Made It! Monday - Apple Chips

So I'm a little late, posting on Tuesday. But I did make these on Sunday, so it averages out to Monday, right? :)

I saw apple chips on Pinterest and instantly became obsessed with the promise of crispy, crunchy, cinnamon-y apple goodness.

If you do a web search for "Apple Chip Recipes", you'll be met with pages of suggestions, but it looked like it basically boiled down to two different methods and two different suggested temperatures.

I spent the weekend testing them out and finding my favorite. Here's the steps, and options, if you'd like to give it a try (it's really not hard, and so worth it!)

1. Option One: Your Apple

You could try absolutely any variety. The normal "baking" apple rules don't apply, since they will all turn crispy during the process. I tried Red Delicious, Granny Smith, and Braeburn.

Granny Smith was my favorite, hands down.

2. Option Two: The Prep

You next have the option of peeling and coring your apples first, or just leaving them whole and slicing. I tried both ways and it was quickly apparent that peeling and coring was a waste of time. Once they are dried and crispy, the peel and core bits just blend in with the rest of the crunch - texturally, I didn't notice them at all. You do need to pop out the seeds, but I found they mostly fell out by themselves during baking.

3. Next, slice your apples as thinly as possible. I used my nifty "as-seen-on-TV" mandolin slicer, which did the job lickety-split!

4. Here's your next option, according to the two popular methods: soaking your slices in a simple syrup, or tossing with sugar & cinnamon, or leaving plain of course...

I did try the simple syrup, which you can make to various proportions. I made it kind of light - 1 cup water to 1/2 cup sugar (this was for one apple). Recipes suggested soaking your slices at least 1/2 hour up to overnight. I soaked mine somewhere around 2-3 hours. When it was all said and done, to me there was no difference from the slices simply tossed in sugar, so again, this seemed like another waste of time...

The flavors:

I decided all my experiments from then on would just involve tossing the apples in my desired mixture of sugar and flavor.

I tried:

plain

plain with cinnamon sprinkled on top

plain with pumpkin spices sprinkled on top

tossed with sugar only

tossed with sugar and cinnamon

tossed with sugar and pumpkin spice

When I saw the pumpkin spice in my cabinet I thought it was truly an inspired idea. But it wasn't that good - I liked the regular cinnamon much better.

My favorite flavor was the sugar and cinnamon mixture, and simple plain the runner-up.

You could mix your cinnamon and sugar to any proportion. I played with the amounts on several different batches, and my favorite ended up being 1 Tbs sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon (per apple).

5. Lay your apple slices in a single layer on parchment lined baking sheets.

6. Last option - Temperature

Half the recipes I looked at recommended baking at the lowest your over can go, generally 175 F. The other half recommended 250 F.  I tried it at 250 degrees twice, but both times I couldn't get them to turn crispy before burning.

So 175 it was for me! At this temperature, it took nearly 4 hours for my apple slices to turn crispy. (There's a huge range between 175 and 250, so it seems likely that with a little experimentation, there's a better temperature for speeding up the process without burning.) I would recommend letting them go for about 2 hours, then checking on them at 30 minute intervals. Even when they are done, they will appear rubbery when warm. So to test them, pull a chip off your baking sheet and let it cool completely (about 1-2 minutes). If it's still a little chewy, let them go a little longer. If they're delightfully crunchy, well you'll know, and then it's up to you to resist devouring every last one!

The only downside is that they do take quite a long time to bake. But it just means that your house is filled with a wonderful aroma, torturing you for hours...

The prep is actually quite fast (especially with a mandolin), so you can whip out a batch, pop 'em in the oven and busy yourself elsewhere while you wait.

These are going to be a new snack staple in my home - I hope you'll give them a try as well, and let me know what you think!

 

Made It! Monday - Felt Flower Wreath

Here was the inspirational pin:

This gorgeous wreath was created by Nest of Posies. I love vibrant colors and the black and white stripes - so eye-catching!

But I love how you can take a great idea and still make it your own.

Here's how I put it together:

You'll need:

• Wreath. (I bought mine at a craft store, but then saw this idea that will only cost you $1.)
• Felt. Since this is going outside, I just used the cheap craft felt - I think they are 9" x 12"?
• Fabric - I didn't have any striped fabric, but I found this fun zebra print bandanna for $1 at Michael's.
• Scissors
• Glue Gun

 There are so many different ways to make felt flowers and if you do a quick search on google or pinterest you can easily pull of a plethora of great tutorials.

I chose to make just 2 types - pompoms and roses.

To make the pompoms:

1.  From the longest side of your felt, cut a strip 2" wide. Lay down a thin line of hot glue on the bottom edge (long side) and fold over.
2. On the folded edge, make 1/4" wide cuts all along the length of your felt strip. Cut on the fold towards the raw edge, stopping before you reach the hot glue. It doesn't need to be exact, but leave maybe 1/4" or so un-cut.
3. Then, start rolling it up from one side, securing with hot glue as you go.
4. Here's how the underside will look.

If you'd like a bigger flower, add another felt strip - just continue rolling where you left off. You could even use another color for an extra fun look.

To make the roses:

1. Cut a circle of felt. (I traced a circle using a dessert plate, about 6" in diameter, which produced a 2 - 2 1/2" rose. To make a larger or smaller rose, simply change the size of your circle.)  Cut the circle into a spiral, about 1/2" wide.
2. Starting from the outside edge, start rolling the felt. To make the rose petals, twist/fold the felt as you roll it. It's a little hard to explain in words exactly - but it truly isn't complicated, once you give it a try you'll figure it out lickety-split! Secure with hot glue as you go...
3. Here's how the underside will look with the twisting and rolling.
4. And here's the front.

For another felt flower design, roll your spiral, but don't twist it - cute!

Next, the wreath:

1.  Cut your fabric (bandanna in this case) into strips, approximately 3" wide.
2. Wrap around your wreath base, securing with hot glue here and there to hold in place.
3. Arrange your felt flowers as you like them, and attach with more hot glue (oh boy, I love that stuff!)
4. Voila!

This was sort of a two-for-one pinterest challenge, because I've been wanting to make some felt flowers forever! Turns out, they were super easy. I have a stash of nice quality wool felt in super yummy colors and can't wait to use my new skills making some fun felt flower pins, and maybe some hair clips.

But that may have to wait a bit, as I already decided what to make for this weeks challenge - it's something practical, simple, and makes a great gift....



New Tutorials Coming Soon!

While sitting at the computer drinking coffee and trying to wake up, I embarked on a bit of autumn "spring" cleaning of computer files, and stumbled upon a whole series of tutorials I had planned to share, including:

 open bezel casting, and:

how to make your own resin molds.

"Oh, yeah...." thought I.

That was months ago. I guess I became a little distracted by, well - pregnancy. OK, fair enough. But I really would like to finish those up. My existing photos are however, how to put it gently?.... lousy.

So I'm going to focus and give myself a deadline to re-do and publish these tutorials by the beginning of December.

So stay tuned, because it's really fun stuff!!

Before you speak...think.

printable from Sweet Blessings

What a wonderful reminder....

I'm going to try and put this into action.

And even though I spend the majority of my time alone with my children, I'm reminded even more so how important it is to be mindful of the words I choose. It's all too easy to drop your guard, and not worry about how you're perceived by those with whom you've become so familiar. But shouldn't we be the kindest to those we love the most?

Fun with Frogs

The boys had some friends over and we pulled out the paint and got to try

some cute egg carton crafting...

For myself, I struggle with breaking away out from reality when it comes to art, and always want to make things the "right" colors. So I love working with kids and watching their wonderful creativity and individuality shine!

A little froggy pow-wow.

Made It! Monday... Felt Bird Mobile

Well I've definitely jumped onto the Pinterest bandwagon...so many creative, beautiful, and funny things to see there.

But I am determined to spend at least as much time actually trying out some of those amazing finds as I do simply perusing the boards....

Towards that end, I'm challenging myself to make/do/try at least one new thing each week and share it here on Mondays (that way I'll be obligated to not flake-out, right?)

So - this week's project was to finish up my felt bird mobile for baby's woodland nursery.

Here was my inspirational pin:

Their little birdies are made from plastic, but I have a huge crush on all things felt and so made these little tweets using wool felt, poly stuffing, and embroidery thread.

You can see I have an obvious lack of sewing skills, so if I can do it - you can do it! Imagine how cute these would be with some pretty stitching...

To construct the mobile I picked up some embroidery hoops (cheap! by the way) and unscrewed them to use the smooth inside loops only.

There are likely a hundred different ways to attach these, but I used what I had on hand - some 1/4" satin ivory ribbon - attached each bird at a different height for interest, and hung the finished mobiles from mug hooks screwed into the ceiling.

I had 8 birds, which turned into 2 mobiles - one for over the crib, and one over the changing table:

The trees in the inspirational nursery were vinyl decals - pretty, but kind of expensive. I used some white paint we had in the garage, which I actually liked much better since I could make the trees a little bigger and place them just where I wanted.

The birdhouses were only $4 in the wood crafts section of Michaels, paired with the perfect colors of acrylic paint...easy peasy!

It's only taken 2 months since Rowan arrived, but I'm glad I finally have it done!

I already have the materials for my next crafty challenge - it involves more felt and a zebra-striped bandana...

Wonderful Words...

from hootenannyauaburn on etsy

♥ love this ♥