Copycat Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole Review

Hiya out there!  Today I'm gonna do a review on a Copycat Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole recipe I found at Food.com.  Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of my own....we couldn't wait to dig right into it.  I'll update this post when I make it again which will be fairly soon.  I really enjoyed this recipe and it was really easy to make.  Especially with the frozen, ready to use hash browns.  Next time I am going to try making the hash browns from scratch.  My DH, Jason, was amazed at how much it tasted like the original.  Since the littles refuse to eat anything they think doesn't "look" good, there was a lot of casserole to go around.  Of course, Jason and I  didn't mind because all that meant was there was more for us.  It lasted us three days and we did not get tired of having it.  In fact, Jason already wants another pan of it ;-)  

Anywho.  Please check out the link to the recipe and my Pinterest page.  

May your bellies stay full and smiles be in your heart.

Perler Bead Covered Earphones

Good morning.

I decided that I am going to start posting reviews of the recipes, crafts, and other things that I find on Pinterest.  I have been a Pinterest lover for a very long time now.  Thank you Stephanie for getting me hooked and inviting me way back when;-)  I'll be pinning completed projects and reviews on my board Tried It.....Crafts and D.I.Y.  (Perler Bead Pin)  My daughter, Haley, crocheted fuzzy yarn over her earphones wire a while back.  Since then I've been wanting to do something similar but the thought of taking the time to crochet over the wires was not appealing to me.  In enter Pinterest.  I stumbled upon the idea of "stringing" Perler Beads over the earphone wire.  It was really easy to make.  Just a little reminder of the hot mess a "naked" set of earbuds can become:

I decided that it would be pretty cool to use glow in the dark Perler beads.  Not that I'm in the dark much, but just in the case I am, I thought it would be neat:-)

Most tutorial out there say to use a razor or craft knife.  Me, I used a heavy duty scissors (Tim Holtz Tonic Studios).  I'm so accident prone, this project would have ended in disaster :-(  

I used the end of the scissors to pry open the slit I made.  It was easy to slip it over the wire that way.

Here is the end result.

I love how they turned out.  They no longer get tangled and I instantly know which pair is mine.  Not to mention that it looks like jewelry when I hang it around my neck.  It took me about an hour to complete.  Not so bad considering that I watch Netflix as I craft.

Here's a closer look at it.

I hope you try it and let me know how it turns out for you.

Until next time, happy crafting!

Haley's 1st Microphone Session

Today I'm straying from my crafting blog posts to share with you my talented daughters.

We recently took Haley to practice singing into a microphone.  We have been trying to get her to agree to do Teen Open Mic night at the Carmel Youth Center.  If you haven't heard of it, please check out their webpage.    Yes I am plugging for the youth center but only because I love that place and people.  They do a lot of great things.  So, our friend Ernest, who works there, suggested Haley practice on a mic before actually going on stage.  It's a good thing she did because it really felt weird to her.  Her little sisters even got in on the action also.  

Here Haley is being silly and getting comfortable with the mic:

Here is Haley with Reagan covering Sunday by Sia:

Here they are again covering Count On Me by Bruno Mars

....and Haley covering Skinny Love by Bon Iver

I hope you enjoyed their little performances and wish us luck in getting Haley on stage.

Clearance OneDirection Washi Tape

Hello there!

While perusing Office Depot the other day I found some washi tape that was on clearance.  At first, I didn't realize that it was OneDirection washi tape.  Haley pointed it out to me and told me not to get it because I wouldn't be able to use it.  I couldn't pass them up.  They were only $.13 after all;-)

The white word tape in the middle is full of the band members name.  What in the world would I do with that!  Here's a closer look at the tape.

So far, the only thing I could come up with for the white word tape is to use it to hold some mask on a stamping project or to decorate a composition book for someone who really loves 1D...which I will make at another time to share.  I was bound and determined to use the tape on a card and without it being 1D themed.  Here is my finished card.

First thing I did was take the solid tape and created a background.  The thicker word tape left a lot of room between the words and hearts for me to cut it out.  To be able to make the word banners, I applied the tape to plain white cardstock then created the banner.  The hearts didn't go to waste either.  Those went on white cardstock also and I punched them out using a 1" circle punch.

There was a bunch of "waste" tape since I didn't use the names on the wide word tape.  Those will not go to waste.  I will find something to use them on.  Until then they will just "hang" out.

So excited that I found a way to use the tape.  Even if I never use the white word tape I think it was still a great buy for all that tape for under $1.  Yay!  Maybe I will donate the white word tape to my daughters class for use in there craft center.  

I hope you have a great day!  Happy crafting!

Grandma inspired me to get creative with scrapbooking again

Yes.  My grandma inspired my first step back into scrapbooking.  How you may ask?  Especially since she lives in Hawaii.  Well, I've had this picture of my grandma and her sister printed and sitting in my favorite picture pile on my desk for awhile now.  She came to visit two years now and there the picture sat on my desk, sadly, with a bunch of my other favorite pictures.  Taking May Flaums class had me wanting to do something with those pictures.  Here is the layout that I made.

 

This layout started out as the opposite page of the page I posted more than a week ago.  Okay, I know in the last post I said "next Tuesday".  Well, it is Tuesday;-)  Just not the Tuesday that I meant in that post.  Oh well, life happened.  Here I am trying to stay on track.  Okay, let's get back to the scrapbook page.  The reason that the square picutre is my absolute favorite of my grandma is because I asked them to look tough!  It was so hilarious!  I know it would've been really funny if you were there in the moment with us.  You'll just have to take my word for it.  

Next page will be of my father-in-law with my littles.  I know it will be an emotional one.  He passed in October and I wanted to make a special page for him. 

I also have a few more projects in the works.  I can't wait to share them with you.  I hope you can find some inspiration for your crafting and scrapbooking.  Have a great day!

Winter Retreat 2014 with May Flaum

What is the best way to get some creative inspiration?  Take a class.  I am taking May Flaum's Winter Retreat 2014.  May has gathered amazing creative minds to contribute tutorials to this retreat.  Check out her blog while you're at it.  I have been absolutely inspired to start crafting again after a long hiatus.  I didn't even realize that I haven't posted here since November 2011.  Wow!  So, without further ado, here is my first layout.

My grandma was my inspiration.  I miss her so much!  This picture is of grandama with her sister Liz on the left and Aunty Liz's daughter in the middle.  Grandma lives in Hawaii and Aunty Liz lives in California so I'm happy that I was able to get a picture of them together.  Tuesday I will have the second layout inspired by grandma.

This weekend will be so action packed.  Saturday we will be ushering in the new lunar year with some good friends.  Sunday will be a great day spent on the couch watching the Super Bowl.  Are you a Seahawks fan?  Broncos fan?  My team didn't make it to the Super Bowl so by default I will be rooting for the Seahawks because they are my dad's team.  

I hope everyone has a great weekend.  Happy crafting!

Scrapbook page inspiration

So I promised to show you the inspiration that came from the scraps of Zoeys 100 day project.  I decided that the strips from punching out the circles would make a great background.

Even the leftover punched circles will be used on the layout somehow.

Here is the beginning the stages of the layout.

I needed to add a resting place for those little pics, so I created a horizontal band with the inks. 

Luckily, the inkpads are round, so it lended itself perfectly to put directly on the page to create that soft texture.  I'll be printing out a portrait orientated 4x6 of Zoey and her finished project to add on the right.

Here I added a journal card and a blank piece of white cardstock.  I also took one inch strips of white cardstock, tore them, and colorized them with the colors Zoey used in her project.  I stapled a few of the punched circles to the main photo using my tiny attacher.

Here is the finished page.  I stamped a few sayings from a couple of Stampin' Up! stamp sets, journaled on the big lined journal card, and used glittery foam Thickers for my title.  Overall,  I am very pleased with how this layout turned out.  I am most excited about the fact I was able to use the leftover pieces of Zoey's project, which would have been recycled, to make a layout to remember her eagerness to craft and fashion her own project.  Oops, I just realized that I forgot to stamp the date on the layout.  Oh well, I'll have to go back and do that.  Until we meet again, happy crafting!