DIY Cooking at Home

Hello friends! I'm really excited to show you how our fall mantel turned out this year. It's sometimes hard for me to strike the right balance between full, but not cluttered and the scale of things messes me up a lot, too. But I think I got it right this time. Special thanks to A Place For Us for her amazing paper bag flower tutorial! I followed her directions to the letter and was pleased to watch mine turn out just like I hoped. Perhaps you've already seen my pressed fall leaf pictures , but here they are again next to a couple of gourds I got at Hobby Lobby (during last year's 90% off clearance sale!). The green glass vase is from an upscale shop in Grand Haven, Michigan, but I got it on clearance. (I'm a sucker for green and blue glass.) And the leafy branch inside it is just from JoAnn's. On the left side of the mantel, I propped the acorn frame we made a couple of years ago from the hundreds of acorn caps we collect on our fall hikes. I ne

Ok, I'm not gonna lie to ya...that picture isn't mine (as if you couldn't tell...it's WAY too professional). It's from Taste of Home magazine, which is (more truth-telling) where this recipe came from. So does it make me, like, the worst blogger ever to not post an original recipe, and not only that, but totally lift the photo, too? Well, maybe. But Wednesdays are busy because of dance classes for our kindergartener right after school, so I barely get dinner on the table, let alone make up something original and take the time to stage a photo. Anyhoo, the crock pot is my savior on Wednesdays, and this recipe was such a total winner I just had to pass it along. The recipe I linked to above actually calls for a 3-4 pound roast, though. We'd be eating carnitas tacos for a week with a roast that size. I also made a couple of tweaks... Carnitas Tacos 1 to 1 1/2 lb. roast 1/2 package of taco seasoning (I used Ortega's low-sodium variety) 10 oz. can of d

As I've mentioned several times before, our family loves to take hikes, and our favorite time of year to go is in the fall. The air is fresher in the woods this time of year, there aren't as many bugs, you don't sweat to death, and of course, the leaves are at their best. These pictures I made for our fireplace remind me of our adventures. I made these for $6, thanks to some cheap-o frames from Wal-Mart. Fall Leaf Pictures Tools & Materials Picture frame Fall leaves Burlap Scissors Old book (optional) Double-sided tape Steps Gather a few fall leaves, then press them between 2 sheets of paper towel in a heavy book. Leave overnight, or even for a few days. Cut some burlap to fit the inside of your frame. Mount the leaf on the burlap using some double-sided tape. If desired, you could also use the burlap as a pseudo picture pat, and mount the leaf on a page from an old book, as I did. I used an old copy of Thoreau's Walden ...seemed appropriate. I'll be s

Hi, bloggy friends and readers! How was your weekend? Fall is definitely in the air around here. This afternoon, I hope to squeeze in a hike in the Metro Parks before it rains tomorrow. We'll take our nature buckets and collect some acorns and leaves, I'm sure. Makes for a nice afternoon... Here's another fall-ish craft for you. Blogland is overflowing with autumnal ideas right now, isn't it? Here's a door hanging that I just loved from Two Twenty One . For one thing, I love the mossy frame. She used foam core, but you could use an old picture frame if you have one. Also, you could change out what hangs inside of it, or decoupage the monogram any way you want. The artificial leaves are beautiful, though. Awesome idea...thanks, Chelsea!

Do you ever just wake up one beautiful Sunday morning, and over breakfast, decide to knock down a wall? Well...that's exactly what happened in our house last weekend. I was innocently perusing Pinterest while my husband read the Sunday paper, and the next thing we knew...drywall was flying. We have been living in our house for over two years now and have wanted a new kitchen since the day we moved in. But, seeing as how we had very little furniture, zero window coverings, and like, two lamps to our name (why did our last house feel so CROWDED I ask you), we've had bigger fish to fry. Now...well, now we have a bit more furniture, a few of the windows are covered, and we can at least read a book after dark; however, every single room still has projects to be completed and we are by no means finished furnishing. Seriously, the list of stuff to do in each room is as long as my arm. Nevertheless, the kitchen bugs us and we decided to spur ourselves into action by exposing the

We are regular smoothie drinkers around here, but I usually just use milk, frozen berries and bananas. So for something different today, I made smoothies that tasted just like a creamsicle. The girls really liked them and I did, too, because they got tons of vitamin C and calcium out of 'em. Here's how: Creamsicle Smoothies Ahead of time, fill an ice cube tray with orange juice and freeze. When you're ready for your smoothies, blend the orange juice cubes with 1 c. vanilla yogurt, 1 T. honey and 2 T. of orange juice concentrate. Makes about four six-ounce smoothies. Enjoy!!

I'm really proud of this post today, y'all. It's a really simple but stylish problem-solver that I came up with for our household, and it's already proven to be a complete lifesaver. The backstory is that we used to have a desk in our family room and I NEVER liked it there. Since it was just a writing desk with one drawer, I couldn't hide away all the paperwork, mail, catalogs and receipts that got dumped there. And that single drawer was totally crammed with office supplies and was totally a pain to get into because the drawer rails were loose. Just not a good set-up. So...I cleared the whole thing out and moved the desk upstairs next to our bed, where it looks really great. All of the office-y stuff lived there for awhile, but that was obviously not a good solution because it was upstairs. While I pondered the problem, our dining room table became command-central. Not practical, either. FINALLY, I discovered an old shoe organizer in the back of my closet t

Is the smell of your pumpkin spice candle (c'mon, I know you have one) making you hungry for a fall craft? Well, Elise at Enjoy It made these cute paper lanterns that look just like pumpkins and I love 'em! Very now, very simple, very cheap...very Home Made Modern. And I think the kiddos could help with this one, too. Thanks for the inspriation, Elise!

Something about the start of a new school year just screams, "Get organized!" at me. And this year, our oldest started kindergarten (sniff) so I'm even more crazed to purge, sort, and stack. Since I KNOW you know what I mean, I've compiled 10 of my favorite ideas for repurposing things you may already have into awesome-ly useful--and stylish--storage containers. Recycled glass jars with painted animal tops by House to Home CD tower turned on its side by Itsy Bits and Pieces Coffee cans covered with rope (source unknown) Crib rail used for book storage by Living with Lindsay Diaper boxes upcycled into cute storage crates by Mandy's Krafty Exploits Wire magazine racks used for fruit instead by Willow House Plain plastic bins Mod-Podged and with added wheels by Woman's Day IKEA Spice Racks added to a dresser by On the Banks of Squaw Creek A medicine cabinet disguised as a picture by Kate Pruitt courtesy of Country Living Plain boxes covered with maps

Historically, we've been partial to strawberry jam in this house, mostly because of our yearly forays to the strawberry patch that have practically forced me to make freezer jam. I'm not complaining. That taste reminds me SO much of breakfasts before dawn with my grandmother who ate--and still eats--nothing but toast in the mornings. But the other day, I saw a great deal on apricots so I snatched up a couple of pounds and made this. Super Simple Apricot Jam Bring 1 ½ lbs. apricots, 1 ½ c. sugar, 1 T. lemon juice and a pinch of salt to a boil. Simmer 25 mins. I kid you not, folks. That's all she wrote. The hardest part is peeling the apricots, but that's really more time-consuming than hard. This made 2 small jars-worth and keeps nicely in the fridge. But I must admit, it hasn't lasted too long. Our oldest likes it straight-up on toast, but I like it on top of cream cheese on toast. Yummmmm...

Ah...fall. We had another 90-plus degree day here and lemme just say: I'm over it. I'm ready for cooler weather. I'm sure I will regret saying this when it's 5 below and there's a 2-foot snow drift on our porch, but that's the beauty of northeast Ohio. Sick of the weather? Wait around and it will change. Anyhoo, enough about that. One of the REAL reasons I'm excited for fall is for the chance to buy mums and pumpkins. Here are some other ideas I'm excited to try, inspiration courtesy of Pinterest . Pressed leaves in floating frames-- Better Homes and Gardens Love the leaf bouquet and the pears-- HGTV A rake is a great alternative to a wreath-- Common Ground I'm coveting some white pumpkins this year-- Hooked on Houses Ravens for Halloween-- Woman's Day Plaid pumpkins-- Better Homes and Gardens Love this burlap wreath--Unknown Another take on leaf luminaries-- Sunset What a pretty mantel; I think I might need to use some photography this y

Happy Labor Day, lovelies! I hope you've got some fun plans for the day. I think we're heading out after I write this post and finish my coffee...maybe for a hike, maybe to an antiques festival...and hopefully we'll stop for lunch for somewhere. Don't you just love a 3-day weekend? If you DON'T have plans for the day, might I suggest this fun family activity? Go for a walk and collect some leaves (they're getting ready to fall in our neck of the woods), and then make these pretty stepping stones that would make a great addition to your yard. Thanks to Garden Therapy for the inspiration and directions...I have just the spot for these!