Handmade Home: It's growing on me

This is the next phase to my new year new space, greenery. One thing that makes me happy is that every so often Ben will say that he wishes we had more plants in the house. I love house plants! So we went out and made some new purchases to bring in the green...

Top Five: New Year, New Life!

Well, sort of. I should say I'm not much for New Year's resolutions. (Immediate sidebar: One year, I resolved to give up refined sugar. Not altogether--gosh, no. I could never. But I was so addicted to sugar that I'd get crazy cranky when I didn't have my sugar fix. I did give it up for several months-- and then I visited Mom in Tacoma and had a total sugar relapse, which she completely enabled. Rude. Anyway, I'm a sugar fanatic again and will probably attempt to go cold turkey this year, but that's not my NYR.) Like Liz Lemon (a great way to start a sentence), I plan on taking charge of my life. Minus that pesky obstacle, please...

Book Report Inspiration: Tuck Family Dinner

One the things I love most about Tuck Everlasting is the strength of the Tuck family's bonds. Through an accident of Nature or Providence, they're consigned to live forever, but even though the two sons wander away from home, the family reunites every ten years. They reconnect by telling stories of their adventures, giving each other small gifts, and eating together. And when Winnie Foster finds her way into their cabin, she also ends up at their table...

Made and Found: Pickles

Most people who know me are very aware that I'm not a fan of cucumbers. I pick them out of fresh rolls, push them to the side of salad plates, and will slowly edge away from you if you're eating them. Blech and double blech! 

But pickles--now that's a different story. I'm a huge fan of pickles and frankly, find it baffling that something I loathe, when sealed in a jar with vinegar and spices for a month or more, becomes something I love. So, this year we planted pickling cucumbers in the garden and had a go at making pickles...

Book Report Inspiration: Cowboy Cookies!!!!

After writing about True Grit last week, it seems like I have Westerns on the brain. Add that to the fact that Melanie Blodgett of You Are My Fave instagrammed about monster cookies last week and the obvious result is cowboy cookies. As near as I can tell, cowboy cookies have no real connection to actual cowboys, but what cookies do?

recipe for success

I've been on the lookout for vintage wooden recipe boxes as part of a gift for the sisters for a while. I found this one in time for Catherine's birthday (31 May...OK, this post is coming a bit late), so I decided it was do or die time and created this. 

wonderful wallpaper

Most of my memories of wallpaper are taken up with the unicorn wallpaper from my sisters' childhood bedroom and the awful fruit basket wallpaper currently grossing up the walls of my mom's kitchen. And that, my dears, is definitely going to go the way of the dodo this summer. The fruit baskets will experience a major extinction event. So long, maroon and hunter green! But this magical woodlands toile wallpaper from Sian Zeng is quite the opposite.

brown and pink

blue, green, and grey

khaki and blue

And for the wallpaper grand finale....MAGNETIC WALLPAPER!
It even comes with a charming group of magnets to get you started. Who wouldn't want this little fella on their wall? 

neon dream

Upon seeing Monika's terracotta pots, I became obsessed with the idea of getting my own terracotta pots and painting the rims gray with neon stripes. SO OBSESSED. Yes, an obsession worthy of all caps. What obsession isn't? Anyway, after finding several serviceable pots at an estate sale, I knew it was time to make the dream a reality...

recently, in Spokane

Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist

Got an iPhone? Follow me on Instagram: christinesuzanne I'm totally boring. Guaranteed. 

 A sunny winter's day in downtown Spokane.

Full moon rising over Spokane, as seen from Cliff Drive.

Stone structure in Riverside State Park

T. J. Meenach Bridge

Dig It! has arrived at the Museum.

I made beer-batter apple rings. Divine.

Evidence of beer!

 A tiny drift begins to form. 

suzie homemaker

I just finished a marathon baking session--over four hours of stirring and dough rolling and powdered sugaring. Dang, son! I am thoroughly dusted with every baking ingredient known to man, but I have treats to take tomorrow, so mission accomplished! Full details (recipes and pictures) will have to be left for tomorrow because I am tired, tired, tired, and there's a sink full of dishes. How do housewives manage? Riddle me that.

Here's a melange of treats. Hey, don't look askance at them.
I'm too done with tonight to make them look pretty.

These were baked by my dear friend Betty. I was beyond
excited when I found them on my desk this morning.  Beyond.

Here's poor, patient Matilds. All ignored while I'm baking.

And here's a dark, dark, darkling thrush picture of my tree.

A few things I've realized during tonight's baking escapades: 

1. I need more parchment paper. 

2. I would love a gel mat for the kitchen floor. 

3. And baking while listening to Gaga is the way to go. 

blanket time!

I started knitting this blanket forever ago. And by forever I mean around April. Progress pretty much halted once summer arrived and a chunky knitted blanket just seemed ill-advised. But now that it's all frosty again, a chunky knitted blanket seems like the best idea ever. Am I right or am I right?

But last night, while I was painting my nails: DISASTER. 

That's right, my lovelies. Red. Nail. Polish. 

Grow House Grow!

I came back from California and promptly got sick. If my calculations are correct, and I like to think they are, it was the airplane ride that did me in. So, after spending three illness-induced zombified days at work, I'm hoping a couple days of eating homemade tomato soup, watching movies based on comic books, and petting warm lap kitties will set me to rights once again. Another part of my prescription for getting over a stupid, stupid cold is to look at plenty of beautiful things. 

Like these patterned paper treasures from Katie Deedy of Grow House Grow!

Chocin in hibiscus

Katie is featured in the November issue of O: The Oprah Magazine, and her paper has been sold through Anthropologie and displayed in the windows of Saks Fifth Avenue. I love this wallpaper not just for the swell design sensibility (and the fact that it makes me want to use the word hearken), but also for the intriguing stories behind each of Katie's  designs. She finds the perfect blend of history, science, mystery, adventure, and magic. Read one of her stories here. But watch out: you might fall head over heels for Katie's paper lovelies and end up adorning every flat surface in your home. One can only dream...

Cattle Kate in sterling

Ms. Treat in teaberry

Captain Smith in promenade

Now if you'll excuse me, I just realized that I have two weeks worth of Project Runway to catch up on. 

Eat me: zombie cake

Tonight is bad movie night at Aaron & Megan's. Season of the Witch is on the agenda, and dessert is my department, so I decided to attempt a sweet creep-out chocolate cake. For inspiration, I turned to British baker and cake designer, Lily Vanilli. I've seen a couple of her cakes floating around the internet and like everyone else in the universe, I'm pretty dang impressed.

cake of the recently undead via Lily Vanilli Cake Design

Awesome? Yessir. Now here's my replicant. 

My zombie fingers are made from cookie. I think Lily Vanilli uses marzipan or something fancy. I just sculpted these suckers from dough and baked them resting atop some rolled parchment paper (to keep their graspy-reachy curve intact). I've seen some people use red sugar-glue (confectioner's sugar, red food coloring, and a little water) to stick on the slivered almond nails, but I used chocolate frosting. I mean, this cookie person is crawling up from the depths of their baked grave...there's going to be some chocolate dirt.

Now for a little Season of the Witch teaser. 

Pillow pal

You know how your neck and back totally cramp up when you're on a plane for eight hours?
Well, Catherine made a little pillow to help combat that issue. 

It looks a little like a dog bone, but Catherine assures me the shape is perfect for airplane travel.
Just tuck this sucker behind your neck and get your relax on. 

Like the looks of this here pillow? The pattern is free on Sew 4 Home.

Doldrums

I've been kind of in the dumps for a couple weeks...except I don't call it the dumps, I call it the Doldrums. But I was determined to accomplish something on Sunday, and I was determined that accomplishing something would propel me from the Doldrums into whatever the opposite of the Doldrums might be. Some other seafaring reference? Maybe something to do with the Gulf Stream... 


Anyway, I cleaned my vacuum and then vacuumed the hell out of the apartment. I took care of the dishes and cleaned the bathroom. And then I hand-washed exactly 90 vintage handkerchiefs, strung them up to dry in my living room (this had to be done in batches), and ironed them all. It took HOURS. 

But it was a good opportunity to test drive the vintage handkerchief garland I will be making at some point. 

And then I had an egg sandwich and watched The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. 

On my honor, it's a birthday!

Yup, today our little blog turned one.  Zucchini spice cake all around!

Oh, pickles!

Um, does anyone make awesome home-made pickles? I really want some. Enough with buying pickles in stores. I'm through with all that. I just want people to make pickles and leave them on my doorstep.

 Nicholas, I'm talking to you.

Catherine, tell Nicholas I'm talking to him.

This has nothing to do with pickles, but I'd also like Nicholas to make me another one of these mojitos.

I'm serious about those pickles though. Serious.

Peaches come from a jar.

This last issue of Martha Stewart Living has inspired me to complete two, count 'em two, projects from one magazine.  I don't know if that's ever happened before, and I've completed these projects in record time.  The first obviously being the rope towel holders. This second project is a bit more delicious...it contains bourbon.

I give you bourbon peaches!

That's a vanilla bean floating around in there.  Yup, a real vanilla bean--none of that imitation stuff here at on-my-honor. Martha's website is giving me some troubles right now. I can't seem to locate the bourbon peach recipe.  Stay tuned for an update.

P.S. They're delicious.

bleeding heart

I'm feeling nostalgic this morning. Believe me, it doesn't take much. Maybe it's just that our little family (sisters and Mom) were apart for Catherine's birthday; or that there was a thunderstorm two days ago, and I opened all the windows in the apartment to let the rain smell in; or that I listened to some Disney movie songs and thought about riding in the car with the sisters, but I spent the morning looking around the apartment in a restless state and finally latched onto this pillow as a link to a time when we were mostly together.

I made this little pillow back in 2004, inspired by a photo of Sondre Lerche holding a similar pillow in the first issue of BUST magazine I ever purchased--Ms. Tina Fey on the cover.

My pillow is actually better because my heart is made from
red herringbone tweed purchased at a thrift store.

This was back when BUST was sort of awesome--the sisters have collectively decided it is much less so these days. Rude! Anyway, I was charmed by the pillow's Emo/Sacred Heart mix, and like I always do, I look at a something and think, I can totally make that.  (Just for the record, sometimes I can and sometimes I cannot.) In this instance, I could make it, with a little help from Mom. I completed all the hand-stitched parts and she did the straight lines/trim on the machine. If you've followed the blog with any regularity, you'll be well-aware that I cannot machine sew a straight line for anything.

The sewing machine is my sworn enemy, which is a shame because if I had any skill with the sewing machine,
I would have been a great talent. Wait. Did I just lift and garble a line from Austen? Mayhap I did.

I've gotten a couple eye-rollish looks from guy friends over this pillow, but I love it unabashedly.