With These Hands

I was excited about these.
It started because I was having the darndest time figuring out what to make for teacher gifts this year. The end of school year was coming up fast and all my promises to myself to get this done early had simply gone out the window. Shocker!
Being that Matty has been in preschool for 3 years and was at the same school, in the same classroom for all of those years with mostly the same teachers, well, I was in a pickle.
I had already made: keyrings, change purses, totes and wristlets.
Any type of clothing was out and I didn’t want to simply make another bag.
Hmmm.
I knew they all wore aprons throughout the day.
It was perfect!
I just needed to guessimate sizing, as all three ladies were really different.
Furthermore, they were different from me. I of the big and tall proportions!

Since I had never made an apron before and I wasn’t using any specific tutorial or pattern (just gathering ideas from hither and yon), I decided it best to make one for myself first. I didn’t want to ruin any of the fabric I ordered especially for the girls!

I used printed cotton canvas and a cotton lawn for mine. You can’t tell in the pics, but the red is actually a teeny polka dot! For mine (and for each following) I used my favored applique method of fusible webbing then stitching around the edges. It works brilliantly and adds a nice touch of character and whimsy when mixing prints.

Me in mine:

And now for the ladies. I should have gotten up close pics of the fabrics, because they were all so lovely. I purchased each material from j.caroline creative. I just love that site!

For Rosie:

(She really is little compared to me. See how it looks like a bib on me? Haha!)

For Maria:

And For Nina:

Each apron was reversible and had a kangaroo pocket on one-side. The only thing I did different from my original one was adding an adjustable neck strap via two D-rings. I was thankful that I thought to do it as I noticed that all Matty’s teachers adjusted them as soon as they got them on. Yay for thinking ahead!

Here are all three lovely ladies with wearing their new aprons:

♥

July 2nd, 2009 ★ No Comments »

Every superhero needs a cape, yes?
YES!
Matty loves the PBS program ‘Super Why’, so I thought I would make him a cape of his own.
I used a wool blend felt (SO much better than craft felt) and a printed cotton for the reverse side.
It was terrificly easy to make and he looks adorable with it on.

He’s flying!

July 2nd, 2009 ★ No Comments »

Well, I mean, if you leave a crayon in your pocket and then it runs through the clothes dryer and melts, well, that still is a bad thing.
So let’s say that melting-crayons-on-purpose-in-a-controlled-environment IS a good thing. Yes/Yes?

First we needed to do this:

Those naked crayons were chop-chop-chopped then put into my silicon candy molds. (Purchased specifically for this project.)

Some time in the oven, a little swirly-swirl with a thin stick and presto, here is the result:

A few notes about this craft:

I used a bunch of different brands of crayons. From crayon standards, to the washables, to the cheapies that you get at IHOP. The amount of pigment to wax definitely varies and when the molds came out of the oven, the ones with the higher ratio of wax, well you could really tell. There was a thick layer of the wax and I needed to mix it up manually to make the crayon more uniformed with color. As the crayons colored the wax still settled on the top however.

If you want CLEAR definition in your swirls/marbling, you’ll need to use colors that contrast well but don’t get swallowed up by each other. If you’re using dark green and you want pink speckles, use a lot of pink pieces, otherwise they’ll simply melt into the green and you’ll have almost a solid green crayon. Also: be gentle with your swirling.

July 2nd, 2009 ★ No Comments »

I wanted to brighten up our hallway a bit, so I painted some cheery red flowers on my craft closet door. I did it in about an hour or so after the boys went to bed. They both stared at it when they woke up the next day.

July 2nd, 2009 ★ No Comments »

plus

EQUALS

That there is lemon raspberry swirl ice cream. And it is FANTASTIC.

We just purchased the ice cream maker attachment for our Kitchenaid a few weeks ago. So far we’ve made three different batches of three different flavors.

First we had vanilla cherry chocolate chip. Then came rocky road. And yesterday we made the above.

Recipe is from the book before the cut.

2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 5-6 lemons)
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon lemon extract
2 cups light cream

Combine eggs, sugar,lemon juice, and butter in the top of double boiler.
Place over simmering water and beat constantly until mixture thickens, about 15 minutes.
Allow the lemon curd to cool slightly. (We let it cool for 10 minutes.)
Stir in lemon extract, then cream.
Cover and refrigerate about 8 hours or overnight.

Stir the cold custard well, then freeze in your machine according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.
Our Kitchenaid mixer required about 20 minutes to get ice cream to soft serve consistency.

Raspberry swirl is simply a seedless raspberry jam (1/4 cup) mixed with 2 1/2 tablespoons water. (Water loosens up the jam nicely.) Do this before you put your custard mixture in your maker and keep jam in fridge right up until you’re ready to mix in it.

You’ll mix the jam in once the ice cream is done freezing in your machine or mixer.

Transfer your ice cream to airtight containers and freeze until hard. (About 2 hours.)
Or you can eat it right away, I tried it before we put it in the freezer for the night and it was AMAZING as soft serve.

July 2nd, 2009 ★ No Comments »

Is it “broo-SKEH-tah” for you?
Or do you order it as “broo-SHEH-tah”?

Honestly? I alternate depending on my mood! If I’m in a Giada De Laurentiis kinda mood, then I break out the “broo-SKEH-tah”. But if I’m feeling my old americanized self, well then it’s the other one. It’s funny when I’m bopping back and forth between pronunciations in one single conversation. Or annoying. :p

Okay, so however you say it, it is a divine thing indeed and well, I made two versions recently.

This one here is a topped with a white bean puree and balsamic dressed arugula with red onions.

First the recipe* for the white bean:

1 can (19 ounces) cannellini beans, strained and rinsed
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon
1 small garlic clove, minced
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced (about 1/4 cup)
1 small bunch arugula (about 2 ounces) washed, dried, and cut into 1/2 strips

You should definitely make your toppings before you tend to the bread portion.
With that, here is the process for the white bean topping:

In food processor, process 2/3 of beans, 2 T olive oil, 2 T water, lemon juice, garlic, 1/2 t salt, 1/8 t pepper, until smooth, about 10 seconds.
Add remaining beans and pulse until incorporated, but not too smooth, about five 1 second pulses. (You still want some texture to the beans.)

Whisk remaining 1 T olive oil, balsamic vinegar, 1/4 t salt, 1/8 t pepper in separate medium bowl, add onion and toss.

(I used ciabatta bread for the bruschetta.)
Cut the loaf into slices between 1/2 inch to an inch thick.
Place them on a cookie sheet.
Pop them into the broiler for about 2 minutes.
Watch your broiler! (Mine will turn bread into a charred mess in the blink of an eye.)
Take a fresh garlic clove and rub across tops of bread.
You can add a drizzle of olive oil to the slices at this point, but I don’t find it necessary as there is olive oil in both topping versions and I personally hate when my bruschetta loses its tasty crunch and becomes a sopping mess. YMMV

Once your bread is ready and your bean spread is complete, then you will toss in your arugula strips into the balsamic/onion mixture.

To assemble, simply take your garlic rubbed toasted bread, spread some white bean mix on it, then top with some of the arugula/onion mixture. Eat and enjoy! It is SO GOOD.

Or…

Arugula and white bean not your thing?
How about traditional?

This one is even easier. You use the same process for toasting the bread and make a simple tomato and basil topping. I pretty much eyeball everything. I used: roma tomatoes, vine cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, kosher salt, black pepper, bit of olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Toss everything gently, give it a quick taste and adjust if needed. Then pop in fridge while you tend to the bread. The flavors of the tomato topping intensify nicely, so it would be okay to make this a few hours ahead even.

Oh and don’t forget the shaved romano!

*This particular recipe comes from the July/August 2003 issue of Cook’s Illustrated

July 2nd, 2009 ★ No Comments »

I’ve been away. Life, it gets in the way. My crafty space has been ignored for too long!
I realize my overall general well-being suffers when I’m not creating in ernest. So while I have been doing things here and there, it is simply not enough. My mission is to make it a daily occurrence.

I’m going to be posting items that I’ve made during the time between now and since my last posting. There’s not a ton, but I’ll be inspired to keep going. It’s time to breathe some life back into this place!

♥

July 2nd, 2009 ★ No Comments »

My first idea was this:

We hop into the city and head over to the Albert Einstein Memorial to get a family shot. I had just gotten a remote for our D40 and was anxious to see if I could get a good family picture without using the dreaded timer. (I can never get into position in time!) I was excited about the Einstein idea because I kept thinking it was cool and unique. I was envisioning something like E=Merry Christmas²!! I know it’s dorky and nerdy but I thought it was totally cute and appropriate, as Mike (and to a lesser extent I) is in fact geeky and science-loving.

But we went there and it was cold and windy and nearly IMPOSSIBLE to get a shot where the boys are smiling even a little and looking at the camera. I was getting frustrated and we had taken like 50 pictures and still I wasn’t satisfied. Partly because the statue is so big that to get it all in, the camera was kind of far back and you can only see us from a distance and with the many trees behind us, it’s just a lot of for a family photo that’s going to be a card, you know?

Here’s one picture that wasn’t that bad:

But what is up with my leg sticking out? And yeah, the boys are nowhere near looking at the camera. I don’t even know if Noah knows exactly what a camera is. As us yelling, “Look at the camera!” wasn’t doing anything.

So, the idea got scrapped by me. No matter though because as soon I decided to nix that one, another one popped in my head.
This one entailed taking individual pictures of us and collaging them all together in a very warm holiday wishes kind of way. I purchased some white posterboard, cut it in half, printed up some positive words, got out my glue stick and set to work in making two 2-sided message boards, so to speak. (I could have used blank white boards and added text to the picture after the fact, but I do like to cut and paste with actual scissors and glue!)

Some things never change, as the day we set to take the photos outside our building, it was again cold and windy. It was only minimally more manageable as I was taking pictures, Mike was dealing with one or the other of the boys. Noah still didn’t want to smile a lot nor was holding the sign very attractive to him. Matty did fare better, but only slightly. There was mud on the ground and that seemed like more fun. In any event, click, click, click and we were set.

I was so excited by how the whole thing came together! Everyone looks happy and cheery! Okay, well Noah doesn’t but that makes these extra adorable. And mildly ironic that he was the one holding the Joy sign!

I thought they made perfect Happy New Year! cards. See?

I used kodak gallery again this year and was pleased by their quality and turnaround. (We did wind up springing for rush delivery, as I’m a worrywart and even though these were New Year’s cards and not of the Christmas variety, I still wanted people to receive them in a timely manner.)

So there we go.
I wonder what I will come up with next year?
And will it be just as challenging?
Probably!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

December 24th, 2008 ★ No Comments »

Every year I convince myself that I’m going to make as many gifts as possible. Try new ideas. Search for exciting tutorials. Expand my crafty repertoire! And well, every Christmas comes and goes and I’m might eke out a few. Nowhere near the production I conjured in my head. It’s because I’m a blatant procrastinator. I’m not proud of it, but there it is.

And of course, this year was no exception.

A) I was sewing up until the last moment. (Many gifts were being mailed to faraway family.)
B) I had many more ideas that I didn’t have the time/energy to implement.

There were completed items that had to go RIGHT into the box for mailing, so I didn’t even have the where-with-all to photograph them. Which still bums me out. They included various pouches and hairbands (no big deal) to new items like this crayon roll (for Tai) and this pencil and notebook holder (for Ellie). I will make these items again though, so all is not lost.

On Monday night I was yet again closing in on my own personal deadline but still managed to produce these wristlet & tissue pack sets for Matty’s teachers. This was after I completed the cookie bags for his little class. Yep, I was up until 1. Sigh. The wristlets are of course my own tried and true design and the tissue packs were an idea from Skip to my Lou. Not too difficult, but very nice indeed.

But I did get photos this time!

And lastly, the sweet cookies.

I’m almost positive I did something similar last year. (But who could remember?!) I like to keep it simple for the kids. No chocolate, no nuts, as I really do not know if there are any allergies or such. These are simple, 5-ingredient butter spritz cookies. I adore these cookies. My mom made them for many years when I was growing up and they still bring me Christmas joy. I used the tree plate and added some green food coloring along with red sugar. Easy but cute. My kinda deal. They went into small bags fastened with red ribbon. Attached you will see nametags that I printed from Emily’s offering over at the the black apple. (I just love it when she offers cute tags!)

And that was it for this year.
I would love to say that I will start early for next year and be all done and just breeze through the holiday season.
But we all know the truth.
C’est la vie.

December 24th, 2008 ★ No Comments »

It’s taken me a bit to get into the swing of the holiday season. Even now, just over a week away and I’m still dragging my feet on my Christmas-y to-do list. But I have ideas swimming merrily around me head. Now if I can only find the time and energy.

These little trees though, well they were fast and easy and super fun to do.
I wanted just a little something extra around the house to add a bit more joyousness. Since I’m mainly a sewer, I dug through my stash to find some sweet fabric. I like these because they weren’t Christmas fabrics at all. But put together like this, they exude that holiday spirit. I found inspiration for these little guys from The Small Object and seeing these fun fabric conifers over at the black apple. (Scroll down to see hers made of polka dots!)

I set up this little scene this morning to try and get an adorable little photo of all of them together. It’s gray and rainy outside, so these were taken in our bedroom where the natural light is pretty scarce. But I like them, they make me happy just looking at ‘em. Wee wood ornaments are vintage and peppermint candies are Hammond’s handmade pillows. Aw, sweet.

After my little photo shoot here, the trees are back in there respective spots, stuffed trees on the TV, so I can get a glimpse of them whilst watching my favorite The Office and Top Chef and the stacked trees (which I placed on top of mini bud vases for the tree “trunk”) residing in front of our many, many books. Perfect.

And this little tree?
He’s a softie I whipped up just this morning.
Our front door was sans holiday decoration for many weeks now, so I finally swapped out our fall leaf painting (by Matty!) for this starred Christmas tree.
I like it.

materials used:

wool felt
thread
interfacing
quilt cotton
polyfill
beans (to weight coned trees)

December 16th, 2008 ★ No Comments »