Happy 4th!

Happy 4th everyone!

photo from Country Living

pom pom socks

Remember pom pom socks? They always reminded me of little bunnies with their puffy tails These are darling and are another project added to my list of reasons why I want to learn to knit. Find directions here.

Mini donuts!?

Yes guys, you read right. Krispy Kreme now offers mini donuts! I just can’t believe it and am making the hubs take me asap to see these little beauties. These may just be better than the heart shaped ones at valentine’s day. Oh, Krispy Kreme, you know just how to make a girl smile!

Allison R. Banks Design

My friend Allison has been doing calligraphy and hand drawn monograms for years and just recently launched her very own website! I had the pleasure of receiving a wedding invitation she did a few weeks ago and I must say it’s the prettiest piece of mail I’ve ever gotten. I didn’t want to open it!

Here are a few pieces of her monogram/calligraphy work. Jump over to her site to see more!

Etsy Love: Persimmon & Pink

I’d love this print from Persimmon and Pink in my kitchen.

Free wall art

We’ve been in our house over a year and I have yet to put anything above our couch. I finally got serious this weekend and did it! I used an old door that was in the basement. We’ve used this thing twice. Once as a desk top and another time for a table top. It was the perfect width for above our couch.

It was already painted white from its last use. The blue was paint we had leftover from another project. I used this chevron template from Sunset’s website.

I tried their directions without much success. So I spent a long, long time tracing the pattern, then taping it off.

I messed up a bit and had to do some erasing

Just a couple of coats of the blue paint and viola. I’ve really been loving the chevron patterns I’ve been seeing around. It really adds a pop of color, fills that blank space and best of all it was free!

Easy Recipes

Just stumbled upon This Week for Dinner and I’m loving it!

Can’t wait to try out this lasanga recipe posted from Real Simple. Honestly, could it be any easier?

REAL SIMPLE LASAGNA
This is from Real Simple magazine, but it really is ‘real simple’!
1 26-ounce jar pasta sauce
1 18-ounce bag frozen large cheese ravioli, unthawed
1 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 8-ounce bag shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) grated Parmesan

Heat oven to 350° F. Spoon 1/3 of the sauce into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Place 12 ravioli on top. Cover with the spinach and half the mozzarella. Add another layer of ravioli and the remaining sauce, mozzarella, and the Parmesan. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake until bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes more.

Magnetic Chalkboard

I found this beautiful magnetic chalkboard by Christina at Viva Full House through Design Sponge a few months back . You can find all her directions here.

Homemade Donuts

These are quickly becoming a weekend favorite at our household and I don’t mind one bit. They are so super easy! These are so crispy and sweet. The husband tells me he’d rather have these than Krispy Kreme, which if you’ve ever had a Krispy Kreme donut, you’d know..that is a huge compliment!

Here’s what you need….vegetable oil and premade biscuits for the donuts (I used Pillsbury Golden Layers Buttermilk biscuits, but any should work fine). Milk, vanilla and powdered sugar for the icing.

You can cut your donuts a variety of ways. Mom said when she made these when we were younger she just cut the biscuit into 4, but I like them to look like little donuts/donutholes so I use a round cookie cutter. You could use a fun cookie cutter shape too. Whatever works for you!

Once your biscuits are cut, drop them in hot oil. You want your oil about halfway up the donut. If you’ve never fried before, this may take some practice. You want to get your grease hot, but then turn it down. You really have to get the right temperature. Otherwise you’ll have a burned outside and an undone inside (not good!) or if it’s not hot enough, your little biscuit will be totally soaked through with grease. Be sure to flip frequently!

After all the donuts are fried up, you want to coat them in your glaze. I don’t have exact measurement for the glaze. Just a splash of vanilla and then the right powdered sugar/milk ratio until you get the consistency you’re looking for. I’ve also tried coating them in a sugar/cinnamon mix which was quite good, but we prefer the glazed variety around here.

I didn’t get pictures of the finished product because my husband inhaled them as soon as I was finished. Just imagine those pretty little fried biscuits glistening with glaze and you get the picture.

Oh, and once your oil cools down, pour it into a mason jar to use for next time! The grease doesn’t get very dirty with these little guys, so it’s easy to reuse. (this is a tip from my gma. For as long as I can remember she’s saved her grease. Smart lady!)

Hope you all enjoy these sweet breakfast treats!

Bakerella does it again…

Oh my cuteness. Look it! Get directions and printables for the french fry holder and cute little trays here.