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.