Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've always wanted to try to make Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies and I finally decided to the other day when I had a little free time, and I am so happy I did. They are so delicious, even my Oreo-hating grandmother absolutely loved them and ate several. They're super simple to make, even though I though I had ruined them for a minute.
All you have to do is take some cookie dough - I used 2 pieces of Toll House pre-cut dough for each Oreo - and put it around each Oreo, then bake them following the directions on the cookie dough package. The problem I thought I had encountered was that some of the dough spread out when they were baking, which made them look weird, but then I realized I could just pick up the part with the Oreo in it and it would look perfectly fine. Plus, that left me with a pile of chocolate chip cookie pieces.
These seriously taste so good, they're like a little piece of chocolate heaven, plus they're extremely easy to make, so I would strongly encourage you to try them.

DIY Laptop Sleeve

The other day, I finally decided to start going through my stuff and deciding what I still need to but for the new school year. I quickly realized I would need a laptop case. The backpack I carried this past year had a built in case, but I don't really like that backpack anymore, and the one I want doesn't have a built in case. The only problem is, laptop cases and sleeves can get pretty expensive. So I decided I would try and make my own, and I am so happy I did. It turned out pretty well, especially for someone who doesn't really sew, plus it was super simple and cost less than $3 to make (I only spent $8.84 on all the fabric and fleece and I have enough left over to make two more, so it cost about $2.95).




Supplies I used:
Fabric (I got 1 yard, but only used about 1/3 of it)
Fleece (I got 2 yards so I could double it and I still have a bunch left over)
Scissors
Measuring tape
Pencil
Ruler/yard stick
Sewing machine

Step 1: I measured my laptop by wrapping the measuring tape all the way around the laptop, and then diving the measurements in half (that way I had the length plus the height and the width plus the height). My laptop measured 31" x 25.25", so when divided in half it was 15.5" x 12.625". I then realized I didn't need the width because I could just use the strip of fabric after I cut it to the right length to make the flap and then cut off the little amount of excess fabric. So I took the length measurement and added 2.5", making it 18", so I would have enough extra to work with.

Step 2: I turned the fabric sideways so the pattern on it would go the direction I wanted and then measured with the yard stick 18" in and then drew a line with the pencil to make sure it would be straight. I then cut out the fabric, ending with a strip of fabric 18" x 36" (Since it was sideways, I used the whole yard length for folding over to make the case and flap).

Step 3: I repeated step 2 with the fleece, which I also turned sideways so I could just fold over the two yards into one yard since I wanted to double the fleece.

Step 4: I folded the fleece in half so that it was the same length as the fabric and laid it out flat. I then laid the fabric on top of it, with the right side facing up, this was I could see the stitches since I was using white thread and those sides were going to be flipped over when I did the final sewing.

Step 5: I sewed all the way around twice, just to make sure the fleece was attached really well to the fabric. Then, I cut off all the extra bulkiness left over from sewing the fabric and fleece together.

Step 6: I flipped up the amount needed for the pocket, with the right side of the fabric facing inward. For this, I just put my laptop on top of it and added an extra 1.5"-2". Just eyeball it and so it has enough room to store your laptop, but enough extra wiggle room and room for sewing the top border when you're done. Make sure you leave the rest of it for the flap.

Step 7: I sewed the two sides of the pocket. The bottom doesn't need sewn because it's just folded over and the top part will be done separately.

Step 8: I flipped it right side out and folded over the top side of the pocket and sewed it over a little so it would be a straight edge.



Step 9: I folded over the three sides of the flap and sewed them.

Step 10: I cut off all extra bulk from the fleece and fabric so it was nice and neat looking.





I'm really happy with you it turned out and it will definitely serve it's purpose. And it was definitely worth it to spend an hour or two making it as opposed to buying one for ten times the price.

Embarrassing Moments From My Freshman Year: Part 3

It's been almost two weeks since I've posted anything, so I decided it was time for another post about embarrassing moments from my freshman year of college.

One night during dinner, one of my friends and I decided we would go up and get some soft-serve ice cream. This was a normal occurrence, so I wasn't expecting anything too out of the ordinary to happen. I topped a cone with the perfect ice cream swirl and we turned to walk back to our table. That's when things got embarrassing. As I was turning away from the ice cream machine, all the ice cream that had been resting on top of the cone flung itself off and landed on the floor a few feet in front of us. What made it worse was that I didn't do anything. I just stared at the ice cream, looked at my friend, looked back at the ice cream, looked around at the people who were in the surrounding area, and then repeated this process about 5 times. That's when I noticed the ice cream pile on the floor had started to melt and was slowly sliding away. I still did nothing. Thankfully, a few moments later, a caf worker walked past and said they'd clean it up after I pointed it out. I then got another ice cream cone and very carefully went back to our table.

Sometime during fall semester, some of my friends and I had reserved our dorm lobby TV for several hours on a Saturday for 1D Day, an 8 hour live video broadcast One Direction did (go ahead and judge us). There had been several technical difficulties all throughout the broadcast, it had lasted longer than the initial 8 hours, and they were about to sing their last song (they only sang a couple times during the whole thing). I was a mix of tired, excited, and annoyed. I was standing on one of the couches, with my blanket around me and over my head (don't ask me why) and I was ready for it to finally end, but still excited for the performance. Then, after there had been almost two hours without a single technical problem, the screen went black. I was so frustrated that we encountered a problem so close to the end that I just started screaming. Then, two guys, who I had never seen before and who were kind of attractive, walked through the back door into our dorm lobby and stared at me. I had stopped screaming right before they walked in, but I was still standing on the couch with a blanket over my head. After they left the room, I sat down and calmly and quietly waited for the broadcast to finish while my friends talked about how embarrassed they were. I then reminded them that I was the one who had looked like a freak and that they were just sitting on the couch in the same room as me.

There's plenty more where those came from, so I'll try and post a couple more soon.

DIY The Walking Dead Picture Candle Holders

My mom's birthday was a few days ago and I was trying to think of something to make that I could put in the gift basket I was putting together for her. My mom is an extremely difficult person to shop for, so I knew it was going to be hard to think of something. Then I realized that she would love anything that had to do with the Walking Dead (she is absolutely obsessed). But then I had to figure out what exactly to make that was Walking Dead themed that would turn out looking okay, so I went through what I had gotten for future crafting purposes from yard sales and clearance shelves, and found some glass tumblers and LED tea lights, so I decided I would attempt to make Walking Dead candle holders. They're super easy to make and you can make your own by following the instructions I've listed below. Obviously, you can use pictures of anything you want if you don't need zombie candle holders.

1. Gather a glass tumbler, Mod Podge, and a paintbrush.
2. Measure the glass tumbler's height and circumference.
3. Pick out which picture(s) you want to use (one of the holders I made was one picture on one side and a different picture on the other side and the other holder was just one long picture)
4. Crop the picture to fit the height and circumference of the tumbler, then print it and cut it out.
5. Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the back of your picture.
6. Carefully align the picture how you want it and press it onto the tumbler.
7. Coat the entire picture in Mod Podge.
8. After it dries, you can either use a candle or do what I did and use a little LED tea light to put inside of the tumbler to create the glowing effect.

The only thing that was a little difficult was that the bottom half of the tumblers were paneled, so the longer picture got a little messed up because of the way it had to go around the panels. If I make these again, I'll make sure to use flat tumblers instead of the paneled ones, so I would encourage you to use flat ones as well. Other than that, they look really good. I printed the pictures in black and white to give it even more of a creepy vibe and I really like the effect the light creates. I'm really happy with how they turned out and my mom absolutely loved them.

Fruity Pebbles Cupcakes

Two of my favorite things are Fruity Pebbles and cupcakes, so I decided to combine the two and try and make Fruity Pebbles cupcakes. They're super simple, mostly because you can just add
to normal cake mix straight from a box. Here's how I made them:
1. I prepared the cake mix straight from a box of Duncan Hines yellow cake mix
2. I then mixed in 1 cup of Fruity Pebbles
3. After the Fruity Pebbles were blended well into the mix, I poured the mix into the cupcake pan just like you normally would, filling each cup around 2/3 of the way and then baked according to the directions on the box. Like I said, the only real difference is adding in 1 cup of Fruity Pebbles.
4. After the cupcakes were cooled, I put some frosting on them and then rolled the top of each cupcake in a bowl of Fruity Pebbles
So, there you have it. A super simple variation on plain old cake mix that results in exciting and colorful cupcakes that taste and look great.

Embarrassing Moments From My Freshman Year: Part 2

I'm a very awkward person which results in a lot of embarrassing moments. I've compiled a list of a bunch of embarrassing moments from my freshman year of college and am breaking them up into multiple posts because of just how many there are. Since I haven't posted in a while, I thought I would enlighten you with a couple more of my embarrassing moments. 

Early in spring semester, we had a little party/adventure with our small group leaders. It had been snowing on and off for weeks, so the ground was extremely icy. When we got back to campus, we were all getting out of the car and one of our leaders said "be careful, it's really icy". As soon as the words had come out of her mouth, I found myself falling straight down onto the cold ground. And it wasn't just like a little trip. I flew toward the ground. Luckily, the worst that happened was I got a little muddy and we were all able to laugh it off (after the moment of silence directly after I fell when they all thought I was dead). Also, it was late at night, so there weren't a lot of people outside to watch it, so nobody really knew about it except our group. And all the people who saw the various tweets from my friends about it.

Towards the end of the year, one of my friends and I were passing out flyers for the radio station when we decided to take a little break and look at our school's art gallery downtown. There was a display that involved a little glass enclosure sitting on top of a tree stump. When we looked closer, we discovered that inside the container were a bunch of wings from dead butterflies, accompanied by a few living butterflies. Something I should mention is that I'm scared of butterflies. Like, deathly afraid of butterflies (don't ask, I don't know why). I was maintaining my composure, I just kept thinking "it's all good, they're contained, they can't attack me from inside that box". All of a sudden, something flew in between my friend and I. It was really strange because it moved so quickly, it was like a shadow that resembled a butterfly. Regardless, it was TERRIFYING. We both screamed and ran out of the room, and the receptionists we're just sitting there, cracking up at our fear. Still terrified, we awkwardly left the building as quickly as we could. The receptionists we're still laughing.

There's a lot more where those came from, so I'll be sure to post more soon.

This Changes Everything- CIY MOVE 2014

Going to MOVE, a week-long conference put on by CIY (Christ In Youth), was always the highlight of my summer for the past four years. Last summer was the last year I was eligible to go as a student and I had always claimed that I would continue to go as a leader, but that idea was repeatedly struck down by my two younger sisters. I had accepted the fact that I most likely would never experience another week of MOVE. Until two weeks ago when my youth pastor texted me asking if I could possibly go as the female chaperone for the conference that was less than a week away. Obviously, I agreed to go.
It was different for me experiencing the week as a leader, even though I've only been out of the youth group for one year. I could kind of tell that the girls didn't really see me as their leader because of that along with the fact that two of them were my sisters, but I made sure I tried to connect with them all and engage them more, and I think it actually worked. Although, I'm pretty sure they thought my main job was to call campus safety several times throughout the week when they locked themselves out of their rooms. But I feel like I've matured and grown a lot in my faith and leadership over this past year, so I was able to think differently about the messages throughout the week than I had in years past. I feel like it had more meaning for me going as a leader because I was able to watch the youth group more intently to see how God worked in them throughout the week.
At MOVE, they always do a lot to stress the importance of Kingdom work, using the gifts God has given you to advance His Kingdom. My favorite part of the week is when they pass out the Kingdom Worker cards on the last day. Each person (leaders included) gets a little card in an envelope and they don't have to open it, but if they do, they are committing to do whatever challenge is on the card. There are close to 100 different cards that range in difficulty, so you never know how intense the challenge you get is going to be. My first year, I got a card that said to collect school supplies for students in need and I completed it that summer, which was a really cool experience. The cards our group got this year are probably my favorite bunch because they're all really different from each other and they're ones that nobody's gotten before. Here are the ones our group got:
-Turn your phone off for one week, and spend 20 minutes each day praying for your family.
-Fill your parents' gas tanks with your own money. Tell them what you appreciate about them.
-Raise money to purchase school supplies for kids in your area that are in need.
-Do a random act of kindness each week for 6 months.
-Go out of your way to serve and love your sibling for one month. If you don't have a brother or sister, serve & love your parents.
-Look for someone in your group or school who needs a friend. Get to know them, spend time with them, and see how you could serve and love them like Jesus would.
-Read Romans 12:18. Think of anyone you need to try and make peace with and do what you can to restore relationships that are broken.
-Plan a family vacation or weekend for your whole family. Plan everything- where to go, what to do, where to eat, where to stay- use it as a way to serve and love your family.
-Don't buy any new clothes for one year. Use the money you would have spent on clothes to bless a missionary your church supports.
-Share what you experienced this week with 5 people who did not come. Tell them what you learned and what you liked most.
-Work in a homeless shelter near where you live for at least an hour each week for 6 months.
-Attend a leadership conference of your choice this year. Apply what you learn to your life. (This is the one I got)
I think the cards are so awesome because they challenge you to do some pretty cool and sometimes difficult stuff. And you don't have to have a card to do something, you could take any of these ideas or one of your own and commit to doing Kingdom work. Overall, I had a great week at MOVE and am so thankful I had the opportunity to go as a leader and experience everything a little differently.