Lemon-y Fresh!!

Half a container of Pine-sol and 3 hours later, my house is beautiful and spotless! Love love love!! Well, everywhere except the bathroom. That's a job in itself, so I'm saving it until tomorrow. But everything else is so pretty! Cabinets, counters, fridge, floors, dusting, scrubbing, wiping.. I'm so tired but it's so nice and smells good now. Now I'm taking a break! lol Next I'm going to get out some baking supplies and try some new recipes!! I want to make some blueberry muffins, but instead of using blueberries, I'm going to try it with peaches. I'm also thinking about making some lemon muffins. And definitely some chocolate chip muffins! I'm just not sure what I'm going to make today. Or if I'm just going to make them all! =] I'm saving my current knitting project until we go on vacation, and I think I'm going to put my headbands and hair-clips on hold until I get back. Everything is so exciting, we leave in a week!! =]

Water Balloon Flip-Flops!

I made these water balloon flip-flops for an awesome little girl, and I love them!! I'm going to make a pair for myself asap! Love them!! =] These were actually just a trial run because I couldn't find the colored flip-flops that I wanted to buy, but I still like them!

I bought a bunch of water balloons, they are only $1 per bag at walmart. Then I just tied them one by one onto the strap of the shoe.

Finished product!! I actually ran out of purple balloons, but I don't think you can really tell. I also left out all the red ones, I didn't think they matched with the pink ones.

They are just a little too small for me, otherwise I would keep them! Super cute! Love love love!! I will be making myself a pair just as fast as I can go buy a pair of well fitting flip-flops for myself! Now I'm on to making cookies from scratch and knitting a baby blanket for my grandmother to give as a gift. Toodles!

Shepard's Pie!!

I made shepard's pie and it was yummy!! I found a recipe online, and it seems pretty simple, so I made it! Super simple, super yummy! 

First, I boiled potatoes to make into homemade mashed potatoes. I didn't remove the skins, even though that's what the recipe called for. Brian and I prefer mashed potatoes WITH skins. I don't have a picture of the next step, but then I took 2 lbs of ground beef and browned it completely in a skillet. Set it aside in a bowl.

Using the same skillet, without the ground beef, I cooked diced onion, sliced mushrooms (canned), garlic, salt and pepper. Cooked until onions were mostly soft. 

Then, I added beef broth. Let it come to a slow boil for a few minutes, until it tasted good to me =] Then I added the ground beef and let it simmer on medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Next, I poured that mixture into my pan, added a little more salt, pepper and garlic salt. 

Topped that with a full can of corn.

Topped that with my mashed potatoes and another full can of corn. 

Then topped everything off with some shredded sharp cheddar cheese. I then baked in for about 25 minutes at 400 degrees. I think, I would have to double check my recipe to be sure. Pretty much just baked it until the cheese was completely melted and started to brown on top. 

Finished product! Yum!! 

It was absolutely delicious and the reheated leftovers were even better! At least, that's what I thought. Yum yum yum!! I will definitely be making this again sometime! But I will have to half the recipe if it's going to be just me and Brian, because my recipe made a lot! But it was good! =] Next week I think I'm going to make meatball subs, using my yummy meatloaf recipe for the meatballs. We'll see how that goes!! =]

Catch up!

Hello World!
An update on my life lately - I have finished all the gifts that I needed to finish before my hubby and I go on vacation!! I haven't given any of them yet, so I can't post pictures, but soon! Currently, I am working on a blanket for my grandma, for her to give as a baby gift. It's made out of a yarn that looks a little like blue jeans material. I'm thinking of adding pink or white accents, depending on if the baby is a girl or a boy.
I'm also making an awesome birthday present for a little girl I watch, she's going to be 8 next month. I'm going to make her a hooded bath towel in BRIGHT PINK (her favorite color), but I'm not going to work on that until we get back from vacation. But currently, I'm making her water-balloon flip-flops! I'm going to take some pictures in the next couple hours and make another post. I'm also going to make a separate post about the yummy Shepard's Pie that I made! It was so good!!
Anyways, I'm going to be working on this baby blanket and these flip-flops for the immediate future, probably until I get back from vacation, unless I bust them out too quickly and need another project! =] Maybe some duct tape flowers.. =]

OFFICIALLY FINISHED!!

Woot! I have officially finished all the gifts that I needed to finish before going on vacation, and I'm 3 weeks ahead of schedule! I can't post any pictures yet, since they are all gifts I haven't given yet. But soon! I have a a long list of things I want to start working on next - but I really need to start working on projects that will get rid of some of this fabric I have in my stash! I'm not sure what I'm going to do. But I have working 40+ hours this week, so I might just wait and not work on anything this week. I know that I want to make a tutu, but that would require me going and buying supplies. And I need to get through all this fabric I have in my drawers. I'm thinking of making some stuffed animals, maybe a few over-sized dolls. I also have some extra felt that I might play around with. And a bunch of yarn to play with too!! But I haven't really decided what I want to work on next..
Also! Today I made homemade biscuits from scratch!! They came out delicious!! Super simple to make, really yummy! I made a batch for breakfast this morning, and they are GONE! So I'm going to make more to have with dinner (spaghetti) and I think I'm going to put a little parmesan in these ones. Should be yummy!
Well, I will probably not post again until after this week is over, since I will be so busy watching the girls all this week. On top of which, I have to go major grocery shopping tomorrow. I might just end up taking the girls with me. I'm not sure yet. Alright, I'm off to do the dishes and prep my biscuits so they are hot out of the oven when Brian gets home from work. =]

Still alive!

Still knitting! I have been making gifts that I need to finish before I go on vacation at the end of this month. I am on the last one!! All I have to do after this is make some shoes for a little doll and then I'm done! I have a list of other things I want to do after this, but these are the only things I have to do on a time limit. So I have a long blog planned for when I'm finished. Back to knitting and I will post again in a few days! =]