loaves of fun

 

Click through to read my post for Parentella about making cute bread creatures for holiday giving.

cleaning out the fridge

I cleaned out the fridge last week and a lot of good stuff went into the stockpot to make a rich broth.  The recipe I used for baking my Thanksgiving ham suggested keeping the ham bone for making soup.  It always feels so good when I'm able to use something and avoid throwing it away.

The house smelled like home cookin' when I had this simmering on the stovetop.  That night we had a delicious risotto for dinner, enhanced by all the flavors from this stock.  And there was quite a lot of stock leftover, so that has been frozen into small batches in the freezer for adding flavor to future dinners.  

Is it too early for resolutions?  I won't make any official proclamations... but, I do want to make a promise to myself to make more of our meals from scratch using whole food ingredients.  Here are some of my favorite cookbooks including both editions of the Gourmet cookbooks and The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters.  The morning I spent preparing this stock was so satisfying on several levels.  I was using up all the vegetables that would have otherwise gone out with the trash, I was cooking the base for a delicious dinner and, as with everything I make, build or create, I had the satisfaction of making something from almost nothing.  (Like Stone Soup!)  Maybe next week I'll have to try making a batch of Corn Chowder with this rich, almost smoky (from that ham bone), stock.  Mmmmmmm!

morning stitches

My handmade holiday season has begun!

Growing up, my Aunt (or, rather, my Dad's Aunt... so this would make her my Great Aunt?) would give intricately stitched felt Christmas tree ornaments to the family every Christmas. One year it would be Santa Claus and the next year, Mrs. Claus. I think there was a Christmas wreath and maybe even a reindeer. They were stitched with mini pearls and sparkling sequins. I imagined her sitting in her sewing room all year long cutting, stitching and stuffing.

And, for a while, I took on this tradition as well. I think it was when I was in High School. One year I stitched up felt earth globes with big red bows, another year it was a felt dolphin with a hand stitched wreath around its neck and then there was the teeny tiny felt goldfish that sat in a clear, plastic globe filled with sand. (This last one had some consequences... the sand, fresh from the beach, eventually caused mold to grow on the goldfish after a year in storage. Should have bought sterile sand!) But then I started college and had no time for stitching.

So it's time for me to jump back into that tradition - what, gosh... 20 years later! But I'm not about the sequins anymore. I want good, old-fashioned stitches. I am still all about the felt, though! Now, however, I know about good felt. I'm all about wool felt. Yes, I line my baby shoes with eco-fi felt which is made from post-consumer plastic bottles, but I always like to use wool felt in places where it is seen because it doesn't tend to get that plastic-y shine. The wool felt always looks soft, and stays soft even after years of going in and out of storage in between holidays.

So, hopefully, for what will be the first of many more holidays to come, here is the hand-stitched ornament I plan to give out this year. These days I'm not entirely about dolphins and Mother Earth, so it's a little more whimsical and fun. But, this isn't something I've been working on throughout the year, so I better get busy. And since these mornings are getting chilly (for California standards, anyway), there's nothing better than starting off the day with a hot cup of coffee, sunshine and stitching.

Here's another little post for Parentella about a project you can do with the kids. This wreath of thanks can be quite humorous when the young ones are asked to name all the things they're thankful for. Read all about the funny things my son added to his wreath - and follow my tutorial for making one yourself: Wreath of Thanks.

papier mache tutorial

Recently I was invited to be a guest blogger for Parentella, a wonderful parent-teacher networking site. You can find my tutorial for making these cute little papier mache jack-o-lanterns on their blog: Papier Mache Jack-o-Lanterns [Parentella Blog]. And, while you're at it, check out some of my other kid-friendly crafts: Dawn [Parentella Blog]. The Parentella Blog has daily posts that cover all the hot topics for parents including education, socialization, schools and, of course, arts and crafts! Check it out!

tower of jacks

Every year it seems I craft up some new Halloween decorations to get this little house decked out. Ghosts, a pumpkin wreath and now my tower of jack-o-lanterns. And this one was SO on the fly. I was at Target looking at decorations and they had all these $1 jack-o-lantern pails stacked so that they looked more fun than the actual packaged decorations they were selling. So I bought a few and added a few that have been hanging from the rafters in the garage from years past. Simply drilled holes in the bottoms of all but the top and bottom pails. Drilled a small hole in the back of the bottom pail for the cord and then strung some LED x-mas lights throughout. (My guess is that the LED will not emit heat... so the hot glue that is keeping them stacked will not melt and there is not a concern with having the lights inside the plastic.) Oh, and I used a black pail for the top as a way to keep the light in. I didn't want a spot light shooting out of the top. This was a 20-minute project. So satisfying to finish something so spectacular in so little time. My intention was to put it outside, but it is a very uncharacteristic Southern California day today. Rain rain and more rain still. But now that it's sitting here in the house, I kind of like it. We'll see if I move it or not.

new booties in the Etsy shop

Just finished up a couple pairs of baby shoes for the Etsy shop. The pair up top has a cute Michael Miller print on the toes. I'm always keeping my eye out for smaller prints that will work on my bootie toes. This one just barely worked. Elephant's trunk and feet got slightly chopped, but I think it's still obvious what he is.

The print I used on the pair below is a sweet piece of fabric I got while in Hawaii over the summer. The past couple trips we've made have been great fabric shopping trips for me. I love browsing through all the screen printed aloha prints and imported Japanese cottons. I could easily spend hours in Hawaiian fabric shops. I found this print, however, at Walmart. Even they have a great fabric selection in Hawaii! The other thing to raid at a Hawaiian Walmart is the scrapbooking section (turtles, surfboards and flip flops!), stamps and origami paper. Love it! All of the Walmarts around my part of town here in California have stopped carrying fabric and this pleases me immensely because now all the fabric shops will pick up the business. But, I sure hope they continue to carry fabric in Hawaii!

live healthy - buy flowers

A book I pick up often is Dr. Andrew Weil's 8 Weeks To Optimum Health. As you know, I love books that lay it all out for me, like an instruction manual for life. I'll have to admit that I haven't ever made it past Week-3. How long have I had this book? Too long to admit. I know there's no excuse for taking care of yourself. So, someday soon I'll stick with it and find myself in optimum health. I love Dr. Weil's mental/spiritual task for Week-1: "Buy some flowers to keep in your home, where you can enjoy them." I can do that! He explains, "Flowers manifest the beauty and wonder of nature and delight the senses. It feels good to be around them. They raise our spirits."

I brought this bunch of sunflowers home yesterday and I didn't want to trim those lovely, long stems! So there they are in all their tall glory. I wonder how long it will take for a ball or toy flying from some little rascal's hands to topple the whole thing over. Not soon, I hope. I can't believe how much water sunflowers drink. It's almost like having a pet when you bring a bunch of sunflowers home. Fresh water every day!

I'm in love with that shade of green in the center.

swatches

Here are some fabric swatches I recently got back from Spoonflower. Yes, I finally learned my lesson. Not that long ago I would order up a yard of fabric and then get it only to find that the colors weren't exactly what I had hoped for. So now I chock up $5 for a test swatch and patiently wait for my samples to arrive before ordering any major yardage. In fact, the swatch up top is a revision of one of my first fabric designs. I'm still trying to find ways to use up the fabric I ordered where the brown looks black and the beige looks off-white! This one is in my Buzzing Bog Collection and can be ordered directly from Spoonflower HERE.

These prints were inspired by our recent Waikiki holiday. The lotus flower was actually something I saw over the summer at the pond in Balboa Park, San Diego. I must have taken dozens of photographs of those lotus blooms. And the vertical orientation reminds me of my mu'u mu'u. I'm still not completely sure about the color, but they are available from Spoonflower as well. I call this collection, Hawaiian Hybrid.

This design might look familiar. I designed it for a Spoonflower contest and then never had a swatch printed up. Shame on me! But the colors are exactly as I pictured. I think the design could still use some edits, but it was exciting to get this one and see it printed up on fabric.

If only I had more hours in the day for designing fabric! So many ideas, too little time. I really want to design a cheater quilt like the one created by The Dixie Chicken. Too cute! I've got to find a way to be able to sacrifice sleep for creativity. Getting swatches back from Spoonflower is incredibly addicting!

new booties in the Etsy shop

I played around with my bootie patterns over the weekend and created this new profile that includes those little tabby-things on the back for gripping while slipping onto baby's foot. (Do those have a name?) I've also started raiding my fabric stash for accenting the toes- I love this Michael Miller print called "Sophie's Garden". Aren't the colors wonderful? Find this pair in the shop.

the architect in me

I've been trying to brainstorm a new way to package my booties and make them easier for gift giving. As is usually the case when I'm trying to figure these kinds of things out, I revert to my training in Architecture for rendering my ideas. In my head, I could fold some acetate in such a way as to create lovely little bags for my booties, like this:

new packaging,
originally uploaded by out_of_the_box.

To see if what I was visualizing in my head could actually work I used some good, old-fashioned, architecture-school model building to work out the details. (yes, this is what I do for fun) After a few stabs at a prototype, I had it all figured out:

So when there I times that I start to get down on myself because I'm not out there using my degree for building things architectural, I must remind myself that everything has it's place in the snowball effect process that got me where I am today. No, I'm not carefully constructing scaled models of buildings, but I did figure out a pretty nifty way to bag my booties!

P.S. New booties in the shop!

strange summer weather

4th of July Barbecue,
originally uploaded by out_of_the_box.

Oh my... how quickly the weather can change from being perfectly lovely barbecue weather to a damp morning of rain. July, you're a mystery to me! But waking up to all this moisture on a Summer day makes the house feel like it must be in Kauai, Hawaii. I LOVE morning showers in Kauai. There's a wonderful scent in the air - a combination of rain drops on green leaves, wet earth, damp grass and blooming flowers. Yes, I keep wishing for the sun to come out (especially since we've really only had one clear, blue sunny day so far this Summer), but I'm not going to complain about this morning's shower. Saves me some time now that I've started hand-watering everything to conserve water. So, thank you, July! You've given me at least an hour for some other kind of fun. There's that pile of wonderful fabric waiting to be transformed into matching quilts for the boys. I'll sit here next to the open window and cut fabric. Can't ask for a better morning than this!

summer project 1: sand dough

Summer Projects

no. 1

Sand Dough,
originally uploaded by out_of_the_box.

We're a few weeks into Summer Break now and I'm happy to report that I've been successful at keeping little boys busy. The best thing for all of us to do is arts and crafts. It's something we can all enjoy together. One of our latest projects was making Sand Dough. In concept, it's a lot like making regular, homemade play dough, just add sand. The boys got a kick out of it and especially liked the idea that they could build sandcastles that wouldn't get stomped on or washed away by a rogue wave. I suggest giving kids a small piece of wood or a cutting board for assembling their creations. This way you can easily move it to dry once they're finished.

The recipe is VERY simple. But since it involves some cooking on the stovetop, the task of making the dough should be for grown-ups only. (while you're making the sand dough, have kids sort rocks and/or seashells for using to decorate their creations) Combine one cup of sand, one cup of cornstarch and one cup of water in a saucepan over medium heat. It will be watery, but don't worry, it should start to thicken up as the mixture warms. Once it starts to come together into a ball of dough, transfer to a clean bowl to cool before little hands start working their magic.

From here you just let little imaginations run wild. Finn enjoyed simply mooshing his ball of dough around on his board. Robbie proceeded to build a fortress for his "seashell". I made "starfish". This batch of dough was made from a scoop of sand I grabbed from the boys' sandbox. I suspect that real beach sand would be even better. The sandbox sand is a little too white and artificial looking. As I was molding my "starfish" I found myself wishing the dough had some specks of black like at the beach. Once the creations are complete, put them out in the sun to dry. If pieces fall off (as they did with Robbie's castle), use some white glue to reconstruct the masterpiece once it is dry.

I couldn't stop thinking about how dough made with crushed coral sand from Hawaii would look. There are so many possibilities! I'll probably turn my small creations into magnets for the fridge. Next time I make a batch, I think I'll mold some into small blocks of all shapes and sizes. Once they dry they would make excellent sand castle blocks! (that might be more fun for Finn who, at 3-years old, is more excited by stacking than molding) Regardless, the kids were very intrigued by the whole proecess. You can definitely expect to fill an afternoon with this project. Have fun!

nothing says summer like corn!

Happy 4th of July !

Ready to barbecue
originally uploaded by out_of_the_box.

I'm sure everyone is off at the beach or the lake, having a picnic or getting settled in for a fireworks display. Here at the Huntington house, I'm getting ready for a little Independence Day barbecue. I've got my corn all prepped- pulled the husks down and removed all the silks before tying it back up with some hemp twine. These will soak in some water for 10 minutes before I brush them inside with a chili-rub. Then they'll sit on grill while our turkey and hamburger sliders cook. Sound good? Give it a try! Here's the recipe for the chili-rub:

(for 4 ears of corn)
1 teaspoon melted butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients and brush on the corn kernels after allowing the cobs to soak in some water. Pull the husks back up and tie to secure. Place corn on the grill and cook until tender, 15-17 minutes. (if they seem to be cooking too slow, I often make a big pouch out of aluminum foil to wrap up all the ears of corn together - since the husks still have some moisture in them, this creates something like a steaming tent and tends to speed the process along)

offline

Things I've been doing instead of
sitting in front of the computer...

watercolor painting
decoupage
browsing cool new fabrics
buying cool new fabrics
brainstorming
sketching
gardening
gardening
gardening

All this smooshed between the boring stuff.
Must find a way to live with a little clutter,
chaos and dust so I can make more
time for the fun stuff. Need more fun!

perfect poppy

*
Because I just can't get enough of orange and green, together.

color me passing strange

I'm going to take a small break from sharing stitches, paint and doodles to tell you about something I've mentioned a time or two before... I want to share the work of another kind of artist- a poet, a musician, a performer. His name is Stew.

The first time I heard Stew and his band, The Negro Problem (and this is up for debate because the husband is sure we heard of them long before this program, but...), was on KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic". (Click the link and listen- I'm thrilled they still have it available for streaming. You'll need RealPlayer, as far as I can see... but I promise you it's worth it.) I was hooked! I was entranced by "The Statue Song (Indoors Again)". Listening to that song was like watching a movie. "Ken" was an equally brilliant and sympathtic (and fucking funny) song about Ken, who is forced to be with Barbie and who only wants to love as he'd like to (with G.I. Joe). And then I was pushed down memory lane with "Monsanto". (Remember that strange "Adventure Thru Inner Space" by Monsanto ride at Disneyland that was usually the first ride you hopped on because it was right there at the entrance to "Tomorrow Land" and very rarely ever had much of a line? You'd sit in those white pod-like chairs that swivelled and looped you through, making you believe you were shrinking and have become the size of an atom being looked at under a microscope? Thinking about that stirs something up, doesn't it? Yeah, and Stew put it in a song!) On "Morning Becomes Eclectic" it was sung slowly with a banjo in a different tune so I could grasp the lyrics - unlike the recorded version where Stew's words fire out like a machine gun.

"Monsanto, come back to me.
I'll wait there
I'll wait there
To Disneyland in Winter
To Disneyland in Winter
When everybody else is gone
Take a ride a million times
There ain't nobody standing in line
Everybody oughta have a mother or a brother
who would take them on a magical time
To Disney land in Winter
To Disneyland in Winter
Ya know when everybody else is gone"

A lot of Stew's songs are like that- where you miss pieces of the lyrics and they are left up to you to fill. He stitches words together so they all kind of seem like one big word, with a melody. (I've always thought that about Tracy Chapman as well. Isn't is FUN singing "Fast Car"?) And in the blogs and message boards Stew fans all offer their interpretation of those lyrics because, as they also like to mention constantly, Stew never publishes his lyrics.

Stew has an incredible discography, but also not to be missed is a wonderful little diddly he wrote for "Spongebob Squarepants". Yes, I said "Spongebob Squarepants". (Additionally, I have heard a Stew song on the long gone television series, "Ed"... God I loved that show- especially after I heard a Stew song playing in the bowling alley!) "Gary's Song" was written for the episode where a distraught Spongebob is searching for his pet snail, Gary, that ran away from home.

So after hearing this awesome band, I kept my eyes peeled for them. This was before iTunes and even a little too early for Amazon. Back then, when you heard about a band, you went to a record store to buy the CD, if they had it. (Yeah, back then they were "Record Stores".) So it wasn't until we caught them at one of their gigs at Java Joe's in Ocean Beach that we finally picked up a CD. The show was, obviously, even better than hearing them on the radio. We were so entertained by Stew's expressions when he sang. When we would listen to the CD in the car, the husband and I would repeat the hand gestures and facial expressions of Stew as we sang. We had to. That was part of the song. One time we were lucky to catch them singing just down the street from us at the "Adams Avenue Roots Festival". There were lots more Java Joe's shows and even a few trips up to their native Los Angeles for gigs. One L.A. show was an installment of "The Cover Problem" where they would sing their versions of covers for a single artist. The show we went to was Madonna. God I wish I could have a recording of that show. It was fantastic!

Cut to a lifetime later (the husband and I are now daddy and mommy) and we hear news of Stew taking his little Public Theater production, "Passing Strange" to Broadway. I check ticket sales almost daily, trying to find a way to get us there. Can we take the kids AND my mom so she can babysit the night of the show? Can we fly for one night and leave the kids? Dammit how can we do this?!? We keep waiting for an answer to hit us when... we read that the show has closed. We waited too long. So we wait impatiently for Spike Lee's release of his filming of the musical. (watch the trailer HERE) We finally got it and I've been watching it for a couple weeks. This ain't your Granny's musical! I suppose I should just buy the dang thing because I'm holding up the Netflix queue. (Don't want to keep others from seeing this amazing show.) I'm just so moved by songs like "Arlington Hill" and "Keys". (see their performance at the Tony Awards HERE)

"You know those L.A. ladies
in their Mercedes
They lock their doors if he just sneezed
Now he's like- Bitch please
She gave me her keys
He said the kind of place I wanna be
is where no one is cold or scared of me
And then she handed them these
Her keys
No one ever made him feel as real
as when she handed him her keys
Welcome to Amsterdam"

I'm moved by the whole thing, but mostly I'm moved by songs that really strike a chord with me. And what I hear most is me asking myself, why didn't you get yourself out to New York to see this thing? It's the same feeling I had when I was in High School and falling deeper and deeper into my appreciation for John Lennon, knowing I would never know what it was like to see him perform live. Only, I could have seen "Passing Strange" if I had just pushed it. One of those things I'll always regret. So, lesson learned - I will never miss those kinds opportunities again. But back to the show, watching it is like being at the theater, at a rock show and at church all at the same time. You get pulled into the emotion of the story and then you're bopping your head and rocking out. There are truly deep songs like "Arlington Hill" that haunt me and stop me dead in my tracks to ponder the meaning of life. (Watch the video HERE and imagine these words opening the scene in clip #1: "He took a trip for the first time in a bug on Arlington Hill") And then there are songs like "We Just Had Sex" that I find myself singing to myself again and again and again. (Watch the video HERE- clip #5) And, I absolutely love how the show starts:

"You don't know me and I don't know you
So let's cut to the chase the name is Stew
I'll be narrating this gig so just sit tight
We might play all night
Been on the road- me, her and this band
For one thousand dates of one night stands
Oh, and by the way can we crash on your couch tonight?
Say is that alright, is that alright?
Well before we get to your uptown flat
We're gonna do a little play since you paid for that"

When I saw that at the start of the ride I thought, "Yeah. That's Stew!" The same Stew I can picture sitting on stage at Java Joe's singing and chatting in between songs about things like how incredible greasy taco stand quesadilla cheese is and asking for a couch to sleep on in a way that sounded like a joke but kind of really didn't. So many times I wanted to say, "Come on over!" Don't drive back up to L.A. tonight!" but didn't and probably should have. Why not?

"Passing Strange" is pure genius and I recommend it to everyone I know , and don't know, for that matter. So rent this, if you can. Read Stew's blog, if you want. Listen to some music, if you will. I think you'll dig it. I'm still diggin' it after all these years.

"After so long feeling so alone
I feel like picking up the phone
and calling up that place called home
To say I've found a brand new family
a place where I can be that thing called me
No more saying uncle to Uncle Sam
Now I'm telling L.A. just who I am
Color me Amsterdam
Amsterdam"

sushi anyone?

Don't know why I decided to do this - where do ideas come from? They just hit you when you least expect it! Sushi on baby booties? I don't know... I think it will be cute. I've got to finish them today and see if I'm completely nuts or if they actually look kind of cute. (I like this photo of the sushi sitting on the bootie. The cuts in the bootie piece look like chopsticks!) One of these days I'll have to try eating sushi. See what all the fuss is about. For now I just appreciate the beauty of sushi. So beautiful! Wish all food could look like that!

Ponyo

I cannot,

will not,
stop
watching
"Ponyo".


The kids keep watching it and I find myself standing there,

mesmorized,
after a half hour.


It's whimsical and beautiful
without being falsely so.


Garbage, pollution, industry are almost just as beautiful
as the dark and mysterious depths of the ocean.


Like I said,
MEMORIZING.
I could stare at Hayao Miyazaki's ocean for hours.

As much as I loved "The Little Mermaid" when it came out,
I'm pleased that my boys will grow up with Ponyo.

another spoonflower contest!

I've been working on this fabric design all week to submit in the Boba Baby Carrier contest being held at Spoonflower.com. (click on the photo to see the design in repeat) Flipping through the sketchbooks, drawing, scanning, manipulating, tweaking, thinking, tweaking, re-thinking, re-tweaking... I'm done. For now. For this submittal, anyway. Now I need to get some samples run and there'll probably be more tweaking to come. And then the fun begins - sewing something with it.

I still have to post birthday pictures. Don't know why I'm procrastinating on that.

party prep

More party planning pics...

I think that one of the greatest inventions since microwave popcorn has got to be Google Image Search. You can find just about anything for including on your party tags, labels and invitations from the image search. Grabbed this classic Mickey image from a Google search and used it for making the thank-you tags for these goodie bags.

I've got half of my sugar cookies iced. The other half will be red. I LOVE the combination of this light blue with red. (notice the ribbons on the goodie bags?) I found some great polka dot napkins in light blue and in red from Target for the party. Aside from Mickey, my theme is polka dots (think about Minney's dress) and the colors light blue and red. I like putting my cookies in this big glass jar. Everyone can help themselves to a cookie during the party and I don't have to worry about the little ones getting into them. Next up... the cake. Everything is baked and now it's all about assembly and decoration.

The husband comes home every night and hesitantly asks, "So how's the party prep coming along?" He knows how wrapped up I get in it all. It consumes my life for the week prior - and, I LOVE it. Love having these kinds of projects. Once they're over, I actually feel kind of sad. (But, no worries... I've got the next BIG project brewing up my sleeve, so stay tuned.) The party prep is right on track. True, I am a bit behind on my to-do list... but I'm feeling ambitious this afternoon and am confident that I can catch up. Time to hit the yard and tackle the mowing, weeding and gardening. It's a perfect day to be outside. So, time to put on my gardening hat and iPod and get my hands dirty!

if you've got ears, say cheers!

My late night project: Mickey Mouse ears. We're gearing up for another birthday party! My BIG 3-year old (as of yesterday) will have his birthday celebration this weekend and it's all about Mickey. At least 30 of us will be all ears!

I was so pleased to find stiffened, black felt at JoAnn's. And it's Eco-Fi (made from recycled plastic bottles) to boot! I wasn't sure how I was going to get black felt ears to stand up... and fortunately I didn't have to. This felt, sold by the sheet, worked PERFECTLY. I simply sewed a sleeve to slide over a plastic headband, catching the ears in the seam. These will be so much cuter than the paper ears we saw at the party supply store and a whole lot cheaper than the $5.99 fabric ears I found online. I have this vision of a whole crowd of ears at the party. They'd better wear them! I'll be the honorary ears police making sure they do.

And now I'm off to do more party prep. The yard work will have to wait until last night's rain dries up. (Yes, MORE rain! Am I in Washington state?) There are Mickey sugar cookies to be iced, a cake to be designed and baked, toy clutter to attempt to manage and goodie bags to be stuffed. God I love throwing birthday parties! Can't even imagine life before the kids and all the birthday party fun.

sand and snow

I will always be a California girl. I LOVE being 10 minutes away from sand and 60 minutes away from snow. A couple hours from LaLa Land and a very short drive to Mexico.

Last week's storm brought a sufficient amount of snow to Palomar Mountain. The boys and I have a good snow trip routine that involves snowballs, snowmen and sledding followed by hot chocolate and comfy, cozy blankets for the ride back down the mountain. Of course this is followed by religiously checking the Palomar Mountain Web Cam for any signs of snow!