Put a Bird on it and Call it Art

Hello spring! What? You can't hear me through the pounding of the rain, the blowing of the wind, the snow drifts and fog.

I remember being a little girl and putting on my snow boots with my brand new Easter dress (that mom would make for us girls every year) to hunt eggs in the front yard Easter morning. Easter is one of my favorite holidays. Today I treasure Easter by collecting vintage Easter items and displaying them all year.                

This year I am all jazzed for Easter. Us siblings are all gathering to celebrate in our parents new house for the first time. New house means new memories.  Little Olivia is going to color and hunt her first Easter eggs in Gran and Grandpa's front yard in her little Easter dress. (and possibly snow boots)  I wonder if the Easter Bunny will be spotted re-hiding the colored eggs during breakfast like when were kids? Very suspicious that bunny. But it sure was fun having a second back yard hunt.  

A family get together and a holiday give me a pretty good reason to buy butterscotch chips. What am I going to do with these chips?

      Bird Nest Cookies

I found some Snyder's Gluten Free Pretzels for the nest and used these cute Cadbury Mini Eggs. I think they are super cute. I hope they all make it till Easter.

I Make Homemade Bread Now

Homemade Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

I have used this recipe to make bread three times. Every time it was delicious.  Beautiful? Not so much. The first two batches (not included in the the "make bread three times") ended up in the trash. Tip #1 Use All Purpose Flour and not Pastry Flour. Tip #2 Use a thermometer to measure the temperature of the water. Or you may kill your yeast and your dough will not rise as this beautiful bowl of dough did.

Look how big it is!

Beautiful Not/ Tasty Yes

Did you notice the Lodge Cast Iron Bread Pans?

lodge is still made in the USA and

I am in love!

Freezer Meal Favorites

Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells

I made two of these at once. Made one for lunch and put one in the freezer for dinner during the week. They were a hit and even turned out perfect the first time. A rare occasion for me.

Homemade Pizza Dough

We found this pizza stone at the thrift store for five dollars. It replaced the one that started on fire then broke in three pieces a while back. My kitchen skills are lacking. But I have dreams of doing big things in the kitchen. I will get there one pizza at a time. 

Konad- My new obsession!

Look at my Kool Konad Knit nails!

Nicole by OPI- Kloe Had a Little Lam Lam

OPI- French Quarter for your Thoughts

Konad M69

Maybe it's me

Maybe it's me, maybe it's the New Year or maybe it's Pinterest that has got me doing and thinking all kinds of crazy things these days.

Thank you Pinterest for giving me a way to organize all of the products, ideas and things I love in picture form. Now I don't have to remember why I booked marked all of those web sights anymore. Now why didn't I think of that.

I am all excited about frozen crock-pot meals right now. The idea of having hot dinner waiting for us when we get home really works for us. I got this inspiration from this blog.
                                                               MammaAndBabyLove

She does all of her cooking once a month! OMG!

First we needed a new crock-pot. I bigger one that is programmable. Would you believe that we found 5qt crock-pots on sale at Macy's for $9.99. I grabbed two crock-pots and some of Martha Stewart glass-lock food storage containers and a chocolate bar. Used my $15.00 off coupon and got my crock-pots of $3.50 each.

Crock-Pot Lasagna &

Baked Potatoes &

It took hours.

Yet, I was able to reduce a weeks worth of groceries to a mere few inches.

Now let's hope we like crock-pot food.

Happy New Year!

So Hard to Blog When........

your hands are cramping and your shoulders are numb from.......

Crocheting your little heart out for your favorite niece,

.......a baby shower tomorrow

and

the nice lady at work who just delivered her first daughter!

Thanks you!

MonPetitViolon

for the creative patterns that have been keping me busy.......

With this....

and this.....

and this......

and this.....

and this......

wait, wait....

there is one more.....

Enjoy!

Homemade Lipbalm

I tend to collect all things crafty. What I end up with a nice stash of supplies with very little to show for it. A basket of beautiful wool yarn, dozens of knitting pattern books and magazines, cooking light cook books, jewelry making supplies, sewing fabric and patterns. I could go on and on, so I will. My latest collection, homemade beauty product supplies and not one beauty product to show for it. Yet!

I have all of this coconut oil (see previous post about homemade deodorant). I gaze at it on the shelve in the bathroom and think "what the heck am I going to do with all of this coconut oil". Spreading on toast is not an option at this point.

While browsing my favorite DIY Beauty Blog http://bathbodysupply.blogspot.com/ I found the exciting world of homemade lip balm. Totally non toxic and super easy and fun. So everyone on the blog-o-sphere is raving.

I set out to pick up a few supplies to fill in the blanks after the coconut oil. What I ended up with was four orders from four different on-line vender's and a stop of at the discount vitamin store. A bushel of supplies and not one balm to show for it. Yet!

Homemade Lip Balm

3 tsp. Beeswax

3 tsp. Shea Butter (or coconut oil)

3 tsp. cocoa Butter

2-3 drops Essential Oil

3 tsp. Sweet Almond Oil

1 Vi.t E Capsule

Melt butters in microwave of double boiler.

Add oils and stir well until it starts to cool and pour into a clean container.

Fills about four 1/2 oz tins.

(notice, no coconut oil. oh, well)

Martha Stewart crafts has an easy recipe for lip balm but what I really liked was the delicious flavor options she has put together.

Star Anise/ Mint

Rosemary/ Lemon

Tangerine/ Mint

Tangerine/ Star Anise

Geranium/ Lemon

Grapefruit/ Mint

Find the best deal on organic essential oils here.

http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/aroma/q-z.html

Martha also has a cute free download able label template for your own tins.

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/natural-beauties-lip-balms

Find super cool water proof labels for your inkjet printer here.

http://www.elementsbathandbody.com/Inkjet-Waterproof-Labels-c-120.html

There are many online sources for cosmetic jars and tins. I choose to use a plastic free option and decided the tins were the best option. I sure was excited to find those vintage slider tins from my childhood.

When you are buying your water proof labels get your slide tins also.

http://www.elementsbathandbody.com/25-oz-Slide-Tin-pr-688.html

This sight offers tins by the each. I purchased the screw top tins and my Hex jars here.

http://www.specialtybottle.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=55

A little better prices but you have to buy by the dozen or more.

http://www.papermart.com/Product%20Pages/Product.aspx?GroupID=19037&ParentGroupID=34790

Can't wait for my orders to arrive to give these a try. In the mean time I am gong to make my favorite LUSH dupe for Buffy Bar. I add ground coffee to mine. So delicious.