Make Dinner Mondays #2: Zupa Toscana

This is one of my favorite soup recipes. I found two recipes that I really liked, combined them, and finally developed my own.

Enjoy!

Zupa Toscana

Ingredients

4 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 cooked and cubed russet potatoes

2 cups kale, chopped

1/2 pound shredded and cooked spicy Italian sausage

1/2 package of cooked bacon

Directions

Add all ingredients in a LARGE pot and cover.

Let it come to a boil and simmer for 1 hour. Stir it occasionally.

What Have you Mod Podged Lately? Fun Friday #1

What have you Mod Podged lately?

What I needed

storage for my make-up.

I didn't need too much storage, since I like to change my looks every so often.

I switch out my eye shadows and lip glosses quite a lot.

What I found

an old WHITE jewelry box with drawers and a mirror for $6.99 at Goodwill

What materials I used

Mod Podge

scissors

nail file (for cutting extra paper off the edges)

paper cutter

pencil

foam brushes

silver paint

scrapbooking paper

How I made it

The top of the jewelry box was the easiest to do.

I traced the top on my scrapbooking paper & cut it a little bit smaller.

I applied a thin layer of Mod Podge to the top of the box, a thin layer on my paper, and applied the paper on the top. I also applied another layer of Mod Podge over the paper once it was on.

I followed the same steps for the sides using dark brown paper.

The drawers were harder to do, since the knobs don't unscrew. How disappointing was that? Actually, I knew this before I purchased the box. I just thought I could cut around it. Well... the knobs are wider on the outside and skinnier where it attaches to the drawers. I guess I couldn't trace and cut. I just estimated where to cut half circles, and Mod Podged away.

I painted the knobs silver.

This was fun! I don't do a lot of Mod Podge projects, but I think I will now.
I'm sure my husband will be glad not to have to see all my make-up all over the counter top.

I hope you like this project too!

Make Dinner Mondays #1

Sometimes I just don't feel like making dinner.

That's because I never know what to make.

Yes, I have a million cookbooks.

I look through them every week and think, "What should I make this week?."

Before I know it, I'm at the end of the book and still have no idea what we're eating that week.

I have dedicated myself to feature a "tried and true" recipe here on my blog every Monday. It will be a dish I've made for my family and loved!

Today's recipe is Sandra Lee's "Caribbean Turkey and Sweet Potato Chili."

Sandra Lee is a Food Network star who focuses on "semi-homemade" cooking. This works great for me!

This takes 20 minutes or less to make!

Ingredients

1 Tbsp evoo ( a little Raechel Ray there for you)

(1) 1/4 pounds ground turkey breast

1 tsp minced garlic

(1) 15 oz. can of black beans (rinsed and drained)

(1) 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes with green pepper and onions

(1) 15 oz. can sweet potatoes

(1) 14.5 oz. can reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 cup mango nectar

1 packet of mild chili seasoning mix

1/2 tsp ground allspice

chopped fresh cilantro

Directions
1. Cook the turkey and garlic in the evoo in a LARGE skillet.

2. Mix in the rest of the ingredients (minus the cilantro) into the skillet. Boil. Simmer until it becomes thick.

3. Serve by garnishing with cilantro.

4. Enjoy!

This is a wonderful twist on everyday regular chili. I hope you like it as much as we do at our house!

Bib Carriers

WARNING!

The following project is SUPER EASY!

I've been on "Use what you have lying around for stuff that you need!" kick. I'm sure my husband is loving it lately, since I'm not out spending $$$ at Joann's twice a week. Did I just confess to that? Actually, I've been very good for the past two months.

Here is what I needed:

I needed some kind of container to conveniently store my twins' many necessary bibs without me having to run around and waste my time getting them ready for their feedings. Plus, I wanted something that didn't take up too much space.

Here was my solution:

I made carriers that tie on to the back of the chairs that house their Space Saver Highchairs! I must tell you though... they're more practical than "cute." I'm sure somebody out there will improve the look of this very quickly. Maybe something with yo-yo's? I thought about it, but then I thought about how no one else is going to be looking at it everyday but me and my husband!

Here is what I used for each "bib carrier":

2 pieces of fabric at 20" x 20"

matching thread

sewing machine

2 strands of ribbon 1/2" ribbon at 30" each

Here is how I made them:

First, I measured the backs of my chairs. They measured at 18" x 18." I'm sure yours will be different. I cut my two pieces of fabric (20" x 20") and made "pillow cases."

I sewed about an inch seam on all sides and then made them like "pillow cases."



Then, I cut two strands of ribbon at 30" each, folded each one in half, and sewed each one at about 3" inches from the seams. I only sewed the ribbons to one side of the bags.

Finally, I tied the bib carriers to the backs of the chairs.

Ta da!

A practical, out of the way, convenient container for my twins' many necessary bibs! Of course, the blue is for my boy, "The Cuddler" and the pink is for my girl, "The Lamb."

Here's what you can do when your baby grows out of bibs:

*Stuff it and make a cute pillow for them.

*Attach another pair of ribbons on the other side and make a cute bag.

*Make a pillow case dress!

I hope you have fun making it!

We Have a Winner!

Thank you so very much for visiting my blog.

I love all the support you've given me.

A huge thanks to those who have decided to follow me on this crafting/creativity journey.

The tutorial for the "No-Sew" Clutch was featured at http://tipjunkie.com/!

A million thanks to them!

Congratulations to Kay!

She is the lucky winner of my one-of-a-kind clutch!

You can visit her at http://thevangoghcafe.blogspot.com/.

She's also having a great giveaway.

I've decided to have a giveaway every month, so stay tuned!

I have a lot of projects I've been working on too; I just need to post them.

If you aren't following my blog yet, just click on the "Follow" button to the right. See you soon!

Are you ready???

This is my very first giveaway, and I'm so excited to give it away!

I had a few compliments on my "No-Sew Clutch" tutorial, and I thought it would be fun to give away one of my creations.

This is part sewn and part hot-glued.

Leave a comment, and I'll have my sister randomly choose the number of a comment.

I have just this one clutch to give away, so this is a "one winner" giveaway.

Leave a comment.

I'll contact you through your account and/or email.

This giveaway contest ends on August 19 at 10:00 p.m.

Don't forget to become a follower on this blog. It's new, but it's promising!

I hope you'll visit often!

Good luck!

No Sew Clutch

I've been thinking about how much crafting stuff I've accumulated just in the past year alone, and I thought...

Maybe I should use the stuff I already have to make some stuff.

I know I'm crazy.

I DO love to shop for new crafting stuff, though.

I've been working on Christmas projects for the past month, and I thought... If I make some Christmas presents out of stuff I already have, then it would be like spending $0 for Christmas!

I just knew my husband would love this idea.

Of course, I would still be out shopping for some of our gifts.

But here is what I came up with.

A "no-sew clutch."

I like to sew, but I wondered if this clutch could be made without it.

And it was.

I took this fabric that I had left over from another project. (See my bandana dresses.)
I cut a piece out by about 20 inches X 14 inches and folded over all sides, so the fabric won't fray. I used hot glue for this, by the way. I love my glue gun!


I put a piece of felt on it for some weight and stability.



I glued the felt on too.

I glued .5" of the long sides together.

I did this twice for the pinching effect and then folded over the bottom half and glued it to the top half. This gave the clutch some room for stuff at the bottom.

I put a rectangular piece of the blue fabric over the flap to give it more weight and make it more finished.

I cut a rectangular piece and glued its edges together, so it wouldn't fray. I just guessed the size on this one. You can use a credit card for measurement before cutting it.

I glued the rectangular piece to make a little pocket for the inside.

I also glued some Velcro to the inside, so the stuff won't fall out.

I'm sorry the picture didn't get posted on that. I bet you could figure that part out yourself, though.

I made a yo-yo using the blue fabric and glued on some brown ribbon. Oops... I guess there was sewing involved after all. The yo-yo is optional. You could also tie some ribbon into a bow and glue that on instead. I wanted to experiment with making yo-yos that day.

Here it is! The "no-sew" clutch. This is is gonna make a nice gift for my ******. Shhhh.... it's a secret. I hope you enjoy making one or a few for yourself and/or somebody who loves clutches!