Bridesmaid Dress

I am starting to make a bridesmaid dress for myself for my sister's wedding. I am using a pattern i bought a Joann's for 2 bucks. Butterick patterns were on sale last weekend. The pattern number is B5641.

 It will be hot pink in satin, with pale green tulle underneath. The pattern doesn't call for tulle, but i'm adding it. Also I don't like how much gathering there is at the waist, so i will be altering that. Once i have i'll post about how i did it. I didn't notice til after i bought the pattern, but it has pockets. The other pattern i was debating about was V2902. I liked that the vogue pattern wasn't gathered at the waist. I'll make it work though. I'll post pictures of how i altered the butterick pattern, and how it turned out .It should end up being really cute :)

     

7 layer candy Pictures and comments :)

Sorry it has been so long since i last posted. Things got pretty busy with school and just life in general. I finally took pictures of the 7 Layer Candy. I only took some of the end result. When i am cooking i don't think about pictures. It really doesn't help that i am not much of a picture taker....
Anyways here are the pictures :)

Don't they look delicious? Whenever i make these everyone loves them and at least one person asks for the recipe. The only criticisms i have ever gotten were either from someone who didn't like coconut and said it would be better without, or that it was to rich to eat very much of, which is not a problem that i have :)

The top one gives a good view of the golden brown top of the candy, and the bottom zooms in on the side view to show all of the chocolate chip layers melted together. I have found that lately i have been making the combined chip layers really thick, but doing a bare minimum for the graham crackers. That's what great about this recipe, you can mix it up all you like, and it always turns out wonderful.
Once again the seven layers are:
Butter
Graham Cracker crumbs
Chocolate chips
White chocolate chips
Butterscotch chocolate chips
Shredded coconut
and finally
Sweet and Condensed milk.

I think i previously suggested melting butter for the first layer, but if you have softened butter for spreading on toast and such, you can use can use a rubber spatula to spread it in that state in stead of melted. The rubber spatula is then great to press in the graham cracker crumbs (the only layer that needs this). It is mostly to flatten and push the crumbs together so that along with the butter it keeps them from getting to crumbly.

No bake cookies, crochet bean bag chair

I decided since i had partial bags of white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and shredded coconut, as well as graham cracker crumbs and peanut butter that i would heat all of these items along with a little butter over the stove. Then I scooped the mixture into individual sized pieces on a piece of wax paper to cool. It was a little crumbly, but delicious. I had been really craving something sweet and these really hit the spot. It was really fun to just look in the pantry and see what i could make with what i had. I also decided that i need to start taking pictures when i make things so i can talk about them and include pictures.
I am also currently crocheting a cover for a bean bag chair that should be pretty awesome. I will definitely include pictures when i am done with it. also probably a pattern once i figure it out. I love making new things, and figuring out my own way to make them. I haven't done all that many crafts lately because i have been really busy with school this semester, but after finals i will be doing a lot of crafts and cooking and will write about it all on here.

Crochet

So I feel like I haven't been that creative lately, mostly just working on a crochet sweater I fond a pattern for. I've realized I don't really like following patterns for crochet that much... when I crochet I usually like to have things be fluid and adaptable to the specific case, which is why I don't really have set in stone patterns that I follow, but more just methods I use to make various things. I like to figure out exactly how to make it work for that case. I'm pretty much the same with cooking. I like it best when I'm not following a recipe, and am just adding what I want to make what I want.
Anyways, so today I decided to crochet a cover for a bean bag, and to make the inside bean bag next time I'm home. I hope it turns out awesomely. It is going to be a tn of work, but I will love the final product. I'm thinking pink because I have yarn from the sweater, and I can pick up more if I do both and it is not enough. When I finish the bean bag chair ii may put the pattern on this blog. It will probably be highly adaptable, so you can make it whatever size you want and etc.
Ill put a pic up of the finished product :)
Also I realized in my last post I said I was going to put my 7 layer candy recipe up, but I already did in the post before that. I am planning on putting up pics to help visualize layers for it still. I just need to make it again.  It is so good, but it is bad when I make it at my apartment cuz then I end up eating most of it which probably isn't so great considering how rich it is. I have a huge richness tolerance, which is a good and a bad thing. Good cuz I can eat a lot of good food, and bad cuz I can eat a lot of good unhealthy food... but that's just the way it goes I guess...

Holidays

So I love being home for the holidays, Cuz I have access to a sewing machine and can mend my clothes and alter others. It is pretty great. I took in a skirt I had made, and made a scarf out of an old shirt. It is pretty sweet. I also crocheted a Beanie for my sister. I'm thinking about putting the pattern on my blog. It is a very pretty Beanie. I have done so much crafty things lately, its crazy. I mended the considerable pile of clothes waiting to be mended, and made hair flowers. I'm in the process of making a sweater, and I need to finish a dress I'm making for my sister. Ive been cleaning up my moms sewing room just by finishing all the projects that have been sitting around. I'm really excited about all the stuff I've been doing. It has felt nice to be busy.
I had a great Christmas. I was able to help my mom and others help out a family in need by serging the edges of fleece blankets for them. It felt amazing to give service in that way. I only wish I could do more. I love the Christmas season because it us a very giving time of year. I love giving gifts more then getting, and lately I've realized even more how wonderful giving service is. I love how good I feel when I can help others. I need to make a goal to serve more all year round. I have been making a effort to serve, and I love it. I almost feel selfish because one of the reasons I love serving so much is the way it makes me feel.
Another great thing about being home for the holidays is that I have gotten to see my neices and nephews, as well as the rest of my family. When I am gone, I miss the kids more tthen anyone else. I love how sweet and full of fun they are. They love to laugh, and I love trying to make them. I currently have 14 neices and nephews, and I love each of them to death.
Interesting note is that my favorite age in kids is from when they first get playful as babies to about three. The reason this is interesting is because this includes the terrible twos. I am actually pretty good at working with two year olds. Pretty much all of my neices and nephews loved me at age two, even when they were mad at everyone else. I love being an aunt. It is one of the best parts of my life.
I also am kind of thinking about putting my recipe for seven layered candy on this blog. There are a bunch of versions of this treat on the web, but they all differ from mine in ways that I find to make them inferior. I guess that is one of the great things about this recipe: that it is readily adaptable to different tastes. Maybe after the next time I make some I will put the recipe on because then I can include pictures.

Baking

I have been going crazy about baking!! I keep looking up recipes online that I have the ingredients to make. I've learned maple extract is a great substitute for vanilla extract, my oven is crazy, and that I have an insatiable sweet tooth :)
I love making things, and baking is currently my best venue to release my creative juices. I like having the sweets on hand, but that is just a perk. I currently have plenty of sweets on hand, and I still am scouring the internet for more things to try. I don't have that many sweets in my arsenal of baked goods I have mastered, so I guess its good for me to get the practice :)
I have done a lot more stove top cooking then baking, which possibly is another reason I've grown addicted to baking lately.
I should be studying for finals, but instead I'm contemplating what I can make with the ingredients i have and what to get so I can make more!!!!
If there is a baking fever I think I have it :) (no pun intended).
I have made cookies twice and brownies from scratch, and i am currently trying to figure out how i can get the ingredients for 7 layer candy, a delicious bar dessert that is super rich. it seems that many people have their own way of making it, but here is mine:

Ingredients:
Butter
Graham Cracker crumbs
Chocolate chips
butterscotch chips
white chocolate chips
shredded coconut
sweet and condensed milk


Basically you melt enough butter to cover the bottom of your pan. Then you put a layer of graham cracker crumbs down. you don't want it to be to thick, but make sure it covers all of the bottom. Then you layer the three types of chocolate chips. combined they should almost completely cover the graham cracker crumbs. Next as im sure you can guess is a layer of shredded coconut that just barely covers the chips. Follow by pouring sweet and condensed milk over the top of it all. the great thing about this recipe is you don't need to measure, and as you make it, you learn to judge how much of each ingredient to  match your taste. It is simple and delicious, and has won me many a compliment :)

Impromptu christmas decoration :)

Last night I was rather bored, and in a creative mood. I was staring at a big blank wall, and it was just begging me to do something about its emptiness, so having only paper, scissors, colored pencils and a stapler this is what I came up with. It doesn't pop quite as much as I pictured in my head, but I still like it.