S'mores Bars

How in the world have I not blogged about these bars? They were so delicious- and I don't even like s'mores very much. We went camping with our friends last month, and the week before we went, we had them over for a planning night. Really we just played games and ate delicious food like usual, but we spent a little time planning the supplies and food for our trip. 

The camping trip turned out incredibly fun, even though it was rainy and chilly the whole time and we mostly just sat in the tent playing even more games, and eating even more food. Can you tell what we like to do? We roasted a few s'mores over the campfire, but I still think these bars are the best s'mores treat I've ever had. They even have cookie dough- so how could they not be amazing?

The recipe is from Amandeleine, and I don't even know what else to say about them. They're crunchy, gooey, deliciously chocolatey s'mores bars! These were amazing, and since I rarely ever make a dessert twice, next time I'm craving s'mores I think I'll definitely go for some Reese's peanut butter cup s'mores from The Recipe Critic or night owl s'mores treats from Real Mom Kitchen. So many wonderful desserts to try!

Super Easy Pillows

Our apartment finally feels a little more like a home: it has pillows! These pillows have been a long time in the making (I've had the fabric since January!) and I can't believe I waited this long to make them. They were so easy! I bought this fabric a long time ago, and I have avoided getting pillow forms because they can be so expensive. But I finally found myself itching to be crafty, and so I ventured out with my coupons to JoAnn's - and found them to be 50% off anyway! I love it when the exact thing I need is 50% off - it's like telling me it's my destiny to do this craft.

So once I finally acquired all the necessary supplies, these pillows took all of a half hour to make. Why did I wait so long? I followed this super easy tutorial from The Happy Housie (did you know I have the exact same bird fabric? I finally did something with it too- post coming soon!) and I couldn't be happier. I measured a billion times and cut once, sewed some (reasonably) straight lines, and now we have wonderful pillows! The two fabrics clash a little (probably a lot, actually), but I really like them both, so they'll do for at least a while. 

Unfortunately, my dear husband does not feel the same way about pillows that I do (I feel like they are the best addition to our decor we've ever made, so I suppose it's hoping too much for him to feel the exact same way...). Apparently three pillows on one couch and only one on the other feels so lopsided to him that it's driving him crazy. But that's what wives are for, right? Also, rule #1 about these pillows is that you can smash them, throw them on the floor, use them as foot rests, and anything else. Because pillows that need gentleness and tender care wouldn't last a second in our house. So they will never look perfectly fluffed, but I still love them!

Spring Wreath

I wasn't even going to blog about this wreath because I'm so embarrassed about it. But I guess I need to blog about it to see what I did wrong and set goals for how to become better! This wreath from Flamingo Toes was my inspiration. I usually don't love wreaths made out of the basic grapevine base because they look too a) old, b) withered, c) fake. I guess I'm a pretty particular wreath person (and growing even more so now that I browse wreaths on a regular basis!) because I don't love fir green wreaths for Christmas, I don't love the grapevine wreaths with leaves on them for Autumn....and I'm starting to dislike all the yarn wreaths, wreaths made out of other strange materials.....okay wow. But there are wreaths I do really like! I think they usually look fresh. And that's why I like this wreath so much!

Unfortunately, my wreath is a far cry from the one at Flamingo Toes....Apart from the fact that the grapevine itself is not round at all (there were only like 3 left at the store- I tried my best!), the whole thing looks a little...rushed and amateur, eh? Probably because I rushed it and I'm an amateur! Well, at least it's an honest wreath.

So I started by making the felt flowers, which actually always turn out good. I love those felt flowers! But I used Flamingo Toes' tutorial to make the larger flowers, and I used muslin I had laying around. Turns out, muslin is way too floppy for this! So I have large floppy flowers. But I do like the colors!

Then after that, my moss was strange and kept falling out everywhere. It still looks very angular where I cut it to glue on the wreath, so I'll need to fix that eventually. Moss is just weird....and I was hoping for a brighter spring green! I guess I just can't have my perfect wreath ever...

And finally, I made a banner out of burlap and felt letters. I personally don't love the banner on the inspiration wreath, and I though burlap would be perfect! Well, the burlap banner is actually my favorite part....but the hand-cut letters aren't. :) I wanted to do this project in one night, so rather than painting on the letters, or even taking more time to draw the letter design on the felt, I just started cutting letters! They definitely look amateur there, and although they're not my favorite, I do think they look fine on this wreath.

Well, it seems I went back to trying to shortcut or cheat my way into having a beautiful craft. I know it takes patience, and careful planning, (at least for me :D) to have a craft turn out well. So I just need to put off finishing something for one more day- and then I think I can be successful at crafting!

I just can't get into holidays....

I always feel like I'm most crafty when there's nothing at all going on. I didn't do a single thing for Christmas last year, and I couldn't even make the tiniest decoration for Valentine's day. I always miss the big holidays, but I seem to get a crafting craze during July or August when there isn't really any big holidays to decorate or make treats for. :)

So unfortunately, that means the last few months have been pretty bare in the crafting/baking/doing anything area. I haven't really participated in New Year's, Valentine's Day, our birthdays, St. Patrick's Day, Easter...anything! I actually did make a spring wreath...I'll have to go get pictures of that sometime! But here are the few things I have done lately:

Halal Chicken and Rice
I've been threatening to make this dish for months, and I finally did it! It just sounds kind of weird, so I think that's why my husband was wary of trying it. :) But it turned out really well! It's very similar to chicken shawarma, which I love. The white sauce isn't tzatziki though, it's just a lemony creamy sauce. It didn't have quite enough flavor right off the bat though- it could have been that I used chicken breasts instead of thighs....but after sitting a day in the fridge, the leftovers were much more flavorful!

 Cinco de Mayo
We had an AMAZING Cinco de Mayo dinner up at my sister's house, and she let me bring dessert! I have a hard time thinking up desserts to feed 10+ people, but this trifle was just the thing. I need to think of trifles more often! Although mine had to be in a big bowl instead of the pretty clear glass trifle dishes, I still think it turned out pretty well (plus the bowl was overflowing!) I also made Mexican wedding cookies (also calledmany other things), just for something that actually qualifies as Mexican food. Both desserts were so good! I just love making dessert. Like....seriously.

Actually, I really love dessert so much that I've officially decided to open a bakery someday. That sounds really weird saying it like that, and of course it won't be until I'm a grandma probably, but I would truly love to have a little shop and just make all my favorite treats. And learn to make actual good treats! So that's the life goal---40 years from now! :D