Friday's Fabulous Find...

I spy with my Etsy eye...
a touch of gold.

Clockwise, starting top left:

Bear Embroider Kit

Lego Men Bookends

Organic Leggings for Baby

Printable Art

Gold Ring

Wishing you a warm weekend!

Baked Chocolate Banana Donuts...

I'm hoping the skies clear and the snow stops soon. Otherwise, I may qualify for a contestant on the Biggest Loser Season 17. As I mentioned yesterday, there's just something about cold snowy weather that makes me repeatedly fire up the oven. Yesterday it was homemade bread, today chocolate donuts. Seriously, I need some blue sky to work off some of these carbs! Still... it's pretty hard to say "no" to these babies.

Fortunately, I found a Pilates video on Amazon Prime that I'm finding helpful. 

{sigh}

About a year ago I received an Amazon gift card from one of my kiddos and his wife. I held onto it for months waiting for just the right item! Here's what I finally purchased with that card...

I kept seeing fabulous looking baked donuts on Pinterest, and I knew I needed one of these donut baking pans to try some of those recipes. Today was the day! I have a number of baked donut recipes pinned on my "Bread" board, but I chose this "Chocolate Glazed Chocolate Banana Donut" {from the blog, "Baker By Nature"} for my first foray into baked donuts.

I followed her donut recipe to the letter, but I doubled the recipe to make a dozen donuts. Her hint about using a ziplock bag to  pipe the batter into the donut pan molds was very helpful.

I had to bake my donuts a little longer than her 11 to 13 minutes {more like 15 minutes for mine} -- probably because we live 5000 feet above sea level. The donuts came out slightly firm and springy to the touch and inverted without any problem once they had cooled in the pan for 5 minutes...

At this point I varied from the recipe. Instead of making a homemade glaze, I simply bought a ready-made container of Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Dark Chocolate Frosting. Remove the top of the container and the foil, and put the frosting in the microwave for about 40 seconds to soften and melt the frosting a little to make a chocolate glaze. {The frosting should be soft and warm enough to drizzle from a spoon.}

Poor the glaze into a small bowl, dip each donut into the chocolate glaze, and return the donut to the wire rack.

Sprinkles can be added at this time. As the donuts rest the glaze will set.

One can fool oneself into believing that these donuts are healthy for you. After all -- they are baked. They are made {partially} from whole wheat flour. Two of the ingredients are coconut oil and almond milk. By my way of thinking, I can convince myself I am doing my body a favor by ingesting these beauties.

Some people may take a more realistic approach to eating donuts. 

{Those people are not your friends. Just sayin'.}

Go to Baker by Nature for this yummy recipe.

One Hour Homemade Wheat Bread...

It's another snowy day in Colorado. On days like this I just want to escape the elements and hunker down at home. I love watching it snow, but I prefer watching it from inside my warm, dry house.

Today I decided to make some bread, rather than brave the elements, so I turned to a quick recipe that has become a favorite of mine.  It's an easy one hour bread recipe that I've tweaked to include wheat flour. I love adding whole wheat flour to my bread recipes, because then I can tell myself I've eaten "healthy" when I down a whole loaf in 2 1/2 hours. {just kidding}

Simple One Hour Homemade Wheat Bread

Makes 1 to 2 loaves.

3 1/4 cups white flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 Tbsp. (rounded) instant yeast

1 1/2 Tbsp. oil

2 cups warm water (about 100 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit)

1. Combine dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Add oil and water and mix for one minute. (I use an electric mixer with a hook.) The dough should be very sticky. If it's too dry, add a little more warm water.

2. Knead with the hook in your electric mixer (or by hand) for about 3 to 4 minutes.

3. Spray kneading surface with cooking spray and turn dough out onto surface. Knead dough briefly until it has a smooth even consistency. This will only take a few turns of the dough to accomplish.

4. This recipe makes one large loaf or two smaller loaves of bread. (I prefer to shape my dough into one large loaf and put it in a pan that is 12" long x 4.5" wide x 3" tall. If you have smaller pans, shape the dough into two loaves.) Shape into loaf and place into greased loaf pan. Lightly spray the top of the loaf with cooking spray. Cover with a large dish towel and let rise for 25 minutes.

5. While loaf is rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pan onto wire rack to cool. While the loaf is still warm run a tablespoon or two of butter over the top of the loaf. The butter will melt as you're doing this and it will give the loaf a beautiful shiny glaze and add a yummy buttery flavor to the crust.

I love this quick and easy bread recipe because it literally takes a little over an hour from start to finish. I'm going to use this loaf for BLTs that I'll make for dinner. Who doesn't love a good bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich? Here's a recipe that we've grown to love that's a little different than the regular BLT version.

***UPDATE: I just wanted to show you the beautiful texture of this yummy bread...

Beautiful Blossoms & Life...

One can always tell when my life gets busy, because the first thing that gets axed are blog posts. So far this year we've had a new little grandson join our family, the hubs and I took a cruise to Central America and Mexico, and a son got engaged. All wonderful things! We also have two more grandbabies due in March, a college graduation in April, three baby blessings and the wedding in August. I may have left out a thing or two. Within the next few months our immediate family members will number 33. No wonder I don't have much time for blogging.

This weekend we had a snowstorm. Turns out it wasn't as impressive as the 18 inches they were predicting, but it was still enough to keep us inside, hunkered down with doughnuts and hot chocolate a plenty. Since I was inside a good deal of the time, I used my time wisely and made a few fabric flowers from the pattern I sell in my Etsy store.

My DIL-to-be and I will be making some of these for the flower girls to wear in the wedding, so I thought I'd put a few together and experiment with different types of fabric.

I used 100% polyester chiffon, satin, tulle, organza, lace, etc. Then I garnished them with feathers, buttons, sparkles, beads and pearl add ons.

Today I took some photos of the flowers with the snow as a backdrop. Aren't they beautiful on that sparkley, white snow?

The colors for the wedding are going to be a silver, sage, white, cream and champagne tan. I've ordered a beautiful silver sage fabric that we'll use for most of the flowers...

 This green flower is too bright for the wedding, but I know someone who loves green, so it won't go to waste.

 I have to admit I love the curly petals of this pattern.

I've pinned a lot of beautiful examples of fabric flowers on one of my Pinterest Boards. Feel free to check them out under "Blossoms". They are sure to give you lots of inspiration!

Friday's Fabulous Finds...

I spy with my Etsy eye some...

 sunshine on a cloudy day.

Clockwise, starting top left:

Vanilla Lavender Wax Melts

Clutch

Owl Nesting Dolls

Earrings

Dog Leash

Wishing you a sunny weekend!

Friday's Fabulous Finds...

I spy with my Etsy eye some...

Valentine goodness.

Clockwise, starting top left:

Heart Shaped Bowl

"Country Winter" Fine Art 

Popsicle Photo 

Arrow Marquee Sign 

Baby Cardigan

"Love Is" Journal

Wishing you a love-filled weekend!

Friday's Fabulous Finds...

I spy with my Etsy eye... 

some color in the middle of winter!

Clockwise, starting top left:

Scandinavian Plush Toys

Wool Crown 

Rooftop Print

Vintage Toy

Wall Calendar

Wishing you a colorful weekend!

Friday's Fabulous Finds...

I spy with my Etsy eye something...

soft & sweet.

Clockwise, starting top left:

Macro Photo Dandelion
Bird Nature Photo
Ring
Still Life Bottles
Ocean Waves Photo

Wishing you a relaxing weekend.

Fabulous DIY Sled...

Don't you love this DIY sled from DIY Network ???

Look at the "bucket" on that thing. 

I'm pretty sure at least 7 of our grandkids could 

jump into that at the same time.

It looks like a ton of fun waiting to happen!

Must make.

{Go here for instructions.}

Friday's Fabulous Finds...

I spy with my Etsy eye a... 

golden nugget.

Clockwise, starting top left:

"Flower of Life" Wall Sculpture

Vintage Floor Lamp

Leather Journal

Paper Giraffe Folding Kit

Gold Studded Dog Collar

Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

Friday's Fabulous Finds...

I spy with my Etsy eye...

some cherry red.

Clockwise, starting top left:

"You Are Loved" Print

Bike Bookends

Nautical Necklace

Shadow Box

Red Riding Hood iPhone Case

Have a wonderful weekend.

Friday's Fabulous Finds...

I spy with my Etsy eye something...

owlishly delicious.

Clockwise, starting top left:
Decorative Pillow
Owl Embossed Rolling Pin
2015 Calendar
Winston & Squeak 
Snowy Owl Fine Art Print 

Have a fabulous weekend!

Friday's Fabulous Finds...

I spy with my Etsy eye ...

another grandbaby in January!

Clockwise, starting top left:

Cat Toy for Children

Baby Blanket

Baby Lace Leggings 

Knit Overalls 

Gray Linen Romper 

Bunny PDF Sewing Pattern

Enjoy your weekend.

Friday's Fabulous Finds...

I spy with my little eye something...

for the new year!

Clockwise, starting top left:

Custom Miniature of Your House

2015 Wall Calendar

Tribal Socks

Clock

Kitty Coin Purse

Happy New Year!

Beautiful Nativity...

Wishing you a beautiful Christmas...



"The previous record for the world’s largest live nativity scene, with 898 people, took place last year in the United Kingdom. That record was recently broken when 1,039 people dressed as wise men, shepherds, angels, Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus, participated in a huge production to re-create the Savior's birth as part of a larger movement for sharing the gift of Christ.

The event took place at Rock Canyon Park in Provo, Utah and was witnessed by Guinness World Record judge Michael Empric. The new world record resulted in a video collaboration of “Angels, from the Realms of Glory,” which included the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, The Piano Guys, David Archuleta, Peter Hollens, and many other Utah YouTubers, filmed by Devin Graham. The Organizers said that breaking the world record was secondary to highlighting religious faith over materialism." (source)

Merry Christmas.

Another {little girl} Crossbody Owl Purse...

Another baby owl was nudge out of the nest a few days ago. I made one last Crossbody Owl Purse for a friend's daughter for Christmas before packing up my machine for the holidays...

When I created this pattern for my granddaughters, I thought there would be just a few of these owls flying around the U.S., but then I decided to offer the pattern free to my blog readers. Almost 1,000 people have requested this pattern from all over the world and most say they plan on making several purses. We may have created a new species whose natural habitat encompasses the northern and southern hemisphere!

Do you know what a group of owls is called? A "parliament".

A parliament has been created!

I love the combination of fabrics I used for this owl. There are a lot of cute "owly" prints available, but I used a fabric from Studio E "Tree Huggers" line, called "Owls on Trunks" for the lining.

I bought it several years ago, so I'm not sure it's still available, but it was perfect for the lining of this little tote. The outside fabric was designed by Alison Glass for Andover Fabrics. It's aptly named "Sunprint Feathers {gray}".

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!