Don't Buy It, DIY It!

Want a super easy...and when i say super easy I mean SUPER easy way to make Autumn inspired place cards?! These took only a few minutes each, and are so simple and fun!

First: Gather your materials:

Multi Colored Felt

Scissors

Thread

Sewing Machine or Sewing Needles

Pins

Next: Cut out your leaf shapes

I cut simple leaf shapes and layered 3 shapes for each place card

Then: pin shapes together

Last: Sew shapes together with an initial for each guest!

Happy Sewing!

xoh!

d

Don't Buy It, DIY It!

Cooler weather has come...and that brings with it warm toasty mittens...thick wool socks and curling up with a book and a cup of hot chocolate to warm you up!

What better to warm you up than homemade spicy hot chocolate, passed down through the ages from the Mayans!

Sure, you could go to Whole Foods and pick up a pre-made mixture of Spicy Hot Cocoa...but is that really all that fun?  The time it takes to make your own hot chocolate pays for itself in tenfold as soon as you take your first delicious sip. 

So Don't Buy it, DIY It!

Spicy Hot Cocoa 2 Ways:

Spicy Hot Chocolate with Bittersweet Cocoa and Allspice:

1/2 cup finely ground or grated bittersweet chocolate  

1 cup soy milk (or you can use regular milk if you aren't vegan, but shhhh)

Pinch cinnamon

Pinch ground allspice

Pinch cardamom

Cinnamon stick, for garnish

In a medium saucepan, combine the chocolate and milk, add the cinnamon, allspice, and cardamom and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute. Garnish with a cinnamon stick if you wanna get all fancy like.  

~or~

Spicy Hot Chocolate with Bittersweet Cocoa and Allspice:

2 red chiles, crushed  

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

4 cups soy milk (again, shhhh)

In a medium saucepan, heat the soy milk over low heat.  Add the chiles and steep for 10 minutes.  Strain the milk and discard the chiles.  Place flavored milk back into saucepan over low.  Add the vanilla extract and then slowly pour in the chocolate chips and stir until melted. 

Pour into mugs and enjoy!

Happy Lounging!

xoh!

d

Home Kitsch Cabin

{If you like kitsch, and let's face it...we know you do...you should definitely check out the current opening at the Czech Center New York. And lucky for you out of towners, if you can't get over here...I took lots-o-photos for you!}

The exhibition, called Home Art, is up from June 16 until September 15, 2011.  It is an amazing exhibit of folk designs found in the Czech home from the 1950s to the 1980s. 

On the left, that is a vase made entirely of these sticks that for some reason are a common household item in the Czech Republic. Behind the vase is a pattern rolled on with a special roller, there are a few different designs shown at the exhibit..all super 70's and awesome.  Very sputnik.

This is so glittery and amazing. 

Left: Christmas tree stand, Right: poodle cover for secret drinkers.

See! You can hide your bottles with this creepy crochet or knit poodle, genius!

Left: hilarious device to keep coins, put coin on little weighted area and hand comes out and grabs it. Fun for the kids!

Band made of bottle caps.

Ridiculous and elaborate cigarette dispenser, made of those sticks again!

 

The handle on this purse is just amazing.  On the right: why yes, that is a boob plaque...in wood...with a crown.

I highly suggest you check this out in person if you are in the NYC area.  Don't forget to grab a traditionally poured beer at Hospoda,  after checking out the opening.  This exhibit made me want to create my own hideous Chemlon tapestry or poodle vodka cover.  Time to get to work!

xoh!

d

Don't Buy It, DIY It!

Sometimes I forget how much I like pizza. It is so fun to make and great to pack for lunch, and if you make it from scratch, you won't get that ugh-yuck feeling that you get from grabbing a slice at a greasy pizza joint.

Multigrain Whole Wheat Pizza with Portabella Mushrooms & Sage:

3 tsp. yeast
1 1⁄2 cups WARM water
3 tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
2 1⁄2 cups white flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup bulgar

-1-2 portabella mushroom caps
-4-5 tomatoes, diced and smashed into a chunky sauce consistency
(or bootleg it with pre-made tomato sauce, but do try to avoid the kind with HFCS aka high fructose corn syrup...we are trying to keep this homemade pizza healthy remember!)
-handful of fresh sage

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, or using a KitchenAid Stand Mixer with the dough hook, knead all ingredients together until sticky and blended well. If you are mixing with your hands, keep them a little wet to avoid a sticky mess.

Place dough in a large bowl and loosely cover with a dishtowel and let rise until it doubles in size.

You can use it now, or refrigerate it for about a week.

When it is time to makea da pizzah, sprinkle whole wheat dough on your counter and spread the dough out over the flour. Sometimes I do this right on the pizza stone or the baking sheet.

While the dough is settling into it's new cushy spread out lifestyle, heat olive oil in saute pan and saute sliced portabella mushrooms, season with salt and pepper.

Add a layer of your smooshed tomatoes, arrange portabella mushrooms and sprinkle generously with sage.

Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes. If it is your first time making this, check on it frequently. The dough will puff up a bit...ideally your pizza will be nice and fluffy, yet crispy on the bottom.

ENJOY!

Don't Buy It, DIY It!

Whenever I get the intense girlish urge to shop for things I can't afford, I remember...I have a sewing machine and a little bit of know-how under my belt. I will say this a thousand times, I am not a seamstress at all...but you do not have to be a seamstress to make your own clothes! I find that making clothing works just like any other artistic problem solving, and just because you don't get it right the first time, doesn't mean you should give up!

One of the first things I did before I made my own clothes was simple altering like making my jeans tighter, or band t-shirts fit me. All I did for this was turn the garment inside out, lay a garment that fit me exactly the way I like it to (think your perfect tee), and then trace with soap an outline of the snug garment over the ill fitting one. From there you just straight pin the piece and do a simple straight stitch to alter your piece. Always try it on before cutting out the extra fabric...if you are new the game you may want a seam ripper close by so that you can try try again if your first attempt fails.

From there, I started taking apart clothing to understand the panels and parts and the ways in which it fit all together. It was sort of like being a little kid and taking apart a radio and trying to piece it back together...but in this case, I would trace the panels on new fabric and try to put together my OWN piece of clothing. I really learned by trial and error. Of course I can always learn more, but after all of this experimenting, I now can make my own clothing, make clothing for others in various sizes, and custom fit clothing for other people. It feels great to know who made your clothing, and feels even greater when the piece is special and no one else has it. For those of us who failed at sandbox, doesn't it feel great to have a custom piece!?

I made this top and skirt which paired together make a really fun outfit, that is one of a kind. That is one of my favorite things about making your own clothes, you can make only ONE of the piece if you want, which guarantees that you will not show up to a party wearing the same damn dress as someone else!

Don't Buy it, DIY it!

With the exception of a very once in a while slip up or cheat day, I have cut HFCS out of my diet. That's right, bye bye high fructose corn syrup and all of the terrible things you do to my body, the awful homogenous agriculture that you create with your demand and your presence in SO.MANY.THINGS.

At my job we are provided with free drinks. That's right, coffee, teas, sodas, seltzer waters etc. We also have free snacks...and up until some magical fairy of good food came, the snacks were all Hershey's kisses, snickers mini bars etc.

Now we have apples and trail mix and oatmeal! OH MY! Vegan things I can eat for free at my work, it IS 2011!

That being said, seeing the gingerale in the break room every single day has gotten into my brain, and my belly. I NEED IT! However, the gingerale has that awful HFCS in it. So I decided to make my own!

Instead of:

Which has high fructose corn syrup as its second ingredient.
(Full ingredient list is: carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, sodium benzoate, natural flavors, caramel color...yikes!)

Try this:

Homemade Ginger Ale!

Recipe:
4 cups club soda
1 inch knob of ginger, peeled and diced
1 cinnamon stick
a squeeze of agave or dash of raw sugar (optional)

Combine all ingredients in mason jar and chill for at least 30 minutes. If you don't want to strain the mixture (which is really not a big deal anyway), you can put the ginger in a sachet or tea ball...it will infuse it's lovely power into the club soda from its nesting place no problem!

Enjoy!

That's it! So simple!

Today for lunch I enjoyed my homemade ginger ale alongside an avocado, fresh salsa wrap on an ezekial tortilla. So quick and easy to make and filling!

Ingredients:

Avocado/Guacamole mixture:
2 Avocados
1 small yellow onion
1 tomato
Juice from one lemon
pepper and salt to season
(chop all ingredients and mix thoroughly)

Salsa mixture:
1 small red onion
3 vine tomatoes
1 green onion
1 jalapeno or serano pepper seeded and diced
1 handful cilantro
(chop all ingredients and combine in small bowl)

This is a cheap, easy to make lunch that is filling and healthy!