Sodastream!

Santa (Tim) got me a Sodastream for Christmas. I had heard about them before on the radio (I think Elvis Duran advertises for them), but the gift was a total “off list” surprise…and a great one! I love me some diet soda, and Tim and I both love to drink seltzer. Basically, I get really bored just drinking water all the time. Now we can turn water from our fridge into a fizzy treat!

I found sugar free flavorings at Bed Bath & Beyond to make seltzer. Tim also got me a sampler of the Sodastream flavors. So far I really like the diet root beer and diet Dr. Pepper. I will probably buy a full size of one of them.

Nom! I’m enjoying raspberry seltzer as we speak!

Pitting dates with tweezers, cutting bacon with scissors

After my friend Emily made this completely to-die-for bacon wrapped dates recipe, I had to make it too. Only problem? Dates are a bitch to pit. Or at least the ones I bought were. Below are some pics of the process. It involved tweezers. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. Enjoy!

: Dates!

: Had to get creative

: Pitted Dates

: Mmmmm goat cheese

: Bacon!

Recent tea happenings

A little while ago I discovered these pitcher-sized iced passion tea bags at Target.

I really enjoy this refreshing tea. Without the lemonade or sweeter that Starbucks adds, it’s totally calorie-free and still packs a lot of flavor. I’ve now become obsessed with having a pitcher of it in the fridge at all times. I drink it out of my Dunkins’ iced drink cup, which I realize is a little sacrilegious but don’t tell the SB. I will say, it’s so flavorful that I really prefer having it on its own: with any kind of food it overpowers the meal too much.

In less enthusiastic news, I picked up these two teas when we were at Fairway in December. Their tea aisle is both exciting and overwhelming. I had seen some of these sweet winter teas around before (you know the drill: Egg Nog, Gingerbread, etc). Well let me tell you: Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride was a total disappointment. It didn’t taste like much and had a very strange after taste. I would not recommend it. I threw it out after one cup.

Winter Charm isn’t quite as bad, but I wouldn’t say it’s really great either. It’s sort of a mild wintery spice blend. Nothing to write home about, but I will finish the box.

My sewing machine be doing fancy stitches

‘nough said.

Christmas Pillows!

YAY!

Sew, I’ve completed my first official, from-scratch project. And yes it’s Christmas themed. And yes I realize it’s January but:

Christmas fabric is cheaper after Christmas
We’ve barely started this blog, and I’m lazy already

I’d seen a shit ton of things on Pinterest of folks seriously gussying up their houses for the holidays, including Christmas/holiday-themed throw pillows. And I was like, Who the eff buys season-specific throw pillows? And then I realized: I could make pillow covers for my existing pillows with cheap-ass, post-Christmas fabric. Genius!

Also, I felt like pillowing was a great first from-scratch project because it’s just straight lines. How hard could it be? I opted for a zipper-free version, because that would be easier. I followed this basic pillow tutorial I found on Pinterest (duh). The most difficult/time consuming part of the whole process? Measuring and cutting. Seriously! The sewing part was really easy.

Some tips for pillow making (from a complete beginner, so you know, salt shaker):

Measure twice, cut once.
If you use a lining fabric like I did, use LOTS of pins to keep all the layers lined up.
Use the function on your sewing machine so that the needle stops in the down position when you’re stitching the outside. That way you can rotate around the corner precisely.
Make sure you lift the presser foot when you rotate…lol.
Take your time, enjoy the process (this is something I have to remind myself of constantly).

Tim told me last night that he likes the feel of the pillows better with the covers on (yes, it’s still Christmas in our house). It’s probably because of the cotton fabric, versus the synthetic fabric of the original pillows. He has requested I make non-Christmas covers. WOO HOO! Another sewing adventure, here I come!

Hemming our bedroom curtains

The first project I wanted to tackle with my new sewing machine was hemming our bedroom curtains. This was a great first project for two reasons:

Sewing a straight hem is really easy
Tim had asked me to hem these curtains AGES ago (like maybe almost a year ago)

It’s a little hard to see in picture to the right, but these brown Ikea curtains were a bit too long for our window and pooled on the floor at the bottom. I didn’t really mind the look, but they collected lots of dust, which isn’t great for my asthmatic hubs.

Sewing machine to the rescue!

Sew sexy

Steps involved in this incredibly easy project:

Whilst still hanging, fold one curtain up to determine desired length
Mark length with the straight pin
Have you husband take down one curtain
Measure how much to fold up the curtain (in my case, 5.5 inches)
Measuring as you go, fold up the curtain, iron to a crisp fold, and pin every 6 inches or so
Mark 1 inch from your fold with tailor’s chalk and draw a line
Cut of excess (now you’ll only have 1 inch of folded material instead of 5)
Sew!
Have your husband re-hang curtain and take down the other
Repeat

Voila!

Sorry for the unmade bed

Very gratifying first project. Total slam dunk.

New Toy!

Really excited about my new toy! I have already completed a couple small projects that I can’t wait to share. My mom has always been a sewer and has taught me a few tricks of the trade. She got her love of crafts from her mother. Carrying on this family tradition is important to me. It’s also special because my mother-in-law used to work in fashion and sews as a hobby. All the strong, wonderful women in my life sew, and now I do too!