DIY Homemade Centerpiece

As most of you know, the Mr. and I moved into our new house back in February. While I have loved making our house a home, there have been some challenges along the way. One of the struggles I've had is that I get an image of exactly what kind of decoration I want in my mind for a particular space, and then I can't find it. This was the case in our dining room for a center piece. So I brought an idea to my handy husband, and we made our own!

DIY Homemade Centerpiece 

When we picked out our lighting, we chose this large, rustic chandelier, and my struggle was that I wanted something for the table that was about as long as the light, but that was still short enough height wise, that there was plenty of space between the two. 

{As you can see, I'm also having a hard time finding the perfect piece of art to grace our dining room wall!}

DIY Homemade Centerpiece
Boards {we used pine}
Saw {or have the hardware store cut them to your measurements}
Tape measure
Sander {or sand paper}
Finishing nails
Hammer
Stain and rag
Mason jars and flowers of your choice
Hardware for the sides

The best part of making this by ourselves {besides getting to spend time together} is that it honestly took us about than an hour!!!

Chris cut the boards,

 I sanded them,

 I held them together while he nailed them in place,

then while he was staining it,

I went in the house and started dinner. :)
I wanted it to be a very dark brown, so we went with Rust-Oleum Ultimate Wood Stain in Kona.

After the stain was dry, he screwed on the handles that we bought,

and then I got busy deciding what to fill it with! I already had several mason jars, and they were the perfect height for the box. {The box ended up measuring 3 feet in length, 7 inches in width and 5 1/2 inches in height.}

I used six of them for little vases. 

I used big, cream hydrangeas for the flowers. {If you watch for sales, you can get them buy one get one free at Michaels Craft store!}

And that's it! 

I went ahead and mixed the dark brown centerpiece with our black furnature, but if you aren't crazy about that look and you had black furnature, you could always use a black paint to finish off the piece.

The other thing I love about this is that we spent less than $40 dollars on all of the supplies. I asked a few people and they thought if you were to buy this in a store it would cost well over $100. :) Now we have a unique piece that we love, we saved money and got to do something together. I love DIY projects!

3-2-1 Microwave Carrot Cake

Today I have something SO easy for you! It's cake, made in the microwave!

3-2-1 Microwave Carrot Cake

This recipe is GREAT if you just want an individual piece of cake and you don't want the rest of a whole cake tempting you. That's where I get into trouble, especially if it's carrot cake! 

I have seen this idea all over the internet so I'm not sure who to credit, but Duncan Hines does have it on their website. For this recipe, I used carrot cake, but you can use your favorite kind of cake box mix. {I have read that lemon does not turn out very well though.} I have also heard this called "mug cake" because you can heat it up in a mug. Fun! I just used a little jar. 

All you need for this recipe is a box of angle food cake, a box of your favorite cake, water, and a jar or mug. 

Are you still wondering why it's called 3-2-1 cake? Well, that's because for the recipe you use 3 tablespoons of cake mix, 2 tablespoons of water, and you microwave it for 1 minute. Then just decorate to your liking! 

3-2-1 Microwave Carrot Cake

    makes 1 cake

Carrot cake box mix

Angel food cake box mix

2 T Water

Jar or Mug

In a large ziplock bag, mix together the two cake mixes really well. Scoop 3 tablespoons of the cake mixture into a jar or mug, add in 2 tablespoons of water and stir to combine. Microwave it for 1 minute. Take out and let cool for a few minutes. Eat plain or decorate to your liking. I used cream cheese frosting and sprinkles. 

As far as the texture of the cake, it is a little spongy like angel food cake, but if you're totally having a cake craving, this will fix it. And the flavor is still great! Just a word of caution though, if you don't like angel food cake, you probably won't like this. I really like carrot cake and angel food cake, so this is a great treat for me! This would also be something fun to do with kids because they can help in the kitchen! The other great thing about this recipe is that there is no fat from the oil or the eggs because you skip them! I did of course have to put frosting on mine though. Can you ever forgive me? :)