Delicious Black Bean Stew

I threw this stew together the other night, and I'm in love. Remember Steup? Well, this is kind of the same concept, but a bit heartier, and with lots of different flavors. It's going to seem like there are a LOT of ingredients in this stew, but there are really only a few main ingredients...the rest was just a bunch of stuff I had hanging around (which was how I came up with this stew in the first place, just trying to use up the perishable food I knew would go bad if I didn't do something fast). The main ingredients are black beans, tomato, taco seasoning, and some type of grain. Once you have those ingredients, just throw in what you have available.

I made this stew twice (once for dinner, and once to freeze and eat later), and I had different ingredients each time, so I'll tell you about both versions. One thing's for sure...this is not a recipe for those who have to stick to a recipe! Be creative and have fun with it!

Black Bean Stew
Black beans - 1 pound for a medium crock pot, 2 pounds for a large crock pot - soaked overnight
"Grandma's Grain" or barley, or whatever you have on hand
Tomatoes - I used at least 10 tomatoes in each batch. You can probably use canned stewed tomatoes or whatever you have available.
Taco Seasoning - 1 packet for a medium crock pot, 2 packets for a large crock pot

Additional stuff:
Dried veggie soup mix
Carrots
Onions
Bouillon cubes (about 5 - if you want a vegetarian soup, use veggie bouillon)
Parsley
Garlic (in one batch, I used whole cloves of garlic, and in the other batch, granulated garlic)
Bell Peppers (I didn't have these for the first batch)


For my next batch, I plan to use pumpkin. I wish I had a big get-together planned sometime soon, because I have a great big pumpkin that I could use to serve my black bean soup in! Here's what I really want to do:


Disclaimer: This isn't my soup. I stole this picture from a friend who served this soup at a pumpkin carving party the other day.

And here's how I put it together (this is the second batch I made):

I gathered up all my veggies
Soaked the beans overnight, then rinsed and drained them

Gathered my spices

Dumped in about a half a jar of my Grandma's Grains
Cut up my veggies - bell peppers
tomatoes

carrots

aaaand onions.
And then I mixed it all together, and added water just to the point where you could tell I added water:
(Isn't it gorgeous?) And then cooked it all day, and here's the result:
Delicious!

Super Quick Crochet Curtain Holders

Oh my, two blogs in one day! Nobody have a heart attack, ok? You'd think that blogging would KEEP me from doing stuff, but it's exactly the opposite. When I'm working and getting things done, I want to share! The thought of blogging about all the fun stuff I'm doing actually gets me excited to do more. I'm going to have to remember that for future reference.

Anyway, so about these curtain holders (I haven't a clue if that's what they're called, but they hold the curtains, so that's good enough for me). I decided the other day to put my plants in my bedroom. Until now, they've had two very bad options...either getting torn up by excited dogs in the living room, or getting very little sun in the dining room. So, I got furniture moved around, cleaned off my dresser, and laid down this nifty runner I got from my friend Jenna (thanks, Jenna!). Then I realized that I have no way to keep the curtains back. It won't do me much good to bring the plants into my room if they get no sun. I've been crocheting a lot lately (maybe I'll do a couple more posts to show my other projects over the last few days), so I knew exactly what I wanted to do! I'm not even going to attempt to write this like a crochet pattern, I'm just going to explain what I did.

I used an N hook, because I wanted these to be done quick (and it worked...it's going to take me longer to write the blog than it took to make these). I grabbed some scrap yarn (there's a lot of green in my room, so I grabbed green yarn...it looks nice!) For the first one, I just made a chain until I figured it was about the right length (I don't even know how many stitches I did, I didn't bother to count). For the second one, I chained until I had about the same length (minus the end loops):


Then, I added another 5 chains. I turned, skipped those five chains to make a loop:


...and single crocheted back to the other end. Uh oh, I think I'm missing some pictures. Oh well. When I got to the other end, I chained five again, and single crocheted down the other side (the bottom of the original chain). I doubt it would matter if you crocheted across the top, it would just be a little crooked (when you lay them out, one loop will be higher than the other). But heck, it's not like anyone's ever going to inspect them, right? (Well, unless you have a mom like mine who has to criticize everything you're proud of...in that case, just don't tell her! LOL)

Now, the first one I did, I didn't slip stitch the last stitch to the loop on the end. It left a little "pimple" thing sticking out, so with the second one I made sure to slip stitch, and it looks much better. Again, no one's ever going to inspect these things, so I'm leaving it.


All told, these curtain holders took me maybe 10 minutes. Rock on! I got my plants moved in, and I am a happy girl!

Perfect Iced Coffee

I love iced coffee in the summer. It's super easy to put together, and yummy. I have a lot of fun with it. This is how I make my iced coffee.

Now, y'all know I'm not a photographer, but even with my lacking skill, this picture is just sad. Please ignore my messy desk. I just want to share the coffee love. ;-)

Make a pot of coffee twice as strong as you normally like it.

Grab a pitcher or sun tea dispenser (I use a pitcher...I make my coffee in a french press, so it's the perfect size for my pitcher. If you use a coffee pot, a sun tea dispenser would probably work better). Put all your "goodies" into the pitcher. I use creamer, cocoa, coffee syrups, and/or extracts(my favorite is coconut).

Pour the hot coffee in and stir.

Then add a couple trays of ice and stir. Let this sit while you get glasses ready with more ice (or if you've got a bucket of ice for guests, just keep stirring the coffee until it's chilled). Pour your coffee, embellish with mint sprigs, or whatever you like (I use my crazy straws...heehee! I like to let out my inner child often).

Keep the extra coffee in the fridge. I don't usually share mine (it's a "cleaning day" treat for me), so the pitcher lasts all day.

Enjoy!

Biscuits!

So, I came home tonight and decided to do some actual cooking. As in, not the quickie stuff I've been doing lately. I had the opportunity to try the baking mix from this post. At first, I tried the baking mix using whole wheat flour...but it just didn't work out. So, I took the leftover baking mix, and mixed it with a new batch of baking mix that I made with white flour. So, without further ado...

BISCUITS

Spoon 2 cups of the baking mix into a bowl.



Make a well; add 1/2 c. cold milk, all at once. Working quickly, stir vigorously with a fork just until dough follows fork around the bowl - this should take 30-40 seconds. Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and knead gently for another half minute (about 10 folds) to remove stickiness.



Roll or pat dough out to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Dip a 2-inch cutter or an inverted glass tumbler in flour; cut dough straight down - no twisting - to form biscuits.

(I decided to be a dork and use a cookie cutter to cut the biscuits...Jason picked a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter.)



For soft biscuits, place dough rounds close together in a shallow, ungreased baking pan; for crusty biscuits, place the rounds 3/4 inch apart on a cookie sheet. Prick biscuit tops with a fork. If you wish, brush tops with milk or melted butter. Bake in an oven preheated to 450F for 10-15 minutes. Makes about 12 biscuits.



Yep, the half white, half wheat flour combo is very yummy.

Homemade Baking Mixes

I borrowed this book from my co-worker awhile back...I forget what it was called, but she's had this book for 25 years, and it is absolutely the most awesome book I've ever seen (ok, there are others just as awesome, but maybe this is the most awesome cook-type-book). It's a huge book full of recipes for making your own groceries at home. I'll probably post various things from it from time to time, but for today, I decided to post the baking mixes section (wish I had the stupid power cord for my scanner, I'd just scan the pages and post the picture...oh well).

BISCUIT AND BAKING MIX (like Bisquick)
8 3/4 cups flour (I used wheat flour, but wouldn't recommend it...maybe half white and half wheat, but don't use all wheat, k? Just not good...)
1/3 cup baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp. salt
2 cups vegetable shortening

In a very large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Use a pastry blender, or two knives, or your fingertips to cut in the shortening, 1 cup at a time, until the mix looks like coarse meal. Put in a covered container or plastic bag. Store at room temperature for about 3 months. For longer storage, place in freezer. To measure mix for use, lightly spoon it into a measuring cup; do not pack; level with a spatula.

BISCUITS
Spoon 2 cups of the above mix into a bowl. Make a well; add 1/2 c. cold milk, all at once. Working quickly, stir vigorously with a fork just until dough follows fork around the bowl - this should take 30-40 seconds. Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and knead gently for another half minute (about 10 folds) to remove stickiness. Roll or pat dough out to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Dip a 2-inch cutter or an inverted glass tumbler in flour; cut dough straight down - no twisting - to form biscuits.

For soft biscuits, place dough rounds close together in a shallow, ungreased baking pan; for crusty biscuits, place the rounds 3/4 inch apart on a cookie sheet. Prick biscuit tops with a fork. If you wish, brush tops with milk or melted butter. Bake in an oven preheated to 450F for 10-15 minutes. Makes about 12 biscuits.


DROP BISCUITS
Increase milk to 2/3 cup. Do not knead. Drop dough from a teaspoon onto a well-greased cookie sheet. Bake as directed.


CHEESE BISCUITS
Add 1/3 cup grated cheese, any flavor, to dough.

ONION BISCUITS
Add 1/4 cup chopped, sauteed onions to dough.


HAM-BACON BISCUITS
Add 1/3 cup crisp bacon bits or 1/4 cup very finely chopped cooked ham to dough.

PANCAKES
In a mixing bowl, combine 1 1/3 cups milk and 1 egg. Add 2 cups of lightly spooned baking mix; beat smooth with an egg beater. If you wish, fold in 1/2 cup blueberries or 3/4 cup sliced apples. Drop mixture in 1/4 cup measurements onto a hot, lightly greased griddle. Makes 10 4-inch pancakes.

SHORTCAKES
Use a fork to lightly beat 1 egg in a mixing bowl; add 1/2 cup milk, 3 tablespoons sugar, and 3 cups of lightly spooned baking mix. Stir quickly with a fork to moisten, about 30 strokes. Turn onto a floured surface and knead well, 8 times. Roll out dough 1/2 inch thick. Using a floured cutter or inverted glass tumbler, cut dough into an equal amount of 2 1/2- and 3-inch rounds. Brush a larger round with melted butter and place a smaller one on top of it. Repeat until you have 5 or 6 double shortcakes. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, gently prick tops with a fork; butter them if you wish. Bake in a preheated 425F oven for 12-15 minutes.

QUICK MEAT OR CHICKEN PIE
Pour 4 servings of canned or homemade beef or chicken stew into a buttered casserole dish; bake at 425F for about 10 minutes. Spoon 1 cup of baking mix into a bowl, make a well, and, all at once, pour in 1/3 cup of milk. Stir vigorously with a fork until moistened. Drop by teaspoonfuls on top of the heated stew. Bake 20-25 minutes more, then serve.

Productivity

These days, productivity is rare for me. I've had some fairly major back pain issues for the last few years. I refuse to take medication for it unless I absolutely need it because when my pain is dulled, I can't tell how bad it is, and I continue to put more and more strain on my back, which just makes it worse.

Also, I've had some minor depression issues all my life, and I've been in "that" mode for a few months (maybe the winter weather affected me more than I thought it did). So, it has been increasingly difficult to have those productive days.

I have often sat and wistfully dreamed of the days when I could clean my whole house in one day...now I can't mop the floors. Or the days when I could make it to the top of Pilot Butte...I couldn't even make it from the parking lot to the foot of the Butte these days. I dream of the day (some distant, foggy day far in the future) when I might be able to do these things again.

Yes...I dream of mopping and hiking...two things I loathe, to be truthful, but I'd like to have the OPTION to do those things.

So, yesterday was a bit of a shock to me. I spent almost the entire day being productive. What changed, you ask? Well, my back has been hurting non-stop for days. It didn't matter if I was sitting, standing, bending, scrubbing...it just HURT. So I thought, well, if it's going to hurt no matter what I do, I may as well just suck it up and get moving. I felt like I had been run over by a tank by the time I fell into bed last night, but I was proud of myself in a way that I haven't been in over a year. This list may look puny to those of you who lead less sedentary lives, but allow me my pride...here's what I got done yesterday:

I rode on my "new" exercise bike...granted it was only a few minutes, but a few minutes is better than zero minutes.

I cleaned the entire kitchen, aside from the floor. It needed it, too. The sink is empty of the 4 days of dishes that had built up, the faucet and porcelain have been shined, counters cleaned (except a few spots), stove scrubbed. I cleaned and cured all my frying pans, AND my teapot (can anyone tell me how on Earth that thing gets so filthy every week? It's covered in grime an inch thick, and all I use it for is water! I think I need to store it on the other side of the kitchen...it picks up too much grease from cooking).

Oh yeah, and I actually cleaned the kitchen three times. Once for the big mess, and twice more after cooking and making a mess. It had better stay clean, I tell ya! (Had a little chat with hubs, and myself, to say that dishes are to be washed and promptly put in the dishwasher, not built up over days, and if you're going to cook for yourself, you're going to wash up your own dishes and clean up after yourself...I'm worse at this than he is, so I gave myself a much sterner talking to...heehee.)

I did all the laundry, which is huge. In the last few weeks, I've been getting most of the laundry done on Wednesday...to the point where I just have one last load in the dryer, and I just have to fold that and put everything away...and then I peter out. Well, last night, I didn't peter out (or, more accurately, I was already petered out by the time I woke up yesterday, so I just sucked it up and did it anyway). I even washed my blankets, since they were getting too heavy and warm. Hopefully that wasn't a mistake, since the weather is now cooled off again.

I cleaned the bathroom...counter, litter box, toilet (easy peasy, since I do the "swish" part of Flylady's swish and swipe at least every other day, so it wasn't that dirty to begin with), and the floor.

Organized cupboards, fridge, freezer, and a bunch of other stuff

Made bread

Made fudge

Wrote two blog posts...one about previously mentioned fudge, and one about cleaning supplies (which had to be edited about 15 times because I kept messing up...jeez).

Seems like there's more, but if I think of anything, I'll come back and add. I think that's enough bragging for now anyway. ;-)

Know what the best part is, though? That doesn't leave me a lot to do this weekend. Might have to find something fun to do with my spare time...

Easiest Fudge In The World

I have my mother in law to thank for this recipe. It's awesome. All you need is a bag of chocolate chips, a can of sweetened condensed milk, a double boiler or something similar, and a pan to put the finished fudge in.



Now, being domestic doesn't come easily to me. I've always had to work at it. Not that I don't love my domesticity...I'm just not a natural. So, just in case someone like me runs across this blog, I'm going to show every single step...even how to use a double boiler. Besides, this post would be so short if I didn't explain every step. This recipe is insanely easy.

So, step 1, fill the pot 1/2 to 3/4 full of water.



Then, put the double boiler (or another pan, whatever you've got handy) in the first pan, making sure the double boiler is sitting in the water, but the water isn't spilling out of the pan.



Dump in the chocolate and the milk.



Turn on the heat, and in a couple minutes, your chocolate will start to melt.



Give it a good stir every minute or so. It takes maybe 10 minutes to melt it all together.



When it's all melted, pour it into a pan to cool.



Put it in the fridge, and you'll have some delicious fudge in a half hour or so. I like to embellish it when I have stuff...add nuts, marshmallows, butterscotch chips, whatever tickles your fancy. This time, we're just having plan ol' fudge. Enjoy!

Homemade Cleaning Products

I try to keep my house as environmentally friendly as possible. Some of these aren't as Earth-friendly as I'd like, but it's an improvement.

CHEAP "FEBREEZE"
Take an old spray bottle (I used the leftover Febreeze spray bottle), fill it half way with fabric softener, and fill it the rest of the way with water. This is the only thing I buy fabric softener for, since I use vinegar in the rinse cycle. I buy the phosphorous free softener.

DISH SOAP
3 tbsp liquid castile soap
2 cups warm water
2 tsp. vegetable glycerine
2 tbsp. vinegar
My favorite thing about making dish soap (this will show you what a dork I am) is putting in the first three ingredients, mixing them up, and then pouring in the vinegar. It's way cool. All the ingredients are clear, right? You've got crystal-clear, water-looking stuff in a jar...and then you pour in even more clear stuff, but it looks like you just poured in creamer...it's way nifty. (This coming from a chick who loves lava lamps, so take that for what it's worth.)

LAUNDRY SOAP
1/2 cup liquid castille soap
1/2 cup borax
1/2 cup washing soda
Put these in a gallon jug, fill the rest of the way with warm water, and mix it up. I also like to add some shredded fels naptha (not much, though...it makes the soap clumpy). And I've been putting a teaspoon of seventh generation laundry powder in the wash to give it that extra kick, and it works wonderfully. I use a downy ball with vinegar in it for the rinse.

On a side note here, I used to use just plain baking soda in the wash (did that for about a year), and aside from the cost, it worked fabulously. Going through all my trials and errors with making laundry soap, I've often contemplated just going back to the baking soda days. But since I started adding in that teaspoon of commercial soap, I finally found a formula that works the same as the baking soda. And it's cheaper.

ALL PURPOSE CLEANER
2 parts water
1 part vinegar
Yep, that's it. Put it in a spray bottle or mop bucket, and off you go.

I've got plenty more where that comes from. I actually printed out a whole book of recipes for different things that I'll pull out when one of these won't do the job I need done.

And now, I'm off to clean the house...

Chili Rerun

Still whittling down those huge posts. I think this is the last one, but I'll have to check.

Ok, now on to the chili. Since I messed around with this recipe so much, I'm not going to put the actual recipe up, I'm just going to explain what I did. I soaked enough beans last night to make both recipes (the other was Cabbage Steup), so I threw in the beans, dried veggies (the ones I'm using up), a packet of chili seasoning (or you can use cumin, pepper, chili powder, and salt), and one onion before my first picture was taken:
Then I added 2 cans of diced tomatoes:
And some water (about a cup, give or take), mixed it all up, and set it to cook, too (should cook for 6-8 hours):
This recipe could easily be doubled even in my little crock pot...I just keep forgetting to actually do it.

I forgot to mention, we're "mostly" vegetarian, so instead of ground beef, I'll be adding TVP to the chili later on. You can add ground beef or whatever meat you want to this. The recipe I used that had ground beef in it was not for the crock pot, so I don't know whether you should add raw ground beef at the beginning, or cook it separately and add it at the end.

Thanks to Casey for letting me know I need to explain what TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) is. Have you ever seen those "veggie crumbles" in the grocery store freezer section? Morningstar farms has them in a green bag. They are YUMMY! And they are made from TVP. But you can also buy TVP in the bulk section and flavor it yourself.

The chili is done! Yippee! We decided to have the chili over baked potatoes with some cheese, and it is GOOOOOOOD. Funny, though...I forgot to add the TVP...oh well, it's still delish!

Cabbage Steup Rerun

Continuing on with the whittling down of enormous posts, I'm breaking down my Crock Pot post into the two recipes I blogged about.

Cabbage Steup (it's kinda like stew, and kinda like soup...)

32 oz. vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
1 medium or large cabbage, chopped
2 - 28 oz cans or 1 - 56 oz can of chunky tomato sauce
28 oz water
14 oz can kidney beans, drained
1 can sliced carrots, drained
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can cut green beans, drained
1 6 oz. can tomato paste

Optional ingredients:
3-4 chicken breasts
3-4 medium/large potatoes

Add broth, cabbage, tomato sauce, and water to a large crock pot (you need the biggest crock pot possible - I think mine is 6 qt. - or two smaller crock pots) (add potatoes and chicken at this time, too). Cook in crock pot until cabbage is 3/4 cooked (looks somewhat transparent). Add remaining ingredients and salt, pepper, garlic, and bay leaves and cook for another 1-2 hours or until cabbage is soft (and chicken and potatoes are cooked).

Now, I personally do it a little differently. I apologize that I didn't get pictures from the beginning, but I didn't think about it until I already had a few ingredients in the pot. So, here's what I did. First, I prefer to not use canned stuff if I don't have to, so I soaked some dry kidney beans over night, and put a couple cups (give or take) in the crock pot. I also have this enormous stockpile of dried vegetables that I like to throw in everything so that I can use it up. I also add an onion. So, here's the cabbage steup that far, along with the first half of the cabbage:
Now it may not look like there's a lot of cabbage in there, but when you add in the second half, it nearly fills up the crock:
I also add raw carrots at the beginning instead of canned (and I'd put in raw corn and green beans, too, if I had them):
And of course, I didn't have tomato sauce (I could have sworn we had a couple cans, but whatever), so I just used 2 cans of diced tomatoes and 2 cans of tomato paste:
I also didn't have any broth, so I used vegetable bouillon cubes and added some water. So, once everything is in the crock, mix it up as well as you can without spilling stuff all over (because at this point, it's VERY full), and set it to cook:

Aaaaaaaaand, here's the finished steup! I haven't broken it down yet, but it will make at least six meals.
We ended up adding noodles to it this time. Very yummy.

Vanilla Syrup Rerun

This recipe is from the same post as the Pumpkin Bread.

Aaaaaand, last but not least (and not the least of what I did today), I made vanilla syrup! My mother in law gave me these bottles of syrup that I've been using in my coffee. I knew that once they were gone, I was going to miss them terribly. My coffee has been so yummy lately! So, I looked up how to make syrup. I'm not a big sugar fan, though, so we have no sugar in our house. I wondered if I could make it with splenda? I have heard bad things about splenda, but we have tons of it, so why not use it up, eh? So, I made the syrup just like I would with sugar...twice as much splenda as water, in a pan. The splenda completely dissolved in the water without even heating it. But it seemed rather thin, and had a funky after taste. So I decided to try adding some vegetable glycerine, which is very sweet. It didn't make it any thicker, but it helped with the after taste. I used my homemade vanilla extract (2 tsp), boiled the syrup for a couple minutes to burn off the alcohol, and it is FABULOUS! Sooo much better than the storebought stuff! Here's the finished product:
Cheap, easy, SUPER yummy, and easy to store in the bottles I already had. I like that. :-)

After having used this syrup a few times, I'm finding that it still has a funky aftertaste. Not bad, per se, just...not the same as regular vanilla syrup. I might experiment with other sweeteners besides splenda, but until I do, I'd have to recommend using plain ol' sugar for this recipe.

Pumpkin Bread Rerun

I wrote a few posts awhile back that were rather cluttered, with multiple topics. I've decided to spread them out into separate posts to make them more easily searchable. So, here's the pumpkin bread recipe from this post.

Ok, now to something a bit yummier. I made pumpkin bread today! Now, I mentioned a long time ago that I like to make jars of stuff to give people every year. The pumpkin bread was from one of those jars. I love the leftovers as much as I love the gifts! They always come in handy, and give me lots of new recipes to use. Sometimes, I'll make up extra jars during the year so that I'll have quick, easy recipes on hand. Here's a picture of the first jars I ever put together:
This one was green and yellow split pea soup. Super easy, super cheap, and makes a HUGE pot of soup. Anyway, I've had these jars of pumpkin bread in the cupboard for awhile, and the only time I ever make it is around Harvest time, if I'm assigned cakes and ale for a ritual...which...well...hasn't happened in a long while, beings that I'm very super duper extra solitary right now. Which means, I haven't made pumpkin bread in ages. I've had the jar sitting on the counter for a week, so I FINALLY went for it today! Here's the recipe:

Quick Pumpkin Bread

2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. packed light brown sugar
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. chopped pecans or walnuts
1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Layer ingredients attractively in any order in 1-quart food storage jar with tight-fitting lid. Pack ingredients down slightly before adding another layer.
2. If gifting (or if desired), cover top of jar with fabric, attach recipe tag with raffia or ribbon.

Recipe Tag:
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 c. canned pumpkin (I save and freeze my leftover Samhain pumpkin ever year, just for this recipe)
1 jar Quick Pumpkin Bread Mix

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray (I didn't have any...used olive oil, worked fine).
2. Beat butter in large bowl with electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in pumpkin until well blended. Add contents of jar; stir just until blended. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake 50-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean (mine took 65 minutes, but I had too much liquid in my bread...it came out fine, though). Cool in pan on wire rack 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack. Makes 1 loaf.

And here is the finished product:

Making "Yarn"

I've had these two sheets hanging around my house forever. I kept trying to use them until the holes in the middle of them became a nuisance during sleep. (It always scared me a little when I'd hear a ripping sound in the middle of the night, and I'd have to take a second to wake up and figure out what it was.) I asked for some suggestions for what to do with the sheets, and one of the suggestions was to crochet them into a rug. That was my favorite idea. ;-) First step: make the yarn.

So, here's the sheet pile I started with (does that sound gross to anyone else?):
The first thing I did was to rip out the seams at the ends of the sheet. It was pretty easy. I cut the first couple threads, and then just stuck my fingers in and ripped.
Then I made small cuts along the end of the sheet:
And I ripped the sheet into 1- 1 1/2 inch strips (this part is very sneeze-inducing). This is what I ended up with:
Not quite as impressive when rolled up into balls:
And there you have it. Sheet yarn. I was pretty distressed once I got to this point because I realized that I didn't bring one of my millions of size N crochet hooks with me to Shannon's. I keep needing them, not having them with me, and buying an extra, so I have tons of them. May as well just put one in every bag I own and call it good, eh? That way I'll always have one on hand. Anyway, I'll be starting my sheet-yarn rug soon, and I'll blog about it when I do.

Crocheted Slippers

I've tried making a few different kinds of slippers, and these are my favorites. I won't lie, it's because they're the easiest to make. If there's a pattern that I don't have down pat after the first two times I make something, I scrap it. How am I supposed to wiggle the pattern around, change stuff, and make it even cooler if I don't even understand the original pattern, know what I mean?

But anyhoo, I'm sitting here at Shannon's house, and in addition to starting my Harry Potter marathon, I've decided to also crochet (and I brought about 100 other things to do, too...how long did I think I was going to be here exactly? Well, I won't be bored, that's for sure!).

Before she left, Shannon handed me a bag I didn't even realize I had left here. It had a half slipper that I had been working on for the lovely lady who takes care of our furbabies when we go out of town. So, this is what I've been working on for the last hour or so. I love watching my work go from this:

To this:
It's been a good day. I just have to add ribbon and I'm done.

Signature

I just made this new signature for free:



And had to try it out. *giggle* I'm such a kid. You can get one here.

Homemade Envelopes

A friend of mine sent me a letter enclosed in the most gorgeous envelope the other day. I opened it up to find that it was actually a page from a calendar! Ok, I confess I've heard of this before, and I'm sure it's not a brand spankin' new thought or anything, but I've never done it, and I thought it was the coolest thing on the planet at that moment. So, I asked my friend how to do it, and I thought I'd share here with you.

Warning: I'm a tad obsessed with sunflowers.

Without further ado...so, you take a regular envelope and steam it to release the glue (it took me awhile to figure out how to do this. I actually ended up leaving the envelope on top of my cup of tea while it was steeping, resulting in an oil spot on the envelope from the essential oils in the tea...but whatever, it worked, right?

Then you pick out your subject (i.e. calendar page, scrapbook paper, picture, or whatever). I taped the envelope on, although I'd like to make a sturdier pattern out of a cereal box or something so that I can start just tracing on the paper. But this works for now:
Then, you just cut it out:
I realized after doing a few of them that it's much easier later on if you fold the two end pieces at this point, before you're finished cutting.
Then when you're done, you fold in the two side pieces, and make a really good crease:
Fold up the bottom and tape it up:
Fold down the flap, and viola, you've got some way cool envelopes!
I almost forgot to mention one of the coolest parts of making your own envelope out of calendar pages! You have the inspirational quotes leftover for scrapbooking!