I may be a bit obsessed with bird’s nests. Just a tad bit. So when I found myself idly rolling some silk cord through my fingers one day, wondering what to do with it, I realized that I had to make a bird’s nest. Or two.

These hair clips are so fast and simple to make that I kind of surprised myself by stopping at two. I have worn them both about 18 million times since creating them, too, so maybe it’s a good thing I don’t have more.

To make them, just roll a piece of silk cord up between your fingers, and sew through all the layers every few twists to help hold it in place.

Unlike a rosette, though, you want to start moving the cord up at the edges, rather than laying it flat so you have some place to put the eggs.

Then just string a bunch of beads onto a needle and thread and sew them into the center of the nest.

That’s it! I then went ahead and sewed the edges of the nests onto two hair clips, but they would also make nice pins or other decorations.

This post is linked up with #iPPP and Fireflies and Jellybeans

We have this huge bank of windows in our living room. They take up a full wall, and they’re sort of inset – not deep enough to be window seats, but set back just enough that combined with the number of them, it’s making it very expensive to put some curtains up there. Curtains are on the list of things to eventually get, but it may be a while yet.

So the windows are currently bare, and they have these really deep sills. Deep enough for a toddler, dog or cat to sit in and stare outside, but also deep enough to be able to set some things on to help decorate that area.

We already have a Sunshine Jar there – it glows yellow when the lights are turned off after collecting solar power all day. So to complement it, and to complement the colors in the room, I made what I’m calling a Sunrise in a Jar.

These are “Lucky Bean Pods” that I painted gold, copper and reddish pink using metallic paint.

The pods themselves are very smooth, lightweight and typically dark brown. They cost about $2 for the lot of them.

I was trying to pick up colors already in the room, while purposefully choosing colors that would glow when the sun hit them, making it look like a sunrise.

When I was done painting them, I just piled them into an old vase we had sitting around. Perfect fit, and they now live on our giant window sill. When the sun hits them, they are breathtaking, and they can also be seen from the deck as you enter the house.

I used the same paints in a painting across the room (post to come later), and the colors really help to brighten up the space. In fact, I love it so much that I almost don’t want to distract from it with curtain. Almost.

Linked up with Fireflies and Jellybeans, Yesterday on Tuesday and Fingerprints on the Fridge

I had so much red and white felt left over from my Valentine’s Day garland, that I decided to play around with a few sheets and see if I could come up with anything else. A sheet of red, a sheet of white, one button and some hot glue later, and I had this:

It’s made of six large red hearts glued to a circle, topped with six white slightly smaller white hearts. On top of this was six white hearts that I put a dab of glue into the center of and pinched to help them stand upright. It’s finished with six small red hearts and a button from my stash.

I hot glued it to a dollar store headband so I have a funky Valentine’s Day hair accessory to wear today.

Final time and cost: 5 minutes and $1.50.

Linked up with Today’s Creative Blog, Fireflies and Jellybeans and Fingerprints on the Fridge

Gunne Bear and I have quite the social schedule going on for Valentine’s Day this year. A party party, plus a yoga party and a gymnastics party to attend. So I figured it would be fun for him to give out some Valentines to his little friends.

Because the average age at these things is 3, I figured that standard Valentine’s day cards were not going to go over too big; none of them can read.

So I figured the next best thing to do would be to make some Valentine’s he could hand out to everyone and that everyone would enjoy: Valentine Lollipops.

This took me 10 minutes to make and cost $2 in materials at the Dollar Store.

I used a heart punch to cut out four construction paper hearts per lollipop, then glued them right onto the wrapper. I accented with centers and leaves and voila!

Something to hand out at the parties we’re going to that is sure to be a hit with everyone.

This post is linked up with #iPPP and Fireflies and Jellybeans.

I loooove shortbread. I think it has to be my absolute favorite cookie of all time. When I was growing up, my grandmother made Lebanese shortbread cookies every year for Easter, and I can still taste the way they melt in your mouth.

I was determined to find a recipe that would yield a shortbread that would taste buttery and rich, but that would only use rice flour, thereby making them gluten free. I tried and tinkered with a bunch before I finally created one that really worked.

This are amazing. Really light and crisp with a buttery flavor. I think they’re good on their own, but my husband actually declared that it would “Ruin [his] life” if I did not ice them. So I had to create an icing recipe that would stand up to the delicate cookies and not overpower them.

The results were heaven. I’m thrilled to get this recipe done and approved now so that I can introduce it to the family Easter dinner this year.

Gluten Free Shortbread Cookies

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Serves:	24
Prep time:	15 minutes
Cook time:	10 minutes
Total time:	25 minutes
Dietary:	Gluten Free
Meal type:	Dessert
Region:	Worldwide

Gluten free shortbread cookies

Ingredients

• 1-1/3 cup rice flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1 egg (yes, i know egg whites don't typically show up in shortbread, but this is gluten free, and the egg white acts as a binder. trust me.)
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Step 1
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until smooth.
Step 2
Roll the mixture into balls slightly smaller than golf balls and place on a greased baking sheet.
Step 3
Flatten out the balls with the tines of a fork.
Step 4
Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
Step 5
Let cool, then decorate if desired.

Let the cookies cool completely before you ice them – I can’t stress this enough – otherwise the icing will melt right off of them.

Shortbread Icing

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Serves:	24
Prep time:	5 minutes
Cook time:	None
Total time:	5 minutes
Dietary:	Gluten Free
Meal type:	Dessert
Region:	Worldwide

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoon milk

Directions

Step 1
Cream together the butter, shortening and sugar in a chilled bowl
Step 2
Add the vanilla and milk, mix well to combine.
Step 3
Add a few drops of food coloring if desired.
Step 4
Spread on your cooled cookies.

Enjoy with a cold glass of milk. I declared three cookies at a time to be a serving, because I just couldn’t stop at one (sometimes I couldn’t stop at three, either, but that’s beside the point). Be sure to let me know if you try them and what you think!

Linking up this week with Tasty Tuesday, EKat’s Kitchen, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Inspire Me Monday, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Gluten Free Wednesdays

One of the ways we save money around here is by buying nearly all of G Bear’s clothes from consignment stores and eBay. I’ve been doing this for nearly 3 years now and have never had a problem with it; the clothes we get are always in good shape, clean and way, way cheap.

So a few weeks ago I had a coupon for 20% off an order at an online consignment shop. Score! I quickly loaded up my cart with new PJs since he had just outgrown his and managed to score some for as little as $2 a piece.

We got a set with construction vehicles and one with fire trucks. Gunne Bear was beside himself wanting to put them on. He could barely wait for me to run them through one last wash cycle.

The first set fit fine, no problems, and a couple of night later I took out the second set.

For some reason, I couldn’t get one of his feet into the foot part of the pajamas. There seemed to be something in there. I figured it was a trapped dryer sheet, and reached in to pull it out.

It was no dryer sheet: It. Was. A. THONG.

A black, lace thong was inside my son’s pajamas. I could not stop laughing or repeating, “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god” over and over again. Thankfully I managed to get it out of the room before my son started insisting he wear it as a hat.

This post is a part of iPhone Photo Phun.

It wasn’t long after we went gluten free that I declared that I would only eat a gf food if it was really, really good – not just “good for gluten free” or “a good substitute” for whatever it was I was missing. No; the food I was eating had to be good in its own right. This had led to a lot of experimenting.

It wasn’t long, however, before I came up with the World’s Best Cupcake Recipe. These chocolate cupcakes are so good, I am BEGGED to bring them to parties. I’ve made them three times in the last month, and have requests to make them twice more before the end of February.

These flourless cupcakes are dense, rich, chocolaty and so good you will want to make them weekly just to have them on hand. I made this batch with a buttercream frosting, but they work well topped with ganache, mousse, fondant – anything at all – or just eat them plain.

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes

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Serves:	20
Prep time:	15 minutes
Cook time:	30 minutes
Total time:	45 minutes
Dietary:	Gluten Free
Meal type:	Dessert
Misc:	Gourmet
Occasion:	Casual Party
Region:	Worldwide

Flourless, gluten free chocolate cupcakes

Ingredients

• 8oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1-1/2 cup sugar
• 6 eggs (beaten)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Note

 

 

Directions

Step 1
Melt the butter and chocolate chips together in a double boiler
Step 2
Remove from heat and stir in other ingredients until well combined
Step 3
Pour into aluminum foil baking cups until about 3/4 full
Step 4
Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes or until set in the middle.
Step 5
Let cool for 25 minutes, then frost and decorate however you like.

Linking up this week with Tasty Tuesday, EKat’s Kitchen and Fireflies and Jellybeans

After we took the yarn wreath down from the doorway leading from our sunroom into the living room, the door seemed suddenly immense and very, very bare. Because I was already making some Valentine’s Day crafts to dress up the mantel, I figured, what the hell? Why not make a wreath to decorate the door with.

I initially wanted to make this larger, but finances dictated that I buy a small form, rather than a larger one. Oh well; there’s always next year and this one can be moved to decorate a wall.

This was really very simple to make. I used two 3-foot long satin sashes. I wrapped on sash around each side and used a very loose gather stitch to begin sewing it on.

Every few inches, I would pull the thread tight, which caused the satin to bunch up, making a ruffled cover for the wreath form.

When I was finished, I loved the ruffles, but felt it was a little plain, so I added a little embellishment as well. And voila! A new wreath for my door.

I used one last sash wrapped over my wreath holder because I felt it looked a little plain hung the other way. And I’m already thinking up things to replace it with for spring. I’m starting to think I’m sick in the head of something.

Partying this week at The Girl Creative, Inspire Me Monday, Craftomaniac Monday, Today’s Creative Blog, Twin Dragonfly Designs, Yesterday on Tuesday, Fingerprints on the Fridge

After all the Christmas crafting and Christmas decorating I did, the house felt a little bare, and I felt a little bereft come January. Gunne Bear was really upset, too, wanting me to bring back all the decorations once they were gone. To remedy this, I decided to make a Valentine’s Day garland to dress up our mantle with.

This was really fast and easy to make, which sort of surprised me; I initially thought it would take me all month to do, so I got started on it rather early.

To make it, you need:

• 3 sheets of white felt
• 3 sheets of red felt
• 2 skeins of white embroidery floss
• 2 skeins of red embroidery floss
• Scissors
• Embroidery needle
• Twine

Cut out 40 red hearts and 40 white hearts from the felt. I freehand drew and cut out one heart and used it as a template to the cut the others. Each heart should be about 2-inches tall and an inch and a half wide.

Double up the hearts, red to red and white to white and use the opposite color thread to blanket stitch the edges of the hearts together. This will give you 20 red hearts with a white border and 20 white hearts with a red border.

Thread the twine onto your needle and string the hearts together like you’re stringing popcorn. The hearts are essentially hollow, so just go between the layers and you’re done!

Linking up with A Crafty Soiree, Crafty Scrappy Happy and Delightfully Inspiring Thursday.

We’ve passed the year mark of eating gluten free and I feel like I’ve finally got some really good recipes. Not just good substitutes for other foods, but actual, really tasty recipes that I would make even if we weren’t eating gluten free.

One of our family’s recent favorites is my cheese biscuits.

These are so easy to make, we have them all the time.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 2 cups tapioca flour
• 3 teaspoons garlic – minced
• 2/3 cup grated Romano cheese
• 2 eggs, beaten

Instructions

Pour the olive oil, milk, water and salt and into a saucepan and place on high heat. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.

Ingredients in sauce pan

Stir in the tapioca flour and garlic and set aside for 10 minutes. It will look really lumpy and curdy.

Dry and Lumpy

Stir in the cheese and egg and mix well. It will still be lumpy, but more like cottage cheese at this point.

Smoother Now

Drop the mixture 1/4 cup at a time into a greased muffin tin.

Muffin Tin

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. These taste best eaten hot right from the oven, so I always time mine to be ready with the rest of the meal. Enjoy!

Linking up with Tasty Tuesday!