Apple Pie - A fall favorite!

The photo doesn't do it justice, I should have taken a photo of one slice so you could see the yummy inside, but alas...it's gone! From Betty Crocker's New Cookbook:

2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
dash of salt
8 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples (about 8 medium)

Heat oven to 425 degrees F.
Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in apples. Turn into pastry lined pie plate.

Sprinkle apple mixture with Crumb Topping: Mix 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar and 1/2 cup firm stick butter until crumbly. Cover topping with aluminum foil during last 10 mins of baking to prevent excessive browning. Bake 50 mins. Enjoy!

The Five Tibetan Rites

Recently I learned about The Five Tibetan Exercises. This is a great way to get going in the morning when you have very little time. This 10 minutes helps you get jump started...get your body functioning like a yoga cup of coffee. I really enjoy a full hour of yoga, but some days it is just not going to happen. Especially this week with this sinus infection. Not healthy. Any exercise seems stressful. So, enter The 5 Tibetans. A quick, less stressful way to stretch, tone, and stimulate the seven key chakras (if you're into that sort of thing). Here's a link to more information, printable pages, and full description of each short exercise: http://www.lifeevents.org/5-tibetans-energy-rejuvenation-exercises.htm

Pinterest

Have you seen Pinterest? I love this site. You can create pin boards that reflect your style, your tastes, your loves, your inspirations. Create your own wish board, gift ideas, home decor ideas, whatever you want. Then look around at other people's boards and revel in the beauty. You can "follow" other pin boards that you like. Come back and check in on your board when you need a pick-me-up or a little creativity boost. Create your own inspiration collection! Check it out at http://pinterest.com. If you want to follow me, I'm soaprehab. Naturally.

Indie Find: Good4You Herbs and Teas

I love my morning cup. I like to vary it up between coffee and tea. What I also love about tea is all the varieties that are caffeine free so I can enjoy them in the evening as well. I have purchased several teas from Good4You on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/good4you and enjoyed them all. They had a deal on Heartsy last week, so I stocked up. (Not familiar with Heartsy? Super discounts from Etsy shops! http://heartsy.me) You can order either loose teas or bags, whichever you prefer. I use a lot of loose teas but decided to try some bags this time. With great names and super fab artwork, this is a fun shop to browse. And excellent customer service makes it a breeze to purchase as well. Some varieties include: pure bliss chai, simmer down, wake up & live, for spring sniffles (speaking of Spring sniffles, we have some of that around our house right now, should have put that one in my cart!), and dream tea. If you are a tea lover, I highly recommend Good4You teas.

Fun & Easy Fontalicious Gift Bag & Bow

A super cute project to make your gifts even more special! Check this one out:

Fun & Easy Fontalicious Gift Bag & Bow

Fun & Easy Fontalicious Gift Bag & Bow

Wanted to share with you this super simple font gift bag project that you can do in like 10-15 minutes. It can take that plain and boring gift bag into one that steals the spotlight at the party! And it's totally made with random magazine cutouts, a punch, and scissors! Here's how you make it!

Fun & Easy Fontalicious Gift Bag

Materials
– Plain gift bag (you can get them at Target for 99¢ or dollar stores for 2 for a $1)
– Circle paper punch (mine is 1.5" x 1.5")
– old magazines
– Aleene's® Original Tacky Glue®
– Foam Brush
– Scissors

Instructions
1. Punch out interesting type from your magazines using a circle punch. I chose to pick type on backgrounds with different colors.
2. Use a foam brush to brush on Tacky Glue to back of circles. Spread on a thin even coat.
3. Space your circles evenly apart in rows on the front of your bag.
4. Optional: Cut out strips of a headline from the magazine for bow. Follow this simple paper bow tutorial to make a bow using the strips. I added an additional small loop in the center of this to complete the look! Glue it onto your packaging with the Tacky Glue!

Notebook Project

One of my recent projects at the famous Polly's Paper (www.pollyspaper.com) is this cute little notebook. I am always jotting down notes and ideas, things to do and things to remember. So, I decided to make myself a small notebook to keep all my notes together. I started out with a little ringed chipboard book, added some of my favorite new paper from Polly's, and some ribbon, and voila! Sits right here on my desk where a good portion of my note making is done. :)

Rhubarb Vanilla

Rhubarb is one of my favorites in the Spring and Summer. I've posted my rhubarb love a few times in fact! Now, I finally decided to put that rhubarb love into soap form. I think this combo of rhubarb and vanilla is divine!

Tangy, fruity rhubarb adds a burst of excitement and energy to delicious, elegant vanilla. A sophisticated blend, though, not so foody. In fact, I think it's a very classy, feminine scent for Spring.
Here's the listing on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/listing/72749759/rhubarb-vanilla-soap-bar