Magazine Christmas Tree Make-over

Last year I saw Martha Stewart make this awesome magazine tree, and she had covered her tree in gold glitter.  I'm not much of a gold glitter person, so I just let it be bare.  I thought it looked pretty cool as is, but this year I wanted to give it a bit of a make-over.  

I used flat primer spray paint, and this green spray paint, plus green glitter.  I wanted to use a clear top coat, that I thought I had, but I don't.  

I placed the tree on a large drop cloth, and started with the white layer, then I sprayed on the green.  I quickly sprinkled on the green glitter while the paint was still wet.  I used rubber gloves to lean the paper tree from side to side to sprinkle the glitter on.  

This is how it looks sitting on my window sill.  I think it's even cuter now.  

I want to make this with smaller books, so that I have some trees of different heights.  I have to find an extra thick small catalogue or magazine.  Hope ya'll enjoyed, and happy DIYing, chris!

Braised Chicken with Mushrooms and Potatoes

Happy Nom Nom Monday!  I have a great Chicken, Mushrooms and Potatoes recipe for ya'll today.  

Ingredients:

For the Chicken & Mushrooms:

- 2 tablespoons olive oil

- 2 boneless skinless chicken breast

- salt and pepper (to season the meat)

- 1/2 pound of mushrooms

- 4 garlic cloves

- 1 cup chicken broth

- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley

For the Potatoes:

- 1 tablespoon of olive oil

- 4 russet potatoes

- half an onion

- 1 tablespoons of fresh parsley

- salt and pepper

Directions:

Wash, peel, and chop the potatoes up into bite sized cubes.  Place them in a medium saucepan, and cover with water.  Bring them to a boil, and cook for 5 - 7 minutes.  

In a frying pan heat a tablespoon of olive oil, and rub the chicken breast with salt and pepper on both sides.  Then add the chicken to the frying pan, and cook for 2 - 3 minutes on each side, flipping once.  Remove the chicken and set aside.  Clean and chop up the mushrooms, and garlic.  Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the frying pan again, and then add the mushrooms and garlic.  Cover and cook for 2 -3 minutes, then remove the lid and cook until golden brown, about 4 -5 more minutes.   

While that is happening preheat a skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil, and dice up the onion, and add it to the skillet.  When the potatoes are about halfway cooked drain them from the water, and place in a skillet.  Season the potatoes with freshly chopped parsley, salt, and pepper.  Cover and cook on medium - low heat for 5 - 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

Chop up the parsley, and add to the mushrooms with the chicken broth.  Cook for about 8 - 10 minutes, or until the mushrooms are tender and the liquid has reduced.  Then return the chicken breast to the pan.  Cover, and let simmer over low heat for 10 -12 minutes, or until the chicken is throughly cooked.  

Once the chicken and potatoes are both cooked the meal is ready to be served.  I loved the flavor of the mushrooms in this dish.  I used to hate eating mushrooms as a kid, but this meal had me wish there were seconds.  I got this recipe from Martha Stewart's Great Food Fast, and she suggest making it with polenta.  Which sounds fantastic, but we had some potatoes that needed to be cooked before they went off.  They were good, but I bet the polenta would add a lovely complementary flavor to the chicken and mushrooms.  

Well I hope ya'll had a great Monday, and happy DIYing, chris!

Halloween Rats

Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I know it's still more than two months off, but since this is the first halloween Aaron and I will get to spend in our house (hopefully!) I want to make a bunch of decorations.  When I got home from work today I went to work on google looking for some simple Halloween crafts that will  be easy to pack.  Of course I found a ton of cute crafts on Martha Stewart's website, and I decided to start cutting out some of her fun black rats. 

They are going to look amazing on our steps!  I need to cut out a few more rats to fill our staircase, but I have plenty of time.  :)  I used black construction paper, and was able to get six rats out of one sheet.  

Do you love halloween?  What is your favorite holiday?  Happy DIYing, chris!

Heart Crayons

This is a super easy, awesome Valentine's Day project.  When I was a kid I loved Valentine's Day, because all the crafts associated with this holiday are simply fantastic.  Today, I created Heart Crayons melted from crayon bits (via Martha Stewart).  We made these when I was I child, and the bucket of crayons had tons of broken chunks at the bottom.  Sadly I didn't have a plethora of broken up old crayons to use, but I do have an abundance of crayons.  As a 27 year old, I find I don't use up my crayons half as fast, as I did when I was five.  This project was so much fun though, I might be going to the dollar store to buy a bunch of cheap crayons!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

- 36 Whole Crayons (6 per Heart)

- Mini Heat Cake Tray (or any shape)

Directions:

Begin by removing all the paper from the crayons.  I found that when I removed a bit from the bottom first, the rest would slip over the tip.  Now preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  

Next, break up the crayons with your hands into small pieces. If you want smaller chunks, than you are able to do by hand, you can use a knife and cutting board.  Use six crayons per heart.  Play with the colors you combine!  

Stick the heart pan in the oven for fifteen minutes.  Remove when the crayons look fully melted.  Be careful when removing it from the oven.  You don't want to splash the hot crayon wax about.  If you do dribble, clean up while the wax is still a liquid.  

Let the crayons cool for 15 minutes, and then stick in the freezer for 20 more minutes.  The heart crayons should pop right  out when they are ready.   

I love the way they turned out!  If you have a little one, these would make great Valentine's for school!

Until tomorrow, Happy DIYing!