Brown Paper Packages: summer

Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts

Monday, 14 May 2012

Add Some Summer Freshness to Your Sheets!! (DIY Linen Spray)

There's no doubt about it...we are heading full tilt into my favorite season.

I love, love, LOVE summer.

Every single thing about it (except the noise of the fan at night and the mosquitoes, but that's it.).

But probably my most favorite part about this time of year is being able to throw open the windows and doors in the mornings and let the fresh, cool air in. Aaaahhh.

Lucky me - I inherited my dad's very sensitive sense of smell (that was a blast when I was pregnant. Not.),

so stale house smells drive me around. the. bend.

A few years ago, in my daily battle to keep a fresh smelling home, I discovered a recipe for make-your-own linen spray. (Unfortunately I don't have the source of this recipe anymore.) I was all over that, let me tell ya.

I started making it and spraying it on our bed linens in the mornings when I made up the bed and, even though I'm not a huge fan of the scent of lavender, I LOVE the freshness this spray adds to the sheets. Divine!

Hubs will even comment on how much he loves that first wave of lavender when the comforter is thrown back at night. I'm sure he loves me for sharing that with you too. : )

Think it might be too complicated to make?

Think again.

It doesn't get any easier than this, my friends.

All you need are three simple ingredients:

2 cups distilled water

4 oz. vodka

40 drops lavender essential oil (or any other essential oil you prefer)

You'll also need an empty, clean spray bottle.

First measure out the vodka and pour into the bottle, then add the essential oil.

Shake it up really well. The alcohol mixes with the oil, whereas the water will not...so ya need it in there!

Then add the water.

Screw the top back on, shake it up again and wipe the sweat from your brow.

Now go throw some windows open and spray those sheets!

Then you may pour yourself a cup of coffee, sit down, breathe in the freshness and pat yourself on the back for having achieved total domestic goddess status.

: )

Enjoy!

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DIY Project Parade
It's Just Called Spicy

To see the other great parties I'm linking up to, click HERE!

Sunday, 24 July 2011

Cherry Cake and Other Fiascos

Yesterday my family had a big reunion on our former hometown. Since we were celebrating all the summer birthdays, my sister-in-law asked if I could make a cake to bring along. I somewhat reluctantly agreed, not being sure if I would have enough time to pull something off.

After a bit of thinking, I remembered this gorgeous cake that I saw on Amy Atlas' blog. Isn't it stunning??

I love everything about it.

The turquoise and red. The cherries. The ribbon. The two perfect layers.

So I decided to take inspiration from that, and create my own.

I should have known right then and there.

I should have remembered.

Cakes and Evie just don't seem to go together. I'm too much of a dreamer

and not enough of a think-it-througher.

I just don't think about all the facts.

I once made a blue heart shaped cake with cornelia lace all over it for my brothers birthday. All his friends were there. I wonder if he's recovered yet.

(I thought it was pretty and I was 13 at the time. He was kind enough to never once complain.)

I made a sugar cake layered with whipped cream and raspberries for hubby's 30th birthday. It did NOT occur to me, until I was halfway through icing it with raspberry flavored icing...that I was serving a pink cake for my arr-arr-I'm-a-MAN-husband and all his best guy buddies were there to witness it.

(He's made very sure I never forget it.)

I once spent an entire day baking and decorating a hazelnut torte with an elderly Swedish lady.

When I got home and got out of my car, I put the cake carrier on the roof of my car and turned around to gaze at the full moon. See? Dreamer.

The cake slid off the icy roof of my car and smashed all over the sidewalk.

Another time I catered a froofy garden birthday party. I had several layer cakes to assemble, so I just went down the line, methodically filling, icing and decorating. After a while I realized that I had forgotten to take the waxed paper off the cake layers of one of the now-fully-decorated cakes. I had a bit of red-faced explaining to do to the guests who had to pick paper out of their slices.

So you see? I should be catching on by now.

But noooo. I don't.

I decided this cherry cake would be two layers. A square layer of golden cake and filled with luscious lemon curd. Then a round chocolate layer filled with uber decadent bavarian cream.

Umm yah. In true Evie-cake-fiasco style, I yet again failed to remember that lemon curd just doesn't work for a filling. For cupcakes, yes. For donuts, yes. For cakes...NO! At least if it does...I have not figured out a way to keep the layers from sliding apart.

Not to forget that store bought icing is JUNK!!!! I KNOW this and I STILL try to use it every.single.time.

I did the best I could to get this cake to hold together, but alas...it was not to be. It slid all apart and the icing happily dribbled and pooled around the bottom.

This was all after I sliced my index finger open while trying to level off the cake,

which you can see didn't work at all.

Even if I had decided to make the best of it and use it regardless, I knew it would never have survived the 2.5 hour drive. So I had to give up altogether on using it. Which really was alright since the blue fondant I made three days before was only enough to cover the little 8" round level...

In the end I guess it turned out alright, though the cake was hardly big enough to feed

all the 10 or more birthday people, never mind 30+ people in attendance!!

It in no way compares to Amy Atlas' beautiful cake,

but I am rather fond of the little cherries and leaves.

Every time I left the room, the cherry "stems" would get a little shorter. My niece seemed to be a bit captivated with them and had a hard time keeping her fingers off!! Haha!