Snowman wreath...Easy & Cute

So simple, low in cost, and fun to make. This wreath I plan on leaving up all winter with the rest of my snowman decorations.

What you need:
Garland
Wood wreath
Woodland/snowman type ornaments (found at wal-mart)
Cinnamon pine cones
Hair clips (found in wal-mart jewlery making supplies)
Hot glue gun.

Wrap wreath with garland, make sure to leave a little of the wood showing to give it a little character.

Hot glue your clips to the cinnamon pine cones. They do have these already done at wal-mart for $1.49, but I like mine better at .20, and the pine ones already done do not smell like cinnamon, yum!

Put your wreath together and hang!
Very fast and simple! I saw a similar wreath online selling for $25, mine cost less than $10. Makes a girl very happy :)

Gluten Free Lemon Zucchini Bread!

Gluten Free Lemon Zucchini Bread

Since the kiddo and I have a gluten intolerance I am always adapting recipes to make them gluten free for us. This recipe I found on Pinterest. Being that we are starting to get TONS of veggies from my little garden my loving hubby built for me, especially zucchini, I decided to start my hunt for some different zucchini goodie recipes!

Here it is... Tomatoes on the left, lettuce, carrots, snap peas, zucchini and cucumbers... OH MY!

My zucchini plant has gone nuts! I guess it's from all the rain and then hot hot weather we have had. But I'm loving it, baking with zucchini is a great way to get my hubby and kiddo to eat their veggies ;)

So here is the recipe, courtesy of Nancy Creative. I just changed out the flour for gluten free, and added xanthan gum :) Thanks Nancy for this totally yummy recipe that's been a BIG HIT with our family and our neighbors!

LEMON-ZUCCHINI LOAF WITH LEMON GLAZE by NancyCreative
Makes one 9×5″ loaf

• 2 cups Mama's almond blend gluten free flour (I use Mama's almond blend for all my gluten free baking!)
• 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• Juice of 1 lemon (or 2 Tablespoons lemon juice)
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 cup grated zucchini (you don’t need to peel the zucchini before grating it)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease  loaf pan; set aside.
In large bowl, blend flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In medium bowl, beat 2 eggs well, then add canola oil and sugar, and blend well. Then add the buttermilk, lemon juice, and lemon zest and blend everything well. Fold in zucchini and stir until evenly distributed in mixture.
Add this mixture to the dry ingredients in the large bowl and blend everything together, but don’t overmix.
Pour batter into prepared 9×5″ loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (if your oven tends to run hot, check the loaf after 40 minutes). Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack and cool completely. While loaf is cooling, you can make the glaze…

LEMON GLAZE

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• Juice of 1 lemon (or 2 Tablespoons lemon juice)

In small bowl, mix powdered sugar and lemon juice until well blended. Spoon glaze over cooled loaf. Let glaze set, then serve.

Hard Boiled Eggs In The Oven. Pinterest Pass!

While pinning a few days ago, I came across a pin about baking your eggs to hard boil them. I decided to give it a try today and see if it is a pinterest pass or fail.

PASS, with flying colors! The pinner said that the eggs peeled easier and also tasted better, and I have to agree with both! For those of you that follow my pinterest, you can find my pin in on my For the Menu board.

Here is a breakdown of what to do if you aren't on pinterest.

Preheat oven to 325. Place eggs in muffin tin so that they stay in place (I used a jumbo 6 space muffin tin). Bake for 25 to 30 mins and remove (I baked them for 30, just to make sure they were done.).

Let me know what you think, I only made 6 just in case it happened to be a pinterest fail, I didn't want to waste a whole bunch of eggs!

The Nutshell Principles

The Nutshell Principles

So what are the principles that changed my life, repeatedly?

If you read the brief stories above, you already know:

1. Start very small.
2. Do only one change at a time.
3. Be present and enjoy the activity (don’t focus on results).
4. Be grateful for every step you take.

In programming, this is called an algorithm. It’s a series of steps that you can apply to make any change, no matter what your situation.

It works. This is the Zen Habits method, the Change Your Life App, in four lines. I hope it helps.

Crocheted Spring Bunting

It sure doesn't look like Spring around here.....

So I've been kinda starting to think about spring decor, and I've been looking at different ideas on what to make to bring spring to north Idaho, if only inside.
One of my new favorite books is Cute & Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench...

I found this book at JoAnn's around Christmastime and loved all the different projects it had to offer, my 50% off a book also helped me along with the decision to by it. So the book came home with me, along with some yummy, new yarn.

The other day I finally settled on a new project out of the book. I don't know about you, but I have the worst time making up my mind on the next thing I want to make. I usually only have one project going at a time, and actually asked my friends on Ravelry about what they do to pick a new project. Most of them said they have at least 3 projects going at a time, and I'm thinking I might start doing that. Sometimes working on just one project at a time gets very boring.

So, I decided to make the cute & easy bunting in cute and easy crochet ;)

It was a longer process then I usually do. I'm such an instant gratification girl, I have a hard time with being patient!

I used Hobby Lobby's I love this cotton. I made 7 bunting flags total, 4 in the multi colored and 3 in purple.

They worked out perfect, using the opposing color for the edging.
In the book she has you crochet them together, but instead I used a pretty purple ribbon I found at the dollar store to attach them.

So check out the book Cute and Easy Crochet at Amazon.com. Lots of fun projects that I'm sure you will like. I am already making plans for more, and even thou it's totally out of my element, I think I will start 3 different projects to work on, YIKES!

Crochet & Potatoes

It's been quite blustery in North Idaho lately, Rain, snow, wind, cold, you know the drill. So I've been doing a lot of cooking, cleaning & crocheting.

I decided to do a striped scarf, using this color scheme I found on pinterest.

I'm really loving all the color samples on pinterest, it really is inspiring to make things beautiful.

Besides color schemes on pinterest, I've been loving the new recipe ideas that I'm finding. The new recipes have also inspired me to make different things that I've been wanting to try, like this Scalloped potato recipe....

Microwave scalloped potatoes

1 1/2 pounds Idaho russet potatoes, sliced
Salt & Pepper to taste
6 Tbsps Butter
1 Cup Colby Jack Cheese, shredded
1 Cup Chicken Broth

Arrange 1/2 of the potatoes in an 8x8 inch glass dish, overlapping potatoes. Season with salt and pepper and dot with 3 Tbsps butter, sprinkle with 1/2 of the cheese. Arrange rest of potatoes, season, and dot with rest of butter, reserve other 1/2 of cheese. Pour broth over top and microwave for 10 to 12 minutes or until done. Sprinkle with rest of cheese and broil for 2 to 3 minutes on high broil or until golden brown.

They turned out so yummy, there wasn't any leftovers :)

Don't forget about my Scrapbook Software giveaway! Read my post above for all the details.

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My Memories Giveaway

I love giveaways! My memories has asked me to review and play with their new digital scrapbooking software! They are also giving me a free copy to give to one of my awesome blog readers.
Here is what I created with one of their many layouts....

These are of my son the freeskier. The template made it so simple to make, and you can make more than just scrapbook pages with it such as photo books, cards, videos, you name it! I've seen people make subway art and sweet printables.

So, here is how the contest works. Enter by commenting on how you would use my memories scrapbook software, and be creative with your ideas. Get extra entries by sharing my blog on facebook or pinning this page on pinterest, if you share on facebook or pinterest please let me know that you did this with a comment below. I will announce a winner in a week, so get crackin' with those posts & pins!

Remember this is a $39.97 value, and an incredible software. I will for sure be starting to digital scrapbooking more now that I've found this software.

Felted Sweater Heart Garland

It's FINALLY snowing here in North Idaho, and all I want to do is sit by the (fake) fire and craft. So today was the perfect day to find something to make. With Valentines day coming up, and not having any decorations up, it got me thinking. I could go out in the blustery snow storm, and to the shed, to get the valentines decor. But why do that when I had a nice, warm bunch of felted goodies in my craft room that I can create something fabulously cozy with.

I really love using things that I thought were ruined.


My hubby likes to help me switch the laundry over, and sometimes, something wool finds it's way into the dryer ;)
I love him so much that I never say a word, I just put it in my repurpose pile to make into something cute & cozy.

I was originally thinking I wanted to make a pillow out of this sweater, the moose on the front and the stripes on the back. But if there is one thing I totally hate, it's sewing. I hate my sewing machine with a passion, my 16 year old son uses it to make longer shirts and sweatshirts for skiing, but that's about all it's used for.  So today while looking at this sweater I decided to use it to make a heart garland.

After 2 episodes of happy days all the hearts are cut out. Yes I still love Fonzie!

I didn't mind hand sewing the hearts together, hand sewing I like more than my stupid machine ;)
While watching the 3rd episode of "Fonzie loves Pinkie" I had everything sewn together and my groovy new garland all done :)

I am so happy with how it turned out I really want to find more sweaters in Valentines colors to create more cozy heart goodness for other parts of the house.

Until next time.....Hugs to my cozy friends!
Juls
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Crazy for cup cozies.

I have had so much fun making cup cozies lately.

This adorable sock monkey cozy was made using the new pattern by Patons. You can find the pattern HERE. I see making these in different color combinations. I did make this one.....

I'm thinking about making one that's cream, purple & yellow next.

I also recently made a bernat pattern for a work sock cozy for a recent cup cozy exchange for the at my house yahoo group. You can find the pattern HERE..

I love how it turned out and I used all bernat denim yarn for it. I have so much left over I think I will make a hat with the remaining.

Juls ;)