Gather. Create. Connect.

Do you ever go through spurts with cooking?

I tend to do a lot of easy / quick stuff for a period of time, and then I go through a big spurt of cooking up a storm.  And what that happens, I like to experiment and try new recipes - especially when they have my favorite ingredient.  Maple syrup recipes are where I always like to experiment the most.

And this weekend, fingers crossed - we will have our first big boil for syrup.  Did you know we make our own maple syrup?

So over the next few weeks I will experimenting and most likely making a huge mess in the kitchen.

But until I come up with something new, I thought I would share some of my tried and true favorites.

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I am over it - over it, over it and over it.  All of the snow - and the mud that is soon to follow.  But I finally have a solution for one part of it - a DIY vintage crate boot rack.

Sometimes, a project has all the ingredients that make it perfection for me.

Fills a need, fits a space perfectly, works functionally, clears some of my hoard collection out of the garage, inexpensive, re-purposes vintage items and is down right cute.  And this project checks off this whole list in my book.

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When we built this house, I always told my husband that the full wall in the living room should be built-ins.  I had dreams of a place for all of my books and putting together displays.

And then, just over three years ago – my dream came true.  We have beautiful built-in bookcase that I so love and appreciate. (I know, very dramatic ;)

But, the truth is, I found it really hard to pull them together.

This is actually my third try.

But this time, I put more thought into it and I am quite happy with the results.

To show the difference between where I was and where I am, here is a comparison.

I realize it wasn’t terrible before, and I actually really liked it when I first finished it.

Which, of course, leads me to believe I might really hate this version in a few months as well.  But, one step at a time.

One of the main things that bothered me was that it was just too cluttered – something I am finding everywhere.  I am liking a little less, not stark, but just a little less.

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