Aunt Peaches Valentine Swap

Do you read the Aunt Peaches blog?  You should because it is hi-lar-i-ous!  Her posts often make me laugh out loud and her craft projects are like no one else’s. 

I recently signed up to be part of the Aunt Peaches Valentines Swap.  It’s a fairly simple concept.  You sign up, you get the addresses of three fellow swap-ees to whom you send a Valentine and in return, you get three Valentines from three different swap-ees.  No prizes, no reposting on Twitter and Facebook to increase your chances of winning; just the chance to send some random kindness into the world via a Valentine, and get a little something in return.

I recently wrote about going to a Valentine making get together, but I decided not to use those Valentines.  I wasn’t 100% happy with them.  I needed to make more so more I would make.  Then I had a great idea!  I was going to make a pendant that could be detached from the cards and worn on Valentine’s Day! 

I went online and found some Valentine graphics I could use on printable Shrinky Dinks.  I love my Shrinky Dinks.  If you don’t believe me, just check out this jewelry and these dog tags.  I kept the card fairly simple so the earrings would stand out.  I couldn’t resist a pun.  I wrote, “I'm de-pendant-- on you being my Valentine.”  Groan . . .

These are hitting the mail today.  I have a couple of overseas people so I hope they arrive by February 14^th.  I can’t wait to get my Valentines!

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Embroidery Floss Organization - My Perfect Solution At Last!

I was in dire need of a way to organize all my embroidery floss.  I had tons of floss and no good way to store it.

This is how I was storing my embroidery floss.  Not too convenient; definitely not attractive.

I had some of it divided out by number, but this really did me no good as I'm more interested in the color than I am in matching the number to a chart.  Most of it was just thrown in the basket.  It was, frankly a mess.

Then last week, I was walking through Target minding my own business when I came across these boxes.

Great stacking boxes found at my local Target.

Bingo!  Guess what they are sized perfectly to hold?  And they stack to boot!

Exactly the right size for a skein of embroidery floss.

I couldn't wait to get home and start sorting out my collection.  I did hit one snag.  I have such a vast collection of floss that it didn't all fit in the four boxes I bought.  Where did I get it all?  Goodwill, of course!  It's where I get most everything.

Oops!  My floss collections won't fit in the four boxes I bought.  I'll need one more.  By the way, you can see the blanket on the floor.  I don't usually throw the blanket on the floor.  The cat had pulled it down there to sleep on...  you just can't see him.  I swear it's true.

Oh well, I'd have to make another trip to Target to pick up a fifth box.  I can deal with it!  Look at how beautiful it looks:

I redistributed the overflowing colors with the greens waiting for me to purchase a fifth box.  Doesn't it look pretty?  Am I a dork for thinking that?

I stacked the boxes one on top of the other and they hardly take up any room on the shelf at all.  I love it when storage can be vertical and not horizontal, know what I mean?  Neat, orderly, and easy to get at.

I'm still in my "it's New Year's so I need to organize" mood.  Do you have any storage tips for craft supplies?

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My Button Collection

I don’t know why I’m doing this.  It’s not like I relish admitting my hoarder-like tendencies.  But, for some reason, I’m compelled to show you all my buttons. 

I have so many buttons I could open a button store.

It actually has taken some time for me to gather them all up from the many different corners of my house in which I stash them.   Because I’m lazy, I’ll probably leave them here on the table for weeks rather than put them away.  I’m not very good at cleaning up after myself. 

I have so many buttons that I can never find the right button when I need one.  I think about organizing them by color or size or both, but I never get around to it.  Man, can you imagine how long that would take?  Instead, I use random containers to store them.  I think I have buttons in every room of my house.  Yes, even the bathrooms! 

To be honest, I think there's one tin missing. . .  like I need more!

When my nephew was little, we would use buttons as the payload for his Tonka trucks.  That was an awesome use of buttons.  My brother always thought I was nuts to do this because it made such a mess.  I figure what’s a cool auntie for if not doing fun, messy stuff with?

Just a couple days ago, I wrote briefly about going to a Valentine making party (check that out here).  I pulled out a bunch of red, white and pink buttons to use for embellishment.  I even had some heart-shaped buttons.  Of course I did!  How could I have this many buttons and not have heart shaped ones?  The law of averages is against it.

Valentine buttons

A few months ago, I made this great necklace out of buttons.  There’s a tutorial for it here.

Button necklace

I know, deep in my heart, that one day, inspiration is going to strike and I’m going to have an idea for a project that is going to require hundreds of buttons.  Thank goodness, I’m ready.  When you’re a crafter, you have to plan for these things. 

That's a whole lot of buttons

How do you craft with buttons?

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Lentil Soup, Anyone?

I’ve been bored with my lunches lately.  I feel like make the same things over and over.  Then I don’t want to eat what I pack for lunch so I end up going out.   That, of course, is expensive and not exactly healthy, because I am not buying salads.  So the other day, I spent some time online searching for something new.  I came across this soup recipe:  Spiced Coconut Lentil Soup.  I gave it a shot and I have to say, it was quite good.  Now, with that said, let’s talk about some of these ingredients.

First of all, what is “pink Himalayan salt?”  Salt is salt, people.  I’m on a budget here and I’m not going to go fork over $12 for some fancy-schmancy salt that tastes just like regular ol’ table salt.  I substituted kosher salt as I felt that was gourmet-ish enough.  Pink Himalayan salt, give me a break . . .

Next, let’s address the issue of the “red chili.”  This is a bit vague.  There are many types of chilies that are red, but none that I know of called a “red chili.”  As it happens, there was not a single chili that was red in color at my grocery store so I used a green jalapeno chili and it worked just fine.  If you use a jalapeno, I would recommend getting one that is on the larger side.  For the record, I did seed mine, though if you really like some heat, you could leave those puppies in there. 

Finally, my last substitution was for the coconut oil.  This is one of those things that I would never use for anything else so I didn’t see the point in buying it.  I went ahead and used olive oil and it tasted just fine to me—about 2-3 teaspoons.  I imagine canola oil or regular vegetable oil would work just as well.

Once cooked, I gave mine a going over with the immersion blender so it had a thick, potage-like consistency.  The coriander, cumin, paprika, garlic and ginger all work to give it a wonderful spicy tang which is followed up by a nice kick from the chili.  When I make it again—and I’m pretty darn sure I will—I think I might up the cumin a bit.  I loves me some cumin.

What makes this soup is the coconut milk.  It’s creamy and rich.  Unfortunately, that also makes this soup less that low-cal.  I thought about using lite coconut milk, but I think the texture would be too watery.  I’m sticking with the real stuff and cutting out those extra calories elsewhere.  This is a substantial soup that if you eat it at lunch, will keep you full through to dinnertime.  That’s good for something, right?

I’ve been looking for a good lentil soup recipe for years and I think I may have found it.  Does anyone else have some good lunch ideas?

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