I had a very intimate 2.5 hours with my mom and aunt this weekend...

I made a duct tape dress form!!! Oh my gosh it was intense. More later!

Buttons make everything better

My blog addiction has led me to two photos in the last week that have made me smile (and made me want to sew shorts again...which is a big deal).

Jen, over at The Fabled Needle (Please check her stuff out, it is really beautiful. I have a print!) posted pictures of some of Stella McCartney for GapKids clothing. Now, I am no petite creature, lithe enough to slip into some GapKids, but I can ogle, right? LOOK at these shorts. Please, seriously. WOW! I want them.

Even more button-sporting clothing popped up in my RSS feed this morning. Look at this cute shirt by Coty Lee via Paper and Stitch! Very cute, and super easy to DIY I'd say. I see a refashion in my future!

On not having anything to say (link love)

It's funny how a blog can make you feel worthless. I've been bogged down with grad school, teaching and studying for my comps (which are more than halfway over now!). I've accomplished a lot in the last two months, but there's this albatros around my neck - I haven't published a blog post; I'm a bad blogger; value judgments from every direction! And by every direction I really mean from myself. I haven't made much in the way of crafting. I've cooked a ton, but I haven't felt the need to blog about it. But boy howdy do I read other peoples' blogs; seriously, I have a blog addiction problem. I've found some really awesome links over the past 2 months, and I'd like to share them with you.

Heart of Light's Homemade Paneer (from today!)

• I've wanted to make cheese for a long time. I love Indian food. All you need is milk, lemon juice, paper towels and cheesecloth. Is there anything bad about this idea?

Free bunting printouts from nonpareil magazine via iDiY

• I'm a sucker for bunting - completely gaga for it. And free things. Again, good idea.
• Speaking of bunting - diy bunting stamp from broccoli rubberbands!!! How ABOUT orange?!

Chevron things

• I dig chevron as well (I'm trendy...god). Design*Sponge posted this awesome chevron wall a few days ago.
• This t-shirt isn't Chevron, but say YES! to hoboken's blog is! It's high time I stop bookmarking these t-shirts and start making them. Seriously.
• Design*Sponge strikes again with this DIY chevron rug by Suzannah over at Adventures in Dressmaking
• Prefer stripes? No problem - there's a tutorial for that. via Apartment Therapy

Refashioned things

• Look at this bag! Don't you want it!? Salt-water kids via Wardrobe refashion
• Sew I thought...this girl NEVER disappoints. Next time you walk into a thrift store you will see haute couture written all over the place!

From the world of actual paper you can touch (but also found online)

• I love Real Simple magazine. I've heard people criticize it, because a lot of the things in it are so expensive and they are often not simple. I. Don't. Care. I love it and I don't care. I bought a 6 month subscription from an office-mate's son. The last issue was their 10th anniversary, and they shared popular tips from over the years.
• My favorite oldie was to use a salad spinner for getting rid of excess water in hand washed sweaters. I had just gotten back from Minnesota and needed to wash some cashmere, but was frustrated by the instructions that say "do not wring or twist"+ "lay flat to dry". Really? What do you want me to do with it then? Obviously, put in in my salad spinner. Amazing.
• This issue also shows you how to dry your hair. I've never known how to really dry my hair. I'm serious. No one taught me...who is supposed to teach you? I don't have sisters. My mom has short hair. Stylists, when I do ask for help, do a terrible job of explaining the process. But there it was. In three steps. For straight hair/for curly hair. Thank you Real Simple. My hair looked GREAT!

Kind of out there

• Anyone do the no-poo thing? As in not using shampoo at all? I've heard of it over the past 5 years or so, maybe longer actually (I used to work at a hippie co-op). I haven't taken the plunge - apparently your hair looks NASTY for 2-6 weeks - and it is supposed to work better with curly hair - I have straight. But I have added some baking soda to my shampoo when I wash. It has made a world of difference. My once greasy-by-4pm locks are now good to go for 2 days. Weird. If you can make it through the transition period - the results are supposed to be AMAZING.
• Finally, a linguistic note. Did you know there's a midline through the states (think Mason-Dixon-ish) that divides how people say "greasy". People in the Midlands and the South tend to go with greazy (/gɹi:zi/) and people in the North and West tend to go greasy (/gɹi:si/). Neat.

My homemade granola

I really like granola, but I never ate it very often because it was 1. expensive to buy and 2. expensive to make (so I thought) and 3. calorific.

1. It is expensive. The local bakery sells it to take home for around $9 a quart.
2. My brother used to have my mom make (doesn't that sound terrible) this granola recipe that must've cost like $30. I don't know what was in there, but it was ridiculous, so I assumed all granola would be really expensive to make. But, don't we all know what happens when you assume? I think we do; thank you Oscar Wilde. It's really not that expensive to make unless you just have to have cold-pressed jojoba oil and exotic whatever. Go to the grocery, get some stuff, put it in there, it'll work.
3. True. This is an energy food. It does not, however, have to have as many calories or as much fat as the stuff you usually buy at the store or the local bakery.

Here's where I started my granola-making journey (another Mississippi girl, yay!). She is a friend of a friend, and I like her granola recipe as a base. I've changed things up a bit though. This is how I make mine:

Ingredients:

The dry

• 3 heaping cups rolled oats (quick, instant, old-fashioned...whatever)
• 1 1/4 cup of a mixture in whatever proportion of wheat germ, wheat bran, whole wheat flour and flax seeds (or some extra oats)
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup almonds (slivered or sliced)

The wet*

• 5 heaping spoonfuls brown sugar (like smallish-sized spoons you eat with)
• 3 spoonfuls honey
• 3 shakes cinnamon
• 1 shake each nutmeg, allspice, cloves (more or less or none depending on what you like)
• big dash salt
• 1 spoonful vanilla extract
• 1 spoonful almond extract
• 3-6 spoonfuls warm water, to make thick but stir-able liquid
• 1-2 spoonfuls vegetable oil

The not-listed-yet-so-you-don't-cook-them

• dried raisins (1/4-1/3 cup)
• dried cranberries (1/4 cup)

Steps:

1. combine (in large bowl) The dry
2. combine (in separate, smaller bowl) The wet. add water until you have a thick, syrupy liquid
3. add The wet to The dry
4. stir stir stir
5. turn oven on to 325 (don't worry about preheating)
6. line jelly-roll (1/2 sheet) pan with parchment or foil + spray
7. pour uncooked granola onto pan and stick it in the oven
8. set timer for 18 minutes, but be ready to check it
9. granola is done when it's about a shade darker than it was when it went in and smells fragrant
10. wait for it to cool a bit and then add the dried fruit
11. place in large, airtight container and store in the freezer for best (crispiest) results

Notes:

• *I know some of those aren't actually wet, you can really add them to either, but I like to put them with The wet.
• this will burn quickly. when you even think it's done, it is. take it out.
• it will harden as it cools; don't worry if it does't seem crispy when you remove it

I hope you enjoy this recipe, I really do. It's forgiving; don't be afraid to play with it.

My most difficult (and ugliest) project to date.

The "a" side

So, I saw these AMAZING pillows over at designsquish, and I thought to myself, "self, wouldn't it be super neat to have one of those pillows?". I apparently also responded with "yes, yes it would" because I embarked on this journey yesterday morning. I set out to make an "a" (because my honey's name starts with "a" and because, conveniently, when you turn it upside down it turns into a "g", which is the first letter in my name). I figured this would be difficult...and it was! The hardest part was the tunnel that you have to make ... and everything else. But now, 28 hour later, I have one pillow form of an "a" and or "g" (I will cover it with a sturdy upholstery fabric or recycled coat like they did so the bumps won't be so noticeable). I will make another one, and I MAY even make a tutorial if you're lucky. I'm trying to figure out the best way to piece this thing together...because what I did can NOT be the best way.

The "g" side

It's not very pretty, but honestly, I think it looks about as good as the one on designsquish. Hopefully I have some tricks up my sleeve for the next one (I think I do anyway), and hopefully it will look better with some thick fabric over it. It was a fun experience anyway and I learned some stuff. However...I may just tuft the hole instead of building that tunnel - that was terrible!

A shout out to Kroger and store brand white whole wheat flour

Sure, I've sung the praises of white whole wheat flour before. Sure, I love King Arthur Flours (I really really do). But I'm in college. I'm trying to save money. We're all trying to save money. So, I literally gasped when I saw that Kroger put out a store brand white whole wheat flour (ask my boyfriend, he was mid-story when I interrupted him to tell him about this discovery). It was on sale (because it's new?) so I picked up a 5lb bag for 2.49 (regular 2.99). King Arthur usually goes for 4.99, so it really is great savings - especially if you make bread (or pancakes or cookies or tortillas or pita or or or...) every week.

• If you guys haven't tried white whole wheat flour yet, get your hands on some. It really is whole wheat flour, it's just a different kind of wheat (white wheat instead of the mixture other varieties usually found in all purpose). I use it in place of all purpose because it's really light and soft - very unlike the heavy whole wheat flours you usually get.

• Next time you're strolling through the grocery, see if they have a store brand white whole wheat flour. Kroger is known as many things around the country, and surely they aren't the only ones to have thought of this. Let me know!

Spain for Christmas

I went to Spain for Christmas, and, being me, I took pictures of, almost exclusively, food. I did have some great food there; I think I gained a stone, but I didn't look!

I thought I would share some Spanish culinary goodness with you all.

Churros y Cafe

Churros: Eating churros is like eating hot, crispy oil - delicious, hot, crispy oil. They are really wonderful, but I didn't need lip balm for the rest of the day. We had them at the famous Chocolatería de San Ginés Restaurant in Madrid. This picture sadly doesn't feature the coffee cup full of melted chocolate in which to submerge your fried tasties.

Montaditos

Montaditos: Spain has about a thousand names for sandwiches, depending on what size they are. Montaditos are these little guys; they're a good three bites. We ate them at the conveniently named Cerveceria 100 Montaditos (so named because they have 100 different kinds to choose from). If you go on Wednesday, they are all 1 Euro - pretty sweet deal.

12 Grapes

Grapes: You can't see all 12, but I swear I ate them. You're supposed to eat 12 grapes on New Year's Eve; well, as the clock strikes 12. I was in charge of getting the grapes, as I had been released into the green pastures of Carrefour for an hour to roam the isles in search of cheap olive oil and Nocilla (which is the Spanish [and better] version of Nutella) and seedless grapes. Fail. I mean, I found cheap olive oil and Nocilla (thank god), but I did not get seedless grapes. I even know the word for seed in Spanish. I just didn't see any. And these guys were little; they were American seedless grape size. Which brings us to a New Year's Eve anticipating crunching down on 12 seeded grapes with the hundreds of us that didn't make it to the center of the Plaza del Sol (bummer). I took it like a champ; my brother and sister-in-law weren't as enthusiastic. I figured I could use the fiber after a week of eating only ham, and, really they're not that hard to chew.

Spain was fun, but I'm glad I'm back state-side.