Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Taking in Jeans

This is one of those much needed tutorials for something that has always intimidated me. I'm pretty scared of pants. My elephant-legged maternity pants need a different kind of makeover--but let's not go there. So for all of you who have to put your jeans in the dryer before each wear, hop on over to Freshly Picked for a fab tutorial!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Recipe Share: Oven Pear Pancake


This recipe was recently featured on Real Simple. I made it on Saturday and ate half of it in one sitting. Of course I'm pregnant, so maybe that's not saying much. Let's be honest, even if I wasn't pregnant maybe that wouldn't be saying much. But it was good, and simple. I liked it and thought it was share-worthy. I would make it if I was having friends over for brunch. In fact, maybe I will do just that!

Ingredients
  • 2 pears
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
  • salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 400ยบ F.
  2. Lightly coat a 9-inch pie plate with vegetable cooking spray. Peel, core, and cut pears into eighths and arrange them in the pie plate.
  3. Combine 1/2 cup minus 2 tablespoons sugar, flour, eggs, whole milk, vanilla, unsalted butter, and a pinch of salt in a blender. Pulse until smooth, about 30 seconds.
  4. Pour over the pears. Place in the oven and bake until springy to the touch, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Heat broiler. Sprinkle the pancake with ground cinnamon and the 2 tablespoons sugar. Broil until browned, about 1 minute. Serve warm. 
Photo and recipe from RealSimple.com

Thursday, March 17, 2011

A Work in Progress

Happy St. Patty's Day! {pinch, pinch}

Today I am prepping my cabinets for painting. The bathroom walls are painted (despite having to wait a couple of days for more paint to come in) and I like them. The hand towels are in, but the rug is on back order until the end of April. Boo. So for now I will paint the cabinets and mirror.
Part of what is taking me so long is just mental block. I'm always scared to start something I've never done before because what if it doesn't work and then I've just ruined perfectly good cabinets? So wish me luck. I finally filled the knots in the wood and started sanding. Hopefully tomorrow I can prime and then Saturday paint! Whoo!
If the finish comes out as smooth as I'm hoping, I will probably use the same technique on the mirror, rather than spray painting. Then I can get just exactly the shade I want. Wish me luck!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Easter Crafting: Marshmallow Bunny Plushies

My hubby is a big fan of Peeps, so I might just have to make one of these for him for Easter. They are so cute I want to make one for everyone I know. (And there's a full tutorial!) Thanks for sharing, Dandelions & Lace!



I found this over at Ucreate.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Bobinette

I'm loving the kid's clothing designer Bobinette. So many fun & stylish things.



Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Upon a Fold

Do you like paper? How about origami? How about amazing things? 'Cause this is waaaay beyond origami if you ask me. Behold, Upon a Fold!

These paper vases are shapable and stampable, not to mention A-mazing.

And I'd love to get this paper piano for my sister, the pianist.

I think everyone needs a cupcake stand—or two or three.

And what a lovely way to send some love.

Monday, March 7, 2011

DIY Thrifty Baby Art

Found this cute idea on Ohdeedoh, one of my favorite kid sites. How fun would it be to make a project like this? You can find the link to the tutorial here.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Caution: Wet Paint

This week I've been painting my new bathroom. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get anything done with a toddler around. Or maybe you know. That blue painters tape is just so fun to pull off the walls!
Since my walls have that awful orange-peel texture, I decided to follow the advice of Dana from MADE. She has some good instructions for avoiding paint bleeding when doing stripes on a textured wall. Plus a whole lot more. Find it here.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Celebrating Handmade

My sister-in-law made this cute onesie for a baby shower and I wanted to share. She decided to skip the sewing machine and stitch it all by hand. She cut out her pieces and roughed up the fabric and then hand stitched it on. Idn't it sweet?