Dave and I headed to Bend, Oregon this weekend to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. We had to drive through the Cascades to get there from Eugene. It was a beautiful drive, until we suddenly hit a blizzard. Eeeks! We are used to winter driving from Wisconsin, but Wisconsin doesn’t have very many curvy roads on the sides of mountains. Even though the snow was kind of scary, it was gorgeous in that first snow of the season kind of way. Or maybe I just say that because we made it safely through and enjoyed a relaxing mini-vacation in Bend before returning home on snow-free roads.

I broke out my gocco tonight to print up some snowflake Christmas cards. In Eugene, I just have to enjoy the gray rain outside and make my own bright winter snow!

Thanks everyone for your encouragement about my first craft booth. I have a lot of work to do in the next two weeks!! My goal is simply to have enough items to fill up a table. Maybe some day I’ll make the goal to sell something.

Halloween is over, which means it’s time to start on Christmas crafts! From reading other blogs, it actually looks like I’m a few months behind. But I just can’t bring myself to start in earnest until November officially begins.

Somehow I agreed to share a craft booth with a friend at the end of the month. Eeeks!! Right when I thought my life would slow down and I could just relax. This will be my first time ever trying to sell my crafts. I am SUPER nervous about it! But also excited, because maybe this will be the kick in the pants that I need.

I started out small, making these little reindeer tags on my gocco. For the paper I used recycled manila folders and some cardstock I found at a reuse store. I think they are cute, but am still nervous about the prospect of attempting to sell them. Do any of you crafters out there also have a really hard time accepting that someone may spend money on something that you made? Hopefully jumping into this craft fair will help get me over my neuroses.

Good luck to everyone getting a start on holiday crafting!

Nothing warms up a gray and rainy day like the smell of applesauce simmering on the stovetop. And nothing brightens up a cold February day like opening up a jar full of preserved fruit. Here is a quick and easy tutorial on how to can your own homemade applesauce.

Peel, core and slice your apples. (I love my Apple Peeler Corer Slicer!) You need 15 apples to get 2 quarts (or 4 pints or 8 cups) of applesauce.

Combine ~1 inch of water, apples, a cinnamon stick, and 1/4 cup sugar. (This is not an exact recipe – you may not need any sugar if you have really sweet apples.)

Bring to a boil over high heat. Lower heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove cinnamon stick and mash apples with a potato masher or whisk. You could also run it through a food-mill or a blender, but I like chunky applesauce.

Fill clean, hot jars with hot applesauce, leaving 1/4″ head space. Wipe off rim of jar.

Cap with lid and place in a hot water bath for 20 minutes.

Remove from hot water bath and let sit on counter overnight. Check to see that the lids have popped down. (The popping noise of the lids after canning something is one of my all-time favorite sounds!)

Set jars aside to enjoy once apple season is over. Or attach pretty labels and give as host/hostess gifts. Eat the leftover sauce in the bottom of the pan. Take a big breath of cinnamon apple air.

We just got back from my best friend’s wedding in Buffalo, New York. The wedding was absolutely gorgeous – full of love, sunny blue skies, amazing dancing, and a beautiful and happy couple. Hooray!

Dave and I designed and letterpressed their invitations a few months back. It was a fun project because the invites were so different from our own!

All of the letterpressing was done on our Adana 8×5. The swirl images are from Cloudniners on istockphoto, the gorgeous monogram was designed by foryoo on etsy, and the map is from Retrospective Design on etsy.

Congratulations Sara and Chris!

My senior year of college, one of my housemates suddenly had an obsession with finding a chocolate cookie that had pepper in it. She had tried one once and wanted nothing more than to be able to recreate it. She experimented a bit with different recipes that she found, and much to my surprise, came up with a perfect cookie. I never ever would have thought to put pepper in a cookie!! Suddenly these cookies became my best friend, Sara, and my obsession and we made them more times than I can count that year.

Then we graduated, and I somehow forgot about the magic of these cookies. Sara never did and is constantly making them and raving about them in her facebook statuses. She finally convinced me to make them again, and I can’t believe I took such a long break from them!! What was I thinking?

Try them. You won’t regret it. They’re the perfect cookie version of a warm cup of Mexican hot chocolate.

Mandy’s Mexican Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp coarse salt
• 1/8 tsp finely ground black pepper
• 1/4 pound coarsely chopped dark chocolate (I use Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips, but you could really get away with any chocolate chips)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325*.
2. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
3. Melt the dark chocolate with butter in a double boiler. Let cool slightly.
4. Combine the melted chocolate/butter mixture with the sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Mix with electric mixer on medium speed until combined.
5. Reduce speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture.
6. Fold in the chocolate chips.
7. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (or use a baking stone, my preferred method).
8. Drop 1 1/2″ balls of dough onto cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.
9. Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes until they look flat and the surfaces crack (cookies should still be soft in texture). It is important to not over cook.
10. Take the cookies out of the oven and let them rest on the cookie sheet for approximately 3-5 minutes before attempting to take them off.
11. Let the cookies cool completely on wire racks.
12. They store at room temperature for up to 3 days.

And isn’t this cake stand adorable? It’s from Whitney Smith Pottery on etsy. Just right for a fresh batch of cookies!

This summer has been quite unusually hot for Oregon! One of our “pros” on the pro/con list for moving to Oregon was the mild seasons, but this summer is not living up to that promise. This past week was over 105* F for 3 days straight!! It has been quite the challenge to survive, let alone keep 35 campers happy outside in the heat. We had a few “water altercations” (there’s no fighting at camp), swam in the river, and did crafts in the shade. Another counselor taught how to make these great woven yarn pouches, and I thought I would share it with you all.

1. Create your loom. The great thing about these pouches are that they are woven on a loom made of scrap cardboard. You can really cut your cardboard to any size you want. Mine was 4.5″ x 8″.

2. Cut slits in loom. Measure and cut slits every 1/4″. You need to have an odd number of slits.

3. Thread warp yarn. Tape end of yarn to one side of the cardboard, then thread the yarn through a slit and down to the other side. Wrap around and through next slit and bring yarn back to the top. Keep all of your warp yarn on one side of the cardboard. When you finish, cut the yarn and tape to the inside of the loom.

Fold cardboard, keeping one side longer for the top flap.

4. Weave. Cut an 8′ piece of yarn to use as your weft. Using a yarn needle, weave over and under through your warp starting at the bottom. Turn over, and continue to weave on the back.

When you get to the top flap, just weave back and forth on the one side.

5. Slide off loom. When finished weaving, slip loops off of slits and pull pouch off of your loom. Thread ends of yarn back through your work. You now have a woven pouch! This is a good place for kids to stop, but you can keep going to give your pouch a more finished look.

6. Finish. If desired, add a line of crochet along the loops.

7. Add button. If desired, add a braided piece of yarn and a button. I just added a straight braid to wrap around my button, but you could also make a loop.

Fill with change. Stash your makeup inside. Fit a gift card inside and give it as a gift. Collect odds and ends. Marvel in the cuteness made from a piece of cardboard and some yarn.

Stay cool everyone! And if you’re in one of those lucky places having an unusually cold summer, send some my way!

Today I finally got around to making a new Vermicompost / Worm Bin. Wooo! I’ve been living without a compost bin for a few months now, and I’m going crazy! Compost is one of my favorite things in the world, so I have put together this tutorial to make it one of YOUR favorite things, too!

Vermicompost bins are perfect for those of us with no yards, families with kids (and adults) who <3 worms, and really anyone who wants a simple compost system. The worms in a bin this size can eat 3-4 pounds of food scraps every week, so it can make a big dent in your trash load. The bin is super easy to set up, and these little hard working worms create a compost that improves the structure of the soil, acts as a disease suppressant, and balances pH. It’s great for your garden, your house plants, gifts for your neighbors garden, etc. Have I sold you on keeping a bin of worms under your sink yet?

The Worms
The worms that work best for a vermicompost bin are called Red Wigglers. You will need 1 pound of Red Wigglers to start a worm bin. These worms are happy to live in a shallow bin and are community worms that don’t mind being all clumped together in a small place.

You can ask at local garden stores and bait shops to see if anyone is selling them locally. If not, there are some online sources that will mail you worms. I just did a basic google search and found the following sites that offer Red Wigglers for sale. There are plenty more if these don’t work for you!

• Worm Guys
• Topline
• Monster Worms

The Bin
You can really use any dark container that you can find for worms. I like to use styrofoam coolers because they are cheap (or sometimes even free at pet stores or fish counters – ask around!) and easy to poke holes into. You could also use wooden or plastic rubbermaid containers. For 3-4 pounds of scraps per week, the bin should be about 2′x2′x1′.

Poke or drill 1/4″ holes (pencil-sized) in the bottom and sides of your bin. I also added some to the top of mine. I like to err on the side of too many holes rather than too few. The holes allow oxygen into the bin so the worms can breathe, and also ventilate the bin to keep down smells.

Don’t be afraid to poke holes in the bottom! The worms are much happier in a dark, cool, damp, full of food space than out on your bright, dry kitchen floor. They won’t escape the bin unless conditions inside are really terrible. Without holes, the bin can become far too damp and start to turn anaerobic (yuck!).

Bedding
Worms like to burrow beneath a layer of bedding, so you should always make sure there is a nice thick layer on top of the bin. Bedding can be damp, shredded newspaper or damp leaves. You can use any paper for the bedding, but stay away from glossy or fluorescent papers. The worms will eat the bedding, so you will have to replenish it occasionally. Remember that the bedding should always be kept damp, not wet.

To start your bin, fill it 2/3 full of bedding.

Add Worms
Add 1 pound of worms to the top of the bin, and allow them to crawl to the bottom. Add a handful of sandy dirt to help the worms digest their food. My worms came with all of this dirt; you won’t need to add quite that much.

Cover Bin
Cover your bin with a piece of plastic or the original lid – worms like it in the dark! Set the bin on bricks or blocks of wood to give it better air circulation. Then place a piece of plastic or a tray under the bin to catch any liquid that may drip out. If desired, you can collect the liquid that drips out and use it as a fertilizer on your plants.

Bin Placement
Place your bin in a location that is dark and easily accessible. You will never use it if it is in an inconvenient spot. Place it in under the kitchen sink, in the basement, shed, or garage. You can keep it outside as long as it is protected from the hot summer sun, heavy rains, and freezing weather.

Feeding the Worms
Worms love fruit and vegetable scraps from your kitchen. Be sure to cut up large chunks of food to help it go faster. To feed them, lift up the top layer of bedding in one corner of the bin, place the food scraps in, then cover generously with bedding. With each new additions of scraps, rotate food burial sites clockwise around the bin. This way the worms can eat their way around the bin and distribute an even layer of castings.

I keep a little pin on top so I remember where I last fed them. I just have to remember to move the pin each time I add food.

Here is a list of what you should and shouldn’t add to your worm bin.

Good ideas:

• vegetable/fruit scraps: peels, pulp, cores, leaves, etc.
• coffee/tea: grounds, leaves, filters, bags
• vegetable plate scrapings and leftovers from the back of the ‘fridge
• stale cake and bread crumbs
• cooked grains and cereals
• egg shells

Bad ideas:

• pet wastes
• dairy products
• fatty or oily foods
• meat, fish and bones
• anything non-biodegradable (plastic bags, twist ties, rubber bands, etc.)

Other Organisms
After you start to use your bin, you may notice other organisms besides worms living in your bin. This is normal and good! Worms tunnel through the compost to keep the bin aerobic (and therefore odor-free), quickly reduce the mass of material in the bin, and produce super rich castings. But they can’t do it all alone! They work along with bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and other insects such as potato bugs, springtails, and centipedes. These organisms will seem to come from nowhere, but they really came from the fruit and veggie peels, the soil you added in the beginning, the material the worms came in, etc.

Problems
Odor: If your bin starts to smell, it is probably because there is not enough air, too much water, or too much food in the bin. To solve the problem, make sure you have a thick layer of moist, but not wet, bedding. Fluff it up to restore air space. Stop feeding the worms until they can catch up to the amount of food in the bin. Always underfeed worms in a new bin until they are well established.

Fruit flies: The one organism that you definitely do NOT want in your bin is flies. To get rid of them, mix material in the bin, add a thick layer of new bedding, and stop feeding the worms for a week. When you start to feed again, make sure the food is always buried under the bedding and the bin is always covered.

You can also build a fruit fly trap. Pour some cider vinegar in the bottom of a jar. Make a small cut in the corner of a plastic sandwich bag, and rubber band over jar to make a funnel. Place the jar inside your worm bin. The flies will go in after the vinegar, but will be unable to fly out.

Harvesting Finished Compost
There are 2 main methods to harvesting the finished compost from your worm bin:

Push and Wait:

1. Push contents of bin to one side.
2. Add fresh bedding in empty half.
3. Only add food in new bedding.
4. Wait about a month for all of the worms to migrate to the new bedding.
5. Harvest the compost from the old side once all worms have moved.

Dump and Scoop:

1. Dump contents of bin into small piles on a piece of plastic under a bright light.
2. Wait for the worms to clump at the bottom of the piles – they hate the light.
3. Scoop finished vermicompost from the top of the piles.
4. Return the worms to the bin.

Please ask me any questions that you have regarding vermicompost bins (or really any compost systems!). I am more than happy to help more people compost! I’ve worked with a lot of compost in the past, and even became a Master Composter in NY while in college, so I should be able to answer any of your questions. Happy composting!

Martha decorated hers to look like an American Flag, but for this party I thought that might be a bit over the top. So I just topped my squares with some deliciously sweet and juicy strawberries. This recipe is perfect for summer parties. The lemon zest and almond extract give the cheesecake the most delicious flavor, and it tastes so fresh with fruit on top.

Happy summer!

Luckily we finished our living room just in time. Now we have a cozy space to come home and relax in after our new, exciting, and tiring days! When we first walked in the door of this apartment, my heart sank a little. It was musty and dark and ugly. But now that we’ve finally got it in order, I couldn’t be happier with it!

Here are some before and after shots of our place.

Before:

After:

The awesome bookshelves are from IKEA. They’re a perfect fit! You can see my new cat scratcher in the foreground, which I’m proud to announce Cricket has taken to swimmingly. She is using it like a pro these days.

Before:

After:

You can see the finished hall closet in the background. The cool wall lights are from IKEA. The awesome couch is a 1960’s vinyl couch we found on craigslist. The TV stand is temporary/a craft project waiting to happen.

And look at the finished coffee table!!! That’s the one that Dave and my father-in-law built this past spring. Isn’t it beautiful?

And this one doesn’t have a before picture, but you can see the blue accent wall we painted and a peek at our refinished library table in the dining area/kitchen.

We’ve still got to get the bedroom and the office/craft room in order, so our work is not done yet. Until then, though, it’s time to veg out in our cozy living space.

Our cat Cricket still has her front claws, which means that she needs to stretch and sharpen them occasionally. We never really cared that she scratched on the back of our old couch because we didn’t really like the couch anyway. But now that we’re in our new place with new (to us) couches, we are hoping that we can keep her away from the couches. Which meant that she needed a scratching post!

We headed down to BRING Recycling, which is a home reuse store in Eugene to pick up supplies. And here’s a little tutorial to show you how we made our post.

You will need:

• Carpet scraps (we used 2 carpet squares)
• 4×4 post, tall enough for your cat to extend his/her legs up
• Baseboard (ours was an old cabinet door in a school)
• Nails
• 4 screws
• Small scrap of fabric
• Sisal rope

1. Nail the long edge of your carpet scrap to the post.

2. Pull carpet tightly around the post, overlap the ends a bit, and nail to secure. Use a fair number of nails to be sure that it holds tight.

3. Trim carpet to fit your base, and nail to secure.

4. Add a pretty little scrap of fabric to the top. I secured mine with little tacks. Don’t worry about the edges; they will be covered in rope.

5. Tack end of rope to the post right above the carpet with a nail. Then wrap tightly all the way to the top.

6. Secure rope around the top with nails. Tuck in end.

7. Cut a hole in the center of the carpet base so that you will be able to drill holes without the drill getting caught in the carpet.

8. Drill 4 holes in base and in bottom of post.

9. Screw together base and post with 4 screws.

And you’re finished!!

Here’s Cricket right after we introduced her to it. She’s gotten a few claws in it, but I think we still need to do some training.

Update: After just a few days, Cricket stopped using the couch and now soley uses her cat scratching post. We never even had to use catnip to lure her to it! We just dangled some of her toys over it, and she discovered how much nicer the post was. Hooray!