it's been a while...

(my poor tree is still only half decorated, maybe I should make this....image from here)

sorry for the lack of posts lately, folks. 'tis the crazy season. I have been up to stuff* (I swear) like:
* making gnocchi & a cardboard christmas village with a good friend (it just needs some glitter & voila! I will post pictures! oh, by the way, I mean the village needs glitter but not the food. But investing in edible glitter is not a bad idea to liven up the workweek meals...)
* visiting a dear friend who lost her home recently
* competing in a cupcake bake off (I didn't win but did get the eat cupcakes for lunch yesterday, so aren't I the real winner in the end??)
* participated in a yankee swap ( we got books! I got a cookbook and Ryan got this and this)
* visited good friends for dinner for some old school stroganoff & lots of laughing until I cry
* finished a chunk of holiday gift shopping
* made & addressed the christmas cards

so to play catch up this week I am going to (try) to post everyday 2 DIYs. Today since I didn't post any Friday through Sunday, here is a slew of them:

Snowglobes
glycerin (you can find small bottles at Michaels)
glitter!
small jars (like baby food)
small figurines

Fill the jar almost to the top with distilled water; add a pinch of glitter and a dash of glycerin to keep the glitter from falling too quickly. Don't add too much, or the glitter will stick to the bottom of the jar when it's flipped. Screw on the lid tightly, being careful not to dislodge the figurine. Turn the jar over and back again -- and let it snow (ha ha I copy and pasted this from MS's site and had to leave in the cheesy end instructions)

Finger puppets**
Fleece
Bowl filled with hot, soapy water (4 tablespoons of dye-free liquid dishwashing detergent to 6 cups of water)
Bowl filled with cool water
Felt
Scissors
Hot glue
Finger puppet template

Felted Finger Puppets How-To
1. Wrap fleece in layers around finger. Use the index finger on the hand you don't write with. The wool should be snug but not tight. Add wool until you can't feel your knuckles through it. (The soft wool should be about 1/8-inch thick when pressed.)

2. Dip your wool-wrapped finger into hot, soapy water, and press with the fingertips of your other hand; dip and squeeze until the fibers seem to hold together.

3. Rinse in cool water when done; let dry.

4. Ears, wings, and similar pieces can be cut from store-bought felt; use the finger puppet template, enlarging or reducing them if necessary. You may need a lot of glue to make these features stick, since felt is absorbent.

Herb Infused Honey***
honey
herbs (I used rosemary, lavender or thyme work good too)
put herbs in honey. let steep at least 5 days. give them as gifts with herbs inside since it looks fancy.

Quote jar
random quotes
nice jar
any assorted craft pieces for decorating jar
my mom is big into inspirational quotes. I printed out a bunch & cut them up and fold them in half. I filled a fancy jar with them. it gave her enough facebook statuses for a year.

* one thing I haven't done but need to do is catch up on blogs. sorry friends! I promise I will be commenting soon.
** these are the serious directions, I just sewed some felt together and they came out fine.
***these are nice gifts with tea. I made a friend a "tea wreath" by hotglueing plastic tea packets in a wreath shape enough to hold them together but not so secure that she couldn't take it apart and drink them (I used a wire base).

mass college of rock mix

this week has been full of little triumphs but was overshadowed by a good friend of mine's house burning down. she is an amazing person & we've been friends half our lives. heather, I love you dear, things will get better soon. please keep her and her family in your thoughts.

so in honor of heather (who rocks) here is a rockin mix. I couldn't figure out a good theme so it is just a bunch of songs that remind me of living in the city, during my college days.


Aprils Fools- Rufus Wainwright
Golden Touch- Razorlight
Gyroscope- The Dismemberment Plan*
Staring at the Sun- TV on the Radio
Natural Disasters- Enon
I Was Born (A Unicorn)- The Unicorns
Jenny- The Mountain Goats



Create a playlist at MixPod.com

---

For more Mixtape Master madness, peep the playlists on these blogs**:

Hi-Fi Weddings | One Cat Per Person | Tylre. | Ten Thou Bride | Fashion Under 100 | Jo, Rooting | another damn life | Savoir Weddings | Fancy Notion | Dead Flowers | Casa De Kaloi | Bunnies’n’Beagles | My San Francisco Budget Wedding | Existing Between Reality and Dreams

Be a Mixtape Master. Email Angie or Ashley to get in on it.


* this goes out to Lizzie & Isaiah. Also, I had a dream I "ran" into you guys last night and you asked me to do your hair for the wedding. I woke up before I saw how it ended!
** also, please note: I am having issues with peoples' links. once you click on them, just remove the extra " at the end of the web address and you should get there! sorry about this!

not procrastinating...I swear!

well.... maybe a little*


without further ado, here's your daily DIY:

Limoncello**
(makes about 2 quarts)

11 lemons
1 bottle 160-proof vodka, or grain alcohol
3 cups sugar
3 cups boiling-hot water

1. Peel strips of zest from lemons using a vegetable peeler; reserve lemons for another use. Put zest and vodka in an airtight container; let stand at room temperature at least 2 days (or up to 1 week).

2. Stir together sugar and the hot water until sugar is dissolved; let cool. Stir sugar mixture into vodka mixture; refrigerate in an airtight container 1 day.

3. Before serving, pour through a large sieve into a decanter or serving vessel; discard zest. Pour 2 ounces limoncello into each glass. Limoncello can be stored in the freezer in an airtight container up to 3 months.

...and a bonus one! (well not really since I didn't post yesterday):

Lip Balm

3 teaspoons grated unbleached beeswax

5 teaspoons carrier oil (sunflower, castor, or jojoba)
6 or 7 drops essential oil***
1 teaspoon honey

1. Melt the beeswax and carrier oil together in the top of a double boiler, stirring to combine. Remove from heat; add honey and essential oil. Mix thoroughly so the honey does not clump.

2. To add a little color, stir in a tiny dab of lipstick with a coffee stirrer. Pour the mixture into containers; let sit 20 minutes before covering or moving. For glossier lip balm, use 2 teaspoons wax and 8 teaspoons carrier oil.

*this is hopefully our christmas card picture for this year (needs a little tweaking). you like? do you like my shoes? they were $1.75! also I can't take a good photo to save my life. 'blink detected' is the basic summary of every photo of me. I can't help it! my chubby cheeks cover my eyes!
** IKEA sells perfect bottles for gifting this. also, people love this because it tastes good and makes them seem fancy since it is Italian. for fancier results throw the word 'Tuscan' in front of it. thats what the OG does and it seems to work for them.
*** I used peppermint. also, be sure to make some for yourself! you'll be sad if you don't.

playing catch up- 3 DIYs!

WARNING: Don't read if you want to know what I'm making you this year...

That being said. I spent all of yesterday making gifts (also, messing one up and re-making said gift). Here is what I made:


peppermint soap* (for everyone's stockings)

• 2 packages soap, 1 clear & 1 white**
• 1 loaf pan
  
• cooking spray
  
• peppermint extract (you can do any scent you want)
  
• food coloring (I used red but again any you want)
• transparent wrap (for wrapping)
  

melt small pieces of the soap at a time (I melted about fox small pieces at once). spray a loaf pan. if you are making the colored layer, mix in some drops of color and a couple drops of extract. mix & pour into pan. let set 20 minutes. score with a fork to help next layer adhere. alternate colors. wait 4 hours atleast to unmold loaf pan. cut into slices or cubes. I recommend leaving a little clear soap aside, when I unmolded the soap some of the layers didn't adhere so well, so I melted down more clear soap and used it like glue.

car crayons (for my little cousin)

• boxes of cheap crayons
• mold (I used a car mold, found out michaels in candy making aisle)
  
• glass jars/ tin cans, cleaned
• cooking spray
  
• disposable plate
• box/tin (for gifting)
  

take paper off crayons & break into small pieces. put pan of water on stove and simmer cans/jars of crayons until melted. spray molds. pour in colors & let set, atleast 30 minutes (if they do break you can melt them and reset). if you are using the michaels candy molds, put a plate under the molds because the colors will run off. unmold & place in nice tin/box!


peppermint liquor (for my father in law and friends; the liquor are the clear jars, those brown bottles are this)
makes 4 cups, I doubled the recipe (I'm also making this in a couple weeks)

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint oil OR 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
• 3 cups Vodka
• mason jars (storage), nice bottles (gift, I found some cheap ones at homegoods)
  

--Make sugar syrup: in small saucepan, combine water and sugar; over medium heat, cook until sugar is dissolved and liquid is clear--approx. 5 min. Let cool completely.
--Into a sterile quart jar with tight fitting lid, pour vodka, sugar syrup, and peppermint oil or extract. Stir well. Store in cool, dark place, allowing it to steep for 2 weeks. Turn jar upside down every 2-3 days to mix, or remove lid and stir. Transfer to smaller sterile bottles, if desired.

* I made one other soap related projects & started a couple more, but I got to spread these DIY posts out :)
** you can also grate any white or clear soap and use this instead

2 Legit 2 Quit mix

happy friday all! heres your mix (don't act like you don't LOVE the Phil Collins song)



Two Birds- Regina Spektor
Song 2- Blur
Between Two Lungs- Florence and the Machine
Two Weeks- Grizzly Bear
Waltz #2- Elliot Smith
Two Headed Boy- Neutral Milk Hotel
Two Tickets to Paradise- Eddie Money
Love Me Two Times- The Doors
Two Hearts- Phil Collins




Create a playlist at MixPod.com

---

For more Mixtape Master madness, peep the playlists on these blogs:

Hi-Fi Weddings | One Cat Per Person | Tylre. | Ten Thou Bride | Fashion Under 100 | Jo, Rooting | another damn life | Savoir Weddings | Fancy Notion | Dead Flowers | Casa De Kaloi | Bunnies’n’Beagles | My San Francisco Budget Wedding | Existing Between Reality and Dreams

Be a Mixtape Master. Email Angie or Ashley to get in on it.

guest postin'

in lieu of a post blabbing on about my christmas shopping thus far, check me out over at lizzie & isaiah's place today.

today's DIY:

Homemade Marshmallows*

Makes 24

• Vegetable oil, for brushing
• 4 envelopes unflavored gelatin (3 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons)
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Brush a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish with oil. Line with parchment, allowing a 2-inch overhang on the long sides. Brush parchment with oil; set aside.
2. Put granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 3/4 cup water into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cook, without stirring, until mixture registers 238 degrees.on a candy thermometer, about 9 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, put 3/4 cup cold water into the bowl of an electric mixer; sprinkle with gelatin. Let soften 5 minutes.
4. Attach bowl with gelatin to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. With mixer on low speed, beat hot syrup into gelatin mixture. Gradually raise speed to high; beat until mixture is very stiff, about 12 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Pour into prepared dish, and smooth with an offset spatula. Set aside, uncovered, until firm, about 3 hours.
5. Sift 1 cup confectioners' sugar onto a work surface. Unmold marshmallow onto confectioners' sugar; remove parchment. Lightly brush a sharp knife with oil, then cut marshmallow into 2-inch squares. Sift remaining 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar into a small bowl, and roll each marshmallow in the sugar to coat. Marshmallows can be stored in an airtight container up to 3 days.

* add toasted coconut or peppermint; you can also add food coloring, just swirl it in after you pour the mix into the dish...if you make these, trust me, people will be psyched & they are surprisingly easy!

Happy Hanukkah!

(image from here)

and in keeping with the daily DIYs:

SOCK DOG

*Pair of socks
*Stuffing needle and thread
*Pipe cleaners (for tail, ears, and antlers)

*Large button with two holes or a pom-pom (for nose) 2 small buttons (for eyes)

I was going to post all the directions here but it is much easier with visuals so I recommend you go here if you want to make this. Its very cute and excellent for little kids or for adults who are like little kids or for people who don't want to clean up after a real dog.