{Farmhouse Pantry & Tax Day}

 Happy Tax Day! Okay, so it's not happy. But I am glad my taxes are finally filed as of last night. I am now broke (anyone else self-employed?) BUT here is a link that might help make us feel a little better. See if your city has more freebies for you than mine does. I qualify for one. Thank you Arby's.

 

 My mom redid her whole pantry out at the farm and I thought it turned out amazing! We collected jars from Ikea and Target and a lot of them she already had. We found a few at goodwill for $2 too. She bought labels at Home Depot and tied them onto each jar with a string- cute writing too, huh? She said baking is so much fun now that she is able to see every ingredient!

-Bethy

{my sofa got a paint job}

I thought I'd share my latest weekend project. I painted my $75 Craigslist couch!

Bethy's sofa on Friday: Creamish with light pink flowers and stains.

Bethy's sofa on Saturday: Green.

There are tutorials online that are more in depth than mine, so be sure to google this for yourself before trying the fast version I made up. It was 2am and I just wanted to be done!

Here is what I used:

Latex Semi-gloss paint
Fabric/Textile Medium
Scented paint additive (Glade French Vanilla)
Paint brush


I bought the scented additive because first of all, paint smells bad. Second, I bought my couch on Craigslist!

I drove all over town and used up a ton of my cell minutes trying to find enough fabric medium. A lot of time and it's not very cheap, but do not skip this step or your sofa will be crunchy. The medium keeps the fabric soft. Each brand has different directions and mine required two 8 oz. bottles per quart of paint.

{this guy}

Maybe his birthday was 2 weeks ago...and maybe it's terribly cliche of me to say "better late than never". Maybe. But oh well. It's my post and I can be cliche if I want to. And post kissy pictures and brag about this guy I'm so blessed to call Husband. :)

Seriously, have you met him? He's kinda great. I fell in love with him when I was 11 years old because he was different than the other boys and had the best sense of humor...I'm still in love with those things. He can talk to absolutely anyone. He can make the most awkward situations seem not quite as awkward (which is a good talent to have with a wife such as myself). He's amazing at his job and works so hard. And also, He makes everything in my world right with his hugs...God knew exactly what I needed in a man and I'm so glad we get to do this marriage thing together.

Happy (belated) Birthday Husband. :) lovelove!




-Michele

{15 Minute Donuts}

 Sorry for the little break there, I really am. You'll forgive me right? oh good. umm...oh hey, look! Donuts!

  My original plan was to make these for Jared's birthday...and then I was going to make them before a little road trip the next night. And then I was going to make them Tuesday. And then I made them Wednesday. But anyhooo...I've made them twice now. I did it for you guys because I'm selfless like that. They're easy, amazing, and you'll eat them so fast you don't have to worry about them sitting around your house tempting you to eat them. That's good, right?   

  Here's the link to the amazing blog where you can find out how to make your very own (thank you, Pinterest!)

  Also, if you think to yourself, aw man, I'm out of vegetable oil...I wonder if canola oil will work? It won't. Don't do it. Believe me. And, cinnamon sugar is always better than just plain sugar. The end.

 

{winter wonderland}

 This morning I really could've used a model. I LOVE FOG. Not driving in it, of course. But it's soooo pretty for photos.

 This morning was also a perfect opportunity to find out that my CF card corrupted. Of course I'm glad it didn't happen on a real shoot and that I didn't lose valuable wedding photos, etc etc... but of COURSE I'm going to say that I lost my best pictures of the pretty snow and I'm bummed:(


    Canon 5D MkII, TSE 45mm 2.8

  ~Bethy

{Poofy Pancakes}

Well, technically they're German Pancakes...but who wants to be technical, right? I prefer Poofy, or Fluffy, or Practically Grow Legs And Walk Out Of Your Oven Pancakes. They're super simple which is good if you're like me and wake up sometimes just really needing a pancake the size of your plate. You feel that way sometimes too? Oh good, I knew we'd be friends...

Now this recipe is for just one, so double or quadruple accordingly :) 

German Pancakes

1 T butter

1/2 c flour

1/2 c milk

2 eggs

1/2 t vanilla

Dash of salt

Dash(es) of cinnamon

While your oven is preheating to 425 degrees, melt the butter in your pan in the oven. I used a pie pan. While that's all going on, whisk everything else together. 

Once your oven is ready, pour your batter over the butter and move it to the oven. 

 It'll poof up nice and big until you think it has a life of it's own and you wonder if you should have used a bigger pan and did you totally just waste your last 2 eggs? But no worries. Bake that baby for 10 minutes or until it's firm. Once you take it out it'll deflate a little bit.

At this point let your imagination (aka tummy) take over. I was just really excited to eat it so I opted for just syrup and powdered sugar. But it would be amazing with fresh fruit and whipped cream, or even Nutella! Oh yum...so yes, please go make one! I may have already asked husband to pick up more eggs after work so we can have breakfast for supper. :)