Hawaiian Lava Flow

I've never been to Hawaii, but I have heard lots of good things about Lava Flow drinks via Pinterest. So this recipe is for the non-alcoholic version, which was good for me because I made these before I turned 21 ;) This recipe has a lot of good tips that I recommend using if you want it to turn out pretty and yummy. Next time I think I'll try adding a banana when I blend the strawberries. Also, I think this would be pretty awesome with some Malibu rum. This recipe makes a LOT so we cut it down for just a few drinks. She has great tips on making it have the 'swirled' look. If the strawberries don't come up the sides of the cup when you add the white coco lopez mixture, try adding more water to the strawberry mixture. Also, you can try swirling the strawberries around the edges of the cup before adding the white mixture.
If you love pina colada's, you will love this recipe for sure. It was fruity and delicious and introduced me to coco lopez: the best thing ever. If you haven't used coco lopez, it's a coconut product that comes in a can and you can find it in the mixed drink section (right next to the pina colada mixes). This drink would be good for adults or kids as a yummy summer drink.

Click here for the recipe.

Red Lobster Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

OMG I love these things. I loved them at Red Lobster, and I love this recipe. They are cheesy and soft and soo good. It's such an easy recipe (7 common ingredients) and they're pretty much fail proof...and trust me. If there was a way to fail at them, I would have. I prefer to make these compared to regular dinner rolls because they have so much more flavor. I highly recommend that you try these if you love Red Lobster's. Couldn't get enough of them!

Click here for the recipe. Seriously...try these. And vote for my next project on the right ===>

Instant Oatmeal Packets

I used to always eat cream of wheat and oatmeal and I thought this is a great idea: to make your own oatmeal packets. This is so much cheaper and makes more packets than they have in the oatmeal boxes. You can also adjust them to have whatever ingredients you like and there are less preservatives. Yay!
I made mine with regular oatmeal, a dash of salt, brown sugar, and cinnamon. All you have to do is add milk or water and any choice of topping. I think I will like it even more when I pick up some fruit to put in it (such as bananas, apples, or blueberries). I also would like to try adding some pumpkin puree to it after it's cooked because pumpkin oatmeal is just the best!
If you have any more suggestions similar to this to save money, let me know! I love hearing about how people make their own laundry detergent and Mod Podge. I'm always looking for more ways to save money!

 Do you like my new snail and mushroom pepper shakers? =D





Click here for instructions to make this on your own.

Styrofoam Wall Art

I love the look of these diy canvases. My apartment living room was looking a little empty so I decided to head to Hobby Lobby (like always). I picked out 9 pieces of scrapbook paper that I liked and some foam board. This is the big, cheap foam board that kids use for presentations. I cut the board to be the same size as the paper and glued it on with spray adhesive. I tried using regular Elmer's glue but I didn't like how the paper looked bubbly. I didn't put ribbon on the edges of the canvas, like it says in the directions, but that would definitely make it look more finished. This was one of the easiest projects I've ever done and it really brings color to your room, especially if you live in an apartment where you aren't allowed to paint the walls. Love it!

Click here for the directions.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Mmmm I love chicken cordon bleu. I really wanted to make chicken kiev, but Austin said he wasn't in the mood for butter-oozing chicken that day. So this recipe was pretty easy to make. I had all of the ingredients but cornflakes so it's really cheap, too, which is great for us college kids. One thing I always have issues with, however, is remembering to let chicken thaw! I never have a meal plan so I hardly ever take chicken out of the freezer. Well that was my main downfall in this recipe. I tried to thaw the chicken as fast as I could and pound it out really thin (so I could roll it). It didn't work so well so our pieces of chicken looked GIANT on our plates and it took a really long time to cook all the way through. This was my first time using cornflakes for coating on chicken breast, but I think I'll keep doing that! It's yummy and crunchy. By the way...the sauce for this recipe is delicious. I can never stop laughing at my terrible photography skills in this blog. Everything always looks so much worse than the original! Haha.

Here's the recipe I used for my chicken cordon bleu.

How to Make Anchor and Infinity Bracelets

I can't believe I haven't written anything here in 2 months! It's been crazy with school and work but I'm back now so you don't have to be sad anymore. So you pinners know that the Anchor and Infinity Bracelets are spreading like wildfire...well I decided to make some myself! They are so easy to make once you get the supplies and I've been selling them on Etsy to make some extra cash. They sell like crazy and I have already run out of supplies (more soon to come). But here it goes...here's how you can make them just like mine.

First off you will need leather cord in any color or style. I went for a mixture of braided leather and plain leather. You can get these anywhere! Honestly, I buy mine at Walmart (it's technically suede) and it's so much cheaper.

These are the brands I use.

You need small clasps and jump rings so that you can take your bracelet on and off. You will also need anchor and infinity charms. I buy these on either Ebay or Etsy, depending on how fast I need them. If you buy on Ebay, you can get them for very cheap with free shipping...however they are usually shipping from China so be prepared to wait about a month to receive them. Otherwise, Etsy sellers are usually pretty quick at shipping!

Lastly, you will need these clamp thingys. If you order them online, they are usually called ribbon crimps or something along those lines. Make sure you pay attention to the size, as you need to fit lots of leather cord in these little things. I buy 16mm crimps and they work just fine. Usually the bigger they are, the better they will look.

So here's how you put it together. Start cutting your leather cord into 8" strips. For these bracelets, I needed 8 of the regular leather and one of the braided leather. The bracelet itself will be 7" long, but we'll fix it later. I usually have to iron the strips so that they lay flat. Next, we will put the charms on. I'll try to describe this the best that I can. We'll start with the infinity charm. Fold the cord in half and loop it through one side of the charm. Bring the two ends of the cord through the loop and pull it tight. Do this to the other side as well.

Next, we will put the anchor charms on. The top of the anchor is easy. Just string it through the hole. Sometimes I need to use my needle-nose jewelry pliers to get it through the hole. On the bottom of the anchor, create another loop (similar to the infinity charms) and string the ends through. Like this:

Guess what? You now have all the pieces to your bracelet now, you crafty lady, you. Next, we will measure our bracelets to be 7" long. 7" is the standard bracelet length, but if your wrists are bigger/smaller/kids size, you can adjust as needed. What I do is line up the charms at the 3.5" mark (half of 7") and cut off the ends.

Once you have this done, we will put them in the crimp/clamp. Line up the end of the leather strands in your hand like so, and place the clamp over top. Then, use your pliers to pinch them shut. This may be a little difficult to keep the leather in one place, but I promise it can be done.

Do this to both ends of the bracelet. Next we will attach jump rings and clasps to the bracelet. The final stage! Woooohooooo. Take your handy dandy beading pliers and attach the jump ring to the end of the bracelet. Before closing up the jump ring, you will place your clasp to the jump ring, as well. If you do not know how to attach a clasp and jump ring to your jewelry, click here for some great instructions. The section of the video you will need starts at 1:15. It will end up looking like this:

Do this to the other side too. On the second side, however, make sure your bracelet cords line up when you lay them on a flat surface. If they don't, just trim them to be the same length.

And SHAZAM. You made yourself a bracelet.

Love these things. You can make them for gifts or sell them in your own Etsy store! When you get really good at making them (like me...I'm a wizard at making them. Just sayin') it will only take you about 10 minutes to get through these steps!