Dinner for 2: Chicken 'n Peppers Pasta Skillet for 2

Sometimes it's really hard to cook for just two people. Often, I either cook way too much or way too little.
I receive a newsletter from Kraft and today it had a yummy looking (and healthy) meal designed for two people, so I thought I would share:

Chicken 'n Peppers Pasta Skillet for Two:

What You Need:

1 cup rotini pasta, uncooked

1/2 lb.  boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1/2 cup thin green pepper strips

1/4 cup  chopped onions

1 cup spaghetti sauce

1/4 cup  KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Making It:

COOK pasta as directed on package, omitting salt.

MEANWHILE, cook chicken in large skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium heat 5 min., stirring occasionally. Add vegetables; cook 3 to 5 min. or until chicken is done and vegetables are crisp-tender, stirring occasionally.

DRAIN pasta. Add to chicken mixture with spaghetti sauce; stir. Cook 5 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally. Top with cheese; cover. Remove from heat. Let stand 2 to 3 min. or until cheese is melted.

My first shot at embroidery

I've always wanted to try my hand at embroidery. But, as I've mentioned before...I'm pretty impatient and embroidery takes quite a bit if patience. However, I really wanted to complete a sewing project that involved embroidery. So, here's what I set out to accomplish: a small makeup bag, with a zipper closure, decorated with simple embroidery stitches.

The first embroidery stitch I attempted was just a plain running stitch to attach the zipper.

The plain bag - I didn't take pictures of the process of sewing the bag because that was pretty boring, but here's the completed running stitch.

After adding all of the embroidery.

Just a plain running stitch around a circle.

This picture is kind of blurry - but I attempted a lazy daisy with french knots in between. Not exactly the best embroidery ever, but hey, it was my first try!

Although embroidery is a slow process, I found that I kind of enjoyed it. It's relaxing, kind of like crocheting (well, when you're not trying to learn something new and it's just not turning out...) Anyway, I think I'll be trying it again sometime soon.

Too busy to make stuff...

I've been working a lot lately, coming home tired, and not really feeling like making anything. However, I have finished up a couple of projects, even if I haven't started anything new:

Another headband...of course!

A hat I made for a certain pregnant lady with a certain baby girl in her belly. I made the hat on my knitting loom and crocheted the flower by hand.

Why the picture of the birdhouses? Well, I obviously didn't make them; I'm not that talented. A friend of mine had an entire wall covered in birdhouses and I pretty much decided I needed some, too. Aaron thinks I'm just looking for something to collect; but don't they look neat and eclectic on the wall?

It's getting to the point of obsession....

I feel like I've become sort of obsessed with this crafting thing. Here are some more things I've made in the last few days (please excuse the picture quality, I haven't quite figured out how to take good pictures of my projects yet):

Another one of my headbands. I really like this one, the pattern on the fabric made for a pretty cool rosette.

I sort of cheated on this headband. All I did was glue this pre-made bow to a headband, but I had really wanted something like this and it was definitely cheaper to make than to buy.

I made a ton of greeting cards yesterday. This one and the ones below are just examples of the hippie-style theme I was going for.

It also got really cold here in South Texas last night...I had to make sure my babies were warm and put them in their sweaters. Happy cold front, y'all!

It's Raining Rosettes!

So, I'm sort of in love with fabric rosettes. If you like browsing Etsy, then you probably know what I'm talking about. They're also all over a lot of department stores these days on purses and cardigans.

Well, I had made up my mind that I was going to buy this adorable little rosette headband off of Etsy when suddenly I thought: Why should I buy this when I can probably make it? So, out came the scrap fabric, hot glue gun, scissors, and old headbands, and I must say I'm pretty happy with the results!

Single off-white rosette on a stretchy headband that won't stay on my friggin head...but isn't it cute? And yes, that is my dirty floor...

Attempting to cover the dirty floor, but unfortunately with the same fabric I made the rosette with. Oops!

A trio of pink roses...I really love this one. I also had the hardest time making this one because my dog kept trying to steal my handiwork and chew on it!

Another view...

So, if you want to try your hand at making rosettes, it's pretty darn easy. You just cut a long strip of fabric, tie one end in a knot, and then twist and turn the fabric around and around the knot, hot gluing as you go along, until you have a pretty little flower. After you've made the flowers, the possibilities are endless--I've put them on wreaths and have seen them turned into brooches, purse decorations, pillowcase decorations, etc.

The type of fabric will also change the way the rosette comes out. Felt will make a thick, chunky flower, while cotton (like these were made out of) will make a thinner, more petite flower. I happen to like them made out of cotton more myself, but making them out of felt or another thick fabric is definitely easier. However, the fun is figuring out what you like best!

A Disaster of a Project...

I tried to make another bag today, and this time I attempted to follow a pattern. Well, I had no idea what the pattern was trying to say so I decided to make up my own pattern again like I did last time.

Well, this time around the whole making it up thing didn't work out so hot. It sounded good in theory. Here's the unfinished product:

It doesn't look so bad in this picture, but I have sewed myself into a corner. What I did was basically sew two separate bags and was going to just sew those two together to make it look like it was lined. That went all well and good until I realized I didn't really know how to finish the top. So this is how far I got before I got really frustrated and gave up!

My main issue is that I don't have any patience. I have to do projects that I can complete in an hour or less or  I will get tired of it and it will sit in the closet collecting dust.

Something I would love to attempt is a version of these felt quote art pieces. I stumbled across this website, Castle, where the author makes a lot of artwork with felt. Here are some examples:

Cool, right? But I don't think I would ever have the patience to complete something like this. Maybe someday if I ever have the room and proper tools. Until then, I'll stick with simpler projects.

Latest Projects, Christmas, and Starting a New Year

Christmas has come and gone, and so have a few of my projects. I'm pretty bad at beginning projects and never finishing them; however, I have completed a few:

My grandmother gave me a sewing machine for Christmas and this is the first project I made on it. I sort of made up the pattern because I couldn't figure out how to read a real pattern! It's supposed to be a bag/purse/reusable shopping bag. I'm pretty happy with it.

These are the first two hats I crocheted from scratch. I had been using a loom to make hats but decided I wanted to do a couple by hand. They turned out alright, but they're sort of uneven on the back side; I hid that from the picture ;)

 

 

 This Christmas also marked the first one Aaron and I were able to decorate and have a Christmas tree together:

Our first tree, decorated with a few ornaments from my childhood and new ones Aaron and I bought together

A cute little ornament I found in the dollar section at Target to celebrate our pups

One of the first ornaments my parents bought as newlyweds

 Unfortunately, I have nothing to share about New Year's; I was in bed by eleven because I was still battling the stomach flu.

However, I do have some goals for 2011. My biggest goal is to get into graduate school. I've been feeling so lost about what I'm supposed to do with my life, and I've finally decided that I want to be a college professor. I've finished up a couple of applications and will send in a couple more in the next few months. Keep your fingers crossed!

Another goal I have (which I always have!) is to be healthier. I weigh more than I've ever weighed, and I think it's because I make bad decisions when it comes to my health--i.e., lots of fast food and not enough exercise. My long-term goal is not to lose tons of weight, but to be healthier in order to have more energy and to hopefully not get sick as often!

So, there's my hopes for the new year. I hope everyone else's new years are filled with accomplishing goals and making things happen!