moccasins

Last summer when I went to pick up my typewriter from Luis the repair man in Montclair with my brothers we stopped at a lovely second hand bookstore on the same block and I picked up a book called The Real Book about Real Crafts by C. C. Roberts. It was published in 1954 and some of the crafts reference things that aren't really common place for people to have lying around their houses or easily accessible at craft or hardware stores anymore. But what caught my eye and convinced me to buy it anyway was that the first thing I saw when opening it was a series of directions about how to make your own moccasins: I knew I had to have it.

Today the fulfillment of my moccasin dreams came true. 

projects

Recently I have found myself trolling the internet for craft blogs, for tutorials, for DIY projects. I love to make things: it gives me such a sense of accomplishment. Just today I said to Braeden, "I know that I went to work today, shopped at the dollar store, mopped the kitchen floor twice, and got a big chunk of the studio cleaned up, but I still feel like I didn't DO anything today." The only thing I can conclude from this is that I didn't actually MAKE anything today, because it certainly seems like I DID a fair amount of other things.

Unfortunately I find myself bookmarking potential craft projects online more than making them myself. Part of my hesitancy comes from the fact that for the last 3 months our house has been (and continues to be) in a constant state of flux: Braeden moving in plus wedding gifts plus summer rummage sales plus amazing furniture from my grandpa's home equals too many things in our house. The great thing about craft projects is that you have new things, but the bad part about craft projects is that you have more things. I have enough unfinished projects already, I don't need to add more to that list (although some of the dollar store purchases today were for new projects I found in my internetting yesterday so there's that). Plus, there is always that level of worry that if I make that thing it won't turn out as cute in my house or with my shirt or with my love letters as it looks in the picture on those mom blog (How is it that all these moms with little kids have so much time to make all these things, photograph them, and write tutorials about how to make them yourself? Where are their kids during all of this...?).

But as it is my bookmark folders are nigh unto bulging right now with all these new tutorials that I've found just in the last day or two. Perhaps once the studio is all organized I will finally get around to making some of them...

make make make make

So I've been pretty busy as of late. You know, making things: books, lemon sugar scrubs, BACK BLOGGING (feel free to check out the January archives at your leisure), boxes, getting engaged... things of that nature.

Meanwhile, here are some photos to commemorate the recent making of the things:

I made this last semester for my Bookbinding I class, but only recently traded it to my friend Jarrod (along with a promised knit hat from Braeden) for his old tv. Not too shabby...

On the cover is the end paper from an old book I got from the Hartleys entitled, Who Invented It and How Does it Work?  It's a kid's book all about inventors and inventions. I've used various other pages for other projects as well, but I just love this cover paper. A lot.

I used a found poster about cells for the inside end paper.

I'm a little jealous that Jarrod is now the owner of this amazing book, but what are books for if not to trade for tvs? I mean, really.

This was a lemon sugar scrub that I made via a recipe from my mom (1c. sugar, 1/2 c. olive oil, 1T. lemon zest) for Crystal, one of the girls Sarah and I visit teach. It was her birthday yesterday and it was a great excuse to make it. (Also to buy this cute container I found at Stuff: only .99!)

I'm pretty proud of my lemon-shaped tag...

I also made this card for her. It's supposed to be shaped like a heart when it's closed but that pattern I had was off so I had to make up my own: it could still use a few modifications.

Here it is, opened.

Sarah and I stopped by Crystal's to drop off a slice of cake and the lemon sugar scrub and we had a great visit! Previously Crystal had been really busy so we'd only been able to sit down and talk with her once before now so it was really fun to just sit and chat with her this time. I like her a lot and hope that we'll be able to see more of her this year.

When Braeden and I were in Utah we went to Guru's for lunch with my friend Nigel and had their amazing sweet potato fries. After trying them Braeden swore that he would do his best to find a recipe to make our own when we got back to Iowa. Tonight, he did. Behold:

We decided the fries, which we sprinkled with seasoning salt before baking, were a little wide so next time we'd cut them in half lengthwise, but other than that they were great! I wish we had made twice as many (which, if we'd cut them in half, we would have). The dipping sauce was also incredible and, according to Braeden, is the same sauce they use at Red Robin (but tastes just like the one they use at Guru's too). Fun fact. Make your own. I dare you.

Braeden was on a making food kick so he started to make these red velvet cake balls, too.

Roll it, pat it, mark it with a B! (And put it in the freezer for Braeden and me!)

You have to be careful with red velvet cake because it turns your hands a little red... Who would have thought?

They look like meatballs, but they're not. I promise.

How can you not love this face?!

We put them in the freezer (then fridge) to harden up, then dipped a few in melted chocolate chips (we forgot to buy the chocolate bark) and they were amazingly moist and delicious!

(though not very pretty since we coated them with melted chocolate chips instead of the chocolate bark...)

Phew! And that is just a little of what I've been up to these days. I apologize for my negligence, Blog-o-sphere and will try to be better in the future...where we live.

i admit defeat

Ok, ok. I admit it: I did not complete 31 projects in 31 days. I just didn't make it. But I did get super close! I blogged about 26 projects and I have at least 3 more that still haven't been posted, but even so that only brings us to 29 projects total. Sad day. But it's ok because I still got lots of stuff done and I learned things about myself. And, as Stephanie always says, every day should be a learning day!

I learned that it is way better to be doing something in the time I'm not working instead of just watching tv shows online, even if I think I'm so tired I could fall asleep at 8 pm (because I will never, ever actually get in bed before 11 pm). I learned that I love making things, not just books, and sometimes making other things is even more satisfying that making books! (Is that ok to say? I still like making books too, just maybe not all the time all the time.) I learned that sewing never takes as much time as I think it will (except when the machine freaks out and then it's just best to walk away and come back later), that pictures are best to take right after I've finished something, and blog are better with stories and the good ones take longer to write than I think they will. I learned that sometimes the rewards of having at etsy store are just so that I can say that I have one and not to actually sell anything (in other words, I'm a terrible promoter but I'm not thinking about that right now). I learned that it really is better to measure twice and cut once. I learned that maps are the most fun kind of paper and that they are everywhere. Also that rubber stamps can cool, not lame. I learned that some projects take longer than others but that doesn't mean that short projects aren't fulfilling. I learned that the longer I sit and stare at my work table the less inspired I am to go back up there the next time: when I'm tired, I just need to leave. I learned that even though I have a craft room I still craft all over the house and always manage to leave my scissors in the kitchen when I need them on the third floor, and vice versa.

I learned that I like being crafty in my own way because crafting make me happy.