crochet scarf

step 1: make a loop with the end of the yarn and knot it at the end. for some reason, this is the hardest part for me. step 2: with your needle through the loop, wrap the yarn around it and pull through. this wrap-around-pull-through step is repeated many times the rest of the time. step 3: this shows pulling the yarn through the loop. step 4: continue doing this and you'll make a chain. 

step 5: continue the "chain" from step 4 until it's reached a length that when connected (as in a circle) it's the length you want for an infinity scarf. you want it long though, it's easy to underestimate how long this should be, but the longer the better. step 6: hold the two ends together. with your needle through the loop (as if you were still continuing the chain), then put the needle through a loop of the other end. this process makes the two threads ontop of the needle, as seen in the picture. then do the wrap-over-pull-through. step 7 and step 8: these show the wrap-over-pull-through method making a chain vertically

step 9: it seems like there's a big jump from step 8 to step 9, but its just a continued process. once you start the process of putting the needle through the loop and then wrapping the yarn around/pulling through, you got it! step 10: with the needle through the loop, wrap the yarn over the top. step 11: put the needle through the loop on the lower layer/last round of "chain". step 12: once through, wrap the yarn around the top. at this point there is the free yarn ontop of the needle, as well as 3 other wraps of yarn. 

step 13: between step 12 and 13, the "free yarn" is pulled through TWO of the wrapped yarn parts. therefore leaving two wraps of yarn ontop of the needle (as seen in step 13). step 14: wrap yarn around the needle once more and pull through the remaining 2 wraps of yarn. step 15: this shows the 1 loop that the needle is through. step 16: wrap around the needle again and start over!

once you understand those steps, it's just a repetition of that over and over and over again, round and round until you have the desired width of the scarf (i say 8-10 rows). once you're done, just tie a knot with the end of the yarn to complete it all. it gets confusing and not always perfect, but the key is to keep "tying knots" by wrapping the yarn and pulling the needle through the loops, and thats all!

the best part is, for the whole thing of yarn I used, it cost $2. that's a TWO DOLLAR SCARF!

favorite things

1. clear mugs. these are one of my favorite thrift store finds, even though i'm slowly seeing them make their way into stores. i love how modern they look!

2. white chocolate caramel cappuccino. this mix is so good and makes a perfect cup of cappuccino, you don't have to add any sweetener or sugar!

3. merry mistletoe candle. i'm somewhat picky when it comes to Christmas candles- I don't really like cinnamon candles and food scents aren't my favorite, but this candle captures the evergreen smell of Christmas but with a sweet scent also.

4. ferrero rocher chocolates. these will forever be my favorite chocolate candy!

5. francesca's wrap around watch. this watch was a Christmas gift I received. I love the wrap around watches and how you can wear them with nearly any outfit. Since I wear a watch everyday, this one is great to change things up.

6. "30 days to understanding the bible" by max anders. this book is great to understand the history in the bible. it's set up like a workbook and it's so easy to understand the concepts before moving onto the next chapter.

cranberry cream pie

below: boil 1 cup dried cranberries in water; let sit in water for 5 minutes; drain

on a stovetop, mix together continuously 1 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt. mix in 2 1/4 cups milk and 2 eggs. stir continuously as it thickens. allow to boil for 2 minutes then remove from heat.

add in cranberries

pour into pie crust and refrigerate over night. 

the whipped toping: whip 1 cup heavy whipping cream. once that thickens, add in 3 tablespoon powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Christmas

Christmas was celebrated with the family and lots of food. Mom and I spent Christmas eve and Christmas day baking and cooking. Stephanie (my sister-in-law) even made my mom and I aprons for Christmas. It was a great holiday spent inside with family, especially since a winter storm hit and we were snowed in by mid-afternoon!

lately

I baked some white chocolate peppermint sugar cookies yesterday, which were good but quite alot of steps for just some good ole Christmas cookies; Cody and I celebrated Christmas in Lubbock together... he got me coal ;); I gave my friend the best friend coffee mugs I made us last week!

winter festivities

We had my RSC winter formal last weekend at Spirit Ranch. 

I made some snowflakes as a photo backdrop. I thought it would be easy to make without a tutorial but since this was the first time since grade school to make them, I had to look up directions!

 Some friends of ours had a Redneck Christmas party

Here I am with my little, Shelby

I've also been making more diy gifts for Christmas. These are best friend mugs for my best friend who goes to OSU and I. 

 I got the mugs at target for $3 each. I printed out the shape of Texas and Oklahoma to trace with sharpie and then drew hearts over Lubbock and Stillwater. I then wrote a cheesy best-friends-seperated-long-distance poem on the back with sharpie. After that, I baked them in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Now its permanent!

glass etching

 I thought it would be a cheap, personal, cute gift idea this Christmas to etch class with families names on it and fill it with Christmas goodies. Since I've never done any glass etching I decided I should start with my last name and make my mom a present first (sorry for ruining the surprise!). It really wasn't hard at all! The most time consuming part was cutting out the letters/tracing them/cutting them out again which would easily be done with a Cricut but since I don't have one, I'll resort to old school ways.

initially getting the supplies can be expensive but they'll last me for awhile. the vinyl was at the craft store in the Cricut accessories isle for $5, the x-acto knife also $5, and the armour etch cream $12. I got the glass jar at Target for $6

like I said above, the longest part was cutting the letters out. Here are the letters I cut out from a simple word document that I typed my name and I traced them onto the vinyl

 the vinyl was super big so theres plenty more to use for future projects. I could've saved more room by cutting it closer to the actual letters but once I put the cream on, you want some room for the cream to spread without touching the outer glass.

this picture is the process of cutting the letters out of the vinyl with an x-acto knife, leaving negative space

once completed I placed the whole piece of cut-out-vinyl onto the jar

 spread the cream pretty thick onto the jar and let sit for 10 or so minutes. **this cream takes off a layer of glass, so imagine what it will do to your skin! it has warnings on the bottle to call poison control in the case of any contact, so I went on ahead and wore some leftover gloves from nursing school I had lying around

after 10 minutes I rinsed the cream off and then rubbed off the remainder with my (gloved) finger then removed the vinyl and ta-da! It's not perfect but it's a first attempt!

favorite things

1. peppermint mocha coffee creamer. I've been drinking this for weeks now even though I probably should've waited until after thanksgiving to bring out the Christmas flavors but its just so.darn.good!
2. "Ruth" by Kelly Minter. I've read the book of the bible, Ruth, many many times but didn't look past the love story of Ruth and Boaz to see much else. This book has opened my eyes already to God's pursuing of us, how certain circumstances have a purpose that we often miss, and so many more lessons. It's a super easy to read/understand study and great to do with someone else. I'm doing it in discipleship with my little!
3. Orlando's. I know that seems goofy but Cody and I cannot seem to get enough of their "down and dirty tortellini". We may or may not have eaten it three times in one weekend.
4. thanksgiving candle. this candle from bath and body works quickly became one of my new favorites once I smelled it. My mom wasn't the biggest fan. But the smell of warm, hearty food, spices, and fall scents made my house smell so warm and cozy!
5. Sparking Berry Garland candle wax. It's not the brand of Scentsy but that's what it is. I actually got it last winter (I have a trend of buying my candles out of season, when they're much much cheaper) so this is the first time I've actually gotten to burn it and it smells so so good! and Christmasy!
6. breaking free by beth moore. this is another study I'm currently doing, but this one on my own. I'm only two days in and I've already learned so much through Isaiah! I had tried to read this before and put it down because I didn't see it going anywhere but reading the first 2 chapters has already grown me so much. It's amazing the maturity that can happen over time!

deck the halls

Christmas decorations are up! Even if they are only up for the two weeks until I go back home for the break, I couldn't not decorate our apartment! Cody helped me decorate once we drove into town on Sunday night :)

my dad made the middle of my mantle with chalkboard paint so that I could draw a "fire" on it in the winter!

total cost for decorations- $10; $5 for the supplies to make the glitter deer picture and $5 for ornaments for the vase and tree, purchased at a thrift store. Everything down was hand-me-down from my mom...free!

 DIY anthropologie candle holder I made the other day with branches in my backyard, hot glue, and a candle holder I had

 Ella really appreciates having all these toys at her convenience! 

thanksgiving

unfortunately, I've had to deal with the stomach bug this entire break which has made being social (and eating) pretty much impossible. I haven't felt very up to par but did manage to take some family pictures in our backyard and make a craft to decorate the apartment with!

Brother and I

 the family

I wanted to make this canvas picture to put on the mantle back at my apartment. I decided to go with the colors white, gold, and red with Christmas decorations this year and this was an easy, cheap decoration to make to add to my collection!


I bought a canvas at JoAnn's; printed an outline of a deer off the computer; used mod podge and glitter and hair spray to secure it all

Once I drew out the outline of the deer, I decided that it was smaller than I'd like so I made the drawing bigger then started painting mod podge on in little sections at once

Then I poured alot of glitter on top and shook it off and did the same but in red glitter for the nose!                              

DIY scratch off invitation

although I knew Cody was going to go to my formal with me, I wanted to take advantage of any opportunity to do something cheesy for him! So, I made a DIY scratch off to ask him. Oddly enough, the day that I bought supplies to make this we were at the store and bought a scratch off and he let me do all of it (thats the best part, unless you win money, right!?) and so I subtly dropped a "I'll let you do one sometime!"

All the supplies were card stock to print it on, acrylic paint,
dish soap, white crayon


I started by writing the cheesiest poem that I could come up with, ha.

color the scratch off area with white crayon

mix a little paint with dish soap and paint it on. I did multiple layers and as you can see, it's not really smooth. It would have been if I had allotted more time but I was trying to get it to his house before he got back from school.... so I broke out the hair dryer to finish it!

once scratched off, you can see it reveals the underneath!

I also made some chocolate covered strawberries, what person doesn't want chocolate covered strawberries?! as you can see, those too were alittle janky. the chocolate was tired of being melted by the time I got to the "?". not my best but oh well.

I love this boy and I'm so glad he appreciates my cheesy/girly/romantic gestures :)