Projects for Janary

This month, I made something for me. I get migraine headaches like nobody's business, but thankfully we have discovered after several years that a regular visit to the chiropractor (aka every week), the headaches are close to non-existent. They not only hurt but they're just a bother with having to leave work early or not go at all, not being able to see straight, etc. Another thing that provides a bit of relief are these rice packs I found a few years ago. They can go in your freezer or be heated in your microwave. The two packs I have are smaller in nature and have seen better days. J and I have both had to sew them up in multiple places.  I saw this idea online and adapted it to fit the material I had as well as my needs. Here is my homemade rice pack:

I cut the fabric for 2 packs and then at the last minute, decided to cut those 2 pieces of fabric in half so I could make a patchwork design. I took uncooked rice and sealed it in a closed container after added a few drops of scented oil. I let it marinade for a few days and then added it to the fabric. It's amazing and provides great relief! I add a few strips of ribbon on the ends to help with holding it, especially when it's warm. J even used it the other day when his neck was sore.





Via Pinterest, I saw a great scarf that was the simplest of things to make. I used an old bedsheet, cut it in strips and sewed the strip together. Hide the seam on the inside of the fabric and you've got a great and really simply scarf. I could even add a pin or fabric flower to add some flair.





Through craftsy.com, I signed up to take a quilting class. It's a free class that they're offering and you construct a quilt square (or two) per month, and at the end of the year, you have a complete quilt. As I signed up and began watching the first lesson, I realized I went to college with the girl teaching the class. I constructed my first two squares. They are not perfect in every way, but I'm excited to continue to learn and better my skills.

Wonky Pound Sign Block

Asterisk Block

I also made a simple project I had seen on Pinterest. It's a snowman using fabric and embroidering hoops. It was pretty easy and didn't take very long to make. I did have to piece the white felt at the bottom, so please excuse the small mistake.

  Happy Crafting!

Couponing Update - January

I'm trying to be more diligent in posting, especially with my couponing. However, once I spend several hours shopping, the last thing I want to do is take pictures of it all or stop and blog about all the intricate details. However, I am keeping track through an Excel spreadsheet of my savings on each trip. I figure it's not too much trouble to post about it at the end of every month.

Here's what I got free this month:

• 5 boxes Kleenex tissues (90 tissues per box)
• 4 boxes Jolly Time popcorn (4 bags in each box)
• 3 boxes Market Pantry (Target brand) macaroni and cheese
• 2 packages Kikkoman Stir Fry seasoning mix 

With all my shopping trips combined this month,

I saved over $250  

which averaged about 59% savings!

Bacon Wrapped Potato Skins

On the rare occasion I get to watch daytime television, I always try to see Rachael Ray. On Friday morning, I woke up to her making this and knew I had to make them over the weekend.

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/cast-iron-steaks-and-bacon-wrapped-potato-skins/

I had absolutely all the ingredients and they were delicious. I wasn't planning on serving them with streak, but we found a "Manager's Special" steak marked down at Kroger and with my $4.00 credit I had on my Kroger card, we purchased the steak for 22 cents. All of it was delicious!

Merry Christmas to the Wilkersons!

Here is a little peek into our Christmas!

I gave J a grill pan. We live in an apartment where grills are allowed, but this allows us to still have a "grill".

My mom got us these and they were really cute stories that are pretty specific and right on board as far as Virginia and Texas are concerned.

My beautiful stocking that my aunt made me. I've used it my entire life!

I got these 2 books I've been wanting as well as fleur-de-lis cookie cutter.

It was a Christmas filled with books. J is already half way through this.

J's parents came to visit us the day after Christmas. Here they are opening their gifts we got for them.

A Christmas Road Trip and Wedding

Two weeks before Christmas, J and I ventured to Savannah, Georgia, for our friend D and M's wedding. J actually performed the wedding ceremony. He's sung in countless weddings, but never actually performed the ceremony. We've been meeting with D and M since they got engaged trying to enlighten them as best we can on how this how marriage thing works. It was a lot of fun as we got to tour Savannah and got to dress up for the wedding. Enjoy the pictures!

We got to Savannah late on Thursday night and we're starving. We found this hole in the wall pizza place within walking distance of our hotel. It was the biggest slice of pizza I had ever seen and it was delicious!

We found this New Orleans type cafe for Breakfast. They had beignets and they were delicious! They had praline caramel sauce which made them even more tasty. I oversaw and heard the lady beside us eating the remaining sauce with a spoon.

We were just window shopping through River Street but when I saw this Tshirt, I knew I had to have it!

This place is overpriced and not nearly as quaint and friendly as my parent's business. Not to mention everything was pre-packaged and nothing made on site.

Projects for December

Our apartment complex was having a decorating contest. The prizes were money off your rent. J and I wanted to decorate but still keep it cost efficient. What's the point of winning if you spent all your earnings on decorating the thing in the first place? Here's our patio:

The icicle lights I bought on clearance last Christmas. The tree was decoration for our wedding reception six years ago and so were the hanging ornaments. There are some snowflakes also attached to the ceiling, but you can't really see them in the picture. I bought those at the Dollar Tree. It may or may not win, but at least it looks pretty.

For my sister-in-law and brother-in-law, I made them these frames and printed the text and put a picture of each one of their kids in a separate frame.

It's a poor quality photo (aka I took it with my phone). The text says "I love you because _____". With these frames I gave them a set of dry erase markers. Hopefully they will hang these pictures together in their hallway or another spot where all the kids can see them. Then the parents (my sister-in-law and brother-in-law) will take the dry erase markers and write accordingly for each child. With the dry erase markers, they can wipe off what they wrote off the glass and rewrite something else later. I can't take credit for the overall idea, I found it online but loved it!

For the four kids, Jeremy and I made a cornhole game (aka beanbag toss). We made the two different boards and I painted a big "E" on each of the boards for their last name and 6 stars, one to represent each member of the family. I failed to take a picture of the boards - can you help me out Jen? I did take a picture of the homemade beanbags I made, 2 for each member of the family.

In addition, I made a bucket for each child with their first letter on it, that I made using my Cricut. Oops, forgot to take a picture of that one too.

I made this print using my Cricut for my niece. Their whole family moved into a new home and she needed another wall hanging. Her room is decorated in pink, black and white is all things French - Eiffel Tower, fleur-de-lis, etc.

The same niece is saving money for a computer, so J and I found a piggy bank in the dollar section of Target and I jazzed it up using my Cricut. She calls her money "beans".

I also made some more placemats for my family. J's mom got a set - sorry, forgot to take a picture. My mom and aunt also got a set of placemats with matching cloth napkins. The placemats and napkins are reversible and are made of complimentary fabrics. Here's a picture (my aunt's are on the top of the screen and my mom's are on the bottom) of side 1 and side 2.

This month, I also made something for me. I get migraine headaches like nobody's business, but thankfully we have discovered after several years that a regular visit to the chiropractor (aka I go see her each week), the headaches are close to non-existent. Praise the Lord - they not only hurt but they're just a bother with having to leave work early or not go at all, not being able to see straight, etc. Another thing that provides a bit of relief are these rice packs I found a few years ago. They can go in your freezer or be heated in your microwave. The two packs I have are smaller in nature and have seen better days. J and I have both had to sew them up in multiple places.  I saw this idea online and adapted it to fit the material I had as well as my needs. Here is my rice pack:


I cut the fabric for 2 packs and then at the last minute, decided to cut those 2 pieces of fabric in half so I could make a patchwork design. I took uncooked rice and sealed it in a closed container after added a few drops of scented oil. I let it marinade for a few days and then added it to the fabric. It's amazing and provides great relief! J even used it the other day when his neck was sore.

Recipe: Stuffed Celery

When we went to some friends house for Thanksgiving, they had stuffed celery. I had never heard of it nor tasted it but it was delicious and I don't even like celery. I had asked for the recipe, but hadn't received it yet. I tried looking online and found a recipe that was similar.

Here's the actual recipe:

1 lg cream cheese (room temp)

1 jar sliced olives with pimentos

1 tsp. olive juice

shake of garlic salt

1 capful of Worstershire

1/4 mayo

2 tsp. sweet pickles

1/4 cup toasted pecans (chopped)

Combine all ingrediants. Prepare two days ahead.  Serve on celery.

Recipe: Pizza Dip

I remember seeing this recipe on a blog awhile back but didn't bookmark or pin the page, so when I went to make the pizza dip I couldn't find it. However, allrecipes.com never lets me down and I was able to find it. This recipe is really easy and contains common ingredients. Enjoy!

Take casserole dish and spread 1 block of cream cheese along the bottom. Then take 1 small jar of pizza sauce and spread over the top of the cream cheese. Then top the concoction with shredded cheese and pepperoni (you can add more pizza type ingredients if you wish). Bake in the oven until cheese is melted and it is heated through.

The recipe said to serve with pita chips, but I didn't have any of those, so I took a can of crescent rolls and reshaped them into mini breadsticks and it worked out great! Yummy!

Recipe: Breakfast Casserole

Every since childhood, my family has always had the same breakfast casserole on Christmas morning. It wasn't until I was an adult, that I realized everyone's breakfast casserole recipe was entirely different than what I grew up with. This recipe originated with my aunt and has hard-boiled eggs rather than scrambled eggs in it (most recipes are the later and definitely not what I'm used to). I feel the rest of the world needs this recipe, so here it is:

Boil 8-10 eggs. Then slice the eggs or you can use one of these handy-dandy contraptions to do it for you. Soon after we got married, I bought this egg slicer and it has never failed me.

After you've sliced the eggs, place them in a buttered casserole dish. Season to taste with salt and pepper.






Brown one pound of hot sausage (the bulk type). Drain the sausage and place the crumbled on top of the eggs.
Take 1 1/2 cups of sour cream and spread on top of the sausage.

Then mix 1/2 cup of dry bread crumbs with 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. Sprinkle over the casserole.

Place in a 350 degree oven to heat thoroughly. You'll know it's down when the cheese is melted on top.

It typically serves 8.
In addition, it's amazing made the night before and heated the morning of - that's what my mom always did! And if you happen to have leftovers, you just pop the dish back in the oven and heat thoroughly for the next morning. Enjoy!