EASY Dollar Tree Easter Decor

 I can't believe it's almost Easter. Can you?

I've got this very quick and easy project that can be used for any season or holiday theme.

I found all of the supplies at Dollar Tree.   I used plain white ceramic plates, paper napkins and Mod Podge.

First I figured out where I wanted my design on the plate.

I separated the backing from the front of the napkin.

Then I covered the front of the plate with Mod Podge using a foam brush.

I placed the napkin down where I wanted it on the plate and then covered the whole plate again with Mod Podge.

I removed the excess napkin around the edges of the plate by gently pulling it off. It can also be gently sanded off after it dries.  

I added a little more napkin to the plate to extend the image.   I also made a small plate with another napkin.

I let them dry overnight.  I used the matte Mod Podge.  *This is not food safe but you can make them with food safe Mod Podge. I'm using mine for decor only.*

I had fun using them in my Easter decor.

Have you tried this method before? I'll be looking at fancy paper napkins to try it again!

Happy Easter, if you celebrate!

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{Recipe} Mayak Eggs - Korean Marinated Eggs

Here's another TikTok inspired recipe that I obsessed over until I tried it.

I had never heard of Mayak eggs until I saw this TikTok.

After watching this video of course my feed was full of other Mayak Egg recipes. The recipe is a simple marinade and produces flavorful, deliciously different eggs.   The Korean name for this dish translates to "drug eggs", that's how addictive they are!

They are definitely crave worthy! I started mine by soft boiling some eggs which is the traditional method.  I put them in an ice bath for easier shell removal after cooking.

I didn't have an actual recipe but crafted one from the videos I had seen

For the marinade:

half soy sauce/half water (about 1/2 cup of each)

green onions 2-3 whole  (you can also use some white onion)

garlic 2-3 cloves, crushed

sweetener (I used 2 tsp coconut sugar -but I didn't want mine to be sweet, traditionally you'd use 1/4 cup of honey)

chili flakes or chili crunch (or diced chili peppers)

sesame seeds- a few tablespoons

Mix the marinade together, add the eggs and marinate overnight or longer in an airtight container in the fridge.

Enjoy the eggs on their own also over rice or noodles.

They recommended Japanese mayo and crispy fried onions on top. I just used regular mayo.  

You can reuse the marinade a few more times. The second time I made them, I hard boiled my eggs and I preferred them that way.  

My mouth is watering just looking at these photos. I need to make some more ASAP!

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{Shopping} Costco Finds & Haul - Spring Edition

We did a Costco run the other day so I figured it was time for another Costco post.

We buy most of our vitamins at Costco.

I haven't tried this yet but will soon.

I heard good things about the canned chicken breast and they are true! The egg whites are a staple.

City Girl #2 wanted this salsa so we picked it up for her.  I was craving the Madras Lentils and stocked up on them.

For snacks we are trying the Drizzilicious rice cakes (I heard good things about them too!), Mary's Gone Crackers Super Seed everything crackers and Organic Crispy Coconut Rolls. It's been awhile since we've had the coconut rolls.

These are my favorite tortillas!

We alos love this Italian Sparkling Mineral Water.   Here are some things we bought on earlier Costco runs that we are still loving.

I've been on an oatmeal and frozen blueberry kick.

These are staples that we always have on hand.

We recently tried this Cheese Manicotti and like it.

Really good sourdough bread!

We've been trying different non-alcoholic beers and usually get Athletic Brewing at Costco but they were out of it so we tried the Sierra Nevada variety pack and we've been liking them a lot!

I go back and forth with yogurts but I'm back on an Oikos kick.  We always get our eggs at Costco and recently tried the Wild Planet tuna which is very good!

I alternate between stocking salmon burgers and filets, right now I've got the seasoned filets.  They make an easy dinner.

We tried these and they were just ok, a little greasy and not very crispy.

City Girl #2 is moving into a new place and we thought this would be a good fit.

What's your favorite thing from Costco?

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{Recipe} Irish Soda Bread *UPDATED*

*This post was originally posted in April 2015. I'm updating it to include the recipe and more photos.*

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I made Irish Soda Bread for our Irish Night celebration.

My go-to recipe is one for Irish Soda Bread Muffins but this year I wanted to try something different.

I found this recipe and thought it looked like it would be a good one.

 My only tweaks to the recipe were 1) I used skim milk instead of whole and 2) I didn't have wheat bran so I used oatmeal that I processed in my Vitamix.

 The bread has no added sugar (or any sweeteners) but it does get a bit of sweetness from the raisins.  The caraway seeds give it a slight nutty crunch with that hint of rye bread. I love caraway seeds!

It baked up beautifully and was delicious. I will definitely be making this one again!

*Edited to add recipe*

From Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups whole milk (any kind of milk is fine)

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar (can sub lemon juice)

3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting

2- 2 1/2 tsp coarse salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 ounces (4 TBS) cold butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup unprocessed wheat bran (blend oats or use ground flax seed as subs)

1/4 cup caraway seeds

1 cup raisins (I like to use golden)

Salted Irish Butter for serving (optional)

To make:

• Preheat oven to 350ºF
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
• Add vinegar to milk and set aside for 5 minutes until thickened

• Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in large bowl
• Cut in butter with pastry cutter or two knives until it resembles course mea

• Add bran( or oatmeal), seeds and raisins (I added some dried cranberries because I didn't have enough raisins. I also used half oat flour/half ground flax seed in place of the bran). Stir to combine

• Add milk to flour mixture and stir until dough holds together and is still sticky

• Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a round dome shape, about 7 inches in diameter
• Transfer to prepared sheet and dust lightly with flour
• Cut an X in the top about 3/4" deep

• Bake, rotating half way through until golden brown (about 1 hour and 10 minutes) and testing pick comes out clean from center

(Mine got a little extra brown this time and only baked about 50 minutes. All ovens are different!)

 

• Let cool on wire rack

• Serve with softened Irish butter!  We still love it!

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Closet Makeover In The Guest Room

Re-doing our closets had been on our to-do list for awhile but once the drawer in our guest room closet broke, we moved it to the top of the list.

Here's what we started with when we moved in.  We had a center unit with hanging poles on either side.  We use this closet for overflow storage and for any guests that may stay in this room.  It also held a lot of my photography equipment, craft supplies, wrapping paper and the ironing board.

I used the design tools on the IKEA website to design our new closet.

We went with the Aurdal system.  It's a very affordable option compared to the Pax wardrobe system and worked best for our space.

We thought we wanted to get it in white, but once we were in the store, we preferred the oak option. I'm glad we looked at them first. This happened when we installed our Besta system in the family room as well.   

This was our Blizzard 2026 project.  What else is there to do when you're stuck inside all weekend?

It got worse before it got better. We cleared out the closet and took out all of the fixtures.  The walls were in pretty bad shape.  We have one section of wood floors that wasn't able to be refinished since the old closet was in the way but it wouldn't be that much of an issue.  At least it's better than the faux treatment we had removed before we moved in.

Mr. Click got to spackling the closet.

We never want to paint a closet but this is the one time to do it...so we did!

The installation of the Aurdal system is pretty straightforward. It doesn't have a backing piece (like the Pax system) and is affixed to the wall with a suspension rail. Please excuse my fingers!  Mr. Click is installing the first side piece of the unit to the suspension rail.

Moving along, we had both units installed. So pretty!

To the right of the units we wanted to install the adjustable clothing rod for long hanging clothes but we didn't have enough space for it so we had to improvise.  We had a wooden pole in our linen closet that we weren't using but I saved for some reason.  The hardware for the pole was also still installed in the linen closet so we were able to use it.  Mr. Click just had to cut the pole down to size.  It actually matched really well so we were stoked!

Then came the fun part of adding in the interior pieces.  We added two shelves and a hanging rod on the left hand side. The right hand side was to hold drawers and more shelves.  The drawer fronts were out of stock so this was as far as we got.  We also added a wire basket.

We were able to move things into the closet and see where everything would fit at this point.

The drawer fronts came in and they completed the look. We added some pulls in gold because we installed the drawers close together for maximum space.  I got a hanging ironing board and we added some more shelves.  I already had the step stool because I use it for photo shoots. It is very handy for getting to the higher shelves.

We've added a few more shelves and some organizers but most of them are still empty which is a good thing!

The drawers hold a variety of crafting and decorating supplies right now.

There's also a drawer for City Girl #1 (who usually uses this room when she visits) and a vanity area for her as well.

I've got some painting supplies, Sharpies and scissors as well as my favorite tape dispenser on one of the shelves.

The wire basket holds shipping supplies and extra tape.

I moved our wrapping paper supplies into this great Skubb organizer (also from IKEA) that fits under the bed. I'm obsessed. It holds so much!

We love the new closet so much and are keeping the doors off for easier access (and we just love how it looks!).  It inspired us to move onto our own closet. 

Coming soon!!

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