It's Pinspired Friday! {Creative Gift Wrapping}

Good morning all! Can you believe it's already Friday? It's time for:

Today, I wanted to share some of my favorite ways to wrap Christmas presents! I am traveling this week so I have not been able to make anything of my own except for memories. :)

Since last Christmas, I have collected different ways to wrap presents on my personal Pinterest. For me, I have always enjoyed wrapping presents but B.F. (before Pinterest... ha!) I had never put much more thought into it than paper, bow, name sticker.

Some of my new favorite ways include flowers instead of bows, especially "poppies"!

From Stamping and Stitching: "A Gift on a Gift"

I love this one because it really could be two gifts in one - you could make a poppy pin and attach it to the raffia just by looping it through. I LOVE kraft paper too... so incredibly versatile. I think I need to get a snowflake stamp! :)

From CreatureComfortsBlog: 5 Minute DIY Fabric Poppy

 Another poppy/kraft paper favorite... and with directions! I have made a flower using a similar process and it is so incredibly easy. I would probably use black seed beads to create the middles. I love that bakers twine too.

From One Charming Party: How to Wrap a Present

This one is for a birthday, but wouldn't it be awesome in Christmas paper and with coordinating color paper? And how easy is this! Expect to see something similar, friends and family. ;)

From Make it Do: Felt Poinsetta

Very similar to the gift on gift link above, you could make a beautiful pin or hair pin out of the flower! Two gifts in one are awesome.

From CreatureComfortsBlog.com: D.I.Y. Eco-Happy Pom Pom

This one is a neat idea! The pom pom is actually a plastic bag. Who doesn't have a million of those lying around? It's a great way to recycle.

Thanks for reading! I'll be back next week with a post on foaming soap for pennies, crafts and more recipes! :)

It's Pinspired Friday! {Sausage Pepper Cups Recipe}

Good morning and Happy Friday! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. Today is Black Friday so if you are venturing out today for some deals please stay safe but have a good time! :)

It's time for...

Today I found inspiration on my personal "Food" board. I pinned this pin "over a year ago" according to Pinterest and have always thought it looked good but never had all of my "ingredient stars" align and I didn't want to go out and purchase these ingredients unless I was going to a party and needed a great appetizer... so there it sat.

"Sausage Stars" from With a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart

This is apparently a Hidden Valley Ranch recipe from a while ago. The original recipe calls for black olives (bleck), green peppers (meh... prefer red ones), wonton wrappers, sausage, ranch, and shredded cheese (those last four are a-okay in my book! ;)) Well, I had the wonton wrappers, sausage and ranch but I was running low on shredded cheese... but I did have about 4 oz. of Velveeta cheese left... hmm! And that's where Pinspiration stuck.

To start, let's gather our ingredients:
• Wonton wrappers (I used about 14-15)
• 1lb pork sausage
• 4 oz. Velveeta cheese
• 1 small red pepper. Mine was shaped like a small banana pepper. If you can't find that kind, use just a little bit of a red bell pepper.
• A pinch of shredded cheddar cheese
• 1-2 tablespoons Ranch Dressing

You'll also want:
• Some spray oil - I use spray canola oil.
• A muffin tin. I used a "normal" sized muffin tin, it would appear that the original pin used a mini size muffin pan. If you want them to stretch farther than a yield of 14, use a mini muffin tin (you'll need more than 14 wonton wrappers then) With the typical sized muffin pan, they'll make cups, but one side might be farther down than the others.
• A non-stick cookie sheet

First, preheat your oven to 350, and then get out your wonton wrappers. Mine had a slightly stiff side... but no worries. If you get your wrappers out and they have any stiff parts, do this:

Get a small microwave safe plate, and run it under water. You just want the plate almost damp, so shake off excess water, then throw your stack on the plate. You might end up with the wonton wrapper that is sitting directly on the plate being too soggy to use, so just throw that one out at the end. Put the stack of wrappers on the plate into the microwave, and microwave for 10-15 seconds. They should come out much more pliable.

Now take your canola spray and spray the muffin tin cups. Place a wonton wrapper in each, and then hit them with a spray of the oil too. This'll help them crisp up.

 Your oven should be preheated to 350, so go ahead and place your wrappers in the oven. Mine took about 7 minutes to get a nice crisp edge. The original recipe calls for 5 minutes, but mine were not there yet at the 5 minute mark. The bottom of the wonton may not be super crispy at this point - that's okay, we're just looking for the edges to be slightly crispy so they'll stand up right now. Leave your oven on, we'll need it again.

Set those aside, and begin browning your sausage. While the sausage is browning, cut up your 4 oz. of Velveeta into smaller, more-easy-to-melt chunks.

Cut up your small red banana pepper. I cut it up right on the same plate as the cheese. Once your meat is pretty much all browned, put the cheese and pepper in. Mix it up to help the cheese melt. Add 1-2 tablespoons of Ranch dressing to the pot.

Yummmm! Mix it all up until the cheese is sufficiently melted. Now, get your cookie sheet out and transfer the cups from the muffin tin to the cookie pan. If you're like me, you're like... why get another pan dirty? Well, when they're not in the cups, the air will circulate better and help the bottom crisp up, and they won't become soggy cups. Otherwise I wouldn't be getting another pan dirty! :)

Take your mix and spoon the mix into the cups. Add just a hint of shredded cheese to the tops.

Bake at 350 for another 5 minutes. Yields about 14-15 cups if using a typical size muffin pan, would yield more in a mini muffin pan. Enjoy!! Makes a great appetizer for a party or a ridiculously yummy dinner too! ;)

Sausage Pepper Cups

Ingredients 
• Wonton wrappers
• 1lb pork sausage
• 4 oz. Velveeta cheese
• 1 small red pepper. Mine was shaped like a small banana pepper. If you can't find that kind, use just a little bit of a red bell pepper.
• A pinch of shredded cheddar cheese
• 1-2 tablespoons Ranch Dressing

1) Preheat oven to 350.
2) Spray your muffin pan with oil spray (I used canola), make sure the cups are sprayed well. Add wonton wrappers to each hole. A regular sized muffin tin and this recipe will yield about 14-15 cups.
3) Lightly spray each wonton wrapper with the oil spray.
4) Bake wonton wrappers for 5-7 minutes until sides are crispy.
5) Brown sausage. As sausage is browning, slice 4 oz. Velveeta cheese into smaller chunks. Chop small red pepper.
6) As sausage nears completion, add cheese, red pepper, and 1-2 tablespoons of Ranch dressing.
7) Remove crispy wonton cups and place on a non-stick cookie sheet.
8) Once cheese is melted, spoon mixture into wonton cups.
9) Sprinkle a little shredded cheddar cheese on top of each cup, and place in the oven. Bake for 5 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove and enjoy!

Thanks for following along!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Good morning all,

Just wanted to stop in and wish all of my readers a Happy Thanksgiving. This year I am extra thankful for all of you - this is the first thanksgiving for this blog and I am so thankful that people read it and find joy in the crafts, recipes, or thoughts it brings. I am also thankful for all of those who have purchased something from my Etsy shop! I am thankful I've been able to share my talents with you.

If you're venturing out tomorrow night or Friday morning in search of deals, be safe and have a good time. Pinspired Friday is still going to be happening and I'll give you a hint - it's an incredible appetizer you'll probably want to bring to every holiday party this year!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving day and weekend.

-  littleoakcreations

Can you guess what I'm working on... Revealed!

So you may be wondering what the heck I was referring to in this post back on the 28th of October... a little teaser post with an owl picture?...

Earlier in October, I posted my first bird mobile on Etsy and within just a few seconds of sharing it on my personal Facebook, one of my friends contacted me and wanted to know if I would be willing to do one in owls for one of her expecting friends. I had never done one in owls... heck, I'd only ever done one of these things and this was it. But I thought... why not? And we got in touch to plan out the perfect little owl mobile.

We spent some time together picking out the perfect fabric, and I got to work.

 

A prototype :)

We picked colors that would work for either gender and using a mix of cotton, a flannel and embroidery thread, these owls started to take shape. 

 A slight alteration of the pattern...

 Picking just the right ribbons...

And making sure all of the fabric matched... I had 6 tiny owls with big personalities on my hands. :)

Sorry, this photo is slightly blurry, but I thought it was a nice close-up for showing off the details. Each one, and each piece on each owl is hand-embroidered for that cute little "primitive", or "young" look. No sewing machine here! I love the machine but sometimes for things like this it's more headache than just sewing it by hand.

And finally, after quite a few days of deliberation on perfect ribbons and colors, we had a completed mobile.

I can honestly say I am THRILLED with how this turned out and I could not have worked with a better client. She put up with all of my cryptic texts that probably made more sense in my head than written out about fabric choices and ribbon selection and was just awesome to work with. It was awesome stepping out of my comfort zone and doing something I had never done before!

I am coming up with a new way of creating a mobile that I think will be just as cute if not cuter (more cute?). I am not sure I will be taking any more custom requests on this style of mobile any longer BUT I am planning a new style that will be much easier to ship and faster to complete, so stay tuned for more information on that! :)

Thanks for following along! If you've got any questions or comments, I'd love to hear 'em! :)

It's Pinspired Friday! {A Little Apron}

TGFPF! (Thank God For Pinspired Fridays!)

Today, I am featuring yet another Christmas present, this time for my little niece. Last Christmas, I made pretty much everyone's Christmas present. Things ranged from scarves, necklaces, car carriers, barrette heads, quilts, can coozies, checkbook covers, business card holders... you name it, I probably did it. Needless to say, it left me a little burned out. I really had no intention on making a bunch of gifts this year.

But then I started making a list of people I had to buy for... and then I started seeing some interesting projects on Pinterest like last weeks whale... and the whole thing has snowballed again this year. Ha! This time, I am making it slightly easier on myself by not doing massive projects like the quilts, and I am buying a few gifts.

That being said, I purchased a 12 piece cupcake kit that comes with measuring spoons, cupcake tin, cupcake wrappers, cupcake stand, etc. for my niece. Her momma told me she always wants to help with baking and cooking and I thought this would be perfect.

The kit came with an apron, but it's plastic and lame. Every little girl who's interesting in baking and cooking needs a REAL apron!

So I scoured Pinterest looking for a good pattern and stumbled upon this:

From Petite Purls

It was perfect - I wanted a pattern or an idea that didn't use bias tape, something basic that I could dress up any way I wanted, and in a child's size.

If you're interested in the full tutorial, head on over to Petite Purls. I am just going to give a basic rundown of what I did, how I changed things and what I did differently.

I first cut my fabric. I'm using this ridiculously cute monkey fabric that I used for my bird mobile. For the main apron part, we need two pieces of 21"x19". fabric. Somehow, I screwed up and in my cutting, I cut pretty close to a 20"x20". D'oh. Luckily, I had a little trick up my sleeve that I'll show you later, so it was not the end of the world.

The original post I got the idea/pattern from says to now use the template to cut the sleeves. Well, there was no template linked (seems to be my luck eh?) So what I ended up doing was going 8" down and 6" across on paper, curving to create my own template. Traced it on the back of the fabric and cut it out.

This ridiculously cute fabric comes in green too. For the large pocket, we needed two 10"x19" pieces. Sew the two green pieces together right sides facing on the top seam only (this is your nice seam for the pocket). Turn the pieces inside out so the wrong sides are facing each other, press your seam and top stitch it. So fancy! Now, run a seam down the exact middle of the pocket. This seam is visible, so try to make it as straight as possible. Now you have a nice divided pocket.

So here's my little trick I was talking about. So I didn't end up with virtually a square apron, I added a small ruffle to the bottom. I cut a piece of fabric that was probably about 40" long and 3-4" wide. I folded this piece in half lengthwise (some would say hot dog style fold) so that the right sides were facing each other. Then, I sewed down the length and turned it inside out. Using just my regular walking foot on my machine, I then ruffled the fabric.

To ruffle the fabric, I just used my fingers to smoosh the fabric together as it went under the needle. Obviously, watch your fingers as you do this - your fingers shouldn't really be anywhere near the needle but closer to the feet. Once I was finished, I had about 6 inches more ruffle than I needed to fit the bottom of the apron, so I trimmed it to fit. (above picture)

In the original post, she makes three beautiful 20"x3" strips to make the neck tie, and the side ties. I was pretty much out of long enough fabric at this point, and because of the hard time I had cutting the apron earlier, I decided against making the ties but rather using coordinating ribbon. So I cut three 20" pieces of ribbon. Pin your neck tie 1/2" from each edge of the neck. Pin your side ties about 1/2" down from the corner. If you're doing a ruffle like me, pin your ruffle IN so that it's on the bottom when we inside-out the entire thing. A few tips here:

• Maybe I didn't catch it in the original tutorial, but I pinned everything down so that it was in the right place at this step. Since we're going to be sandwiching all of this in with the other apron piece which is eventually the back of the apron, it helps things not shift when you put the other apron piece on.
• You don't want to sew your neck ribbon or your side ties when you go to sandwich the apron together, so stick your side ties (loosely) in the pockets.
• Your ruffle will have the nice side facing the top of the apron at this point, and the yucky stitched side is going to be sewn under, so you won't have to worry about how bad those seams look.
• If you're going to use ribbon like me for the ties, and if one side is patterned like mine - pin the ribbon so it's pattern side is facing down (see above picture). This way, when you turn everything inside out, your pretty pattern is facing up.

So now, we sandwich the other piece of the apron (your back piece) to the piece with all of the pinned pockets, etc. Right side to right side (you'll be looking at the wrong side when you're sewing). To do this, lay the piece on top and align so the sides match up. The easiest way I found to do this was starting at the neck. Then, you'll be moving all of the pins on the piece below to the piece you just put on top. Start at the beginning and work your way around the apron to ensure all of the pins get moved to the top. You'll want to put them in the same general area on the apron they were before (i.e. the pin holding the ribbon, etc).

Now, before you sew, make sure you've left yourself about a 4" opening so you can inside-out the entire thing. I left my opening at the armpit. The original tutorial calls for the opening to be left at the bottom but with the ruffle, I didn't want to do that.

Sew around the apron (and move slowly through your ruffle - that's a lot of fabric your machine is plowing through right now and a broken needle is the last thing you want!). "Reverse" at the opening you leave so that it's a strong stitch when you go to turn it inside out. I just followed the edge of my walking foot - maybe a little less than a 1/2" seam allowance. If you're using a white fabric like me or something that you can see through a little, make sure you're watching so you don't accidentally sew up your ties.

Now get super excited and turn that bad boy inside out! Now, you'll have to top stitch around the entire apron, which will in turn close that armpit hole. Pin that hole and iron the apron so you get some nice crisp seams. Top stitch around the apron (I put my zipper foot on for this one so I could get close to a 1/4" seam allowance and followed the edge of the zipper foot). A tip: I started my top stitching in the left hand corner under the armpit. I figured if the threads got wonky when I first started, it'd at least end up under the armpit).

And you're done! How awesome is that? Give it a good ironing and then give it to someone you love!

 Thanks for following along! If you have any questions or comments, I'd love to hear 'em! For more pictures and to see the original pattern, head over Petite Purls.

More Goodies Added to the Store! {Just in Time for Christmas!}

Hi all! I just wanted to stop in real quick and talk about some of the goodies that I added to my Etsy store yesterday. I added a few handmade items and a few vintage items too!

First off, I added a one of a kind owl plushie made out of vintage fabrics. He can be used as a door hanger in a nursery (he doesn't have any sharp or small parts, so he's okay around little hands! :), an ornament on a tree, a gift tag, pretty much anything!

OOAK Owl Plushie Door Hanger Nursery Gift Tag Ornament Cute Boy Blue

You might recognize that pattern from my little teaser post in late October... and don't worry, I'm going to reveal what that little purple owl was up to real soon (keep your eye on the blog on Monday)! Just like the others, he's hand-stitched. He's a steal at only $5.99.

Next, I posted a vintage trivet/doily in phenomenal shape, believed to be from the 1950's or so. The colors are vibrant and the grapes are intricate and cute.

Vintage Crocheted Grapes Trivet Doily Grapes Great Condition Great Grandma or Mother Gift

I think this would make an excellent gift for a grandmother or mother this Christmas, especially for one who loves grapes or has a grape/wine theme going on. Priced at $9.99. I can't crochet to save my life but I can just imagine the time this took to make!

Then, I added a baby pink garter! I hand-sewed each bead and sequin to the garter. I actually have been making these for years - back in high school, I used to put them on eBay for a little extra spending cash. I thought this would be prefect for a bachelorette party, prom or a wedding.

Baby Pink Garter Handsewn Sequins and Beads Perfect for Wedding Prom Bachelorette Party

What is neat is that the beads don't fly off when the garter is stretched. The way that they are sewn into the elastic helps this. :) Priced at $6.99, I think this would even be cute to attach to the bachelorette's gift!

Up next, I added a pair of "Christmas Tree" earrings that I created. They aren't actually Christmas trees, but I think the wire wrapping and the triangular shape makes them look that way! I can't help but think they would be cute for a holiday party or New Years.

Chandelier Earrings Blue/Turquoise Pearl Wire Wrapped Triangle French Hooks Costume Jewelry

They're stainless steel and a "steal" at $5.99.

This next one is kind of fun: They are vintage "dice" earrings. Two little red dice are surrounded by a little goldtone cage and hang off of goldtone hoops. I was actually surprised when I found others on Etsy like these!

Vintage Dice Dangle Earrings Cage with Dice Pierced Ears Las Vegas Casino Goldtone

Others had theirs priced up to $22.00, but I think these would be fun for Las Vegas or a Casino and I doubt you'd want to spend all of you casino money on earrings, so I priced mine at $7.99. ;)

And last but not least, where would we be if we didn't add a birdie to the mix? I created this little guy out of Moda "Reunion" fabric, which is just gorgeous and fun to work with. I thought he would be awesome perched up on a shelf in a nursery (he's got some sharp parts, so he unfortunately is not a toy) or would even make a cute birthday cake topper.

Grey Plushie Bird Freestanding Handsewn Nursery Home Decor

He's very cute and priced at $5.99. He also comes in a little gift box for easy gift giving!

So there you have it... my latest additions to the store! I wanted to add some decently priced goodies because I know the holidays can get tight budget-wise. Keep checking back for more decent priced holiday gift ideas!

Autumn Chowder {An Original Recipe!}

Today I am sharing an amazing original recipe with you that I know your whole family will love. It's got bacon, potatoes, corn, sage, thyme, apple pie spice, onion, garlic... you know with those ingredients you can't go wrong! And to top it all off, it's a crock pot recipe, so you can just whip it up and walk away! My favorite!

Plus, the whole house smells incredible right now! It's a great meal to eat after a chilly fall day, and the ingredients are budget-friendly!

Remember, I'll post the entire recipe at the bottom too so it's quick and easy to look at.

To start, let's get the ingredients ready:
• 6-7 slices of bacon
• 1/3 white onion, diced (It's about 1/2 cup when it's all diced)
• 1 can 15.25 oz whole kernel corn (empty the water out of the can)
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• A sprig of sage (about 5-6 leaves)
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme (if you're not a massive thyme fan, I recommend less)
• Dash of apple pie spice (cinnamon may work just as well if you don't have apple pie spice.)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt & pepper
• 5 medium sized potatoes, sliced and diced (I used russet, I imagine you could use any kind though)
• 2 cups chicken broth (I used chicken bouillon to get my 2 cups)
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)

You'll also want:
• A crock pot (I use a 7 qt)
• A fry pan or dutch oven
• A plate
• A cutting board and knife
• A handy chopper to get those onions tiny

Looks like a long list, but the ingredients are really quite budget friendly, especially if you happened to grow some sage this past summer like I did ;) If you didn't, you can purchase sage leaves at the grocer or powdered sage would probably work too.

Get your onion diced, your garlic cloves chopped, and chop up one sage leaf. I used the largest one in that bunch. In a pan or dutch oven on the stove top, fry up your bacon. While the bacon is frying, sprinkle a little bit of apple pie spice on the bacon. Savor the incredible aroma. :))

After your bacon is sufficently crispy, remove and set on a plate. You can dab at the grease with a paper towel, but I don't recommend placing them on a paper towel, on a plate if you use my method of chopping bacon later on. :)

While the pan is still hot with the bacon grease, add your onion to the drippings. Cook the onions until they are slightly translucent. They'll probably turn brown because of the bacon, but it's all good.

 This is about the right "brown-ness". Empty the pan into your crockpot's pot. It's currently the only thing in there.

Now, in this same pan, put your chopped up garlic, that chopped up sage leaf from earlier, and the corn in the pan. The goal here is to cook it ever so slightly so that the flavor of the sage and the garlic infuse with the corn. You'll cook this for about 2-3 minutes, keep moving the corn so it doesn't burn.

When that's done, toss it in the crockpot. Now, your bacon from earlier - the reason why I didn't put a napkin under the bacon is that I take my kitchen scissors and cut at the bacon from the top... and I don't want napkin in my bacon. It's quicker than chopping it with a knife and getting another cutting board dirty.

Now, toss HALF of the bacon in the pot, and reserve the other half. You'll sprinkle this remaining bacon onto the soup at the very end. Add your 1/2 teaspoon of thyme (or less. Thyme has a very strong taste, if you're not a big fan then I recommend even less than a 1/2 teaspoon.), your 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. I added a little more apple pie spice here too. Stir so that the spices and such can mix in.

If you haven't yet, chop up your potatoes. I did a mix of halved slices and diced potatoes. Fancy. When you're done with chopping the potatoes, add them to your crockpot too.

Mix it all up. Yum. Now, add your 2 cups of chicken broth, 1/2 cup of half & half, and 1/2 cup of milk.

Lay some sage leaves on top, and get to cooking! I cooked mine on low for 6 hours, and stirred it once every hour or so. You can remove those leaves before you stir if you don't want to have to fish 'em out later, or you can skip the sage on top step. As the potatoes cook, you can mash them a little with your spoon when you stir the soup - it'll add to the thickness of the broth, but don't go too crazy and make a mashed potato dish! ;)

About 6 or so hours later...
Scoop some out into some bowls and enjoy the awesome taste! :) I like to add just a dash of cheddar cheese and add the bacon I saved earlier to the top of the bowl. Yum!

Autumn Chowder

Ingredients:
• 6-7 slices of bacon
• 1/3 white onion, diced (It's about 1/2 cup when it's all diced)
• 1 can 15.25 oz whole kernel corn (empty the water out of the can)
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• A sprig of sage (about 5-6 leaves)
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme (if you're not a massive thyme fan, I recommend less)
• Dash of apple pie spice (cinnamon may work just as well if you don't have apple pie spice.)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt & pepper
• 5 medium sized potatoes, sliced and diced (I used russet, I imagine you could use any kind though)
• 2 cups chicken broth (I used chicken bouillon to get my 2 cups)
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)

Directions:
1) Dice onion, garlic, and one sage leaf.
2) Fry bacon in frying pan or dutch oven on stove top until crispy. Sprinkle with apple pie spice. Set aside.
3) In the bacon grease, brown onions. When onions are brown and translucent, place onions in crockpot.
4) In same pan used for bacon and onions, add the chopped sage leaf, garlic, and corn. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until fragrant.  
5) Add corn mixture to crockpot. Chop bacon, place half of bacon in crockpot, reserve the rest for topping.
6) Add thyme, salt, pepper and another dash of apple pie spice to crockpot. Mix.
7) Chop potatoes into slices and dices. Place in crockpot. Mix.
8) Add chicken broth, half & half and milk to crockpot. Mix, and set crockpot to low. Add extra sage leaves to top of soup if desired, remove before stirring. Cook for 6 hours, stirring every hour or so.
9) Serve with bacon and optional cheddar cheese on top.


Thanks for following along!