Salsa Sorte...

This recipe may look like a regular fresh salsa...but it's not. IT'S AMAZING!! Seriously, this salsa is to DIE FOR! It is so delicious and addicting!! I make this as often as I can, and everyone raves about it when they try it. I got this recipe from my sister (not sure where she got it from) and she and I both have had the experience of multiple people wanting the recipe every time we take it anywhere. If I had to choose one snack food to live on for the rest of my life, this would be the one!! You have to try it!! Seriously. Make it now. I don't want you to go through life any longer without this. So here it is:

Salsa Sorte:

Drain and Rinse:
1 can black beans
1 can blackeyed peas
1 can corn
1 can shoepeg corn (white hominey will also work. The shoepeg corn isn't at every store for some reason)

Chop:
6-7 scallions
4 avocados
2-3 large tomatoes (depending on how much you like in it. I tend to like more)
1 bunch cilantro

Prepare:
1 pkg. Good Seasonings Italian Dressing (make sure it's the Good Seasonings brand! This totally makes the salsa!!)

Mix all together. It is even more delicious if you prepare it a little early and refrigerate it, letting it get really cold and all the tastes blending together! Mmmm...be sure to stir right before serving so the dressing covers everything.

Now go make some and enjoy!!!

Flower Rings...

One thing that seems to be in style right now is the BIG rings. You know which ones I'm talking about. The ones where it looks like you picked a flower and then glued in on your hand, or found the Hope Diamond at the bottom of the sea and are now sporting it on your finger...Yeah, they seem to be everywhere! I think some of them are kinda cute (and some slightly ridiculous). Well, every time we go shopping, Kadie loves to look at the jewelry. And every time she sees the big rings, she always says, "Ooo, Mommy, pitty wings! I wuv dose wings!" And of coarse she always picks one out and asks if she can keep it. I may be a mean Mommy, but I'm not incredibly anxious to buy a $10 ring that will either get broken, lost, or cause some kind of problem with her arms or hands from having to bear the weight of them. So here was my solution: I made her some. I just used some cheap dollar store plastic rings and felt! Light weight and child friendly!

When I showed them to her, she threw her arms around me and said, "Oh, dank you Mommy, I wuv 'dem!"

Ahh, the rewards of Motherhood...

Whew!!

Sorry I've been slightly MIA lately! Life has been crazy! But hopefully only a few weeks more of craziness...before a new craziness starts...
Time has been consumed with this... and with these...

and with this...

I have so many projects I'm itching to share, but I'm trying to hold off until I have a house to put them in!!! So it will be a little longer. Hopefully we'll be done with the new house in 3 weeks! That's the plan, anyway. If you're interested in seeing more pictures of the progress on my house, check out my family blog!!

Keepsake Box...

I had a shoe box that had ribbon in it...not very pretty...so why not make it pretty? But instead of holding ribbon, I made it to match Kadie's soon-to-be new room so she can put "'pecial tings" in it.

I used some of the fabric I'm using for her quilt on her bed and mod podged it to the box.

I lined the edges of the lid with coordinating ribbon.

And I added a felt flower with a button center.

She's already put some of her special things in it. Some pictures she drew and a ring. So cute!

I'll be making some more of these but for craft supply storage in my soon-to-be craft room! YAY!

What I'll Miss...

There are so many things I'm going to miss about our old house when we move. So I thought I'd share a few of them with you:
Spontaneously seeing owls in our trees... I'll miss the big trees that shade half the yard, making it perfect for parties or laying on a blanket under my favorite tree reading a book...

The green moss that covers everything every time it rains...

Feeding apples to my buddies in the fields surrounding the house...

The country version of the "white pickett fence"...

The big yard...

Discovering fuzzy little friends...

Smelling the alphalfa field next to the house...

The plants I brought with me from my childhood home...I may steal some and take them with me...is that bad?? :/

The forest of dandelions that sprout up every spring...

Kadie's perfect little "tree chair"...

With all the things I'll miss, there's A LOT I won't miss! Might as well name those too!!

1. the mosquitos that come with living in the country

2. the psychotic robins that run into my windows

3. raking the millions of leaves in the fall from all the huge trees

4. the snakes

5. the couple times a year when the huge cotton trees shed fuzzies all over our yard and sneak there way into our house, our cars and my hair every time I walk outside

6. the mice. Which reminds me of a story. I'll make it quick. When we added onto the house, there was a hole Jake forgot to patch up, so we had a couple weeks of major mouse problems. Caught about 7 within a few weeks! (shudder). Then when we thought it was over, I was making dinner in the kitchen, and Gavin was playing on the floor. Then I heard him start to scream. I look over and there's a mouse RUNNING INTO HIM REPEATEDLY! I grab Gavin while squealing hysterically, and the mouse just stops in the middle of the floor. Gavin's still freaking out, so I look him over, and the mouse bit him on his finger!!! Apparently the mouse had eaten some decon, was in the process of dying, ran into Gavin, Gavin tried to pick it up and it freaked out and bit him, then stopped in the middle of the floor, and was then paralized from the Decon. I threw a piece of tupperware over it, and call Poison Control. I found out a useful piece of information. Mice can't carry rabbies. If an animal with rabbies bites a mouse, it dies. Only rats carry rabbies. Crazy story, right?! Yeah, won't miss the mice...

7. the thing I won't miss the most about this house is the dirt road!! It's just muddy in the winter and spring, incredibly dusty in the summer and fall, and gets huge pot holes from all the jerks that speed down the road at 40 miles an hour, sending a whirl wind of dust around the house, choaking us when we're outside, and sneaking into my house making it CONSTANTLY dusty!! Grrr... And I have a black car!! Permanently dirty!! Drives me nuts!!

So, on to bigger and better things!! We should be moving into our new house in about 4 weeks, and I am SOOO anxious to show you what I've been working on for decorating!! It's been a lot of fun...mixed in with a lot of stress of coarse! :)

HAA...SERIOUSLY!

Hi, my name is Nikki, and I am a hair accessory addict...will I ever stop?? NOPE!! :D I had to whip up a quick gift for a little girl in the neighborhood who is having a birthday party. So, I have a good excuse...right?... I made her these bows as well as...

This headband! And then of coarse I had to make Kadie a couple headbands too!

So I made this one. For the flower I used my Felt Flower Clip tutorial, but made the petals bigger.

And then I made this one too!! I need to make something for me now! Sheesh! I'm gonna have a diva on my hands! ;)

Night Gowns...

I was looking on the sale rack on Walmart and found these two Tshirts for super cheap. So I decided to try out this tutorial!

Now Kadie has two new night gowns, which are her favorite thing to wear to bed, which was also mine when I was a kid! Comfy!!!

Going Green...Literally...

I really wanted to plant a big garden at our current house. And we definately had the room for it, being on an acre and all. But I kept procrastinating, and then when I finally got the motivation to do it (and for some strange reason decided to start my own seeds...I dunno, it was cheaper...), I planted seeds and had them in my house to keep them out of the cold. I didn't have many options for window to put them in, so I put them in the windows in my bedroom. Some how, Kadie got to them and dumped the dirt along with the seeds out EVERYWHERE! Needless to say, I hadn't tried since.
Well, now I'm not going to have my big space in the country to plant my garden. But that will not stop me! I will have a little vegetable/herb garden at my new house! I hope. I'm not very experienced with gardening. Honestly, I hate gardening. Even the plants in my house die. But maybe if I had a nice garden I'd learn to love it! So, why not give it a try? I planted a few seeds, and my garden is already starting! This is my zucchini plant!! Yay! I have to ability to make a plant grow!

I decided to let Kadie get in on this. She wanted flowers, so I let her pick out some flower seeds. Yeah, I didn't really pay attention, and I honestly don't know what kind they are! I guess we'll be surprised!!

This is my Parsley pot...the parsley is MIA...

If anyone wants to give me gardening tips, PLEASE DO! I could use all the help I can get!!

Hair Clip Addict!!

I officially have an obsession with little girl hair accessories. I can't stop. I think I may need to find a HAA. (Hair Accessories Anonymous...lame joke, I know...) ANYWAY...
Here's the latest craze...for me! And I'm going to give you a quick tutorial. Although I'm sure you could figure it out! Just humor me!!! :D

What you'll need:

4 hand-cut circles of felt in slightly different sizes

a scrap of felt

a hair clip (whatever those kinds are called)

a button, gem, bead, etc. for the center
glue gun

scissors

Cut 1/4-1/2 inch slits evenly around each circle, about 1/4-1/2 inch apart.

They should be about this size.

Then trim each individual cut so it's rounded on the top like pedals.

Like so!

Now your lap should look like this...nice little fuzzy scraps...

Cut all the circles so they look like flowers!

Next, take your scrap and fold it in half lengthwise.

Snip the folded side just barely about 1/4 inch from one end so you have a small slit for small part of the clip to slip through.

Slide the bottom part of the clip right on in the slit like so...

Trim around the corners of the felt so that they won't poke out from behind the flower when it's attached. Leave a bit of space along the sides of the felt for glue.

Now assemble! Put a swirl of glue on the top side of the big flower, and a bigger blob of glue in the center.

Place the next small size on top and wait a few seconds for the glue to cool slightly (so your fingers don't get burned) and then press the center firmly. This will make the petals flare a bit with each application so your flower isn't completely flat in the end.

Do the next size of flower, with the blob in the middle and pressing firmly...

...and then the last!!

By pressing firmly each time, the flower should have a little funnel in the center like above!! Looks so real, right? Right guys? Right?...

Now glue the clip to the bottom of the flower! Squeeze some glue on both sides of the clip onto the felt, and a dab on the large end of the clip so it won't slide out of the flower when it's all done.

Place on the under-side of the flower and let dry!

Now glue the center on!

Add them to the rest of the clips you've done, and admire!

there's all kinds of colors you can do, and you can mix and match them like above and choose all kinds of centers! how about different flower shapes? Oh yes...so many possibilities! Now go make some for the little girl in your life.

Now with all the new clips Kadie has, I'm going to have to make one of these or these! I love it when I have an excuse to make things!