A quilt for the closet

Doesn't every girl wish for a towering linen closet packed with hand-made quilts made lovingly from the hands and hearts of the family women that have come before her? 

 No? Maybe?? 

Well, I do and it was a sad, sad day for me when I realized my dowry was pretty empty and I would not be inheriting a hankie, much less a treasure trove of hand-made quilts...

but then--I had a moment of clarity; that was when I decided that *I* would be that woman...

I would be that great-grandmother that started the cycle: lovingly making and passing down quilts to my children & grandchildren; and then these --

in turn- could be passed onto my grandchildren's grandchildren and on and on..

I would make that closet full...

Wow...did that thought make me really happy.

So, I taught myself how to quilt.

  Its really not that hard, its a wonderful process and so what if it takes a year to complete...

it is so totally worth it. So far, I've made 4 quilts. 

 I got a little ahead of myself on a couple, maybe going a little too advanced with pattern choice, so for the 4th one, I decided to dial it back and really try to master certain aspects & techniques...

(aka measuring and cutting correctly.) 

 I happen to find the mother lode of all quilt tutorials, the mecca of online quilters everywhere...

Old Red Barn Co.  And Dana is fantastic. 

I followed her expert instruction exactly and am so pleased with this quilt I just finished and gave to Magda for her 6th birthday. 

 (it was supposed to be for her 5th birthday, so you see what I mean about taking a year...)

I love the whole process: settling on a pattern, picking the color scheme/the fabrics...making that first cut...sewing the top together and seeing it take shape...

I love pinning the whole thing together and cramming it thru the sewing machine to quilt it all together. 

(ok, maybe not so much...) 

This time, I actually took my time and hand sewed the binding that was very satisfying and in the end, cutting all the little white threads off, throwing it in the wash and 

seeing my daughter's eyes go as wide as plates when she unwrapped it...she had no idea I had been working on it-- was a total surprise to her.  

She grabbed it, hugged it and then ran over and hugged me and thanked me for all the hard work I put into it just for her--she actually said that.  

She felt loved and I felt proud...

and I know my great granddaughter will feel grateful.

we HEART teachers!

Maybe its because I am married to one and I see on a daily basis how incredibly committed he is, or maybe its because I realize its a special person that wants to hang out with kids every day or maybe its because these angels really want to make a difference in the world, one child at a time...there are a million reasons and whatever it is, I like to take one holiday to make a special effort to thank the teachers in our lives. Sometimes it Christmas, but its hard to get it together then, so more often than not, for us, its Valentine's Day...because nothing says THANK YOU like red wine and dark chocolate...(and for those of you wondering about me and my cleanse...this is not about me...its about them! : )

So, this year, we did a little more than usual. I made this super easy milk chocolate/dark chocolate/carmel/smoked almond/sea salt loveliness...(recipe below) and some linzer torte cookies (full disclosure: cookie dough magically appeared in my fridge...pretty sure it was the mother-in-law cookie fairy). All went into these cute little boxes that I bought a gazillion of a while back, so all set in the gift box department. With a little ribbon and pink heart tag...pure love...

Easy Chocolate Confection that will knock your socks off

I am pretty sure this flavor combo was inspired by Giada somewhere along the way...she does little turtles which are incredible. This is more of more of a bark or you can slice it all one way and then again the other way for neat little squares that fit perfectly into cute little gift boxes.

1 bag milk chocolate chips (highly recommend Ghirardelli)

1 bag bittersweet chocolate chips (60% cacao)

batch of caramel (store bought or home made; this is a good recipe)

1 cup (or a little more) roasted or smoked almonds--if you use smoked, use less sea salt.

sea salt

On a double-boiler, melt the dark chocolate. While that is heating up and melting down, put a piece of parchment paper down on a cookie sheet and get the caramel ready. When chocolate is melted, with spatula, spread it as evenly as you can on parchment paper. Don't worry about shape but try to get it a rectangular as possible. Let it cool for about 5 mins. Spoon caramel over chocolate in kind of swirly way. Don't be shy. Put tray in fridge and let set. Melt milk chocolate. Chop almonds in a medium chop. When milk chocolate is melted and dark chocolate/caramel is a bit firm to touch, spread milk chocolate on top. Try to even up the edges, but it really doesn't matter all that much. Sprinkle almonds over the top of that...press down gently with your fingers so almonds stay put. Sprinkle ever so lightly with good sea salt. Stick in fridge for a couple hours or overnight until fully set. Break up into irregular pieces or cut into squares and enjoy.

happy valentine's day everyone...I leave you with one last bit of cuteness that came from this awesomeness...

Godiva--it is not...

My husband & I recently did a 28-day cleanse. We followed Dr. Alejandro Junger's CLEAN program and if you read Goop you know what I am talking about...its was basically four weeks of no dairy, no gluten, no sugar, no alcohol, no caffeine, no soy, no corn, no night shade veggies...did I mention NO ALCOHOL?? And it was challenging, for sure. But what probably the most enlightening part of the whole thing was the fact that it showed me that we didn't really eat as healthy as I thought we did. I mean we have always put a huge priority on organics and cooking at home and eating a healthy diet filled with fruits, vegetables, moderate dairy, lean protein and whole grains. But even in this healthy diet, there are still items that our bodies have a hard time breaking down and leave us feeling sluggish. Dairy and gluten are the two big culprits. Anyway, this post is about how I am kind of changing my way of thinking about food and am embracing this new way of eating as a lifestlye change...and as hard as it was to turn this moving train around (imagine The Barefoot Contessa going gluten/dairy free--simply does not compute!) we both feel good and will just see how this whole thing progresses.

Ok, so I was looking for a recipe for energy bars for the kids in this new spirit of change and I came across this recipe. It sparked a whole lot of other ideas for other tasty flavor combos. I have shaped mine into balls instead of bars because I thought the whole truffle shape was a nice touch with Valentine's Day coming up, but don't get your hopes up THAT high...But they are good, just in a different kind of way. Finally, I just have to say, the lowly date is an amazing powerhouse packed with sweet goodness...I highly recommend them!

Fruit-and-Nut Energy Bars

by Family Fun Magazine

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup pecans
• 1/3 cup dried apples
• 1/3 cup pitted dates
• Cinnamon

Instructions

1. To make apple-pecan bars, grind 1/3 cup pecans in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Transfer the nuts to a bowl, then process 1/3 cup each pitted dates and dried apples. Add the nuts and a pinch of cinnamon, then process until the mixture holds together when squeezed.
2. Add the nuts and a pinch of cinnamon, then process until the mixture holds together when squeezed.
3. Divide it into six portions, mold each into a bar, and wrap in plastic wrap. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Makes 6 bars.

More Fabulous Flavors
Follow the steps above, using 1/3 cup of the nuts and 1/3 cup of each dried fruit:
Apricot Muffin: dates, dried apricots, and almonds
Cherry Tart: dates, dried cherries, and walnuts
Peanut Butter Snap: dates (2/3 cup), peanuts, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, and a pinch of salt
Tropical: dried mango, dried pineapple, pecan, finely shredded coconut
Chocolate-Almond Truffle: sliced almonds, 3/4 T. unsweetened cocoa powder (more to taste), agave. shredded coconut (optional)

My Personal Fav--Cashew Cookie: dates, cashews...perfect.

My super hero, plates & candlestick holders

Very little I make actually originates in my head...most all of the things I do come from ideas I see online, in magazines or in real life...I think that's why I get so hooked, the idea of something can be a very powerful thing! So, I see all this great stuff that I want to make, but I have this day job that takes up A LOT of my time, so when I see something particularly seductive that I cannot stop thinking about but have no way of getting to the craft store/thrift store/fabric store to make my dream a reality...well, let's just say that is the time I call in the big guns...my secret crafty weapon...my mother-in-law. The convo goes somthing like this: me: Hello...she: HI!...me: so I was just wondering if you had any such and such items (like vintage china plates) OR if you were by any chance at all going by the craft store or if this or that and on & on...she: Q--what do you need and I am on it! And she swoops down, comes to my rescue and saves the day! I am such a lucky girl! The last time this happened was when I saw a photo of 3-4 vintage plates alternating with supports of glass candle stick holders and a thin glass bud vase. LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. My super-heroine leaped with a single bound to her local thrift store, bought a lovely array of china plates & glass votives and brought them to me to epoxy them all together into something quite lovely. It was wonderful. I think this project would work great with mid-century plates and more modern plates too. Plus, they would make great gifts...Thanks again Chrystie!! You are the best!!


The examples that sparked the flame....

Treasure Hunt for Little Girls

Recently, my little girl turned six and we invited 3 of her friends from her kindergarten class to come over and help celebrate. As a fun activity, I hid a series cryptic clues that would lead the girls to treasure and more clues for more treasure until each little girl (and one eager little brother) each had found their own special gift. It worked really well and it fun to watch them all work together to solve the clues (was like watching a lightbulb come on when they figured it out) and race to where the treasure was hidden. It worked like this: At the beginning, I told them the rules (they had to work as a team and no one could open their box until everyone had found their's) and gave them one fancy pink envelope with a mysterious clue written on the card inside. For instance, one clue read: Little people live in this house, so please be as quiet as a mouse. The girls would read the card...SQUEAL in delight...then run upstairs to my daughter's room and look in her doll house; there would be a small gift with a girl's name on it and another clue (in an envelope) to where the next treasure was hidden. For five kids, I'd say it was a solid 25 mins of a great time!

The Gifts...pre-hunt


The Clues...post-hunt


The Hunt


The Booty! Including home-made rose soap, a fancy ring, a vintage hankie & some truffles...

An Opportunity for Art

When we moved into our new house, one of the first thing we did was take out the closets doors in the kids' rooms and the playroom...The doors were old, beat up and just kind of ick...basically left with a blank canvas, something crafty was bound to happen!

Play Room Curtains
These panels are great because they were easy to make and they easily hide all the kids' stuff but still make it all very accessible. My tip of the day: IKEA FABRIC..inexpensive and amazing!!

Magdalena's Room

These started out as the panels for a puppet theater but work better as curtain panels for her closet in our new house. Its kind of a random block pattern that is way easier to put together than it looks. Crucial that all cuts are exactly the same size and then it kinds of lines up all by itself...if you look closely, you can tell that I did not follow my own advice! I LOVE the pom-pom trim...