˚tutorial˚ Making a Onsie (Free Pattern)

Let's be honest. I really like to sew, but...the whole two-students-in-the-house thing doesn't leave a whole lot of room in the budget (and yes, we actually have a budget) for crafting expenses, so sometimes most times, I have to get creative.

I like to grab my coupons and head to the clearance section of any store. (I really like Kohls because they will let you use coupons on their clearance.) So, when I found this little beauty, I couldn't resist the adorable fabric and the price. (Especially because it was another 30% off the clearance price listed.) Nice find right?

After some pattern creating, cutting, and sewing, I turned this inexpensive little beauty (along with some pink scrap knit that I had) into these two onsies:

They look a lot like the white store bought onsie in the picture, don't they? They even have the overlapping shoulder feature to make them easier to put on.

The one thing they are missing...the snaps at the bottom. (I 'm not quite that far yet).

Wouldn't it be cool to make your little one a shirt out of your old favorite shirt?

Want to make your own?

Read More »

˚laundry tip˚ Whiter Whites

Around these parts, our whites tend to turn yellow. That might be because we have owned the same clothing for years (don't judge). Regardless, do you want a trick for getting those yellowed whites to be a little brighter? Well...here you go!

You'll need:
1/2 c. dry clorox 2
1/2 c. dishwasher powder (granules)

Place your clothes in the washing machine basket (is that what they are called?) and fill with HOT water. Add the clorox and dishwasher powder and run the cycle for about 1 minute (just to mix the everything together). Let your clothes sit in the water overnight. Run a normal cycle the next day.

Enjoy your whiter whites!

Read More »

˚tutorial˚ Creating a Customized Favicon

Do you know what a favicon is? It is kind of like a logo for a website. A favicon is the tiny little image that is next to the title of a website at the top of the page. Here are the favicons for Gmail, TinyPic, and of course, Candidly Kate.

 Want to make your own? This is how I did it:

1. Create a 16*16 pixel image in jpeg or png form. (If you have photoshop, this is really easy to do, or you can find an automatic favicon generator online). If you are having difficulty working with such a small space (16*16 pixels is a tiny box the last time I checked), start larger and then shrink it down to size. 

2. Once you are happy with the design, save the favicon to your hard drive, and don't forget to remember the location. Want to make it easy? Just save it to your desktop.

3. Now you are going to upload it to a free image hosting site. (I used http://tinypic.com/). When you get to tinypic, click on the "choose file" button and find the place where you saved your favicon. (If you made it easy, it will be on the desktop). Once your file is selected, click on the big green button that says "UPLOAD NOW!"

4. A new screen will appear. Type in the code and hit the green button again.

5. A final screen will appear containing the links for your favicon. Keep this page open while you open a new page for your blog. We will use the bottom link in a few minutes. 

6. Log into your blog and click on the "Design" tab. Then click on "edit HTML". Click on the "Download Full Template" link and save your current template on your hard drive. (This is just a precaution in case things really get out of hand. I highly recommend it. Trust me on this one!)

7. Next, hit "CONTROL F" in order to search within your HTML code. You are going to look for the following line: <title><data:blog.pageTitle/></title>

This is shown with the orange highlighting in the picture below:

8. Now, insert <link href='your url' rel='shortcut icon' type='image/x-icon'/> right after the code you searched for. Replace the 'your url' portion with the link from the tinypic page that says "Direct Link for Layouts" (it is also circled in the picture above). My link is in yellow in the picture above. Make sure yours looks exactly like mine, only with your picture link (unless of course you want the candidly kate favicon on your site). 

9. Now click preview to make sure your favicon shows up.

And thats it! Feel free to feel proud of yourself every time you see your little logo. And keep your eye open for favicons that catch your eye, it really helps with the design.

Read More »

˚recipe˚ Thin, Crispy Pizza Crust

This pizza dough is so good. Crispy. Thin. Delish. And the best part...you get to put whatever you want on top. Mmmm. I will warn you, once you taste a bite, you may never go back to greasy pizza again.

Ingredients:
1 package active dry yeast (about 2.5 tsp.)
1 cup warm water
1/2 tsp. salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
2.5-3.5 c. all-purpose flour
1 T. cornmeal

Instructions:
Step One: Dissolve yeast in warm water.
Step Two, Three, and Four: Add salt, olive oil, and 2.5 c. flour.
Step Five: Knead for about 1 minute.

Step Six: Add remaining flour (I never use all of the flour. You just need the dough to be kind of sticky, but not too bad so you can't handle it. In Texas climate, I use about 3 cups.) Knead for 2 more minutes.

Step Seven: Place dough in greased bowl.
Step Eight: Cover and let raise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Punch down.

Step Nine: Place dough on floured surface
Step Ten: Roll dough into the shape of your pizza pan. Using a pizza cutter, you can trim edges and add them onto other parts of the dough until you have a pretty good shape.
Step Eleven: Put a little bit of cornmeal on the pizza pan (I don't always have cornmeal on hand, so sometimes I do this and sometimes I don't. It helps so that the pizza doesn't stick.) Place the dough on your pizza pan.
Step Twelve (optional): To make stuffed crust, place mozzarella cheese on the edges of the pizza dough and roll the edges in to hide the cheese.
Step Thirteen: Roll all of the edges over to form a good crust for the pizza.
Step Fourteen: Spread spaghetti sauce over the top of the pizza. (I also like to sprinkle dried basil over the spaghetti sauce). Add mozzarella cheese on top along with all of your toppings.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

The pizza came out looking even better than it did going in. I mean....can you even imagine. Sorry I didn't snatch a photo. I couldn't think straight because the pizza was screaming "eat me" at the top of its lungs. So, I took a bite. Oh my...it was so good. Nice thin, crispy crust. I ate 3 pieces and loved every minute. So go ahead, give it a try. I will warn you that you will never go back to greasy pizza again.

Read More »