Recycled Tshirt Purse

About a month or so ago, I entered Woof Nanny's June Purse Project... to make a purse out of old t-shirts. I had originally planned to make an overnight bag for Em, but changed my mind while leafing through this cool Ragwork book by Lizzie Reakes that my mom found at a used bookstore closeout. I took four shirts that were in good condition, but stained, and cut off the sleeves, collars and bottom bands. I cut the remaining fabric into 3/4 inch wide strips and formed gigantic balls of yarn. I cut fabric everywhere I went-- as a passenger while driving to breakfast, while watching the boys in the backyard, while waiting for pizza dough to rise... cutting t-shirts is an oddly meditative thing to do.

Anyway, since I wanted the front and back sides of the purse to match, I made two separate balls: one with the fronts of each of the shirts and one with the backs of the shirts. Then, I used a size P, 11.5mm crochet hook to make the outer bag pieces, each measuring 12 inches wide by 9 inches high.

I took another old t-shirt and cut the front off to make a pocket to hold my cell phone. Stitching the pocket onto the crocheted bag piece was not easy... lots of layers funnily spaced. But, this was going to be a fun, recycled crafty bag, so perfection was really never something I wanted to achieve anyway. I added a cute fabric button to the front of the pocket for whimsical accent and then cut the remaining fabric from this shirt into thinner 1/2 inch wide strips to crochet the bag together with a size N, 10mm hook. I added a nice wide strap and a gigantic snap to finish the bag off. Voila a washable t-shirt bag ready-to-use!!

Since Em and Ro are older now, I don't have much use for a diaper bag, and a purse this size holds all the essentials for a quick afternoon out without being too cumbersome. Whaddya think?

Snickerdoodles

I have so many blogs written in my head that I need to type up... I need to seriously catch up!! But, here's the tastiest one of them all, so we'll begin there.

Last week, I promised my friend Steph of Lovestitches that I would send her a recipe for Snickerdoodle cookies. Well, I can't just go and send the recipe without making a batch of them can I?!

Off to the kitchen in the early morning 80 degree "coolness" I went. Of course, they came out as tasty as ever! And so, I am passing my recipe on to you all. These are excellently soft cookies that go perfectly with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! Or, better yet, bake them a minute longer to crisp them up a bit and sandwich the ice cream between two cookies to make a homemade ice cream sandwich. Mmmm!!

Snickerdoodles

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened (1/2 pound)
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• Separate 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 4 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Grease two large cookie sheets and set aside
3. Wisk or sift together first four ingredients and set aside
4. Wisk together 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon on a plate or in a bowl and set aside
5. In a mixer, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until fluffy
6. Add eggs, one at a time to the mix
7. Add flour mixture, half at a time and stir until nice and smooth
8. Take small pieces of the dough and roll into balls (this is the fun but messy part!)
9. Roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place on cookie sheet, keeping about 3 inches between each ball of dough. I usually put 8 cookies per sheet since these will spread out a lot.
10. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, turning the sheets at the halfway mark.
11. Allow cookies to cool on sheet for a minute or two before transferring to a cooking rack.
12. Allow cookie sheets to cool completely before doing the next batch.

Enjoy!

Lime Tea Cake

Some people would call it Lime Bread... others refer to it as Lime Tea Cake... either way, it's yummy! Ro had three small slices right in a row!

This is a fast an easy dessert tea cake that goes very well with bright fruits such as fresh raspberries. If you are not into citrus, I'd suggest you wait for the Snickerdoodle recipe tomorrow...

Lime Bread/Lime Tea Cake

12 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• Freshly grated zest of 1 lime
• Confectioner's sugar for dusting on cooled bread

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, making sure to go all the way up the sides
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl, set aside
4. Cream the sugar and butter on medium speed
5. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition
6. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture-- alternating with the milk while continuing to mix on low speed setting
7. Add lime juice and zest, mixing just until incorporated
8. Pour into pan and bake until the top is golden-brown, about 45 minutes. If you insert a toothpick in the center, it should come out clean
9. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes before setting on a wire rack to cool completely

Optionally, top with confectioner's sugar before serving. If you try it, let me know what you think.

Culture Crawl LA

Woo Hoo, I'm so excited! Today sparks the kickoff of the Los Angeles summer of bugs-- this is an amazing collaboration by the folks at the Getty, the California Science Center, Kidspace, the Los Angeles Zoo, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Public Library and Wells Fargo!!

Today, at the Americana in Glendale, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., families can pick up their own bug kit and commence with their own discovery and fun filled entomologist endeavours. Additionally, fun finger painting and face painting, live music by The Sunflowers, bug discussions and more will be available for free.

After today's' event, you can visit any of the above sponsors for an additional bug to add to your collection... more information is available on the Culture Crawl LA website. If you attend, I hope to see you there!!

Beating the heat with iced tea, crafts & cucumber soup

So it was a little warm here today... as I type this at 10:57 p.m. it's 92 degrees outside. Cooler than the 111 from earlier today, but sheesh!

When I looked at my outdoor thermometer and I can no longer read just how ridiculously hot it is, it's time to switch my baking and tea-making schedule to as early as possible. I had planned on making Snickerdoodles today, but it was already too warm by the time I remembered to do it!

I decided to keep the oven in summer hibernation and used my electric kettle to warm up water for tea and made Cold Cucumber Soup instead. You may remember, I made this soup last year and last week even, but did not get photos. So, here's the recipe once again with visual stimuli.

COLD CUCUMBER SOUP

Ingredients

• 2 Whole cucumbers - peeled, seeded and cut into small pieces
• 1 Shallot
• 1 Clove of garlic
• ½ Avocado (optional for added creaminess)
• 2 Cups cold chicken broth (cold) *Can substitute vegetable broth*
• 8 oz. Plain yogurt
• 2 sprigs of Fresh Dill, finely chopped
• 1/4 Cup White Vinegar (can use 1/8 cup if you prefer less bite)
• Salt
• White Pepper
• Liquid Maggi Seasoning
• Crème Fraîche or Sour Cream (optional) for garnish
• Chopped chives

Directions

Blend first eight ingredients together in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Add salt, white ground pepper and Liquid Maggi Seasoning to taste.

Chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour. Served chilled in cups and garnish with chopped chives and crème fraîche.

If you'd like to thin it out, add a cup of ice cold water. Makes 5 to 6 servings.

While the soup chilled out, I prepped my Tazo Sweet Orange Tea with the electric kettle and finally made one of the last, and most ambitious of the stenciled shirts I'll be working on for a while. One of Ro's very favorite books is "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by one of my very favorite authors, Eric Carle. I traced the front cover caterpillar, x-acto knifed it out, and attempted my own interpretation of the caterpillar. The first layer is dry and I'll finish up the shirt tomorrow by adding the eyes and the wee hairs freehand. This freezer paper stencil stuff is very relaxing!!

The next blog will be "old" for the Unplug Your Kids project of the week.

Here comes the sun...

It's supposed to be 101 degrees here today. YUCK! With the temps going into heat stroke levels, Em and Ro do not get to spend the majority of their day outside like they can during winter and spring.. and so we must make the most of our early mornings and evenings before the dessert sun rises high over the San Fernando Valley.

This morning, we've already danced to Oingo Boingo, made towers, ate breakfast, hung laundry to dry, crocheted, and ran through the sprinklers. And it's only 10 a.m. as I begun to type this!!

The afternoon will be spent crafting indoors. I usually find awesome Crafts at: Unplug Your Kids, Kids Craft Weekly and The Crafty Crow. We have one more freezer paper stencil shirt to complete and then we'll be tackling this weeks Unplug Your Kids theme: old. I have another cool project to recycle and reuse old broken crayons, so that will probably be tomorrow's blog.

What do you do with your wee ones all day? Where do you find crafts? If anyone is interested, I can also do a blog on craft books... I've got quite more than my fair share I think.

Doing and Done... projects for the boys & Christmas

Quick pics of a few of the latest projects...

A new tee for Ro... I found an elephant pic online and modified it for the freezer paper stencil I made and used Folk Art Fabric Paint in taupe. I didn't notice until it was done that the elephant looks similar to this super cute Superbuzzy fabric I just got.
A Christmas gift. (Sarah, don't scream!) A silhouette of a cypress tree... modified to fit on a large t-shirt. This one will have several colors and I'm already excited about how it's turning out!

New tote for Em from more of those Freecycled scraps I got a few months ago. Similar to the tote I just made for me...

"New" curtain for my kitchen window

Part of my 101 challenges in 1001 days is to "Get or make window coverings for the whole house". Yesterday, I tackled the kitchen window... and it finally has a covering for the first time since the kitchen was remodeled the first time -- 9 years ago! Since the window looks out onto our sideyard (and the 6 foot high wooden fence Rob and his father built), privacy wasn't the concern-- but with summer coming, I am determined to keep the house as cool as possible.


When my friend Mariella still lived here, she was an avid Freecycler like me and we often shared the things she and I got. One Freecycler was giving away several household items and these four panels were part of what I received. I soaked them in baking soda and dried them in the sun to help get rid of most of the stains... then I ironed them and they sat in my breakfront for several months.

After doing the breakfast dishes with a face full of sun, I decided it was high time for some kind of window covering! The four panels perfectly covered the width of the window while also still allowing light in. I hung them simply with some wire and hooks. Then, for a centerpiece I added a green glass celtic knot in the center that I bought in New Hampshire many years ago-- and that's it!


To the bottom right of the window, by the sink, there is an old pewter candy dish that another neighbor was about to throw out! I cleaned it up and use it to hold my crocheted sponges.


One room down and seven to go to complete this part of my challenge. To read the other 100 challenges, go to my 101 in 1001 site.

For my wonderful Husband!

When it comes to holidays, we tend to run a little mushy in the CelticMommy house...

For Mother's Day, Rob wrote me a beautiful poem called "Mothers" and had it framed with some black and white pics of me and the boys... I love this type of present and love giving this type of present as well.

For Father's Day this year, I found the same frame he used and wrote him a poem called "Fathers" and put pics of him and the boys in it. I hope he likes it!

A little of this... a little of that. Recycling at its' best!

So... last night, I was staring at my two giant tupperware containers full of fabric, wondering where in the world I was going to put the Freecycled scraps I still hadn't put away yet... and finally, I figured I'd just make another something-or-other to make the pile a little bit smaller! Tee hee..

In the middle of the scrap pile, I saw this pretty pretty piece of Belle by Amy Butler fabric and felt a yearning for a new tote bag.

Originally, I started thinking about the Artsy Clutch in Amy Karol's awesome Bend the Rules Sewing book... and then diverted to Lotta Jansdotter's book Simple Sewing and her Simple Tote... and then I looked at my super worn out diaper bag for handle ideas.

Since I am working with scraps, I couldn't be choosy about centering the design on the bag and I just worked with it. I found another scrap that matched (woo hoo!) for the lining and added some old coat buttons to the bag for decoration.

For additional strength on the straps, I added a piece of ribbon that an order from Sew Mama Sew came wrapped in and viola... the bag was done!

Not too bad I'd say! Total cost of the bag: $1.50 for the thread. Everything else was recycled or Freecycled!

I'm off to take a walk now with Ro to the grocery store and use my pretty new tote! BTW, I still need to put the scraps away... but I feel happily diverted for the moment.

What do you do with your scraps?

A family weekend

Typical weekend wake up call courtesy of Em and Ro... Rob is still laying there pretending to try to sleep! At least I think he was pretending.

A little crafting... a marker bag for Em so he can have drawing things with him wherever he goes. Made from a Freecycle scrap of Superbuzzy fabric, leftover bias tape from an apron project, gorgeous wee ric rac from Kate, and an eBay button from about 9 years ago!

Fun afternoon drawing at the craft table (a.k.a. The Dining Room) while Mommy irons and rocks out to Goldfrapp's Black Cherry. Pardon the air-drying laundry in the background!

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Fun at the Huntington

Yesterday, Rob and I took the boys for a playdate with their new friends Dom and Vin at the Huntington in San Marino. #4 on my 101 list happened faster than I thought and we had an amazing blast!!

Our first stop was to the Garden of Flowing Fragrance. This new addition to the Huntington has been in the works for about a decade and it is very tranquil and very beautiful. We brought a quick snack and ate here near the tea house, overlooking the gorgeous lake and bridges. We especially loved the flat fish bridge with its' carved koi fish

Then on to a good soaking in the Children's Garden. Em and Dom ran around to experience all the different elements of the garden and both ended up soaked to the skin! Ro especially loved the misty fog created at 15 minute intervals in the Frog Grotto while Em shrieked with joy in the slightly more drenching garden rotunda of the Rainbow Room. The new pic in my blog header is of Ro in the kid-sized arbor pathway-- he delighted in running back and forth between sun and shade over and over again.

All in all, it was a truly wonderful day! I am sure we will be heading back to the Huntington again at some point this year after it cools down a little bit. There is always so much to entertain all five senses there!

Making new friends at the Natural History Museum

Number 2 on my 101 challenges in 1001 days is/was a family trip to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles... a challenge we completed yesterday with fantastic results!!

After picking up NaNa and PaPa Ted, we braved the 405 Freeway and the Santa Monica Freeway to carpool our way down to the heart of Los Angeles and the museum. I had packed oodles of snacks and drinks to last through the afternoon and armed myself with our trusty camera to document the day.

First up, we made our way straight to the hands-on discovery center where Em and Ro dug for dinosaur fossils, drew insects and observed all sorts of reptiles. We weaved our way through kids on field trips and Em & NaNa sat in with the 2nd graders on an informational lecture.

Next was a quick break and snack time where I met a cool Momma and her two boys who are almost the same ages as Em and Ro! How lucky is that!!?!! And then even luckier still, she graciously gave us tickets to the Huntington Library and Gardens which recently reopened their Art Gallery AND hosted the grand opening of the Liu Fang Yuan (Garden of Flowing Fragrance) -- a garden I am super excited to see after many months of waiting!!

Em and Ro ran around with their new friends for the rest of the afternoon exploring the North American and African mammals sections, pretending to be flap their wings in the Bird/Marsh section and resting in the very center of the floor of the final mammal section. After a long and wonderful afternoon, we parted ways with phone numbers and a promise to meet up at the Huntington on Thursday. My camera is charging now and I'm getting the extra clothes ready in preparation for the water features in the Children's Garden.

A Garden Wagon and A Polar Bear

My mom's husband's birthday just passed and we painted a wagon planter for him. I found this cute wagon at Michael's and then we painted it and sealed it since it will certainly get some nice wear-and-tear at the garden co-op he and my mom belong to.

Then, Em drew Ted a polar bear named Apol for his birthday card. We found this cute activity in this weeks Kids Craft Weekly. Anyway, Apol is a special polar bear who collects snow to make into presents. He eats some of the snow, but the rest of the snow turns into presents for Santa Claus and then Santa can give them out. Apol also drinks ice and hot chocolate and lives in a snow house and he has a family. He is smiling in the picture because he is happy to be playing in the snow. (By the way, I love that Em draws all this snow and we live in the Los Angeles desert!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA TED!!

An empty house, a full heart - Saying Goodbye

When I was 13, my best friend Jason moved away. In the 80's, the only way of communicating that didn't cost an arm and a leg was by handwritten letter, which we did. Occasionally we could talk-- always before 7 a.m. or after 8 p.m. when the long distance rates were lower... we would talk until we practically fell asleep with the phone still attached to our ears!

Apparently this tradition will continue with my boys.

This is Em and Glenda a little over a year ago in one of their many goodbye hugs and giggles. Glenda and her sweet sister Nia (Ro's first friend) and mommy and daddy, moved to Sofia, Bulgaria where their parents are from. Their mom Russa and dad Mitko were wonderful friends of ours... and living just down the street, we were around each other daily. It was a very happy time in our lives.

The day their plane left, I ran to Best Buy to get a camera for my computer so that we could all keep up via Skype. I also now have a European calling card so we can keep up our hour-long chats... and next year we will be going to visit! I am so super excited and it's still 11 months away. Of course we also send small packages and letters and postcards and email photos as well. Em has a world map now so that he can better understand the difference between across town where NaNa and Oma live, and across the planet where his friends live.


A few months after Glenda and her family moved away, Dante and his family came into our lives. This American/Italian/German jumble of laughter helped Em heal and reconnect with a wonderful child, and for me, another great mommy friend with a sharp sense of humor to compliment mine. We had many laughing play dates of making cookies and coloring, splashing in the backyard wading pool, a trip to the Fillmore & Western Railway, Easter egg hunts...

Nothing stays the same of course and last month, Mariella told me that they would be moving back to Germany - leaving in one month! One month to pack up or sell everything and start another new chapter in their lives. The month went waaaaay to fast and they are already gone. Now that Em is older, he is taking it a little harder - realizing we cannot just walk down the street to visit. And even Ro knows that now, we pass "Daaaaannnttaaayyy's" house rather than stop in for a visit. If all goes well, we will keep the same Skype/calling card/letter routine we have become so used to and soon see them in Germany.

The emotions are raw here... I have deliberately not mentioned how much Russa and Mariella mean to me because I'm tired of crying about it and trying to think of the future while happily remembering the past.

I'm trying to look at it this way... now we get to visit our friends in Europe!