DĂ©cor, Food, Holidays, Just for fun, Leah

Gingerbread House

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pretzel gingerbread house header

I absolutely love making gingerbread houses and try to build one every year! Last year I bought a kit, but after seeing this log cabin, I decided I should try making one myself! So I found a handy contractor and hired him and his cousin to help me out 🙂

At first, they were acting way too cool for such childish activities, but once I got started they kind of took over! The outcome wasn’t as picturesque as this, but there was joy in the process. And isn’t that what matters?

The Tools

I rounded up all the graham crackers, gumdrops, peppermint candies, hard candy, frosting, pretzel rods, and sprinkles I could find.

how to make a gingerbread house tools

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Engineering, Joe, Just for fun, Life Hack

Doggy Training

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Doggy Duty header

Well now that Joe is recovering from his triple wisdom tooth extraction surgery, (Oh you, didn’t hear about that? Yeah he was pretty miserable) he’s ready for a bunch of projects. Those are his words, not mine. Most people would be thrilled at the chance to take three days off work, lay on the couch and watch movies while eating ice cream. Ok, maybe not thrilled. It wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. Nevertheless, he’s been going crazy not being able to do anything.

Here’s one of his ideas from last weekend: The Puppy Trainer 3000™

How to Train your Dragon Pooch

Shila is the best puppy ever, but she has a slight problem letting us know when she needs to go outside to do her business. So he thought that if she had some sort of bell system, she could let us know what she needs. She doesn’t really bark, so there’s no vocal cue. The ideas is, she rings the bell and we take her out.

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Crafts, Food, Holidays, Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Happy Thanksgiving header

Giving Thanks

It’s that time of year again. The turkey, the touchdowns, the togetherness. Can you wait?! Well this year is probably not as crazy as last year, but I’m definitely looking forward to whatever tomorrow brings.

Got the urge to bake some cookies for the big T-Day tomorrow? I’ve got two super simple styles for you. They’re both sugar cookies so you don’t even need to use two bowls. How great is that?

owl and pumpkin pie cookie

Pumpkin Pies

A simple bowl will work for cutting out circles. Or if you own a triangle cookie cutter, even better for you! I just have a pizza cutter. And hey, you could even make Santa hats out of some of them!

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Holidays, Just for fun

Happy Halloween (Twenty Fourteen)!

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Happy Halloween

BOO! Trick-or-Treat! Hocus Pocus Abbbra Cadabra! Whatever you are supposed to say for Halloween. We’re not exactly sure what our plans are tonight; Joe keeps saying he’s going trick or treating. Har Har.

I opted to not buy giant bags of candy, fearing I’d get stuck eating them if we went out… So I guess we’re not staying home. And if we are, we’re definitely hiding with all the lights out! Hey Hey – Spooky movie night idea. Anyhow, we did our duty of passing out candy last year.

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Just for fun, Outdoors, Trips

OR WA

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Joe gets very excited about window seats on planes. Here’s our obligatory touchdown video. It’s gets boring after :45 seconds, but feel free to watch.

Pacific Northwest

Here’s a brief tour of our Seattle/Portland adventure. We’ve had a crazy week post-trip and have both been scrambling to get caught up. Overall, it was 100% worth going. As you probably know, Joe was there for a week-long class on building automation. He passed his class with an A+ and is fully certified to use this particular software.

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Cooking, Just for fun, Leah

Good Things Come in 3’s (Part 3 of 3)

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zucchini banana bread

 

Zucchini Banana Bread 3 Ways

I had a baking party not long ago and whipped up a bunch of bread. Ever since I tested my hand baking bread, I’ve wanted to expand my bread skills. I had a few types I wanted to try and just about enough zucchini for an army, thanks to my parents’ compulsive garden giving. I manage to wind up with a bag of vegetables after every visit. Thanks guys! But what to do with them all?

how to make zucchini bread banana bread recipe

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Crafts, Engineering, Holidays, Just for fun, Leah, Sewing

Good Things Come in 3’s (2/3)

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bean bag toss DIY cornhole bag toss game

Sewing Things

I think you can guess that my three projects were all sewing related! I’m afraid I jinxed myself when I said good things come in threes, because first Joe was sick and now I’m sick! I hope there’s not a third person next. I’ve tried my best to quarantine myself all week.

At least I was able to whip out my sewing machine last week before all the sneezing ensued. Now I just have cabin fever.

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Crafts, Just for fun, Leah, Life Hack

Good Things Come in 3’s (1/3)

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DIY food dehydration

Good Things Come in 3’s

They do! And I’m gonna make you guess the next two in my trio of trio posts.

I make great use of the food dehydrator – it’s so easy to cut up food and leave it for a couple days. Not to mention, it’s a healthy alternative to pre-packaged snacks. It does run up the electric bill a little bit tho…  Hey, anyone want to join me for Unprocessed October? The dehydrator will definitely come in handy! No added salt or sugar to these three snack recipes.

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DĂ©cor, Detailing, Home Entertainment, Just for fun, Life Hack, Ongoing Projects, Thrifty

Movie Room Roundup

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movie room updates

Little Updates, Big Difference

Well this room has certainly come a long way since it was here:

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Engineering, Furniture, Home Entertainment, Ongoing Projects

Door Progress 3

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the full monty door

Case Closed

It’s been a long road, but you’ve stuck with us for 3 posts. You’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. The sweat and tears. But at last our mystery comes to an end. You can recap the start and middle if you want to relive the glory days. But I really couldn’t draw out the suspense for this door project any further, even if I wanted to.

So without further stalling…

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