Project Throwback - Handmade Envelope Care Package

Confession: I have several projects to show you, but I apparently forgot how to schedule taking photos in the winter time to catch the good light so I don't have any photos of them yet. I hate that it's dark when I get home from work.

Anyway, I was thinking of some Valentine's crafts and I remembered a craft I did really early on in my blogging that I think would be so perfect for your Valentine's Sweetheart!

Handmade Envelope Care Package

 Step 1: Gather patterned paper, pencil, deconstructed envelope, tacky glue.

Step 2: Trace and cut envelopes, fold envelope flaps using a straight edge.

Step 3: Glue the side and bottom flaps together.

Step 4: Glue the top flap to the back of one envelop, stack all this way.

 Step 5: Finish it off with cute notes and candy!

There you have it: a perfect, thoughtful gift for your Sweetie! If you want to check out the original post, you can see it here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great Friday and don't forget to stop back to party on Saturday!

A Pinteresting Party & A Giveaway!

A Pinteresting Link Party - Week 76

Hosted by Tutus & Tea Parties & Here's to Handy Andy.

Guest Hosting this week is:

Becky from Sugar n Spice Gals | Pinterest

 {Hop on over and give her a welcome!}
(Want to guest host? Fill out this form.) 

Honey Oat Bread -- YUM!

Hey All! I hope you are having a good week - shortened work weeks are the BEST! I'm planning to be very productive this weekend, how about you?

Last weekend I did some sewing and baking...yup super Susie Homemaker. Anyway, I found this recipe from Yammie's GlutenFreedom. It is originally a gluten free recipe, but I made some tweaks, because I'm not GF (nor do I have some of the ingredients the GF version called for).

Here's the recipe (my non GF version):

4 cups of oats (plus more for the top)
2 scant tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 cup wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs

Instructions from Yammie:

Blend the oats in the food processor until they're pretty fine. Combine the yeast and water, add the oil, honey, starch, flour, and oats and beat until combined. Add the salt, cinnamon, and eggs. Beat for a few minutes until fluffy. Pour into a well greased 10 inch loaf pan and allow to rise for about 45 minutes until doubled. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350ºF. Sprinkle the top of the risen loaf with some more oats and cut a few slits in the top with a serrated knife. Bake for about 45 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting. 

This bread is delicious! Seriously, the best bread I've ever made. My one complaint is that after a few days, it became very crumbly. Not dry, just didn't hold together well. The original recipe called for xantham gum (I have no idea what this is). In the comments on her site, Yammie said that this helps the strength of the dough...so I'm guessing that was the issue. But the flavor is still great, so I'm good!

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

A Pinteresting Link Party - Week 75

A Pinteresting Link Party - Week 75

Hosted by Tutus & Tea Parties & Here's to Handy Andy.

(Want to guest host? Fill out this form.) 

Refinished Table

Hello All! I hope your week is going well. We've been really busy lately, so I've been a little absent, but I'm trying to catch up! Thanks for all your comments, I promise I'll respond to them soon (make sure you're not a no-reply blogger)!

We've been working on a few things around the house to maximize the space we have (our house is small). So we've been moving some furniture around and trying to get creative. One thing we wanted to do was create a more usable eating area. Our house does not have a separate dining room, and we've had a dining set from Ikea in our house, which I love, but it just didn't work perfectly for the space. We decided we wanted to make more of a nook area with an L-shaped bench and a pedestal table to be able to use more of the space.

My parents found these two old restaurant tables at the Restore near them (for $7 total!!), and Handy Andy said we could make them work by putting them together and covering them with wooden planks to give it a nicer look. Have I mentioned that my husband is handy? Oh, I have... :)

Here's what we started with:

Handy Andy used a board to fasten the tables together from the bottom. We chose some tongue and groove wood flooring for the table top (the box was about $50). Andy started by putting two planks on each end of the table going along the shorter side. Then he nailed planks going the long way between the end pieces.

After the top was finished, Handy Andy nailed trim along the sides of the table to finish it off. It's not quite finished yet, we're going to distress and sad the top to give it a weathered look. Then we'll seal it with shellac. But here it is for now...

I absolutely love this table - it is so beautiful! It'll be fun to distress and finish. Total, we spent about $60 on this project, which is a great price for a piece that perfectly fits our needs/space and is so beautiful!

Handy Andy has also made one of the benches for the table. He will made one more longer one, and then we will sand and finish those off as well. He made this bench with materials he already had!

Well that's part of what we've been doing around here lately. I hope you're having a productive week!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Pinteresting Link Party - Week 74

A Pinteresting Link Party - Week 74

Hosted by Tutus & Tea Parties & Here's to Handy Andy.

Guest Hosting this week is:

DeDe | Pinterest of Blog

{Hop on over and give her a welcome!}
(Want to guest host? Fill out this form.) 

Crochet Boot Cuffs

Happy Wednesday All! I hope you're having a good week. I haven't been feeling so hot, so I haven't been able to get any new projects started, but I do have some from before Christmas that I haven't shared.

Before Christmas I got into this crocheting frenzy for a little while. I was searching for some free patterns on Pinterest and came across this one from Ravelry for boot cuffs. So, I grabbed some yarn I already had, and went to work. Here's what I ended up with:

The yarn I had was pretty chunky, so they got kind of bulky toward the middle of the cuff, but they are still cute! I'm definitely not a master at crocheting, and this wasn't too difficult for me, although it did take some time to figure out the first one.

I really like how these turned out, however, I don't really wear boots that much, so I think I'll be giving them away.

What have you been working on? Leave a link in the comments so I can check it out!

I hope you're having a good week! Thanks for stopping by!

A Pinteresting Link Party - Week 73

A Pinteresting Link Party - Week 73

Hosted by Tutus & Tea Parties & Here's to Handy Andy.

Guest Hosting this week is:

Michelle | Blog | Pinterest

{Hop on over and give her a welcome!}
(Want to guest host? Fill out this form.) 

Coconut Sugar Scrub

Happy New Year All! I hope your holiday was fun and relaxing. Ours was great! We were able to spend some time with family and some relaxing time at home. Now I have to get out of vacation mode...hm...

Anyway, I still have a few handmade gifts to show you that I made from Christmas. I recently received some coconut oil from Tropical Traditions, so I've been looking for some ways to use the oil outside of the kitchen. This one is one that I may have made for for myself as well...

Coconut Sugar Scrub

This was really easy, and it turned out great. I found this on Pinterest, here is the site I used. 

Here's what you need:

Coconut Oil

Sugar

Mason Jars

Essentials Oils (Optional)

First, melt the coconut oil down. Then mix in the sugar until it makes a paste. You can add essential oils if you want, I added peppermint. And that's it, seriously. Just pour the paste into your jars and let it harden. Use the scrub on dry areas. This stuff is awesome, it's really good for your skin. It leaves it feeling really moisturized.

Thanks so much for stopping by!