Not going to lie, this next craft is a labor of love.  It’s a bit time consuming, but it’s a great thing to keep your hands busy on a cold night in front of the fireplace!  These hand-embroidered cards make a great gift for friends (I made them for our holiday swap…hope you enjoy them, Cyd!) , not to mention that they are far cheaper than purchasing them in the store…

Materials needed:
-Kraft paper cards and envelopes (Michaels or other craft store), about $8 total for 20
-Embroidery thread (about $0.49 per color, which will be more than enough to make 10-20 cards)
-Crafting needles (found in sewing aisle)–try to find one that is long-ish and thin, with a big enough head to thread embroidery through
-Whatever you’d like to stamp the envelopes with. I used clear embossing powder to emboss them with a subtle evergreen stamp.

{Read the rest of this entry…}

Remember when I blogged about reusing your glass jars? Check out this simple, eco-chic, sparkly centerpiece.  Great for holidays or just dinner at home with the hubs.

{photo by me}

Fill mason jars with some soy candles and you’re done! What’s your go-to centerpiece?

Much love,

-B

Insider trading scandals and snarky commnts aside, I do have a not-so-secret crush on Martha Stewart.  Maybe she doesn’t have the most heartwarming personality, but come on…that woman can craft up a storm!  Even before the Martha empire was born and contributing to the masses of ideas coming from her camp, she had some brilliant stuff going on for herself.  I lead with this paragraph because I must admit, not all of my craftmas ideas are originals.  I stumbled upon this one on MS’s website and simply had to make these little craft paper trees.

They’re adorable, unique, and if I may say so, pretty eco-friendly. These guys usea lot less packaging and materials than decor you buy from your local Target!  However, the instructions on the web site are less than clear, so here’s the step-by-step.  This is SUCH an affordable and cute decoration, I just can’t get over it!  I bought scrapbooking paper at Michael’s for $.25 a sheet (using an average of one sheet per tree), bells for $2, and thread spools for $3.  A $6 craft?  Love.

Materials:
-wooden skewers
-thread spools, either recycled or purchased from craft store
-tiny beads to put on top of trees (or bells as used here)
-different shades of craft paper (you could even use cute patterns for more whimsical trees)
-glue gun and glue sticks

{Read the rest of this entry…}

Welcome to the first installment of Craftmas (or Craftukkah or Craftzaa, whichever you celebrate)!  I don’t know about you gals, but we are super tight on money this year and that is ESPECIALLY true around the holidays.

However, like many, I have some creepy Martha Stewart desire to decorate our house in everything tinsel, and I squeal with glee anytime I see something covered in Santa Clauses.  Hey, I’m not proud of it, but there you go.

So during my daily Anthropologie browse a couple weeks ago (ah, but to dream), I stumbled upon a beautiful tree ornament. I won’t show it here (again, scared of copywright ramifications…thanks, lawyers, for screwing with my craftiness), but you can probably find it on their site.  Anyway, this little item happened to cost a pretty $398.  Um, yeah.  Here’s my interpretation of the same tree topper, with exciting step-by-step instructions!

This project cost me about $20…only 5% of the store-bought cost!

Here’s what you’ll need:

-small grapevine wreath (I think this one is 6 or 7 inches in diameter)
-bundles of sticks and other decorative items of your choice
-glue gun and glue sticks

{Read the rest of this entry…}

I’ve been MIA from the blog recently…but with good reason, I promise!

I’ve been busy creating a whole slew of DIY crafts (oh, 6 or 7!) for decorating your house on the cheap for the upcoming holiday.  I like to call it…Craftmas.  Though I suppose you could always call it Craftukkah or Craftzaa.  Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself.

Get ready for installation #1 of Craftmas in the next day or so.  Little hint: it’s a replica of a pricey little item sold at a store that rhymes with “shmanthropologie.”

Much love,

-B

Excuse the cheesy post title.  They’re the hardest thing to come up with!

One of my favorite autumn fruits is the apple. I know, I know, they’re around the entire year…but they’re the best in the fall.  Ripe, crisp, sweet, and a bit tart.  I remember one of my favorite childhood books saying that you could taste the starlit nights of summer, the bright sunshine of spring, and the crisp, cool days of autumn in a good apple.  Love.

Cooking with apples in the fall is the greatest: that apple smell filling the house is just so homey.  This is one of my favorite apple recipes for fall: not only is it delicious, it turns out beautifully and makes a stunning presentation with the jewel tones of the rhubarb and cranberries, which also happen to give it the perfect amount of tart/sweet combination.

{Photo by Pete McGregor}
(Please excuse my lack of personal photos lately… my camera is still MIA!)

{Read the rest of this entry…}

As you may or may not know, my husband and I are currently living in a tiny 2-bedroom apartment (shared with our two cats, Mike and Butters).  We have no outdoor space, save for our tiny patio and lil’ windowboxes, which don’t provide us with much gardening opportunity.

As someone who grew up in a home with lots of garden space and a little “plot” of my own, it’s heartbreaking for me to not have a bit of dirt.  Thus, it’s become our goal in the next year to have a truly viable spot of land on which we can grow things.  Along these lines, I was reading the WSJ yesterday (no, this is not a habit of mine, though it probably should be) and stumbled upon an article on composting.

{Photo via greenbudget}

{Read the rest of this entry…}

Hope this post finds everyone relaxed, content, and carefree on this beautiful fall day!  It’s been getting a bit cooler around here (FINALLY!) and we decided to make some delicious soup today using seasonal ingredients.

This recipe can be adjusted for any season. The key step is truly the sauteeing of the vegetables, which brings out their flavor and makes the soup’s flavors have more depth.

Seasonal Soup

4 garlic cloves, chopped (or more, depending on taste)
2 shallots, diced
5 or so celery stalks, sliced
1 leek (slice lengthwise and rinse with cold water–use only the white to light green section. Then dice!)
9 medium carrots, sliced
1 tbsp. fresh thyme
1 can white beans
1 can black beans
bag of frozen corn
Two 32-oz cans of chicken broth
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
4 tbsp olive oil
Chopped cilantro or parsley, for garnish

1) Sautee 1 tsp. salt, celery, leeks, shallots, and garlic in olive oil for about 15 minutes until transluscent and aromatic.

2) Add chicken broth and 4 cups of water (this makes a HUGE pot of soup!).

3) Bring to boil; add carrots, thyme, beans. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for about 5 minutes.

4) Add frozen corn last, so it remains a bit crunchy.

5) Simmer until carrots are done: not crunchy, but not soggy either!

Serve topped with chopped cilantro or parsley.

And there you go…a delicious, heartwarming, yummy soup for those cool autumn days. It’s also super easy to reheat, so this meal could last 2 people a few days!

Add whatever veggies you like or are in season: we’ve added zucchini, acorn squash, cabbage…whatever suits your fancy!

What’s your go-to meal during the cooler months?

Much love,

-B

I stumbled across this lovely little item on Anthropologie this morning.

I love it, I do.  I don’t 698 dollars love it, though.  While this look could certainly be achieved with enough flea market and antique store browsing, it would take much more time and effort than simply clicking “add to bag” on the Anthro site.  Now, if only I had $700 floating around somewhere…

What kind of twist would you add to this project, if you were to DIY?

Much love,

-B

Photo from P.J.McAdie’s Flickr

There are so many uses for a glass jar: storing leftovers, using as vases, or even lining up empty on a windowsill to show off.   Save your pasta sauce jars, jam and jelly jars, and other glass bottles.  It’s like your own home has become its own little recycling center!

It can also be a fun weekend activity to troll the antique and flea markets for old jars to add a bit of personality to your collection–I’ve found cool chemistry beakers, old mason jars, and even old Vapor Rub jars.

Here’s the trick to getting the sticky labels off: Wash in warm water, and peel off as much of the label you can.  Apply your run-of-the-mill hair conditioner to the remainder of the label, let soak for about half an hour, and scrub off with a course sponge.

Enjoy!

Much love,

-B