​I'm a little obsessed with notebooks. I keep all of my notes and plans in one single notebook. I figure if I have that notebook and my planner, then all of my important information will be in one place. If you looked through that notebook, you might think that I'm a crazy person because it skips from design consultation measurements, to drawings of decorations for a birthday party, to fabric orders, to billing notes, to grocery lists… But for me it helps to know it's all in one place so I'm not constantly looking for little scraps of paper. I think most people have a use for a beautiful journal or notebook, so why not make one for them (or one (or 10) for yourself!).

Supplies:

• Durable Cover Notebook
• Fabric
• HeatnBond Ultrahold (found at fabric stores)
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Iron

For this post, I'm using a spiral notebook and only covering a portion of the front. At the end of the post, you'll see pictures of the same process used on moleskin notebooks in case you'd rather do that. Both really turn out beautifully. Side note: just make sure that if your notebook has a design on it, like mine does here, to pick a fabric that is dark enough so that you won't be able to see through it. If the notebook is solid colored (like the moleskin) this won't matter. 

Ok, these instructions sound a little complicated but I promise it's not AT ALL. You can make these in about 10 minutes. Here we go!

​1. Iron your fabric so it's nice and straight and a little easier to work with. 

2. Open up your HeatnBond Ultrahold and lay it on your work surface paper side UP.

3. Trace the cover of your notebook onto the paper side of the HeatnBond with your pencil. ​

4. Cut the HeatnBond about two inches outside of the line that you just traced. DO NOT cut on the line you just traced- cut a larger shape around that line. ​

5. Following the directions on the package, iron the HeatnBond (I promise this is not an ad for HeatnBond. It's just really good stuff!) onto the BACK of your fabric. ​

6. Now cut the fabric very close to the paper (so that the fabric is the same size). Then you can pull the paper backing away. Your entire piece of fabric should have a layer of plastic-y film on it. ​

7. Now position your fabric on the front of your notebook (leaving about two inches hanging off around the sides). Next place your iron CAREFULLY in the middle of the notebook and heat the very center of the fabric until it stick to the front of the notebook. Try really hard not to heat the edges because they are hanging off the notebook and will glue themselves your ironing board!! ​

9. I like to trim out the corners (see photo below) so that there's not a lot of excess fabric and then fold the other sides in and iron them down too. ​

10. Finally I go back and iron the front and flaps again just to make sure they stick really well. Please be careful though, not to burn the paper. You are using an iron on cardboard so exercise caution! lol ​

There you have it! Beautiful fabric covered notebooks…Perfect for gift giving or for making your everyday organization a little bit happier! ​

Lately I have been craving some good ole comfort food!  The first thing that pops into my mind when I think of "comfort food" is macaroni and cheese - I mean, who doesn't love macaroni and cheese?  Whether you are from the south or not, you cannot deny the healing powers of its cheesy goodness.  Today, I am sharing a more grown-up version of this decadent side dish from my good friend, Kat Clayton, of Clayton Family Kitchen.  Kat is a sweet, southern gal from Kentucky that married a childhood friend of mine.  I've been blessed to know her for years, and even catered her wedding reception!  Not only is she a fabulous hostess and talented cook, but she is also the author of a series of mystery novels called The Kings of Charleston.  You can find her Pecan Crusted Macaroni and Cheese Recipe, as well as many others at www.claytonfamilykitchen.com.




I love macaroni and cheese, it’s one of my all time favorite dishes. Over the years, I’ve tried lots of recipes for homemade, but nothing ever really measured up to the high expectations I had developed in my mind. Some were too cheesy, others weren’t cheesy enough, while others textures were just off.

So I threw away all the recipes and came up with something of my own and I’m very happy with the results. I use a mix of mild cheddar and Vermont white cheddar for this recipe. Because I like a little crunch in my mac and cheese, I topped it with a cracker/pecan topping and toasted it up in the oven.

I don’t know why I thought to throw pecans in there (maybe it’s my never ending supply), but they were awesome in this dish. I toasted them up with a little butter and salt, before adding them to the crushed cracker topping. The salty toasted flavor added a little something extra to the velvety mild flavor. My husband’s only complaint was that I should have added more pecans.

Ingredients:

½ cup pecans, chopped

4½ tbs. butter

pinch of salt

3 cups noodles ( I used seashell noodles)

½ cup all-purpose flour

3 cups mild cheddar cheese, shredded

2 cups white Vermont cheddar cheese, shredded

3 cups whole milk

1 sleeve of Ritz crackers, crushed


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees;

Spread pecans onto an aluminum foil baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and ½ tablespoon melted butter. Bake for 7-8 minutes; set aside.

In a large stock pot, cook the pasta according to the directions until the pasta is al dente; Drain and set aside.

Melt 2 tbs. of butter in a large saucepan on medium heat; Once the butter bubbles and starts to brown, whisk in the flour to make a rue. Continue whisking the rue for 2-3 minutes.

Slowly whisk in the milk, making sure to keep the rue from forming clumps. Allow the mixture to cook for about 5-10 minutes.

Stir in the cheeses, one cup at a time, allowing each addition to be completed incorporated before adding the next.

Add the pasta to the cheese sauce, coating the pasta completely. Pour the macaroni and cheese into a greased casserole dish. Top with the crushed crackers and toasted pecans. Melt 2 tbs. of butter and pour is over the top of the pecans and crackers.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the crust is browned and the cheese starts to bubble.

Need an adorable Recipe Box to keep track of your delicious recipes?  We have our favorites available here!  We have the cutest recipe cards available as well.

My kids are into digging in the dirt, burying things and planting, so they loved this quick and easy craft and I was happy we got to go outside in the process of making it. We made a few of these and they have found their home in our downstairs bathroom for now!....My four year old, Annie M likes to move things and redecorate often, so who knows where they will be tomorrow :)

I liked them because they were fast, make for simplistic decor and can also be educational. By educational, for us, I mean that in the sense that my four year old and I briefly chatted and she understood plant + water + light and ecosystem.

This image and the link below were the inspiration for our easy terrariums. The post below includes more detail on the rocks as a drainage system and "activated charcoal" - which I did not use. It prevents mold build up though, I'm pretty sure?

For mine, I went simple with rocks, dirt, moss and plant. I did {do} save and recycle glass jars so we had those on hand, and some of the rocks and all of the dirt was from my front yard. I was in a hurry and snagged a {plastic} succulent from Hobby Lobby....no activated charcoal needed for fake plants! Shhh! Don't tell Annie M that! ;)

Here is what you will need:

• Glass Jar
• Soil
• Succulents
• Rocks

Simple instructions:

• Gather materials
• Place rocks at the bottom of the jar
• Layer the dirt
• Plant succulents or moss
• Accessorize - I saw some little boys who loved action figures add them to their plants. It was kind of cute and unique to see - here is the sample of one with dinos below and the link from where I found it! How cute!

Anyway, simple and the kids love the dirt and watching their little terrarium come together! 

Thanks, Southern Mercantile for letting me guest blog today! Come visit me for more fun ideas at the links below!

xo, 
Lauren
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We were so inspired by Lauren's DIY, we found a few more cute ideas to share with you!  Click any picture for the link.

While in the spirit, we're going to get a little creative with book pages!  Our friend, Melissa Dark, has a wonderful tutorial for making a book page wreath.  We asked if she would like to teach all of you, and she has graciously accepted!  Take it away, Melissa!

Yes, I do realize that “To Kill a Mockingbird” is so much more than a tale of two kids growing up in a small town.  The discussion of the social and political problems of racism, civil rights and women’s roles most certainly is what hits the hardest in this story, and unfortunately, while great improvements have been made, all are still relevant topics and problems today.   With that being said, there is something magical about growing up in a small, safe environment, where everybody knows everybody else.  Scout states that “Maycomb was a tired old town” where people moved slowly and took their time.  “There was no hurry for there was nowhere to go.” When reading this I instantly visualize the sidewalks of my own tired old town.  To me, this book is somehow a frozen time capsule of my own childhood memories.

When my brother and I were kids there literally was nowhere to go, except to ride our bikes to the gas station to buy a coke.   Our house was just two blocks from downtown so we were allowed to ride our bikes or roller skate wherever we wanted to go.  Jem and Scout had “summertime boundaries” that were in calling distance of their maid, Calpurnia.  Troy and I had similar boundaries, we had to be within whistle distance of my dad, and he has the loudest whistle of anyone I have ever heard.  I have tried and tried to replicate it but am afraid I do not possess that talent.  My friend’s dad owned an appliance store downtown and sometimes we would venture down there to claim a refrigerator box.  I would give anything to have a video of the three of us walking home with a box that was bigger than all of us put together! Those boxes provided hours and hours of backyard fun.  Life really did seem so simple then.  If we weren’t in school, we spent most of our time outside. We spent hours acting out dramatic scenarios, like escaping from an orphanage on a boat made of lawn chairs.  We made up our own games like obstacle kick ball and “Miss Geronimo”, a game we made up to play with our very energetic dog Neva. 

I could, and can still, relate to other things mentioned in the book, such as not really being “from” a place unless you have proof of many generations of ancestors there.  Or things like the mystery surrounding Boo Radley.  All small towns have their own version of Boo.  Folks just need something to talk about.  Mysterious secrets and rumors to keep the good townspeople entertained.  Harper Lee had such a brilliant idea, to tell the story of growing up in the south through the eyes of a child.  Though both the good and the bad aspects of growing up in a small, southern town are represented here, this book will forever remind me of being a child in a small town in South Georgia.  I have such happy memories of rambling around town with my brother.  Some days, how I long to go back to those simple times! 

This past summer, my friend Melissa and her sweet husband David decided to move their little family to a small home on her family's farm.  I, of course couldn't have been more thrilled because she now only lives about 20 minutes away!  This now means more friends and fellow creative folks to hang out with!  It is also very convenient that we were both remodeling our little homes at the same time.  You know misery loves company!

We look forward to featuring Melissa and her company, Greener Grass, here at The Southern Mercantile.  We can't wait for you to get to know her, we already consider her a part of the family!

To get to know Melissa better, visit her at:
http://melissadark.blogspot.com/

Here are a few words from a fellow Southerner:


In the midst of the moving and renovating this summer, we also acquired a cow.

A baby cow. That needed to be fed twice a day with a bottle. 

He's adorable and we named him Pecos.

One of Daddy's rancher friends originally owned Pecos, but when he was just a few days old he was accidentally separated from his mama. Isn't that sad? Then, by the time they reunited mama and calf, the mama wanted nothing to do with the baby. It was like she had forgotten about him. 

Are you crying? Yeah. Me neither.

This is evidentially fairly common in the ranching world. Mama's won't feed their babies or they get separated and these little orphan cows are sometimes sold at a steep discount because of the extra work that feeding and caring for them requires. 

Daddy got this little calf to start Ford his own herd. By the time Ford is 30 he should have about 200 head of cattle. Just kidding.

Kind of. 

Anyway, now we're ranchers and we're feeding this sweet little cow twice a day and trying not to get too attached. BUT HE'S AN ORPHAN BABY! I'M FEEDING HIM WITH A BOTTLE! Yet, one day we will load him onto the cattle trailer to take him to the sale. Farm life is emotional, y'all. 

Now that Pecos is hanging with all of his herd friends, I think he's embarrassed of me. When I go to feed him he runs up excited to eat, but when I try to give him a little love he just ignores me and walks off like he doesn't even know me. I share a movie on Instagram of him giving me the cold shoulder. 

Pecos was not too proud, however, to chase David and I across the entire pasture yesterday. We were cutting through the cow pasture to walk to my parents house and when Pecos saw us come through the gate he ran up to us wanting to eat. I sweetly told him that I didn't have his bottle and that I'd be back later to feed him. He couldn't imagine a world were we had other things to do besides feed him so he followed us the whole way nibbling on David's shorts and HEAD BUTTING ME IN THE REAR.