Pandora-Awesome internet radio first; the planet from Avatar second!

Have you heard of Pandora? It's a great way to listen to music you love and music you might love while you spend some time on the internet or in the office. I've tried many other internet radio programs before and been disappointed with tons of ad's and bad music. Pandora has very very limited ad's and they're really short. Pandora also plays amazing music.

How does it work? You type in a band or a song you like and Pandora plays something from that band or a song that's similar to the song you dig. Then if you like it, you can "thumbs up it" or if you hate it you can "thumbs down" it and it won't play it again. It has introduced me to so many bands that I now love, but never knew about before Pandora.

You should really try it for yourself. Go to: http://www.pandora.com and ejoy :) You can listen as a guest or make your own account. I recommend creating an "Iron and Wine" station (nice indie music that's not too in your face) and a "Rodrigo y Gabriella" station (Latin music that is upbeat and will put you in a good mood!) I hope you love this clever music appreciation tool as much as I do!

Easy Beading with a Magnetic Bracelet Clasp!

I was at a Jo Ann's Fabrics and Crafts store today and I saw a length of wire with a magnetic clasp attached at each end of the wire-how clever! No more fidgeting with a clasp, now you can just get the ends close enough to each other and they are attracted and lock. And because this is a one piece clasp, there's no jump ring or crimp bead to worry about. You just unscrew the clasp from one side, side on the beads, and screw the clasp back on-super simple way to bead!

This product should be located in the beading section and it's in a little plastic bag with a paper tag at the top. The brand that I bought was "Darice: Jewelry Designer"-blue label with goldish text. I had to go to a larger Jo Ann's to find this magnetic clasp and bracelet-the little Jo Ann's by me doesn't carry this product. Michael's might also carry this product, but I haven't been there to look yet.

Warning-this wire is thicker than typical bracelet wire, so be careful picking out your beads. If the bead's opening isn't big, then they won't fit on this.

This is the final product-I'm giving it to my partner's grandmother for her Birthday. (Thanks to Arika for the pretty goldy beads!)

Get ready to snap!

I always try to keep my camera on me; either in my car, purse, pocket, etc. I do this so that when I see something clever, I can snap it and remember the idea.

This picture comes from when I was in my car last week and saw that these three hair ties together actually make a great color scheme for a room. Snap! I won't forget now :)

This also works for when I'm driving and I see a very pretty landscape...snap! I have it forever now

Card bookmark!

Have you ever received a cute card from someone? You probably put the card on your desk and enjoy it for a day or two, but eventually the card gets covered up by stuff and you end up throwing it out. Well next time you get a cute card, turn it into a book mark! It's easy: just cut off the part of the card you don't want and keep what you do want. Stick it in your book and you have a very pretty and very clever bookmark. You can enjoy your friend's thoughtfulness every time you open your book.

Peek-a-boo No More!

We have a little window that looks directly up into our apartment on the second floor. A couple weekends ago my partner's aunt, (Kim), knocked on the door. I ran into the bedroom as soon as I heard the knock because I was in my laundry out fit=skimpy clothes, but Kim said "ooh I saw Jen run by through the window!" Needless to say, I needed to figure out a way to cleverly decorate the window on the door so it would block an outsider's view.

From the inside side of the door I cut out snowflakes and taped them onto the glass window. Then I taped up 2 folded sheets of tissue paper behind the snowflakes. I think it looks great and serves it's purpose. I wonder what I'll come up with for spring....

Pancake Biscuits!

This morning was a snow day for me so I thought it'd be a clever idea to figure out what I could bake with the stuff I had in my kitchen. After some google searching and yahoo answer reading I pieced together a recipe for Pancake Biscuits. They're very light with a crispy crust. If you want to try to make them the approx. recipe is below:

Jen’s Pancake Biscuits:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Ingredients:
-Cooking spray (I used the butter flavored kind)
-1 cup of Hungry Jack Complete Pancake Mix (I get Extra Light and Fluffy)
-1/4 cup of milk
-1/4 cup of melted salted butter
-1 Tablespoon of water
-1/2 cup of Sargento Mozzarella and Provolone shredded cheese
-1/8 teaspoon of black pepper
-5 turns of the McCormick Italian Herb Seasoning Grinder

Directions:
Mix the pancake mix with the seasonings and then mix in the cheese. Melt the butter and mix it in with the milk and water. Pour butter-milk-water mixture in with pancake mixture and combine ‘till there’s no dry batter. Spray a non-stick cupcake pan lightly with cooking spray (gives a nice crust) and fill cups about half way. Bake for 7 minutes and you’ll end up with about 8 biscuits. Right after you take them out of the oven, flip them oven in their cup so that the bottom of the biscuit is facing up. Let them cool for a minute then serve plain or with butter.

Suggestions:
-Because the pancake mix is sweet, go with it and make a sweet biscuit using cinnamon, clove, etc. as your seasonings instead of the savory seasonings and dust with powdered sugar
-Try adding shredded cheddar cheese instead of the mozzarella and provolone cheese
-Get a corn meal pancake mix, add the cheddar instead and you’ll have easy cornbread