Weekend Inspiration

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.


Time lapse footage of the milky way captured by Terje Sorgjerd between April 4th and 11th, 2011, from atop El Teide, Spain's highest mountain. 


This makes my soul ache....absolutely stunning.   Happy weekend!

Oh, hello there!

Meet little miss Columbine.  She's a real sweetie.

Little Boy Blue

I am so glad I married Evan.  Really, this whole marriage thing has been one nice surprise.  One of the things I didn't anticipate before the big day however, was my newfound access to totally rad furniture.  His parents hook us up all of the time. Yay for furniture!  Yay for marrying Evan!  Yay for Evan's parents!

 This little number has been with us for several years and is a little worse for wear.  I have had an intense hankering to paint it, but have resisted only because I am something of a wood purist.   I think wood is pretty, you see.  Also, because I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to paint it anything but blue.  I have a problem.

My favorite part about this table is that it opens up to store our extensive knife collection.  We are BIG into knives.   Especially butter knives.  And I know we only have one so far... but my fingers are crossed for a nice anniversary gift from Evan.  

And okay, you did see that purple velvet lining, right? Goodness!  It's fantastic!

Surprise!  

It's blue! (wait, are you surprised?)

And I love it so much I want to marry it.  Sorry Evan.

On a somewhat related note, while I was looking online for tips on 'aging' furniture, I ran across a video of a woman beating an old dresser with a rusty chain.  It was quite frightening!.  I stuck to good ol' sandpaper for little boy blue here.

p.s. Evan, I was totally joking about anniversary knives.  Please don't buy me any knives.  Buy me chocolate.

Earth Day

They have a special candy for that too.

*bite*

Wishing you a Happy Earth Day and a wonderful Easter!  See you next week.

Would someone please take away my cake pans?

Because I can't stop making cakes.  

So very Egg-cellent

Eggs!  Eggs!  Everywhere!  Are you sick of it yet?  Yeah...sorry.  I'm trying to quit.   But I do have to share these eggs that I made. So very easy! 

Here's the whole story:  Once upon a time I found these cardboard eggs at the craft store for about a quarter (!).  I gave them all a coat of Mod Podge to help 'seal' them (wasn't sure how cardboard would absorb the paint).  I then proceeded to paint them with acrylic paint, using an old egg carton for my stand.  Eggs are kind of a pain to paint.  They roll.  Just sayin'.  Once everyone was good and dry, I used a white paint pen to do the doodles.  After a final coat of Mod Podge, they were ready to go to lay in their bed of soft wheat grass.

They make me happy.

And this will be my last post on anything egg.  For at least a year.  Probably.

And then I got snubbed

Gesso is all the sudden way too cool for me.  He must be getting into his teenage years....sigh.  Where did the time go?

p.s.  so cute.  I want a nap.

Where's the Cream Filling??

In lieu of a fancy Birthday Cake (I was lacking one of those bullet-proof-cake-dome-transporter-things), I opted for something a little different for my mom's late Birthday celebration.

Birthday Twinkies!  

I wrote about my first Twinkie experience here.  And since then, we have eaten a lot of sub-par Twinkies.  You see, I was having such a hard time getting the right recipe for the cream filling.  For the record, any recipe that has marshmallow puff and crisco??  Bad bad news.

But never fear! I have found the perfect filling/frosting to compliment these golden little cakes.

I found the frosting recipe here, but have decided to write it out again for my own archival purposes.  And don't be alarmed by the unusual list of ingredients.  You have to trust me, this frosting is amazing.  Even Evan, who thinks that the worst thing you could do to a cake is to add frosting, likes it.  So, yeah.  It's delicious. Would I lie to you?  About frosting?

That's the Best Frosting I've Ever Had

     from MissyDew

5 Tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

1 cup butter

1 cup granulated sugar (not powdered!)

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens.  You want it to be pretty thick--brownie batter consistency.  Once thickened, remove from heat and let it cool completely.

While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  You don't want any sugar graininess left.  Then add the completely cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat the living daylights out of it.  If it looks separated, you haven't beaten it enough.  Beat!  Beat!  Beat!

Grab a spoon and eat out of the bowl.  Grab a knife and frost the cake or fill the Twinkies.

Yum. Yum. Yum.

This is also the frosting I used to fill the giant Ding Dong cake I made for Evan's Birthday.  And for those of you who asked, I've edited that post with cake instructions.

 Who knew I had such an affinity for Hostess?  *burp*

Mug Rug for Mom

Last month was my mom's Birthday.  And because I knew I would be seeing her this week (!!!), I have been holding on to her present.  Because Birthday presents are better in person I'm pretty sure. 

And because I have an awesome mother who taught me about making things, I knew my gift had to be hand-made (and awesome).  So I sewed together a tiny patchwork quilt and made it into a mug rug.  

I like the rectangular nature of mug rugs, perfect for a steaming mug + a little treat (not pictured :)

And now we are off to meet my parents + little sister for a super ski adventure at Big Sky.   Because it's not even pretending to be Spring here.  No siree.  So more skiing for us (not complaining).

Have a great weekend!

Just in Time

It seems like I have been looking for little egg cups my whole life.  Well, okay, not really.  I used to be afraid of eggs and tell people I was allergic to them (is that even possible?).  But now that I am super mature I like eggs.  No, adore eggs.  And I couldn't seem to find egg cups anywhere.

And then last week, while out on a totally unrelated mission, I came upon these psychedelic gems.

Hello there! 

While I probably could have gone for something a little less snazzy, I was too elated at finding them to care.  Egg cups!  My life is finally complete!

And just in time too.  Because there are plenty of eggs around our house...

...that need a proper cup.

 :)

{this moment}

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.



If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' over at Soulemama for all to find and see.

My peeps

The snow has finally melted and the Spring Quilt is finally finished.  Which means that it's Spring.  And so my next item of business was to get things feeling even more Spring-y around here.  The only problem was that after a quick inventory of the basement, I remembered that we didn't have any Easter/Spring decorations.   Oh.

So I've been brainstorming and even have a fun project started, but in the meantime I thought I'd show you the best idea I've ever had.

I call it "Chick Explosion".  It's pretty complicated, so pay close attention.

I found this little box of chicks at the craft store.   So I bought it.  And I opened it up.  And then I put them around the house.

That's pretty much it (let me know if you have any questions!).   

Peep!   Chirp!  Cheep!

I have to say, these little chicks are quite sneaky!  And I can never figure out what they are looking at.  

p.s. today is our 1 year Montana Anniversary.  How crazy is that?!

Spring can come

When I first showed Evan the fabric for the Spring Quilt, he mumbled something about having a seizure.  Which I interpreted to mean he was having a 'sensory overload'.  And then I got to thinking about how I am so very attracted to bright, colorful, crazy quilts.  I think they are the very best kind of quilt.  

I have a friend who decorated her house in black and white.  Which is quite chic and fashionable, but it makes me feel a little sleepy and bored (I'm a nice friend).  And when she comes to my house I'm sure she feels like she was just hit in the head with a giant rainbow.  So I think what I'm trying to say is that I can't help myself.  I am a fan of color.  A big fan.   And I really am glad that we are all attracted to different things--it sure keeps life interesting.

But really.  A black and white quilt wouldn't shout SPRING quite the same way as a rainbow quilt can.  That's just a fact (I win!).

And as I was sewing the diamonds together (which I was so nervous about until Evan reminded me that diamonds are just squares turned on their sides.  He is smart.), I couldn't stop thinking about Starburst Candy.  And how this quilt should be sponsored by them.  I was going to buy some for the photo shoot, but I am trying to limit my candy intake to things shaped like eggs.   So please use your imagination :)

Spring can come.  I am ready.

p.s. Evan likes the quilt.  And he hasn't had any seizures yet.  It's a win-win.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' over at Soulemama for all to find and see.

I've Got the Whole World

Yesterday while out running errands, I was almost to my last stop:  The Post Office.  Which is pretty far away, considering that I basically live downtown.  It's across the railroad tracks, in the heart of the ghetto.  Right next to the women's prison (you have no idea how charming this town is!).  Anyway, just as I was approaching a stoplight, I saw ahead of me that lights were flashing, bells were clanging, and two striped arms were lowering across the road (a train was coming!).  And because I've had the misfortune of being stuck in that exact same spot before whilst waiting for a train to pass, I made a swift decision.  I made a mostly-legal lane change/turn and glided into a parking spot in front of my thrift store.  Favorite thrift store.

I wasn't planning on going there.  I am over my budget this month (one word: Quilt).   But the train.  I would have been waiting ten minutes anyway.  So why not wait inside??

And after perusing the store, I was sure I was about to leave empty handed.  But a quick glance out the window told me that the train was still a chuggin'.  So I went into the scary basement.  Which I have stopped doing.  Creepy!  It's full of stinky sports equipment, hilarious lamps, and overpriced particle-board furniture.  I was just killing time after all.

And then I saw him.  Mr. Globe.

Hello there!

I couldn't believe my luck!  In fact, just that morning while yoga-ing (word), I looked up at our mantle full of blue globes and thought, "ya know, we really could use a brown globe."  I'm not kidding!

And as I was paying for Mr. Globe, the cute old volunteer that's always reading the bible, told me what a deal I was getting: the whole world for just $7.50.  It wasn't every day you could get a deal like that!  He was totally right.  I love you globe.  I love you train.

Little Blue Bag

Happy Spring!

I was part of a top-secret-valentines-day-gift-making-operation  (oh yes, I'm pretty dangerous) that resulted in me acquiring another blue bird sack.  But this time it was cute and little (only 5 lbs.!).

I thought long and hard about what to use it for.  Because I had already made a blue bird bag, it seemed like I should try something different.  Like....ya know.....something....else  (I was stumped).

Because really.  It had to be a bag.  It was born to be a bag!

  bluebird bag + me + the blue canoe = friends.  We hang out.

This time I decided to give it a lining.  With some thrifted gingham (who doesn't love gingham?).

Now I'm all ready for Spring.

p.s. did you guys see the moon on Saturday?  Simply fantastic.

Bits and Pieces

When I was little, one of my favorite books was called "It's Hard to Read a Map with a Beagle on Your Lap".   It was a funny one.

And since I've been working on this soon-to-be-completed Spring Quilt, I have come up with a book idea of my own.

I'm going to call it: "It's Hard to Plan a Quilt with a Gesso in the House".  

But really.  So cute.

And to celebrate St. Patrick's Day I whipped up some Irish Potato Candy.  Which is not actually made of potatoes.   Or Irish people.   And it's outrageous.  Don't even ask me how many little potatoes I've eaten today.   Recipe here. 

 I do believe they are going to be my new St. Patrick's Day tradition.  Which now brings me to a total of one tradition (don't judge, I also wore green earrings to work today.  So that's actually two traditions).

More Shirts

Last Spring I showed ya'll how to make awesome shirts.   And boy were they awesome.  I was getting pretty sick of the same old work shirts, so it was time for 3 new additions.

I have an affinity for seahorses.  I think they are so very strange and I want some.  This shirt turned out about 700 times more purple than I had planned on, but, *shrug* what can ya do?

More doves.   I accidentally did this super-awesome dye affect where there were some color splatters amid the gray.  I blame it on not mixing up the dye thoroughly.  And I like it.

This shirt was supposed to be my favorite (it is clearly Gesso's favorite).  It was going to showcase my beloved bike, The Blue Canoe.  But.  I don't know.  I went back and forth between having the name underneath the bike, and now I wish I wouldn't have.  It seems too groupy or something.  And the close-up was taken after I removed Gesso's dirty paws from the shirt = bad picture.  

So go ahead, make yourself some awesome shirts.

And the winner is...

Congratulations Colette!  Let's be in touch about your new flower friend.   Thanks so much for playing everyone!  And Brandt, even though you didn't win, please don't chop any wildflowers down.  It's not worth it!!

p.s. let's pretend I am this tan right now, okay?

Easter has the very best candy

I mean, really--everything is shaped like an egg.  Which for some reason makes it even more scrumptious.  Don't even get me started on these dark chocolate Cadbury eggs.  Just don't.

Speaking of felted balls, look at what I made!  I've been pouring all of my creative energy into stabbing little bits of wool with a needle.  I have a little project in mind but need to make about twice as many balls before it can happen.  My friend Sarah put together a very helpful tutorial on felting with soap and water, but I used my felting needle, and found the stab-stab-stabbing very therapeutic.  Don't judge.  Or be afraid.

 Don't forget to enter the giveaway!  Time's running out!