DIY Cooking at Home

Remember Shrinky Dinks? Oh, the nostalgia! I think they were the "gateway drug" to my crafting obsession. Well, dear readers, here is one awesome craft utilizing that retro technique that all of the women on your holiday gift-giving list will LOVE. And might I add, they'd make cool wine charms, too. The instructions and downloadables are available at Just Something I Made . I personally am not CRAZY for all of the art on this one, but you could tweak it to fit your interests, or the interests of your gift recipients, quite simply using your own images and clip art. Now if each day was about 12 hours longer, maybe I could begin to make all the things I feature here...sigh. So if you make one of these, do tell! That way I can live vicariously through you.

Hey all! Well, I had hoped to get this posted before Cyber Monday but life has had other plans for me this past week. We hosted Thanksgiving, had family in town, etc. You know the drill. So now I'm coming up for air (a little) and extricating myself from the boatloads of laundry we've accumulated to bring you this happy little assortment of unique gifts for giving this holiday season. Most of them are reasonably priced, except for the mugs, which are pricey but soooo pretty, I couldn't resist. Forgive me for not describing each and every thing. I'm letting the pictures do the talking. Happy Shopping! I hope this list gives you a leg up. Unique Jewelry Dictionary Entry Bracelet from The Empty Nest Blue Mum Bracelet from The Empty Nest Birth Month Flower Necklace from Uncommon Goods For the Cook Gourmet Salt Collection from Salt Works Spice Rub Set from Craig's Market Donut Maker from Target For Coffee or Tea Lovers Love the Trees Mug Set from Uncommon Goods

So I figured I better get going on thinking about Christmas gifts for everyone on my list. I aspire to shop year-round so that I'm not crunched for time during this crazy-busy season, but alas...each year, I'm fumbling around at the last minute for great gift ideas. SO...I'm devoting my craft of the week from now until Christmas to things you can make for a loved one this holiday season. This probably bears repeating: all of the crafts I highlight on this blog are cheap, easy, and quick. Ok, that sounds a little like an endorsement for a brothel or something. Not appropriate seeing's how I'm suggesting that these ideas are gift-worthy to mark the occasion of Jesus' birth. Let's try that again, shall we? All of the crafts I highlight on this blog are inexpensive, simple and chic. Ok, onward... Felt flowers can really make a purse or shirt look boutique-ish if done properly. I've seen lots of two-dimensional ones, but these from Infarrantly Creati

I never have enough stuff to decorate for the holidays. Photos in my favorite magazines astound me because all the stuff used to "simply" and "inexpensively" decorate a table, for example, would actually cost hundreds if I tried to replicate it. If you're like me and find that your table and mantle always look sparse because you can't justify spending $9.99 for one plastic gourd, then you must run (not walk) to your nearest Hobby Lobby. They've got fall decor marked 80% off right now, just in time for Thanksgiving! So here's my table (oh, to have some color on the blank wall behind it, at least!) looking a little less sparse than usual. I only paid $16 for $76 worth of stuff today at Hobby Lobby, including the gourds and pumpkin seen here, a cloth stuffed pumpkin for our foyer, a pumpkin spice jar candle and Thanksgiving paper plates and napkins. Score! Anyway, I just separated a 3 tiered cookie plate so the gourds could be different heights, an

I guess you could say I'm smitten with anything wrapped in yard or jute these days. I posted some yarn-wrapped pumpkins from a Soft Place to Land a few weeks back, and now I'm yarn-ing for these bottles I saw on Pinterest, too. I think they'd look great in an odd-sized grouping with different sizes. It's not like we never have empty bottles around (ha!) and yarn is relatively cheap. The only other supplies I'd need are a hot glue gun and scissors. Pretty self-explanatory, and just plain pretty. Got any other ideas for stuff to wrap in yarn?

Now, that our Halloween hangover has passed and what's left of the candy has been stashed in the pantry, I'm ready to tackle the next holiday. We're hosting Thanksgiving for my husband's side of the family this year, which has spurred on a myriad of projects, not least of which is a built-in in our foyer to house coats and purses. More on that later. But for now, check out my Pinterest board for Thanksgiving table and craft inspiration. Here are some of the ideas: This table is more formal than what we'd do, but oh how gorgeous it is. I love the addition of blue to the fall-ish color scheme. This guy would be a great way to get the little ones involved in decorating the table. Love, love, love, brown transferware. These pictures would be nice year-round but are particularly nice for the dining room on Turkey Day. In case you can't read this, it says: "It's not having what you want. It's wanting what you have." A good reminder... Love this

Here's one of the projects I've been working on lately. We had a tray table my brother and sister-in-law gave to us as a gift because we used to enjoy watching CBS Sunday Morning in bed with breakfast and the paper. Ah, the good 'ol days...now we enjoy watching Thomas the Tank Engine and we're lucky if we get a paragraph read of the Sunday paper. So since our lovely tray table isn't getting much use as a place to stash breakfast dishes bedside lately, I thought it might be able to enjoy a second life as an end table in our work-in-progress family room. Here's the before and after: > All it took was a light sanding, one coat of latex primer and two coats of latex semi-gloss paint on the legs, and two light coats of brown gloss spray paint for the tray. I sandwiched a piece of fabric underneath a piece of glass I had cut at a glass shop. Got the fabric from Jo-Ann's (it's from the Better Homes & Gardens collection) and it's gonna be used

This tutorial from Little Blue Prints had me at hello. I just love a good lamp makeover, don't you? Maybe it's because they seem so do-able within a couple of naptimes, or maybe it's because ugly lamps are so easy to find, making it easy to get a lot of makeover bang for the budget. Anyway, I've got two lamps that need a major overhaul, so I'm thinking this is an idea I'm ready to try for one of 'em. I can't get my hot glue gun out fast enough! Do you have any good lamp stories? Do tell!

Do you get in a breakfast rut in your house? For our kids, it's oatmeal or cereal almost every morning. But when we make these yummy pancakes (they taste SO good this time of year, especially with maple syrup), we have a quick go-to breakfast or even lunch that feels special because it's out of the norm. Plus, the whole wheat flour and pumpkin are very healthy. This recipe makes a TON of sand-dollar sized pancakes, so after they've cooled, I plastic wrap them--2 cakes per package--and freeze them in a freezer bag. When we want 'em, we just unwrap them and reheat for 30 seconds per side. Pumpkin Pancakes In large bowl, whisk together: 2 c. whole wheat flour 1 ¾ c. white flour 5 ¼ tsp. baking powder 3 tsp. cinnamon 1 ¼ tsp. allspice 1 ¼ tsp. ginger ½ tsp. kosher salt and 1/3 c. brown sugar In a separate bowl, whisk together: 15 oz. canned pumpkin 6 eggs and 3 c. whole milk (I used buttermilk the last time and it worked just fine) Slowly pour liquid mixture into dry m

Well, you can't get the whole effect here because I forgot to take a "before" picture, but suffice to say, it looks a lot different, and in my humble opinion, better. It used to be stained dark brown with an orange velvet cushion, which incidentally, also had bird poop on it. So after sanding the heck out of it to get the old flaky varnish off, I applied two coats of latex primer with a brush. Then I sprayed it with high-gloss spray paint in raspberry. This is actually for my friend, Louisa. She picked this up at a tag sale for $5 I think and wants to use it in her daughter's room, which is decked out in a Liberty of London print. I found this striped fabric at Hobby Lobby and it matches perfectly. Score! (I hope she likes it!) Lest you think I'm a really nice friend, she has agreed to sew pillows for me in exchange because I'm hopeless with a sewing machine. So we're really just bartering skill sets, you see. Onto my next project!