Pinned it! Did it!

  Hey everyone! Recently my mom told me about a sale on Flexi-clips. Now I really like my Flexi's! They are wonderful!

My first Flexi-clip . It's a size M. But obviously not quite big enough for my hair!
~smile~
I think I need a Mega for a full bun!

 So I checked out the site. I was looking at their hair sticks, which I have been wanting to try out, but I didn't see any that I really liked. So, I thought, if I'm going to spend this much on hair sticks, I should get something I like, right? I headed to Etsy. Again, a few caught my eye that I pinned, but nothing I wanted to buy. Then I thought, what if I just made some? I went outside, found a stick and spent the rest of the evening whittling. When I had the shape I wanted, I whittled a hole through the top, and strung it with beads. This is what I ended up with.

It's great! Pretty Thrifty... don't you think? ~smile~

 The lesson from this? Do with what you got, where you are!

God Bless!

Emily

Pretty Thrifty: Amy, 4-H, and Pride and Prejudice

Hi, everybody. This week I decided to take pictures of my sister Amy for my Pretty Thrifty post. It worked out well. Her outfit was much better than mine anyway.

 ~ She made her skirt ~

"LET IT GOOOOOO!"

The truth is this: I was too lazy to get pictures of myself. Amy looked great Sunday, so I simply announced we were going to take pictures of  her instead of me. Good thing she isn't too camera shy. :)
                                       

This week is the 4-H fair, so we worked hard to get our cakes and photographs finished Thursday and Friday. By working hard, I mean two hours of practicing on Thursday and four on Friday. I think I probably made somewhere around eight batches of icing. Yep, all icing. No fondant. But I got a blue ribbon. Yay!

In Photography I earned:

Blue!

Red

and Blue! 

So overall not bad for my first year.

I've been reading House of Hades. It's not as creepy as it sounds. Just the next installment of the Heroes of Olympus series, in which the next, and I believe the last installment, doesn't come out until this fall! UGHHH!

I rented the old Pride and Prejudice this week at the movie store and watched it Sunday afternoon. It wasn't bad, but kind of boring. It put Amy to sleep. That doesn't happen often at all. But I was determined to see it through, and I did. I do like Elizabeth's character. I actually took a "Which Austen character are you?" quiz and came out as Elizabeth. I think I do prefer the new version of Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley as Elizabeth, but I haven't seen it in a long time. I think I'll try to borrow it from my friend this week to watch it.

Well I'm going let y'all go. We're having chili tonight and we're going to watch Superman: Man of Steel. Ought to be interesting!
God bless!
Teen for the Lord

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Chocolate Mint Sipper

 Hi, everybody!
I'm sorry for not writing sooner! Life has just been difficult.
Hopefully I will have a new Pretty Thrifty by next Monday or so, but you never know what's going to happen.
I got my stitches out Tuesday and my finger is healing up wonderfully!
I honestly am looking forward to washing the dishes.
Crazy, I know!

  This afternoon, Amy and I were home alone for a little while, so I decided to make a smoothie.
But, since we were lacking fresh or frozen fruit, it didn't turn out to be a much of  a smoothie. It came out more like a thin slushy. Don't get me wrong! It was delicious!
In fact, it was so good, I plan to make it again.  

   Now, before I tell you what is in it, I admit that Mint Chocolate is one of my favorite flavors.

   (But, my all time favorite is Peanut Butter Chocolate)

~~groans of ecstasy~~

!!!!!!!!!

What is in this original drink?


1 1/4 cups milk

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

3 Tbsp white sugar

 Scant 1/4 tsp mint extract
2 cups ice
(Adjust sugar and extract to taste as needed.)



Mix the first three ingredients together in a blender.

Add mint extract and blend for a couple seconds.

Continue blending and gradually add in ice.

CAUTION!

If you have cubed ice be careful not to add too much at a time.

You're supposed to enjoy this drink, not regret making it as you head to the hardware store for a new blender.
Well, I hope you enjoy it!
If you make it, drop a comment and tell me what you thought of it!
God Bless,
Emily

Shared with:  Amaze Me Monday - Inspire Me Monday   - Mix it Up Monday - Mom's the Word -  

Jean Skirt Tutorial.... Finally!

  A really long time ago, I said I was going to write a tutorial of my Jean Skirt pattern and then didn't do anything with the idea. I got some new jeans a long time ago and had some old ones that were about ready for the dumpster. So, I pulled them out and started cutting.

What you will need:
2 pairs of jeans. One for the body of your skirt and one for the panels.
Pair of scissors.
Thread that matches the color of the pair of jeans you are using for the body.
Sewing machine.
A strong enough needle to go through the jean material. (Most needles meet this specification.)
Large table or ironing board.

Step #1:
Cut along the inside seam of the first pair of jeans.

 Step#2:
Second pair of jeans.
Be sure that the fabric isn't wrinkled or it will be uneven after you cut it.

Cut along the inside seam of the legs.
When you're done, you should have two pieces that, spread out, look like this.

Step#3:
Pin the back of the first pair of jeans to one of the panels you just cut.
 Here's a close up of the crotch area. Keep trying it will get flat eventually.
( Be sure to fold in the edges of the legs so that they don't fray visibly. I only fold it once, but it doesn't matter as long as the end product is flat.)
                                                                                                                  

Step#4:
Repeat all of Step# 3 on the front of the skirt, except don't fold in the edge (unless you want to).
Pin along the original seam.

Step#5:Now, sew! Stay right outside of the seam in the front and about  a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch from the edge in the back. When you get to the crotch, sew slowly, and just trust your pinning skills. If you have to, take it out, and try again. 

 Step#6:

   You now have a handmade skirt! Congratulations! 

   If you want to, you can add flowers or paisleys; whatever you like! 

             

                                                            I left mine plain this time.

                                                                           ~ smile ~

For a knee length skirt:

Cut off jeans evenly at the knee.

Follow step 1# on jeans and cut off pieces. 

Take one panel and cut it in half. Cut off the hem. This will be your front and back panels. You should have one pant leg left over. 

Follow steps #3 and #4 and #5. 

Now hem the bottom. Fold it in twice for a tight hold. Sew.

Have a great time sewing! God Bless!

Emily

Mumtopia - Inspire Me Monday- Mom's the Word - Modest Mondays -  Proverbs 31 Monday  - Mom's the Word - A Mama's Story - Mix it Up Monday -  Inspire Me Monday  - Feminine Mondays -

I did it!!!

Hi everybody! Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote. I just haven't gotten around to it. Oh well. I'm not gonna cry over spilt milk!

So, I have been wanting to have a cute jean skirt for quite a while. Well, guess what!

I made one!

 

I am SO pleased with myself. It was the second one I made out of jeans. The first one wasn't so good. I was much happier about this one. It's on the narrow side, so I have to take smaller steps, but it's worth it! I'm working on another right now. When I get the hang of it, I'll post a tutorial so you ladies can make your own skirts. They're fairly easy. Besides theres nothing like the satisfaction of wearing something you made just for you.

May God's grace be with you all!

Happy Valentines Day!

Emily

Shared with:

Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways

Make Do Cookies

One of our family traditions is to make chocolate chip cookies when it rains. Well, the other day it started to rain , so I decided to make  C.C.C. Well, come to find out that we didn't have any chocolate chips. :( But, we did have Brach's Chocolate Covered Peanut Clusters. So, I used these to substitute the chocolate chips. That's not all. I started mixing up the ingredients; butter, sugar, etc.
Just to clarify, we have 6 people in our family and most recipes have to be doubled at least. So, naturally I started making a double batch of cookies. That's a lot of cookies!! And you know, I didn't realize what I was doing until I put the flour in. Oops!
Anyway after figuring that out, my mom and I laughed and added coconut to them on a whim. The cookies turned out pretty good. The peanuts gave it more of a peanut butter cookie taste and the coconut gave it a nice chew. There were so many I rolled them into balls and froze them in qt. size bags. It was fun and I learned from my mistake.

Here's the recipe. Enjoy!
P.S.
DON'T MAKE MY MISTAKE!
A double batch may not even fit in your mixer.











Peanut Cluster Coconut Cookies
Note: This works best in a mixer.

Cream the following together in a large bowl:

1 1/3 cups of butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 cup dark brown sugar


Add:

2 eggs, beaten

Beat until fluffy.


In another bowl, combine:

3 cups of all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Add dry to wet ingredients and mix just until combined.


Add:

2 cups of Brach's Peanut Clusters

1 cup of shredded coconut

Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes depending on whether you like them soft or crispy.
Enjoy!!


Shared with:
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We Did It Wednesday
The Chef Next Door

Treat Tuesday