DIY Wicker Basket Drawer Tutorial

Do you have a deep shelf or storage bin that you just can’t keep organized? In this diy wicker basket drawer tutorial I am going to show you how to make a drawer using a simple square basket.

wicker basket drawer

The nightstand shown above is the nightstand I had in my bedroom growing up. We just keep painting it and using it because I love the simple design, however I did not like the deep shelf. Books would fall back in there and it was a hard to keep it organized.

wicker basket drawer

I found a square wicker basket that fit perfectly. The problem was pulling the basket out of the shelf. So I simply added a cute crystal handle.

wicker basket drawer

I remembered these cute antique knobs that I have been saving for just a project like this.

You can find them at most hardware stores, specialty shops, and home decor shops. Amazon also have a cute set that would work perfectly. Ikea ( I love Ikea) have several storage bins that would be so cute with wicker baskets that have cute handles on them.

wicker basket drawer

Here is what you do

  • Cut a piece of thin wafer board. Approximately 4 x 5 inches. Depending on the size of your basket.
  • Drill a hole in the center so the knob can go through. (This anchors the knob so it won’t pull through the wicker).
  • Take the bolt out of the knob and stick it through the wicker and the board, then screw the knob on.

BAM! Simple as that.

This could easily be done with any basket and would work great for baskets under your bed or in any cabinet.

DIY Fabric Jingle Ball Cat and Baby Toy

This little fabric jingle ball cat and baby toy is the perfect size for little hands AND little paws.  Recycled sweaters, a few jingle bells and a little stuffing is all you need. However, if you want to make the CAT really happy, you can add a little catnip while stuffing. The cats go crazy.

cat and baby toy

I posted earlier this summer on how to make the larger sized balls. This is the same process, however, the pieces are just smaller. You can download the pattern for all sizes FREE HERE.

Here is a little quick video on the process of making the fabric jingle ball. For full written instructions, check out the post here.

Play Video

What you need

  • 8 small pieces of sweaters (You can use felted wool sweaters, cotton, fleece, and even regular knit fabric.
  • 1/4 cup Catnip herb (optional)
  • needle and thread
  • sewing machine (can be sewn by hand)
  • scissors
  • pattern

If you want to bring a smile to your kitty cat, dog or baby, there is still time to whip up a little fabric jingle ball for Christmas.

Jingle ball instructions

Make sure you are saving your felted sweater scraps. These balls are the perfect thing to make with your scraps.

Have fun sewing!

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Cornbread & Biscuits – Makes a bowl of soup complete

cornbread & biscuits

Soup and cold weather go together, don’t they? However, a hot bowl of soup isn’t complete without a yummy biscuit or a piece of cornbread. I am going to share with you our family’s favorite simple cornbread & biscuits recipes. Both are simple, NO FRILLS, but oh so delicious!


check out the Soup ideas at the end of the post


Corn Bread Ingredients

  • Corn meal – 1 cup
  • Flour- 1 cup
  • Sugar – 1/4 cup or less if desired
  • Baking powder – 1 Tablespoon (aluminum free)
  • Salt – 1 teaspoon
  • Oil of choice – we use melted coconut oil – 1/3 cup
  • Milk, nut milk, or even water can be used with good results – 1 cup
  • Egg – 1 large, lightly beaten

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400°
  • Lightly grease 8-inch square baking pan.
  • Combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
  • Add milk, oil, and egg to the flour mixture and whisk until blended.
  • Pour into prepared pan.
  • Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the wooden pick inserted comes out clean.
  • Serve warm.

Cornbread Recipe

cornbread and biscuits
A hot bowl of soup isn’t complete without a yummy biscuit or a piece of cornbread. I am going to share with you our family’s favorite simple cornbread & biscuits recipes.
  • Prep Time10 min
  • Cook Time25 min
  • Total Time35 min
  • Yield9
  • Meta LabelLabel Value

INGREDIENTS

Cornbread Ingredients

    • Corn meal – 1 cup
    • Flour- 1 cup
    • Sugar – 1/4 cup or less if desired
    • Baking powder – 1 Tablespoon (aluminum free)
    • Salt – 1 teaspoon
    • Oil of choice – we use melted coconut oil – 1/3 cup
    • Milk, nut milk, or even water can be used with good results – 1 cup
    • Egg – 1 large, lightly beaten

INSTUCTIONS

1

Preheat oven to 400°

 
2

Lightly grease 8 inch square baking pan.

3

Combine corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

4

Add milk, oil, and egg to flour mixture and whisk just until blended.

5

Pour into prepared pan.

6

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted comes out clean.

7

Serve warm.

We usually double the cornbread & biscuits recipe and save for meals later in the week or for breakfast.

This biscuit recipe was given to me by my dear mother-in-law.

Biscuit Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder (aluminum free)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter (WE ONLY USE 1/3 CUP)
  • 3/4 cup milk (we use almond or rice milk)……..when my husband makes them, he uses water, and they are still good. Just saying.

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 450 °
  • Sift flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
  • Add butter and cut into flour (like you do for pie).
  • The consistency should be like little peas.
  • Add the milk and stir with a fork until incorporated. (Don’t over mix)!
  • Form a ball and roll the dough out on a floured surface until the dough is about 1 – 1 1/2 inches thick. You can just make drop biscuits if you want by placing a blob of dough on the pan.
  • Using a biscuit cutter or glass top, cut out biscuits.
  • Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly brown.
  • Makes about 8-10 biscuits.

Simple Biscuits

A simple flaky and basic flour biscuit.
  • Prep Time10 min
  • Cook Time18 min
  • Total Time28 min
  • Yield8 servings
  • Meta LabelLabel Value

INGREDIENTS

Cornbread Ingredients

    • 2 cups flour
    • 4 teaspoons baking powder (aluminum free)
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1 cup butter (WE ONLY USE 1/3 CUP)
    • 3/4 cup milk (we use almond or rice milk)……..when my husband makes them, he uses water, and they are still good. Just saying.

INSTUCTIONS

1

Preheat oven to 450 °

 
2

Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

3

Add butter and cut into flour (like you do for pie).

4

The consistency should be like little peas.

5

Add the milk and stir with a fork until incorporated. (Don’t over mix)!

6

Form a ball and roll the dough out on a floured surface until the dough is about 1 – 1 1/2 inches thick. You can just make drop biscuits if you want by placing a blob of dough on the pan.

7

Using a biscuit cutter or glass  top, cut out biscuits.

8

Place on cookie sheet and bake 8-10 minutes until lightly brown.

9

Makes about 8-10 biscuits.

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Jan Howell

Jan Howell

Whether it’s a new recipe, a fun craft, or some handy tips for your garden and home, I hope to empower and inspire you with skills that you can use to create joy, improved health, and to do it in a simple way.

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Winter Ready? 8 ways to keep you warm and healthy this season

Oh, baby it’s cold outside. Are you winter ready? If you are lucky enough to experience a winter season where you live, here are a few tips that will help you stay warm and healthy.

STAY WARM

1- Keep your hands warm

A good pair of mittens is a must! If you like to sew, these upcycled mittens are quite easy to make using an old wool sweater. They are snug, toasty warm, and make great Christmas gifts. The PDF pattern includes adult sizes XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL, and child-size large. It also comes in infant and child sizes.
A detailed measuring guide comes with a pattern to make sure you sew up the right size! You can get the patterns here in my  shop

Pop these little hand warmers in the microwave for 30-40 seconds and place them in your coat pockets and you’re good to go. They are a great thing to send your kids off to school with, or on the ski slope. VERY easy to make! The free sewing tutorial can be found HERE.

Winter Ready

2- Keep your feet warm

If your feet get cold in bed, I have the perfect remedy. Corn or rice-filled therapy bags are the best. Just microwave and throw under your covers. They’ll keep your little tootsie warm for hours. The tutorial and pattern can be found HERE.

Sweater slippers and sweater slipper boots made from (you guessed it) upcycled wool sweaters are an excellent way to keep your feet nice and toasty. Patterns HERE.

3-      Keep your insides warm

Winter Ready

A nice cup of yarrow tea is sure to keep your insides warm AND keep your immune system in check in case you get sick!

What is Yarrow good for?

  • ANTISEPTIC and VIRAL INHIBITOR
  • BLOOD PURIFIER
  • CIRCULATION
  • COLDS AND FLU
  • DIGESTION
  • FEVER
  • INFLAMMATION
  • TONIC

Yarrow tea is a great preventative remedy. If the crud is going around the neighborhood, don’t just sit there waiting for the symptoms to start, drink 1 to 2 cups of yarrow tea a day as a preventive tonic. If you already have symptoms, start flushing it out with 4 to 8 cups of Yarrow tea each day. Get the full yarrow scoop HERE.

Winter Ready

There is nothing better than a hot bowl of soup to warm you up inside. Here are a few soup recipes you may like to try.

4-      Keep your head and ears warm

Of course, you need to keep your head and ears warm too! Hats, hats, hats, there are all kinds of hats. Beanies, pilot, pixie, and pillbox hat styles can all be made using an upcycled sweater.  The patterns can be found HERE.

WINTER READY TIPS FOR STAYING HEALTHY

Staying healthy and well during the winter is a good thing. Here are a few preventative things you can do to help keep your immune system up and running.

If you were to ask me what I thought the most important thing you could do to promote and maintain a healthy body, mind, and spirit would be……….. MOVEMENT would be at the very top of the list. I am talking about PHYSICAL MOVEMENT, moving the body in some way or another.

5-    Rebounding

Winter Ready

At this time I want to bring to your attention a form of movement that you may not have heard about or considered something of real value, REBOUNDING. Who would have thought that bouncing on a little trampoline could do anything for you? Well, I am here to tell you, by experience, that it can

Rebounding provides benefits to nearly every body system, from increased flexibility and skin tone to decreased stress. Its up-and-down movement improves circulation and lymphatic flow and gently massages the internal organs for whole-body health.

In my research, one of the things that intrigued me the most was that jumping on the mini-tramp 10 minutes equals running for 30 minutes for a cardiovascular workout. That is quite amazing!  I think a lot of us have it in our heads that in order to be in the top physical shape we have to RUN marathons to achieve it. Rebounding is so much easier on the joints than running and can get the same results in less time.

Get the full scoop HERE.

6-      Skin Brushing

Winter Ready

Skin brushing is simple, quick, and very rewarding. This is another one of those things on the top of my “stay healthy” list! Skin brushing has been part of my morning ritual for quite some time. I can tell a big difference in my skin and in the way that I feel. Here are just a few of the benefits of skin brushing.

  • Stimulates blood and lymph flow
  • Helps eliminate toxins from the body
  • Removes dead skin cells
  • Encourages cells to regenerate
  • Helps combat cellulite
  • Results in smooth glowing skin
  • Anti-aging through cell regeneration
  • Strengthened immune system
  • Stimulated nervous system, toned muscles, and tightened skin
  • Stimulated both the sweat and sebaceous glands (contributing to the restoration of moist and supple skin)

You can learn how to do it HERE.

Although preventative measures are the best to keep you healthy, there still may be times you come down with that nasty cold or flu. Here are a few things you can do naturally to get you back on your feet.

7-      Sore throat remedy that REALLY works!

Winter Ready

If you are experiencing a sore throat, don’t jump in the car and run to the clinic just yet. I am going to share with you 4 simple alternative remedies for a sore throat that really work! Many of the ingredients you probably already have in your home.

  •  HONEY, CAYENNE AND GARLIC
  •  ORANGE JUICE AND CAYENNE PEPPER
  •  SALTWATER
  •  LYMPH MASSAGE

Go HERE to find the details and recipes

8-    Thyme Bath

Winter Ready

If you have the aches, chest congestion, and a lingering cough, this thyme bath is the perfect thing to get you going onto a QUICK recovery.

When my kids were small, they would ask for a thyme bath whenever they weren’t feeling well. My youngest son is now 24 and had the flu a few weeks ago. He came home for a thyme bath because the place he lives doesn’t have a bathtub, only a shower. Can you see how this has been ingrained in their heads as something that WORKS!

The thyme bath is not real labor-intensive and most likely you may have everything you need right there in your home. If not, you can get dried thyme at your local health food store or use Thyme essential oil.

You can learn the whole process HERE.

So, there you have it, 8 different ways to get ready for the cold WINTER ahead. It’s going to be a good one!

I am Wishing you a warm cozy and healthy winter season.

Jan Howell

Jan Howell

Whether it’s a new recipe, a fun craft, or some handy tips for your garden and home, I hope to empower and inspire you with skills that you can use to create joy, improved health, and to do it in a simple way.

Read More