More Linkular Linktasticism

[via CasaSugar]:

Very pretty (and inexpensive) sea urchin votives.

And these pretty glass sea urchin vases are on sale!

[via Craft]:

Very pretty Ikea hack - crystal chandelier.

Also yum: Blueberry Crumb Bars (by Smitten Kitchen, of course). We had quite the crop of big blueberries on our Patriot high bush. And it is still small. I can't wait for next year. The bumblebees loved it this spring. It was picked clean by visiting children yesterday.

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Recipe: Grilled Eggplant with Goat Cheese. Yum. I never think of picking up eggplants but this recipe might give me the needed push. So simple and so yummy.

For Aaron and our Portland visitors: Recipe: Flank Steak With Garlic, Oregano, Orange and Cumin

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Tutorial for The Urban Hammock. (no, N, not a banana hammock)

Cute tutorial for an advent calendar.

Linktasm

Tiny caramel apples. Love this. So cute and yummy.

On a whole other tangent: crocheted wasp nest pattern

Recycle your Electronics. And get paid to be environmentally responsible.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog

In case you missed the three acts when they debuted, here's the full-length Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog.

I love NPH. And Nathan Fillion. and Felicia Day. Pretty much everyone involved.

"There's a difference between being a veteran and supporting a veteran as a politician."

I love Rachel Maddow. She used to be a DJ on one of the local stations and now she's on MSNBC. She needs her own show. She's amazing.

"There's a difference between being a veteran and supporting a veteran as a politician."

Congress agrees on product-safety bill banning phthalates, lowering lead in toys

Yay! When Bush vetoes this, I hope Congress has enough votes for an override.

Congress agrees on product-safety bill banning phthalates, lowering lead in toys

Will our country actually do something to protect our safety?

This seems like a thinly veiled threat:

"The chemical industry claims that banning phthalates may ultimately be bad for kids since the chemicals that arise to replace them could harm children even more."

How to perform a citizen's arrest of a Bush administration official

The key to performing a citizen's arrest? Check with your state laws.

Who would you arrest?

Linktastic

Added: Robot A Day. Made from scraps of vinyl. And zippers.

And her etsy shop. I especially love the Devil Bot and the Flying Spaghetti Monster Bot. Oh man, Pirate Bot. Gah! Gnome Bot! Did I ever tell you I was a (female) gnome for Halloween one year. And that my mom made, from scratch, the best costume ever?

Ooh, I love these - Stainless Steel Straws. Sophie's been wanting straws in her drinks ("green orange juice"). And I hate the idea of plastic straws just being thrown away. Plus, these look all futuristic and whatnot. (via The Kitchn)

Newspaper Hut! Might have to try this during the Visit of the Oregonians (said in loud, booming voice).

A site devoted to extreme pop-up cards. (Andrea, this is for you)

Japanese Craft Journal site. Dedicated to trends, etc., in Japanese crafting. At first glance, it looks like a great place for inspiration.

I love the painted patterned floor in this contest. Not that I could ever convince Aaron to do it in our house...maybe on the porch?

Pretty, pretty - LED string lights.

Another from The Kitchn: Adorable ceramics by Camila Prada. Check out the Big Daddy cookie jar, especially. Love them!

Banana bread in under 10 minutes. I'd substitute white flour for wheat and honey for the sugar. Well, not a whole cup of honey, less than that. Also I'd add wheat germ for good measure.

My sister just forwarded me this at the same time I was reading it: Dangers of Granite Countertops. I wonder if ours are affected considering my geologist brother-in-law informed us that they are not, actually, granite. "Very pretty stone, but not granite".

Recaptacular

I've been hit with a mother of a sinus infection. I'd hoped it would be gone by now, but nope. I'm talking funny and coughing up yuck in the morning and blowing yuck out my nose. When I can actually get it out of my nose...

Anyhoo, what has happened lately?

My tomatoes may not survive the summer. It's been thunderstorm after thunderstorm here and the early blight is moving its way up the plants. They are collapsing from the top weight and I keep having to go out there and tie them up in more and more creative ways. Let's hope I get at least a few tomatoes out of it.

Aaron's sister and brother-in-law and their daughter are coming to visit in T-minus 15 days! All the way from Portland, OR! J, their daughter, is 3 months younger than Sophie. When we visited them last year, the girls got along fine but played amicably separated. This year will be so different. They are on Skype, too, so we get to see them on video phone frequently and it's fun to see the girls talk to each other.

All this means that we need to do some major cleaning, straightening, fixing up before they come. Lots of projects we keep meaning to do need to get done.

Also, I ordered a bunch of native plants from Green Mountain Transplants. Very inexpensive and top-quality plants. Our former landlady (landmistress? Landmaiden?) ordered from them all the time. It's funny that I keep hearing about people pulling up all the milkweed in their gardens and then that is what I ordered to plant in mine. Ah well. I'm trying to spread the word around town that I'll take your milkweed!

I need to take more photos of the flower beds. I think they're lovely and very prairie-like with tall grasses and groups of native flowers and Aaron thinks they look messy. He likes things manicured and even and perfectly symmetrical. Hmmm, could he be a mathematician?

Friday I went to my first stamp night in a long time and it was lovely. (Hi Jen and Joan and Andrea!) My three site readers. I stamped one card that Andrea devised and it ended up a jumble of ideas. It was for Sophie and she loved it, so that is what counts. I also ate extra-spicy Thai green curry for the first time in a long time. The extra-spicy part was an attempt to clear my sinuses. It worked for a bit. It was fun to have a night out. I spent the rest of the night playing with Andrea's crimper and trying to make the decorative flowers that were all the rage last month. Now that I look at that link, I see what I did wrong... I didn't cut a tight spiral and I started from the inside first and my starting paper was too big. Ah. That's what happens when I try to do something from memory.

I'll try again.

I was working on a tank top dress from a t-shirt thing later last week but now my head hurts too much to work on it. It's looking pretty good even though it's quite fussy. All the gathering and bias-taping, etc.

I started it using one of Aaron's old shirts and now I wish I had started with a shirt I like better. Maybe I'll dye it and make it even more of a fussy project.

Let's see, what else...we went to my company picnic on Saturday and it was a lot of fun. Sophie spent hours in the kids' pool - big difference from last year where Aaron had to hold onto her the whole time. This time she could walk around by herself and she LOVED it. She was quite chatty with everyone and played with pool noodles and kick boards and swished and kicked and splashed (away from her face). There was also a few rousing games of BINGO and Aaron won a coveted $200 gas card! W00t! He also won a lovely fleece blanket. I was joking with him when we left that we should buy a lottery ticket, too.

Yesterday was a lazier day as I was trying to just make it through the day without cutting my nose off my face and sticking a vacuum up there to suck everything out. (seriously entertained the idea at one point). I also worked on trimming the boxwood hedge around the house. We don't have an electric trimmer so I've been steadily working my way around with little clippers. It's very bonsai. And it takes a LOT longer.

This is the longest post ever. Sorry.

Let's keep going, shall we?

Aaron's keeping Sophie home for the next few days and he headed down south this morning to spend more time by a pool. This time with Sophie's cousins, G + R. And then they'll be up at our house on Wednesday. G used to be terrified by Sophie because she was a much louder, enthusiastic baby and he had ultra-sensitive hearing. He's still a little timid around her, but she's calmed down a bit. And his little brother, R, is an enthusiastic guy so G had to adapt. They have a great house for kids so I hope she's able to spend some time playing there, too.

I hope everyone survives. Aaron was already looking a bit tired this morning and it's only day one. Cross your fingers that neither of them catch what I have.

I predict the worst day will be Wednesday because Tuesday night is his late night judo session.

Okay, back to the trenches. Have a great week.

Book Recommendations

Sophie book recommendations:

One for her health. We try to keep very healthy foods in the house but I know we could be better. I love Dr. Sears and this book: Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood is great. It's about family health and eating habits.

Current favorite library books:

Armadillo Rodeo. Cute story about an armadillo who can't see very well. He thinks a pair of red cowboy boots is another armadillo.

Mrs. McNosh and the Great Big Squash. A lot of fun to read. I like this one better than "Oh My Gosh, Mrs. McNosh".

We're also reading the Why Should I? series of books. We've read about recycling, saving water, saving energy, and protecting nature.

This one is also fun: Excuse Me!. A book on manners.

And, last but not least, I read somewhere that it was impossible to read this book without yawning. So far, that statement is 100% true. A great bedtime book: The Sleep Book, by Dr. Suess. Of course.

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

Apparently, you should let cookie dough rest for 36 hours before baking. Who knew?!

The perfect chocolate chip cookie.

From Orangette:

What I will say about it, however, is that it adds up to a very fine, very fetching cookie. In fact, it is, without a doubt, the best chocolate chip cookie that I have ever made at home. It is also the best chocolate chip cookie that I have ever eaten. It scares me a little to make such a bold statement, but I have decided to do it anyway.

I wonder if the same applies to peanut butter cookie dough.

Wardrobe Refashion - more toddler pants

One more pair of toddler pants. This week I have to make presents for my nephew's birthday party, so clothing refashioning is on hold.

In the meantime, here is another quick pair of easy kid's pants. Made from a striped polo shirt of mine that I never wore once my husband told me I looked like Waldo (from Where's Waldo...).

So, pants it became.

From these easy pants instructions.

Sophie wouldn't let me take a photo of her wearing them. Trust me when I tell you they looked very cute on her. I love the slightly cropped length with little kid sandals. Adorable.

Up next: Drape-neck blouse. Just need to find the perfect fabric in my closet for this.

Ooh, and this valance top for Sophie. Just have to find an old valance curtain...

Aspirin Mask - Recession-proof Beauty

Recipe for an aspirin mask - good for exfoliating and for acne.

Recipe Links

Polenta Pudding with Blueberry Topping

Peanut Butter Balls - yummy and healthy. Hmm. I navigated away from the recipe and now have to find the site again.

From memory: one cup peanut butter, one cup honey, two cups powdered milk, one cup toasted wheat germ. Combine peanut butter, honey and milk. Shape into little balls and then roll in wheat germ. Refrigerate or freeze.

Summertime Gazpacho

Long list of food links (to read through later)

Healthy Toddler Snacks

20 Cheap, Healthy recipes made from pantry staples.

6 simple diy freezer treats

And a book to check out at some point: "The Toddler Café"

One more: Chocolate Sorbet. Yum.

Feist on Sesame Street

This put a smile on my face this morning.

(link via best week ever)

Cut 9 years off your mortgage

Or more, depending on how much you pay. Instead of sending in monthly payments, send in bi-weekly payments. You are paying the same total amount, just in two parts. You start paying down the interest faster and it doesn't cost you any more than you're already paying.

I'm definitely going to start doing this with our payments.

Wow - the girl who silenced the UN

(via Crooks and Liars)

Powerful speech by a 12-year-old at the UN.

Chore Idea for Kids

I love this idea of labeling popsicle sticks with chores.

Each girlie has their own jar and their own color they picked. Next we colored with a marker one end of a popsicle stick. On the other side we wrote a "to do" that the girls need to complete before they can be able to go play outside, jump on the computer or hang with friends. After they complete a job they can flip the popsicle stick over. As soon as they are done and all the sticks are flipped over then they can play, go outside or whatever.

This would work for me, too.

First Wardrobe Refashioning

Yoga Pants!

I cut up Aaron's old turtleneck that I hated. He looked ridiculous in it. Sorry, Sweetie, but you did. You know it.

I had issues with the waistband and ripped out the seam a couple of times.

I cut the arms off the Yankees shirt I was using for Sophie's pants because I needed the hem for the top of the waistband.

And then I tried them on inside out to adjust the fit. Here's are the side adjustment lines. They are still a little loose so I might take them in a bit more now that I've been wearing them.

All in all, definitely something I'd do again.

As for the Snopherdoodle's pants, I took a capri-length pair of pants and used them as the pattern.

I wasn't concentrating when I started sewing the sides and crotch up and I had to rip out yet more seams. Ripping seams is my least favorite thing to do.

She was already asleep when I finished, so I'll have to get a photo of her wearing them tomorrow.

Imagine them on a cute little wiggly girl.

Yoga Pants from T-shirt

I'm going to attempt these yoga pants tonight.

And these easy kids pants, if I can get Sophie to sleep at a decent time. She's had a rough few days with heat and humidity. Actually, last night she fell asleep early because we finally hooked up the A/C (by running an extension cord from the bathroom to our room...)

Crafty and Recipe Links

Stubby Pencil Studio (via angry chicken)

Also from angry chicken: Recipe Cheat Sheet. So helpful.

And also this: Rhubarb Hand Pie. Yum.

How cute would these polka dot curtains look in Sophie's "new" room? And they're called "Sophie". Too bad I can't see spending almost $180 to buy four panels and two curtain rods. Ah well. Maybe I can make something similar?

Added: DIY floating bookshelf. So I can find it later.

Wardrobe Refashion Pledge

I'm a bit late to posting this on my site, but I signed up for 2 months of Wardrobe Refashioning.

As such, here is my pledge:

I pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 months. I pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recycle pre-loved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovated, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed, Erika.

(confession: I *did* buy a pair of pants for Aaron this weekend at Old Navy. But they were 50% off and I had a gift card. So, does that count as "buying"?)

I'm thinking I'm going to make some more pants/shorts for Sophie for the summer. And maybe look into fixing up some shirts for me.

I'd also like to try and make Sophie a pillowcase dress that I keep seeing all over the internets.

Painting Weekend

This was the long-awaited painting weekend. The previous owners of this house had painted their office a dark burgundy. That room ended up being Sophie's room and it wasn't the best color for a little girl:

So, I've been planning on painting it since we moved in but it is such an undertaking that we kept putting if off. Lots of excuses - can't do it in the winter, it's too cold and we'll want the windows open, can't do it this weekend, ugh, not today, and etc.

This weekend, however, worked out great. Our daycare has been on vacation since Wednesday and both Aaron and I had Friday off. Lots of prep-work later and I painted the walls today.

Oh, and also, Aaron's sister and family are coming to visit in August and this was the only long weekend before their visit.

I used Benjamin Moore's Eco-Spec paint in "seaside blue" (2054-50). It's low-VOC and low odor. Not the perfect "green" paint, but the best I could find around here. If I had planned better, I would have bought a gallon of Mythic Paint online but I kept thinking I could find it around here. Nope. However, I'm very pleased with the Benjamin Moore paint. To cover that burgundy it took ONE coat with a little bit of touch-up rolling after everything dried. Thank goodness because I was really sick of painting by the end. I can see why people hire painters. With tools, etc., it cost me about $60 to paint the room.

I'm so, so happy with it. Sophie came in (she played with Aaron downstairs all day) before her nap and said: 'WOW! It's so pretty!"

It really does look pretty. Bright and cheerful. Her room lights up the end of a now-dreary hallway.

We just need to paint the trim tomorrow (old houses and lots of molding...) and I hit the ceiling by accident a couple of times. So we need to find the ceiling paint to touch that up as well.

Aaron's really annoyed by all of this, by the way. He hates the clutter of moving everything out of Sophie's room. His nose was probably broken at Judo Thursday night so he's sore and grumpy and, thus, doesn't have the patience to watch Sophie for hours on end. He's starting to get two black eyes and his nose is more swollen now than it was yesterday.

He does like the color, but the journey was rough.

Anyhoo, I'm happy, Sophie's happy, and Aaron will be happy when everything is back in its place.

Crafting Links

How to submit to craft magazines

Etsy how-to month!