Taylor Allan Photography: August 2014

five on friday

Work has been a killer this week and I can't be more ready for this three day weekend. So let me now break down my top five for the week.

{one} nail art pens: I do my own nails and can honestly say I've never had a pedicure. So when I want to glam up my nails a little bit, I've been turning to these prettys lately. They're nail pens and they are so much easier to use than tiny brushes!

{two} garden gone: We decided to end our lease of our little plot in the garden. But the peppers have come into the apartment and guess what, they ain't dead! Success!

{three} scandal: Fall TV can not come back soon enough, I'm fiending y'all! I just started watching Scandal a few days ago (I've never seen it before) and I was looked within the first seven minutes, I haven't stopped watching since.

{four} Harry: In between my Scandal binges I've been wrapping up the seven Harry Potter book. I read the series every summer and by the time I'm done, summer is winding down...

{five} fall: I am so excited to start my fall decorating, pumpkins and leaves and glitter(?) galore.

Enjoy the long weekend friends!

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, by Taylor Jeavons

Recipe: Paleo Pizza Dough that your family will actually like

Coconut flour, it seems great a first. You can use it to make cakes, you can use it to make cookies, you can use it to make pancakes, but after a while you realize, "hey this just isn't as good as regular flour." And then your days of using coconut flour are numbered. But, this pizza dough is as good as regular pizza dough. I prefer to make my pizza with this kind of dough now even when we aren't going paleo.

The texture of this dough is sure to please any thin crust lover, if you like fluffy dough filled with air bubbles, you may be disappointed, but on to the recipe!

What you need:

1/3 cup coconut flour

1/3 cup ground flax seed

4 eggs

1/2 cup coconut milk

spices of your choice

Set your oven to 350°F. Whisk all your ingredients together. For my spices I like to go classic: onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, garlic salt, and parsley. Your dough will NOT be like pizza dough, it has more of a consistency, well consistent with cookie dough. On a baking sheet lay out a piece of aluminum foil and grease. Plop down your dough on the foil and use a spatcula to spread it to your desired shape. (Valentine's Day Pizza anyone?)

Bake for 10 minutes then remove from the oven, until edges are browning. Turn up the heat in your oven to 425°F. Slide the dough/foil off of the baking sheet and lay down a new greased piece of foil on your cookie sheet. Flip the dough onto the new sheet. Bake for 8 minutes.

Top of the pizza with all your favorite toppings and bake for 8 minutes. Now eat up!

I make this dough almost every week and its loved in our household, so give it a shot this week on your pizza night!

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, by Taylor Jeavons

DIY: Single board Serving Tray

I've been on the search for a great and cheap tutorial to make a serving tray. I didn't need something fancy, just something simple and classic to serve drinks on. Everything had sea glass or stones or paint. So I decided to DIY and take my single plank tattered bathtub shelf and give it new life by tayloring it into a tray.

What you need:

single board

rope or chain/old necklace

The board that I had was 34 inches long and 7 1/2 inches wide. So I decided to make my tray into the dimensions below:

Basically, I sawed my board into three pieces and then turned the three pieces so the tray was shorter than the original 34 inches. Screw your pieces together by either just screwing them together through the wood or if you want to get fancy (and easy) use a kreg jig.

I decided to use an old gold necklace for my handles. So I just chopped it in half using wire cutters. Once you have your "handles" grab a drill and drill two holes per side, so you can loop through your rope or necklace. Knot the ends or grab a glue gun and you're ready to go! Anyone want a drink?

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, by Taylor Jeavons

Five on Friday

Its been an expensive week round these parts. Yesterday D and I celebrated our five year dating anniversary, and I cried when I found out what gift I was receiving...

{one} KITCHEN AID: I don't even know how many times over the past five years I've mentioned wanting a Kitchen Aid. And the day has finally come! Ahhhh, look at that beauty. I'm already dreaming about all the goodies I'm going to whip up... my own butter, lots of bread, tasty holiday cookies.

{two} Bose Soundlink Mini: My gift to D was the pretty Bose Soundlink Mini! This bad boy is a lot smaller than I thought it'd be, it literally fits into my palm, but the sound is amazing! We'll be taking this with us camping, to cookouts, to the pool! Hooray!

{three} Nail Art: What do you think of my attempt?

{four} SouthernDoe Fall: I am loving Southerndoe's fall line! Ah I want some many things! Anyone want to send me a gift?

{five} Weekend: What can I say? I'm excited for some weekend after a hard week at work!

Have a good one everybody!

19Comments

, by Taylor Jeavons

Trip: Mom and Dad in Texas

Hey Y'all! Yes, I know I've been away for a while, but I've been busy preparing my house for the visit that just took place. My Mom, Dad and little sister Alexandra came to visit me this past weekend. They're definitely east coast people so it was fun to show them some Dallas, Texas!