2012 Felt Ornaments Tutorial: Bear, Bells, Trees

The following links are for additional felt ornament tutorials previously posted:

Click here to view Mod Tree Ornament Tutorial

Click here to view Bells- 'Cookie' Ornament Tutorial

Holiday Felt Fun! Tutorial: Cookie Ornaments

Holiday Felt Cookie Treat!

Hi everyone!
Here we have some holiday felt fun, starting out with holiday cookies. These will last past Santa's visit. Leave some out on your living room table as an homage to the treats given to the big guy in red for stopping by with presents. Actually, they are more like unfinished ornaments. If a ribbon were attached to each one, thats what they would be.

~

Tutorial Instructions:

1. Create a template (drawing cut out of paper) or get out your cookie cutters and trace the design onto the felt. Cut 2 of the same shape, and 1 slightly smaller but identical shape for 'icing'. I used brown for cookie and red/green/pink for icing.

2. Use matching floss and run a simple stitch with the smaller piece w color on top of the brown felt. Then make a running stitch to connect the two brown pieces.

3. Done! If you want you can glue or sew ribbon onto them to hang. I left some on a plate with some chocolate chip cookies I had already made out of felt to make a bigger plate.

**To make a chocolate chip cookie: Cut out 2 brown circles. Grab some scrap brown for chips.
Sew chips onto felt first, one stitch should be enough. Then sew the circles together with a running stitch. Stuff with microfiber or cotton if you wish.

Merry Christmas!

Craft tutorial: How to make a mod tree ornament

 How to make a 'mod tree' ornament

Cute and simple, these ornaments from felt, floss and glue can be alot of fun to make!

The holidays always make me think of family. Every Christmas, my Nana would hang a mod Santa cutout mobile on her door. I couldn't remember a year she did not hang it up. He would spin around everytime someone came through the door. He brought alot of cheer, even if he is a little odd. My aunt actually mailed him to me today! I have been pumping out ornaments for about a month, so it was a definite happy surprise and a sign to include him in this posting!

hi Santa and Santa's inspired ornament

The instructions are pretty self explanatory. I created my own template for the tree because I could not find my tree cookie cutter. The tree and the bell are the simpler shapes to start on. I didn't bother with stars since they look pretty bad when the 5 sides are uneven, but whatever shape works for you will work with this project.

Please check back later in the week for an additional tutorial on felt ornaments. Some of them are trying to make their ways to homes for the holidays. See you soon!

SS of the Week: Pokemon Black 2

I choose you, Black Version number 2!

Fire, water, or plant, which of these three will be your first in Pokemon Bv2?

Chicken w Lemon Caper Sauce - WW

Chicken with Lemon Caper Sauce - derived from WW

4 points plus meal

Ingredients:
Boneless chicken breast
salt, pepper
2 TBSP flour
pinch of salt
olive oil
1/2 c chicken broth
3 TBSP lemon juice
1 TBSP capers
1 tsp butter (optional)

Instructions:
Chicken breast, sliced butterflied with knife.
Salt and pepper both sides, leave sit for at least 5 minutes
Heat saute pan to medium high heat with olive oil.
Use flour to coat both sides of chicken, shake off excess.
Add chicken to hot pan, 3 minutes per side, remove and set aside on plate (cover to keep warm)
Once all prepped chicken is removed from the pan, add 1/2 c broth, 2 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp capers for every 2 breasts. Cook for 2 minutes on medium heat, then return the chicken to the pan to cook for an additional 2 minutes.
Add butter if desired to the sauce.
Drizzle sauce and capers on chicken.
Sprinkle parsley on top of sauce and chicken.

Enjoy!

Can Be Found in the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook:

Buy it here

SS of the week: Ghosts & Goblins NES

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I saw this screen shot in a Nintendo book, and it looked awesome. Graveyard, zombies, being a knight in white armor, and items! 6 years old and my mind is just blown. I really wanted to play this game. Thankfully, places like flea markets and second hand video game shops were all the rage in the late 90s so I got to pick up some titles I could not afford or find at a younger age.

I had such high hopes. I really did. I mean, I knew it was tough, at least I heard it from one kid that my mom was friends with his mom and my sister and I had to go play with him and his little brother (you know how all that goes when you are a kid. Sometimes you get stuck hanging out with some real screwballs) but these two were not so bad. The older kid had this game in his NES in his room, on pause. It was paused on the map screen. He said it had been that way all weekend. I thought he was nuts. I just had a lousy NES which couldnt stand that kind of play. But turns out, this kid had the right idea. You do get infinite continues in the game so as long as it doesnt shut off, in theory you can beat it.

Take turns dying with your little sister who gives it maybe 30 seconds of a try.

(world map here if I felt like googling this crap one more time, which I dont. So go google it yourself if you need a refresher.)

So the bad news. One big issue is just the game is too hard. You only get 2 chances on a life throughout the level. You get hit once, you lose armor and you are forced to run around nekkid. Then, you die next hit. You can pick up the little items that sort of resemble armor, but they just give points. Plus your weapons are not so strong. 

And their Unicorns (boss) are fugly and not at all cute.

A weird graphic has always bothered me. Take a look at the mountain or cone cloud thing in the middle. It has half a fence growing on the side. Is this where the devil lives? Or Satan? Since there are both in the game, indicating there is a diference between Satan and the Devil. I think the Devil is the thing that kidnaps your woman at the beginning but Satan is the final boss. 

never gonna get there, gonna get there (not a NES ss) never gonna get there, gonna get there...womp womp wah wahh waahh

Anyway, in case you were living under a I hate video game rock in the 80s-90s, you must know this game. Its a classic, tough game and nobody usually beats it. The ending also is a huge let down. Boo on this game, but if someone else is playing it, I will have to watch.

Thanks for reading, until next time! 

SS of the week: The Birth of FPS

Quake and Doom: The Birth of the FPS in your home

Doom and Quake, two of the first FPS for the PC. FPS means First Person Shooter, which refers to the camera angle in which you interact with the game. You normally view the game through your own eyes and do not see yourself as a character on screen.

Doom

Quake

Choose your path:

beginner, intermediate, advanced