after a very full three weeks, the show was finally on stage.
some things are restyled or embellished, some things are custom-made for the show,
and four dresses were made by our other talented seamstress, ann.
Monday, August 29, 2011
absentee blogger...a brief apology
well, i said i wouldn't do it when i set up this blog, but it has inevitably happened...i have gone without posting for months on end. SORRY! this will be one of many apologies i will have to make over the years. it was (and still is) my hope that i would be posting projects frequently, documenting all the things that are going on on the family and creative fronts.
with that apology, i will post a few things that have been keeping me away from the computer. with all my best intentions aside, know that i will again lapse when life gets busy...like now, when i'm supposed to be starting school again with the kids. or in a few weeks, when i fly to iowa to lead worship at a women's retreat. or a week after that, when andy's cyclocross races start up again. ;)
it's a full life we lead...hopefully full of fun.
with that apology, i will post a few things that have been keeping me away from the computer. with all my best intentions aside, know that i will again lapse when life gets busy...like now, when i'm supposed to be starting school again with the kids. or in a few weeks, when i fly to iowa to lead worship at a women's retreat. or a week after that, when andy's cyclocross races start up again. ;)
it's a full life we lead...hopefully full of fun.
Monday, July 18, 2011
restyling auction
so, i've waited to do this post because i am still feeling a little raw over the flop that was otherwise known as the restyling auction. the partnership of a busy weekend, a sunny saturday (after a lot of rain and clouds), and a few other things beyond my control lead to very few people in attendance. a couple studio families showed up, but most of the people who were there came because of me. a few random people came who had seen posters i put up around town. after weeks of work sifting through donations, pairing items, and sewing, sewing, sewing, the whole event fell apart. frustrating, but, hey...i know i did everything i could. the idealistic side of me knew how much money could have been raised, so that was disappointing. the selfish side of me looks at all the work i put into it and is angry at the outcome. it really could have been a great event...if people had come. ;)
beautiful bags...that i forgot to put the minimum bid tags on. saddest part of the night for me was "giving" the blue bags to the "highest bidder" for $5 each. i wanted to puke. i should have said, "i'm sorry, but i forgot the minimum bid for these and your bid does not qualify you to win this item." but i didn't...
what was left to donate after the auction...
a day at the beach
mom and dad were in oregon, so we went to the coast. after a mandatory stop at camp 18 for a late breakfast, we drove the last 30-40 minutes to short sands...our normal beach of choice. despite the wind, it was a very nice day.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
skinnying jeans
i have two pairs of skinny jeans that i like, but for months have been hoping to find a lighter pair than the unwashed denim look i have. after finding a link on pinterest, i decided to rummage through my closet for pairs of pants to make skinny. this was relatively easy to do, though would have been easier for me to do on someone else. andy has a few pairs of dress pants for me to slim down and things are settling just enough for me to do that for him this weekend.
so, turn your pants inside out and put them on. do your best to button and zip so they are on properly. pinch and pin down each side of one leg. once you are happy with the new line, take them off and match the pins on the other leg. sew down the lines, being especially careful in the crotch to avoid puckering. on the jeans i cut off the bottom of the leg because i wanted them to end up slightly cropped. on another pair of dress pants i left them long because i wanted them to be a little slouchy in the leg.
**NOTE: this works best if you have jeans/pants with some stretch. you will enjoy wearing the end result much better if you can sit comfortably (stretch) after they are skinnied! ;)
restyling your own closet is the best!
so, turn your pants inside out and put them on. do your best to button and zip so they are on properly. pinch and pin down each side of one leg. once you are happy with the new line, take them off and match the pins on the other leg. sew down the lines, being especially careful in the crotch to avoid puckering. on the jeans i cut off the bottom of the leg because i wanted them to end up slightly cropped. on another pair of dress pants i left them long because i wanted them to be a little slouchy in the leg.
**NOTE: this works best if you have jeans/pants with some stretch. you will enjoy wearing the end result much better if you can sit comfortably (stretch) after they are skinnied! ;)
restyling your own closet is the best!
leg on your right is pinned
s'mores cookies
i have a bit of an obsession with s'mores...i'll admit that right off the bat. after signing up for pinterest, s'mores recipes kept popping up right and left. oh my yummy goodness. after looking through a couple of the recipes, i decided to alter my own cookie recipe.
after playing around with the format of the cookie, i have found it easiest to make individual cookies in lieu of bars. the bars turn out beautiful, but are hard to cut (think sticky marshmallow knife) and hard to eat without use of plate and fork.
s'mores cookies
2 sticks butter
1 C brown sugar
2 T molasses
2 T honey
cream above ingredients until smooth...3-5 minutes. then add:
2 eggs
2 t vanilla
mix well, then add:
1 1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 C unbleached white flour
1 C oatbran
1 t baking soda
1/2 t kosher salt
mix well. drop by scoop onto cookie sheet and bake 8-10 minutes at 350. remove from oven and top with 2 joined rectangles of hershey's milk chocolate bar. top with 1/2 a marshmallow (cut with kitchen scissors) and return to oven. broil for 1-3 minutes -- watch closely so they don't burn! let cool on rack and enjoy.
alternatively, you can add a bag of milk chocolate chips to the cookie dough. then, after baking simply top with marshmallow and broil.
after playing around with the format of the cookie, i have found it easiest to make individual cookies in lieu of bars. the bars turn out beautiful, but are hard to cut (think sticky marshmallow knife) and hard to eat without use of plate and fork.
s'mores cookies
2 sticks butter
1 C brown sugar
2 T molasses
2 T honey
cream above ingredients until smooth...3-5 minutes. then add:
2 eggs
2 t vanilla
mix well, then add:
1 1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 C unbleached white flour
1 C oatbran
1 t baking soda
1/2 t kosher salt
mix well. drop by scoop onto cookie sheet and bake 8-10 minutes at 350. remove from oven and top with 2 joined rectangles of hershey's milk chocolate bar. top with 1/2 a marshmallow (cut with kitchen scissors) and return to oven. broil for 1-3 minutes -- watch closely so they don't burn! let cool on rack and enjoy.
alternatively, you can add a bag of milk chocolate chips to the cookie dough. then, after baking simply top with marshmallow and broil.
chickens and coops
by about four or five weeks of age, the chickens were making quite an impact. the kids were still in love with them...and my house smelled like a barn. despite changing bedding and partially covering the aquarium they were living in, their odor was still present. over memorial day weekend andy began creating a coop and my fine feathered friends were happily settled by the next week.
as projects go in our house, a simple/quick design was put aside when andy found a picture online of a coop with a curved roof. we decided to put the run underneath, as well, making for a more compact footprint but necessitating that andy lay on his back while wrapping wire mesh around the perimeter (from the inside).
i will give a better tour later of the finished product after i paint the windows, but for now here is the construction of our chicken coop. we used a window from our house in colorado for the end of the coop along with two cabinet doors leftover from our oregon kitchen remodel.
as projects go in our house, a simple/quick design was put aside when andy found a picture online of a coop with a curved roof. we decided to put the run underneath, as well, making for a more compact footprint but necessitating that andy lay on his back while wrapping wire mesh around the perimeter (from the inside).
i will give a better tour later of the finished product after i paint the windows, but for now here is the construction of our chicken coop. we used a window from our house in colorado for the end of the coop along with two cabinet doors leftover from our oregon kitchen remodel.
my little chicken whisperer :)
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