Cranberry Salsa Recipe

I haven't shared many recipes but I'm so excited about this one I had to spread the joy.

I am blessed to be a part of an amazing group of women who meet every Thursday evening for dinner, Bible study, and accountability. Between the 20 of us, there are some amazing dishes brought each week. A few weeks back (at our super fun baked potato bar), my friend Bethany laid out an amazing spread of chips and cranberry salsa. I was apprehensive at first but after one bite I was pretty much glued to that spot on the table, guarding my newly discovered, ruby treasure.

I found a similar recipe online and made a batch of the salsa for a small Super Bowel party we had the next weekend. I was not able to find fresh or frozen cranberries and attempted the deliciousness with a canned version. Though it was still delicious, it was a bit too sweet (the canned fruit has a fructose additive). I can't wait to make it again with fresh or frozen berries and really party with my taste buds...

Last Thursday night Bethany gave me a super cute recipe card with her version of the cranberry salsa.

Enjoy:

Bethany's Cranberry Salsa

1 bag of cranberries
2/3 c. sugar
1 1/2 limes for juice
1 bunch of green onions
1 bunch of cilantro
2 jalapeños (more or less depending on how much spice your craving- seeds optional as well)

In food processor, blend cranberries and place them into a mixing bowl. Add sugar, lime juice, and chopped green onions to cranberry puree. Place cilantro and jalapeños in food processor and chop. Add mixture to cranberry mix and stir well. Allow to chill in fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.

-Here is an added bonus-

Before placing the salsa in the fridge, poke holes into the top of a block of cream cheese and pour the salsa over the top. Place this into the fridge for a couple of hours to allow the salsa to seep into the cheese. Serve with Ritz crackers and tortilla chips.

Thanks Bethany for the amazing recipe!!

Etsy Favorites

The "world of girl" is such fun. As we prep for the next big project of putting together baby Jane's nursery, I can't help but scour the world wide web looking for all things pink and floral and vintage and poofy.

Etsy is a favorite shopping spot (if nothing else, it provides amazing inspiration and motivation). Here are some of my recent finds:

Anything made with Amy Butler fabric is a winner...

From JMBthreedesigns's Etsy shop

Just plain cute...

From Bonniebluebelle's Etsy shop

I can't get over the rufflidge. I'll take one in every color!!!

From Dressbabybeautiful's Etsy shop

Along with perusing the clothes and accessories, I have begun the ominous diaper bag search. With Sawyer, Tim and I decided to go with a gender neutral messenger bag so that both he and I could get away with carrying it (and he could maintain his man dignity). I loved our bag and it has held up quite well but now that there is a girl on the way, I am craving a more feminine piece. This beauty has caught my eye:

From Kolobags

The search continues...We are definitely getting excited about our little lady!!

The DIY Show Off: More Than Rubies featured post!!!

I am so excited! Our closet/office re-model was the daily DIY feature at The DIY Show Off. A HUGE thanks to Roeshel for the blog spot!

As I was trying to explain the thrill to my husband, all I could think of was equating it to that feeling of pride a child gets when their teacher chooses their piece of art to hang on the wall.

Call me dramatic but its one of my first times being "featured" and I can't help but be a bit giddy...

Be sure to check out Roeshel's blog and the plethora of inspiring DIY ideas she boasts!

Closet/Office Re-model

I have been itching to blog about our weekend project...well...all weekend! As we begin to prepare for our little baby Jane, we have encountered a few obstacles. First, the room we intend to use as the nursery has been our office/craft room/"don't know what to do with it" room since we moved into the house in August. Our first solution was to move the office into our bedroom and find storage space for my crafting supplies in one of the hall closets. The plan was to find a medium to large hutch type piece of furniture and convert it to our office space. I had found a few pieces I liked but they ranged from the low $300's to the high $700's and that just wasn't in the budget. Even if we were able to find an affordable hutch, I wasn't super excited about having to move the office into our room. We brainstormed a bit and came up with a Plan B: turn the guest room closet into our office! We did some research online and found great inspiration...

From blisstree.com

from dwellerswithoutdecorators

Our first step was to clean out the closet:

Second step was to re-vamp our old computer desk (which I bought at Goodwill years ago):

Tim bought a 7ft piece of plywood which we used to extend the desk top to fill the closet.

Then came the sanding, priming, and painting.

After getting the painted desk and desktop into the closet, we added some side shelving for additional storage...

As a finishing touch, we ran a piece of molding across the front of the desk so that the plywood addition wasn't so obvious. It worked out perfectly!

I LOVE IT!!!

The total cost of our closet re-model was about $100 dollars. So much more cost effective than trying to find and fix up a large hutch or looking into custom shelving options for our room. I am thrilled with how it all turned out and so thankful I married a man who can turn my ideas into reality. He even re-wired the electrical socket in the room so that we can plug-in the computer and printer from the inside of the closet!

The final step is to find fun curtains to hang over the front. I'm seeing an Ikea trip in the near future...

The most exciting part of the project is now that we have moved the office and craft supplies out of the soon-to-be nursery, we can really get going on prepping for the baby! Pink paint samples, here I come!!

It's a girl!!

In case you hadn't heard, we're having a girl!!! We are thrilled and I can't stop dreaming in pink and tulle. Girl clothes and accessories are just more fun than boy stuff. As I've begun to seek out inspiration for the baby's nursery, I have come across some fantastic ideas:

Lemon Tree Creations (a favorite blog) is hosting a giveaway this week and I am in love with the pack of vintage nursery rhyme cards from Pretty Little Studio's Etsy store:

Can't you just picture them framed and hanging in a little girl's room? So cute. 

I'm also obsessed with Micheal Miller's Meadowsweet fabric collection:

This reminds me of old Disney movie artwork...not sure what it is. 

Decorating a little girl nursery is pretty much all I think about these days. The options are endless!! Can't wait to see how it all turns out! 

Valentine's Project

So I finally had a bit of extra time for a little DIY project. Super easy, super quick, super cheap. The best kind of project.

I LOVE the blog Lemon Tree Creations and when I saw their 30 minute Valentine wreath I was inspired. Here is how mine turned out:

This is definitely an idea that could be used for multiple holidays and seasons. Oh the possibilities...

Tuesday's Review: Battle of the Craft Stores

I'm not a hard-core crafter but I do enjoy the occasional project, especially DIY projects that save me money. Here in Visalia, the main crafting stores are Michael's and JoAnn's and my usual project list requires that I hit up both places in order to get my supplies. Until today...

(Insert sound clip of large choir singing the "Hallelujah Chorus")

As of January 2011, our town can now boast a Hobby Lobby craft store. I have been eying the store front for a month or so, waiting to see signs of life and plotting my first scouting mission. I am pleased to report that today we have mission accomplished.

Ok, so onto the "review" part.

My goal for the initial walk-through was to see how Hobby Lobby compared to its local competitors, Michael's and JoAnn's. Here is what I came up with:

Hobby Lobby v. Michael's


Hobby Lobby is simply a much larger store. It has two to three times more product than our local Michael's store and carries a larger variety of brands and options within the brands. Though I didn't do a massive amount of research as far as price comparisons go, the crafting items I purchased (scrap-booking paper, felt, a few home decor items), were on sale and definitely less expensive than the same products would have been at Michael's. I appreciated the huge selection as well. I didn't feel like I needed to go check out any other stores for more variety before making a purchase.

Where Michael's scores a few points is in their coupon campaigns. I can always find a coupon for Michael's either in the paper or at the end of an old receipt. When I find an item on sale and have a coupon to add to the discount, I usually walk out of the store feeling pretty thrifty. The other "plus" Michael's has going for it is their Martha Stewart product line. I'm a fan of her crafting tools and kits and they are only available at Michael's.

Hobby Lobby v. JoAnn's


Hobby Lobby does carry both home and fashion fabrics. I was a bit surprised at how small their selection was but was impressed by the quality and "cuteness" of what was in stock and the competitive prices of the yardage. Like I mentioned in the Michael's comparison, Hobby Lobby has a lot more product than JoAnn's, making it a nice "one-stop" shop.

Another interesting aspect to the Hobby Lobby store is the clear Christian influence. There are products with Scripture and religious phrases all over. They even carry fabric with Christian symbols and phrases printed on them. The music being played was instrumental praise music and they sell various types of worship CD's at each checkout counter

I am still a big JoAnn's fan for specific things like fabric and sewing supplies, especially when I can find what I need on sale. I have picked up some great remnant pieces as well as beautiful outdoor fabric on the super cheap which I watched for sale ads and stayed up on the seasonal deals. This works great for projects that can be planned and finished over time. It's not so great, however, for that Saturday project you saw on a blog and wanted to finish by that evening. If its not on sale and you don't have a coupon, JoAnn's can get pricey. Other than having a larger fabric selection, JoAnn's usually does a good job of having one or two isles of clearance items. Sometimes the prices are still more than I would spend but every once and a while I find a jewel of an item for next to nothing which always makes my day.

In My Humble Opinion

Overall, Hobby Lobby takes the cake. I'm sure there are items that are more expensive than at the competitor stores but from what I saw today, prices were very comparable. Hobby Lobby also boasts a large selection of gardening supplies (not like rakes and shovels but cute decor and kid supplies) as well as some great small furniture pieces and lamps. They also have multiple isles of great decor items like mirrors, clocks, frames, metal signs, and other wall fixtures. A lot of the products looked like something you would find at a TJ Maxx or Home Goods and though the furniture was priced a bit higher than I would want to pay, almost every other decor item was on sale and at least 50% off making it super affordable.

I'm a fan. I spent over an hour perusing the store today (Sawyer was with his grandparents and I took full advantage) and could have been in there for much longer would my budget have allowed it. Definitely a new favorite shopping spot!

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