December my friends. No way around it. But I am excited because I love Christmas time with all the fun christmasy things that we can do in next few weeks (there is an A Frame gingerbread village planned !). Also it%u2019s birthday season so I have already made one cake and stuck it in the freezer and only have like 10 more to make. And then there is snow, and lights, and trees%u2026 How can you not like December? Plus cookies. Need to start making cookies because what is December with cookies?
The week was good. After spending all of Sunday cleaning and putting up the Christmas lights, things went as usual with the ways of world. Tuesday Barb and I had lunch and went for a hike, just us girls, to take in nature and talk life things. She hugged trees while I deposited my knowledge that comes with my old age. HA. Later that day, Emma (the mr%u2019s sister), came over to catch up on life and teach the mr how to embroider. She was a great teacher and , I must say, the mr did a really good job being a learner. Although I was not surprised because he picks up everything so fast.
Then Thanksgiving eve. The mr gone for the day, me hanging hanging at home taking phone calls and going through the stack of papers that has been mocking me for the past few weeks. On his way home he picked up Miley so she could sleep over. We made a spaghetti dinner, she watched Nailed It Holidays and I walked her through making cinnamon star bread. The little lady kneaded, rolled, and shaped the whole thing pretty much all by herself. It was for sure a proud aunt moment for me. And then we watched Juno (I hadn%u2019t seen that movies in forever. I forgot how good it was) and I passed out. Bed for me and the mr. Miley, well I am not sure what time she actually went to bed. We let her stay up and watch whatever.
Thanksgiving day I woke up, cooked the star (Miley finished it by making and drizzling the glaze) and we just hung out until Erin and the other two littles showed up. We fed them, played them, and off they went to the Grandparents. The rest of the day was just me and the mr. We went for a nice, if not blustery cold, hike, then just putzed around the house. I read, he hung a new light fixture, then we made dinner. Being thanksgiving and all he felt the need to grill some turkey breasts and if you really want know how that went you can ask him. Me, I ate a humongous bowl of veggies and lentils and hand fulls of spinach. After an after dinner walk we crawled into bed and tried to watch a movie, but I passed (again) out and that was that.
Then the rest of the weekend has been pretty slow. Basically just hanging around the house doing little chores and some little projects. Mellow. And it has been pretty nice.
I am really excited for today. We are going to the Green Mountain Nation Forest to find us our Christmas tree!!!! My most favorite part of Christmas . And so we will head out late morning with our lunches packed, our snow pants tossed into the truck, the saw nice and sharpe, and head out into the mountains.And better yet, tt is suppose to snow later today and I am so very much hopping that we get a nice, (safe) amount of snow on our hike and tree cutting adventure. That would just be the best. YAY!
Internet links from the week, if you want to know what I know now.
-I didn’t know this about thanksgiving. And now I do. Why We Celebrate Thanksgiving On The 4th Thursday Of November
-Uh Duh, I could have told you this. Want to live longer? Surround yourself with plants
–A Brief History of Word Art, the Decor Everyone Loves to Hate. And I really REALLY hate it.
-I have been known to sit in front of the oven and watch the bread bake. Super satisfying. Here’s 36 Blissful Seconds of Bread Rising in the%u00a0Oven
–Photos of How Families Eat In The Arctic. And that is why I don%u2019t live there, it%u2019s a lot of meat.
-This makes me happy to look at. A Multicolored Library of the World%u2019s Ochre Pigments%u00a0
–Here’s To Grown-Up Siblings And The Ties That Bind. Siblings. Even when I want to punch them in the face, I still love them.
-I guess I just don%u2019t understand. Meet the $50 Strawberries That NYC%u2019s High-End Chefs Are Fawning Over
–Homemade Christmas baking is a joy %u2013 even if it is not to your taste. Agreed. Something about baking this tie of year, it is just so, well, joyful.
-On my reading list. Good Husbandry: A Memoir by Kristin Kimball. I read her first Memoir, The Dirty life, and it was A+
And pictures from the week…
Do you realize that Christmas is just a handful and a half of days away? I knew it, but like didn’t really register it. And now I am like, fa la la la fuck! We have been so busy and distracted that I haven’t really focused to much on the holiday, but at least we decorate the tree. And if I am remembering correctly, there were a few years, long ago, that the mr and I wouldn’t even start celebrating or get our tree until a few days before Christmas so if I am judging us on my past selves, well we are golden. And now we let the celebrating begin!
One of our Christmas traditions is to string popcorn while watching elf for the tree. This is a big deal night because I won’t let myself watch it until that night, but after that, I can watch it as many times that I want. (once a day) We got our tree like two weeks ago, and finally late last week we did the popcorn, watched some elf, and a few days after that we decorated, kinda.%u00a0 It was much lacking in ornaments. We had the lights, the popcorn garland, the paper chain (we made it a few years back), and the carved wooden carrots, but the bulbs we usually stick on it, I just wasn’t feeling. The tree was looking pretty good but was still lacking something. That’s when I went to my fruit bowl and grabbed an orange, a clementine and the dehydrator out of the basement over at the loft and went to work. I turned on the Christmas music (A very special Christmas, the red cover) sliced the citrus, stuck it in the dehydrator, and then, well, then I waited a good few hours. During those hours, the music was going, the house smelled up like citrus and lovely, and I felt that slight holiday tingle.
I think these orange slices are going to be a new holiday tree decorating tradition. I will probably tweak it next year ans spend the 6 hours waiting for the fruit to dry baking cookies and not pouring concrete, but maybe not.
And if you are thinking its too late to make any more holiday stuff, well you are wrong. And honestly, I might just make a sting of these slices to hang up all year long.
To make the orange slice ornaments..
All you need is..
oranges or whatever citrus you want to use
a sharp knife
needle and thread or ornament hangers
a dehydrator or a baking sheet.
The dirty work. Slice the orange about a 1/4 inch thick. Try to make all the slices the same thickness.
I am using my dehydrator so the slices go single layer onto a rack. If you are using the oven, line a baking sheet with parchment and single layer the slices. Pop those suckers into the oven at the lowest possible setting you got. Either way you do it, the slices are going to take anywhere between 5-8 hours to completely dehydrate. It all depends on how juicy your oranges are. Just keep an eye on them after the first few hours. You want them to dehydrate, not burn into crisp.
They are done when they look like so, all dried and crispy and delicate. They should feel dry to the touch.
%u00a0Once the slices have cooled off a bit, they are ready to be handled and hung. I used thread to hang my orange slices, but feel free to use whatever you want.(I was going to use ornament hangers but didn’t have any and I was not about to go buy some)
Slices of orange so pretty. They look so good with the wooden carrots, the popcorn garland, and the glittery acorns on the tree.
I definitely will be making more.
Enjoy!
-C
I love me a good tree, pretty much any tree, real or fake.%u00a0 And come December, my house if full of different little trees, of all sizes, shapes and colors. It’s my holiday thing because really, there is nothing better then a tree.
And yeah, I was feeling crafty, and maybe a little bit sad that there is no snow around here. And we still hadn’t gotten our real tree yet (but we just got it!) so I wanted to make some more little trees to make me feel better, and this time I wanted them to light up. I was also thinking that it might be nice to bring a few little tree decorations over to the new house so I have happy little trees over there while we are working. So yeah, I needed some more little trees. And I figure you do too, that’s why I am sharing this.
This is a great project to do with a few littles (they make the trees, you use the hot glue and sharp blade) or make while baking bread and watching a festive movie.%u00a0 You could even make and share with a loved one as a sweet little gift. And best part…it doesn’t need to be packed away after the holidays because trees are not just for Christmas. These are pretty little winter trees, for everyone who is awesome and likes a tree to enjoy all winter long!(even if winter hasn’t come yet)
The stuff you will need
A piece of cardboard about 12×16 (I used an old pizza box I found in the recycling)
assorted paper of size an color
white tissue paper (optional)
a strand of 20 lights (colored or white)
a ruler
scissors
hot glue gun
glue stick
tape
pencil
xacto knife
Note. If you have an empty shallow box that is a good size for you, just use that. And hot glue works best, bt can be subed out with any glue, or tape for that matter (if you don’t mind seeing tape on your trees)
Start with making the cardboard box base. Measure each corner in 1 inch and cut our the corner. Repeat with all corners. Once they are allcut, fold each side at the cuts to make the sides.
Tape the corners together and now you got yourself a sallow box. (now you can make boxes for everything !!!) Set box aside
Now to make the trees. Take a piece of paper and, depending if it is already a square or not, but it into a square. (does not have to be perfect, just eyeball it)
Got your square paper, now take an edge and fold it over about 1/2 inch. And then taking you scissors and snip of the corner edge at an angle (again, not going for perfections here)
The poin is the tip that was cut, now fold the two sides together.
So you can stop here ans glue or if you want light holes…..
Unfold the paper and with a pencil, mark off where you wnt the holes (random is good). Take the xacto blade and cut little x’x over each hole.
Then push through each x with the eraser end of the pencil
Now glue the cone together using the hot glue gun.
You will have a weird tail left on the bottom of the cone, so just trim that off and any extra that needs to come off to make it stand up straight.
Ta Da!! A paper cone tree. Now make a bunch of them, all different sizes and colors (or all the same size and color.. up to you) And not all of them need to have light holes in them either, a couple non light trees are good.
Once you have made all the cone trees, grab the box base and set up the trees how you want them to be on the base
Take the trees off and mark the spots with the pencil. Grab the xacto and cut X’s into the marks.
Take your lights and push the bulbs through (there will be a extra bulbs on the underside…. it makes the box glow.)
And tape down the trees back into place
So cute!
Note.. I stuck a couple extra lights through the box that have no trees. They will be covered in a minute with snow.. So you can do the same. (if you want)
Now you check it out!!! Love it right?%u00a0 And stop here if you like, or go one more step and add some fake snow.
Before you tape down the trees, take glue stick and glue random pieces of tissue paper all over the box, leaving the lights uncovered. (I covered over the extra lights I popped through to make it look like glowing snow)
Stick trees back on.. same way with the tape (You might need to fanagle the trees a little bit to get them to stay)%u00a0 and plug it in.
This makes me happy.
Now go get some paper and start making some trees.
Have fun!
-C
It’s been a long, packed, but very fantastic week. Everyday has been full of work, chores, family, and trying to get in a least one good bike ride or walk in. %u00a0I made a%u00a0list of a few important points to mention from the past week.
Spring is real, not an imagined season in my head. (HOORAY!!!!).%u00a0
Banana ice cream is everyones favorite snack
Planting things from seed and watching them grow is magic
Riding a bike with kinda flat tires really sucks
The little people in my family are the best most fantastic humans
Don’t tell a 2 year that ants will bite her or you will end up caring that child around everywhere because she is afraid to walk outside (Anyone know %u00a0good therapist for a 2 year old?)
Anyways, I am hoping to take it easy today, catch up on my coffee consumption, do a bit of gardening, reading, bike riding, all without pressure or expectations. Everyone should have a day for no expectations.
Some fun internet stuff from the week.
-I need an RV or camper.%u00a0THE BRAVE // vintage rv renovation inspiration
-Who cares if not everyone is pleased, I would be if my lunch bags looked like this.%u00a0These Parents Make Lovely Lunch Bag Art. Not Everyone Is Pleased
-So lovely.%u00a0Urban Jewelry: New Lace Street Art by NeSpoon
-Alternative energy Woo Hoo!%u00a0%u00a0Tesla’s Powerwall Home Battery Wants to Make Fossil Fuels Obsolete
-I am really excited to make this%u2026 I have a feeling that I will be incorporating it into many of my recipes.%u00a0ChefSteps’ Genius Roasted Onion Cream
-Another house that I could get down with.%u00a0
And a few pictures%u2026.
The mister and the worlds biggest crayon, which is made of scraps of blue crayons from all over the world. I could totally use a big ass crayon like this.The coolest most badass 95 year old lady that I know (I know a few), Grammy Stem. And the little, getting a lift. (I could have used a lift too!)Brothers. The guy in the green is my Dad.Aftre dinner ice cream break.The sky has been on point all week longAnd made myself some veggie chips. The colors alone are delicious.
Have a great day!
-C.
%u00a0 %u00a0
Because I love beets, I love celeriac and I love to pickle things%u2026. And I love hearts. And Valentines Day is just around the corner so I though it appropriate to share these little darlings with you because even if you are not a%u00a0fan of pickled beets or celeriac, you have to admit that these are just the cutest pickles you have ever seen. I have made a batch, sitting in the fridge, awaiting some sweet little dinner date that me and the mister will have come Valentines day. Or not, we might just eat them all before hand%u2026 because everyday is like Valentines day for us! (blah, barf, but awe, we are so cute!)
This is my basic pickling recipe%u2026.I figured you will want to pickle everything and anything once you realize (if you haven’t already) how amazing pickled everything is! And how easy it is to do it yourself.
My Pickling method%u2026…
Choose the jar that the pickles will live in
Prepare and pack the stuff %u00a0that is going to be pickled into the jar%u2026 leave about and inch of head space
Fill the jar to the top with a half water and half vinegar solution (I usually use apple cider vinegar because I think it adds a bit of sweetness.. I don’t like to pickle with sugar)
If going for a crispy pickle (like green%u00a0beans or crunchy carrots)%u2026. strain liquid into a pot with a teaspoon of salt per cup of liquid and any spices* that you want to use%u00a0and bring to a boil%u00a0%u00a0Add back to jar
If going for a more tender pickle (like beets or celeriac), dump the liquid and the veggies into a pot with a teaspoon of salt per cup of liquid and any spices* you want to use. Bring to a boil for a few minutes, then remove and replace back into jar.
Place lid and stick in fridge for at least a day%u2026.(I alway cheat and end up taking a bite within the first few hours) The flavor only gets better after being in the fridge for a couple of days.
*You can spice your pickles anyway you see fit%u2026. I%u00a0like to use peppercorns, garlic, mustard seeds, celery seeds red pepper flakes. Or for a little sweeter and more fragrant pickle, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods or star anise%u2026the possibilities are endless.
Pickles are usually good for about a month, but I have never been able to keep them that long!
A little about these specific pickles%u2026…
I used one medium celeriac root, and 2 small beets. Sliced about a 1/4 inch thick and then used a cookie cutter to make the hearts. %u00a0The chosen vinegar was%u00a0apple cider, and yeah ,you must pickle both the inner and outer hearts%u2026.don’t waste the outer heart! And the spices I used were black mustard seed and peppercorns.%u00a0
And they be amazing!!!!
Have a Fantastic Weekend!! Hopefully full of %u00a0warm weather, fluffy clouds, and lots of pickles!
-C
%u00a0 %u00a0%u00a0%u00a0
Another week has flown by%u2026.whew%u2026%u2026. But it was such a good week. The mister had a birthday that I think went pretty good. We received a fair amount of snow that turned the world into a snow globe. We took our first road trip in the new car down to NYC to visit Nicks brother his girlfriend.(They were awesome..We had a great time) And now we are home. .%u2026. a lot of happy things this week.It’s kind of turned into a Nick birthday tradition for us to hike up Mount Philo. We started with a couple inches of snow and a little freezing rain at the bottom of the trail and ended at the summit hiking in a foot of snow. So beautiful. %u00a0 %u00a0%u00a0%u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0Our Christmas tree tradition. Every year after we cut our tree down, we string up the lights, pop a giant bowl of popcorn and string it up for the tree while watching Elf. I look forward to this night for weeks. We started stringing popcorn too many years ago when we were living in our first apartment. We didn’t have any ornaments or money so we just did popcorn. Then we added Elf to the tradition. How can it get better?%u00a0It’s really the highlight of the season. %u00a0%u00a0%u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0%u00a0The tree%u2026%u2026.minus the ornaments. I am still up in the air about putting anything else on it this year, I love the way it looks now.
A kitchen supply store in NYC. I could have spent the entire day in this store. There was something for everything. I walked out with nothing. It’s ok, I can always go back.
The Chelsea Market in NYC was really fun. Its located in such a sweet building with a bunch of neat little shops. We made our way there for the Etsy craft fair which was really cool. We even made it early enough for the door prizes! %u00a0And just look at these light!%u00a0%u00a0By far the best light display I have seen this year.Nick and I always joke about getting a bike with a side car%u2026..I think it was meant to be.Waking up earlier then everyone else and hitting the streets. Walking around the lower east side at 6 am on a saturday is really fascinating. The streets were almost complexity empty and there was less of a %u00a0hurry hurry energy. I got to see the sun coming up. A bowl of delicious grapes. Can make anyone happy, right.
Ahh,, and back to Sunday. I am going to clean, unpack, shovel a bit and get ready for the week. Then I am going to hang %u00a0with the puppy(I missed him) and I am also going to drink to much coffee, read and nap throughout the day. A low key kind of day. I think I kind of deserve it, and I think you deserve a day to do what you want too!
Hope you have some happy!!!
Oh, it definitely was a long week. Did a lot of holiday stuff, watched a lot of littles( got peed on) got sick and lost my voice for a couple of days.(that was fun). All sorts of good stuff. But for real, I had a great week. Here are some bits. Persimmons.,,,,,,,,,,,. Do I need to say more?
This new tea%u2026 I wasn’t sure I was going to like it but oh do I. It’s so freaking good, I have been drinking it every day. I must stock up before its gone!
Everything about getting our Christmas tree makes me happy. Every year, the mister, the dog, and I drive down to the rangers station,, get our tree tag , and hike into the Green Mountain National Forest to hunt for and cut down our Christmas tree. The tree is the thing for me. I don’t want presents, no shopping, take the food, just the tree and I will be happy. %u00a0Its our most fantastical tradition. We make is a whole day event. A nice drive, lunch, listening to Christmas music, lots of hot coffee, a long hike in the most beautiful place in the world. The perfect day.%u00a0Look at how happy this guy is. Its hunting season and we forgot his bright colors so we improvised. Yellow trash bag ribbons. His new nickname is now Trash dog. It fits him.
Watching this little. She is an amazing human being and I love love love her.. I think she might be mine. She really likes soup..
My elf candle holders I got from CB2. I wanted them so bad for years and finally the last year they sold them I bought myself these guys. I heart them
Oh you like my new milk crate show bench? Its awesome,, one of the best uses of scrap wood and milk crate that I have ever done(Yes there has been other scape wood milk crate projects) Well you are in luck..I will show you how to made it.. watch for it next week!
I love old strainers. I kind of have a thing for them. This big guy is now in my collection. Bonus, green AND purple kale%u2026.
Hanging out with my sister. I haven’t seen her for what seems like the past 4 months(she is in nursing school). This was her last day of classes %u00a0so we cleaned her house, folded laundry while listening to music and I made her dinner.We wrapped up the night by mass texting our other sisters inappropriate pictures of the elf on the shelf. It got pretty crazy. %u00a0It was such a great night. I love my sisters.
Hope you found some bits of happy this week, if not, your not doing it right.
THE LOVELY CRAZY
December 29, 2019 by maximios • Blog
December my friends. No way around it. But I am excited because I love Christmas time with all the fun christmasy things that we can do in next few weeks (there is an A Frame gingerbread village planned !). Also it%u2019s birthday season so I have already made one cake and stuck it in the freezer and only have like 10 more to make. And then there is snow, and lights, and trees%u2026 How can you not like December? Plus cookies. Need to start making cookies because what is December with cookies?
The week was good. After spending all of Sunday cleaning and putting up the Christmas lights, things went as usual with the ways of world. Tuesday Barb and I had lunch and went for a hike, just us girls, to take in nature and talk life things. She hugged trees while I deposited my knowledge that comes with my old age. HA. Later that day, Emma (the mr%u2019s sister), came over to catch up on life and teach the mr how to embroider. She was a great teacher and , I must say, the mr did a really good job being a learner. Although I was not surprised because he picks up everything so fast.
Then Thanksgiving eve. The mr gone for the day, me hanging hanging at home taking phone calls and going through the stack of papers that has been mocking me for the past few weeks. On his way home he picked up Miley so she could sleep over. We made a spaghetti dinner, she watched Nailed It Holidays and I walked her through making cinnamon star bread. The little lady kneaded, rolled, and shaped the whole thing pretty much all by herself. It was for sure a proud aunt moment for me. And then we watched Juno (I hadn%u2019t seen that movies in forever. I forgot how good it was) and I passed out. Bed for me and the mr. Miley, well I am not sure what time she actually went to bed. We let her stay up and watch whatever.
Thanksgiving day I woke up, cooked the star (Miley finished it by making and drizzling the glaze) and we just hung out until Erin and the other two littles showed up. We fed them, played them, and off they went to the Grandparents. The rest of the day was just me and the mr. We went for a nice, if not blustery cold, hike, then just putzed around the house. I read, he hung a new light fixture, then we made dinner. Being thanksgiving and all he felt the need to grill some turkey breasts and if you really want know how that went you can ask him. Me, I ate a humongous bowl of veggies and lentils and hand fulls of spinach. After an after dinner walk we crawled into bed and tried to watch a movie, but I passed (again) out and that was that.
Then the rest of the weekend has been pretty slow. Basically just hanging around the house doing little chores and some little projects. Mellow. And it has been pretty nice.
I am really excited for today. We are going to the Green Mountain Nation Forest to find us our Christmas tree!!!! My most favorite part of Christmas . And so we will head out late morning with our lunches packed, our snow pants tossed into the truck, the saw nice and sharpe, and head out into the mountains.And better yet, tt is suppose to snow later today and I am so very much hopping that we get a nice, (safe) amount of snow on our hike and tree cutting adventure. That would just be the best. YAY!
Internet links from the week, if you want to know what I know now.
-I didn’t know this about thanksgiving. And now I do. Why We Celebrate Thanksgiving On The 4th Thursday Of November
-Uh Duh, I could have told you this. Want to live longer? Surround yourself with plants
–A Brief History of Word Art, the Decor Everyone Loves to Hate. And I really REALLY hate it.
-I have been known to sit in front of the oven and watch the bread bake. Super satisfying. Here’s 36 Blissful Seconds of Bread Rising in the%u00a0Oven
–Photos of How Families Eat In The Arctic. And that is why I don%u2019t live there, it%u2019s a lot of meat.
-This makes me happy to look at. A Multicolored Library of the World%u2019s Ochre Pigments%u00a0
–Here’s To Grown-Up Siblings And The Ties That Bind. Siblings. Even when I want to punch them in the face, I still love them.
-I guess I just don%u2019t understand. Meet the $50 Strawberries That NYC%u2019s High-End Chefs Are Fawning Over
–Homemade Christmas baking is a joy %u2013 even if it is not to your taste. Agreed. Something about baking this tie of year, it is just so, well, joyful.
-On my reading list. Good Husbandry: A Memoir by Kristin Kimball. I read her first Memoir, The Dirty life, and it was A+
And pictures from the week…
Do you realize that Christmas is just a handful and a half of days away? I knew it, but like didn’t really register it. And now I am like, fa la la la fuck! We have been so busy and distracted that I haven’t really focused to much on the holiday, but at least we decorate the tree. And if I am remembering correctly, there were a few years, long ago, that the mr and I wouldn’t even start celebrating or get our tree until a few days before Christmas so if I am judging us on my past selves, well we are golden. And now we let the celebrating begin!
One of our Christmas traditions is to string popcorn while watching elf for the tree. This is a big deal night because I won’t let myself watch it until that night, but after that, I can watch it as many times that I want. (once a day) We got our tree like two weeks ago, and finally late last week we did the popcorn, watched some elf, and a few days after that we decorated, kinda.%u00a0 It was much lacking in ornaments. We had the lights, the popcorn garland, the paper chain (we made it a few years back), and the carved wooden carrots, but the bulbs we usually stick on it, I just wasn’t feeling. The tree was looking pretty good but was still lacking something. That’s when I went to my fruit bowl and grabbed an orange, a clementine and the dehydrator out of the basement over at the loft and went to work. I turned on the Christmas music (A very special Christmas, the red cover) sliced the citrus, stuck it in the dehydrator, and then, well, then I waited a good few hours. During those hours, the music was going, the house smelled up like citrus and lovely, and I felt that slight holiday tingle.
I think these orange slices are going to be a new holiday tree decorating tradition. I will probably tweak it next year ans spend the 6 hours waiting for the fruit to dry baking cookies and not pouring concrete, but maybe not.
And if you are thinking its too late to make any more holiday stuff, well you are wrong. And honestly, I might just make a sting of these slices to hang up all year long.
To make the orange slice ornaments..
All you need is..
The dirty work. Slice the orange about a 1/4 inch thick. Try to make all the slices the same thickness.
I am using my dehydrator so the slices go single layer onto a rack. If you are using the oven, line a baking sheet with parchment and single layer the slices. Pop those suckers into the oven at the lowest possible setting you got. Either way you do it, the slices are going to take anywhere between 5-8 hours to completely dehydrate. It all depends on how juicy your oranges are. Just keep an eye on them after the first few hours. You want them to dehydrate, not burn into crisp.
They are done when they look like so, all dried and crispy and delicate. They should feel dry to the touch.
%u00a0Once the slices have cooled off a bit, they are ready to be handled and hung. I used thread to hang my orange slices, but feel free to use whatever you want.(I was going to use ornament hangers but didn’t have any and I was not about to go buy some)
Slices of orange so pretty. They look so good with the wooden carrots, the popcorn garland, and the glittery acorns on the tree.
I definitely will be making more.
Enjoy!
-C
I love me a good tree, pretty much any tree, real or fake.%u00a0 And come December, my house if full of different little trees, of all sizes, shapes and colors. It’s my holiday thing because really, there is nothing better then a tree.
And yeah, I was feeling crafty, and maybe a little bit sad that there is no snow around here. And we still hadn’t gotten our real tree yet (but we just got it!) so I wanted to make some more little trees to make me feel better, and this time I wanted them to light up. I was also thinking that it might be nice to bring a few little tree decorations over to the new house so I have happy little trees over there while we are working. So yeah, I needed some more little trees. And I figure you do too, that’s why I am sharing this.
This is a great project to do with a few littles (they make the trees, you use the hot glue and sharp blade) or make while baking bread and watching a festive movie.%u00a0 You could even make and share with a loved one as a sweet little gift. And best part…it doesn’t need to be packed away after the holidays because trees are not just for Christmas. These are pretty little winter trees, for everyone who is awesome and likes a tree to enjoy all winter long!(even if winter hasn’t come yet)
The stuff you will need
Note. If you have an empty shallow box that is a good size for you, just use that. And hot glue works best, bt can be subed out with any glue, or tape for that matter (if you don’t mind seeing tape on your trees)
Start with making the cardboard box base. Measure each corner in 1 inch and cut our the corner. Repeat with all corners. Once they are allcut, fold each side at the cuts to make the sides.
Tape the corners together and now you got yourself a sallow box. (now you can make boxes for everything !!!) Set box aside
Now to make the trees. Take a piece of paper and, depending if it is already a square or not, but it into a square. (does not have to be perfect, just eyeball it)
Got your square paper, now take an edge and fold it over about 1/2 inch. And then taking you scissors and snip of the corner edge at an angle (again, not going for perfections here)
The poin is the tip that was cut, now fold the two sides together.
So you can stop here ans glue or if you want light holes…..
Unfold the paper and with a pencil, mark off where you wnt the holes (random is good). Take the xacto blade and cut little x’x over each hole.
Then push through each x with the eraser end of the pencil
Now glue the cone together using the hot glue gun.
You will have a weird tail left on the bottom of the cone, so just trim that off and any extra that needs to come off to make it stand up straight.
Ta Da!! A paper cone tree. Now make a bunch of them, all different sizes and colors (or all the same size and color.. up to you) And not all of them need to have light holes in them either, a couple non light trees are good.
Once you have made all the cone trees, grab the box base and set up the trees how you want them to be on the base
Take the trees off and mark the spots with the pencil. Grab the xacto and cut X’s into the marks.
Take your lights and push the bulbs through (there will be a extra bulbs on the underside…. it makes the box glow.)
And tape down the trees back into place
So cute!
Note.. I stuck a couple extra lights through the box that have no trees. They will be covered in a minute with snow.. So you can do the same. (if you want)
Now you check it out!!! Love it right?%u00a0 And stop here if you like, or go one more step and add some fake snow.
Before you tape down the trees, take glue stick and glue random pieces of tissue paper all over the box, leaving the lights uncovered. (I covered over the extra lights I popped through to make it look like glowing snow)
Stick trees back on.. same way with the tape (You might need to fanagle the trees a little bit to get them to stay)%u00a0 and plug it in.
This makes me happy.
Now go get some paper and start making some trees.
Have fun!
-C
Anyways, I am hoping to take it easy today, catch up on my coffee consumption, do a bit of gardening, reading, bike riding, all without pressure or expectations. Everyone should have a day for no expectations.
Some fun internet stuff from the week.
-I need an RV or camper.%u00a0THE BRAVE // vintage rv renovation inspiration
-Who cares if not everyone is pleased, I would be if my lunch bags looked like this.%u00a0These Parents Make Lovely Lunch Bag Art. Not Everyone Is Pleased
-So lovely.%u00a0Urban Jewelry: New Lace Street Art by NeSpoon
-Alternative energy Woo Hoo!%u00a0%u00a0Tesla’s Powerwall Home Battery Wants to Make Fossil Fuels Obsolete
-I am really excited to make this%u2026 I have a feeling that I will be incorporating it into many of my recipes.%u00a0ChefSteps’ Genius Roasted Onion Cream
-Another house that I could get down with.%u00a0
And a few pictures%u2026.
Have a great day!
-C.
Because I love beets, I love celeriac and I love to pickle things%u2026. And I love hearts. And Valentines Day is just around the corner so I though it appropriate to share these little darlings with you because even if you are not a%u00a0fan of pickled beets or celeriac, you have to admit that these are just the cutest pickles you have ever seen. I have made a batch, sitting in the fridge, awaiting some sweet little dinner date that me and the mister will have come Valentines day. Or not, we might just eat them all before hand%u2026 because everyday is like Valentines day for us! (blah, barf, but awe, we are so cute!)
This is my basic pickling recipe%u2026.I figured you will want to pickle everything and anything once you realize (if you haven’t already) how amazing pickled everything is! And how easy it is to do it yourself.
My Pickling method%u2026…
*You can spice your pickles anyway you see fit%u2026. I%u00a0like to use peppercorns, garlic, mustard seeds, celery seeds red pepper flakes. Or for a little sweeter and more fragrant pickle, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods or star anise%u2026the possibilities are endless.
Pickles are usually good for about a month, but I have never been able to keep them that long!
A little about these specific pickles%u2026…
I used one medium celeriac root, and 2 small beets. Sliced about a 1/4 inch thick and then used a cookie cutter to make the hearts. %u00a0The chosen vinegar was%u00a0apple cider, and yeah ,you must pickle both the inner and outer hearts%u2026.don’t waste the outer heart! And the spices I used were black mustard seed and peppercorns.%u00a0
And they be amazing!!!!
Have a Fantastic Weekend!! Hopefully full of %u00a0warm weather, fluffy clouds, and lots of pickles!
-C
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Another week has flown by%u2026.whew%u2026%u2026. But it was such a good week. The mister had a birthday that I think went pretty good. We received a fair amount of snow that turned the world into a snow globe. We took our first road trip in the new car down to NYC to visit Nicks brother his girlfriend.(They were awesome..We had a great time) And now we are home. .%u2026. a lot of happy things this week.
It’s kind of turned into a Nick birthday tradition for us to hike up Mount Philo. We started with a couple inches of snow and a little freezing rain at the bottom of the trail and ended at the summit hiking in a foot of snow. So beautiful. %u00a0 %u00a0%u00a0
%u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0Our Christmas tree tradition. Every year after we cut our tree down, we string up the lights, pop a giant bowl of popcorn and string it up for the tree while watching Elf. I look forward to this night for weeks. We started stringing popcorn too many years ago when we were living in our first apartment. We didn’t have any ornaments or money so we just did popcorn. Then we added Elf to the tradition. How can it get better?%u00a0It’s really the highlight of the season. 
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%u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0 %u00a0%u00a0The tree%u2026%u2026.minus the ornaments. I am still up in the air about putting anything else on it this year, I love the way it looks now.
A kitchen supply store in NYC. I could have spent the entire day in this store. There was something for everything. I walked out with nothing. It’s ok, I can always go back.
Ahh,, and back to Sunday. I am going to clean, unpack, shovel a bit and get ready for the week. Then I am going to hang %u00a0with the puppy(I missed him) and I am also going to drink to much coffee, read and nap throughout the day. A low key kind of day. I think I kind of deserve it, and I think you deserve a day to do what you want too!
Hope you have some happy!!!
Oh, it definitely was a long week. Did a lot of holiday stuff, watched a lot of littles( got peed on) got sick and lost my voice for a couple of days.(that was fun). All sorts of good stuff. But for real, I had a great week. Here are some bits.
Persimmons.,,,,,,,,,,,. Do I need to say more?
Everything about getting our Christmas tree makes me happy. Every year, the mister, the dog, and I drive down to the rangers station,, get our tree tag , and hike into the Green Mountain National Forest to hunt for and cut down our Christmas tree. The tree is the thing for me. I don’t want presents, no shopping, take the food, just the tree and I will be happy. %u00a0Its our most fantastical tradition. We make is a whole day event. A nice drive, lunch, listening to Christmas music, lots of hot coffee, a long hike in the most beautiful place in the world. The perfect day.%u00a0
Look at how happy this guy is. Its hunting season and we forgot his bright colors so we improvised. Yellow trash bag ribbons. His new nickname is now Trash dog. It fits him.
Hope you found some bits of happy this week, if not, your not doing it right.
HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!!!