Thank Goodness for Professor Bhaer

The MySpaceness of this picture kills me. Softly. (with its song?)

"...and she came walking in with a very queer expression of countenance, for there was a mixture of fun and fear, satisfaction and regret in it, which puzzled the family as much as did the roll of bills she laid before her mother, saying with a little choke in her voice, 'That's my contribution toward making Father comfortable and bringing him home!'

'My dear, where did you get it? Twenty-five dollars! Jo, I hope you haven't done anything rash?'

'No, it's mine honestly. I didn't beg, borrow or steal it. I earned it, and I don't think you'll blame me, for I only sold what was my own.

As she spoke, Jo took off her bonnet, and a general outcry arose, for all her abundant hair was cut short.

'Your hair! Your beautiful hair!' 'Oh, Jo, how could you? Your one beauty.'"

- Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

Her ONE beauty. Can you imagine if someone told you your hair was your ONE beauty? I’m all about inner beauty and razor-sharp intelligence, but I’ll admit if someone told me my hair was my ONE beauty AFTER I cut it off, I might feel a bit…low…for a while. I mean, that’s like saying “before, you were barely tolerable, and now you’ve sunk to new lows!”  

I know that isn’t what the good March sisters really meant, but it lingers with me, you know.  I feel for poor Jo.  It makes me so happy at the end when Professor Bhaer says “but I have nothing to offer you. My hands are empty” and she put her hands in his and says “Not empty anymore” and then they get married and open a school for underprivileged boys (have you read Jo's Boys or Plumfield? You ought to).

But I digress.

This post is intended to be about a flower hair clip. Please accept my apologies for the long and only vaguely related intro.  Hair accessories seem to be very, very in right now.  You know what I’m talking about.  Those headbands with the little flowers on the side? Everybody’s wearing them.  And the clips! The pins! Flowers, beaded do-dads, feathers! We’re decorating ourselves very liberally these days.  This is a trend I’ve largely avoided because for some reason I think these things look sort of odd on me.  That said, in moderation I like them very much and with the right outfit I would wear them if I had them.  The other morning I got dressed and felt my outfit was calling for a hair accessory, so I made one, right then and there, that morning. (and yes, I did make it to class on time).  This flower is a variation on fabric flowers I’ve talked about before on here.  HERE is a link to a site that shows you how to make them!  I sewed a bit of lace on the middle and also stitched on a few pearl beads.  I hot-glued it to a hairclip, and that was it.  30 minutes, tops.

http://kindawonderful.typepad.com/pink_paper_peppermints/2008/06/rounded-petal-fabric-flowers-31-crafty-flowers-in-31-days--day-23.html

Overnight Oats = Easy Delicious Breakfast

I read food blogs from time to time, and I’ve been reading for a while now about this breakfast phenomenon called “Overnight Oats”.  Now, sometimes I catch trends a little late so forgive me if this is old news to you.  This is what I've been eating for breakfast all this week- I really like this! I love oatmeal but sometimes it's just too hot for oatmeal here in the peach state!

Basically, to make overnight oats you combine oats, milk, yogurt, and maybe some honey and dried fruit.  Then, you cover them up and pop them in the fridge overnight, add some fresh fruit in the morning, and there you go.  A delicious, nutritious breakfast all ready and waiting for you!

I’ve seen recipes that call for equal parts yogurt, oats, and milk.  I sort of like a higher oat to liquid ratio myself so my recipe has almost as much oats (as many oats?) as it does yogurt and milk combined. You can play with it, it’s not an exact science. Here’s what I did the other day:

I used microsoft publisher to make this.  That's right. PUBLISHER. Artists everywhere are cringing.

½ cup oats

1/4 cup lowfat vanilla yogurt (want to make your own yogurt? check out my old post HERE)

¼ cup unsweetened almond milk

A drizzle of honey

Sliced strawberries

Combine the first 4 ingredients; store covered in the fridge overnight. Add berries in the morning and then enjoy!

Of course, you could use whatever milk, yogurt, and fruit you fancied.  This is just what I had on this particular day.  I’ve used regular milk as well, I was just feeling almond-y that day.

Here are some other great recipes for overnight oats:

Overnight Oats at The Weekly Bite (I'm a big fan of The Weekly Bite)

Overnight Oats at Kath Eats Real Food

Tastes better than it looks, promise.

Trouble Sleeping? The Magic Sofa Just Got More Magical

 I have a magic sofa.  It’s in my room.  It used to be in our living room, but we (my roommates and I) moved last year, and it doesn’t fit in our new living room.  It’s a magic napping sofa.  Seriously, it is the perfect size for a perfect nap.  (It’s also good for movie-watching, homework-doing, reading, writing, and being on your computer like I am right now!) I’ve been napping on this sofa for pretty much the duration of my entire existence, because it used to be at my grandparents', then in the basement at my family’s house, and for the last few years it’s been at my apartment.  

Remember how I said last post I bought some bird fabric? Today I got home from school, did some thesis-related stuff (today was amazingly productive, can I get a high-five?!), and then found myself looking at my new bird fabric. 

fabric, with the proper pieces cut out

 The pattern-on-whiteness of it made me think “pillowcase”.  So…..I made a pillowcase.  Pillowcases are perhaps one of the easiest things in the world to make; if you are just starting out you should definitely make one. I think it would be rewarding. Basically, you just cut a piece of fabric twice as large as the pillow in question, hem the top part, fold it over right-side-to-right-side, and sew the two sides together.  I wanted a bit more pizzazz for this particular pillowcase, so I used some of my fabric to make a ruffle by folding it over, sewing it, then pinning it too the edge of the pillowcase body in a ruffly way. 

I like ruffles.

 I decided that this pillow should belong to the magic sofa.  Together, they cannot fail.  I think perhaps this sofa and this pillow have the sleep-inducing capabilities of both Ny-quil and Benadryl (Um, I do not advocate the taking of these medications for use as a sleep aid.  They just make me very sleepy when I have to take them for legitimate illness-related reasons.)

I could go to sleep just LOOKING at this.

Sweet Dreams :)

Put A Bird On It!

First, go watch this: http://www.hulu.com/watch/210887/portlandia-put-a-bird-on-it

Then, read this:

I'm guilty of it.  I put birds on things.  Lots of things. I put a bird on my wall last week. I painted a bird last month. I recently bought three yards of three different bird-patterned fabrics.  I've put birds in frames, on frames, on canvas, under glass, on Christmas ornaments, on memo boards, on stationary, etc.  I've been writing this blog for less than a year and almost half the entries are bird related. Problem? Hard to say.

My name is Courtney, and I put birds on things.

okay I'm going to go write my thesis proposal now.
No birds on that.

Transitive Property: Scotland must be CRAWLING with hipsters

 Transitive Property: Scotland must be CRAWLING with hipsters

Have you noticed? It’s everywhere. Plaid.  The pattern once relegated to cowboys, bluegrass bands, clogging troupes, and the highland games (although the Scottish would call it “tartan” of course) now seems to be the favorite choice of hipsters near and far. To explain this phenomenon to myself, I employed the transitive property to arrive at a conclusion that is dubious, at best.

Many hipsters wear plaid.

Plaid (tartan) is from Scotland.

Scotland has many hipsters.

So, Scotland itself must be filled with skinny jeans, plastic dark rimmed glasses, weird beards, and sepia-tinted photography.   Please don’t assume I’m against hipsters. I’m wearing plaid right now.  I don’t think I qualify as a hipster, though. I mean, my favorite color is pink and I have no less than 4 sets of pearls.  So…probably not a hipster. I just like to pick and choose my favorite trends from various people groups.  (which is really what we all do so who is even to say hipsters, or anything, are a thing? I don’t know)

I like plaid.  I like plaid quite a bit.  An excess of plaid is not good. Plaid in proper amounts can be quite grand, really. Awhile back I saw some plaid fabric at Hobby Lobby in the remnant bin and quickly snatched it up.  I liked its down-to-earth feel (read: it is brown) and it subtle distinction (read: the plaid pattern isn’t too loud).  Oddly enough, I found out later my mom purchased the same fabric at a different Hobby Lobby in my hometown around the same time. Great minds think alike, I suppose….or the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

I had exactly 1 yd, which is just enough to make a shirt. Well, a sleeveless shirt anyway.  I didn’t particularly feel like using a pattern so I used a shirt I already had as the shape inspiration.   I wish I’d taken pictures all along so I could write a lovely tutorial about how to make it like real craft bloggers do, but I didn’t.  I sewed crème ribbon around the neck and down the front to make a cool pattern because I thought that would be nice, and it sort of is.  If I did it again I probably would do something else, because I’m not totally loving the ribbon on front….it’s growing on me.  

If only I was wearing my dark rimmed glasses. Hipster fail.