When we built this home almost 4 years ago, I had lots of ideas swirling around in my brain. One thing I knew for sure I wanted to try was to put together my own sink area in the powder room on the 1st floor. I felt certain that I could make something custom at

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Granite Countertops – Nifty Idea

When we built this home almost 4 years ago, I had lots of ideas swirling around in my brain. One thing I knew for sure I wanted to try was to put together my own sink area in the powder room on the 1st floor. I felt certain that I could make something custom at a fraction of the cost of similar, but not as nifty mass-manufactured ideas.

{our farmhouse kitchen sink}

If you are having granite installed in your kitchen, consider having your granite dude give you your sink cutout. You are paying for that granite, so why not keep it? Think of other things you can use that chunk for. [I should note here that it is sometimes tricky for them to cut the piece perfectly...so bear in mind that it could be lost in the process. Doesn't hurt to try, though!] In our kitchen, I had a HUGE farmhouse style sink put in [which turned out to be one of my most fav things about this house!] and so my granite cutout was extra large. I got the measurements of the cutout, and then began my search at Goodwills and antique stores for a dark wooden chest of drawers that could be converted. It took me a couple of weeks of searching, but I finally came across one that had perfect measurements and was similar to the look I had in mind. Plus, it was marked right at my budget and I was able to talk them down a bit lower by offering cash and an on-the-spot transaction.

I had our granite guy do a smaller sink cutout from our kitchen sink cutout [sound confusing?]. The wooden top of the antique chest was easily removed, and the new granite with the smaller sink and faucet was installed on top of the chest.

In the end, even with purchasing the sink and faucet separately, I still managed to come under budget. A similar set up like this that you might find elsewhere would have cost several hundred more dollars than what we spent. I loved doing it this way because it’s more unique – and I thought it was fun to put it all together how I wanted!

Don’t wanna use a chest? Let the granite take the main focus with an under-mount sink and exposed pipes, which can double as a place to hang fresh, neatly folded towels.

Even if you’re not having new countertops installed in your kitchen, you could still browse granite yards and ask them about smaller pieces [granite remnants] you could purchase for a lot less moolah if you are in the market to redo your bathroom. If you’re anything like me, you will have fun putting it all together yourself – and love the challenge of coming in under budget!

Whatcha’ got in your bathroom?

People, this is a keeper! And you’ll be amazed to find out that they have no processed sugar in them, but are totally delicious.

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] All Naturally Sweet ‘n Moist Dark Brownies [+winners!]

People, this is a keeper! And you’ll be amazed to find out that they have no processed sugar in them, but are totally delicious.

• 1 stick [1/2 cup] unsalted butter
• 1.5 cups cocoa powder [we love to use dark for this!]
• 1.5 cups pure maple syrup
• 2/3 cup expeller pressed canola oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt

Butter your pan. I use a smaller glass casserole-type dish that is about 9″ x 6″. However, it’s deeper than your average dish. So if you use a 13″ x 9″, be prepared for thinner brownies.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

What I like about this recipe, too, is that we make it all on the stove top, so you’re not dirtying up 500 extra dishes for mixing. Everything goes into this one pan, step by step.

In a medium-sized skillet on the stove top, melt your butter on low. Then incorporate the cocoa powder. When you get to this point, it will smell soooo divine but it will honestly look like crap. If your hubby were to suddenly walk in at this point, he might question your kitchen skillz. It looks like this pasty mass of blackness. YUH, not too delectable. Anyhoo, just keep doing your thing and know that they will come out on top in the end. Kill the heat.

Next, add in your maple syrup, canola oil and vanilla. Mix.

If your eggs are still in one piece [mine just barely made it in time thanks to Gianna's curiosity], add them in – one at a time – and mix pretty durn skippy after each one. By now, you should see the mixture starting to come together nicely. It actually looks like a batter!

Finally, add in your flour and salt, and mix just until there are no huge chunks of flour and all the white is gone. At this point, you can taste the batter [if you are into that raw egg sorta thing and if you trust your chickens] and see if it’s sweet enough for your liking. If not, simply add more maple syrup…a little at a time until it’s perfect for your family. Our family loves it by my recipe here. Do what works for you, though.

Pour it all into your pan and then pop it in the preheated oven for approx. 40 minutes. This takes a lil’ while, but will fill your entire home with the most delicious scents. Oh. My. Goodness. While you’re waiting, get out the rubber spatula and start scraping at that batter leftover in the bowl. You didn’t seriously think that I was going to recommend not eating that, did you?!? Naw, girlfriend! Go to town! Oh, and wipe your mouth, quick-like.

So you know the drill: you’ll know the brownies are done when a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes back out clean. Let it cool for just a bit…and either cut it into 12 tee-niny pieces [perfect for your frail, dieting friends], or 9 average sized pieces, or 4 huge-a-MONGO sized pieces [perfect for those late night gorge-fest sessions after all the kiddies are in bed! what? you don't do that, too?? oh, stop being so modest!!].

These lovelies are DARK! Yes, dark chocolate is a love of mine. How ’bout you? [They were also hard to photograph because of that!]

Serve ‘em up and chow down – all too happy that you successfully baked a sweet chocolatie dessert with zero processed sugar in it. It’s proof that it can be done!

In cased you missed it live online, the winners of the Lisa Leonard Jewelry were announced on Twitter! Scroll down to recap that info:

3rd prize [$25 gift certificate to Lisa's shop!] goes to:

Angie!!

I’m happy that you get to get that necklace! It’ll be cute!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Next, 2nd prize [Heartstrings necklace] goes to:

Andrea!!

Wow! Just what ya wanted!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Finally, the grand 1st place prize [Family Crest Necklace] is given to:

Very Married!!

Yep, I’m chuckling over this because she was one of the folks who chimed in with how she never wins anything! Looks like you were PERFECT for this giveaway, friend!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Congrats to all the winners! [Please contact me so I can hook you up with your prizes!] And if you didn’t win, don’t worry ‘cuz I never win anything, either! Why do you think I gave this that title? But seriously, I plan on having more awesome giveaways in the future, so keep trying and you will surely get yours one day.  

I am taking orders for these (same design with various feminine fabrics). If you are interested, simply contact me to get on the list~!

Hope everyone

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Ruffled Apron Here’s another apron I’ve sewn up – and part of it is vintage fabric from a previous apron. This lovely apron would be so cute over jeans or over a skirt.

I am taking orders for these (same design with various feminine fabrics). If you are interested, simply contact me to get on the list~!

Hope everyone has a BEAUTIFUL weekend!

**I’m also linking this post up to Sandy over at the Reluctant Entertainer for her “Home is…” series. This week, she’s shared a fab recipe – so check it out – plus the other lovely aprons shared in her link-up party!**

You might not believe this, but I used to really hate coffee. I’ve always liked the smell of it brewing, though. Isn’t that weird? Something else weird…if I drink regular caffeinated coffee, then it messes me up! I feel like I am hallucinating or something. So whatcha’ see here is freshly ground coffee that is

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] i heart lattes.

You might not believe this, but I used to really hate coffee. I’ve always liked the smell of it brewing, though. Isn’t that weird? Something else weird…if I drink regular caffeinated coffee, then it messes me up! I feel like I am hallucinating or something. So whatcha’ see here is freshly ground coffee that is naturally decaff. It’s the good stuff from Trader Joe’s!

So Allison has been asking how I make my lattes SWEET without sugar and without that UnSplendid crap and here is the secret:

Pure. Maple. Syrup. We get these bigger bottles of it from TJ’s, and while this kind is Grade A, I do actually prefer Grade B for my lattes. From what I’ve learned, Grade B is harvested later in the season than Grade A, and therefore has a stronger taste to it. So while I only use about 3 regular spoonfuls of Grade B added to my latte, you will want to probably add a little more than that if you are using Grade A. If this is the first time you’ll be trying your latte with pure maple syrup, then I recommend measuring out a spoonful at a time and tasting after each addition to see how sweet you like it.

For the milk, I definitely use fresh milk. What else would ya think coming from me? It makes a GREAT latte! Mmmm…

There are other things that you can add for added all natural flavors:

• a few drops of pure vanilla extract
• a few drops of pure mint extract
• chocolate powder dusted across the top
• 70% cacao chocolate in one or two small chunks dropped straight in the hot coffee
• good quality cinnamon
• freshly grated nutmeg

If you want a simple, quick design on top of your latte, then make a stencil out of parchment or freezer paper. You remember how to cut out a heart from kindergarten, right?

You could do any basic shape in this same easy way!

After you’ve cut out your stencil and assembled your latte, lay the stencil on top of the cup and watch as the heat from the coffee curls it up all crazy. At this point, you think it’s not going to work, but no worries. Hold down one side slightly if it makes you feel any better, and just don’t move the stencil at all. From several inches above, just start sprinkling on whatever you’d like. First, I did cinnamon here, and then finished it with a little fresh grated nutmeg.

When you pull the stencil away, you’ll see that it works nicely! Now you have a CUTE tasty mug ‘o latte!

Super yum!

Let me know how you love it!

I’ve linked this post up to TidyMom’s Lovin’ It Fridays. You can go there to see other peep’s stuff that they love~! =-)

So many times we’ve had people over and we hear that question repeated. I know, I know…it’s so odd to go into most people’s kitchens and not see that unsightly roll of paper towels sitting out on the counter. Most days, you won’t find them here at all. I say ‘most days’ because every now

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Where Are the Paper Towels?

So many times we’ve had people over and we hear that question repeated. I know, I know…it’s so odd to go into most people’s kitchens and not see that unsightly roll of paper towels sitting out on the counter. Most days, you won’t find them here at all. I say ‘most days’ because every now and then, various family members will buy a roll of paper towels and give it to us as if to say that we are missing out on life by not having them anymore. Frankly, it’s our preference! Yep! Not only that, but I truly love not having to deal with all the extra trash that can result just from depending on paper towels in the kitchen. Another benefit I see is that using cloth towels feels so much more homey and luxurious even. Every paper towel I’ve tried [except for pricey Viva PTs] are rough to the touch!

When you make the switch, you definitely have to come up with a system that works for your family. We have a basic system and it includes using hand towels just for drying clean hands at the sink or laying clean dishes to dry on by the sink. I have flour sack towels that I use strictly for food related projects in the kitchen [covering bread for proofing, wrapping up biscuits to go in the bread basket, etc.]. For hand washing dishes, we have various scrubbing paraphernalia. For cleaning countertops and kiddo’s faces, we use washcloths. I have blue clothes for faces and hands, and green ones for surfaces. Everything just gets tossed in the washing machine with our towels on a very regular basis. That is our simple system.

However, there is an area where I’m falling short: our hand towels are ugly. Yeah, it’s really too bad. I haven’t replaced these jokers in years and keep promising that I’m going to soak them again with hot water and lemons and sun dry them, but haven’t gotten to it. So even when they are clean, they don’t necessarily look clean. I am now convinced that this is why extended family feels the need to supply us with paper towels. They have seen our hand towels and feel sorry for us. HA! If we had the towels that you see pictured, then I’m sure they would have no more sympathetic feelings because these hand towels are cute!

I also need to beef up my slim selection of napkins made out of cloth for guests. [I had to word the product that way or else...you might think I was talking about something else.] Anyhoo, I’m off to search for more cute hand towels for our home!

P.S. Click each of the pictures to take you straight to their Etsy shops!

How’s your kitchen? Do you want paper or cloth, ma’am?

My friend, Susie, came over yesterday and brought her darlin’ son, Jackson. Our kiddos had a great time playing together all day while myself and Susie worked on some aprons. Hmm…I’ma rephrase that: “We worked on some APRON.” Let’s just say that between 5 small children, two long apron ties that had to be reworked

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Saving Vintage Aprons

My friend, Susie, came over yesterday and brought her darlin’ son, Jackson. Our kiddos had a great time playing together all day while myself and Susie worked on some aprons. Hmm…I’ma rephrase that: “We worked on some APRON.” Let’s just say that between 5 small children, two long apron ties that had to be reworked several times, lunch time and a few other small hurdles to jump, we were here for a while getting this done!

This apron was passed down to my friend from her great grandma, but it was not in the best shape. Since she wants to actually be able to use this sometimes without fear of it falling apart, this was definitely a great way to make it wearable. The apron used to be a solid white, with this CUTESIE trim all around it. The main part of the apron was quite worn, so that is what we decided to nix. I saved the original pocket and the ruffle trim, and sewed it to this fun red polka dot fabric that Susie picked out. The apron itself was made to nearly the exact dimensions of the original.

I’m thinkin…Susie is DEFINITELY gonna be creating apron envy in those who have good feminine vintage taste! Honestly, I had a hard time letting her walk out the door with this cutie – - and had to push thoughts of tackling her to the floor for it way back in my mind. I’m glad to see it’s life extended for a while longer and know that it will be a great addition to my friend’s kitchen! Great Grandma Hughes’s heritage lives on! Now I’ve got a few more to sew up for her…

And I will be on the hunt for some cool vintage trim like this, so if you see any out there, lemme know about it~!

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Easy, Tasty Dinner: Tuna Melts Here’s one of our family’s favorite “fast foods”, which is anything but the crap at the drive thru [the misspelling should clue us all in]. Also – I think most every single ingredient found here came from Trader Joe’s. If you don’t know about this great little store, then find one in your area so you can discover it for yourself!

This is actually hubby’s recipe and he’s allowing me to share it here with you. It’s he and the kiddos that you’ll see preparing this dish today!

Tuna Melts

12 English/British Muffins

40 oz. canned tuna in oil [the better quality tuna, THE BETTER]

1 tbsp. soy sauce

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

Fresh cracked pepper [to taste]

Apple Smoked Garlic cheddar cheese

Chives [fresh or dried]

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Open canned tuna and drain most of the oil out. Leave a little oil in your tuna because it helps with taste and moisture!
3. Give drained tuna oil to the kitties.
4. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, except for the muffins, of course.
5. Top each muffin with a generous helping of tuna mix.
6. Top THAT with a few pieces of cheese.
7. And top THAT with chives!
8. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.
9. Eat ‘n enjoy!

And now, this is what it takes to get this meal to your dinner table!

Yep! Get GOOD quality solid white canned tuna…and get it IN OIL, peoples! Not water! And stay away from that BumbleBee crap! Blech…

British Muffins – not English Muffins! There is a difference! ….I think… [this is a joke, people]

Toss

Open

Drip

Pour

Mix

This cheese was uuuuber tasty on the Tuna Melts! If you can’t get this exact kind, then look in the specialty cheeses section of your grocery store and get an aged cheddar. That’s what I recommend~!

Snip

Bake – and yum!

Seriously, these are high in tasty flavor – enough to please a food snob like myself! I bet it will rock your tastebuds, too!

Serve with a salad, potato chips or veggie sticks and be. happy. now.

See that pretty woman smilin’ at ya? That’s one of my best friends, Kel. [I can call her that because I'm close. You'll either have to work up to that or just call her Kelli.] More on Kel in a minute…

You may not know this, but I am a big fan of aprons! Right now,

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Introducing: Kelli, Star of Lima Bean Designs

See that pretty woman smilin’ at ya? That’s one of my best friends, Kel. [I can call her that because I'm close. You'll either have to work up to that or just call her Kelli.] More on Kel in a minute…

You may not know this, but I am a big fan of aprons! Right now, I have a few aprons and want to add more to my collection. I have browsed hundreds of blogs and websites and patterns and more looking through all types of aprons. There are very, very few aprons that I’ve seen that I didn’t really like. Do you like aprons? Even if you’ve never put one on, I want you to think about what you’re missing out on in the kitchen. You don’t cook? I don’t care! Even if you just pop some mess into the microwave, if you first don an apron before nuking the food, you will look and feel like a Queen! And who doesn’t want to feel like that?

So back to Kelli: she’s a pretty awesome gal. There are many, many reasons that make her awesome – but the one thing I wanted to tell you about here is that she makes up tasty aprons! Yes, indeedy do. She’s getting ready to come out with new styles to add to her Etsy shop, and you will want to stay tuned for that!

By the way, I sketched up some new images for her shop! This will give you just a teaser taste of what she has in store for us! I can’t wait!

If you haven’t heard of this, here’s a fun, all natural way to clean your sink!

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Spit-Shinin’ the Sink

If you haven’t heard of this, here’s a fun, all natural way to clean your sink!

1. Take a lemon and cut it in half. Spit on it, if you want to. [I normally don't, but what-ev floats your boat]
2. Sprinkle salt all in your sink.
3. Then use the salt-crusted lemon as a scouring sponge and scrub your sink down
4. After your lemon half is spent, then you just chunk the whole thing in your disposal, turn it on and it will clean that, too!

You’ve seen those cleaners at the store that say “Smells like real lemons!” Well, why not just go ahead and clean with REAL LEMONS? Then your sink really will smell just like real lemons!

I try to keep a bag of lemons at all times because we use them so much with both cooking and cleaning. One of these days, we might just break down and buy one or two lemon trees to grow inside since we don’t have the weather for them year round outside.

Doing dishes has never been my favorite chore – but something else that I’ve discovered is that when you keep your sink pretty (in addition to keeping it naturally clean), then you will fall in love with dish washing! [That might be stretching it just a little, right?]  I don’t mind it nearly as much when I’ve got pretty flowers to look at – at the same time. If you have a window at your sink, definitely try keeping a little bit of flowers nearby and you’ll be surprised at how it lifts your spirits. Right now, I’ve got some Rosemary and two different varieties of Hyacinths right on the windowsill and the Paperwhites are finishing up. My new goal is to always have some greenery and something blooming around the kitchen sink because I love it so much!

And isn’t this a cool idea? It’s something else that I’m interesting in trying, but am not totally sure which window to do it at. Do you think it would be wrong to put it up at our kitchen sink? Depending on how full the shelves are, it could block the nice view from the sink. However, it would be cool to have all of those fresh herbs right here in the main part of the kitchen! I like that it’s fairly easy to install, too. To get the full instructions, just click the pic!

What are some things that you have done or could possibly do to make your kitchen sink area a more pleasant one to be around?

Speaking of which, I’ve got this book, y’all, that goes to great lengths to talk about the many ways you can store bulk food ALL

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Hiding the Ugly We have a good many cookbooks. And since we sometimes buy organic food in bulk to save money, I have to find places to keep this stuff. I need solutions, people!!

Speaking of which, I’ve got this book, y’all, that goes to great lengths to talk about the many ways you can store bulk food ALL throughout your house! The diagrams in it are so funny. I will have to show that to ya one day! But back to this…

We have a pantry that currently needs more shelves installed (hysterically coughing so hubby looks my way!) – and we also have a metal baker’s rack in here that I never intended to keep more than a few months after we moved in (that was going on 3 years ago). I don’t have anything against baker’s racks…but this one is just not my style and I’m not excited about having it out where everyone can see it, but I need the storage. Originally, our pantry was supposed to have nice built-in shelving and even an outlet for plugging in those small electric appliances. My intention was to have them perfectly usable AND perfectly out of the way at all times. My, my! Isn’t that a fabulous idea?

Too bad that the shelving didn’t happen the way I had envisioned it, and the electrical outlet was never installed (we had many probs with the electrical work in this house after we built it! That was not our doing, people! Just sayin’!). We STILL don’t have working overhead lights in the playroom!

Alas.

I digress.

Since we have ugly cardboard boxes and plastic buckets to store all that food in, I decided to forgo an idea of using beautiful baskets on this bottom shelf. I like the idea of using a skirt here instead because I can introduce pattern and color. Recently, I made a quick trip to the sewing salvage store and bought a couple of yards of this fabric for CHEAP! I almost went with a black and white damask, but couldn’t say no to this one (I might go back one day and still get the damask). The colors are right up my alley as I was hoping to use a rusty red and mossy green with our golds and creams in the kitchen.

Yep, it went up just like that. I am sometimes impatient with stuff, and didn’t want to drag out this lil’ project. I put it up with my hot glue gun and velcro. Easy, right? Those are two of the best inventions ever made! First, both strips of velcro were hot glued up way up underneath where you can’t see it. Second, the fabric was glued to the top strip of velcro and I was done!

My future plan is to make more skirts that can easily be changed out with the seasons – or celebrations – or my mood, etc.

And because we are a silly, playful kinda family – then I thought these funky animals in various scenes would really work for us right now. There are animals and children – all either playing, eating and dancing. Sometimes Gianna like to sit here in front of the skirt and just gaze at all of the happnen’ scenes.

Please excuse the top half of the hutch because it’s not quite finished. I’ve been playing around with scrapbook paper to line the back wall. I first saw the Nester do this with her furniture and love the idea of it. Here I am just trying out a couple of different papers. I like the rusty red paper that looks like crackled paint. I can change that out inexpensively and easily, too. Love love!! <3

Do you purchase bulk foods? If you don’t have a fancy walk-in pantry, how do you store it all?