arrow notecard by ashley pahl

Over the last year, I’ve enjoyed this wonderful opportunity to share my projects with the Going Home to Roost community. This wasn’t an easy decision to make, but as I find my life’s path pointing in a new direction, I must say goodbye as a contributing writer.

I don’t know for sure yet where this new path is taking me. It occurred to me recently that to have anything else worth writing about, I must first get out there and experience more of the world. I want to start a vegetable garden, take some art classes, travel with my daughters… there’s so much on my life’s to-do list that remains unchecked. There is so much of the world I have yet to explore.

If you’d like to stay in touch, I do plan to document some of my journey on my personal blog, but I will most certainly be coming back to Going Home to Roost as a loyal reader. For today I leave you with this quote, which will hopefully inspire you as it inspired me:

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

- Mark Twain

Warm wishes, and thank you all for a wonderful year!

Ashley

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One of my favorite breakfast treats is french toast. I had been planning on cooking it for breakfast this past weekend after months of not having it when it occurred to me: french toast latte! There is nothing about the combination of espresso, milk/soy milk, maple syrup, cinnamon, and vanilla that doesn’t go together. It tastes as good as it sounds!

The recipe isn’t difficult either – it still follows my basic simple syrup recipe for creating flavored lattes – this time we’ll just swap white sugar for brown sugar.

Serves 2

Ingredients

- 6 ounces brewed espresso

- 6-8 ounces steamed milk or soy milk, rice milk, etc.

- 1/2 cup water

- 1/2 cup brown sugar

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon OR two cinnamon sticks

- 1 tablespoon real maple syrup

Directions

Combine brown sugar and water in a small saucepan. When it reaches a boil, add vanilla extract. Allow to boil for one minute, then remove from heat. Quickly and cinnamon and maple syrup, and stir well. If you used cinnamon sticks, remove them when the syrup has cooled. Pour your finished syrup into two mugs – 1/8 to 1/4 cup, depending on how sweet you like your drinks.

When espresso or dark coffee is brewed, add to the mug. Stir coffee and syrup well, and add steamed milk, spooning any foam on top. Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon, and enjoy!

Out to find ways to make life simpler, Ashley is tackling life one DIY project at a time. Learning as she goes, she also spends her days writing Indie Pretty Projects and creating for her Etsy shop.

wrap up: {ashley pahl} {breakfast} {coffee} {drink} {french toast} {latte}

If you’re like me, you may have gone crazy with the clementines this winter. I ended up with five leftover clementine crates, and I don’t like tossing them out. Usually I keep them as extra storage bins for my crafts – at least, I keep the sturdier ones made out of wood. Then, it occurred to me that those crates could make really cute, free shadow box shelves on walls! With just a little paint or fabric, they could be dressed up and almost unrecognizable as they showcase photos, plants, art, sculpture, etc. They’re perfect for eclectic decor

Materials

- clementine crate(s)

- decorative elements such as fabric, patterned paper, paint, etc.

- tools such as hot glue, paint brush, scissors, etc.

I decided to cover the bottom of my crate with tangerine fabric. The same idea would work with solid or patterned paper. Alternatively, you could paint the crate with bright colors, or spray paint the whole thing one solid color.

To add a fabric base like I did:

1. measure and cut fabric to fit into base

2. one side at a time, apply hot glue along bottom edge of crate, pressing edge of fabric down before glue hardens

3. tuck fabric corners into corner holes (if they’re open like mine)

4. apple a dot of glue on each corner, pressing fabric corners into it to secure fabric

The great part about the wooden crates is that they usually have holes on the bottoms already – perfect for hanging the crate onto wall with nails or screws! Before decorating, just hold your crate up against the wall where it will hang, choose two holes for hanging, and mark their location on the wall with a pencil. Put the crate down, insert nails or screws into the wall at the markings, and hang finished crate on the wall. Perfect!

What are some things you have done with fruit crates?

Out to find ways to make life simpler, Ashley is tackling life one DIY project at a time. Learning as she goes, she also spends her days writing Indie Pretty Projects and creating for her Etsy shop.

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Valentine’s Day may be tomorrow, but there is still time to create some seriously pretty love notes. If you’ve seen my Etsy shop, you would know that I know paper cutting words, so I created this easy tutorial for making your own letter stencils, and using color to your wildest imagination.

Supplies

- card stock for stencil
- pencil, and eraser for mistakes
- craft knife / X-Acto blades
- paper or card stock and envelopes for cards
- color medium of your choice – paints, colored pencils, oil pastels, etc.

Begin by writing your message in block lettering. If you don’t feel comfortable writing free-hand, try printing your word(s) in your favorite font to use as a stencil.

Cut out the letters as silhouettes with your craft knife.

Center your stencil over your blank card where you want your wording to appear. Begin filling in your letters with complimenting or contrasting colors. I used colored pencils…

… and neon paints:

Your stencil can be used over and over until it wears out, but make sure it isn’t stained through before using again on a clean blank card.

That’s it! I hope you all have a very lovely Valentine’s Day.

Out to find ways to make life simpler, Ashley is tackling life one DIY project at a time. Learning as she goes, she also spends her days writing Indie Pretty Projects and creating for her Etsy shop.

wrap up: {ashley pahl} {diy} {holiday} {love} {project} {stencil} {valentine's day}

wrap up: {coffee} {latte} {mocha} {raspberry} {recipe} {valentine's day}

Homemade dried apples are such an easy and inexpensive way to sneak more fruit into your diet. Of course, nothing beats a fresh, juicy apple, but I like dried apples for their portability and versatility. A little bag of apples can be slipped into a small purse for an anytime-snack, and they make a great topping for salads. They’re also a fantastic way to preserve a large bounty of apples through the winter. The idea came from the book How to Sew a Button by Erin Bried, and I modified the directions to fit my needs.

Ingredients

- apples
- lemons
- water

Directions

Slice as many apples as you would like into pieces 1/4″ thick or less. They can be as wide or long as you like. You may also peel them, or leave the peel on. I chose to leave the peel on and they came out great.

Soak the apples in a mixture of equal-parts lemon juice and water. The lemon juice not only preserves the color of the apple, but it creates depth to the apple flavor without having to add sugar.

After soaking, place the apples on a cake rack on top of a cookie sheet. If you don’t have a cake rack (I don’t!), then just place the slices directly on the cookie sheet. I did not need to grease the pan – the apples came off fine on their own.

The oven should be preheated to 140 degrees F, and the apples should remain in the oven for five hours. If your apples aren’t on a rack, flip them half-way through. I found that my apples really needed about 6 hours.

The apples should be flexible and bendy. You can eat some immediately, or all of them if you just used a couple of apples. If you’re looking for long term storage, then after they have cooled, place them in a sealed jar for a few days.

Shake the jars every so often. Pasteurize them by freezing them in bags for two days, and keep them for up to 6-12 months in a cool, dry place.

Out to find ways to make life simpler, Ashley is tackling life one DIY project at a time. Learning as she goes, she also spends her days writing Indie Pretty Projects and creating for her Etsy shop.

wrap up: {diy} {dried apples} {food} {fruit} {living} {preserve} {simple} {snack} {winter}

I have tried so many homemade hot chocolate recipes in the past, and yet it is the healthiest recipe that might actually be my favorite! This recipe contains no added white sugar – the sweetness comes from the banana and the semi-sweet chocolate chips. While it is true that sugar is sugar, with this recipe, you aren’t getting empty calories: bananas contain potassium, vitamin B6, and some dietary fiber; semi-sweet chocolate has antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties.

Surprisingly, this recipe is also incredibly rich and sweet. I wrote the recipe fully expecting to need a drizzle of honey on top to sweeten it up, but it was so not necessary! In fact, it may border on too-sweet, so if you may find yourself adjust the number of chocolate chip tablespoons from four to three, or even just two tablespoons.

Serves 2.

Ingredients

1 cup of low fat milk, soy milk, or rice milk

4 tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cocoa powder

pinch of chili powder*

dash of salt

1 small to medium banana, sliced

*The chili powder doesn’t add any actual spiciness, it just gives the hot chocolate a little bit of an edge. My husband and I weren’t able to detect any spiciness in our drinks, but if you really don’t like chili powder, it isn’t completely necessary.

Directions

Combine the milk, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, vanilla, chili powder and salt in a small sauce pan. Heat on medium heat until just before it begins to simmer. Stir often.

Meanwhile, slice a banana and place in a blender.

Once chocolate mixture is hot enough (you’ll start to see steam), remove from heat and pour into blender with bananas. Blend for about a minute, making sure all banana chunks have been smoothed out.

The end result will be very creamy. Pour into two mugs, and you’ll see some foam on top. The end result is a warm, deliciously sweet treat. Yum!

Out to find ways to make life simpler, Ashley is tackling life one DIY project at a time. Learning as she goes, she also spends her days writing Indie Pretty Projects and creating for her Etsy shop.

wrap up: {banana} {drink} {healthy} {hot chocolate} {sugar free} {winter}

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