Why I Spraypainted All My Frames Black
Most of the art (I use the term loosely, for the most part) hanging in my apartment has been acquired at thrift stores, yard sales, antique shops, and from moving friends. Consequently, for a long time it hung rather blandly in a mishmash of antiqued, boring pea-green, brown, and gold frames with no sense of unity or cohesiveness at all. Sometimes I'm okay a mishmash (see: the assortment of blankets on my bed, the pillows on my couch), but since the kinds of things I have hanging on my wall are so diverse (you should know that all of...
Easy as Pie “Bread Queen” Personalized Apron
Personalization with vinyl is the easiest way to make a quick, fun gift (not to mention all the organization uses... my heart flutters at the thought!). The ability to do this at any time for minimal cost is something I'm really going to miss about my job. I made this apron for my friend BJ, who is a culinary arts major and self-proclaimed Bread Queen, and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. She and I are are members of the same social club at school, and our colors are red and yellow, which explains the...
New Things
Because I only needed a few courses to graduate with my major, concentration, and minor, this semester I'm trying a couple of new things. As always with that kind of thing, there's always the nagging fear of failure at something you don't know if you'll be good at. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I'll be taking both a fiction writing workshop and a clay arts course. Even though I'm an English major, I'm far more nervous about the fiction bit I guess I'd feel a little worse about failing at something I'm supposed to be good at. ...
DIY Mittens from (Accidentally) Felted Wool Sweater
The past two mornings I've left for work it's been snowing. One morning my car door was actually frozen shut. The next day I was almost late because I sat in my car so long looking at the snow. It's kind of a big deal here. On these snowy days, by the time I get to work my hands are nearly nonfunctional due to the cold. This got me thinking: if driving five minutes in the cold sucks, how much more is walking to school (for an 8 o' clock class, nonetheless) next week going to suck? I live really...
Veganomicon’s Black Bean Burger
I recently purchased, with a Christmas gift certificate to a local bookstore, Veganomicon. I've had my eye on this cookbook for a while, and so far I'm really pleased with the recipes. Last night I made the black bean burgers, which are different from the other black bean burgers I make in a few ways. First, the "glue" that holds them together is not egg but vital wheat gluten, an ingredient I've never used before but am pretty fascinated by. After mixing the dough for a while, it started to become really stringy; the texture created by vital wheat...
Sweet Little Stockings
Now that things have slowed down at work, I've managed to find time for all the little things I neglected during the holidays. Here's a prime example:
Another Tomato Soup Recipe
There's a threat of ice and snow sometime between midnight and 3 am, and when it snows around here everything completely shuts down. (I'm keeping my fingers crossed about work tomorrow.) We really need groceries (like, haven't bought groceries since before Christmas), but whenever there's a winter weather warning everyone runs to the store to stock up on milk and bread, and I didn't feel like fighting with all of those people when I got off work earlier. Instead I decided to come home and throw any and everything we had edible into a pot and see...
Homemade Holidays: Yoga Mat Tote from Lotta Jansdotter’s Simple Sewing
I'm just now getting around to posting some Christmas gifts due to their sensitive nature. This one especially, since it was for my sister Dawn and I knew her surprise would be spoiled if I posted it before Christmas. However, this is really a good anytime gift. It's surprisingly fast and easy, too; the whole thing took me about thirty minutes.
I read somewhere a while back that pulling out a thread where your cut will be is one of the easiest ways to get a straight line. Let me say that my sewing...Advertise With Us
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Now Reading
Planned books:
None
Current books:
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Winesburg, Ohio (Bantam Classic) by Sherwood Anderson
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The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
Recent books:
- Blood and Milk by Sharon Solwitz
- Night Clerk at the Hotel of Both Worlds (Pitt Poetry Series) by Angela Ball
- McGee by Rose Marie Nichols McGee, Maggie Stuckey
- Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born by Tina Cassidy
- Why Did I Ever: A Novel by Mary Robison, Mary Robison
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