Black Tipped Manicure

This look is surprisingly easy and the more you do it the better you will get!

 It really helps if you have some length to your nails because you want to use your own nail tips as a guide when you paint them with the black nail polish. I used Orly 216 Obsidian Desire. Don't be afraid to mess up because you can go over them and clean up the lines using a Q-tip and polish remover. Once you get the tips finished then you can paint the bottoms. For this part I used Sally Hansen Color Quick Purple chrome. I find it easier to go from one side of the nail to the other as opposed to going from bottom to top of the nail while applying this. If some gets on the sides of your fingers don't worry just use your Q-tip and clean up the sides. If you use a top coat with this purlpe it will smear somewhat so I just stick the purple polish stick in my purse for easy touch ups.

February's Doily

Alas, it's the last day of February, so we have one more Valentine related object to show you.

If you would like to buy this doily it is available in Colleen's Ebay shop. She made it herself out of extra fine crochet, it is 100% cotton and can be washed and starched (even dyed). I have starched it and the starch turned it a beautiful cream color, if you do not want that to happen, I wouldn't reccommend you starch it when ironing (it can become wrinkled if it gets folded up).

Crochet Hook Organizer

I love to crochet, creating something out of some pieces of yarn makes me feel closer to my ancestors. With that said, I have been looking for something to organize my hooks and other various instruments, I have seen many different types and and was not satisfied by any of them. So I looked in my scrap bag and got some scraps and sewed this baby together.

I eyeballed everything so I didn't measure anything (as you can see in the pic, its a bit crooked, but it will keep everything nice and neat and easily accessible, I will no longer have to dig through a bag to find the right hook. I will still use my project bag, but that will only contain what I need at the moment, not everything.

To begin, I laid out everything that was going to be contained in the organizer so I could see how much fabric I needed, this denim was very heavy and has been in my scrap stash for about 8 years. I think I will end up using it as stiffener for other projects.

Next I machine stitched the squares from my scrap pile together (like a quilt)

Then I folded the edges together and stitched the squares to the denim.

I then stitched a square of denim to the end (for my yarn needles

Then I slipped some yarn through the fabric to tie the hooks and rolled it all up. I think I will add a button or something to tie it all together with.

A Day in Dublin

A Day in Dublin, a set on Flickr.

Quick and Easy Chicken Tortellini Soup

You will need:

1 bag frozen Cheese Tortellini
2 cups cooked diced Chicken breast
4 quarts Chicken Broth
1 Large onion diced
1 Sweet Red Pepper diced
2 Carrots sliced on an angle
1 Celery rib sliced on an angle
McCormick's Italian Herb seasoning (Grinder)
1 Bay leaf
A drizzle of Extra virgin olive oil

Drizzle some olive oil in your soup pot and dump in all your veggies. Cook over high heat until the vegtables become slightly tender.

Add the broth, chicken, bay leaf and seasonings.
Bring to a boil.
Add the frozen Tortellini and return to a boil for 5 mins.
Garnish with fresh parsley and Shredded Parmesean cheese.

Quick, easy, and delicious. Perfect for those chilly days. Don't forget to package up the leftovers for any friends or family that may be feeling under the weather! Old pickle jars work well and you can make a personalized label for it.

Creme Filling

Doesn't everybody love creme filling in their cupcakes? I'm thinking of the chocolate hostess cupcakes, now you can make your own!

These are valentines cupcakes so I colored my creme filling pink with a little food coloring.

1. Mix up the cupcake batter (I'll be honest, I used a box mix for this, what can I say, I was tired!)

2. Put liners in the cupcake pan and fill 1/3 to 1/2 full.

3. Put creme filling in center. Make sure not to let it touch the sides!

4. Fill cupcake liners with the remaining batter and bake according to directions.

5. Ice cupcakes to your hearts desire.