A Simple, Practical Dinner Gift Basket

Some friends of ours are in the middle of a stressful move, and to add a little support, we made a simple dinner basket up for them. I think this would be a great gift for a new mom, if someone has family in the hospital or just needs a bit of lovin'.

I just layered spinach salad (heaviest ingredients at the bottom!) in a large mason jar, added a pretty loaf of bread and some poppy seed dressing on the side and popped it into a basket. Simple, beautiful and helpful. I'll definitely do this again!

Ingredients, in order from bottom up:
Mushrooms, sliced
Grape Tomatoes, whole
Grated Cheddar
Hard boiled Egg (one and a half), sliced
Bacon, diced
Lots of baby spinach

Will keep in the refrigerator for 2-5 days depending on how fresh the ingredients are.

Tutorial: DIY Forward Facing Bookselves

I love forward facing bookshelves and have been wanting to buy some for quite a while. I'd been putting off making a purchase and snooping for tutorials for a while when I finally found a great tutorial on JOT.

In true Freya style, I skimmed the tut and winged it. Here's how I DIY'd all four of these shelves for under $25 including paint. It was actually really easy, especially since they did the cuts for free at the hardware store.

Supplies:
2x2x8 lumber (mine were cut into 4' lengths by the guy at Home Depot)
Trim, 2.5-3" tall and cut to the same length as your lumber. I used flat back baseboard trim with a simple profile.
Glossy Paint. Glossy is more durable. I used quick dry spray, but any kind you like works.
Flathead Wood Screws #12 x 3". We used 3 screws per 4' length
1.5" Finishing nails
Drill
Hammer or Nail Gun
Stud Finder
Level
Measuring Tape

1.) Paint your wood and trim the day before.

2.) Pick your spot on the wall. Use the stud finder to locate your studs and shift your position so the spacing is reasonably even. Using your level, make marks, on the studs, where you want the screws to go. We put the center screw on one stud and the outside screws into the next stud on either side.

3.) Pre-drill holes into the lumber and the wall. Staring in the center, screw the lumber to the wall. Check for level BEFORE you screw the end screws in!

4.) Decide on your spacing and continue on up the wall. We used 16" gaps between each of our 4 shelves.

5.) Nail trim to the front of your shelves. Make sure the bottom and corners are flush and nail away. Space the nails differently than the screws so you don't nail into metal! We used 4 nails on each shelf.

6.) Done! I just touched up the nail heads with a little white craft paint and that was it. The project only took and hour and a half or so after the painting was done.

One of my best bang-for-the-buck DIY projects so far. $2 per 2x2x8, $0.59 per foot for the trim, $8 for screws and nails and $5 for paint = $22 total!

Easy Custom DIY Decor- Yarn and Twine Wrapped Ball Tutorial

Here's a super easy project that you can customize for your color scheme; yarn wrapped balls.

Materials:
Glue Gun or Glue Dots
Yarn/Twine/String/Rope
Styrofoam balls in desired sizes

Instructions:
1.) Glue one end of your yarn to the Styrofoam ball.
2.) Wrap and wrap until it's all covered and looks pretty.
3.) Cut the yarn and glue the other end down.

Yup, easy as 1-2-3. A cool DIY design project done in 20 minutes.

This would be a great housewarming or hostess gift! Easy, cheap, fast and made to co-ordinate with their decor!

Easy-Peasy DIY Wall Art

I found this genius idea somewhere on the world wide web and had to use it immediately! We're slowly re-decorating our house and there was a perfect unused spot on the wall for these little gems. All you need are embroidery hoops and fabric. So easy, and so darling!

Adorable No-Sew Felt Box

Check this template out!

Adorable! I used very stiff felt and embellished it with sequin trim. Perfect wrap for little gifts.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal with Flax and Maple

I made some great oatmeal for breakfast this morning and thought it was about time that I posted a recipe on the blog! I added flax, a ton of cinnamon and just a little natural sweetener to make this a perfect start to your day!

Serves 2-4
Ingredients:
1 Cup Oatmeal (I use plain quick oats)
1/8 Cup Ground Flax
Handful of dried apple rings, diced (or substitute fresh apple if it's on hand)
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
2 Cups Boiling Hot Water
Real maple syrup to taste

Combine all the dry ingredients and stir. Add hot water and stir. Let sit 1 minute, or until water is absorbed. You can also tweak the consistency by adding water/oats. Top with a drizzle of real maple syrup, or honey.

Simple and Fun Prechool Craft

Daniel found a little scrap of binding on the floor the other day and asked if he could have it. Eventually, it transformed into a watch. So I asked if he wanted me to sew it into a loop for him. Then, we thought we may as well add a watch face. I was going to use felt, but I was kind of busy and my little wooden tiles seemed so much easier.

A little marker and some hot glue, a scrap of binding and voila! a watch for Daniel and his little buddy!

You could get really fancy and make it out of felt and add working hands with a brass paper fastener or add some velcro on the strap. You could even do a square face and make it digital.