Excuses, Excuses & a Unicorn!

I'm even further behind on my November softie ornament-a-day challenge than ever right now, though I have a plethora of excuses and other things I've been doing over the last few weeks, some of which I will now list off: exercising (did I mention I ran a half marathon earlier this month? I did.), acute softie burnout, Thanksgiving cooking/eating/recuperating, watching Boardwalk Empire and The Mindy Project (because I am clearly gangster while remaining witty and feminine, duh), and um, other things, like...oh yeah, working a full time job and maintaining successful personal relationships with friends and family. There is just so much on my plate, both metaphorically and right next to my week-old pumpkin cheesecake. Yum! Life! 

However, you know what they say: "if you aim for the moon," blah blah blah. I'm commending myself for even coming this far. I mean, I've made 19 softie ornaments in 28 days. That's still pretty good, and if I don't praise myself for my many minuscule achievements, then who will (other than the people from whom I fish for compliments)?

 This is our Thanksgiving meal, just to prove to you how immersed I was in eating and recovering from the holiday. It's hard to get back on the crafting wagon after the gluttonous food orgy that was this T-giving, but I managed. I think I took this photo in the aperture setting instead of auto setting. Brilliant! 

 This is a poor photo of the most recent sugar skull ornament. I like it OK. 

I made these snowflake ornaments because they're so easy peasy that I can stitch them in the car. Once again, multiples! It's the best way to get several done in a row. I have big plans to make another one, as you can see by this loose flake. 

 This is my proudest and happiest softie achievement of late. I started this project over a week ago on a whim as a gift for my friend Justin, but I screwed up and sewed across its face, so another friend Kate helped me by cutting out the bad seam last night. I mess up all the time, yet don't own a seam ripper, for anyone looking for an inexpensive gift. 

A few words about this unicorn: I cut out the head shape and then stitched the eyes first, and they were just perfect. I used my narwhal technique for the horn, and I blanket stitched the bottom piece on to make it truly 3D. I'm just having a love affair with this unicornament (I just now thought of that. Wow. Again--just brilliant.) I mean, look at that rainbow mane! And it's perfect for my friend. I can't wait to give it to him! 

Do you watch that show Adventure Time? Me either! That show is totally for stoners! This ornament was loosely inspired by my favorite character, Lady Rainicorn. One critique I'll say is that I could've added a blue piece in the mane, to pick up the blue in the eye, but I didn't think I'd have the neck space. All in all though, super softie success!   

Complicated Softies

I've been working on some more complicated softie ornaments for the last couple days. I could make owls all day, but I'd probably get bored eventually, so when someone special asks for something specific, it can be a super fun challenge! 

 It can also be a massive pain in the arse. I made three heads for this peacock to get one right. Three. That's the same number of times it took me to pass my driver's license road test. 

 Ultimately, I'm pleased with the way this peacock turned out. There will be no further peacock ornaments in my immediate crafting future. 

 This is a narwhal. Who doesn't want an adorable narwhal on their tree? Another request, which was pretty fun to create. To attach his fins I used a blanket stitch, at which I'm a bit rusty. But as an admirer of relatively obscure aquatic creatures, I love little narwhal.

 Again, being so behind on my challenge (currently five softies behind schedule), I needed to make something fast. Another vegetable for Tobi? Of course! We haven't successfully cooked an eggplant, but we can hang this cutie on our tree. Also, I learned today that it's called an aubergine in other parts of the world. The more you know. 

These are some in-progress sofite ornaments. Just so you know, I'm not a total slacker. More to come! 

Behind Schedule!

 I got behind on my Softie-a-Day November Challenge. In my defense, it's because I was busy preparing for and running a half marathon on Sunday! WOW. I am amazing! Then I had to recover from it by sleeping a whole bunch. Don't worry. I'm sort of back on track. Sort of.  

 Ugh, THIS owl! This owl is my punishment for having a life outside of crafting. I broke a sewing machine needle on it. I'm down to my last machine needle! Furthermore, I don't like the design. Why didn't I give it little felted rosy cheeks instead of that dumb heart belly? One of its little heartstrings came out! I can't even look at it. What a redheaded stepchild of a softie. I'm sorry, owl. It doesn't even have a name. 

Made another one of these and took a weird, blurry photo of it (thanks for nothing, moon mountain setting?). Love the colors, design. Hate my complicated camera. I'm sorry, continuing education digital photography class! 

 

Desperate to have at least two ornaments to show for last night's Goodie Club meeting, I churned out this little guy for Tobs, who very much enjoyed an onion ornament I made a few years ago, and wanted some accompanying produce.   

I hope to close the now three softie gap between my track to my goal and my current batch of softie ornaments. Also, working on an Etsy, and several specific requests. Will advise, followers! 

The Softie Challenge Continues

Just to update you, I have been keeping up with my self-imposed softie ornament-a-day treadmill with great aplomb, especially considering this week's momentous election and a trip to Cirque du Soleil, which both cut into my crafting time. 

Here are the finished sugar skull ornaments from November 6 and 7. I decided to switch back to some owls after completion. 

Again, I worked in multiples to knock out a few owls for November 8 and 9. I finished them this afternoon. 

 

I love these kind of muted, rustic colored felts, but I think I'm boxing myself in with the owls, and just doing the same sorts of designs and color schemes over and over. I wanted to bust out and do some more bright and/or zany-looking ones. 

Did I succeed? I like this little guy so far. I did it so fast, it was like doing a quick doodle, but with felt. The weekend should give me some good long swathes of time to really work on some details and more time-consuming projects. Will advise! 

Veggie Harvest Stuffin' Squash

People like to be outraged that all the Xmas-mania is starting too early. "Halloween just ended!" they say. "What about Thanksgiving?!" I saw a newspaper cartoon in which a turkey is confronting Santa about backing off the turkey's month. Why are you so excited about your imminent doom, turkey? It doesn't really make sense. 

During a recent post-Halloween cold snap, I wanted to remind myself of T-giving and modify a stuffed squash recipe I make to more closely resemble a dish my mum used to cook for me and my sister. I kept thinking about sausage stuffing (or "dressing" for you Southerners), but I don't eat or cook a lot of meat. By incorporating thyme, rosemary, dried cranberries and faux sausage (I used a vegan Field Roast sausage in apple & sage flavor. You're welcome, turkey!), I tried to capture some fall flavors. The end result was pretty delicious and definitely homey and comforting—perfect for a chilly autumn evening. Here is the recipe. It takes a little more than an hour to make, and yields two cozy servings. It's also vegan if you omit the feta. 

Ingredients

Acorn squash

Olive oil

½ cup white quinoa

1 cup water or broth

Half of an onion, chopped

1 cup sliced mushrooms

2 ears of corn, in husk

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2 Field Roast vegan sausages (or any fake or real meat crumble you desire. Or leave it out. Do what you want!)

Rosemary

Thyme

Dried cranberries

Feta (optional)

Paprika (optional)

Cayenne (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice acorn squash in half with a huge knife. Scoop out seeds, and set seeds aside if you want some extra crunch. Brush olive oil on cut sides and “bowl” of squash. Place in oven cut side up for about 45 minutes to an hour. Check on it after 45 minutes, and remove when tender. Turn oven to 350 degrees, and set corn in husk directly on rack for 30 minutes. (I roasted the corn in a separate convection oven, but you could put the corn in along with the squash at 350, then remove corn after 30 minutes and turn up heat to finish cooking squash.)

Place quinoa and water/broth in pot and add some salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn down heat to simmer for 20 minutes or until quinoa is fully sprouted and liquid is absorbed. While quinoa is cooking, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in sauce pan on medium and brown the sausages. Remove to paper towels, then add a little more oil if necessary and sauté onions and mushrooms. Turn heat down a little and add minced garlic and about a ½ cup (more if desired) chopped dried cranberries. Chop up cooked sausage and add to pan. Use a sharp knife to carefully scrape corn kernels from cob and add to pan. Toss to incorporate.

 Turn heat off. Finely chop as much thyme and rosemary as you want (a couple tablespoons, probably, but be careful because too much rosemary can overpower a dish easily and make it taste “soapy.”) and add to pan. Toss to incorporate. When quinoa is cooked, add to pan and mix it all together. 

For crunchy roasted seeds, remove as much squash innards as possible from seeds and rinse in a colander, then dry. Toss with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne. Place on cookie tray and roast at 300 degrees for about 10-15 minutes, tossing once halfway through.

When squash is tender, remove from oven and scoop quinoa corn sausage mixture into the bowls of the squash. Top with feta crumbles (if desired) and spicy roasted seeds. Stick a piece of rosemary in it and pretend you're fancy. Happy Fall!    

Some notes: Again, I have a small convection oven, so I used that and the oven, since there's a lot of roasting going on here, but I think it could be manageable to do it all in the oven. To speed things up, you could roast the corn ahead of time, use a can of corn, or skip the seed step completely. Other suggestions I would have would be add sage, swap diced apple for the cranberries, add pecans or walnuts. Go crazy. Just make sure there's some nice textures and a bit of sweetness. 

Handmade Holiday 2012 Kickoff Craft Challenge!

This year, I was even more pumped about the holidays than ever! I had vowed to put off my excitement until October 31 had come and gone, and on November 1, I had my first Holiday Craft Night for the impending Handmade Holiday 2012. Yay! I started out with holiday ornaments, and after nearly a week of daily crafting, I decided to challenge myself to create a softie ornament for each day of November.  

Day 1: This is Jimmy the Fox. I found a great piece of very thin, rust colored corduroy in the remnants bin at JoAnn's. I love the texture and look of the fabric, but I've found it frays and tears easily. Oh well. This fox was inspired by a locket my friend Bekah gave me. Bekah says, "Foxes are the new owls."

Day 2: But owl ornaments are in my Handmade Holiday roots, man! I wanted to make an owl from the corduroy as well. This one is called Hoo-boo, and I tried to make him look more expressive with eye brows. Success level: modicum. 

Day 3: Perhaps because I started my holiday crafting so close to Halloween, I started working on a sugar skull design. I don't particularly love sugar skulls, but what I do enjoy about them is that the design possibilities are pretty endless. They're colorful and they can incorporate needlework and wool felting. Also, if I was to make an attempt to sell something, I think a lot of people would buy these, just judging by how many chicks I know that dressed up and painted their faces dia de las muertos-style for Halloween.

Day 4: I think people like to be reminded of Halloween during Christmastime, also, like in The Nightmare Before Christmas. I loved embroidering the flaming diamond on this one's forehead. This is the one I'll probably keep for our own tree. 

Day 5: I decided to make another fox. This one is called Winky, because she's winking. I think she turned out superior to Jimmy, but it's still very difficult to have decent craftsmanship with that delicate fabric, dang it. 

 Day 6: A good way to churn out several softies in a row is to work in multiples. My least favorite part of making these skulls is cutting out the skulls, shaping the lower jaws and cutting out eye holes, so sitting down and doing those jobs on two ornaments was very satisfying. It freed me up to then focus on just the colorful design elements once I completed the grunt work, which makes working on them much more fun. Just a little ways away from having these two complete, and if I do it today I'll be one up on my month-long challenge!

The first six days of this grueling challenge beg many questions. Will I be able to keep up this breakneck pace of crafting? Will I crumble under the weighty pressure of the looming holidays? What further demented designs will spring forth from this maniacal mind?? Stay tuned to this enthralling blog to find out! 

Easy Peasy Projects: A Pillow Case & Also A Thrift Store Scarf Shirt

I had a busy weekend for simple craft projects. It started out with me scanning the living room and noticing a visual atrocity that has long made its home on the couch. It was a large, square, zebra print pillow, which was acquired at a time in my life when I considered hot pink, lime green and all animal prints to be necessary fashion staples because they “go with anything.” (The jury’s still out on why I have not yet been featured on the Sartorialist for my preternaturally amazing sense of design and color.)

I decided to make a pillowcase for it from the navy blue fabric I once purchased to make curtains, which I never made (yet!). At first I thought I’d make a slip pillowcase by simply stitching together two blue squares with one open end, but I realized that would leave one edge of ghastly zebra print peeking out, so I decided to make the slightly more complicated kind.

I started by cutting a square for the front using the pillow as an outline. Then I cut two more pieces that were the same height as the initial square, but each a little longer than half of the square, so as to create two overlapping pieces that would form the slit through which the pillow could be stuffed. Make sense? Yes.

I hemmed the edges of the two smaller pieces, then sewed one (with the inside facing out) to the square piece. If you want a particular one of the smaller pieces to be on the outside, remember to sew that one to the square piece first, because when you turn it right-side-out, that one will be on the outside.

Next I simply sewed the sides of the other small piece to the square, overlapping the other small piece, and voila! A pillowcase!

I actually overestimated the size, so I made one edge a little smaller after taking Ol’ Stripey for a pillowcase test drive. Now it’s nice and snug in its new fashion forward casing.

Additionally, I made a shirt. A while ago, I saw this link on Reddit: http://www.starsforstreetlights.com/2012/03/diy-how-to-make-scarf-shirt.html It’s a blog post about a girl who made a shirt by darting together two square scarves from thrift stores. I thought it looked comfy and awesome and set out to make one for myself.

After scouring some thrift stores, I found several nice square scarves, but no solid colored scarves, so I decided to buy a yard of poly-satin fabric to be the back of my scarf shirts. This one is actually the third one I've made. The first was a cotton scarf, which was a little rigid. The flowy, satiny ones drape better on the body.

To start out, simply cut a square of the poly-satin slightly larger than the scarf you’re using. Then, hem up the edges of the poly-satin. I only hemmed three edges on this one because I’m a bit of a lazy crafter and I figure the bottom will always be tucked into a high-waisted skirt.

Next, place the poly-satin on top of the scarf, inside-out style, so the seam edges and the back of the scarf are facing out. On the top part, where you want your head to stick out, make a dart, or a small stitch at the very corner ends, and then also a few inches in from there on both sides. I went back and forth over each stitch a few times.

Turn it right-side-out and drape over yourself to get a feel for how you’ll wear it on your shoulders. Is the head hole too wide? Are you going to be wearing it off the shoulder? Adjust to your liking if necessary. Personally, I really like wearing these off the shoulder. Also, get a feel for where the arm hole should end. Hold or mark that place, then take it off, turn it inside out again, and stitch from the spot where you decided the arm hole should end down the side. You can stitch all the way to the bottom, or stop a little from the bottom.

At this point, you’re probably thinking, “This isn’t a shirt! Why, this is just two squares of fabric that have been tenuously connected and now you expect me to drape them over myself like some boho peasant potato sack?” Well, yes, but probably with a high-waisted skirt or shorts. (Maybe there are other ways to wear it. I don’t know. I tried rocking it with a belt and jeggings and it really wasn’t happening for me.)

Again, I know what you're thinking and, yes, I did take several weeks of modeling classes in Gulf Breeze when I was in grade school! Thanks for everything, Mary Lou's Models!

Emily's (Soon-To-Be) Famous Veggie Stuffed Peppers

I wanted chile rellenos, but they’re typically breaded, fried, stuffed with tons of cheese and meat, and most conveniently available at the nearest Mexican restaurant. I wanted something homemade, relatively healthy and vegetarian but still protein packed, and I knew there had to be a better way to some yummy stuffed peppers, so I set out in my usual manner—scouring the internet for recipes, combining several of those with my own “whimsical” culinary know-how, and hoping for the best!

In the autumn I perfected a comfort food that reminded me of a dish my mom used to make. The original dish was a beef and rice stuffed acorn squash, but I turned it into a black bean, roasted corn and quinoa stuffed version. This chile relleno-like stuffed pepper recipe is something of a summery adaptation of that recipe, and, I must say, it turned out pretty awesomely. This dish could also easily go vegan; just omit (or replace with vegan alternatives) the cheese and Greek yog.

Ingredients

2 ears of corn, still in husk

Olive oil

Half of a red onion, diced

About a cup of mushrooms (optional)

Clove or two of minced garlic

Red wine vinegar

Liberal spoonful of cumin

1 cup of your favorite broth

½ cup white quinoa

Can of black beans

2-4 poblano peppers

Cilantro

Shredded cheese (I used a cheddar jack)

Tomatoes

Lime

Greek yogurt

S&P

-Roast corn in the husk on 350 for about 30 minutes, flipping once halfway through.

-Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Add onions mushrooms and sauté until shrooms are tender and onions are translucent, then add garlic and sauté lightly. Add black beans.

-Mix in cumin, two small splashes of red wine vinegar and salt & pepper to taste. Scrape corn kernels into black beans, but save some corn for a side salad. Corn is great in salads!

-Bring a cup of broth to a boil and add slightly less than ½ cup of quinoa. Boil for a minute, then cover and simmer 15-20 minutes.

-Place poblanos under broiler and char evenly all over, about 15 minutes. Move the oven shelf close to the top broiler to get a reasonable char.

-When quinoa is cooked, add it to the black bean corn mixture. Add a bunch of cilantro.

-Split the charred peppers open with a large slit, (but don’t cut in half), then scoop out the seeds with a small spoon. Place peppers in a shallow baking dish and put a little cheese in the bottom each pepper. Stuff each split pepper with lots of the black bean and corn mix, making it overflow with black bean quinoa corn goodness, and top with more cheese.

-Place back under broiler to melt and char the cheese.

-Make a quick salsa with diced tomatoes, a little diced onion, cilantro and lime juice. Put on top of cooked, stuffed peppers.

-If you like sour cream, take plain Greek yogurt (which tastes the same but is more nutritious and protein rich) and scoop some into the corner of a plastic zip top bag. Cut a teeny tiny bit of the bag’s corner off so it’s like a pastry bag and make an ornate squiggle of Greek yog over your pepper. If you’re serving people who think Greek yogurt doesn’t belong on a stuffed pepper, just tell them it’s sour cream. They won’t know the difference.

-Serve with a colorful side salad topped with corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, and/or whatever pretty veggies you have lying about. Shake up a lime vinaigrette using lime juice, olive oil, a little honey, maybe some hot sauce (I used an aji amarillo paste) and S&P, all to taste.

-Take a picture and then enjoy your scrumptious meal with a Mexican beer! Ole!

Refurbished Craft Cabinet!

Nope, I'm not letting this blog die--11 month hiatus, be damned! I recently acquired a cabinet after lusting after it on Craiglist for a week. It was a good cabinet; tall, spacious, all the things a cabinet should be. But it was kind of ugly, so I decided to customize it to my liking.

It started out looking like this:

I took off the ugly knobs and sanded it down for a long time. Then I went to Lowe's and a helpful lass in the paint department sold me two sample sized paints of this pleasant green. I applied three or four coats.
Also at Lowe's I picked up a spray-on sealant and two new knobs. I applied the sealant liberally many times over because if lugging it in and out of the house while working on it is any indication, this cabinet is going to take a serious beating in my possession.
Last, I hauled all my craft stuff out of the big cabinet in the office, organized the supplies within--much of which was haphazardly stashed in a series of plastic bags in various states of tatters--and put it all in new, more organized containers in my new cabinet.
Now I don't really have any excuse not to be crafting. All my stuff is organized and in one spot. I can only imagine that my many dear readers can expect a sudden burst in activity on this here blog. Yessiree. So...See you soon, then!