357. apricot pistachio granola.

As soon as I saw this recipe on shutterbean I KNEW I had to have some. Tracy actually sent me some to my door because I was drooling so much. This is one of my most favorite granola recipes ever! So I knew it would make great christmas gifts for my family! I put it mason jars and tried my best to decorate them kind of cute. Hope they like it!

Here’s my version of it!

• 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups raw pistachios, hulled
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 3/4 cup chopped dried apricots

Preheat oven to 300F. In a large bowl, mix the oats, pistachios, coconut, maple syrup oil, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, cardamom together until well combined. Spread the granola mixture onto a very large baking sheet in an even layer. Bake for about 40-45 minutes, making sure to stir the granola every 10 minutes. The granola is done when the mixture is golden brown. Add the chopped apricots and toss well. Store in air-tight container.

 

291. holiday cards.

Since we finally took family photos a few weeks ago, I figured I would get a little ahead of the game and I designed and got my holiday card to print! I can’t show the real thing here b/c that would ruin the surprise for those of you who will be getting one…BUT i will share with you what I did last year! I’m pretty excited about this years card! I’ll show you this years card on christmas…so stay tuned

223. handprint garden stone.

Another take on the garden stone. After seeing my other one, my mother in law requested one with milo’s handprint. I’m not totally sure I have the right cement for this, but I gave it a go. I used two plates and an ash tray from the thrift store. This time around I filled the cake pan with the cement and as it started to dry I started to shove the pieces in the cement. It was fast drying cement, so this wasn’t the easiest thing to accomplish, but I kind of like the way it ended up…

220. handprint owl.

A little family art project. I painted the trees, then milo added his handprint, dj added his handprint, then I gave them some faces.

173. silhouette.

This weekend I got two of these frames for 25 cents at a garage sale. I thought they would be perfect to take home and spraypaint and make a silhouette of milo. The original frames were brown; I spraypainted this one grey, added some colored paper behind it. I took a photo of milo, printed it out to size and traced it on top of this dark grey cardstock I had. I glued the face to the colored paper and then put a thin coat of mod podge over it. Now I need to figure out where to hang this….

(P.S. this photo shows our GROSS bedroom paint colors. light pink with a purpley-grey trim. Hoping to get the bedroom painted soon, then I’ll unveil it!)

139. last morning bus ride.

Since just about everything I own is in boxes, I have to make more photographs, because my phone is pretty much my last tool of creativity for a few more days.
Today marked the last morning commute for me and milo on the bus. Tomorrow is moving day!

124. zachary

120. nina