Homemade Holidays: Doily Tote Bags

I fell in love with this doily canvas bag tutorial at first sight. I am always in the market for reusable bags to carry to the grocery store, especially ones that don't advertise a something.

I whipped up a few of these sweet bags for Christmas gifts. Ideally, they would be big enough to actually carry something other than a few apples. I guess that's what I get for not reading the fine print on things. Oh well, I still think the bags turned out well--the...

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Our Christmas Tree Saga

Earlier this month we had a wonderful little holiday party, complete with mulled cider, at which we put up our Christmas tree. It was a very normal used pre-lit tree, given to me by my parents, which we used last year as well. I decorated it in golds' silvers, and reds and used some beautiful little fruit and candy ornaments I got very cheap last year. Immediately the cats were, as cats are when it comes to anything new, perplexed and awed. Maybe it's some weird nature thing, but they both immediately climbed the tree. Chowder didn't get very...

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Homemade Holidays: Wreath Roundup

One of my dearest friends moved away recently, and she took her camera with her.  She'd been letting me use this camera for months (what a good friend!), so naturally I'm missing them both terribly.  Kyle is helping me to purchase a new one as a Christmas gift to me (any recommendations?!), but until that happens I'll have to get creative as far as posting goes.  Anyway, I've been drooling over DIY holiday decor all season, and my bookmarks are full of things I can't wait to try for next year.  The thing I'm most excited about is making a...

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Homemade Holidays: Cookie Mix in a Jar

When I first heard of cookie mix in a jar, I thought it was the most brilliant idea ever.  Admittedly, I am pretty idealistic when it comes to things like this, and I didn't take into consideration a lot of things.  First and foremost, I didn't think about whether the recipes offered up in these projects were any good.  I quickly rushed out to buy flour, sugar, cranberries, and chocolate chips, assuming I could use all the mason jars I've been refusing to throw away over the past few years (in some sort of crisis I might need to can...

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Homemade Holidays: Sweet Little Shirts

I knocked out another Christmas gift yesterday, albeit a fairly easy one.  The hardest part was deciding which animals in which colors to put on the shirts. Runners up are: a fat grizzly bear, a sweet kitten, and a flamingo.  I was also debating about lime green on the teal shirt and pink on the purple shirt, but that was Too Much.  So I decided on a silver unicorn and weenie dog because they have the coolest silhouettes. These sweet little shirts are for my younger sister Dawsen, who just turned four.

The unicorn is part of the font...

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Statement of Purpose

The majority of my free time this week has been devoted to completing grad school applications.  I have received a lot of help with the application process, without which I would be pretty clueless, and I'm immensely thankful for it.  This help, combined with a thing that Kyle and I do as we are working on our applications, is really all that's keeping me sane.  This thing that we do is basically writing absolutely absurd things as if we would really submit them.  For example, this is one statement of purpose I composed the other night: I would be honored and...

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Pumpkin Bread

I decided to use my pumpkin puree to make pumpkin bread! I've been working all day every day this week, and while I'd much rather be at home watching movies in my pajamas, my consolation prize has been pumpkin bread and hot coffee in the mornings. This recipe is very simple and almost impossible to mess up. The spices can be adjusted according to your taste; I added a lot because I love the combination of cinnamon and warm flavors like cinnamon and clove. To make this tasty bread, you'll need: 2 C sugar 3.5 C flour (I...

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Pumpkin Doesn’t Have to Come from a Can

This is another one of those things that, like making stock, I think everyone should know how to do.  It's ridiculously easy, much cheaper, and tastes a lot better.  Of course I'm talking about making pumpkin puree. Homemade pumpkin puree can be used in place of canned pumpkin with no trouble.  It won't keep very long in the fridge, however, so if you don't plan on using it within a few days I recommend freezing it.  I've had great success filling and stacking ziploc bags in my freezer.  One thing I really like about making my own pumpkin puree is that...

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The Looming Future

You may or may not know that I graduate from college in May.  This is what I have to show for myself: a 4.0 cumulative GPA, a decent portfolio, a slightly larger vocabulary, and a moderate (but dwindling) amount of money in a savings account.  I have been scarce lately because I'm devoting the majority of my free time (which isn't much, thanks to my busier than normal work schedule) to the lengthy graduate school application process.  Though Kyle and I we are applying to several schools and both have done fairly well throughout college, my biggest fear is that...

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The Best Banana Bread Recipe of All Time

I feel very confident that this is the only banana bread recipe I will ever use or need to use. I've had it so long I don't remember where I got it (my grandmother? my neighbor? my aunt?), and it really is a breeze to make. Maybe it's not the best thing in the world for me, but I can name all of the ingredients and it's a great way to use up really ripe bananas. To make this delicious bread, you'll need: three large, ripe bananas (the riper the better) 2 C self-rising flour 1 C sugar 1/2 C oil 2 eggs, lightly...

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