Never eat cranberry sauce out of a can ever again (gluten free)

                                                            Holiday Cranberry Sauce

I have a friend that told me "if it does't resemble a can it's not cranberry sauce". He was joking but the thing is I think too many people assume that the cranberry, sugar filled gelatinous stuff is what holiday traditions are are all about. They are so WRONG, you all have been missing out on some delicious stuff, and excellent left over turkey sandwich condiment bliss.

Things you're going to need

1) blender, vitamix, or food processor

2) 2 bags of raw cranberries

3) 40 ounces of quality orange juice

4) 1/3 cup brown sugar

 5) teaspoon of orange zest

In a large stew pot (that has a lid) add your 2 bags of cranberries, 40 oz of orange juice and orange zest. Set on medium/high and boil until cranberries are tender and starting to burst.

stir in 1/3 cup brown sugar (you can add additional sugar if you prefer sweeter) and reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and set aside with lid off for at least an hour then with a slotted spoon scoop the cranberries into a blender/vitamix/food processor and puree until smooth (add additional juice from pot if mixture is too thick).

Refrigerate and enjoy!

Want to know what to do with the left over juices? Strain with a small hole colander and use for bellini mix with a sparkling wine of your choice =) Also works well with club soda for kid friendly drinks.

Up-cycled lace infinity scarf

About an hour ago this was a plain black T-shirt and 1/4 of a yard of lace from the clearance section at the craft store~

I started with a T-shirt and cut off  just below the armpit all the way across and then cut off the bottom hem to make a tube of fabric.

Then cut open the tube on just one side.

line up the lace along the tub and cut 2/3 the length of lace as the jersey material. Sew the ends together to make one solid circle.

Take the hem you trimmed off of the bottom of the "tube" and cut in to two sections. Run the thread all the way through  and then cinch it together to make the shape of a flower. Sew the bottom to keep the flower intact.

(My mom graciously modeled the scarf for me)  Attach the flowers so  they tie in the lace and jersey material together.  I  chose to tack the two pieces together so I wouldn't have to re-adjust the scarf every time I put it on but you can do what ever you want =)

Total time: 1 hour (hand sewn)
Total cost: $2.50 

Easy baking gift (Cookies in a jar)

For Christmas we love to give out goodies to our friends and family but everyone always ends up being overwhelmed with sugar treats so a friend an I got together and made these adorable cookie mix jars where all you need to add is 1 softened stick of butter, one egg and 1 tsp of vanilla.

Here's what you need (per jar):

• 1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/8 cup granulated sugar
• 3/8 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup (6-oz.) mini chocolate chips
• 1pt Jar and swatch of cloth 
• To Assemble (it's so easy!)
• Layer the ingredients in the jar contrasting in color to create a layered look. Place the seal down and fabric on top then screw the lid ring on to secure. I included my baking directions in a separate card but have also tucked the corner of the instruction tags under the lid ring. It's super easy and fun.
• Enjoy!
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holy mole those are some holey jeans

I distinctly remember having a pair of wooden soled slip on leather flats that were my absolute favorite shoes to wear and in the 1st grade they got too small. I wore them until I couldn't stand it anymore and my mom made me throw them away because they were so worn out no one would even want them as hand me downs. You would have to know me a little better to understand my bizarre attachment to something like shoes but none the less my daughter has the same affinity for different reasons to some special articles of clothing.

Nadine has a favorite pair of jeans, she would wear them every day if I let her and they definitely reflected that in their beaten and shredded knees. It got to the point where the wear and tare no longer looked stylish but just plain shredded. The rest of the jeans still have plenty of life so today I devised a plan. 1) pick out a shirt that is too small for her but has cute fabric/decals 2) patch up those holes!

I decided to re-enforce the inside of the tare area using the sleeve material from the shirt, that way it was already double layered. I cut off the bottom 4 inches of each sleeve then sewed around the thinned area where the jeans were still thick and not worn. Some of the frayed areas I re-enforced with a few stitches as well. I couldn't decide on whether to use the light or dark blue thread so I double threaded the needle and it actually mimicked the coloring of the denim pretty well. Then I turned the pants inside out and cut off the excess material so it wouldn't snag or tare when she thrusts her legs into the pants in a hurry to run out the door every morning =)

The left knee had a much larger tare in it so I cut out one of the butterflies and the body was narrow so I re-enforced it with a small piece of the sleeve material and stitched all the way around the body before then attaching the butterfly strategically over the thinnest and structurally weakest part of the knee are.

All done! Took me a little less then 2 hours and it looks pretty darn cute =) Nadine is one happy camper to not have to give up her favorite jeans...for now ;)