INFUSED VODKA DEMYSTIFIED

About eleven years ago I developed an allergic reaction for wine. Unfortunately I was not able to figure out what kind of wine gives it to me, it could be red, it could be white, could be expansive, could be not so, could be from the big distributor, could be from the small winery. So, I decided it would be safer just not to drink it. I can't say I follow this to the dot, but I am trying.

Fortunately it turned out I do not have any reaction to the stronger liqueurs. I like whiskey, cognac, can't imagine night on the ocean without good rum, but all of them can't really substitute wine. So because of this, and because of curiosity we started to infuse vodka. It turned out to be pretty easy and satisfying process with unlimited possibilities.

Cakes for Halloween

Halloween is just around the corner. So I decided to collect all the items I ever created for this holiday: cupcakes, cakes, rum balls. Ask if you have any questions about how it was done, I promise to answer.

SHAWL AND PILLOWS

Summer is almost over so as my "sewing for summer". It actually was my goal, to have all my summer clothes handmade. And what do you know... I achieved it, now I am just curious to see if I am going to wear all those outfits next summer. Anyway, need to take pictures and post them here.

And this is my last projects (the beginning of fall season ;) ).

TURKISH COFFEE

If you like coffee but never tried this one... well, I do not know what to say... For your excuse there are not too many places selling it. Of course if you are in Colorado, you are in luck. SPARKS Coffee and Tea 6660 E Hampden Ave, Denver. But what if not? Then you have to make it at home.

HIDDEN TREASURES

One man's junk - other man's treasure... So true!
So, these are some of my latest finds.

Rug... It was so dirty... But I figured: $6.99, even if I have to throw it away - not too much of a loss. Only after cleaning and some online research the story came out: handmade Persian wool not starched rug...

 

DECOUPAGE. SECOND LOOK.

First time I've heard of decoupage was about 18 years ago. And my reaction was:"What? Cutting pictures and gluing them on the furniture? I am sorry, but I did it when I was five and was punished for this." Later I saw some pictures of it and left them unnoticed, some even made me think "ugly!". But then something happened and I wanted to learn how to do it. OMG! If you go a little bit dipper then bottles and cutting board - it is a whole new world.

Give it a second look and you may find a new hobby!

JUST ONE WEEKEND. SEWING FOR FUN - 5

Yesterday, actually, the whole weekend was wonderful!Nothing in particular but I have just have such a wonderful feeling when I think about it. Saturday was just lazy. W played and I ran to Boulder and came back, at night we went to see "Snow White and a Huntsman". OK, I have to admit, the whole movie I was waiting when Julia Robertson appeared. Obviously, she did not... Just when we came home I realised that she played Qween in the movie ."Mirror, Mirror". Can you imagine that TWO movies based on the same tale would be released the same year?!

TEA TOWELS. SEWING FOR FUN - 4

So, few posts ago I showed new tea towels I made for my kitchen. Do you know what tea towels are suppose to be used for? This is correct! For clean dishes and for putting under the rolls/breads and such. The problem is, in my kitchen they would be used for hands hence will get very spotty very fast. And because I spent two days making them this was not the future I wanted for them. The answer is - hand towels. But does anybody want to spend anytime making something knowing it is going to the trash pretty soon? Not me! So, I came up with these hand towels, they are decorative, you can throw away but safe your labor.

OUR BEST SCONES

And while I am here...

CRAFTS FROM BURLAP. SEWING FOR FUN - 3

One of my favorite sewing material is a burlap. Thankfully I can get an almost unlimited amount of it in a place we roast our coffee. These are just few things I made.
This apron I made using my old one as a template and when I showed it to my baristas... well, I ended up making ten more of them (couple were half aprons).

SEWING FOR FUN-2

But I did not start with making clothes. I actually promised myself not to... All I wanted to do - some small things for home.

This is one of my first projects. I absolutely love yellow-blue-white palette from Alsace. So my kitchen is slowly taking on these colors.

 

TEA  TOWELS

You need very limited amount of fabrics but combine them different ways and possibilities are endless.

ANOTHER SOURCE TO BUY FABRICS

So, as I said before - sewing was something I did out of need in my late teens and I never thought I would do it again. But...

SEWING FOR FUN

I never thought i would be making clothes for myself... Probably, because the last time I was making them it was out of necessity. But now it became kinda fun.

LAST SUNDAY FINDS

So... this is my finds from last Sunday. Wonderful silk parasole, just love the original metal hardware and it is complitly functional. If somebody is questioning me using it this summer... well, you are so wrong! I like it way more than big hat.

GARAGE SALES FINDS

Ok, this is this time of the year again... Garage sales season... We open our last Sunday. Did not plan to, honestly I did not even know people have garage sales on Sundays. Anyway, Sunday 12:30 (right after breakfast) I had no plans and decided to look through Craigslist. And guess what I see! Gorgeous Chinese wedding set: headboard and two nightstands. That was the love from the first sign! But only on my side, W was not so sure. But, hei! For the price of $100 I can be pretty convincing. So, I shout an email to the seller - wait for half an hour- no reply. Ok, my Love, get ready we r driving! So just before we left I am shouting another one "Hold it!". Imagine my excitement when we arrived to the place and realized the set is there. One concern we had - the headboard is way too small (wrong), not made for the standart bed frame (does not matter, it meant to be mounted on the wall). The people were so nice, they even delivered the headboard for us (it did not fit in our car).

SEWING MACHINE COVER

4:15 AM

You know this situation, when you wake up in the middle of the night with the feeling something is wrong. Does not happen too often... Today it was at 4:15. I opened my eyes: Mother's Day flowers next to my bed, W is breathing next to me. So I started a list in my head: health (us and children and Mom), work (us), study (children), finances. Still could not find anything. But still could not go back to sleep. I got up and went to the other room, layer on a couch with the IPad. Went to LJ, pinterest, searched the web: made a couple decisions: to return MagicBullet I bought yesterday in exchange for Cuisinart and start having breakfasts (kinda no hope to convince W to do it, but I can try). Revisited yesterday: shopping for the coffee shop, got salsa maker for D and two boxes of mangos for L, some fabrics for me and couple things for future projects. Weekend cake (Belgrade tea cake) is half done for the weekend; rye bread is ready for today's pickup; new trainees seem fair; K is staying, and C is happy. On the way home, I stopped at SDL to see a friend. Poor girl was not at the best mood; we talked for an hour. I hope it helped; her mood seemed improved when I was leaving. And then I grabbed my phone. It turned out L tried to call me at 10:58 last night - I was long asleep. Probably nothing serious, otherwise he would call W, but could it be that this "something is wrong" was just sensing of this missed call from my oldest?

BEING A MOM...

As I mentioned in my first post, I have two sons. If you have children, you know, how your heart breaks when they cry or upset especially if you can't help them. You know, right? And then... at one point both of them became taller then me (this process is still going on) and I realize that now I feel their pain and tears even harder than before. My only explanation is: when you see somebody bigger than you are, your brain immediately reads it as "this person is stronger than me". Stronger, so can handle more. And if you see this person crying from pain or offence, your brain multiplies the pain. I remember after one vacation with my Dad (I love you, Dad, but none of my boys are going to spend vacations with you. I know, it is not your fault, you pretty much did not have a childhood yourself.... sorry.) my oldest one, who was fifteen at this point, was trying to hold back his tears and his lips were shaking. He was one foot taller than me, and the pain in my heart was unbearable...

FLOWER OF POMEGRANATE. DECOUPAGE ON AN OLD WRITING TABLE.

As I said before, I have million hobbies, some of them I have from my childhood (like ceramic), some - pretty fresh and new (like bread making, sausages making and decoupage). 

As a first instruction I want to share one of my first decoupage project. If you want to repeat it just remember, the important thing is following the technique (I thank Hiram Manning for his book Manning on Decoupage), careful cutting and gluing and... the sky is a limit - let your imagination go wild! I will learn how to take "step-by-step" pictures.