For the last several months, our daughter Stella had insisted that she was going to be Sarah Sanderson from “Hocus Pocus” for Halloween. I swear she started talking about it as early as last Halloween. We even talked about the possibility of me dressing up as Winifred and Margot as Mary.
But then she started talking about being excited to wear a witch’s hat, and I had to break it to her that the Sanderson sisters don’t wear hats. I suggested that she dress up as Thora Birch’s character, Dani Dennison, instead.
She could wear the witch’s hat and be nice and warm in all of the outfit layers. Plus, it was a DIY dream. She was sold, and thus began the adventure in costume-making.
I first heard about the Women’s Center of Greater Lansing‘s annual In Her Cups: Bras for a Cause Art Auction several years ago, when I was working at FOX 47. The Morning Blend show would often highlight the events at the Women’s Center. This particular event always seemed like a wonderful opportunity to express creativity while helping a great cause. I remember seeing photos of bras that looked like disco balls, or Dr. Seuss characters, or covered in peacock feathers.
The Women’s Center of Greater Lansing helps women with individual counseling, support groups, and career preparation. The bras made and auctioned at this annual event are for the healing of cancer survivors and domestic violence and trauma survivors.
I saw a post about a call for artists on Facebook last month, and I was intrigued. I used to think that people had to be artists or a part of a business to create a bra for the event, so I was really motivated to make one when the rules said anyone from crafty people to artists to groups of people could submit work.
In considering what the design or theme should be, my first thought was to do something with the color teal in honor of sexual assault survivors.
It has been a very surreal and upsetting couple of years, with the events surrounding Michigan State University and the Larry Nassar trial, as well as our current White House occupant and the recent Kavanaugh hearing. It feels like so many brave survivors are sharing their stories, but many times things aren’t changing. The only light coming from these dark moments is the swell of support for the survivors I have seen in our local community and across the world. There is still good around us.
While I still have a great love for my Instant Pot, there’s a special place in my heart for my Crock Pot. There’s something to be said for being able to throw ingredients into my Crock Pot and letting a meal cook throughout the day, filling the house with the yummy smell of the dinner to come. It’s a little more fool-proof than my Instant Pot, too. I still get anxiety about the quick release steam.
I have some standbys when it comes to the Crock Pot, but I have to say my favorite is one that I learned to make from my mom: sausage and lentil soup. This delicious soup only requires four ingredients. FOUR. It’s also incredibly easy to make, but that is thanks in large part to a beautiful little place I like to call TJ’s… Trader Joe’s. Cue the angels singing. Continue reading “Crock Pot Classic: Sausage and lentil soup”
One of the things that impresses me most about so many of my friends, family, and former colleagues is how darn creative they are. It inspires me to think of ways that I can help support and bring attention to their art.
The blog seems like a great place to do just that, and hopefully this is the start of many Etsy shop celebrations to come.
I will start with Green Thirteen Co., a shop that specializes in custom invitations, logos, prints, wood signs, and even tattoo designs! The art of hand lettering is becoming a popular medium and for good reason; as someone with not-so-great handwriting, I admire what can be done with a skilled hand.
I first met shop owner Rachelle Welling (then Rachelle Boudry) when I was working at FOX 47. Rachelle was the producer for the radio program Michigan’s Big Show, which was filmed and aired on our station in the mornings. Rachelle and I have kept in touch via social media, and it has been such fun to watch her on Instagram as her business grows. Continue reading “Etsy spotlight: Green Thirteen Co.”
Our family fell in love with “Coco” the moment we saw it in the theater last year. Stella talked about it so much that I suggested using it as her birthday party theme, and that’s just what we did. A “Coco” theme meant we could have fun with colorful decorations, yummy Mexican food, and plenty of Disney music on the playlist.
My fabulously talented friend Stephanie designed the invitation for Stella’s party. You can find other designs or ask her to do a commission through her Etsy page, Millstar Creative.
This year was the first year we decided to do a friend party for Stella instead of a party with friends and family at our house. Between her preschool classmates and friends outside of school, a party geared toward the kids seemed like the best idea. Having the party a week after her birthday gave us the chance to celebrate with family closer to her actual birthday, and also spread out the fun.
I am pretty notorious for planning and dreaming ahead, from Halloween costumes to birthday parties. I’m also a big fan of puns. So at some point last summer, it dawned on me that Margot’s first birthday party would absolutely have to be a Jimmy Buffett-themed extravaganza called Margot-ritaville.
As a lifelong Parrothead thanks to my mom, I’ve seen Jimmy in concert dozens of times. His songs are tied to so many memories made on boats, in the sand, in the pouring rain, under the summer sun, and everywhere in between.
First birthday parties are usually when the parents can get away with something a little more adult-orientated since the guest of honor doesn’t really know what’s going on anyway — hence why Stella’s first birthday party was Academy Awards-themed with a faux red carpet and caramel corn for favors.
As a Michigan-born January baby, Margot is sort of doomed to celebrate her birthday parties in the winter cold. But being able to ignore the freezing cold for just a day made having a Buffett paradise party that much more fun.
Is it possible that just yesterday I was running errands with Margot wearing just a sweater and not rushing to get her buckled up in the car? We live in Michigan, so of course it’s possible that all of the lingering Christmas snow would melt on a Thursday in January and here we are on Friday, trapped in a snow globe.
Other than picking up Margot’s birthday cupcakes, there’s nowhere we really need to be today, and I’m very thankful for that. Stella enjoys doing projects and crafts, so during Margot’s nap this morning, I brushed up my elementary school craft skills to make paper snowflakes.
Much like my crochet skills, my memories of how to properly make paper snowflakes were a little rusty. I needed to do some Google-fu to remember exactly how to make them, and thankfully I found a very helpful step-by-step guide from Instructables. It turns out I forgot about a couple of steps, but once I made one snowflake, it was very easy, and addictive.
Forget adult coloring books. For me, making paper snowflakes was so methodical and therapeutic — if you don’t mind dozens of little pieces of paper scattered everywhere. I’m sort of obsessed now, so much so that the only job I gave Stella (actually, one that she demanded for herself) was the unfolding part. Which, let’s face it, is the best part of all, and a lot safer than trying to maneuver scissors in a very precise, small fashion.
It’s safe to say that one of my favorite things to do with Stella is arts and crafts. As a person who went to summer arts camp through the Farmington Public Schools for six years and asked for crazy-big art sets for Christmas, I love seeing Stella hunker down with stacks of construction paper and washi tape to “make projects,” as she says.
So when my mom came up to visit us and brought some fun holiday crafts to work on with Stella, my eyes lit up at the sight of this fantastic Paper Source kit:
I mean come on, CHRISTMAS MERMAIDS. Together, my mom and Stella made some adorable creations that we put on our tree:
I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the Elmer’s glue this week and make more mermaids. The kit comes with various mermaid tails, hairstyles, and accessories that are a lot of fun to mix and match. The card stock is nice and thick, so with a bit of care, I think these sweet mermaids will last over the years. It was also fun to create some mermaid “ornaments” for friends this Christmas.
Hello, my name is Stefanie and I am a believer in the magic of the Instant Pot. It wasn’t always this way, but I now know there’s a good reason why it’s one of the most popular gifts this holiday season.
I first started reading things about the Instant Pot in mommy groups on Facebook earlier this year. I’m a Crock Pot enthusiast, particularly in the colder months, so I didn’t really understand the need for another large kitchen appliance.
It wasn’t until I spent some time with my friend Tracy a couple of months ago that the Instant Pot got its first ringing endorsement from someone I knew, and I can’t even express how enthusiastic Tracy was about her Instant Pot. She told me about the super-active Facebook group that covers all things Instant Pot (the group is just under 900,000 members). She said the cleanup is a breeze, and dinner can be done in an hour or less.
Thanks to a really great sale at Kohl’s, I was able to score an 8 Qt Duo 7-in-1 Instant Pot for $85 (they are normally $129.99 for that model) back in October. Admittedly, it took me a few weeks to give it a try.
I first learned how to crochet as a kid with help from one of our family’s babysitters, Vi. Vi taught me the basics of creating a chain and how to do a double crochet stitch, and even almost 20 years later, I have a deeply rooted muscle memory when it comes to crochet. It’s something I can stop doing for months at a time, and then pick right back up again.
The wintertime is my crochet time. It’s fun to cozy up to a crochet project on the couch when it’s snowy and cold outside, and of course now is the prime time for making Christmas gifts.
My skills haven’t ventured beyond things that are square or rectangular, so the things I’ve made over the years have been different varieties of scarves and blankets. In recent years, I’ve used tutorials online to learn how to connect the ends of a finished scarf to make it a cowl/infinity shape.
This year, I decided to watch some YouTube videos to see if I could learn some new stitches and techniques, and I discovered something. I’ve been crocheting incorrectly the whole time. My first row after the chain? Wrong. The reason why my edges look like little zigzags? I’m starting my first stitch in the wrong spot and ending the row too soon.
My whole crochet world was rocked by these discoveries. I blame my faulty memory and not sweet Vi. I’ve also realized I need to read the label on my yarn more carefully and use the suggested crochet hook size in order to make the project be at its best. For too long, I’ve disregarded this important component of crochet, picking yarns I like and using whatever crochet hook I can find at home.
The thing I love about YouTube and the internet in general is that you can really learn (or relearn) how to do just about anything. So in my venture to become a better crocheter (is that a word?), I searched for some easy-to-follow tutorials.
With the help of Melanie Ham, I not only learned about the half-double crochet stitch, but also how to crochet in the round to make an infinity scarf.
This very simple tutorial has helped me change up my scarf-making repertoire. I’ve still had some challenges, such as accidentally adding a twist to the infinity shape or crocheting an entire row all the way around before realizing I was doing it upside down (okay, I did that about three times and undoing all of that work wasn’t fun any of the times).
But, I’m getting the hang of it, and enjoying the meditative experience of crocheting in the round.
I imagine I could also do some ear warmer headbands with this technique, and those would undoubtedly go pretty quickly in comparison to a long infinity scarf style.
Next, I’m hoping to learn how to make hats, which I’ve never done before. And maybe some granny squares for a blanket after that.
Crochet is definitely that old friend I don’t get to see very often, but when I do, we pick up right where we left off. And I’m always learning something new about it.
