crispy pan fried blackened garbanzo beans recipe, or my healthy potato chip alternative

I've been experimenting lately with alternatives to salty cracker or chip-like snacks. A few weeks ago I was making my super easy and creamy cheater hummus and a friend suggested preparing garbanzo beans like this. I was more then happy to experiment!

Today I'm sharing my recipe with you, because who doesn't love a guilt-free crunchy salty snack?

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Crispy pan fried garbanzo beans recipe
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INGREDIENTS: 

• 
  
• 2 teaspoons blackened seasoning
• 1 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh-cracked black pepper
• vegetable oil
• 2 cans garbanzo beans/chickpeas
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

* Note: the best thing you can do before cooking your beans is to drain the can, and lay the beans out on a baking sheet covered with paper towels to soak up moisture for a couple hours to dry out a bit. This helps the beans get a really crispy outer shell.

Instructions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the blackened seasoning, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
2. Pour the extra virgin olive oil into a pan to coat the bottom. Heat over medium-high heat until the oil begins to shimmer. Add the garbanzo beans to the oil and cook until golden brown, about 10 minutes. 
3. Remove garbanzo beans from the oil with a spoon and transfer them to a plate covered with a paper towel. Allow them to cool for a minute and, while still hot, transfer the beans to the bowl with the spice mixture. Toss to coat. Serve immediately. Try to wait until their cool enough to eat!

These were a runaway hit in my house, both kids even wolfed them down! I'm already on my third batch because my daughter requested a "less spicy" version. 

Thanks for checking out this quick and healthy recipe, I hope you love it as much as I do. If you try it out send me an email or leave a comment, I'd love to hear what you think!

Domestic Bliss Squared was featured on TV!

Hi guys! Happy Friday, I hope you're all enjoying the gorgeous weather (well, it's gorgeous here in Boise anyways). Today I'm just posting briefly to tell you that I was featured on local TV this week!

A few weeks ago the nice people at Tillamook contacted me about representing them on local TV to talk about my Low-Fat Strawberry Coffee Cake recipe they featured last year. Of course I said yes! (actually what I said was something more like "EEEeeeeEEEEeeeeeeeeEEeee!!!!!" But I like to pretend that I've got at least a little bit of adult dignity) If you want to see me being very silly and excited in person, you can check that out here:



And if you want to make your own coffee cake from my recipe, that's here!

While you're at it, make sure you stop by Idaho Living's Facebook page and check them out too! Have a great weekend and I'll be back next week with another new post. In the meantime if you're looking for some other amazing recipes you can check out more of the recipes here and get some ideas!

Tips on buying and wearing vintage pieces

Oh man, I looked at the blog today and realized that it's been almost exactly two months since I posted my tutorial for the DIY simple fringe top. Yikes! I actually have been using my creative mojo, just in a different way. And I promise I'll share that with you all in the next couple weeks. But today I'm going to post something I've been excited about for a while now! My top 10 tips for buying and wearing vintage clothes!

Those of you who have followed my blog for a while will know that I'm mildly obsessed with vintage clothes (especially dresses). I love wearing pieces from different eras and incorporating them into my wardrobe, so I am really excited about this post today!

10 tips for buying and wearing vintage

1. Don't limit yourself to your "size." Vintage clothing will not have a standard size! Today's size 8 was roughly a size 16-18 in 1950. The '60's era green silk shift dress below is a "size 12" and I usually wear a size 4/6. Check the tag on the piece you're looking at, yes, but also check the other sizes on the rack.

2. Know what eras suit your body. Floaty '70's maxi dresses? 60's mod? 50's nipped waists? 90's loose and short? 80's body con? The best way to do this is to try on everything! Try on styles from every era in order to get an idea of what looks good on your body. Then you can snap them up when you find them, and not waste time trying on floaty 50's prom dresses if they make you look like a cake topper being strangled by tulle (like they do to me!) I tend very much to buy 70's era maxi dresses and skirts, or early 90's floral skater dresses. They fit well and flatter my body, and the aesthetic appeals to my person sense of style.

3. Don't be scared by tailoring. 5 out of the 8 dresses above needed some form of tailoring to make them fit my body perfectly, weather it was a simple hemline raise like the pink floral dress, or the sleeves chopped off from the blue dress. Even brand-new clothing rarely fits you perfectly, so use a friend, grandma or professional and make it fit you like it was made for you.

4. Know what colors and patterns are trendy now, and look for vintage variations on them. The floral/polka dotted pattern mixed dress above was made in the 60's, but I found it last year when pattern mixing was becoming a huge trend. Score! The tiny yellow flowers on the pink dress work perfectly with the florals that are everywhere this spring.

5. Look at the details! It's the details of a dress that make it special and stand out. Intricate embroidery, sheer overlays, sequins, pattern mixing...all these details are what should grab your attention while shopping. These are the vintage pieces that make people say "wow!" Interesting shapes, colors or patterns that are no longer common are the details that make something truly special.

6. Look for expensive, quality materials such as leather, wool, fur etc. These materials will last and last and last and still look great. Quality construction details such as being fully lined in an expensive fabric like wool or silk is a bonus. A lined piece means quality construction, cheap clothing skips linings because they cost more!

7. Buy classic shapes that have stood the test of time, such as double breasted knee length wool coats, a canvas trench or a cropped fur coat. 60's shift dresses or 70's wrap dresses are great examples. The more classic the piece, the more it will look like it belongs in your closet with the rest of your clothes. These vintage classics will also usually be much higher quality then modern clothing, and they've already stood the test of time. 

8. Know where current trends come from (historically) and look for the original versions. Pieces like the sequined pencil skirt and black polka dotted skater skirt (90's), the white lace crop top (80's), and the crocheted white sweater (60's) all look current today but have an authenticity you don't get by going to F21 and buying a "look."

9. Don't be shy about mixing eras. Fashion recycles itself! So sometimes a 1950's era dress and a '80's coat can be magical together. Both decades were big on strong silhouettes with nipped waists and tailored details. The same can be said of the 60's mod dresses and early 90's minimalism. Just look for similar shapes and details and mix as you please!

10. Be comfortable! I personally never, ever wear anything I'm not comfortable in, that doesn't make me feel fantastic. The more comfortable you feel in clothes from any era, the better you'll look and the more you can forget what you're wearing and just enjoy yourself. Don't buy anything that's too tight, too short or too itchy, no matter how amazing you look in it.

There you are! Hope you enjoyed these, I know I enjoyed sharing them with you all! If you have any of your own great tips on how you wear vintage, leave them in the comments below!

diy simple fringe top

Apparently fringe is a huge trend for Spring this year. If you follow us on Pinterest you've been seeing me pin lot's of fringe looks in the last couple of weeks, because I'm intrigued by wearing it in ways that don't feel like you're headed to Coachella to dance barefoot. That's not really my scene. And because I'm cheap, I wanted to try out the fringe trend with some easy DIY's before I actually spend any of my hard earned money on fringed items. Today I have a quick, no sewing involved tutorial for how to make your own simple fringed top. I made mine in about an hour, and I'm ecstatic about how it turned out:

This is how this shirt started out, as an XL men's t-shirt (from Wal Mart...don't judge me). A little bit of cutting later, and I had myself a new fringed top.

So here is your simple tutorial for making your own fringe top:

You could be done with your new shirt here, but I added a couple optional steps to my fringe to make it feel more finished.

I laid my cut fringe out on a flat surface. Then I took each one and gently stretched it out/rolled it to make it longer and look cleaner. Then I added a knot at the top of each piece of fringe. This keeps it from tearing any more, and helps the fringe stay defined.

I will admit, these last two steps were kind of tedious. But I put on a couple episodes of one of my favorite shows (*cough cough* Star Trek *cough*) and it went pretty quickly. And it paid off in a handfull of very pretty, uniform fringe:

And you're done! I threw on my favorite leather jacket with mine and felt very fancy and trendy. Especially for a mom of two!

I hope you had fun with this super fun and quick tutorial. I love my new top and it's going to get a lot of wear this Spring/Summer for sure. If you want to check out some of our other fringed DIY's here's a few to get you started: 

fringed purse tassel:

Fringe earrings:

Scarf to fringed tank:

Thanks for checking it out! And as always if you make this project I'd love to see pictures of your creative genius. Who knows? Maybe your project will be featured on the blog!

made by me jewelry show-off...shameless

Sometimes...I just like to show off a little bit! I get really excited about the things I make, and I love just being able to give you all a peek at what I do that doesn't get documented extensively for a tutorial or individual post. Today I'm going to show you some of the jewelry I've made (and share the links to the tutorials I used, of course!)

This is my collection of earrings...as you can see I may have gone *ahem* a little crazy. 

They're all made from my Boho Earrings Tutorial, which I can proudly say is an awesome beginner tutorial for making really gorgeous earrings. I've gifted several pairs of these and the receiver is always appreciative. The gold and silver pair I'm wearing as I write this!

I've also made several necklaces using the diy asymmetrical necklace tutorial from Sarah Ortega. This was the tutorial I found that made me get into making jewelry. The necklace with the white stones and tiny cluster of beads and charms is one of my favorite pieces I've made.

The two below are for my daughter, who loves all things ocean related. The necklace on the right she describes as "something a mermaid would wear." Win!

I hope you liked my quick little show and tell, feel free to let me know what you think in the comments below! And if you're looking for some more good beginner jewelry making tutorials you can check out our jewelry tutorial page for some inspiration.

diy remix, the Anthropologie peplum tank

I've made a lot of things for the blog over the last two and a half years. Some of them I like or wear for a short time, and some become wardrobe staples. Whenever I find myself wearing a piece I made over and over again I like to take a minute and show you all that I actually do wear the things I make, and how I wear them.

Today, I'm showing you my most recent remix of my knock off of Anthropologie's peplum tank:

I made this simple tank last summer, and it got a lot of use almost immediately. It seems really basic, and it is. It's a basic with a little bit of detail that makes it special, and because of that I've found myself continuing to use it all fall/winter and into the spring. It's a great layering piece! Here's what I wore it with during that early not-quite-warm-yet spring weather.

I wore it with my red pants (can I just say how much I love red pants?), a floral cardigan and nude wedges. To cut the overall sweetness of the ruffles and floral I topped it with my black leather biker jacket.

wedges: Steve Madden// pants: Gap// peplum tank: DIY// cardigan: unknown, ancient!// jacket: thrifted (no tag)// sunglasses: Dollar Store// Purse: B. Makowsky// Earrings: DIY// Necklace: gifted.

There you go! A quick post to show off wearing one of my all time favorite DIY projects! If you want to see some other ways I remixed my favorite projects, you can check out my altered vintage Gap dress, and my perfect slouchy tee. See you again soon!

Anthropologie Shadow Stripe skirt knock off (and tutorial link)

It's no secret around here. I (Jessica) love me some Anthropologie. I buy their clothes at thrift when I can, (because holy moly are they expensive!) I also love to knock off their clothes. The "artsy" vibe makes them fairly easy to make copycat versions of if you know how to sew. Today, I'm going to show you how I made my version of this beauty:

That is the gorgeous Shadow Stripe Midi Skirt from Anthropologie's spring 2015 look book. It retails for a staggering $118 and there is NO WAY I'm going to pay that much for a skirt. Additionally, I've mentioned before that I don't really wear midi skirts because I have short legs, and they make me look stubby.

So I made my own!

I kind of love how it turned out, too. Not exactly like the original, but more flattering for my body. And I feel so trendy, because apparently sheer is "in" for spring this year. Go me!

(also, how cute is this vintage crop top with the scalloped neckline? And it happens to be in one of Pantone's colors for 2015, "strawberry ice." How fortuitous.)

To make this skirt, I used my tutorial for the Easiest Skirt Ever. Pretty much exactly, except I used a sheer fabric for a top layer and lined it in white jersey (I used an old t-shirt). This knock off took approximately 30 minutes to create.

There you are! I hope you love my new creation, and if you're looking for more of my Anthropologie tutorials you can check out some of these:

Oblique Pencil Skirt:

Pattern Pop Tee:

Peplum Top:

Have fun starting your own spring sewing projects, and as always let me know what you think!

Old Navy knock off

Hi guys! It's been a while since I last posted, and a few things have changed around here. I (Jessica) now work full time in addition to my kids starting school, so it's been a long fall and winter for me, let me tell you! But that doesn't mean that I haven't still been doing projects left and right. To get myself back into the swing of things, I thought I'd post one of my easiest DIY's from the last couple of months for you today.

So last month I (Jessica) saw this awesome shirt at Old Navy. Now, I wanted this shirt, and I wanted it bad, Precious. There were two problems, however. 1. The neckline wasn't that flattering on me (first world problems, baby!) and 2. It was really expensive for a t-shirt, and I'm inherently cheap.

But I knew I could make my own, because of all the slogan t-shirts I've DIY'd so far. Like my In memory of when I cared shirt, or my Bad Wolf t-shirt. What can I say? Apparently I have a thing for shirts with words on them...

I kind of cheated, and bought a t-shirt from Old Navy during one of their $5 deals. So technically this is still an Old Navy t-shirt. Then slapped some iron on letters on it. I'm kind of addicted to iron on letters at this point, I've got at least three more ideas to do now.

I love how it turned out, and I wear this shirt at least twice a week. I even like the font on mine better then the original! And the neckline is much more comfortable and flattering as well. Win-win!

Thanks for checking out my creation! Let me know what you think!