So when I woke up this morning I was beyond ecstatic to see all the snow… finally. I called the office, knowing there was no way my car was able to drive anywhere and I made myself a cup of coffee.

Even Molly and Guinness were excited about the snow – or maybe they were just happy that I was actually home during the day, weird.

When it was finally time to get out of bed and do something productive during this snowstorm, I knew it was time to make soda bread. Soda bread is so simple to make; it’s sort of upsetting when people ask the directions and they just stare at you thinking in their heads “that’s it?”. Yes, that’s it. The recipe that I use is a mixture of my both Great-Grandmas’ recipes. So start off with these ingredients:

3/4 cup Butter Milk
1 stick of Butter
2 cups Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Baking Power
1 tsp. Salt
1 tbsp. Sugar
1 Egg
Caraway Seeds
Raisins
*even though my mom tells me it’s not truly Irish, I substitute raisins for chocolate chips 🙂
Start off pouring the flour in the middle of your counter – add the butter, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar, and egg.

This is where it gets messy and kind of gross lo0king. Start mixing everything together using your hands.

Add the butter milk, caraway seeds, and raisins (or chocolate chips).

The next thing was always my favorite part when I was little, don’t ask me why. I was just a weird child. Take a knife and softly cut an X into the bread. I’m really not sure why we do this.

Bake for an hour at 350 degrees and enjoy!
This next project literally took me about 5 minutes to make. It’s great for one of those last minute decoration or center piece for St. Paddy’s Day, plus makes NO mess!
You’ll need:

White Rice
Rubbing Alcohol
Food Dye
Ziploc Bag
Clear Vase
Start by putting some white rice into the ziploc bag. Next add a little rubbing alcohol (it’s not necessary – the dye just sticks to the rice better with it, but water works too!) to the rice. It’s important that you don’t add a lot, two tablespoons is plenty. Add some green food dye and close the bag. Mix the dye into the rice through the bag.

Pour the green rice into the vase.

Add a layer of white rice onto the green rice. Then repeat the color process but using yellow dye instead of green.

Although I enjoyed this snowday, it limited me from going to a craft store. So I decided to rummage through my house and see what I could find. I came up with a very old, very ugly Halloween wreath and tulle netting to decorate Christmas presents with. What would anyone do with these materials? Make a St. Paddy’s Day tulle wreath, of course.
You’ll need:
A Straw Wreath
Tulle Netting (I used emerald green and seafoam green)
Ribbon
First I cut all the Halloween decorations off this wreath which included corn and a creepy scarecrow man. Then I wrapped emerald green tulle netting around the whole wreath.

Next tie 12 inch pieces of tulle netting onto the wreath. I tied 3 emerald green then 1 seafoam green.

After completing the wreath, make a bow with green ribbon and tie it on. Hang up your wreath and admire your beautiful work! You can also use it as a centerpiece (without the bow). Put it in the middle of your table and place a candle in the middle.
