DIY Braided Bracelet

Braids are all the rage these days. Check out the latest magazines or internet sites like Pinterest and you will find braids showing up in hairstyles as well as fashion and accessories…They are everywhere and so I was inspired to create my own “braided” accessory, a bracelet.

It is made of miscellaneous bits of fabric from an old t-shirt, ribbon, beads, and a bit of chain from an old costume bead and chain necklace. I love taking items that might otherwise be tossed out and repurposing them.

Armed with a variety of scrap materials, a few jewelry findings, scissors and glue and I was able to create a pretty cool bracelet. The t-shirt was white and I used a bit of fabric dye to create a new color: turquoise, another hot color trending this season.  I now have a hot new one of kind bracelet and you can too. It so easy and so much fun.  I couldn’t wait to share.


Hope to update this post with step by step tutorial eventually but I know some “crafty creatives” out there will be inspired by pictures to come up with your OAK braided bracelet; I bet you can figure it out yourself...

Now go get Fashionably Crafty ;-)

Remember Tutorial coming soon.

Container Gardening

Gardening runs in my family. I never cared much about until I got my own apartment then I wanted plants, lots of plants. Who did I call for advice about them, my mom, of course.  My mother has always planted flowers and most of the time a vegetable garden. I always tell people that she has two green hands.  She could grow things and cook things that made you pay attention.  What that? How’d you do this or that? She usually had answer if was about plants or food.

When I finally had my own house and full two acre lot, I really became interested in gardening, flowers that is, still wasn’t real turned on about the vegetable garden thing but now I am what with the cost of food amongst other life changes.  I know I still can’t commit to a the “old-fashion” style vegetable garden my parents and grandparents kept for many reasons.

Container gardening, urban gardening, small space gardening is my solution.



I have a new obsession, now, looking for alternative ways and methods of growing vegetables.  One of my favorite sources of information is the internet, so I thought I'd share my results here as well.



So far I’ve learned to grow lettuce, potatoes, onions, and  all from kitchen scraps.  I've been growing herbs fairly successfully for a quite a while from seed



It’s so easy and the results will astound you.  I felt like I had planted magic beans when my plants began growing. Any type of lettuce can be use, just cut the “root-end” off; you know the part you never use and usually toss in the trash or compost, yep that part.  You’ll want to leave about 2-3 inches of “fleshy” part. Then place this in a shallow bowl and fill with just a little water. I’d try to stay about 1/4-1/2”.  Keep it water and watch for signs of rot from the “fleshy” part you left on and if you see the leaves getting a little mushy take it off.  You don’t want your water getting all moldy and yucky.  You will see growth in about 3-4 days, no kidding, that quick. That’s it.

Easy Peezy….

Look for future post on growing celery, onions, potatoes and ginger.

Daily Pin

Music

Artsy instrument

Crafty Stars

made from salt dough

DIY (do-able 4 me) bracelets..

Daily Pins

Have told you lately how much I love Pinterest?  Well I do, no I really, really really love this site.  Here are a few of the reasons why...

I love the color combination and the composition.  It makes me want to be in this space.

same thing colors pull me in and make me want to hang out. I can feel the creative energy.

...and the bubbles are just plain fun and inspiring.  It's the little things.

My Pinterest obsession

Yes, I have a love affair going with Pinterest. I can't get enough. It's addictive for sure. You think or plan to spend 15 minutes just browsing and boom before you know it, 2 hours have past and you've been sucked in.  Yes, Pinterest is the new digital "crack".  But I'm happily hooked.  If you haven't visited you should or maybe not, hehehe but fair warning has been given.

Whatever your interest are, there is something there for you and if not, you can be the first to create it,  It is or seems to be one of those things, where you "if you build it, they will come". It's truly magical.  If you follow my blog post then you already have an idea of my interest which are many and varied.  I've found very few things that are able to address "all" of them but Pinterest does. I'm so in love.

So what is Pinterest? Pinterest is a pinboard-style photo-sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections. Pinterest is an online pinboard, a visual take on the social bookmarking site; a social media site that allows users to share photos on virtual bulletin boards.
(btw...the big red "P" you see over my pictures, is a way for you to "pin" them more easily. :-)

with wonderful inspiring pins like this...

So if you're not on Pinterest, hope you will give it a try.  Below you'll find a little more detailed info about Pinterest and how it works. Check it out because...

Pinterest is a tool for collecting and organizing things you love.

Pinning 101

Here are the basics of getting started on Pinterest.

 Pin

A pin starts with an image or video you add to Pinterest. You can add a pin from a website using the Pin It bookmarklet or upload an image right from your computer. Any pin on Pinterest can be repinned, and all pins link back to their source.

 Board

A board is where you organize your pins by topic. You could pin ideas for remodeling your bathroom to your House Projects board, for example. Boards can be secret or public, and you can invite other people to pin with you on any of your boards.

Pin It Bookmarklet

The Pin It bookmarklet lets you easily pin things you see on websites and blogs. To get the bookmarklet or learn more, check out our Goodies page.

Follow

When you follow someone, their pins show up in your Pinterest home feed. You can follow all of someone's boards or just the ones you like best. To manage who you're following, go to your profile and click Following.

Home Feed

 Your home feed is a collection of pins from pinners and boards you follow. It's updated every time someone you follow adds a pin.


You can follow me craftbella "Desia"   send me a message and I'll follow you too and be glad to help you get started in any way I can.  Happy Pinning!
    
samplings from my boards..

Resources:
Google Search:Pinterest 
Pinterest Basics 

Prince II, the Cat

Kitten is approximately 8 weeks old. So adorable.
But cute-ness factor aside, we must find a home for him and his three brothers and sisters.

Maxi Wave

Maxi Wave by desiab featuring a zebra bracelet

Boohoo halter neck dress
boohoo.com

Boohoo halter neck dress
boohoo.com

Sergio Rossi ankle strap high heel pumps
barneys.com

Linea Pelle zipper tote
lineapelle.com

Post earrings
$1,875 - liberty.co.uk

Linea Pelle zebra bracelet
lineapelle.com

Saako
boticca.com

Vintage Inspired

Vintage Inspired by desiab featuring a black full skirt

Black full skirt
1stdibs.com

Jimmy Choo high heels
saksfifthavenue.com

Adjustable ring
swell.com

Linea
$59 - houseoffraser.co.uk

Veggie Burger Recipe

I love a good veggie burger but not all are created equally. I've had some really good ones and some really bad ones.  Then I learned how easy they are to make and now I can’t stop tweaking and experimenting with the recipe(s).

I base my burger on lentils. Sometimes I will use a  combination of lentils and garbanzo or black beans with my preferred binder, oatmeal.  I season the mixture like I would regular burgers and If I want to add some texture, I will sometimes coat them in a mixture of panko and a little flour. I do a quick pan fry in olive oil to brown the burgers and then finish cooking them in the oven at 375 degrees.

Well here is my latest recipe and I must admit I was pretty genius in the balance of ingredients (really protein packed):

1/3 c. Quinoa (measure dry – then cook per package instructions)
1/3.c. Lentils (measure dry – then cook per package instructions)
1cn   Black Beans
1c.    Oatmeal

• Cook beans and quinoa  

• Drain all liquid from beans and grains after they’ve cooked  (keep some liquid in reserve in case your mixture is a little dry)

• Mix lentils, beans, quinoa and 1/2c. of the Oatmeal, continue adding until the consistency of the mixture is sort what you get  in making “meatloaf.” 

• Add seasoning(s) to taste. I usually use: Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, fresh or minced garlic or little garlic powder

• Pat into burger & coat with Panko/flour mix (optional)

• Brown patties in skillet using Olive Oil or Canola (or completely pan fry if desired)

• Place on a baking sheet and finish cooking in the oven for 20-30 minutes.  Actually everything, except the oatmeal has already cooked.

Burgers can be dressed and paired with most anything, use your imagination. I like using tortilla wraps. I hope you try them. They are super easy, cheap, tasty and healthy. Let me know how you like them and if you make any "personal" tweaks, I'd love to hear about it.