Can you guess what I'm up to?

Can you guess what I'm doing on this fine Sunday afternoon? :)

It's Pinspired Friday!

It's Friday already??? Guess that means its time for...!

Well guys, I am sharing something near and dear to me today... about two years ago now, I ran across this pin:

 

This is the Land of Nod baby bird mobile. It's unfortunately not available on their website any longer, but I do remember looking at it on their website and it was something like $80.00.  Holy mackerel. It's cute and all but I wasn't sure it was worth 80 bucks. I was inspired (Pinspired!) to make something like that but even more cute and more affordable.

Now, if you're anything like me, I like to copy EXACTLY what I see on Pinterest. If it doesn't match pretty dang perfectly, I get a little bummed. It's such a bad habit, because I know Pinterest is there to spark creativity but sometimes it's hard to not compare yours to the perfectly photographed, perfectly lit, perfectly coiffed version. I actually read an interesting blog post on this once, I'll have to see if I can dig it up.

BUT, I was determined this time to be inspired, not run out and grab blue, green and white yarn. A lot of that was determined by the fact that I can't crochet, knit, etc. to save my life. Haha. What I can do though is sew, so enter my version:

I used a variety of grosgrain ribbons, a super cute monkey and "baby" fabric and it was all done in green so it's unisex... a great gift for those expecting but waiting to find out the sex. I did hand sew each of the birds (it gets faster the more you do, haha). This project was really a matter of trial and error... it was really awesome to just be creative with a general idea in mind, hence why this project is so near and dear to my heart... it was really a release of creativity and it was just an awesome feeling to see it complete!

It is available to purchase... hence why no tutorial (and the fact this took me almost 2 years to complete means no in-progress pictures... sorry about that.) It's available in the Little Oak Creations Etsy shop, please check it out sometime!

Thanks for reading! I hope that you can find inspiration from this post... take something you see and make it your own and make it awesome! :)

Chocolate Chip Blondies - For Budgets!

Well, there is a new favorite dessert in town... these chocolate chip blondies are seriously to die for. At night, we often crave a little sweet - and I'm often torn between making the yummy, taking the time, or sometimes I just don't have all of the ingredients. These blondie bars are almost like a cookie bar but have the density and the softness of a brownie. Have you ever had a cookie bar that you've almost busted a tooth on? That won't happen with these. These are soft but sturdy enough to hold in your hand.

The original recipe is from Taste of Home. I've adapted the original and made a few modifications. Don't you agree that Taste of Home has the BEST recipes?? It seems like every one I've ever made from there turns out wonderful.

As usual, I'll post the modified recipe in it's entirety at the bottom of the post.

First off, preheat your oven to 350. Then, get out two bowls. In our first bowl, we're going to combine:
• 1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted (This is where my major modification comes in: I use Imperial 53% vegetable oil spread. I'll explain why below)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten (I used medium sized eggs without a problem.)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I use the imitation vanilla extract because I am cheap.)

Mix it all up until it looks like this.

So now you're wondering... why not butter? Why Imperial? a) It was the only thing I had in the fridge at the time. And the box even says "Great for Baking!". Ha. b) The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of butter. A 1/2 cup is a whole stick of butter, and I don't know if you've seen the price of butter recently, but I like to make things stretch and a whole stick of butter used on one dish isn't stretching it in my book. PLUS, I believe that butter would probably make these very flat when cooked. The veg oil spread does provide a bit of density. c) Related to the price of butter - this whole box (4 1/2 cup sticks) is only 79 cents at my local Save-A-Lot. Score in my book! It's this box if you're not familiar.

So back to the baking! haha. In your second bowl, you're now going to combine:
• 1- 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder (not baking soda!!)
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Mix well. You'll end up with this:



Before combining the two bowls, get 1 cup of chocolate chips ready to go. I use semi-sweet. Combine the flour bowl into the liquid bowl. Mix a little bit, then add your chocolate chips in and continue to mix until the flour is all combined in.



Your oven should be preheated to 350 at this point. This is another modification I did - I used a square glass baking dish (it's either 9x9 or 8x8... I'd tell you but it's filled with these blondies right now ;)) instead of the 13x9 the original recipe calls for. Why? I really wanted dense blondies. These are a little more than an inch thick when they're done and it makes for just a really awesome bite. So lightly grease up your dish, whatever you decide... I use Crisco to grease my dishes for baking. Then, using your spatula, empty the yummy looking mix into the dish.

Oh yum.

Another modification coming up... the original recipe calls for 18-20 minutes at 350. Maybe it's my oven, maybe it's because I made these a lot thicker by using a 8x8 or 9x9 vs a 13x9, but there is NO CHANCE these are done in 18-20 minutues. If you're going to do a 13x9, 18-20 minutes is a good starting point. If you're doing a smaller dish like me, I did 22 minutes normally, then used my "speed bake" function on my oven for another 9-10 minutes. You're really just going to have to check this one towards the end. If you don't have a speed bake option on your oven, I'm going to guess these take about 25-30 minutes normally, maybe even 30-35. This is really not a quick cooking recipe but it is so quick to put together, you've got to forgive it a little. ;) Insert a toothpick in the middle when you think it's close - if the toothpick comes out generally clean (I inserted it right into a chocolate chip once... whoops) you're go to go. They cook a little bit more in the pan when out of the oven.

After they're done...

In my household, these don't even last long enough for me to get a decent picture! haha! You can see the awesome top layer and the dense middle in this picture though. Enjoy! They're great even days afterwards (if they last that long! ;))

Chocolate Chip Blondies - Modified for Budgets!

• 1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted (Or spread/margarine)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten (Medium size is fine)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (Imitation is good too)
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (8 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla just until blended. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to brown sugar mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
Spread into either a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan and bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes, or in a smaller square baking pan and bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes. Either way, bake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Thanks for following along!

It's Pinspired Friday! {Lace Scarf Tutorial}

Welcome to my weekly feature, Pinspired Fridays!

 

So I was pinning away one day and stumbled on "my" main page - I have 905 pins! WHAT! So I decided to give myself an "ultimatum" of sorts - a "get on that!" challenge of my own. Every Friday I will be attempting a project of some sort from my Pinterest boards. It can be food, it can be crafts, but I gotta do it!

So without further ado, may I present my first PF post!

I have had this scarf pinned for over a year in my DIY board. I love how romantic it looks and I think it would look awesome with a pea coat and some boots this winter! Unfortunately, this is no tutorial for this EXACT scarf, and the page it's from is all in German, but I think we can figure it out pretty easily.

The folks over at this website were kind enough to include this view in their listing. From this, we can deduce that the scarf needs to hit about top of the thigh or slightly higher when the lace panel is added.

So for this, we'll need an old T-shirt, a sewing machine, and a panel of lace. I bet vintage lace is going to work the best - something with a bit of cotton in it, not completely synthetic, otherwise it won't hold it's shape very well.

And this is where I show how much of a noob I am when it comes to blogging still - I don't have any pictures of me cutting my shirt. Sigh. But! Here is the exact tutorial I followed when it came to cutting my t-shirt. http://organizeyourstuffnow.com/wordpress/make-an-infinity-scarf-from-a-t-shirt.

So now that you've got your shirt cut and stretched (make sure you've got it stretched really good before you start! You don't want to be wringing on your scarf too much with your cotton lace on it as cotton doesn't stretch well.), try your scarf on and leave it unwrapped around your neck.

This is where we're going to figure out how much lace we'll need. From the mannequin, it looks like we'll need about a foot or a little more of lace. I decided on 14"... and ended up cutting a little less than that, because I decided to cut off a ratty piece of lace instead of folding it under, so more like 12".

Now, if you're one of those sewers who has to have perfect stitches and perfect measurements... you might want to stop reading. This is one of those projects I just "winged" and yes, I'm leaving undone edges as both my lace and jersey for my scarf doesn't unravel... and the little bit that the lace does, I really like for a "shabby chic" look. So! With that being said... for those brave enough to just "wing it" too, proceed! :)
As you can see, my lace is a little larger width wise than my grey shirt part. In my case, I decided to bunch the lace as I went for a billowy effect rather than cut off the completed edges on both sides -- less sewing is best in my book.

Now, find your seam on your t-shirt (and make it look like a giant pair of shorts in my case?). You'll probably have two seams on your shirt, so just pick one. I picked this one because of that little weird cut divot down there. My shirt was originally one of those shirts with a tie waist, hence the little divot. Cut on that seam, opening up your t-shirt into a long piece of fabric.
I left this image large so that you can see what's going on. What we're going to do now is align our ends and sew this baby up. You can see in the background that the other seam is facing up as well. Think of it this way - you're pinning it so that when you flip it all around, all of your seams will be on the inside of your scarf. If you were to pin it the opposite way, you'd have your other shirt seam facing inside, and the lace and raw gray edge would be seamed facing the outside. If you're really winging it and this won't bother you, go to town but I decided I wanted all of my seams facing inside my scarf. I am pinning it and folding some of the lace together to make little folds in the lace (remember I left it slightly larger than the grey part? I am now folding it into little pleats basically so that the lace will become the same size or width as the grey fabric.) If you're worried about fraying, make sure you fold your edges under before sewing.

We're not worried about fraying here, so we're just going to start sewing it. This foot is for some reason my favorite foot to work with. If I line up the edge with the edge of this foot, it just works perfectly and I'm a fan of that, but please use whatever foot you're comfortable with. Start sewing, back track at the beginning and end to really make sure your seams are tight and don't start to unwind when tugged on while wearing.

We're done with one side! Woo hoo! You should have your piece of lace now attached on one side of your scarf. I've circle my pleat in black (I ended up with two pleats per side for my slightly larger lace to align perfectly with my jersey.)
Sew up the other side, making sure to follow the same directions regarding your seams facing in or out. And then when you're done with that...

You're done!!! :) Your scarf will take a bit of fidgeting to get it just right, rolling to hide seams and whatnot, but when it's done (and when you have better lighting than I do! ha!) it looks great!

Thanks for following along with my Pinspired Fridays post! I'd love to see your take on this scarf! And if you have any questions, please comment and let me know! I'll try my best to help out!

Quick Cinnamon Rolls - No Yeast, Modified for 2!

If you're anything like me, you've got a sweet tooth that just won't quit, especially at night! This is the perfect recipe if you're looking for something that doesn't make a million pieces of dessert, tastes amazing and is EASY above all.

I present to you - Quick Cinnamon Rolls. For 2! I've cut the original ratios down to a third of the amounts. I'll add the original amounts for you too just in case you've got to feed a crowd! (I'll post the recipe in it's entirety at the bottom too... just in case you don't care to check out my dancing bears pictures.

           

And you're about to ask - what the heck is that book? You'll probably be seeing that (ugly) book around here often - it's the mother ship. The holy grail of recipes in the LOC household. It is to be revered and the cover, to be ignored. haha
To begin, let's start the yummy cinnamon-y brown sugary filling. The best part, let's be honest. We'll need:
4 (1 1/3) tablespoons of butter (softened - nuke it for a few seconds (NOT TOO LONG! been there, done that, not fun) in the microwave.
1 (1/3) cup brown sugar
3 (1) teaspoons cinnamon

               That looks about right.

Because we are cutting this recipe into thirds, the original recipe calls for 4 tablespoons of butter. We now only need 1 1/3 tablespoons of butter.

Get your bowl ready - in a small bowl, combine your softened butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon to form a crumbly mixture. Use your hands to combine - I've tried this multiple times with a fork, spatula, etc and nothing seems to work as well as your hands!

Mix it up... until it looks like this:

It should look like wet brown sugar and smell like heaven. Now, get your 9x9 pan ready to go. No need to grease it up, the butter will do an adequate job. I used a Corningware French White dish - mine was the 1 1/2 quart size. Sprinkle a little of the mixture over the bottom of your pan. 
In another bowl, we'll begin making the dough. We'll need:
2 (2/3) cups flour
2 (2/3) tablespoons sugar
4 (1 1/3) teaspoons baking powder
1 (1/3) teaspoon salt
3 (1) tablespoon butter (softened!)
3/4 (1/4) cup milk
P.S. - This is a good time to start pre-heating your oven! Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

In that bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Cut in your softened butter. Once again, it's messy but I use my hands to get it perfectly cut in. Then, stir in your milk to form a soft dough.

It should look like this. Once again, you might have to use your hands to get your dough looking like this... just make sure to wash your hands constantly. ;)

Take your dough and roll it out on a lightly flour-dusted cutting board. You'll want to get it relatively thin, a little less than 1/4" thick.

Take your remaining filling and sprinkle it over the dough. You'll then start rolling in from one side.

One of my favorite parts - once you're done rolling up your dough, take a sharp (not serrated) knife and slice the roll into pieces. I was able to cut mine into 17 pieces.

Separate and place into your pan atop the brown sugar yumminess. The sugar will basically caramelize the bottom of the rolls when it's cooked - probably my most favorite part of these rolls! At this point, your oven will probably be preheated and ready to go. Place the pan in the oven and bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Remember, all ovens vary a little so keep your eye on them! They don't turn super brown when they're done, unlike other cinnamon rolls, so you'll have to make a judgement call on this one - but 20 minutes is perfect for the LOC oven.

While the rolls are cooking, let's make the glaze. I didn't even take any pictures of this step because it's so easy. For the glaze, we'll need:
1/2 (1/4) cup powdered sugar
1/4 (1/8) cup milk

Combine the powdered sugar and the milk in a small bowl and stir until smooth. A good tip: use a small Pyrex or other measuring cup to measure your milk, then add your powdered sugar and stir it right in there. No need to dirty another bowl!!

20 minutes later...

Ta-da! Pull your divine smelling cinnamon rolls out of the oven and pour the glaze over them. It'll probably sizzle just a little in the pan, so be forewarned. Let them cool for a moment (nothing hotter than seemingly nuclear sugar!!) and then dig in!!

Quick Cinnamon Rolls - No Yeast - A Food.com recipe originally, cut down and modified for 2.
Find the original recipe at http://www.food.com/recipe/quick-cinnamon-rolls-no-yeast-293243

Dough:
2 (2/3) cups flour
2 (2/3) tablespoons sugar
4 (1 1/3) teaspoons baking powder
1 (1/3) teaspoon salt
3 (1) tablespoon butter (softened!)
3/4 (1/4) cup milk

Filling:
4 (1 1/3) tablespoons of butter (softened - nuke it for a few seconds (NOT TOO LONG! been there, done that, not fun) in the microwave.
1 (1/3) cup brown sugar
3 (1) teaspoons cinnamon

Glaze:
1/2 (1/4) cup powdered sugar
1/4 (1/8) cup milk

1. For the filling, in a small bowl combine softened butter, brown sugar and cinnamon to form a crumbly mixture.
2. Sprinkle 1/2 of the mixture over the bottom of a 9x9 pan.
3. In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
4. Cut in softened butter (sometimes your hands are the best tools).
5. Stir in milk to form a soft dough.
6. Roll out dough on a lightly floured into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.
7. Spread the remaining filling on the rolled out dough.
8. Roll up the rectangle, with a sharp knife slice into 18 small rolls (12 if you want them a little bigger).
9. Bake for 20-25 min at 400°F.
10. For glaze, combine powdered sugar and milk in a small bowl and stir until smooth.
11. Once rolls are finished, drizzle on glaze and serve warm.

Hello everyone!

Hi everyone!
This is Little Oak Creations, a blog dedicated to cheap eats, easy shortcuts, fun crafts and so much more. I decided to start this blog so that I could share my way of life with others and perhaps even help others too. You can call me K!  Please join me on this little adventure!