NURSERY ART PRINTS

The nursery collection launched in March and I couldn't be happier to have it almost complete. Over the course of about 2 weeks we found out that 8 close friends were pregnant, and then a few more joined the club a month later. I wanted to create gifts for the parents-to-be, and art is really the marriage of my two loves, interior and graphic design, so creating a collection of prints was a task close to my heart. I was inspired by stars, the moon, and dreaming. You can view the entire collection in our shop here. 

2014 FREE PRINTABLE CALENDAR

I'm excited to ring in the new year! I usually don't party anymore, but I plan like it's 1999. I love organizing, making color-coated calendars, meal plans, you name it, I love it. I saw so many great printable mini-calendars this winter but I couldn't find any 11x17 singe-page designs. I don't give up easily, and the lack of designs inspired me to create my own 2014 calendar- one that you could download and print at home FOR FREE! I hope you all have a great year!

To download click here.

UPDATE: I added a few colors after getting about 30 emails requesting some other hues, and I was happy to oblige. For other colors click these links, yellow, violet, blue, sage.

HOLIDAY CARDS + CARAMEL SAUCE

Last week was a bit of a Christmas prep blur. But I wanted to share our Holiday cards and neighbor/co-worker gifts with you this year. We always do our little gifts in a jar- this year it was caramel. And this recipe was not only easy but super fast to make, so if you are scrambling for something to make, look no further.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup dark karo syrup

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

melt butter, sugar, and syrup, bring to boil. Boil for 4 minutes without stirring, then remove from heat.

Stir in 1 can sweetened condensed milk and the vanilla. Let cool for a bit before pouring into jars.

Makes enough to fill 4 half pint jars

After many requests here it is folks our 2013 Christmas year in review card.

FREE PRINTABLE CHRISTMAS GIFT TAGS

I love wrapping presents! I know some people hate it, I used to be one of them, I would shove presents in gift bags with tissue, and call it done. Maybe it's Pinterest, or being surrounded by creative people, but now I get pumped to wrap gifts. I usually pick a color scheme to work within and just run wild. Last year it was kraft paper, black, and apple green glitter accents.This year it's all about red and white. I am so behind this year with a lot of our holiday projects, I'm blaming a late Thanksgiving... But, I was able to find the perfect white recycled gift wrap at our local art supply store, and a fun herringbone red ribbon so I hurried to get everything together.

If you are trying to get out of a wrapping rut just pick a few colors and stick to those- mix and match patterns and texture and everything you do will look great.

I created some fun tags to go with our gifts this year. You can download them for FREE HERE!

DECEMBER 2013 DESKTOP CALENDAR

Can it really be December already? To celebrate the final month of the year I'm rolling out the first of many desktop calendars. I also created some iphone, and ipad backgrounds to coordinate. 

Download for all your devices:
2560 x 1440 // 1440 x 900 // iPad // iPhone

THANKSGIVING PLACE CARDS FREE PRINTABLE

I'm still a bit stunned that Thanksgiving is a week away. I suppose that means I should have had my Christmas tree up like 8 weeks ago- oops. It seems like the time has flown out the window. Although reflecting on the year thus far, I am so thankful for all of the opportunities this blog has brought me, and all of the great friendships I have made because of it. And get this, you guys blew up Pinterest with that post about white chicken chili. So, thanks for being amazing readers, followers, and occasional visitors. It has meant the world to me - I am so thankful for all of you. I get to do what I love because of you. Also, sidebar I think that chicken chili recipe would be great with turkey leftovers!!!

As a thank you to all the great followers, I'm posting these free printable thanksgiving place cards. There is a formal set, and a more casual set. Hopefully one of them fits with your holiday. These place cards can be customized by typing in your guests names using Adobe Acrobat, or placing the pdf into a Microsoft Word doc. as an image and writing over the top. Or you can hand-write the names for a more personal touch.  Click here for the formal set, or click here for the casual set.

GARDEN VEGGIE OMELETTE BAKE RECIPE

With the holiday's around the corner we have been searching for some quick easy meals we can feed our guests. Specifically, breakfast. We never eat breakfast, outside of protein shakes, so finding something filling that wasn't pancakes or waffles was a must. John had been wanting to try baking an omelette, and  I thought this one might actually turn out alright. And it was beyond alright. So good. Can I get seconds please? I have to emphasize that this was John's brainchild, and he did all the work, I can take no credit for this one!

INGREDIENTS:

6-8 eggs

3 cups spinach, wilted

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 medium red pepper. chopped

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup whole milk

2 oz goat cheese, crumbled

2 tbsp grated Parmesan

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. Wilt the spinach in a skillet. Scramble the eggs add milk. Chop the veggies, and stir into the eggs with the spinach and cheese. Grease glass baking dish, and pour in egg mixture. Bake for 20-25 min. Serves 4-6

WHITE CHICKEN CHILI RECIPE

As promised here is the chili recipe we are obsessed with. It's our family's Halloween tradition to make chili before trick-or-treating. Since we are a bit too old for the trick-or-treating part, we decided that we would just keep the chili part of the tradition alive. So add this to your list of must try Fall dishes!

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked diced chicken

1 medium onion, chopped

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 TB Vegetable oil (used to cook chicken if needed)

2 cans (15 1/2 oz) Great Northern Beans (rinsed)

1 can (14 1/2 oz) Chicken Broth

2 cans (4 oz) chopped green chilis

1 tsp of each: salt, cumin, oregano

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 cup greek yogurt (you could also use sour cream)

1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions:

In crockpot place cooked chicken, onion, garlic powder, beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Heat thoroughly. (3-4 hours on low) Or bring to boil over stove, simmer uncovered for at least 30 min.

Remove from heat, add yogurt and whipping cream. Serve immediately.

HOMEMADE MARINARA FROM FRESH TOMATOES

One of my favorite parts off Autumn is harvesting our garden. We had some early frost warnings so a lot of our tomatoes were picked early, most were still green. I tried letting them ripen up in a bowl last year, but learned they do better in boxes and paper bags. So this year we corrected our error, and had a bounty of tomatoes all at once. We diced some for salads, made a round of Ketchup, and ate tomato-filled foods for a week.

Despite our tomato binge we still had 7 huge tomatoes left and they were on the brink of getting too soft.  I couldn't stand wasting them, and I wasn't about to dive into the deep abyss of vegetable canning, NO, not over 7 measly tomatoes. Long story short, I made this marinara sauce, and it was so good, beyond good even. You can actually taste the flavors, it was so easy that I will never buy the canned stuff again. Seriously, your mouth is gonna be like, WHAT?!

INGREDIENTS:

6-8 large tomatoes, chopped

2 small onions, diced

1 clove of garlic, diced

1/2 T fresh basil

1/2 T fresh thyme

1/2 T fresh oregano

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Chop the onions and garlic and saute in a sauce pan. When those have caramelized stir in  chopped tomatoes. Incorporate the fresh herbs. Let the sauce simmer stirring occasionally, the water from the tomatoes will cook off and you will be left with a thick, hearty sauce.

SEPTEMBER ECO FRIENDLY FINDS

The changing of the seasons not only signals a change in wardrobe, but adjustments to your home as well. Think about it in the same way you would your wardrobe. Adding lush fabrics, texture and warmth can be easy if you start of small. A knit toss pillow, a wool throw, and some wooden accessories can cozy up a space, just like that. This month's favorites are a collection of small things you could add to your home to warm it up for fall. I just ordered #2 and I can't wait to snug it right onto the guest bed.

1/2/3/4/5/6/7

DIY TEACUP CANDLES (EMERGENCY CANDLES)

I have been a little MIA in the last month because we had a forest fire, it was kind of scary, I won't lie. I have never had to evacuate my home before, and we had about an hours' notice to evacuate our house. With that little notice you really realize what is truley important in a crisis. Fortunately, we had our important documents all in the same place, and it was a matter of tossing in medicine and passports. Oh, and John hadn't come home from work yet, so I was doing all of this alone, and as organized as I am- I really almost forgot about the cat... but don't tell her because she already likes John better.

We made it through, and thankfully everyone and everything was safe. But in the wake of our evacuation I realized that we are woefully ill-prepared for other types of emergencies. We had no water/food stores, and didn't even own a proper flashlight that wasn't attached to our phones, until last week. (Don't worry if you search "emergency preparedness" on Pinterest you'll find everything you need from a weekend with no power, to straight-up "hide yo kids hide yo wife" status emergencies.) So in addition to my other emergency prep, I wanted to make some emergency candles- but I wanted them to look good.  I had empty teacups just sitting in the cupboard and they needed a purpose in life. So that's how this DIY was born. I would estimate that these will burn for close to 40 hours each.

Supplies:

Scissors

Teacups

Soy Candle Wax

Flat Braid Wicks (at least 3" longer than your container)

Microwave Safe Container/ Double Boiler

Hot Glue/ Wax Adhesive

Directions:

1. Clean your cup and dry completely

2. Place your wick in the center of your cup and glue it down with hot glue. You can also use wax adhesive for this step. Support your wick with a pencil/skewer/etc.

3. Heat wax according to package instructions. This is where you will add dye or scent if you choose to. I added a few drops of lemon and orange scent.

4. Pour into container. You can adjust the wick to make sure it is straight after you poor the wax.

5. Let sit until the wax is cool until the candle is solid. (If you have an uneven settling you can add more wax to the top to make it a level surface.)

6. Trim wick down to 1/4″.

FAVORITE ECO-FRIENDLY FINDS: AUGUST EDITION

Starting this August I'm going to begin sharing my five favorite eco-friendly finds of each month. This month I focused on eco-friendly home decor. If there is a product you have been desperately trying to source, leave me a comment below, and I'll see if I can find something to suit your style needs for future posts! 

1 /2/3/4 /5

DIY SUNSCREEN RECIPE

We decided this summer we would make our own sunscreen.  I know it's a bit late in the season, but we tested out 4 different ratios of oil to zinc oxide before determining that this was the best one. This recipe shouldn't be the end-all and be-all answer to your sun prevention needs. I usually wear a hat and cover up when I am outside, as well as keeping a diet rich in anti-oxidant foods. That really is the best way to minimize your risk of skin cancer and premature wrinkles, while keeping it all natural.  But I think this recipe is a great addition to my normal sun protection tactics, and I could see a difference on days when were were out in the yard gardening.  If you want to substitute some of the oils in the recipe here's a handy chart of natural SPF.

Most of these can be purchased at your local market or health food store,

if not click each ingredient for a link on where to buy online.

INGREDIENTS: (1 oz = 2 Tbs)

I love this item

1 ounce shae butter

2 ounces beeswax (makes it waterproof)

1 1/2 ounces coconut oil

1/2 ounce wheat germ oil

1/4 ounce raspberry seed essential oil

1/4 ounce carrot seed essential oil

1 Tablespoon vitamin E oil

1 1/2 Tablespoons zinc oxide powder

1 1/2 Tablespoons liquid aloe vera

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a double boiler, over low heat, melt the coconut oil, beeswax, and shea butter.

2. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly prior to adding the vitamin E oil, zinc oxide powder, and essential oils. I poured my mixture into a glass jar to allow it to cool faster.

3. The oils and aloe will incorporate easily, but stir the zinc oxide until it completely dissolves.

4. Then pour  mixture into a push-up or roll-up dispenser.

I love these push-up dispensers

You can re-purposed  used deodorant containers for this recipe too.

5. Allow your sunscreen to cool and harden overnight. If you are out in the sun for long periods of time, or swimming reapply often.

Notes:

If you don't need your sunscreen to be waterproof you can use less beeswax. If you aren't going to be using this around water you are probably okay with just 1 oz of beeswax.

SPF numbers are pretty insignificant when it comes to differences in sun protection. SPF 100 blocks 99 percent of UVB rays, while SPF 50 blocks 98 percent. SPF 30 blocks 96.7 percent, SPF 15 blocks 93%.

You'll want an SPF of more than 15 to block UVA and UVB rays, Zinc oxide blocks both UVB,UVA2, and UVA1 rays. More info on UVA and UVB here.

You could easily spend close to $30-$40 for all of the ingredients that you wouldn't already have if you don't make your own beauty product regularly, but you could get 4-5 batches before you'd run out of some ingredients. Keep in mind you can team up with friends and go in on the ingredients together.

DIY FRAMED AGATE COLLECTION

I have been searching for some interesting art ideas for the wall that is weirdly angled between our foyer and living room. Unfortunately for the decor I've had a movie poster hanging there since the day we moved in.  But it takes me forever to make design choices in my own home, so I waited forever before taking any serious steps to replacing the poster. 

We tend to gravitate toward collections in this home because we have 12' ceilings, which makes for a lot of wall to cover- and because collections inspire us. We've always loved going to museums and spending hours in the natural history wings, wandering through the dioramas and gazing at the fossils. When I saw what was hanging over the tub in  this showhouse in Utah I knew exactly what we needed for our space. 

Even though John loves agates and geodes, and I love pyrite- we selected agate slices to frame, because they were thin, yet colorful and would add dimension to space. I ordered my agates from Etsy. I tested out one agate in a frame prior to purchasing, because I did not want a shadow box frame.  and they were thin enough to rest against the glass, and still get the back of the frame on, I did have to pop the rubber feet off the back of the coasters, but they came off without a snag.

To complete the look I taped a piece of biscuit colored card stock to the back of my mat, and because I ran out of double stick tape I used a fancy tape loop on the back of the agate. Simple place the agate in the center of the mat and put the frame back together. I used frames from Michael's Craft Store, I also used the same frames for this project. And I stuck with my favorite brand of metallic spray paint, Rustoleum universal metallic - but this time I got the hammered metal, in the rosemary finish, it has a great greenish silver color.

It's from Home Depot.

CREAMY CILANTRO LIME DRESSING

This is a super simple, homemade cilantro dressing that we like to add to tacos, or Southwest style salad. I've seen a few variations online but most called for mayo and a packet of processed Ranch dressing mix. We like to keep things pretty basic around here- so I started making homemade ranch mix in a decent sized batch a while ago, you can safely store it for about 3 months. And as a general rule if a recipe calls for mayo, I always substitute Greek yogurt, it cuts down on fat and has a fair amount of protein, its win, win! I've included the dressing recipe, and the homemade ranch dressing mix as well, but be warned that you will become addicted!

Ingredients

3/4 cup cilantro chopped, no stems

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/2 cup milk

juice of 1 lime

2 Tbs homemade ranch dressing mix (recipe below)

1 Tbs salsa, or green chilies

Directions:

Puree all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary, if you want more heat add more salsa or chilies. I like mine mild.

Homemade Ranch Mix

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. dried parsley

1 1/2 tsp. dried dill weed

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. onion powder

2 tsp. dried onion flakes

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1 tsp. dried chives

1 tsp. salt

Whisk all ingredients together until blended. If you want a more finely-ground seasoning mix, you can pulse the mixture in a food processor until it reaches your desired consistency.

To Make Ranch Dressing: Combine 1 Tbsp. seasoning mix with 1/3 cup Greek yogurt and 1/3 cup milk, and whisk to combine.

DIY OMBRE T-SHIRT

I am FINALLY getting to some of the DIY projects that have been cluttering up my office. We've had a super busy, fun-filled summer- and between buying a new car, and our summer road trips we finally had an easy weekend at home. This project takes about 15 min. plus running it through the wash. If I had more time I would have boiled my own dye, but I was using this same tub of leftover dye to fix some shirts that got ruined in the wash, so I just used that dye for this project. If you have the time and patience I recommend making your own natural dye, here is a link. 

Supplies:

T-shirt

 Dye

Basin/sink

Rubber Gloves

Hanger

Hair Clips

Directions:

1. Follow the instructions for mixing your dye, and be sure to read the safety and cleaning labels because when they say it will dye your sink purple, they don't lie. (Stainless is easier to clean than white porcelain, so line your sink with a wash tub if you are unsure.)

2. I got my t-shirt wet first, and used a chip clip and a hair clip to hold back the sleeves from the dye. Hang your shirt on a hanger and slowly begin to fold it into the dye.

3. Once you have reached the desired height of your color lift your shirt out, you only want the color at the top of the shirt to be submerged for about 1 second.

4. Slowly pull the shirt out, I mentally divided it into 3 parts and let the shirt sit for about 3 min. at each level. At this point I felt like the bottom looked great, but that the line between the white and the first bit of color was too harsh, so I diluted my dye with some water, and I dipped it back in about an inch above my previous line. (it was so much better, so I recommend this technique for blending the color into the white.)

5. Then empty your dye and rinse the shirt until the water runs clear. Make sure you don't let the dye run into the white part of the shirt while rinsing. Hold the shirt with the white on top and let the faucet run through the dye until its clear. (If you have a sprayer on your sink it helps to use this too.)

6. Wash the shirt according to your dye instructions. Be aware that the white part of your shirt will probably get some of the dye run off in the washing machine, but that it's not a lot, or even enough to really worry about, and it helps the shirt look more blended overall, and not like stripes. You can see in the last two images above the shirt before washing and after washing.

FERN COLLECTION FREE PRINTABLES

I have received quite a few emails about where I got the fern botanical prints in my bedroom. So, I thought I'd address the question with some free printables! I didn't purchase them anywhere, because I couldn't find ones that fit the frames I already had. Prints that did fit the frames, had a lot of other plants going on, and I just wanted a basic fern, no extra jib jab. So I ended up photoshopping my own prints from old scans I found at an online library archive. Library and museum archives are a great way to get a collection of prints if you are trying to achieve the look of a gallery wall for less, many of them have online scans. You can get my fern collection by clicking here. 

I simply printed them out with a basic color printer and placed them in my frames. I got these frames originally at Michael's craft store about 5 years ago, but they still sell the exact frame in a few sizes. (I have another fun tutorial coming up with these same frames) I believe they were 9.99 -- and they were all 50% off, so wait until they have a sale. I should also mention I spray painted them with my most favorite gold spray paint of all time- nothing compares- really. You can get it here. 

FOODS MOST/LEAST CONTAMINATED BY PESTICIDES

Thanks to Pinterest my "How to Eat with the Seasons" post has been the most popular tip on the site. To go along with that I wanted to give you gals and guys a great resource on pesticides. I don't always buy organic fruits and veggies at the market- but I ALWAYS buy organic when it comes to the "Dirty Dozen" list below. Usually the prices aren't too much higher, and the trade off is well worth paying a few cents more. The "Green Fifteen" list are the fruits and veggies least sprayed with pesticides, so those are typically safe to buy in the non-organic produce department. Just keep in mind that some of the items on the good list can still be genetically modified to create larger fruit that doesn't necessarily taste better, I'm looking at you tomatoes and avocados...

MUSHROOM BROCCOLI + RED PEPPER MELTS

I hope everyone had a fun Father's Day. We made this recipe as part of the "5 week vegetarian challenge" and again on Father's Day with some homemade sweet potato fries.  I enjoyed seeing the look on John's face when he thought I was preheating the oven on to 500 degrees in the middle of June. His exact words were, "I always wondered what broil meant." We are learning to be master chef's one day at a time... I hope you enjoy. It's pretty good.

Ingredients:

1 head broccoli, cut into small florets

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and ground pepper

8 brown button mushrooms, or your favorite variety

1 red bell pepper

balsamic vinegar

4 thick slices of focaccia or ciabatta bread

4 ounces Gouda cheese, thinly sliced

Directions:

Heat broiler, with rack set 4 inches from heat. Slice mushrooms and peppers, cut up broccoli into florets  Saute veggies with olive oil for about 6-8 min.

Place bread on a work surface. Dividing evenly, drizzle with balsamic, and top with vegetables, then cheese. Place on baking sheet, and broil until cheese is melted and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes. Combine bread into a sandwich or leave open-faced and serve. 

5 WEEK VEGETARIAN CHALLENGE MEAL PLAN

We did it! We completed the vegetarian challenge, without breaking a sweat. I am so excited to share with you the meal plan and some recipes. For a printable version of the meal plan click here.

 It wasn't as hard as I had anticipated, and I only anticipated it being difficult because we would have to come up with a lot of new recipes for variety. But as soon as it began I welcomed the challenge. I really enjoyed trying new things, like making risotto for the first time. And I can tell you I feel better- not just because I know I was kinder to the environment- but because I feel like I have more energy, because I had fun cooking, and because I enjoyed not having to stress over "what's for dinner." We will probably keep this up for quite a bit. I plan to make a 5 week meal plan for each of the four seasons, so I always have recipes with seasonal fruits and veggies handy. For now we are happy flexitarians.

To make it easier for readers I tagged all of the recipe posts with the label "5 week vegetarian challenge" and you can find most of these recipes by clicking here. You can see the term "leftovers" in the meal plan, I set it up this way for 2 reasons. The first being, if we had leftovers they got eaten, and the second reason was to offer a "free space" each week. For example, if a social engagement came up on a Monday we would just swap that day with the leftover day from that week. The same goes for "salad," I stuck that in to help us eat the rest of the raw veggies we usually have lying around. We eat a large veggie salad at least once a week anyway, so that really worked for us.