A random collection of crafts, costume ideas, recipes, and other miscellaneous nonsense.

I may be awful at actually writing posts, but perhaps I can at least entertain with some adorable videos.  Here is a Bear eating cookies! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM69fRXJCFU

Swagbucks is a website where you can earn points by searching, watching videos, taking surveys, and completing assigned tasks. Your points can then be redeemed for gift cards. While there seems like a lot to do to earn points, most of it seems to be a waste of time in my opinion. I just used the search bar and did daily surveys once in awhile and 4 months later I am now eligible for a $5 Amazon Gift Card.  If you utilize many of the other options such as taking surveys, watching videos, or shopping through swagbucks,  you will probably get much more of a return! Please use my referral code: swagbucks.com/refer/UscKit

Was anyone else reminded of this character from The Incredibles when watching The Wind Rises?   I kept thinking Kurokawa's voice in the English version should have been done by Gilbert Godfried instead of Martin Short. From the beginning of the film, I was immediately thinking about costumes. I like Jiro's train outfit better than the suit throughout the film, but that may be because of the barbershop quartet type hat.     It's not very likely i'll ever put this together, but here is an idea for a couples costume This may be the most visually stunning anime i've seen yet. The fire and the wind looks computer animated, and i was amazed by how fluid the movements of the characters were. Even so, it is not my favorite Ghibli film.

I've been trying many Pinterest recipes lately and in the summer I love to make pasta salads. This recipe by The Garden Grazer was delicious! Of course it's difficult for me to eat anything with feta and not love it! I was wary of the spinach that is included in this recipe, but after stirring it in the hot pasta it quickly wilted and the taste went along with the rest quite well. This one is on my 'will make again' list.

I just watched the pilot for Starcrossed and I can't believe I was able to finish the episode. It started out alright with a little girl helping a little alien boy. Then with a fast forward 10 years later we were suddenly in a teen genre that was all too familiar. As soon as the show mentioned a 'sector' I groaned. I love new books or shows that are different, and I will read or watch something recommended to me. Unfortunately, as soon as something becomes a hit in the teen scifi/fantasy genre, there are many copycats. First the vampire genre was a big hit, and there were vampires everywhere, and now the recent topic is the post apocalyptic world where you must choose something at the age of 16. I find that amusing since you're not considered an adult until you reach 18 or 21 for the majority of things. Why would that change in the future? Keywords/Phrases: *Sector *Social Suicide *Sorting *Main character is either 16, or about to be 16 and the plot centers aroun

I had half a red cabbage and 1/4 of a regular cabbage leftover from the previous nights recipe so I decided to make a slaw. I chopped them up and tossed it all into a bowl. Most of the slaw dressings I found online had mayonnaise which I did not like much when I did a test. I made 4 different sauces in bowls and the one I liked the best was the easiest. It's only two ingredients and the sweet tangy taste goes well with red cabbage. Sweet chile sauce and sour cream mixed until creamy. I used Franks sweet chile sauce but any brand would do. Ingredients: 1/2 Red cabbage 1/4 regular cabbage 1/3 bottle sweet chili sauce Match sour cream to sweet chili sauce. I believe it was about 3 tablespoons.

  Denim, tie dye, backward baseball caps, bright colors, overalls, and knee highs are just some of the things that remind most people of the 90s.  I'm horrified when I look back at most pictures I have as a child, as I dressed more like Nickelodeon's Clarissa and Alex Mack instead of like the more trendy 90s styles. I wore tshirts with denim shorts and overalls quite often. One thing I miss about those days is the comfort. I was not aware of most of the 90s fashions that were available at the time (hey we didn't have internet yet) and I basically wore whatever my parents bought me. It was nice to be able to dress for comfort! Kids nowadays seem to be beyond their years and dress much older than their age. I've been thinking of having a 90s party this year, and this time perhaps I'll actually dress in a different 90s style that I never wore when I was younger. I'm breaking down some of the styles into categories below. These are categories in my mind

The newest health trend derives from India where oil pulling is used for a variety of health reasons. The idea is to swish oil in your mouth for 10-15 minutes each day and the oil pulls bacteria from your mouth that absorbs into it and is released from your body with the oil when you spit it out. Recent studies have shown that using organic sesame oil for this for a month reduces bacteria in your mouth by 40% and coconut oil by 20%. Using sesame oil as an oral health agent helps to reduce the amount of S. mutans (germ) count in both teeth plaque and mouth saliva. Scientists believe that the lipids in the oil both pull out bacteria, as well as stop bacterial from sticking to the walls of the oral cavity. Benefits include:         •      Prevention for bad breath         •       Prevention of diseases of the gums and mouth, such as cavities and gingivitis • Strengthening your teeth, gums and jaws • Prevention of dryness of the lips, mouth and throat • Possible h

Today a friend posted a creepy picture of a sphinx cat on Facebook and mentioned how that was an animal that is okay to put clothes on. This led to me googling images of sphinx cats in hoodies and laughing. I came across a picture of a sphinx that looks like it's trying to hypnotize you, and it looked so much like Dobby I just had to make it a meme. Introducting Hypnocat: 

I tried this recipe for stacked roasted vegetable enchiladas as my latest Pinterest recipe to test. It was so delicious and easy to make! The time consuming part was chopping all of the veggies, but once that was done it was quick to throw together the ingredients and then bake it until done. My brother in law hates vegetables and he even gobbled this up! This one is a definite recommend and going in my recipe book to make again another day!

My house goes through laundry detergent way too quickly. We normally go through 1 large bottle of detergent every two weeks, but sometimes it seems like we're buying it every week. At $15 each, we're spending $30-$45 a month in laundry detergent. I looked up a few different 'recipes' for making your own detergent online. Washing soda was the most difficult to find. Walmart normally carries it, but the two closest to me were sold out. I finally found some at Kroger. I also bought Lemishine (not pictured) for dishwashing detergent, and it cost $28 for all of the ingredients for the laundry and dish detergent. One of the Pinterest recipes I read said this lasted almost 6 months for them. If it lasts 2 months, I'll still be saving money. DIY LAUNDRY DETERGENT 1 box Borax 1 box Washing Soda 1 2lb box of baking soda 1 box OxiClean 14oz worth of grated Zote  I bought the Zote pre-grated at Walmart, but you can also grate 2 bars of Zot

Some of main things my household goes through quickly are laundry and dishwasher detergent (and toilet paper, but i'm not about to make diy tp). I tried some dollar store dishwasher detergent and it did not work at all. We may as well have been just running hot water with no detergent. Then I thought of making my own detergent. I reviewed a few different recipes online for DIY detergents first. Luckily, borax and washing soda are the main ingredients in both detergent mixes. I already had salt at home, so I just bought Lemishine from Walmart to make my dishwasher detergent. The used the entire bottle of Lemishine, which equaled about 1 1/2 cups. Mix all of the ingredients and store in an airtight container. Use approximately 1 tablespoon per load. DIY Dishwasher Detergent   1 1/2 cups Borax    1 1/2  Washing Soda   1 1/2 LemiShine  3/4 cup Kosher Salt    At the time I made this, I had not yet found washing soda. If you can not find it either, don't f

After seeing a blanket like this that my cousin had made recently, I just had to make one too! My dog needed a new blanket anyway. I bought some red and grey fabric from the scrap pile at Joann's on sale for under $8. Cut both pieces to the same size, then cut a 5 inch square off each corner. Cut strips on each side about 2 inches wide, and tie them into knots. Tying the knots is the most time consuming, but look how happy my lil man was once I finally finished!

It's snowed in South Carolina for the second time within a month, which is incredibly rare here. The snow two weeks ago was light and fluffy. There were about 3-4 inches in my area, but it had all melted by day two. We did the stock up on bread and milk then, and thought it was pointless, so we didn't bother this time. I actually did buy bread since we were out, but the grocery store was out of milk two days before the storm since everyone stormed the stores. Our state basically shuts down from snow or ice as we don't have the resources to clear all of the roads, and there tend to be a lot of power outages from tree limbs breaking. Well this time the snow has not melted and the roads are covered. We had hail and freezing rain for hours last night, so it's frozen over the top and every small puddle has turned to ice. We watched many cars today trying to make it up the small hill in front of our house. They all slid backwards and had to go back the way they came. Tempe

The Corley Mill House and Gardens is another all inclusive venue. You can have the wedding outside by this gazebo, or indoors in the large hall area. The Wisteria around the gazebo in the spring and summer really makes the setting. They also have a large outdoor deck. This location is very scenic, but at a wedding where I was a bridesmaid I was not pleased with the coordination. There is a small balcony at the front of the house and we had asked for it to be swept off the day before so that the bride could take photos on it, yet wedding day it was still covered in pollen and not cleaned at all. The day of the wedding it was raining, and as the driver ran each of the bridesmaids and bride up under an umbrella and to the front door, we discovered the front door was locked, and one bridesmaid had to run in the rain to the back door to get in. This may have all been a one time thing however, and the location really is lovely. The River Road and Jasmine House can also b