So I ventured into my next sewing project! But first, a tiny bit of back-story. When we first moved into our home I was struck at how well my fuzzy socks cleaned the floor as I shuffled around the house each evening. And when I came across this tutorial I thought, brilliant! {I've started the felt flash cards too - eek!} My practical side and my creative side converged, and this is what was born.


Yes, it's a reusable dust-bunny cloth! Certainly mine was not as attractive or as finished, but hey it's only my 2nd sewing project ever (minus the pillow I made in third grade). This project also appealed to my need-to-be-greener side and my get-over-on-the-man side (ha ha - proctor & gamble won't be getting a dime from me for refills).

Labels: Creating, Green-ing

Step 1: Buy a machine, but not just any machine, a computerized one!
Step 2: Go to fabric store and buy some cheap-o fabric
Step 3: Figure out how to thread a needle. If you can't figure this out (and I almost gave up) then take the machine back and find another hobby.
Step 3: Sew a few stitches on some cheap-o fabric
Step 4: When you're bored of sewing stitches on cheap-o fabric, make something. I chose to make an envelope pillow cover. I still used cheap-o fabric as I was not necessarily intending on actually using this pillow cover, but figured it would give me focused practice time.

Labels: Creating

A long while ago I made a commitment to myself to have more (or some) hobbies. I even made a declaration on my blog. How am I doing? I don't often take these moments to assess, but lately it has become more crucial to acknowledge the little successes in my life. Though I haven't gone on any photography excursions like I would have liked, I have snapped a few that I have been proud of and even got around to hanging one on our wall. I have yet to find the perfect coffee photo for our kitchen wall, but I continue to snap away and am confident I will be satisfied with one of them someday.

My cookbook collection has suffered. I managed to jump-start with some favorites I found on a great site, but the joy in collecting is discovering them at a garage sale, estate sale or used bookstore...and there has not been time in my life for those excursions...somehow I feel like my dream of becoming a master at garage sales will have to wait for retirement.

Another declaration I made long ago was to make one new recipe a week. Some weeks cooking at all is a luxury, but other weeks I have managed two great recipes (both on Sundays - a workin' Mom strategy that I will go into another time).

We have been having a lot of fun in the kitchen these days and here are some of my favorites that are full of flavor and pretty fast too!:

Spicy Curry Beef not really that spicy & Elliot likes it! I don't seem to have a picture of it anywhere, but it really is a favorite in our house.

Asian Concoction - even Brussel haters will enjoy this! Using low sodium ingredients is crucial otherwise it's too salty, tastes great over jasmine rice.

Good Excuse for a Margarita Meal: Holy Mole Flank Steak (we threw it on the BBQ), Spicy Red Rice, & Garlicky Pinto Beans.



Not Your Mama's Italian Sandwich: make a quick tomato sauce (we recently tried the Quick Tomato Sauce from Cooks Illustrated and it was awesome!), marinate & grill some chicken (just used some lemon juice, olive oil & rosemary), toast your favorite roll with a slice of provolone, top with arugula and chow!

Labels: Creating, Eating, Flourishing, Thinking