create their own poo baby. Just post in the comments. 

Wow now that I'm writing this, I have so much to tell you guys.  Ok....I'm spacing it out in posts.  Next post will be about my awesome new garden and the amazing pumpkin cheesecake swirled brownies I made yesterday.  And the books I've been reading...

Hmm, wait I have an idea.  I live by my iPhone calendar.  Okay, I have a plan.  I will lay in bed while I attempt to fall asleep right now (between my obsessions with Draw Something, BeJeweled and Words with Friends) and every couple of days I will input a topic I need to come talk about.  On that day, I will do it.  And, I can blog on my iPhone, so that kills two birds with one stone.  I can do that anywhere...waiting for kids at swim practice, waiting for kids after school, waiting for kids at the orthodontist.  I have a mission.  As my husband will tell you, I live for missions. I am always finding a new mission.  Once we finish one, I start on something else we MUST do, lol.

The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sometime last year I preordered this book for my husband, probably the biggest 30something grown man fan of John Green EVER. Seriously, if they made a John Green sheet and comforter set, it would be on our bed. It arrived yesterday, and like the good wife that I am, I waited for him to arrive home and open it to see what color sharpie John Green had signed his book. (It was red, btw.) Anyway, after watching my husband read it for 2 1/2 hours nonstop last night, I promptly stole it off his nightstand around 1 am, and I finished it just a mere few moments ago.

I have to say of all the John Green books, this one is my favorite. I think it is that even though they were two cancer-filled teenagers, their relationship reminded me of our courtship, which began over an email conversation in regards to having a relationship with "more light than heat." I found out later that was my sweet husband's hidden attempt at "testing" my intelligence.

Anyway, enough about me, let's talk about the book. I had listened before to my husband's vlogbrother videos when John had read from the book, so I knew the premise. I was worried it would be a rather painful story since you figured someone was eventually going to die. However, it wasn't like that. I loved the love story. It brings back those memories of first falling for the love of your life. It was a fun and funny, and the plot twists were unexpected.



View all my reviews

Just a little FYI

After learning about GoDaddy's views on SOPA and their CEO kills elephants in his spare time, my website is moving. It is where all the tutorials are housed you can access. So, in few days they may become inaccessible for couple days while the DNS servers are moving.

Now that I'm an official college graduate, I have started working on crafty things again. Hopefully, I can get my act together and post some see and shows very soon.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Like I said in yesterday's post, this is a compilation of a few recipes. This amount feeds my family of 5 plus leftovers for hubby to take to work a couple days. I'll post the long way and the changes for the quick and dirty way.


Long Way
2 chicken breasts
1 small onion
5-6 potatoes - cubed
2 cups of carrots - sliced
2 cups of chicken broth/stock
1 tbs minced garlic
1 tsp garlic salt
1 cup of milk mixed with 1tbs of flour
8 oz cream cheese
1 pkg of Reamed frozen egg noodles
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil chicken breasts in just enough water to cover them until thoroughly cooked. Turn heat down to medium and pull out chicken to cool. Add veggies, garlic, salt, pepper, chicken stock and some water (I usually add about 2 cups). Cook until veggies tender. While waiting, cool and shred chicken. When veggies are ready add chicken back to pot. Add noodles. Wait until its boiling again and then add the flour + milk mixture. Watch the pot and stir or it will boil over. Lastly add the cream cheese in large dollops and allow to melt. Don't try to stir it in or it will separate and look nasty. Once it's all melted, stir, add water if necessary and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes before serving.

The quick and dirty method speeds up the time because there is no waiting to cook the veggies. You just add a can of diced potatoes and a can of sliced carrots. Then, you can quickly add everything else and serve.