Bows, Bows and More Bows...

Maybe you have the same obsession - once you learn how to make something, you want to keep making more and more of it! I've been making lots of Korker Bows lately, they are so much fun to make and just look so pretty when you put them together! There are endless color and pattern ribbon combinations you could do and so... why not make more! And more! If you've never made these before, you can find my tutorial here, they will be appearing on my etsy soon too!

Here are some more that I've made:

On a side note, this is what the majority of our apartment is beginning to look like:

We are moving in 12 days and I can hardly believe it! I'm getting a little tired of living in between boxes and rolls of bubble wrap, but just a couple more days and we will be in our new apartment! And on that note... I better go and do some more packing! Hope you all had a great weekend, and will have a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by and reading!

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Pin Cushion Button Jars

This is a great two in one craft - it's a place to store your buttons and a place to put all your pins and needles! It would also make a nice gift for someone who you know likes to sew, you could fill it with various buttons, maybe use a color theme, and do a matching pin cushion top!

YOU WILL NEED...

A mason jar

Small piece of material

Cotton balls

Self-adhesive ribbon

Glue Gun

Buttons to fill your jar!

HOW TO MAKE IT...

1. The mason jar lid has two parts - take the circular part, and build a dome on it using your cotton balls. Cut your material and cut it so that it fits and slightly overlaps the circle, and cover the cotton ball dome with it, securely glueing the material all around on the other side, using the glue gun.

2. Now fit the other part of the lid over it and press it down a little bit. Take your self-adhesive ribbon, and stick it down around the bottom of the lid.

3. Now fill your jar with buttons, stick your pins and needles onto the cushion, and you are done!

Happy Sewing and Crafting, Everyone!

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A Weekend Away...

This weekend, my husband and I drove up to Jim Thorpe in the Pocono Mountains just to get away for a little while. We are moving to a new apartment in two weeks and are therefore currently living amongst half-packed boxes and we've both been really busy lately, so it was time to get away somewhere! I had never been to Jim Thorpe before, and it was a really fun little trip! We stayed at a little Bed & Breakfast called Sweet Reflections, and we couldn't have found a better place to stay! It was an old house from the 1850's and the lady who owns it prepared the most wonderful country style breakfast for us in the morning, and even baked things for us to take back home! It was nice to get away and relax for a little bit, and here are some pictures...

One of the two main shopping streets in Jim Thorpe. My favorite shop was the Blue Ribbon Pickle Shop!

One of my favorite signs

The sweet bed&breakfast where we stayed

My favorite place - The Asa Packer Mansion

You can take a tour of this 1861 villa, it's beautiful inside!

By the mansion

I thought these little doors were so pretty

With my husband, my favorite person to travel with!

I hope you liked the pictures, and if you're ever in the area, don't forget to visit this place! Have a great weekend, Everybody!

Korker Bow Tutorial

I have seen so many girls wear these bows in their hair and have finally gotten around to making some of them! They are called Korker Bows and they are easy to make, you can choose whatever colors and ribbon you like, and they look super cute! They would make a nice presents for any girl you know! And here is how they are made...

YOU WILL NEED NEED:

6 - 8 wooden dowels (I used Wilton ones that are 12 in long)

12 - 16 wooden clothes pins (a medium size)

3 different kinds of grosgrain ribbon (you could of course do all different colors)

Baking sheet lined with foil

Metal hair clip

Glue gun

Lighter

Strong thread

DIRECTIONS:

1. First, gather your supplies. I like using three different colors of ribbon, use colors that compliment each other.

2. Next, begin wrapping ribbon around the dowels. Don't cut the ribbon first and then wrap as you may not cut enough off, cut it once you are done wrapping it around. As soon as you wrap it around once, secure it with a clothes pin, and keep wrapping the ribbon around, until you reach the end of the dowel, then secure with another clothes pin. Repeat for each dowel.

3. Now preheat your oven to 250 deg F, and line a large baking sheet with foil. Carefully lay all of your ribbon wrapped dowels on it, and bake for 20 - 25 minutes. It sounds scary to bake ribbon and wooden objects (my husband assured me I wouldn't cause a fire!) but you really don't have to be scared, it bakes at a very low temperature and you won't need to call the fire department! The baking is what makes the ribbon stay curled, which is what we want!

4. While you are waiting for them to bake, you can cover your hair clip with ribbon using your glue gun, as shown in the picture below:

5. Once the baking time is up, let the dowels cool for about 10 minutes, or until they are completely cooled. Then, take the clothes pins off and begin unwrapping the ribbon, it will come off very easily but the curls will stay completely intact! It's pretty exciting!

6. Using your lighter, quickly burn the ends of the ribbon so that they don't fray. (Make sure the flame isn't too big otherwise it will blacken the end of the ribbon.) Then, cut each piece of curled ribbon into three equal lengths (each should be about 4 in long).

7. Now cut about a 12 in long piece of thread and place it down on your work space, and then line up your pieces of ribbon on it in a row (the thread touching the middle of the ribbon pieces) and then wrap the thread around them several times and make a tight knot - it will look like this:

8. Now take your hair clip that you covered with ribbon earlier and using your glue gun, stick your ribbon piece on it securely, let it dry, and then fluff it out so it's ready to wear!

And that's it! You have a great gift for a girl who is gonna love wearing this! Happy Crafting, Everyone!

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Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

Happy Summer, everyone! The summer has officially started, and I couldn't be happier! After a long, long day, my husband and I took a walk around our little town last night, and signs of summer were everywhere - it was a cool night lit up by fireflies, kids were out late riding their bikes, and everyone's lawn was perfectly cut with pretty flowers growing around their houses. We live in an old town filled with beautiful Victorian homes and love to take walks on cool nights.

I'm so happy that the summer is here, and as I mentioned before, I have a long list of new projects and recipes that I want to try out! And here is the first one - Martha Stewart's Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies! These cookies are sweet, with a little sour burst from the cranberries and are oh-so-good! I hope you love them as much as we did! Happy Summer, everyone!

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

(Adapted from MARTHA STEWART)

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tbs pure vanilla extract

3 tbs milk

2 large eggs

16 tbs (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup dried cranberries, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar and mix well. While mixing, begin adding the softened butter.

2. In a different, smaller bowl, whisk together vanilla, milk, and eggs. Add this into the flour mixture until it is well incorporated.

3. With a wooden spoon, gently fold in the oats and cranberries. Place the dough in the fridge for half an hour to an hour.

4. Preheat your oven to 350 deg F, and start forming your cookies, placing them on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Place them far enough apart so they don't stick together because they will get a lot bigger! (Should make about 3 dozen cookies)

5. Bake for 12 - 16 minutes (depending on your oven) and cool before eating.

Happy Baking, Everyone!

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Food Revolution

Have you ever seen Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution? If you want to feed your family healthy food made of fresh, local ingredients, then this is the show for you! Jamie Oliver is a British chef who created the Food Revolution in England, after he went into schools and saw the terribly unhealthy food that children were being fed every day. He has brought the Food Revolution here, it's in its second season now.

If you want to find out more about Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, go to the official website, where you can find recipes, watch episodes, and learn more about healthy eating. Another way to get more recipes is from Jamie's Food Revolution cookbook which is great! I love cooking Jamie's recipes, because they are simple, easy to make and really delicious (I have two of them on my blog: Rustic Lasagna and my Scones).

Join in the Food Revolution movement and eat good, healthy, fresh, locally produced food! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Image Sources: Image 1, Image 2, Image 3.

Free Form Apple Tarts

There has been so much going on lately, that I've hardly had any time to be crafty, which makes me so sad! Life has been really busy - my husband and I are moving to a new apartment in less than a month, and have so much packing to do! We have been married for almost two years, and I can't believe all the stuff that we have collected in such a short time! So our living room (and all the other rooms!) are filled with boxes, bubble wrap, things to be wrapped, sorted, (some hopefully thrown out or donated...!) and so between that and working at the preschool, all of our other activities (which there are so many of!) and getting ready to travel this summer... there hasn't been much time left for anything else!

Which is why I'm super excited about moving to this new apartment. Not only is it bigger, nicer, and less than a mile from our jobs, but I have lots of plans! Decorating, baking, cooking, crafting, painting, and I'm going to be getting my very first sewing machine! Lots of plans and ideas, and lots of lists of things to make!

Here is a simple recipe to share with you - My free form Apple Tarts! I had a long day at work today, and my husband won't be back till later tonight, so I thought I would make something delicious (that smells really good too!) for him. Only thing - I'm tired and had a long day, it's pretty late and I don't have much in my pantry, but I'm craving something GOOD. Like something REALLY good.

This recipe is PERFECT for nights like this! These tarts take so little time to make, you probably already have all the ingredients, and they are really good! Here's the recipe:

FREE FORM APPLE TARTS

INGREDIENTS:

Dough:

1 cup all purpose flour

6 tbs chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 tbs sugar

3 tbs ice water

Filling:

3 medium sized apples (Granny Smith work well because they are tart)

1 - 2 tbs lemon juice (depending on your taste)

2 tbs sugar

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

1. Peel your apples, halve and core, then slice thinly. In a bowl, add lemon juice, sugar, and ground cinnamon. Toss well.

2. In another bowl, mix together the flour and sugar, and the chilled butter. Mix until it resembles coarse meal, then while the mixer is still going, add the ice water until dough forms.

3. Cover dough with plastic wrap and place in your refrigerator for a couple 10 minutes.

4. After that, cut your dough in half (it will look like you have hardly any dough at all, but it will be super elastic!) and roll each half into a thin circle (do this between two pieces of plastic wrap, that way you won't get everything all messy with flour!)

5. Begin arranging your apples in the center of each piece of dough, leaving about an inch wide border. Fold the border over the apples, and sprinkle generously with sugar.

6. Bake at 350 deg F for 40 - 50 minutes. Eat warm with vanilla ice cream! SO GOOD, I promise!

Happy Baking, Everyone!

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