The Green Cottage

Do You Vant a Cupcake?

2008-12-22T15:03:00.000-08:00

I made these for a friends Halloween party and just now got around to downloading the photos.

From the recipe at Baking Bites, http://bakingbites.com/2007/10/vampire-cupcakes/

I filled them the quick & dirty way; by poking the tip of my icing bag straight into the cupcakes. My frosting didn't come out as fluffy as hers but still tasted amazing!

The sign was my silly DD's idea

Smooth Operator

2008-07-07T20:27:00.000-07:00

Day ONE of my Smoothie Feast.

I won't call it a "green smoothie feast" because frankly, 1 green smoothie is usually more than enough for me each day. I have found that the more smoothies that I drink each day, the less cooked, junk food I eat. Coincidence? Who knows, who cares! If I can loose these stubborn pounds and not gain more as I start my new meds the week, not starve & detox some of the digestive troubles I started having again last summer, then bugger why it works.

Today's Smoothies Recipes

Watermelon Freeze

Blend 1/4 watermelon flesh (with seeds picked out) with 1 tray of ice & 3 oz. water until smooth. Store in the freezer as needed. Makes about 64 oz.

Light Green Smoothie

Blend a small handful of kale (mine is red tipped kale from friends at Wright Way Farm) with 2 oz water until no longer leafy. Add in 1/2 cup pineapple and more water to taste. Blend and enjoy. Makes about 12 oz.

Tropical Freeze Take 1

I'm really impressed with how well my $20 Hamilton Beach blending crushes ice cubes, & am enjoying the icy smoothies even more.

Blend 1 can of mandarin oranges (in pear juice if you can find it) with frozen pineapple and extra ice until a nice consistency. Store in the freezer as needed or eat with a spoon. Makes about 36 oz.

Tropical Freeze Take 2

Take any remaining Tropical Freeze Take 1 out of freezer. Let defrost just enough to not burn out your blender. Add 1 banana & re-blend. Enjoy with a straw & a little paper umbrella if you can find one. Makes about 24 oz.

Listen up All you Hip Cats.

2008-05-29T23:05:00.000-07:00

We've got kittens. Yes, you heard that right, kittens, in addition to Mr. Mistofelees & Barley Mow.

How, you're wondering, did we end up with 4 less than 1 lb, month old kittens?

It's an interesting story that includes a big of the history of how our house was built. OK, maybe it doesn't.

We have this big back porch see, and like any nearly 100 year old house, the corner of the floor was rotting & falling in. So J did a temporary repair, one like all temporary repairs we do that ends up lasting twice as long as a repair is meant to. Well in lifting up the sagging corner of the porch he exposed an interesting construction detail. The stone porch columns are hollow. The side & angled floor support fit very neatly into an opening in the column, theoretically blocking the gap into the hollow column. Notice I said "theoretically" and since the angled support has long since rotten and the side supports are on their way out, there is a nice big gap into a little hidey hole. All of this is nicely hidden to those on the topside when the floor boards are in place.

after pulling off the floor boards

It was last Tuesday, while at HOUSE that J called. "Guess what. Calico [a neighborhood alley cat] is hiding in the porch column. Don't tell L." Ah, so that's why she was hanging around in the yard so much recently. She'd found herself a nice sheltered spot. Here I had been thinking she and Fat Black [the other alley cat] were living under the upturned canoes in the back.

Come Friday we're returning from doing who knows what & all of a sudden L yells out "hey! Kittens!". Woops, hadn't thought about that possibility. I'd always thought that Calico was an abandoned pet and fixed since we've never had kittens in the neighborhood before. Well sure enough there was a little orange tabby face sticking it's head out, then a little black face. The orange seemed to have a little eye crust but to be otherwise healthy. We knew Calico was still hanging around, we'd see her sitting in the sun near the fire pit waiting for us to get off the porch.

Fast forward to Saturday's rain storm. It's 9, 10 o'clock at night & storming big time. J looks at me & utters those famous last words. "do you think the kittens will be OK". Man, don't say things like that to me because you know I'll get all maternal. I was terribly conflicted. We can't have any more cats, I don't want to hurt Calico by taking her kittens but I know they need to be caught & fixed. Judging from their size I knew that this was the perfect time to catch them & civilize them while they were still small. So J & I head out to the porch, in the pouring rain with a flash light & the cat carrier. The floor boards come off, the rotting beam gets ripped out & I stick my nose into the hidey hole to count faces. J was the one to reach in, as my arms aren't long enough, puling out 4 tiny little kittens.

L-R: Little Black, Chessie, Hissy Fit & Colonel Mustard

In the past few days they have gone from lethargic, dehydrated & gunky eyed to active, squirming, wrestling, eating machines. We're keeping them separated from the big boys until D can run tests & check them over, setting them up with a kitty condo in the old dog carrier. Their personalities are already beginning to show & their names reflect it.

Little Black: Named after his obvious father Fat Black. He wavers between love & hate very quickly. You can't take it personally when he turns & hisses at you while you are petting him, when only a minute earlier he was purring.

Chessie: Named after the Railroad mascot because she looks just like it when sleeping. She's the sweet, calm & quiet one & L's favorite. She's happy to be petted & snuggled but you have to keep an eye out and make sure she eats enough.

Hissy Fit: The litters runt with a big personality. She was the first to start complaining about living in the smaller cat carrier, the first to climb the door on the dog carrier, the first to walk out of the carrier on her own & the loudest most demanding of the bunch.

Colonel Mustard: He's destined to be a lazy house cat. He's the biggest of the kittens, eats the most and generally shoves his way to the front of everything. He's very playful if not a bit on the clutzy side.

We're currently trying not to get too attached, although J has already given the sad look about not being able to keep "at least 1". L has been a fantastic help, playing with them, watching them while I clean the litter, giving them food & most of all laughing at their endless antics. She especially love Chessie and will spend extra time snuggling & petting her while the other three run around like, well, kittens.

So if anyone in the WI-IL area is looking for a kitten, contact me. We want them to have good loving homes. They will be completely checked out and have any needed first shots before going to their families.

I'm no foodie

2008-05-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

Foodie:
An informal term for a particular class of aficionado of food and drink. Although the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, foodies differ from gourmets in that gourmets are epicures of refined taste who may or may not be professionals in the food industry, whereas foodies are amateurs who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news.

Now lets be totally honest here. I'm no foodie. Not even close or aspiring to be one. I grew up in a pretty bland food household & survived on a lot of cold cereal as a kid. I'm really no better as an adult. Even when I'm eating cooked food, I rarely "cook". Nuke something here, broil it or boil it (never both!), chop stuff quickly with the processor or grab it left over from the night before. I'd probably eat out more if it wasn't so expensive & we weren't constantly so poor.

And that in itself is what separates me from just about every other raw foodist out there. See even their name implies the love of food that I simply don't have. "Foodist", ha! I'm an "eater" at best.

See, I find myself looking at all these fantastic photos of all this raw food & reading these fantastic recipes that promise to replicate or at least fulfill cravings for all the best cooked foods & there is 1 thing running through my mind the entire time;

All that just for something to eat?

No thank you.

So while everyone else is waiting 24 hours for their nuts to sprout, then grinding them, dehydrating the mix for another day or two & assembling these elaborate raw sandwiches from the resulting "breads", I'm stuffing a clump of store bought sprouts into a lettuce leaf & calling it lunch.

While everyone else has these fancy looking, photo shoot worthy salads with every piece uniformly chopped & the dressing all artistically drizzled acroaa the top, I'm eating dates out of the container & a pear that's been half smooshed from carrying around in the bottom of my bag all day.

While everyone else is creating elaborate smoothies in their expensive blenders with every fruit known to man & six different exotic dehydrated amazon super foods, I'm throwing the same handful of spinach, water & frozen pineapple into my $20 blender with the broken handle.

It's hard, in this "blog o sphere" not to feel a little poorly about myself when I see how dull my raw eating is compared to others.

Is my refusal to wait more than 10 minutes for a meal one of the reasons I've never lasted more than 28 days? Is my reluctance to clutter my kitchen with expensive blenders, food processors, dehydrators & exotic ingredients the reason that everything has started to taste the same already? Is the generally dull appearance of my food the reason that L has never shown more than a passing interest in eating anything remotely healthy?

I guess in the end I just have to remind myself that I'm not a foodie, or a foodist. I'm just an eater. Put it in the mouth, chew, swallow. No matter what it tastes like going in, it all comes out the same in the end.

Craving Coconut Cookies

2008-05-23T12:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry I don't have any actual photos of these cookies. Honestly, they didn't last long enough to take a photo. They were gone in less than 3 hours! I whipped these up last night when I was craving something sweet, yet knew I needed to stick to my current raw challenge. It was only the end of day 1 for Pete's sake! Boy were they good for something so random. Even L ate one, claiming that they tasted very coconut-ey. She also loved the idea that they were healthy cookies and she could eat as many as she wanted for dinner.

Craving Coconut Cookies
Process macedamia nuts, a few dates, some almonds, a bit of shredded coconut & a squirt of honey with enough water (about 1oz) to create a slightly chunky paste. Roll into small balls, using wet hands to prevent excess sticking. Roll formed balls in more shredded coconut & chill until solid. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator if there are any left to store!

I suppose you could dehydrate these for a firmer, more crunchy, cookie like texture. Of course that means you've got the patience to wait, something I drastically lack. They would be sinfully good drizzled or dipped in your favorite raw chocolate recipe. I, sadly, don't have one. Pity me, oh raw chocoholics.

This is a raw-peat

2008-05-21T21:35:00.000-07:00

The challenge has been issued again on Amity, who's going to eat raw?

Naturally since I've done it at least 3 times already, I jumped at the chance. I know it works well for me. Heck, I've been toying with the idea for 2 weeks & slowing sneaking up the fruits & veggies in the house. Being raw is one of the few times that I can eat large quantities while "dieting" and still loose weight. Plus I've got a lot of minor health issues right now that can old get better with more mindful, healthy eating. I'd really like to see my skin clear up again, my cycles lighten & I've been experiencing heart burn again, like I used to get when I ate dairy. I know something is off & stripping my diet down should be a good starting point for getting everything straight again.

I won't lie. There will be hard spots, I will cave & eat cooked foods or have a beer. But I will do this! Usually about a month into 100% (when I've jumped in without a warm up) I'll be a raging emotional beast. I detox through my emotions more than physically. Last time it was not a pretty site & I ended up giving up raw foods because I couldn't handle the roller coaster. Coming from me that's pretty out there emotionally. Maybe knowing that happens will help get me through it, maybe having a slower warm up will make the detox easier, heck maybe I'll just repeat the cycle of quiting like last time, who knows.

Tomorrows menu includes a big green smoothie (kale, pears, celery, spinach etc), some faux-cous salad & probably a snack of dates or raspberries or something else sweet plus my kombucha. I know it's not technically raw because of the sugar & tea, but it is a living food & it makes me feel good. When I drink it I don't desire sugary things as much & I feel like I'm getting to enjoy a "soda". Oh & sprouts, I've got a bunch of spouts in the fridge too & that coconut that L & I hacked up the other day.

Faux-cous Salad

2008-05-16T11:17:00.000-07:00

I've been inspired recently to try & re-up my intake of raw foods. See I've eaten 100% raw before, for as long as a month (in January no less). I've recently been having trouble with my thyroid, weight & immune response again so turning to raw foods seems the right thing to do.

In that vein I made a simple "pulse chopped" salad, throwing in a bunch of things that sounded good. Low & behold, a new favorite!

I'm calling it Faux-cous because it resembles couscous but it's not.

FAUX-COUS SALAD

1 head cauliflower
1-2 bell peppers of any color
1 onion
3-4 ribs celery
big bunch of parsley
juice of 1/2 a lemon
sprinkle of sea salt

Toss everything in the food processor & pulse just enough to break everything down, but not so much to make a smoothie! Squeeze lemon over & sprinkle with salt. Enjoy.

A Day In the Life, April 2008

2008-04-30T11:17:00.000-07:00

Over on Amity we have a tradition of doing photo logs called "Day in the Life" where we document our days with photos. This is the 4th or 5th time we've done a DILT. Last time was right before an event, the time before that included driving up to Madison for a play group. This time we attended homeschool group, did some sewing & generally hung around.

Enjoy!

DITL 2008

Obviously I'm not Southern

2008-04-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

I watched Beauty Shop the other night while sewing & ended up with a heavy duty craving for greens; southern style mushy, garlicky, stinky greens. I have Andie MacDowell's character to thank for that.

Unfortunately I'm a Bielo-Russian/Southern German living in the Midwest which means I (clearly) have no idea how to make Southern Style Greens.

I swear I've made a good mess of greens once before. I remember my older southern neighbor, a black junk man, laughing at the fact that this skinny white girl from Wisconsin was making greens. I vividly remember the conversation & his instruction to not skimp on the garlic & hot sauce.

Nope, what ever I was remembering was wrong, dead wrong. Sure I choked down a half a bowl, but it did nothing for the craving. Something went wrong somewhere along the line. Probably a mix of issues, no meat, improper cooking technique (you can't just "toss 'em in a hot pan" apparently), general impatience that led to a short cook time, not nearly enough garlic or onions & lastly, too much Tabasco didn't help the flavor.

J suggested I pick up another package & try again, this time with Mustard Greens rather than Collards but I decided to just have a plain salad. That I know I can't mess up.

April Fools!

2008-04-01T14:49:00.001-07:00

Happy April Fools day everyone.

This was my contribution to the fun of the day, lunch while at HOUSE.

Grilled cheese sandwich, really pound cake with orange tinted, lemon flavored frosting.
French fries, really garlic bread sticks in a cut off envelope.
Cupcake with purple frosting, really turkey meatloaf with mashed potatoes.
not pictured, glass of wine, really dyed lemonade.

It was a delicious meal & everyone thought it was both clever and funny.

Happy April Fools everyone

Sock it to me

2008-03-27T14:50:00.000-07:00

A very belated update. I've frankly been so busy with historic sewing that I just haven't had the time to do any modern projects, much less update this blog.

Every March Midway Villiage, home of the orignial red heel sock knitting machine, holds a Sock Monkey Festival. L loves this day at the museum, doing crafts, looking at the displays & talking with other sock monkey fans.

This year Harold got a new friend, Helen.

In an effort to earn the "greatest mom of the year" award, I made both Harold & Helen matching leopard prints clothes to wear. Of course the rechargeable batteries were drained in L's new RC car & I can't get a photo.

Sorry to be brief, but I've got more historic sewing to do & a fast approaching deadline. Yikes!

Pretty in Pink

2007-12-28T13:49:00.000-08:00

Just a few quick photos of a silk & flannel blanket that I sold this week. I have the green & yellow version on the shop but got a request for a pink & purple version. As it happened I had this 1 blanket in those colors, I just hadn't listed it. I also have the blue & purple version and another yellow & green.

I'm not sure why I was (am?) hanging onto these blankets. Some part of me says it's in case I ever have another child. I want them to have a blanket just like L has hers. Of course I know that I'll never have another child so it's really silly that I use that reason. Additionally, I could always make a new blanket for a new baby. It's not like you don't get 10 months warning!

Then there is part of my that says I hang onto them in case one of my friends has another baby and I need a gift. That too is a silly reason, since all of my close friends are either not interested in having children, or are also finished. Plus I always have plenty of time to make something custom for any friends children.

So I bit the bullet and sold this blanket rather than holding on to it for no real reason other than I really like them. They are so luxurious for starters. The flannel get softer with every wash, yet the silk stays just as smooth and durable. I also have a real soft spot for the variegated colors of the silk. I like to just stare into them trying to find all the different shades and tones. I also love how you can have several silks in the same batch of dye yet every single one turns out different.

What I find interesting is that my dye work sells better, for higher prices and faster than any of the other things that I've listed. When I first started the Etsy shop my goal was to sell the remaining silks from when The Green Cottage was a free standing internet store 3 years ago and use the funds to start doing some dye work with natural materials. So far I've been derailed by the holiday and the idea of running a shop in general. I'm thinking it's time to go back to the original purpose; making naturally dyed silk & cotton scarves. The idea is that they can be cross marketed; in both Waldorf education circles and reenacting circles.

Bitty Kitty Wallet

2007-12-23T11:52:00.000-08:00

J beat me to the punch in getting L a Starbucks gift card for the holiday. Instead I made her a little wallet to hold her card, her library card and where she can collect the business cards that she likes so much.

This is nothing fancy. Two layers of wool felt, with a third piece for the pocket. Both appliques are wool felt as well. All the sewing is done with scrap bits of embroidery thread.

It's a little wonky though. To start with it's not very square. I fixed that with a heavy dose of steam from the iron and a few trims with my rotary cutter. I'm really giving that tool a workout lately. I don't know what I used to do without it.

Second the female half of the magnetic snap isn't all that secure. When it eventually comes loose I'll have to replace it with a ribbon since it's one of those item that can't easily be removed without leaving behind damage. I should have been more careful with it but again, late at night and with L hovering over my shoulder I wasn't.

Third it closes backwards. I wanted the cat on the front but I wasn't thinking when I did the appliqué. I forget to reverse the design before tracing it onto the wonder under so when I ironed it on, it was reversed. At least I also forgot to reverse the bird too. to reverse the bird, so it ended up on the opposite side, which is what I wanted (only backwards).

I slipped the card into it before wrapping with a scrap of fabric. Hopefully she'll like it, not loose it & oh yeah, treat her mom to a coffee once and a while!

Monstrously Cute

2007-12-22T08:51:00.000-08:00

For when you've got a "monstrous" cold, monstrously cute tissue holders.

Idea shamelessly borrowed from Cherry at Blue Cherry Faerie. It was just too cute not to copy. Plus I had some of that terrible furry fleece sitting in the stash waiting to be something simple. Anyone who's sewn with that fabric knows what I'm talking about. It's furry, it sheds like a German Shepard in May, it' stretches and curls and in general is no fun to sew with.

I used the ever present red double fold bias tape for the opening and lined the inside with plain red quilters cotton. Both were really helpful and made dealing with the fur that much easier. The biggest trick was sewing the buttons on. The fur kept pulling through the button holes. Not difficult to deal with, but annoying as all get out.

These are so simple to construct otherwise. I made them just like standard tissue holders: 1 6"x7" square of outer material, 1 square the same size of inner material. Lay the layers together right sides out. Sew bias tape on the 6" sides to hold it all together. Fold the taped edges to the middle, wrong side out. Serge the 2 open ends, flip, add buttons and fill with Kleenex.

Of course you'll notice that they aren't stuffed. Being the tree huggers that I am, we don't actually have disposable Kleenex in the house. I'm going to pick up some before popping one of these in L's stocking. Or maybe I'll just serge up a few flannel nose cloths for her instead.

A Day for Lecherli

2007-12-20T20:16:00.001-08:00

In honor of being featured on Sew Mama Sew's Handcrafters Holiday Meme today, tonight I made this years batch of lecherli.

I've already had three pieces! Everyone wonders why I wait until the last moment to cook this stuff! If I don't, I eat it all before Christmas Eve.

It's particularly orange and gingerly this year. I think because I was out of allspice and just skipped it instead of running out to get more. With the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger, plus the lemon and orange peel, it's not like the all spice will be missed. The flour is a mix of the last of the whole wheat and all purpose white that happened to be in the pantry. Also the glaze is a combination of rum mixed and water mixed. Honestly it's because I used the rest of the rum in my Silk Nog. It's my one indulgence of the season.

This also marks L's first year trying lecherli. She nagged me "what's in it?" "candied what?" "Cant I try some?". She just wandered in here with a piece muttering yumm! and telling J that he *has* to try some. Great, now I'm going to have to share!

This year Christmas Eve marks my Great grandmother Oma's 104th birthday. She's old enough now that she doesn't need or want a full batch of lecherli. Instead I've packed away 4 pieces, just enough for her to enjoy with her tea, in a small mason jar. I hope she enjoys it as much as I've always enjoyed being her successor in the yearly lecherli making.

The dreams of your past.

2007-12-17T16:13:00.000-08:00

Madtown Mama had a post recently on her blog with an old photo of her boys. This inspired me to think back about my earliest sewing projects. I just happened to still have this one in my photobucket account.

Nearly 4 years ago I made L this dress from a basic pattern that was all the rage on the sewing forum at the time. It's called a "Jami Dress", after the mom who designed it. I've made a bunch of variations on the pattern over the years. Gathered skirts, narrow skirts, different strap materials, knits, wolvens, you name it. I even made a tank top out of it once with matching shorts.

For this incarnation I used pink silk. The straps are folded over ribbon. The skirt is a gathered version. The under layer is a doubled piece of tulle. I folded so that the fold could act as a hem, eliminating the tricky step of hemming and over stitching the ravely material. Instead of hemming the silk outer layer, I bound the edge with more of the ribbon that was used for the straps. The little bows are tied and sewn on after the dress was constructed. The ribbon in L's hair (look at how short it was!) and the bows are made from the straps of the strap ribbon.

She wore this dress to my cousins wedding with a little white sweater. I still have it in the closet because it is so cute! Of course the fact that she was little and willing to mug for the camera helps. I sometimes wonder what happened to that camera hog of a kid. Now all I get are complaints or funny faces!

The Name Game; a hat naming contest!

2007-12-12T22:48:00.000-08:00

Get your creative juices flowing everyone. I'm having a contest. A "help me name my hats" contest!

Up for grabs, 1 custom hat (size, colors & length), a $35 value. Everyone who contributes to the naming effort will have their name "tossed in the hat", so to speak, for a chance at one of their very own. Don't worry though, we'll use a slightly smaller hat!

These started as holiday gifts but have been so popular that I've decided to start selling them. Imagine people stopping you in the grocery parking lot while it's snowing to ask where you got it! Now that's a unique hat.

here are more specifics about the hats.

I'd like to use the word "gnome" in the name some how if possible
they are currently fleece, but I'd like to make a wool flannel version sometime too.
(almost) always have the pompom
(almost) always striped or multi colored
they are very, very long
worn as a hat with the tail wrapped around as a scarf
They are all unique. No standard stripe pattern is used, so everyone is different.
they are made from a lot of fleece "scraps" and "remnants"

So get those ideas out there!

Thanks everyone!

Chole

by the way. L still hasn't taken "the hat" off. 16 days and counting. I've had to sneak it off while she sleeps to get it in the wash.

We're green for GO!

2007-12-12T11:43:00.000-08:00

(insert a chorus of exuberant cheering here)

I finished my knitted fingerless mitts yesterday! I've been wearing them since, & I have to say, they are the best things around. I'm sitting here typing & my hands are actually too warm, when does that happen?

Thanks to sitting down and talking out how to insert the thumb with the General's Wife, it went rather smoothly. I did end up frogging down on the 2nd thumb about 2 rows thanks to an accidental yarn over but that was really all. I was determined to have at least 1 mitt that didn't have a huge visible error. Of course in both you can still see the line where I change from 1 needle to the next. It's not terribly obtrusive, but it's still there if you look. I'm not sure what to do about that. Is that just part of knitting in the round?I thought I was doing pretty well with keeping the first stitch tight in the transition.

Unlike the first mitt! That was the learner right? Because it certainly looks it! Can you tell in the pictures which is which? I am actually toying with either frogging all the way down to the first YO error or starting a third mitt just to have a "perfect" pair. By the time I got to the palm on the 1st, I had to do no less than 6 K2tog to get it back to the proper stitch count. Oi!

Still, I'm going to wear these for the Historic Holiday event this weekend. They are perfect for playing the mandolin without freezing my hands off. Plenty of space for my fingers to move, not to bulky in the palm, well fitted but flexible in the thumb and best of all, they are long enough (elbow length) to keep my bare forearms covered and warm!

I did learn something during this project. I prefer knitting in the round. I don't purl so well & like the look of a stockinette stitch best. The natural solution, knit in the round. No purl and yet you get a stockinette stitched item.

Next up on the needles, 18th century mittens from the Mara Riley pattern. Should they be in the yellow that the Generals Wife gave me, or the left over green? Should they be for myself or for L? Should I start them today or save them for this weekend? Should I contact the CDC about this infectious knitting disease?

Rice, Rice, Baby

2007-12-09T11:37:00.000-08:00

Just a few quick presents for my friend Hippie Girl on her birthday last night. We had a fantastic adult "girls only" slumber party. Plenty of organic beer, silly games, vegan chocolate cake & laughter, oh the laughter. Definitely one of the best birthday parties I've been to in a while.

Both of these are stash buster patterns. I whipped these out along with a pair of lounge pants & matching headband for myself to wear in about 4 hours. That's not counting the time to futz around with a few random other things in the sewing room that I decided to half start yesterday as well.

The top is a weighted eye pillow. Filled with rice & lavender. The front side is some of the last hand dyed fabric in the blue & purple color-way. The back was L's idea, blue fleece. It makes that side very soft and comforting when you are meditating with it on your eyes.

Below that is a rice heat pack. Originally I was going to fill it with rice & sage, since sage is a female herb. However, the sage I have is fresh, not dried. So that too was filled with lavender. There is an inner filled pillow and an outer case that can be laundered. Especailly nice after you've passed it around to all your friends and everyone has rubbed their noses & cheeks into it because it smells so nice.

To make it a little more "gifty", even though she asked for no gifts, I made a little card. It's about 1/2 of a small note card, cut in half to about 2"x3". I really quickly cut out a seated cardinal and free motion stitched a branch below him. He's attached to the card with my new favorite secret weapon, Wonder Under. I love how you can cut & stick anything with it, yet its not nearly as messy as spray mount.

I like these two little projects. I'm thinking I'll make a few more of the rice heat packs for people like my mother, who uses a cherry pit heat pack frequently. I also might like to make a few more for around our own house. we only have 1 and when it's in use or not to be found, we usually resort to heating up one of the bean bags that I made L for her silks! Not exactly the picture of luxury.

On the First Day of Christmas....

2007-12-06T22:33:00.000-08:00

This countdown calender is an interesting combination of inspirations, all found on-line at various blogs recently. I love how the Internet is becoming a center for creative ideas.

The pocket idea comes from All Sorts. Her's is much nicer than mine of course, but mine is very me. I actually started these pockets while at my mothers. I had forgotten to bring either bendies or knitting & had nothing to do, a tragedy! I didn't follow the All Sorts pattern, choosing instead to wing it using a piece of Ghirardelli chocolate. The pockets are red wool felt because that's what the Joann's near my mothers had. I did a button hole stitch on the edges and varied the flaps. Being the anal retentive person that I am, there are an equal number of round with and without button holes and pointed with & without button holes. Strangely I left off the numbers. We must be the only people who don't have numbered advent calenders, but I just don't see the need. We know when it's christmas, the calender is really a way to keep ourselves (OK, L) occupied while we wait for the holiday.

I had these finished for a while but for the life of me couldn't decide what to hang them from. While I like the homespun fabric strips, I don't have any in my stash & none of what I do have looked right. Enter Soule Mama's post about twist ties! Two very long treads of yarn later (& two cats who thought these were a toy for them) and our calender is hung.

Surprisingly the stars in the center aren't inspired from the All Sorts calender. That idea was sparked by a recent post at The Purl Bee. I liked the colors on the stars but again, not in the stash. Instead I used up the extra wool felt from the advent calender. I plan on adding a third, one for each of us in the family, but was too engrossed in X-men "The last stand" to finish it.

As usual, please don't mind the terrible photographs. It's entirely too late at night for there to be enough light for my poor camera to do a decent job at capturing this. However I couldn't wait another day to get the photos up! After all there are only .....counts remaining chocolates.... 17 more days until D day!

Handcrafters Holidays Blog Meme, vol. 2: Traditions

2007-12-06T21:29:00.000-08:00

Third times the charm. Hopefully this time my comment on Sew Mama Sew's Handcrafters Holiday meme will go through. Frankly technology is getting on my last nerve today.

Traditions

What is your favorite family holiday tradition?

Being Buddhist my traditions are a little different than most. My all time favorite tradition is our yearly trip to the Indian restaurant up in Madison for dinner on Christmas night. Originally I wanted the tradition to be going out for Chinese food on Christmas night. I thought it was funny in a sort of bad TV holiday movie special sort of way, isn't that what the do in A Christmas Story? But wouldn't you know that all the Chinese places around here are closed for the Holiday! We were able to find an Indian place that was open that first year though. Since we don't get to have real, super spicy Indian food on a regular basis, this became our yearly tradition. We've ended up going to the resturant in Madison over the other place in Rockford because while it was nice, it was a little strange to be the only people in the entire place! I guess most everyone in Rockford is having a more traditional Christmas dinner than we are.

Have you started any new traditions with your family that you didn’t practice growing up?

When I was growing up our "traditions" included running to hell and back to every random family members home, opening a bunch of store bought presents from people who, judging by the gift choices, knew nothing about us. So basically everything we do now is new. We don't go anywhere or really see anyone other than ourselves. We make rather than buy our gifts. We try to be as relaxed as possible. It's already a stressful enough time of year, why make it more so with a lot of travel?

What do you love most about the holiday season?

To be honest, the decorating. Sure it drives me nuts. I'm not one to start decorating early. Heck we're just talking about it now. But it really is the time of year when my house looks its best. The red "theme" to traditional holiday decorations really looks nice with the red in my living room. While the extra clutter frustrates my inner minimalist, I do like seeing how excited L gets putting up little decorations all over the place. Now if someone else would just pack everything away again in January!

What do you like least about the holiday season?

The consumerism! There isn't much more to say about that without getting entirely more emotional than a holiday meme needs. Suffice it to say, letting go of possessions and greed are hot button issues for me & the entire holiday season goes against that, a lot!

Anyone close to your heart that you’ll be missing this year?

ETA: Our pets. In the past year we had to put down Blue, our 12 year old Australian Cattle dog and Dot, my 9 year old kitty. Additionally Dot's litter-mate brother Dash died suddenly. While I love our two cats now, I really miss our old pets. I know it's for the best as both Blue & Dot where very ill. Still it's just not the same this time of year without them. We don'thave to worry about someone knocking down the advent calender to get at the chocolate, we don't have to tie the tree to the wall to prevent climbing cats from knocking it over. I will always miss them.

What is your favorite holiday food?

Lecherli. I mentioned it in Vol. 1. Lecherli is my great-grandmother Oma's recipe. It's similar to a fruit cake, only more cake than fruit. And despite how my mother would make it, does not have those fake red & green colored cherries in it. Yuck!

Do you have a great recipe to share?

Only since Kristen asked!

Lecherli

Click for notes on this years batch!

**This is my modified version, circa 2001. This is the version that Oma says is "just like hers". Of only she knew :) **

for cake
3/4 cup honey
2 eggs, beater
2 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of salt
1/2 cup chopped candied citron
1/2 cup chopped candied lemon or orange peel
3/4 cup chopped blanched almonds

for glaze
powdered sugar
vodka, rum or other liquor (water or orange juice for non alcoholic version)
almonds & candied fruit for garnish *optional*

Preheat oven to 350*
Bring honey to a boil in a shallow pan. Cool.
Add eggs and beat well.
Sift together dry ingredients.
Mix into honey mixture.
Beat a few minutes to develop gluten and create a softer cake.
Mix in almonds and candied fruit.
Spread into greased 10x15 inch shallow cake pan.
Use damp hands to spread batter. Make sure it is spread very thinly across the pan.
Lightly score 1x2 inch squares in wet dough.
Decorate with extra fruit and nuts if desired.
Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine vodka and powdered sugar to form a thin glaze.
Glaze while cake is still hot.
Allow to cook before slicing.
Reglaze as desired.
Keeps indefinitely in a tin with orange peel but not in my house where we eat it all the minute it comes out of the oven!

Vintage Glasses Case

2007-12-05T20:09:00.000-08:00

I made this little glasses case to match with the vintage fold over bag from the other day. This was very quick to do, especially cutting entirely with my self healing mat & rotary cutter at my dedicated cutting table. I can't express how much I am enjoying working in my new space!

This little case is so simple yet looks so nice, it is going to become a staple item for me I think. Just imagine all the variations that could be made with different materials, ribbons and appliqués. Not to mention, it is another fantastic use for that seemingly endless pile called the scrap bin.

The inside of this pouch is padded with 2 layers of flannel. Outer & inner are both cotton canvas, outer the small print Waverly Garden Room, inner the coordinating red. Again the strange blank tag is where my logo will *eventually* go.

Next up a few more accessories for this set. Coin purse, tissue holder, key fob. I might even try my hand at making a wallet.

A visit with my crafty friend

2007-12-05T16:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, in between performances of "Mother Goose Lost her Marbles", we had the good fortune of hanging out with a wonderful crafty reenactor friend of mine & her DD. Sadly her hubby, also a crafty reenactor friend, had to work late so we didn't get to see him. I guess that just means we'll have to all get together again another time.

L was really looking forward to giving her friend a gift but I just didn't have the time. It will have to go out in the mail, which gives me a little while to make my friends something fabulous for them as well.

Anyway, she gave L & I the most wonderful little collection of goodies for the holiday. I felt bad that we haven't gotten much progress on the box as well. And considering how super generous they have always been both with opening their home to us and making things for us, it's going to have to be something truely fantastic!

Just look at the wonderful things she gave us! Both of Mara Riely's 18th century knitting patterns (although I need a lot more practice before tackling size 1 needles!), a wool monmouth cap, beautifully bright yellow yarn, the most wonderful smelling soap that is already making my sewing studio smell fantastic and a really huge half of an oyster shell they found in the river behind their house. L got the tiny knitted kitty, whom she has been carrying around since of course! Oh no, looks like Knitty Kitty ate my Pocky! (actually I did, but it made a cute prop).

I have to say, while the holidays totally stress me out, having creative & generous friends like these to spend the time with is really a pleasure. I can only hope to have more get togethers like this in the future.

The Forest for the Trees

2007-12-05T16:03:00.000-08:00

Todays appliqué. Another simple design to recycle a pair of kids jeans. This time the inspiration is the old saying "can't see the forest for the trees".

I'll be adding these two pairs of jeans & a few other items to the store sometime tomorrow if I'm lucky. In all honesty I'd love to keep these for L. I'm very disappointed that none of the jeans I got from the lady on-line were the sizes she said they were. I guess it just means that I'll have to find jeans for L in the resale shops myself.

I've been enjoying this appliqué work and found myself actively looking for something else to appliqué onto. L has a jean jacket from the thrift store that I think might be next on my "make snazzy with appliqué" list. We'll see what next week holds.

You Spin Me Right Round, a circle cutting tutorial

2007-12-04T21:59:00.001-08:00

The simplest circle sew along possible. Now with finishing variations!

Note: I originally wrote this back in 2006 for some friends in a sewing forum. For this incarnation I've included some finishing variations to make not only a circle skirt, but a table cloth, Christmas tree skirt and a basic circle cape. Please excuse the quality of the photos. This was before I learned to do anything more fancy than simply press the button on my camera.

My "nothin fancy" pattern.

A= Waist to Hip
B= Hip to Length of skirt (+1" for hem if desired)
C= Waist to Length of skirt

In general the fabric should be a square. For sizes longer than the width of the fabric (usually 45" or 60") you have to actually cut 2 half circles from 2 separate pieces of fabric & sew them together to make a full circle. Thankfully kids are short so this isn't a problem!

1. Lay the fabric out flat

2. fold once, top to bottom

3. fold again, side to side

Note: the spot where all the folds come together

4. Measure out a string to the length of you C measurement plus a little extra for tying. Tie one end to a push pin, tie the other to your pen, marker, chalk. Stick the push pin into the corner where all the folds come together.
**alternately you can tie the end to a safety pin & pin it into the fold intersection, Just make sure the fabric stays in one place**

5. stretch the string out & trace the arc.

6. Repeat with the length of measurement A. If you'll be cutting this size a lot you can make several different thread length set ups. I always use the same thread & just wrap the extra length around my marker.

7. Cut along both arcs.

8. Unfold. Taadahh, a full circle.

Finishing

For a circle skirt: Serge elastic to the center circle, or fold a casing & insert elastic. Hem or serge bottom edge.

For a cape: Cut a straight line from the center circle to the outer edge. Fold the inner circle to form a casing. Thread ribbon through casing and secure with a tie or piece of velcro. Hem or serge bottom edge.

For a Christmas tree skirt: Cut a straight line from the center circle to the outer edge. Use double fold bais tape to finish all edges. Add ribbon ties or velcro to either side of the opening. Drape around tree base and secure closed.

For a table cloth: Skip step 6. Hem bottom edge of circle.

Enjoy!

Three Little Birds

2007-12-03T23:23:00.000-08:00

Rise up this mornin, Smiled with the risin sun, Three little birds Pitch by my doorstep Singin sweet songs Of melodies pure and true, Sayin, (this is my message to you-ou-ou:)

My first appliqués. These are recycled jeans that I orignally got for L, but sadly they didn't fit her. Three little bird shapes cut from some hand dyed fabric that has been floating around in the scrap bags. The stitching isn't perfect. The back pocket is done free motion, gasp! I do need to work on getting a tighter satin stitch on my machine. Or perhaps I should try using the button hole stitch on a few. Either way I know I need more practice. I have some trouble with the inner curves especially. The fusible web really makes a difference though!

Next up is another pair of recycled jeans with 2 fall trees. The secret is that these appliqués hide the rips in the knees and other torn spots essentially making torn, outgrown jeans wearable again! Hurrah for recycling!

Green with Envy

2007-12-03T23:08:00.000-08:00

Or how not to pick a shade of green for your sewing room.

The newly refurbished studio is going to be green that much I know. The only problem, picking a shade. I haven't had this problem before. The kitchen; lemon yellow to match the mixer, the living room; barn red naturally, the bath room; Frida Khalo blue with tile to match. But the sewing room?

Should it be a blueish green? A pale shade? Something dark or bright? Should I continue with the darker shade below the picture rail and lighter above? Should it be inspired by a fabric swatch? Should it coordinate with the attached kitchen or clash terribly?

To add to the difficulties, toss in a trip to the hardware store paint department and no less than 50 different paint swatches. After much deliberation I've narrowed the choices down to a smaller pile at least. There are a few favorites but with green being such a changeable color nothing is certain., What I love in the morning light, looks terrible in the evening. The dark colors look nice at time, black at others. Luckily, there is no rush to pick a color.

Handcrafters Holidays Blog Meme, vol. 1: gifts

2007-12-02T16:07:00.000-08:00

In an effort to become more involved in the craft blogging community & as a way to satisfy my love for surveys & quizzes in general, I am participating in Sew Mama Sew's Handcrafters Holiday Blog Meme.

For those that aren't "hip to the jive", a meme is: an idea, project, statement or even a question that is posted by one blog and responded to by other blogs; viral encapsulated idea, with built-in feedback loop.

Without further ado, Volume 1 of the Handcrafters Holiday Meme.

Gifts

Do you have a favorite gift that you love to give?

My favorite & also my fall back gifts are food. For many, many years I would make huge quantities of cookies, upwards of 20 dozen, in order for everyone on my list to receive no less than 2 dozen cookies. There were years where I made flavored vodka, hot pepper being a particular favorite. That was back before I could legally purchase the alcohol myself even! I have made bonbons and another year where everyone received cheese straws and homemade crackers.

If you’re making gifts this year, what are you making? (Post photos if you have some!)

I have grand plans for gifts this year and thankfully my list has shrunk enough for there to be some prospect of actually accomplishing these goals!

The hardest part is that everyone in my family has already received most of the handcrafted things I could think to make. W & J will each get a handsewn shirt, W's an 18th century style, J's a Russian peasant style. My mother & I are working together to design the perfect purse/bag for her, complete with matching zippered pouch, glasses & tissue case and plenty of dedicated storage pockets for the things she's constantly loosing. For C4 I'm considering something simple, a black texture knitted scarf that he can wear in both corporate and social life.

The two girls are the hardest. L either already has or isn't interested in any of the things that I make. A has never really appreciated handcrafted things. I'm also at a loss because there is precious little time where L will be away from me in the next few weeks. It's very difficult to make surprise gifts for a homeschooled kid who is used to being *right there* as I craft!

Do you have any good stories about handcrafted gifts you’ve given or received?

The only story I have about a handcrafted gift is from the first year I made lecherli. This is a family recipe, similar to a fruit cake with candied citron, lemon peel and a rum glaze. While everyone in the family has the recipe, the only person who ever made it successfully was my great-grandmother, Oma. At the time she was in her early 90's and no longer feeling up to making large batches of baked goods for family.

When I first asked for the recipe at Thanksgiving my mother was shocked. Oh no, you don't want to make that, it never turns out. You have to make it tomorrow and let it sit in a tin with orange peel or it won't be edible. But I insisted. I loved Oma's lecherli and I wanted to make it. The thought of a Christmas without lecherli was unthinkable to me. I didn't care how long it took and how many ingredients!

Well as it turned out, however my mother was following the recipe, was not right in any way shape or form! There was nothing hard about it, no month of resting in a tin was needed and the rum in the glaze was a huge improvement over the water she had always substituted.

When I gave Oma a slice she exclaimed "this is as good as when I make it myself." From that year on, I have been the official lecherli maker of the family. It's been nearly 10 years. In that time I've adjusted the spices, experimented with different dried fruit, added almonds. But it's still Oma's lecherli. Even if I don't make it for anyone else, I always make enough for her. Well and a little for myself as well.

Name one thing on your personal wish list.

I'd love to receive fabric, especailly linen or wool, at least 6 years of either. That would be enough to make another 18th century gown. However, I have already received my gifts; a new vacuum and a redesigned sewing studio. What more could I really want?

Do you make and sell things that would make fantastic gifts? (Link)

I have a few things in my Etsy shop, The Green Cottage & will hopefully get a few more in there before the holiday hits. The head bands make good stocking stuffers especially since they are one size, so no measuring is needed. The soap is just delish for anyone on your list, especially the dread heads and those odd relative that lean towards tree hugging. J's graphic novel Bronzeville is perfect for the 20 something young men, possibly the hardest group to shop for. In the next week I'm hoping to list some bento lunch bags, complete with 2 layer bento boxes and a few fleece gnome hats with built in scarves in various sizes.

While it's not stricktly handcrafted, I do have several different designs availble in my new Cafe Press shop, Black Line Design. I try to cover as many themes as I can with my designs, from anti-war to pro military, homeschooling, unschooling, reenacting, and my personal favorite The John Frum Cargo Cult.

Knit Wit

2007-12-02T09:36:00.000-08:00

Today is a day dedicated to my 18th century fingerless mitts.

I learned to knit in September. So far I've made 3 bias knit washcloths and 1 flat knit fingerless glove. This is a huge undertaking for someone with as little knitting experience as I have but I have always been a fast learner, more prone to jumping off the deep end than wading in slowly.

I've gotten to the point where I have to knit in a scrap of yarn for the thumb hole and to be honest, I'm a little nervous.

However, I came up with a genius idea. Why am I knitting 1 mitt at a time? That's what I did with the flat knit gloves that I've never finished. By the time I got to the end of the first one, I couldn't remember what I'd done in order to duplicate it. So today I am going to start on the second mitt, knit it to the same point that the first mitt is and finish them together. That way, I won't have to remember how to do the thumb opening, I won't have to wonder what cast off method I used at the palm, and most importantly, I'll have two finished mitts instead of just one (which does make a great oven/fire cooking mitt incidentally).

For those interested in the particulars: Knitted in the round on size 5 needles with worsted weight Patons wool in some shade of green that I liked. Most of the instructions (which I'm only half following) is from Interweave Press' Progressive Gloves pattern. While this isn't exactly an 18th century pattern, it was a good, free compromise for someone with less than 6 months of knitting under their belt.

Vintage Floral Fold Over Bag

2007-12-02T01:25:00.000-08:00

I know that I've seen this style of bag recently. I saw it in a book and again on-line, although tonight I can't find reference to either. When I first saw it, there was an accompanying pattern. I looked at the simple shape and thought "Pattern? I don't need no stinking pattern!"

I'm not fully happy with how the button sits. It's a shank and should really be run through a hole into the interior of the bag for stability. I would also prefer an elastic to the ribbon tie. The blank square is where the new Green Cottage logo will be ironed on, as soon as the ink jet printer is set up again and I have one!

As an aside, you'll notice that I've recently learned how to add a watermark to my photos. While I'm not terribly concerned about image theft, I am still wary after not getting credit for the Duct Tape Double images Ready Made Blog used. I also created a dedicated "action" so that I can automatically have Photoshop add the watermark for me.

I love learning something new every day!

New Blog, New Room

2007-12-01T23:08:00.000-08:00

The move to this new blog parallels the move into a "new" sewing room. True, it is still the same sewing room that I've been affectionately calling the Crap Room for 3 years, the former kitchen in my house. But with a custom designed machines table, dedicated cutting/crafting table and additional storage, it's like a new room.

There are still many things on the "to do" list to make the new sewing studio perfect. Most notably the need for bins in the storage unit and a fresh shade of green. If only I could select a shade, While I love green, it's a deceptive color. At night too dark, during the day to yellow or too much like puke. The color I love on one wall I hate on another and so on. Additionally, the floor is still unfinished, a problem I hope to solve with a rug instead. Maybe some nice curtains, another new light fixture, a pad on the old milk painted chair, a dedicated trash can rather than the constantly over flowing plastic bag on the back of said chair.

Hello

2007-12-01T14:14:00.000-08:00

You've found my newest blog, dedicated to my crafting adventures. Daily sewing, knitting, Waldorf inspired crafting, toy making, and any other creative endeavor that strikes my fancy. This blog is run in conjunciton with my Etsy shop, The Green Cottage so many of the items and projects featured here will be available on the shop.