Free Font Roundup: Nautical Fonts

Spring is coming which means NAUTICAL THINGS! 

And two is better than one, so let's put two awesome things together: nautical and fonts! 

Oh, and they're free!

Here's the links:

Sail Away
Show Boat
Stars from Our Eyes
Sailor Larry
Sail

Happy fonting! =]

Make Your Own Nutella!

Happy Wednesday, friends! I want to share something with you that I just made. And it’s delicious.


So most of you are probably familiar with Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread), but did you know how easy it is to make your own?


Tonight I made a version using chocolate and almonds (yummm) but this recipe works with hazelnuts, almonds, cashews, or peanuts. You can even play around with other nuts or combinations if you want!


Here’s what you need:
16 ounces (2 cups) roasted nuts (I used lightly salted because I like that salty sweet combination.)
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Grind the nuts in a food processor until smooth, about 5 minutes. Use a spatula to scoop down the sides as needed.

Add in cocoa powder and sugar. Blend until smooth.

Transfer to a jar and store in a cool place for up to a month… (it doesn’t last a month before getting eaten in my house.)


You could also tie up your jar with a pretty ribbon and give someone the gift of delicious homemade chocolate nut butter! Voila!

Possible additions or variations include cinnamon, honey, mixed nuts, and more.

Let me know of any combos you try!

Crocheted Flowers: How to

If you follow me on instagram, you may have seen some pictures I posted of the flowers I just learned how to crochet:

 

 

If you are friends with my lovely friend Courtney, you may have seen some pictures she posted of the flowered headband and scarf set I made her:

(Isn't she beautiful, everybody?)

I recently learned how to make these flowers using some great video tutorials by Mom of 5 Daughters.

The tutorial is split into three parts, and you will need to know some basic crocheting, including chain, single crochet, and double crochet.

If you don't know those, there are great tutorials on youtube for basic crocheting too. In fact, I taught myself to crochet a few years ago using youtube videos.

So without further ado, how to crochet flowers:

part one

 

part two

 

part three

 

 

Let me know if you give these a try, I'd love to see some pictures of your creations!

Free Hand-Outs

This morning I was feeling really resentful of people who I think "have everything handed to them."

 

If you’re like me, someone immediately popped into your head at that phrase. I think of some that I know who have that great job that they got through that family member, or that somehow managed to find an incredible deal on their car/house/etc.

I then began thinking about everything in my life that isn’t “going my way” at the moment, and comparing myself to those people.

Just as quickly as the train of thought started, I was hit with a conviction;

Everything I have has been handed to me.

It is only by the grace of God that I am sitting in this chair, breathing air, and writing a blog.

It is by the grace of God that I have a warm place to sleep at night, a job to go to in the day, and family to come home to.

I have done nothing to deserve these things.

When I compare these blessings to the ones that others have received, it does not diminish the blessings, but it takes my eyes off of my God who gave them to me.

Every day I am given free hand-outs from God.
Now the question is how I can use them every day for His glory.

 

Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

James 1:17

DIY $5 Dessert Stand

Hi there! Welcome to the first edition of $5 DIY!
And by "edition", I mean, this project only costs $5, and maybe I'll post more $5 projects at some point. ;]

My most recent project was this easy-peasy three tiered dessert stand:

Supplies for this project are:
Two glass candle sticks (I found mine at the Dollar Tree)
Three glass plates of different sizes ($.99 each at thrift store)
Glass glue (I used E6000 because I already had it from prior crafts)

Make sure you clean your plates and candle sticks well before you start because 1. whatever is on there will be on there forever once they're glued and 2. dust/dirt affects adhesion.

I started by spreading the glue with a toothpick on both the plate and the edge of the candlestick, and gluing the two candle sticks to the tops of of two bigger plates.

I initially tried using a compass and paper and tracing and finding centers and such... but then I just decided to eyeball it. =]

Glue them wide side up so that you have more usable surface area on your stand.

Let dry fully. (Dry time varies by glue.)

Glue them in succession of largest to smallest, allow to dry again, and then serve dessert on your beautiful new tiered dessert stand!

A Whovian Celebration

Here's one for my Whovian friends! You already know that one month ago today was a special day... the Day of the Doctor! For my non-Whovian friends, an epic 50th anniversary episode of Dr. Who aired.

My contribution to the celebration was a dozen Dalek cupcakes, made by printing some excellent (and free!) cupcake wrappers found here. Some of our other festive snacks were bowties (are cool) pasta salad and fish fingers and custard. Of course. 

So, without further delay, here they are! Or should I say, "Allons-y!"

The Best Thanksgiving Ever

Let me tell you a little bit about Thanksgiving in my family. We celebrate at my parents’ house with friends and their families. We have turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and Indian food. We always play bingo. I’m looking forward to all of these things tomorrow.

Now, let me tell you about my best Thanksgiving ever. It was not at my parents’ house. In fact, none of my relatives were there. In fact, it wasn’t even in a country that celebrates Thanksgiving.

My best Thanksgiving ever was in Hanham, Bristol, England.

There was no pumpkin pie, because canned pumpkin was not available for purchase at any local stores.

The marshmallows on top of the sweet potatoes turned into rock solid sheet because marshmallows have a different consistency in the UK.

But let me tell you why it was the best… Everyone still tried the weird sweet potatoes. They even pretended to like them.

More so, it was the fact that my host parents, Peter and Denise, let me host a Thanksgiving celebration in their home, helped me purchase all of the food for the feast, helped me prepare it all in their kitchen, and invited friends over to join us.

 

 

The friends all came, bringing wine and gifts, willing and excited to learn about my holiday.

They let me teach them how to trace their hands to make “thankful turkeys,” and they all made one even if they felt silly doing so.

  

The rest of the food was not as disastrous as the sweet potatoes, and we all ate delicious turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes, and talked and laughed together.

 

I was and still am so thankful for those people. I don’t know if they remember their American Thanksgiving experience, but I will always remember their hospitality and love, and how at home they made me feel in another country.