New Blog Address!

I am VERY excited to share the link to my NEW blog! The name took forever to come up with, but I love it and it definitely fits me better than the previous names I had. There are no posts on it yet, but I am writing one that will be ready Friday afternoon! So about the time you would see a new post here, that's when it will be up on the other blog. I may schedule it in case I forget...not sure yet. But, here it is!

Sew Short & Crafty Blog -
http://sewshortandcrafty.wordpress.com/

Doing Some Brainstorming...

I'm reconsidering my abrupt switch from Wordpress back to Blogger that I did before my laptop died. I did it out of anger, and I shouldn't have. For all I know, my crappy computer could have caused the problem. I don't know. I'm trying to come up with a new blog name so I can start somewhat fresh on the new blog with new colors, and fresh posts - I am not importing the posts from this blog. I will link to them from the new blog, but I will not update this one once the other one is up and running. I will not have a tutorial this Thursday or a recipe on Friday; just letting you guys know.

I am on a Mission! {Fashion & Beauty}

After learning a lot more about it and researching alternatives, I am actively working towards switching to all vegan/cruelty free beauty products. I recently ordered some products from one of my favorite Etsy shops, Madison Street Beauty! I ordered an eyeshadow, a nail polish, and a lip balm. I then ended up winning a pack of 4 nail polishes! I have so far used the Gold Rush (toes) and Pacific Cobalt (hands) and they are so beautiful! The gold only takes one coat for great coverage! The cobalt took 2 coats. I have GOT to learn to use a clear topcoat (I have some somewhere) so I can stop chipping my nail polish off, though.

Some other items I will be trying from them are their foundation, lip sheer, and blush! I have no doubt I'll love these products as well and will be making the switch to them. Some other products I need to find good replacements for are:

• my favorite Degree deodorant (Shower Clean - I think...). There's only certain deoderants I can use, and this is one of them.
• my MK moisturizer - I sometimes have dry skin issues, and the Mary Kay Timewise for Normal-Dry skin is the only thing tat works for me right now. If I can't find a good alternative, then I may just stop using it completely.
• my Bodycology lotion - The back of the bottle says the "finished product" is not tested on animals. But that really doesn't tell me much...It just gives me an excuse to go to Bath and Body Works, which is on the Does Not Test list on PETA's website!

I will finish up some of the products I have since I hate wasting and they're already here, but those companies that do test on animals will not see another dime or dollar from me. I feel careless for not paying attention to these things before, and I am changing that for myself now.

{DIY} Artsy Journal

 

 

 I made a pretty new journal the other day that I have begun taking to class with me. It's just so cute and since it fits in my purse (and coordinates!), I figured why not? I haven't written in it yet, though.

 

 

I grabbed some wrapping paper, scrapbook paper, double sided tape, and scissors, as well as the notebook. The actual composition book, not the movie.

 

 

 

I wrapped the book very simply with the wrapping paper, securing it with the tape along the inside edges. I added a random magazine cutout...not sure where I got the magazine. I cut two strips and a butterfly from the scrapbook paper, and added letter stickers for my initials.

 

I then added a length of ribbon, also attached with tape (yeah, it's not getting roughly handled and I had already burned myself with my hot glue gun that day, so...).

 

Tie it up and you're done! Write in it, or just let it hang out on your desk!

 

 

{Foodie Friday} Easy Beef & Bean Tacos

TGIF! Today, I have a wonderful recipe I randomly decided to make a few days ago. I took a few recipes from Pinterest, Google, and Pioneer Woman and combined bits and pieces to make up my own recipe! I don't claim this to be some brand new, never-made recipe, it's just something I thought up in my head on a whim and it turned out delicious! 

 

Easy Beef & Bean Tacos w. Roasted Corn Salsa

 

*FYI: I totally blanked and forgot to take any pictures of the finished tacos and rice. But trust me, it looked beautiful and tasted great!

 

 

First, drizzle some olive oil into a pan and dump in some corn kernels. Roast them for about 15 minutes at 450 F. I then broiled them for another 5 minutes.

 

Meanwhile, chop half of a medium onion and a whole Roma tomato and dump into a bowl. Add crushed red pepper, parsley, and salt. I then added a teaspoon of jarred salsa. This is totally optional, but it helped add a little liquid and the flavors of whatever ingredients I was missing.

 

 

Brown a pound of ground beef and drain it. Feel free to grab a few pieces without burning your fingers...turn it down on low for now.

 

Add the roasted corn to the salsa, stir, and cover until ready to use. I refrigerated mine so it would be nice and old by the time everything got done.

 

Add a can of pinto beans to the ground beef pan (DO NOT DRAIN!!). Turn the heat back up to about medium while you do the next few steps.

 

Chop up some jarred jalapeno slices - I think I had 8 or 10.

 

Mix together flour, parsley, paprika, oregano, chili powder, crushed red pepper, coriander, and sugar. I used about 2 tbsp. flour, a tiny pinch of sugar, a pinch of the coriander, a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, and then about a teaspoon of everything else. I dumped all of it into my mini food chopper so I could crush the coriander seeds a bit, but I was impatient and didn't do it very finely. However, the beans and beef simmered for about 25-30 minutes total, so the pieces weren't noticeable at all.

 

 

Dump in the taco seasoning a spoonful at a time. Mix it in and add additional water as needed.

 

Let it bubble and simmer for as long as you have. Prepare some Mexican rice -- we used Taco Bell rice that cooks up in just a few minutes! I had rice as part of this recipe, but I got distracted while talking on the phone, and I ruined it completely.

Serve the beef and bean mixture in taco shells and/or warmed tortillas with the corn salsa, shredded lettuce, and sour cream. Serve rice on the side and enjoy!

 

DIY Target Chair Makeover

 

Hello, everyone! I have for you today my recent chair makeover. I got this chair on clearance at Target for $10 (I think it was originally $20, so a pretty good deal) and I've had it for awhile, but now that my room is coming together and the accent colors have pretty much picked themselves (these were not my original accent colors, not even close!), I had to do something with the stark red color.

 

 

The red Target office chair. It sticks out like a sore thumb right now. That's going to change........now.

 

I started by tracing a rough template on paper with a pencil. These were not by any means totally accurate, I just needed something to help me cut out the basic pieces for the covers.

 

 

I cut the back piece on the fold and the seat piece on two folds, so now I have these. Man, are they wrinkled. A quick iron will fix that!

 

I decided to add stripes to the covers, so I snagged two curtain tiebacks (please don't tell my mom) and stitched them in place with white thread.

 

I pinned the whole back piece in place and made adjustments and cuts to fit it in place all the way around. I had to do the top first and then the center bottom, the sides, and then the rest of the bottom.

 

If you are noncommittal like me, you may not want to permanently attach this just yet. I stapled mine in place.

 

The whole cushion stapled in place. I went to bed so I could get a fresh look at it the next day.

 

And if you still like it the next day (I did), remove the staples and pin the cover back in place. Be sure to smooth it out, unlike me.

 

Stitch the cover in place with matching or contrasting thread. I used dark red, so it shows in some spots, but is totally hidden around the stripe.  

 

And once you secure your threads and snip the excess, you now have a chair to be happy to see! Or at least, I am...I have issues.

 

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Shoe Wishlist *Drool List*

Oh man, I saw so many shoes I wanted on Forever 21's website, but I am choosing to feature a few that really caught my eye that I would realistically buy - as in, it's not a random color that wouldn't match anything else.






Polka Dot Wedge Sandals

Striped Boat Shoes

Striped Cap Toe Ballet Flats

 

 Satin Heart Pumps

 

I hope you love these as much as I did! And hopefully you can go buy out and buy them - I'm just window shopping right now and I feel tortured with all of the options at other stores as well!

 

Happy Wardrobe Wednesday!