Living In Upstate

How to Make a Pillow with a Pillow Using Poly-fil and Insulate a Bag

Who likes spending time outdoors? We love it here! One of our favorite spots to spend time is the deck. It overlooks the woods. We can hear the birds chirping and leaves rustling. It is the most relaxing thing ever. I have three kids so time by myself is hard to come by. But I try to get out for at least an hour without them and sit in piece on my patio and relax. I was super excited to do some projects with some products Poly-fil sent me. All opinions are my own.

This blog post contains affiliate links.

To make my time even more relaxing I stuff some pillow covers with Poly-fil Premium Polyster Fiber Fill and lined my bag with solarize. That way if I take out chocolate it will not melt in my bag.

I found a pillow cover at Bed Bath and Beyond. I honestly do not know why more pillow covers are not the norm. At Ikea they only sell pillow covers. Instead of buying pillows every season and storing them in a random closet pillow covers can be stored like pillow cases for a bed. And then taken off and washed from time to time.

I stuffed an old pillow in the pillow cover, but because the pillow was a little smaller than the pillow cover there was lots of extra room. I then stuffed the Poly-fil around the other pillow to make the new pillow nice and fluffy.

To insulate the bag I cut the inside of the bag and put the solarize inside. Then I sewed the bag back shut. Now I can keep chocolate in there and not have it melt super fast!

What do you like better the insulated bag or the stuffed pillows?

There is even a giveaway going on for more Poly-fil and a $100 JoAnn Gift card!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Our Family Story Wall Hanging

We have been renovating our house like CRAZY. I am excited to finally start putting things on our walls. I thought a "Our Family Story" would be a great addition to our wall. It has the day we met, our anniversary, and birthdays of all the kiddos. It can be made to accomodate any size frame. For this project I used an 8x10.

This post contains affiliate links.

Click here to get the Cricut.

1. The first step is to select some paper.

white cardstock
black cardstock

2. The second step is to put in the correct dates and number of kids. To put in the dates change the text box. To add kids or change gender copy and paste the kids in front of each date. Here is the file. After the dates are changed weld the text together otherwise it will come out in separate circles.

3. Cut this file with the black cardstock.

4. The cutouts can be removed two ways, with this Cricut tool flat, or bending the board and gently separating the cardstock from the board. This helps prevent the paper from bending.

5. The first time I did this I did not cut deep enough and the letters were stuck in the circle. Instead of using the scissors, I opted to cut again deeper and save myself a headache.

MUCH BETTER!

6. The sixth step is to clean the extra letters off the mat and put it away. This way the mat will not get sticky.

7. The next step is to arrange and glue the letters to the white cardstock.

8. The final step is to put the cardstock in a frame and put on the wall. My kids love this! Enjoy!

Click here to get the Cricut.

Check out some other family fun craft ideas from some of my friends.

Thanks so much for 100 Directions, Mad in Crafts, 33 Minute Crafts and The Country Chic Cottage for putting this together!

The Perfect Maple Cookies

Two years ago we moved up to the Northeast, Upstate New York to be exact. I never saw myself living in upstate New York growing up, except maybe that one time I did a state report on New York and saw how pretty it was. But alas we ended up in Upstate New York and are loving it. Every place has traditions and one of the traditions in New York and Canada is Maple Syrup. Maple syrup is harvested in the late winter/early spring from maple trees. It is a super long process and one I was going to try to do until I saw how much goes into making the syrup. That is when I decided to buy the syrup instead. The syrup is pricey, but once I tried it for the first time I could not go back to imitation maple syrup.

When I bought my first jug of maple syrup I wanted to make sure it did not go to waste because I paid so much for it. I looked up recipes for maple everything, cookies and cakes. I made these maple cookies below and I was hooked. I made them for everything until I ran out of maple syrup. I had to patiently wait for maple harvesting season again and for the Coronavirus business restrictions to let up before I could get it. But once I got it I made my first batch of maple cookies and they were as good as I remembered. I hope you enjoy this recipe.

I have included some tricks and tips below to get amazing cookies.

Maple Cookies

Super Soft Delicious Flavorful Cookies

Author: Jennifer Crowther

Yield: 36

Prep Time: 15 Min Cook time: 12 Minutes

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup softened butter
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg (room temperature)
1/3 cup Maple Syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
granulated sugar

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cream the butter and the sugar.
Cream the egg with the butter mixture until fluffy.
Add the maple syrup and the maple syrup to the mixture.
Mix the dry ingredients, flour, cornstarch, slat, baking soda, and baking powder.
Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture.
Combine the dry ingredients, flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tarter.
Chill in fridge for 30-60 minutes before baking.
Form round balls and roll in granulated sugar.
Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes.
Let cool and enjoy!

*One of the secrets to getting amazing cookies is to mix the butter and eggs until they are light and fluffy.

I used a disher to make my cookies into balls. That way they come out uniform in shape and size. I also use parchment paper so the cookies do not stick to the bottom of the pan.

Don't these look scrumptous?

Here is the finished product!