I'm not good with hair, but I thought this turned out kind of cute. I saw the directions in November's Real Simple. You make two ponytails, one with the top half of your hair, other with the bottom half. Then you twist the top pony and wrap it around and pin to the bottom elastic. You do the same with the bottom pony and pin it to the top elastic. I had to use more than just those two pins, of course.
The idea is that it looks like a big bun. I like it! I just hope it stays put for a while.

I also realized that you could make small braids in the two ponies and then wrap the braids around just like you would wrap the hair.

I'm not a morning person, so I dice up green peppers, onions, jalapenos and tomatoes, mix them up, and freeze them in zip-lock bag portions. They're diced so small, they just take a second to heat up in the morning when I wouldn't have time to be slicing and dicing.

I started reading the Abs Diet and was motivated to eat healthy for a few days....ha ha ha

This first one is a salad I have at least once a week. I am NOT a salad person, but I love this one.



I use greens, a 30-cent can of mandarin oranges from Aldi, fresh strawberries, walnuts, gorgonzola cheese crumbles and breaded chicken strips that I make. Oh, and a dressing that I make and have on hand.

I take a frozen chicken breast out of the freezer the night before and put it on a plate in the fridge. I preheat the oven to 400 or so and melt about a Tbsp of butter in the microwave. I use seasoned breadcrumbs from Aldi, also very cheap, and pour a little into a bowl. I cut the chicken breast into strips and dip into the butter, then roll in the breadcrumbs. I spray a pan and cook the chicken for about 20 minutes or so.

The dressing is just equal parts sugar, apple cider vinegar and vegetable oil.

This next one is supposed to be a fun snack. I thought little fruit shish-kabobs would be more fun to eat than just eating a piece of boring fruit.

I guess I'm one of those weird girls who doesn't like to get flowers. I'd much prefer something that I can't kill in a day.
To congratulate her and her boyfriend on their engagement, I sent my friend a box of bright blue Jones soda in glass bottles. It looked so cute and industrial; I set the bottles on top of white crimped paper shreds.
I'm sorry, I don't have a picture, because I was in a hurry to send it off.
I guess my point is that you don't always have to send flowers, you can send other things, too.

I was inspired by some Loteria crafts on etsy.com. I ordered the pack of loteria cards from someone on etsy for about $2, and this is the first project I've tried with them. I love loteria!!

Crazy paintchip lady here again -- here's a notecard set I made from paint chips with spring colors and names.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r24/daweamber/2007%20Crafting/kitchen006-1.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r24/daweamber/2007%20Crafting/kitchen011.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r24/daweamber/2007%20Crafting/kitchen013.jpg

back:
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r24/daweamber/2007%20Crafting/kitchen014-1.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r24/daweamber/2007%20Crafting/kitchen004.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r24/daweamber/2007%20Crafting/kitchen005-1.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r24/daweamber/2007%20Crafting/kitchen002-2.jpg

I traced images from a vintage Sears catalog, and also used some stamps to make these. I got the idea to bring out the Shrinky Dinks again from MissAmyO. It's so fun!!!!

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r24/daweamber/kitchen023-1.jpg