The Letter B

Today (err- Saturday was) is brought to you by the letter B.

Birthdays

Buttery Croissants

Bunting

And Babies!

Happy Birthday to the Resident Photographer!

Saturday Bethany turned 19.  

We started the morning channeling our inner French, with warm buttery croissants and cafe au lait - might I add very sophisticated.

We decorated the dining room with our bunting and the cupcakes with pennants - which perhaps isn't so sophisticated, but definitely fun.

  We had a lazy day at home, just the way she likes it. To be honest we did a lot of decorating considering how small scale the party was - but I think that's part of what makes it special.

I get a lot of inspiration for things from blogs.  But lately, I've been trying to find simple fun ways to decorate.  The bunting was a good start but I know there are so many other ideas out there!

  If you're looking for some fun party inspiration you can check out Jordan Ferney's blog.  

Saturday Mornings: Leftover Paper

That's right, paper.

This week was a tad hectic.  

I haven't calculated the hours I was at the restaurant (have I mentioned I work at a restaurant - well, I do) because of V-day, but it was a lot.  While being an incredibly lucrative holiday for the restaurant it was also incredibly tiring.

I somehow managed to throw together a brunch Saturday morning but alas, no pictures.  It wasn't for us anyway but it involved some killer quiche lorraine and our orange muffins, which may have been even better the second time around.  We went out for cinnamon rolls and bought wool for felting while breakfast was enjoyed.

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But that's not what this is about.  

This is about what to do with leftover wrapping paper from Anthropologie and a few vintage Ladies Home Journals.

Make yourselves some bunting, of course.

I've been plotting some bunting for a while now but planned to make it out of fabric.  During Christmas I bought some beautiful hand made wrapping paper from Anthropologie. It's been lying around ever since and I didn't know exactly what to do with it until bunting came up again.

We just cut out triangles of both material, pasted them together and strung them on some yarn.

voila!

It has totally transformed our room into something festive and is going to be amazing for birthday parties. It is a slightly time consuming process but wound up being quite sturdy.  Try it out.

Oh, and if you're looking for something yummy to try for breakfast tomorrow we made these a couple of weeks ago.  We used our pizza dough recipe with some hard white wheat, well they were yummy.  

Tomorrow is the resident photographer's birthday - ack!  I am sadly unprepared - but there will be bunting!

Goodbye Christmas, Hello 2011

How was your New Year's Eve?  I spent mine over a hot stove at work... but I think if you have  to work holidays then you might as well do it at a restaurant (in case you didn't catch it, I work at a restaurant) - at least everyone around you is celebrating and you can live vicariously :)  In my case it was twice vicariously since I only saw the servers, but whatever, I still like the idea.

In any case I did make it home in time to ring in the new year with my journal and my puppy sleeping on my toes.  There also may have been chocolate, but I'm not saying.

I didn't make a "list" this year.  I usually like to make some sort of goal list but this year I didn't feel the need.  However, if I had to say some goals for this year, they would be:

Knit More

Blog More

Be Creative More

There that's done.  As for the first I don't think it will be much of a problem.  At the moment I'm working on a marvelous surprise project.  I don't think she reads my blog but just in case we'll stay hush hush until after it's delivered.  I'm also totally inspired by Amanda Soule!  She knit 12...13... 14! Sweaters this year.  

Now for the second, this one I'm counting on my sisters to keep me in line for and as far as being more creative goes, I think this is a good first project.  January is cold and dry and depressing here - some patches of bright would be fun to pull out when we have company with children or for a birthday, don't you think.

Now, on to these babies...

These are French Macarons - Sort of like a sturdier meringue sandwich cookies.  And the chocolate ones are to die for.  

No, really, they are.

I should have had someone else hold this thing.  Look at my cuticles!  I was the one eating it I  suppose.

I found these macarons surfacing in the blog world last yearish?  Mostly from the Portland area I think.  I made them for our family Christmas this year. 

 And I'm not going to lie, they are a lot of work but as I said before the chocolate ones are to die for.

I found the recipe over at David Lebovitz site.  I followed his recipe and instructions and they worked fine when I didn't pipe the cookies out too big.  I think they're supposed to be pretty small but I've never seen one in real life!  The big one's just cracked.  I got very impatient waiting for the ganache to harden so I would recommend making that first and letting it chill until you're finished with the cookies.  The white one's are just vanilla with buttercream in the middle, they really aren't very impressive - I've a request for a different flavor and think i'd like to try raspberry or something else.

They (that is the chocolate ones) pair nicely with a cup of strong coffee.

Oh... and I read that these little guys are the new "cupcake" so watch out for them.

I also wanted to post a picture of the last Christmas Project.  

This is the one I was finishing on Christmas Day... 

This is a pretty traditional dress for me to

 make and it wasn't complex I just had sooo much going on.

Unfortunately the pictures of this dress aren't fantastic.  By the time I finished it I had lost the light.  This dress is for little Lilly, my 6 month old niece.  My mother was going to buy her a dress but I stopped her.  It seems so impractical to buy little girl's dresses when they're so simple to make.

I hunted all over the fabric store for something pink or purple (LIlly has three older brothers - she's always in a girl color) but I kept coming back to this sweet little print.

I went ahead and added a belt so I could make the dress bigger.  The shoulders are quite broad but the belt keeps everything together pretty well.  I wouldn't be surprised if she fit in it until she turns one.  

happy new year!

Days (late) for Christmas - Part 4: Knitted Gifts

I started knitting these headbands back in November and I totally got addicted.  I've known how to knit a basic stitch since I was 12 or so but hadn't moved past it until this year.  I picked up Martha Stewart Living for November (you know, I just realized how involved Martha was this Christmas!).  I flipped through the pages at the news stand in the Duluth airport, deciding right then and there that I was going to knit that headband.

To my surprise cabling was quite easy.  My first headband (the green one) took several tries until I got the pattern down, then the rest flew.  I planned to make a lot for friends and family but only made it through four (which is actually pretty good for me, all things considered.)

I gave the Resident Photographer the headband which she is quite beautifully modeling here, and the green one we keep on hand for whoever needs it - usually me on my walks with the dog :)

They're are super cozy and a nice way to keep warm without giving you hat hair.

The other two headbands I knitted went to my sister and her daughter in Utah.  Sadly our Christmas package to them (and two of their other packages!) was stolen off their front steps.  I hope that stupid thief felt guilty when he saw the little wrapped headbands and other homemade gifts.  I was spitting mad, for once my homemade gifts were finished in time and then this.  *Sigh* I still have enough yarn though so I'll be knitting replacements this week.  Elise & Eliana I hope you like your gift!

If anyone is interested the pattern is here.  It's a great anytime gift and we're looking at several more months of cold weather I think - try it out!  I'm eager to test out the mittens but need to finish those headbands first!

happy knitting!

And here's a picture for the road...

Poor thing... we couldn't resist.

Playing Hide and Seek with the Sun

It's been deceivingly summerish around here until suddenly Monday, we woke up to an overcast day!  I can never seem to remember what the weather is supposed to be like around here this time of year.  Obviously, it's October, it should be cooling off.  I know that much but Idaho can be very diverse and I think I'm just used to taking it as it comes.  It's still only in the high 60's but that was enough of a push to get me fully in the mood for Autumn.  At least the sky matches the colors of the landscape now!  It was so deceiving (if not actually pleasant) to crunch the leaves downtown in shorts and sandals and sunshine.

I would love to do some canning and baking but there just isn't time!  It's a constant joke between a few of my friends that my common response to how life is, is "Good.  And busy."  Seems it's become my motto.  But the one thing that's marvelous about being busy, is (if you can) you learn to enjoy the simple things: coffee in pottery mugs, walks by the pond with the dog, the slightest change in the weather...

 and spontaneous crafting nights with sister!   

My sister sent me a link to most lovely yellow flower.  

And I immediately wanted to make one just like it.  

  I bought this hat at Forever 21 last year.  It had an ugly black pinwheel fabric flower on it.  I always meant to change it out but didn't before it warmed up.  It's quite whimsical and from some angles down right Charlie Chaplin (which I'm still not sure how I feel about) or an almost horrible 90's throwback (just don't pair it with any vests or primary colors!).  I think the flower helps :)

We have a rather spacious sewing room corner but packing four girls and dog in was quite cozy.  We were climbing over each other and constantly losing the scissors.  Perfect bonding time!

I think the hat is backwards but I like it better this way ;)

They're are lots of tutorials online for fabric flowers.  This is a flat rose.  I sort of followed both this tutorial and this one from Thread Bangers (which is actually part two, you can find the first video here).  I didn't make the flower as formal as Tanya, I left my edges rough and it's lopsided in a very pleasant way.

We also made some fluffy organza flowers (although it wasn't organza - don't you love how we follow the rules).  And attached some tiny roses to bobby pins with hot glue.  Bethany made a huge flower with some vintage fabric that turned out pretty fun.  

Thanks to the resident photographer for the photos!
P.S.  You may recognize the scarf from this post!

A Lavender Colored Autumn Sky

I crept into the sewing room and found some inspiration in a scrap of soft purple fabric and a Japanese Dress Pattern Book.  There is so much inspiration inside from all the sweet little girls, muted colors and wonderful pictures!  I love the line drawing for directions - if only it were in English!  

I seem to always run into a snare transferring the pattern from paper to fabric.  All the patterns come printed on a large sheet and it's a matter of tracing through Japanese characters and several sizes to find the pieces you need!  However, it's very worth the hassle and the directions are simple enough that, even if I don't cut things out exactly right, I can trim pieces to fit as I go.  (If anyone else has a trick to using these patterns I would love to know!)  

Here's a peak into the sewing room

It's far from perfect and I didn't iron it for the picture!  The pleat in front isn't quite right and I got impatient with the bias tape finish and improvised.  I love it for it's peasant simplicity.

 It would be darling over a white turtle neck.  I have a particular little girl in mind for this but I still have to see if it will fit!  I have no idea what size I wound up making, I just eye-balled it.

not your everyday apron

I drug myself into the sewing room, a few nights ago to start a project. I've been in something of a sewing slump lately. I ran into this lovely yellow fabric at the store months ago and snatched up a few yards but it came home and sat on the fabric pile for too long. I had picked it up with an apron in mind. We (sisters) tend to fight over one apron in the kitchen - which is ridiculous considering how often we're in the kitchen together and how boring (it's just black) the apron is. I cut the apron in a similar shape to the coveted apron but flared it up a bit.

There's something to me about yellow and grey that's very nostalgic. The colors together are very calming and feminine, in the right shades. I'm slowly finding myself collecting yellow and grey items: a book, a bag, an apron.This yellow and grey is so fitting for cold grey days.
I can't wait to mix up all sorts of baked goods in it this winter.

It's been pretty quiet around here lately but things should be getting messy soon :)

P.S.  All pictures by the resident photographer.

She wore sunlight in her hair

We've been busy around here lately...

drawing, skipping, hiking and eating lots of ice cream.

I took advantage of vacation to practice sketching and my little niece gladly obliged.

I was really delighted with how the picture turned out - thanks to a little girl who loves to pose for her aunts (my dogs on the other hand still come out pretty terrible :).

I went hunting for a frame but couldn't find anything I liked so I cut one out of cardboard and covered it in a flannel fabric I had on hand. It now rests on her mama's desk.

Photos by RD Photography

I'll build you a home in the breast of a willow.

A certain special friend of mine had a birthday last week.

I'm really late in sending her gift but better late than never!

This was the card for the gift...

Amy (my birthday friend) has wonderful fashion and it's rare that I feel

confident giving her a clothing item. But this scarf is just too fun.

I found the pin (it's made from a vintage scarf) at one my favorite coffee

shops and the scarf is made out of an old t-shirt I bought second hand for $2.

Since it's going in the mail and will most likely arrive wrinkled, I

sketched this example of how to wear it.

Making the scarf is really simple (I've cut up multiple old t-shirts from my own wardrobe :)I ran into the tutorial at the Thread Banger site, if you'd like to try one out.

It's all tied together and ready to go out in the mail. Unfortunately she's out of town for a few days and I'll have to wait a while before she gets it. So no one go spilling the beans!

Thanks to the resident photographer for the pictures!

Enjoy the mess!