DIY Easter Basket

This year, I wanted Blake to have a very special and very cheap Easter basket.  Sure, there are very sweet and very cute versions out there to buy....but uhhh....well I'm cheap.  And crafty!!

Here's what I came up with:

Super simple transformation, I know, but I really like how it turned out.  The perfect Easter basket for my little gentleman!

All I needed was a $5 white basket from Walmart, some .69 cent black buttons, 1/8 a yard of $2 black silk fabric (so .25 cents there) and some black ribbon I had left over from another project.  I used the same technique I described in this tutorial to make the black bowtie (but I cut the fabric a bit larger because I wanted a big one) and then hot glued everything together.  My total cost was about $6, but you could do it even more on the cheap if you used a $1 basket from the Dollar Store.  I considered doing that, but decided to spring for a nicer basket that I could use year after year. 

And we're done!  I really like it.  Sometimes simple transformations can make a big difference!  

Pinterest Challenge: Food Edition

So for this week's pinterest food challenge, I decided to go with some good 'ole homemade bread.  Yum.  I have fond memories of my mom making delicious loaves of homemade bread growing up using a bread machine, but since we don't have one, I had to start from scratch.

The recipe I had 'pinned' (literally like a year ago) was titled 'Miracle Bread' and toted an impressive start to finish time of only one hour! 

It was so delicious!  And so easy.  Here's the recipe (I halved it, because I didn't want to eat wasn't sure what to do with four loaves of bread).

Here's what you'll need:

10 1/2 c. white bread flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 T. salt
3 rounded tablespoons instant yeast
3 T. liquid lecithin (I didn't have lecithin, so I used 1/3 c. oil as per the suggestion in the original recipe)
4 c. hot tap water

Mix dry ingredients. Add lecithin (or oil) and water. Mix for 1 minute and check consistency. If dough is too dry, add a little more water. Dough should be very sticky. Mix for 5 minutes. (Do not add flour to the dough after it has finished mixing.) Spray counter and pans with Pam. Shape loaves, place in pans and cover with a dish towel. Let rise 25 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

I decided I wanted to make whole wheat, which is just a tad bit different: 

For whole wheat bread, use the same recipe only with whole wheat flour; replace one cup of the hot water with applesauce, and add 1 additional tablespoon lecithin.

Note: When making the whole wheat, I added about 1/2 cup extra of hot tap water....my bread dough was way too dry after the addition of the applesauce

And that's it!  One hour, start to finish, and your whole house will smell like homemade bread!  YUM!  Check another pinterest recipe off the list...