Fire and Dynamite

Drew and Ellie sing at YoungLife camps pretty regularly and have become some of my favorite musicians. Check out their most recent music video. 

xoK

Valentine's Day: Card Edition

one. two. three. four/five. six.

Rob Ryan Love

Rob Ryan has done it again, folks. That's right, he has stolen my heart. Allow me to explain. . .

If you really knew me you would know that I am a romantic at heart. I love all the cheesy couple-y stuff that people make fun of. As much as I wish otherwise, I will never be one of those "cool girlfriends" who doesn't like taking photographs together and thinks Valentine's Day is stupid. All that being said, when I hear Valentine's Day I say bring on the flowers and romance! However, after seeing Rob Ryan's latest creation I think I could forgo a candle lit dinner in favor of receiving this beautiful work of art.

So suitors, let me make your pursuit easy. You will make me a very happy girl on Valentine's Day by giving me this "card". It is available for purchase here.

xoK

Watch and Enjoy.

xoK

Movie Review: Country Strong

I saw the movie Country Strong tonight with a friend of mine. I wasn't sure what to expect but was more than pleasantly surprised! Gwyneth Paltrow did not only an incredible job acting, but singing as well. I would also say this is the best acting performance I have seen from Tim McGraw. The story is of a country singer struggling to recover from alcoholism and follows her on the road. It provides a little perspective on the disease of alcoholism and the effects it can have on relationships. I would definitely recommend this movie. 

And if you don't like it for any of the above reasons, like it because of this! 

I don't know about you, but this makes my heart melt just a little. 

xoK

Please Forgive

My week long unintended absence. I shall return soon. 

xoK

A Peacock Family Christmas: "Maybe Next Year" Edition

Maybe next year. . .

I'll make these really cute Christmas lights. Kristen (my best friend who is getting married) shared this idea with me after seeing in here. I absolutely adore them! I've recently started appreciating felt and all the wonderful things that can be done using it. So seeing felt used yet again is super fun! There is a full tutorial in the link of how to make these sweet light garlands.

I'll make my own new tree skirt! After seeing a guest post on one of my favorite blogs, Smile and Wave, about how to make a tree skirt I have felt inspired to try my own! I don't have time to make one this year but I'd love to give it a whirl next year. This is the one that is made during the tutorial.

Design Sponge, which is a super excellent blog, also posted a tutorial on making tree skirts that is really great! Here is what their finished product looks like:

I'll make pretty teacup candles to give as gifts. Emily posted a how-to over at her Anderson Family Crew 

blog. I have seen this idea before and really wanted to try it last year but once again ran out of time. I am making a personal vow to myself to make this before next Christmas rolls around!

I will use fabric to wrap gifts! It can be done in so many cute ways. I especially like the way a guest poster over at Design Sponge demonstrated. They used fabric to create ribbons and bags for wrapping. 

and maybe next year I'll do another hundred other things on my list! 

xoK

A Peacock Family Christmas: Decoration Edition II

I showed a few handmade Christmas decorations that appear around Peacock but there are many more to be seen. I've invested quite some time in creating a festive home and I think it has paid off! One of the things I thought of a while back and was so excited to do was use books as decorations. I envisioned all of my red and green bound books together to add a splash of holiday colors to a room. When I re-stacked all of my books I used to opportunity to grab all the reds and greens. I put them on one of our many space-heater turned shelves in front of a window and really like the overall appearance!

The book ends are also hand-me-downs of Nannie's that my sister, Meggie, so lovingly allowed me to have even though Nannie split them between us. I had no idea what to do with these until the books needed some ends so I tossed a few extra ornaments in them and voila! 

I obviously couldn't leave my children's books on the cluttered shelf unseen so they too moved to a space heater turned shelf! 

I also discovered (drumroll, please. . . ) Chalkboard Paint! And let me tell you, it was a life-changing discovery. I have begun painting all sorts of things with it including a few ornaments. 

I also painted a few picture frames as gifts and wrote on them then tied a piece of chalk in the ribbon. I thought it was clever or at least creative! I'll share the other results of chalkboard paint later.

xoK

Pumpkin Pie

This is the recipe I mentioned for my brother's favorite pie, Pumpkin Pie! I made it for the first time a few weeks ago as a gift for his 24th birthday. His birthday is during such a fun time of year because it's right before the holidays! And everyone loves the holidays because who doesn't enjoy a good excuse to cook a lot, eat a lot, and laugh a lot? Anyways, since I don't eat pumpkin pie I'm not sure if this recipe was any good but here is the one I followed. If you happen to try it out, let me know how it tastes! 

Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
• 1 piece pre-made pie dough
• Whipped cream, for topping

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie panand press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weightsand bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream. Eat and Enjoy! 

Oh, and here are some pretty pictures of Pumpkin Pie or related things. . .

one.

two.

three. 

xoK

Pie in a Jar

If you really knew me you would know. . .

that I really enjoy baking. It's a way I show love; if I ever give you baked goods you can simple reply with, "I love you too." Ask my brother-in-law, Nick, who receives baked goods for nearly every birthday and Christmas. He tells me he likes it but really I think he may just be too nice to say otherwise. . . Regardless, being the katie-homemaker that I am, I was pretty impressed with this idea- Pie in a Jar! 

Etsy shop All Jarred Up sells pie that is literally shipped to you in a jar! 

"Pear-ed Together"

"I Go Bananas Over You"

"Grape to Meet You!"

"P is for Pecan"

 "How do you like them apples?"

Perhaps I will just make pies to sell so I can actually buy Nick a real gift rather than give him more pies. Or maybe I'll just share the recipe I use to make his favorite pie! 

xoK