Thrifting and A Sweater Project

Thrifting with Rachel Argo is always successful!!  We find the best finds.  On Tuesday we hit up two thrift stores in Pullman because I had decided that morning I needed a few things for dressing up for Halloween.  While picking out my 80s Jazzercise attire, my mind began to other cool and great things I could make with things at the store.  Before long, I had a hand full of costume pieces that all matched perfectly and another hand full of items that included a dress for a wedding and an old sweater for a couple projects.  Costume pictures will be revealed next week.

The sweater I picked out was for making leg warmers and a scarf out of.  As soon as I got home from the thrift store and gym, I went right to work with my scissors and hot glue gun to make these warm and cozy pieces.  I'm glad I did too because it is freezing here in Pullman.  I'm really happy with how well this thrift store find worked out.  I also think I am pretty crafty, especially, with the help of pinners on Pinterest!  I used the sleeves for the leg warmers and the body for the scarf.

The best find, though, was this old travel jewelry clutch.  Rachel and I are pretty sure its older and vintage because of its inside.  It's like mustard colored but it is super adorable.  Once I picked it up at the thrift store, there was no way I was leaving there without it.  It was just too cute and I wanted it. 

Pullman's thrift stores are pretty good.  At least I think so.  After all, I always find what I'm looking for and then some.

Pumpkins and Cider

I had a very "fall" weekend this past weekend.  It began with carving pumpkins out at my friend Rachel's house around a bonfire on Friday night.  The next morning I went with the Horticulture Club out to Bishop's Orchard (I'm in this way or that way related to them as cousins) to pick apples and press some cider.  Both events were very fun and I enjoyed the talk and laughs with my friends!

I was going to go with a traditional pumpkin face on my pumpkin but then I decided to have to school spirit to be more creative. Sooooo I ended up carving plain Jane letters out of my pumpkin to write out "WSU". I was trying to avoid plain, yet I still managed to be simple. Oh well, its cute and getting the job done out on the front porch.

I also have to mention I made a wonderful apple pie for the bonfire and carving party. At least I'm going to say people liked it since I went home with an empty pie plate.

Pressing cider Saturday morning was fun. The club members showed great team work helping press apples and get every one's milk and juice jugs filled up. I think I remember hearing we filled 27 gallons with cider...we could go into business! The sweet apple smell in the pressing barn was the best along with all the happy voices, even though, it was a bit chilly! Every one's hands were frozen ice cubes by the time we left because the apples had to be washed in a basin of water and dipped out with a bucket to be pressed. There was no avoiding wet hands in this step. Then with apple pieces flying and cider dripping from the press, there was moisture everywhere. But it was fun!!

It was good "fall" weekend!

Some Recipes!

So I tried a new recipe for the Dream Catcher Craft Night.  It was super good, perfect for fall, and puts a twist on the usual caramel and apple dip.

It's called Caramel Cheesecake Dip and here's what you need and do.

• Two 8oz packages cream cheese
• One jar of caramel ice cream topping
• One premade graham cracker crust

Whip the the cream cheese and caramel together until smooth and fluffy.  Break up the crust into tiny pieces.  This next part is key.  First, dip apple slice into cream cheese caramel mixture.  Second, dip that into the crust pieces.  Third, eat and enjoy!

The next time I make the dip I'm going to crumble graham crackers and mix with brown sugar and cinnamon because that pretty much what does into a graham cracker crust.

Another recipe I made was Pretzel Hugs.  I used the buttered round pretzels for this and Hershey kisses.  Lay pretzels onto cookie sheet with an unwrapped kiss on it.  Put warm in oven for 2 to 5 minutes at 200 degrees.  As soon as they come out, smash the kiss down by placing another pretzel on top.  These are pretty good and went super fast at craft night. 

Tonight I had some more free time so I made Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread from my Taste of Home cookbook.  It was quick and easy, and the best part is how good it tastes!  Here is the recipe!

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 cups sugar, divided
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1 cup sugar, baking soda and salt. Combine buttermilk, egg and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and remaining sugar.

Grease the bottom only of a 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pan. Pour half of the batter into pan; sprinkle with half of the cinnamon-sugar. Carefully spread with remaining batter and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon-sugar; cut through batter with a knife to swirl.

Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Combine confectioners' sugar and enough milk to reach desired consistency; drizzle over loaf. Yield: 1 loaf.

 

I learned a little something new while making this because I didn't have butter milk.  So I Googled a substitute and found that 1 cup of milk with 1 tablespoon left to sit for 5 minutes is a substitute.  Pretty easy and I can't even tell that I had to use vinegar!  Just thought I'd share that tid-bit.

Dream Catchers

I have become friends with a great group of smart, creative, hard working, and crafty girls!  We talk about all our ideas, which are mostly awesome, all the time.  We also discuss Pinterest a lot!  One day while studying with Jordyn, I came across dream catchers on Pinterest and we both loved them.  Next thing I know, everyone was repinning the dream catcher I had found and posted. 

Since there had not been a craft night for a bit, I decided to have Dream Catcher Craft Night.  I made an invite on Facebook (because that is how you plan a party these days), and in seconds there was excitement I had not realized existed when it came to dream catchers.  My friends responded quickly and with great excitement.  I went to study at Lauren's house one evening and her roommate, Beth, stopped me at the front door to ask what she needed to get to make dream catchers because she wanted one!  It was crazy!  Lauren even went on to say that she learned to make dream catchers in middle school and loved them. 

I ended up doing two rounds of Dream Catcher Craft Night.  The first night, Thursday, was with Anna, Rachel, Whitney, Jordyn, and Abby.  The next night was with Lauren and Melissa because they had prior commitments Thursday night...Lauren had an important interview!  Because of their excitement early on, I told them I could do two rounds of dream catchers because I wanted everyone to have a chance to craft!  Sadly, Beth ended up having plans and school commitments come up so she couldn't make either night but she told me she bought stuff.

Thursday, Round 1

Rachel and Anna!

Oh Abby!  Abby sure brought some good laughs to the table. 

Some how from this messy table five perfect dream catchers were made!

Anna, Abby, Jordyn, and Rachel.  Each of their dream catchers really was unique to each of them and really displayed their style perfectly.  According to Abby, hers is like her because its nuts (or she is nuts)!  One of the two.  Either way, what she said was not what we were expecting but we laughed.

My dream catcher along with Jordyn's.  I went with bright and random for my dream catcher to spice things up.  To me Jordyn's has a nice sweet vintage look to it.

Rachel and I with our super bright dream catchers.  Rachel loves all colors so hers really says something about her.

Whitney's little dream catcher.  The girls were super impressed with her woven center, and labeled hers as the beachy dream catcher. 

Mine!  So cute and has been catching my dreams above my bed. 

 

Friday, Round 2

So Lauren woven this out in about two seconds flat Friday night and it was perfect!  She is the one who learned to weave dream catcher centers in culture class.  She put us to shame, especially, those of us Thursday night who only used doilies for the centers.

This is a pink, purple, and light brown dream catcher I made for the baby girl my cousin is having.  I thought a dream catcher would be a unique gift and different from the usual gifts. 

Plus, babies dream, too!

These are the dream catchers from Friday night.  Mine is on the left.  Melissa's soft and sweet blue one is to the right of mine, and Lauren's are the one with the orange feather and the one that is pinkish.  These ones all turned out supper cute just like the girls' from Round 1.

To make the dream catchers special, I suggested that everyone bring a little trinket, bead, charm, or string that could be shared with everyone. That way we could each have a little piece from someone else on our dream catcher. It was really fun handing out the little things and sharing, which there was a lot of!

• Rachel gave everyone a charm and/or a bullet shell
• Jordyn had everyone put either a light turquoise lace or pearl beads on theirs
• I gave everyone a bread clip that I had put glitter on and signed
• Abby had everyone put a paper flower on theirs that she signed
• Anna gave out buttons and many other little things
• Melissa had pretty clear beads to share
• Lauren shared her massive amount of embroidery floss
• Whitney shared twine and pretty glass beads.

Both nights were tons of fun and a good distraction from school (or Pita Pit).  Plus, people really wanted to be crafty and make dream catchers.  It was like everyone had always dreamed of having a dream catcher and by having the Dream Catcher Craft Night the dream of having a dream catcher came true.  So perfect!