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DIY Christmas Card Holder.

By now you're hopefully getting at least one Christmas card in the mail per day. No? Me either. But I do have a few and by golly they are going to get hung with pride and displayed for all to see.

Here's what you'll need: 

cut lumber (click here for printable list to take to Lowe's)
fine sandpaper
wood glue / hammer and nails - we used both, but it's probably not necessary

mini clothes pins 

paint - can use spray paint, but I would spray them before assembling

The cost of this project should be right around $15, depending on what supplies you have on hand.

 Sand your boards. (spray paint at this point if you're going that route)

Place the smallest (6in) board at one end of the pole and prop the other end up with any piece.

Measure down 5 inches from the bottom of the top board and make a mark with a pencil.

Line up your second board (12in) on the line you made. Continue in this manner until all the boards are in place from smallest to biggest, centering them as you go.

It should look like this. Now you can tilt the pole to the side and squeeze some wood glue onto each board. Then nail it for extra support if you want, but the wood glue would probably be fine on it's own.

Once the glue is dry, or the nails are in place, you can paint. I chose to paint mine a variety of colors. I'm obsessed with these little sample sized paints at Lowes; you just can't have too many. The possibilities are endless when it comes to the paint.

Once the paint is dry, use a thin layer of the wood glue to attach the mini pins to the boards. I first placed a pin in the middle of each board, then eyeballed the spacing. I also alternated the pins up and down, so the cards could be pinned over and under the boards.

So, that's that. It goes pretty quickly - the longest part is waiting for the paint to dry. Boring. But, you'll have yourself a cute little Christmas card display in no time.

Please let me know if you have any questions, and of course come back and share your pictures if you decided to make one!

Iced Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

When I was growing up, I used to love when mom would buy the cheap Iced Oatmeal Cookies. Now that I'm older and love to bake, they're one of my favorites to make.

First of all, I kind of want to apologize because I'm going to use Instagram photos today. I doubt this recipe would've gotten posted if I had to wait for it to clear up and the sun come out around here. I didn't want the cookies to go bad before I had the chance to get them properly photographed and on here. You don't mind, do you?

Anyway, if you're looking for a great holiday cookie that's a little unique to the rest, here's the one.

Iced Oatmeal Cookies
Makes about 24

3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cups raisins
1 cups all purpose flour sifted
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups confectioners sugar
3 TB meringue powder

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375° with the rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a food processor, process 2 cups oats and the raisins until finely ground. Transfer to a medium bowl; stir in remaining 1 cup oats, the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Set aside.
3. In a mixer bowl, beat together sugar, brown sugar, butter, and shortening on medium speed, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally, until light and fluffy, about 2 mins. Add egg, then vanilla; beat until combined. Stir in oats mixture just until combined.
4. Use a cookie scoop and place about 2 in. apart on prepared baking sheet and lightly press to flatten. Bake until light golden brown around edges, 14-16mins. A little underdone is better than crispy and crumbly - unless you like them that way. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
5. For glaze, in small mixer bowl, combine confectioners sugar and meringue powder. With mixer on low, beat in 4 TB water until mixture is the consistency of a medium thick icing. Beat 3 mins to make a spreadable icing. Use an angled spatula or the back of a spoon to spread icing onto cookies and let stand until set, about 30 mins.
6. *Store in airtight container at room temp. in single layers separated by wax paper, up to 3 days.*

Butternut Squash Soup with Maple & Lime.

Here's a great soup that we like to eat year round. If you've tried butternut squash soup before and didn't like it, I'd encourage you to give this recipe a go. And it gets pureed, so it's a great way to sneak those fruits and veggies in there for your kiddos - and adults - who don't really like them.

Out of all the hearty soups and stews in my files, this one is my husband's favorite. It takes little chopping, but you can save some time if you buy the squash already cubed in the produce section. Sometimes I can find it, sometimes I can't.

So, here's the recipe, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Butternut Squash Soup with Maple & Lime
Serves 8

3 TB butter
3 cups butternut squash - peeled, seeded, and cubed
1 medium onion, diced

2 McIntosh apples - peeled, cored and cubed

1/2 cup apple juice

4 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup half and half

1 tsp salt

juice of 1/2 a lime

Saute onions, apples, and squash in the butter for about 15 minutes.
Add apple juice and cook until liquid reduces by 1/2. Add the chicken stock and 1/4 cup maple syrup. Reduce heat to low, simmer until squash is tender, stirring occasionally (about 30 minutes). Let cool slightly.
Puree with an immersion blender or working in batches, place mixture in blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Return to pot and simmer on low heat. Slowly whisk in the half and half.
Add lime juice and season to taste with salt (and pepper if you wish).

(CLICK HERE FOR A PRINTABLE RECIPE)

Get Bokeh on Your iPhone.

I learned how to make bokeh in my iPhone by accident. A happy accident. Today I'm going to show you how to do it without using an app or fancy shmancy iPhone lenses and all that.

I'm using an iPhone 4s, and the standard camera app that comes installed on it. First you need to know how to use the AE/AF Lock in the camera app. This will help you not only get a bokeh effect, but also in your every day photos. I never take a photo without using the AE/AF Lock. It's just too easy to use, and the photo always comes out better.

To use the AE/AF Lock feature, place your finger on your focal point in your photo. Long hold until "AE/AF Lock" shows up at the bottom, like in the photo below.

This is how I take all my photos. Typically, I would stop here, open it in another app to edit it and then post it to Instagram. When I'm getting a bokeh photo, I focus on something close up, like these flowers and lock it in. Then, while it's still set on that focus - don't touch the screen - point it at your lights and snap a photo.

The photo of these flowers was taken on our balcony, and this box of lights was sitting right next to me, so I just pointed the phone at them and took the photo. And there was bokeh.

The best bokeh photos are at night, and you do it the same way. The other night we were riding around looking at Christmas lights - a little early, but a few people have stuff out already. The tricky part about night bokeh is getting something lit well enough that you can lock your focus on before pointing at the lights. 

In this case, I just pointed it at the heater display in the car, locked focus, then without touching the screen again, pointed it out the window and took the out of focus photo. And here are a couple of what I got.

And that is how you get bokeh photos on your iPhone. If you try this and share your photos on Instagram, tag them with #ibokeh so that we can find them easily and enjoy them together.

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Now, let's switch gears and I'll show you how to do the same thing on your DSLR.  Here is how you'll set up your camera.

Any lens - I used my kit lens because if I use a prime, my living room doesn't fit in the frame, it's a small room.
On the actual lens, switch it from AF (auto focus) to MF (manual focus) - this is a must!
Set the dial to "flash off".

Now all you do is point the camera at the lights, turn the focus ring as far to the right or left as possible, and snap away. You won't see the bokeh in your view finder, it will just look like a blurry blob. But, once you snap the photo, this is what you'll see.

The photo on the left was the most out of focus I could go, and on the right I brought the focus back in a little bit, resulting in smaller bokeh.

Same with the photos below.

I hope this info is helpful for you all, and please share your photos and practice photos by using #ibokeh on Instagram, or posting a link in the comments below for your DSLR photos. Have fun, and I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

52 Fridays: 45/52 - Black & White.

I can't believe we're in week 45 already. Less than 2 months away from a new year. I've been a little quiet on the blog lately, but it's not because I have nothing going on or there is a lack of things to share. Quite the opposite, actually. It's just I'm waiting for the proper time to share it and getting all the specifics laid out so that it's not confusing for you...and me.

So, our theme this week is black and white. Often times I'll take a photo and it will sit on my hard drive and I realize it will likely never be used. These were a couple of those. Then, this theme came around and I felt like they made lovely black and whites.

Please visit Lisa's blog today and see her black & white interpretation.

52 Fridays: 41/52 - Shadows.

We spent the day at Silver Dollar City yesterday. They have the National Harvest Festival going on right now, and if you want to get in the mood for fall, it's the perfect time and place for it. The streets are lined with pioneer craftsmen, and it really made for a great place to find some unique shadows. 

I can watch pottery making all day. I don't know why, but it seems I just get hypnotized or something when that wheel is spinning and things are coming into shape. 

Then I came across these shadows from some lovely stained glass pieces that were hanging on display. I don't care that people wondered what I was doing leaning through those rafters with my camera...well, I kinda do. But, it was worth it. And I'd do it again. 

This week took me out of my comfort zone a bit and forced me to look at things a little differently. I normally don't pay attention to shadows, but there are some interesting things to see there.

Thanks for reading today. I encourage you to look further into the shadows and visit Tracy's blog next!