Chocolate Chip Cookies

Its been a jam packed week for us.  Between end of year book reports, three nights of baseball, and an end of year choir concert there hasn't been much time for me to just to relax and spend time with my little ones. So this morning we whipped out our aprons and made our most favorite chocolate chip cookies.

This recipe was given to me by one of my college roommates.  She was always cooking up something yummy in our kitchen and the moment I tried these cookies I knew that I needed the recipe. I lost contact with her shortly after we both finished our Student Teaching, but every time I make these cookies I think of her and wonder how she has been doing.

Are you ready to make some mouth watering Chocolate Chip Cookies? (And yes, ahem, the dough is delicious…but you don't eat raw cookie dough, right? Me neither…)

Ryann's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups butter flavor Crisco (yes, it HAS to be butter flavor!)
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 4 1/2 cups four
•  1 package chocolate chips (or 1/2 bag chocolate chips and 1/2 bag white chips, this is how Ryann made hers)

Pre-heat oven to 375.

Cream brown sugar, sugar, and butter flavor Crisco together.  Add eggs and mix.  Add baking soda, salt, and vanilla.  Add in flour one cup at a time and mix thoroughly.  Add in chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet.  Bake for approximately 10 minutes.  Let cool.  Enjoy!

(To print recipe click HERE.)

Necklace Display from a Curtain Rod

We've been slowly, but surely working on our bathroom remodel and I thought it was time to give you guys a little update and tutorial. As I mentioned before, our Master bathroom is tiny and we've been working on some storage solutions that have both form and function.  In case you missed it, you can read all about the floating shelves here over on MakeIt-LoveIt.

Since we removed two doors and replaced it with one, I now have extra wall space.  When I built the floating shelves they came up to the edge of the bathroom door, but since my husband has finally gotten the tape and texture done on the new wall, there was a big empty space that was screaming at me to be filled. So I added two new towel hooks and a necklace display. (Project inspired by this post.) 

So if you're like me and have an old curtain rod sitting around, grab it and lets make a necklace display! For this project you will need:

• curtain rod and hanging hardware
• Dremel with cutting blade
• drill
• pencil

The first step is to measure your wall space to determine how big you want your Necklace Display.
Next you will pull your rod apart and mark on each side of the rod where you need to cut.  Remember that your rods will still need to slide together so add in an inch or so for that.

Make sure that you take into account the length of your finials when you are measuring.  We decided it was easiest to measure the rod only but add in the finial measurements when measuring the wall.

You may notice in your rod that there is a plastic stopper.  This piece makes it so the rods fit together well and so that the rod will stay at the desired length you pull it out to.  You will need to remove this piece before you cut so that you can add it back in later to the shortened piece.  Trust me, your necklace display will slip around if you don't have this piece.

Next grab a Dremel with a cutting blade attached. We found this was the best method to cut our rod, however you could also use a hack saw…it just might take more time.

Cut on the lines that you marked on both pieces of the rod.

Pop your plastic piece back into the rod and slide your pieces back together.

Using the drill, attach the Necklace Display to your wall using the original hanging hardware that came with the rod.

This display works fabulously as the necklaces can't slip around and fall off.  Better yet, it keeps them nice and organized so they don't become tangled.  It is super easy to lift up your rod and grab your favorite necklace. And what happens when you want a necklace that's in the middle? You can easily undo its clasp and take it off.

I'm excited to finally have a decent way to organize my necklaces…and I love that they are out of the reach of my little guys.

Mom is the Best

Has Mother's Day snuck up on anyone else this year? If you're like me you might be looking for a last minute idea for the wonderful mothers in your life.  My mother is one of the sweetest people I know, but every year I struggle with what to get her for Mother's Day.  She is the type of person who is hard to shop for because she has everything she needs.  I decided that this year the best thing I could do would be to spend time with her and let her know how much I appreciate all she does.

 I think that as mothers we sometimes get so caught up in taking care of others that we wonder if what we are doing is really making any difference in the world.  I think there may even be some of us who struggle to feel our self worth.  To feel that we are enough. So for those of you who wonder if you are enough I created this little printable.  Hang it somewhere where you can see it often and know that you are enough.

(You can print by clicking here.)

This quote came from my five year old, Jonas.  He is the absolute best at giving compliments and tells me a hundred times a day that I'm beautiful.  He truly has the gift of making others feel loved and special. One day he just started saying "Mom is the best! A million more than enough!" It caught on and soon my four year old was saying it all of the time too. A lot of times I really don't feel like I am enough, and then one of my little boys will say this to me and it just melts my heart. To my little guys I am enough.  I am their mother.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful women out there!

Weathered Quilt Crate

For quite some time I've been looking for the perfect solution for quilt storage.  I've gone through several baskets, displayed my quilts on our furniture, and I even considered building a quilt ladder, but living with four little men has taught me that a ladder would be used for climbing instead of displaying blankets. That's why when I saw these orchard crates for sale on our local yard sale page, I quickly snagged one for myself and several for my mother.

I liked the vintage feel that they would bring to my living room and felt that they would (hopefully) be a lot more sturdy than an basket. Our living room has undergone quite a change over the past few weeks as we've tried to move more towards a classic, vintage feel.  After two months of shopping for a new sofa, hubby and I finally found one (and saved $400 on it, but that's a different story). 

Are you ready to make your own weathered quilt crate?

For this project you will need:

• crate
• stain
• foam brush and rag
• craft paint
• vinyl number
• small round plate (or other round object)
• sander (optional)

To start out, you will need to thoroughly clean your crate and remove any dust and splinters.  (Remove quilts too! Ha!)

Next, grab the stain (I chose Weathered Gray by Rust-Oleum) and apply a light coat with the foam brush.  Rub the stain with the rag to remove excess. 

Allow crate to completely dry.

Next, you will need to grab your plate (or round object) and center it in the middle of one of the sides of the crate.

Using a contrasting pencil, carefully mark around the edges of the plate to create your circle.

Then, using your craft paint, lightly paint the inside of the circle.  I did a light coat to help it look more distressed and weathered.

Then I took a sander to it to distress it even more.

Finally, center your vinyl number in the middle of your circle and apply.

That's it! Now you have a crate to tuck all of your quilt into.  Or toys.  Or books.  The possibilities are endless.