Saturday was pretty action packed. While I was at the local American Sewers Guild meeting giving a presentation on Mend it Better (more on that when I get some pictures from the organizers), Jason and our friend Mike was picking up our order of chicks!

We got two of each.

Light Brahmas | Image source: Murray McMurray Hatchery

New Hampshire Reds | Image source: Murray McMurray Hatchery

Speckled Sussex | Image source: Murray McMurray Hatchery

Blue Cochins | Image source: Murray McMurray Hatchery

Araucana | Image source: Murray McMurray Hatchery

While it’s sad to see the older ladies go… Yeah… chicken stew this weekend… It’s always fun to get a new flock of baby chicks, they are sooooo cute. Soft little peeping. And we now know enough about chicks that we were able to figure out which were which (thanks Andrea!) so instead of keeping 20 all together, we separated them out to a much more manageable number of 10 for us and 10 for them (Andrea and Mike).

Sadly, one came down with what we think was sour crop so we are already down to 9. The rest seem to be holding strong, super happy and healthy and peeping.

I’ve been spending a lot of time in the garden this past week, so I’ll take you on a tour of it later this week.

Until Next Time!
Kristin

Oh baby!

I’m 6 months pregnant!

I meant to tell you all like 2 months ago and just keep getting side-tracked. So, quicky post it is. I just wanted to let you know what’s up, why I’ve been absent from the blog, and share the good news.

I’m petitioning Jason to take some cute pregnant shots of me this weekend. I’ve definitely popped and officially look super pregnant.

I’m going to try to start posting again about once a month, but I’m not sure if it will happen. There’s a definite “playing it by ear” component happening to anything not directly related to baby making and then raising.

So a more photo heavy post forthcoming… sometime “soonish”.

Until Next Time!
Kristin

Ah, delicious. Kind of. Horseradish is powerful stuff. It burns through your nose in a flash and then it’s gone. It’s unlike any other “hot”. Last spring I planted a few cuttings of it in a secluded bed that’s hopefully sectioned off enough to keep it from spreading everywhere.

I finally got around to digging it up in mid December and making it into its most simple beautiful form: minced horseradish in vinegar.

First I cleaned up the roots I dug. Peeled, trimmed, and cut off the gnarly parts.

Then I puréed it all down and dumped in a jar. Topped it off with vinegar and called it good.

Did you know horseradish is a natural preservative? Between that in the vinegar, this will stay good in my fridge for just about forever.

What do I put it on? Just about anything that needs some heat: black bean burger, hot dogs, and bacon cheese burgers. And hotdogs. Or on crackers. Or on tomatoes. With salt.

Anyway, I think a blue cheese bacon burger is my favorite. In fact, I think I’ll make that for dinner tomorrow night. Jason will be as pleased as I am. Yum Yum Yum!

Until Next Time!

Molly has advised me to wait to post until later this week when I have better photos of my newest project.

Until Next Time!
Kristin

Flash back to May when I was in San Fransisco.

Jason and I went to Japan town and I bought a few food picks and sauce holders in the shape of little pigs and fish. I considered getting a bento box there, but since I worked from home I was like “nah, I don’t need one”. I had no idea I’d be getting a job by the end of the year and working in an office where I’d use one just about every day of the week!

Turning back to the stash.

Anyway, so, I decided to look around at what I had and lo’ and behold, I had a glass food container that’s just about the perfect size to pack my lunches. And I had a soup thermos that was still in good repair from way back when.

I’m finding that by packing my lunch bento style, I’m more inclined to grab a bunch of little things vs just one huge thing. So this first box was pickles, carrots, cheese and crackers, mandrine oranges, and pot stickers + some soy sauce in the little pig. It turned out to be way too much food.

By using cupcake liners (I’ve sense invested in some silicone cupcake liners), I was able to pack a whole burrito bowl in its parts + a mandrine orange. While the picture isn’t that great, the meal was delicious! I was able to pull out the cheese, sour cream, salsa, and mandrine, warm up the rest, and then add in the cold stuff (minus the orange which I had as a snack later).

This meal was a comfort food lunch for me. Oh potato chips I love you, but you are so not good for me. Egg salad sandwich on wholewheat bread with eggs from the ladies out back. And of course another orange. I love those little guys.

And one thing I have found is that if I pack my lunch the night before, I take it. If I don’t, I’ll not have time and end up eating out. For shame on me! The bento box has made lunch more fun, usually more healthy, and a whole lot more cost effective. And, it’s not even an “official” bento box. But, it’s packed on the same principle, so I’m going with it.

So how do you all pack your lunch? What’s your favorite pack and eat healthy snacks?

Until Next Time!
Kristin

I can’t recommend Lisa’s A Bag for All Reasons enough. With great step-by-step instructions and clear photos, the author takes you through everything you need to know to complete many bag types.

The first section of the book focuses on the tools, materials, and skills you’ll need to diy the bag of your dreams.

The projects are inspiring and cover just about every bag design you desire.

And I desire them all, either for myself — the pannier bicycle bags, the geek-chic iPad case, the compact groceries tote, the terrific trifold wallet, and the too cool for school satchel — or for friends — the fasionista baby bag, the train style variety case, and the toddler tote.

I really like the way she starts each project with multiple views of the finished project and this little “Features you’ll love” drawing.

Bags can be pretty intimidating with all the buckles, straps, seams, edging, and zippers. Happily Lisa makes the whole process straight forward and easy to approach.

Though I have to admit I’m still really intimidated by this diaper bag a friend of mine wants me to make for her.

A Bag for All Reasons is the compilation of years of experience writing about and making beautiful bags! I’m so glad to have this book in my craft reference library!

Until Next Time!
Kristin M. Roach

I turn on the space heater, bring down a pot of tea and put it on my candle warmer.

Open the shed, throw the shuttle, and beat the yarn into place.

It’s soothing productive work that, once you get it going, builds up quickly into a beautiful fabric piece.

But this is actually my first winter weaving in over two years.

I didn’t have access to a warping board these past couple of winters. My last set of warps were poor quality and needed to be cut off. So my loom has stood there silently collecting dust.

Two weeks ago I built my own warping board, which was much easier than I thought it would be. Though I regret not making one sooner, I’m glad I finally did because I feel like I’m finally back in step with my seasonal crafting cycle. I’ll show you how I built my warping board in the next issue of the Craft Leftovers Zine (due out late February).

I’ve been spending an hour or two at a time winding on the warp and threading the harnesses. I’m half way done threading the harnesses.

Once I start weaving, it shouldn’t be too many hours before I have a beautiful twill scarf.

I’m curious, what’s your favorite winter weather creative project?

Until next time,

Kristin M. Roach

Hi all! I hope you are having as happy of a holiday season as I am! I’m up to my eye balls in all sorts of fun stuff, but it’s all top secret crafting for friends and family! I decided that this week I’d give you an update on how the new job is going.

The summary is that I love it. It’s been a hard adjustment, but as I reach week 8 of working here I’m finally getting into the swing of things.

Now, if you want to hear about more than that, keep reading. I’ll tell you a bit about where I’m working and why I’m so excited to have this job.

A Short History of The Octagon Center for the Arts

The Octagon was founded in 1966 by three dynamic women who felt it was important that Ames have it’s own community art center. It actually started out in an old historic house that was octagonal in shape, hence our name. In just two years they were hosting so many classes, workshops, and shows that they looked for new building, our current home, a three story brick building on the corner of 5th and Douglas in the main street area in Ames. We’ve seen good times and bad times, but happily, it seems we are heading into another good time. The staff is vibrant and dedicated and 2013 is looking to be another good year.

Our Building Now

On the first floor we have our Gallery Shop (consigns local and regional artists ranging from indie craft to fine art), the Community Gallery (newly opened), and our tenant on the corner Ames British Foods.

The second floor is home to our administrative offices and education department. We host a broad range of art and craft classes for toddlers to adults. We teach pretty much every discipline I can think of except for silk screening and stained glass.

On the third floor we have our largest gallery + stage, our permanent antique japanese theatrical mask collection, and our third gallery, the Sweeney, where I hope to debut a sight specific installation exhibits program in 2014. And if you jump back down to the basement we have a sculpture and ceramics studio. Plus the newly renovated digital photography lab/classroom.

There is a lot of creative activity happening in this building!

My job as Exhibits Manager

So what do I do here? I manage/coordinate the three gallery spaces: Community on the ground and the Main and Sweeney galleries on the third floor, plus the corresponding storage areas and workrooms. We have exhibits rotating about every 8-12 weeks depending on the time of year. We have two juried shows a year, one national and one regional. We host a national art festival annually that I’ll help the executive director with. We also host an annual MFA show in coordination with Iowa State University and an annual High School Art Show for the regional high schools.

There’s also the fun mash of grant righting, paperwork, archive updating, cleaning, workshop hosting, phone answering, and the like. The first day of work I started installing the first of three exhibits that were to debut in just 12 days. In the past 8 weeks I’ve cleaned out storage areas, my office, set up the 2013 exhibits schedule, and coordinated our national juried show.

Whew. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind to come home to after Jason and I’s anniversary/triathlon trip. And I love it. I think I’d be depressed if I didn’t have a little too much going on all the time.

On the Home Front

I’ve been attempting to get a handle on keeping the house clean and cooking fairly unsuccessfully. Jason’s been a huge help. But, as a point of pride, I’d really like to relegate eating out to a treat again vs an emergancy stop gap like it has been during the transition.

Happy Holidays!
Kristin

ps – only one snow so far and it’s making me a little sad. I’d love to be snowed in by now.

Creative Commons, by chippenziedeutch on Flickr.

The Christmas tree is a German tradition spanning about 400 years and involves taking a live tree in to the home and decorating it, to keep it there for the duration of the Christmas holidays. In the nineteenth century the Germans invented the first artificial Christmas tree which was made of wood however it wasn’t until the twentieth century that artificial trees as we know them now were invented, by American company Addis Brush. They used their brush technology to create plastic trees.

Image by Tedder, Creative Commons License

Despite this revolutionary new product, natural trees remained the most popular choice for some time, and to this day many prefer a real tree. During the 1960s through to the 1980s artificial trees were arguably more popular than real trees however in recent years the balance has probably tipped back towards the natural tree.

The debate remains then on whether to opt for the natural choice of the artificial one – there are advantages and disadvantages to both. In many ways the artificial tree is the most practical option and the most economical. You only need to buy it once and it will probably last for several years, removing the need to splash out on a tree each year as you need to with real trees. It’s also easier to get them out as they are easy to store, whereas real trees are usually heavy and will need picking up and putting in to the house ever year.

Creative Commons, Christmas Stock Images

They also don’t need watering as real trees do, and they won’t drop pine needles and therefore create mess. There are now a number of artificial trees on the market to choose from, some that look as realistic as possible through to multi-coloured trees. You can even fibre optic Christmas trees; there really is a huge amount of choice. They will also maintain their looks throughout the holidays whereas real trees may start to look sparse and withered as their needles fall off or die. That said, artificial trees are rejected by some because they look fake and aren’t as traditional as a real tree.

Creative Commons, by Eve Hermann on Flickr.

Real trees give off a wonderful scent too and are aesthetically pleasing. It can also be something of a tradition to buy one each year, choosing from the different sizes available and then taking it home to decorate. There are also many newly popular varieties that drop their needles less than the traditional Norway Spruce, such as the Nordman Fir or Douglas Fir.

The environment is another factor to take in to account. Superficially it may seem as if the artificial tree would win this debate as it’s used for a longer period of time however it uses PVC which is a non-renewable source that is highly damaging to the environment once it is produced; it will also take many years to finally disintegrate and so will contribute to landfill waste. Real trees can also be seen to be wasteful and may also incur the use of pesticides that are damaging to the environment however of the two it is the least harmful option.

Today’s post is brought to you by Sam Luther, a blogger and homemaker, whose passionate about celebrating the festive season! Follow her on Twitter.

I hope you enjoyed today’s guest post! If you are interested in guest posting for Craft Leftovers, email your concept to kristin [at] craftlefters [dot] com!
Happy Holidays!
Kristin Roach

I love shopping in the bulk bins at my local co-op. And buying big bags of spices from the asian food store down the block from my house. And from the farmer’s market. And pretty much anything that smells neat or is called for in a recipe.

The only problem is, it becomes quite the snarl. I can’t justify going out and buying 100 cute little jars. Nor do I have the space to put all those jars. So what to do? How do I tidy them up in a way I can easily access them?

It’s a lame solution, but it works. I used food storage bags. I know I know, tacky. And the smells will infuse the other smells. But it has to be better than the bulk bin bags, which were leaking everywhere and making a huge mess.

I filled the bags, cut the labels off the packages that had labels, and taped them to the bags with packaging tape.

Or just sharpied it. You know, whatever. And then I just piled them into a basket. Now anytime I need something I just grab the basket off the shelf and use what I need and then put it back.

It’s not the sexiest solution. But my spices are safe. Easy to access. Out of the light. And don’t take up much space at all.

Happy Crafting!
Kristin Roach