I Made a Thing

You can find other Make with Me posts here.

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Last year I started a Make with Me series. The name is a bit of a misnomer, because so far I’ve always finished the thing before I even invite you to start making. Gotta stay ahead of the game.

I usually make up for not following the rules of a make-a-long by giving you the links to any patterns and/or helpful resources…. until today. Today I just give you pictures and a good “go get ’em” punch in the arm. But really, you should try to make this, it’s so cozy and and comes together with a few mostly-straight seams.  Continue reading

Sweets for your Valentine

You have over a week to prepare something sweet for your sweetie. Here are a few of our favorite gift-able treats.

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These homemade marshmallows are pretty perfect for topping off a cup of hot co + candy cane vodka. Just sayin’. Also, if you thought you weren’t too big on marshmallows because that’s where I was, try these and tell me they’re not completely different and way more delicious and flavorful than Puffs.

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Nutella, we’re all a fan, but why make your own? Unfortunately, the main ingredients for Nutella are sugar and palm oil. PALM OIL IS TERRIBLE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT. Sorry, it had to be said yelled. So make your own!

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I still can’t get over the simplicity of this chocolate cake with buttercream icing. It’s the perfect way to make pretty much any cake one that is infused with love. Our middle sister Kristin, used to make this heart cake, which looks so damn adorable, but it took so much time and effort to achieve. Take it easy this year and top your cake with rose petals.

 

That’s that y’all. Whip up something special for yourself or your loves!

Multipurpose Garment Rack

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I’m turning 40 this year. And nothing says 40 like hitting “publish” on a post titled “Multipurpose Garment Rack”. So boring adult is the role that I now fill here. That said, please (I’m begging you) read on to find out why your house, apartment, and tiny house needs this garment rack. It’s the best boring-adult-thing for everyone, whether you’re in your 20s or your 40s.  Continue reading

Cranberry Rosemary Sour

This past spring we shared a variety of fizz and sour cocktails. Today we’re back with a wintry version. You can find all of our cocktail recipes here.
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If you’re up for a bit of egg on your face in your drink, then I think you’ll love today’s drink. The combination of spicy ginger + tart cranberry + earthy rosemary creates a drink that encapsulates everything I feel as I watch the sun’s low rays move across our hill on a winter day.  Continue reading

Christmas Lights

The holidays may be over, but there are some lights that I’m keeping up all winter!

At the top of that list are these trees. I have them in pots outside our front door, and it adds just enough sparkle to make the long winter evenings special.

When ordering these trees, I didn’t realize how particular my tastes were until a few different models arrived… and they just weren’t right.
tree_lights2 The Hairui models that I’m linking to throughout this post is my absolute favorite. There are a few different sizes. I bought the 4 foot trees, which are currently out of stock (and that was a problem throughout the holiday season – hopefully there will be more in stock soon!).

The Hairui 4 ft model has 72 lights, and then their larger trees have more lights. There are other producers that sell 4 ft trees with 160 lights (160!). It’s blinding. I know, because at one point when the Hairui trees weren’t available, I bought one with double the lights, and I’m still seeing stars.

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Besides the light count, the other main difference that I noticed between trees is that some, like this one, end each branch tip with a light. Others will have branch ends that end without lights. And some of those will have branches that awkwardly transition from thicker branches to ends that are wire thin (and again, those wire ends don’t have lights). All-in-all, it just looked more shoddily designed.

My only frustration with my favorite model is that its stock on Amazon is always absurdly low and I haven’t found another reliable place to buy them. Luckily you have 11 whole months to track some down before next winter.

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Life-long Learning!

If you like learning, check out some of our DIY posts.
*This post was originally published in November of 2019. We’re republishing it now, because the new year is the perfect time to set a 2020 resolution to learn something new. It may be a new skill from CreativeBug (see our tip below for a free account!), or it may be that you want to learn some new science from a Coursera class. The sky’s the limit!*

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When I was an undergrad, my university had a vibrant life-long learning program. Do you know what I’m talking about? It was geared towards older individuals that wanted to take classes, but we’re in a degree program. Maybe they’d take a History of Jazz class one semester and then a paleontology class the next.

Every time I saw an life-long learning student/senior citizens on campus, I was JEALOUS. College was stressful, but I loved learning, and I would daydream about how much fun it would be to take classes without the heavy workload or the stress of grades.

Well, I just realized this summer, that my time has come!  Continue reading

Simple Stitched DIY

The countdown to Christmas is on!

Today we’re sharing a super simple and sweet DIY gift.

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For these towels, I had Alex write the word LOVE on a piece of paper. We did this project a year ago to give last Christmas, and it was when he was still learning to write. You can see that I wrote “love” in the upper left corner of the paper as a guide. In my opinion his creative writing gives these towels a pile of personality and will always help us remember the phase when Alex “tied a knot in his Os to keep them closed” and made “ladder Es”.

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Materials

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How-to

  • Determine your design. It can be a simple word, phrase, or line drawing. You can do something more complex, but our goal is to keep this project simple!
  • Using the chalk pencil, trace the design onto the towel. For these darker towels, I found it easiest to hold the design and towel up to a window for tracing.
  • Embroider! You can use any stitch you prefer, and there are complete stitch dictionaries that will help you pick the right stitch for your project. For this project, I used a stem stitch, which works great for both straight and curved lines. And you can see that I took some artistic license with Alex’s original work, straightening and extending a couple of the lines in the E in spots where he ran out of room.
  • Once your project is complete, iron it.

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Of course, these projects make great gifts on their own. BUT since they are for the kitchen, they are also the perfect compliment to a nice mug, fancy soap, or a beautiful cheese spreader.

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If you enjoy this project, make a few extras. These are great to have on hand as a hostess gift.

 

 

On top of their simplicity, these this project doesn’t cost much and can be paired with something for the kitchen for a nice DIY touch.