Personalized Photo Pendants or Keychain DIY

March 17, 2014 | Posted by Chelsey

Handmade gifts are the best. Easy to make handmade gifts are EVEN better. These pendants (or keychains) are about as easy as it gets. Just a bit of clay, a photo, mini cookie cutter, glue, and a couple other small things and you have a personalized gift for a loved one. Personally, I don’t wear a TON of necklaces, but I have a few I love and mostly wear while I’m out of town. I’m currently using my personalized photo pendants as keychains (and the kiddo has claimed the kitty pendants for her necklaces).

The best thing about these little creations is they were easy to make. I just spaced out, rolled out some clay, glued down some photos and let me creativity flow. We have a few gift giving holidays on the way (hello Mother & Father’s day), so might as well get the gift planning started now. If you love these little pendants, head over to HP Create to get the full tutorial and directions, check out the original post here.

– Chelsey

P.S. I am a paid contributor on the HP Create website.

2 Comments

Tags: clay

Categories: diy, DIY Accessories and Clothing, HP

Paper Cosmo Flower Hair Clip or Gift Bow! Comes with a free printable!

March 14, 2014 | Posted by Chelsey

Way back when… before I was married and before the kid… I made a lot of paper goodies. I made paper crowns to sell to brides for their bridal showers, and I also made paper flower hair clips. I haven’t made a paper flower in about 5 years, so I decided to try it out again for my HP Create post. I made these cute little Cosmo flowers! They are perfect for your hair, but I think I love them more as a bow on a gift. The recipient can just pop the flower off the gift and wear it on their head. Double present.

This DIY is so simple. I’d say it will take you less than 15 minutes to make the whole thing. Well, maybe. Hopefully. Hee. The printout plus directions make it SUPER simple to create your own. Just cut out the template, follow the instructions, and ta-dah! I even made a little video for you to follow. I shared it below, just to give you an idea of how simple it is to make.

You’ll want to make 8 of them, or maybe 20! Right now, the Cosmo flowers I made are usually in my kiddo’s hair.

The full tutorial to make a paper Cosmo flower (plus the free printouts) are over here. Side note: if you have a wedding coming up, these flowers would be perfect for the bridesmaids and flower girl’s hair. This would also be a fun printout to make for a girl’s craft night (easy and inexpensive)! I love craft nights.

Happy Friday!!!

– Chelsey

P.S. I am a paid contributor on the HP Create website.

2 Comments

Tags: gift, gift tag, hair, jewelry, printable

Categories: diy, HP, style

Love Chef Apron DIY with Printable

March 13, 2014 | Posted by Chelsey

Celebrate the person you love with my Love Chef Apron DIY (on the HP Create blog)! My hubby is the chef of the family (I make BLT’s and order take-out), so I made this for him when he barbecues. So, check out the full DIY and get the “Love Chef” printable to make your own.

Also, if you have any designs you’d like to see for another free apron print out, I’d love to hear it! In the comments below (or on the HP Apron post), share some design ideas you may have for an apron print out and I’ll make it to share with all of you! Father’s Day isn’t that far away… any ideas?

Happy Thursday!

– Chelsey

P.S. I am a paid contributor on the HP Create website.

No One Belongs Here More Than You Do. Meet Make Do goodies.

March 12, 2014 | Posted by Chelsey

“No one belongs here more than you.” It’s officially been 2 weeks since I wandered down to Palm Springs for the fabulous Meet Make Do retreat. I’ve thought about that trip each and every day since I came home. It was wonderful, the people were wonderful, and the time was fantastic. I really wanted to share all the goodies they gave us at Meet Make Do. All these beautiful hand made things are wonderful and I would absolutely recommend for gifts! Love supporting small businesses. So, if you have a moment, give a look at all the sweet links below and enjoy.

1. Beautiful Scarf from Coveted Things 2. Best Smelling Soap (ever) from Etta + Billie 3. Lovely Fabric from The Fabric Store 4. Coasters from World Reclaimed 5. DIY Rose Body Scrub from Oh So Pretty 6. Sweet Ceramic Bowl from Landis Carey 7. Pretty Hand Painted Napkins from Fat Eye Design 8. Shiny Cards from Lovely Pigeon 9. Foil Tape from Lovely Pigeon 10. Dipped Wooden Flatware from Mr. & Mrs. P 11. Craft Shears from We Love Citrus 12. Collection of Tiny Prints from Minted 13. Gold Tube Necklace from Seoul Little 14. Bright Heart Tote from Michelle Dwight Designs 15. Painted Teeny Wood Bowl from Wind and Willow Home 16. Very Cute Air Plant Hanger made by Lovely Indeed

– Chelsey

P.S. The first image was taken by Mary Costa. ALSO, a big thanks to Bing for making this event possible!

Cheesy Broccoli Crock Pot Recipe

March 11, 2014 | Posted by Chelsey

The first of hopefully many successful crock pot adventures: the Cheesy Broccoli Crock Pot Recipe. I say it ALL the time: I don’t like to cook. I don’t like to experiment with food and I prefer that meals come with the least amount of effort possible. A few months ago my mom, knowing my distaste for cooking, bought us a crock pot. I’ve heard MANY stories about how easy it is to create a meal with this one tool. Toss it all in and you’re done.

Well, it took me a while to actually give it a try because my husband does the majority of the cooking, and I don’t want to. Well, the crock pot has been great! My first attempt was to make a different version of this recipe. You throw ALL the ingredients in at once. The result: mushy rice + broccoli. It was still very delicious (cause cheese), but I wanted to avoid the mush. My husband suggested cooking the rice and broccoli completely separate (or just plain baking the recipe), but that sounded like way more effort than I wanted to put into this meal. Ha! So, I made a few adjustments of when you put some of the ingredients into the crock pot (like the rice and broccoli), and it worked!

Cheesy Broccoli Crock Pot Recipe

2 lbs uncooked chicken breasts
1 quart chicken broth
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
3 cups chopped broccoli
2 cups uncooked white rice
16 oz. container of sour cream
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

– Place your chicken breasts, onions, garlic, salt, and pepper at the bottom of the crock pot. Cover the chicken with the broth (about 2/3 of the broth container).

– Cook the chicken on high for 2.5 or 3 hours. Watch the liquid level. If the liquid is too low before the chicken is cooked, add some more warm broth (not cold).

– When the chicken is cooked, pull the breasts out of the crock pot and shred with two forks. Put the chicken back into the crock pot.

– Add the rice and broccoli. Add more broth if needed (just so the rice and broccoli are covered). Cook for another hour, or until rice and broccoli are cooked.

– When the rice is cooked, add your sour cream and cheese. Cook till warmed.

Serve and enjoy!

– Chelsey

P.S. the kiddo loved this! She ate the whole thing, veggies and all (again, cause covered in cheese).

4 Comments

Tags: broccoli, cheese, cheesy broccoli crock pot recipe, chicken, crock pot, gluten free, organic, slow cooker

Categories: breakfast, lunch, and dinner, food

10 Favorite St. Patty’s Day DIY’s!

March 10, 2014 | Posted by Chelsey

We’re just a week away from St. Patrick’s Day, so I’ve gathered 10 of my favorite St. Patty’s Day DIY’s to inspire you! When I was younger… around college age… St. Patty’s Day was meant for, well, drinking. That’s what we did. So, I’m older now and cannot keep up with the young folk. My bedtime is around 9:30 and I love to sit in my jammies at home (party animal). Now St. Patty’s Day is all about the kiddo: we make things and decorate the home. There’s still a little drinking, but it’s more like a glass of wine followed by an early bedtime. Ha! So, below you’ll find some super fabulous Saint Patrick’s Day DIY’s from some of my favorite blogs.

“Gold Bar” Treats: Twig and Thistle.

DIY St. Patrick’s Day Shirt: Lovely Indeed.

St. Patrick’s Day Coasters: Sarah Hearts.

Free Printable St. Patrick’s Day Art: Paisley Petal Events.

St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Shake: Living Locurto.

Shamrock Wreath: The House That Lars Built.

Shamrock Honeycombs: Studio DIY.

Shamrock Hair Clip: Paging Supermom.

Geometric Wall Shamrock Art: Oleander and Palm.

Rainbow Cupcake Recipe + Rainbow Cupcake Toppers: Lulu The Baker on The Paper Mama.

How do you celebrate St. Patricks Day?

– Chelsey

3 Comments

Tags: clover, diy, favorite blogs, saint patricks day, saint pattys day, shamrock, st. patricks day

Categories: favorite blogs

The Magical Meet Make Do Trip.

March 7, 2014 | Posted by Chelsey

Last week I went on a magical adventure and wandered down to Palm Springs for Meet Make Do. Seriously. Magical. The whole goal of this trip was to work with other crafty bloggers to get inspired and make things, and that’s exactly what we did. We were provided with the most amazing variety of craft supplies and tools to make whatever our hearts desired.

When I actually sat down to write about my Meet Make Do trip, I couldn’t think of what to say. It was just, well wonderful! I don’t know if I can really put into words how great it was. 100% what I needed. I’ve been to quite a few blogger-related conferences and gatherings, and this was one of the best. It was a small group of people and we had time to sit, chat, and really get to know each other. It just makes me all warm and fuzzy thinking back to our trip. These ladies were all so kind, sweet, and holy moly they were all so crafty and talented.

So, I’ll just quit the babbling and tell you what we did on the trip…

Wednesday night I flew into Palm Springs and we went straight to dinner at Workshop Kitchen + Bar. If you follow my Instagram, that’s the spot that had the MOST fantastic concrete tables! I keep thinking about them. …::need to make for my backyard::… The food was delicious and that night kicked off our Meet Make Do trip.

Thursday was when the real fun started. We woke up, ate some breakfast, then got to planning. Some ladies jumped right in to crafting, and other’s (like myself) took a little longer to start. There were so many supplies to choose from (check out the crafting-palooza-center photo below), I could not decide. Eventually we were all in our crafting groove (I’ll share what we all made in a future post).

We ate lunch by the pool, ate yummy desserts, took ALL the photos in the world, and the weather was so pretty (a perfect dry and 70ish degrees). The day ended with dinner at the Ace Hotel!

Friday we changed scenery a bit and moved our stay to The Saguaro, the most colorful hotel in the land! So, the thing about Friday. It rained. Yup. I guess Palm Springs gets like 7 days of rain a year, and our trip just happened to land on one of those days. Being a girl from the PNW, I’m used to the rain… but it wasn’t what I was really looking for while in a desert… Ha! The rain drops were HUGE and this created a bit of a “river” down the streets (their streets aren’t exactly prepared with any sort of rain drainage). Yeah. We were all soaked, but it was kinda fun, jumping over the water and checking out downtown Palm Springs.

Saturday morning was the day we all went home. It was a bitter-sweet day. I missed my kiddo SO much (cried when my husband and the kiddo picked me up from the airport), but I really miss the time I had with all these ladies. I canNOT wait to share all the projects everyone created! I’ll be sure to link them in a post when all the ladies share them, but you can also keep watch on their blogs (links below the photo).

All my ladies….

Melanie (You Are My Fave), Danni (Oh, Hello Friend), Chelsea (Lovely Indeed), Brittni (Paper & Stitch), Kelly (Studio DIY), Ash (Sugar + Cloth), Erin (House of Earnest), Jenn (Scout), ME, Brittany (The House That Lars Built), Lexy (The Proper Pinwheel), and behind the camera Mary (Mary Costa Photography).

– Chelsey

Thanks to the amazing photographer (Mary Costa) we on-hand to document and help us photograph our projects. All the photos above were provided by her. Also, a BIG thanks to Bing for making this trip happen.

4 Comments

Tags: blog, blogger, blogger business, blogging, bloggy meet up, california, craft, craft party, event, meet make do, meetmakebing, palm springs