Fabric Covered Box

In my quest to organize everything in my apartment, I came across lots of boxes. For some reason, I tend to hold onto boxes and bags, in hopes to re-using them; though they just end up piling up and taking up lots of room in my closets. Instead of throwing them all away, I decided to keep a few and use them to organize my stuff. But first, they must be covered in cute fabric!

If the box has writing on it, it might be a good idea to give it a quick coat of paint. Since this box was going to be kept in my bathroom drawer, I didn't really bother.

I also only covered the front, to save fabric. As you can see, the writing on the box shows a bit.

It's a nice little caddy for all of my hair products and lotions. Best of all, it cost virtually nothing to make.

Summer Cleaning

Since school has been out, I have been a little confused with all the extra time on my hands. I'm just not used to it. My brain has to constantly be busy, or else I go into deep cleaning mode. Well, during the past few days, I have thrown away many bags of junk and organized all of my closets and drawers in a very librarian-like fashion. I have even cataloged all my books online -really. I have also tried to cute-up all my drawers, starting with my bathroom.

I was going to show what this looked like with all of my stuff in it, but decided against it. Too messy for the world to see. A few dabs of glue and some wrapping paper later...

All organized!

More on bathroom organization tomorrow.

Group Quilt

As requested, here pictures of the group quilt I am helping out with.

So far, I've only contributed a square, but I hope to make more of a contribution soon, with the border and back.

As you may have noticed, it's a lot different from the quilts I've made in the past. This is my first time working with a quilt group and the other members are so talented, that I tend to stay a bit quiet. I'm not sure if my quilting style is for everyone. Either way, I am really enjoying being part of a quilting group! I'm learning so much and making more of an effort to sew my lines straight and get all my seams to match!

Summer In The Valley

It's very hot here in LA. I have been crafting, though it has been way too hot to post. I did get a new toy to play with...

I had been patiently waiting for this food processor to go on sale. It originally cost $200, but I snatched it for $100! A deal that even made my mom proud! So what's the first thing I made with my new toy? A nice cool drink to make the heat a little more bearable.

I pureed a nectarine, an apricot, and a handful of raspberries, then stirred the mixture into some cold sparkling wine. It was pretty refreshing, definitely a drink to make for a brunch with the girls.

A Pumpkin For Andrew

I know it's not halloween or fall, but my nephew, Andrew, loves pumpkins.

Tomorrow is my Andrew's birthday. Along with his other gifts, I decided to sew him a little pumpkin too. Why a pumpkin? I have no idea, but the boy is totally obsessed with them. He just loves pumpkins. And I know it's not the cutest pumpkin, but I think Andrew will appreciate it simply because it's a pumpkin.

Mexican Crock Pot Casserole

Sundays have become crock pot days in the Annette household. While my Internet was down two weeks ago, I experimented with things around the house, and made an enchilada/burrito-like casserole in my crock pot. Enchilada sauce, tortillas, cheese, refried beans, chilies, chicken, sour cream, and green onions.

I let it simmer for about 7 hours.

It turned into quite a sloppy mess.

The tortillas disappeared, so I had to heat up some fresh ones. The casserole turned into a whole other beast, best eaten like a burrito. Although it looks messy, it was really good. So far, this crock pot has never let me down.

The Huntington Library

Last week I attended a tour at the Huntington Library. I went a little photo crazy in the gardens.

I'm Making A Lasagna

Quite possibly the best lasagna I have made, actually.

One layer of sauce (with extra lean ground turkey), then noodles, then cheese and spinach. Another layer of noodles and sauce, sprinkled with cheese.

Bake at 350, for 40 minutes, until the cheese turns to a golden brown color.

Usually, I bake the cheese and sauce layers next to each other, but separating the cheese and sauce with the noodles let each flavor hold it's own, rather than blending together.

Split Peas And Grilled Cheese

It might be a little too hot for soup these days. It's never too hot for grilled cheese, 5th grade lunch lady style.

The next few weeks are going to be a bit busy with school-work. My apartment is filled with library books and my brain is filled with distractions. If only writing papers was as fun as sewing quilts...

Blue Monday Sunday

I've realized recently that I'm almost half-way done with school, yet my library school quilt was far from half-way done. So, I neglected my research papers and got busy with quilting this weekend. I realize papers deadlines are coming up and this is a bit scary, but quilting is so addicting. Once I get started, it's very hard to stop!

At this point, the quilt is approximately 54" x 95" and covering most of my living room floor. I got home late enough to catch Saturday Night Live last night, so I stayed up and realized that I should get started on my embroidery for the back of the quilt. Oh dear. Not only did I stay up late enough to finish SNL, but I also got through Midnight at the Apollo and a slew of infomercials.

Today I will continue to embroider, as I celebrate my 10 year anniversary with my little blue car! Off to get a car wash, oil change, and possibly a cupcake!

Sew 'N Sew

I've been feeling very charitable lately. In the past week, I have donated blood, ran a 5k marathon for women's cancer, and joined a quilting group at my work, that raffles off a quilt to raise money for a women's shelter. I have worked on a few squares for the quilt, below.

It's a whole new experience working with a quilting group. I guess I'm a little worried that my work might be too messy for the group. I have such high respect for those who sew perfect seams, but personally, I love the flaws in handmade. I just hope my little squares are good enough. The quilt we're working on is really neat, it's not my usual style, though I'm really excited to be working with such a talented group on a quilt for such a good cause.

New Fabrics

This means new projects! Good design and patterns inspire me to get up and get crafty! Somehow my old fabrics get more exciting with new pattern combinations.

I try to make a habit of purchasing a big batch of fabric twice a year, just to keep things fresh. Luckily, I haven't run out of storage room yet, but if I do that just means more projects, not less fabric.

Fabric Pouch

I just got a new shipment of fabrics in (will be pictured and posted soon), so I've been anxious to sew something. Anything. I'm still re-working how to incorporate my new fabric into my scrap quilt, which may consist of cutting and shredding what I have, to add these new ones in. I may just do that.

In the meantime, I have scratched my sewing itch with this pocket pouch.

Coming soon: new fabrics and a new pocket project.

Pot Roast

The other day, I came across the seasoning isle in the supermarket - did you know they actually have seasonings especially for slow cookers? This got me super excited for another experiment. In went the vegetables: carrots, potatoes, celery, and onions:

Then came the roast and some beer. The seasoning called for a cup of water, but I substituted it with beer, after my last experiment with beer went so well. I do think the Asahi might be the better beer to cook with, though I think I prefer the Sierra Nevada to drink.

For this particular dish, I think red wine may have even worked a bit better, but it was pretty good!

Up next? Possibly a dessert of some kind? Maybe a dip?

Pistachio Icebox Cookies

Continued from yesterday's post, today I sliced up the cookie dough and baked multiple batches of cookies.

So buttery, so sugary, so good.

Thank you, Martha.

Green With Envy

Martha did me good with the chocolate chip cookies, so I'm going for the icebox cookies, with pistachios. I got a fresh batch of pistachios from Sunday's farmer's market, so I was ready to get to it.

After peeling the shells off of the pistachios, I crushed them a bit and added them to my icebox cookie batter. I also added a few drops of green food dye, to give them a nice, fun tint.

Martha suggests putting the parchment covered cookie rolls into cardboard tubes, which I did not have.

So, I'm afraid my cookies will not be perfect circles, but as long as they are tasty, I won't mind. They are in the fridge for now - but results will be posted soon.

Overdue Quilt

I've been working a little too hard on this quilt. Quilting is so addicting, once I start, I can't stop. Not good for my homework. I made my favorite new square today, which is making me rethink the entire quilt.

So far, the quilt is 65" x 51.5" (this will probably shrink a bit, once I sew things together).

I might sew the quilt together, then re-cut it up (which would re-shrink it again). The square above is definitely the most interesting area on the quilt, so I think I need more of that. I can always add it later because I'm definitely going to make the quilt bigger (how much bigger, I don't know.. but bigger than this). I know I eventually want to add the librarian style embroidery I have been working on, but I don't know whether to add it to the front or the back of the quilt. I have no idea. For some reason, this quilt might just consume me, unless I finish it. Unfinished projects make me way too nervous.

Milk And Cookies

Sundays are good. They are the day that I like to get things done and today I did just that. I went to the farmers market, worked on this quilt, made my lunch for the week, had some outstanding leftovers, and made many dozens of cookies for school.

Last time I made cookies, I wasn't completely convinced. They were good, but not repeat recipe good. This time, I went with Martha Stewart's chocolate chip cookie recipe from this book, though I changed the recipe slightly. This is definitely a repeat recipe. I loved this cookie and I hope my schoolmates do too!

Beer Chicken Fajitas

I don't get to play online as much as I used to. School has started and it has been pretty good, so far. I am IN LOVE with my preservation class. My inner science geek comes out and makes my heart pitter patter during each lecture. We actually tested paper samples for their PH and aluminum content the other day. It was absolutely wonderful. My true calling has arrived and soon, I will take on paper conservation internships. I can not wait. I knew I wanted to spent the entire day doing homework, so in preparation of dinner, I work up bright and early and started chopping onions and bell peppers.

Yes. That is a beer too. The beer, along with marinated chicken, the onions, and bell peppers, all went into my little crock pot.

About 8 hours later, I placed the mixture onto a hot tortilla with some sour cream.

This was absolutely the most tender chicken I have ever eaten, ever.

I will be making this recipe again and again.

Scrap Card

While sewing my scrap quilt, I've accumulated a number of fabric scraps. While most of these scraps go back into the quilt, some of them have inspired me to make fabric covered cards.


This one went to my friend, Beth. These cards are a great use of fabric scraps and are super simple to make - arrange scraps and either hand sew or machine sew them onto the card. I machine sewed the one above, and added a little heart on the inside.

Breakfast Of Champions

It's been quite a few weeks. Homework? Not really. Crafting? Yes, but that wasn't it either. I actually got out of my apartment and socialized.. a lot. I'm not a hermit or anything, but I'm not the type to go out all day, all night, everyday. Well, the past few weekends, I have been the type that goes out, a lot. It's been nice. A little crazy, but nice. Waking up has been a bit more difficult. My weekend mornings have been later than usual, but whether it's 7am or 2pm, I still love me some breakfast.

My mom visited me on Saturday afternoon. She brought me Fruit Loops too! She knows my addiction to sugary cereal all too well. It's my weakness.

Though, I'm also a sucker for over-easy eggs and veggie sausage. Breakfast is my favorite.

Real Simple Pasta

During lunch today, my friend Julian mentioned I should try a recipe from the current issue of Real Simple Magazine. I had all the ingredients at home, so I went for it. The recipe is Parmesan pasta with chicken and rosemary.

It was pretty good, only it was very rich. I only managed to eat a few bites before I got full. Making this recipe made me realize that I have way too many magazines at home. I must miss lots of great recipes, because I never get a chance to fully appreciate everything that each magazine has to offer. Some of my magazines have bookmarks (aka bobby-pins) on pages with recipes I'd like to make some day, but I think it's time to go back and do a thorough recipe search.

My New Sewing Kit

My friend Lauren gave me the most wonderful sewing kit!

Not only is it pretty on the outside and goes perfectly with my decor, but the inside was full of surprises!

Vintage sewing notions galore.. thank you, Lauren!