Use Your Leftovers | Earrings Everyday Challenge

It's become a fun tradition to participate in the last Earrings Everyday challenge of each year. You see, for the past several years, Erin has made the challenge all about using up the leftovers still on your desk after a big crafting session. First, let me apologize that I didn't include this challenge in my December Inspiration List as I actually didn't see it until this week! Sorry!! Even worse is that I didn't get started on the challenge until yesterday. 

Erin encourages participants to place their supplies in a muffin tin or other divided tray to help organize everything before the making begins. It really helps!

But, to begin, I had to scour my desk for what to use. I found that I had a bowl of inspiration from my Using Vintaj Patinas crafting session. 

There were also lovely little sets of keys that one of my best friends had gifted me for my birthday. I had fortunately paired everything up for use as earrings eventually. Perfect!

I narrowed down the pieces that felt the most inspiring at the moment. 

Then, a lightbulb went off. You see, Erin takes the opportunity to make the Leftovers challenge a Giveaway as well. And, last year I won! However, I realized I've been hoarding the goodies she sent me, and they were still on a shelf behind me. 

In addition to these beauties, she included a little pack of findings too. But, I focused in on these for the challenge and added a couple to my tin. 

And, here's what I made.

These large shapes were my favorites from my Vintaj session, and I couldn't wait to use them. Since they are so large, they didn't need but a small compliment to finish them. I only added a pair of salvaged red beads flanked by bead caps and ear wires before calling them done. 

Knowing I wanted to include some tin in my earrings, these came into being. 

The hearts on the keys drew me to the tiny tins with hearts on them. However, I'm now questioning my use of the blue beads and wondering why I didn't just use red ones (or something else entirely). These may get reworked. 

Again, I knew the selected Vintaj piece didn't need much added. 

To prevent these from being too fussy, I punched a second hole on them from which to dangle a gold-colored glass bead.

I love these! They incorporate the two bead sets I selected from my winnings from last year. 

The Humblebeads bead and glass bead just felt right together. I have to admit that it took me FOREVER to find the holes in those glass beads. I've never seen holes run in that direction on a teardrop. Initially, I was going to wrap them so the points faced up, but it felt better to let their uniqueness shine. I only added bead caps and spacers to these.

Another favorite pair in the bunch are these.

I did add holes to each corner of both of the Vintaj blanks before dangling the little crystals and adding the hanger. But, that was all they needed. I think they're romantic and fabulous.

Again, I turned to my tin to make this final pair of earrings.

These were ones I experimented with acrylic paint pouring on. I sealed them with a gloss varnish before punching a hole and adding the little gold keys. I think they're cute.

So, that wraps it up for me. I'm so happy I found Erin's challenge at the last minute and was able to bust out a few designs for it. I hope you were able to play along. Don't fret if you just heard about the challenge too. Erin will have the linky tool open until the end of the year so you can join in and maybe even win the goodies she's offering up for this year's giveaway. And, even if you just can't participate, make sure to head over to the Earrings Everyday We're All Ears reveal to get some inspiration from Erin and the other participants. 

Easy Chili-Mac from Leftover Chili

As the temperatures begin to drop and the leaves start to fall, we all start to crave soups and stews and something warm in our bellies. A big bowl of chili is the perfect dish to warm you up inside and out. In fact, chili is such a comfort food for us, we eat it all year round. And since there's no way to make a small batch, we always have leftovers. Sometimes I freeze the leftover chili for later. Sometimes we just eat chili for lunch for a few days. I've even made chili-cheese nachos as a large snack. However, I've found that my favorite way to enjoy leftover chili is in a baked chili mac-and-cheese. It's more commonly known as Chili-Mac. 

Let me admit, that I've only been using this recipe for a few months and may tweak it still, but since Fall is in full force, I thought I'd go ahead and share the basics with you. 

It begins with leftover chili, straight out of the fridge. 

I used about 2 cups of chili for this recipe but had way more than that. I'm sure you could also use a can of chili if you don't have any leftovers. At some point, I'll share my easy chili recipe. For now, let's focus on the Chili-Mac.

Go ahead and get your pasta started. I used about 8 ounces. That's usually half a box. 

And, I tend to just use whatever I have on hand. In this case, I used cavatappi (corkscrew) pasta. Make sure to underboil your pasta by a few minutes so that it will cook to perfection while baking. When it's done boiling, drain and set aside.

Here's where we start making the cheese sauce. It's basically the same as making a macaroni and cheese sauce.

Start by heating a large pot on medium and melt 3 tablespoons of butter.

Once the butter is completely melted and a little bubbly,

add 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour and begin whisking.

Continue to whisk until the flour is completely incorporated and the mixture is smooth.

Let that simmer for just a minute or two.

Slowly add and whisk in 2 cups of milk.

It will start out a bit chunky like above. This was just the first 1/4 cup of milk. 

As you continue to whisk and add milk, it will smooth out.

Allow this mix to cook, stirring/whisking every once in a while, for several minutes to allow it to thicken.

Add in any spices/herbs you like.

I usually add salt and pepper, granulated garlic, onion powder, and mustard.

When the spices are mixed in and the sauce is silky, toss in about 2 cups of grated cheese.

For most batches, I go with a blend of white cheddar cheese and whatever else is in the fridge: fontina, colby-jack, gouda, swiss, parmesan. Seriously, whatever's in there. Mix in your cheese until it's melted.

Mix in your drained pasta so it's well-coated in the sauce.

And, basically, that's your mac-n-cheese.

Now we're going to elevate it by adding 2 cups of leftover chili.

I don't even bother to heat up the chili. It's already cooked and will be baking in a few minutes.

Stir until the chili is completely incorporated with the cheesy pasta.

This looks so good, I think chili may be back on the menu next week!

Pour the contents of the pot into a baking dish.

I like to top it with a little more grated cheese and a sprinkling of panko breadcrumbs.  But, that's totally optional.

Throw that baby into a 350-degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

Then, enjoy the heck out of it!

Here are the full ingredient list and directions to make it easier to follow.

Ingredients:

2 C. Chili (leftover)

8 oz. Pasta

3 T. Butter

3 T. Flour

2 C. Milk

2 C. Shredded Cheese

Salt, Pepper, or whatever other herbs and spices suit your taste.

optional: additional cheese and panko breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.

2. Boil pasta a few minutes less than directed on the box. Drain and set aside.

3. Heat a large pot on medium, melt butter.

4. Whisk in flour until smooth. Allow it to cook for a minute or two.

5. Slowly whisk in milk until smooth. Let it simmer for 4-5 minutes. 

6. Stir in herbs and spices to taste.

7. Add cheese and mix until melted.

8. Pour pasta into the cheese sauce and stir until noodles are coated.

9. Mix in chili until combined completely.

10. Pour chili-mac into a casserole dish. Optional: top with more cheese and some panko breadcrumbs.

11. Bake for 20-25 minutes. 

12. Remove from oven and enjoy!

This has absolutely become one of my favorite meals. In fact, the last time I made chili, it was just so I could make this chili-mac a few days later. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

As a side note, this recipe was a little...soupy. While still amazing, the next time I make it, I plan to add an egg to the cheese sauce to see if that will help firm it up a little. Let me know how yours turns out if you try this recipe. 

I've shared this post at the following link parties: Sweet Inspiration, Friday Frenzy, Flaunt it Friday, Made by You Monday, and Recipe & DIY Linky

Bead Table Wednesday (7/23/14)

Even with all the pondering and list-making I was doing last Wednesday, I was still able to finish the necklace I had on my desk before jumping headfirst into another project. (YAY for finishing something!)

Since I was doing some heavy soul-searching and goal-writing, I decided to work on a project that needed very little thought but still would keep my hands busy.

I collected a small assortment of beads and dumped out my leftover hoard of wire scraps onto my bead table.

From there, I've just been attaching beads to other beads with wire via simple or wrapped loops to make beaded bracelets.

I think these would work well alone or stacked together with other bracelets. So far, I've got quite the collection.

This busy-hand method has left my mind free to brainstorm other projects and pursuits. So that's what's on my bead table today. What's on yours?

Bead Table Wednesday (BTW) is the brainchild of Heather of HumbleBeads, and you should see the beauty that's on her craft desk today!