John-Jon Notebooks

I made some notebooks for my wonderful cousins recently.  I’ve made a few notebooks like this before, but only for myself. Ah! Notebook selfishness!  I learned this super cool notebook-decorating technique at a Women’s Retreat “craft time” a few years ago.  Craft Time!!!!!! Love it.

Steps:

1. Get notebook.
2. Decorate with paper-based materials of your choice. (In the past, I’ve done magazine cut outs.  This time, I got some cool scrapbooking paper and printed stuff on it for a more cohesive look, I suppose.  Then I painted a bird on it. I did the fronts and the backs, but only the the fronts are pictured)
3. Cover front and back with clear packing tape for awesome durability and optimal shininess.

Both cousins got a “John/Jon” themed notebook. 

For Erin I went with a John Wesley theme (it’s covered with his quotes (well, quotes attributed to him at least), hymns, and his sermons) Weird?  Not really, because John Wesley was awesome.  Also, she’s in divinity school. She is also an awesome knitter, and you can check out her sweet Christmas projects over on her blog.  Erin, like John Wesley, is very wise, has spent a considerable amount of time in Georgia, and enjoys travelling.  

For L.L I did a Jon Foreman theme.  Switchfoot happens to be her favorite band and she’s even met the guy, so I covered hers with Switchfoot and Jon Foreman lyrics.  Yes, of course Company Car made it on.  That’s a great song.  L.L, like Jon Foreman, is an excellent singer, often sports shoulder length hair, and can pull off the wearing of hip hats. 

Make Yourself A Christmas Doodad

My grandfather made up this song a long time ago called “Make Yourself a Christmas Doodad” and every once in a while my Dad will sing it too.  I have no idea what inspired the song, or why it has persisted in our memories all these years, but I sang “Make Yourself a Christmas Doodad” while I made these….Christmas Doodads.  (For those of you unfamiliar with the word “doodad” dictionary.com defines it as “a decorative embellishment.”

What crafty Christmas would be complete without making a few ornaments?  I had lots of fun making ornaments this year.  I think my favorite ones might be the teacup ornaments, and those were by far the easiest to make!  I bought a Kid’s tea set and glued the tiny cups to the tiny saucers. Add a ribbon and voila!  Super cute, super easy.  I’m also partial to the bird.  And the tree.  And the flower.  Okay, I like them all.

Close Up!

These next few didn't make it into the first pictures.

Merry Christmas, and I hope you have fun making yourself some Christmas doodads. 

Tea Wreath!

I love tea.  So does my friend Whitney, so she was the perfect person to make this Tea Wreath for! Now, this gift was not my own idea.  I saw this over at:

 http://kojodesigns.blogspot.com/2010/03/kojotutorial-tea-tea-tea-kitchen-wreath.html

The one I made was a little different: I painted the clothespins rather than cover them with paper and I used fabric for the background….and my wreath has no hole in the middle.  Again, many thanks for Sammy for the pictures.  My old camera bit the dust.

Yum! Tea!

Where Flowers Bloom So Does Hope

Yes, I borrowed the title of this post from Lady Bird Johnson and her highway beautification project.

“The Earth laughs in flowers” – Ralph Waldo Emerson (also, E.E. Cummings said this but Ralph was born first so I’m going to attribute it to him for the time being)  Wordsworth called them “the poet’s darling.”  Of course, you don’t have to be a poet to appreciate flowers.

I’ve been thinking about doing this project for a while now.  You see, I love the way a nice vase of fresh flowers look in a room, but it’s hard to consistently keep fresh flowers and fake silk flowers often look…..fake.  Well, I have found the fabled fountain of youth (That’s right, Juan Ponce de Leon!!!).  For flowers, that is.   It’s really fun to make flowers out of fabric, ribbon, and lace. This way, you get the look of flowers, but they are clearly NOT flowers so you avoid the phony flower look and achieve a more “ah, yes, this is my folksy, artsy, flower-inspired decoration” look.

Flowers that bloom all year long!

  For the lace ones, you just do a sort of basting stitch along the bottom, then pull it and gather, shaping the lace into a circle.  I used pearl beads and buttons for the centers.  For the ribbon flowers, I just folded the ribbon into pretty shapes and used hot glue to keep it that way.  Then, I painted some thin wooden dowels “antique white”  and cut them into different lengths.  I used hot glue to fix the stems to the flowers.  I picked up a glass vase in which to place the bouquet and used river rocks to fill it.  I made this for my friend Jessica, who very kindly gave me permission to post about it on here.  The lovely pictures were taken by my friend Sammy, who is a really excellent photographer.    

You know that stray thread in this picture is killing me. 

Manly Crafts, Gumby, and Wolverine: A Video Post

I don't say "like" this much in real life, I hope. I don't know what that weird noise is, either. I'm not sure if this was a good idea....but my none of my roommates were around to stop me.

Gumbo Gumbo Gumbo

My awesome roommates and I love themed parties.  This year our Christmas Party was Cajun themed (because we affectionately call our home “The Bayou”), which was basically an excuse to make GUMBO.  My friend Lauren and I also made some pretty awesome “Jumpin’ Jumbalaya” I’ll have to put on here sometime too…because it was jumpin.

This is a recipe I adapted from a recipe over at http://www.gumbocity.com/chiken_sausage2.html

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo!

About 2 lbs or so of chicken- cooked and de-boned.  Chicken breasts on the bone were 99 cents/lb when I made this so I used three of those!
4 tablespoons vegetable oil

¾ c AP flour
2 smoked sausages or polish kielbasa (polish? In Gumbo? Whatever!)
2 medium onions, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped
4 celery ribs, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
32 oz chicken stock or broth
2 (14- to 16-oz) cans diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon cayenne (or more if you like things really spicy!)

2 bay leaves
1 bunch green onions, chopped

Cut the sausage into slices about .5 inch thick.  Brown the sausage a little with 1 T vegetable oil.  Then, set the sausage aside but drain off the fat and put it back in the pan.  Add the garlic, bell pepper, onions, and celery and cook until the onions start to become clear.  Now you get to make a roux.  Add the rest of your oil to the pot and push the veggies over to one side.  Get your whisk ready, because you’re going to need it.  Whisk the flour into the oil/sausage fat (mmm, doesn’t that sound good lol)  Keep whisking so it doesn’t get lumpy.  You have to let it cook for a little bit so it doesn’t taste floury later on.  Once it’s nice and thick, slowly add the chicken stock, still whisking.   Then add the tomatoes, the cooked chicken, and the sausage.  Toss in 2 bay leaves and the cayenne.  Let it simmer for a little while (at least 20 minutes) and you’re ready to eat!  Serve with rice!

P.S-  I like my gumbo with OKRA and SHRIMP too, but I didn’t put any in here because I was afraid people would be afraid of it.  But you should add some if you are partial to those, like I am.

A Memo Board Not Intended for Alfred Hitchcock

A Memo Board Not Intended for Alfred Hitchcock

Here, as promised, is a little crafty tidbit I saved up to show you while I’m busy working away like one of those little mice in Cinderella on Christmas presents (Those mice make some NICE clothes. Can you imagine if Cinderella went to the Oscars or something? “Oh, Cindy, who are you wearing?”  “It’s an original Gus-Gus”)  This project would be easy to recreate in a variety of colors and patterns- it would be fun in a variety of sizes too!

This is actually my favorite fabric ever so far.  I love that bird.

Steps:

1)      Obtain frame of reasonable size. This one was for an 8 X 10 picture, I think. Maybe bigger.

2)      Paint frame desired color.

3)      Cut a piece of thin wood the size to fit inside the frame (or use the piece that comes with it)

4)      Cover that piece with batting.

5)      Cover the batting with the fabric of your choice. (I used hot glue to secure it)

6)      Use ribbon to create a nice holding place for cards, pictures, and the like (again, hot glue)

7)      Pop covered board back into frame.

8)      Voila! You’ve made a memo board!

I made this one for my Mom’s birthday last year.  I just love the cheery little birds on the fabric.  These are NICE birds, not mean ones like in Hitchcock’s The Birds.  This sweet little long-legged guy wouldn’t dream of pecking your eyes out, Tippi Hedren.  He just wants to hold your memos, and cheer you up on rainy days.