10 cool homey things

Curbly posted this great DIY that is super easy and doesn’t make any holes in your wall. I looooove it, and if I ever get the motivation to re-decorate the living room (which will be a huge task because it shares a very distinct rust-colored (YUCK) wall with the kitchen so I’d have to attack both of them at the same time) I will almost definitely do this.

Lace + table + spray paint = adorable. Great tutorial over at A Beautiful Mess.

I love this felt garland tutorial from pam garrison. The colors she chose are so perfect.

Windchimes! Have I mentioned how much I adore windchimes? This tutorial from michele made me is definitely worth a look. I think these would be so pretty painted in a simple ombre with white or blue at the bottom fading up to the natural bamboo.

This DIY hanger would be great for an etsy shop, I think. The perfect way to show off handmade clothes.

Something like this is definitely a part of my dream kitchen.

I’ve been looking for cute cheap pom poms for months to do this, but the only pom poms I can find are expensive and ugly. The search continues.

Love, love, love this. We use something like it as a thyme bed to protect the old lemon balm bed from dogs (which we no longer have …) but the way apartment therapy did it is so much more aesthetically appealing.

Gasp! A wreath I don’t hate!

 

I want this in my life. The window I’m imagining it on gets a ton of light in the mornings, and that light would be so lovely shining through the flowers.

 

 

 

10 cool random things

DUH.

I would really really very much like to be able to do this, but I just don’t think jewelry-making is a hobby I can get into right now. I’m already up to my eyebrows in hobbies.

Super useful! I can never seem to remember all of this photography lingo, and I should really print this out and put it in my camera bag.

Of course I love this. Found via The Little Red Blog of Revolutionary Knitting.

GORGEOUS. And super easy! Dying at home for pleasure and profit.

AH. I love folk art tattoos like this one.

These modifications are perfect. Thank you to whoever made them.

Tie-dyed tissue paper! This would be so great for packaging items from the Etsy Shop.

So pretty.

This just makes me sad because I will never ever be that talented. Isn’t it perfect?

Wait! Let’s make this 11 cool random things. You can win this awesome ukulele on little chief honeybee this month!

10 cool sewn things

Isn’t this one of the loveliest restyles you’ve ever seen!? I adore the finished product. Made by Tick Tock Vintage.

There’s something about this patchwork skirt that I really, really, really love. I think it’d be so much fun to make and wear. And I particularly like that the sewer said she made it for dancing in.

 

This backpack is so adorable! I’d like to make a backpack for Grady each year – as long as she lets me. I assume around 6th grade it will become completely unacceptable.

I’m obsessed with the color story in these quilt blocks by eileen josephine.

Lately I’ve been using large ziplocks as project bags, but that needs to stop. I’m sick of my needles poking through the seams of the bags, and I’m sick of how ugly it all looks in my purse. A project bag like this one is in order.

Another idea for a backpack for Grady.

This idea for a toddler dress from a t-shirt is great; the braided collar is such a nice touch.

Pretty self-explanatory, pretty useful.

This idea for spray-dying a fabric before sewing is so awesome. It’d be a great way to DIY that outer-space imagery trend.

Another make-your-own-underwear tutorial! Someday I really am going to do this. I swear.

10 cool recipes

I’m a little obsessed with these ricotta stuffed tomatoes from Stitch and Boots (which is, by the way, one of the best blogs out there). I’ve made them a few times with tomatoes from the garden and they are so tasty. The recipe makes 9 servings but Grady and I always eat them all within a day or two.

I’m thinking of making this zucchini tomato soup today, as my neighbor was kind enough to take some spaghetti squash off my hands and give me some zucchini. I definitely should have been more careful about cutting back the spaghetti squash. I don’t care about it spreading through the whole garden; we have plenty of space. But man. I don’t think I’ll be able to eat any more spaghetti squash for months. I’ve tried every recipe I could find and am just sick of that vegetable.

I was going to make this vintage fruit cobbler but some toddler got into my bag of peaches and made a mess of them. Do you think I could make cobbler with pears?

These peas, made from fresh or frozen, are so good. Grady gobbles them up like mad.

I made this mint syrup over the last couple days (because it takes about 26 hours to do), and am really happy with it. I thought it’d be more syrup-y, but the flavor is incredible. I’m really excited to make some late-summer juleps with it.

I’ve probably shared these pumpkin cookies before, but they’re worth sharing again. They’re delicious as is, and they’re also delicious when you make them a little more healthy; with applesauce and whole wheat cut into the normal ingredients.

Cade and I have made grilled zucchini several times this summer (for he is the master of the grill), and I’m in love with it. Salt, pepper, olive oil, smoke. So easy and delicious.

I made this a few days ago and it was delicious. I left out the olive oil because I was planning on using it in cheesy quesadillas, and it was still super tasty. Though not at all spicy; I think if I did this again I’d add a little more oomph. But man, the quesadillas were incredible.

The apple trees I saved a couple years ago are actually producing apples now (eep!) and I think I’ll make these baked apples with them. If I can refrain from eating them all raw.

I started making refrigerator pickles with this recipe, and have since begun wonderful adventures in experimentation. I seriously recommend that every house have a jar of homemade pickles in the fridge.

I wrote this on Sept. 5 and made no attempt to pretend I’m writing it on the date of posting; so don’t come to my house expecting to eat the stuff I said I cooked; it’s all long gone.

10 cool outfits

I’m so obsessed with this dress. It’s perfect. Found at The Sartorialist.

As this post will show, I love sheer white dresses. Found via Stylesightings.

Found via Glamcanyon.

Goldie! How I love you. Found via Cat Party.

Apparently I want a leather jacket. Also, those boots are perrrfect. Found via Dam Style.

Found via Stylesightings.

I love the outfit (and the dog!) on the left. Found via Honestly WTF.

Even the helmet is perfect. Found via The Fashionist.

Polkadots and red shoes = LOVE. Found via Face Hunter.

Found via Stylesightings.

10 cool embroidered things

I’m a little obsessed with this piece by mina.s.m on flickr. Found via Mr XStitch.

This sampler by Karen Barbe is gorgeous. Found via Bloesem.

I love this vintage embroidery pattern from Needle Crafter! Look at that sweet kitten!

This piece by RaeMiranda is too outrageously stunning.

I think these drawings of plants by Gennine would be lovely embroidered.

This ombre’d example of burden stitch from The Floss Box is awesome. That blog is a great resource for learning new stitches.

Using your sewing machine to tidy up paper embroidery! Brilliant idea from New House Project.

These samplers by knohe are too pretty. They look like an underwater garden!

I really like these flowers by Robyn Enz on flickr.

As usual, I’m eating up this vintage fabric used as a pattern. That satin stitch is particularly fantastic. Done by quirky boots on flickr.

 

10 cool random things

I really loved this image, found via Bohemian Musings. I’ve tried dozens (literally) of times to embroider this sweet deer, but it’s just not working. Woah. Wait a second. I just had a brilliant idea. Maybe this time my attempts to embroider this will work!

(Cut to 1 hour later: I’ve finally sucessfully figured out how to design the pattern. Huzzah!)

Next summer I’m definitely planning on making some outdoor chalkboard walls for Grady et al to play with. Find the tutorial at angry chicken.

I think I’m going to make some of these to hang on the front porch in a couple weeks. Check out the great tutorial at Natural Kids.

This girl’s hair and headscarf are perfect. Found via StyleSightings.

Loooooove this gif from the Manifesta Workbook.

1. This is the perfect color pallette. 2. I love the words. 3. The design is too cute. Found via Sweet Jessie, made by The Wheatfield.

I love stick-crafts! So naturally I love this. Though it seems that Maybe I’ll make one of these from Kids Craft Weekly for Grady soon.

I really love this work. So much so that after seeing it on F*** Yeah Tattoos I began following her blog.

Ah! Gorgeous! This is how collages should be. Found via this isn’t happiness.

Pretty pretty pretty. Love this gif from Bu The Right Thing.

10 cool recipes

(I suppose I should apologize for explain why most of the “10 cool” posts are of the “recipes” and “random things” varieties – I just have a lot more links saved for those than the other categories. Let me know if it gets too monotonous, and I’ll work harder to find other awesome stuff. But right now I have less than ten links saved in all of the other categories, so I can’t make a full post out of them.)

This applesauce cake from Cornflower Blue (one of my favorite blogs right now, by the way) looks sooooo tasty.

I traditionally fail at cooking asparagus. (I know. It’s supposed to be the easiest thing ever. I just don’t have the magic touch.) But this recipe for pan-fried asparagus from AllRecipes looks delicious and do-able.

These vanilla cupcakes with raspberry filling from A Beautiful Mess look too delicious. I’ve never actually made real cupcakes before, but I might try these.

Lemon Whippersnappers from AllRecipes. Get in my belly.

Chocolate, peanut butter cookie dough, toasted marshmallow cupcakes. This post just became NSFW. From Craft.

I’m keeping this Mexican Cucumber salad recipe from AllRecipes in my “things to do with all those damn cucumbers from the garden” file.

This Grilled Corn Salad from Craft looks super tasty, too.

I’ve been recently craving roasted garlicky cauliflower so hard. This looks incredibly delicious.

Homemade pickled red onions! This recipe from Use Real Butter looks sooooo incredible.

I’m making this Strawberry Mint smoothie from A Piece of Lisa tomorrow for breakfast. Pretty excited about it.

10 cool random things

Today’s collection of random things might as well be called the “Tattoo Edition,” as all but 2 of the links I’m sharing are tattoos. What can I say? I love good ink.

Aaaaaaaaah I am obsessed with this tattoo. According to the caption over at F*** Yeah Tattoos, it’s an image of her grandmother’s home. I would love to get a tattoo related to my grandpa’s old house; I was recently thinking of the things that are sacred to me; that house and breastfeeding were right at the top of the list.

This is so beautiful it makes me want to cry. Seriously.

Eep! I love Ferdinand! I’ve seen a lot of Ferdinand tattoos taken directly from the illustrations in the book, but this new design is pretty magnificent.

I love this. It’s like she has a little buddy walking by her side all the time.

Don’t you just want to smoosh those pompoms? They’re made from old t-shirts & I’m a little bit obsessed with them. I’m considering making some for Grady’s birthday party decorations and then using them as decor int he house. Find the tutorial at Craftaholics Anonymous.

Oh, how I love nature-based white-space-y half sleeves. Those flowers are incredibly beautiful. Found via F*** Yeah Tattoos.

I also have a soft spot for traditional rose tattoos. They are just so lovely, and these especially are well-placed and well-made.

Surprise! More flowers! These are too pretty.

Oooooooooh, I love this. I’ve had a fern tattoo in the works for almost a year now; because ferns are incredible, of course. Mine is very different than this one, but I still absolutely adore this one. it’s the first I’ve seen done entirely in green, and I love it.

Tea towels done with fabric marker! Brilliant! I have plans for zillions of beautiful drawn/embroidered/painted tea towels, but when I get around to shopping for the blank towels I always think they’re too expensive. $5 for two towels? No thank you, craft stores. If any of you know a place to get bulk towels (seriously. I’d be cool with a whole giant box of them) for cheap, let me know? Not only does my own collection need some serious revitalization, but I’d love to design & sell some someday. Anyway, find this tutorial at elsie marley.

10 cool recipes

I made this Yogurt Parfait Pie from Cooking with my Kid (as well as a bunch of other stuff, all of it edible thank-you-very-much) for the 4th of July Party at my house, and it was deeeeelicious. Generally the recipes on that blog are a little bland for my tastes, and I think next time I make this (there will definitely be a next time) I’ll add some vanilla or … I don’t know. Just a little something extra.

Also: Apparently cornstarch is something that exists? I didn’t know that until shopping to make this.

I made these corn muffins (they not only have cornstarch, but actual kernels of corn in them) one night with Cade, and they were exceedingly edible. Just needed a little extra honey.

Something about m&m’s in cookies just makes my knees melt. This (gluten-free!) recipe is from Cooking With My Kid.

In a similar vein, these Glazed Apple Cookies are also making my knees melt. Bigtime. Glazed cookies are just the best.

Yup, these look disgusting. But I want to make them (out of fancy organic hotdogs & whole-wheat pasta, of course) for Grady! You cook the pasta & hot dogs together and it comes out looking like this disgusting alien mess that kids are certain to adore. Found at crafterhours.

Our (wonderful, constantly-sharing) neighbors made campfire dinners like this for us last night (meaning July 7, as I’m writing this on July 8), and it awakened a constant desire for tin-foil-wrapped ashy food in me. I think this is what Sunday dinner will be. (When I asked dear old dad what kind of meat he wanted in it, he replied “I don’t care, chicken?” Have I mentioned that he is so difficult to cook for?)

Almond-Apple-Cinnamon scones. WANT.

I would love to eventually make my own noodles for soups. Are they more difficult than pie crust? Because I’m still not at all able to make pie crust, and I figured noodles should wait until that wall is hurdled.

This Vegetarian Lime Orzo looks incredibly good.

As does this Black-Eyed Pea Salad. I’ve recently renewed my love for Black-Eyed Peas. I’m getting the urge to make my own black-eyed pea hummus. Not sure if it would work, but it’s worth trying!