Veggie Enchiladas

I found this delicious recipe for veggie enchiladas here. I was a little skeptical on it at first. It's by no means an "authentic" Mexican food recipe- it has mashed potatoes in it, after all. But it was delicious nonetheless.

A couple of changes I made to mine: I used home-made enchilada sauce, added sazón, and green chilies for taste. What a 'lish dinner!

Special thanks to my husband for not killing me for making him have Mexican two nights in a row.

Saves the Day

Last night was the Saves the Day show at the Nile Theater in downtown Mesa. I had so much fun!

I love seeing these guys, it brings me back to high school days when I was so utterly carefree! The energy at the show was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Everyone enjoyed themselves while dancing around, with no anomocity toward one another! Did I mention that they played almost ALL of my favorite songs (they played 50 SONGS total), including You Vandal (they NEVER EVER play You Vandal live)?! I died.

We pre-gamed at Mango's in downtown Mesa. I get the veggie burrito and salsa/chips. TO. DIE. FOR! I also enjoy the staff, all the men are so friendly and accommodating. Definitely a hometown favorite.

Halloween candy-looking gifts

This craft was inspired (taken from) Martha Stewart's Halloween Crackers. I thought these would be the perfect Halloween gift to give the ladies I visit teach. The following is a step-by-step tutorial.

Here's what you'll need:
- Tissue paper (since I couldn't find crepe) and colored papers

- Scissors
- Toilet-paper rolls
- Glue stick
- Twine/ Halloween-inspired ribbon (what I used)
- Plastic spider or bat rings

- Candy or small gifts for inside the rolls

1. Following MS' instructions, I cut my tissue paper (Target) to 11" all around. Then I cut the adorable scrapbook paper I found in the Target dollar section (8 sheets for a dollar!) to a 4x7 piece.

2. Roll tissue paper around toilet paper roll, glue seems shut. MS' instructions say to have candy in the roll during this step, but mine kept falling out, which was a pain. So I'd recommend adding the candy later.

3. Take printed paper and glue around TP roll. I started at the tissue paper's seam, so that I could hide all of the seams on the same side.

4. Tie ends with twine/ ribbon. I found this skull & crossbones ribbon in the Target dollar section and LOVED it. But alas, it was cheaply made, and broke when I tried to knot it. A note to the wise: be careful, you're working with tissue paper- it will rip/tear easily & frustrate/frazzle you when it does!!

(this is the ribbon I ended up using)

5. Add spider/bat wings where the ribbon is gathered & you're done.

This craft was so easy! it took me 15 minutes to complete. Try it out! It'd be great as party favors for a Halloween party or as decoration. You could also put small gifts in the TP instead of candy. I put some Halloween socks in one of the other favors I made. I plan on making a Christmas version and using as decorations on my kitchen counter.

Linking to: Polly Want a Crafter, The Shabby Chic Cottage, House of Hepworths,Somewhat Simple and Beyond the Picket Fence.

Desert Botanical Garden - Free Tuesday

The Desert Botanical Garden has free admission on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. Yesterday, my little family attended. The Monarch Butterfly exhibit is in town, and I really wanted to take Diella there, so we ventured to the Garden after work. The Exhibit closes at 5, and we arrived at 4:55. So we had to sprint from the entrance to the exhibit to make it. Thankfully, the lovely staff was accommodating and let us in even though were were a few minutes late (running with a baby is tough stuff!).

If you plan on going to see the butterflies, I recommend that you go during the day, as they were pretty docile- most just resting on tree branches and not flying much. I think they were settling down for an evening of rest. So go during the day in order to have the full experience.

(there's butterflies in those trees, promise!) Also, why is the picture of Diella and I so grainy, and the picture of Raf & D so clear? Darn.

Because the butterflies weren't flying around much, Diella didn't really pay too much attention to them. She found much more interest in the pond and the orange caution cones (really, Diella?). But every once in a while, when she spotted a butterfly, she would scream at it. So that was fun!

You should check out the exhibit. The butterflies are so gorgeous and friendly. One might even land on you! Plus, the weather is beautiful outside, so you can enjoy some of the desert's most beautiful and unique plants without nearly dying of heat stoke! Fantastic.

Free Sprinkles & Saturday funtime!

As mentioned in my previous post (the first one today, man am I making up for lost time!), I've been going outdoors now that it's not unbearably hot.

Saturday, my little family and I went searching for antiques. We need a new kitchen table, because the one we're using is a friend's and sadly, he needs it back. So the search was on the last two weeks for a nice-looking, non wallet-breaking table. We started at Goodwill in south Scottsdale, and we found a real gem. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture at the moment, so you will just have to take my word. I am loving the table's shape and carvings. The best part about it is that I bought it on half-priced Saturday. It was priced at $19.95, so I got it for $10!!!!! Seriously, guys. I almost bought a semi-cute, mostly-homely table off of craigslist because I THOUGHT it was cheap. Man, am I glad I held out! More on the table re-do (including pictures) later.

Later that day, we had a hankering for some Sprinkles cupcakes. We're sort of obsessed. I remembered that they do freebies sometimes. So I logged-in to Twitter (which I haven't done in AGES) and saw that they posted a freebie offer an HOUR before. We got two free chocolate on chocolate cupcakes adorned with adorable yellow stars! I felt like a super star. Was that cheesy? Score one for us!

Am I excited? Y-E-S I am!

Then we went to h&m (because really, what sort of shop-aholic would I be if I didn't check-in EVERY time I'm in or around Scottsdale). And got some goodies. That place is like mecca. We came out of Disneyland of shopping to find that the person who parked next to us (after we were already in the store) was REALLY good at driving. As exhibited below, they had to CLIMB OUT of the passenger door to get out. Seriously? Seriously?! We had to wait for this jerk to return before we could leave. hahaha People's driving makes me laugh.

See you next time, lovelies!

Also

This week marks two of my favorite bands' shows!

I will be seeing Saves the Day and The Chariot on Wednesday and Saturday. HOW EXCITED AM I?!?!

Also, I'm trying on new blog names. Must find one that fits!

Hello Bloggy landia!

Long time no see. I've been busy with fall crafts and actually going outside now that it's cool! I've missed you so.

My most recent crafting adventure was making a Dollar Store wreath. Mine didn't come out as adorable as Allison's!! It started out so... blah. I was really enjoying the fall leaf colors, but it needed some more harvest love! I've actually added a couple more pumpiekins since taking these pictures. I'll upload those later.


We're all about cheap frugal crafts in our home!

I have several upcoming projects to share in the coming months. Stay tuned! :)