Cold craftin in the rain.

Etsy stuff Im liking....alot.

2014-01-09T19:56:00.005-08:00

Pendant stylie necklace

2014-01-09T19:52:00.001-08:00

Little pink riding hood.

2012-11-30T22:26:00.000-08:00

So I feeling kinda bummed because I didn't have a medium weight wintery coat. I looked at the thrift shops I could afford but couldn't find anything I liked. I even perused higher end stores looking for the perfect coat.

Needless to say I didn't find it so I had to make it.

I took a vintage wool suit jacket from my closet and my favorite wool striped sweater, which until recently did fit but due to the inevitable weight gain this year it had become a tad too snug, and melded them together.

I used the sweater to extend the sleeves, as a hood liner and for applique.

Using a hoodie as a template for my hood (and remembering a cool video from Threadbanger on hoodie making) I made the hood and liner. My hood was extra large so I could fold over the edge to create a pocket for a drawstring, or in my case a thin black 80's tie.

I then seperated the liner from the body where the hood was to be, machine sewed the hood to the jacket body and hand whip stitched the liner to the hood. I added a heart made from the sweater logo and stabilizer and hand stitched that onto the breast pocket.

Since making it I have worn it everyday and have gotten a few compliments on it. By no means does it look professional but its warm and snuggly as hell, fits me well and is exactly what I was looking for. And for those who know me, pink is a tad of a shock but I liked how it went with the lime green stripe on the sleeve and it reminds me of a strawberry. Washington Winters are dull, hazy and grey so this coat helps add a bit of color and still allows me to blend in with the grey rain clouds.

MMMM, pear cider.

2012-10-07T16:45:00.001-07:00

Dylan and I worked together and juiced a few BOXES of yummy Asian Pears that were given to me from a co-worker. After we had our fill of regular cider, I took the rest and have started turning it into hard cider. Without having a proper airlock, I am concerned that it will turn to vinegar but I think sealing off the air exchange with plastic wrap (just enough to let the gas out and no new air in...) that it wont turn as quickly into sour vinegar but we shall see.

Jewelry hanger.

2012-10-07T16:33:00.001-07:00

I picked this frame up at our last family vacation....the shop was one I could spend all day in but cant for the life of me remeber the name. It was located in Grants Pass Oregon.
I just stapled metal mesh to the back and was done.

Halloween crafting begins.

2012-10-07T16:31:00.001-07:00

The kids and I started our crafting blitzkreig early for Halloween this year and started making our party favor treat bags with craft paper, cardstock and yarn. I found an easy tutorial here then modified it a bit. I hated the large inner flaps so I cut them out. I also added fake paper blood splatters on the outside.

Crochet, felted zombie cat cave.

2012-10-07T16:19:00.001-07:00

So I suck as per usual and haven't taken the time to update this in a LOOOOOOOONG time. Unfortunately I haven't had a ton of time to even craft much. Our time is eaten away by work and typically our days end with just enough time to make dinner (as much from scratch as we can), eat and chill together just before bed time.

Now that I have taken up a new albeit small/tiny motorcycle, even more of my time is taken up with practice. Believe me I need it.

Here is a project that took me a week and then a few more to deliver it to its intended. Its a green crochet and felted cat cave.

I had a few skeins of vintage green wool hanging around and even used my beloved pure wool that I had obtained on our last vacation.... even these four skeins were not enough and I found myself purchasing at least another three at the only place I can locate all the colors of the rainbow....that would be Canvas Works in downtown Olympia.

I crocheted a flat circle then made my way up leaving a giant opening at the front. Taking it up till the sides were long enough (too heavy to support itself, that is why I felted it) I decreased to make another flat circle on top. Since this is supposed to be a zombie I cut out a hole on the top to use red wool instead.

After felting it I added felt teeth and eyes etc. In the end the brain ended up looking like an organ of a different region but hey,I get points for trying right?

Cool painting idea.

2012-07-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

For those that appreciate print and would rather get er done faster.

White trashy lawn water bed fun!

2012-07-06T19:55:00.001-07:00

So I saw this ingenious project on Pinterest and decided to do it for our house. It was in the eighties today so it turned out great. The water was freezing and the sun was blazing so it was perfect.

We added food coloring throughout the process so it added to the fun. The kids spent hours out there and had a blast. We will reuse the plastic for its intended purpose as a drop cloth.

To do this yourself all you have to do is pick up a plastic drop cloth (we got ours at Home Depot), fold it in half and ducktape the bejesus out of it to seal the edges. The sealing is the most time consuming but you will be thankful later. We didn't spend enough time on the first run and ended up retaping in spots. The food coloring lasted a few hours but then did fade by the sun. We had a lot of fun pretending there was a shark attack once we added the red. We did visit the sharks earlier today at the Point Defiance Zoo.

here are pics of the kids.

easy cheap homemade baskets.

2012-07-06T19:33:00.001-07:00

So I have been cruising a lot of crafter blogs and ran into this awesome one called "On My Honor." Its this great blog that these three local sisters write that includes awesome crafts.

This post in particular got me interested. I decide to make my own.

After pricing the clothes line on Amazon, I decided to go to my local Ace Hardware. Unfortunately it was much cheaper online. Amazon sells the same line at 12 bucks for 100 feet and Ace hardware itself sell it for 5 bucks per 50 feet. Needless to say I was already there and didnt want to go back home empty handed but this is just one more example of it being WAAAY cheaper (I get free shipping) to buy online than even smaller local stores. This is depressing because I want to support local business but when the price is half online, it gets harder and harder to justify.

But I digress....

I followed the instructions as posted at "on my honor" but added some red wool yarn in between the cords as well as some handles.

Overall I was very pleased and the project was super easy. This basket now resides in my car for the kids lil odds and ends that usually end up all over the place.

Tiny Yellow House!

2012-06-29T09:59:00.001-07:00

I love these videos. Derek uses simple materials to make wonderful things.

Check it....

Quick and dirrrrty.

2012-06-03T17:59:00.001-07:00

Coffee cozies can run you a few bucks for a reusable.one. I have seen some as high as thirteen buckaroonies. Make your own using the sleeve of a really cool dress shirt. This can be a new use for your grandpas old polyester numbers or your dad's early 80's dress shirts.

Kirsop Farm!

2012-05-27T15:06:00.001-07:00

So another year of crunchy fresh organic local and super tasty vegetables await us soon. The shares for Kirsop start the first week of June and I can hardly wait. Besides the fact that they have the worlds best sweet carrots they offer a lot of variety and a cool newsletter with recipes. In addition to the great produce they offer they now also offer grain and flower shares as well as poultry. The chickens and Turkeys are raised locally, happily and without hormones. I cant wait till we get a turkey from them for thanksgiving this year. They also now offer online payments which makes it much easier to get them paid. I do most of my billpaying online and this has been super easy and helpful. Genine, Collin and the crew are super friendly and live less than 2.5 miles from our house. I couldnt ask for a better set up. I love this farm!

http://www.kirsopfarm.com/

fast and cute cardie tutorial from stitchless tv

2012-03-04T20:27:00.001-08:00

Me thinks I will try this one :) Very cute.

Mountain Rose Herbs, Oregon

2012-03-01T17:03:00.000-08:00

This place is excellent for knowledge and quality, plus they are local to the Northwest and Organic! Please check them out for your herbal needs.

Cargo pant recycle.

2012-02-28T10:42:00.001-08:00

Inspired by Mark Montano's Big Ass Book of Crafts 2 I made this messenger bag using wool gap cargo pants. I found them at the Goodwill outlet where clothes are a bit over a buck a pound. I washed them and w an old scarf I made a cool messenger bag.

Fondue!!! and the next day....

2012-01-28T18:39:00.000-08:00

So I have been craving fondue forever. Ok just since Steph's last Bday when we went to Swing in Olympia.....
I finally pieced together a fondue apparatus (from pieces found at the goodwill and Ebay cause I like vintage/used stuff and I am cheap). While shopping at Fred Meyer my wandering eyes spied pre-made fondue cheese!!!! It was 13 bucks but fed my family of four and then some.

I chopped crusty breads, sweet local apples, slightly steamed broccoli and celery into tiny bite sized pieces. We even managed to prevent the children from stabbing each others eyes out with the long skinny forks. Dinner was delicious and took only a few minutes.

Leftovers included apples, bread and broccoli. I turned leftovers into breakfast the next day by making french bread chunks with apple caramel sauce and a fritatta (ms) made with the broccoli and fontina cheeses. It too was awesome. There was even enough left over for second breakfast al la Hobbit style.

Crystal Head Vodka....and bath time.

2012-01-28T18:18:00.000-08:00

So I splurged a few weeks or so ago and purchased Dan Akroyds Crystal Head Vodka. The vodka was rather tasty, the best I have had in years but...it is still vodka.

The bottle alone is worth the price. I decided to use mine for bath time.

I filled it with lavender infused oil, foaming soap and some red food coloring. Admittedly its kind of gruesome but pretty cool. yes, I need to clean my bath grout better......

Crafts that I gifted. . . and things I have been up to.

2012-01-17T18:40:00.000-08:00

So its been a long time since I posted. I've been pretty busy with work, kids and life in general. I realized I never posted pictures so here are a bunch with brief descriptions.

Above are pictures of the coasters and cards that I made for the Winter Holiday.

Below are examples of wrapping paper.

In my free time I am either reading or putting stuff together hoping it looks ok or sticks. Here are examples of other crafty things I have done recently.

This mirror was made a long while back and is covered with pictures I took of local Low Impact Developments. They ranged from yupster condos in Portland to tree houses on Bainbridge Island. I thought it was a great way to remember the trips I took to visit these sites and so it hangs by my front door to remind me that we don't have to pillage everything to make something beautiful and livable.

This one here is a Star Wars case I made. The artwork is from John Karpinsky. You can get his prints and learn more of him at his Etsy shop. I really liked some of the set prints that he has and am thinking about purchasing one of the bigger ones. I think they'd look great matted and hung. I plan on keeping this for myself. It was an old Sony Micro TV case.

Last but not least, this is a wool crochet heart I am making for a friend who just had a valve in his replaced. It isn't quite anatomically correct as I am missing a valve but given the circumstances I guess its ok. I haven't finished the veins yet but will shortly. They are made of a fine red mohair, the rest is bulky wool.

So that is about it in a nutshell. I anticipate someday finishing the Haliburton Suitcase shelving unit and will post pics thusly. In the meantime, don't forget to take time out to try something new, even if its a small thing.

Sausage gravy baby

2011-12-04T13:24:00.000-08:00

So the kids and I make biscuits all the time. Its something so easy that they can do from start to finish (they still don't taste as good as mine cause they don't yet understand the magic of not overworking the dough...) and they love to snack on them with breakfast or dinner.

Being its winter and all I wanted something substantial to go with the biscuits and decided to try my hand at sausage gravy. Its been since I was a kid really that I have had it but its so basic you don't even need an actual recipe.

Take ground country style sausage (ground sausage with rosemary, salt ect) and break it into small pieces. Brown in deep skillet
Take separate liquid measure and whip some flour into milk. Keep adding to browned sausage till at the consistency you want. You add flour to milk separately and whisk to prevent lumps.

While sausage is browning, follow your favorite biscuit recipe. Top with gravy and snarf.

Holiday extravaganza.

2011-11-25T10:39:00.000-08:00

Here is a smattering of various posts all related to the Thanksgiving and winter holidays. (Pictures to follow later, too lazy, spending time with chilluns)

Things I made to eat this year:
Homemade stuffing
Cranberry sauce
Turkey
________________________________________________________________________
Homemade stuffing, no recipe just wing it but guidelines to follow:
One round of rosemary bread, Trader Joe's is pretty good
One loaf of pugliese, Traders Joe's has this too
one fennel bulb
two to four eggs
one large onion of your choice
broth of your choice
butter

cube the bread, dry in oven, place in bowl.
cut up onion and fennel and saute in butta
add beaten eggs and broth together
combine all ingredients in a large roasting pan, add as much butter as you want and roast at 350 till you achieve the desired doneness. Some likes it crispy some likes it soft.
______________________________________________________________________
Cranberry sauce that beats the pants off of the canned stuff.
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup sugar, the real stuff I used organic cane
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, a dash of ground cloves and a few dashes of nutmeg (gives it a bit of heat and smells great)
1 bag of whole cranberries.
Boil the water and sugar, stir, lower heat
add berries and other spices.
wait till berries burst. I take a sieve and fork to mash them down because I don't enjoy chunks in my food.
Simmer for a few minutes more, bottle or place in final dish. Sauce will thicken once cooled.
______________________________________________________________________
turkey
one turkey, size depends on how many you are serving.
sea salt
fennel bulb with fronds
large onion
garlic
olive oil

preheat oven to 350 (if you have HOURS for roasting otherwise 450...)
chunk up fennel, onion and mash hole head of garlic.
take out gizzards/neck etc, replace with onion, fennel and garlic
rub the outer skin with olive oil, massage that baby then add sea salt, rub that in for crunchier crispy skin, yum.
Convection roast or just roast for hours, till juices run clean and the internal temp is what it should be. I don't check temp, I just slit the turkey and look at the color and texture of the meat to determine its done-ness.

Hooch update.

2011-11-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

Remember the blackberry hooch? Weeeel, we could have had a great class on the science of propulsion yesterday when I decided to open it. Luckily I was smart enough to place it in the sink and point it away from my face but regardless, a huge explosion ensued creating a splatter of red gooshy blackberry matter for a 5 mile radius.

I got some of the lovely stuff in my eyes and proceeded to run for the bathroom to flush it out. Turns out alcohol in your eyes doesnt fee good. Needless to say the loud sound and subsequent screams on top of the kitchen being sprayed in a gooey red, gore like substance didnt give the husband and kids a warm and fuzzy. They thought I had lost my eyes and rushed around out of concern for my ocular membranes.

Fun time I tells ya.

For those that want to know how it turned out: I was left with a quarter of the bottle in tact and it tastes like a sweet vodka and smells like a lambique. Back into the cupboard it goes till the sugars are fully digested.

Christmas crafts

2011-10-24T16:05:00.001-07:00

So this year its small salves, soaps, eye packs, bath salts and coasters. I will post them as I make them,

Pumpkin puddin the lazy way, oh yeah!

2011-10-21T18:51:00.000-07:00

So I love me some pumpkin pie, problem is, no one else in the house does. That and I end up eating the whole thing and feel like a fat gluttonous monster. So I decided to hell with it. I'm not making a pie that will end up making me feel guilty with every sweet delicious bite. So I made a lower fat alternative.

Take one pie pumpkin.
Cut it in half, gut it and place it in the microwave upside down in a bowl of water for 10 plus minutes or however long it takes to steam it.
Mash it with a fork in a deep glass dish, add splenda or whatever sweetener you have. I used a combo of splenda and brown sugar
throw in there about 3 shakes of ground nutmeg, 1 shake of ground clove and a teaspoon of cinnamon and oh yes, a pat or two of butter. Mash it all together.
In a separate bowl whisk three eggs together with about 1/4 milk. Beat till smooth. Add to pumpkin and fold together.
Cover the top of the dish with a plate to allow for the venting of steam. Place in the microwave for about 8 minutes.
Behold, you have a creamy thick pumpkin custard sans pie crust.
YUM!

For the womenz.

2011-10-21T18:43:00.000-07:00

This post is for the ladies so Men, no offense but I don't think you'll find it very interesting.

So I had been thinking about homemade stuff and how much of a throw away society we have and decided to give something a try. When Zoey was in diapers, we did the cloth service for most of the time but eventually went to disposables because of costs and time. We took the lazy way out. I started thinking about the many reasons why cloth is better than plastic, environmental and personal health reasons of course came to mind. Then I realized how much of a hypocrite I am since I myself use disposable items for "that time of the month". Taking matters into my own hands (and looking at Etsy for inspiration) I made my own.

I found them to be WAY more comfortable than the plastic/paper disposable kinds and way more reliable. Since I made mine out of flannel with a denim core, they are way more absorbent and with the button winged closure they don't shift like I thought they would. Maneuvering at home with them is just fine (oxyclean takes stains right out) but having to change them in public creates preparation issues but any Mom out there that's done clothe diapers for kids knows how to manage.

So there it is, no waste, I got to use fabric I already had so no additional output of money (other than 5 bucks for snaps), they look much cooler than store bought and my netheregions thank me for not forcing irritating chrorinated goodness onto them.