Mint Cookies and Cream

My husband has been asking me to make him some mint ice-cream, so here it is!

I used:
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1.5 cups whole milk
1 heaping cup of sugar
1 vanilla bean
1tsp vanilla extract
1.5 tsp peppermint extract

First I combined the cream, milk, and sugar in the mixer.

Then, I remembered I bought these whole vanilla beans at the store on sale. They were $3, and usually they are almost $20, so I snatched some up not knowing what i would do with them. I decided to use them in this batch of ice-cream. 1 bean = 1 tsp.

Check out how it looks on the inside, so cool! So I added the insides of one bean.

Then, I added my extra vanilla extract, peppermint, and a tiny bit of green food coloring. It makes it this really really light tint of green with 3 drops. Don't want it too green, but I wanted to signify it was mint.

After mixing for 1 minute or so on low speed, I poured it into the ice-cream maker. I let it run for about 10 minutes.

After the 10 minutes, while it was still running, I crushed up a whole bag of cookies.
I just put them in a large glass bowl and crushed them with the end of a wooden spoon. Nothin high-tech, and big chunks are good! I ate some, ok, ok, and I saved a handful for ice-cream topping or something. I added half of the crushed up mixture into the ice-cream maker.

After about 5 minutes, I added the other half, let it mix in, the spooned it into a container for the freezer.

Usually, it takes overnight for it to reach a store bought, soft ice-cream consistency. It should be fine tonight, which is why I made it early today, I know he wants it!


This ice-cream doesn't get too hard to scoop and its really worth it to make your own. You pay the same you would for cheap store bought, but its as good, and even more fresh than the expensive kind! Give it a try!

Etsy update and labels

Today I woke up to a pile of things I had made, still waiting for labels.


Added some labels, took some photos, and now, an ETSY update! Enjoy!



After viewing some other blogs I came across a great place to get labels. I wish I could remember what site is was. I need to get more labels, as I am down to my last few, and I was thinking about getting some in different colors, or maybe a neutral, like orange. What do you think? I like the idea of little labels too!

The label etsy shop

Appreciation and Laundry!

Today I decided to do a load of laundry with 'for sale' items. For my etsy page. I always wash everything before I put tags on everything, and snaps on the bibs. I like the fabric to shrink together. It always looks better that way, in my opinion.

A while ago I got a huge shipment from the fabric store with all the materials I need to make seven blankets to sell. After the blankets I will still have cotton for burp cloths and bibs, in three of the patterns. Yesterday I finished one of these blankets. Here is a little preview before it goes in the shop (hopefully tomorrow):


And here is my line up of materials to make more!

Its exciting work to come ahead. I love making all of these things, and honestly, want to keep them all! So far, I haven't had one internet sale, only through word of mouth. I can't wait for that day to show people how proud I am of the work I do, just by sharing it with them.

Today my mom said to me when I told her I spend whole days making these things : "You can just go to Wal-Mart and get it cheaper". I know that the appreciation for handmade goods is out there somewhere. Do you have it?

Working the garden

On Sunday my husband took me to get some flowers and I spent the evening planting them. The soil that is here is such bad quality. Basically, its mud or sand. Completely stripped of any nutrients. I hope adding some plants and new soil will help.

Let me tell you, I don't love flowers. I mean, there are some kinds I enjoy, but
mostly, for a garden, I don't prefer them. I'd rather have something more useful, the fruits and vegetables. I will have those soon enough. As soon as I can get some soil to fill those planter boxes, I will be planting my useful garden. I have the blueberries, in behind the flowers, and a friend is bringing over a peach tree later today or this week. Although I feel like it could use some filler, its nice to look at now! I'll have to figure out some kind of ground cover...

I also set up our new hummingbird feeder and they found it right away! Such fascinating little creatures.

A total fail!

On Friday I spent the day working on a few more bib/burp cloths sets for the first part of the day.
At the end, when I finished with what I had left of my terry cloth, I decided to tackle a cute pattern I had found on prudentbaby.com

Snappy Toddler Top

I thought this top would be very cute to try, so I set out printing the pattern. Cutting it out was no problem at all. I think my problems started with the buttons. In the pattern she says you can use snaps OR buttons. So of course, I chose large chunky buttons. I should have chosen snaps. There was a reason she used snaps!!!

So first, It was almost impossible to sew the neck pieces together inside out because of the button.
Then, I decided I had to go all out and create my own edging to match my arm bunting. That was where my mistake lay. It became impossible to pin the three parts together.

One side turned out ok. I could pretend this was nice top if I wanted.

The other side... not good. SOOOO bad. The fabric was pulling and twisting, and it turned out square-ish instead of rounded.

Look at the back! So uneven.


Even us sewers have our bad days. I was tired at this point, and I just wanted to get it done. I should have set it aside to finish another day. I have learned. My husband was so supportive. "This was the first time you tried this honey", and "You will do it better next time". He is right. Next time I will start simple, and I take my time. Lesson learned.

Etsy update!

I added some of the items I've made in the last couple of days on etsy! Its the baby stuff, obviously!



On another note, it looks like I WON'T be writing the grass company, YAY!

Garden Beginnings

I've spent the last week working on the garden, and really trying to focus on making it a livable space. When we moved in it was overtaken by weeds, vines, and bug eaten roses. It took a couple days, but I pulled it all out (sorry, didn't think to take pics), and put in a planter box in the back.

I built it all from scratch! Its still not finished, but the work that needs to be done is minor.
Around the planter box, I planted grass. It still hasn't sprouted, and I'm not feeling very positive about it. Its been over a week, watering twice a day... I may wait a couple more, then write the company for a refund. The planter box is waiting for soil.

Along another wall I planted blueberry bushes! We went to Wal-Mart to check out the quality of their outdoor furniture, and they had these bushes for 50% off! They look pretty good to me!

I planted four along the wall. Working on a budget is hard because you can only do a little at a time, so its looking pretty barren. In time...

Crafting beginnings

This is my crafting space that i set up yesterday.

I wanted to use all the fabric i bought a while ago, but I needed some terry from JoAnn's. JoAnn's is dangerous. Their outdoor stuff was 75% off, plus I always check the remnant bin. There are usually a couple things I can use for random projects. They had a beautiful embriodered cotton

which I promptly made into a blanket. One mistake, but I will try and fix it today. They also had this beautiful 'exploding flower' design. I love the cream with fall colors.


I did get the terry I needed, and I started some bibs from scraps yesterday.


Things are coming along! More work to be done today!

So we've moved and things have begun

So we've moved, and settled in, and I feel comfortable now. I've been told that your life can be based off points. Each event in any given time is a point, positive or negative. Like, wedding = 1 point. Moving = 1 point. Quitting my job that was my life = 1 point. Etc. Etc.

Each point, even if its a positive thing, is a your level of stress. So even though there are so many positive changes going on, stress is high. Hopefully today I will unpack more of my crafting space, take photos of the garden, and update everyone on the business that has ensued in my life since it was upheaved a year ago when i started to plan the wedding.

This is my job now. Here. See you all soon!

My favorite photo from our wedding!