Wordless Wednesday - 4 month photo shoot

My little man hamming it up for the camera for his 4 month pictures :)

Attack the chalkboard!!!

I wonder what this tastes like...

Holiday Crafting: Salt Dough Ornaments

So I decided to put another Pinterest (man I love that site) find to good use and make some handprint ornaments. The recipe was super easy.

4 cups flour

1 cup salt

1 1/2 cups water

Mix all ingredients and knead for 15-20 min.

Roll out dough to desired thickness (I did about a quarter inch)

Use glass to cut out circles, or cookie cutters for other shapes.

Press baby's hand into dough (this can get tricky)

Use something to make a hole for ribbon

Prick small holes dough to prevent puffiness and bubbles (VERY IMPORTANT)

Bake for about 20 min at 325 F. 

*You might have to bake longer, depending on thickness. I flipped after 20 and baked for 20 more.*

They should look like this:

You can leave them like so, but I decided to go for the gusto. I painted and glitter bombed mine.

Behold, the glitterpalooza, glittersplosion, glittertastrophe...

After everything dries and you shake the excess off, you should have some pretty cute ornaments :)

Can't wait to hang these on my tree <3

Making your own Vanilla

So in my crunchy quest of hippieness (wow, what a mouthful), I've become better at this "from scratch" way of life. My latest endeavor has been to make my own vanilla extract. I've gotten real good at baking and vanilla is probably my favorite ingredient ever. So here's what your gonna need:

Some vanilla beans. I got some fair trade ones from a co-op, these in particular are bourbon vanilla beans:

The rule of thumb is one bean for every 1/3 of a cup. The jar we're using is 1 cup, so I used 3 beans. I cut mine in half so they could fit in the small jar I was using. Then you wanna split them lengthwise so all the yummies can seep out :)

Then, just throw them in your chosen container.

Next, you'll need some alcohol. I've heard some people swear by rum. But I'm cuban, rum is made for drinks lol. So I decided on a 100 proof vodka as my alcohol of choice.

Yea, obviously a container that big is not gonna be used solely for the use of making yummy extracts ;) Anyways, you fill up your container that has your beans (and a glass with ice if you're hardcore like that). 

Mmmm! Wait... one more.

Oh yea! Then you throw the lid on and give it a good shake. You should see little yummy pieces of vanilla happily floating around in their sea of delicious drunkenness. Store it in a cool, dry, dark spot for about 6-8 weeks. Make sure to give it a good shake every now and again.

This jar in particular is going to be a gift, so I added a pretty fabric swatch for good measure.

HAPPY BAKING!

Catching Up

Whoa!! I haven't been on here in awhile! Little man has been keeping me pretty busy. Here's a couple new shots. He's growing away on me :(

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is busy getting ready for Christmas. I'm super excited this year to have my little man to share it with and start new traditions. Stay tuned for some great holiday crafts and recipes :D