J E R R I C A J A N E E N

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We move my little sister into her college apartment tomorrow! She recruited me to do the interior design, so for the past couple weeks I've been busy gathering and creating decor for her room. Last night I stayed up entirely too late working on this faux bear skin rug. Who wants a plain old square, when you can add something a little quirky to the space? This rug was simple to make, and I'll show you how to make your own!

Items you will need:

- 2-4 yards of faux fur fabric (I purchased mine at Jo-Ann Fabrics with a coupon)
- Masking tape or chalk
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun

To begin, lay the fabric out right-side up. Fold the fabric in half hot-dog style, so you can still see the entire length. The fabric should be right-sides together, with the wrong side facing up. We will cut through boths sides of the fabric so the design will be symetrical. 



From here, decide what shape you map out onto the fabric before cutting. I browsed the web for awhile looking at different skin rugs to decide what shape I wanted. For bear skins, there are muted, stubby patterns that lack heads, and the real ones are large with full limbs and heads. I drew out a pattern that would meet in the middle. You can use the shape I created below. I folded the paper, again, hot-dog style and drew out one-half of the design.



Next, use the masking tape or chalk to mimic the shape above. This will make the cutting easier. Keep two things in mind: 1. It's easier to cut off a little now and little more later, rather than cutting too much at first and ruining the rug. 2. Make the design at least a half-inch larger than you want the finished produce to be, as we will hem the sides at the end.



Then cut around the tape or chalk, making sure to cut through both sides of fabric, and making sure NOT to cut along the centerline.



Open up the rug, and lay it wrong side up. Inspect the shape, and trim where needed. Also, you should remove any loose "fur" from all edges.



Finally, use the hot glue gun to fold over a half-inch all the way around the rug. This will help lessen future shedding and make the ride-side have a finished look.



Lastly, flip it over and enjoy! I think my sister is going to love this. I'm contemplating stealing it for my own apartment.This rug turned out great. They never said it was ALWAYS hip to be a square, right?

I recently saw an easy DIY blog post at How About Orange showing how to create beautiful, yet budget friendly wall art. Today, I sat down and created my own version of this art piece (above). I plan on taking this as a surprise (well, surprise officially ruined, as she reads my blog) for my sister when she moves into her college apartment this weekend. 

To create the project, I used one-sided patterned craft paper. I cut out (32) 5x5inch squares, (16) would make one finished art piece. I then folded each square using the technique below:






(photos borrowed from How About Orange)

After using the simple folding technique, I used roll-on adhesive to stick each folded square to a large piece of cardboard. I plan on attaching it to the wall with a couple Command Strips!

I already had this paper sitting around the apartment, so this project was free for me. Dig through the items you have laying around!

Happy crafting!

Yesterday we crossed another item off the list. We made our way to the little village of Bradford to visit the public pool! Just so we wouldn’t get bored being by ourselves, we invited my little brother and sister to go with us; they jumped at the opportunity, but that may be because Jordan said he’d buy us all Pat’s Whip ice cream on the way home. There wasn’t too much excitement going on at the pool, but I think we missed the busy part of the season… we might’ve held off a little too long, as the daily temperatures have been dropping, and yesterday was our first of three visits to the pool. Yikes.

I made the mistake of dipping my feet into the pool to feel how frigid it was; frigid was correct. I hesitated, but I finally took the plunge. Jordan and Jakob enjoyed doing their Olympic-worthy dives off of the diving board, Jeanna swam in the deep end, and I slowly made my way out to find the comfort of a dry towel. Take two will be this Friday after work, weather permitting… but we need to make it priority, as the pool closes next Wednesday. Again, yikes.
 

My little sister, Jolene will be moving away to college this weekend. She has recruited me to do some interior decorating for her room, all elements will be an eclectic mix of indie-meets-modern; a vibe that I love so much. Since she told me about her apartment, I have been on the lookout for budget-friendly items (she will be a starving college student, after all). I have found old record covers for wall decor, some abstract art to set on a modern end table, all found at various thrift and consignment stores. While those pieces area all ready to be placed in the room as-is, I did find a few fixer-upers. 

A look we want to achieve is a massive pile of pillows to be thrown across the bed; pillows of all sizes, colors and patterns. Okay, maybe not massive, but I am aiming for about 6 or 7. Poly-fill stuffing can get pricey, especially when you are making more than several large, firm pillows. I started scouring consignment shops for pillows, as the stuffing is already there. While shopping, I kept in mind three things: 1. Price, 2. Cleanliness, 3. Potential. I found many ready-to-be-used as is, and quite a few ugly ducklings that would need a face lift. Here is how I spruced up two of the pillows for under a couple dollars each.

I found each of these pillows for $0.99 each. The one on the left is some type of green patterned pillow that I realized had potential - a stretch, but doable. Pillows that are all around ugly can be covered by a pillow case. The one on the right is plain white. At first glance, it was boring, but this is a perfect blank canvas. 



At home, I had two vintage placemats that I had purchased for under a dollar at a thrift store that I knew would make for an easy pillow case. I also had some scrap black felt.



I put the two placemats together and sewed three sides shut. I then placed the pillow inside and sewed the remaining side closed. First pillow, done. Easy. For the blank canvas pillow, I cut out a trendy mustache and simply hot-glued it on the middle of the pillow. Second pillow, done; just as easy!



These budget-friendly items can now be placed with some budget-breaking pieces; all hopefully without breaking the bank :) While I do enjoy buying cute brand-new items, I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have an opportunity to put my creativity into something.

I am desperately trying to become a better housewife. Jordan and I were married in April, so I have had almost 4 months of house cleaning, laundry and cooking done perfectly each day. NOT. I work full time at an office, and I usually race home only to continue working on a craft project. Jordan has always supported me and all of my hobbies, but I have always felt guilty that a home cooked meal is rarely made anymore. I grew up in a traditional home: my dad worked long hours while my stay-at-home mom cleaned spotlessly and cooked delicious meals each and every day. Granted, my mom had five children to take care of while I don’t have any kids (yet). I will hopefully work myself up to be a professional in the home, but meanwhile; I haven’t shown much effort in taking the steps to get there.

Yesterday was the beginning of a new era (insert heavenly singing here)! After work, I went straight to the grocery store in town and made a beeline home to start on some food. For last night’s meal, I picked an easy favorite. It’s hardly a five course meal, but I needed something easy if I planned to get anything else done that night. I made my Taco Dip that friends have come over specifically to eat (while the meat browned, I made dessert). After we ate, I threw together a Pot Roast in record time. Today, I found a recipe that I will serve for tomorrow’s dinner!

Find all three recipes below:

 

Jerrica’s Taco Dip

1lb ground beef

1 packet taco seasoning

2/3 cups water

½ cup favorite salsa

 1/8 cup jalapeno peppers, chopped (optional)

Sour cream

Shredded cheese

Cover the bottom of a pie plate in your desired amount of sour cream. I usually spread it out to an even half inch depth. In a medium sized skillet, brown the ground beef. Drain. Add water and taco seasoning, stir and set to simmer until the water evaporates. Add the salsa and jalapeno peppers (optional, I just like the added kick) and stir until the salsa heats and the jalapenos soften. Pour this mixture directly on top of the sour cream in the pie plate, and even out. Top it off with your desired amount of shredded cheese (the more the better in our opinion). Serve with tortilla chips.

 

 
Beyond Easy Slow-Cooker Pot Roast

2 lbs Pork Roast

1 bag Petite Carrots

¼ Onion, chopped

1 large potato, skin on, cubed

McCormick Bag n’ Season Pot Roast seasoning packet

¼ cup water

Place pork roast(s) into the bottom of the slow cooker. Add the bag of carrots, potatos and onions. Mix the packet of Pot Roast seasoning with the water and pour over the contents of the slow cooker. Refrigerate until morning, or start the slow cooker to bake for eight hours.

 

Slow Cooker Barbeque Ribs

 

2-3 pounds pork baby back ribs

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup favorite barbeque sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons vinegar

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 dash hot sauce

Rub the ribs with salt and pepper, then place ribs in the bottom of the slow cooker. In a bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients and pour on top of the ribs. Refrigerate until morning, or start the slow cooker to bake for eight hours.

If I see another pea coat this year, I may go on a rampage. Trust me, they're great-looking coats, but around the area I live they are completely unoriginal. Every girl and their sister wore a black pea coat last fall and winter. I always saw the coats unfortunately styled with jeans and Ugg boots. Ugg boots top my winter no-go list. Don't do it!

For awhile now, I have been on the lookout for some great fall jackets/coats. I'm wanting a couple jackets to reflect my style, and be both fresh & trendy.

I found some photos while perusing the internet to be my eye candy and inspiration as I shop:

Inspired by a photo she saw, a close friend of mine asked me to customize a shirt for her. The picture consisted of a shirt with an open panel centered down the back, held together with strips of fabric (pinched in the center to create the look of a bow). She left the colors and details to me, but she explained that she preferred it to be a crop top and have the "bows" closer to the top.

It was a simple DIY project, as I already had a beige crop top I never wore from H & M and old ivory lace curtains, and there was minimal sewing. See the end product:

Side view:



Back:



Front:

I'm back up and running, crocheting my little life away. I probably should've started early-Summer, but better late than never. Breaking out my crochet hooks reminds me so much of Fall and Winter, I'm catching some type of longing for cool-weather & the crafts that go along with it.

I made this hat for a close friend; I made Jordan channel his inner Deadmau5 to get the vibe for the photos ;)

As a reminder, I'll do any custom hats - $10 for newborns-toddlers, $20 for adult sized ($5 for shipping, no extra cost if you live close enough to pick it up!) Email me at jerricajaneen@gmail.com
 
Deadmau5 Hat:

Just popping in to share a quick photo! Hopefully I can get a few projects done this weekend. With all of this cooler weather coming quickly, I'm afraid I've pushed off crocheting a little too long. I started to crochet a surprise project for a friend who will be leaving the end of this month to live in the big land of Chicago. It's an adult size version of something I've made previous...

Also, my sister is moving into her new apartment next weekend... and she recruited me as her interior designer, with a strict college-student budget. A lot of DIY this weekend; pillowcases, curtains...

This week, I hand painted an empty Crown Royal bottle for a friend so she can turn it into a soap dispenser.