Weekend Craftiness

Luxurious Weekend (sort of)

Things I did this weekend, in random order:

Made a monogram with a wooden letter from Hobby Lobby & a lot of saved-up corks, for the boring bare space above my stove. Ben put a dishwasher in, & a little extra counter space, so right now I am loooooving my kitchen. I was going to hang this thing tonight, but couldn't find a hammer, & Ben is all about everything being perfectly level...so he can do it! (Although he thinks the whole project is sort of stupid. Men.)

Made cashew cheese. You know, the stuff vegans eat! And it's actually really good, & husband-approved. It's not real cheese, just has a cheesy texture. We ate it as a spread on Kashi Roasted Vegetable crackers. 

It's just cashews, garlic, water, & a little salt & pepper in the food processor. 

Fed my kid delish plant food. She is such a good eater. This is banana, organic whole grain waffle, fresh blueberries from the local market we visited, & quinoa. I'm still trying to research the milk-for-toddlers thing, & want a good replacement for cow's milk. The more I know, the more animal products are getting the boot from my kitchen!

Made peach cobbler with whole wheat flour, which made it way dense & not like the cobbler I remember. It tasted amazing, but just didn't look as crazy-fluffy-yum. Reese & I went to the market & bought whole wheat pastry flour, for future endeavors. I figured out why I suck at baking: I try to make everything healthy, & a lot of "healthy" ingredients don't bake the same as their nutrient-devoid counterparts. I'm getting there!

Breakfast for the family: a casserole of quinoa, organic eggs (which will probably soon become all but eliminated from my diet), fresh basil & thyme, & local squash, beefsteak tomatoes, shallots, & red pepper. I will be making this again! The recipe is from Cooking Light, but I see it hasn't been posted yet on their website. 

Played with my little loves. I had to give Reese a lesson about "gentle." (Or "dental," in her language.) 

Made flowers out of vintage sewing patterns. I've had these pretty things forever, & thought they'd make cute centerpieces for a someday-soiree. 

Chalkboards out of ceramic Hobby Lobby frames! I spray-painted them Pistachio, & then used chalkboard paint over the glass. These will also hang in the kitchen. 

And watched fireworks at the River Raisin Festival. Reese said, "Wowwwww!" 

This morning it was back to work. Though I did get my new John Robbins book, which has proven to be a major distraction...but a good kind. 

:)

Lindsey.

Marvelous Garland

Oh so marvelous!

I lust after garland. 

It can be made out of anything!

My sister & I made several strands for my mom's & daughter's joint birthday party. 

The first kind: large perfect circles cut with a large craft hole punch, using cardstock in the colors we chose for the party.

The second kind: flags made of felt and burlap (I LOVE these! Burlap with light pink & brown is divine.)

The third kind: assorted ribbon tied to rope, in different twists, ties and bows. The messier the prettier. 

The fourth kind: paperclipped (if we could've found clothespins we would have used those) pictures, new and old, of the birthday girl--my mom! (This was quite the conversation piece, as it hung above the food banquet, a little more at eye level beneath the other strands.)

We used burlap & twine, and a single hole punch for threading. I like the combination of bright colors with rustic materials. 

I want to hang these everywhere. Maybe I can come up with a foresty-looking garland for the new baby's nursery? 

Lindsey.

My Office

MY FACEBOOK STATUS TONIGHT: "cleaning my office=mild torture. i want so badly to be a super-organized person, but it always ends up with a roomful of boxes of half-torn scrapbook paper, a million random pens, an array of photos i have no clue why i printed, things clipped from magazines i'll never use, books and books and more books, a few tossed-off sweaters, a gazillion notebooks with useless lists like "Losing 15 pounds by St. Patrick's Day" and "Burn These Songs to CD", snipped Forever 21 tags, forgotten-about costume jewelry, birthday cards too sweet to pitch, overnight bags still filled with whatever i took overnight a million nights ago, etc. spliththththhththththhtttt."

Tonight, I cleaned my office. It's not perfect but it's relatively organized. I believe your work space is a good example of what's going on in your brain, and it's safe to say my brain is overloaded and usually a big fat mess...but it's full of pretty things! 

Our house, in general, represents who we are. It's a 1910 Victorian full of wood and bullseye trim and a million heavy doors and a spoon-dug cellar. We've been renovating it for years, and have years upon years to go. My husband loves projects, and I just like putting on the finishing touches. The day-to-day of living in a restoration project is daunting and frustrating, especially with small children running underfoot. But the reward of finishing a room exactly to our (vintage, Victorian-gothic, dark & warm) taste is unparalleled. Patience, I've heard, is a virtue. 

My office is full of things I love, but it was also full of shit. Two big bags of store tags and papers and scraps later...

lindsey.