Bacon Makes Everything Better

I don't really have weird cravings when I'm pregnant, more like temporary food obsessions. I fixate on eating certain food items over and over for a week or two, then I never want to see them again. Right now it's Chex Mix and sandwiches. I'm thinking I won't eventually be repulsed by sandwiches because they lend themselves to such delicious variety and creativity.

Here's one I made last week and happened to snap a picture of cuz it just looked so durn fine.

From the ground up, hummus, arugula, tomato, apple, bacon and feta. The next day I made one with just hummus, apple, bacon, and muenster cheese. It was good, but not quite as epic as the first one.

Then for dinner that same day I made a grilled cheese with sharp cheddar, apples, and dijon mustard. This is apparently Tyler's ultimate grilled cheese as told to me by a fb friend, but his has bacon. I shouldn't have skipped the bacon, of course.


Some others I want to try:

For next Friday, obviously. Recipe here on Food52. (Which is a pretty cool site by the way, they run a recipe contest each week featuring a different ingredient.)

Fried Green Tomato BL(A)T which I would have to make at my mom's house because I love her fried greens way too much to face the disappointment of attempting my own.

Cranberry-walnut chicken salad, maybe on some of the brown bread rolls from Outback. Yes, I would go to Outback just for that but I guess I'll take a bloom to go if I must. From the beautiful smitten kitchen.

And for dessert, Strawberry Grilled Cheese.  With angel food cake and brie? Um, yes please. Maybe with bacon too :)


sigh...I'm so hungry all the time.

But Spiderman Doesn't Wear a Cape...

Our downstairs neighbor and good friend Elie turned 4 yesterday. Every time she comes over to play with Hendrix she pretends to be several different superheroes, so I knew I wanted to make her a reversible cape. Lately her favorite is "black spiderman," which I don't know if that is really his name, I didn't catch the second spiderman movie. And yeah, he doesn't have a cape, but I don't think I'm ready to tackle the full spandex leotard yet.

 Hendrix models, as he tries to tear into her other present. (BTW, does anyone else get unreasonably insecure sometimes about giving a handmade gift and feel the need to supplement with something store bought? I don't know why I do that, because people always really appreciate their handmade gifts. And I'm canceling out the benefit I have of not having to buy crap from the store. Dumb. Anyway, just wondered if I'm the only one...)

The pink side for "Super Elie."

I roughly followed these instructions, as I did when I made this cape about a year ago. But when I posted about that cape, I failed to write about the lessons I had learned in making it, which is a big reason I even blog about this stuff- so I can remember and learn from my mistakes.

Anyway, the thing I failed to mention to myself was to use interfacing when appliqueing a stretchy knit onto another stretchy knit. Luckily, I realized that after doing the E side, and added interfacing to the back of the spider side, which would have been a total disaster without it.



Today's crafting soundtrack: Well, Jonsi of course. But also, a little group called Mountain Man that we saw open for him. Look them up on itunes, they are mesmerizing.

Epic Date Night (Jonsi!!!)

Nick and I are headed to Columbus tonight to see this incredibleness-




I could not be more excited. We have loved Sigur Ros for years and used a lot of their music in our wedding. We saw them at Bonnaroo a couple of years ago, and that was hands down the most amazing live show I've ever seen. I'm gonna go ahead and say it's kind of a magical experience... and I hate when people use that word, but it is appropriate. I'm thinking tonight's stage show will even top that. And besides all that, I'm feeling somewhat like my old self and I am actually wearing real clothes and makeup. Very exciting.


Here's more about the uber-creative stage and video production if you're interested:

Craft-Swappin

I made a couple of bags this week for good friends. I didn't want to charge these lovely ladies, and since they are both makers of things as well, I suggested we barter. How very Oregon Trail of us.

For Olivia, I made this bag (which I'm totally spoiling for her since she hasn't received it yet)

And I'm going to get this adorable print from her shop:

And for my newlywed friend Jessica, I made this bag

For which I've already received a large jar of her honey:

That's right, she keeps bees in her backyard, and harvests (is that the right word?) their yummy TN honey herself. How cool is that? It's delicious. (Although I'm not supposed to eat it right now, I sometimes have to sneak some.)

So this makes me think about the whole swapping thing. There are lots of us bloggers/etsy-ers who make things, and would also like the things that others make. Does anyone know of any sites set up for organizing swaps? It would be nice if you could put a handmade item out there, and also let people know what kind of thing you are looking to swap for, whether it be art, supplies, edibles, or other specific handmade items. Once you have a taker, you could organize the rest on your own terms. I'm sure there is something like that out there. If not, maybe we could just make our own? Suggestions? Thoughts?

Fox Costume!

So these pictures aren't the greatest, but the costume is done and I couldn't resist posting it. I don't know if he knows what he is, but he does love wearing it.

 And I love the way it turned out, which is really most important. Not really. But kind of. Seriously.

I was afraid the big tail would be a bit cumbersome, but he loves it. And it's just about the cutest thing ever swinging on his little booty when he walks.

Here's a nice tail shot- It even gets out of the way for foxes who need to sit down and do puzzles!

Some details on how I made it, for those who like that sort of thing...

Wasn't easy to find plain orange clothes without monsters or ghosts or pumpkins on them, so I bought a plain white toddler tee at Target for $6 I think. I died that with some orange RIT, along with a couple of old Hanes undershirts. I cut the sleeves off of one of those and made them into the hat. I had no idea what I was doing, but I went with it and it was super easy. I made the rest of the tshirt into the pants, using one of his pajama pairs as a pattern. I cut three tail shapes from the other tshirt, kind of like stretched out football shapes I guess, and put white felt on the ends. Then sewed those together and stuffed. I just have it safety pinned to the back of the waist band so we can take it off for the car. 

The black legs are just a pair of knee socks from Target I cut up and slipped on his legs and wrists. That's it! I also had a patch of white felt on the front of the shirt, which he promptly ripped off. So I need to actually attach it well, or just do without it. I can't decide if we really need it or not, we'll see. 

Halloween is the cutest ever.

GIVEAWAY starts today!

The very lovely Mollie is doing a giveaway of one of my monsters over on her super fun blog, Wild Olive. (Welcome if you are visiting from there!) It starts today and goes through the weekend, so if you'd like to win a FREE monster from my shop, head here and leave a comment to enter! And the best part is, you get to pick your prize.

I've never done a giveaway before. Giveaway virg. Just thought I'd go ahead and get that out there in case this was a little awkward :)

And more monsters are coming to the shop soon for Christmas. Kids of all ages love them, so you know, it's a possibility. Or just go ahead and buy your nephew something plastic from China, no pressure :)

Pumpkin Decorating for short attention spans

This past weekend we got into the fall spirit with a little pumpkin painting. We got the gourds at Shaw Farms in Milford the week before. (Which is definitely the place to go for fall fun if you are local.)

We just kept it simple with washable kid paint and some Halloween foam stickers. This is actually my friend Edie's idea, she's been doing it with her kids the past couple of years. And HG's friend Elie from downstairs joined in as well.

It's also fun to paint your legs and feet when you are bored with your pumpkin.

A couple other neighborhood kids came and helped out too, which was a good thing, because Hendrix was on to playing ball after about a minute and half. Impromptu Halloween block party.

And yes, my parents were in town and that is my dad giving my mom a little shoulder rub. That pretty much sums up their Nana-and-Grandpa-adorableness.