Quick and easy coasters

Ever night after we put the baby to bed (my favorite part of the day), Tim and I like to watch tv together to unwind. If we are watching something I call "light", such as The Office or Parks and Rec, shows that aren't exactly riveting or very exciting, my hands become restless. Of course I was blessed with the desire to quench my boredom with food. Fantastic. So I've looked for other solutions.

 I used to play solitaire on the computer to keep my hands occupied, but it was distracting to my husband. Hence, my learning to crochet. All I need is a pattern simple enough so that I can pay enough attention to what I'm "watching". 

Bottom line, no more night eating and I'm stocking up on Christmas gifts. These coasters for example. Get to the point Allie. 

I finally found a crochet pattern for coasters that don't look like they should be at your Grandmother's house. I'm too young for doilies. The pattern is at Stitch 2 Buttercups and it is so easy I have it memorized. I love playing around with different color combinations.



Materials Needed:

Size L crochet Hook - I find that the size made with the L hook is perfect for my small candles. I prefer a slightly larger coaster for our glasses and mugs. I found that with an N hook, I got what I was looking for.
Cotton Yarn - You'll be crocheting with 2 strands held together throughout.
Scissors/Needle for weaving in ends

Directions:

Holding 2 strands of yarn together, make a slip knot.
Chain 2.
6 Single Crochet in the first chain. [6sc]
2 Single Crochet in each Single Crochet. [12sc]
Place marker around last stitch made, so you'll know where each round begins, since you're not joining with a slip stitch at the end of each round.
2 Single Crochet in each Single Crochet. [24sc]
Single Crochet in each Single Crochet. [24sc]
Skip 1 stitch and slip stitch into the next stitch, to even out the round.

Crochet Bow Tie

When I became pregnant I knew right away I wanted a girl. The clothes are cuter, the decor is cuter, and you just can't put a boy in pig tails. After the ultrasound we had to sit in the waiting room to see the doctor, and I knew I was supposed to be happy but I was just so disappointed. Luckily, there were several other women in the waiting room who quickly informed me that boys are much easier. Especially the moms who had girls. So that helped.

 Now, I am so glad I had a boy. I fell in love with dinosaurs, monkeys, and sailboats. And I read somewhere that boys will always love their mommas. Yeah, I'm a fan.

 I am always on the lookout for cute things to crochet for boys, so I was super excited to find this EASY crochet pattern for a bow tie! It was fast and easy and I was so excited to use it for his first birthday photo shoot. If only I had done it the day before his shots...oops.

I found the pattern at Delia Creates. I like tutorials and patterns that have a lot of pictures so that I won't have to crochet the whole thing before realizing I messed up at step 2. This pattern is so quick and easy and you can really play around with the colors!

Dr. Seuss Birthday!

I knew I was going to do a Dr. Seuss party for Adam's first birthday by the time he was 9 months. Growing up, they were my some of my favorite books, so I had a blast putting together this party to make his big number one special! I used some of my extra baby food jars and mini vases and the Dr. Seuss books for decoration and it was so easy!

The Menu:
Spaghetti Noodle Salad (Fox in Socks)
Roast Beast Sliders (How the Grinch Stole Christmas)
Oreos with Stars Upon Thars (The Sneetches)
Greenwich Spinach Salad (What was I Scared of)
Cat in the Hat Caprese Salad (Cat in the Hat)
Green Deviled Eggs and Ham Roll-Ups (Green Eggs and Ham)

And just for fun some finger food Hop on Popcorn and Rainbow goldfish for One Fish Two Fish

Bulimic Baby

Here is a mommy moment I could have lived without: a baby who gags himself and throws up repeatedly and for no reason. If you try to take his hand away from his mouth, he will either laugh or cry, and return his fingers to his throat the moment you release his hand. In fact, if you gave him the chance he would be more than happy to stick his hand down YOUR throat. Yes, he has tried. And bonus! He just started walking, which has become his favorite thing to do, so I had no idea he was even doing it till he walked up to me covered in puke, shoving his putrid orange hand in his mouth again. I don't know when I will be able to eat goldfish again...or smell them for that matter.

Why did no one tell me how gross babies are? They told me children were gross, and I heard the stories about poop smeared on walls by trickster toddlers, but I thought I had more time till my little precious baby became a puke monster! Oh the joys of mommy hood, having to walk through the house looking for where poor Fin was laid to his final rest.

The Spice of my Life: Adobo

For the first two years of my marriage, I thought I was going to lose my mind. Why you ask? My husband Tim and I would spend time with his family every weekend and occasionally go on short trips together. Whats your problem you say? His family loves to eat at Mexican restaurants. They have been eating there once a week for years. So whether it was after church, or after shopping, we would go through the process of picking a place to eat, and every time, someone would say "how about Mexican?" and someone else would say "oh yeah that sounds good." Then someone would turn to me and ask if that was ok with me and while I my body was screaming NO my mouth said "sure that's fine." I hate Mexican. Everything ends up a mushy brown slop. The only Mexican dish I like are the steak fajitas at Chili's, and yes I've tried fajitas at Mexican restaurants and quite frankly they simply aren't as good. I finally learned to speak up when I became pregnant and had severe morning sickness to the point that I was on medication until the day I delivered. Now everyone knows when I'm around, Mexican just isn't an option.

I am so glad that Tim knew about Adobo because I probably would never have found it since I never go down the Hispanic isle. Its perfect for those nights when you need to saute up a quick dinner and all you have are meat and vegetables. My son Adam wont eat zucchini without it and I especially like a light sprinkle on my eggs and potatoes. One taste of Tim's potato squash hash and my mom had to get some too!

Sweet of the Week: Sheila G's Brownie Brittle

I'll be honest, there have been a few times since the birth of our son that my husband has received a text before leaving work with a plead for him to bring home "anything chocolate". I try to avoid grocery shopping alone because I have a moment of weakness almost as soon as I step foot inside, thinking just the fact I got myself and the baby here at 10 am deserves some Oreos. I know. Its ridiculous. So on the days when I truly need some chocolate, I enlist my husband to brave the grocery store's temptations. recently he brought me brownie brittle, and I looked at him like he was crazy. What the heck is that I don't want a crispy brownie! Thank goodness he found it because it is my new favorite treat! It was even featured on the Wendy Williams show being a healthy dessert. And bonus! The serving size is actually reasonable! Really who can eat just 2 Oreos. The serving size for the brittle is 6 pieces and the pieces are big. The toffee crunch is my favorite and Adam loves it too!

Glue at your own risk

I honestly can't remember a time when my mother did any kind of crafting, but to this day I have apprehension whenever I have to use a hot glue gun. I feel like a little girl again and that any moment my mom will pop around the corner yelling "stop that's hot don't touch it!" My hands start shaking and I'm not squeezing enough then I'm squeezing way too much and its already cooling but I haven't applied it yet then it touches my fingers and I freak out and well you get the idea. Of course having a curious one year old around also makes you re-evaluate your glue preferences. So I go get my modge podge and all is right in the world. I'm a big fan of stuff that is almost impossible to mess up because somehow something always gets away from me. Even though I have messed up with modge podge too but lets just forget about that one.

One of the most fun crafts that I've done was from ashleyannphotography.com and it was so easy! Cut shapes out of paper and apply to canvas. Done. My only problem was that I wanted to do it that day and I only had the modge podge gloss and newbie crafter me thought oh does it really matter? Yes it does. So mine is shiny but I love it anyway. Live and learn.

Sweet of the Week: Nutella French Toast

We recently went to Texas to visit our best friends and us wives were so excited to cook together and try out some ideas from pinterest. Alas, our breakfast suffered from the same ailment that afflicts other well intentioned french toast recipes. It was mushy in the middle. Yuk. No amount of nutella and cinnamon can save soggy bread, so you find yourself only eating the edges. The problem was the recipe had you soak the nutella sandwich for 30 seconds each side so the bread was saturated and it would be impossible to cook it all the way through without burning the outside or it taking half an hour on low heat. Patience is a virtue, but not in the morning. So if you want nutella french toast, make the french toast first then spread nutella on top or in between or whatever floats your boat. Here is my favorite french toast, the non soggy way.

For about 4 pieces of regular sandwich bread:
1 tsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Mix ingredients together and coat bread in mixture, then cook in oiled skillet, about 5 minutes per side on medium heat until browned. Top with strawberries and powdered sugar. Yum!

Why my first craft failed

This past Christmas I tried to save money and make some gifts. I found a great idea for these coasters at blueprintcrafts.com using tile and scrapbook paper. It looked easy enough and it was. Being my first craft and all, I was very sure to obey the modge podge golden rule and smooth out all 16 coasters with great care. No bubbles. After I applied the acrylic spray the smell was so strong and I didn't want any spray residue to get anywhere in the house so I set them outside to dry. Alas, this is where my confidence in my noobie crafter skills were to my own demise. I live in Florida. Florida is ALWAYS humid. Moisture plus craft equals paper that comes off to the touch and smears everywhere. Ruined. Kaput. I was crushed. I took the smelly, slimy coasters home in a bag and let them sit in my living room for a week...a constant reminder of how much time I had just wasted. But then I threw them away and felt much better.

Sweet of the Week: Cinnamon Oatmeal Craisin Cookies

My friend made these for this past Easter and now I'm obsessed! Normally I cringe at what appears to be a semi-healthy cookie but I couldn't keep myself from going back for more! Its all about the cinnamon folks...butter isn't the only thing that makes the world go around. Which reminds me about my new favorite way to make cinnamon toast at thepioneerwoman.com. I like any recipe where I can smush things. Just take softened butter and mix in sugar and cinnamon and a bit of vanilla (oh yes and vanilla makes the world go round too) and spread it on toasted bread then bake at 350 for 10 minutes or till the tops get dark and voila you have a sweet treat with a very satisfying crispity crunch. But anyhoo back to why we are really here...the best version of this recipe I found at creative-culinary.com. A lot of recipes call for white chocolate chips but they are sweet enough with the craisins and the spices and there is plenty of sugar. While they are delicious as drop cookies I prefer them as bars because they are thick and chewy and they stay that way for days. Plus its a lot easier and makes less mess to just put it all in a 9x13 then to do all the dropping and rotating and scraping off the pan and waiting for it to cool then dropping the next batch and yada yada yada it takes too long. Also I like to have my oven opening at a minimum cas it freaks me out with the baby on the loose and if I put the gate up he just stands there and screams and nobody wants to bake with a screaming baby now do they. Thats how I forgot the vanilla last time...that was a sad realization. Tip for the eggs...always crack them into a separate bowl before adding to a mixture to make sure you don't get a bad egg or any shell. This has saved me many a headache trying to get that bit of shell from the clutches of the egg whites like that speck in your drink that always seems to escape your finger at the last second...but I digress. 



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. You will need: 

3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 (packed) cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries or raisins
  Whisk together the oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg and set aside.
Beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
Add the eggs one at a time and beat for 1 minute after each addition and then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients slowly, beating only until blended.
Add the dried cranberries and mix to incorporate them evenly into the dough. (At this point, the dough can be wrapped well and chilled for up to 2 days.) 
Spread evenly into a 9x13 pan (I use dark nonstick and it works perfectly) and bake for about 20-25 minutes. It will still be gooey on the inside but you don't want the center to jiggle. Let stand for about 15 minutes and the center will continue cooking. 

I love this cookie with a cup of coffee in the morning...gotta love a cookie you can eat in the am! Added bonus the baby loves it too!

By the way his walker behind him is the chomp and clack by Melissa and Doug. One less toy that doesn't sing cas mama can only take so much. And bonus its heavy so he doesn't fall over trying to use it. Just my first of many recommendations here folks!

Welcome to my blog!

Hello blog world! I'm Allie and I'm so excited to get started on this blog! My husband and I have an adorable-and-he-knows-it one year old son who apparently (hes my first so I have no point of reference) is a very easy baby and you know what that means...the next one is gonna be a doozy so we are enjoying it while we can. This blog is a place for me to share my crafting adventures and my favorite recipes, especially desserts because everyone knows that's the best part. I'm that girl at the party first to the dessert table so when I get a second plate some people might think its my first. No shame in my game. I only do crafts that can be completed in a short amount of time because with a baby you don't have much time to yourself and nap time is never quite long enough. I love to craft even when it comes out looking a hot mess and I hope others can learn from my blunders.