Month: December 2015

DIY Wooden Wick Candles

Posted on by thegoodenoughguide

Most of my family members like to make gifts for each other. About a year ago, I started making gifts and rings and things out of wood veneer. I realized that wooden wick candles (which are very expensive to purchase) can be made very simply using thin strips of veneer.

This year, my mom and I spent an afternoon making homemade wooden wick candles to give to neighbors, co-workers and family members. They make great gifts for candle lovers, they’re very customizable and you can up-cycle almost any kind of glass or metal container to use as a candle holder.

Here’s how we did it.

We cut strips of wood veneer in a variety of sizes. The thinnest were roughly a third of an inch wide, the widest were roughly three-quarters of an inch. There’s a lot of room to play here and you can customize the veneer to fit any size candle holder. You could even use a couple of wooden wicks if you wanted to, I suppose.

We used chopsticks and bamboo skewers to hold the wooden wicks in place over the jars and candle holders. It was an easy, effective way to hold them in place.

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Then we melted the wax. We used plain candle wax and melted batches of about a pound at a time. I ordered four different essential oils that could be mixed and matched: cedarwood, cranberry, orange and cinnamon-spice. We added about forty drops of oil per pound of wax. Let the wax dry completely, then trim the wicks. It’s as easy as can be!

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Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Posted on by thegoodenoughguide

2 pounds beef stew meat (I actually used a discounted rump roast, cut into 1″ cubes and it was delicious)

1/2 c. corn starch
1 onion
1 carrot
2 stalks of celery
2 potatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs. rosemary
1 Tsp. dry mustard
1 Tsp. sage
2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 bay leaves
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 c. veggie broth
1 can diced tomatoes
Beef stew is such a wonderfully delicious and easy winter meal. Just cube the meat (if you need to) and roll in the corn starch, cut up the veggies, add the herbs and spices, pour in the broth and diced tomatoes, and slow cook for 6-8 hours. It’s a good one to use up vegetables or tweak to taste. Enjoy and stay warm!

slowcookerbeefstew

Making Time for “Hygge”

Posted on by thegoodenoughguide

A couple of years ago, there were all kinds of articles floating around the internet about “hygge.” It’s a Danish concept that doesn’t have an English translation, but it amounts to all the “warm fuzzy” feelings of comfort you can muster. The Danes consistently rank really highly among the world’s happiest nations, even though they face long, harsh winters full of darkness.

The Artist and I can absolutely relate to harsh winters in this northern climate. In fact, every year we make a pact that this will be our last winter living in such an extremely cold place. But another year has come and nearly gone, and we find ourselves still fending off the cold. That’s why I was so excited to learn about hygge.

hygge

I’ve started to trying to cultivate a feeling of hygge ever since, especially during cold winter months. I think hygge can be a smell, like a wood burning stove or my mom’s homemade chai. I think it can be a sensation, like wool socks under fuzzy slippers. I think it can be an atmosphere, like the glow of tiny Christmas lights brightening up a fresh snowfall. Or a candlelit sanctuary filled with Christmas carols. Those all make me feel pretty happy from the inside this time of year.

Throughout the winter, I try to look for hygge by rereading my favorite classics, writing letters to loved ones, watching vintage cartoons, playing board games with friends, eating things with flavors like “Christmas Spice” and “Gingerbread Dreams.” Whatever it takes! You’ve got to enjoy yourself year round, and I’m finding that those warm fuzzy feelings are even easier to come by in a super cozy space.

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At risk of offending Danish speakers the world over, happy hygge to you and yours! I hope your winter is as quaint and cozy as can be. And might I recommend a steaming cup of hot chocolate, with an extra dollop of whipped cream and some sprinkles for some hygge you can hold? Cheers!

Gift Wrap on the Cheap

Posted on by thegoodenoughguide

One of the things I love most about gift giving is wrapping it all up. I usually spend quite a few hours a year wrapping gifts. I’ve used shopping bags, newspaper, regular old gift wrap, shipping paper, tinsel, ornaments, bells, pages of old books, sheet music. Sometimes it gets a little out of hand. And sometimes, it’s really expensive.

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This year I wanted to see how reasonably I could wrap my family’s gifts and still make them as lovely as possible. I didn’t keep a close tally, but I definitely spent less than $5 on all my gift wrap. I reused gift bags from last year, utilized paper shopping bags, wrapped gifts in other gifts (like scarves) and made my own tags using a piece of scrapbook paper. The gifts, I think, are as pretty as ever and I had a lot of fun getting them all put together.

wrapitupnice

 

Chicken Taco Soup

Posted on by thegoodenoughguide

I made this recipe up on the first big snowfall of the year. We woke up to a dusting and throughout the day, our backyard got prettier and prettier. This soup will warm you from the inside.

chickentacosoup

2 chicken breasts (cooked and cubed)

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 green pepper

1 red onion

1 packet taco seasoning

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 c. vegetable broth

1 can whole kernel corn (drained)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can black beans (drained)

Sriracha to taste

Serve with plain yogurt, tortilla chips, lime and fresh cilantro.

 

Cook the chicken breasts thoroughly and dice. In a soup pot, heat olive oil and saute onion and green pepper. Add taco seasoning, cumin and cayenne pepper and stir. Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Add corn, diced tomatoes and black beans. Add diced chicken and heat thoroughly. If you like things extra spicy, add a little Sriracha sauce before you eat. You’ll love every minute of the meal.

Side note: this soup goes great with beer.

Slowing Down

Posted on by thegoodenoughguide

Well, we’ve had daylight savings, the schoolhouse pipes have frozen and the snow has started falling. It may not officially be winter just yet, but we’ve shifted into winter thinking. That applies to the tiny house, too. It’s just a little too cold to spend all day working on it so we’re going to slow things down. We knew we’d have to, living in a northern climate, but we’re so pleased with the progress we’ve made. This little tiny adventure has been a huge part of our lives for the last few months, and we’ll continue to work on it as weekend warriors throughout the winter. Expect the photos and updates to keep coming, just a little more slowly than usual. Thanks for keeping an eye on us!

 

 

Staining the Grain

Posted on by thegoodenoughguide

We had the happiest accident. Our plan was to stain our tiny house a rather loud shade of turquoise. Then we bought a sample of the shade we thought we wanted, and it was kind of awful. So we instead decided to go with lots more natural tones. We are so excited with how the stain is turning out!

 

staining the grain

stainingthegrain

This has been one of my favorite parts of this process. It’s fun to do, the progress is easy to see and the final shades are turning out beautifully. These photos are making our little tiny house look more and more like a home!

 

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Christmas Gifts for Minimalists

Posted on by thegoodenoughguide

The other day I told my mom, “I’ve been thinking about Christmas since August.” The Artist said, “You’ve been thinking about Christmas since last Christmas.” Both are true statements; I really love Christmas. And one of my favorite things about it is thinking about gifts for the people I love.

My family is full of people that love gift giving, actually. But with all of the intense minimizing we’ve been doing the last few months, my family has been really curious about what we’d like this year. These are some of the ideas I shared with them, and if you’ve got more gift ideas for minimalists we’d love to hear them!

Christmasforminimalists

 

  • Experiences. My family has been giving experiences instead of physical gifts for a long time. We love to get each other theater tickets, cooking classes, weekends away, professional massage sessions, pottery dates, hot air balloon rides, you name it! This year, I’m secretly hoping for the chance to try dog sledding. (It’s a real thing you can do!) It’s always fun to dream up what kinds of experiences people will enjoy the best and it’s one of the gifts my family likes to give most.
  • Donations. When my dad turned 60, we made a donation in his name to an organization he really loved. I think this is a really beautiful gift idea and you can easily suit it to the person’s interests. It’s also a chance to support some cool organizations during a time of year that can be expensive. So win, win once again!
  • Consumables. This is a weird categorization, I know. But for minimalists and people without room for lots of things, gifting beautiful foods and beverages can be perfect. Out of necessity, we are very practical people without a lot of frilly things. Having a nice bottle of wine or a box of über pretty chocolates is so indulgent you can’t help but enjoy it. Indulgent, but still useful as calories are an absolutely must this Christmas season. Consider pairing this decadence with a donation (see above) to balance the guilt factor for that special minimalist in your life.
  • Time. Remember when you were a kid and you gave your mom a book of handmade coupons that said things like, “Good for one back massage;” or “Redeemable for a free kitchen cleaning?” I think there’s always room for kindness and giving your time (which is surely limited) is a really cool way to show that you’re thinking of someone. I’m willing to bet you’ll have a good time putting one of these suckers together for someone you really love. And for the record, anyone can give me a handmade coupon book anytime and I will be totally thrilled.
  • Cash. It may be cold and hard, but it’s practical as heck. Cash is always a solid gift option, at least for these two jokers. And if cash feels weird, gift cards are pretty widely accepted as normal these days and I think the gesture is always appreciated.

It can be a challenge to think of the perfect thing for someone who has everything, or next to nothing but likes it that way. The thing that I like about all of these ideas is that thought that goes into them. And that won’t go unnoticed!

Merry Christmas to all of you! We’re glad you’re a part of our lives now and always.