Up All Night

Bedroom Painting

A couple years ago now, my boyfriend and I painted his bedroom.  It had been an awful very pale pink and had lots of scuff marks and little holes.  We did everything entirely ourselves (we were so proud!) and painted the walls a beautiful sage green.  It's so calming and did so much to make the room look finished and polished.  Ever since then, I have been promising him a painting to hang on one of the walls.  I attempted the painting twice, giving up both times and painting over everything with white...  Finally, about a week ago, I was struck by inspiration!  I had been thinking about painting a silhouette of a tree or plants, something like you might see at Urban Oufitters, with just the 2 colors.  But then I realized that tree branches would be the perfect thing.  My bf's room has a whole wall with windows on the upper half, looking out into trees.  I thought I would continue that look with the painting that would be on the adjacent wall.
When we painted the room, I saved a jar of the paint to use in whatever painting I made.  I used this color for the branches in the painting and made the background a very light beige.

Originally, when I was drawing everything out, I had the painting flipped over and liked how that looked.  But once I got painting and turned it around the opposite way, I realized I liked it much better this way!  I'm pretty sure that's how he's going to hang it in the room, too.

So, finally, after 2? years... Mission accomplished!!

Scarf for Mom

It's my Mom's birthday on Wednesday, so tonight I'm up late finishing the scarf I wanted to give her.  It's been in my house since right around Xmas time, but of course, I waited until the day before I had to get it in the mail!  Typical me...
Mom is a BIG fan of The Gilmore Girls, so I bought her a really soft cotton jersey scarf, in what I like to call "Lorelei Blue."  You fans of the show probably know what blue I mean.  I just embroidered some snowflakes on one end to remind her of one of her favourite scenes in the show!

Lorelei out walking during the first snowfall of the winter.  I'm pretty sure this was in the first season...

What I made for Mom:

Before Xmas, I had searched all over to find the perfect knit scarf for her in that perfect shade of blue, but I never found one.  This scarf may not be quite as warm as a knit one, but it's oh so soft and cuddly (I got one for myself, too!)  So, I hope she'll like it...

Recipe Swap - Received

The other day I received my package from my lovely swap partner, Jen.  What a great package!  She put a lot more time and effort into making the cookbook than I did, that's for sure!  I had been looking for a book similar to this one to use for hers, but I couldn't find one and had to settle for the little one.  Oh, well!

The cookbook is just adorable!  The book had a cool retro cover, and Jen painted over that in red and yellow to match my kitchen!  And it had the little "T" monogram in the middle.  Cute!
She also sent me the March issue of Rachel Ray's magazine, which I think is so fun to read and I can't wait to get to.  AND some really yummy Jolly Ranchers.  I think the Peach Smoothie flavor is my new favourite!

Inside the cookbook is just as cool as the outside:

Each page has cool retro-patterned paper, the recipe and little tips, and pictures to go with each recipe!!  It's just SO cute!  I can't wait to try some of the recipes, although, I have to admit I haven't been cooking very much lately and I don't know when I'll get in the mood again.  But when I do....!!!

Recipe Swap - Sent

My latest Craftster.org swap involved putting together at least 10 recipes for your partner and making something to hold them in -- a book, or a box, or whatever we could come up with.  My partner, Jen, is vegan and I had a really fun time testing the recipes for her book.  It wasn't too hard to find recipes, but I didn't really include any of my own personal favourites because they all include so much cheese!!  Seriously.  My recipe book was pretty basic, so I included some extra goodies for her. 

The recipe book itself is a photo album, and I glued on a cute pin-up who is having tea-time, I think!
The extras:
* 2 heart-shaped baking tins
* A vegan oatmeal raisin pecan cookie
* Vegan hemp lip-balm
* 3 fruit leathers
* 2 pamphlets from my local co-op, although I'm sure they'll contain info that Jen already knows!

My favourite recipe that I found for her book is for Pasta with Creamy Mushroom Sauce.  I made it twice before I sent her package, and I get cravings for it all the time!

Here's the recipe!

1/2 lb pasta (my favourites: fettuccine & mostaccioli)
2 cups sliced mushrooms (less if using canned)
1/2 small or medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup cooking sherry or wine
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp basil
4 Tbsp Tofutti Cream Cheese (or regular)
1/2 cup soy milk
1 garlic clove, crushed
Salt and pepper
              In a large pot, boil water for pasta.  While pasta is cooking, saute onions in olive oil for about 5 minutes.  Add sliced mushrooms to the onions and continue to saute.  Add the sherry, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste.  Once the mushrooms are cooked, mix in the cream cheese.  Let the sauce reduce a little and then add the soy milk and garlic.  Let the sauce thicken for a couple of minutes before pouring over the cooked pasta. 

YUM!!!

Pringles Can Fill-Er-Up Swap Sent

My lovely swap partner, Melinda, has received her package in the Pringles Can Swap, so now I can post pictures!

Melinda had been hoping for a DIY kit, so I made her a sort-of mini embroidery DIY kit including: The Craftopia pattern from the wonderful Sublime Stitching company, 4 colors of embroidery floss, 2 needles, and a how-to stitch guide that I made by scanning stitches out of one of my favourite old sewing books -- Clothing Liberation by Laura Torbet.  I would have liked to include an embroidery hoop, but I didn't have one that could fit in a Pringles can!

I also made her a red felt flower pin, 4 sets of glittery bobby pins, a pair of green & black beaded earrings, a paisley draw-string bag, 11 gift tags, and a crazy-wonky lavender eye-pillow!!  It was my first time making an eye pillow, and I'm not sure I picked the best fabric for it.  The fabric was soft and felt great against my skin but it may have been a little too loosely woven, because it was a bit hard to sew.  Oh well.  It looks crazy, but I think it will do the job.

The gift tags were fun and easy to make.  I cut out fun designs from a catalog and glued them to colored cardstock.  I think I'm going to need to make a bunch to keep around to use for presents!

Pringles Can Fill-Er-Up Swap Rcd

Today I received my package from my partner in the Craftster.org Pringles Can Fill-Er-Up Swap!!  (Very early, I might add!)  Glittergirl94 is on the ball!  For this swap, we crafted whatever we could fit into a Pringles can.  Here is what I got!:

Wine glass charms with beautiful glass beads:

Mini-Sharpies!!  My partner had read on here that I love them!

And here is me wearing the scarf!  It's really soft and adorable!

Mama's Apron

For Christmas this year, I made my dear friend an apron, since she cooks the most of anyone I know!  She became a new mommy again on Christmas eve, so now she has 2 adorable daughters running around her house.

The bottom of the apron was made using a tutorial in Bust magazine (Oct/Nov 2006 issue), and for the top, I traced a vintage apron of mine, which actually worked pretty well!

Here is Beautiful Mama in all her glory, in her kitchen.  She loved the apron!!  And if she hasn't already, both she and her hubby want her to cook in it with nothing on underneath!

At first I thought maybe I made the top a bit too narrow, but then I had to remember that she had just given birth two days before this picture!  So I'm sure it will fit better soon.

Yay, Mama!

Close- up of the fabric I used.  This once belonged to the grandmother of my mom's good friend.  She had recently moved and gave a bag of fabric to my mom, who passed it on to me.  There is enough left to probably make a half apron.  Or something else!
The edging on the apron is pink double-fold bias tape.  It was my first time working with it, and I loved it.  I want to put that stuff around the edge of everything!

Adopt a College Student Swap - 2nd Time

I participated in the Crafster.org "Adopt a College Student Swap" again a while ago.  I didn't want to post pictures until my partner had recieved her package, and then I forgot!
So, in November, this is what I sent to Amanda:

    * Holiday Garland inspired by the Martha Stewart Holiday magazine.
* 2 dishtowels embroidered using Sublime Stitching's Viva Las Vegas patterns.
* Orange cleaning wipes
* Travel-sized Mary Kay Satin Hands set
* 2 yellow highlighters
* Pack of coloured mini-pens
* Scrapbook/journal
* Watermelon Jolly Ranchers (I had read on one of her sites that she loves them.)
* 5 Emergen-C packs - orange flavour (she asked for stuff to help her not get sick this year!)
* 3 packs Smuckers Apple Cider mix -- So yummy!
* 3 packs Extra apple gum
* Star-shaped hematite beads
* Yellow star-shaped buttons
* 12 magazine envelopes that I made, along with 15 sticky labels for the addresses
* Star/asterik-shaped paper punch
* Rubber stamp with star design
* Mixed grey and rainbow yarn
* Canister of chocolate cream-filled wafers

Here is a close-up of the towels I made for Amanda.

 

This is the Holiday Garland all spread out.  To make it, you cut a bunch of circles (decorate them how you want), make 2 of each kind, and glue them to eachother with a piece of string between them.  It was very time-consuming, but I think it turned out cute!

These are the magazine envelopes I made for the swap.  Just tried to put a variety in there for her, since I wasn't quite sure what she'd like.

Great Songs on Commercials

This is a bit dorky, but that's okay.  I've been noticing lately that there have been really good songs on commercials!  I have this knack for recognizing songs within a few notes, and today I was in for a really nice surprise.  I was on the computer and my TV was on in the other room, when I heard the opening notes of "You're Gonna Miss Me" by 13th Floor Elevators.  It's a weird 60s song that I just recently put on a compilation (see 60s Pop CD post).  It was a commercial for Dell computers and I was really impressed with how they used the song.  They sort of skipped over all the parts with normal lyrics and instead just played the strange background vocals and music.  So great!

There is also a holiday commercial for Target that uses Goldfrapp's "Fly Me Away."  I see it every day it seems and I haven't gotten sick of the song yet!

One car company (Mitzubishi?) has a commercial that uses Morningwood's "Nth Degree," which is such a crazy fun song.  Every time I see it, the song stays stuck in my head for a couple hours.

A Nissan commercial has "Oh My" by Mellowdrone.  Another catchy and fun song-- I originally heard it on Veronica Mars.

And to top them all off, XM Radio is using "Better" by Regina Spektor on one of their ads.  She's amazing.  I've seen her twice in concert.  It's great, but a little scary that her song is out there on something so mainstream!

Thanksgiving Cocktail Party

Last night, I had a Thanksgiving Cocktail Party using recipes and tips from my new Amy Sedaris book.  It was a HUGE success, I think!  Only one semi-minor meltdown in the kitchen (and one potential mess that was averted by the culinary talents of a dear friend), but otherwise everything went great and was SO yummy.

This was the food table.  We served:
Amy's famous Lil Smoky Cheese Ball, Tattletail's Vanilla Cupcakes, Stuffed Mushrooms, Crab Balls, Deviled Eggs, Gina's Hot Nuts (Amy's name for them-- I don't know who Gina is), Sangria and Rum Punch Dazzler, and Seein' Peanuts.

These are Seein' Peanuts.  Aren't they cute??  My boyfriend made them all while downing Sangria right before the party.  He also made all the little signs for the table!

Everyone's favourite was probably the Cheese Ball.  It was amazing!  Everyone raved and I couldn't take any of the credit.  But at least I knew then that I had followed the recipe correctly...  This is one of Amy's specialies, and now we know why!

Amy's other specialty is her wonderful cupcake recipe.  In the book, she says her cupcakes were voted second best in New York.  I had never made cupcakes from anything but a box before these, and it was really different!!  They are just so yummy, though!!  They're not so sickeningly sweet, and the frosting doesn't have a weird plasticy consistency like the canned stuff.  I guess I didn't know what I was missing before I ate these!!  Looking at her book, it seems like Amy usually puts plastic picks in her cupcakes, like the wonderful ballerinas, but I couldn't find these when I hit the craft store the day before the party.  I didn't have time to shop around, so I settled for some Sponge Bob sugar decorations.  Those were still a big hit, even inspiring a few guests to sing the Sponge Bob theme song.

After a few helpings of food, and glasses of surprisingly strong Sangria, we played a team game of my brand new board game: Trival Pursuit 80s edition.  The pop culture stuff came fairly easy, but the political and news questions gave us trouble-- understandable considering most of us were little kids in the 80s.  All in all, I think it may have been the most successful party I've ever thrown!  It was definitely the most satisfying for me.  After everyone left, I actually just sat and enjoyed the feeling.