No Fail Gnocchi Recipe

Almost every holiday in recent years I've been requested in to make my Gnocchi recipe
and I thought I'd share that recipe with you today!  This recipe requires NO special tools.

1 cup dry instant potato flakes
1 cup boiling water
1 egg
1 1/2 cup flour
salt

Add potato flakes into a medium sized bowl and add water.  Mix and cool.  Stir in egg, dash of salt (if wanted) and add flour.  Roll dough onto a floured surface and cut into shapes (I use scissors).  Freeze or cook in boiling water.

Dough rolled out and ready to cut into shape

Everything mixed together and ready to shape

Cut into shape using regular scissors

Bathroom Window Redo

For a long time, I've wanted to try and make roman shades.  Well, today I finally got up the courage to take on this project.  I found some great directions thanks to 365 Days to Simplicity!  I followed the directions in her blog almost exactly. 

Here are the small changes I did make:

• I did change the size to fit my window.  
• She suggests in her directions to use fabric glue and I didn't have any so I choose to use mod podge.  I ended up going back through some of the slats and using hot glue.  (If I were to do this project again I will probably just use the hot glue.) 

Overall Cost: $9

• Mini-Blind (owned already)
• Fabric, $7.00 (with some left over for other projects)
• Hot Glue (owned already)
•  Heat n'Bond, about $3.00

DIY EASY Table Runner

Do you remember my DIY Envelope Pillow Cases?  Well during that same shopping trip I found a pattern I liked in the clearance section.  I'm always looking for a good deal!  The fabric was an outdoor fabric: thick and easy to wipe off.  I thought this could make a great table runner.  So I bought 3/4 of a yard to give it a try.

I took the fabric home and measured my table so I could have the length and width I wanted.  17 x 55 inches.  I then folded the long sides 1/2 inch and then folded again and sewed a straight line on each side.  I then repeated those steps for the short sides.  It was done in about 30 minutes...not too bad.  The project cost me $5 and I have a super cute table runner.

The great thing about the outdoor fabric is it was thick enough that it didn't need a fabric for lining AND it's durable enough for two crazy kids!

My family liked it so much I decided to make some for Easter gifts!

The Lamp Project

In November I bought two lamps from a garage sale site on Facebook.  I have had these lamps sitting in my sun room waiting for the day to be made over.   Well inspiration hit when I made those pillow cases a few weeks ago! I decided I was going to paint those lamp bases yellow.    YES....YELLOW!

I started by taping up all the hardware that I didn't want to get painted.

One coat of Kilz white primer (spray paint)

Three coats of Krylon Colormaster spray paint

Then debated: do I buy new shades or try and fix the ones that came with the lamp?  Well I was having so much fun with the spray paint I decided, let's try to paint them.

White spray paint I had left over from another project

I then sanded the lamp bases a little to give them a rustic look that I like and wiped them off.  I then also decided to add some gray ribbon to the top and bottom of the shades with some hot glue.

Final product, what do you think??

Ritz and Chicken Casserole

 If you are a busy mom that is balancing kids and work, easy dinners are a must!  I found one that is SUPER easy and a comfort food.

Ritz and Chicken Casserole
Adapted from Food.com
Servings: 4

7 uncooked skinless/boneless chicken tenders (cubed) or 1 -1 1/2 cooked and cubed chicken breasts
4 oz sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup crushed Ritz crackers
Shredded Cheddar Cheese for topping

Directions:

1. Spray 9x9 square pan with cooking spray
2. Lay chicken in pan
3. Mix sour cream and soup
4. Top chicken with mixture
5. Mix crackers and butter
6. Add to top
7. Cook at 350 degrees for 50 min or until chicken is cooked
8. Sprinkle cheddar cheese to top
9. Serve and Enjoy!

Cubed Chicken

Mixture over chicken

Half eaten before I could get a picture