New Inspirations

Ok, so we are looking to purchase a new home in the next several months hopefully and although that means a lot of work to put ours on the market....boo...it also means dreaming of how to decorate and make the new house our home.

So where to go for inspiration...Pinterest and Instagram of course! 

I follow cute puppies and kitties, gluten free, travel, and home accounts mostly on Instagram. When you like something on Instagram its easy to go back and look through them from your profile. Or if you have a clever app like Pocket you can organize images into it. But when I'm just scrolling in the morning to wake up I just tap it because that is all my brain can take that early. From my profile I go back and look at the pics I've liked and really look at the house pics with the sole thought of the future house. I pin, or Pocket, or screenshot my favs.

Now comes getting all my thoughts for the new home in one space. This is when an oldie but a goodie comes into play, Pinterest. Pinterest is just the best. Forget "showhole", I pinhole. I can pin and look on Pinterest for hours. Not a brag just fact. I have gotten to where I limit myself and my longest indulgences are 30 minutes max.

"Showhole"

Now, I double pin. I know seems redundant but it helps me pull my thoughts together.  I take my top picks  Pinterest and put them on a new board called something simple like, New House Inspiration. This helps me get through the clutter and when I go shopping or am trying to explain my vision I have it all in one spot. It's also easy to pin my top picks from Instagram and put them on this board. I can also add collaborators if I want to add my husband, which I did decide to do.

New House Inspiration

Some of my favorite inspiration

Bathroom

Guestroom

Kitchen

Outdoors

Chalkboard Fridge with Jute

Ok so I know its been awhile since my last post. But we bought a house! A foreclosure,  so it took a long time but three closings later and we are in! I should have documented more of the changes we have made but I just wanted to get them done it was gross after being a rental property and then being vacant so long. So here is one that I was very excited about. CHALKBOARD FRIDGE!

 

 

 

You will need:
- drop cloth

- disposable paint pan

- paint roller

- paintbrush

- fine sandpaper

- painters tape

- rag

- rustoleum chalkboard paint

-jute

-locktite glue

 

 

 

First thing is put down the drop cloth. I used plastic this time and painters tape to hold it down.

Sand the fridge and give it a wipe down. Let it dry.

 

 

 

Apply a thin coat and then quickly go in with the brush to get the nooks and crannies. It dries quickly and you dont want it to congeal with the rolled paint.

Allow an hour in between coats. It says 4 but who has time for that???!!!

 

This was almost it for me. I saved these little spots and seams for last. They don't need as many coats.

 

 

Then is was time for jute. I cute about a yard at a time smeared lock-tite on the handle and just starting wrapping. And get the lock-tite that dries clear:)

 

 

This was the finished product:) My husband loves it and its so handy for grocery lists and notes.

 

Love and Toast Review

So I make a lot of my lotions and potions but it is always nice to support great earth friendly companies and treat yourself to something special. I have several indulgences of this sort and Love and Toast is a great one.

 

Not only do they make great products with pure and simple ingredients but they give back. Take a look at their mission statement.

Love and Toast has perfume, lotions, shampoo, chapstick, etc. I like the perfume well enough but it doesn't have great staying power. The chapstick I wouldn't splurge on but they do have great scents and taste. The products I love from this company are the lotions and butters. I have two right now.

 

Honey Nectar Lotion

The scent is not what I expected. It doesn't smell like that sweet honey that everyone is used to. Think the smell of raw honey versus the honey bear. At first this really disappointed me. I wanted that sweet milk and honey scent but this scent turns into a great base. After I wear it the smell almost turns into a vanilla. A gentle vanilla that blends really well with any perfume you choose.

Clementine Crush Lotion

 

Clementine Crush actually describes this scent really well. Fresh, light, and citrus.

 

 

I love these because a little bit goes a long way. Seriously, I used to much on one leg the first time I used it and it ended up being enough for my whole body. When I started to rub it in on my leg it was as though more magically started to appear. The smell is fresh and delicate. It absorbs really well into the skin and seems to hydrate for longer periods of time than a lot of other lotions.

One warning though. If you have animals they will lick this stuff off. I have heard of animals licking off lotion before but mine had never done it until Love and Toast. My mom's and sister's do the same thing.

One negative for me is the shape of the bottle. The packaging is cute and different but not so great for getting the last bit out of the bottle. You cant squeeze it like you can in a tube.

 

 

Check out their website love and toast.

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

 

I love reading and at first was not going to make that apart of my blog but I have had a few really good reads lately. One of which I was thoroughly surprised by. I bought Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society two years ago and started reading it but didn't get past the first few pages and moved onto another book. I just now got back to it and I am so glad that I did.

 

The first few letters were boring and I found reading them tedious. But I powered through and didn't give up on it like I did two years ago. Then slowly the letters started to have more and more substance and built off of one another. By page 40 or 50 I couldn't put it down; I just had to now what was going to happen next.

 

 

The main character is Juliet. An author and columnist that shot to fame during WWII for bringing news of the war to England in weekly columns. The news during this time was heavy and those living in London especially were in a constant state of fear ;so, Juliet did the best she could to write on the news but doing so in a manner that still was able to lift their spirits. Her columns were very popular and after the war were published into a book.

 

One day through what could only be fate Juliet received a letter from a man on Guernsey Island. (Guernsey is a channel island between France and England that was occupied during the war.) This man had ended up with a book by Charles Lamb that had belonged to her and was writing to let her know how much that book had meant to him during the war. This correspondence lead to her corresponding with him and his friends on Guernsey. This correspondence led to a whirlwind of exciting discoveries and adventures and stories both of the Occupation and after.

 

 

While reading I became involved with these characters and envisioned them on Guernsey. I feel as though I know Guernsey through this book, thanks to the vivid detail and research done by the author. I cant imagine many people after reading this book would not feel the same way. This book was full of imagination and joy all while dealing with the heavy topic of WWII and the Nazi Occupation. More than anything this book left me with a sense of hope that will stay with me long after the book has faded.

Gluten Free Raspberry Peach Cobbler

Summer peach and berry season is here! So enjoy with a cobbler and ice cream:). The true southern way.

Cobbler Topping Ingredients:
1 cup white rice flour

1/2 cup gluten free oats

1/2 cup oat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 stick butter (room temp)

1/8 cup water

1/2 cup turbinado sugar

pinch salt

Cobbler Filing Ingredients:

12 ounces raspberries

3 peaches pealed and sliced

1/2 cup sugar (this can vary depending on sweetness of the fruit)

Preheat oven to 350*F

You can cream butter and sugar but it is not necessary. You can throw all the topping ingredients in a large bowl and incorporate until well blended.

It will clump together and have little crumbles. Sort of how bread dough is before you kneed it.

Look how glorious these raspberries look!

And the yummy peaches:)

Place all the fruit in the bottom of your oven safe dish and then sprinkle the sugar on top.

Take the dough and kinda crumble on top.

Bake 45 minutes until golden and bubbly.

My Favorite Places - Stanton Home Furnishings in Virginia Highlands Atlanta

You know that happy feeling of finding a store that just suits you. It fits your personality and style. It gives you that surge of inspiration. Well thats what happened to me when I walked into Stanton Home Furnishings in the Virginia Highlands neighborhood of Atlanta.

Stanton Home Furnishings 

What is even more amazing is that my husband loved the store, too. Somehow that store and not some designer we had to pay thousands of dollars to merge our style. It was amazing. I took some pictures of the some items we really loved and want to recreate for cheap. Because lets just say this store was NOT reasonably priced.

There also were some pillows that looked very familiar. 

I loved this fabric in pillows and may consider making some but I think it will be too much with the ottoman.

Which I still need to finish the other pillows so the couch doesnt look so bare but of course the sewing machine is on the fritz and I am too lazy to hand sew all of them.

Gluten Free Carob Brownies with Peanut Butter Chips and Honey

If you follow my MaeBird Lane Kitchen board on pinterest you have probably seen my recipe for gluten free carob brownies. This is just a little twist on that but that flavor does change quite a bit. My husband prefers these but for me it just depends what I am in the mood for. The basic has sugar and the carob comes through a little more but this recipe has no sugar and only honey. The honey is a front and center and goes wonderfully with the melted peanut butter pockets.

 

Recipe

 

Preheat oven to 350*F bake time is 25 minutes

 

Ingredients:

1 cup carob powder

1/2 cup amaranth flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup honey

1 cup peanut butter chips

2 eggs

 

The eggs, honey, and butter should all be at room temperature.

 

Combine the honey and butter until smooth.

 

 

Add eggs.

 

Once the wet ingredients are well incorporated add the dry.

 

 

Then toss in the chips.

 

 

 

(TIP: Butter a 9x9 pan. Take the wrap from the butter and rub the pan with it.)

 

 

Bake 25 minutes.

 

 

 

Best when still warm:)