this week's honor roll - reuse your christmas lights

christmas time is OVER. bittersweet. i'm not that big into christmas decorations (i.e. red and green EVERYWHERE), so i'm glad those are gone, but i do love christmas lights. i wish we could keep them up all year round without neighbors thinking we're either lazy or white trash. hehe. :)

so, i've been thinking of different crafts or decoration ideas where i could utilize my christmas lights all year round. and this is what i found on the interwebs.

1. cute wall hanging from me and my bucket.

2. i know, it's a long way until halloween, but isn't this crescent moon pumpkin from country living great?

3. i love this paper pennant garland from once wed.

4. amazing round string lanterns from sallygoodin.

5. this lighted piece is like lite-brite for grown-ups! from of paper and things.

6. learn to make flower lights at craftser.

7. this heart wall lamp is perfect for valentine's day! from paper, plate, and plane.

8. pretty and easy-to-make fairy light centerpiece from wandering mist.

9. these doily lights are so delicate and pretty! from the slightly obsessive bride.

hope you enjoy!

garlic-chili roasted broccoli

hokay so i looove broccoli. growing up, broccoli was served regularly and (luckily) i never dreaded it. i had no problem eating broccoli with just a little butter or salt to flavor it, but now i cannot get away from my garlic-chili roasted version. steamed broccoli is now a thing of the past! my best friend, who doesn't usually like broccoli dishes, and usually stays away from chili powder (too spicy for her), LOVED it!

i've come across several recipes that are similar to mine. in order for me to enjoy, i had to significantly alter the recipes i found (basically start from scratch) because of my health issues. oh, and because of my distinguished tastes, as well.  :P

other recipes you'll find will call for a grill seasoning blend (like mccormick, etc), instead of the last 7 ingredients i have listed in my recipe. i opted to make my own seasoning, and if you like it enough, you can use it as a grill seasoning. all you have to do is simply increase the measurements of the last 7 ingredients (keeping the ratios the same), and pop it into a container for later use. yay!

garlic-chili roasted broccoli

  

ingredients:

2 heads of broccoli, cut and discard stems

6-8 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp red pepper

1/8 tsp paprika

1/8 tsp crushed caraway seed

   

directions:

1. pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

2. combine all ingredients except broccoli into large bowl. mix well.

3. add broccoli florets to bowl, coat evenly with mixture.

4. transfer broccoli to a nonstick baking sheet.

5. roast broccoli in oven for 15-17 minutes.

   

tips:

- line baking sheet with foil. much easier clean-up.

- if you don't want to make your own grill seasoning, the last 7 ingredients can be replaced with 1 tbsp McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak seasoning, or others like it, depending on taste.

this week's honor roll - DIY winter wear

january in houston is officially bundle up time. call us babies, but this 30-40 degree weather is just dang cold. good thing i love winter apparel! i love coats and scarfs and mittens and boots and everything in between.

given my enthusiasm for winter wear, i thought it would be fitting for this week's honor roll to be full of the cute winter apparel tutorials i found. here we go!

1. beautiful cardigan embellishment from sisters 4 say more is more.

2. several amazing ear warmers from delia creates.

3. cute fingerless gloves from 12 crafts till christmas.

4. this innovative knit scarf from make it and love it.

5. super creative linen scarf from one flew over.

6. a surprisingly easy ruffled scarf from simply step back.

hope you enjoy the cold!

visions of the 90s - celeb crushes.

i’ve been realizing lately that i’m growing up!! the year is 2011, but sometimes it still feels like 5th grade was just yesterday! so, in a fit of nostalgia, i’m will be gracing your blog reader with a series of 90s blog posts. cuz i wanna.

i was definitely a 90s kid. born in 1986, i pretty much remember all of the 90s. sure, i like to think of myself as creative and unique (even back then), but man-o-man, i was your typical 90s kid from head to toe. 

i was also boy crazy – but only to those boys worthy of being crazed over….celebrities.

1. Jonathan Taylor Thomas

my first….JTT. oh man. i KNEW i was going to marry him. bailey thomas. sigh...doesn't that sound great?! i just loved his perfectly middle-parted hair, his eyes, his tan skin….oh so dreamy. i loved him as randy in home improvement, as ben in man of the house, as tom sawyer in tom and huck, and of course as simba in the lion king. i even wrote him fan mail at one point, and he wrote me back!! though i’m pretty sure it was one of those generic mail-to-every-fan types of letters, i still kept it safely hidden in my “treasure chest” (which was a caboodle) for years!

2. Devon Sawa

next was devon sawa. yeah sure, we only saw him in the movie casper for like 5 minutes, but he was so totally dreammmy for those amazing 5 minutes. all the sudden every girl was hooked! sure, no one knew how to correctly pronounce his first (devON or DEVon?) or last name, but who cares? just look at that face! he was all over the cover of tiger beat after casper and so, of course, i begged my mom to buy the magazine every time were went to the grocery store.

3. Leonardeo DiCaprio

leonardo dicaprio was another crush of mine. i first noticed him on growing pains, but when he starred as romeo in romeo+juliet, he dang made girls go crazy. including me. i mean, i had daydreams about him. and wrote those daydreams in my diary. and read them over and over. and pretended i was claire danes. whew…and THEN he had to go and sweep us all away again in titanic. jeez. I saw that movie 5 times in the theatres. and cried during the whole of it. every time. oh, leo – i’m glad you’re still amazing.

i know there were many more 90s heartthrobs out there, but these guys were it for me. these hotties were the ones who adorned my wall in tiger beat pull-out posters.

who were your celeb crushes of the 90s?

keep tuned for the next episode of visions of the 90s...coming soon to let birds fly.