Washer Necklaces

So after stalking a friend's pinterest boards I found this very intriguing idea. Make your own statement necklaces using washers, scrapbook paper and mod podge.

Any variety of washers can be used. So far I've only made the ones shown above. However I recently went to Lowe's and bought all of the ones shown below which have a variety of sizes, width, and weight. 

 However, if I have two contrasting colors or complementary colors hanging them like this would be great!

 This is what the back of the finished product looks like. It's still unfinished. However, when I've worn the necklace it likes to flip around some so I'm considering covering the front and the back. I also need a better chain/rope to tie it up with.

So you basically find a washer that you like and some scrapbook paper that you like. Although the site above has used other paper items like comics, so you could probably use any paper product. Then you trace and cut out the shape and mod podge them together. I bought the matte mod podge, and in hindsight I would have bought the glossy one. However now I think I'm going to buy some enamel spray or something to make it shiny and more finished looking. 

Christmas Card Wreath

Christmas Card Wreath 

I saw this idea from here. It's pretty easy to make. 

Items:

Clothes pins

Green Spray Paint

Red Pony Beads

Ribbon

Wire Clothes Hangars

Hot glue gun.

To make: 

1. Spray paint the clothes pins green. I did it by laying them out on newspaper, but the other article recommended clipping them to an old box you don't care about. Honestly, it probably would have saved some time, but it wasn't that big of a dea. 

2.Make the clothes hangar a circle. This part is actually easier said than done! Mine isn't perfectly round nor perfectly flat, but such is life. 

3. String the clothes pins and pony beads on the hangar, alternating.

4. Attach the 2 ends of the hangar. The other site recommended just lining them up and gluing the heck out of it. My husband had the great idea of just bending the two ends to make hooks and hooking the two sides together. This alone probably would have been enough to hold it together, but I didn't trust it so I glued the hooks together. It also made it so I could fit another couple clothes pins on since I didn't have to rely solely on the glue.

5. Take the ribbon and tie a string to hold it up. Using another piece of ribbon tie a bow. I used some wire ribbon from the dollar tree. It is red with green wire and green flecks. I really like how that ribbon goes with it.  

 An example holding a card. I actually really got a kick out of this card! It says "It's 80 degrees and sunny somewhere" "Oh yeah, that's here. Merry Christmas there." It's fitting and wonderful and we are sending it from sunny Florida to our friends in wintery Maine.

Hawaiian BBQ Chicken

I found this recipe here from Pinterest. Frankly it is amazingly simple and genius! 4 ingredients and a crockpot and viola, a meal.

1 bottle Target's Archer Farms Hawaiian Style Barbecue Sauce
Frozen chicken breasts. Original recipe called for 4-6. I probably had a few more.
1 20 oz can chunked pineapple, drained
Rice prepared as directed

Throw everything but the rice in the crockpot and cook on high for 3 hours, low for 4-6 hours. Shred chicken and coat in sauce then serve over rice.

Easy peasy! Warning though, this bbq sauce is deceptively spicy! If I make it again I'll probably try and cut the heat with either some of the pineapple sauce or some sugar. However, Target makes several other sauces like this that I'm curious to try now.

PinFail? Washcloth cupcakes

So one of my friends...actually several of my friends...are pregnant! Yay! That means that we are just starting on the deluge of baby showers. I always see some of the cute diaper cakes and cupcakes and other amazing things. So I wanted to try it. However I'm not sure that I was very successful.

Here is a picture of the largest two:

 This is a picture of them on the side. The towels are orange/pink stripped (right) and hearts (left). The 'wrappers' are made from scrapbook paper.

This is the four of them together. The container is actually the end of a 12 pack of soda which I covered in pink paper. It was the perfect size to show them off. 

This was the mini gift for my friend at our work shower. For her main shower gift I got 3 baskets and filled them with different goodies (I forgot to take pictures!!)

Basket 1 Baby Bath time:

• Baby Shampoo
• Baby Body wash
• Fun bath squirt toys
• Washcloths
• A water book
• Rubber ducky that tells the temperature

Basket 2 Get Well Basket:

• Infant acetaminophen
• Infant ibuprofen
• Saline nasal spray
• Baby groomer/first aid kit

Basket 3 Clothing:

• Onsies
• Socks

I may be forgetting stuff, but that's most of it. It was a lot of fun buying all that fun stuff for her!