More Great Ideas from Fellow Bloggers

Hi and happy Sunday evening.  Is everyone getting ready for turkey day?  I know I am!  My in-laws are coming to my house for the first time in twenty-four years and I am oddly a little nervous!  It will be fun though and I am anxious for all those turkey sandwiches! 

I want to start off sharing a wonderful project that was both fun to create and unique. 

This peacock bracelet has a velvet ribbon band with twill tape added for stability.  I got the idea from Bev at Flamingo Toes .  She has awesome tutorial with great ideas.  I thought this would be a great gift.  I am going to make myself one after Christmas and I am toying with the idea of using an old pin that was my grandmother's as the centerpiece.  I love that pin and hold it so dear because I remember my mom giving it to me and telling me how much it meant to her mother.  I guess I am afraid of something happening to it.  It isn't really serving any purpose shut away in a jewelry box so I may just go ahead and use it.  It would make the piece I am planning that much more special.  I will include a picture when I complete it.

I also wanted to share a beverage that is so good and crazy simple to make.  It is a hot pumpkin spice steamer  that I saw on Crafty Chelsea.  I had to whip one up when I read about it and I was hooked!  I happened to have the little individual pumpkin spice creamers so I can tell you(if you are interested) that it takes six of these little devils to make one cup of this stuff.  After I used all my little creamers, I went ahead and purchased the full-size creamer.  I am sure I will manage to use it all! 

   Lastly, I wanted to show you a project that went in a different direction than it began.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I was excited to be learning a new jewelry technique in my bead of the month club.  Well, I became very frustrated using the silk thread to bead, especially knotting the beads in place.  I ended up using silver chain I had and making up my own pattern.  I was happy with the result but a little disappointed that I gave up.  I have another kit that involves that same silk thread technique, so I think  I will give it another go.  This time I will try to be more patient. 

I have been doing a lot of knitting lately and will share a project I made for my son's girlfriend next time.  As it gets colder here, I am really enjoying working with yarn as I watch television in the evening.  I also have been a pinning fool with my new love of Pinterest.  Nobody warned me how addictive it is!  I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Take care.  Nancy

Awesome Bracelets and a Yummy Recipe Accident

Hi everyone and happy Sunday!  It most definitely is a happy Sunday in my opinion because it is a Sunday of a three day weekend!  I have been busy and I am dying to share a project I completed yesterday. 

I don't know if you are familiar with those trendy bracelets that are half chain, half braided cord.  I have been seeing them everywhere so I decided to recreate my own version. 




I started out with the materials I show in the picture.  I bought the silver chain and the white cording at Walmart and the endcaps, lobster clasps and the silver and black cording at Michaels.  I don't live in a big city so the endcaps were not the easiest to find.  JoAnn had them online but not in our local store.  They come in different sizes so purchase them according to the size of the cording you are using. 

I measured out my chain.  I used 3 1/2 inches but you could change that based on your wrist size and how much chain you want to show.  Next, I measured out the cording to 3 1/4 inches and wrapped a very slim piece of tape around it so I could cut it and it wouldn't unravel.  I repeated that so I would have 2 pieces of cording cut to size.  I glued the ends in an endcap with E6000 glue.  I had to replace the jump ring that came with the endcaps to a large one because the chain I picked was too big for the little one.  I connected the cording to the chain with the large jump ring and attached the toggle clasps to either end.  I had so much fun with this bracelet, I looked through my stash and came up with two other different ones. 

As you can see by the picture of the different bracelets, you can mix it up by switching out the chain sizes and styles, colors and diameters of cording and the way the bracelet clasps.  I had the small piece of decorative chain left that you see on the black bracelet and I was thrilled I could use it.  It is a great way to use up snippets of chain.  I think these would make great gifts, especially if you chose to make a bracelet like I made the black one.  The lobster clasp and dangling small chain make it adjustable.  Have fun with this if you decide to make one.  It really was easy. 

I also want to share a happy recipe accident with you. 

What you see here is a plate of peanutty goodness that tastes just like a Payday candy bar.  It was supposed to be, according to the recipe, peanut brittle.  The texture was solid enough to come off the buttered cookie sheet intact and be cut into squares, but it was chewy and gooey-just delicious.  Here is the recipe and you will end up with brittle or what I ended up with-either way, it's a win!
Line a cookie sheet with foil and butter it.  In a heavy bottomed saucepan, combine 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 cup heavy cream and 1/2 teaspoon course salt.  Heat over medium low heat until mixture comes to a boil, stirring the whole time.  Boil over medium heat 4-5 minutes, until it turns a dark amber color.  Adjust heat to maintain a steady boil but not to scorch or boil over.  Stir in 1 1/2 cups dry-roasted peanuts.  Immediately pour onto prepared baking sheet and allow to cool for about an hour.  Break into pieces.   Mine never turned amber in color but I didn't want to go beyond the 5 minutes.  Now I know most of you would say that a candy thermometer would be a wise choice for a brittle recipe and you would probably be right.  I am not sure why I resist using one of those, except to say my Mom never used one and used to tell me they were too complicated when I was young and showed her a candy recipe I wanted to make that required one.  Now I am on a quest so I will get the candy thermometer out from the cupboard(I think I got it as a gift) and give a real brittle recipe a try.  But in the meantime, this recipe turned out delicious and I hope lightning strikes twice and it will turn out the same next time.  It was a happy recipe accident! 

I hope you all have a great week ahead.  I finally broke down and signed up for a Pinterest account.  I don't know why I waited so long(maybe it is like the candy thermometer!).  I will probably be experimenting with "pinning" a lot this coming week.  If you have any tips, feel free to email me.  I am new to it.  Take care.  Nancy

Keeping My Tootsies Warm

Hi and happy Sunday evening!  I have been trying to hold off yet another sinus infection with little success.  It is getting colder here in the Northeast so let the colds/flu/sinus infections begin! 

Speaking of cold, I decided to stitch up something to keep my feet nice and toasty.

I got the pattern from the second One Yard Wonders book.  These are made of fleece and were really easy to whip up.  I know I played it safe with a solid color when there are so many awesome fleece prints out there, but I was trying to match a blue plaid fleece robe I have.  The more I look at them, they remind me of Cookie Monster!  Anyway, they really do keep my feet warm.  They are lined so it is a double layer of fleece.  I thought these would be spectacular for a Sunday spa day this Winter if I heat them in the dryer and slather on lotion before I put the warm booties on.  Sounds heavenly doesn't it?  They go all the way up to my knees so I could tuck in sweats or pajamas.  Between these and my fireplace, I am set for the snow to fly! 

I wanted to share a great recipe with you.  This versatile cake is perfect to bring along for so may occasions.  It is great for breakfast or dessert and, because of the oats, there is some nutritional value-at least that is what I tell myself about anything with oats!  This is a butterscotch oatmeal cake. 
Pour 1 3/4 cup boiling water over 1 cup quick-cooking oats in a large bowl.  Let that stand for 10 minutes while you prepare a 13x9 baking dish by greasing it.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1/2 cup softened butter to oats.  Stir in 2 eggs until everything looks combined.  Stir in 1 3/4 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  Stir it all together.  Add 1 cup butterscotch chips.  Combine and pour batter in the prepared pan.  Smooth it out and sprinkle 3/4 cup chopped pecans and what is left of a full bag of the butterscotch chips(after you put a cup in the batter)over the cake batter in the pan.  Bake about 40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  It makes your whole house smell good and I liked it very much warm.  Enjoy! 

I hope you all have a great week ahead.  I am in the process of knitting my son's girlfriend a scarf for Christmas.  I am using a pattern I saw on the new season of Knit and Crochet Now.  It is a fun pattern and coming along nicely.  I also am at a step in my jewelry making where I am learning a new technique.  I will be using 100% real silk thread to bead with and will learn how to knot it so it looks neat and uniform.  I am looking forward to that.  Take care.  Nancy