Lavender Playdough

We decided to try our hand at homemade lavender playdough this weekend.

We used the dough method where you boil one and half cups of water. While it is boiling, you finely chop a sprig of lavender (I then added it to the water along with the food coloring). Separately we added two cups of plain flour, one cup of salt, two tablespoons of vegetable oil.

We then poured in the water, mixing with a spoon until it was cool enough to knead. We kneaded and then of course played with it.

It smelled really good, however, the dough was grainy from the salt, so next time, I think we will try the method where you cook the dough on the stove top and dissolve the salt. Has anyone ever made dough with Epson salt? Is that a thing? Could you imagine lavender and Epson salt dough? Now that would be relaxing. I'll keep you updated on how the cooking dough method works. I think we will try it for our preschool group in two weeks.

Boll and Branch Cable Knit Throw

I had a fun box show up at my door today...

It was a beautiful throw from Boll and Branch

Boll and Branch is a fair trade certified company that sell organic cotton sheets and blankets that are amazing quality and are beautiful in design.

I don't often randomly things. I did once when I was young. I entered my sister's name in a contest and she won ice cream for our family for a year. That was a pretty lucky win, especially because we all benefited from it. However, you know those contests on Instagram. I don't usually enter those but this one was from Our Vintage Nest and I like her posts a lot so I thought I would give it a shot.

I won! That is what came today! It is beautiful. I am very grateful. Her post had over 3,000 likes so it really was the luck of the draw. I put a post up first thing today to thank her and Boll and Branch.

It is very exciting and it has gone to a very welcoming and thankful recipient.

Scrabble Family Names

I saw these scrabble tiles on a google search last fall and fell in love. My husband ordered and cut the wood last October but time got a head of me and I didn't get a chance to finish it till this last week. I am in love. I am so happy that we did it. Below are some of the steps it took to complete it.

The first step was to decide what we wanted it to look like including what words to use. I choose the names of our immediate family members. I used this generator to try different combinations to find the one I found most aesthetically pleasing:

Scrabble Puzzle Generator

I then sketched it out to determine how many of which letters were needed.

My husband cut the wood. We use reclaimed rail road wood that's approximately 3"x3" and Derek, my husband, has cut them approximately .33" thick.

Next, I sanded the wood and designed and cut the 'Scrabble' style letters and corresponding numbers on my silhouette. Then I cut and weeded the vinyl. The hardest part was setting it down in between 'crafting sessions' and not continuing on all night.

The second to final step was applying the vinyl to the wood. I use Oracal Vinyl. So far it has been my favorite brand and seems to hold and transfer the best.

 The final step was mounting it to the wall. I found these removable mounting circles with a level and a measuring tape to be the best way to do it. I used the measuring tape to mark the center of where I wanted my display to be and worked my way out from there. So far, these mounting circles have been quite successful. As you can see on the picture below, I originally mounted the "E" a little high and had to move the entire row down, they all peeled off and remounted and have successfully held since.

I am very happy with these and it was well worth the wait and anticipation. 

Grandma's Wheat Bread

My Mom used to have to make their bread growing up. My grandma always said, "Your husband will thank me someday". Just to give my mom a hard time, my dad did go and thank my grandma, in a teasing way, although having fresh baked bread is always delicious. Having freshly ground wheat also adds to the nutrition. These days, even if you are going for all natural, simple ingredients, it still more cost efficient to buy bread, especially if you live near the bakery we do. That being said, when my mom was remodeling her house and needed everything out and I needed some wheat ground, I gladly 'baby-sat' her wheat grinder for her.

There's something about using mom's wheat grinder and grandma's bread recipe on a cool summer's day that is the essence of nostalgia. Add in your husband's fresh home made 5-berry jam. We are a bit spoiled at our house.

PC: Yvonne Krieger (My mom :) )

She wanted to 'model' the toast for me.