DIY: Jessie from Toy Story Cowgirl Hat

The Little Miss loves to dress up. She's always coming downstairs in costume and would prefer to keep it on all day.

Lately, she is really into Toy Story. I rented Toy Story 2 from the library this week and she wants to watch it all the time.

I found this red cowboy hat at the dollar store and decided to make my princess her own Jessie hat!

Materials:

play cowboy hat

yarn

yarn needle

scissors

STEP 1: Thread yarn needle with long piece of yarn and knot the end. Start stitching around the rim of the hat.

STEP 2: Knot second end of yarn to other end and trim down excess.

A $1 craft to put a huge smile on this face. Totally worth it;)

I'm linked to:

Tatertots and Jello

Turkey and Basil Pesto Panini

First off, in the business of paninis, can it be called a panini if it's just on cheapo whole grain bread? Or does it have to be on fancy bread, like sourdough? Because sourdough is fancy in our house.

Anyways, I recently scored a Cuisinart Griddler for $5 at Goodwill and I am in love with it. Being able to make more than two pancakes at a time (and NOT using two seperate frying pans to get the job done) is amazing. Life changing, really.

So, I made paninis the other day and they are my new lunch favorite. Basically cram together whatever sounds good between two pieces of bread and smoosh it till it's melted.

Done.

I added basil pesto to this one (because pesto makes everything better) and here's my recipe:

TURKEY and BASIL PESTO PANINI

2 slices of BREAD (regular or fancy)

1 tsp BASIL PESTO

2 slices DELI TURKEY

1 slice TURKEY BACON

1 slice PROVOLONE CHEESE

2 slices TOMATO

1 tsp BUTTER (or margarine)

GRATED PARMESAN (optional)

STEP 1: Heat panini press on med-high heat. Spread butter on outsides of bread slices. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on butter if preferred (try it...it's so yummy!)

STEP 2: Spread basil pesto on inside of one slice of bread. Top with turkey, tomato, bacon, and cheese, and other slice of bread (with butter side facing out).

STEP 3: Place on grill and press down until cheese is melted and bread is golden brown.

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

A couple of months ago I was at a friends house and she offered me one of the yummiest cookies I ever had. She told me it was the oatmeal cookie recipe on the back of the oats can, but she also added white chocolate chips and cranberries.

She is a cookie genius.

So, this weekend I tried them out for myself...and these three cookies are all that remained from the night I made them, until the next mornng. By the way...the recipe makes 4 dozen, so I'll let you do the math on how many we ate within about 12 hours.

WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP CRANBERRY OATMEAL COOKIES

(adapted from the Quaker Oats can)

1/2 cup plus 6 tbsp. BUTTER softened

3/4 cup firmly packed BROWN SUGAR

1/2 cup GRANULATED SUGAR

2 EGGS

1 tsp. VANILLA

1 and 1/2 cups all purpose FLOUR

1 tsp. BAKING SODA

1 tsp. GROUND CINNAMON

1/2 tsp. SALT (optional)

3 cups QUICK OATS (or old fashioned)

1/2 cup WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIPS

1/2 cup CRANBERRIES

STEP 1: Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well.

STEP 2: Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well.

STEP 3: Add oats, chocolate chips, and cranberries. Mix well.

STEP 4: Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet then move to cooling rack to cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Then eat 45 cookies in under 12 hours.

Enjoy!

Happy Sunday

Our life this week, according to my phone:

Another great week.

Happy Sunday:)

DIY: Custom iPhone Case

Naturally, while my husband was playing with his new iPhone and downloading lots of apps...I was trying to find a cute case for mine.

Fail.

Don't get me wrong, there are many cute cases out there...just nothing in my price range. $40 for a case, Apple Store? No thanks...there is much more fun to be had at Goodwill with that money!

Plus, there is the whole issue where I change my mind about every other day.

But that's another issue for another day.

I ordered myself a clear iPhone case off eBay for $6 (including shipping and it also came with screen protectors) and decided to make my own insert for the clear case.

STEP 1: Start with a clear case for your phone and paper of your choice (I chose some vintage wrapping paper). Also, grab a pen and some scissors.

STEP 2: Trace the back of the case onto your paper and cut out...you now have an insert for your phone case.

STEP 3: Snap the phone case onto the phone and enjoy your new case cover for just pennies!

I love being able to customize this whenever I want. Holidays, different seasons, and you know I'm going to be rockin' a Little Mermaid one on our next trip to Disneyland!

I'm linked to:

Tatertots and Jello

Yellow and White Crochet Baby Blanket

I made this blanket for my friend's baby shower last weekend. They are not finding out the gender of the baby until they are born, so I thought these colors were perfect for boy or girl:)

I used a 6mm crochet hook and chained 70 and then double crocheted each row.

So many people having babies this summer/fall. It's so exciting!!

Marshmallow Cupcake Pops

I found the cutest cupcake shaped marshmallows at Walmart (in the baking aisle) and decided they needed a little something extra so I dipped the tops in melted vanilla and rolled them in sprinkles:

MARSHMALLOW CUPCAKE POPS

I package CUPCAKE MARSHMALLOWS

VANILLA ALMOND BARK

SPRINKLES

SUCKER STICKS

STEP 1: Place marshmallows on sucker sticks, pressing them in until they almost come out the top.

STEP 2: Melt almond bark per package directions and dip top of marshmallows. Immediately roll into sprinkles and place in a cup, right side up, to dry.

These took about 10 minutes to make and will definitely be on the list for my daughter's next birthday party!

I'm linked to:

Tatertots and Jello