Simple Tip for Professional Photos

 Photography Tips  8 Responses »
Feb 142013
 

Let me start by saying I am by no means a photography master. But between shooting for my blog and my job I’ve picked up a few tips here and there. Any photographer will tell you that lighting is key to a good picture. Unwanted shadows can ruin a great shot. When I’m shooting objects (like my un-twistable necklaces) I like to set up shot next to a window with indirect sunlight. Natural light will always give you the best pictures BUT you don’t want direct sun. Direct sunlight will bleach out your photos and eliminate the subtle details that make things interesting. This is my basic set up:

Make shift photo studio

Indirect light isn’t as bright as direct light (yes, you can call me Captain Obvious) so very often half of your subjects will be shadowed. BUT have hope my friends! I can help you eliminate those shadows without spending a dime. All you need is something white, I use the white cardboard lid to a file box, it’s deep enough to stand up on it’s own so 9 times out of 10 I can plop it where I need it and start shooting.

Here is an example:

cardboard reflector

I took both of these pictures from the same exact place (on a tripod) with the same exact camera settings (Aperture priority, F6.3). Can you see the differences? Look again:

Continue reading »

Barn Red Bookcase Makeover – DIY Chalk Paint

 Decorating, DIY  8 Responses »
Jan 252013
 

I’ve got cabin fever, it’s been FREEZING for the last few days, way past stupid cold – it was NEGATIVE 12 when I left for work Thursday. My illness has manifested in the need to paint everything. First up, the bookcases are getting a make over. I know I just painted them and I love the color but…. they blend in too much with the walls. I’ve got big plans for the wall behind the buffet so for now it’s safe with its pretty mustardy yellow paint.

DIY Chalkpaint Bookcase Makeover

Continue reading »

Mrs. Smith’s Pies and $50 for you!

 Uncategorized  29 Responses »
Jan 242013
 

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Mrs. Smith’s for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love pie. I was lucky enough to get the Pie Queen of New York (my title for her) for my Mother-in-Law. But we can’t all be that lucky can we? That’s where Mrs. Smith’s comes in. They contacted me and I was given the chance the try all 4 varieties of the Mrs. Smith’s Signature Deep Dish pies.

MrsSmith.jpg

They come in Cherry, Peach, Apple and Pumpkin and each has a special topping you add after baking. Unfortunately we couldn’t find the pumpkin so it was a fruity pie party for us. And a big party it was. Those pies are hearty! I picked up the stack of 3 and was a bit shocked by how heavy they were.

Mrs. Smiths Deep Dish Apple Pie

My favorite was the apple (maybe because I fell asleep and my husband made it for me so I awoke to the smell of fresh pie) with the crumble topping and the caramel sauce. I’m ashamed to admit it didn’t last more than two days. Sliver by sliver more and more found it’s way into my belly and then it was all gone.

The cherry was very good as well, we took it to a party (we somehow lost the sauce so I didn’t get to taste it, sad face!) and I don’t have any pictures, but it looked just like a cherry pie should. The filling was bright red and had the perfect sweet-tart flavor you expect.

I made the peach pie and took it work where it was polished of pretty quickly. I loved that it had giant chinks of fruit. I love a pie where the fruit really stands out. The peach chunks (and the apple chunks in the apple pie) are big enough that they don’t get lost to the sauce but not unmaneagable so it’s like trying to eat a whole peach. Am I making sense here? I’m apparently very picky about fruit slice size in pies.

prebakes pie

This is what the apple pie looked like before baking. See the giant fruits?

The only thing I didn’t care for was the sauce for the peach pie. It was too sweet for me, I thought it tasted a lot like straight confectioners sugar. But my husband enjoyed it so it’s all a matter of personal taste.

Now for the fun part (for you)! The folks at Mrs. Smiths have given me a $50 gift card to Williams and Sonoma to give to a lucky reader AND a voucher for a free signature deep dish pie. Want to win? Check out the Rafflecopter entry below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

For more pie info check out the Mrs. Smiths Facebook and Pinterest pages!

 

Visit Sponsor's Site

 Posted by at 10:14 am

Valentine’s Day Word Searches

 Wordsearch  2 Responses »
Jan 232013
 

I just found out that it’s almost February. If you happen to be in the same boat (apparently the boat lacking a calender!) consider this a friendly public service announcement. It’s almost February! And that means Valentine’s Day, which makes all the pink and red hearts taking over Pinterest make a lot more sense. Just for fun I put together two sweet Valentine’s Day word finds for you:

Free Kids Valentine's Word Find

Free Printable Difficult Valentine's Day Word Find

Feel free to download and print as many as you would like, please do not sell or otherwise profit from my work. If you like the word searches I’d love to know! Leave me a comment here or on Facebook if you have any special requests!

I have thought about putting up either blank versions with only the word search and no pictures or black and white versions to save on ink but since no one has complained I haven’t bothered to do so. This is your chance! Speak now!

7 Kitchen Necessities – Paleo Style

 Uncategorized  4 Responses »
Jan 222013
 

I’ve been cooking a lot for the last month and I wanted to round up my personal kitchen “must haves”. All of our meals have been made from scratch following paleo guidelines: no grain, no sugar, no dairy and no legumes. I’ve been cooking lots of vegetables guys, sooooo many vegetables! And lots of meat, but mostly veggies. Here is a list of the things I use almost every day in no particular order (all amazon links are affiliate links, most things can probably be found at Target or BB&B):

Cast Iron Cook Wear

We were lucky enough to get a collection of cast iron for our wedding and we use it every day. If you don’t have any and aren’t quite sure where to start the two pieces I recommend are the largest skillet you can afford (or lift! That stuff is heavy!) and a dutch oven. If you aren’t used to cooking with cast iron there is a learning curve, the pans stay hot for a long time, before they are fully seasoned they really soak up your oil and you can’t throw them in the dish washer. It’s really important that you NEVER put your cast iron away wet. Continue reading »

 Posted by at 9:45 pm

Floor Length Burlap Curtains for $7.50 a Panel

 DIY  22 Responses »
Jan 192013
 
Burlap curtains might be all over the place, and maybe I’m late to the party but I’ve had these hanging in my living room for a few months and I’m finally getting around to posting a how-to! I’ve seen a lot of methods but nothing quite like mine.
DIY Burlap Curtains
It’s as basic as you can get, you only sew one seam for each panel. Of course this does leave you with 1 raw edge and 2 floor to ceiling selvedges. I love it, it’s not overly polished and it fits in a casual space. They let the light in while blocking the living room from the street. The ribbon along to top adds a subtle blush of color and some strength to the burlap where it’s clipped. Continue reading »

Pork Carnitas – Paleo food so good you won’t miss gluten

 Uncategorized  5 Responses »
Jan 122013
 

It’s amazing how much freedom I’ve found in paleo cooking. [Paleo eliminates grains, sugar and dairy, though some people occasionally eat dairy] Mike and I started on January 2nd and we’ve already experimented more with food in 2 weeks than we did in the previous 6 years.

Chicken Scratch Paleo Mexican Pork Salad

Before our paleo experiment we ate spaghetti, steak and potatoes and macaroni and cheese. Sure we’d pop open a can of corn or beans once in a while but our diet was mostly starch and pretty awful. We both gained lots of weight, we were sick and achy all the time. We made the deal to try paleo for one month without cheating and so far it’s been amazing. We’ve tried new foods and lots of new recipes (I learned my steak-and-potatoes pierogi-adoring Polish husband loves curry). The first week sucked, I was dealing with a major caffeine  addiction as well as everything else. But I think we are starting to come out of the ‘brain fog’ and it’s all down hill from here.

I thought I’d share one of our new found favorites. I found this recipe for Crispy Carnitas from Mark’s Daily Apple. If you’re at all curious about paleo check out that website!

Paleo pork spicy

If you want to make some of your very own delicious carnitas you will need pork butt, an onion, some cumin, chilli powder, salt and water. Check out the link for the full break down. We used chipotle chili pepper and I ended up needing double the amounts of cumin and chili to cover all my meat. After you pat the seasoning onto the meat you place it in your pot, we used our cast iron dutch oven. After 3 hours we pulled it out, tasted a bit and managed to find the will power to shred it (shreds up with 2 forks) and placed it on a cast iron pizza pan under the broiler until crispy. By this point your kitchen will smell so good you’ll be wanting to eat ASAP.

We each chopped up a romaine heart and topped it with some of the crispy porky goodness, some bell peppers sauteed with more chipoltle pepper and a little bit of salsa. The lettuce was a nice relief from the spicy heat of the meat. I can’t even begin to explain how amazing the meat comes out. See all the little black bits? Those are your crunchy bits of yum.

pork baked with cumin chipotle pepper spices

If you do happen to eat wheat and dairy these would be amazing in soft taco shells with sour cream (I’m drooling now so I’m going to stop with the dairy imagery)

This meal got two energetic thubs up from both the husband and I. We agreed that it’s the kind of meal you could feed non-paleos and they wouldn’t even mind!

Simple Tip for Squeaky Clean Bottles

 Uncategorized  5 Responses »
Jan 032013
 

Are you ready for my yearly cleaning/organizing tip? Last year  I showed you how to hot glue a magnet to a stack of post-it notes for your fridge. This years tip is just as intense.

Squeaky Clean Water Bottles without a bottle brush

That’s right. I’m going to show you how to clean a wide-ish mouth bottle without a bottle brush. I got a nifty blender for Christmas that uses these bottles, the blade screws to the top, you flip it and blend then flip it and remove the blender cap, screw on the drinking top and it’s good to go. I’ve been having fruit smoothies for breakfast every day and they are delicious. By the time I’m done I usually end up with some half-dried fruit moosh on the sides.

You might not know this, but I have giant man hands and I can’t get more than 3 fingers in the bottle. There is no way I can get to the bottom of it to scrub off the fruit. I don’t actually own a bottle brush, and even if I did I usually wash my bottles at work and we don’t have one there either.

washcloth bottle washing

So I invented a little trick. All you need is a wash cloth and soapy water. Get the wash cloth wet, drop it in the bottle and fill the bottle about 1/4 – 1/3 full with warm water. Cap it and shake. Watch out for high pressure systems, you might need to burp it, preferably not at your face. After a few good shakes the wash cloth should have dislodged most of the pulp.

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