Creative Home and Garden Ideas From Our Cottage in The Woods
DIY – Lots of great how-tos, ideas and tips, for your next DIY
My perfect cup of tea…
– Place a tea bag in your cup – add hot water.
– Allow to sit for a few minutes – squeeze & remove.
– Add a spoon of splenda, a bit of milk, and a dash of vanilla – stir.
– ENJOY!
Pictured here is a pair of vintage tea bag holders that I picked up for a dollar at a local shop. I loved the colors! I’ve pictured them in front of a piece of vintage pottery.
While visiting local yard sales, auctions, thrift shops, etc, look for items that catch your eye! You might think to yourself… I really like that piece, but I don’t really have a use for it. I want to encourage you to look through “creative eyes” when you are making a decision about a particular piece.
If you really put your mind to it, you could almost always come up with an idea about how to use a piece creatively.
As an example, here is an item that I picked up at an auction for just a few dollars. It’s original purpose was a set of drawers on a vintage sewing machine, but I have found many other uses for this piece!
I’ve used it as a place to store silverware, cloth napkins, napkin rings, letters, lace, and most recently it is standing in as my tea caddy 🙂 I love getting up in the mornings, opening a drawer & selecting whatever tea I happen to be in the mood for. There is lots of room for many different types of tea, as well as tea bag holders & a tea ball for the loose leaf varieties.
Here are the main questions I ask myself before purchasing an item.
1. Can I afford to spend the money on this piece?
2. Do I really love it?
3. Do I have room for it?
4. Then – what can I use this for?
I have found, that if I really love a piece, I usually find many different uses for it over the years.
Now… I think I’m off for a cup of tea 🙂
Organizing Your Kitchen Drawers
Organizing the drawers in your kitchen is a wonderful feeling! Have you ever gone to the drawer to find something and spent several minutes and had to sift through all of the little goodies that you’ve collected & added to the drawer over the years just to find that 1 item that you’re looking for?
There is one thing that I have learned over the last few months, cooking in the kitchen goes much smother when you can go right to the location of the tool that you need – and actually find it right away! The holiday season means much more time in the kitchen, so there’s no great time than the present to tidy up your creative cooking space!
Here are a few helpful tips for organizing your drawers:
1. Empty the drawer of all contents
2. Thoroughly clean the drawer
3. Go through the items one at a time
4. Put the items into different boxes – 1 to keep, 1 to pass, 1 for trash
5. Line drawer with non-slip material (I’ve purchased this in rolls at the $1 store)
6. Place clean items in drawer in a tidy organized way
7. Rinse & repeat on all of your drawers 🙂
I love having nicely organized drawers in our new kitchen!
Autumn is the most wonderful, and brilliantly colorful time of year. Evenings are spent in front of the fireplace with a cup of cocoa, fuzzy slippers, grandma’s quilt, and fond recollections of the days events. This Autumn, as in previous years, our family spent a day at the apple orchard. Every year memories are made, not only in the picking itself, but in the wonderful dishes enjoyed by all – for months to come. Here are a few apple ideas for you.
Decorate with apples
Slice the apple in thin slices – across the middle (makes a beautiful star pattern). Hang them on a string & drape over mantle, or other area for decoration.
Arrange dried apples around a wreath for a great natural decoration. You can also bag them in zip locks when completely dry & use them as dried apples in recipes.
Grandma Pearl’s Applesauce
Cut apples into chunks
Put into large pot, with a bit of water in the bottom
Cook until soft, add cinnamon & sugar if desired
You can freeze the sauce in bags or containers, or can it.
Replacement Ingredient in Recipes
Replace the oil & egg in recipes with applesauce – it makes a wonderful moist cake! According to Mott’s applesauce, by replacing 1/3 C oil with 1/3 C of their applesauce, a total of 608 calories & 73 grams of fat will be saved!
Mini Apple Pies
Make pie pastry, cut into rounds (with drinking glass) fill with 2 spoons of sauce. Fold in half, crimp edges, brush top with butter, sprinkle with sugar. Bake until golden brown.
Our Family’s Favorite – Apple Crisp
Peel apples and cut into thin wedges. Sprinkle with sugar, and sprinkle a small amount of water around on the top of the apples. This helps the apples make a nice juice during the cooking process.
Topping: Mix 1 handful flour, 2 handful brown sugar, 1 1/2 handful oatmeal, good sprinkle of both cinnamon & nutmeg Add 1 stick of very soft butter. Mix until small crumbs form. Add to top of apples & Cook at 350% until bubbly.
*Make large batch of this topping & freeze for later use. Use it to top – applesauce, ice cream, hot cereal, pudding etc.