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{guest post: I {heart} nap time}

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August 31, 2012 By | 1 Comment

Hi friends! I’m Jamielyn from I {heart} Nap Time and I’m so exited to be here today. I just adore Vanessa and her wonderful blog. Her styling has to be my favorite! Today I wanted to share a simple and sweet recipe with you. Muffins are often requested at my house and these Lemon blueberry muffins have become a family favorite. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

lemon blueberry muffins

{ Lemon blueberry muffins }

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp lemon extract
  • 11/2 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. In a large bowl whisk together milk, vegetable oil, egg, lemon extract and lemon grind. In a separate bowl combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and nutmeg. Mix the dry ingredients into the large bowl and stir until smooth. Fold in sour cream and blueberries.
  2. Preheat oven to 375. Fill cupcake pan with liners (or use a cooking spray) and fill with batter about 2/3 the way full. Bake for 20–25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove muffins from pan and allow to cool.
  3. Combine powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl and drizzle over muffins.

Enjoy!

Thanks for having me today! To find more yummy recipes make sure to check out my recipe box. Let’s stay connected! Find me on facebook, twitter or Pinterest. Have a great day! {hugs}

 

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You can find Jamielyn from I {heart} Nap Time here:
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Filed Under: Baking, Blog, Guest Blogger, Recipes | 1 Comment

{guest post: lines across}

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August 30, 2012 By | 4 Comments

Hello lovely {nifty thrifty things} readers. I’m Rachel from Lines Across, and I’m thrilled Vanessa asked me to guest post here today. Lines Across is a craft blog where I share lots of tutorials and inspiration (like these owl crafts or button crafts). Most of my projects take less than an hour and can usually be made with materials you already have lying around the house. I’m also a mom to a toddler girl and 3 year old boy, and I often share ideas and activities to do with your kids.

After posting all of those wonderful DIY stamp ideas, I had to try a few of my own. These stamps are really a combination of a few of the others, but are closest to this herringbone stamp from A Beautiful Mess.

I was a little worried that using craft foam sheets wouldn’t work very well, but it really did. It was so easy, and I know I’m going to make more.

What you need:

1. Craft foam sheets

2. Glue + Scissors

3. Small wooden block

4. Ink

What you do:

1. Cut out the shapes that you want. (Remember the stamp will be a mirror image)

2. Cover the wooden block with a layer of glue.

3. Place the foam pieces on the block. Press down to make sure that they all dry flat.

4. Stamp.

I also made a stamp for my blog logo, and for my (upcoming) etsy shop. The foam works best with simple geometric shapes. I found that it lost a little bit of detail on the more intricate shapes. However, it still worked well and was very easy.

 

Thanks again Vanessa for having me here today. I would love for you to stop by Lines Across and check out some of my tutorials, like this one - Scrapbook Paper Gift Bags. Also follow along with Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

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You can find Rachel from Lines Across here:
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Filed Under: Blog, Guest Blogger | 4 Comments

{guest post: too much time}

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August 29, 2012 By | 3 Comments

Hey guys! I’m Kim from Too Much Time On My Hands

and I couldn’t be happier to be visiting here today with Vanessa and all of her lovely readers! I have followed Nifty Thrifty Things for a while now, but I really got to know Vanessa when she saved my life (really) with my disastrous Blogger to WordPress move. Now she is my go-to gal for any blog help and I don’t know what I would do without her and her expertise!

I really don’t have “too much time on my hands” it’s actually the opposite. But I sure do need this creative outlet and to make time to feed that creative itch! I do a lot of upcycling and reuse old and discarded “junk” for 2 reasons, I want to be Earth conscious and I am cheap-hee hee. I am a stay at home mom in Denver with my 3 and 5 year old and wonderful husband. On one salary I can only do budget friendly projects! I post 4–5 times every week and love to share my crafts, DIY debacles, and kid projects too. Every weekend I host a “no rules-anything goes” link party, and I would love to see you there!

I’m excited to share a few of my fave projects and a fun tutorial with you today!

This fun and crazy easy headboard was created from an old fence someone had listed for free on Craigslist and I packed as much of it as would fit in the back of my Subaru. It was well worth the effort!

Another of my favorite projects is this colorful and inspirational sign made from old pallet wood.

This wreath is my favorite wreath of all time!

I rolled old book pages into rosettes and added burlap and a rustic metal number to finish her off.

Would you like to know how I made all of those sweet book page flower rosettes? Well great, I would love to show you! I used two different color vintage music sheet books for this project.

While you are rolling, use hot glue to hold the rosette together, and don’t let go or it may unfurl into a hot glue mess and you may shout expletives! Try not to burn yourself, I can not be held responsible for any second or third degree burns.

I promise it get’s easier and faster as you get into a rhythm and figure out the style that works best for you. Here are some of my finished flowers that I glued onto branches. The best part is I never have to water them and they won’t die!

Hope you come on by Too Much Time On My Hands and say hi!

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You can find Sarah from The Winthrop Chronicles here:
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Filed Under: Blog, Guest Blogger | 3 Comments

{guest post: the alchemist}

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August 28, 2012 By | 5 Comments

I’m Melissa, a 30 something married girl who lives in Western Washington with my husband and 2 small dogs.
We moved to Washington 5 years ago from Los Angeles, California where I persued an acting career, to seek a more simple life. Now we live on 10 acres in the country with a garden and some free range chickens. It’s been a big change adapting to country life, but also very rewarding.
I love cooking and baking and blogging about it on my food blog, The Alchemist. I also love and collect vintage dishes and housewares, so I started an Etsy Shop called House of Lucien.

I’m a Nifty Thrifty fan so I’m so happy to be here! Thanks Vanessa!

“Women, melons, and cheese should be chosen by weight.”

–Spanish Proverb

Goodness it’s been hot here! These 90 degrees F. (32 degrees C.) days are getting to me.

I saw these loose recipe cards in a free pile at a church sale and I rescued them.

I’m glad I did, because this really hits the spot on a warm day. Not exactly a recipe, more of an idea, or a reminder. “Hey remember that you can blend fruit, add sugar and freeze and it will be delicious?” “Oh, right, I forgot, thanks for the reminder.” That’s sort of the conversation I had in my mind about this.

Perhaps this is as much as a recipe as Paula Deen’s English Peas. There is much controversy (and humor) about the simple recipe. For me and my honeydew ice, I’ll risk the mocking

Cutting up the honeydew

 

Call it ice, call it granita, no matter. It’s a great idea for any fruit on a hot day. Especially since it’s so easy. The last thing anyone wants to do in the heat is cook, or do any work for that matter.

Blending it up to a puree

 

I like to relax in the heat with something frozen and cold.

Pour in a shallow dish

 

A little alcohol involved doesn’t hurt either. Imagine a shot of Midori Melon liqueur poured over this, man my mouth is just watering thinking about it.

Wait an hour, scrape it up while it’s still in the freezer

 

Or some Sprite can be poured over for a delicious slushy-ish concoction.

Wait a little longer, scrape it up some more and it’s ready!

 

However you eat this, plain or with accoutrement’s it’s absolutely perfect on a hot day.

 

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You can find Melissa from The Alchemist here:

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Filed Under: Blog, Guest Blogger | 5 Comments

{guest post: lolly jane}

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August 27, 2012 By | 11 Comments

Hi Nifty readers! We’re happy to be here today, we just adore Vanessa and we’re wishing her and her hubby the best right now during this time.
We’re Kelli and Kristi from Lolly Jane, a DIY blog chock full of tutorials.

We share everything from roadside furniture re-dos to home makeovers to recipes! Today we’re sharing something we love ALMOST as much as a good room re-do…rolo cookies!

I needed to make cookies stat for my boy’s school party. (Thanks for the day before notice, son!) I was browsing my “Best of the Best of Utah” cookbook from my mother-in-law and found an easy recipe called “Crazy Chocolate Caramel Cookies”. A Rolo Cookies Recipe?! They’re simply a chocolate cake mix with Rolo’s inside!

They’re brilliant! It’s the perfect, quick cookie to satisfy an emergency sweet tooth attack for chocolate lovers ;)

Ingredients:

  • 1 box of chocolate cake mix
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 2 eggs
  • Rolo candies

Directions:

  • Heat oven to 350.
  • Combine cake mix, oil and eggs, blend well.
  • Place a Rolo candy in the center of a piece of cookie dough, roll the dough in a ball around the Rolo.

  • Place on ungreased cookie sheet 2″ apart.
  • Bake 8–10 minutes.
  • Cool 1 minutes and remove from cookie sheet.
  • [Makes 4 dozen cookies]

Love this recipe, I’ll be stocking up on Rolo’s and saving them in the freezer for potlucks, get togethers, etc. They look like an ordinary cookie but have a surprise inside! Sneaky, sneaky!

Yum! Hopefully you’ll catch up with us on Facebook, Twitter and/or Pinterest!

XOXO, Kelli and Kristi

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You can find Kelli & Kristi from Lolly Jane here:
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Filed Under: Blog, Guest Blogger | 11 Comments