Creative Juices Decor

Hey Friends! I've been making my own vanilla extract for a few years. I guess it's time to show you guys - hee,hee. In general, the pure vanilla extract you get in the stores is vanilla beans/pods soaked in alcohol.  I make mine sugar free by soaking them in vegetable glycerin. Before you get all weird on me and think I've gone off my rocker, vegetable glycerin is super sweet - it's like a syrup!   Yummy! The vanilla beans cost me $12.00 for 10 beans.  I put 5 beans in each 8 ounce jar. The glycerin cost me $6.00 for 16 ounces. (Picture shows cut open pods with the beans on the side.) So,  it cost me $9.00 for an 8 ounce jar of great quality SUGARFREE homemade vanilla extract. (I made 2 jars)  To buy organic (alcohol) pure vanilla online the same size is around $15.00 each. OK, so there isn't a HUGE difference but it's pretty cool to make your own and we really like being pretty cool.  (ha!  I am so not cool, just see all my ...

Hey Friends, Today I have Sam as a guest writer giving all kinds of ideas on what we could do with old jars! Enjoy :-) Repurposing Mason Jars as Home Décor I am one of those people who believe in reducing, repurposing, reusing and recycling. And I believe this can be done with well, everything really! Every time you do grocery shopping, you end up with at least one new glass jar or bottle. And most of the time you just throw them away, but there is SOO much more that you could be doing with them! So I’m sharing a few of my favourite mason jar repurposing projects. They’re all easy to do, and most of them don’t even require additional purchases. But if there’s anything you will need to buy after all, head on over to Discountrue.com to get discount coupons for all your favourite stores including such popular choices as Kohl’s or Target! The Candle Jar Lantern HeartLoveAlways One of the simplest things to do with a mason jar is to turn it into a candle jar ...

Hey Friends! Are you ready for some Valentine baking fun!? These stain glass cookies I made are a LOT of fun!  If you get a bag of suckers or Jolly Ranchers you can make the "glass" part look like a work of art. :-)  Kids LOVE making these! Click on the Candy "Stained Glass" Valentine Cookie link to see full recipe. We call the next set of cookies "Pink Cookies" at our house.  They are a delicious and somewhat chewy (if you don't overcook them!) meringue cookies.  They are made with egg whites so they just happen to be fat free.  (Full of sugar, but fat free - ha!) You will NOT be disappointed!  Promise :-) I have it on my "To Do" list to make these type of mini (or regular size) candy cane hearts.  I bought lots of extra boxes at the end of December when they were 75% off.   It's PERFECT for Valentine's Day! Peppermint Bark Hearts I love the idea of putting them on a stick and...

 Hey Friends! This month is the 4 year anniversary of moving into our new home and our 18th anniversary of our marriage.  Yay :-) We've had 6 homes in those years, 2 of them we got to build completely from scratch and 1 partially from scratch. I've learned quite a few things about building a home.  Of course if I put everything I learned on one post it would become a novel, so today, I thought I would just cover a few little items that we did that I have REALLY ENJOYED. (-: My hope is that you can save this post as reference if you ever have a chance to build your own home. :-) First Fun Plan Ahead Item: We added electrical sockets to the eaves of our roof rafters.  This was quite simple to do, we just had to plan ahead.  It makes Christmas lights a lot cleaner and simpler. We also added a socket right next to the pergola for string lights .  This has been AWESOME!!!!!! It looks so clean. Adding string lights to my backyard has bee...

Hey Friends! OK, right now I'm listening to Girl From Ipanema from my Island Girl Playlist. (Yes,  do have an Island Girl list) ;-) Is there anyone else who is ready for WARMTH??!!!! We still have SNOW in our forecast.  :-/ I really enjoyed the snow December 20 - 27th LOL, but now it's nearly February and I'm ready to move on to the warmth and sunshine. So, I'm doing an virtual mid week warm travel post for us :-) "VIR-TU-AL:  Not physically existing as such, but made by software to appear to do so ."  Hee,hee.....that is my mission for this post ;-) Really, all I want to be able to do is....... Read on the beach: Put pineapples on my head: And flowers on my eyes: Is that too much to ask for?  ;-)  I have my 40th birthday this year (shhhhhhhhh!!!!) My husband promised to take me somewhere tropical though.....probably to take the sting off. ;-) On our last trip to Mexico! This place in Thailand look...

Hey Friends! In my last post, I showed you how I used birch logs in my own home decor .  (I LOVE birch logs!) I had fun looking around seeing how other people used logs in their home. What about using the logs to fill an ENTIRE unused fireplace.  What a wonderful and warm statement it creates!  It brings life back into a very white surrounding. Source I love how they played up the fact that the birch logs are white and put them against the red poinsettias. A very fun winter decor idea! You can use these birch logs as table decor - vases, centerpieces anything! Source My friend just send me a picture of a gift she got. She said the log was simply hollowed out and a pretty plant put in.  :-)  She mentioned that the "pot" is porous but it's stayed alive and she LOVES it!  Isn't that a fun gift idea! This is her friends centerpiece in her own home that she made. :-) This is a very tradit...

Hi Friends! So, how is the New Year's resolution eating going? :-) I have some friends that REFUSE to make any New Year's Resolutions and others that have every list on their mirror ready to achieve! I think I'm somewhere in the middle, I like using January to re-set goals and focus again but I don't go "crazy".  Honestly, trying to eat well during the holidays for me is like trying to take a nap while my son is practicing his saxophone.  (LOL, I just had that happen, I had the most disturbing dreams ever....in my 1/2 state of saxophone sleeping) It doesn't work! ;-) Anyway, I wanted to help those who have set their New Year's eating expectations high by giving you this AMAZING recipe that is incredibly healthy , has great macronutrients AND will satisfy that crazy sweet tooth without being "bad"! CHOCOLATE MOLTEN LAVA PROTEIN BROWNIE (done in the microwave!) I have to say, this is a CRAZY tasting chocolate tr...