some homemade ice cream

This past week I finally got around to making Darby's homemade ice cream.  She posted it on her blog forever ago and I was intrigued that you could make homemade ice cream without an ice cream maker.  Since the heat index has been sitting at 106 degrees I figured this would be a good a time as any to go ahead and make some!

{mocha ice cream}

Last weekend I made a batch of the chocolate ice cream.  It was SO good!  Very rich and creamy.  It wasn't quite as icy as regular ice cream but I actually prefer this to regular ice cream.  Yesterday I made two batches of her mocha ice cream recipe and OH MY GOODNESS YA"LL, it is SOOOOOOOOO good. If you like coffee flavored ice cream you need to run to the store right now and gather up all the ingredients {all five of them!} so you can make this tonight.  I may never buy store bought ice cream again! Here is the recipe if you are interested.


Darby said it would be hard to keep your fingers out of it when you were mixing it up and boy was she right.  I may or may not have eaten some of the mocha mixture before I even froze it.  It tasted like a mix between a coffee mousse/light pudding and was  pretty much heaven.

{mocha ice cream + thrifted ramekin}

And while I am already talking about Darby if you don't already read her blog {Fly Through our Window} you really should.  It is my ALL time favorite blog and if I could only read one blog for the rest of my life I think this would be it ya'll.  She mostly writes about day to day life with her family, her faith, photography, and occasionally a craft or a recipe.  I have tried several of her recipes and they have all been fabulous.  She also has a twin sister, Erica, who is a very talented designer.  To be honest my SIL and I kind of want to be Darby and Erica.  They're just so dang cute and fun! :)


Do you all read their blogs? Are you in love with them too?


::Edited to add that the coffee flavored ice cream totally reminds me of Braum's cappuccino chunky chocolate ice cream.  I may have to just add in some chunks of a chocolate candy bar to try to recreate one of my all time favorite ice cream flavors.  If you don't live in or near OK then you have probably never heard of Braum's but it is a local dairy and restaurant/ice cream shop that has the best ice cream.  

Read more...

BEFORE & AFTER: a frame + a book makeover

For some reason here lately all I want to do is decorate, craft, spray paint, etc.  Mainly I think I am bored with trying to keep the house spiffy for potenitial buyers so I am coming up with "things" I NEED to do instead. 

This frame I bought at hobby lobby last year for half off.  It was fall and I liked the fall colors and the swirly pattern on the frame.  I got it home and I never really liked it in any of our rooms.  I kept it out for a while but then put it in a drawer and forgot about it.  I was trying to spruce up our master bedroom the other day and wanted a frame on our bedside table.  I was really wanting a non-silver frame but almost every frame we own is silver.  I remembered my hobby lobby frame but it was not the right colors at all for our bedroom.  I didn't really want to paint the frame in case I wanted to use it as is someday but then I said heck with it and painted it anyway.

I am so glad I decided to paint this frame.  I used some white satin spray paint that we had on hand for my frame makeover.  Luckily I had just the perfect amount of paint left in the can to cover my whole frame.  I love my frame SO much more in white!!

I wanted to set my frame on a book but most of the larger books we have tend to have really dark colored bindings.  Enter some burlap I had left over from the table runners I made for the nautical baby shower. I simple wrapped a book {my husbands high school year book!} in the burlap kind of like a book jacket and then taped it down on the inside of the cover.  It still wasn't anything too special so I took some left over raffia and looped it around both ends of the book just to add a little more texture.  I'm so happy with my little makeover and the best part was that it was free!  Of course I had to throw in one of my yard sale moss balls for good measure.  These are definitely coming in quite handy!

::I'm linking this mini makeover to the Shabby Nest, Somewhat Simple and the Shabby Chic Cottage.

Read more...

a guest post:: Melissa Pepin Photography

Today I have a fun guest post from my friend and one of my favorite photographers, Melissa Pepin. Melissa is one of the sweetest and funniest people I know.  She's very generous with the talents that God has given her and I am so excited for you all to meet her! 

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Hi everyone! My name is Melissa Pepin. I am a photographer based out of Athens, Georgia and I am so excited that Abby asked me to do a guest post on her blog. I just love her family and cant wait to get them in front of my camera again this fall! 

I am a Christian, a wife, a mom, and a business owner so sometimes my sentences run on and I think with my heart more than my head...but that pretty much sums me up to a T. :) I have owned Melissa Pepin Photography for almost 5 years and when Im not behind my computer editing or sneaking in snuggles from my 1 year old, Im out shooting weddings, families, seniors, and doing all sorts of commercial projects. Its a busy life...but I wouldnt trade it for anything!

Being a new mom (our son is 15 months), I can now fully understand why every time I shoot a family session the parents have the phrase, " Im so sorry my child is running around and won't sit still for pictures," on repeat. They never seem to want to sit still EVER, much less when you have a big ole camera in their face! :) So, I'll let you all in on my little secret for getting the best images of your kiddos without the "sit still!" battle. Its simple...its easy...and ANYONE can do it. (drum roll please.....wait for it......) MOVE!

Chase your kids around...let them play...and dont be afraid of a little blur in your images. Movement is one of my favorite things to work with and has this magical way of transforming a single shot in a way that makes you feel like you are REALLY there. When we are shooting a family session, it's so important to make the kiddos feel comfortable and special and we have found that if we just ask them to do something they love (swinging, jumping rope, going down the slide, making silly faces at their reflection in my camera lens), we get those genuine smiles and real giggles that photograph so well! So, dont be afraid to get up and get moving...you'll be SO happy with the results! 

Thanks for having me on your blog Abby and I'll leave you all with a few images that we love from a variety of our sessions that incorporate movement and produce those real faces that we love!

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Thanks Melissa for your great advice!  I totally thought that any blur in my image meant that my image was no good.  I'm going to go ahead and embrace the blur, seeing as my kids probably won't be slowing down anytime soon!

**Melissa is generously offering my readers 25% off a standard portrait session. You can check out her website here and her blog where she shares her most recent work.

Read more...