DIY Sock Snowman

You can make this guy an ornament or just a little guy who sits somewhere. :) I made this guy a girl since I couldn't find a red sock for the hat. And I also had some flowers laying around, so I put that instead of a pom pom on top. Either way, it's super cute!

What you need:

White toddler-size tube sock and matching thread

Polyester fiberfill (or cotton balls, which is what I used)

Buttons (small, two black, three others)

Fabric glue

Red child-size ribbed sock and matching thread for hat

Pom Pom

Black pipe cleaners for arms (I used white because that's what I had and I just wrapped it in black yarn)

Ribbon or a scrap of fabric for the scarf

Large embroidery needle

What to do:

Turn the tube sock inside out and stuff with fiber fill/cotton until full. Gather the sock at the top and sew closed. To form the head, tie off the ribbon/fabric. If you want to make his head larger, just tie of farther down the sock. Glue on the buttons to make the face. To make the hat, sew on the other sock, rib side down. To make a smaller hat, cut off the top of the sock and sew back together. Glue the Pom Pom on top of the sock hat. Thread the pipe cleaner onto the embroidery needle and push through, cut pipe cleaner and twist to make fingers.

Ta-da! All done! To make it an ornament, just thread through on the top to make a loop. :)

Super Late Thanksgiving Post

So late for this but happy thanksgiving! It was a good time, we made a lot of food and didn't even prepare everything that was on the list. The vegan foods consisted of: green bean casserole, garlic mashed potatoes (I have the recipe for that in an older blog post here), mushroom gravy, homemade applesauce, macaroni salad, and pumpkin pie. The macaroni salad came out wonderfully. It was my favorite. :) I hope your Thanksgiving was as good as mine and your holiday shopping is goin well. Be careful out there! I'll be making cookies today, so be prepared for a late posting of that too. :D

The Fault In Our Stars and Almost Thanksgiving

I read The Fault in Our Stars so fast, I may have to read it again. It was fantastic and sad and incredible. It makes me want to donate to cancer funds more (through my charity miles app, of course). The only thing I have to complain about is what happens to Hazel Grace? How long does she live? Does she find another? Does her friendship with Isaac develop into something more? So many questions...so many tears.

On another note, I bought my copy of the book because there was a note in it about something called nerdfighteria. If you don't know about it, check it out. Just search vlogbrothers on YouTube and be welcomed with warm gestures and hilarious nerd jokes.

To conclude today's blog, I would just like to say happy Thanksgiving! Mine will be vegan, but my roommate is making meat so she and others can enjoy something more "traditional". I'm so excited to watch the parade this year so I can see a sneak peek of Kinky Boots! I love the movie, I can only assume the musical is that much greater. I'll post some recipes from this Thanksgiving up later for all to see and ponder if it's worth making for the meat eating husbands out there. :) Thanks for reading!

Happy 50th Birthday, Dr. Who!

It's your party and you can cry if you want to, Doctor. I know I will! I love the raggedy Doctor but, as with all other new regenerations, I'm sure I will come to love the 12th just as much. My only regret for the day is that I don't have the BBC channel and cannot watch it. And, therefore, I must ignore any and all posts affiliated with the 50th Anniversary episode. Which means no Facebook. Lol but I do get to watch all other episodes via Netflix! And now, it's time for some fish and custard. Have a "Fantastic" day!

Thor: the Dark World and My Newest Unhealthy Obsession

The second Thor was absolutely fantastic. So much so that I have seen it twice. And while Chris Hemsworth is definitely swoon worthy, Tom Hiddleston has hit it out of the ball park for me. I've always been a fan of his work, but now I find myself daydreaming about meeting him one day. My determination to go on the Voice or something has gone into overdrive so I can become famous and meet him...and Jennifer Lawrence, Benedict Cumberbatch, Nicholas Hoult, Matt Smith, David Tennant, Gerard Butler, the list goes on. I just want to hug Tom and then possibly pass out...anyway, Thor was great. Highly recommended and I cannot wait to see what happens next!

Spicy Vegan Buffalo Cauliflower

When I say spicy, I mean spicy! Bring some soy milk to the table when you eat this snack. :)

What you need:

1 head cauliflower

For the batter:

Dash of hot sauce

1/2 cup white rice flour

1/2 cup water

Salt and pepper to taste

For the sauce:

1/4 cup hot sauce

1/4 cup Canola oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 F. For the batter, put all its ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Break down the cauliflower into bite size pieces. Dip the pieces into the batter. Make sure it's completely covered with batter. On a bakin pan covered with baking paper, place the dipped cauliflower and bake for 15-20 minutes. For the sauce, put all it's ingredients in a bowl and mix together. After the cauliflower are out of the the oven, sprinkle the sauce over it and bake again for 5 minutes more.

I made bigger than bite size pieces because I didn't want the hot sauce to overpower the cauliflower, but you can also ommit the hot sauce in the batter. Even though it was spicy, it was good!

You can also find the original recipe here:

http://www.daydreamkitchen.com/2012/12/spicy-buffalo-cauliflower/

Happy (Slightly Belated) Halloween!

On Halloween day my boyfriend and I journeyed to Minnesota to visit my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins. They dressed up as Batman and Winnie the Pooh. We got to sit by the fire and hand out the candy. Last night, of course, was the adults Halloween. We made it back home in time for the Rocky Horror Picture Show in the University's theatre. It was awesome! I've seen the movie many times, but I've never gone to a showing. They had props and we yelled at the screen and did the Time Warp again and again. Tonight, there are several other Halloween parties, but I've been too comfortable in my nest of blankets, watching Dr. Who, and eating Chinese food with my roomie. We rocked some pretty awesome masks last night though! I hope you had a safe and happy Halloween as well!

Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere

We made some pretty pumpkins! The one on the left is mine. I used glitter and metallic crayons to create quite an effect. The one on the right is my boyfriend, Joe's. He used sharpies to make that cute little face. :)

Of course we had to carve some too! I did Tinkerbell and Joe made a storm trooper. We plan on making more so stay tuned!

Vegan Garlic Mashed Potatoes

I absolutely love mashed potatoes! And this one is easy to convert to a regular dish too, for those who aren't vegan. 

What you'll need:

1 whole head garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 potatoes, cooked

1/4 cup vegan margarine

1/2 cup soy creamer or soy milk

Sea salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Remove outer layer of skin from garlic head. Drizzle generously with olive oil, wrap in aluminum foil, and place on baking sheet. Roast in oven for 30 minutes.

3. Gently press cloves out of the skins, and mash smooth with a fork.

4. Using a mixer or a potato masher, combine roasted garlic with potatoes, margarine, and creamer or milk until smooth or desired consistency.

5. Season generously with salt and pepper.

I used a masher for my potatoes and I sprinkled a little nutmeg on top too. I also peeled the potatoes while the oven was preheating and started boiling them around the same time that I put in the garlic. They both finished around the same time (the potatoes took just a bit longer to cook). I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Lazy Sunday

It's lazy Sunday!  What did you do today?  I dyed my hair and...didn't do the things I was supposed to do.  Lol I suppose it's story time.  Last night we went out to Iowa City with a bunch of my college friends and, needless to say, things got a little crazy.  My friends are the best in the world; mostly because they're theatre people like me who love Dr. Who and play Disney Scene-It.  Because of the theatre thing, there is some drama to be expected.  But we had a great time.  My friend, Jason, loves to be weird and touch people when he's drunk.  So we were walking down the street and he was trying to touch as many people as he could.  Surprisingly, he made a couple of friends in the college infested city.  Most girls kind of shy away from the touch of a man, but Jason isn't so concerned about that.  Lol he's a great guy though and if you ever happen to pass him on the street, just let him do his thing and move on.  :D  This is a lame story, I'm aware, but perhaps next week I'll have a better one.  It's my roommate's birthday on the 28th, we'll probably get a little crazy being closer to home.  Have a great day!

Been one of those days...

There was a guy who came into the store today wearing a dalek t-shirt that said "exterminate". I squealed and said "I fricken love your shirt!" Then he asked for a wine bag. *swoon* That's the best thing from this day, other than date night tonight and the fact that it's nice and freezing outside. ^_^

Cheap DIY Halloween Wreath

I know it's only the middle of September, but Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. And it's not because of the candy. Decorating for Halloween was something that was instilled in me since I was a young girl...aka, my mom decorates a lot too. Here's a tutorial on how to make a super cheap, kind of creepy, mostly pretty wreath. :)

What you'll need:

A wire hanger

A pool floatie (I call it a noodle)-$.97 from Wal-Mart

Black yarn-$2.00 from Wal-Mart

Black bird with wire in the feet-$1.00 from Dollar Tree

2 pairs of black flowers with spiders-$1.00 from Dollar Tree

Gray creepy wrap-$1.00 from Dollar Tree

Step 1: Unfold wire hanger and untwist the top so it's open. Make it's as straight as possible. Grab your noodle from the past summer. Hold the hanger next to the noodle to get a measurement. Cut a little longer, just in case (I used a ceramic knife to slice mine). Push the hanger inside the noodle and adjust the noodle, if needed. Twist the top of the hanger back together.

Step 2: Wrap your noodle with the yarn. To keep it stuck to the noodle, I used double sided tape. I'm not sure how long the yarn needs to be, I cut all the pieces a little short so it was easier to wrap around. 

Step 3: Put the creepy wrap around the top to cover the ends of the noodle. Add the bird to the inside.

Step 4: Cut up the flowers and stick them into the side with the wrap. I used all six flowers that came on the stems but you can use less, or more if you got more than two pairs. Cut two spiders off (or more) and stick them in in random spots. When you hang it on your wreath holder, bend the top of the hanger over so it doesn't fly away so easily in a gust of wind.

Ta-da! You're all finished, it's looking great! And you don't feel like you broke the bank. ;) Thanks for checking out my first tutorial! Please come back for more! ^_^

9/14/13 Outfit of the day

First (and favorite) fall outfit of the year! So happy it's been getting colder out. ^_^ The jeans are from Gordman's, boots from Avon, the red sweater and sweater dress were gifts, and the scarf was made by my aunt. I absolutely love this outfit, I wear it entirely too much! :D Hope you had a great, chilly day!

Day off!

I'm so excited to have the day off! And it's supposed to be nice out, I hear. Maybe another Cedar Falls photo tour is in order. Or, perhaps, I'll just stay home and watch Dr. Who and Once Upon A Time. Decisions, decisions! I definitely have been feeling an artsy/crafty vibe lately; it must be that time of year. :) Hears hoping something inspires me and I have something to blog about later tonight. I do hope you're having a wonderful day as well!

9/11/2013 look of the day

God bless America! In honor of today, I wore some stripes. :) The dress is from Kohl's, the shrug is from Vanity, the scarf is from my job (Vintage Iron), and the shoes are Avon. 

Vegan crepes and hazelnut spread

I love being a vegan! The recipes are so easy and you really don't spend as much as you think you do for ingredients.

The chocolate hazelnut spread recipe:

2 cups hazelnuts (or cashews), chopped

1/2 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

4-5 tablespoons vegetable oil

1. Process nuts in a food processor until finely ground, about 3-4 minutes.

2. Add cocoa powder, sugar, and vanilla, and process to combine.

3. Add oil, just a little bit at a time, until mixture is soft and creamy and desired consistency is reached. You may need to add a bit more or less than 4-5 tablespoons.

Per tablespoon:

Calories: 164  Fat: 14g  Sodium: 1mg  Fiber: 3g  Protein: 3g

Vegan crepes recipe:

1 cup flour

3/4 cup soy milk

1/4 cup water

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup vegan margarine, melted

1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Whisk together all ingredients. Chill for at least 1 hour. Remove from fridge and remix. (I found that if I let it warm a little bit after, it worked better)

2. Lightly grease a nonstick pan and heat over medium-high heat.

3. Place about 1/4 cup batter in pan and swirl to coat. Cool for just a minute, until set, then carefully flip, using a spatula or even your hands. Heat for just 1 more minute, then transfer to a plate.

Per serving:

Calories: 221  Fat: 12g  Sodium: 336mg  Fiber: 1g  Protein: 4g

I filled my crepes with the chocolate hazelnut spread and it was oh so delicious! Beware though, the spread can be very sweet and rich. You can, of course, fill it with something else. :) Enjoy!

Today's look

Today's look is comfy and casual. I finally have a day off! Though I do have a meeting with my volunteer family. :) Happy Sunday!

Short hair styles

I did my roommates hair the other night. She has short, fine hair so it was a bit of a challenge but I like how it all turned out. 

To create this look: tease hair at the crown, twist hair back on both sides, and flip the excess up. Pin with bobby pins. To give it a more messy look, let a couple of strands stay loose. Very simple, very romantic.

To create this look: tease hair from the crown to the front and pin back, pull hair from the sides and pin so they cross each other, twist excess up to the side and pin with bobby pins. Also simple and elegant. Just make sure you have bobby pins that match your hair color as much as possible. :D