shoes for the tiny

the craft room is still coming together, but in the mean time i've snuck in some sewing here and there.  these baby shoes are for a friend's baby shower this weekend (my first big social event in boston).  the pattern i used is from ithinksew.com, and is really well put together.  

but, to be honest, i am not particularly happy with how the shoes turned out - it can be terribly frustrating to work on something so tiny (absolutely no fault of the pattern maker)!  they ended up being a little wonky. 

i'm hoping my friend won't notice. i'm also hoping the baby won't either. how embarassing would it be if she rejected my shoes?

ways to rid yourself of 30 yards of felt #5: felt rosette wreath

my friend olivia of olivia's ultimate recently began a new cute blog with a friend of hers called deux petite amie. she posted a felt rosette wreath tutorial in february that would be a great way to use excess felt, if you ever find yourself in a predicament like mine. 
check it out the full tutorial here.

noodles with sesame sauce

so far in the race to become liveable space, the kitchen is winning.  while there are still cabinets to organize, and items to place, it is more or less functional.  one of the first dishes i made in our new kitchen is noodles with sesame sauce, one of my favorite kind of chinese noodles.   it's a very easy dish to make, and completely delicious.  the husband can't get enough of of the sauce, and neither can i.  i often double or triple the recipe so we have plenty of leftovers. 

ingredients

1/3 lb chinese wheat noodles (prepare as indicated on package)
shredded chicken breast (i steamed mine)
shredded cucumber

sauce
(this can be made in advance) in a medium sized bowl, combine the following, mixing with each additional ingredient:
3 tb sesame paste (found at asian grocery stores)
1/2 tb sugar
1/2 tb vinegar
2 tb soy sauce
2 tb sesame oil (found in the asian aisle at a regular grocery store)
5-7 tb water, depending on your preference- start with less and taste test

start with the noodles on the bottom, add shredded chicken and a generous amount of sauce, and top with shredded cucumber.

this dish can also be served cold. 

serves 2.

ways to rid yourself of 30 yards of felt #4: make tissue holders

my new craft room looks like this right now:

which is why i have nothing to show you.  however, i'd like to share these felt tissue holders my friend made  using martha stewart's tutorial. cute huh? i really like the little flower detail she added.

i plan on making a bunch of these for my mom and her thousand friends later on. it seems like the kind of thing they'd like.  and yes, i brought the majority of my felt stash with me, although i did give away a yard or two, and i parted with a lot of scraps (that was really hard). 

mary poppins wouldn't need garment bags: a mini tutorial

growing up, i was very fond of mary poppins. i owned the movie, watched it countless times, and also read the entire book series. i find myself thinking of her particularly often when i am packing for travel or a move-- and desperately wishing i was mary poppins. she is my version of a super hero. she can jump in and out of chalk drawings, and flies through the air with an umbrella (a dual purpose accessory, how practical). but most importantly, she has a carpet bag that fits just about everything, as is. something i desperately wished for during this big move. when mary poppins snaps her fingers, items jump neatly to their place. so instead of taking weeks to unpack and pack, all the while discovering things that have been broken or damaged in the process, everything is packed, moved, and unpacked in a few, fun-filled moments... in song.

and she certainly wouldn't have ever needed garment bags. while we were packing up our clothes into wardrobe boxes, i found myself in the sudden need of garment bags. altogether we had about six, when we needed a couple dozen. the husband went out to look for some at target, but came back with a bag of trash bags instead...and that's what we used.

i took each trash bag and folded it in half vertically and snipped off a piece at the fold at the base of the trash bag, and then pulled them over the batches of clothes. our bags had pull tie closures, which worked out very well. if we had bigger or longer clothing, i just added an extension to the bottom.

it's a good thing that we used them, since half the wardrobe boxes came crushed and the bags covered in dust and grime (and even some ripped clothing!).

so long, and howdy.

our lives are in boxes.   the next few months will be a series of busy changes, because we are moving.  not just across town to a new apartment, but across the country to (outside) boston. 

this decision did not come about lightly.  while i am incredibly excited about our next life stage (a little hard to tell at the moment), it's also really difficult to leave.   we are leaving a lot behind, and i am beginning to realize that i will miss a lot here.  i will no longer be able to meet my parents for dinner on the weekends. i will no longer be a mere ten minutes drive to my best girlfriend's house.   boston has zero central markets, and their chinatown certainly can not compare. we will no longer be able to bike to our favorite brunch cafe on sunday mornings, nor will we be smack in the center of town.  

we have spent the last month juggling packing, finding housing, and meeting friends and family for final farewells. we said goodbye at our jobs.  it confounds me that i will no longer be seeing and talking to my coworkers and bosses daily- if you think about it, most of us spend more waking hours with the people we work with than our own families.   

with these somewhat somber thoughts...
so long, texas.  howdy, massachusetts!

double-sided flannel scarf

it wasn't until i was in college and visited europe in the dead of winter that i realized that scarves are more than a fashion accessory. growing up in south-east texas will do that to you. since then, i have amassed quite the collection of hats, gloves, and scarves, and have found them to be functional and nice gifts for friends and family.

recently, i made double-lined / dual-patterned flannel scarves for my parent-in-laws. i had forgotten how nice and soft flannel is, and found it particularly pleasant feeling around the neck. most of my scarves are made of some kind of fleece, cotton, or wool blend- none as soft or cozy as this flannel scarf.

materials:
1 2/3 yard flannel pattern 1
1 2/3 yard flannel pattern 2
thread

cut a piece of each flannel to 10.5" (or however wide you'd like your scarf to be, plus .5" for seam allowance). line them up against each other, pin, and sew around the edges with .25" seam allowance.

make sure to leave a gap at one end. clip the corners.

turn the scarf inside out. ladder stitch it shut. iron. top stitch around the edges.