DIY Book Page Wreath

I came across a beautiful wreath made entirely of old book pages online and decided to make one for myself. It made for a fun Sunday afternoon DIY project! Here's my how-to instructions. The whole project cost me $15 and that was just because the punch was expensive. Well, I guess I should count the $0.25 I purchased the book for at a garage sale!

Materials
scissors
cardboard
1 book
Elmer's glue
EK Sucess Diamond Lace Slim Edger Punch



Begin by tracing a circle on your cardboard and cutting it out. Once you have your larger circle, trace a smaller circle inside and cut out the center to make the backing for your wreath.

Tear out all of the pages of the book. The edges don't need to be straight where you tear, as they won't show on the inside of the wreath. Punch along the edges of each page with the scalloped punch.

Fold each page into accordion shapes about 2-inches in width. Fold over the edge where the page was torn and glue the flap to secure the layers staying together. Glue that same edge to the outer rim of the cardboard circle. Continue this all the around the cardboard to complete your first layer.

Continue adding layers all around the circle until you have come to the center. Make sure you layer enough pages to add depth to your wreath. Once you come to the center layer, glue the inside of the flaps at the bottom of your pages around the inside circle so that it sticks to the back of the cardboard to cover seeing any of the backing. That's it!
Happy crafting!

Nursery in progress!

I've been working on gathering my ideas and items for little lady's nursery and I'm so excited with how its turning out. My friend Chelsea of Oh My Deer Handmades is helping me gather my thoughts and here is direction it's headed. *Note the nursery shown below is NOT my nursery, just an inspiration as I embark on this process!

The Civil Wars

My sweet friends Joy Williams and John Paul White make up a band called The Civil Wars and they were on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night!! They were incredible and I'm just so proud. Everyone should check their music out because its amazing. Period. End of Story....

Here is a link to purchase their new record Barton Hollow on Amazon.

Also, check out their video below and friend them on facebook!

Harira Moroccan Stew (ala Pam)

This delicious winter recipe came to me from my friend Pam who has traveled/lived around the world and experienced many different cultures. Here is her recipe for a Moroccan stew with a couple of tweaks by yours truly.

Ingredients
4 cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1 celery stalk including leaves, chopped
3 tbsp butter
3/4 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne (or however spicy you like it!)
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup lentils (optional-I didn't include)
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 cup angel hair pasta broken in small pieces
1/2 cup arborio rice

Saute spices in butter and a little olive oil on medium high heat. When they are done, they will separate back out from the oil. Add celery and onion and saute until tender. Add all other ingredients except rice and pasta. Let simmer for 5-10 minutes to thicken. Drop in rice and pasta and cook until those have become tender and stew has thickened. Stir in chopped cilantro and parsley at the end and serve!

Let it snow....

What a beautiful day it is here in Nashville! I'm sitting back relaxing and enjoying the snowy white view from my window, sipping hot cocoa with marshmallows. I have a sleeping pup at my side and a baby kicking strongly in my belly. Happiness is mine! In between sending work emails, I'm working on a baby blanket for our little lady. Yep, its a pretty good day indeed.

Prosciutto, Lemon, Goat Cheese Fusilli Pasta

A trip after work this evening to our natural food market inspired this yummy pasta from all the things I could find that sounded tasty together. The husband gave it two thumbs up, so I thought it was worthy of a post.

Ingredients
1/2 lbs fusilli pasta
8 oz cherry or grape tomatoes
4 oz thinly sliced prosciutto
1/2 sweet or yellow onion
4 oz goat cheese
1/2 lemon
handful of Italian parsley
1 clove garlic
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400º. Slice tomatoes in half and toss in olive oil along with salt and pepper. Spread tomatoes on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Heat a pot of water with salt until it boils and drop your pasta.

While the pasta is cooking, heat up your saute pan on medium. Slice prosciutto in 1/2-1 inch slices and drop into saute pan to cook up until browned, which should take only about 5-8 minutes. Chop the onion and add when prosciutto is almost done. Add in a dash of pepper. Saute until tender and translucent. Add in 1 clove of chopped garlic for about 1 min.

Cook the pasta until just slightly al dente. Reserve a cup of pasta water before draining all of the pasta.

Combine pasta, prosciutto, onion, garlic and roasted tomatoes in saute pan. Add in small amounts of the pasta water to give the pasta a creamy texture. Mix in the crumbled goat cheese and a handful of the coarsely chopped parsley. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 of a lemon. Once all ingredients are mixed well and the pasta has a nice creamy texture, you are ready to serve!

Enjoy!

A New Year's to Remember

This New Year's Eve was a sweet and memorable time for us. Jeremy and I escaped to a cabin with some of the most precious people in our lives (*note...I said SOME). If I filled the house with ALL of the most incredible and dear people to me, it would be bursting at the seams. We are truly blessed with amazing friends.

The talented and beautiful Chelsea Petaja of Oh My Deer Handmades put together this incredibly sweet video documenting our trip and I think it captures the evening perfectly. Sweet friends, lots of laughter and lots of kisses to ring in the new year. Here is to an amazing 2011!