Bacon Wrapped Chicken Recipe at Tummies Full of Love

I just posted a recipe over at my friend Lindsey's recipe blog, Tummies Full of Love.  It is for Bacon Wrapped Chicken that was delicious!  Head on over to check it out!  There are lots of other great recipes posted there too.

31 Days of Handmade Gifts: Day 22 {Game Night & Movie Night Bag}

Welcome to Day 22!  You can find the other 31 Days posts here.

For the people that "have everything", finding a gift to give them can be tough!  A great gift to give them is the gift of an experience.  For example, you can give them a game night or movie night in a bag.  Or if they have any special interests you could center the theme around that interest.  Or if you give them tickets to an event you could out items in the bag that relate to that event.  Just let your imagination run wild! :)

Today's Fabulous Finds

The game night that Today's Fabulous Finds made included:

• Homemade Farkle game cards (you can print off cards from the Today's Fabulous Finds blog)
• Game bag
• Die
• Candy
• Microwave Caramel Popcorn recipe

You could include any game that you can find at the store too (cards, board games, video games, etc,).  It would be fun if your family had a favorite game and you gave them that one too.  I remember seeing games on sale around the holidays last year so I'm sure you could find one this year too.



For a movie night you could include:

• A DVD (or gift card to a movie rental store)
• Popcorn (microwave, jiffy pop or even kernels and topping to cook on the stove)
• A couple bags of candy (depending on how many people in the family)
• Sodas (2 liters or cans, whatever you may have on hand)

If you like to have healthier snacks nuts, pretzels, dried fruit, etc. would be great to include.

If you want to give a date night to a couple you could include a restaurant gift card, tickets to a play, concert, movie, etc., and cash for a baby sitter if they have kids(or your own babysitting services!).  What sort of gift bag/basket would you like to make?

31 Days of Handmade Gifts: Day 21 {Laptop/iPad Sleeve}

Welcome to Day 21! You can find the other 31 Days posts here.

Chances are the majority of people own a laptop or another portable device that you want to keep protected.  Well a handmade case for that item is a great gift!  And the best part is that you can pick fabrics that you know that person would like and you can make it for anyone (male or female) of any age!  Here are some of the tutorials I have found in my search to make an iPad case (that I have yet to make!).

The Cottage Home

This laptop sleeve is made by The Cottage Home.  It is a great tutorial for a padded case that uses buttons (so no zipper!)  It seems to be a pretty straight forward project.  And the dimensions of the fabric depend on the size of your item so you can make it for anything that you want to protect!

Crap I've Made

Isn't that sleeve awesome!  I'm partial to the ruffles/pleats, flower and colors (so all of it!), but you definitely don't have to add the embellishments (especially if it's for a guy!).  This tutorial can be found over at Crap I've Made.  The closure on this case is a zipper and once again you are using the measurement of your item to make the case.

Sew Mama Sew

This last tutorial is from Sew Mama Sew (they also sell fabric and always have some on sale!).  Once again this one is based on the size of your item and it has a velcro closure.  The tutorial (a free pdf  download) is awesome so be sure to check it out.

I know these are all kind of similar, but I know some people probably prefer one type of closure over another.  Plus the more you see the more you can be inspired! 

On a personal note I just finished my class for this semester (literally just finished...I just turned in my final exam)!  That means that I can now focus on completing projects on my to-do list and work on nursery projects!! And of course share them with my lovely readers!  I'm very excited to start nursery projects and other stuff for our little girl.  Right now everything is just swirling around in my head and I'd like to see it in person (and finished)!

What things have you all made for your kid's rooms?

31 Days of Handmade Gifts: Day 20 {Fort Kit}

Welcome to Day 20! You can find the other 31 Days posts here.

Today's gift idea is a fort kit for the imaginative child in your life.  What a great idea!  It would be perfect for almost any child from about 5 to 10 years old. 

The items that you could include in the fort kit are:

• several flat sheets (I'd say 2 - 4, and work best if you sew strings/ties on the edges to hang the sheets up)
• rope (to drape sheets over)
• clothespins (to attach sheets to rope)
• suction cups (to put on wall to hold up sheet)
• flashlight
• large clips ( to attach sheets to whatever is available)
• any other fort building accessory you can think of!

Saltwater Kids has a great tutorial for making a fort  as well as a tag that you can print for your fort kit bag!  Bloom has another tutorial you can use.  Would you all include anything else in the fort kit?