the perfect gift for most any woman

I really love to cook!

My love affair started about the time I got married.

At first I loved  it because it was so new and fun.

No it is one of my creative outlets. 

I was so proud when I got dinner on the table!

But,not growing up in a family of cook,

(meaning lots of take out and cereal for dinner)

I had no idea I had to cook more than one thing for a meal!

I remember getting super excited about dinner one night- I pulled my hot dish out of the oven, called Brent to the table to eat, and he came.

But the first thing he said when he got to the table was "this is it?"

Of course I started crying and he started back pedaling,

but that night I had a huge realization-

dinner needs sides!

DUH right?!

It is hard trying to swing a main dish and sides for every meal.

Especially when you have a time crunch

And even more so when you have little kids!

I have come, in the years since then, to really rely on herbs and spices to make simple side dishes POP!

Chop up some potatoes and throw some rosemary salt and parmesan on them, toss it in a pan to roast and you have a scrumptious quick side!

Needless to say, I have an extensive dried herb collection that I use

every.single.day.

When we bought our house we planted a herb harden so I could have fresh ones to use also.

You often can find me running frantically with a pair of scissors (sorry mom!) between the kitchen and herb garden at dinner time.

One of my favorite things to do is to cut extra and hang them to dry on a cabinet to use to refill my bottles! 

Anywho, when mother's day rolled around and I was searching for an idea to get my mom and mil- I wanted to make them something functional and fun-

I came up with this:

I used our dehydrator to dry some fresh herbs from our garden.

I found these cute little jars at Jo-Ann's for $.99.

A little chalk paint on the top and a chalk marker was all it took to add a little shabby chic flava ;)

I whipped up a couple bottles of homemade vanilla extract.

Modge podged  these cute labels from the graphics fairy on them 

(I wrote directions on how to care for the extract on the back of the label card I hung on the bottle)

and I had a super cute gift to give the two moms in my life!

BUT...

I really think this would make a great gift for pretty much any occasion-

housewarming, birthday, grandparent's day, and even father's day for those daddy chefs in the house!

Moth my mom and my mil LOVED them!

and I really had a blast making it too!

xoxo

I am linking to these great parties

homemade vanilla extract

When we decided to make the switch full-time to eating unprocessed food

I knew I as going to have to do something about vanilla extract.

Between making bread and granola almost every week,

and pretty much every recipe having it as an ingredient, (maybe a slight exaggeration ;))

We happen to use a TON now.

For a couple of years my mil has been encouraging me to make some homemade vanilla extract as gifts.

Well, I never got around to it...

 Until, well, I needed it (blush)!

It was super simple to make.

And would make a FABULOUS gift, if you are not a procrastinator like me!

You wanna know how to make it?

Here ya go

I read A LOT of tutes about making this and most people recommended using vodka.

But a few also said you could use rum or brandy instead for a different taste.

I may have to try spiced rum next time....YUM! 

Step one: Starting one inch from the top, cut your vanilla bean in half with a paring knife.

*You will need 3 to 4 beans per every cup of liquor used.

Step two: Measure out you liquor and pour it into your bottle.

* I used 4 beans because my bottle held 1 1/4 cups of liquor.

* Be sure to use a bottle that seals nice and tight

Step three: Seal your bottle and give it a good shake!

* You should see some of the seeds already floating around

Store your container in a cool dark place.

Give it a good shake every week.

It should be ready to use in two months.

(Can you tell I have already used it a few times! Sorry about the fingerprints.)

*Extra tips*

1. I bought my vanilla beans off of Amazon. 

2. Only buy as many as you need for you container unless you plan to make some gifts because the leftover beans do not store long!

3. When your bottle gets about half full fill it again with liquor and you are ready to go. You can keep refilling it like this, with the same beans, about three years!!!! 

Sa-weet!

4. I ordered my bottle because I wanted one that would last, but I don't think it was necessary. You can get bottle like this or with a cork top at most any store.

I have a pretty great gift idea coming up for you if  you decide to make extra of these little wonders!

Happy Baking!

I am linking to these great parties

It's baby time... stenciled onsies

It's baby time again!!

If you missed day one go back and visit.

Today's craft was SO STINKING FUN to make.

Seriously.

I don't think I have ever been so excited to give a gift.

To bad Zade-babe was being a little turkey and I missed them opening it.

Such is life ;)

Have I told you yet that these were REALLY fun to make?!

All I did was dye each of the onsies and then I created stencils out of freezer paper.

A little fabric paint and Wha-la

a super cute,one-of-a-kind  baby gift.

(P.S. My brother-in-law loves to sail :)

If you want some great tips on dying and stenciling go here.

And...

Of course I have to show you my fail. :)

I tried to hombre dye this one.

Brent said it looked like the baby already pooped in it.

Bahaha!

That could have hurt my feeling if i didn't totally agree!

(To bad I gave it to them anyways. I mean the baby will probably poo in it anyways right!)

I hope this gives you a little baby-spiration!

(yes, i totally went there)

Come back tomorrow for the second half of this gift!

xoxo

I'm linking to these great parties!

Christmas gifts.... Star calendar and popsicle sticks puzzle

Last week I gave myself a pretty hefty goal.

One homemade Christmas present finished a day.

Every day.

And I almost accomplished it! :)

Here are two projects I did that I LOVE LOVE LOVE!

I made four of these bad boys.

I make calendars every year for the grandma's and great grandma's.

I usually do them online at Walgreen's or shutterfly.

But this year I found this amazing tutorial

and I just had to give it a try!

It did save me money in the end-

which is a GREAT thing.

And I think it turned out VERY cute-

which the grandma's will love.

But it did take a while-

Be warned.

I will say that the author had not added the link to the calendar until the end of my project so I ended up starting almost all the way over which was the best idea because making my own calendar was taking FOREVER!

Then with my leftover pictures I made two of these babies! :)

Finding stocking stuffers for a 16 month old is no easy task.

When I saw this tutorial I was so excited.

My baby girl is going to love it!

She is just now starting to (kind of) understand puzzles

and she LOVES looking at pictures of herself.

Then while I was at it I made the puzzle you see pictured for my

2 year old niece.

I made hers a little harder by putting a picture on both sides of the sticks.

I think this will make a cute "bow" to top her actual gift.

As for her actual gift......

Ahhhh....

I have A LOT to learn about sewing.

I will show you my  first attempt soon

(well as soon as I have successfully finished a

second attempt and do not feel as worried! :)

Hope these little gifts inspire you some!

~Happy homemade Christmas

Floor Cushion

I am REALLY excited about the project today!

I made a cute little floor cushion for Zadie baby as a Christmas present.

Isn't it SO stinking cute?!

I followed a wonderful tutorial made by Susan

at living with punks.

It was simple and took me about two nap times to make.

BUT

Of course I couldn't wait until Christmas to show Z.

Good thing her little memory is short.

I am REALLY going to have to get better at keeping secrets by next year!

Not so sure...

She thinks it might be kind of okay.

And you can bounce on it.... We have a winner! :)

We LOVE our new floor cushion!

And it STILL looks cute even after play time!

That is a mommy winner!



You should totally go make one of these

like - right now!

:)

~Happy holiday gift making!

Baby Blanket

Have I told you yet that I am going to be an Aunt again?!

This will be my 8th niece or nephew!

I just LOVE being an aunt!

I decided to make this newest bundle of joy a baby blanket.

I thought....

Easy peasy, who could mess that up?!

Well, ME!

And, as always, I learned a lot along the way.

I got the inspiration for this blanket here.

Notice the title "EASY baby blanket."

Obviously I have some learning to do :)

I mostly followed her directions except I added and applique.

Here is how I did it:

I printed out the letter I wanted, in the size and font I wanted, from Word.

I backed the fabric I wanted to use for the applique with fusible interfacing and I ironed them together.

I put my letter on top of the fabric and I traced it with chalk.

The chalk came right out with a quick swipe from a damp cloth.

Then I just sewed it onto the fabric using a zigzag stitch.

Lesson one:

This minky fabric is VERY stretchy!

An amazing seamstress I know gave me the best tip- after I finished this project- that I will definitely use next time.

She said to use spray adhesive instead of pins and it will not stretch as much...

GENIUS!

She also said the adhesive will come right out in the wash.

Now for the actual blanket I could ( and should) have used the spray adhesive too

because I REALLY struggled with the stretch in this fabric and

was not entirely pleased with my finished product.

I set out each of my layers in order:

batting on bottom

then the minky fabric

finally the quilt top

(right sides together with the minky fabric.)

Cut each layer to size and then pin (spray adhesive)

the layers together.

For the rest of the blanket I used the tutorial above

which I thought was clear and easy to understand.

Thank goodness! :)

It may not be perfect (or close to it!)

But it is still cozy and made with love!

{It would REALLY help if I learned how to sew straight-

I'm working on it. ;}

So let this be motivation to you today:

You are your harshest critic.

Be nice to yourself and

enjoy the projects you make,

Imperfections and all!

Rain, rain go away....

Don't let the post title fool you,

I LOVE rainy days.

They are the perfect days for working on homemade Christmas presents.

I am in the throws of a couple of presents and I wanted to share them with you.

I do not have any pictures of my own

Because

well, I'm not done with anything yet :)

But I did want to share two projects I am

working on and the sites I got the ideas from.

Just in case you need some inspiration!

First, I am working on a baby blanket for my

soon-to-arrive sweet

niece or nephew.

(They aren't finding out!!!)

I am mostly following the directions from this blog post.

Secondly, I am making four photo calendars,

following the directions (mostly)

from this blog post.

I usually make and buy photo calendars for all the grandmas from Walgreen's,

but this idea is so stinking cute.

AND

so far I have only spent the amount on all four that I usually spend on

ONE when I order them.

SCORE!

My finished project pictures are coming soon! (I hope ;)

~Merry Christmas!