Homemade Sweet Granola

Today I made a delightfully easy, fast, and delicious snack: homemade sweet granola! Thanks to my mother-in-law, Laura, and a missionary from West Africa, I had some good homemade granola recipes on hand from which to draw inspiration.  All of the ingredients I used can be modified and/or exchanged for different things, such as dried fruit, nuts, etc. for a different or more savory taste.

Here are the ingredients I used:

4 c. old-fashioned oats

4 tblsp. Brown sugar

½ tsp. salt

6 tblsp. vanilla extract (I used this in place of 1/2 c. maple syrup because I don't have any maple syrup here in Madagascar! Okay, and I just really love vanilla. I didn't notice any taste issues with this substitution, either.)

6 tblsp. oil

2 tblsp. water

6 tsp. cinnamon (You can use as little as 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon, I just really love cinnamon and added more for flavor).

1/4 c. carmel chips

1/4 c. chocolate chips

Easy Instructions:

1.     Adjust oven rack to middle position; preheat oven to 275^oF.

 Coat a 9 X 13 metal pan with cooking oil.

2.     Mix oats, brown sugar, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

3.     Bring vanilla extract, oil, water, and cinnamon to  a simmer in a small saucepan over low heat.

4.     Drizzle syrup mixture over oat mixture and stir to combine.

5.     Pour mixture onto prepared pan; spread evenly.

6.     Bake for 30 min., stirring after 15.

7.     After 30 minutes, add carmel and chocolate chips and stir.  Bake for an additional 15 min.

8.     Cool and store in air-tight container.  Can be eaten dry or with milk.

 Enjoy!!!

Old Dress --> New Skirt!

Today's easy sewing project only took 20 minutes! If I can do this, than you can, too!

I started with a dress that was too long and hot to wear during the intense heat of our summer here in Madagascar.

 I then chopped off the top of the dress, sewed a new waistband, added elastic in the waistband, and sewed it closed.  Then, 20 minutes later, I have a mid-calf length skirt that is much cooler for me in this hot weather.  I like it a lot! What do you think?

From Little House on the Prairie to the 21st Century

Recently, I helped my friend turn one of her favorite (albeit antiquated) dresses into a cute, hip skirt.

It began as a dress that looked shockingly similar to something from Little House on the Prairie:

So, with just a little cutting, re-hemming, an elastic waistband inside casing, it turned into a fun little paisley flower skirt that is much more modern!

My friend is on the left with her new green/blue paisley skirt

Easy Display Board

I have been trying to figure out an inexpensive way to decorate the blank wall behind my sewing area in our living room.  It is was plain white and pretty drab-looking.

See for yourself:

So, I was reading one of my favorite craft blogs (check it out here: www.makeit-loveit.com) and she had the cutest tutorial for something called a "Project Display Board."  It only requires wood/cardboard/thick paper, any kind of material/paper/tissue/pictures, some glue and clothespins! I have all of those things here in my house in Madagascar, so I decided to try it out!

Here is her lovely tutorial: http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2009/12/project-display-board.html

And here is my finished product! 

It is SO simple, and SO quick to make! I used regular-sized clothespins (her tutorial uses large clothespins) on which I glued purple and pink tissue paper (which I received in a care package for my birthday recently!).  I used fabric from the local market here that was leftover from a quilt back I recently made for a birthday present.  And, I cut up the boards (well, not really...the hubbie helped me cut the boards...I think he enjoyed using his knife for this!) from an old cardboard box that we had in our house.  So, the total cost of this project was $0! (The hubbie was especially excited about this!)

I currently have pinned some birthday cards and a few pictures to these display boards, but I know that I will find more things/papers to rotate onto the board.  I'm also super excited that I have some color on that wall...and not just hospital-room white everywhere! 

Here are some close-ups of the finished product: 

As always, happy crafting!