Easter Weekend

I hope everyone had a great weekend, whether you celebrate Easter or not!  The weather here was perfect and I was sooo happy to be outside after a long cold winter.  Saturday we drove back to Indiana to see my family and took a walk to the old rail road trestle by my mom’s house.  20140422-202946.jpg20140422-203002.jpg

My uncle and my sister being a goon!

My uncle and my sister being a goon!

 

On Sunday we went to Ben’s family’s Easter dinner and watched his nephew hunt for eggs for the first time.  I also took some pictures of his dad’s old gremlin.  I ate way too much candy this weekend, but hey that’s what Easter is for!

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Oh and I got this adorable peeps skewer thingy from my friend Kelly.  Everyone that knows me knows I have an unhealthy obsession with peeps.  Thankfully they aren’t available all year long or I’d be in trouble!

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Have a great week and Happy Spring!

Jenna 😉

 

 

 

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DIY Photo Phone Case

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Hello everyone, I have been busy trying to get things done so I can enjoy the warm weather that is finally starting to arrive soon!  I haven’t really made anything in about a week but I thought someone might find this diy handy.

This one’s pretty simple!  Buy a clear case for your phone.  I got this one on Amazon for about $1.99.  Print out a 4×6 photo, of whatever, and trace the phone cover and camera hole and cut.  I have an Iphone so depending on your phone you might need a bigger sized picture so be sure to measure first.  I used an exacto knife to make sure I got a nice clean line and voila! Try to use a photo that will work well with your case since it is long and skinny.  This is perfect for those of you who like to change your case often and don’t want to spend a small fortune on new cases every time.

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How to make an old apartment a little less ugly

I’ve lived in quite a few apartments now in my 26 years, ever since college I’ve pretty much moved every year or so at the end of my lease, and have not been lucky enough to own my own home, but I believe in making the best of what you have.  We spent all of last summer looking for a house or townhouse to rent and after getting no where, (we live in a very expensive area where nothing stays available for long) we settled on our current apartment.  It has lots of space and two patios, but is older and not as nice as our last that was tiny and had no outdoor space at all.  I wasn’t thrilled but after I got my own stuff in and started to find what worked where I began to change my mind.  I’ve learned a few tricks over the year, and here are a couple.

 

...and my owl collection

…and my owl collection

I’ve lived in apartments before that have the phone jack right up on the wall which I will never use.  Ben and I just have cell phones and most people I know don’t have land lines either.  My solution to this ugly thing on the wall is to put up a vintage phone. It is a phone jack after all!  I was lucky enough to acquire a box of old phones when my uncle moved into a house that had been abandoned for quite a while, but they can also be found at antique stores or on Etsy.

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Another thing I didn’t like about the apartment was the huge intercom and ancient thermostat.  My solution to this was to hide them a little with lots of small frames around them, so they don’t stick out like a sore thumb quite as bad.

White walls are boring but I don’t always mind because then I can add whatever colors to a room that I want.  Decorating should be fun and I’m still getting things to look how I want.  I’ll probably never be done, but that’s half the fun!

Let me know if you have more ideas, cheers!

I like clusters of different sized and colored frames

I like clusters of different sized and colored frames

Tangerine Upsidedown Cakes

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I don’t cook to many desserts but I was in the mood and wanted to try this recipe I found on pinterest from

http://drizzleanddip.com/2012/09/10/clementine-upside-down-cakes.  I used tangerines instead, but whatever!  I varied my recipe because I used a cup of Greek yogurt and a cup of water instead of butter and eggs but I will give you the recipe from Drizzle and Dip and if you feel adventurous like I was you can deviate from the recipe.

    • 225g butter – room temp
    • 225g caster sugar
    • 225g flour
    • 2t baking powder
    • 4 large eggs – room temp
    • finely grated zest of 2 small clementines, or in my case tangerines
    • about 1/2 – 1 t of brown sugar for each cake
    • 15 slices of peeled clementines (1 slice per cake)
Hot Syrup
  • 1/2 cup of clementine juice
  • 1/2 cup sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180 c / 350 F
  2. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
  3. Add the eggs one at a time, allowing to fully combine between each addition
  4. Add the clementine zest and mix.
  5. By hand sift the flour and the baking powder over the mix and fold it in to combine
  6. Sprinkle around 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of brown sugar in the the bottom of each cavity of a greased muffin pan.
  7. Add a slice of clementine (cut about 1cm thick) on top of the sugar.
  8. Using an ice-cream scoop, evenly measure out the cake batter and dollop onto each clementine (about 3/4 of the way up the pan).
  9. Bake for 25 – 30 mins, until golden brown.  Mine took 30 minutes with the Greek yogurt.
  10. Make the syrup by bringing the juice and sugar to the boil until the sugar has dissolved and it just starts to thicken.
  11. Using a spatula gently loosen the baked cakes from the mold and tip out onto a cooling rack. Pour the warm syrup over the cakes to allow them to absorb.

Mine didn’t turn out quite as pretty as Drizzle and Dip’s did but they were delicious and still look pretty good I think!

enjoy!