Day 4 ICE CREAM

Did I mention that crafting includes food, to me? Well it does. But only desserts because those are optional and therefore something of an artform.

Today, on day 4 of my month long challenge, I made ice cream (I made sorbet earlier in the week, but not as part of the challenge).
 I think the flavor I made is something like hazelnut mocha.

This is a very experimental recipe. I'm sort of low on essential ingredients so I got creative. I found a recipe for Nutella philly-style icecream (that means egg free...I had no eggs!) but had to alter the ingredients because I didn't have many of them. In the end, I ended up using a lot of heavy cream, chocolate, and turkish coffee (because it was there). I only tasted the mixture after boiling everything together and it was awesome. Like a mocha latte, but creamy and thick. I can't wait until it's done setting up in the freezer. Hopefully it's a success. This picture is after going through the ice cream maker. It's sort of like a slightly melted softserve. I may have to chill my recipes a bit longer it seems because this one didn't want to freeze. I'm sure it doesn't help that it's about 75* F in the kitchen or more.

Update July 8. I tried this icecream this morning after allowing it to fully freeze and oh my goodness it's sooooo good. It's really creamy and delicious. Yum. Great recipe!

Day 3, Necklace

Ah, Day 3 of the month long challenge.

Today I was suffering from allergies so all I wanted to do was lay in a dark room. Of course, I didn't. I kept going outside because I thought maybe the pollen is just bad in the morning. Uh. No...it's bad all day. Everytime I went outside, I came back with my nose running. My nose is still running. My eyes were hurting. My head was hurting. But enough complaining. I did accomplish making something today.

I really like the look of layered necklaces, so I made one. Though I have no concept of jewelry design, it came out okay. Actually, I'll even go so far as to say it looks nice. I might even wear it. Or give it to a friend if they like it. The possibilities!

I would really like to make more jewelry. I think I'll do some searching for inspiration and you might see another piece at some point on this blog. Maybe within the month!

Day 2, Totebag

Day 2 of my month long challenge!

I realize I am going to have to go back to school at some point. Actually, this fall to be precise. So I made a cute bookbag/totebag out of pants, an old sheet, and some canvas I had laying around.
One would think making a totebag is relatively simple, but no. I can't allow that. I really wanted to make a cool design, but I really have no concept of how to sew the idea I had. So I ended up simplifying it. I still like how it came out, but I think I'll tweak it later on. I'm going to make a thicker/stronger strap also. I just got lazy and started running out of the other fabrics. Also, I think I'll add a little flap with a button closure. I'll post pictures later on if I add onto it, but here it is now!

Lemon Sorbet

Oh my goodness. So goooood.

We had a bucket of huge lemons from my aunt and uncle's lemon tree. They were starting to get soft and I didn't want to let them go to waste. So I came up with the brilliant (in my mind) idea to make lemon sorbet!
If you are a huge fan of lemon, like me, you will love this. It is so refreshing and absolutely delicious. And it's so simple!

(This isn't today's post for the month long challenge. That will come later. This is just an extra treat for a summer's day). 

What you'll need:

2 cups lemon juice
2 cups of water
2 cups of sugar (white or raw cane, no brown!)
Icecream maker

If your icecream maker has a freeze bowl, make sure it's fully frozen. You also might need ice and salt depending on your icecream maker.

Prepare simple syrup by combining 2 cups of water with 2 cups of sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and let cook about 15 minutes until the sugar dissolves and it reaches a very thin syrupy consistency. Allow it to cool and then put it in a container that you can stick in the fridge. It needs to be cold to make sorbet so allow it to chill for a few hours. I made mine the day before and let it stay in the fridge over night.

Next, combine 2 cups of lemon juice and 1&1/4 cups of the simple syrup in your icecream maker's bowl and follow directions to prepare icecream. After it reaches desired consistency, pop it in the freezer. Eat whenever you want!

If you don't have an icecream maker, not to worry.You can place the lemon and simple syrup mixture into any freezer-safe bowl and put it into the freezer and stirring with a fork every 30 minutes to keep the mixture from separating. It will be a slightly different consistency, but taste just as good.

Day 1, shorts!

Ah, it's summer! And to celebrate, I made a pair of shorts.

So, this is Day 1 of my month long challenge to create things. And what a way to kick it off?
These actually took two days to make (a total of about 6 hours sewing. Eesh). I made up the pattern myself and had to tweak it a lot to get them to actually fit and look the way I want them. But, I am quite proud of how they came out!

One of these days I'm going to have to learn how to make a pattern that I can just cut and sew. Or maybe get some pre-made patterns that actually fit me. Ah well. The effort was worth it! I've wanted a pair of shorts like this for soooo long.

A month of something or other

So, I am going to step away from instructional posts for a while because I really don't have people reading this blog it seems. But they will come back if I get requests and some more traffic. For now, I want to do a month long challenge (starting July 4 and ending August 3) to make crafts, sew, or do some art once a day.

I don't have a specific theme for this. It will just be whatever pops into my head that I think would be fun to make.

And I'm back

It's been a while.
Longer than a while.

But I want to start doing a craft blog again, and where better to continue?! So, hopefully I will keep it up this time. Life just gets sooo busy sometimes.

I attempted a 365 challenge last year, but didn't complete it. However, you can see what I did do here: http://yearofthepetal.blogspot.com/

That blog will not be updated anymore, but please check it out!