Short Cut Orange Chicken

Short Cut Orange Chicken

Ingredients:
•1 bag of popcorn chicken or other breaded bite size chicken.
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Orange Sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons water
5 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons white vinegar
1 orange, zest of (I used orange extract instead--1 1/2 tsps)

1. Cook popcorn chicken/ other plain breaded or crispy bite size chicken according to package direction.

2. While Chicken is cooking, mix orange sauce ingredients together& bring to a boil.

3. Add cooked chicken, stirring until well mixed.

4. Stir water (1/4 cup cold) into 1 tablespoon cornstarch in separate bowl until smooth and then add to chicken.

5. Heat until sauce is thickened.

6. Serve with rice of your choice & enjoy!

I got the full recipe from the link below& modified it a little.
Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/panda-express-orange-chicken-103215?oc=linkback

Key Fob Tutorial

Key Fob Tutorial

 

What you will need:

You can get the jump rings and clips at just about any craft store. I got mine at Walmart in a big bag. and the clips at JoAnn's with 50% off coupon!

 

STEP 1: Cut Fabric and Ribbon to desired length

(see picture above for measurements)

 

I used an old fabric swatch for this one. But you can use any scraps you have around. Cotton Fabric works best, but you can use a thicker fabric like this one too.

STEP 2: Iron fabric strip under until it barely overlaps/touches

Make sure you put it on the ribbon to see if you ironed it under the right amount. You want just enough of the ribbon showing but overlapping underneath too much will cause it to be "bumpy" sometimes so be careful. I did this one with a cotton fabric as you can see.

Above is an adult one. Below is a childs size.

 

 

STEP 3: I don't have a picture for this one but it's pretty cut & dry. Just sew the fabric onto the ribbon. You can pin it if you need to.

 

 

STEP 4: Fold 1 end of fabric/ribbon around/over the jump ring/key chain and sew a line or 2 across it to hold it into place. You can do both ends together if you want but it's a bit trickier and slips alot. So do the key ring end then bring over the other end and fold it under ( not like I messed up but the right way! SEE BELOW)

 

 

STEP 5: Fold other end IN towards the loop and sew through all layers making 2 lines like shown.

 

 

 

STEP 6: You will have 2 ribbons showing on the inside if you do it right. Just trim any excess off and you're done!

 

I wanted to show you that you can also use 2 smaller pieces of fabric or whatever and sew them together then sew them onto the ribbon also. I'm sure you could do something like adding 2 layers or adding a frill if you wanted to get really creative. This one is actually more of a vinyl fabric so I didn't need to fold it under. You could use any kind of fabric. Ones that don't fray like jersey save you a step too, but I'm not sure how that one would work out.

DIY Training Pants

I took the plunge and made my own pull ups for my daughter! Have you noticed how expensive disposable pull ups are!? And underwear is super expensive and it doesn't have that extra padding/protection they need to keep you from having to change their pants, sheets& whatever else they had an accident on. Now, that said, the pull ups will still leak depending on how many layers you use& how big of an accident they have. Even diapers leak if they overflow them! So, ya, I wanted something she could wear at night& during the day that saved money& made her feel more like she was a big girl& not a baby. Even disposable pull ups were still "diapers" to her. SO with the help of my super green super woman sister in-law I made her some pull ups!
Here's where I got the tutorial& pattern:
http://katrinassqs.blogspot.com/2007/10/free-soaker-pattern.html

We did fleece with the soaker/liner part being 1 layer fleece and 2 layers of flannel. You can add another layer if you want to. This way she feels wet but it doesn't leak too bad. Now, my daughter has skinny legs so that could be why hers leak a little. You could prob figure out a way to put snaps or Velcro on the sides so it's easier to open to dump the poo out or to make it a bit more snug, but the idea is for it to be more like underwear and not like a diaper so they learn to pull them up& down& not have accidents. It's totally up to you it's just a bit more work& planning.

I'm a visual learner so it was nice that my sister in-law showed me how to do the first one& then it was super easy after that! There's a picture tutorial too so it was super easy& I'm not really a "sewer". One thing we did different is just used a zigzag stitch on the edges instead of a serger. And just make sure when you cut the fabric you cut it so the waist& legs are stretchy. Otherwise it's a little difficult to stretch over their little bums to get on :) Even knowing this I got in a rush& still cut some of my pieces wrong. But even with mess ups it only took like 1/4-1/2 yard of fleece per pull up!

And as you can see they turned out great! We got a bunch of different fleece and flannels on sale& went crazy! I recommend making at LEAST 7 pairs and if you can make more do it! Because they still have accidents even when they are fully "potty trained"

Easter Cookies

I'm a little behind on this but thought I would share anyway! I made some cute Easter cookies. All I did was bake my fav cookies (oatmeal choc chip with raisins--you can do whatever kind u like best) & I plopped a few choc eggs on top right after they came out of the oven. Turned out cute& good way to use extra Easter candy (or the candy u are addicted to & bought 10 packages of bc you can only get around Easter!)
Enjoy!

DIY Piggy Bank

My daughter really wanted a piggy bank, but to pay $15-$25 for a piggy bank was out of the question! So we made our own! Grant it wasn't a ceramic pig with a tutu but she loves it!

What you need:
--1 #10 can with lid (lid usually comes with it)--wipe/clean out can & cut small slit in lid
--12x12 piece of scrapbook paper of your choice
--craft glue--I used the blue sticky glue stuff but I'm sure Elmer's would work just fine.

Wrap paper around can& cut off excess paper making sure it overlaps a little (1-2 inches) so you can glue it. Then just wrap the cut piece around& glue overlapped layers over each other! Put lid on and you're done! That easy! It prob only took me 10 mins to do everything!
I'm sure you could add lace, tull, or whatever else you wants to, but we kept it simple and she likes it just fine:)

Money Saving Soaps & Lotions

I've been busy saving money the past month! Here are a few ways I did this:

1. I made my own bar soap. I got melt&pour and added essential oils to make custom, non toxic, natural soap! It was super easy& I can customize it with any scent, color, or add a little oatmeal or lavender! Possibilities are endless& it actually saves a little $! I got my ingredients& instructions from Brambleberry.com
I used recycled containers instead of buying molds too and they turned out great!!
I got my recipe from www.soapqueen.com



2. I made my own whipped Shea Butter. I made a TON and did 2 different scents. I used a couple jars& put labels on them for a nice gift too! I didn't even use all the Shea butter I got so ya! It was just coconut oil, Shea butter& essential oil of your choice, whip together & you have a nice lotion that's great for even the driest skin! I got my recipe from the Soap Queen (via Brambleberry.com) and the ingredients from Brambleberry.com ! I got my recipe from www.soapqueen.com
Click HERE for the direct link to the recipe I used

3. I made my own body wash/hand soap! All it takes is a bar of soap ( I used a bar of soap I made but u can use your fav natural bar of soap-Amazon is a great source), vegetable glycerin- liquid (you can get at your local drug store or off amazon. i got mine on amazon for a great price!) and 1 gal distilled water (or boil tap water or use a osmosis system , if you have one great!) Then just gather jugs/containers to store it all in. I used milk Jugs, water jugs& soap dispensers, but you can use glass containers or jars too! This is where I got the recipe: http://www.thefarmersnest.com/2011/11/liquid-hand-soap-diy.html

You can just search Pinterest for recipes too! There's a ton of recipes for homemade soaps, lotions, and even deodorant on there!
If I can do these things so can you! They were fun, easy, had no SLS or harmful chemicals and saved money! Can't go wrong! :)

All of my soaps and lotions

 



Shower Gel & Hand Soap

Above: Melt&Pour Soap in Wipes container--Lemongrass one. Half with Oatmeal on top

 

Below: Bar Soap (Lavender ones). I used old mushroom containers for these (the blue plastic ones) and the round one was just some plastic packaging I found lying around.

You can download labels at www.brambleberry.com

or search Pinterest. I think these were from Pinterest.



A look at the Whipped Shea Butter making process

Note: The higher quality shea butter like the one pictured works better for this project.