Balsamic Vinaigrette

This dressing is great served over a mixed green salad topped with red peppers, avocado, orange slices, strawberries, pumpkin seeds, raisins and toasted soy beans. Or anything you want really, it's complimented best with sweet toppings like mango or kiwi as well. Try using it as a bread dip as well, delicious!

Ingredients:

12 tbsp. EVOO

7 tbsp. Balsamic vinaigrette

4 tbsp. water

4 tsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard

1 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

Combine ingredients in a bowl and blend with a hand mixer (or blender) until light brown and bubbly. Refrigerate in a glass jar and enjoy!  

Jewelry Display

One of my projects this week was to get all my jewelry out of hiding and polish up some tarnished silver. After I was finished, it was all looking so nice and shiny so I decided to make a display for my bathroom wall. This project cost me nothing, I just used materials I had around the house. I started with an old picture frame which I primed and painted a white semi-gloss with some leftover paint I found in the cupboard. After it dried, I sanded down the edges a bit to make it look worn. Then I borrowed some colourful wire from Chantelle and strung it from tiny nails hammered into the back and finished it with a navy blue ribbon I had in my craft box.

I have to admit, I'm really pleased with the way it turned out! It's amazing how easily you forget what nice pieces you have when they are hiding in various different places around the house, out of sight out of mind right? Now as I'm starting to fit back into my pre-pregnancy clothes, maybe I'll be inspired to jazz it up a little with an old favourite necklace or a cute pair of earrings.

I have a ton of beads and clasps in my craft box so I may try making some earrings and bracelets for my next project. Although I may need some advice from Chantelle and Sue on jewelry making techniques. I'm guessing its pretty straight forward though.

Spring is in the air and summer is coming, what's in your jewelry box? Uncover some hidden treasure today!

Organic Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients:

1/2 cup organic vanilla yogurt 

1/2 cup almond milk

12 frozen organic strawberries

3 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. pure vanilla

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

Blend ingredients and serve immediately or freeze for two hours to firm it up a bit. Serves 3-4

Jayden's Mobile

I finally got around to making this mobile for Jayden's room and it's just in time! He's recently found his feet making him extra wiggly and difficult to distract during diaper changes. I'm hoping this helps! 

Cards & Envelopes

I've been making my own handmade cards since about 2005. It all started when I was out shopping, looking for a birthday card for a friend. I came across a cute card but it was six dollars! I thought to myself "I could probably make that for about fifty cents." I have always been pretty crafty and enjoy working with paper, paints and fabric. Turns out I had a lot of fun with it and later that year Orchard Designs was born.   

I've worked with many different materials and recently I have been experimenting with decorative punches, felt, stamps, embossing and quilting techniques. I've also made matching envelopes from scratch. 

My most recent custom order was for my dad who has a Westie named Maggie. He wanted "Westie cards" but the colour scheme and design was up to me. I started with a hand drawn sketch of a Westie and made some photocopies. The most time consuming part of this whole process was cutting out 12 of them, making sure the keep the black outline around the outside. It all came together nicely in the end and I hope he likes them.  

Mariners Onesie

Colin bought Jayden a Mariners t-shirt but he outgrew it before baseball season started so I cut it up and sewed it to a plain white onesie. It's not perfect but it sure does look cute on him. Go Mariners Go!

Sugar Roasted Chickpeas

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 tbsp. pure maple syrup

½ tsp. pure vanilla extract

¼ tsp. cinnamon

2 tbsp. sugar

Directions:

Place chickpeas in an even layer on a clean kitchen towel and allow to air dry, about 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease cookie sheet with a little olive oil and transfer chickpeas, keeping them in a single layer. Roll around to coat lightly in oil. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until crunchy. Whisk all remaining ingredients except raw sugar together in a medium mixing bowl and set aside. Transfer sugar to a small food processor or grinder (or grind manually with a mortar and pestle) process until smooth, fine and powdery. Dump the chickpeas into the syrup mixture and stir to coat. Once evenly coated, sprinkle sugar over chickpeas, stirring gently, until all chickpeas have a nice sugar coating. Return to baking tray and bake for another 10 minutes or until there is a crystallized glaze and the chickpeas are completely crunchy, be careful not to burn.