Joyful Abode

Amityd has gorgeous and unique modern jewelry made from reclaimed beads and other vintage surprises. Every piece has a story, and wearing her jewelry would be like secretly wearing a piece of history.

Her tea party in a box is to die for! Each box includes vintage hats, gloves, jewelry, tea cups, and a recipe!

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Merkabajewelry is a sweet shop filled with jewelry you can dress up or wear casually. She also has handknit scarves that would feel so snuggly! AND Now through Mother’s Day, she’s offering free shipping on everything in her shop! YAY!

My favorite item in her shop is this beautiful necklace. Just my colors, with a silver leaf/feather pendant.

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Irenemuldoon is always creating breathtaking jewelry designs. Everything she makes would be so easy to slip into your daily wardrobe!

And these earrings are just too cute… I love the sky blue + red + white combo!

This is going to be part 1 in a 3-part series on perfect party dips. At first, I thought it would only be 1 of 2, but then I realized I have never posted about how to make homemade pita chips! Tortilla chips, yes, plenty of times, but not pita chips. So I’ll have to buy some more pitas and make another batch. Eventually.

Anyway, everyone loves party dips, but not everyone loves the “bad stuff” that can be in them. These two are relatively healthy, and while they do have some fat, it’s the “good fat” from olive oils.

The first dip we’re focusing on is the yummus hummus. Really, it’s just hummus, but it’s so delicious, I had to add the yummus part.

Here’re (is that a word?) the ingredients you’ll need to make my yummus hummus recipe:

• 2 cans of garbanzo beans, drained (reserve the liquid from one can)
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cloves garlic (or 3 Tbsp pre-minced garlic from a jar)
• paprika to taste
• basil, parsley, or other herbs to taste
• extra virgin olive oil

Basically, you just throw together everything except the olive oil into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add olive oil and the reserved bean liquid until it’s smooth enough for your liking.

It’s also really good with some red bell peppers thrown in and blended together with it. Mmm… or olives. There are tons of hummus variations, so try whatever you think would be good! It can’t hurt.

This is delicious with homemade pita chips, wheat thins, Triscuits, on carrots (or celery or other raw veggies)… in a pita with some alfalfa sprouts and a slice of tomato… the possibilities are endless!

My pantry was starting to bug me more and more each day. Things were in front of things I needed, the open boxes of crackers were mixed with unopened boxes, bags and boxes of pasta were everywhere…

So do you want to know what I did?

I took everything out of the pantry, cleaned the shelves and swept the floor, and then put everything back in. Except for some foods I decided were too non-nutritious for us to actually eat, which we gave to my brother-in-law, who can handle it because he does triathlons and bikes everywhere.

I re-designated shelves and reorganized, but I didn’t actually buy any new organizing gadgets/boxes/shelves/baskets/widgets. It’s much better now, and I know exactly HOW MANY olives I have (olive-busting recipe to follow).

Sorry it’s blurry, but you can still tell how much better it is.

Basically, here’s how it went down:

My husband wanted chocolate cake.

I asked him if cupcakes would be good.

He said that’d be great.

We had strawberries. I chucked them in.

There was more batter, so I filled the mini muffin tins.

This time, I added white chocolate chips.

And… it was pretty much an ERROR.

I learned that:

1. Regular cake batter doesn’t seem to rise to form the happy dome that cupcakes tend to have. Does anyone know the exact difference between cake and cupcake batter? Or is mine just not the right kind of cake batter?
2. White chocolate chips SINK in thin batter, even if you put them on top. They were all at the bottom of the cups when I took out the cakes.
3. I don’t really love cooked strawberries, except maybe in pie (but I seem to think that when we made strawberry pies when I was little, they were still raw). Strawberry jam is good too. With rhubarb if it’s there. But not cooked in cakes.
4. It would be a good thing to have muffin papers for my mini muffin pan.
5. BUT…. even ERROR chocolate cupcake muffin thingies with strawberries can be delicious!

After the ERRORS, I didn’t bother with frosting them, but they were still tasty. I guess I still need to make the guy a chocolate cake though, huh?

The Greene Fairy has some lovely new items in her shop. I am loving these spring-inspired paintings.

    

And I love love love her embroidered cards. These new tulips are darling.

Go visit her shop at etsy.com!

 Modcustomjewelry has some really gorgeous lighter designs for spring and summer, and I just had to point them out to you. I love the idea behind the wishbone-style necklace (first picture), and the unique shapes in her designs.

   

If I were a bracelet-girl, I would LOVE wearing this bracelet as I walk along the Emerald Coast. Can you feel the ocean breeze in your hair?

Check out her shop at etsy.com!

The Santa Rosa Riverwalk arts festival (in Milton, Florida) was really nice. It was so gorgeous to be right next to the water, and the days were clear and sunny, even if the wind and cold on Saturday almost froze us to death.

I went with my sweet friend Liz, who makes gorgeous custom hand-embroidered pillows.

Here’s some of her awesome work. Let me know if you’re interested in commissioning a piece, and I’ll get her in touch with you!

Unlike at the last craft show, there were lots of helping hands around. Liz and I each had husbands to help set up big things, and our dear friend Cye accompanied us and helped chat up the visitors. Everyone’s company made it an especially pleasant weekend.

I had my new card rack and stationery display set up, which I thought was pretty spiffy. I also figured out how to do a nice two-level effect with the bias tape, by propping up the back basket on an overturned bowl.

And I wrapped my baby blankets all prettily in a band of brown paper with coordinating satin ribbons.

On Sunday, I came a little more prepared for cold weather, wearing my giant blue sweater that unfortunately makes me look like a linebacker. I think I need to donate this sweater… not too flattering, though I love the color and how it feels.

We demonstrated our crafts…

And some happy customers went away with their new purchases. This girl was especially exuberant, and VERY excited about her new apron, which she plans to wear as an over-skirt as part of her normal daily outfits. You can’t tell in this picture, but she was bouncing around telling us how pumped she was about all of the aprons. How great is that?

See you in Enterprise, Alabama this weekend! After that, watch out, Pensacola! UWF Festival on the Green, here we come!

This recipe is another “pantry-buster” (i.e., a recipe made completely of things most people will have lying around). It’s quick, easy, and so delicious. In hindsight, it probably would’ve been really tasty (and add some nutrients) to add frozen spinach in the cheese layer.

You will need:

• 3/4 pound of spaghetti
• 1 jar of spaghetti sauce (or equivalent of homemade sauce)
• 2 small cans of mushrooms (or fresh mushrooms if you have them)
• spices and herbs of your choice
• cheese of your choice (about 2 cups)

Boil spaghetti until al-dente.  (That means it’s still a little bit resistant/firm)

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a 9″x9″ baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Now you can start layering. Start with a layer of spaghetti.You should use half of your spaghetti at this time.

Then add half of your sauce. You can use homemade spaghetti sauce if you have some in the freezer, or if you don’t, a jar of store-bought junk is fine.

Add half of the mushrooms and some herbs to the sauce layer.

And top with half of your cheese.

Then repeat the layers. Pasta, sauce, mushrooms/herbs, cheese.

Top with more herbs and put the whole thing in the oven. As I was pantry-busting, I also chucked in a loaf of frozen garlic toast.

Bake it about 25 minutes, until everything is warm and melty. I switched to the broiler for the last 2-3 minutes, so that the top would get that lovely toasty color.

Serve it up, and enjoy!  The leftovers were even better. Mmm…

Buster and Boo’s shop is filled with adorable pendants, and Sara wants to remind you that Mother’s day is coming up on May 11th. So make sure to pick out a pendant that will be perfect for your mother, mother-in-law, sister, grandmother, wife, or girl-friend.

 

My absolute favorite is this little green heart. So sweet!

Don’t forget to check out the other items in her shop at etsy.com!

Enigmachck was recently on vacation, but she’s back now and her shop is as awesome as ever! She’s got tons of fantastic handknit scarves, along with her signature over-dyed vintage clothing finds.

I think this gorgeous slip dress would make a fantastic swimsuit cover-up for the summer!

Be sure to visit her shop on etsy.com!