I love our blogger boxes. There’s no other way to say it. It’s like Christmas morning, every other month. For June OKMH Boxes, I received a carton of love from the 45th parallel from Kirsten of Comfortably Domestic. We’ve never met, but we are twins separated at birth (never mind the pesky age difference). She is my sister from another mister. My doppelgänger. And because of that, her box was an exercise in perfection. It started with this card.
This is us in 30 years, and my vote goes to “buck naked”
Fuel for my soul, that’s what this box is.
The first goodie out of the box was this can of chipotle peppers (which we love), a jar of lemons preserved in salt (which I have never in my life tried), and a recipe for BBQ sauce that combines the two. Kirsten nailed this one. I love lemons, we both love barbecue, and TCP loves to grill. I can’t wait to try this recipe and those gorgeous salt-preserved lemons.
Smokey, zingy, tasty goodness – all in one recipe. Very cool.
Next up, a little something for the girly girl in me. Hello summer!
Lips & nails – throw in some mascara & it’s a girly emergency kit.
Then my heart stopped beating when I found these…
Dried cherries from the Upper Peninsula region of the 45th parallel.
If you’re thinking “big deal… dried cherries” then I question how we can be friends (except for my dear friend Kaki – she gets a cherry pass). Seriously, as a cherry lover there are few things as glorious as a gift of Michigan cherries. Canned, fresh or dried – I’ll take them any way I can get them. I’m not exaggerating when I say that a little tear of joy came to my eye when I pulled these out of the box. They are the perfect blend of tart & sweet, dried & plump. I covet these the way some girls covet diamonds. Have mercy, they’re delicious.
This next little gadget blew my mind.
The Cuppow – it turns any wide-mouth canning jar into a travel mug.
As a lover of canning jars AND my morning coffee, my jaw dropped when I saw this. The Cuppow fits onto any wide-mouth canning jar, which I just happen to have a love affair with. In the list of things I hoard, canning jars rank near the top. When I saw this, I did the head slap/why didn’t I think of this thing. It’s so simple it’s brilliant. And Kirsten kicked it up another notch by including my first ‘to go’ beverage AND a handmade travel jar koozie. Seriously. She raises 4 boys, homeschools them all, runs a household, trains a dog and bakes every single day. And she still found time to knit a cover for my travel jar. UH.MAZE.ING.
This simple rigid plastic lid will change you life.
Knowing my love of canning jars, Kirsten capped my June box with yet another of my obsessions – buttons. Or in this case, buttons in an antique canning jar she found in an antique shop. My mother and I went through these like kids in a candy shop, ‘ooooing’ and ‘ahhhhing’ over each new find. We laughed our butts off when we found a small denture charm in the jar. It looks ancient, it’s a little disturbing, and it’s absolutely hysterical. I loved them all. Here’s a collage tribute to our button fun because every crafty girl loves buttons.
Antique buttons in an antique jar; she just gets me
Saying that I enjoyed this month’s box would be a gross understatement. I loved it all. Kirsten’s picks could not have been more perfect. Seriously, these boxes are too much fun. I have a feeling we’re going to need to expand this next year to include more friends. Because everyone loves friends and presents.
To see what the other girls in our group got, drop in on:
Kirsten at Comfortably Domestic (who received a box from me)
Megan of Wanna Be A Country Cleaver
Kat of Tenaciously Yours
Madelyn of La Petite Pancake
Allison of Decadent Philistines Save the World
OKMH Bloggers (top) – Mads, Kirsten & Megan; (bottom) Jeanne, Allison & Kat
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Funny…all this time I thought it was Butt Naked. As in, your butt is…
I must admit that it took every ounce of will power that I posses not to rifle through that jar of buttons before sending it to you. I just love that stuff. I also love that you sorted them by type and color while looking at them, because I would have done exactly that. Twins. The tiny denture button is unreal–you just can’t make that stuff up. (Although, The Twilight Zone fan in me is still hoping that the little doll that they came from doesn’t come looking for her dentures.) Kidding!
Why exactly did we not invent the Cuppow? We could be planning our purchase of The Compound by now! Absolute genius. So glad you liked everything.
Now that you’ve mentioned the toothless zombie doll coming back for her dentures not once but twice, I’m asking TCP to spray the house to keep her out. What do you think… wasp spray or fire ant killer? Or both? (cue the Twilight Zone music)
Sorry about the doll mentions, but I just keep giggling about that conversation. (In an it’s funny because it’s not me kind of way.) I’d say have TCP spray wasp/fire-ant/any other gross bug killer he can lay his hands on if it will keep the Twilight Zone Creepies away. Blech!
Also, here’s another action for the preserved lemons, which is what we sent TCP:
http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/04/03/homemade-lemon-pepper-seasoning/
Just so you know, when I hear that knock on my door (about 6″ off the ground), I’m not answering it (unless it’s a squirrel). Thanks for the link. TCP looked at your jar and said, “I wonder how you make Lemon Pepper?” So this answers that questions perfectly. By the way, it smells amazing!
I absolutely LOVE the canning lid + coozy! Seriously, how does she come up with this stuff? My friends give me a hard time when they realize I don’t own real glasses, but there’s nothing better than drinking out of a chilled mason jar on a hot summer day…and now a warm mason jar on a cold winter morning!
Iced tea from a Mason jar on a scorching summer day can NOT be beat. Seriously!
I love buttons too! I have a whole jar of buttons, no use for ’em, but I love looking at them! That travel jar thing is pretty flippin’ awesome too.
I know, right? I seriously wish I’d thought of it first. Genius… pure genius. And the handmade koozie (koozy…coozie…coozy…cozy) knocked my socks off. I love it! Here are some crafty ideas for your buttons. Perfect for a Hill Country home. http://pinterest.com/search/?q=button+heart
Hmmmm…. the point is raised that we need An Invention with which we can afford The Compound. We really need to get on it.
Also, preserved lemons = awesomesauce. Too bad TH doesn’t think so, so we have a ton in the fridge.
Perhaps your local farmer’s market needs a preserved lemon vendor. Just thinking out loud. Might be time for all of us to start a loose change jar for The Compound. Or at the very least to finance our lottery tickets until one of us wins.
I have just discovered mason jars. For my son’s birthday, I made mini apple pies and mini blackberry crumbles in mason jars. It has just dawned on me that I can also use them for storage for like everything under the sun. I LOVE MASON JARS. The cuppow is SOOOO amazing!!
Welcome to the dark side, Gapgrad! I’m crazy about Mason jars. It comes from my mother and her mother before her. I clearly come from a long line of jar hoarders. They’re so darn versatile. You can use them for food, but also as canisters, for storing dry goods in your pantry, for storing buttons or safety pins or clothes pins, etc. They also make great drink glasses and can be wired up as light fixtures like this: http://pinterest.com/pin/259308891014340271/. My favorite new use is to drop a solar light into them and use them as solar lanterns in your yard. Check this out: http://www.creativecaincabin.com/2011/06/diy-solar-lamp.html Like I said, I’m obsessed.
The Cuppow is genius. Period. Jaw-droppingly, impressively genius. Effective: Now I think we need to dedicate some R+D to finding another way to prey upon other mason jar lovers. There has to be another genius idea out there waiting to happen.
My next mason jar project is these porch lanterns made with inexpensive solar lights. http://www.creativecaincabin.com/2011/06/diy-solar-lamp.html Perfect for lighting up my back patio without any electrical wiring to trip on. Wish I’d thought of this one, too.
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