Welcome to my blog!

Thank you for visiting my blog, making&baking. I had been considering starting a cooking blog for a long time, but I realized my interests are even broader than that, so I will be including plenty of DIY and craft projects as well. Many of my friends are impressed by the things I make, but tell me that they never would have thought of doing it on their own. That's where my blog comes in. I hope I can inspire you to get crafty and make some amazing food!

Here are a couple of projects I've completed this past week, to give you an idea of what kinds of things you'll be seeing here.

On Friday, I made this pretty earring organizer with my lovely friend Callie. We also made pizza from scratch (recipe coming soon) and drank wine. It was fun, fun fun! Here it is:

This project was super easy and inexpensive. It took less than 30 minutes to complete. It was made using a shadowbox frame (purchased from Michael's for 6.99) that I painted black and a wooden dowel cut into two pieces (also painted black, it was 39 cents). The pretty damask newsprint backing is simply a sheet of scrapbooking paper (99 cents) glued to the back of the frame! I used wood glue to secure the dowels to the inside of the frame and I am very pleased with how strong of a bond it created. 

Look how pretty it looks propped up on my bookshelf! It's just leaning against the wall right now, but you could also add some mounting hardware to the back if you wanted to hang it up. I love having all my earrings out on display so I'm reminded to wear them more often.
 

  

Today, I FINALLY got around to starting a windowsill herb garden. It is something I have been meaning to do for ages but just never made the time. The herbs I picked fronm left to right are basil, rosemary, mint, and thyme. They are pretty small and were $1.98 each at Lowe's (I also purchased larger pots for the basil and mint since they tend to grow big quickly). I have had a lot of trouble keeping plants alive in the past but I am really going to try my best to keep these babies going strong, black thumb be darned!

Having fresh herbs available to use for cooking is a real luxury. Fresh herbs add such a punch of flavor to your food that you could never quite achieve from the dried ones. I'll keep you updated about these little guys and how they're doing. Fingers crossed!

This is the next project that I'm really excited about. Check out this beauty:

 

A couple weeks ago, my amazing roomate and partner in crime Michaella saw this small vintage dresser sitting out by the dumpster in our complex. She told me she thought it looked like it was in good shape, but it was hard to tell just from driving by. So of course, we went outside to check it out, and sure enough it was! You better believed we hauled it inside! As you can see, it needs a little TLC (color is faded and it's missing one drawer pull). But it's a very nicely constructed piece of furniture. Look at the original pulls and the beautiful carving.

  
This beauty even has dovetailed drawers (meaning the pieces of wood are cut like puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly to make it stronger). You would be hard-pressed to find a dovetailed nightstand without paying a fortune nowadays. Peep those dovetails! 

Michaella and I made a trip to Lowe's a few days ago to get the supplies we'll need to give this little dresser new life. We are actually planning on using it as an entry table to keep in our foyer and hold blankets for when guests stay over. We're going to get a cute dish to keep on top of it to set our keys in.

The supplies we bought were sanding pads, walnut colored wood stain, a brush to apply the stain, and 6 new drawer pulls. Here is a picture of the supplies. 

Here's a close-up of the new pulls. Aren't they lovely? We were both attracted to the leaf design and how the tarnished gold color is in keeping with the drawer's vintage look. They were a little pricey (around $3 each), but they were our favorite hands down! 

Here's our entry table...just waiting for it's turn in the spotlight again! I can't wait until we get this project underway and it's completed. Hopefully that will be later this week. Until then...
 

"Thanks for saving me from being doomed to eternity in a landfill!"

I hope you enjoyed my first post here at making&baking. Check back soon for more updates and new recipes! Thanks for reading!

xoxo
JEN