Braided T-shirt Headband

After my last post, my friend Cierra said that she made headbands that were similar to the braided necklaces. This is my attempt. It's really the same idea but on a smaller scale. I thought it would be more practical to have the part that goes behind your head flat so it doesn't make your hair stick up. I just tucked the ends of the braids into a little tube of fabric and sewed them in place. Thanks Cierra :)

Braided T-shirt Necklace

These are for people. They do look very handsome on cats though. Each one takes about 15 minutes. 

Materials:
1 Cotton t-shirt (The larger the shirt, the longer the necklace will be)
Scissors
Needle
Thread
Cat (optional)

1. Fold the shirt in half. Cut off the bottom hem. Cut the rest of the shirt into 9 strips horizontally. Each should be about 2 inches wide. It doesn't need to be exact and you don't need to worry about cutting straight. You should end up with 9 loops of fabric. 

2. Cut each loop so you have 9 long strips.

3. Stretch each strip so the edges curl. 

4. Group the strips into 3 sets of 3. Sew the ends of each set together. This won't show so don't worry about how it looks. 

5. Braid each set of strips. This is your cat's job while you braid. 

6. Sew the ends of each braid together to secure them. For the necklace in this post, I braided all the braids together loosely and then I sewed the ends together. The other option (pictured at the end of this post) is to sew the ends of each braid together so you have 3 separate loops.  

7. Cut a rectangle out of the remaining fabric. Wrap it around the seams of your braids and sew the edges together. Turn it inside out so the seam is hidden. 

This is how it will look if you braid the 3 braids together. I wasn't especially happy with this one. I braided it too tight but you can learn from my mistakes.  

This is how it will look if you keep the loops separate. I also wrapped one loop around my neck twice so there are different lengths.  

Peanut Butter Button Cookies

Look how cute! And mini!

The instructions for these mini cuties can be found here. Mine weren't as perfect but I'm pretty happy with them. Most of them turned out too big. I almost always make desserts bigger than recommended. I don't really see that as a problem though. 

Black Bean Salsa

Ingredients:
1 can black beans
1 small tomato, diced
1 jalapeño, chopped, with seeds and insides removed
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped, fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt


1. Pulse half of the black beans in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Transfer to bowl. Mix in all other ingredients.


2. Serve with baked tortilla chips or put in burritos.

Decorated Shoe Boxes

I don't have a real craft desk. All I have is a table. My mess was starting to get a little out of control but I remembered these boxes that I used to make in high school. I used to cut pictures and words out of magazines. This time I just used scraps of paper left-over from other projects. 


Materials:
Shoe box (any box, really)
Paper
Mod Podge
Paintbrush

Glue paper onto box in any pattern. I didn't bother to cut my paper, I just overlapped it. 

Once the box is covered, paint mod podge over the entire surface. Repeat on the rest of the box. 

This is another one I made.

I still don't have a desk, but at least I'm a little more organized. It's cuter than just plain shoe boxes.

And it looks a lot better than this crap. 

Easy Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:
4 cups your choice pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup pepper jack cheese (you can substitute any cheese you like)
1/2-1 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup bread crumbs
cooking spray


1. Pre-heat oven to 350. Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, cook onion in olive oil until softened but not browned. 


2. While pasta is still hot, mix in all the other ingredients except bread crumbs and cooking spray. Stir until butter and cheese begin to melt. 


3. Spray 4 ramekins or a 9 x 9 baking pan with cooking spray. Pour pasta into ramekins or pan and top with bread crumbs. Bake for 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let stand for 10-15 minutes before eating. 

Origami Lilies

I have no idea how to explain these. Here's the link. And, as an added bonus, here's a picture of my cat playing with my lilies.