Nutella Cheesecake

So, I decided I wanted to mix my two favorite things: Nutella and cheesecake! It's still in the fridge waiting for my husband to come home so we can eat it for dinner, but I'm not sure I can wait much longer! And considering I just sort of made it up as I went, it came out AMAZING.

What you will need:

- A jar of nutella (I used a 26 oz jar)

- 2 8 oz packages of cream cheese, softened

- 1 egg

- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

- pie crust (I used a chocolate crust)

Here's how to make it:

1. Make sure your cream cheese is softened. You can do this two ways. You can wait for it to soften on your counter. Or you can put both blocks on a plate and microwave it for 15 seconds. Once that is done, flip them over and microwave them for another 15 seconds. Oh and preheat your oven to 300.

2. In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese until it's smooth.
This is SO much easier to do with an electric mixer. I don't have one of those, so I did it by hand. I got it "smooth enough", there were still a few lumps, but I didn't care. (UPDATE! I have an electric mixer now! And this is easiest using dough hooks instead of the beaters)

3. Mix in the egg and vanilla until smooth.

4. Ok, here's the fun part. Mix in your Nutella. I did one or two heaping tablespoons at a time. It ended up being about half of the jar. If I make this again, I will probably use a little less, because I like the cheesecake flavor to pop more than whatever other flavor is in it.

5. MIX MIX MIX MIX MIX MIX MIX MIX until it's smooth. Once again, I did this by hand. So there are still small lumps of the cream cheese in mine. And that's ok. It still tastes awesome. It's just not the most beautiful thing in the world.

6. Pour the mixture into your crust and smooth it out.

7. Pop it in the oven for about 20 minutes (I ended up doing 15 because my oven cooks really fast for some reason. For some it may be 15, for others it may be 25)

8. While it's cooking, feel free to lick the bowl (yes! Even though there is egg in it!) because it is divine.

9. Put it in the fridge for 3-4 hours and then enjoy!

Flower Hair Clips - and my first tutorial!!

Okay, so this is my first tutorial. Don't be too harsh! :)
I did these for my little sister's 16th birthday that's coming up in a few weeks. She loves flower clips!
And I apologize if the photos aren't the best...these were all taken with my cell phone.





What you’ll need:
Satin fabric
Hot glue gun
Scissors
Pearl embellishments (or use whatever you’d like) – I found mine in the scrapbooking section. $3 for a pack of 24
Lighter/tea light candle
Alligator clips

To make the flower:

1. Cut 6 circles (they don't have to be perfect) from the satin. I didn’t really measure I just sort of cut a circle and made the other 5 go in descending sizes (you can also do 5. I ended up not liking the 6th circle on one of the flowers, so I didn’t put it)





2. Light your candle (you can use the lighter too, but it hurt my finger to use it after a while, so the candle was easier) and hold each circle near the flame for a few seconds. You’ll have to watch it or it will melt too much and it won’t look right. You want the edges to curl up. I let mine singe a little bit so they would look darker. To me, it just gave more ‘life’ to the flower.

3. Once you’re done doing all 6 of your circles it’s time to bring out the glue gun (or whatever adhesive you’re using)! Place a glob of glue on the largest circle and then put the next size on top of it. Continue this with all the circles. Be careful because if you smooth it down you just might burn your fingers! I’m proof!






4. Take your pearl and put a small dab of hot glue on it, then press it in the center.


To put it on the alligator clip:

1. Clip your alligator clip to a piece of cardboard or paper
***optional: hot glue ribbon around the clip (or just place a small strip and cut to size after your flower is on) first so it won’t stick to the cardboard and will look more attractive underneath. I would have done this, but I didn’t have any ribbon handy***

2. Place hot glue on the clip, being careful not to get glue on the part where fingers will grab to open the clip. (I apologize that this photo is dark and kind of blurry. I didn't realize it was blurry until it was too late and this was as bright as I could get it without it looking worse.)





3. Gently press your flowers on, it’s alright if it’s not in the dead center, you can’t tell when it’s in your hair.

4. After about 30 minutes (or however long you choose to wait), peel your clips off the cardboard. The cardboard will rip and there will be traces of paper on the hot glue areas. It’s perfectly fine. No one will see it, it won’t damage your hair, and it will be fine.

And there you have it! Cute hairclips!!

So it's decided....

After a unanimous vote it's been decided that I will use this as my crafting blog.
You will have to bear with me, though. I've never done a tutorial. I'm not a professional photographer. And I don't have my cricute yet so crafting has been brought to a halt until my baby gets here!
But until then, here's some past suff I've done...

#1 a Christmas star! (tutorial can be found here. I love her blog!)



Here it is on my front door (yes, the door is an ugly color. Sadly I can't repaint it...)



#2 painted rocks for halloween. There are a few that I just love.



Here's the finished product, as a centerpiece for our dining table




#3 a duck diecut for a baby scrapbook. Yes, I did hand draw this and cut it out by hand. I'm hoping my cricut will help make this process go a little faster, becuase it took me forever to do this little guy!



#4 My dad's Christmas present. He's a HUGE computer guy, so I made him this frame with laptop computer keys and a wedding photo. I also did one for my husband, but I like this one better!



So that's some of what I've done recently. Nothing too fancy. Maybe I'll do a tutorial for one of those crafts later, if anyone's interested.And as soon as I get my cricute you can bet that I'll
have a TON more.

Christmas cards!

With Love Chartreuse Christmas Card

Shop Shutterfly for elegant custom Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Shutterfly love!

So I've recently fallen in love with Shutterfly (shutterfly.com). I discovered them through my aunt a few years back and then rediscovered them after my wedding. I'm making our wedding album right now through there, though I haven't had much time with school and married life. I love that they have different options for albums. You can choose the premade scrapbooks where you just put in the photos and it gives you a stylish design or you can do each page yourself. Me, being an overachiever, have chosen to go the second route. :)
And since this will be our first christmas, we're hoping to do some Christmas Cards through the site. And I've been eyeing these little babies for christmas gifts and even for our apartment. And you know how I love to plan ahead.....so for the future (sadly, very distant), I want these to announce when we have a little one. Sigh, it is so nice to dream of the future, eh?
Anyways, I LOVE Shutterfly, and I think it's awesome to use for everything. :)

Where did the time go?

I've been so busy. I don't even know where the time's gone. I went to sleep last night with 117 days until my wedding and when I awoke there were only 22 days left! I can't believe it! I'm so ready to step over the thresh hold from single to married. I got a taste of it last weekend when we went to Chattanooga to move into our new apartment. It's amazing having or own place. A place to clean, a place to cook, a place to call home. I'm so ready to get this wedding over with and get things settled and instead of asking, "Honey, which color would you prefer for the reception table cloths? Pink or white?" I can ask, "Honey, what do you want for dinner?". You catch my drift. I look forward to getting settled and taking weekend vacations to the beach, grocery shopping, and just doing household things. That is until August comes around and things are stirred up yet again with the start of school. It will always be something, won't it? C'est la vie! That's life! Maybe one day life will slow down and I can catch my breath; but until that day comes, I'll stick to my wedding planning.

Introduction

Guess it's kinda obvious I'm new to the whole blogging thing, huh? I'm not a professional writer. In fact, I'm a really ADD writer; I get off track and onto other topics quite easily. I'm not hoping to get famous off this. I'm just hoping for a way to relax and a way to keep track of everything that's going on in my life.

My camera broke a while back, but hopefully I can post pictures later!

Anyways, I'm a senior in high school with a lot more on her plate than most. While the others are worrying about who their roomates will be, I'm worrying about other things (don't worry, I know who my roomate is!) such as my wedding. Yup. Eighteen and getting married. I know what you're thinking:

"Chelsea, you are crazy! Have you seen the statistics on young marriage?"

I have, and I must say, I am more than a statistic. We are more than a statistic. And if I didn't feel this was absolutely right, I wouldn't be doing it. True, I have had doubts just like any other bride, but who hasn't? Also, the constant disapproval and negative comments made to me by countless others on the subject hasn't helped with that. I have to say, planning this shin dig has been much more stressful than I could have ever imagined! There's so much more to this wedding thing than anyone has ever really talked about! I mean, when you think wedding do you think of sitting and comparing different shades of white for thirty minutes for tablecloths? Because I sure didn't, but it's what must be done. But that's not to say isn't fun, because I really enjoy talking wedding details with my mother and others on a day-to-day basis, though it does get tiring at times.

Pretty much I always have wedding on the brain. It's like BOGO, but with chiming bells and bigger price tags.

And on top of that, we're planning life. College, apartments, bills, etc etc. So life is pretty hectic now, and I know it won't be calming down anytime soon and I'm just happy with that.

I know this wasn't really much of an "Introduction" to me, as the title implies and for that I apologize. But hopefully you can get to know me through my future posts.