#SaturDIY | How to Make Macarons + Video

Happy SaturDIY!

A few months after my little brother arrived in France (he is serving a mission en Paris maintenant). I asked him what all the hype was with macarons (I'm an uncultured swine). He told me that macarons are delicious and that he had actually had one at the esteemed French bakery Ladurée (the lucky fella).  

Well, my sister and I tried our hands at these and they are really temperamental. They are the hardest thing I've ever baked. Don't feel bad if it also takes you a literal 12 batches to get these babies right. My sister and I were committed to the task. 

If you're thinking, "Dang, who has the time for that?" I did when my main summer goal was to hang out with my sister and let my parents get to know my baby. 

Here you go! Sorry the music is a little intense, haha. Jeff started watching and he said he felt like he was watching the Lord of the Rings. It was the best I could do with royalty-free music this week. Let me know how these go for you and if you have any questions. Have a great rest of the weekend!

#Satur-DIY | Easy, No-sew Felt Baby Bow Tutorial

Hey guys!

Happy Saturday! We are currently skipping the local Czech festival. That is okay. I am under the impression that we are going swimming later. First I am here to share a special little video I put together. [Sigh] I love making videos.

Here you go! I have made five of these in the last couple days. They are super easy and they don't require any sewing materials--besides scissors.

I am excited to see if you try these out! Let me know in the comments. :)

PS - My baby is so flipping cute! I love documenting her, even if it's for a two-second crafting cameo.

#SaturDIY | 4 Clean Freezer Meals!

Happy Satur-DIY!

This week's post comes to you sitting on my floor with a baby in my lap. I will share four quick, easy, clean freezer meals I put together this week. They are Latin Lasagna, Spinach-Artichoke Chicken, Turkey Sweet potato chili, and Turkey taco soup.

To prepare these meals, put the whole bag of frozen chicken in a crockpot with salt, pepper, and a few drizzles of olive oil. I cook on high until cooked through. Remove fat and shred half the chicken (this can be done quickly by using a hand mixer).

Brown the ground turkey with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and salt and pepper. Drain fat (not in the sink).

Open up nine freezer bags and lay out three 7x7 pans (I bought mine at the dollar store).  

L A T I N  L A S A G N A

This is basically a casserole. First prepare the mixture; combine 2 teaspoon cumin, 1-3 teaspoons Tajin seasoning depending on how spicy you want it, 1 teaspoon Oregano, 1 can of black beans,  2 cans of diced tomatoes, shredded chicken and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Lay down enough corn tortillas to cover the bottom of each pan. pour about a cup of the combined items on top of the corn tortillas and spread evenly. Pour 1/2 cup of corn evenly over the combined items. Cover the first layer in corn tortillas. 

Repeat the process three times in all three pans, ending with the combined items.

Cover securely with lids or tin foil. On the lids or tin foil write

Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 more minutes or until cooked through and crispy on top. Serves 4.

S P I N A C H - A R T I C H O K E  C H I C K E N

Divide remaining chicken (not shredded) into three freezer bags. Add drained artichokes, 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 cups of spinach, 1 teaspoon of salt, pepper, and 1 cup of diced tomatoes to each bag. 

This can be cooked in a pan on the stove or baked at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until hot in the oven. It is best served hot over pasta. Add salt and pepper to taste.

T A C O  T U R K E Y  S O U P

Divide half the portion of turkey into three freezer bags. Add 3 cups of chicken broth, 1 can of hominy, 1 can of tomatoes, 1 can of Great Northern Beans, 1 cup of corn, 1 teaspoon Tajin, 1 teaspoon Cumin, 1 teaspoon Oregano, and the juice of 1 lime to each bag.

Either cook in a crockpot or pot until cooked through. Add cilantro, avocado, and lime when serving.

T U R K E Y  +  S W E E T  P O T A T O  C H I L I

Divide half the portion of turkey into three freezer bags. Add 3 cups of chicken broth, 1 can of hominy, 1 can of tomatoes, 1 can of black beans, 1 cup of corn, 1/3 of a diced sweet potato, 1 teaspoon Tajin, 1 teaspoon Cumin, 1 teaspoon Oregano and the juice of 1 lime to each bag.

Either cook in a crockpot or pot until cooked through. Add cilantro, avocado, and lime when serving.

----

Happy cooking everyone! Freezer meals just really simplify life. I hope these meals serve your family as well as they have served mine. All in all, a couple hours of cooking result in 12 healthy meals (I had to stop there because we ran out of room). :)

Have a good one!

#Satur-DIY | Sew Your own Sleep Sack!

Hello!

I am very excited about this the very first #Satur-DIY! Today I am sharing a tutorial on how to make your own baby sleep sack, or wearable blanket.

Riley can now roll over so I can't swaddle her anymore. I knew it was time to find a swaddle alternative for naps and bedtime. Enter the sleep sack. It fits the bill perfectly. Safe and warm. Here's how I made mine.

S T E P  O N E :  C R E A T E   T H E   P A T T E R N 

To draft your pattern grab three pieces of paper. On the first piece, trace the armholes and bodice of a loose-fitting onesie. On the second piece continue tracing where your first line ended and grade at an angle (see image below). For the third paper, decide how long you want the sack to be and trace to that point, rounding the corner. Mine is about 25 inches long and my baby is about 24 inches long. 

Tape your three papers together top to bottom and cut along your traced edge. The straight side of your paper (the left side in the image below) is where you will cut on the fold of the fabric.

Sorry I didn't take better pictures to explain this part, but you can get the gist I think. Let me know if you have questions, of course.

S T E P  T W O :  C U T  T H E  F A B R I C 

Fold your fabric once under your pattern, pin, and cut. I recommend using a rotary cutter and self-healing mat if those are available for use. 

Cut, cut, cut. 

Set this piece aside. This is the back of the sleep sack.

Before cutting the front piece, fold your fabric over once again and this time align the fold-edge side of your pattern a little bit (I did one inch, but recommend less than that) away from the fold of the fabric, as shown below (or less than an inch as long as it is very even and you remember the distance from the pattern). 

Pin and cut out the front piece.

Your two cut pieces should look like so:

S T E P  T H R E E :  I N S E R T  T H E  Z I P P E R

Fold the front piece in half right sides together and sew a straight line from top to bottom. Use whatever seam allowance corresponds with the distance you chose earlier (One inch in my case).

When opened up and right side facing out, your front piece should look like this:

Flip the front piece over and cut your fabric in half. Optional: you can cut your front piece in half, finish the inside edges, and then sew right sides together along the straight edge. 

Once cut, press this seam open. Lay your front piece out right side down and lay your zipper face down on the seam. Match up the zipper teeth and center of the seam as perfectly as you can. This is the key to a properly aligned zipper.

Baste the zipper in place. 

You are ready to sew the zipper. Pull out your zipper foot. 

Sew the zipper in place working down one side, pivoting and sewing across the bottom, and sewing up the other side. Still haven't figured out the best way to do this. Let me know if you have any tips!

Pull out your basting stitches.

Flip the front piece over and open up your first seam with a seam ripper. There is your perfect, little zipper!

S T E P  F O U R :  S E W  S H O U L D E R S  +  S I D E S   

T O G E T H E R

Put your front and back pieces right sides together and pin in place.

Sew the shoulders and around the sides leaving the neck and armholes open.

S T E P  F I V E :  B I N D  A R M H O L E S  +  N E C K L I N E

I kind of just got on a roll while watching a couple episodes of New Girl at this point and took zero pictures of the process. My apologies. :) So here are a few links for binding armholes and necklines.

Armholes

Necklines

Tada! You are {this close} to finishing!

Your sleep sack still needs a tab (and a snap, which will not appear in this tutorial, because I forgot to buy one).

S T E P  S I X :  M A K E  A  T A B  

For the final step, sew two piece of fabric right sides together and sew a little curve.

So cute. It looks like a ghost. I took about three minutes to wear it on my finger.

Flip the tab inside out and attach it about where the zipper starts (and in my case, where you want to hide some sloppy technique). 

Flip your tab to the opposite side and top-stitch.

Add a snap and you are done!

Here is the finished product and a baby model to boot!

Any questions? Holla at me if you try this out or if you have any suggestions for future posts! What did you do to celebrate Satur-DIY?

HAGS

Summer Sewing

Okay, let's get this out quick. This is not a comprehensive list (because I usually forget to take pictures of my projects while I'm working on them) but you guys, I sewed a lot this summer.

Here we go.

1. I sewed this doll for Riley. She is just starting to show interest in it. Not featured is her matching skirt (which is somewhere in the depths of her toy drawer...)

2. I made Riley's blessing dress! More like the #blessings dress (I apologize to those I have already shared this joke with. Hah, I think I am sooo funny). Seriously though. I thought about what I wanted, created my own pattern, and put it all together. I was so grateful that it fit the day of and that Riley didn't scream the whole time she wore it, haha. This was my inspiration:

And this was my finished product:

Those jewels were a pain to sew on...

And there she is in it. 

I just love her face and feet in this picture.

And if you didn't see this before:

Gets me every time.

3. I made a SWIMSUIT! For a baby.

This is Karisa: best friend/recipient/shockingly gorgeous baby mama.

4. Headbands. So many headbands. These ones are my favorites for now.

I also made three blankets and haven't taken pictures of them at all. However, I did take a video of Riley while she was playing on one of them, so...

There you go!

Have a good one.

Life Lately + Four-Step Burp Cloths Video

Hi guys,

Well, here I am on the couch. I feel guilty for not being super productive at present, but do you know what? I learned to sew and made a video and edited my HTML so that my blog videos are bigger. So, I am going to show you instead of do my dishes. That is just where we are today, haha.

Anyway, I made these really cute, really soft flannel and minky burp cloths! They were suuuuper easy and I cranked out four in no time and for very little money. I used this tutorial and just tweaked it slightly. Watch my video to see how I made these and then subscribe and do other YouTube things. :)

You know, I do this because I really love making pretty videos. I have really started to love sewing as well. I thought it would never really work out for me, but guess what, I have made leggings, a baby skirt, a Moby wrap, a tutu, baby bows, and an apron since January. I think I am about where I should be. 

Yay!

Well, how about an update on life? Jeff is very busy with medical school. He told me just last night that the material they covered in three weeks during last block they now cover in two. Not to mention the fact that he is not particularly loving microbiology. I guess that doesn't make all heads pop off their pillows in the morning. 

I am doing well! 

I love third trimester. I love it so much more than first trimester and even second trimester. I really love not being nauseous. I love having a giant baby bump. I love watching and feeling my baby move. I love people volunteering to do things for me, like carry a gallon of milk, haha. I mean, really. It's the coolest.

Also, we have found a place to live! We are moving into a place that is just an elevator ride away from our apartment. It is almost 300 square feet bigger and we can move in right before Spring Break. Perfect.

So, that's about it. :) I love Texas. I love America. I love You. 

Goodnight.

No Shame in Hobby Work

Here's a thought that's been on my mind lately; there's no shame in hobby work. Claire, what do you mean by that? I mean that it's okay to leave hobbies as something you enjoy while making little to no money off of them. Seriously! I guess this is a big deal for me because I am easily caught up and my little entrepreneurial spirit sings out, "There's money to be made doing this!"

Let me demonstrate; I have a photography website. I have a forsaken Etsy shop selling para cord bracelets. I've dressed up as princesses (and High School Musical characters) at birthday parties. I even sold "Mardi Gras" beads at a Harvest Moon Festival as an 11-year-old...I made five bucks a pop off of those bad boys. All my interests seem to turn into fiscal opportunities.

This inherently is a pretty good thing. If I'm buying items for a craft, I tend to think "if I buy in bulk, keep one, and sell nine, then this craft will pay for itself." Unfortunately, I easily go overboard and never follow through. For example, I recently flipped this desk:

I loved how I spent $20 and got the desk of my dreams (after a couple coats of paint)! In fact, I loved it so much that I decided I would make this my new job: flipping furniture. I immediately starting searching for high-quality items with good lines and a better price tag. In the end (like three hours later), I jumped ship and forgot the whole idea because that's a lot of work and I had a real job and just generally, who was I kidding?

So why write a blog post about leaving hobbies as hobbies if I apparently have a hard time doing so? Because I finally left a hobby as a hobby! Admittedly! Like, I legitimately tell people "I'm a hobby photographer." 

Allow me to share my pathway to this zen way of life:

I got a camera in December 2013: a Nikon D3200. I had two lenses and I thrifted a sweet little 50 mm 1.8. My original goal in buying a camera was to become a decent-enough photographer that I could take my own baby pictures and anything else I desired. To accomplish this, and evade studying for finals, I spent hours each night (like, until 3 AM) reading blogs, pinning pins, and googling every little photography thing I could get my pointer finger on. I learned a lot very quickly. I actually surprised myself by how much I had learned in a month. I felt so adept.

Once I had my camera in manual and ditched the kit lens, I started shooting everyday. Within two months I was asked to do my first engagement session. I was upfront about my experience, but it rolled rather nicely into lots of other paid opportunities. In the months to follow, I had a nice little cliental composed mostly of performers and one-year-olds. I was out taking pictures most weekends and I loved it. I tried for a while to treat the whole thing as a hobby, but the fact was people were asking me for my rates, portfolio, business card, etc. "Sure," I thought, "If it seems worth it to other people, I'll be a photographer."

All along it felt wrong. I couldn't ignore the feeling that photography was distracting me from more important things in my life (hah, like school). I felt like I was cut out to do other things and that Heavenly Father wasn't interested in me becoming a "real" photographer.

So I gave it up. 

No, not photography. I gave up the business. I gave up advertising myself as a professional photographer. I stopped posting on my photography blog and Facebook page. I stopped portraying myself that way. Now I tell people that photography is just a hobby. 

I accomplished my original goal. I've taken my family pictures, my siblings missionary shots, computer screen savers, whatever interests me. I can go my merry way with a small taste of what it could have been like to be a real-deal photographer.

I feel great. There is no shame in hobby work. Do you know what, I like it more now, too. I don't feel a need to pump tons of resources into my craft anymore. If I wanted to get a new lens or backdrop or something, I know a thing or two, but it's nowhere as important to me as it use to be. 

Hobby implies no client-vendor relationship. It implies no customer guidelines. A hobby to me means I do what I want when I want. Take a picture of a flower? Go ahead! Paint a picture of a butterfly? Make it happen. Bake a quiche? If I'm feeling crazy!

Have you ever had a similar experience? What are your hobbies? Let me know in the comments! Like what you read? Subscribe or follow me on Bloglovin if you never want to miss a post!

Four Exciting {& Healthy} Freezer Meals

As promised, I am sharing my freezer meal recipes. They are:

1. Skinny Chicken Enchiladas
2. Spinach Florentine Lasagna roll-ups
3. Angel Hair Tetrazzini, and
4. Chicken & Brown Rice Soup

In this article I will lay out what worked for me and what didn't whilst freezer meal making. I figure that could be helpful.

Before I jump into this, let me paint a picture of the beauty of freezer meals:

• We paid around $100 for three weeks worth of healthy, homemade, high-quality dinners (more than that for us because each dinner feeds at least four people)
• A lot of time in the kitchen, albeit doable work
• Only one load of dishes at the end of the day...how is that even possible??

As I've mentioned this was my first time making all my meals for the month in advance (I realize this doesn't add up, but that much food is excessive for us). I am so pleased with how everything turned out in the end. Making dinners in bulk is so worth it in my opinion. With Jeff in school and me working until 5:30 everyday, it's nice to have something I can throw on the stove for 20 minutes and be done. I consider it a very efficient way to do things. Anyway, off my soapbox. 

To make other lives a little easier, I will chronicle the things that really helped the process and the things I will avoid the next time around. 

What worked for me:

1. I bought vacuum bags and a pump 

I was skeptical when I saw these bags at the grocery store--not gonna lie; however, I had recently read up on freezer storage safety and understood that vacuum bags are a worthwhile investment. For three-ish dollars for a pump and some storage bags, I gave them a chance.

Basically, they suck air out of your storage bag, which allegedly prevents bacteria growth and loss of quality for longer. These puppies really do what they proclaim to do (way to go, Ziploc!). I am equal parts excited about preserving the quality of our food and about preserving space in our microscopic freezer (seriously. It is so small). 

These are worth picking up at your local grocery store. A word to the wise: I found it was more effective to store solids in vacuum bags and liquids in regular (and freezer-safe) bags. I placed enchiladas, lasagna, and shredded chicken in these. 

2. Cook all of your chicken at the same time. Frozen or thawed. In a crockpot. I learned this after thawing, cutting, and cooking five pounds of chicken. Right before going to bed, I thought, "I'll just throw (play Tetris to fit) all the rest of my chicken in my crockpot. I sprinkled the frozen chicken breasts with chicken bouillon and a tablespoon of seasoned salt (yeah, not healthy), put my crockpot on low, and went to bed. Aside from waking up to the pungent smell of dinner, this was the most effective labor-saving step, by far. 

For the record, I'm not a big meat girl. I get grossed out when I see, or chew fat or a caruncle (nasty!). This chicken was soft and flavorful. It was so tender I shredded all ten pounds with one fork in about three minutes--amazing!

3. Use recipes you trust (but don't be too worried about branching out, too).

A lot of these recipes are regular meals in our house. If I wasn't sure how well it would freeze, I'd just Google it. I learned that cream-based soups are not so great (but you can just add the cream or milk when reheating) and that some vegetables fair better than others, but that undercooking veggies can help. Anyway, there's a great deal of information out there on the internet, so that is a great tool while preparing freezer meals.

4. Use them up!

These little babies feel like masterpieces and I am tempted to save them for some rainy day. I've decided to chuck this mentality out the window because we want to enjoy them now! You should consider this, too, but everyone's needs and desires are different.

5. Freeze them flat.

Here's how I did this: I placed a cookie sheet or clean cutting board in the freezer and set the bag on top. I would smooth it out and let it freeze laying flat. Once the meal was frozen I would stack and organize them to make room for other meals. This is pretty awesome. Even if you have a teeny freezer like us, you should be good to go!

Well, I hope this helps!

Have a great Sunday!

Saving Money + Helping New Friends

Okay, I've been wanting to post this for a while, but it feels incomplete. Basically, I took on a challenge of making all our dinners one day of the month. I LOVE FREEZER DINNERS! I have not made dinner for several days and yet we have had lasagna, chicken enchiladas (like three times), and chicken and brown rice soup. I feel totally accomplished and unexpectedly, I feel really prepared. We can participate significantly in last-minute dinner parties as well as help people in tough circumstances. I'll actually be starting over again probably today because we're giving all our meals to a family in our ward.

Listen up because this is important: a young couple in our ward had a fiasco (to say the least) two days ago. Their home burned to the ground and they didn't have renter's insurance.

If that wasn't enough, the stress of the situation put the mom into early labor... I can't even imagine how hard that would be. I keep thinking about how this means they probably don't have anything their [unexpectedly] new baby needs. This is insane.

Someone set up a Gofundme account for them, so if there is anything you can do to help, I'm sure they would really appreciate it.

Can't believe this happened to someone I know.

Click to donate!

As for freezer meals, we made five different meals and an extra:

1. Spinach Florentine Lasagna

2. Chicken Enchiladas

3. Salsa Chicken

4. Angel Hair Tetrazzini

5. Chicken and Brown Rice Soup

6. Extra shredded chicken

I used mostly trusted recipes (I.e., they came from my mother-in-law's cookbooks)

I made about 15 meals. I tripled each recipe. This was surprising cheap! When I get a second, I will post my recipes as well as my shopping list. 

I mostly post this prematurely to spread the word for this family. They could definitely use some help right now.

Second Week of Medical School Down

At the outset, I'll share some spiritual musings as of late. Per suggestion, I read a talk called "Children" by Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is an excellent and sensitive talk about families.

The point that stuck out to me the most was that "we believe in families, and we believe in children." I don't understand why, through the years it has become so much less popular to have families and children. How can regeneration possibly be a descending trend? Elder Anderson cites this Christian blog post quoting,

"[Growing] up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood ... Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get ... Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for." 

I hope I can overcome myself and put this goal at the top of my list someday. I share this because I find a lot of the advice I've been the recipient of about marriage and family discouraging and this article and the blog were illuminating for me. I'm positive there will still be nay-sayers, but mark my words, I am looking forward to being a mom someday, while I fully expect challenges and difficulties beyond my wildest imagination. People told me marriage would be worth putting off and would generally limit me, but well, it hasn't.

As a matter of fact, so far it has really prodded my progression as a person all around. I think marriage has highlighted a lot of my personal issues and I've had to face them head on and change for the better. For me, I truly don't think that would happen on my own, even if I was finding myself in the Alps, or being single and obnoxious for several more years, or getting another degree or something else people feel are pre-requisites for settling down. The bottom line is that when it's right, it's right. It's a very personal matter and that should be respected.

I guess I feel impassioned about this because it is really easy to listen to those voices. I know they are trying to be helpful and many populations would feel the advice to be wise and good. I tend to be easily persuaded, but family is central to God's plan of happiness. I also found this point really helpful: Adam and Eve did not have their children in the Garden of Eden.

So, yeah.

Last week was nice. Here are some of the things that happened:

 Jeff had Taco Bell for the first time in his life. He answered a question correctly and his professor offered him Taco Bell as a reward.

Husband rating: 5/10

Jeff has already made 900+ flashcards. He has been really busy, however, we've been able to spend a lot of time together. He has his first exam in a week, so I suspect he'll be the busiest he's been so far. 

Jeff has been dissecting HUMANS. That is still so weird to me. I've never seen a cadaver, but I have certainly smelled one, if you know what I'm saying. It's not that bad...Just a little creepy. 

Here's a peek at some of our meals this week:

We really love Slab Pizza in Provo. For those not acquainted with Slab, it's a fantastic pizza place with a pretty bizarre menu. Our two favorites are Buffalo Wing and Chicken Enchilada. Since we can't go to Slab, I fashioned two copycat recipes. They turned out pretty delicious, if I may say so myself. I ended up making five pizzas this week. Yes, five. It's easy and a great way to feed a lot of people--like me and Jeff, haha.

Click for recipe :)

Click for recipe :)

As for projects, I stained this and a wooden crate. I got this mirror from Jeff's cousin Hannah right before she was going to take it to the D.I. Thank you! I sanded it down, wiped it off and gave it one lazy coat of Rust-oleum Ultimate Wood Stain in Kona (this is the same stain I used on my deer head project. I wanted a distressed look and I like it just like this. It's pretty and very dark. 

We have a free gym nearby, so I have been swimming and lifting. Yay! It feels good to be settled. Also, there are like six girls that are all are wives of students and/or recent move-ins from Provo. We have spent time together swimming, hanging out, watching movies, and generally supporting each other. :)

Disclaimer: If it sounds like I am doing nothing all day, that is a little bit true. My job doesn't begin for about a week and a half. I am doing some part-time nannying though. That, by the way, is awesome and I love it.

I've been thinking about how incredible the human body is lately. Jeff comes home and tells me that he held lungs in his hands or handled a human heart. He is having some remarkable experiences, for sure. This sums up some of my thoughts in that regard: