Beans in Your Cake, Anyone?

Posted on August 30, 2011 by holli jo

We got invited to dinner this past Sunday, and I decided to bring a dessert. I can never make something ordinary, so I did a quick search on All Recipes. One recipe stood out immediately.

The garbanzo bean gluten-free cake intrigued me immediately, especially since so many people gave it high marks. It’s gluten-free, and it was actually really good. Our new friends liked it as well (I didn’t tell them what was in it until after they tasted it). Who knew that garbanzo beans could taste so good in a dessert?!

I made a couple of changes to the recipe – I added in a teaspoon of vanilla, and I used half semi-sweet chocolate chips and half milk chocolate chips (that’s all I had). If you’re daring, you should try it!

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My Newest Sewing Project

Posted on June 9, 2011 by holli jo

I’ve had several sewing projects sitting in a corner of my room for months and months, and today I finally got tired of the pile.

My sweet husband took our son out to play after dinner while I got busy sewing and watching chick flicks. (Beauty and the Briefcase was seriously a dumb movie; I guess you could call it a guilty pleasure.)

My first project was to turn some free fabric into cloth napkins. We use cloth napkins at our house, (which is ironic because we also use paper plates, but we’re taking baby steps here) so I was excited to add a few more napkins to the rotation.

I was honestly a little nervous because it’s been so long since I’ve used a sewing machine, but I guess it’s like riding a bicycle, because the sewing went surprisingly quickly. And it was relaxing and fun. Here’s the finished product. What do you think?

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I think I’m going to have to do craft/movie night more often. It really energized me to get more crafty things done. And it made me feel creative for once, which was nice. If you lived near me, I’d totally invite you over next week for a cheesy chick flick and a fun craft. Who’s in?

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Learning New Skills

Posted on June 8, 2011 by holli jo

Okay, don’t laugh. I designed the header for this blog. Not much to look at, and I realize it’s totally pixelated. I didn’t gauge the size right. But would you think it was more awesome if you knew that it was the first hand-made header I’d ever made? I mean, I drew that sewing machine. Okay, not that awesome.

Just today I decided that I want to learn to design blog headers and things like that. So I found Inkscape, a free vector graphics editor and gave it a try. What you see above was my first attempt. When I can, I’m going to purchase some better software. And once we move to Chicago and my husband has a faculty position, I’m going to take advantage of the tuition waiver and take some design courses. Yeah!

What skills would you like to learn?

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Interested in Photography?

Posted on April 13, 2011 by holli jo

I’ve always had an interest in photography but never made time to make it more than a passing interest. One of my goals for 2011 is to follow my passions and develop my hobbies. So when beth V Photography mentioned she was offering a free online class, I signed right up. I’m a little late getting started, but you will be seeing my attempts at learning to use my digital camera and take good pictures. And you should join the class too, if you’re interested:

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Here’s what I like about the class:

  • The instruction is simple, so I can easily grasp the concepts – I am very rusty on my camera knowledge.
  • The themes are simple and wide open to interpretation.
  • The lessons come every other day, so even though I’m behind now, I can catch right up.

Anyway, if you’re thinking of joining, do it now, because I guess the last day to register is Sunday, April 17th. Go do it, and then let me know that you signed up so I can see your photos, too.

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My Recycled Tee Scarf

Posted on January 25, 2011 by holli jo

I am making my way slowly back into the crafting world. One of my goals for this year is to get back into my hobbies. Here is my first attempt. I’m pretty pleased at how it turned out.

I found the recycled tee scarf tutorial and loved that it didn’t involve any sewing. Here’s my version. I like it so much, I think I’ll make some more in different colors.What do you think?

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Posted in Crafty | 5 Comments