Projects: Food

When we lived in California, we became more aware of our food choices. Not necessarily organic, but where it came from and how it was produced. We helped good friends garden and ate the deliciousness that was produced there. We tried to make things from scratch and tried to be more conscientious of how we treated our surroundings. Our move back to Kansas made for some bumps, but we continued supporting locally produced foods and tried to continue making stuff from scratch. And then December 18th rolled around and that all flew out the window. There was no energy to care about any of that anymore.

I don't know if it's from our final adios to summer, or just the winter chill attempting to settle in, but we've been cooking and baking a lot more again. It feels like we are kind of getting some of our groove back in that regards. It's taken almost two years to get to this meager little spot. I'm even excited at the idea of a garden this next year, even in the face of the 100 degree demon temps we get for a good chunk of the summer.

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Again, Pinterest has supplied a lot of ideas for yummy goodies to try. I'll share a few that I've tried, and I'll inquire about something that you've tried lately, or is a standard favorite in your household.

Homemade Poptarts: these were easy, and simply divine. So yummy. I whipped up my own icing with water and powered sugar and a touch of vanilla. You could easily do a variety of other icings that you might prefer more.

Rye Bread (mimic of Out.back Steakhouse): this was a flop for me, but only because I messed up the amount of yeast I used and it tasted yeasty. I would like to try again though.

Sweet Potato Ravioli: This is a new favorite for me. The pasta is two ingredients, the filling is quick and easy, and the sauce is subtle but yummy. I had a side of peas, and homemade rolls (link below). A nice white wine(?) would go nicely with it too.

Quick Yeast Rolls: I've made these twice now, and they are definitely my new favorite roll recipe. Quick and easy (notice a pattern in all my recipes?), but super tasty. They are fluffy and soft and I love them. I might dabble in adding some whole wheat flour and see how they do.

I'd love to see what you are trying...leave a link in the comments :)

Projects: Car Seat Cover

I had a baby shower to go to this past weekend. The family had twin boys, but one only lived for three hours after birth. We were out of town for the memorial service, so I put something in the mail for them to show we remember him. I wanted to be sure and attend the baby shower though, since that is also a big part of their lives...raising his brother (and his older siblings). 

I found this link for a car seat cover on pinterest and figured it'd be pretty easy to make. When Simon was born, we didn't have a car seat cover, and just used a blanket, which always blew off with a wind gust. This is nice because it actually buttons on, and seemed like a great way to keep the little one warm in the cooler temps we are getting now. I followed the tutorial pretty much the whole way through, and liked the outcome. The hardest part was the button holes.

The pics are terrible with bad lighting and from my ipod, but you'll get the idea.

Projects: Cars

Yes, I did another sewing project, and it turned out pretty great...in my own opinion :)

This is a portable track and storage toy thingy that I made for a Christmas present. Pinterest, of course, led me to this wonderful project.

Projects: Earring Holder

I did an earring holder project a while ago, but it didn't last. After moving, I needed a new place to hang my plethora of earrings. Now, I LOVE earrings, but Simon is Mr. Grabby right now, and so I've been abstaining from wearing them for the sake of my poor little ears.

So after a few insightful pins I saw on p.interest, I made my own. I used an old frame, some fishing wire, and nails. I wasn't patient enough to go pick up some wood staples, so I just mangled some nails (I know there is cringing going on somewhere as I mention that) to fasten the fishing wire. Thin jewelry wire could probably be used too. The frame could also be painted a fun accent color for some pop. If you try it out, you'll have to holler back and let me know what you ended up using. We haven't painted our room yet, so it's just leaning against the wall on my dresser for now, but it will eventually hang and look pretty nice I think.

Projects: Where We've Lived

This project is years in the making. We first experienced art hops...art crawls...final fridays...sound familiar? The art galleries or other organizations in the city open their business up after hours once a month, for art displays and wine and snacks and you go from place to place...that kind of thing. We loved it. We had good friends we'd go with, and it was grand. I worked at a grad school, and kinda helped with some public relations stuff and asked if we could host an art hop for just one month...thinking it would bring people on campus and raise awareness about classes and such. Plus I knew there were a lot of great artists in the grad school community and why not share that with each other and the world? It was approved, and I started planning and organizing, with help from many good friends. And long story short, it was a great event.

My husband has great faith in my artistic skills, but he often is my muse. He'll come up with these amazing ideas, and he tells me as if I can just automatically produce them in all the glory he sees them in his head! This was one of his ideas...a snapshot of the cities we've lived as adults.  I was inspired by E. Mc.Knight K.auffer, and his L.ondon U.nderground posters from the 20's. I created these on my computer, choosing images that were sentimental for us, and had them printed for this art show...and they even sold!

I never had another set printed up for whatever reason. We moved back to Kansas, and experienced our two years from hell, and I didn't even consider making one for our new city. And then we moved again in March this year, and L kept getting on me about not having made the new one*. And that we should have them all printed and put up in our living room. So I finally dug in and did it...got them printed...framed...and now they are hanging in our living room.

We'll see if we add some more in the future, or not :)

*And for the sake of semi-anonymity here, I've removed the city names, and left the state names, though some may be well known enough that they can be figured out. I don't know if that's silly or not. But I did it.

Projects: Watercolors

The next project I've worked on was for a variety of things...two for friends, one for myself, and two for the Auction for Mikayla's Grace and Forever in Our Hearts Remembrance Day that is being held through the 25th. I did these all after Simon is put to bed. I'm finding the evening hours are the best time to work on artsy projects...

Projects: A new purse

The 18th rolls around again, signaling 20 months without Lyra.

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As mentioned in my post Tuesday, I've been working on some various projects. There's the necessary projects, such as laundry and vacuuming that do get done (I promise). And then the more fun projects, which I've decided to show you over the next several days.

Today I'll show you the purse I sewed. That's right...I used the sewing machine to successfully make something! I didn't use a pattern, because I'm not patient enough. You professionals, (especially Jeanette) don't look too closely :)

It's meant to be worn like a messenger bag. There's a back pocket from a man's pants suit on the outside. The strap is orange on one side, and the remaining material from the pants on the other, which is hard to tell in this photo.

On the inside I made a divider that splits the bag into two bigger spaces, while the divider is made up of two pockets of it's own.

I'm glad I did this...it was actually kind of fun :)