It can be tough trying to design an outdoor space when you have very little of it. I love to sit outside and enjoy the weather, but with an apartment it can be hard to create a space you enjoy. It started out like this:
I moved a few weeks ago and I was determined to create the space I wanted, and I think I have succeeded. I went out and bought some fall plants, partial shade of course since there is a cover on my patio, and I potted them! I felt very good about myself after getting my hands in the dirt (another thing that doesn't happen often when you live in an apartment).
The pop of color from the flowers and my furniture was just what I needed to make this space mine. I am very happy with how it turned out. Let me know what you think!
--Katie
These cookies are amazing. I found the recipe at Cooking Classy, and was drawn in by the wonderful pictures (I'm a sucker for food photography).
I am including my tips after baking them once, and my pictures which aren't nearly as good as Jaclyn's.
1. Use an oven thermometer. I live in an apartment and I am pretty sure that my oven is actually colder than what I set it to. They came out a little underdone. Which could be due to......
2. Make sure you make them SMALL. I was rolling little cookie dough balls thinking "there is no way they need to be THIS small!!" They do. Trust me. When she says teaspoon size, she means it. Mine are a little bigger, smaller than a table spoon, but still not small enough.
3. Melt the butter all the way! I never realized how much smoother this made my cookies until she detailed it in her recipe.
4. Keep them away from friends and family unless you want to be baking up a storm on a regular basis. These cookies are delicious and going fast. I have eaten three just while writing this post.
Enjoy!
--Katie
I love making these as gifts! Pillow cases are so easy to make, especially if you skip the zipper.
Quick tutorial if you don't know how to make one:
1. Measure your pillow. (duh)
2. Cut a piece of fabric that is 1" taller and 2x plus 5 inches wider. So if your pillow is a 12"x12" square, cut a piece of fabric that is 13"x29". Got it?
3. Hem the ends on the short side using a .5" hem or smaller
4. Fold it so that the ends overlap, hem side up, in the middle of the pillow.
5. Stitch around the open edges, straight down, using a .5" hem or smaller.
6. Unfold, stuff in your pillow, enjoy!
Now these I made a little differently. I cut three pieces, since the front and back are different fabrics. The front piece is the dimensions plus 1", and the back is the dimensions plus 1"on the height, and 5" on the length. Cut the fabric where you like, that is where the opening will be. Follow the same idea as before, only now you have 4 sides to stitch up, not just two, because there is no fold.
Make sure you put the design part front side down, I goofed that up the first time. :)
The writing is done on my cameo, I cut the words out of freezer paper using a 2 on the blade and copy paper setting. You can iron the freezer paper onto the fabric (burlap in this case) and paint over it so it acts as a stencil! Pretty neat!
If you don't have a cameo (or cricut) you can cut any stencil out of freezer paper you want. Maybe print the words out on copy paper, trace, and cut them out. Takes more time but it has the same effect.
I used acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium. Directions for mixing are on the fabric medium bottle. Just painted it on there, let it dry, and peeled off the stencil!
I hope my mom loves them as much as I do. Even though they weren't mailed in time for her birthday (sorry mom!).
Leave a comment and let me know how yours turned out!
