Just had to share! FREE art

I just had to share these fabulous and FREE prints from Make it Perfect.

I love how simple and charming the sentiments are. Here are my absolute favorites but you have many more to choose from.
*please, please, please pay it forward - use these prints for your personal use only. Thank you Leanne for sharing on Make it Perfect.

Blog Housekeeping

Allow me to bring your attention to a few new things you may have noticed here at Splendid Minta.

At the bottom of each post you'll see this great little toolbar:
You can email a recipe to someone who might like it, share it on facebook or twitter or even blog about it on your [google] blog. I would love for you to share something you see here with someone else.

You may have also noticed I've beefed up the blogroll on the right side of the page. If you like what you see here you probably will like some of the blogs on the right.

I'm also using labels now - see those little red words at the bottom of each entry? Well you can click on those and check out other posts like the one you like. Lets say your looking for posts dealing with canning - just click canning and you'll have all the Splendid Minta posts about canning at your fingertips.

And my summer goal for the blog - start noting where I grab inspirational photos so you can link back to the blog or site I've pulled it from. I promise to be better about this.

I may still only have about 15 people that read my blog on a regular basis but for me its not really about who is checking me out. Blogging is such a personal creative outlet for me. I love sharing my projects with others - even if its just sending it out there into cyberworld. So, thank you for being here and thank you for sharing Splendid Minta with others.

cutting x 600

I just couldn't wait anymore. I had to get started on the quilt. I already had quite a fabric stash and new that I wanted to do a "patchwork" quilt or "scrap" quilt so I didn't have to buy any coordinating fabric or worry about block placement.

I decided to make a Hexagon patchwork quilt. Simple but very unique. Sort of like this or that:
I've determined to make a twin size quilt (roughly 60" x 80") I'll need about 600 hexagons cut to 3.5" (1/2" for 1/4" seam allowance on each side).
I would never attempt to cut that many pieces without a template. I am amazed what ladies could do by hand back in the olden days. Listen, I am all about the good old days but I want to complete this quilt sometime this year so I'm using this hexagon template. Its so easy to use, just cut fabric into 3.5" strips, line 'em up with the lines on the template and cut the angles on both sides. See?So far, I've cut 278 hexagons. Almost half way done.
Cutting fabric is not my favorite thing in the world but I'd rather cut it all at once than have to keep coming back to my cutting mat. I may have a permanent hand cramp after this weekend.

I love you a bushel and a peck

I bought a peck of peaches about 10 days ago. There are 2 left. They were really good.
To further cement my place as the queen of freezer jam I made peach preserves and peach/strawberry jam. I cannot wait to taste a little bit of summer in the cold of winter (and I mean cold, it gets down to 40 here in SC during January). Don't be jealous cause its been 105 for the past 3 months with 80% humidity.

Upcoming crafty pursuits:
the quilt - to be perfectly honest, it won't be the first quilt I've made - the first one I made was a t-shirt quilt for Eric back in college. (it's not rectangle at all)
actually canning - I mean using the processing in boiling water method. For some reason this totally scares me.

27 with Dave

I know that my birthday was over a month ago but my birthday present was last night. Eric took me back to college days with a DMB concert in Charlotte!
Don't be jealous of how gorgeously sweaty I am here. Just hanging out with 10,000 of my closest friends.
My mantra all night: "Please play the old stuff, please play the old stuff." Dave did not disappoint. Satellite, Lover lay down, Lie in our Graves, Don't Drink the Water and more. Thank goodness.

BONUS: Tim Reynolds was there too!
Thank you honey for keeping me young.

Icebox Pickles...yum!

You wanna know how good these pickles are? This is the second time I've made a double batch this summer. We're talking 8 quarts of pickles people! (no, I am not craving pickles but I sure do love them). Best part - no processing, they pickle in the fridge, er... icebox.

Without further ado:

Slightly Sweet Dill Icebox Pickles
1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced
2lbs med pickling cucumbers, scrubbed, cut into 1/4 in slices or spears
1 large bunch dill, coarsely chopped, stems included
1 Tbs yellow mustard seeds
2 tsp whole white peppercorns
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
3 Tbs coarse kosher salt (I find it best to cut it back to 2 Tbs)
2 tsp dill seeds

Divide sliced onion between two 1-quart wide-mouth glass jars (I like 4x 1 pint wide-mouth better). Pack slices horizontally or spears vertically. Top each jar with dill.

Crush peppercorns and mustard seeds together. Place crushed spices in medium saucepan. Add vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and dill seeds. Bring mixture to boil over med-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.

Ladle mixture evenly over cucumbers. Leave jars uncovered and chill 24 hours. Cover tightly with lids. Can be made 1 week ahead. Keep refrigerated.

recipe from epicurious

Phew

and now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

The test went amazingly well. I was so nervous going into it but, it seems my preparation was just right as I kicked that tests booty. YAY! Now onto the final application work and waiting to hear if I've been accepted.

So, onto the next project: The 3rd bedroom.

While my parents were here this week, my mom and I discussed turning our 3rd bedroom into another guest room. Right now its just this furniture dumping ground and place to put things that don't go anywhere else in the house. Boring. Back when we moved into the house in August '09, we discovered two twin beds in the attic. They are maple cutout headboard and foot board sets - and will look darling with a fresh coat of paint. I think we'll make use of them in the 3rd bedroom!

I didn't realize it but, I've been collecting photos of bedrooms with twin beds and now have quite a few to pull for inspiration. Check em' out.
Don't you just love twin beds in a guest room? Scratch that - don't you just love twin beds in any room? They are so darling and I love the proportion of bedding to headboards and the opportunity to do two of everything - Call me a dork, I think my favorite is the mirror image aspect of it all.

Big Test Tomorrow

My big test is tomorrow.

I've shared this week that I've got big dreams and a big test coming up that will determine those dreams viability - that test is tomorrow.

I've been sorta in this quarter-life crisis over the past couple of years trying to decide where my life is taking me, what I should be doing with my talents and debating a career change. I am happy and in a way, honored to say that I can finally start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

If you've been reading for awhile, you probably read that I've wanted to be many things in my life, a realtor, a teacher, an artist, a designer, a house flipper, a mom - I really wanted to be a neonatalogist when I was a kid. Then one day my husband said, "Why don't you just be you?". Novel idea, I know. I gave myself a really hard look. What do I love to do?

My background is in PR and my undergrad degree in Communication Studies played right into that but when we moved to Columbia and then again when we started to think about having a family, I really desired a career that was both creative and "family-friendly". Teaching was an absolute obvious choice and the more I considered it, the education needed and even getting some part time experience in the field, it became a "why didn't I go into teaching to begin with?".

So, I'm following my dreams - and while I never thought I'd say this - going back to school to get my Masters in Teaching - Elementary Education. (hopefully :)) I've got to take the MAT test tomorrow, complete the application process including an interview and I should know before Thanksgiving.

All that to say, please keep me in your thoughts tomorrow and throughout this process. This quarter life crisis thing isn't easy. A lot of my friends have been going through the same thing lately. Check out Caroline's musings over at Notes from Glad Oaks and Katie's big leap of faith at Sweet Tater.

Food Porn - Take II

Again, if you are hungry, avert your eyes. Not suitable for those with empty stomachs.
Our very first figs! We have about 300 on the tree just waiting to ripen. What do I do with all these figs? Have any great recipes?

Quilting Circle

Are there any quilt circles still around? I'm thinking about starting one. My great grandmother used to have one back in the 20's. That circle is responsible for my grandfather's birthing quilt - a major family treasure. They also made this one. It needs some major TLC but I still love it.
I really want to make a quilt for our guest room - I'm loving these:
Beautifully graphic and lovely. Does anyone want to join my quilting circle?

Freezer Jam

One of my favorite things about summer is putting away some of the bounty for the cold, dreary months of winter.

Freezer Jam is super easy and holds a special place in my heart because my great aunt Mary used to make it. All you need is about 4 lbs of fruit (you can even use frozen), sugar and pectin. My preference is the Ball brand Freezer Jam Pectin.
There's no boiling, no muss, no fuss. Just mix and put it in the jars. You can eat it right away or store it in the freezer. So, go make some freezer jam from your summer bounty.

test : nervous :: redbull : _______________

if you guessed wired, congratulations, you win the Miller Analogies Test!

This is what I've been up to:

wish me luck.

sorry

been so out of touch lately.

I've got big dreams and it requires my undivided attention for the next week or so. I promise I'll be back soon!