The Big LOVE Day!

 It's February! Can you believe how fast the first month of the year went by? I can't. I feel like January was the month for taking a break from projects and such since my whole entire month of December was full of it! Now February is here and I am back in DIY mode again. I'd like to work on at least one project a month this year, whether it is just something small or big.


I like to try to make Valentine's Day special for my man. I usually create an elegant meal for the
evening and a decadent dessert. Of course he receives a lovey Valentine's Day card plastered with hearts and all that. This year I would like to try to do more to make it extra special. That's where Pinterest comes in handy. ;) I've come across a couple things to add to my agenda for the night, and am excited to get started soon. After all, it is next week!

After taking all the Christmas decor down, my home looked so bare. So to add my own personal touch for our romantic dinner and evening together, I've decided to make this paper heart chain. Hey, paper chains aren't only for kids, you know! It is cheap, simple and quick. Why not? :)

I'm not sure about my meal plans yet, but I do have an idea for dessert. Since I will be making something for a banquet we are having at church a few days before, I am going to try to keep our dinner date dessert simple. I found this dessert idea and thought it looked festive for the occasion. I will definitely be tweaking it a bit. After reading the recipe, I think I will add some brownies to the layers and try to find a strawberry flavored pudding, rather than using food coloring.

Lastly, if you have not heard of The Dating Divas, you should totally check out their website and join... for free, of course! It is a wonderful site for keeping your marriage alive with date ideas they send you every week via email. It includes free printables many times, DIYs, at-home dates, etc. I have used a lot of their ideas and am so thankful for a site that is clean, but shares tons of creative ways to have fun with your Hubby! And for those that have children and no time to get away, they have cool ways to involve (or work around) the kids with some of "dates" at home. I will be using a few things from them for the rest of our date together. ;)

For a gift, I ran across something that made me think, perfect. I don't really want to spend much money on a gift since I may be spending a little for the dinner and supplies for the rest of the evening, so I thought this was great. This lady made a free printable to frame. OR you could make and personalize your own. It would take a little time maybe, but how affordable and not to mention meaningful!

It's amazing all the free things you can find online now. I'm grateful for these resources, because I certainly am not as creative with some of these things like a lot of these ladies are. It makes it easier to mix things up rather than sticking with the "same old" usual routines year after year.

Pinterest Recipes

So there are some recipes that I have made recently that I found off of Pinterest, and they are keepers. I have tried many recipes over time, and some just aren't really that fantastic. But the ones that I love, I must share!

I was given a donut pan for Christmas and was so excited! I have been wanting to make baked  donuts for some time, but haven't had the pan. I found a recipe on Table For Two, and love it. It's simple and easy to change up if you need to.

http://www.tablefortwoblog.com/2012/07/09/cinnamon-sugar-donuts/

I have even made this recipe without the egg because I didn't have any and it was still awesome! And, I've even made it with whole wheat flour and they still were amazing. So if you are interested in making donuts that are really easy, yummy and not really bad for you, then here it is. ;) I also substitute the cinnamon in the sugar coating with Pumpkin Pie spice and it is sooo yummy.

Next recipe I have only made once, but I am so excited about. I am not a bread maker. I have tried and tried to make bread, but I can never get it to come out fluffy. It's always so dense and dry. So I came across this recipe on Pinterest and tried it out. It is from Simply So Good, and is so easy. I am really into the easy stuff when it comes to bread. When I heard it was no-knead, I was even more enthused.

http://www.simplysogood.com/2010/03/crusty-bread.html

My first loaf came out pretty good, actually, and we finished it all. Most of my loaves of bread are never finished and end up in the trash! With this recipe, you mix the ingredients and leave it in a bowl on the counter for 18 hours. Then bake. It's that simple.

Anyway, there are a couple of good recipes that I wanted to pass along. With both recipes, there is room to experiment with flavors and such, so eventually I may come up with my own tweak of the recipe and share it someday.

Happy Cooking!

Our Christmas 2012

I have been wanting to post on here for a very long time, but I just haven't had the chance! Even though the holiday busyness is over, it still seems like life has kept a busy pace. Here are a few things from our Christmas this year and what kept me busy the whole month of December!

We started off with an advent calendar that I made for my husband. Each day had a little love note inside and occasionally I would add a special surprise. 

I made these soaps for the ladies of the family. I bought a Shea Butter base and added my own essential oil and coloring (which I swirled for a marble effect). I wrapped them in parchment paper and made my own tags for them. It really was rather easy to make these. Just took a little time!

These here are SUPER easy. I mean, they are so easy I was almost embarrassed to take any credit for making them. Haha. I got the recipe for this sugar scrub off of Pinterest. I'm not sure where the original recipe came from, but all you do is mix together 3 parts sugar, 1 part Olay Dawn Dishsoap. That's seriously it. I bought containers at Michaels and decorated them as shown. The cute boxes came from Christmas Tree Shoppe.

These gift baskets were filled with all homemade goodies. I bought the baskets at Michaels when they were clearanced out the week before Christmas.

The jars are homemade apple butter and grape jam, which I made in the fall. You can sort of see the biscuit mix I put together as well. I basically just put all the dry ingredients into a paper bag and printed out directions for putting them together and baking them.

In the back I tucked in some handmade dishcloths and viola, the basket was complete. I gave these to the parents and grandparents, and they were a hit.

Our Christmas day together, just Kyle and me, was complete with a yummy breakfast and rich, peppermint hot cocoa. Our wonderful aunt bought these adorable mugs for us for Christmas... aren't they awesome?!

There are a lot of recipes I have tried out recently that I have loved and I want to share them. So be on the lookout, because these are some keepers! 

I hope everyone is having a great start to the New Year. We have much to look forward to in the months ahead. :)

Have a great day,

Merry Christmas

Have a Merry Christmas!
Love,
Kyle and Amelia Hansen

My Busy December

It may seem like I have dropped off the planet, but no, I'm still here! Just caught up in tons of Christmas projects! Making a lot of your own Christmas gifts can be really fun, but it also is time consuming! Yesterday, I printed out pretty labels for each of the items I crafted. I also made gift tags with my own rendition of calligraphy. I am really pleased with how everything has turned out this year and am excited to give them! Some years I feel so ambitious to get gifts made and in the end I don't make nearly all I had planned... but this year has been quite successful. I am excited to share pictures later of the handmade items.

The reason for getting my gifts done early is because this weekend we have our first "Christmas" (out of many!) with Kyle's parents. We are looking forward to the trip up to Maine to share some time with our family and just relax. Tomorrow will be spent doing some baking, packing and last minute preparation before the trek North. And cleaning my house that is cluttered with gifts. Haha.

I also have very good news. My husband will finally be able to work a "normal" job!!! He got hired by W.B. Mason and will start driving on Monday. What a HUGE praise. We have been praying for a year and a half that God would provide something different for Kyle, and now here we are. The best part is that he will have better hours and will be around more often. And another plus is that I will have the car whenever I need it!! It's so rewarding after such a long time to finally have a prayer answered. :)

I'll have to catch up more at another time. I hope to get some photos of my house all decorated for the holiday, but at the rate, I'm not sure yet.

Hope you all are enjoying the most wonderful time of the year! ;)