Custom Magnets

Want magnets to match your home or kitchen decor? 

Trust me, they look way better than those free ones you have from your realtor or local pizza delivery or whatever. Make these super easy ones for yourself or a friend. A simple custom handmade gift. 

I wish took more pictures, sorry, but this is so easy you won't need a lot of instruction from me. 

Get some of those glass blobs from Micheal's or the dollar store. They are round on top and flat on the bottom, you usually see them in a bag or net for a couple bucks. I think they are actually called glass beads for vase filler. They come in lots of colours and are used in floral arrangements and stuff. "Stuff" being these custom magnets!

Then get some basic magnets, small discs work best. These are also found at Micheal's or a dollar store. 

Finally, gather up a magazine of interest or some of your favorite scrapbooking papers. 

Here I have a recent PotteryBarn catalogue, flipping through it I saw this picture and really like the colour combos:

Here's another picture I like, cute colours, eh?

So simple stuff here...

Cut out a circle of the paper you like, then use modge podge or glue to attach it to the flat side of the glass blob.

When the paper and glue is completely dry, go ahead a glue the magnet on. 

I told you, simple simple! And super cute for your home!

A few of them together is a nice little collection for your fridge, or for your friend!

~Jess

Granola Bars

This recipe for granola bars is a favorite of our family. It makes about 30 bars, that keep well on the counter or in the fridge for at least a week, and you can freeze them for months.

Made from basic ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry, they are a bit sweet, a bit salty, and all yummy. Easy for a quick breakfast on the go, to pack in lunches, or for an afternoon snack. Try these out and you will not buy granola bars again!

This recipe is VERY flexible, it calls for 3 cups of oats, and 3 cups of other stuff. That other stuff could be anything you like! Peanuts, almonds, cashews, walnuts, coconuts, raisins, dried cranberries, dried apricots, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax, bran, chocolate chips, whatever! 

My go to mix is 2 cups trail mix and 1 cup shredded coconut.

Just a note - if you use chocolate chips, they tend to melt when you pour the hot syrup on so you get a chocolate peanut butter swirl thing going on, yummy but the chips melt in together. If you want them to stay as whole chips add them at the end, once you have spread the mixture in the pan just sprinkle them on top and gently push them down.

Then you make a syrup, but it is pretty flexible too. It's just made of nut butter, sugar, butter, milk, and a bit of vanilla. I usually use peanut butter, but you could use almond butter, cashew butter, or even nut-free peanut butter substitute. I have made it with white sugar, brown sugar, and agave, but any sugar substitute would probably work. And any milk too, dairy or dairy-free. Butter or margarine, or probably even a coconut oil or other fat.

In a medium saucepan, mix the syrup ingredients together and slowly heat to a boil.

It is important to go slow with the heat or you might scorch the milk and burn the sugar...like say if your toddler has to use the bathroom and you get pulled away from the stove to go help her, well,  you may come back and find some dark spots in the syrup, that's the burnt bits, but whatever, whisk them in and if they are small you won't even tell in the end...

Just keep whisking!

Boil this for about 5-7 minutes. The longer you boil it, the firmer your bars will be in the end. If you want them to stay soft and chewy, boil 5 minutes. If you want them firm and drier, boil 7 minutes. Take some time to properly lick all the spoons...

Remove the syrup from the heat and add in the vanilla. Whisk this is, it may froth up a bit as the alcohol burns off, don't be alarmed!

Then carefully pour this molten syrup over the dry ingredients, remember this is boiling hot syrup so be careful! Mix it all together, and put it into a pan. I use a 9 x 13 jelly roll pan, it is just a cookie sheet with sides, but use whatever you have.

Smooth it all out and pack it down.

Once it is cool, cut into bars and enjoy!

Granola Bars

3 cups oats

3 cups other stuff (nuts, seeds, dried fruit)

1/2 cup butter

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.

In a saucepan heat syrup ingredients. Boil for 5-7 minutes.

Remove from heat, add in vanilla.

Pour syrup over dry ingredients. Mix well.

Smooth into pan and let cool.

Cut into bars and enjoy!

~Jess

Design Inspiration

Lately, I've been considering updating the painting in my house. I've lived here for over 11 years now, so it's just time for some changes, and paint is definitely going to be cheaper than finishing the basement (though that's on the "To Do" list for sure).

Jess had mentioned once that she looked for colour palettes on Pinterest for card making, so I had a look. Some had links to looking for inspiration from other fabrics or things you have, so I'll probably head in that direction. I already used my kitchen chairs (some of the seat pictured above) as inspiration for some accent paint around my pantry door, so I'll now probably use some of the neutrals in it to have some continuity throughout the house.
*Note: The two paint sample strips on the chair were to figure out the best colour to use and my design friends said I could actually use any of those colours. I went with the top left for the wall as I thought it was a little more vibrant than the bottom row.

Aaaanywho, I ended up pinning quite a few colour palettes as I figured I'd need them at some point anyway in my crafting. And I discovered that I had quite a few from Design Seeds (http://design-seeds.com/), so I explored that site more and thought I'd share.

http://design-seeds.com/home/entry/petaled-hues5

What I liked about that site is that it gives you an image and pulls colours from it. Then if you like a particular one, you can click on it on the right side under "see similar colours" and it will take you to other colour palettes that use similar colours. For example, I clicked on the top-right greenish colour and got to eight different palettes that might work, depending on what overall feeling your going for. http://design-seeds.com/search?hex=cfccb0

So this is all well and good, great for card making, maybe some clothing design, inspiration for choosing colour options, but this doesn't really help you buy the paint for the walls.

But wait! I found another website that will help with that. EasyRBG http://www.easyrgb.com/?X=SEEK

This will take computer colours and turn them into the paint colour names from different companies. You'll need either the RGB values or the hex code of the colour. The beauty of the Design Seeds site is that if you hover your mouse over the colour, the hex code will pop up. It's also the end code of the webpage you follow if you click to see the similar colours. So for the greenish colour noted above you can see the end string is "cfccb0".

I know my local paint store sells Benjamin Moore paint, so I entered "cfccb0" in the colour code, chose the "Benjamin Moore Color Preview" as my color collection, and voilà! It gives me the names of four optional matches that Benjamin Moore produces. The centre block is the colour I entered and the four smaller ones around it are the options. In this case, it came up with Guillford Green, Soft Fern, Abingdon Putty, and Carrington Beige.

So now just head to the store, grab those colour samples and decide where your project is headed.

Translating computer screen colour to real life may take a little trial and error, but here's some help to getting the ideas from your head onto the walls!

~Lisa