Monday, September 19, 2011

A Little Bit Fall Obsessed!

Okay, okay I know what you are thinking. If you have been reading my Facebook or living with me, you know I am not just a little bit obsessed, I'm a lot a bit. This is my favorite time of year. Yes, it is still in the 90's during the day, but there is that infamous breeze begging Summer to leave so Fall can come take its place. This makes me oh so excited! And in this excitement, I deemed it Fall a week and a half before the actual first day of Fall! (another example of me thinking too far ahead) Ha!
Anywhoooo!
I have been hard at work, me and Fall have become partners in crime so to speak! From wardrobe to baking we have it covered :)
Here is my Fall preparedness wrap up!

Decor~
This has been so much fun for me! I LOVE to craft and what better time to do so then Fall??
Some of my projects...
My Fall, Twine & Clothes Pins wreathe... I have changed around the leaves since this picture was taken. It now has a picture pinned of the woman who inspires my crafts with her two girls, My Grandma :)
Not the greatest picture, but you get the point! :)
I think this has become my favorite project! To tie in with my Twine and Clothes pins theme I tied twine to our coat rack and pinned the silk leaves to mimic falling leaves of Fall! They cast such awesome shadows on the wall all day long. I love them!
I love Mason Jars. Like really, I love them. AND it just so happens we were blessed with a bunch of antique Mason Jars! Cool right?
Okay so with my love of all things Mason Jars and Fall, I thought I would marry the too ideas!
And this is what I came up with! :)
They are such a great way of displaying all your extra pieces from other projects in a totally cute way!

And the theme just keeps going! Did I mention that I am in heaven with this theme? I just think it is the cutest!
A simple fireplace banner of Twine, Clothes Pins, and Silk Leaves :)
Baking~
Yummo! That is all I have to say for these treats you see. :)
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting!
Need I say more??
Red Velvet is already my favorite, so throw in Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting and I am in heaven!
The recipe didn't call for the Cinnamon, but my Fall mood made that a necessity :)
I also had extra frosting left over, so I made some Cinnamon Rolls and topped them with the frosting!
So good!
Anyone notice I take a lot of pictures on this chopping block?? 
Any ways...
Nutella Mocha Cream Puffs!!
Easy simple and let me say, delish!
I guess I like to put a spin on these recipes because I also changed this one up a bit. I added the Nutela. Ha!
Here's that chopping block...again!
Pumpkin Spice Latte
This is perfect for a Fall morning in The Word.
SO very yummy
And the best part...you don't have to spend 5 buck to get the taste. Everything you need is in your cupboards :)

* I will be posting all of these recipes soon, they are just too yummy not to share!

So now you know how absolutely Fall crazy I have become...I am already starting to get the itch to decorate for Halloween and its not even October yet! Sheesh! I mean I already painted my nails black in honor of the season, people!
Alright, now I am off to figure out how I am going to finish all these ideas in my head before I start school, which is Thursday!...Goodness Gracious :)
Have a Blessed day!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

The Thought of My Week.

Today marks a week till college begins. My Hunny and I were talking the other day while I was buying school supplies, he asked if I was excited about school..... Now let me interject this here, I am excited about starting school, but truthfully I am the type of person who thinks ahead. In my mind I am already graduated, I have my B.S.N. in Nursing, and I am off to the new Blunders and Blessings this life holds...That being said, I came to the conclusion that I was undecided about being excited. Weird, right??
I know, I'm as strange as they come. But its the truth.
Here is the kicker, after we had that conversation, checked out at my favorite place EVER. (Target), and got in the car, I had this over whelming feeling of excitement!
Now, I was excited mainly at the fact I got six file folders, a coupon filer, a paperwork filer, a pencil case, and a small note pad for the total of $3.00.
Buuuttt...
There was still something more.
The revelation came to me when I got home and had received the rest of my textbooks in the mail.
I was excited. Plain and simple.
I am not sure if I didn't want to be excited in fear of getting my hopes up and college not being what I was anticipating or that I was just nervous.
Whatever it was, it doesn't matter. I am excited now!
Annnnd...
I am still REALLY excited about my score at Target!
10 items for 3 whole dollars!!! It is just crazy!
And might I say adorable!
 The makings of a college student, in style of course!
Oh did I mention I couldn't just leave my file folders just plain old boring pink??
I added some bling to the buttons on the front just for that extra pop!
Pink, Black, Gray, and White!
The colors of my year!
Here I come CSUSB, watch out!

Monday, September 12, 2011

Hats, Clarissa Style!

I love hats. Fedoras, big floppy Sun Hats,those obnoxious church hats ( I don't own one of these yet, but believe you me, I will have one someday!) You name it, I have it. I just adore them.
Now wouldn't that mean these oh so wonderful hats would become DIY projects of mine??
Of Course!!
I stumbled upon my love of creating my own hats this past spring when sun hats were all the rage. And I just HAD to have one :)
Butttttt....
The frugal girl that I am, did not want to pay the money for a hat that I couldn't just wear all the time. And I wanted something I would love, which I had yet to find on the sun hat market.
One day in my many trips to Target I was in one of my favorite places of the store, the dollar section :) On one of those shelves, I found it! A plain bronze brown sun hat! The wheels in my brain started to turn and soon I was off to Micheal's to pick up the rest of the materials for my perfect sun hat!

*Sun Hat- $ 2.50
*Ribbon- $1.00
*Daisy- $ 2.50

It worked marvelously for my Senior Beach Trip. I wore my red and white polka dot bikini with a white sun dress and a red cardigan. It was so adorable! And the hat was perfectly functional, not a sun burn in sight!

Now for my latest project! :)
A straw Fedora! I was on the look out for one all summer!
I finally got my wish a week ago at Walmart, clearanced for $ 5.00.
I was so excited, I thought I was going to burst!
P.s. Keep an eye out for the old window frame, it is one of my newest DIY projects!! :)  

For this hat I wanted to spice it up quickly because I was headed to the beach the day after I got it.
With alittle bit of brain storming, I came up with a cute and simple way to jazz up any hat to make it match your out fit!
Stretch head bands and flower clips!
Nifty right??
And I already had all of this on hand, so my hat was ready for the trip ;)
Oh, and the hat total was a whopping 5 bucks!
Here is one of the ways I wear the hat :)  

So simple and yet so darling!
I can't wait to see what other combos I pair with this hat! I am totally looking forward to wearing this in October for my birthday weekend in San Diego! :)
Show me what awesome Hat creations you come up with!!


 

Friday, September 9, 2011

White Cream Chicken Pizza! Yummy!


Let me just say, White Cream Chicken Pizza = YUM YUM YUM! It is a heavenly concoction! :)
You HAVE to try this!
Recipe:
•Flour tortillas
I want to try it with the tortillas for a more health conscious approach, but I made it with just some store bought Winco dough. Still super good :)
•Philadelphia Kitchen Cream
You want the Italian Herb and Cheese flavored one for this.
•Mozzarella Cheese
Now, I used a combo of Mozzarella and sliced Provolone for the pizza. The mozzarella was shredded. I cut the provolone slices in half and used those to make a border for the cheese and then piled the mozzarella on top. The Provolone turned bubbly and golden brown in the heat, it look so pretty! :)
•Cooked chicken, shredded or cubed
Just a store bought rotisserie chicken from Winco that I shredded. Super simple!
•Dried Oregano
•Garlic Powder
I used fresh Garlic. Who uses garlic powder anymore?? It is all about the fresh :)
•Fresh Basil
•Sun-dried tomatoes (optional)
I just halved a bunch of grape tomatoes, and with the heat of the oven the tomatoes were just wonderful!
First you'll want to spread some cooking creme on a tortilla (or dough) as much or as little as you want.
(actually, the very first thing I did was toast up my tortillas a little bit over the open stovetop burner - just to brown them a little bit)
Next I layered on some pre-cooked shredded chicken.
Then I sprinkled on some shredded mozzarella and provolone if you dare ;).
Then I popped it under the broiler until the cheese was hot and bubbly. After taking it out I sprinkled on a little dried oregano, garlic powder and some fresh basil. ( I heated my oven to 400, and just watched the pizza)
Drum roll please!

Tada!

I hope you try this and enjoy it as much as me and my family did!
Bon Appetite! :)

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

How much for a piece of PLASTIC??

Today I made a trip down to CSUSB, with my wonderful guy in the driver's seat. I had to get my textbooks and parking permit. There was no more procrastinating or avoiding the inevitable...I had to spend the money.
Thankfully with the scholarships and money I was given as gifts, I can pay fully for my first year...But I still didn't want to make that swipe! It meant that money was gone forever and my small amount of savings was short lived.
Anywhooooo!
I decided to go to the Bursars office first to get my parking permit, so I could park by the book store, sounds like a good idea right?
Nope.
I walk casually up to the window, thinking to myself, it couldn't possibly be more than fifty dollars. Silly me.
The woman quickly responds to my question with a statement that makes me want to ask again, just how much that piece of plastic would cost me.
One Hundred and Two Dollars.
 That’s a 1. and a 0. and a 2. Put together.
Let’s just say the combination of those numbers, in that order, does not make me a happy camper.
And then came the bookstore.
The only redeeming quality of this store is the very helpful student worker, who guided me through the store that should be referred to as the Devil's Trap.
 I seriously have never spent one hundred and twenty two dollars in one trip on myself, let alone on a book, until today. My lovely math book decided that it would cost exactly that.
Oh, and don't forget Half.com!
One hundred and seventy dollars later and I still need to order one more book.
Now, I know I am not the first to make this rant and I certainly won't be the last, as the cost for being a student continues to rise. I just can't help but be amazed at how much the cost of being a student actually is!
All the glory goes to God for blessing me with a grant that waves my tuition fees and my little some of money saved up in the bank to cover the rest. Next year is a new year, and my Jesus is the only one who knows how I will find the money to pay for it. He will make a way. I just know it :)
Here is that lovely piece of plastic...
At least it sparkles :)
And my man. He is great. He calms me when I need it most and treats me to lunch and frozen yogurt.  He rocks! :)
© Clarissa Doesn't Explain it All.
Maira Gall