Recipe: Reese's Puffs Treats! Our spin on Rice Krispies Treats:)

We love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups at our house. It's a staple candy for us. Who doesn't love Reese's? Peanut Butter and Chocolate together.... MMMMmmmm! It's so delicious... Wait there is a Reese's Puffs Cereal!?!?! Oh My Gosh!!!!!

I am not a breakfast person for the most part so at first I did just buy this cereal for my kids. I eventually tried it, IT IS SO GOOD! (I really don't like cereal) So I was suprised that I liked it. Now there is always a box in our pantry. :)

 

We were trying to decide on a treat to make for dessert one night and I had a taste for rice krispies treats. I had all of the ingredients... except rice krispies cereal. Hmmmm.... What to do? Oh! There is a box of Reese's Puffs! Let's give this a whirl!

I started by using a basic Rice Krispies Treat Recipe.

 

1/2 cup butter

10 oz mini marshmallows

5 Cups Cereal

 

 

 

Then, I rubbed the pan I was using with a pat of butter.

 

 

 

In a pot, I melted the 1/2 cup of butter on medium to low heat.

 

One the butter was completely melted, I added the mini marshmallows.

 

And stirred,

 

And stirred.

 

And STIRRED. Untill the marshmallows were nice and smooth, and then turned off the heat.

 

Next, my assistant poured in the Reese's Puffs!

(My assistant is so cute!)

 

And then, we stirred it all together until it was well combined. This is my favorite part of making these treats because when you pour the Reese's Puffs into the pot, the warmth releases the chocolatey, peanut-buttery aroma of the cereal.

 

We poured it into the buttered pan. Then, I used a buttered spoon to smooth  it all down.

 

My assistant then added some green sugar sprinkles because it was nearing St. Patrick's Day! LOL!

 

And that's it! We let then cool and tried them later.

THEY WERE AWESOME!!!

We make them often and use different colored sprinkles to go with the seasons!:)

Window Valance. Easy Beginner Sew Project!

Window Valance Project!

The time had come for some new window treatments in my daughter's room. The bedding that she has is brightly colored so we wanted to choose something that wasn't to overpowering.  She and I decided to make a valance for her window. We went to the fabric store together and she picked out all the supplies for the project! She is a "tween" now and it is good for her to put her own stamp on her room.

A valance is an easy sewing project for beginners in my opinion because basically you are just sewing straight lines!

To get started, she chose a light green fabric. To determine our width we measured the window and multiplied the width by 3. She wanted the valance to be full. I suppose if you didn't want very much fullness that you could multiply by 2 or 2.5. The fabric was not as wide as we needed for our window so we stitched the sections together, right sides facing, until we had the width we needed.

 Next, I hemmed the bottom of the valance. This was done by folding up the bottom evenly. I used a ruler as I went along the bottom to pin it. Then, I ironed the fold nice and flat.

Then, I sewed a straight line along the fold to secure it.

I repeated this step along the top edge but I made the fold much larger, large enough for the curtain rod to pass through.

 

 

Next, I lined up the embellishment along the bottom edge. I pinned it in place and sewed along the bottom edge then the top edge to secure it.

Finally, we hung it up! My daughter is  super excited about the way it looks and she loves the idea of having her own personality in her room!

Let me know what you think! And share your projects with me:)

No-Sew Leprechaun's Gold Shamrock Shirt DIY

Sham-Rockin'!!!  Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day! It is fun to join in the spirit of this holiday by dressing the part. I wanted something different this year and I knew that a DIY project was in order. I found this old shirt in my closet and I thought it could use a little Shamrock BLING!!!

So I took a little trip to the local craft store and picked up some supplies. I grabbed some gold thread (which I ended up not even needing) and a couple of rolls of gold sequin trim. I already had some fabric glue and I printed out the shamrock shape that I had imagined for the front. The best part of this is that there is NO SEWING REQUIRED! This project can be finished in about an hour or less and needs 12-24 hours to dry.

Start by putting the printed out shamrock shape inside the shirt. Then, position it right where you'd like it. I put mine right in the center of the chest. 

Once the shamrock is in place, use the fabric glue to make an outline by tracing the shape. Take the sequin ribbon and start placing it in a single line on the fabric glue.

Continue by glueing the sequin trim around the inside until it is all filled in evenly.

I filled in the shamrock shape completely and used about a roll and a half of the trim I bought. (About 6 yards) 

Then, I made sure that the paper shape was not stuck to the inside of the shirt but left the paper inside so the shirt wouldn't stick to itself as it dried.

Next, just let it dry! I'm loving how it looks already! It will look great with a green cardigan or a cute rainbow scarf!!

Upcycle a Thrifted Chair for Under $10!

After buying our daughter a desk for her room, we realized she was going to need a chair. I guess the thought didn't occur to me until the desk was in her room that there needed to be a chair! So being me, I said I would find her a cute chair or fix one up. The search began, it took a while but I finally stumbled on this beauty at the thrift store for 5 bucks!

It wasn't wobbly, stained or smelly! I felt that it needed a paint job and new fabric for the seat and it would be great!
I had the paint at home and the brushes. All I needed to buy was some cute fabric that coordinates with my daughter's room. I found some great fabric at the local craft store and was able to use a coupon so the fabric only cost me $4.30. My total expense was $9.30! Sweet! This is a great project to try if you have never painted or tried to upcycle furniture.
This is simple explanation of what I did to upcycle this Thrifted chair:

 

Supplies:

Chair

Paint

Fabric

Paint brush and/or roller

Sanding block

Screwdriver

Wet rag possibly with soap.

Hammer and Tacks or Staple Gun

• Lightly sand the chair with a sanding block. You don't need to go crazy with this step. Just "rough up the finish a bit.

• Wipe down the chair with a wet rag. (You may need some soapy water) Then, dry it with a towel or let it air dry.

• Remove the "seat". Use a screwdriver to remove the screws that secure the seat. Take out the seat and set it aside.

• Paint the chair. It took me 3 coats to cover the chair the way I liked. I used a brush and a small roller but you can do it however you like. I also gave each coat about an hour to dry before applying the next coat.

• Cover the seat cushion. Lay the fabric facing down. Place the cushion facing down in the center of the fabric. Starting with one side fold the fabric over the cushion and tack it down. You can use a hammer and some tacks, as I did, or a staple gun if you have one.  Do the same on the opposite side making sure to pull the fabric snug.

 

• Fold over the other sides. The other sides will be folded over kind of like you would wrap a present. Make sure that the fabric does not bunch up and then secure them in place.

• Reattach the seat cushion. Once the paint is completely dry, put the seat cushion back onto the chair using the original screws.

And that is it! Now enjoy that new upcycled chair!

 

Men's T-shirt to Tank Top Refashion with Crochet!

I saw this idea on pintrest. The directions are HERE. From a blog called Designs by Studio C

This inspired me to make a new tank top from a men's t-shirt on this yucky April (Winter Go Away Already!!!) Day.

Things you will need:
Men's T-shirt
Good Fitting tank top- to use as pattern.
Scissors
Sewing Machine and Thread
Crochet hook
Needle and thread

(For a no sew option... just use a tank top that fits you and you can skip the first few steps, just go on to where you mark the design out on the tank!)

 First I found a tank that fits how I want this new tank to fit. I turned the t-shirt inside out. Next, lined up the tank to the men's shirt I had.

 Then, I started cutting the shape of the tank. First, I cut the bottom. Then, I cut the sides open and the arms off.

 Next, I cut the neck.  This is where the sewing comes in... Two quick seams up the sides to get the top to be fitted.

OK... Now you will have a basic tank, but this could be done on any style tank. Using a ruler, or your eye, mark lines to make the cuts.

You can go in any design pattern you like. I chose some straight lines.

 Cut slits along the lines, I made mine just under an inch wide and about a quarter of an inch apart.

Take your crochet hook and insert under 2 of the first slits. Pull the 2nd slit under the 1st.

Now you have a loop on your hook. Insert your hook under the next slit and pull it through the loop on your hook. Continue this until you get to the last slit. Stitch the last loop down to keep it from unraveling.

Do this to all of the slits you cut until you are finished with the entire design. Here is how mine turned out. I am going to make more!!! It was easy and I like how the design looks!

I am definitely going to be doing this again. I would not recommend crocheting all the way to the bottom as this has caused the edge of the tank not to lay just right.  Stopping the slits about 2 inches away from the edge will help it lay better!

Upcycle Fan Gear! No SEW!

Go Blackhawks!! Gotta love the ladies' fan gear over the past few years! There are so many more choices and styles. The downside is the price... some of the really cute stuff is out of my budget. So here is a great way to save some $$$ or just to upcycle a shirt that needs some love. Also a great way to make the kids clothes last after they grow out of them...(I just thought of that and may have opened a whole new can of worms for myself there!) I got this shirt from my Sister.

 She said it didn't fit so I could have it! YAY! Well, it didn't fit me either but I knew there could be something done about that!

I got a matching shirt on the clearance rack ( Nice $4)! And decided to get to work!

Supplies:

• 2 Shirts
• 1 Pair of scissors
• Fabric Glue

I cut out the graphics on the black shirt. Then I lined up the pieces to where I wanted them to be on the new shirt.

 

Using the fabric glue, I glued it into place. I used a piece of cardboard inside the shirt to keep the glue from going all the way through.

 

The great thing about this fabric glue is that you don't need to sew, or iron. The glue just needs to have about a day to dry! I wash it inside out and even throw it in the dryer and it really lasts. I like that I left the edge raw. It has a cool worn look.

Now I will be looking for some other shirts to restyle since this one was sooo easy!!! Come back and show me your projects, I'd love to see them!