Look, I Made This: DIY Burlap Wreath

Last year my mom gave me this really cute hanging sign that said "Welcome Friends" and had some vines and things around it; it was perfect for hanging on our front door in the fall (because we live in an apartment and our front door is actually inside; I don't think it would last long out in the elements). Then, around December I got out our Christmas decorations and found a classic evergreen wreath to put up. Well, since taking our holiday decorations down I've felt that our entry is a little bland, so off to Pinterest I went.

I found a few wreath ideas, but this one from Rooms For Rent is what made up my mind.  I have to admit, I did not follow the tutorial because I couldn't figure out exactly what she was doing. But I did use her advice and bought a metal wreath frame instead of a foam one. It was seriously a fraction of the price; why?!? I got a 12" wreath for $1.99. They also had tiny ones and larger 16" ones. I chose the 12" because I didn't want it to look too obnoxious in our apartment's small entry. Then I bought some burlap on a spool and some silk flowers that were on sale 40% off and hurried home to experiment!

Materials (all bought at Michael's):
12" metal wreath frame
1 roll of burlap (20ft, 6.6 yards(ish))
Embellishments: flowers, ribbon, small decorative birds (they sell them...)

The only supplies you need!

Disclaimer: this isn't really a tutorial, because I'm not 100% sure what I did, but rather just kind of trial and errored it until it looked nice, so that would be my advice to you.

The wreath is divided into sections, mine had 6. I found it easiest to cut a piece of burlap and only work with that little bit at a time. It took roughly 3 feet of burlap ribbon to do one section of the wreath, thus approximately 18 feet of ribbon used total (a little more, because I only had like 10" left).

About a 3' piece of burlap. 

So, I cut a piece of burlap about 3 feet long and just started weaving in and out between the metal pieces. It was easiest for me to weave it around trying to cover all the metal in front and then when I was done doing that I pulled and stretched it around until it was puffed out as much as I liked.

This is one section done. 

I tucked in the edges and moved on to the next section with a new piece of burlap.

Halfway there! 

All done & covered!

When I was finished wrapping and tucking and pulling, I took a piece of burlap and cut a short ribbon, ran it through the metal at the "top" (it all looked the same at this point...) and sewed it closed. You could very easily handstitch this, but I used my machine since it was already threaded up with coordinating thread (how convenient!). I just stitched and backstitched over it a few times (read: three times) and then switched it around so the stitched part was hidden inside the wreath.

Then I got out the flowers I had bought and tucked them in! I pushed them all the way through the metal frame and then bent the stems in the back to form a little hook so they were more secure. I bought a small bouquet of red carnations to put on it for Valentine's Day (and it is Alpha Chi's flower, sorority shout-out!) and then I also got some yellow and pink flowers to switch out for spring!

I'm super happy with the results! 

Alternative flowers for spring!

It is super versatile: green ribbon & bow for St. Patrick's Day, small American flag(s) for Independence Day, orange flowers or small pumpkins for fall, you get the idea. OR you could even leave it just plain, rustic burlap! I love it.

I'd love to know what you guys use to embellish your wreaths for the seasons!

Melty, Cheesy Chicken & Zucchini Boats

I didn't cook much this weekend because we went out some and still had some leftovers. But Friday night I did make this delicious and filling meal: Baked Swiss Cheese Chicken and Zucchini Boats. The chicken is to die for and Jess always mentions how good it is, which even though I know he's just happy I cook every day, it still makes me feel accomplished when he says he really likes a meal.

So the chicken recipe comes from here. I found this a long time ago and the first time I made it I followed the instructions and made the creamy cheese sauce with egg noodles...we were not fans. However, the chicken: mmmmmmmm. So since then I've just paired the baked chicken with different sides: green beans, potatoes, steamed veggies, etc. This time it is with zucchini boats, which baked and cheesy in themselves, but still a veggie, so they're healthy, right?

Swiss Cheese Baked Chicken
Ingredients:
8 chicken tenders/fingers or 2-3 large chicken breasts
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup regular bread crumbs
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2-3 oz Swiss cheese (sliced, roughly enough to cover all chicken pieces)
Salt & Pepper
Parsley for garnish

First, preheat oven to 400 degrees F and lightly grease a baking pan that will fit all of your chicken laying flat without overlapping.

Next, cut two large chickent breasts into thinner cutlets and then in half to form 8 long, thin pieces of chicken. I also trimmed most of the fat off, yuck! Set aside.

Next, in a skillet, toast your panko bread crumbs until they are nice and golden.

It also smells good when you're toasting the crumbs,
kind of like a burning, herby smell. 

To set up the breading station get out three bowls. Bowl one: flour. Bowl two: 2 eggs, lightly beaten. Bowl three: browned panko bread crumbs, regular bread crumbs, and Italian seasoning.

The far left bowl is the breadcrumbs & Italian seasoning,
but I hadn't added the Panko yet. 

Season your chicken pieces with salt and pepper to taste and then bread them. First dredge in flour, then coat with egg (letting any excess drip off), then dip in panko. Panko is a great example of dry sticks to wet ingredients. If you let excess egg get into the panko bowl and dampen the breadcrumbs they won't stick to the chicken anymore. Keep one hand dry to pat on the breadcrumbs all over the chicken and then lay it in the baking pan. Drizzle chicken with melted butter and then bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken.

Breaded, buttery poultry!

Remove chicken from oven and turn on broiler. Lay slices of cheese across each piece of chicken (as you can tell, I pretty much make a Swiss cheese blanket for my chicken cutlets).

The small pieces were kind of just leftovers...

Then broil for 1-2 minutes or until bubbly.  You can garnish with parsley if you'd like...I forgot.

Fresh out of the oven!

This chicken is seriously delicious. So tender, too! We never need knives, just cutting it with a fork works perfectly.


Zucchini Boats
Ever since Jess and I had these at my cousin's house we knew they were going to be a staple for our dinners. They are crazy easy, pretty cheap, and present well if you are entertaining for dinner! They can be a side, a main course, an appetizer, the possibilities are endless. I have made them as a side to pizza (I am obsessed with making my own pizza dough and we have personal pizzas like once a week) and experimented with putting sausage and pepperoni on them, which was a success. But here is the recipe for just plain, old zucchini boats.

Ingredients:
3-4 medium zucchini
1-2 tomatoes (depending on size & type)
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Italian Seasoning
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking pan with aluminum foil. Lightly grease.

Wash your zucchini & tomatoes (pesticides, while good for keeping insects from nomming on our food, not so good for people!). Cut off the ends of the zucchini and then cut them in half. Now, slice those halves down the middle. If your zucchini are particularly rounded you can slice off a bit on the bottom/outside to make a flat edge for them to sit on, but it may not be necessary, just check to see if your boats will lay flat. Use a spoon to scoop out a bit of the middle seeded area to form the "boat" shape.

Boats!

Cut your tomato(es) into thin slices and then cut them in half or thirds so that they are roughly as wide as the zucchini. I found it is easier to just cut as I go to fit over the top of my boats.

To assemble, brush zucchini with a little bit of olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Put a dash of Italian seasoning on each one.

Seasonings!

Sprinkle just a little bit of mozzarella (to form a sticky base, haha) and lay sliced tomatoes on top.

This is like 3/4 a large tomato.

Sprinkle the desired amount of mozzarella and top with a little bit of parmesan.

I cook on aluminum foil so I can get a cheese mess
everywhere and not worry about it.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Check these babies out. DELICIOUS. 

Enjoy as a filling side dish or as a light main course!

Look, I Made This: DIY Foldover Maxi Skirt

So I used to be firmly against maxi dresses & maxi skirts. Mainly because I am short and I could never find one that fit me, they were always dragging the ground which seemed way more of a hassle than they should be. However, recently I have seen tons of patterns for sewing your own skirt or dress, plus lots of pictures of adorable outfits that look oh so comfortable and I thought I needed to try it out. This method is not flawless, now that I'm finished I think there are some things I will change for the next time and maybe even some things I'll fix on the skirt I've already made. However, it did produce a really comfortable and cute addition to my wardrobe and I can't wait to wear it! Now if only it would stop snowing and get above 10 degrees...

What you need:
2 yards of stretchy knit fabric
Coordinating thread
Ruler/measuring stick/tape measure (I used tape measure for this project)
Scissors
Pins
Sewing machine & all the basic tools

First, I'd like you all to check out this fabric.  Isn't it gorgeous? I'm seriously in love!  So soft...ahh can't wait to wear my skirt!

IN LOVE.

Beautiful, right? 

About the fabric, be sure to wash and dry it as you would the finished garment before you start measuring/sewing.  That will make things much easier.

To begin, you need to measure yourself. Measure around your waist/hips/wherever you want your skirt to sit. Now divide that number in half, this is Measurement A. Next, measure from where you took Measurement A to where you want your skirt to end. Now subtract 4 inches from that, this is Measurement B. The 4 inches is for the waistband. Finally, take Measurement A and add 5 inches, this is Measurement C.

Now you are ready to draw your pattern. I drew mine directly on the back of my fabric, but you can also use newspaper, paper bags taped together, cardboard, or whatever you have if you don't want to do it directly on the fabric. My fabric is pink with a multicolored floral pattern so I just used a purple marker and made lines and dots lightly, but even if they had bled through it was purple so it wouldn't have been noticeable. For the pattern, measure a line across the top using Measurement A. Then draw a line straight down from both ends extending 8 inches to form a three sided rectangle with the dimensions Ax8". Now, measure down the length of Measurement B and that distance from the top, center the line of Measurement C with your top rectangle. It's probably best to draw it out on a piece of paper first, that is what I did. Now connect your lines on both sides. The result should be a slight bell shape coming out of the bottom of your top rectangle. I've drawn a picture to illustrate what I'm talking about.

You can kind of see the outline, right? 

I knew this grid paper would
be useful at some point.

Caviat: My fabric was one-sided, which means for my 8" roll-down to 4" waistband I actually needed to fold it over and sew it down so that when it was folded out it would be the same side as the rest of the skirt. If this is the case for your fabric, too, simply add another 8" to your top, making the sides of the top 16". Before you sew the sides together you'll have to fold it over and sew basically an 8 inch hem, being sure to use a zigzag stitch so it has some give with the fabric. My stitch was really ugly, but I don't really care, the fabric is so busy it is hard to tell, anyway!

My 8" "hem," that in the end will fold down to make
a 4" waistband.

Once you have your pattern sketched out onto your fabric (you may have to use chalk if you're using black fabric), cut out a few inches OUTSIDE of your pattern. Now lay this piece onto the rest of your fabric and cut out another piece the same size. No need to redraw your pattern, you only need to sew on one side anyway.

"That's pretty, mommy" - Jamison
(Now I'm losing my mind...)

Lay your fabrics right side together and smooth out. Make sure they are smooth and even, but not stretched! It is really easy to stretch knit fabrics, so just make sure it is relaxed and natural. pin them together, I suggest using lots of pins because this is a lot of fabric to keep tabs on.

Here's the piece of fabric with the pattern laying
on top of the large rectangle, right sides together.

Sew it up! Sew up the sides, being sure to keep the fabric from stretching. You want to keep it nice and natural, flowing through your sewing machine. Best to let your machine's feeder dogs do the work of moving it along. You don't have to use a zig-zag stitch here because it doesn't matter if it stretches or not, they're seams down the side. I used a triple straight stitch, one of the basic ones on my machine and it is really strong!

You can also see my random marker lines...

When you're finished sewing both sides, remove all the pins (I actually did it as I went) and try it on! If it fits the way you want, cut off the excess fabric and turn right-side-out. Knit fabric shouldn't fray, but if you want you can sew up the edges on the seams. I didn't. Maybe another day. Now put it on, roll it down, and wear it in style!

"I'm helping! Right?" - Ginger

I love it!

Jamison photobombing my picture of my
new skirt...just like J. Law.

So since I've finished I've actually made a black one using a slightly different pattern that didn't quite turn out how I wanted it to, but I think it'll be ok because it's black.  Confession time: I also bought green and blue fabric that is currently in the laundry to become next week's skirts.  2 skirts a week and I'll have a whole new wardrobe soon!

If you have ANY questions or if you want some clarifications (I'm definitely not a teacher) just ask!

Until next time!

Crockpot Shredded Beef Tacos & Spanish Rice

Last night we had some delicious shredded beef tacos. We've had all kinds of tacos, regular ground beef, chicken, fish, even pork, so why not try shredded beef, too? They turned out pretty good if I say so myself. They're super easy! You could use the meat to make chimichangas, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, or pretty much any other kind of food. Jess always says that all Mexican food has the same ingredients, just tossed together differently and I tend to agree. And I agree to the fact that I LOVE ALL OF IT! Have you seen that meme with the most interesting man in the world and it says "I don't always eat chips and salsa, but when I do I do it until I hate myself"? Yea, well that is me. I can go through a whole bag of chips and jar of salsa in no time...and then run to the store for more.

So, shredded Mexican beef! I got the idea for this recipe from Key Ingredient Key Ingredient - which of course I got to via Pinterest which is my kryptonite. Except that it is good and I love it.
What you need:
Beef Roast - so in the directions it said to use 1 1/2 lb Chuck roast, but I only had a 2 lb Rump roast, so that is what I used.
1/2 large or 1 small onion, minced
1 cup beef broth
Taco seasoning - I use about 2 tablespoons of my own mixture, but you can use a packet, too. (Easy to make your own! Equal parts Cumin, Chili Powder, Onion Powder, and Garlic Powder with 1/4 part Cayenne Pepper.)
8 oz taco sauce
7 oz diced green chiles

My taco seasoning mix in a cute little jar!

First, put your roast in the crockpot along with the diced up onion. Mix one cup of beef broth with the taco seasoning and pour over the meat and onions. Cook on low 4-6 hours, mine was done after about 4 1/2.

The roast taking a little bath in some beef broth and onions.

Side note about beef broth: I use "Better than Bouillon" for most of my beef broth needs. It comes in a jar by the broth and once it is opened you keep it in the fridge. It is one teaspoon for every cup/8 oz of water. I recommend it!

After your beef is cooked, take it out and shred it. I don't have a picture of this step because my hands were a little busy. But use forks, your hands, whatever your preferred shredding method is. Return to crockpot and turn it down to warm. Add in the taco sauce and diced green chiles and mix up. I used mild taco sauce and then ended up adding a couple dashes of cayenne pepper, so next time I'll probably use medium or hot taco sauce. Let it all warm up and dish it up when you're ready! We just used them on regular taco shells with cheese, lettuce, sour cream, etc. Enjoy!

The possibilities are pretty much endless to what you
could put in here really...

The rice at Mexican restaurants is my favorite. I'm not sure what they put in it, but it is delicious. This is similar, but not quite there. It is quite good though. Quick cheat sheet about Minute Rice, always use a 1:1 rice to liquid ratio. So here, I'm making 1.5 cups (dry) rice and I know I want to use a small can of tomato sauce which is 8 oz (1 cup), so that means I only need 1/2 cup chicken broth. If I were making more rice I would just add more chicken broth to even out the ratio. Easy peasy!
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1.5 cups Minute Rice
1 heaping teaspoon Cumin
1 Dash of Cayenne
8 oz tomato sauce (small can)
1/2 cup chicken broth

Heat up the olive oil in a small pan over medium heat.

This is actually a tiny pan...it looks huge in this photo!

Add dry rice, cumin, and cayenne. Brown the rice, stirring frequently. I know it is kind of hard to tell when it starts to brown because the cumin colors the rice, but you'll be able see a difference, I promise. This takes maybe 5-6 minutes. Don't let it scorch!

Keep stirring!

Spices!

Add in the chicken broth and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, which doesn't take long. Remove from heat and cover. Let sit for abotu 5 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed.

Love these little $0.69 cans! 

Put a lid on it and forget it...until
you're hungry, that is.

If you like more dry, sticky rice, you can put it back on heat for a little bit and fry it similar to Fried Rice. Add more cumin/cayenne to taste and enjoy!

All done!

So while it doesn't completely satisfy my craving for good American-Mexican restaurant food, it comes pretty darn close.  Enjoy!

Hemming pants using the original hem

For anyone who knows me it shouldn't come as a surprise that I am short. Like really short. Pretty much any pair of pants I've ever bought have had to be rolled up or hemmed, which was getting out of hand. I mean seriously how inconvenient is it to take your jeans to get hemmed? Very, that is the answer. The solution? I've learned to do it myself!

I got a sewing machine for Christmas and have just been itching to dig into some projects. Thus far, I have made two stockings for next year (yay for after-Christmas clearance fabric), tapered a pair of jeans and a pair of khakis, and hemmed a different pair of khakis. I feel very accomplished. I frequently have to taper or tailor my jeans/pants as well because something that goes along with being short is that the legs of your pants don't fit how they're supposed to, the knee of the pants hits somewhere around my shin...no bueno. I do a super quick and probably not quality job of tapering my pants, but hey it has worked for the two pairs thus far. Simply turn them inside out, pin roughly how tight you want them, take them off, measure and draw your line making sure the pants are pinned symmetrically (seams are stretched straight), and sew along said line. Make sure to try your pants on before cutting the extra off and if they aren't fitting to your liking take the seam out and try it again.

Pin 'em up (ignore the ugly marks, I couldn't decide how
to do it...

Sew!  Can you even tell where the seam is? 

The real reason for this post is to show how to hem pants using the original hem, which makes them look much more professional and is actually pretty easy! I got these pants from J. Crew (in case you've forgotten, it is one of my loves in life) a few years ago for some ridiculously cheap clearance price, try like $10 or something. Anyway they are really nice chino material and fit well around the waist and legs (surprise!), but they were too long. I think I've worn them once, rolled up, but that looks unprofessional so I could only wear them casually and it was just not good, but I don't wear them enough to justify paying a professional seamstress to shorten them. Solution: do it myself! This literally took maybe 45 minutes, and I was going slow because it was my first time. You'll need a too-long pair of pants, a ruler, a pencil/marker, pins, a seam ripper, and a sewing machine with matching thread/jean thread if you are doing jeans.

The offending pants. 

First things first, try them on and mark, pin, or roll up to where you want the new hem to fall. It is extremely important that you mark EXACTLY where you want the hem to be, because you're going to be cutting at that place so there's no going back once you cut off the ends of your pants. I put them on, put in a pin where I wanted them, took them off and measured how far it was. Lucky for me it was just over 2 inches so I rounded and made it an even 2 inches just for simplicity's sake. Measure and mark all the way around the pants.

Rulers are your friends!

If you want, you can connect the lines but you don't have to, rather I play a little connect-the-dots game with my scissors. Make a small slit in your pants on one of the marks, big enough to fit your scissors in, and start cutting.

Just large enough to fit in your scissors.

Snip, Snip, Snip

When you've got them cut off where you want them, take the pieces with the hem left on and cut the excess off about 1/2 inch above the original hem. You want to leave enough to be able to pin it to the pants later.

I didn't have much anyway, but just to trim it down a bit.  (Sidenote:
see my pretty London mug in the background?  One of my favorite
Christmas presents!)

Next, take a seam ripper and rip out the original hem. This can be tricky, especially around the other seams where it gets thick, just go slow and take it one stitich at a time if you need to. Be sure to pull out all of the threads or it will look sloppy when you try to sew over them (ask me how I know...).

My pretty, new seam ripper! 

Now you need to fit your hem pieces over the pants leg. It takes some finagling, but you should be able to put the original hem on the outside and fold the rest inside the leg and make it flush with pants. Make sure the seams are lined up correctly on the ends to make it look right. Pin it in place. I found it easiest to pin as I went instead of fitting it all in and then pinning, but whatever works for you.

This is before I folded the hem back up over the pants, see the part inside?
What is outside the leg of the pants is the original hem that gets folded
up over the outside. 

Probably should have ironed them...

You're read to start sewing! Use a stitch that matches the original one and try to line your machine foot up with the original seam so that you sew over the holes left where you ripped out the thread. It should work out that you can't even tell the difference. Sew all the way around, taking special care on the two side seams, they can be difficult for your needle to go through so doing it one stitch at a time is best.

Sew right over the old stream.

Take the pins out and you're all finished!

Finished product!

Much more my size!

And to conclude, my adorable puppies.

Ginger

Lazy Jamison