Home Tour: Part II

More of our home!  I've got the kitchen and dining room today.  I absolutely love our kitchen!  Our old kitchen was teeny tiny, so the counter space in this kitchen is enough to make me fall in love all on its own.  Fortunately for us, there's more than just space to love in our kitchen.  One of my favorite things are the glass cabinets; they let me show off my Fiestaware dishes!

In the dining room, we have some terrific French doors that let in a ton of light.  The downside?  It makes pictures a little harder! :)  I hope you enjoy!

Safety first!  Do you have a fire extinguisher in your home?

This is a Norwegian plate that hung in my grandparents' kitchen for years.  I'm so happy to have it in ours now.

On the left, there is a built in hutch for china and serving ware!

I'll have one more set of pictures for you next week!

Home Tour: Part I

The house was finally clean enough for me to take some pictures to share with you all!  We still have lots of small projects to work on, one being to hang some art!  But, I figured I would go ahead and show you our place anyway :)

Today, I'm sharing our living room and the office/craft room with you.  In the living room, I'm really wanting to hang some art work, but I can't decide where or how to arrange it.  John and I share the office, and it's usually got a lot more going on.  So, it was a rare day to have it so tidy :)

Inga wanted to help with the tour :)

I'm excited to share more photos with you later this week!

Saturday Snapshot: Snowy Log

Hot Chocolate Stirrers

Just because Christmas is over doesn't mean hot chocolate season is over.  I'm still having a mug (or two!) most days, so I thought making some stir sticks would be a great idea.  Earlier this week, I made some edible glitter.  It was beyond easy, and so is this simple way to make hot chocolate stirrers.

You will need:

• Cake pop sticks (find them in the baking aisle)
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Marshmallows
• Edible glitter
• Waxed paper

Spear your marshmallows with the cake pop sticks.  Set aside while you melt the chocolate.

Microwave the chips in short intervals, stirring in between until they are melted.  Add a few more chips and stir them in (it keeps the chocolate from being too runny).

Then, it's as simple as dipping the marshmallows into the chocolate then the glitter.  Leave them glitter side down on the waxed paper until the chocolate hardens.

Now, it works well to spear the marshmallows before dipping them, but you can also leave the marshmallows off the sticks all together.

So delicious and pretty!  I think these would be a great addition to a hot chocolate bar :)

Beg, Borrow, Steal: Edible Glitter

I don't know why, but for some reason I always associate the month of January with a light blue color.  December is red and green, February is red and pink, March is green, and January?  Light blue.  Maybe because it's still so cold and snowy, and when the sun is just about to set, the whole world looks pale blue...

And so, I decided to take a page from Tablespoon and make my own edible, light blue glitter.

You will need:

• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon (actually, a little less) blue food coloring
• Tupperware or jar with lid
• Parchment paper
• Mesh colander

Preheat the oven to 180, and add a little less than 1/4 teaspoon of blue food coloring to the half cup of sugar.  Put a lid on the tupperware and shake it up!  Then, use a spatula to spread the sugar onto a parchment lined baking pan.

Bake for about 10 minutes.  Allow to cool, then use your parchment paper to help funnel the sugar through a mesh colander.  This will eliminate any of the larger, darker chunks of sugar.  Store in an airtight container!

Drop by later this week to see how I'm using my edible glitter :)

Saturday Snapshot: Winter Love

New Year's Resolutions

Every year, it seems that I make a giant list of things I'm going to do, chores to tackle, projects to create, and fitness levels to reach.  This year, I'm keeping it simple: complain less, enjoy more.

What are your resolutions?