Little Lovey Doves

Easy DIY Fancy Tea Towels

2013-09-11T13:58:00.003-07:00

I seriously love tea towels. I have PILES of them in my kitchen at home and I use them several times a day. In my very humble opinion, there's no better or easier way to add a little color and style to a kitchen.

While walking (running!) through Target on an emergency milk run, I found these little babies on clearance.

Aren't they cute? They were only $2 a pop! I love the bright red color- the predominate color in my kitchen- and that they were covered in pictures of toast! Who doesn't love toast?

Once, as a silly teenager, I only ate buttered, white toast for about a week. I thought it would make me skinny like Britney Spears. Again, I was a silly teenager (with, I might add, impeccable taste in food, even if my knowledge of nutrition was seriously lacking)!

Anyway, I instantly fell in love with these towels, but felt they needed a little spiffing up.

Enter... my stash of trimming scraps.

We are moving back home (Hallelujah!) next week, and so I seriously need to cut down on my stash of scrap fabric and notions. Little projects like this are the perfect way to do it!

Fold your tea towels in half, hot dog style. Measure the width. Mine were about 8-ish inches wide, so I cut my strips of trim 9 inches long so I'd have some room to tuck the unfinished edges under.

Remember, you'll be doing a front and back of the folded towel, so you'll need to cut double the amount of the trim you want.

For example:

I wanted two layers of white ruffle on my towel, so I cut four 9 inch strips.

I wanted one layer of red ruffle on my towel, so I cut two 9 inch strips.

Got it? It's easy-peasy. Once you get this down, you can do any type of embellishment you want- buttons, ribbon, lace, etc.! This would also make s totally easy project for a beginner- no hard and fast rules, and just simple, straight seams!

Ok, so now that you have your trim cut, unfold your towel and pin trim in place, making sure to tuck the unfinished edges under on the edges. Sew in place! You'll want your trim to be on one half of the towel, top and bottom, like this:

You could, of course, do trim all the way across. I tried that earlier and it made my towels lay funny, and these puppies are just going to be decorative accents on my stove, so I wasn't too worried about it.

Next, you'll need to add your ties. Find where the center crease of your towel is when it's folded hamburger-style. My towels had been sitting on a self in Target for some time, so it was easy to see. If yours aren't, just measure the length and divide by half.

Cut two 10 to 12 inch lengths of ribbon or lace, and pin them to either side of the center crease on the UNEMBELLISHED side of your towel. That's important. You'll see why in a sec!

Sew the ties in place.

And you're done! Just fold your towel so that the ruffles are on the outside and the ties are on the inside.

Drape over the bar on your stove, and tie the ties in place. Now your kids, dogs, husband, etc. wont be able to pull or knock your pretty towels off and onto the floor ( I can't tell you how many times that's happened in my house)!

Super cute, and super easy! I hope you give this one a try and go crazy with it- you can never have too many ruffles!

Have a great day!

Southern Skillet Peach Crisp

2013-08-29T05:57:00.001-07:00

Disclaimer: I'm not a southern girl. Not even close. In fact, I come from a very, very long line of Massachusetts Yankees. But that being said, we've been living here in North Carolina for more than 3 months now, and I'd like to say I've learned a thing or two.

Thing learned #1: Peaches. Beautiful, juicy, CHEAP peaches. I've always loved peaches, but I never used them much given the price. We come from the land of strawberry producers, and so that would always be my go-to preserving and baking ingredient. In Alaska, it was blueberries. But this summer I was certainly in for a treat.

Back home in the West, I'd go nuts if they were less than $2.50 a pound. Down here, they're 98 CENTS A POUND! No self-respecting frugal gal could pass that one up.

Thing learned #2: Pecans. (Do you say "pea-cons" or "pea-cans"?) Again, never used them too much back home because they are so spendy. It was a very special day when I'd fork out $8 to make a pecan pie. But the price of pecans in the South is a very different story.

This recipe comes from my excitement about the beautiful produce they have available in the Carolinas, and my need for a quick and special dessert to make my hungry brood.

Are you ready? Here we go:

Southern Skillet Peach Crisp

Makes 6 servings

The ingredients:

The filling:

6 peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped

3 Tbs flour

1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

a pinch of salt

The topping:

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 old-fashioned oats

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 chopped pecans

a pinch of salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) softened butter

The method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. Make the filling. Toss peaches with flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

3. Take out your skillet. A cast iron would be ideal. I didn't have one, so any oven-safe skillet would work fine too.

4. Cook your peach filling over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes. You'll know the filling is ready when you can make a "trail" with your spoon through the peaches and it doesn't fill in right away. Remove from heat.

The "trail" means the filling is done!

5. To make the topping, mix together flour, oats, brown sugar, pecans, and salt in a large bowl. Rub in the butter using clean fingers, until the dough begins to just hold together.

6. Evenly sprinkle the crisp topping over the top of your cooked peaches. Then put the whole thing into your preheated oven. Easy!

7. Bake for 55-60 minutes, until the crisp is bubbly and the topping is a deep golden brown.

8. Serve with ice cream, and enjoy the deserving praise heaped upon you by your adoring family! :)

Just out of the oven

There she is, folks! Feel free to stuff yourself silly.

Have a great day!

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Baby Face Birthday Garland

2013-08-25T12:50:00.003-07:00

My youngest daughter's first birthday party is a little more than 6 weeks away, and that means I am in full Mach 5 party planning mode. Call me crazy- but I always like to start making decorations and plans early so that I'm not up until 3am the night before the party, giving myself a massive headache from desperately blowing up as many balloons as I can (trust me, I've been there)!

One of the very first ideas I had for my Katie's party was a banner I pinned about 4 months ago.

Quite possibly the cutest thing ever! Find out how this banner's done at From Dahlias to Doxies

I know. Seriously...you don't have to say a word.

I about fell out of my chair when I saw this! Isn't it the cutest, most hilarious thing you've ever seen? I think it's pretty safe to say this is what set off my Party Planning Mania for Katie's first birthday, and I've been busily crafting ever since. (Seriously, check out my Pinterest page on it; it's a little ridiculous!)

So here's my interpretation of the banner from From Dahlias to Doxies. Since Katie's party is going to be a cowgirl theme, I wanted to make it a little more rustic. What do you think?

I'm pretty proud of it! I can't wait to drape it around the dessert table at the party.

Please forgive the crumby black couch in the background- it's part of our temporary living arrangements here in NC, and it shows EVERY little spill the girls get on it! But I digress...

So here's how I did it:

You'll need:
About 8 black and white print-outs of your little one's face, approximately the same size. (I just cropped mine on Instagram until I thought they were roughly equal in size).
Colored card stock for the hats
A sheet of thin poster board
A hot glue gun, or other adhesive of your choice
Burlap ribbon
Scissors or a box cutter

I started out by laying out my face print-outs and measuring the width of the foreheads. This told me how wide to make the card stock hats. The pictures I used all had roughly a 3 inch wide forehead.

Next, I made the hat cut-outs. Now since this is a cowgirl themed party, I wanted my little girl to be wearing a cowgirl hat, of course! But you could do any type of hat you wanted depending on the occasion or theme.

I just free-hand drew a cowboy hat into one of the pieces of card stock and used that as a template.

Make sure to see if it fits. So cute!

Next, I cut out the rest of my cowgirl hats, varying the colors and patterns.

Then I glued them to the faces, and then glued the whole things to the poster board to give my cowgirls a little extra firmness.

After I let them dry, I carefully cut out the cowgirl's faces using a box cutter. This proved to be the hardest part for me since I'm REALLY left-handed. If you don't know what that means, find the nearest lefty to you and ask them how many times they've sliced open their fingers doing something like this.

Then give them a hug. It's a hard world we live in.

Now, if you liked the way this looks, you could always just hot glue your faces onto a ribbon at this point and call it good. But I wanted to frame the faces a bit more, so I glued them onto two layers of coffee filters: one dyed with coffee, the other left white. I was so happy with how it framed those pretty little faces!

Lastly I hot glued my cowgirls onto a thick burlap ribbon...

And stood back and admired the finished product!

I seriously love the way this turned out! It was so easy and I think will be a great decoration for my baby's first birthday shindig.

Have a wonderful day!!

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Gooey Oatmeal Cake with Biscoff Broiled Icing

2013-08-18T05:47:00.001-07:00

I have a confession to make: I don't really like frosting. I'm the weirdo at the party that scrapes the beautiful frosting off her cake and pushes it to the side. I'm not on a diet or anything, I just like my cake to taste like, well, cake. Sometimes frosting is just a little much in my opinion.

My husband thinks I'm insane by the way, but he certainly doesn't complain while eating my discarded frosting when no one's looking!

There is an exception to my dislike of cake toppings: broiled icing. I looooooove it. That burnt sugar crispiness with the melty gooeyness underneath?? Yum. Plus I like things easy, and boy are they ever.

Recently I've been seeing lots of recipes using Biscoff Spread on Pinterest and I was instantly intrigued. Biscoff Spread is a spreadable version of the Belgian cookies that, if you've ever flown on Delta airlines, you've munched away happily on. It's got the consistency of peanut butter, but it vegan, nut free, and has a mild cinnamon-y sweetness that is absolutely delicious.

So what's a girl to do when she discovers a fun new product and has a craving for broiled icing? Combine the two, of course!

I decided that since Biscoff Spread has the consistency of peanut butter, that I could probably use it instead of peanut butter in a favorite recipe. My Oatmeal Cake with Peanut Butter Broiled Icing came instantly to mind. The cake is moist, spicy, but not too sweet. Add that with a gooey, sticky-sweet icing and you've got my idea of heaven. I thought that the recipe couldn't get any better, but man, was I wrong. The Biscoff Spread made the broiled icing taste more complex, more like caramel than any broiled icing I'd had before. It was sweet, but not so much to overpower the oatmeal cake. You definitely won't see me scraping this frosting off anytime soon!

Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to my new favorite recipe:

Oatmeal Cake with Biscoff Broiled Icing

Makes one 8x8 cake with plenty of frosting!

Tips: Don't worry if the broiled icing seems really loose when you first take it off the stove. It should coat the back of a spoon. Once it cools, it will thicken nicely and will be easy to spread onto your cake.

Oatmeal Cake

1 1/4 c	water, boiling
1 c	oatmeal, old fashioned and uncooked
1/2 c	unsalted butter
1 c	granulated sugar
1 c	brown sugar, packed firm
2	eggs
1 tsp	vanilla
1 1/2 c	all-purpose flour
1 tsp	baking soda
1 tsp	cinnamon
1/2 tsp	*salt*

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour boiling water over oatmeal in a small bowl. Let sit 20 minutes.

2. Cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Add vanilla and oatmeal, beat well.

4. Add remaining ingredients, and beat well, making sure not to leave any pockets of flour in the batter.

5. Pour batter into a greased 8x8 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Let cool.

Biscoff Broiled Icing

2 c sugar

1 c milk

2 Tbs Karo Syrup

1 Tbs unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 c Biscoff Spread

a pinch of salt

1. Mix together sugar, milk, Karo syrup in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and cook for 3 minutes.

2. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

3. Add butter and Biscoff Spread and mix thoroughly. Allow to cool
until spreading consistency.

4. Spread over the top of your Oatmeal Cake, and place under a broiler under high heat. Watch
CAREFULLY! Let your topping get bubbly and brown, but don't let it burn.

5. Remove from the broiler, and allow to cool a bit so you don't burn your mouth (if you can)!

Yum. Now pardon me, I'm about to have a quite moment with my piece of cake.

Have a wonderful day!

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Pretty Distressed Wooden Letters

2013-08-14T21:43:00.003-07:00

I love entertaining my friends and family, especially when it's for an extra special occasion. My littlest girl is having her first birthday this fall and I'm seriously going all out for this one.

I'm not kidding; I'm sewing throw pillows to match the party decorations. Oh yes. I might be going a little insane.

But one thing I love especially about birthday parties is that they give me a chance to really be creative and to create some really beautiful (and memorable!) decor. And as a general rule of thumb, I try to stick with classic and simple details that I can use again and again.

Case in point: this sweet distressed wooden letter. Wouldn't it just be the cutest hanging in a little girl's room? Plus Katie's party is going to be cowgirl themed, so the rustic burlap ribbon and distressed paint work really well. I wanted this baby to look like someone just pulled it out of a barn!

I scored the wooden "K" from Michaels for less than a dollar! So great. The burlap ribbon (20 ft) cost about 3 dollars but I only used about 2 ft so I'll get to use it again and again (and what CAN'T you do with burlap?!)

Here's the how-to:

1. First, I spray painted my letter pink. I used Krylon Satin Spray Paint in Ballet Slipper. Let that dry for about an hour....

2. Next, I painted the "K" with some leftover crackle medium from my Distressed Sofa Table project I did a few weeks ago. Let that dry until tacky.

3. Once my crackle medium was tacky, I painted the letter with some diluted white paint I had laying around (also left over from my sofa table revamp!). See that crackle? I love it!

4. After that dries, distress your letter to your liking. I like to use a medium grit sandpaper and (my personal favorite distressing tool) the flat end of a metal bottle opener.

5. Here comes the fun part. Grab yourself from scrapbooking distress paint. You heard me. I know it sounds crazy, but I couldn't resist this cute little blotting bottle. And the instructions say "for porous materials." Well, that includes wood, my friends! Just dab away at your letter, paying close attention to the distressed spots and the edges.

6. Keep dabbing...

7. ...and blotting...

8. ...and blending in any hard edges with the leftover white paint if necessary...

9. ...until you love it!!! Add a little burlap ribbon...

And voila! I love, love, love, love it! Very country, very chic, and very, VERY easy :-) .

The thing was so cheap to make that I'm going to head back to the craft store to get more letters as soon as I can! Maybe spell out "Giddy UP?" or "Howdy?" What do you think? I can't wait to hang this over the dessert table at my little monkey's cowgirl bash!

Have a wonderful day!!

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Perfect Oven Fried Bacon

2013-08-11T07:09:00.001-07:00

I love bacon. Love, love, love. There was about 5 months in my first pregnancy when I couldn't even stand the smell of it.

It was a dark time in my life. I don't want to talk about it.

Thankfully, that's definitely not the case nowadays! We go through at least a pound of bacon a week, so I've gotten to know a thing or two.

One thing is that I hate frying bacon on the stove. The grease gets everywhere, I usually burn myself, and I nearly always walk away from it at a bad time. What I'm left with most mornings is a dirty kitchen, sore fingers, and burnt bacon. No bueno.

So I did a bit a research and found a fabulous and fool-proof way to cook perfect bacon, no fuss and no muss!

So here's what you do:

1. Grab yourself a rimmed cookie sheet, and line it with aluminum foil.

2. Lay your bacon on your prepared sheet.

3. Place your bacon in a COLD oven.

4. Turn your oven on to 425 degrees, set the timer for 15-20 min and walk away. That's it!

5. Now pour yourself a cup of coffee, read the paper, and...

Pull your perfect bacon from the oven, you queen of the kitchen!

6. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate, and dig in!

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The "Mad Maggie" Hoodie

2013-08-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

It was a rainy day in Asheville, so I decided to pull out my sewing machine and get to crafting something fun. And when I think of fun, I immediately think of my sister. When she and I get together, we kind of go insane. Not in the bad way, just in the "spontaneous song-and-dance number, laughing hysterically" insane. Seriously, ask our husbands. Ask our parents. Ask distant relatives. We go nuts.

This is my wonderful sister and me on my wedding day in 2009. Her name's Meg, aka "Mad Maggie."

Don't ask her how she got that nickname... nothing to see here....

Anyway, last week I was searching for some fun sewing projects and I found this little number by The Cottage Mama. Isn't it just the cutest? Here's a link to her awesome, easy-to-follow tutorial!
http://www.rileyblakedesigns.com/blog/2012/03/07/project-design-team-wednesdayembellished-hoodie-tu/

As soon as I saw this sweet little hoodie, my wheels started turning. I love the look of clothes with feminine details (a la ruffles) with something unexpected. So when I went to my fabric stash and found some black fabric with skulls, I knew I had something going.

What do you think? The perfect hoodie for my cool, crazy, fun sister Mad Maggie.

Now, at the time I wasn't really sure how it was going to turn out, so I didn't take any pictures. And so when I finished it and LOVED it, I decided to make another one and take plenty of pictures this time! So here we go.

You'll need:
- About 1 yard each of two different, corresponding fabrics. You'll have plenty left over, but I always like to be sure since I'm just a beginner at sewing.
- LOTS of pins
- Matching thread
-Trim if you'd like. I didn't use any, but The Cottage Mama's version did and it was darling. So take your pick!
-Finally, a hoodie to embellish! I used one I got from Walmart for $8, but you could do this to just about anything with a hood.

Start by folding your hoodie and using the hood as a template for the lining. Lay it on top of one of your fabrics, and trace the outside leaving about a half inch for a seam allowance.

Cut out your hood lining, and sew all along the curve.

Next, fold back and press about a half inch of the straight edge of the lining.

Press open the curved seam of your hood lining. Pin, right side facing down, to the inside of of your hoodie. Sew in place.

Fold the lining back and press, so that the lining fits inside the hood and the fabric is right side out. Top stich all along the curve of the hood, sewing your lining in place.

Next you need to cut the fabric for the ruffle. You'll want about 2 times the length from the bottom of one side of the zipper, all the way up and around the hood, and down the other side of the zipper. Mine (a men's small) was about 80 inches in length, so my strips of fabric needed to be about 160 inches long. I know that sounds like a lot, but you can just cut smaller strips and sew them together to make one really loooong strip for each color. One strip (the outer ruffle) should be 5 inches wide, and the other (the inner ruffle) should be about 3.5 inches wide.

So just to reiterate, that's:

One outer ruffle 160" long, 5" wide

One inner ruffle 160' long, 3.5" wide

Next, and this is the not-so-fun part (in my humble opinion), sew these long strips into tubes by folding them in half, right sides together, and sewing along the length.

After you do this, turn the tubes right-side-out, press, and topstich the ends together, so that there are no raw edges on your ruffle.

To make the ruffles, set your machine stitch to the longest length and sew a straight seam all the way down each ruffle, being careful not to backstitch the ends.

When you've done this, GENTLY pull one of the thread on the ends to ruffle the fabric (for some reason, the bobbin thread always worked the best for me).

I hated this part; you have to be super careful not to break your thread or you have to start over. My advice is to just take it slow. It's a lot of fabric and it takes a while, so just be sure sit down and make yourself comfortable. And remember: be gentle!! The second you feel any resistance while pulling your thread, just use your hands to work the ruffle down the length of the fabric. If you're stubborn and just keep pulling, your thread is sure to break.

Once that's done, the hard part is over (hurray)!!!

Pin your outer ruffle all along the hood and zipper of your hoodie and sew in place. The Cottage Mama made a great point to switch to a denim needle at this point and I totally agree. It's a lot of fabric to work with, and I bent one of my normal needles in the process. Once I switched to a denim needle, that baby soared through the fabric no problem!

Pin your inner ruffle on top of the other and sew in place. Just take your time. Like I said, it's a lot of fabric to keep track of, but it's just a straight seam. Go slowly and it's as simple as pie. :-)

And here's the finished product! I just love it. Halfway through making it I got a little worried that it would look like one of Prince's blouses with all that ruffle (you know what I'm talking about!), but I think it's sweet. This one's not as "Mad Maggie" as the skulls- maybe I should call it the "Sane Maggie" or the "PTA-friendly Maggie" version?? What do you think?

Thank you Cottage Mama for the inspiration!!! I can't wait to make the sweet little girl's version from your site soon. :-)

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Blender Whipped Cream (oh yes...)

2013-08-07T10:08:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have read previous posts, you'll remember that my family and I are staying in a furnished apartment in NC for the summer while my husband works a construction site here. So, it can be tough... but it's paid for... but I don't have anything I need.. .but it's free... but I miss my KitchenAid (dog, yard, clothes, etc.). Hmm. You can see the conflict. While I certainly shouldn't complain, it can be hard not having everything you need, especially when you're used to a fully stocked kitchen.

Case in point: the apartment complex provided us with two mixing bowls. Two. TWO! Now, a sane person would just wash out one of said mixing bowls whenever necessary but not I, dear reader. And as they say, "Laziness is the mother of invention!"

Yesterday, I wanted to make an icebox cake using some leftover cookies from this weekend and whipped cream. But as luck would have it, both mixing bowls were being used for leftover storage. That's when I got crafty. I knew I could make whipped cream in a food processor, but all I have currently is a blender. Could it work just the same? The answer is, yes!

Here's how: Start with your favorite whipping cream, preferably of the heavy variety. I know it can cost a teeny bit more, but it pays off in the end with a much creamier product. Also grab a little sugar and vanilla. In place of vanilla, you could also easily use another flavoring; I've used bourbon, coffee, even strawberry jam to flavor my whipped cream in the past!

Dump the desired amount of cold cream into your blender. I wanted about 4 cups of whipped cream in the end so I started out with 2 cups (cream will double when whipped).

Remember: Cream whips MUCH better when everything is ice cold. That not only means your cream, but the blender as well. Try popping that baby into the freezer for a few minutes before you're ready to start whipping. It'll keep your cream happy and fluffy, promise.

Cream also needs plenty of air to whip properly, so go ahead and remove that little plastic knob on the lid of your blender, leaving a hole. Just remember when you start blending to put your hand over the hole, covering it partially. Once you're confident the cream isn't going to splash out of the blender and all over you, you can go ahead and take your hand away. (Trust me on this one, my whipped cream pretty much blew up on me on my first go at this!)

At a high rate of speed pulse your blender, about 10 seconds
a time, until it starts to firm up. Every few pulses, make sure you stop to stir the cream with a spoon. Sometimes, cream can get stuck under the blades and you end up with butter- NOT delicious!

Now here's the magical part of this whole thing. After a few pulses, I ended up with fairly soft-set whipped cream. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but I figured it was a good as it was going to get in my blender. So I removed the lid, added sugar and vanilla to taste, and stirred it with a large spoon. Suddenly, voila! The cream firmed up nicely, with medium stiff peaks- perfect for icebox cake. I'm not sure why, but it probably has something to do with the air that the cream was exposed to when I removed the lid and stirred.

And that's it! Super easy, super fast, and great if you're short on the "proper"mixing supplies. Enjoy!

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Homemade Welding Hat

2013-08-03T12:56:00.002-07:00

Everyone, please make yourself comfortable and grab a snack, because I'm about to tell you a little about my husband. Make that gush...

My husband is amazing. He's brilliant. He's the best husband ever. He's a fabulous father. He makes the best fried eggs. He makes me feel pretty. He eats dinner even when I burn it black. Ok... that's from a Shania Twain song... but you get the picture. I think he's pretty great.

He is also CRAZY handy. Seriously, I've yet to find something that he can't fix. So what does a wife with a few spare hours and some scrap fabric make him as a "Thanks For Being So Amazing" gift? How about a pretty cool camo welding hat?

For those of you that don't know, a welding hat is something that welders wear underneath their helmets to keep the sparks off their necks and the sweat from their eyes. It's basically a backwards baseball cap. They oftentimes come in crazy patterns and colors and run anywhere from $5-$20 if you buy it premade. I used about a half yard of fabric and a little scrap of fusible web to make mine, so it probably cost me about $3 and about an hour to make. I'm only a beginner at sewing, so if you've got a nice stash of fabric stored up and some know-how, this would take nearly no time and no money to make something really cool.

I didn't have the truck that day, so I did a quick web search for a welding hat tutorial. One of the first links that popped up was this photo file from Flickr that had a free, easy-to-size printable pattern that I decided to give a try. Welding Hat Pattern and Instructions

The really cool thing about this pattern is that it has a sizing scale right on the page, so you can increase or decrease the size right there on your printer without any trouble. And I like trouble-free!

Probably because I'm a beginner, I found the instructions for constructing the crown really confusing, so I just made two "bowls" and then attached them, wrong sides together, with a topstich to form the outside of the cap and the lining. Other than that, the instructions were fairly easy to follow. This was a quick project that I could easily get done before naptime was over ;).

And here is the finished product!

It's definitely not perfect, but I'm pretty proud of it!

Aaand... if you just want a sassy little baseball hat, just flip that baby around and rock it (my dad says I should make them for Britney Spears, haha).

I think my husband will love it!

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Toddler-Friendly Veggie and Fruit Smoothie

2013-08-03T11:55:00.001-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to Ashlin, my darling first born; the first little person to call me "mama." She's silly, charming, smart and sweet. And... she loves French fries. Upon turning two, my once good eater decided that she hates anything green, healthy, and not cut up into a stick and deep fried. Lately, I've been at a bit of a loss.

But then, I found the solution! Enter kefir yogurt. This magical stuff is basically a drinkable yogurt that's been around since the cavemen and is full of 12 different live and active cultures that all add up to a healthy digestive and immune system. Seriously, kefir actually means "good feeling" in Turkish, and they mean it! It's actually really delicious too. I discovered it when I realized that having two kids under two didn't exactly lend itself to my eating breakfast. And ( drumroll please!) Ashlin likes it too!

So, in addition to some yummy strawberry kefir, I grabbed a bag of precut, ready-to-steam butternut

squash (because I'm lazy), and gave it a quick nuke in the microwave. I thought about adding in another type of vegetable- maybe kale?- but I thought since this was my first go that I'd try something mildly sweet, so squash it was.

To the cooked butternut squash I added a few strawberries and blueberries I had in the fridge since I wanted to pack this puppy full of as much fiber and antioxidants as I could. And though kefir is super tasty, it's a bit on the tart side, so the berries are going to help mask that. All in all, it came out to be about 1/4 cup of each fruit and the squash, and about 1/2 cup of kefir.

Dump it all into your handy-dandy blender...

Pour into sippy cup...

And sit back and try not to act too excited when she drinks it!!

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Darling Baby Bonnet

2013-07-17T05:29:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, my husband bought me a sewing machine and since then I've been busily getting to know my way around it. Luckily, I have two beautiful little models to sew for! One of the first projects I tackled was a baby bonnet. I found a tutorial online that seemed simple, read it about a thousand times, pressed EVERYTHING, and dove in!

Here is the tutorial I followed. It was incredibly easy to follow, and the pictures are fabulous for you visual learners (like me)!
The Cottage Home Ruffle Bonnet Tutorial

I ended up making two bonnets for my little Katie Marie- one for her 4th of July outfit (and our family trip to Nashville) and one more just because. Here they are:

I followed the tutorial fairly closely. I did, however make a few tiny changes. With the first bonnet, the "Americana" patterned one, I was too intimidated to make my own ruffle so I bought one and sewed it in as directed. With the second bonnet, the blue floral, I was too lazy to make my own tie straps, so I bought a pretty pink sheer ribbon and used that. Either way, it was a cinch to make and took me a total of about 1.5 to 2 hours per bonnet (and most of that with a crazy toddler and teething baby running around)! Now I'm off to make a ton more!!

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Cute "Spooning" Wall Art

2013-07-11T11:56:00.002-07:00

Lately I've been noticing lots of white-on-white canvas art on Pinterest, along with a few cute prints featuring spoons. So, since it was a rainy afternoon and I had some free time, I decided to combine the two! What resulted was some really cute (and EASY!) wall art- perfect for an anniversary or wedding gift.

So here's how I did it:

I went to my neighborhood craft store and bought an 8x 10 canvas, some Gorilla Glue, spray paint, and wooden letter cutouts. I've seen this done with foam letters, but the wooden ones were on clearance, so wood it was!

I laid my canvas out and fiddled with the wooden letters until I liked the arrangement. Once I did, I glued them in place with my trusty Gorilla Glue.

Then, I took the whole thing outside and spray painted it glossy white.

While that dried, I chose my spoons. I liked the idea of a big spoon and a little spoon, so I searched my kitchen until I found the perfect, mismatched pair. Once I did, I sprayed them with metallic silver paint. After they dried, I made the decision to spray my little spoon with a silver glitter spray. Because...well, does anyone really need an excuse to add some glitter?

Once everything had dried overnight, I used my Gorilla Glue to attach the spoons onto the canvas.

After about an hour, I added some picture-hanging hardware, some ribbon, and stepped back to admire it! I can't wait to give it to my friend who is visiting this weekend. :)

What do you think?? I LOVE how it turned out!!!

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The Crispiest Fried Chicken

2013-06-29T08:28:00.003-07:00

I've always been a bit afraid of making fried chicken. I'm no stranger to deep frying, but I always stuck to things that weren't going to make my family sick if I did it wrong. But, since we are spending a summer in the South, I've decided to do as the Southerners do, and fry up a bird!

This recipe promised to deliver crispy fried chicken with a coating that would stay crunchy even after being refrigerated for a while- and boy did it ever! It was flavorful and stayed crispy enough that I could make it while the girls were napping at lunchtime and still serve for dinner 5 hours later. I will say one thing though: this is a MESSY recipe. Don't try this at home on a busy weekday when you are stressed and pressed for time. My kitchen looked like a bomb went off in it after I was done. However, I was so happy stuffing my face with chicken, I truly I didn't care.

Here are some things to keep in mind about this recipe:

1.) You'll need a cut-up, bone in, skin on chicken, about 3 pounds. Actually, any amount of chicken with the bones and skin will do. You like all dark meat? Just grab one of those big packages of drumsticks. I actually couldn't find what I was looking for (I like a mix of dark and white meat), so I just bought a whole chicken and cut it up myself. It adds an extra step, but oftentimes it's cheaper.

2.) I brined my chicken, but it's totally up to you if you want to. I think it makes the chicken more flavorful and moist, but you have to do some advanced planning. If you're like me, that doesn't happen often (cue screaming children, "I'm hungry!!!!") but if you're inclined, heres what you do:

-Dissolve 1/4 cup of salt into about 1 quart of cold water in a large container. Put all of your chicken pieces in, cover, and chill for a few hours. That's it! No big deal.

3.) Use Wondra Flour when making your breading. You can find it in any grocery store in the baking aisle. It's in a little blue cylindrical canister, and is probably what your grandma used to make gravy. This quick-dissolving flour has been pre-cooked and dried, so it's super light. That definitely translates into a light and crispy crust for your chicken later on.

4.) Make sure you have LOTS OF SPACE. You'll need various stations for all of that brining, breading, frying goodness going on with this recipe. If you start with plenty of room to spread out, there's less of a chance you'll accidentally handle something cooked that has handled something raw. And cross contamination is no joke! (Salmonella, anyone?)

5.) If you can, use peanut oil. In my experience, the flavor is better than vegetable oil, and it has a super high smoke point, so things get crispier without drying out the meat on the inside. Plus, according to the good folks at The Peanut Institute (who knew there was such a place?) peanut oil doesn't absorb the flavor of the food you cook in it, so you can fry garlicky mozzarella sticks in in one second, then turn around and fry up a batch of doughnuts without the flavor suffering at all. Cool!

Phew! Ok, that's all of the tips I can think of before we roll our sleeves up and get into the recipe. Trust me, it's not as intense as it looks. And really, it's worth it. This will leave you looking like a total goddess of the kitchen. Albeit, a goddess covered in flour and oil, but that just adds to the overall mystique!

The Crispiest Fried Chicken

Serves 4t
3 pounds of bone-in, skin-on chicken 1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 cups flour (preferably Wondra) 1 teaspoon dried sage
1 1/2 cups constarch 1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons pepper 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 quarts frying oil (preferably peanut)

1. Make the brine. Dissolve 1/4 cup salt into 1 quart of water in a large bowl or pot. Place in chicken pieces, cover, and refrigerate for at least one hour.

2. Whisk flour and cornstarch together in a large bowl. Scoop out one cup of the mixture and set aside. To the remaining flour mix, season with pepper, baking powder, thyme, sage, garlic powder, and cayenne. To this, add 1/4 cup water and rub together with your fingers until its evenly mixed. It will be a lumpy mess at this point!

Ready to rest in the fridge before frying!

3. Set up your breading stations! In 3 shallow containers (I use pie tins), line up your unseasoned flour mix, one with 2 cups cold water, and another with the seasoned flour mix.

4. Piece by piece, remove chicken from brine and toss in unseasoned flour mix. Next, dip the chicken quickly in the water. Finally, dredge the chicken in the seasoned flour mix, pressing on the breading to help it stick if necessary. Repeat until you've breaded all of the chicken.

5. Set breaded chicken onto a baking sheet, and refrigerate for at least 30 min.

Peanut oil bubbling away!

6. While chicken is resting, heat your oil. In a large pot over med-high heat, heat about 3 quarts of oil in a large pot or Dutch oven (that translates to the oil being about 2 inches deep, give or take). Heat it for about 15 minutes, or until oil temperature reaches 350 degrees F.

Ater the first fry. Raw= not delicious!!!

7. Start frying that chicken, baby! In two or three batches, being careful not to overcrowd your pot, fry chicken for 5-7 minutes, until the crust is JUST STARTING to get golden and crisp. NOTE: Your chicken will NOT BE DONE! (This is just your first round of frying that evaporates all of that anti-crispy moisture in the breading that we are trying to avoid). Place half-cooked chicken on plate lined with lots of paper towels. Let chicken rest 5-7 minutes.

8. After completing the first round of chicken frying, you're ready for the last one! Make sure your oil temp is back at 350 degrees F. In two or three batches, return the chicken the hot oil, and fry until done deep golden brown and crispy, about 7 minutes. Make sure you check your chicken's internal temp! Breasts should register at least 160 degrees, and any dark meat should be around 175 degrees. And if all else fails, cut one of those little guys open at the thickest part and peek inside to see if its pink or not (I know that's blasphemy for serious cooks, but if you're paranoid like me, it's helpful).

9. Transfer your cooked chicken onto a plate lined with lots of paper towels. Refrigerate uncovered until ready to eat, or just tuck a napkin in your shirt front and dig in!

Yum!

I hope you enjoy this as much as my family did!

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Super Easy Crackle Paint DIY

2013-06-26T09:52:00.002-07:00

Have you seen all of the crackle paint tutorials hitting Pinterest lately? Well, I have officially caught the bug. I just love how you can take a ho-hum piece of furniture and turn it into a beautiful conversation piece for your home.

Let me start out by saying that I am no expert. My previous furniture refinishing experience comes down to spray painting a desk and hitting it with some metal pipe from my husband's shop. And while it came out beautifully, I've been itching to try my hand at some new techniques for a while now.

I started out by combing Craigslist for an inexpensive, smallish, but pretty piece of furniture. Trust me, I have dreams of doing an entire dining room set with this technique, but knowing me, I figured I'd need to experiment on something easy and cheap just in case it was a total disaster!

I found a pretty little sofa table that cost me $30. It was black to begin with, but I gave it a quick clean and painted it with some gray satin spray paint that I had on hand. I used Rust-Oleum American Accents Spray in London Gray.

Here's a few pictures of my table with the gray base coat. You can see that I didn't get too picky with the coverage- we're gonna cover this baby in crackle-y paint anyway, right?

Here's another close-up shot of how badly I sprayed the table with the gray base coat. That's the beauty of crackle paint- imperfect is what you want (This really drove my husband, an engineer, crazy by the way. He's a little too mathematically correct to be a fan of "perfectly imperfect" sometimes)!

After letting the base coat dry for a few hours, I painted the entire thing with a crackle medium. The one I chose was Valspar Weathered Crackle Glaze. It wasn't super cheap (about $15) but I only used about a 1/4 of the quart so I can use it again. It's also good to note that Valspar makes a Porcelain Crackle Glaze that makes smaller cracks in the paint. But I wanted big, heavy cracks that would stand out.

After about an hour of drying time, the glaze was a nice level of tackiness. You want it to be slightly sticky, not wet. If you wait too long and the glaze dries, just paint on a little more glaze and wait for it to get slightly sticky again.

Once the glaze was ready, I painted on a thin layer of Olympic Icon Interior Paint in Colonial White (a nice, off-whitesh color) that is in a FLAT finish.

Here are some things to keep in mind when doing the topcoat of your crackle project:

1.) ALWAYS use a flat or matte finish paint. Anything else won't work.

2.) Only paint in one direction when applying paint. Don't sweep your brush back and forth. This stressed me out at first because I thought I wasn't getting enough white paint on top of the gray, but it turned out great. Trust me- it'll turn out beautifully!

3.) Don't glob on too much. I made this mistake when I was having the above-mentioned stress-out. It ends up dripping down your piece and not really doing its crackle thing correctly. But if you do do this, remember to just let it dry and you can sand if off later.

And about 20 minutes later.... crackle, crackle, crackle!
Another thing to remember- see that there are one or two big spots of no white paint? They are perfectly fine, but after staring at the thing for about 5 hours, I wasn't happy. So I just carefully sanded down those spots, reapplied the glaze, let it get tacky, and then (carefully!) repainted my topcoat of white. The nice thing about this finish is that it's very forgiving. :-)

Scroll detail after I sanded off some of the white crackle.

The one thing I found that is if there's any detail in your piece, the crackle finish might cover it up more than you'd like. This happened with mine. There is some pretty scrolling on the front of my table and I wanted it to stand out. So after the paint dried, I just took a little piece of sandpaper and scuffed off some of the white paint to let the detail shine through.

Once I was happy with the way it looked, I let it dry overnight and sprayed the whole thing with Rust-Oleum Ultra Matte Clear Cover to seal it all in. So easy!

And here's the finished product! I'm in love.

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My Morning Coffee Dilemma

2013-06-21T05:56:00.001-07:00

I'm a person who loves hot coffee. Scratch that- I'm a person that NEEDS hot coffee. There's nothing in this world that I hate more than a cup of lukewarm stuff, especially when I'm stumbling around in the morning after a long night with a teething baby. But I also love to add lots of milk, which doesn't do much for my coffee's temperature.

So, what's a girl to do? Instead of turning to the microwave (who needs an extra step in the morning, anyway?) just add your milk directly to your coffee maker! After measuring and pouring in your desired amount of water to make coffee, just measure how much milk you'd want for the whole pot and pour it into the pot. The hot coffee will drip right on top of it, and the heating element under the pot will keep the whole concoction steamy-hot. Brilliant!!

Look at that beautiful baby right there! Now excuse me, I'm going to drink the whole thing.

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My Favorite Biscuits and Gravy Recipe

2013-06-17T20:33:00.002-07:00

It's Monday evening again, and in our house that means something special for dinner and snuggling on the couch for some TV (we call it "Cuddle Monday"). It's therefore my job tonight to find something easy, cheap and delicious to feed my family. And so my friends, I give you... biscuits and gravy! Terrible for you? Well, yes. But cheap and yummy? Absolutely! And I've found a recipe that is so simple that I can make it start to finish in 20 minutes, with a baby on my hip, and blindfolded. (Although for safety reasons, I'd advise against the blindfold.)

I may not have been raised on this stuff, but I take my biscuits and gravy very seriously. My mother-in-law is a fabulous cook and my husband is super picky about certain things that she used to make him, sausage gravy topping the list. And so as a new wife on a mission, I set out some years ago to find the perfect recipe that would do the trick. After a few failed attempts, I found the ONE. It's simple and easy, just as a recipe like this should be- and just like Mom used to make!

To make the white sausage gravy, start with 1 pound bulk sausage (I like Jimmy Dean Original), flour, milk and pepper.

Cook the sausage in a saucepan over medium-high heat until evenly cooked. I like to use a fork to make sure it's well crumpled. And whatever you do, DON'T DRAIN THE FAT! You'll need all of that flavorful goodness to make a roux to thicken the gravy. And really, it's already not exactly the healthiest meal in the world, so what's a little extra fat going to hurt?

After the sausage is cooked, dump in 1/3 cup flour...

And mix it up until the sausage is evenly coated. I know that sounds a bit crazy, but in my experience, if you add the flour in this way it keeps you from having chunks of flour in your gravy later on.

Add 3 cups of milk to the sausage/flour mix. I used 2% today, but in the past I've used whole, 1%, even skim. I've found it doesn't matter too much- heck, even my picky husband has never known the difference (or at least hasn't told me)!

Once you've mixed in your milk, add pepper to taste. I like a big ol' honking pile of it! (Ok, that's maybe a heaping teaspoon, but you get the picture...)

Continue to cook over medium-high heat until a few bubbles begin to show up. Then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until your gravy is thick and glorious.

Next, onto the biscuits, my favorite part of the biscuits and gravy equation. I have loved many biscuits in my time, but in my experience nothing beats those of the buttermilk variety. They're so tender and fluffy, and the perfect vehicle for some creamy, sausage-y goodness.

But if you're like me, you ALWAYS forget to grab buttermilk at the store. Not to fret! Because this is my favorite recipe, and I've proven myself to pretty much be incapable of remembering the darn buttermilk, I've provided the substitute right here:

All you need is a 1 1/4 cup milk and a heaping tablespoon of white vinegar. That's it! Stir those puppies together, wait five minutes and...

When it looks gross and curdled like this, you have buttermilk! Easy peasy.

Have you seen this amazing stuff before? I bought it at Walmart on a whim and it's fantastic! We don't have anything like it in California (at least that I've seen), but I may have to order a few cases before I head home this fall. So far I've made biscuits, pancakes, and cobbler with it and it's delicious every time. There's even little flakes of what looks like butter in it- fascinating! I once considered myself a die-hard Bisquick girl, but this stuff definitely has me converted!

Anyhoo, combine 3 1/4 cups biscuit mix with your liquids until just combined.

Be careful not to overmix! Too much of that and you'll end up with a very tough end product.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface and pat into a rectangle about 1/2 thick.

I like to divide my biscuit dough into equal portions, but you could of course use a cookie cutter if you prefer.

And place on a greased or parchment-lined baking pan. Bake at 450 for about 7 minutes.

Then (this is completely optional, but it IS Cuddle Monday after all), melt 2 tablespoons of butter and drizzle over the tops of your biscuits. Return to oven for about 5 minutes until golden brown.

Here's the end product. So, so good.

Happy Monday!!!

Simple Biscuits and Gravy
Makes 6 generous portions

Sausage Gravy:
1 pound bulk sausage (like Jimmy Dean) 3 cups milk
1/3 cup flour pepper to taste

Crumble and cook sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat until browned. Stir in flour until dissolved and add milk. Cook until it just starts to bubble. Then reduce heat and let simmer, stirring occasionally until thickened, about 2 minutes. Season to taste with pepper.

Buttermilk Biscuits:
3 1/4 cups Complete Southern Biscuit Mix
1 1/4 cup buttermilk, or substitute***

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Gently mix together dry mix and buttermilk until just combined. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and pat or roll dough to a 1/2 thickness. Cut into equal portions (or use cookie cutter), and place on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. If desired, you may also pull biscuits out of the oven a few minutes early, drizzle with melted butter, then return to the oven to finish baking and are golden brown. Serve hot with sausage gravy.

***Buttermilk Substitute:
1 1/4 milk
1 heaping tablespoon white vinegar

Mix together milk and vinegar. Let sit for at least 5 minutes, until the milk is lumpy and curdled. Use as directed for buttermilk.

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22nd Annual Sidewalk Antique & Vintage Show- Hendersonville, NC

2013-06-16T06:46:00.002-07:00

It was a beautiful morning in Western North Carolina yesterday, so my girls and I decided to head south to Hendersonville to do some antiquing. We had a blast, and found some really great treasures in the process!

Hendersonville is a cute town of about 13,000 and a very quick drive from our apartment in Asheville. It's got great little restaurants and locally-owned shops, and a darling Main Street that's great for a stroll on a sunny day.

The historic Henderson County Courthouse- currently home to the county's heritage museum.

The downtown area was packed with people today for the antique show, but we were able to find parking fairly quickly and get right into finding some great vintage items! Both sides of Main Street were lined with booths just full of great things ranging from large pieces of furniture to estate jewelry. I had my eye on some antique (and HUGE) metal automotive ads, but a.) I wasn't sure how I'd get one of those babies home to California, and b.) they were the teensiest bit out of my price range. ;-)

Beautiful Main Street in Hendersonville

Checking out one of the many booths at the show

So many beautiful things!

Had to take a picture of the vintage guns for my husband. (I WANTED that old lunch counter sign in the background, but my kids have to eat at some point during the next year)

My intrepid shopping team

Boy, did I find some amazing things! After about an hour of walking around and meeting some amazing vendors, this is what I scored:

I bought a beautiful twin-sized quilt, a matching set of "Southern Belle" embroidered pillow cases, a rhinestone brooch and a pretty amazing piece of metal wall art. Not bad for a grand total of $82 (and that includes the purchase of a giant caramel apple for the girls and me)!

Here are some detail pictures of what I bought at the fair:

A beautiful, hand-sewn little quilt in a crazy pinwheel pattern. I love the bright colors!

I grabbed this little baby for less than $5! I'm thinking I may use it as an embellishment for a distressed frame or mirror- still working that one out in my head.

I'm obsessed with these pillow cases! I'm wondering it they'd be too much as a part of a bedding set with the quilt I bought, though. But with two little girls, I'm sure they'll get plenty of use at some point!

Behold... the coolest thing I think I've EVER seen. I can't begin to describe how much I love this thing. It's metal, it's red, it's rusty, and it's just soooo cool. It's made from old metal signs and has a washer welded on the back so I can hang it on the wall easily. Love, love, love!!!

***UPDATE: My husband says the welds on the winged heart are crummy, but at this point, it's so pretty that I'm not too concerned with it's structural integrity ;) Maybe this means I can talk him into making me something just like it that's more "sturdy" when we get home. Because really, what's the use of having a husband that can weld unless you get some lawn art in the process...right? Who's with me?!?! (Joking sweetie, but really... will you make me more?)

A California Mama in North Carolina

2013-06-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

My babies at the WNC Nature Center

Beautiful Asheville, North Carolina

Good morning everyone! Well, it's really the afternoon here (EST), but my internal clock is still stubbornly set to California time. It's a beautiful day in the Blue Ridge Mountains, outside of Asheville, North Carolina. Yep, that's Appalachia ya'll! And this born and bred California girl is doing her best to adjust.

A few weeks ago, my little family and I flew out of sunny Sacramento and headed Southeast. My husband, a mechanical engineer, was to be here all summer working on a new brewery for a certain famous craft beer company, so we decided to tag along. Along with our girls- Ashlin, age 2 and Kathleen, age 9 months, we packed up our lives and prepared to rough it for the next 3-4 months. (I use rough it VERY lightly- our little Asheville apartment is just beautiful. Just going from semi-rural living on an acre and a half to an apartment complex with kids can be a little tough). We left a new-to-us house, a kitchen remodel and our dog with Grandma and Grandpa, and off we flew!

After 8 hours of toddler meltdowns and bad airport food, we made it! And let me tell you, the difference hit us like a ton of bricks as soon as we got out of the airport. Man, was it humid!!!! After only ever living on the West Coast, this mama almost melted to death in her first hour here. But it's ok- the more water weight I sweat off, the more biscuits I can have, right?

And speaking of biscuits..... let me tell you a little about the food here.... It's. Freaking. Delicious. Oh boy. But more of that in future posts- best to start at the beginning. Our first meal was, yes... at The Cracker Barrel. Ok, so my Southern friends are freaking out right now, but it was right by our apartment and we were starving. I know someone once said hunger is the best sauce, it was pretty good! Any restaurant that brings you a hot plate of biscuits and jam straight off the bat is OK by me. I had a big plate of ham, greens, and cornbread, and my hubby had chicken and dumplings. Not too shabby. It was a great place to bring noisy kids and the service was wonderful. My biggest issue with it is you have to walk through a packed gift shop full of little do-dahs to get in to eat AND that's where you pay before you leave. I understand the the marketing strategy here (why yes, I do indeed need that biscuit mix to take home with me), but parading your tired, grabby-handed kids through there and and getting out alive is a Herculean feat by any standard.

By the time we got back to our apartment, it was nearly 8pm. My husband and I put our exhausted and full-bellied kids to bed, and went to hang out on our little balcony to enjoy the rest of the evening. It was just beautiful. Much of the mid-day humidity was all but gone and a nice breeze was wafting up through the trees. You can see why the South has a reputation for back porches and rocking chairs. If this is how it is most of the time, I'm going right back to that Cracker Barrel and buying me the first big ol' rocker I see. Oh yes, they sell those there too.

More to come about our adventures in Asheville. Until then, I'm going to enjoy this mountain breeze.