angry chicken

a new tote for summer

I wanted a new summer tote and was very inspired by this Nani Iro double gauze that I bought at Modern Domestic. l've been making bags and zip pouches so much this year, but not really for myself. I didn't use a pattern for this, just used the complete fat-quarter that was the size of the fabric. The double gauze is really light so I lined it with a canvas and interfaced it with a heavy-weight cotton. I used a contrasting fabric for inside pockets, which makes me very happy. There no closure on this because I never close my bags. Although I probably should.

I have been sewing a lot, 2 gymnastics leotards, dance shorts, pillows, zip pouches, all that. It's been fun but leotard are so fussy, they can be prefect or just horrible.

Unrelated:

I am watching both Penny Dreadful and Bojack Horseman right now and this is an unholy combination for my psyche. I am enjoying both shows quite a bit.

An incomplete list of books I have recently read.

The summer is moving fast around here. After a very hot May, it's been a very cool July. I'm not complaining. Maybe just a little. It's been too cool to swim most days—that would be my only complaint. I have been knitting, sewing, working on more art prints and some small sculpture, and reading. Finally reading. I just wasn't feeling it with the books I had going. Thank you all for your suggestions. I read a sample of The Rook, and have the ebook on hold at the library but I haven't been contacted to download it yet. The library did provide physical copies of these books, however (except, the Dan Clowes, which I bought.)

Mary Swann, by Carol Sheilds. I had read her biography of Jane Austen years ago and loved it, but had never read her fiction. This was good, but frustrating in a way. It was written in the 1980s and had a dated David Mamet style twist which I found a lttle contrived. But it was a good read despite me yelling at the book occasionally. 

Fates and Furies, by Lauren Groff. I did a weird thing with this book. I read it to the middle and then read it from the end backwards to the middle and then started again from the middle to the end. I have never done anything so bold before while reading. I just was getting so annoyed with the main character in the first half (it's told in two parts by two different people, who are married to each other) I had to skip to the wife's perspective to see if I could hang with the book. And it was worth all my craziness and I'm glad I then finished it by reading it like  normal human.

Patience, by Dan Clowes. I loved this, and I love his work. It's a graphic novel and involves time travel.

Killing And Dying, by Adrian Tomine. I also love his work. This is a graphic novel of short stories. I will buy a copy of this.

 

new art print-Postal Restrictions

I'm so excited to have a new art print in my etsy shop. I've been wanting to do this one for a long time. This is a color print illustrating various restricted items to mail to various countries. All this information is real, I found it all on the USPS website. I also offer this in a Black and White version. It's 8" x 11" and all the info about the fancy paper and inks is in the description.

no one lost a finger

We made it through another 4th of July with no injuries. Well, I got one during the archery tournament, a band snap from the bow on my inside forearm that will be a horrible bruise few 2 weeks, but besides that, we are all good.

There was much debate in my brain about what to make for the dessert this year and I decided on these adorable watermelon shaped rice krispie treats with mini chocolate chips, made by the two younger girls. We saw a tutorial on Kawaii Sweet World and they were very popular. My cousin brought something like these s'mores bars which were also devoured by everyone, as was Grammie's stone fruit tea cake (recipe here, originally from Rustic Desserts.)

Thank you so much for the oil orders, I hope they are traveling well in the heat. I'm adding some more new items to my etsy shop, including an art print that I will blog about soon in more detail. It feels good to get some of this creative work out of my brain and out in the world.

lemon curd (again)

Okay, due to some impulsive photo deleting, I am using photos from old post. I wanted to share the easiest and best lemon curd recipe, and searched my own blog making sure I hadn't done this before (I had) but the link to the recipe is no longer good, so I'm just going to type it in here. I made a amazing birthday cake for Lydia, a yellow cake with lemon curd in the middle and a buttercream frosting, but I don't have a photo (again, the deleting) so you have to trust me. It was delicious.

Lemon curd is one of those things I love and can't buy because it just doesn't taste right. But all the recipes are too rich (too many eggs yokes) for me. This one is perfect, doesn't require extra egg yolks, and is lighter. I never use a double boiler either, just a good enamel sauce pan.

Easy Lemon Curd Recipe-

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (and zest)

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

1/4 cup butter 

To make this add the first 3 ingredients and heat it all up and stir a lot until it gets thick. This won't take long. Then take it off the heat and add the butter and stir it until melted. I like to use it this way, hot, over french toast, otherwise you can keep in the the fridge and use it cold.

We went blueberry picking over the weekend and we had fresh blueberries with lemon curd and a little whipped cream on top—delicious.

bend, oregon & surrounding areas

Earlier this month we spent a week in Sunriver and explored the surrounding areas more than we normally do. Usually the girls like to swim so much that it's hard to break away, but it was much cooler this year which was really nice because we were able to do hikes and activities we have been always meaning to do, but hadn't gotten the chance to.

One of the highlights was rock hounding at Richardson's Rock Ranch in Madras. It was so fun. The weather was perfect and the drive was pretty easy, although on the ranch a 4x4 would have been nice. We were fine, but if it had rained at all we would have gotten stuck. We dug for thunder eggs (they provided all the tools) and were able to get them cut open, which was thrilling. The girls got one cut each, the rest we brought home and will need to get cut here. We got about 20. I also bought some amazing rocks that they have imported from all around, not just from their ranch. It was so amazing to see all these beautiful rocks just piled up. I'm sure we will go rock hounding again soon. In the meantime, I need to get the family over to the Rice Museum of Rock and Minerals. I can't believe we haven't been there yet.

Unrelated but very important:

I just now discovered Zinio Library. Multnomah County Library has partnered with them which means, with my library card number, I can view and download magazines with no limit and no expiration. Like, a lot of magazines—current ones. Ones I look at only if I am on an airplane or at the beach. It's been so wonderful to read these on the sofa at home. I feel like I am on vacation all the time. Sort of. I do miss looking at paper, but still. It's pretty great. All the info about how to use it is here. Another super big shout out for how amazing our libraries are!

new oils for sale!

I am so happy to have to new oils for sale in my etsy shop!

These new oils are ones I made a bit ago, for myself, and can't get enough of them. One is a new scent—Earth Perfume Oil, which is a magical blend of rich E.O.'s that is quite bold. There's a full description in the shop, but it's wonderful and sensual. It also fades, as natural scents do, so don't worry about it being too strong all day.

The other is a treatment oil—Thrive Treatment Oil, which I blended a bit back and have been using all spring. It's an uplifting oil for the mind and heart. It's great for an easing an upset stomach, and calming nerves. I like to use it first thing in the morning. It helps me wake up and shed any fuzzy/sleepy brain weirdness.

They are all organic, as always, and also priced fairly. I keep all my prices low. This means I can't sell my oils wholesale (sadly), but I feeling strongly about selling these at a fair price. Beauty products are inflated in price because it gives the illusion they work better— but don't believe the hype! These are amazing, as as wonderful as the big name/popular brands selling them at triple the price.

Happy summer!

treasures

We made a trip to Ed's House of Gems and Paxton Gate, both here in Portland.  We can spend hours looking at and playing with rocks, crystals, and gemstones. We had never been to Paxton Gate before—very fancy! I know I have linked to these sites before, but we also love getting science supplies at Acorn Naturalists and American Science & Surplus.

sketchbook

For about a month now, during the day, I have been working in a sketchbook drawing and using paper college. I've been using these same shapes in my paintings, monoprints, quilts, and fabrics for about 15 years now. I keep thinking I will branch out, but these forms keep coming back to me, which is fine. I've been really enjoying working small, with no worries or thoughts about what these will become, just making them and moving on to the next page. I usually work at the kitchen table while the girls are working on reading or math, so I am near by to help, but also am not all up in their business. You can see more of them on my instagram.

The white pen (I have to use this pen) and grey background paper are key for me here. I need to keep my choices limited.

 

Japanese-Style Pancakes

So, I made these this week. They had been on my list since I saw the video how-to a few weeks ago. I realized there was no reason to make one at a time, especially for a family of five, so I waited until I found (and remembered to buy) 5 of the same size cookie cutters. I followed the directions exactly and they worked out really well. There are lots of videos on you tube showing these made in a bain marie, which takes a lot longer. I made these on our large cast iron griddle pan that goes over 2-burners. It's very uneven and the back gets really hot so next time I will cook them at a lower heat. When you look at these online, you can tell they all get really brown/burnt because it takes a bit of time to get the middle cooked. They still taste delicious with the color, but a few of mine got a little to dark.

The butter was so cute, but came off for the actual eating, because it was just too much. Also, 2 of these per person made the kids and adults very full, one each might be better, with some fruit, eggs and bacon. They really are more like a fancy dessert—the texture is light and spongy inside. Very, very yummy and so pleasing to make and stack. The girls added nutella.

In other happy cooking news-

I made hash browns in the waffle iron about an hour ago. Why had I never done this before? I was going to to take a photo but they disappeared too fast. Just freshly grated potato in the food processor, tossed with a little flour, salt, and pepper. That's it. What the heck? So yummy and easy. The internet told me I would never make them any other way again and I think it was right.

Wahclella Falls

It's hot here. Like, 96°. It was hot yesterday too, so we went to Wahclella Falls and then had a great lunch at Bridgeside looking overlooking the river and the Bridge of the Gods. It was a lovely day and hard to come back to our non a/c house. The hike was a bit rocky. I need better shoes. All my sneakers have pretty thin soles and I don't have hiking boots, which is weird because we hike a lot. I have a strange rebellion against performance clothes and outdoor gear in general. I just feel like Portland is so mild and feel silly being over dressed/outfitted for what seems like a pretty normal walk that I react in the opposite way, which means sneakers and dresses on a hike. The dresses are fine, but the sneakers need to be upgraded to something that feels a little less like I am barefoot. I find my overall foot comfort is a much higher priority as I get older.

Thank you for all the book suggestions in the last post. I am going to start some of them very soon. I just got a book from the library, I need to give it a but more time to see if it's worthy to mention. So far, so good.

Unrelated-

We watched Kings of Summer and laughed really hard. It's probably not for the whole family, lots of swearing and such.

recent charms

A request was made for some Adventure Time charms so I made these (using a you tube tutorial) along with some lemon cakes in the back there. I need to display these. I haven't been up on adding charms to my display so I had forgotten about these. They don't deserve to be hidden away.

Unrelated:

• I need a summer book to read, or maybe 3.

• It's supposed to be really hot here this weekend, like over 100°, so that's going to be interesting. We have no air conditioning.

• I am planning a family outing this weekend to see one of these waterfalls. I love this website so much for planning trips to go on, both overnight and day trips.

• I must make these Japanese Pancakes.

galaxy dance skirt

I was on a dance-skirt-making jag a bit back and also a fabric painting jag and this is one of the results. The dance skirts in the stores now are all made from lycra, and not hemmed. Super easy. I made this and then painted it using a mix of textile paints from a spray bottle and splatters from a brush. The gold shows up with a bit more bling in person, it looks a bit dull here. This skirt has two side seams, but a circle version has no seams and is even easier. I'm thinking about posting a tutorial for this. Thoughts? I haven't tried it without my serger, so I will try it on a regular machine because I know not everyone one has a serger. (But I can't tell you how much I love mine and can't image sewing garments without one. Brand-Babylock, Imagine.)

I love sewing dance clothes because I can get my tacky on. I use natural fibers for garments, but there is something so thrilling and funny sewing with all these stretchy crazy materials. And I can make them at home for so much less than buying. With two dancers and a gymnast in the family, it's really is worth it.

homemade make-up palette

I fell down the rabbit hole a few weeks ago when I found myself on you tube looking at Z palettes. And then DIY Z palettes, and then videos of depotting single eye shadows (which I was told was a thing a couple years ago, but I missed it that time) and then it was all a blur. I was pretty tired after all this viewing and it was late. A few things stuck with me over the next two weeks while I put this whole adventure in the back corner of my brain:

• I have a decent amount of single eye shadows/blushes I don't use/forget about because they are tucked in the back of a drawer.

• I love covering boxes and thinking about any kind of containers in general, and I love consolidating items.

• The videos of depotting make-up are strangely compelling. Some methods are easier than others, but the whole thing—the women showing how to do this, their make-up and the make-up you tube world in general is so fascinating to me. I was also intrigued by how much make-up these women actually have—like, so much. I don't mean this judgey, the same can be said of any yarn collector or fabric stasher.

Then there were the spin-off topics of melting your own lipstick, making loose powder into pressed powder, and the DIY palettes made with DVD cases and often duct tape, with varying degrees of success. The whole business is messy and weird and I love it.

I finally had some time this weekend and gathered up the make-up I had that I thought would a be good candidate for this project. I wouldn't take apart any packaging I liked, so these were just singles for the most part. I depotted with the candle method.

I made this simply, just covered a heavy cardboard box. I had magnetic sheets all ready to go, but then realized that not all of the pans would stick, they would need metal applied to them, and I just figured glue would work fine for me. I have room for more and the cardboard they are glued to comes out of the box, so I can always glue more pans to another piece and slip it in or peel these off and make a new insert. It was fun to make.

This box saves a ton of space and is easy to grab, unlike before. I now realize I do have many more bright colors than I probably need. I also gathered all my lipsticks and put them in an organizer. I have actually less than I thought, but I didn't realize just how many I have that are orange. Which is weird, because I don't wear orange lipstick very often. Like that time I went through my closet about 4 years ago and found more than 3 rompers. What? I don't know that crazy lady that bought them. She is running around in a romper and orange lipstick.

sprinkles

We just got back from a store that has a lot of bulk candy. Like, a whole lot. (Winco.) I saw bulk sprinkles and had to get some. I posted this photo on instagram about 4 minutes ago and Erin asked if I was going to make the smitten kitchen confetti cookies with them. I had not heard of these. So now I am here, on my laptop, printing this recipe as I type this. I'm so glad I did, because I too would have just tried a plain old sugar cookie recipe, but Deb says no. Not that simple. So, I am using her recipe instead because she has never lead me astray. I am cutting down on sugar right after I make these. And then again after my birthday next week.

Unrelated:

We can't stop watching Overly Sarcastic Productions. Sadie loves these video summaries of lit classics, they are great for both books we have read and for books she wants to read. There are so many good ones here, I can't pick a favorite. (Better for older kids, a little swearing.)

marie antoinette crafts

 


We revisited the French Revolution and a bit of Mozart this last month. We were inspired to do some craft projects having watched Marie Antoinette (2006), which we have seen many times. The costumes. The costumes. I love going through these themes again now that Lydia is getting older, it's pretty new to her and the older girls get to review and add to their knowledge. They remember the most amazing facts.

I was getting all crazy about making paper dolls, embellished with crepe paper and gold dresden trim. This resulted in a purchase from this wonderful shop for these goodies and a few other things were put in a cart as well. The boxes I had on hand and the images of dolls were just printed from the computer. The skirt is layers of crepe paper with a ball of tissue balled up inside for support. They worked really hard on these. Well, two of them did, my eldest hasn't been doing as much crafting related to what we are learning about. She does her own thing, mostly drawing manga during our art time, which is just fine. We started making Victorian era pieces after a bit (you can see one of the boxes in back is different) because a little Marie goes a long way.

Now I'm wanting to try crepe paper flowers. So that's on the list. I was side tracked this week with paint and spandex making dance skirts for the girls (I just put this on instagram) and will show more soon. Kind of a 180° from old-timey paper craft, but fabulous in its intergalatic way.

 

our new puppy who is funny and bad

We have a new member of the, Penelope, who was a rescue. She is really amazing. I have never know a chihuahua before—they are so cuddly. I know they can be a bit feisty, but she is just a sweetheart. There is a lot of barking in the house now. A whole lot. But, whatever. No more sleeping babies, to wake up that's good. It's funny to refer to the pug as the "big dog". We have had Penny about 6 weeks now and everyone has adjusted. The three cats have decided that Penny is not prey, but at still not amused by her. The cats run the house, the dogs rank 4th and 5th.

Things I am looking at right now:

The travel sketch books of Mike Lowery

 

knitting—my first cables

I knitted a head warmer thingy with cables! This is very exciting. I messed up quite a bit but kept going anyway, realizing what I did wrong and not doing it again. I just turn that crazy part underneath when I wear it. it's a bit off-season for much wear, but not this morning—it's actually pretty cold right now.

Knitting is funny. When I go at is side-ways it works out so much better for me. Meaning, when I'm not focused on it 100% as a "goal" or my main craft at the moment. I have been wanting to try cables for so long and was too caught up in finding the right pattern, yarn, and details. There were too many choices, I kind of froze up. This time, I just grabbed some yarn from my stash, printed out the first pattern I found on Ravelry, and went for it. Done. It was like this with the my Icelandic sweater, too. The pattern and yarn were already chosen, and for once I actually knit it that way, so I could just work on the technique. Really fun and liberating.

Unrelated:

• I have this cookbook on hold from the library and I think it will be a long wait. But I love the cover and am very excited to see it.

• I just finished reading this very funny comic, Step Aside, Pops: A Hark! A Vagrant Collection that we all love (not maybe suitable for all ages) it's silly and absurd comics with historical figures and is totally our sense of humor.

• I just bought these shoes at one of my favorite local shoe shops Switch, and love them so much. FLY London works for me in the best way. This is my second pair and they are so comfortable. I can't emphasis the comfort enough. I am always looking for cool shoes that don't hurt, because I just can't do it anymore. So happy.

 

tiny book binding

I was looking around for a different craft and landed on these miniature books on you tube and had to make them. This is a tutorial that uses a PDF available for sale in her etsy shop, so it's not free, but the technique could be used on free mini book printables, of which there are many on pintrest. These were so fun for us to make and now I am wanting to make a mini bookshelf.

Unrelated:

• I have so many things I want to try, I'm having a hard time keeping track. I ordered crepe paper for some Marie Antoinette inspired crafts and then found a beautiful book on making crepe paper flowers from the library, Paper to Petal: 75 Whimsical Paper Flowers to Craft by Hand, so now that's a thing. I want to have Sadie make some shrinky-dink charms of her own manga characters. I also would like to start a new sewing project. I still need to get a good start on the shawl I have started twice and frogged for various reasons.

• I am now watching the Great British Baking Show, the first season, and it's just so wonderful. I had so many people tell me to watch it and they were right. I just fell for all the bakers and their smiles and the vibe of the whole show.

• I'm in love with this concept and image-unused vintage postcards and unused vintage stamps, packaged together and ready to send.

• I now have a account on Instagram that is crafty-bloggy. I have a private account that is mostly of my children—a public account with my everyday silliness is long over due, so please come follow me! I have only few few photos right now, but will add it it often.

 

oh, grandpa.

Duke Ellington celebrates his 55th birthday at McElroy's in downtown Portland, Ore., in 1954.

From the estate archive of Carl J. Henniger

 

I'm working on a video documentary about my mom. I needed a new project, something I could really sink my teeth into. Something that felt meaningful and powerful and would take a long time. I love sewing and making charms, but they are fast projects, and knitting and needlework (which can take longer) didn't have any emotional heft for me.

 

I have have been making (ridiculous) movies since middle school (with a huge VHS camera) and then stopped in college. And then started again, and then stopped again after kids. I didn't really get back into it except little tutorials and things like that. I wanted to learn imove and final cut pro and this project seemed perfect for that. These programs make it all so easy, it's amazing. So, I am interviewing her, using a lot of old photos, asking about her family history, her personal work history (newspaper reporter and then editor), and questions about to her creative process as a quilter.

 

Here's the thing— a whole other movie could be made about her parents, my grandparents, Carl and Jean Henniger. Actually, they each could have their own movie. They were amazing people and I miss them terribly, we all do. I try to keep my mom (who I refer to on this blog as Grammie) talking about herself for this movie I am making, and she is doing a great job, but her amazing parents loom large in our lives still—their stories and experiences are incredible and I have to gently redirect her back to herself. It feels like they are still here sometimes.

 

Like this recent story on OPB about my grandfather, as additional material from the movie Jazz Town.  He was obsessed with jazz and was a freelance stringer photographer for DownBeat magazine in the 1950s. Professional photography was never his day job but he was talented and passionate and took the most amazing photos of jazz musicians who played in Portland in the 1950s. He would have been so happy for the world to see these.

I sewed a dress and a link to something unrelated

I finally used my favorite linen I bought at Jospehne's Dry Goods last year. I planned to use a different pattern for it, but went back to this pattern I have made several dresses in (Simplicity 2615, out-of-print but these etsy sellers have it) because I know it well and thought the simple pattern would be the best choice for this print. I have kept all the scrap to use as trim on in other projects because the color variation is so fun to work it. I love this dress pattern, I can wear it loose when I want a chic sack, or belt it if I want some shape that day. On me, it looks best when it's a bit more fitted across the chest, otherwise it is way too big all around and the proportions aren't flattering.

When I sewed this is was warm here, but it's now just grey and not warm. But not cold either. A coat is too much but a cardigan not quite enough. I guess that's called spring in Portland.

Unrelated:

I had linked to a video over at TED-Ed a bit back on you tube not realizing that they have their won site with videos and mini lessons for each one—with questions, discussion topics, and further learning links. We love it! What I also find thrilling is the quality of animation (Like this one, which is so well done) and the opportunity to write your own lesson lesson using their videos. Happy internet!

 

spray painting on paper and fabric

 

Zip pouches made from the finished fabric.

The fabric after it was sprayed.

A stencil made by drawing with a glue gun on a silicon mat.

Homemade spray paints.

Another fabric piece.

I was looking around the internet and found some images for stencils being made from a glue gun. I found this absolutely thrilling and had to try it right away. We ended up using up all the sticks I had on hand, otherwise we would have made more. These stencils are reusable, easy to wipe down, and extremely fun to make. You can freehand it or trace letters or a pre-drawn design (just tuck it under the silpat, which you can see though.) Making the spray paints was quick and easy. This was a big hit and gave some very pretty papers and fabric to play with.

How we did it:

• Using a silpat, we piped hot glue in patterns to make a reusable stencil. We drew hearts, circles, and squares. This worked great using a high-heat hot glue gun, a good one, not a little dinky one. The glue dried quickly and peeled right off.
• Then we made the spray paints using liquid acrylic paint and filling little empty spray bottles, found for 99 cents in the travel supplies section at Target. We used about 1/2 paint 1/2 hot water. The hot water and a few good shakes reduce the clumps. I mixed the water and paint first in a glass measuring cup with a spout, and then poured it into the spray bottles.
• We sprayed on sketch paper and white card stock. The more we sprayed the more the pattern bled, which was pretty but ended up looking just like wet-on-wet water color. The card stock held the stencil pattern better.
• For the fabric, we used lightweight muslin I had on hand. This material bled the least and held the color really well. These dried in the sun in about 15 minutes. They get a little stiff with the acrylic on the surface, but are the prefect stiffness for pouches.

Some notes/tips/thoughts:

• We used pastel colors to begin with, which made the diluted spray paint very light. The faded look is really pretty, just not what we were expecting. I have already made a darker blue and sprayed a few sheets again now that they are dry. Working in layers and letting the paper dry in between makes the stencil crisper.
• The gold paint, while hard to see in these photos, adds a really nice touch.
• Not all colors spray as well, some spit and spatter more, which is a nice effect, but good to know and plan around. Yellow is a great color to make hot spots with.
• We also had great fun with this polka dot stencil.

hedgehogs and trinket dishes

I was working with polymer clay last night and made these trinket dishes out of scrap clay. We had quite a few balls of mashed clay, all sorts of colors, from our charm making. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. So, I just marbled it, added dots of color with clean clay, rolled it out, and made the dishes using this tutorial. I added gold nail polish on the rim and accents on the inside. Mine is a bit sandy (Pixie Dust made by Zoya) so it really pops and gives a wonderful opaque gold finish. I also used a clear top coat, because I like that look. I love how these turned out and l love even more how much old clay I used up that I didn't know what I was going to do with. The hedgehogs I had to make after seeing them in this shop (she no longer has them but they were adorable), because come on. I want to make a checkers set now with hedgehogs and some other animal.

Unrelated, we have been enjoying the videos over at TED-ed. We just saw this about the physics of ballet that was really good.

quick cinnamon rolls

I made these cinnamon rolls the other week using no yeast but a biscuit dough. They were fine, they tasted good, but they weren't really cinnamon rolls to me. The texture is was so different. I I think I will stick with the yeasted dough. But they were fun and quick to make. I used an old recipe from a cookbook no longer in print, but it's almost identical to the one here. Continuing my quest for a last minute cinnamon roll, I also made cinnamon rolls from trade joe's pizza dough a week later and they were delicious! And weren't nearly so rich and they texture was wonderful.

Unrelated:

• These summer houses for under 30k are sure fun to look at over at Poppybox

• Beautiful tulip images begging to be printed out and glued onto wood blocks or sketchbook covers from Rijks Studio

•  22 ways to reuse an altoid tin. These ideas are more tech/camping than art and craft. They would all be good gifts for the girls to make for Father's Day.

sewing with scraps

When we were in Hawaii I bought this little pouch in a Hawaiian print and was so taken with the pattern, I hoped to try it. Sadly, they didn't sell a pattern, just the finished pouch. When I got home I started my quest (there was no way I could figure this one out, I tried) and found it—the Sweetpea Pod, by Lazy Girl Designs. I bought my pattern at this etsy shop (there isn't a PDF) but many other shops sell it. Also, I needed some zippers and loose zipper pulls. I got an assortment here. So, although I needed to buy a few things, this is a pretty great stash buster. It requires 10" square pieces for the outside, inside, and lining and this makes two pouches. They are really fun to make and the one zipper thing is so satisfying. I didn't use fusible lining, just whatever I had scrap of, polar fleece, thick cotton flannel—these all worked fine. They fit my oils so nicely. I'm thinking about offering them as a upgraded gift wrapping option.

Okay, I am looking at Spiralizer, but can't quite get here. I have a food processor, a mandoline, and a kitchenaid (I saw they have a spiral attachment that seems more sturdy, KitchenAid Spiralizer Attachment ) What about you all, have you incorporated this spiral style into your cooking on a long term basis? Do the kids like it? I love slaws and always use my box grater for that or the food processor. I just wonder about this spiral shape and if it is too limiting in the long run? I'm not sure and would love your thoughts. Also, the kitchenaid one is so much more $$, but I love kitchenaid attachments. What say you?

ballet bodice with a purchased tutu

 

Months ago it was requested that I make a boned ballet bodice after Delia received a *practice tutu for Christmas. The tutu is just plain white and easy to pull on, no bodice attached, and I was game to see if I could make a bodice she could wear with it. I have sewn bodices before with different skirts attached (for their previous ballet school) but we didn't own any of them. Also, I hadn't designed them, just constructed them.

I drafted a pattern based off of what I had done before, but had to alter it so much, it would have been easier to just start a new one. I flat lined it with muslin, inserted boning, and attached hook and eye tape in the back. To make the tutu match, I hand stitched plates onto the top layer from the purple lace. The arm bands were easy and so satisfying, just a little elastic at the top. Then, I decided to go all out and learned how to wire a matching headpiece (this was addictive) which I will show soon— that's a whole thing.

Because this is just for fun, not for performing, I didn't attach the bodice, but I can later if I need to. If I had made the tutu (which I have never done), I would have also crated a basque and the bodice would have been shorter and attached to that. There is so much to learn about making classical tutus, and many variations. A lot of info is here. But honestly, I have learned the most just being around the real thing, and being able and inspect all the details.

This was the perfect way to make with this, it was not for sale or for a performance. I could make all the decisions and there was no timeline. I love sewing for no reason other than "can you make this for me?" which is, of course, the best reason. More than once I have gone into her room to say goodnight, thinking she might be asleep and she is in various parts of this costume. Except she can't do the hook and eyes in the back, so it's always pretty comical.

*this particular tutu runs very small, we ordered a size up.

 

now it has a zipper

After we got back from Hawaii I was able to confidently steek this sweater. Being away from it for a week gave me more strength, and after finding the perfect metal zipper at the fabric store, I cut the swear open. I did this all with my sewing machine—I sewed two lines down the front, about 1/4" apart, cut up the middle in-between them, sewed in the zipper on my machine, and then sewed again on the front, on either side of the zipper, securing the tape down on the insides and covering the raw edges. I'm so happy with how this turned out! This sweater is tight, kind of a va-va-voom sweater, which is super cute, but makes it pretty dang itchy. I will definitely knit a larger size next time.

Now I am on a knitting kick, trying a small project with cables (first time for me) and I just snatched up this beautiful kit from Spincycle Yarns at For Yarn's Sake during the Rose City Yarn Crawl, which is always fun, and ends today! 

Unrelated, I am sure liking the second season of Mozart in the Jungle. I'm going slow because I don't want it to end.

Kaua'i

Aloha!

We just got back from an amazing 8 days on Kaua'i. Pete and I went for our honeymoon 18 years ago and it's changed, but not that much. At that time, I never would have thought I'd be back 18 years later with 3 girls, all old enough to snorkel and boogie board. Pretty amazing. We stayed in a lovely condo at Nihi Kai Villas, which had a great kitchen—I cooked up a storm, buying fresh food from the farmer's markets and fell in love with the okinawan sweet potato in a big way. It's perfect to cook with, doesn't get mushy and has the best flavor. Delicious. It's hard to be back, the weather was amazing, we had perfect timing, because I'm told March can be very wet there. Here's a short list of some of our favorites-

Activities:

• Kipu Ranch Tour. Stupid fun. We both drove, it was the girls' favorite activity.
• snorkeling and boogie boarding at Poipu beach, which we could walk to from the condo
• Allerton Garden (kind of a yawn for the girls, but we loved it)

Food:

• Puka Dog
• Bubba's
• fish tacos from Savage Shrimp
• All the fresh fruit, fish and veggies at the local farmers markets

Other great random stuff:

• Fabric shopping at the Kapaia Stitchery
• Seeing Donny Osmond at our Budget car rental. He got a convertible red corvette. For real.
• The photo app my middle child told me about which I played with for 6 hours on the plane on the way home and I made the collages with —Mirror Collage.
• Finding out later that my two younger daughters made a movie during the plane ride there, and we didn't even know they were making it.

more wooden blocks

I made mounted more postcards on wooden blocks for a gift. These cards are illustrated by the lovely and talented Emily Martin and look so sweet stacked up together. They are double-sided, like the first set I made. I used YES paste this time instead of spray adhesive, and it worked so well and required no toxic huffing, which is always advantageous. I could make these all day. I think I mentioned this when I made them the fiat time, but the trick is to glue the postcards on the wood first, and then cut off the overhang with a very sharp blade, using the wood as a straight edge.

Unrelated:

• This instagram account of the purple cupcake makes me smile every day. Her cakes are so amazing—like sculpture. Happy edible sculpture.

• Interesting post busting Korean Beauty Myths

 

 

 

 

egg bake

 

The meal planning continues. I I know I have said this before, but I can't imagine not doing it now. We are going on vacation for a week this season and will have a kitchen. I'm going to take a meal plan there, too. I know if I don't it will make me grumpy, and I really don't want to be food grumpy on a vacation.

We are now repeating our favorites and one is an egg bake. This one is canned tomatoes, lots of garlic, red peppers, onion and spinach, which sauteed for a long time (except the greens) and then transferred to a baking dish with cracked eggs on top, and baked for about 25min at 350°. (I just remembered how to do that degree symbol without looking it up!) I serve this with toast, or a side salad, or both. There is a very similar recipe here. Everyone likes their eggs harder than I do, so I take my portion out early. If I were smart, I'd make a single portion in a ramekin for me. This is my favorite breakfast the next day. We always have leftovers of this because only 3 of 5 of us really eat it—the other two politely move it around the plate, pick out the egg, and focus on the toast and salad.

pincushions

I mentioned sewing pincushions a bit back and here's a small group I made. I dived into these right after the holidays. I had so much fun using up my stash for pot holders that I wanted to keep going. They are a nice balance to the ambitious projects I have tackled lately, like the ballet bodice with boning (alliteration for the win!) and the stretch velvet leotard with a zipper, which was an epic fail.

I didn't use a pattern for these, I just winged it, but I did find directions for how to make the one on the right (the offset square pincushion) over at Planet June. Also, I was thrilled to find tips for stuffing. Polyfill is just too soft, it won't give the cushion any weight so when you take out the pin, the cushion lifts up. No good. I need a one-handed pin removal experience. I also like the heft of these little guys, they aren't small pillows, they mean business. The internet told me I can use Lizard Litter as a filling, which is ground up walnut shells. I found mine at Pet Smart, but it was sold as an all natural kitty litter. I filled them almost completely with the ground up shells and then used a little layer of polyfil for the top, because I do like the pin to glide in easily. I also lined some of these fabrics because they were to thin to deal with my robust filling.

 

done! (but maybe not quite done.)

I finished the Stopover Sweater! I'm so happy I did this KAL. I hope to do more KALs—it was very motivating. This is blocked and ready to wear. It grew a whole bunch after blocking, which I was told it would. It was a good thing because when I tried it on before blocking, it was cropped and almost 3/4 sleeved. I figured my 13 year-old could wear it if it didn't fit me, but it does fit me now, which is good, because it's too itchy for her.

I don't wear pullovers much, so I am thinking about to making this into a cardigan. I thought about steeking it and adding a button hole ribbed edge, but I might just get crazy and sew in a metal zipper. I would wear it much more that way and this was so quick to make, I feel like I can experiment with it. I really want to knit another in bright colors. Big thanks to Kay and Ann for making this so fun.

Unrelated:

We are watching the video series of This American Life, and really enjoying it. Pete and I have always listened to the show, and the girls do sometimes as well, but I had forgotten about the 2 season video series they made. The DVDs were given to me as a gift years ago and I was so happy to find them tucked away. This series has some mature content, I'm glad I previewed it because it's definitely not appropriate for all my kids. So much to talk about! This series is also can on amazon prime video.

honey toast at home

We pass by a cafe almost everyday called Honey Toast Cafe. They serve honey toast. Very straightforward. They serve other tasty items as well, but it's the honey toast we go in for. I had never heard of this dessert before this cafe opened, but it's a thing, and you tube can show you how to make this treat at home. This dessert is delicious because it uses lightly toasted very thick (but airy and light) white bread with ice cream and honey on top. That's it. You can customize it as much as you like. The warm slightly crunchy bread under the cold ice cream is so good. Sharing the big ones in the cafe is hard, it turns into a mess real fast, not in a good way. Buying small ones really adds up, so we made our own using the Japanese bread we bought at our local Asian market.

There are so many online tutorials on how to make this, most with relaxing music. We keep the bread in the freezer and use it as needed, to give the ice cream that special lift.

banging out a sweater

I am deep into bang out a sweater, my first KAL and my first sweater knitted in the round, bottom-up with a yoke. I have done a few top-downs, but not a bottom-up. I was successfully able to join the 3 tubes into one using Kay's delightful explanation in The Three Tube Situation, which I found so amusing that I read it aloud to several people, most of them non-knitters. I have patient family members and friends.

Homeschooling wise—we are learning about northern and arctic regions right now. A wonderful reason to eat at broder and try some new folk art crafts. This sweater KAL is perfectly timed. We watched Happy People: A Year in the Taiga, a documentary about fur trappers in Siberia which Pete and I loved. The girls were a bit bored, but that's fine. Herzog films are always fascinating, funny, and boring to me. We are almost done reading First Light, which takes place in Greenland.

valentine's day charms

We have been making some more charms around here. These were made for valentine's day to give away. The larger hearts were made into magnets or brooches. I love making these, they are really relaxing. Sometimes. Sometimes, they are maddening, but that's only when the clay gets too soft. I helps to pop it in the freezer and wait a bit. Then it's all so much easier. I also still love watching the tutorials on you tube—there are so many out there and I find them mesmerizing.

I just finished Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl: A Memoir, by Carrie Brownstein and it gave me such crazy dreams! I have been having crazy dreams anyway, mostly about babies, but these dreams were not about babies, but about living in Eugene and Seattle in the mid/late 90s during the whole Eugene/Portland/Olympia/Seattle scene. This book brought back so many memories. Mostly of being freezing cold or very hot waiting for shows to start or end, my ears feeling like they would bleed the music was so loud, seeing amazing raw bands that blew my mind (or were unbelievably horrible) feeling itchy from goodwill clothes, and the smoke. She doesn't mention the smoke, but god, remember that?! I would have to put my clothes outside after shows because they stank so bad.

january floral arrangement

I made this arrangement last month. I forgot how pretty it was. I am trying to do at least one arrangement a month, if not every two weeks, using Trader Joe's flowers, or items from the yard. So pleasing.

This week got crazy. We had a busy week of life-stuff, ending with having some out-of-town friends over. A few hours before they came I threw my back out, in a bad way, and faked it while they were here and then sort of hobbled to the sofa where I have been ever since. I'm exaggerating bit, but only a little. It's getting better just now. This back thing happens from time-to-time, and this time, I think it won't be too bad, if I am careful. But it canceled a snowshoeing trip and forced me organize a ton of help with driving this week. It's always good to ask for help, something I am terrible at. So bad, that I don't even think I am bad at it because it doesn't occur to me to even ask for help. So, I see this as a "growth opportunity" (swear word.)

I did not spiral into a sever bout of anxiety with this injury, which I did do last spring and early summer. I am so grateful for this. That time was a horrible stew of back pain, medical issues, family issues, hormonal changes, (hooray perimenopausal symptoms!) and uncontrollable anxiety that no amount of my own reading, meditating, exercising, eating healthy, or Pema-ing could temper. I got a ton of professional help from everywhere I could—emotionally, physically, and medically. I am in a much better place now. So, I guess I can ask for help, actually.

Good things this week—I already started that KAL sweater and I can knit while lying down or standing. I am done with the body, have started the arms, and can't wait for the magical moment where I knit the yoke, which will be a new thrill for me. I also am reading a lot, so that's good. The girls are helping and can learn from the sofa. Who doesn't like sofa learning?

My searches and inspirations have been silly and all over the place:

• strawberry cake charms (I made this and it turned out so cute.)

• Japanese deco cakes. Also, this one is amazing.

• K-beauty (I ordered from Memebox)

• meals plans from oh my veggies

• I must make a Pavlova. I can't believe I never have. I like these two videos, Mary Berry and Donal Skehan.

• I bought some adorable enamel pins for the girls for Valentine's Day at Gimme Flair and will attach them to these super cute free printable cards over at Aww Sam.

knitting and other things

I am thrilled to be starting a knitalong as of today. It's Bang Out a Sweater Knitalong by my two favorite knitting people in the whole world—Kay and Ann from Mason-Dixon knitting. It's my first KAL and I am starting a week early. I'm starting a week early because of the set up—swatching, finding my needles, and all that. It takes me a while to do this and I am also a slow knitter. I don't have a whole lot of regular knitting time. This sweater is supposed to be started and finished in the month of February, but I will be traveling for a week during that time and may or may not take this project. These are my justifications for starting early (Cheating?)

I started an Icelandic sweater two years ago, got about 1/16 into the project, and then it went into deep hibernation. So, I had all the yarn ready to go, pulled it all out today, bought the pattern and swatched already. I am blocking my swatch as I type this. Woot! There are projects in my head I want to try. I know this is referred to as a bucket list but I have never liked that term, I'm not sure why. Anyway, knitting an Icelandic sweater is in there, and also making a Baked Alaska.

Unrelated:

We just can't seem to kick the sick in the house. It seems like for 4 weeks someone has had a cough, or ear infection, or head cold of some kind. It's slowing us down, which I think is a good thing, actually.

I just finished Ongoingness: The End of a Diary and it was like nothing I have read before. I read it in two evenings, and am ready to read it again. It's short and powerful and made me have crazy dreams. I think the less I say about it the better. I didn't read anything about it before I read it and I'm glad for that.

onigirazu

I've been making onigirazu lately and can't seem to get enough of them. They are perfect for leftovers. I know they were a thing a bit back, so the internet and a friend in-the-know tells me, but I only just discovered them this last year. They are basically a big onigiri with a lot more room for fillings. This one I made has salmon mixed with some sriracha mayo and seasoned rice.

I was grabbing these to eat at Uwajamya for about a year, not even considering making them. I don't know why, it just didn't occur to me. I was at the book store inside Uwajimaya (Kinokuniya) and saw this book and got ridiculously excited. I didn't buy it, but visit it often. This book and youtube videos of people making these made it easy to try. I bought my large nori sheets while I was there and that was all I needed.

So, my family is not down this these. Yet. I still have hope. I think they might be the perfect food. So portable, tasty, and easy to make.

A few cons:

• my family won't eat them (but they would be the perfect lunch/picnic/snack food for everyone!) My girls call them "mom's weird seaweed sandwiches" and don't like the smell. At all.

• I have not found a way to make them with brown rice and still stick together, which I know would be healthier.

• The whole arsenic-in-the-rice thing, which I guess is higher in brown rice, so white maybe isn't so bad.

• Some fillings don't lend themselves to freezing. I like to make several at a time and freeze. My combinations are all over the place—turkey and cheese, salmon salad, tuna salad, eggs and cheese, beans and cheese, cabbage slaws, and the sauces I add are creative/questionable.

• Pete says none of this sounds like it would taste good with nori—but it does! To, me. But I also like nori and he's not a huge fan.

The pros for me are huge, I use little bits of leftovers and I make a bunch at a time and them freeze them and they are delicious and I can eat them in the car! And, I think they are funny— I do try to make weird combonations on purpose, just to see if they still taste good, and so far I have had no fails. I did pull one out of my purse to eat during a fancy ballet performance, I was starving, and forgot about the smell these can have, and the whole deal was awkward and weird, but I ate it anyway in the dark, not looking at the other parents sitting next to me. For the win!

 

 

napa cabbage salad with apple and caraway seed

I made this salad as a side dish to grilled sandwiches this week—the girls weren't into it, but Pete and I devoured it. I love caraway seeds and how they smell when they are toasting. The recipe I used was from an old issue of Everyday Food, but I couldn't find it on the MSL website (is that site getting harder to use every month or what? The the pop-up adds are the worst. Grrr) I found the exact recipe here, so thank you internet. This version calls it a detox salad, but I prefer to call it just salad.

I'm in the middle of a craft room clean-out and finding so much stuff like old back issues of Mailorder and embroidered patches and fake money I had made for that. I scheming for a reason to make enamel pins, they would have been perfect for Mailorder.

more charms have been made

Theses polymer clay charms were made sometime in the last 3 weeks. I tried using a little glitter on the macarons and it just made them look dirty. They are also a little too thick, but I still love them. The heart is going to be a pin. It's from a mold, which can be surprisingly fussy to use.

random updates:

• I have a lot of projects going right now. I am finishing up a boned bodice for a tutu that was given to Delia for Christmas. Very exciting! It's so nice to be doing this bodice just for fun as opposed to for a performance with a deadline.

• I am going to sew some pincushions soon. I had so much fun sewing the pot holders for the holidays and still have some stash fabric I need to use up. I forget how nice it it is to just sew simple items, preferably in multiples.

• I was shown this Conan O'Brien video (NOT for family viewing) by my husband and laughed really hard. It's worth watching the whole thing. (11 minutes)

• The dinner meal planning is second nature now. I'm not making new recipes every week, we have made enough new ones that now we can circle back around and do some repeats. I didn't plan for a week over the holiday madness and I could really feel the difference. When I skip the planning we all end up eating like toddlers, which has it's merits, but can also make me depressed. I have been choosing a pasta, fish, and chicken recipe each week and then filling in around that with other entrees and lots of different and easy veg sides and salads. I feel so much better about making dinner, shopping, and the variety of foods my kids are being introduced to by doing this, it couldn't have come at a better time.

art on blocks (gluing stuff onto other stuff.)

I am still going through my craft room, slowly, making gifts and projects from supplies I already have. I have so many "special" items tucked away. I don't have enough wall space to show all the framed art I have let alone the collection of artists cards I have kept. I don't want to mail them, so I save them—and then what? They just sit in a box.

I found these wooded blocks on sale at Craft Warehouse and bought them with no idea what I would do with them. I had them for about 4 months. I realized they would be a perfect way to display these cards, so I made this set as a gift for a friend using treasured cards from Studio Violet (RIP.) These were saved from back in the early days of blogging, made by Elisabeth Dunker & Camilla Engman and I added one of the many cards I have collected by Gracia and Lousie. There are two images per block that can be rearranged and stacked, split apart or kept in groups. I love showing art off the walls and these made me so happy, it was hard to give them away. I have in mind to make a set for a baby girl using postcards I have hoarded from Emily Martin and another set for myself using letterpress cards I have hung onto.

To make these I used a spray adhesive on the back of the cards. (It works great but is so toxic, I might try YES paste next time.) Next I pressed them on the block of wood. Then, after waiting a few minutes, I trimmed around the block, cutting though the postcard with a super sharp craft knife, using the block as my straight edge. One postcard was a wee bit too narrow so you can see a line of wood, but I don't mind. I didn't finish these with an gloss or matte varnish, just kept them as is.

happy 2016! and floral arrangements!

I'm not sure how I ended up watching the floral arrangement class on Skillshare. I was thinking about flowers I needed for an upcoming party, had just bought a beautiful arrangement for Grammie for Thanksgiving, and thought "I could do this." You know how it goes. I got some great tips from this online class. These classes are not free, and the classes are hit and miss, but I have found some really good ones. I watched another one over on Creativebug. Again not free, but these classes are all rock solid. I also teach classes for Creativebug, so I am biased, but really, they are all so good and the production is top-notch.

This arrangement above uses flowers/greens from the arrangements below (about 10 days later) but I added roses. It's also way past it's prime in this photo, but I have always liked flowers kind of decayed, so I kept them longer than necessary. It looked much better (not rotten) before I took this photo.

Here's the big arrangement I made from Trader Joe's flowers. I was going to just use greens from our yard, but they had greens for a great price.

I had so much left over that I was able to make this arrangement, too. This was so fun. All these flowers (except the roses I added later) were under $25. Insane. And they lasted so long—the glads opened and just took over. I am pinning floral inspiration like crazy and looking at flowers in a whole new way.

We had a lovely New Year's at the beach (I knit a hat and read 2 books) and came home to snow and icy roads and needed chains to get down our hill. Now we need milk and I have to unpack and do laundry. Pete and one daughter walked to the store with backpacks to get food and are trudging back, but I have warm gingerbread waiting for them. Winter feels good right now.

pinwheel cookies and happy holidays!

It's been a whirlwind of activity with the girls around here, most of which was unexpected. There's been a few very sore throats, fevers, an emergency trip to the dentist to get a tooth pulled, a lovely solstice celebration last night (expect horrible tooth pain for one of my daughters) but we are all good! There are times I can just roll with it, deal with what comes up, and just be happy* and one way is to make cookies, so there you go.

This is a basic sugar cookie recipe that I formed into pinwheels. They are vanilla flavored, although mint would be nice. I got huge props from my daughters on how they turned out. They said the were instagram worthy.

I hope you all have a lovely holiday and new year! See you in 2016! Thank you so much for reading. It's been a long time I've been blogging now and it's meant so much to me. Thank you, thank you.

• Unrelated, I loved this story in the NYT about an art curator that in my mind, is the perfect Wes Anderson character that hasn't been created yet.

*This is also easier to do if I'm not having back pain, which I am not right now. So grateful about that.

Christmas candy boxes and using up my favorite supplies

I have been collecting vintage Christmas bits and bobs for a long time now. A few years ago, I tried on a new craft/art mantra— use it. I tend to squirrel away precious items and then I don't use them, don't see them, can't enjoy them, and although this sounds bad, I also can't justify buying/looking for more, because I have so much I'm not using. I now use my favorite fabrics, trims, stickers, mushrooms, all that. I make them as gifts or keep them, or think about selling them (?) but I get such joy using up my favorite supplies. Also, I had these unpainted cardboard boxes already, so no trips to the craft store needed. Resourceful or hoardy? Who's to say?

The idea for these started after seeing vintage ornaments I inherited from my great Aunt Mickey never really getting the love they deserved. I added the mica glitter, velvet ribbons, bottle brush trees, my precious angel candles, and made these boxes over the course of a few days. I just love working in 3D and I also love gluing stuff onto stuff. I had similar good creative vibes making these woodland centerpieces a few years ago.

These might get tucked away and given out next year, I'm not sure. That's another thing I have been doing the last few years, making gifts not knowing the recipient or the occasion. I figure it will be clear, and it always is. I do this with knitting a lot. I just knit scarves, hats, mittens, and don't worry about what I will do with them. I have a special box I keep them in, and then, sometimes 2 years later, give them as a gifts. It's so freeing know I don't have to "know" exactly the why, I can just make the thing.

more charms

I packed up some of the charms I made and tucked into gift boxes. Now I can't stop with the buckteeth. I'm trying to control myself. These designs were all from various tutorials online. So much fun. I did learn the hard way that you really do need to pull out the eye pin after baking, super-glue it, and stick it back in. Otherwise the charm will come off and that's pretty tragic.

The internet is still causing me to try new projects. There are some lovely ideas for gifts and free printables over on Almost Makes Perfect. I have to just accept that I normally relax after Christmas, not before. So my urge to make, bake, and research is something I'm not going to fight. I am, however, trying to stockplie books to read under a blanket when all this is over next weekend.

 

pot holders and matcha salt

Some holiday gift making has been completed around here. I always have about 4 crafts going one at once, just hoping I have time to complete them. Then I get excited by something else and add more. I made matcha salt (again) because it's so easy and a great gift to give to people who aren't super into sugar-type stuff. Like most ballet teachers, for example. I also sewed up some pot holders. I have a lot of fabric scrap that I wanted to use up. Grammie made this all come together by letting me pull from her jelly-roll stash for the bindings, which made me love these fabrics all over again. There is nothing like a happy, bright, patterned binding to give a project life.

We have been watching a lot of musicals around here, as part of a homeschool theme, and it has been met with some pretty funny reactions. The sensitivity to schmaltz has gotten pretty high with the older girls, so watching anyone break out into song is met with some snark. I get it. Singing in the Rain will always get a thumbs up, also Moulin Rouge! (by my 13 year old) and most of the classics although they were NOT smitten with Oklahoma the way I was. Grease, always good, and Grease 2 even better (what?) but a big thumbs down today to West Side Story. We had to skip a lot of it, but there was still much to discuss. All of which was pretty funny, even though it is a tragedy. They liked Bye Bye Birdie, which Pete was traumatized by. They LOVED Wicked when we saw it live a month ago, so there's that.

questionable cooking, part 2

So, these were made. They are coal cookies from nerdy nummies. I realize they look a lot more like cow pies than coal. These were just weird. They are basically a rice krispy treat but with crushed oreos (minus the cream middle) and melted marshmallows. They had a very soft texture. The surprising thing was how little flavor they had. I would have thought an oreo would taste more like something, but no, they were very tasteless. Maybe it because they were so dark, you expect more of a flavor? Some espresso powder would have helped, possibly, but that still wouldn't take care of the texture issues.

The internet provided the how-to. My two youngest daughters made these—it took up at least an hour of oreo scrapping and crushing and whatnot. They ended up not really eating them. But, after most of them were tossed, my eldest daughter was sad. She liked them! Quite a bit! So there you go.

Speaking of cookies, I attended the annual Low-Pressure Cookie Party this year. This is a pretty long tradition now of getting together with some very funny ladies and sharing cookies. You don't even have to bring any cookies to come, or they can store bought, or whatever. We have soup and salad and then eat the cookies and divide the left-overs. it's always so fun and laid back and full of crazy stories and much cursing. I made the cookies on that fantastic spotted platter (provided by the every-ready hostess), they are a Lofthouse style cookie, the pink ones with almond glaze and the orange with orange glaze. All the cookies were outstanding.

candy cane lollipops

We made these cute candy cane lollipops courtesy of pinterest and they were really fun and easy. I looked for candy canes that were more applicable to forming the heart shape. I did soften them in the oven first (for about 1 minute at 350°) to get them to hold together at the top and on the stick. We used melted chocolate chip to fill in. The girls loved making them. I have them wrapped up in little treat bags ready to give away.

More flooding! Portland is underwater. We personally are doing okay, but our neighborhood is pretty bad, lots of people with flooded basements and lakes for yards. Lots of sandbags. We are all trying to help each other move furniture.

Like always, I keep seeing items that I want for myself while buying and making for others. I informed Pete that he bought me a lovely pair of socks and a stellar Christmas ornament from Russia. I even had them wrapped. I also sent a link to this book for my brother to get me, Face Paint: The Story of Makeup. It looks fascinating—all about the history of make-up. And he didn't mock me! Yet.

stained glass with a glue gun and canvas

For homeschool art a few weeks back we busted out some canvases we had in the garage. I buy them in packs. They paint on them and then about a year later we gesso over them and use them again. Sometimes they want to keep them, but more often than not, they are ready move on. This is great because we have about 10 rotating at all times and it saves a ton of money. Canvases can seem so permanent, and sometimes they are, but it can be really freeing to just paint white over the whole thing and start fresh.

I was looking on pinterest and found a technique for a faux stained glass. This is sort of like that, but we didn't have any colored glue sticks. I had them lightly sketch in pencil a very simple design on canvas. We looked at some actual stained glass images for an example. Then they traced the lines with a glue gun, then painted the glue lines black. This looked really messy, but the acrylic paint applied afterwards covered the black messiness. After that dried, they painted in the shapes in solid colors and added chalk pastel for blending, which made a huge difference and really made these look magical. This all took a few stages, over two days. It was very fun.

We are in full holiday craft/cooking mode around here. We had a few curve balls last week—Pete working very long hours unexpectedly, the norovirus hitting all of us at the same time during the ballet shows the girls were in, and a very long and annoying power outage during our planned tree decorating, but we made it though! We were so sick, though, I had to throw out a rug, it was that bad.

questionable cooking, part 1

On the eve of Thanksgiving, many signs pointed me to the direction of the piecaken. The NY Times article, a random link to the same article from my brother, a sense of excitement and danger planning on making a last minute dessert to bring to Grammie's, being way too tired to be doing this (I started at 9:30pm)—you know, all the signs of greatness. This is a blackberry pie baked inside of a vanilla cake, with a chocolate espresso frosting. It was delicious. And took forever to cook. More than 2 hours.

I has some expert tips from from my go-to foodie resource and good friend Action Hero, who has made several of these. She warned me of the long cooking time, and suggested a pumpkin pie/spike cake combo, and advised me to avoid the fruit pie, but I threw caution to the wind. Pete reported from the store what was available for pies, we decided on blackberry, and he picked that up and two yellow box cake mixes, and I made the frosting. I think you need to decide your pie flavor first and go from there. This is so crazy I would not make it from scratch. That would make me sad and take the comedy out of it and replace it with swearing.

I know this photo is pretty unattractive, but you know, the whole thing is weird, so I'm not going to try and make it look pretty. The internet is full of this unholy, yet magical creation. It's really debatable if just a piece of cake and a piece of pie on a plate together would be better, but the drama of cutting into this was worth it.