Wreaths Galore!

Wreaths are like potato chips - you can't just have/make one!

I made two more for gifts (shown below) and still have one more for gift-giving planned. Meanwhile, I decided I may as well try my hand at selling them since now is the prime time for people to be buying them...in one day I have already received FOUR wreath orders! So pictures of those wreaths will be coming soon (once I've made them, of course;)

Christmas Wreath^_^

Harvest Wreath^_^

~Rachael Leigh

Home Decor

Samuel and I moved into our apartment a little over two months ago. At first it was crazy getting into a routine with work and getting all settled - but after about a month, I finally started planning some decor. For the past couple years I've pinned things on Pintrest, hoping for the day I had my own place to decorate. So a few weeks back, my sweet hubby hung some frames and mirrors. I don't have pictures of all the wall decor, but this is by far my favorite arrangement. More decor to come!

~Rachael Leigh

First Burlap Wreath

As you may have read in my "About Me" section, my husband and I got married 6 months ago. We had the dream theme for our wedding, Vintage/Shabby Chic/Southern (if you can really call that a theme). This being said, I have TONS of burlap left over from the wedding that I have decided I need to put to good use. Oddly, there aren't many burlap crafts/DIY home decor projects that I am attracted to, but the one thing I LOVE is burlap wreaths. So last week, I decided to try my hand at one. 

Sadly, it was hard to find a tutorial video that was thorough and well recorded to show how to make the loops (obviously for a beginner). I ended up just having to try it (with the bit of knowledge I did reap from the various videos I viewed). But I don't think it turned out half bad.

I ended up weaving the burlap on the two outer loops (this probably doesn't make sense if you've never made one), and then alternated the colored ribbons over the middle loop. I didn't actually pull the two color ribbons through the wreath, they are simply wired to the top where the vertical pieces of wire run from the inside of the wreath to the outside.

Trying to figure out how to tie the bow probably took me the longest, I actually ended up doing it in three pieces - but it was definitely more manageable this way. In all, it took me the length of "Age of Adaline" to create this wreath:)

Excuse the random toes and socks in my pictures - I will work on my photography skills.

~Rachael Leigh

Dessert!

Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner and inspiring much baking! 

Here are some recipes I've loved making lately.

1. Pumpkin Spice Muffins

One of the easiest recipes I've ever made - three ingredients!

1. One Spice Cake Mix

2. 16 oz. of canned pumpkin puree

3. One cup of water.

Preheat the oven to 350 ~ Mix all three ingredients together until well blended ~ divide into greased muffin tins (or loafs) ~ bake until fork comes out clean.

SO EASY! SO YUMMY!

2. Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe Here

The best chocolate chip recipe ever! When baking, you will think the amount it says for each cookie is too much, but there is a reason its titled "Best Bit, Fat"...

~Rachael Leigh

Party Recipes

I do not promise that all my posts will be in the order that the actual crafts, creations or life events happen. I tend to be OCD about these types of things, but it may not be possible with overlapping projects.

Though it is not Thursday, today I want to throw back to last weekend when my husband and I hosted our first party as a married couple (in our new apartment:). I had a blast spending the day cooking and getting ready for the event with my husband and thought I'd use this first post to share some things I made. All these recipes I found online, except for the two desserts (one I got from my mom and the other I played by ear;).

1. Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites - Recipe Here

Though the recipe was already lean for Weight Watchers, it didn't call for my favorite turkey bacon - it used center cut bacon. While you can do either, I found that turkey bacon is a bit shorter than regular (center cut) bacon, so in the case of using turkey bacon, you need to cut the bacon in halves, not thirds, for the bacon to completely wrap around the chicken cubes. This was a hit with ranch dipping sauce!

2. Skinny Buffalo Chicken Dip - Recipe Here

Followed recipe exactly and it was wonderful! Also, loved using my Pampered Chef 4 quart collapsible bowl for the first time! Made the crackers look gorgeous and held all the dip perfectly!

 3. Deviled Eggs - Recipe Here 

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I actually made quite a few changes to this recipe. First, I used light Miracle Whip, not mayonnaise. Also, I used regular mustard (probably in larger portions than 2 tsp per batch). Finally, I am not a fan of chives, so I forsook them altogether.

4. Buffalo Chicken Potato Skins - Recipe Here

Once the chicken came out of the crockpot for this, it was one of the best seasoned chickens I'd ever tasted! This being said, it didn't really scream buffalo at me - I felt that flavor would overpower the lovely flavors I already had going. So, I didn't use the hot cayenne pepper sauce that the recipe calls for. Also, neither myself nor my husband are fond of blue cheese (dressing or not), so we substituted for ranch (which as yous see I let the guest choose their portion of sauce).

 5. Skinny Taco Dip - Recipe Here

I ALMOST followed this recipe exactly (if you haven't noticed, I like to deviate). First, I don't like olives, but my husband does - so we went halfsies on olives. Second, I felt this dip really needed re-fried beans (what is taco dip without re-fried beans?) so I added them as the bottom layer before my cream cheese/sour cream sauce. Also, I didn't mix the salsa in like the recipe calls for - I made it its own layer on top of the cream cheese/sour cream sauce layer.

6. Low-Fat Baked Jalapeno Poppers - Recipe Here

I followed this recipe exactly. Mind you they weren't your regular Sonic Cheddar Peppers, but they weren't half bad for being low-fat;)

Thanks for reading and hope you found some yummy inspiring ideas!

~Rachael Leigh