I made a huge mistake...

This huge mistake began when I wanted to make a special dessert for a friend's birthday celebration. She loves lemon desserts and is a healthy eater. I was also thinking of another friend who is gluten free and thought for sure I could find a recipe for something with lemon, was gluten free and semi healthy. 

I found this recipe on pinterest and thought how cute it would be if everyone got their own little cake. 

My first mistake was thinking I could substitute gluten free flours and use my own custom mixture. I tried to save $6 by not using exactly what the recipe called for.

When I mixed everything together it smelled and looked great. However, when I poured it into the pan the batter seemed a little lumpy.

They came out of the oven a little cracked and looked dry, but I thought they couldn't be that bad. I put the sugary glaze on and couldn't wait to share my dessert. 

My second terrible mistake was bringing them and serving them (ha).

Here's a close up of the culinary delight.

I wish I could forget the looks of horror and disgust on everyone's face. Some said it tastes like beef and oregano.

The best part of the horrible mistake was that we laughed til we cried and it was probably the most memorable dessert I had ever made. 

I thought this would be a great nailed it picture. Have you seen the nailed it pics, they are hilarious. 

Hopefully my next recipe will be a success! 

Merry Christmas 

Ashley 

While the hubby was away...

Recently my husband was out of town on a business trip and lets say I had more time on my hands than usual. I went on a crafting marathon. Although I missed him it was super fun spreading all of my burlap, paper, glitter and fabric all over the house.

Here are the Smashing projects I worked on. 

I have been loving Jones Design Blog . Two of my projects were from her tutorials page. 

A Ruffle Pillow  

Ruffle Wreath : Sis in Laws birthday gift

Sparkle/Lace Pumpkins
Here they are all together. I love how the lace and ombre one turned out!!!!

Bunting Banner:

I have been seeing variations of these on pinterest but I wasn't crazy about them. There was chalkboard paint involved and it seemed time consuming and messy so instead I used chalkboard contact paper and sewed squares onto burlap.

I didn't sew the pieces on to any ribbon. I pained some small clothespins brown and they work perfect for attaching. 
I made 12 total so I can use them all year long for different holidays/special occasions. 

Our basil plant was huge this year so I made a batch of Pesto and froze it in ice cube trays. 

Pesto Recipe
4 Cups fresh basil
1 Cup grated parmesan
1/2 Cup of toasted walnuts
5 cloves of garlic
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/2-3/4 Cup of olive oil (I ended up using less)
salt and pepper

Toast walnuts at 350 for 8 minutes. In a blender or food processor combine all ingredients and add oil in gradually.
Pour in ice cube trays and freeze for a few hours. 
Pop them out and put in freezer bags.

Until next time 
xo Ashley 

Summer Fixer-Upers

Summer has officially come to a close and I found myself reminiscing on all of the projects I was able to complete within the last three months! 

Our back door was getting pretty dingy so I painted it using the same paint I used on our front door last year. 

Cost $0 

Mirror next to the front door, $5.00/garage sale. Here's the before and after.

Next was the biggest project, painting our bathroom cabinets.

New hallway decor

I've had this window for a couple years and finally got it up on the wall! Thanks Matt 

Wheelbarrow planter. This has been sitting around with weeds and dirt all summer. I'm glad I finally got my act together and cleaned it out, circa 1940's 

That's it for my summer fixer-uppers. Hope you enjoyed my frugal-fun updates. 

Ashley 

Jamaican Adoption Celebration

Our dear friends Fil and Illesha have been waiting for the last 2 1/2 years to  adopt their first son from Jamaica. Well their wait is almost over as they should be bringing home their new addition to the family very soon!

After all the waiting it was finally time to shower the family with support and gifts for their son Kedar. 

The shower was at Linda's lovely home!

The hostesses Linda & Ashley 

I have been seeing different variations of state/country art and immediately thought a map of Jamaica would be a wonderful addition to the party. 

Our Jamaica map was the buffet centerpiece .

Jamaica cut via CNC Router 

Maps of the Caribbean served as buffet accents 

Simple and delicious drinks, water, iced tea and caribbean punch

Pictures of the family with Kedar and quotes were placed around the house. 

This awesome map/flag of Jamaica was cut and painted by my husband. It comes apart in pieces. 

Kedar's new photo album! 

Palms from our yard served as a perfect accent for the family table.

Fil and Illesha have been friends of ours for many years, it has been a blessing to serve along side them in ministry and witness their incredible faith and obedience to God concerning Kedar's adoption. They are a power couple! To find out more about their ministries check out their websites Izreal and CoCo Speaks

Love 

Ashley 

Bloom Where You're Planted: Our First Garden

After almost three years of being in our home we finally decided to tackle the largest part of the backyard; the grass.(well the weeds that used to be grass :) 

I have always wanted a garden so we set aside a portion of the yard to build and setup raised garden beds. 

After many hours of  preparing the area, building wood beds, and installing an irrigation system, the garden is complete.

My husband can do just about anything and he did an amazing job. He dialed in the watering system until it was perfect and and worked so hard to ensure that every garden bed was leveled.

This blog Tilly's Nest helped us with the construction of the beds. 

Step 1: Removing old sod/weeds from future garden area.

We watered a little too much :/ so it was a bit muddy 

Matt working on the drip system

Once the first two beds were complete we had a lot of soil left over so we decided to add a 3rd bed. 

After the beds were complete we ordered 5 yards of bark and voila!!! We are are so happy with the results. 

Easy to install EcoBorder edging from Home Depot!

Here's what we planted!! 

Happy Gardening! 
Ashley