Craft Time with Old Friends

Last night a friend and I had a little craft evening. We used to work together several years ago but life has its way of shifting people around. This summer life happened to shift us back into the same city. So we decided it would be fun to get together and work on a little craft project and have some wine while catching up. Brilliant idea!

This is what came of it.

I found the tutorial for this on Clean and Scentsible via Pinterest, obviously. I pinned my felt pieces in a little tighter than the original. Also, while making it last night I got it in my head to use some different colors and make hydrangea-type flowers using the same technique. Then I thought they might look quite nice in some coffee can vases I have been working on. I love it when crafts turn into other crafts.

I learned this morning that I should always take pictures in my craft room. I have been trying to take them in different areas of the house since my craft room is small and pretty full, but it seems everywhere else makes pictures look yellow even with good light coming through the windows. Lesson learned.

Pin-spiration

I will admit that I am 100 percent addicted to Pinterest! I love just scrolling through the pretty, funny, geeky, crafty pins that other people have posted. I love being able to keep all of my creative inspiration in one place, and I love the bursts of creativity that said scrolling can ignite.

I found this tutorial for melted crayon art a while ago and pinned it away for a rainy day. I loved the technique, but I didn't know how I wanted to make it mine. 

Last week, I took a drive through Northern New York on my way to my hometown to get some new ink from my favorite tattoo artist and cousin (A post of tattoo awesomeness will be forthcoming in November). Northern New York in the autumn is one of my favorite experiences on this earth. This summer was very dry so the colors weren't as vibrant as they could have been, but the beauty was still beyond compare. Four hours with just me and this remarkable scenery stirred up my creative juices. Finally, I had an idea for how to use the melted crayon art in a way that was undeniably me. If you know me, you know that I love everything about trees! So, without further ado, here is my version of melted crayon art.

 

 

Halloween Cookies

I have been a baking fiend since we moved into this house in July. It seems like every other day I get the itch. Great for my sweet tooth, not as great for my diet. But let's be real, we all know which is more important!

These are Mom's chocolate chip cookies with a little Halloween twist: White Chocolate, Candy Corn, M&Ms. 

I love these little guys. My Grandma gave them to me to decorate on my first Halloween in my own apartment =)

Words of Wisdom

The boy reminded me once again this week why I keep him around.

I started working evenings in September and am still trying to adjust. I wasn't really concerned with the schedule because I really, truly hate mornings! I have worked the same shift in the past as well so I thought I would be good to go. Turns out it's taking longer to adjust than I expected. 

I was feeling kind of bummed earlier in the week. I felt like I never had time to do anything. When I get home I like to relax with Ryan. It's one of the only times I get to see him now. So nighttime was ok, but I felt like my daytime hours were wasted. It seemed like by the time I got up and showered and made coffee it was practically time to get to work. I wasn't working on craft projects or do anything for me. I didn't think I had enough time to start anything and then I would start feeling guilty for not doing anything. 

When I shared my concerns with Ryan, he kindly stated that I was just being silly and I had plenty of time to work on stuff. That I needed to work on projects and do something enjoyable with the time I did have instead of worrying that I didn't have enough time. So, that very day I decided to work on the curtains. Turns out, it is not how much time I have to do something, but what I do with the time I do have that matters. Something very simple, but easy to forget. So thank you. I suppose I'll keep you around for a while longer.

Happy Accidents

Fun find! I pinned this color scheme well over a year ago for the living room of my dreams. I love the straw-yellow and gray combination, and the pop of red is fun. Fast forward to July. That fun pop of red is the same color as the living room in my new house! Needless to say, in July I had already forgotten that I had this color swatch tucked away. Luckily, I found it this week. Hooray for happy surprises! I have been trying to find ways to brighten up the dark red of the living room since we moved in. One of the first things I have undertaken is a set of new curtains. Roman Shades to be exact. I picked out the fabric before I found this, but the gray and the yellow are pretty much spot on.

Since I'm talking about the curtains, I'll give a brief update: All three shades are currently assembled and I bought tension rods for them today. The only steps remaining are to hem them, attach the rings and cords, and get them hung for good! Every time I look at the current curtains I think of one more reason I am so happy that I chose roman shades. For one, the living room is not huge, and it is painted a dark color, so the less material the better. Second, the windows are huge! Third, the walls are plaster so the current curtains are hung from the window frame instead of above the window where they should be. And lastly, speaking of the window frames they are gorgeous old wooden frames that should be displayed proudly and not hidden behind ugly fabric! I will post some before and after photos when they are finished.

Zur Erinnerung

Once upon a time, I lived in Germany. It was only for one short year, but it remains one of the best years in memory. One of my favorite parts was experiencing all of the food. Most people may not think of German food as chic or interesting, but there is something about it that I love. I love the fact that dinner is still eaten around the table with the whole family. I love that each dinner is prepared at home from real ingredients, not a box. I love the vast amount of cream that goes into German food. Mostly I love how the smells and tastes I experienced for the first time while abroad still have the power to flood me with wonderful memories 11 years later.

This is one of those foods. Pizza Suppe, I got the recipe from my first host mother. I still don't know why its called Pizza Soup...I am not generally in the habit of putting hamburger or corn on my pizza, but name aside, I love this stuff! 

One problem that I came across when I came back home with all of these wonderful recipes that I wanted to recreate was that there are a lot of ingredients that are hard to find in this country. I tried using substitutes, but it was just never the same. For this specific recipe it was Crème fraîche. So imagine my joy when I stumbled upon this in the grocery store the other day. The first thing that popped into my head was Pizza Suppe! The right ingredients simply make all the difference.

Assuming you can find Crème fraîche, you will also need:

• ground beef 
• 2 onions (I use one red and one yellow)
• 2 bell peppers (red and yellow), I also threw in a jalapeno this time around
• Basil and Oregano
• Vegetable Stock
• Tomato Paste
• Corn
• Cream Cheese
• Crème fraîche  

Brown the ground beef with the peppers onions and herbs. Add salt and pepper to taste.

 
















Add the tomato paste and vegetable stock. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Turn down heat slightly and add corn, Creame Cheese, and 2 tbsp Crème fraîche. Stir to blend and continue cooking on low heat for another 15-20 minutes. Add salt and pepper again if needed.