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  • Whitewater Canoe Rental – Brookville, Indiana – Kayaking

    We spent about five hours at Whitewater this past weekend. A nice way to relax, but be prepared for people if you do go on a weekend. May want to consider a weekday if you’re looking for a serene escape.

    We parked at Pizza King & walked over as it looked like down the hill it was only for people with reservations. I will say the road doesn’t look like you are going the right way, if you know you know lol. Without reservations, we still managed to get kayaks for a group of ten (they did mention we may get canoes).

    After you pay, you wait in line until they check your slip. You then grab your paddle/lifejacket & walk shortly to the river where they bring the kayak too you.

    Like I said, there are quite a few people but it’s not too bad ((mainly at the pullouts (plenty of them for breaks or what not)). There are some rapids along the route but they are manageable for a beginner, not exactly a child but they have restrictions in place.

    They also have a rope swing and cliff to jump from as well if that’s your thing.

    To finish it out, they have a bus that picks you up at the end to take you back to where you started. All n all it’s worth doing if in the area. I’m not sure how comparable it is to others around but let me know if you have any recommendations for rivers to kayak in the U.S. as I have no knowledge on it.

    **Must in the area: Dairy Cottage after (awesome chicken, mashed potatoes, and icecream!).

    I hope you enjoy! – Abigail

  • Strawberry Shortcake

    I made this once & it was too good not too post. I unfortunately didn’t take a picture but just trust. I will include a random stock photo though of course.

    Strawberry Ingredients:

    • 1 pound of strawberries cleaned & quartered
    • 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar
    • 1/4 teaspoon of fine sea salt

    Shortcake Ingredients:

    • 2 cups of all purpose flour
    • 4 tablespoons of granulated sugar, divided
    • 1 tablespoon of baking powder
    • 3/4 teaspoon of fine sea salt
    • 6 tablespoons of cold cubed unsalted butter
    • 1 cup of heavy cream plus 1 1/2 tablespoons divided

    Toppings:

    • Whipped cream
    • Sea salt for sprinkling

    Utensils:

    • 2 mixing bowls (one to store in fridge)
    • Whisk
    • Brush
    • Baking sheet/parchment paper
    • Knife to cut squares
    • Measuring cups/spoons

    Directions:

    1. Marinate the strawberries with the sugar and sea salt (recommend doing a day before rather than a quick marinade)
    2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
    3. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, 3 tablespoons of sugar, baking powder, and salt.
    4. Add the cubed butter, use your fingers cut the mixture into pea size pieces
    5. Add 1 cup of heavy cream & mix to combine
    6. Transfer the mixture to a clean work area and pat into a rectangle (about 3/4 inch thick)
    7. Cut into 8 squares or circles (whatever you are feeling)
    8. Brush the tops with the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons of heavy cream
    9. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar
    10. Bake for 20 minutes until they are cooked through/golden on top
    11. Cool the shortcakes & serve

    I hope you enjoy! – Abigail!

  • Denim Embroidery Hoop Art

    This craft is very practical for adding some storage space to your wall, particularly in a craft room, office, or just plain cool decor. My goal is to thrift more embroidery hoops & add to the wall but for now it’s a start.

    Supplies:

    • Embroidery hoop
    • Old jeans/shorts
    • Scissors
    • Hot glue/hot glue gun

    Directions:

    1. Align the embroidery hoop over the section you’d like to cut out
    2. Cut around the placed hoop about an inch or so (doesn’t need to be perfect as you will cut any excess off in the back)
    3. Loosen the embroidery hoop
    4. Place the inner ring down on the table
    5. Lay the denim circle over the inner ring
    6. Press the outer ring over the denim to sandwich the fabric in place
    7. Tug the fabric until it’s drum tight
    8. Tighten the screw
    9. Cut off any excess fabric in the back
    10. Hot glue the cut fabric to prevent fraying (you may be able to skip this step)**
    11. You are ready to hang it up!

    I hope you enjoy! – Abigail

  • Button Lamp

    If you have a stash of buttons hidden away in a jar that you aren’t sure what to do with.. this is the perfect craft. Bonus: it’s a personable way to decorate your space by adding a pop of color.

    As I’m looking at this picture, I’m thinking I may look into button coasters to tie into the space. If you have any ideas of your own on ways to use buttons, I’m all ears on the comments.

    Supplies:

    • Buttons (best to have excess than running out like I did) (check antique booths for buttons as you usually see some!)
    • Lamp
    • Lampshade
    • Hot glue gun/sticks

    Directions:

    • 1) Warm up hot glue gun
    • 2) Put a small dot of glue on the button & attach them to the lampshade until covered
    • 3) Pull loose glue strings off
    • It’s really that simple!

    I hope you enjoy! – Abigail

  • Copycat Recipe: Lipton Diet Citrus Green Tea

    I have grown very fond of Lipton tea’s recently, specifically the berry and citrus flavors. After some months, I found a recipe online to copycat it & let me tell you… it was much better. Of course I tweaked the recipe a bit and sorta kinda measure with my eyes now.

    Ingredients: (this recipe fits in a 2 quart pitcher)

    • 11 cups of water
    • 5/6 tea bags
    • 2/3 tru-lime packets
    • 10/11 equal packets
    • Dash of orange extract

    *feel free to experiment for yourself & if you have any recommendations you’d like to share, please comment them below 🙂

    Directions:

    1. Boil 11 cups of water
    2. Take pot of the burner
    3. Seep 5/6 tea bags for about an hour
    4. Add the rest of the ingredients
    5. Pour into a locked pitcher
    6. Put it into the fridge

    I hope you enjoy! – Abigail

  • Turkey Run State Park : Trails 3,5,8,&9 Loop

    We took a day trip up to Turkey Run State Park a little over a month ago & even with the rain, it didn’t disappoint. (For context if you are unfamiliar, Turkey Run is located a little over an hour west of Indianapolis). As for our day we did trails 3,5,8,&9 which took about three hours to complete.

    Note: we ended up doing an alternate version of the trail as a portion was closed while we were there. We also got poured on for a good portion of our time which caused us to take a shortcut as we didn’t want to continue to trench through water. I will admit, it was cool to hike with rain but after awhile I was ready to be dry hahah.

    The trail had creeks, stairs, bridges, and of course ladders. I would recommend it 100%. If you have any recommendations for Turkey Run yourself, please share in the comments!

    Note: not too much around the area so come prepared. Also, maybe not the most child friendly trail due to amount of stairs/ladders.

    I hope you enjoy! – Abigail

  • Upper Peninsula: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore: Chapel Rock Trail Loop

    I drove up from Mackinaw City to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore for a day trip to hike Chapel Rock, Mosquito River (not a coincidence), & the North County trail loop. It was one of the longest trails I’ve done at 9.6 miles. It is nice to prove yourself up to a challenge every once and awhile. Now I know I can handle more haha.

    You will take dirt roads to get back to the parking lot which does have a porta potty situation (only one more on the trail by the beach). Make sure you follow the signs or you will veer off like I did.

    I recommend starting the trail earlier rather than later to maybe beat the crowds if you come during a specific season. I also recommend doing the trail counter clockwise to start with the Mosquito River portion so towards the end you have the peace of the woods portion. It was incredible! I also recommend longer clothes ,bug spray, or a mosquito head net. Better to be over-prepared.

    The trail itself took me under four hours with very little breaks but you could easily stretch this into a whole day but I already drove two hours there and had to do it back. I say this because you have a river, bridges, beach, so many overlooks, woods, flowers, and well nature.

    The water.

    That’s all the photos I will be posting. I suggest you check it out if you are ever in the area 🙂

    I hope you enjoy! – Abigail

  • Mackinac Island

    We spent five days in Michigan with one of the days being spent at Mackinac Island (I’ll make a separate post about the upper peninsula next week). As for the island, it was a unique travel experience that has been on my radar for a little while now. We went the day before the Lilac Festival that is going on right now. I will say for the day before I didn’t see many lilacs but we also didn’t venture too many of the inland streets. Leave a comment if you have gone during & your experience with it!

    If you are unfamiliar with Mackinac Island, it’s located in Lake Huron in Michigan between the upper and lower peninsulas. It’s known for being a car free island with amazing views, fudge, bikes, carriage rides, and history.

    You will need to take a ferry in order to get to the island. We took the Arnold Transit ferry over which at scale is cheaper but take into consideration the toll bridge if you cross out from Mackinac City into St. Ignance as that was a hidden cost for us.

    When you get to the island, you will most likely see horses or bike riders right away. We ended up just doing the 8.2 mile bike loop around the island which took a little under two hours with a couple stops including Arch Rock. The cheapest option I found was Ryba’s which was right by our ferry exit at $12 an hour (prorates if not exact). They also had a coupon on their website for a dollar off your second full hour. Make the bike ride a priority if you can!

    As for food/fudge we didn’t indulge in much of anything outside of Doud’s Market. Side note: you are able to find their fudge around the area as well without going to Mackinac Island at their other locations. I even saw some in a general store. I didn’t fact check this but all of them claim to give free samples too.

    We only spent about five hours exploring and taking it in as the ferry only came every two hours during the time we visited & we brought our dogs.

    Other things to do include: Grand Hotel, Fort Mackinac, carriage tour, butterfly houses, the secret garden (which I found out about writing this so we missed it :(…) Please comment if I missed something!

    I hope you enjoy your trip! – Abigail

  • Record Stand W/ Bowl

    Last week I posted something similar but this one includes a record bowl on the bottom. Same exact concept just an additional step that could be done all by itself if you just wanted the bowl for decor/storage.

    Supplies:

    • Craft records
    • Stand (found at goodwill & spray painted: optional)
    • Super glue
    • Cake mold
    • Baking sheet
    • Oven mitt

    Directions:

    Bowl:

    1. Preheat your oven to about 200-250 degrees
    2. Lay out a baking sheet
    3. Put the cake mold/oven safe bowl on top
    4. Lay the craft record center overtop of the mold
    5. Let the record droop down & then take it out
    6. Make any final alterations before it cools off (use an oven mitt!)

    Stand:

    1. Optional: spray paint whatever stand idea you come up with (allow to dry)
    2. Superglue a craft record to the top
    3. Optional: superglue the bowl to the base if your stand allows or you can use the bowl separate/on top

    I hope you enjoy! – Abigail

  • Record Stands

    This is an idea I came up with while shopping at Goodwill. It’s cheap. It’s easy. Looks good. What’s not to love?

    Supplies:

    • Dip holder
    • Optional: spray paint (dip holder was originally silver)
    • Craft records
    • Super glue

    Directions:

    1. Optional: spray paint the dip holder & allow it to dry
    2. Put super glue around the rim of the dip holder
    3. Attach the craft record
    4. Allow it to sit a second to make sure it’s fully attached

    *I will note that since the “stand” is skinnier than the width of the record, it makes setting heavier things outside of the dip holder width not the best idea. Maybe try matching widths by sitting the record inside of one?

    I hope you enjoy! – Abigail

  • Newspaper Magazine Rack

    This is hands down something I will cherish the rest of my life. I would be lying if I said this didn’t take a good while. But if you want to put the time into creating your own then it’s worth it 100%!

    Supplies:

    • Magazine Rack (intricate details will add time so keep that in mind!)
    • Newspapers
    • Mod Podge (you can use whichever finish)
    • Cardboard
    • Foam Brush
    • Scissors

    Tips:

    • Don’t be afraid to use blank spots on the newspaper to fill tougher spots that you may not have the perfect fit for article wise
    • Don’t hesitate to use your fingers to ensure the newspaper is stuck down (can apply more on if you see fit too!)
    • Use a local paper so in the future you can look back on some of the articles down the line & possibly spark a conversation

    I hope you enjoy! – Abigail

  • BB Riverboats Music & Skyline Cruise

    If you are unfamiliar with BB Riverboats, they are a company that offers multiple day/evening cruises on the Ohio River located in Newport, Kentucky. This has been on my list for some time now & an anniversary is the perfect opportunity to do so. I do recommend reservations and sunglasses haha. I waited until days before due to it being spring and me not wanting any rain. With me doing that I missed out on the dinner option which of course became available the day after I booked the one without dinner. Oh well.

    As for the cruise itself, I would recommend getting on as early as you can just to take advantage, get a seat, drink/snack, and of course admire the Cincinnati skyline view. I will say I wish they made more signage up to navigate where everything was as I waited in the bar line beforehand when I don’t think I needed to just for a Pepsi. The crew was super helpful in that regard! Also, come with song requests if that’s your thing (dj nights)!

    After doing it, I can say it’s still worth it to do even without the food included. If you have done any of them please comment below your thoughts as I’d love some insight!

    I hope you enjoy your cruise! – Abigail

  • Heart Graffiti Tapestry

    If you didn’t know I love hearts, now you do. I even got one tattooed on my finger when I was 19 years old. So obviously I had heart decorations along with that. I say had because this is an old craft I did a couple years back but I still love the simple vision of it. I do enjoy graffiti as well so this was the perfect clash. Of course you can do whatever design you would like if hearts aren’t your thing but this is how I achieved the end result. *This particular design is beginner friendly!

    Supplies:

    Directions:

    1. Shake the spray paint bottles
    2. Begin applying in the design you wish
    3. Allow the sheet to dry before you hang it up

    I put it behind my pink lockers, bookshelf, guitar CD rack, & my coat rack. Feel free to do as you wish, just inspo!

    I hope you enjoy your end product! – Abigail

  • Button Sunglasses

    This craft is a very easy way to spruce up a pair of sunglasses while also being versatile. You could use about anything that would hold with some hot glue so don’t hesitate to get creative!

    Supplies:

    • Sunglasses
    • Buttons
    • Hot Glue Gun

    Directions:

    • 1) Heat up your glue
    • 2) Dot glue on the sunglasses where you want a button to rest
    • 3) Attach the button fairly quick before it drys
    • 4) Hold the button in place for a moment before moving on to the next (be careful as it spewed out the holes for me *keep that in mind as you can tell when up close!)
    • 5) Pull off any loose glue strings
    • 6) You are finished when you see it so 🙂

    Finished product:

    I hope you enjoy your end product! – Abigail

  • Chattanooga, Tennessee

    Chattanooga to me gave equal parts city and equal parts small town which I really enjoyed. I stayed less than two days but feel I got a decent checklist completed within the time. As always if I left something off feel free to comment & just maybe I’ll have to go back haha.

    Day One:

    • Drove from Indiana to Chattanooga
    • Stopped at Sanders Cafe & Museum in Corbin, Kentucky (Colonel Sanders original restaurant).
      • Funny side note: a man was dressed like Sanders walking around getting pictures with people without even working there.
    • Lookout Mountain Incline Railway
      • I didn’t have this booked before we got into town but we had some time to kill. Keep in mind I booked this about 5 minutes before my scheduled time on a Friday evening and didn’t wait too long. Maybe about 45 minutes or so but not bad for my lack of planning.
      • I’d say for the view alone it’s worth it but you can drive to the top as well if you don’t want to spend the money (or if you aren’t a heights person like my mom who stayed grounded).
    • Sunset at Point Park
      • We parked at the free parking next to the Point Park entrance. From there we walked alongside the far road by the picnic tables until we saw an opening where we sat & watched the sunset. It was incredible to say the least.
      • Sunset Rock Viewpoint is a popular spot to view it nearby as well but it has a small parking lot which happened to be full when we drove by so we came up with an alternative.

    Day Two:

    • Tried to get to Julia Overlook & failed…. pretty views regardless so enjoy 🙂
    • Chattanooga Duck Tour
      • This tour had the best of both worlds. You got to cruise through the city and of course through the water as well. Also, the guide had tons about the history and what you were passing which was neat.
    Get a free moon pie too!
    • Rock City
      • Rock City held something unique at every turn with some nostalgia mixed in which I loved. Then on top of that add the views, you can even see seven states (Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Virginia). *Won’t add too many pictures, don’t want to ruin it.

    Day three:

    • Edward’s Point
      • We ended the trip with a hike to Edward’s Point. To start the trail you should park by the Rainbow Lake Wilderness sign (we went to the wrong spot a couple of times). I will say I would have gotten lost again if I didn’t have the AllTrails App. (No this isn’t sponsored). As for the trail itself, it’s not too bad just be prepared to climb rocks for a portion. Once you reach the view it will all be worth it, mentally prepare to walk back though lol.

    Thanks for reading. – Abigail