not fit to be called woman

my bridesmaid shoes just arrived and i love them. LOVE. THEM. it has been so long since i treated myself to a new pair of shoes that getting these was like a hit of cocaine. or something, i don't know, i've never done a drug in my life. except that one time, in college.

i tried them on and discovered something else: that it has been so long since i've worn any kind of heel (let alone a 3-inch one) that i was wobbly and teetering. i have to re-learn how to walk in heels.

i'm sorry, ladies. i'm an embarrassment to you all.

rockpaperscissors giveaway

rockpaperscissors GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!! over at grosgrain. how cute would the wedding dresses invite be for alice's bridal shower? (invites are my responsibility.) love them.

pretty and functional, right up my alley.

this was also a small project this weekend that i have been meaning to do. this creative idea was stolen from my mother:


i like it because it is crafty and functional without looking like some nifty crafty organizer thingy you'd buy at a holiday bazaar and pawn off on some unsuspecting b-list relative. i also like it because it makes my everyday things like artwork. brian actually even liked it, a lot i presume, because he kept commenting on it. or maybe he just liked that we finally have something (anything!) hung on a wall in our master bedroom.

it took about a half an hour to complete and no swearing at all which is my kind of project. i used the glass in a frame i had as a template to cut a rectangle from a piece of canvas, about 2-3 inches larger all around than the glass. i sewed on five random shank buttons from the button jar all in a row. they are about 1½-2 inches apart and kind of large-ish in diameter, and you need the shank so there is some depth for the chains. then i ran a length of heavy-duty thread across the back from one side to another in a kind of Z pattern, pulling the canvas really tight around the glass so it would not shift. i was not so concerned about the sides but i didn't want the top to wrinkle funny and maybe drape from the weight of the necklaces. then i just reassembled the frame and hung it on the wall by my dresser and voila, we finally have something mildly decorative.

cute. but do not try at home.

i got the idea here but i don't think i would do these again. they came out very cute (though certainly not as cute as the inspiration) and i really like them, but they took much more time and generated much more swearing than i can tolerate in my crafts. i think they took about an hour each. the people who are getting these (belatedly) had better appreciate them. is all i have to say.

this is the idea that started it all. for alice and her fiancé brad, who are getting married in august, so they have something special for their tree for their first christmas together. these generated the most swearing.


two cute party dresses. i thought the beads on the wire hangers (which were such a b!tch to make, i should have gotten a clue right then) would be cute but i don't like it so much, IF i were doing these again i would not bead the hangars.


i also did a little man's tee shirt and a pink onesie, for next year's family ornaments, but i already packed them with the christmas stuff. i just hope i can find them when i need them next year.

on the bright side, they were uber-cheap to make. they take virtually nothing in the way of trims and i just cut them from felt squares which are so cheap. a mixed bag of sequins was 79¢ and i had the seed beads, wire, and some random trims already anyway. i did have to buy craft glue but that was only $3.99. if i were making a lot of them i think they would come out to 50¢ or $1 apiece. dunno how much those others sell for but i'd bet it's not cheap.

on a different note, totally loving on these:


a housewarming gift from kelsey, who brought them home from her fall trip to holland. gorgeous. thanks, gal.

because i can't go barefoot to work

oh heck yeah. bauble ballet flats from old navy for only $15. the only crappy thing about them is they also had them in this awesome grape color but not in my size, grrr, and when i went online to see if the grape was still in stock in my size (it was not), i also discovered that online they were only $9.99. double grrr.

this of course came about because i decided to get some maternity clothes, and of course pregnant girls are supposed to wear flats. i think it's more for when you're huge and top-heavy and off-balance, but there's no shame in practicing now, right? and at least i'm prepared.

the latest exploration

as you may have guessed by now, i'm kind of a hands-on, crafty gal, and i love a project. so when i read about making cheese, i had to try it. i've made yogurt cheese before (with dill, sooo delicious) but this was real cheese. like sold-in-stores cheese. it is called paneer (panir) and it's a very mild, middle eastern/indian cheese, and it was so insanely easy to make. i think it would be fun to make with kids (if i ever get around to getting one or two) because it's neat to watch the curds separate when you add the vinegar. here is the finished product:


i want to try this again with herbs mixed in, and possibly salted (which makes queso blanco!). and i want to try making chevre, which is also supposed to be easy but i don't have a recipe as yet. this afternoon i will be trying my hand at making ricotta, which is made with the leftover whey and is supposed to be insanely easy also. also insanely better than store-bought ricotta, which i have no doubts about, since imho homemade stuff in general and my homemade stuff in particular is insanely better than store-bought.

on a slightly different note, i received my [belated] birthday gift the other day from alice and isn't it spectacular?


it's venetian glass (she brought it back from her italy trip this summer) and i am so in love with all the colors in it. fabulous.

ring lust

total lust:

obviously i have a bit of an addiction, and this month am being supported in that addiction by my lovely sister. it's good to be a girl.

dash my button!

as a seamstress, i love buttons. can't get enough of them. they're the icing on the cake, jewelry for your clothes. so of course i love this:

it's an antique button. how neat is that? a birthday gift courtesy of my fabulous sister, who always comes up with the most interesting and meaningful gifts. so today i learned a bit about buttons.

the earliest buttons are from about 2,000 b.c. (from egypt), but they appear to have been decorative rather than functional.

button was not used a verb in english until about the 1200s.

charles de gaulle and jackie kennedy collected buttons. louis xiv spent $6,000,000 on buttons over his lifetime.

in victorian times perfumery buttons were popular and contained little cotton swatches moistened with perfume.

buttons in intrigue: smuggler's buttons are like a tiny pillbox with a twist cap for hiding diamonds or messages inside. also, special army commandos sometimes had uniforms with these buttons on them, to carry poison (presumably in case the soldier was captured and tortured).

poison buttons are different: they have a sharp stud on top that was attached to a tiny vial hidden in the assassin's clothing. the assassin could just "accidentally" brush his victim's skin with the stud, and the poison would flow into the scratch.

dash my button! is an old-fashioned expletive. (love that!)