Forever 21 Finds

Okay I've been on kind of a shopping spree lately (I promise mom I've found awesome deals! ☺). We had so much work done on the house last year I didn't feel right about getting new things for myself. So, year over, 2013 well on its way commence the shopping ;). Okay really, I'm not mission shopping, I never find what I'm looking for when I mission shop. Case and point... Friday I went out to forever 21 to find some shorts for my dance class. One of the girls in class had the cutest shorts and she told me I could find them there. In the end I did find a pair of shorts (not the ones I was looking for either lol ;)).

     

 Look at my finds though... ☺ Just look at them! ;)

...super classy (slightly sassy?? ;)) and retroy (nope, not a word) cat cardigan (!) no, I'm not a cat lady ;) 

...and a floral button top that screams feminine delicateness ess.. ess lol ;)

 I also scored some super cheap cotton tops for pj and workout time! Only $2.80 a piece. Yes, mom would be proud. ;)

Though while in the checkout line... I was wooed by those bags grocery stores and supermarkets alike sell to cut down on the use of plastic bags, only this one has a heart and french words on it.

I'm going to use it! :) Ah ha! I've already stashed some color coordinated yarn in it! :D How clever! Come time for the beach, (though we don't have it on the calendar yet ;)) I'll be pulling this baby out! :D

Oh! The polka dotted bag with a zipper - another checkout line find. I love the color & the versatility of its size, the glitter and latexy plastic finish that makes it fun and kind of sexy in my book :) I can use it for make up or small knitting projects for the road - this baby is getting used! :D

Lastly, the scarf. True, true I can make one myself... but this one was on sale $6.99(!), the color was beautiful, the fiber very soft and cheaper than what I could make it for, or the time I'd spend on it.

...from forever 21 back to worldmarket... I decided a set of 3 hand towels would do for the kitchen. So here we go! :)

I hope you liked my finds! :) I love sharing them with you!! Happy Easter and Egg hunting everyone!

♥ Dawn

192 Brown Circles - DONE! :D

I'm so excited - the first round of brown circles for the study blanket is done! All 192 of them! :) now to get to my favorite part - the green! ^-^

192 brown center circles! :D Let round 2 begin! 

World Market Finds Worth Sharing

Every month or so I get together with a girlfriend of mine whom I've known for several years and had the pleasure to work with as well. ☺ I appreciate her company and her worldview and she's said a time or two that she enjoys my blog! ☺ I'd say she's a keeper ;). When we get together in the spring we go out for dinner and then walk around the area, sometimes we just walk around parking lots to get some fresh air and move our legs a bit ☺. Fall and winter temps send us moseying to coffee shops or wandering around stores to window shop. One of our favorite places to go is World Market they have so many fun items and designs it seems every time we go we find something new there.

Our recent visit had me taking pictures and I decided to share some of my finds with you.

Victorian Photo Lumbar Throw Pillow

The flowers caught my eye but not until my friend pulled the pillow off the shelf to look at it did we realize it was rectangular (not just a square throw) and it had a lovely picture of a lady in it :). The edging was crocheted and I had read somewhere (pretty sure it was Michael's website) that crocheting can only be done by hand... the tag did not say handmade though... so the jury is out on that one. Either way, the picture was beautiful, the detailing was nice but the fabric was some kind of burlap that shed all over our winter coats. No bueno. But I had to take a picture of her - lol :) And my friend was kind enough to hold it until I did. I think I'd call the lady on the pillow Charlotte. Or... maybe Lanelle... that's Old French ;).

We later came across the candy section filled with treats that reminded me of my childhood and the candy we'd get from the dollar store. We eventually stumbled up a Licorice Pipe! :) How fun is that? My hubs enjoys a good smoke from time to time and I thought to get it for him but it was $.79 he doesn't like licorice (neither do I ;)) and I was not about to take it to the register and pay with it with credit card since that's all I had - so I took a picture of it and told the mister I thought of him and had to show him the licorice pipe! ^-^ the manufacturers did a good job shaping this!

Lastly when looking through the kitchen items I spotted this set of hand towels and wondered how they might look in my kitchen. I like them but passed on this outing, still I wanted to share them with you! The pattern is simple and charming :). Wonderful floral touch!

About the time we found some rustic earthy looking salad bowls complete with tree bark on the edges one of the employees came around to us and said the registers were closing which was our queue to head out ☺. Neither one of us bought anything but "window" shopping like this gets my creative juices flowing. It's good to be inspired. :)

Is there any place you enjoy visiting just to browse? Actually, you know if I could figure out a place for that pillow of Lanelle I might just go back.. pretty sure I could find a coupon too.. ;) We'll see - lol.

Thank you for reading! ☺ I hope you were inspired, if even a little ;). ♥ Dawn

Bloglovin?

So to try and keep up with the times I'm claiming my blog on bloglovin... Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I hope you'll find me on bloglovin if you've also jumped on the bandwagon! :)

...the adventure continues!

Low Carb Cauliflower Crust Pizza - No sauce, No flour, No Sugar, No Guilt

Cauliflower Crust Pizza Fresh out of the oven!

This is a recipe I need to credit pinterest for. I would have never conceived a cauliflower crusted pizza on my own... so thank you Pinterest, Lisa & Megan who shared their creative genius and took pictures worth pinning so I could discover my own version :).

Lisa has a great recipe for Cauli-Rice that  I used as a guideline for making my own from frozen cauliflower bags.

2 - 16 oz  bags of frozen cauliflower out to thaw

Saturday morning I got up (rather late, don't let me fool you, I'm not early bird on Saturday ;)) and pulled these bags of cauliflower out to thaw for later. I suggest setting them on a towel to catch the water as they dethaw.

About 5-6 hours later I got to it! Preheated the oven to 350 degrees and the cauliflower was mostly thawed, I snipped open the bags and poured the contents into a microwave safe glass bowl. Thought I might mash them... did that for a little while and decided I'd chop them instead... this didn't last long before I got out the blender.. I was making some head way but my ears are sensitive and about 5 - 7 minutes later I transferred the mess back to the cutting board.

There are many ways to make Cauliflower Paste - no? ☺ However it works best for you to do it - do it!

In the end I used the CHOP CHOP CHOP CHOP CHOP method!

      So Chop, blend, puree until you can't do it anymore! ☺ Or until you aren't  seeing any "chunks".

  Then transfer the mess onto a flour sack towel. 

Use your hands and wrap the cauliflower like it's a burrito! ☺

Wrapped it up all the way to the end of the towel. The towel will be pretty wet. 

Move to the sink. 

Holding both ends like they are a tootsie roll wring the heck out of it!

It's pretty amazing how much water is in this vegetable! ☺

It's important to squeeze, squeeze, squeeze! The less water there is in the mix the less it tastes/smells like cauliflower :).

Once it seems there is no more water to wring out move the mix back to the bowl and unroll the cauliflower.

Put it all back in the bowl.

Fluff the mix until it resembles rice and then put it in the microwave with a napkin over it for 5 minutes. 

**Please use hot pads to pull the bowl out of the microwave & set on a hot pad as it will be very hot!**

At this point add one egg, 3/4 cup of feta cheese, 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp pepper, and a pinch of salt. Stir well.

Next line the pan you will be using with parchment paper. Put the mixture of cauliflower dough on the pan and spread it out. I made mine into a circle but a rectangle will taste just as good! ☺

You can have your dough as thick or thin as you want just be sure the thickness is uniform throughout for even cooking!

Pop the crust in the oven for 35 - 40 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. 

I put 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese on top, drizzled olive oil on top and added more pepper with our pepper shaker. 

Then I added a layer of pepperoni! Nummy, nummy, nummy! ☺

Popped the pizza with toppings back in the oven for about 8 minutes for the toppings to melt. It came out really well! The whole family seemed to enjoy it!  I love this variation because it cuts out flour and sugar. Both of which I've been pulling out of my families diet when I can. You could call us moderately Paleo. I (clearly) haven't given up dairy... ;)  

So in review:

Low Carb Pizza

Ingredients:

• 2 16 oz bags of frozen cauliflower

• 1 egg

• 1 tsp oregano

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 3/4 cup feta cheese

• 1/4 tsp pepper

• pinch of salt

• 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese 

• Olive oil to drizzle

• Pepperoni slices

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1) Chop, puree, or blend 2 - 16 oz bags of thawed frozen cauliflower into cauliflower mash (or rice :))

2) Wring the water out of the mixture.

3) Put in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 5 minutes. 

4) Add egg, cheese, oregano, garlic powder, pepper, and a pinch of salt. Stir well.

5) Put parchment paper on pizza pan.

6) Place Cauliflower crust mix on parchment paper and form crust. Evenly spread mixture.

7) Bake in oven 35 - 40 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

8) Add cheese, olive oil and pepper (whatever other toppings you want☺)

9) Put pizza back in oven for about 8 - 10 minutes to allow for the toppings to melt. 

10) Cut pizza, serve warm and enjoy! ☺

Of course should you try this recipe for yourself I'd love to hear how it turned out! :) Happy adventures in the kitchen everyone! ☺Be safe out there! ♥ Dawn

Wicket Hide and Seek Fun

While watching the Addams Family today I finalized an Ewok for a friend in Washington. After putting him together I then worked on a custom order for an embroidered carabiner strap for another friend. After finalizing the needlework, taking pictures and writing up a blogpost for it, it was time to turn my attention to the wicket I made. Only I couldn't find him. Who'd have thought I'd find him in the study hanging around trying to blend in with the decorations there... I saw him...

Hanging out with the tiger pipe... I see you wicket!

Wicket trying to blend in...

Then he hopped onto the other side of the scotch bottle! And tried to run... silly wicket! 

I got him cornered!

...we had a quick chat, he's going to Washington, he can't stay here, its settled... 

I won't pay as much attention to him as my friend will, he is going to a good place. At the moment I'm happy to report he's done playing hide and go seek, he's setting quietly near my computer... ☺ 

Anyways, this was all so involved and fun while it lasted I just wanted to share it with you - the blog readers ☺ Who are getting an ear full from me lately ☺ Thank you for reading! I love to write you about the adventures that happen in the suburbs of DC, where its not as safe to go outside the house as it is to stay inside - bhahaha. ☺ No, its just cold out there right now, the calendar says its spring but the weather is shouting back "Winter!" They are calling for 1 - 3 inches of snow tonight... back to working on the blanket for me I guess ;). 

Till next time! Thanks for reading! ♥ Dawn

Avatar the Last Airbender - Earth Kingdom Emblem Carabiner Strap Embroidery

Hello friends! :) I just finished a custom order today for an embroidered carabiner strap! This order came from the same friend who had requested the Fire Nation emblem on a previous strap I made for him. Thankfully I still had some strap left that I had salvaged years ago from a back pack. :) I love seeing things be put to new/good use!

My friend had requested that this next strap have the last airbender Earth Kingdom emblem on it. After pulling out the sewing machine, burning the ends of the strap to seal the threads together and sewing the strap to the same dimensions as the first one I had to decide what embroidery color worked best... a few hours later here you have it.

Working it up!

BACK

FRONT

 I'm not sure why the backside embroidery is not as sharp looking as the front, this was the same case on the first strap. Maybe its the direction the needle goes in *shrugs* I'm not really sure.

Okay - now to send this post to my friend to let him know its done! :D Yay! :D

Sugar Baby is not my Color...

...so let's roll the dice shall we? :)

About a month or so ago I hit up Victoria's Secret online for the essential bra tops deal of 3/ $33.00. I got a black one, a white one and to branch out in my wardrobe color palette I went with a sugar baby that looked to me like a pastel pink. Once I received the tops I promptly rocked the black one. Super comfy, cotton and black is always sexy, no? :) The next night I rocked the white one.. no problems here folks except my need to christen new tops with some kind of coffee stain or orange juice stain... lol...yes, I did. No worries though, Resolve is my hero! I can report up until today (at least ;)) that my white top is still white (yay! :)) despite my clumsiness. :)

So black top, one of my new favorites, white top a welcomed addition to my wardrobe. Sugar baby? When it came time to don this color... it looked like a nude color on me... how fun is that? Well, its not. Not at all. I appreciate contrasting colors so this just will not do. I got a great deal mind you so I'm not about to go through the hassle of trying to exchange the color for another one, I've been down that road before with other vendors and I just do not want to waste my time. This did however open up a creative window of opportunity ^-^.

Sugar Baby + Purple Rit Dye = My new cami color! Huzzah! :D

Now before I share the pics with you of my first fabric dying adventure - a little DISCLAIMER:

 • I do NOT claim to be a connoisseur on fabric dying. Mkay? Just so we are clear. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do yourself a favor before your excitement of dying fabric takes over and read read read read read the box of whatever dye you are using (I stress this ;)). Read the directions all the way through (I understand this can be hard - believe me:) ) and take the necessary precautions when dying anything. Put down a tarp, put on plastic coveralls, latex gloves that go up to your elbows, whatever precautions you think you need mkay? ;) Alright. Good. Great. Onward! :D

Blushing Pink Cami meet Purple Rit Dye

I read the Rit box of Purply dye goodness (no, it's NOT edible ;)) that was about to redeem the wearability  of this comfortable cotton cami. Pulled out the salt amount it called for for my top, and the HOT (again, precautions here people ;) thank you)

I filled a bucket with hot water (enough to allow it to move freely) and set the top in it for later. I ten proceeded to use the Rit the bucket method which called for:

• 1 packet of dye
• 1 cup of salt
• 1 Tblspn
• 2 cups water (per RIT dye package)

I poured the packet into the hot water and dissolved the dye. Then added the salt. 

Stirred till mostly dissolved then added the bit of detergent and continued stirring. 

I then added the mixture to the bucket.  

And stirred...

...and stirred...

...and stirred...

For this bucket method directions said to stir up to 30 minutes or until the fabric reached the desired color. After 15 minutes the top was looking dark :). I then transferred the bucket to our lovely utility sink and ran the water from warm to cold as the water in the bucket slowly turned clear. 

From here I squeezed the cami of excess water and put it in the washing machine where I cleaned it with more warm water and detergent. 

Surprisingly the top lightened quite a bit from the color it was when I put it in, looking pinkish... anything darker than what it was though is an improvement. :)

Just laundered... about to see the inside of the dryer!

I popped it in the dryer following the care instructions of the label ;) And about 30 minutes later we have a new top! 

There are slight color variationsthroughout the top but I'm still wearing this puppy! :)  

A lighter purple in time for Easter? Why not! :). 

I L♥VE how it looks with jeans! :D I hope you had fun reading through my first fabric dying adventure! :) 

Have you ever dyed something? If so what was it? How did it turn out?

I'm off to make some food for the family now. :) If you want to see some of my adventures in the kitchen click here. I'm always adding new stuff :). 

Thank you for reading and viewing :) 

♥ Dawn

Spicy Chicken Breasts for the Crockpot - Paleo Friendly

In my quest to find a Paleo friendly recipe for the family I happened upon My Paleo CrockPot and a recipe called Chicken Thighs with Almonds and Olives. I was very excited to see I had a compilation of ingredients much like the recipe and decided it was time to blog a Paleo friendly recipe to you! Apparently complete with pictures ;).

Spicy Chicken Breasts for the Crockpot

Pin it for later here.

Ingredients:
2.5 - 3lbs chicken breast
8 jalapeno stuffed olives, any kind would work - take note the flavor will change with different kinds
1/2 cup raw almonds, half or wholed
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 medium sized onion, chopped
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp pepper

Put all the ingredients in the crockpot and cook on KEEP WARM for 8 hours or until the chicken is done. Them chicken breasts will be super tender... oh.. yea ;) Serve warm and enjoy! :)

Ingredient Spread! 

8 Jalapeno Stuffed Olives

Chopped Jalapeno Stuffed Olives

1/2 Cup Raw Almonds

1 Garlic Clove

1 Garlic Clove Minced

1/2 of a Medium Sized Onion Chopped

3/4 cup chicken broth (apparently I skimped a little ;))

1/2 Tsp Cumin, 1/2 Tsp Chili Powder, 1/4 Tsp Black Pepper

As you add your ingredients - they might pile up just like this! :D Don't forget your spices! ;)

All the goods are in there! 

On KEEP WARM  -  this is what it looks like 8 hours later... nom nom nom...

I served the chicken with some cooked carrots smothered in butter to add veggies and some color!
Now that's what I call a complete meal! :) 

 

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Looking for more Low Carb chicken or crock pot recipes? 

Since posting this recipe I've started a foodie blog! 

Find more low carb CHICKEN RECIPES HERE. 

Find more low carb CROCK POT RECIPES HERE. 

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