Nursery!

Wow, it has been FAR FAR FAR too long since I have blogged! Life has been a little crazy over this past year or so.

My husband and I found out that we were expecting back in August. I've been so lucky to have had a very smooth and easy pregnancy! Very mild nausea and aches but other than that I have felt great! I've gained far too much weight but I know I can take care of that once baby arrives.

We finished our nursery a couple of weeks ago and I am so damn proud of it I had to put it all over the internet!

My husband and I made the blanket, cloud shelves, the bee hive clock, the crib skirt, curtains, pillows, rocking chair pad and rug. We refinished and painted both the toy box and the rocking chair itself. Isnt it fabulous!?

I'll also have you know I looked damn near EVERYWHERE for that little bee hive lamp!!! Its discontinued and after discovering it on Pinterest I HAD.TO.HAVE.IT! So I looked for it on ebay every single day, and then finally found it and won the auction!

We went with a bee theme because it isn't very common and because its gender neutral. We have not found out the gender as we wanted to keep this as the ultimate surprise! Plus, because Im horribly impatient, I think the excitement of getting that baby out ASAP to see what he/she is will make the labor go faster. So I tell myself.

Anyway enjoy the photos! (And my adorable little doggie, Archer)

Its awesome. I know.

Fluffernutter Cookies

Before I met my husband I had never heard of a Fluffernutter. We people on the West coast just don't know the joys of a peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwich were within our grasp. The East coast has been keeping quite a secret all this time! I remember the first time he made one and smiled proudly as he handed it to me... just waiting for my reaction as he knew I would love it. So, I took a bite and felt as though I had spent my whole life missing out on something so simple and so wonderful. It changed my life :)

We were coming up with some more treats for his co-workers and decided to apply the same brilliant fluffernutter idea to some chocolate chip cookies. The results were insanely delicious! All we did was make some chocolate chip cookies with the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip package and spread some marshmallow fluff on the back of one cookie..

 



Then of course some crunchy peanut butter on another cookie...

 

And smoosh two together! A Fluffernutter Cookie is born! I discovered that the marshmallow oozed out of the cookies a little bit, which isn't that big of a problem, but putting them in an airtight bag or container and leaving them in the fridge helped with that a little bit. You really have to try this! You wont regret it I promise! Enjoy!



Unicorn Poop

Well, that is what my husband likes to call it anyway... but whatever we call it, it sure is delicious! We kind of came up with the idea once when we were looking for a fun and quick treat to make for a party. Its simple and cheap, and I do think I mentioned delicious, Basically its a s'more haystack but I prefer the name my Hunny gave it.

What you need:

Package of milk chocolate chips
4-5 cups of Golden Graham cereal
3-4 cups of mini marshmallows

Now, I like to put a little bit of vegetable oil in the bottom of the pan but this is optional. Melt the chocolate chips in a pot over low heat. Stir in Golden Grahams until coated with chocolate. Mix in the Marshmallows until everything is coated with chocolate and the marshmallows become gooey. Scoop spoonful onto a piece of parchment paper and either let sit on the counter to harden, or place in the fridge. That's it! Sooooo simple right??? I made these for my Hunnys co workers and they loved them so much they've requested them a couple of times. They cant believe that it is so easy to make and keep asking for the real recipe :) Enjoy!

Small Batch Sauerkraut

I loooooove me some Sauerkraut! Ive never made It before but decided it was time to give it a go. I didn't want to make a giant batch in case it didn't work out, so I went with just one head of cabbage which made one jar. Its very simple too! Of course now I have 10 days to wait before I can try it, but Im sure itll be worth it in the end.

What you need:

1 head of cabbage
4 teaspoons of picking salt or pure kosher salt
1 quart jar

So first things first. Quarter and then core the cabbage. Slice it into very thin strips and put them into a bowl.

 

After you've sliced it all, sprinkle the 4 teaspoons of salt over it and mix together with your hands.

 

Now you have to SQUEEEEZE it! Squeeze the heck out of it. Liquid with start to form and that is going to be your brine. Youll want enough that it will cover the cabbage in the jar so keep on going until you get a fair amount.

 

The cabbage will reduce a bit so don't be worried at first that all of your cabbage wont fit into the jar

 

Pack the cabbage into your clean jar and pour the liquid over the top. You want to make sure that all of the cabbage is submerged.

 

 

To keep the cabbage down while it ferments, use a small bowl or a ziplock bag with water in it to hold it down. I found that the bag of water worked like a charm.

 



 



Since this will be fermenting, the liquid will probably end up spilling over the top so place your jar in a bowl and set into a cool room temperature area where it will not be disturbed. You'll also want to skim any foam off of the top every couple of days and replace the bag. Let it ferment for 10 days or at least until the bubbles stop appearing and it tastes about right. Put the lid on the jar and store in the fridge! Enjoy!

Cat throws for Donation

Ive been volunteering for the Seattle Humane Society for a little over a month now, and as much as it is rewarding... its also really sad. I work in the vet services portion where the cats go to recover from surgeries or if they are sick and need special care. You never realize how much they rely on donations for food, bedding and even down to cleaning supplies. It is however, really great to see first hand how well they take care of all the animals there. They will keep them until they find a home, no matter how long it takes. I have been taking care of a cat that has been there since 2011. Anyway... in addition to my time there, I am also making some cat throws for a little extra comfortable bedding. I have been using any leftover yarn and basically just crocheting a rectangle. The cats love to snuggle on or underneath the fleece or crocheted blankets in particular.

If you are near the Humane Society, even donating a little bit can go a long way. Whether its old towels or blankets, canned or dry food, even bowls or toys. Not just for the cats, but the dogs and the little critters too.

Canning Day and Disasters

I found a great sale on Fuji apples last week and decided it was time to make some applesauce. I gave away a bunch for Christmas last year and it was a hit! Plus I made some really tasty recipes with it, and was proud to say that not only was the recipe made from scratch.... so was the applesauce in it! Its really simple to make, but terribly time consuming. I planned to take most of the day to make it. So, I got to peeling, coring and chopping 12 lbs of apples.

 Now keep in mind that I do not have one of those fancy peeler and coring contraptions. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to get through all 12 lbs. That's why its a good idea to dip the cut apples into a lemon juice and water mixture to keep the apples from browning.

I just throw as many pieces as I can get to fit into the lemon juice water and then put it straight into the pot Ill be using to cook it. That's the system that works for me :) As you can see I decided to use the coffee table as my workspace. Having some smutty TV going on in the background really helped pass the time...

 

I ended up having to use two pots to cook the apples, which can make it a little tricky when you are also trying to set up the canner and the lids on the stove as well. You boil the apples in the pots for about 20 minutes and with enough water to prevent sticking. As the apples shrunk a bit, I would add the apples from the smaller pot to the larger so I could free up a burner. Then I got my canner up and running and prepared my jars and lids.

 



See that its 12:49 there??? I started chopping the apples a little after 10. Thank you SpongeBob and Teen Mom for helping the time fly... anyhoo! Once the apples are tender you transfer them into a food processer or mill and make it all nice and smooth. It goes back into the pot and you can add sugar at this point if you want to use it. About 3 cups is the suggested amount but I used 2. You can also add 4 tsp of spices like cinnamon or nutmeg. I used 3 tsp cinnamon and 1 nutmeg. You bring it back up to a boil.

By this time the house smells amaaaazing! Yum Yum Yuuum! So once everything is prepared its time to can! ( if you do not know how to can, there are a lot of GREAT books and sites that tell you how. I am not writing an entire lesson on it this time but maybe sometime in the future...) You are supposed to keep the applesauce at a gentle boil while you can it, but keep an eye on it because its a very messy boiler. It like to pop and glug and burn you if a drop decides to land on your face. Im speaking from experience of course... so, go ahead and can your applesauce!

I used half pint jars this time, it just makes it a little easier to use up in my opinion. So once your jars go back into to canner you boil them for 20 minutes.

 

Ugh... I need to work on my picture taking... I have always been a terrible photographer. After the applesauce has boiled in its jars for 20 minutes, I turn off  the heat and let it stabilize for 5 minutes or so before pulling the jars out of the water. I find that the lids "pop" faster this way.

 

Yay! Cant wait to dig in!

 

As far as the disaster in the title goes, I was also making Grapefruit Marmalade! However, I did something wrong and burned the CRAP out of it! Its a fairly involved recipe that requires you to let it sit overnight before finishing. So of course after all the work I put into it, the second day and final step before canning is where I burned it. Oh well. Its things like this that make you learn, right?!?! So Im going to try again next week and see if I can get it to work. It sure made the house smell great though, especially right after the applesauce :) Enjoy!

Hand Stenciled Drapes

Finally! I have been working on these drapes forever! As you saw in one of my previous posts I screwed up on my last set because they were way too small. I finished them anyway and hope to sell them on Etsy, but in the meantime I got to work on the drapes I plan on keeping. Here are the drapes that came with the house...

Now, as I said in the last post, they really aren't THAT bad. They certainly do not go with our color scheme though, so I moved these downstairs and had decided I was going to stencil my own since I couldn't find any I liked.

This was pretty simple to do, but it is very time consuming, so plan on this taking several days.

What you'll need:

Plain drapes
Fabric Paints in the colors you want
stencils
sponge or stencil brush
paper plates
painters tape

I found some cheap plain linen drapes and laid them out on garbage bags in my garage.

I mentally mapped out where I was going to put my stencils and  colors. I have 4 colors; red, brown, camel and grey.

Tape down your stencil so that it 1.) stays in place, and 2.) covers up the edge and other stencil patterns so you don't get paint where you don't want it.

I ended up using a lot more tape after this picture :) Then put your paint on a plate and dab with the sponge. Make sure you dab away from your paint blob to get off any access paint. Now lightly press onto your stencil. If you press too hard or have too much paint, it can get underneath the stencil and cause bleeding or smudging. Get you paint into each hole in your stencil and take care that no spots were missed.

Now gently pull your stencil off and place in the next spot.

Isnt that preeeeetty!? I did both big and small stencils in each color. First I used a slightly burnt red.

Then an espresso brown.

A nice camel color.

 

 

 

Finally I used a grey. I made this a but lighter than the rest because I wanted it to be a little more "ghosty" in the background... if you know what I mean...

 

 

Now I really liked overlapping the big and small ones at some points. I kept all the small ones separate from each other and the big ones separate from each other. I loved the way that it turned out and it kept my eye from catching anywhere in particular, which Is exactly what I wanted.

 

After my drapes were all dry I hung them up!!! I am so happy with how they turned out!! They match my colors and they are unique and fun without being too loud. Heres the before and after...

 

and..... after!

 

Tada! It really brightens the room! I highly recommend just doing your own if you are feeling adventurous enough. There are a ton of really great stencils out there and there is even plain stencil that you can cut your own pattern into. Enjoy!