Fresh Towels

So the other day my husband and I were talking about how our towels smell. Since I'm currently being lazy I decided to buy all new towels for upstairs bathroom for my own personal use. Because I deserve that. We made a Target run and bought all new Fieldcrest luxury extra long bath towels. I got them washed right away so we could begin using them and they are literally the best things ever! We decided that when we're millionaires one day will only use fresh new towels. It's that amazing.

Our old towels are not by any means not good they just had a stench. I should've looked this up before but the fix is simple. Your towels lose their absorbency and begin to take on that musty smell that only happens when they're wet. The solution is to wash the towels on the hot cycle once with one cup vinegar NO DETERGENT and then wash them on another hot cycle with half a cup of baking soda again NO DETERGENT. Throw them in the dryer without a dryer sheet and viola! clean fresh towels once again.

So now my guests will have plenty of towels in the bathroom downstairs to use while they're visiting us in the new baby.  Although I didn't buy that new towels they will have some nice once again fresh smelling towels to use.

Apricot Jam Ya'll

Our good friends, Brad and Sara, invited Kyle and I over to experience making Jam. Neither Kyle nor I have ever made jams or jellies before but I have always wanted to! We bought 10 pounds of Apricots (pronounced with a hard 'A' if you have Southern roots like me) and decided to take our chances in an Apricot Jam.

We tried two different recipes, one with liquid pectin and one with powdered pectin. Honestly, they taste the same but the powdered pectin recipe yielded the best results for us. Or at least, the prettiest! 

Our expert jammers had all of the tools that you need to can. You can purchase your own set of tools pretty much anywhere mason jars are sold but here is a link to some at Target. We used pint jars and the recipe yielded around 40. Next time I make a jam, I am going to use quart size jars since it is so good--giving away a pint just seems mean!

French Macaroons

I made these Macaroons for a special friend's baby shower. They are challenging to make but so delicious! After baking the macaroons, allow to cool completely before you assemble. To assemble, take 2 cookies of equal size (HANDLE GENTLY!) and top one half with a filling. I usually use my buttercream icing but you could also use a jam or other frosting. Sandwich the cookies together gently. To add flare, dip in sprinkles or dust the tops of the macaroons with pearl dust.
It is such a light cookie and perfect for a fun tea or garden party for the ladies to snack on.

Baby Shower Cakes

I was able to attend and provide sweets for a friend's recent Garden Party Themed Baby Shower. It was so adorable and they did a fabulous job decorating! We all sat outside with fresh flower bouquets lining our table linens. They served fancy brunch food and teas in mason jars. Finally, we partook in desserts (made by FrostedbyLo); Lemon Cake, Naked Chocolate Cake and a Strawberry Cake. They gave me the reigns to decorate and bake whatever I wanted so I went for it and I've never made cuter cakes! I placed them on my personal cake stands that fit the theme perfectly and I think everyone was pleased with how it turned out. 

  

Orange sugar scrub

My little sister and I made this delicious and amazing body scrub using Coconut oil, white sugar and orange zest. After using it in the shower, your skin feels so amazing and soft! It was so easy to make, I think I am going to experiment more with recipes found here. This scrub is perfect to get your skin smooth for summer time :)

Mozzy Craft

Kyle and I bought a DIY Shapeoko CNC Mill. And it is seriously fun. Kyle build this awesome Food and Water bowl stand so that our tall little puppy wouldn't have to strain his neck while guzzling his dinner.  

Kyle programmed the mill to carve "Mozzy" and two pheasant images. He then painted the letters and images with black paint so that they would be more identifiable. No need to be clean here, since the board is sanded down to make a smooth finish and all of the extra paint is removed. Of course, this was just part of making the stand! He handcrafted the rest of this design and it turned out great and Mozzy approved!

Red, White and Blue Cupcakes

In order to celebrate the Fourth of July I baked up some basic white cupcakes frosted them with my buttercream frosting and sprinkles red white and blue sprinkles on top. My nephew, Sivage, wanted to show off the cupcakes while doing his tummy time.