Smurfettes

What are Smurfettes you ask?

Simple. My signature cocktail (and a favorite at parties and tailgates) that was concocted during a huge snowstorm a few winters ago. They get requested at almost every party I go to and are about the easiest thing to bring.

In a large jug (plastic for tailgates a schmancy glass decanter for holiday parties) mix 1 bottle of peach schnapps, 1 bottle of champagne (I go for the uber cheap stuff, Andrè's all the way) and ~1/3 bottle of MinuteMaid Bluberry Pomegranate juice (it's okay with other brands, but I find they have a stronger blueberry component which just doesn't taste right to me).

If you want to keep them cold, try adding frozen peaches. Keeps the drink cold, doesn't water down the drinks by melting like ice, and as an extra bonus you can eat the now boozy peaches.

More "Art"

Yet another Pinterest find. Use scrapbook letter stickers to spell out a meaningful quote, a child's name and DOB, your and your spouse's names with marriage date, etc on a canvas. Then go to town with paints.

I went with ocean-y colors (as I almost always seem to do). Just squirted them all over the canvas and used a large, dry brush to do some basic blending. Let the sucker dry overnight, take off the scrapbook letters, and Ta-Da!

I know the pic is rather dark . . . I just couldn't seem to get the right light on it. I'll try to remember to take another picture when it's hung. And that is a partial quote from The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas). The full quote is "Until the day when God will deign to show the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these two works - wait and hope".

Knitting Needle Case

I'm sick and tired of trying to find my knitting needles. Most of mine are bamboo, so no color coordination to help me out, which leaves me digging through my (ginormous) yarn basket in search of it's twin. I swear, my yarn basket is like a clothes dryer that eats socks. It's a giant PITA.

It's clearly time to do something about this situation. Once again, I put on my craft thinking cap and pulled together my random pieces of fabric (I may have a slight over-buying problem, over the next few weeks you'll see several projects with the same fabric because it was a) pretty and b) on super clearance at 2 bucks a yard). I now have a pretty knitting needle case to keep everyone together. Woot!

To start, I cut a piece of plain cream fabric 28 x 20 inches. I mostly use 14 inch needles, so need the height. And yes, I did get super lazy and neglect to iron. Do as I say, not as I do, and iron. Please. Yous will look much better if you do. Take one shorter side and fold it up about 10 inches. Mark where it will end up. This will be your large pocket.

Next, I decided to use the remaining pieces of an old pair of jeans that have been used in various crafts over the past year or so. I was especially wanting the back pocket. I used it and a piece of the leg for the smaller pockets. Take your fabric pieces (in my case, jeans) and pin it on the right side of the large pocket. Sew in place, leaving the top edge open. 

Now, that rectangle of jeans. Sew down it to form segments. These will be your smaller pockets. I made one skinny one for a crochet hook, and then made the rest about 2 inches wide, since most of my shorter needles are circs and take up more room. It's really hard to see in the pic, but it's there.

Remember how we marked the fabric? Fold the large pocket back up to that mark and sew up the sides. Again, leave the top open. Then sew in the pocket dividers like you did for the shorter pockets. You should now have a large set of pockets, with a smaller set in front. I left one half without dividers to hold a pattern book, etc. 

Here comes the fun part. And I use the term fun in not at all the normal sense. 

With the large pocket sewn, your case should currently be about 18 x 20. Cut a piece of batting 20 x 22 and a piece of your shell fabric 22x24 (I always leave plenty of extra room, you can down that if you are confident in your cutting abilities). Lay the shell fabric right side down, center the batting on the shell fabric, then center your lining (the pockets) on the batting. Pin in place. 

Now cut off the extra batting and shell fabric. You need about 1/4 inch of batting extending from the lining on all sides, and a good 1 to 1-1/2 inches of shell fabric.

This next part is like doing a self binding quilt. I chose to do mitered corners, which I have no chance of adequately explaining. There are several good tutorials online, I suggest looking through those to find one you're comfortable with. I searched "self binding quilt mitered corners" and used one of those tutorials. When that's done pinning, it should look like this.

Sew around. Now it's time to add the closure. I still had some of that black and white ribbon from the kindle sleeve left, so I used it. I folded my case into thirds, and wrapped the ribbon around it to measure. I sewed the ribbon in place along one of the binding seams, so one end is long while the other is much shorter. This way when the case is rolled up, one end wraps around and ties back to the exposed edge. 

Now it's time to fill the case with goodies! See why I wanted the back pocket of my jeans? It's perfect for holding my Knit Kit, measuring tape, and stitch markers in their little packets. 

Craft Table

I realized while doing all these crafty type things lately that my current "craft table" (aka, my desk moved around from bedroom to living room) was simply not doing it for me anymore.


And it's not exactly like I can afford to buy something new, or have the room for something big enough for quilting to stay in my living room on a permanent basis.

So what's a gal to do?

Mods. That's what. I added spiffy new things to my desk to give more organization space and an extra large work surface when needed, while still being able to fit through my bedroom door for when I have people over.

Plus, what better way to make it extra mobile than casters?

Maybe I'll even get to use my handsaw again . . .

So this is what my "craft space" currently looks like. A hot mess, with stuff on the floor and on the couch and just about everywhere. 

How to transform my lowly computer desk (that I got from Wal-Mart years ago for $25) into something worthy of the name "craft table"?

Ikea shelves, a piece of 3/4 inch particle board, casters, and a set of heavy duty drawer slides, that's how. To get the right size of particle board, I measured the distance between the legs of the desk and had them cut it at Lowe's. The drawers slides need 1/2 inch of space on either side (the package tells you) so I had them cut it one inch shorter lengthwise. It's also a few extra inches deeper than the desk, I just needed to make it narrow enough when the extra work space is pushed in to fit through my bedroom door. Having the extra workspace (ie, the particle board) on drawer slides means I can slide it in to save room when not in use. It also means it's not as sturdy as the desk part, so I'll never put my say my sewing machine on it, but for cutting, ironing, and to catch big projects as they spit out the back of my sewing machine, it's perfect.

It's also a great place to store my rotary cutting mat. 

To begin with, I wanted it all mobile. Which means casters. $10 for a 4 pack from Ikea attached to the desk legs with 2 inch screws was the first step. Then, I decided I wanted the additional workspace to be slightly padded, like an ironing board. So that I can iron on it, of course. To do that, I used spray adhesive to attached a thin layer of batting to the particle board.

Then I flipped it over onto a piece of spare fabric with two inches overhang of fabric on all sides. Pulling tight, I secured the fabric with a rigged combination of nails and spray adhesive. It would work so much better with a staple gun. I kind of finagled the corners into something that didn't look terrible.

Then I installed the drawer slide according to the package instructions. It was super simple.(Hint: the particle board is the "drawer component" and the desk is the "cabinet component")

As for the shelves . . . I wanted shelving on the table itself so I could easily grab whatever I needed. But I didn't want closed shelves. The piece is large and I didn't want to clutter my small living room when it's out here. HGTV has succinctly informed me that openness can make a small space seem larger. So I wanted open shelves. Ikea to the rescue! I got 6 wall shelves with their brackets for $3 apiece. I then installed them to the legs of the table just like I would to a wall, with the top shelf flush to the desktop.

And that's it. It's done. A half day of drilling and I had myself an awesome new craft table.

License Plates

Last year when the registration on my car was up, my baby turned 7 and got new license plates.

If only that were a good thing. I hate, hate, HATE, the new Texas plates. I think it's the shade of blue used for the sky, but they annoy the crap out of me. And the mountains. Let's not forget the dang mountains.

So, clearly, I have to find a use for my old, lovely plates with the cowboy and the night sky.

And what better way to do that than a food tray that lives on my counter for everyone to see?

I found this wood plaque at Michael's and some square dowel rod type things.

Using wood glue, I attached the Ross to the plaque, creating a rim.

After letting the glue dry, I stained it with the leftover mahogany stain from the corner shelf project. That streak that didn't stain is where I had too much wood glue and it leaked out. I could sand it down and fix it, but I kind of like it. It adds some character.

Then, using a paint pen, I wrote on the wood. The license plate isn't attached yet, just there for spacing.

After the paint pen dried, I sealed everything with polyurethane.

Finally, I used small screws with a large head to attach the license plate.

Then drilled holes to create handles.

For handles, I used a red bandana, twisted and threaded through the drill holes.

Ta-Da! A great way to display my state pride. 

Lemon Spaghetti

Back in undergrad, my mom and I would watch Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals  when I was home during the summer.

30 minutes for her maybe. An hour and a half for us.

One night we made her lemon spaghetti. It is super delicious, however, it calls for heavy cream (something I don't usually have on hand and never use the whole container) and parmeseano reggiano cheese (I probably butchered that spelling). When you live in the boondocks, it's hard to find such fancy cheese. And when you do find it, it ain't cheap.

So I said screw that, I'll make my own recipe on the cheap. I usually eat it with fish (Gorton's grilled tilapia). If I set the water to boil just before I put the fish in the oven, everything gets times perfectly. I also usually add some grilled zucchini, but I didn't have any this time around.

Ingredients
1 package thin or angel hair spaghetti
2 lemons
1/3 cup milk
Fresh rosemary, oregano, basil and Italian flat leaf parsley
4 cloves garlic
Shaved (or shredded) Parmesan cheese

Boil 1 package thin spaghetti or angel hair according to package directions (I use whole wheat thin). While you wait on that, chop some fresh herbs.

From top to bottom, basil, rosemary, oregano, Italian flat leaf parsley. If you're going to cook with fresh herbs often, it really is worth it to grow your own. Mine grow in a window box planter that moves inside and outside according to the weather. Chop them all together. You can either tear, use a super sharp knife, or kitchen shears. I use a sharp knife.

Zest one whole lemon, and about half the other (or about 3/4 of each). This makes it super lemony, so you can always cut back if it's too much for you. Peel the garlic cloves. I peel them first so I don't have to stop and clean out the press between cloves. To easily peel, lay your knife over the clove and hit the knife with the heel of your hand until the clove flattens (don't cut yourself). Then the peel will easily come off.

When the pasta is al dente, ladle (or just dip in your measuring cup) 1/2 cup of the starchy water to use later. Drain the pasta and leave it in the colander while you make the sauce.

In the pasta pot, drizzle olive oil to coat the bottom, mince your garlic cloves into the heated oil. At this step I move the pot from the burner that was boiling to a new one at medium high heat. If you have a gas stove, it won't matter, but electric stoves can take forever to cool down, and you don't want to burn the sauce. Cook the garlic until it is sizzling and starting to get fragrant. Then add the starchy water (from the pasta) and milk and heat to boiling while *constantly stirring*. Don't stop stirring. You will burn your milk. Stir for about 2 minutes (it will reduce your volume). Then add the juice from those two lemons (to get the juice flowing, roll the lemons on your cutting board before cutting them). Stir well and remove from heat. Immediately add the chopped herbs and lemon zest and stir well (you want to add the herbs last because basil especially can get bitter if it cooks for too long). Mix in the pasta and add the parmesan cheese. I used up what was left of my container, about 1/2 cup. Stir until the cheese is starting to get gooey.

Now it's ready to serve. This makes 4-6 servings (depending on how hungry you are).

Fruit Smoothies

I love smoothies.

Love. Smoothies. Who doesn't love fruit in liquid and slightly frozen form?

Crazy people, that's who.

Anyway, here is my quick and easy and healthy smoothie recipe.

In a blender add 1 cup low fat yogurt, 1/3-1/2 cup orange juice (depending on how liquidy you want your smoothie) and frozen fruit.

I add 5 peach slices and 6 strawberries.

Blend until smooth.

  

This would be really good with a few slices of banana or a small amount of blueberries added.