Homemade Jewelry Cleaner

Hi there friends! Is everyone having a good Wednesday? All of my American friends out there are halfway through the week to a 3 day weekend with Labor Day coming up.  I'm so excited! I feel like I need to plan a party or something to celebrate the last days of summer--I can't believe it's already almost fall!

I wanted to let everyone know that if you've been wanting a polka dot printed pillow, now's the time to get them while they are only $18.99 on A Painted Nest deal site!

And in other awesome news, Fifth and Mae US state necklaces are only $9.99 on Brickyard Buffalo for the next couple of days! I am obsessed with mine.

I've got something a little different for you guys today: Easy Homemade Jewelry Cleaner! I love love love this stuff because it's super cheap, uses ingredients that everyone already has, takes only 10 minutes, and it works wonders! Just check out how sparkly some of my jewelry came out below! (Don't judge me on how nasty the before photo is. ;))

This is an iphone photo I took when I used the solution a couple of months back.  Look how sparkly the diamond was after I used the cleaner! You'll be so surprised at how dirty your jewelry was and you didn't even realize it!

Homemade Jewelry Cleaner

Recipe originally from Food.com

Important Note: The source says this solution is good for "gold-filled, brass, german (nickel) silver, and sterling silver". Please check out the reviews here to read about how it worked for different materials. Be aware that it will remove any patina (blackened areas) on a piece--only use this for jewelry you want to be super shiny!

Ingredients

• 1 piece aluminum foil
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon dish soap or dish detergent
• 1 cup hot water

 

1. Cover the bottom of a small bowl with the aluminum foil.
2. Put the salt, baking soda, and dish soap/detergent into the bowl.
3. Add hot water (I just use the hottest water that comes out of my tap).  Mix with a fork so that everything is incorporated.  You will probably still have grains of salt at the bottom, this is fine.
4. Add your piece of jewelry.  Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes in the solution.
5. Pull out your piece of jewelry and rinse in clean water.  At this point, I also use an old toothbrush to clean out any crevices on my piece. 
6. Dry off and polish your jewelry with a soft cloth.  So clean and sparkly!

So I didn't get the best photos of my ring before/after, but hopefully you can see a bit of a difference.  When you do your own jewelry in person, you'll be amazed!

My other jewelry had an amazing transformation! It was all tarnished and dirty since I haven't worn most of it in a while.  Look how incredible:

And that's that! The solution is not reusable, so make a new batch each time you want to use it.

Happy cleaning!

Guacamole and Giveaway Winner!

It's Monday and that means today we have a winner to the 100 Followers Giveaway!

Tina Dykstra, you are the winner! I'll be emailing you with details on how to claim your prizes!

Thanks everyone for entering! If you didn't win, don't be sad--follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more giveaways in the future.

Today I have a delish snack recipe for you guys. I made some Guacamole yesterday for me and my husband to have a treat while we watched Breaking Bad (ahhhh! anybody see last night's episode!?) and I am gonna brag and say this recipe is the best Guac I've ever had. Plus it is super super easy--chop up a bunch of veggies and mash them together... done!  This would make a great dip for a Labor Day party this weekend!

Guacamole is more of an art than an exact science, but this is a great base recipe.  Feel free to add your favorite ingredients to taste--jalapeños, tomatoes, hot sauce, anything!

Guacamole

Ingredients

• 2 large avocados (they should be ripe and give when you press on the skin)
• Juice from 1 lime
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup green onions chopped (about 2 green onions)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Dash of pepper
• Optional: a few dashes of hot sauce

1. Chop up your cilantro and green onions.  Pit and peel your avocado and put in a bowl. Use a fork or potato masher to mash up the avocado.
2. Add lime juice and mix.
3. Add the cilantro, green onions, garlic, salt, and a dash of black pepper.  Also at this point, add any extra ingredients or hot sauce.  Mix to incorporate.
4. Taste to check for seasonings--add more salt or lime juice if needed. 

To store: I've read that you could add an avocado pit to the guacamole when storing to prevent it from turning brown--I tried it this time, and it totally works!  Store the guac in a bowl with an avocado pit in the middle (optional) and cover it in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate.

If you want something you've never had...

Hi Friends! Sorry I have been sort of MIA for a couple of days... I've just had a bunch going on and I feel like I'm having some sort of crazy quarter-life crisis.  I am working on getting a new part time job and changing a few things in my life and I just feel so overwhelmed and doomsday for some reason.  I think it is just because things always turn out differently than you imagine when you're planning out your life--I thought I'd have more of a secure career and have everything figured out by now but that is definitely not the case.  But I'm sure I can figure all of this out, I'm a smart, independent adult, right?

(Source)

Oh I'm such a mess.  Does anyone ever feel like this or am I crazy?

Anyway, I don't want this post to be all doom and gloom, I really am fine I've just been a little down.  I want to look at everything a bit more positively, so this is one of my favorite quotes and I'm trying to make it my mantra right now.  I made some printable versions for you guys if you like it too:

HQ Printable Version

HQ Printable Version

Here's to a great stress-free weekend for everyone! Make sure you enter the giveaway today if you haven't already--it ends TONIGHT and a winner will be announced on Monday!

Blueberry Scones

Hello to my new followers and thanks everyone for entering the giveaway! There is still time, so if you haven't, make sure to enter here: 100 Followers Giveaway!

I have something so yummy and awesome for you guys today, it is making me hungry just posting about it.  Homemade Blueberry Scones! So where I'm from in Utah, a "scone" is usually fried dough with honey butter on it (so delicious) but these are true English scones and they are an awesomely flaky, buttery, soft pastry.

In this recipe I will teach you the secret of getting really flaky delicious dough.  A lot of the time homemade pie crust or homemade biscuits are dense and flat, not like the bakery at all. After following these instructions your dough will be better than the bakery and you'll be a pro!

This recipe is adapted from the best pastry cookbook ever, Tartine.  Tartine is a bakery in San Francisco and oh my gosh it's amazing. I love this book--it's got gorgeous photos and the recipes are out of this world.  If you are serious about baking at all run to Amazon to get your copy right now!

100 Followers Giveaway!

Happy Friday, friends! I want to say hello to my new friends from the button swap.  Check them out on the sidebar--yay for new fun blogs to follow!

And, you guys! I hit 100 followers since my last post, yahoo! I want to celebrate and thank you guys for following me with an awesome giveaway.  I'm giving away a $15 gift card to Fifth & Mae as well as any 2 pillow covers from my shop, Nonpareil Home.  Goodies for yourself and your cute house!  Use the Rafflecopter below to enter.  The giveaway will run until next Friday at midnight MST. Sorry, US applicants only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

All entries will be verified when a winner is picked.

Good luck and have a great weekend loves!

5 Pinterest Accounts to Follow

Hello my friends!

If you're addicted to Pinterest like I am, I have a treat for you today! 5 Beautiful Pinterest Accounts to Follow! These people are awesome curators with incredible taste.

1. Jenny Rose - Jenny's boards are so inspiring! She's got a little bit of everything, including great inspiration for graphic designers.

2. Schirin Rachel - Beautiful inspiration and breathtaking photos.  I especially love the food board--unique ideas and pretty presentation for the foodies among us.

3. Michelle Hunt - Michelle is one of the geniuses behind Twig Creative, and her pinterest boards give us a little bit of insight into her inspiration.  She's pinned great ideas for artists and mamas.

4. Twigs & Honey - Lots of their boards are directed at brides and weddings but there are amazing fashion and party ideas for everyone!

5. Michelle Barnes - Michelle is the founder of Fifth and Mae jewelry shop and blogs over at The Copper Collective.  Michelle is a mom, artist, DIY'er, and lover of pretty things and her boards are evidence of her interests and awesome taste.

Do you have any favorite Pinners lately?  Let us know in the comments and share the love!

For even more Pinterest accounts to follow, visit At Home in Love's 10 Pinterest Accounts to Follow!

Happy Wednesday!

Camping and Cookies

I'm back from camping and it was awesome.  We were up in the Uinta mountains at an amazing place called Butterfly Lake.  So pretty!  My talented husband made this amazing little video of our trip:


Uintas // 2013 from luke lewis on Vimeo.


So I spent all of my time relaxing and eating treats and I probably gained 500 pounds.  So what I should really be doing is eating healthy and getting back on track counting calories... but what am I going to do? Give you guys a recipe for the best peanut butter chocolate chip cookies ever! It's a Monday, everybody deserves a treat today!

These peanut butter cookies are the best: chewy with a crisp outside, peanut-buttery, melt in your mouth perfection.  Feel free to leave out the chocolate chips and sprinkle peanuts on top for just plain peanut butter cookies.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter (softened)
• 6 tablespoons white sugar
• 6 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup peanut butter (natural or regular)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat your oven to 375 F.
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar in a bowl.  Add the egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated.
3. Mix in the peanut butter.  Add in the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until you have a uniform dough.  This dough is a lot stickier/softer than regular cookie dough, so just keep that in mind.  Mix in the chocolate chips.
4. Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet and flatten slightly with a fork.  Bake for 10 minutes or until very lightly golden brown.  These cookies will smell so good, you'll be tempted to just pull them right off of the sheet and eat them right away, but let them cool for about 10 minutes or they'll be too crumbly.  Enjoy!

And as a final note, I want to swap buttons with you! If you have a blog you want to promote, let's swap buttons and help each other out! Check out my Swap/Sponsor Page to send me your button through Passionfruit Ads.

Freebie Friday - Phone Backgrounds

You guys, I had such a bad day yesterday! :( I just felt so busy and stressed out and everything was just a little bit off.  So I had a ton on my mind and I jump in my car to run an errand. I call up my sister as I'm backing out of the garage, not paying attention to what I'm doing, and suddenly I hear a huge scraping noise.  I freaked out and pulled forward, shaking.  I jump out of the car and see that I had hit my husband's car which was in the driveway. Greaaaat. The back part of his car has a dent in it and a huge scrape. So I spent the next hour crying about how stupid I am and kicking myself for letting myself get so distracted. Everything will be okay but that was just a bad ending to a bad day.

But, not to worry, the weekend is here! And it will be so awesome and fun and relaxing because I am going camping with my family.  I'm so excited.  I need a little break so it will be perfect.

I've got a Friday Freebie for those of us trying to savor the last bits of summer: Berry Phone Backgrounds!

Iphone 4/4s on the left, Iphone 5 on the right
(These will also work well for most Android phones)


       


        

To use these backgrounds on your phone, navigate to this page and click on the image so that the large size comes up.  Click and hold on the image until it gives you the option to save to your phone.  Enjoy!


And last but definitely not least, an AMAZING giveaway at The Copper Collective of Fifth and Mae blogger faves! Go enter the giveaway and you could win my jewelry picks or selections from 5 other bloggers. Love it!

I hope everyone has a great weekend and doesn't hit any cars! ;)

Guest Post at The Copper Collective

That super fun guest post I promised is up over at The Copper Collective.  Go check it out!

Confetti Party Tablecloth

I'm running around like crazy today, I feel like I have so much to do and no time at all to do it in! So I just have a quick project for you guys today, it was so fun to make (okay, I'm a little kid, think I like playing with paint wayyy too much) and very easy!  I want someone to have a birthday now so I can whip out this fun confetti print tablecloth!

I love the confetti on this tablecloth--it looks kind of like sprinkles on a cupcake (imagine how cute this could be for a table with party cupcakes on it!).  You can even make it more grown-up by using all gold paint or even just black to make a fun monochromatic design.

Low-Carb Flax Crackers

So I am perpetually working on losing weight, and I will spend hours scrolling on pinterest to find healthy recipes.  But if you search "healthy snacks" or "healthy meals" on Pinterest, some of the things are such a joke! They use honey instead of sugar or add natural peanut butter and somehow that makes the whole recipe "healthy".  Example: I have the most delicious granola bars pinned to one of my boards and the recipe is called like "Healthy Granola Bars" or something-- it has butter, sugar, and honey in it and oh yeah it adds up to 180 calories for a small (regular sized) granola bar.  For those of us who are counting calories, that doesn't count as "healthy", Pinterest! 

Has anyone else had these "healthy" Pinterest experiences or is it just me?

So in finding these flax crackers, I was skeptical.  The sound of using flax seeds in crackers sounded kind of weird and gross but I wanted to try.  YUM! I'm so glad I did.  These crackers may not be the most beautiful things on earth but if you are trying to low-carb it, they are the way to go.  

These crackers are loaded with fiber, have only 6 effective grams of carbohydrates for the whole recipe! (35 total grams of fiber).  The whole recipe is 590 calories and I'd say it makes like 30 crackers or so, so let's say a serving of 5 big-sized crackers is around 100 calories.  

I've used garlic as a seasoning in these crackers but you could add anything you like! Try adding italian seasoning to make pizza crackers, a mix of various herbs, different cheeses to make cheesy crackers, or I bet some savvy baker could even come up with a sweet cracker recipe!  Top them with your favorite cheeses, meats, and spreads for a yummy crunchy snack.

Dyed Pillowcase Shirt

Happy Friday everybody! Hurray for the weekend! I'm still getting used to juggling everything, so sorry that it's been so long since I've updated, but I have some great projects coming up for you guys!

First just wanted to let you know, BIG summer sale at Nonpareil Home -- most of the pillow covers are marked all the way down to $19 to make way for new inventory! Head on over and grab them before they're gone!

Today I have a pillowcase shirt DIY for you guys!

 So my mom is moving out of her house and I've been helping her pack and get rid of things.  She is a craft author and artist so she has a lot of supplies and materials with the attitude of "I'll use it in a project someday!"  Okay, we have very different ideas about what should be saved, versus what should be thrown in a fire and never looked at again. I had been putting almost everything in the "Throw Away" pile and shoving things into trash bags when she wasn't looking.  But when I came upon these amazing 1970's pillowcases, my mom immediately held out the trash bag and I had to be the one saying, "But I'll use it in a project someday!"

Okay, I probably just have some weird childhood nostalgia with these things because, they really are just old 70's pillowcases, but I had to keep them and make something with them!

This shirt was too easy to make and turned out so cute! Dig those old pillowcases out of your closet or maybe even hit up the thrift store to make one of these cute shirts for yourself! I ended up dyeing mine so it didn't look too pillowcase-y, but feel free to skip that part if you already have a color you love.