Delicious Cinna-YUM Cinnamon Roll Recipe

These cinnamon rolls by The Pioneer Woman are the bomb! So many recipes take hours and hours to prepare. These you can get into the oven in a little over an hour. They combine the regular l-o-n-g method with the quick time method adding baking soda and baking powder for a quicker rise time.

After they bake there is a DELICIOUS glaze infused with maple and coffee to top the rolls with. I get over-sweeted , so I used about half of the glaze suggested in the recipe. The photo below is from the Pioneer Woman's site - as you can see her frosting is MUCH thicker.

and here is the link to The Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Roll Recipe along with photos and instructions. She does such a fabulous job blogging her food shares! I recommend that you spend hours and hours perusing her blog. She is amazing.

-Simply Sublime

Get Gardening w/ your Kids: DIY Recycled Succulent Projects

There is nothing quite as fun as digging in dirt with kiddos and planting new life. There is something I just LOVE about gardening projects for kids. Is it possibly the awe and wonder of watching something grow...sigh. Maybe it is because it reminds me of a deeply buried childhood memory of seed planting - or maybe it is because it reminds me that there is always hope for positive change. Either way I just love watching a little something turn into a BIG something BEAUTIFUL!

Miniature Robo Planter {Source:1800recycling.com}

I am teaching a class at our local Homeschool Co-op where we are completing projects we will enter into the Fair. Succulent Gardens are always some of my very favorite entries. They are so easy to plant and maintain plus there are very little limitations on uses for a container with their shallow root system.

I thought I would do some surfing and see if there were some fresh projects out there to inspire me. Here are some cute projects I found.

Recycled lids used as adorable little containers for a mini garden.

You could even place these on top of cute candle holders at varying heights.

{Source:Alannageorge.com}

The options for creativity are endless. The plants themselves have a large variety of textures & colors. From old lunch boxes to glass jars, you can use almost any container you can find. They can grow indoors or outdoors. 

Here are some recycled Spaghetti Jars. All you need is a little mirror paint and voila...a lovely recycled container.

{Source: thecrafty-woman.com}

They can look formal, or high on the funky factor.

You could use an old hollow rubber toy.

{Source: thisiswhyimbroke.com}

Succulent gardens can be used as a treasured keepsake of days gone by.

Recycled Children's shoes.

{source: finecraftguild.com}

or you could put them in boots and create some cute fence decor.

{Source: Rosy-posy}

These aren't succulents but you get the idea.

Vintage Glass Insulators:

I actually have a box of these. Super excited to use them but picturing a little added industrial elements.

{Source: livedan330.com}

Old Toy Cars: now this one is for kids and Dads!

{Source:nothingbutapigeon.com}

Old Vintage Cans & Tins

{Source:nothingbutapigeon.com}

What could be cheaper than an egg shell garden?

and the adorability factor is over the top.

{Source: SAHome Owner}

I was looking for old frames and screen projects with succulents when I mentally pictured the succulents forming just the letter of our last name with the screen showing as the background. Then I popped across this little number. I LOVE it! Still think the screen idea would be cool - plus I love old frames.

{Source: House&Fig}

So many fun options to start spinning your brain on. I bet you have something laying around your home right now that could be used...an old toy, an old shoe, a chipped cup or bowl. The possibilities are almost endless.

All you need are a few simple materials to get started:

Materials you will need:

• rocks (enough to fill container 2/3 of the way)
• succulent plants - get a variety of color, soft, spikey, flowering.
• whatever container tickles your fancy
• cactus potting soil
• spray bottle

Steps for planting:

Time to get planting...
you will want to start by adding a nice thick layer of rocks to the bottom of your container, about 2/3 of the way to the top, Once you have a nice drain field area established with your rocks you will follow by adding a nice layer of cactus potting soil on top of the rocks. It is now time to get creative... start playing around with the placement of the succulents. It doesn't take much to get theroots into the soil. Make sure you let your kiddo have some fun too. ;) 

Once you have your plants arranged with roots in place, it is a great time to give them a misty shower. These plants don't require much - just a light misting. Repeat when it begins to dry out.

I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE to see any succulent projects you have done. So please do post in the comments area.  I will be posting pics of my students gardening projects upon completion. I will also be posting a pretty fantabulous idea for a project I have spinning in my head. 

For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.-Isaiah 61:11

{If you would like to see what the kiddos came up with hop on over to the blog post I put on showing pictures.} Completed Kids Succulent Garden Projects

-Simply Sublime

Kid Friendly DIY Valentine's Day Treat Idea: Strawberry Hand Pie Recipe

My friend and I are teaching an Intro to 4-H at the Fair Class at our Homeschool Co-op. This week we were focusing on making posters. Whoopieeeee.... "NOT" said the children. In planning our day I knew I would need to add a splash of spectacular with a sprinkle of yummmacious to add to our "please lift your head up from the table and wake up" poster lesson.  A quick search to a few of my favorite inspirational blogs and I found the PERFECT finger licking, lip smacking project. 

It didn't take me long once I hopped on over to one of my very favorite blogs, Handmade Charlotte. This is a delightful blog packed full of heartwarming and creative projects & ideas. They had a post on these ooooh-la-la delish Strawberries & Cream Hand Pies by their new foodie contributor Sarah Kieffer from The Vanilla Bean Blog . I LOVE the photos they posted and the ease of the recipe is a double bonus.

To make an even easier version { Hey, before you judge, I was on the tail end of helping my husband plan an EVERYDAY HERO Awana Boys Overnighter the same day I was teaching this class} I used a refrigerated pie crust {gasp}. Yes, I did just type that and I did use it. This is NOT something I would usually promote as I find refrigerated pie crust to have less flavor, less flake and more preservatives...BUT the prep for this particular day needed to be minimal, like almost non-existent. 

All you need on your grocery list for these pockets of goodness are 7 simple items:

Pie Crust

Strawberry Jam

Cream Cheese

Eggs

Vanilla Extract

Sugar

Salt

For the complete recipe head on over to Handmade Charlotte.

The hand pies were a HIT! We had 11 kiddos eagerly assembling their precious, edible creations and we got them all made and baked in 40 minutes. Whew! They were YUMMY! So yummy that I used the leftovers when I got home to make my friends a little bagged treat for our weekend getaway that evening. 

These are the larger ones I made for my girlfriends with a little heart cut out. In addition to the hand pies I needed to whip up some quick packaging for some extra eye candy. By the time I pulled them out of the oven I had about 5 minutes left to whip up packing. Little brown lunch bags, red & white bakers twine, a hole punch and VOILA... simple packaging. Good things come in small paper bags, right?

I think they turned out pretty cute - and - the girls loved them!

-Simply Sublime

Burlap Goodness: Gift Bags Galore for Creative Christmas Packaging

These are bringing me...JOY

I am SO EXCITED about these new little treasures I just put up in my etsy store. For those that are handy-dandy crafty they are simple as pie to make. For those that are graphically challenged, not-so-crafty and don't own an iron...well... check out the link to my etsy store where it just takes one click in the gift bags section and a purchase will have them bundled up and on their way to your doorstep.

I have been having so much graphic fun lately. I love playing with fonts - modifying and creating my own serifs, scripts and swooshes. After playing around and ending up with some pretty fun tag designs I decided to make some iron-on graphics to embellish some burlap with. 

If you want to try making up some designs of your own check out my tutorial on the design and transfer process of embellishing burlap on this previous post of mine http://sublime-living.blogspot.com/2013/01/diy-tutorial-monogrammed-burlap-runner.html#.Umxop_kqh9U. If you need some plain burlap bags shoot me a message on etsy and I can put up a special listing for you. 

I am selling a set of four bags for $12.

These Joy to the World bags are some of my favorites. I am going to make  gift tags of these as well. I have been wanting to bless peeps with something lately - maybe a free tag template with some of my designs will be coming your way soon!

Psalm 33:18-22

 Watch this: God’s eye is on those who respect him,
    the ones who are looking for his love.
He’s ready to come to their rescue in bad times;
    in lean times he keeps body and soul together.

 We’re depending on God;
    he’s everything we need.
What’s more, our hearts brim with joy
    since we’ve taken for our own his holy name.
Love us, God, with all you’ve got—
    that’s what we’re depending on.

-Simply Sublime

DIY Tutorial: Monogrammed Burlap Runner & Sack Cloth Kitchen Towels

{Source: HGTV}

BURLAP

It is showing up everywhere, isn't it? I think it is because of the great texture and inexpensive price. There is also something rustically chic about it too. 

Before the holidays I was looking for some quick, fun, unique and inexpensive craft projects I could make into gifts for friends and family that would also be considered useful.To be honest the more time I spend in Africa the harder it is for me to get excited about making something just to look at. Somehow it tugs on my heart as wasteful. Still, I really like to be creative, I love to do arts and crafts projects. So my search began for something fun, practical and creative. Pinterest is frequently a starting point for me and in my search I was seeing a lot of burlap. I had also been looking to no avail for towels with some charm for my kitchen.

When I stumbled upon many Burlap Table Runner projects they stirred my creative juices and I decided to create another product as well. Personalized Kitchen Sack Cloth Towels. If you have been following my blog you are having an aha moment right about now. Yes, indeed this is the follow up tutorial I promised you all from the Scribbles & Dots: Kids DIY Family Art Project for Gifts post. Here we go...

Lets start with the runner first.

 Monogrammed Burlap Table Runner Project.

Materials you will need:

-Burlap Table Runner Material 
 Burlap table runner as seen below (avail at craft stores or online) It comes in a variety of colors and     widths. So you can pick whichever width / color of burlap you prefer.
-Heat Transfer Iron-on Sheets - available at office supply stores, Walmart. They come in light or dark background - for the burlap table runner and my other DIY project I was planning I chose the light background.
-Iron (no STEAM setting only)
-Scissors
-Computer w/ design program
-Ink Jet Printer

Step 1.  Cut your burlap runner to the length you desire for your table. If you would like to sew under the ends you can - or I frayed the edges by sewing in about 1" from the edge then pulling 5 or 6 burlap strings out leaving the fringe look.

Next I needed to create my designs. I use CorelDraw to design - simply because I grew up in an industry using it over 25 years ago. There are several options for designing - photoshop or whatever you usually use to design with. I also found this amazing FREE Monogram Making site where you can design your own image and colors for FREE. Wedding Chicks has some really cool monogram designs that would be great for Weddings, stationery or home decorating projects.

I decided to create my monograms and my future project, towel designs, at the same time to avoid wasting material. The "N" you see on the right was designed on the Wedding Chicks site.

So once you have your designs ready to go it is time to set up the print page. Make sure you mirror your image either on the screen or within your print instructions. (In other words it will look backwards until you iron it on.)

Finally you are ready to print away. Once printed you will want to trim your image to within a 1/4" of the printed area. Once you design is all trimmed it is time to place it on the desired area and iron it on. (Follow transfer paper directions closely) no matter what brand you have purchased you never want to use steam setting. So make sure your iron is bone dry. 

Let cool briefly and peel. (Again follow directions on transfer paper instructions)

I LOVE the way this one turned out. It was SO EASY and inexpensive. 

I made this table runner a bit long because I knew we would be putting in a leaf for entertaining. 

 I think I have about $10 total in this table runner. Now that is cheap and super fun! Now to place the table decor on top of it! 

Personalized Sack Cloth Kitchen Towel Tutorial

The process is pretty much identical for the Kitchen Flour Sack Dish Towel Project as it was for the Burlap Runner.One of the main differences is you will want to make sure to wash and dry your towels prior to applying your iron-on transfer image. 

You print out your designs onto the heat transfer sheets just as mentioned in the Burlap Runner instructions. Then you want to trim it to the same 1/4" border.

Iron towel to remove wrinkles. Place graphic printed iron-on in place on towel and iron as directed in instructions. Do not slide around.

Cool and peel.

VOILA...

These ended up so cute. I wish I would have had a finished photo for you of the final presentation. My daughter had crocheted colorful cotton dish rags and we wrapped the folded towels, dish rag and a wooden spoon with natural twine for our gift giving presentations. They were charming. 

I wish I would have stumbled on this site before by Blissfully domestic. They have a fabulous post on the many ways to use a sack cloth towel. It would be a fabulous idea to attach a "Ways to use" instruction tag that is cleverly dressed. 

I hope this not only gives you a simple step by step tutorial to follow but that it also inspires you to create a new project of your own. There are so many opportunities to monogram, personalize and BEAUTIFY! 

-Simply Sublime