Easy Homemade Crusty Bread

You guys, I can make homemade bread. I don't even have a bread maker. And it's pretty easy to do! You just have to think ahead the day before. It literally has 4 ingredients and you don't need some fancy machine, just an oven-safe pot with a lid.

I've always wanted to make bread but never tried because I thought it was super complicated and it involved yeast, which for some reason intimidate me. I have to thank my friend Alyssa, for introducing me to this wonder. She pulled a beautiful crusty artisan loaf out of her oven and I had to know her secret. The recipe can be found here. You can add all sorts of ingredients to it to jazz it up if you like.

Ingredients:

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon Instant or Rapid-rise yeast

1 1/2 cups water

 

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast. Add water and mix until a sticky  dough forms. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 - 18 hours. Heat oven to 450 degrees. When the oven has reached 450, place a cast iron pot with a lid (or you can use Corningware like I did) in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, pour the dough onto a well floured surface and shape into a ball. Cover dough with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating. Remove hot pot from the oven (using potholders!) and drop in the dough. Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes. Remove bread from oven and cool. 

 

Here's what the dough looked like after 15 hours. Please forgive my photography skills. I've been slacking lately.

 

This is the dough formed into a ball, waiting to go in the oven.

 

 Here it is, hot out of the oven all its crusty fresh-baked goodness!

Doesn't it look beautiful and delicious? I chopped up some rosemary and added it to the dough in the beginning. Impressive. 

And then we made panini's with it. So. Good. My favorite sandwich is caprese. Spread some basil pesto on each slice of bread, add a few slices of tomato, fresh mozzarella and chopped fresh basil. It's the best. Try it.

If I can make homemade bread, you can, too. You'll love it! This would be perfect with a batch of homemade soup.

 

Boy, Oh Boy

At our 19-week ultrasound on Monday, we found out that our growing baby is a BOY! Andrew and I are thrilled and even more excited to meet him! For some reason, I had a feeling it might be a boy. Part of me was hoping for a girl (and the majority "vote" of friends and family was for a girl). Now that we know, I'm so excited and I can't help daydreaming of what he will be like. 

During our ultrasound it was amazing to see how much he's grown and continues to develop. 10 fingers, 10 toes, arms and legs, his cute little profile, his beautiful beating heart. He was VERY active and kept moving around. So much so, we had to take a break before continuing to get all of the views and measurements. He kept rolling around - I have a feeling this is a sign of things to come... The most adorable part, was watching him keep putting his tiny hands in front of his face, almost as if he was being bashful.

We're working on a name(s), which is proving to be a bit challenging! We're keeping that a secret until he arrives. I've also started thinking about how to decorate his room. 

I'm feeling good (aside from not sleeping so great). I'm really enjoying this second trimester. I just feel so happy and thankful. I love my growing belly and still look at it in disbelief. Most of all, we are tremendously grateful that baby boy Ohl is healthy and growing right on schedule. Tomorrow I'll be at the half way mark! I can't believe how quickly the weeks are passing. I keep trying to imagine what it will be like to see him for the first time and hold him in my arms. 

God is good! 

Master Bedroom Makeover

In May, I started a "mini" makeover of our master bedroom. I was ready to say goodbye to the overall brown and blue color scheme, and say hello to pops of color and a more modern feel. My goal was to keep expenses low (it usually is), to make use of what I already had and to incorporate some new must-haves (like window treatments). 

First, lets take a look at the BEFORE. (Sorry, these photos aren't the greatest and the lighting is poor, but it adds to the "before" feeling, right?) The walls are light blue and chocolate brown, even though they appear to be different colors.

At the time, I really liked the brown and blue combination. It was cozy but the dark brown actually made the room feel smaller. I am officially over accent walls. Our comforter set had a flourish pattern which I temporarily covered with a pale blue duvet. I wanted something more versatile and neutral. 

Now let's look at the AFTER! 

Isn't it pretty now? So much lighter, brighter and airy feeling. We used the same light blue paint (Sherwin-Williams "Rain") to cover the brown walls and re-paint the wall with the branch mural on one side of the room (so 3 out of the 4 walls were painted). That made the biggest difference right away. 

Here are some of the details:
My painted coral nightstands have a home! They really add that pop of color and incorporate the coral color palette for the whole room. 

The grey reversible down-alternative comforter from JCPenny is one of my favorite purchases because it's so comfortable, versatile and it kept going on sale so I got it for a great price. I purchased 3 smaller accent pillows/pillow covers and I made simple envelope covers for the euro pillows I already had with $7 worth of fabric.

The Umbra Urna Double Curain Rod was also a purchase from JCPenny.com that was well worth it. It has two rods so you can hang sheers and panels with out having to mess with two separate rods. Installation was by far the easiest I've ever experienced. It's sturdy and elegant. 

The window curtains are actually 2 shower curtains that I found at Target and added large rings to. More to come on that project. I seem to gravitate to Ikat pattern and the dark blue is so pretty against the light blue walls. I guess I don't like to use typical curtains - like the time I made our shower curtain out of a table cloth. I'm a believer in customizing things to fit your needs - and saving money while doing it! 

The white dresser was a thrift store find for $20! Jackpot! I like it in our room, but I may  move it to the baby's room to use as the changing table. I just love saying "baby's room".

I found the small gold sunburst mirror at Pier 1 and was able to use a gift card I'd been holding onto. It's a metal "real" version of the large sunburst mirror I made for our living room.  

The botanical prints and wall art collage are a combination of re-purposed frames, simple artwork I printed or made and creative arrangements of things I had around the house. The rope mirror and small initials are from Hobby Lobby (with coupons, of course). 

The charming pair of vintage lamps were a gift from my Aunt Evelyn that I'd been holding onto for years. They just needed new shades. Aren't they adorable? They used to sit on her and my Uncle Pete's bedroom dresser and I commented one time during a visit that I liked them, and she gave them to me a few years before she passed away. They're even more special to me now. 

Our biggest splurge was a new mattress and new sheets. They're so comfortable! It's definitely worth the investment if you've been neglecting your bedroom. I find that people don't usually put as much effort into their bedroom because "no one sees it." Except, the truth is, you see it everyday and it should be an inviting and restful environment where you can be refreshed and enjoy spending time in. 

Pinterest definitely played a role in helping me narrow down the style I wanted and collecting inspiration and ideas that I wanted to incorporate. My bedroom pin board was especially helpful when I was shopping because it kept me on track while I was looking for the right elements and sticking to a color palette.

That's a look at our "new" master bedroom. I just love how it turned out! It took some time, careful shopping and creativity but it was well worth it.

Sharpie Mug Wedding Gift

Sharpie mug projects have been making their rounds on Pinterest for a while and I've  wanted to give it a try. I was curious to see if it's as easy as it looks. Finding inexpensive plain white mugs was half the battle! For some reason they were difficult to find - probably because I was looking for them! 

The type of Sharpie is critical. I learned that OIL BASED Sharpie's work best. I found a variety of individual colors at Hobby Lobby. This tutorial was especially helpful and guided me step by step.  

My cousin Nicole and her fiance Matt are getting married in October, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to make a Mr. and Mrs. set to add to her bridal shower gift. 

I measured the area of the mug where I wanted my design to go, then I designed my type on the computer and printed it out. I cut out the paper and scribbled pencil on the backs. Then I taped the paper to the mug and traced the outlines of the type onto the mugs. Next, I drew the design right onto the mug with the Sharpie's and let it dry overnight. I baked them the next day at 425 degrees for 30 minutes - placing the mugs in the oven when it was cool, and leaving them overnight to cool completely after baking.

Aren't they cute? I would definitely like to make more of these. It was a relatively quick project and you can customize them for anyone.

Nightstand Makeover

Hello friends! I am a bit behind on sharing a few recent projects that have to do with our bedroom makeover. One of which, I was pretty excited about. This pair of mismatched nightstands. I found the white one on the side of the road (trash night), therefore it was *FREE*. It was in rough condition but the shape was so pretty. It just needed some love! I found the wood one, of similar size and style, at the flea market last summer for three dollars. $3! 

They both sat, untouched for over a year until I decided I would make them pretty and use them in our bedroom. They definitely needed some sanding, new paint and a pop of color.

At first, I tried bold blue, but it just wasn't right. I kept seeing beautiful coral night stands on Pinterest and that's was I wanted to incorporate into our bedroom color palette.

I landed on "Coral Bell" as the winning color. I really like it! Painting them the same color definitely makes them look "less different" and more harmonious. Such a stunning transformation. I'm not afraid of color, as you know from my yellow china cabinet.

Stay tuned for more projects from my bedroom makeover and the big reveal. It's about 95% done.

Big Wonderful Announcement!

Andrew and I are absolutely overjoyed to share the news that we are having a BABY!!!

Our little one is due around February 2, 2015 and we cannot wait to meet him or her! We hope to find out the gender next month. Everything still seems so surreal and wonderful and amazing all at the same time. 

We are in awe of our Great God, the Creator and Giver of life. It's so incredible to see our tiny baby during ultrasounds. I just stare at the pictures. And it's the most glorious sound in the world to hear his/her tiny heart beating. It is the sweetest sound! We are so thankful for this growing miracle and for what God is doing. 

We are also so blessed by the outpouring of love, support and excitement from our friends and family. Thank you for your prayers, kind words and for sharing in our joy! 

There will certainly be more to come. I just wanted to share our big wonderful announcement! 

Hugs,
Sarah

 

Kassidy and Nick's Wedding Invitaion

I had the privilege of designing a classy and elegant wedding invitation set for a very sweet couple, Kassidy and Nick, who are part of a family that is near and dear to my heart. I grew up with Kassidy's older sister's, Kara and Kailey, and actually remember Kassidy as a cute little toddler! I was thrilled when they asked me to design their wedding invitation set and table numbers. I used two of my favorite fonts and kept it simple (plus there was a lot of information to include). The bride wanted it to be "classy and nice" but without a lot of frills. Simple elegance. 

What a gorgeous bride! The photos of their wedding are beautiful, taken by my talented photographer friend, Rachel. To see more of their wedding photos and view Rachel's amazing work, visit rachelannphotography.com or click here. 

The wedding looked so romantic with pink and gold, pearls and lace, candy, sweets and personalized elements. What's even more evident is the love that Nick and Kassidy have for the Lord and for each other.

Congratulations you two! May God richly bless your new life together as a married couple! I'm blessed contribute this piece of your special day.