Rice Pudding in a Crock Pot

My Relief Society hosted a "Crock Pot Luck" yesterday. I wanted to make rice pudding for it, but... you know, things happened and I didn't end up with time for it. But I tried anyway and... any guesses? Yeah, it was a total failure. So just as well I didn't take it. The recipe called for uncooked rice, but I'm thinking that person's crock pot works differently than mine. Or else they just like the rice in their rice pudding a little less cooked.

So today I tried again. I cooked the rice beforehand, and used a little less nutmeg (I'm not a huge fan, although I tolerate it). It turned out pretty nicely, although I think the next time I make it there might be a little tweaking of... something? I dunno, it tasted a little, um, rice-y. Is that a word? Anyway, here's the recipe.

1 c. uncooked white rice
1 c. sugar
2 - 12 oz cans evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Cook the rice, then combine all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours, stirring every so often. (My original recipe also called for a stick of cinnamon, which I completely forgot both times. But it sounds delish.)

Water contest, anyone?

So you guys. I'm crazy-dehydrated. Like, I'm pretty sure I'm approaching unhealthy levels of water deprivation. For some reason, I'm just bad at drinking water! I even have this nifty water bottle they gave me at work, and we have one of those fridges that has the water/ice dispenser built into the door, but I'm STILL dehydrated! I think I need an external incentive.

So here's where you come in. Yes, I'm talking to YOU. Will you have a water-drinking contest with me? There are a couple of ways we can do this; I'm open to suggestions. It can be a mutual goal (for instance, if we all drink x amount of water per day for a month, we'll go to a movie/get pedicures together) (or if I don't live near you, at the same time), or it can be a competition (if I win, you mail/buy me something; if you win, I mail/buy you something), or whatever you prefer! As long as I get hydrated!

Please let me know if you'd like to participate in a water-drinking contest. And let your friends/blog buddies know, too, because this contest is open to anyone and everyone.

My blanket made me swear last night

I worked on my latest baby blanket this weekend. It's done, thank goodness, or I might take some scissors to it the next time I work on the thing.

Admittedly, it's not the blanket that made me swear. It was the yarn I was using. OH MY GOSH. I will never buy that kind again. It's so FINE that it snagged on itself all the time! I spent more time unsnarling my yarn than actually working on the darn blanket! I resorted to snipping the yarn... at least three times. There might have been a couple more times when snipping it actually helped me resolve the tangle; the other three times, it was just snipping out the knot entirely.

SOO frustrating! I'm so glad it's over! And I'll put up a picture, once it's given away to the person I made it for; I don't want to spoil her surprise. Despite the trouble it gave me, it looks really good!

Blog Contemplation

Hi, guys.

So here's the thing. I started this blog as a way to chronicle my journey into becoming a homemaker. That's the idea, that was the point. As a blog with only about 20 posts on it, it's taking a while to take shape, and I'm ok with that. But I'd like to go back to the original idea.

See, when I got my sewing machine for Christmas, I started reading lots of other blogs, and I discovered the world of the Craft Blog. There are a lot of them out there, mostly driven by motivated women who balance their love of crafting with their "other" life, usually involving school, a job, a family, or a combination thereof. I read their blogs, and I thought, Hey! I could do that! I could have that!

But guys, that's not really what I want. I like making things, and I like trying to make my home prettier, but I'm not in love with it. I'm not obsessed. I don't have that kind of time, and I don't have a strong love that compels me to make time, either.

So here ends my foray into the world of Crafting Blogs. No fear, I'll still be reading them all, because they're mighty fun to read. And I'll still craft and sew occasionally, and crochet my little heart out (because THAT I am obsessed with). But I don't want to feel like this blog HAS to be ALL about crafting, and that I can't post anything off-topic or go on tangents. Because that's NOT what it's about, and that's not what I'm about.

Much love, friends.

In other news, I actually cleaned my front room yesterday. Hooray!

To-Make List, Updated

1. Coupon Holder
2. Small pouch for bookmarks
3. Bookmarks, of the fabric and ribbon variety
4. Duvet cover out of T-shirts
5. Rings, of the button and Scrabble tile variety
6. Wooden keychains (beaded ones, also)
7. Mat for framed Proclamation to the World
8. Pouch for contact paraphernalia
9. Large bag to carry around the large blanket I'm crocheting for Hotty
10. Lunch bag
11. Tissue holder

Strange how I work on things, but my list doesn't get shorter, it grows. :/

Keeping My Life Pretty

So I've seen a couple different posts amongst all the blogs I'm collecting, concerning covers for sewing machines. Apparently you're supposed to have them... question mark? They do useful things like keeping dust out of the machinery, and they also look very pretty, if you so desire.
So, using this tutorial, I went ahead and made one! What do you think??

It's reversible; the other side is brown, and instead of bothering with troublesome things like measuring and cutting to make the cover short enough (it's quite tall), I folded the bottom up a couple times to make a cute cuff! So that you can see both fabrics at one time, and admire how well they go together. :)

Also, you might notice what's sitting on the table next to my sewing machine. Those would be bookmarks.

Front

Back

When I got married, my cousins got together and gave me some scrapbooking supplies. Which, to be honest, I don't really... well, scrapbooking just isn't my thing. Sorry, Mom. Anyway, included with those supplies were these really pretty pages of what looked like scrapbook paper, but were actually stickers. AND the awesome patterns were accompanied by coordinating solids. ^_^

So what I did here was take a used-up Barnes and Noble gift card, cut it in half, cut some of my scrapbook stickers down to size, and apply them to the cards! Super easy, and now I have some cute bookmarks!!


I'm linking to these parties:

Very important question

Ok, guys. I have a question for all my LDS friends. See, I really like the idea of making fer-cute rings, like this one and this one. But I don't know how I feel about using elastic. So... am I a bad person if I glue cute decorative things to an adjustable CTR ring?? Is that just too sacrilegious?  Where else could I find an adjustable ring that I could glue cute things to... do they sell them in craft stores?

Sewing Machine Frenzy!!

So I finally worked out my camera issues. Here's the pencil case:

Now, I admit that the photography is not the best. And that I should have made sure you could see the bow when I took the rolled-up picture. But isn't it cute!? I'm so proud of myself!

And then, because I was so excited about the color combo (I bought both of those fabrics on my JoAnn binge, BTW), I made a cute hair clip following this tutorial! I made the flower and then sewed it onto a clippy. I wear it all the time... which I'm beginning to suspect Hotty thinks is a little silly.

I feel so crafty and domestic!


AND I linked to a party on Fireflies and Jellybeans!

Current To-Make list

1. Coupon holder
2. Sewing Machine Cover
3. T-shirt duvet cover
4. Button Ring
5. Wooden Keychain(s?)
6. Framed Proclamation to the World (akin to this)

Man, I've got a lot to do!

Wishlist

I covet this:

Someday soon, I look forward to either owning it, or checking it out from the library. It'll be great. I've seen it on a lot of blogs lately, and it was featured in a giveaway just a couple days ago, on a blog I only discovered today(sad!). One day, friends.

In other news, I promise pictures of my pencil-case really are coming. I have taken the pictures, and I was going to put them up today. The only problem is that my Mac at work isn't friends with my four-and-a-half-year-old (read: technologically obsolete) Sony digital camera. Go figure.

How excited? TOO excited!!

Hi guys!! So Christmas was pretty fantastic (can anyone say, "iPod touch"?!) and among all the excellent things I got, Hotty's parents gave me a sewing machine!! Oh em gee, guys!

I went to JoAnn a couple days after Christmas and raided the remnant fabric shelves. I bought a lot of stuff, and at the end of it I was surprised to realize I'd only spent $30! Nice. :)

I picked some colors out and made a fabulous craft. I haven't taken any pictures of it, although it's on my to-do list. But it's super-cute, I promise! I made a pencil case to put in my scripture bag, so I can keep track of my colored pencils at church. It's related to this and this, and pictures are coming! Stay tuned! :)