Bruschetta

One of my favorite things about warm weather is fresh veggies. I'm currently working on my veggie garden for the 3rd year and my herb garden for 7th year. (I've had the herb garden longer since I always had them at our condo in potters.) 

One of my favorite fresh recipes to make is bruschetta. I love the fresh tomatoes and herbs soaked in olive oil topped with some yummy mozzarella that melts all over the baguette...I'm starting to get hungry again! So let's jump in.

Here's what you'll need:

Your Favorite fresh tomatoes (I'm using vine tomatoes they looked the best in the store)

Crusty Baguette

Mozzarella

Olive Oil

Salt 

Pepper

Italian Seasoning (store bought or your own blend)

Garlic Powder (or minced garlic)

First up dice up the tomatoes.

Next is your seasonings.  A little salt. A couple of turns of the pepper. A heaping dash of Italian seasoning. And a little sprinkle of the garlic powder. (I'm using the powder today because I have a friend with a garlic allergy coming over but she can eat the powdered form.)

Drizzle with a lot of olive oil. Then stir it all together.

Next slice your baguette however thick or thin you like it. I prefer my baguette to be crispy so I slice them thin.

Spread your baguette slices on a baking sheet, drizzle with oil and bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes to get them nice and crispy.

Then add your tomatoes and mozzarella on top of the baguette and place back in the oven for another 10 minutes so they come out really crispy. Cut that time short if you prefer.

Serve while they are still hot. 

Tomatoes, herbs, cheese, and bread! It doesn't get much better than this!

All that baking made the baguettes nice and golden on the bottom.

This are a perfect appetizer or little snack. Tonight we ate it as an appetizer for my Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken aka Chicken Balls. (A post for another day!)

Hope you enjoy!

Finally!!! I have a Silhouette Cameo!!!!!!

I don't know if you can tell from all the exclamation points in the title but I am really excited about getting my Silhouette Cameo!

I have been longing for this machine for well over a year and a half thanks to Jen at I Heart Organizing. She uses the Cameo in so many amazing ways to organize and label things. I knew that I would get a lot of use out of it. I have even tried to win it on every single giveaway I could find...but alas...giveaways are not my friend. I never win. Now if it were a physical competition...I don't lose...ever!

But it's not an easy thing to hand over $299 for a machine to craft with. But I did find a nice bundle on Amazon that came with all kinds of extra goodies for $269. I also got the vinyl and heat transfer starter kits to go with the Cameo.

Since I got my Cameo I think that there has maybe been 2 days total that I haven't used it. I'm obsessed. My list of to vinyl items is huge! I'm currently trying to organize all my options and plans!

My first project...a monogram for my laptop! 

I no longer have hand written paper taped to the trash and recycling cans!

I helped a friend with some gifts for a Monogramed themed Bridal Shower.

Can't leave out any of my volleyball girls. 

Lots of drink ware has been monogramed for friends and family.

I love these tags I'm able to make for all the items I sell. 

And these adorable ones for my custom orders!

The kids can no longer steal my Camelbak since it is labeled.

Can't forget about the heat transfer. One tank with some hometown love and one with current town love. And of course a v-neck with another monogram! 

The possibilities are endless with the Silhouette. I can't wait to share some more stuff soon!

What is your go to item for crafting or organizing?

Online Store!

I've had several requests to be able to purchase my headbands and other items online. So once I finish selling headbands at next weeks volleyball tournament then I'm going to start working on my online store! (I'm even thinking about letting you customize!)

If there is anything else you've liked that you would like to be able to purchase please let me know! 

Busy. Busy. Busy.

So it's been a long time since I've written...I really had a goal in mind to blog once a week to get into a rhythm.  As usual I was extremely over confident in what I could get done with all my everyday activities with the kids, errands, and work around the house. (The chaos took over again.)

So here's a super quick catch up on what's been going on since my last post. 

We had a birthday for one of the kids. And if you have kids you know how the week of the party is C-R-A-Z-Y! So I got nothing else done except cleaning, making decorations, buying food, cleaning, more decorations and a little more cleaning.

If you're looking for cupcake toppers check out my friend Kim at Sweet Collie Designs. These pirates ones were amazing!

And I've been sewing like CRAZY. 

Headbands!

Skirts for baby girl. (Post coming soon!)

A sleeve for my laptop/iPad. (Another post!) 

And zippered pouches! (And ANOTHER post!)

And it's not a normal crazy. It's crazy hopped up on caffeine because I bought myself this beauty! 

Hi my name is Erin and I HAD an addiction to Starbucks lattes.

But now I don't have to run out to get coffee. I can make it at home which allows me more time to get stuff done at home to make things.

Which naturally meant I needed to go shopping of new coffee mugs and espresso cups. (Somehow those fruit baskets snuck their way into my cart.)

(All the mugs and the fruit baskets came from World Market.)

Back to the sewing.

I had several friends ask me about my headbands.

So I made a few and everyone loved them and then they were gone. So I ran out to one of my favorite places on earth...the craft store! And stocked up on a few fabrics. 

  

Seriously I'm in love with each of these fabrics they are so fun and bright. I can't wait for spring/summer to get here.

Headbands and lattes.

Then I joined a friend at the craft store to help her with a baby shower gift....and I couldn't resist getting more fabric for headbands. 

(It also helps that I have an upcoming volleyball tournament in a few weeks that my club director suggested I sell them at.)

Then I had a day where nothing went right. So I decided to do a little cleaning and re-arranging with my new pegboard. (And another upcoming blog post I swear!)

And some more. 

It's been a little crazy but I promise I'm working on some new posts as well as all these headbands!

Spice Cabinet Organization

My spice cabinet has been driving me crazy! I can't ever seem to find anything and there is no flow to it what so ever. So I decided to clean the whole thing out. 

I filled up two counters with stuff. I can't even tell you how many duplicates of things I found. Which I know I bought because I thought I didn't have any.

Once I got it all on the counter I decided to look at what I had and decided the best way to use this cabinet is to do half with my my spices, herbs, oils etc and the other half my baking ingredients.

I also added Command Hooks to the doors for my measuring spoons and measuring cups. No more searching high and low for the my 1/4 tsp when it's right there!

I really feel like I can take a deep breath. 

It just makes me happy to see everything lined up all nice and neat!

Don't judge my spices. We have massive containers of the stuff we use most often from Sam's Club. They're in a totally separate cabinet closer to the stove. And I don't know about you but I love my lazy susan in the cabinet. 

Behind my spices are extras that are used a lot less often than the others. Like once or twice a year. 

And let me just tell you that I LOVE Oxo containers. If I see them on sale anywhere I can't help myself. I promise to post my pantry another day and you can see how much I love them. I'm really hoping to get a Silhouette Cameo soon so that I can label all my containers...or at least borrow one of my best friends...(hint hint wink wink!)

The items I use the least are behind everything else on the second row. Such as food coloring, candles for birthdays and cupcake liners.

Did you see my adorable little scoops in these containers I got those at World Market for just a few dollars! I love them!