Author Archives: Suzanne

Changing the Curtains for Spring

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Our front door has a big decorative glass window in it. To give us the feeling of privacy in the evening, we hung a curtain on the door. At night, we go into “lockdown.” This process simply entails pulling the curtains on the front door and kitchen window that looks out onto our front porch.

In the fall, I hang a gray velvet curtain (matches our couch) from Anthropologie –the Viceroy Velvet Curtain. (One of my splurges with our house). I found a matching gray curtain at TJMaxx and used the iron-on hem tape to shorten it to fit our kitchen window. (There was no way I was going to buy another Viceroy Velvet and massacre it.)

Viceroy Velvet Curtain

Viceroy Velvet Curtain Closed


Viceroy Velvet Curtain Open

Viceroy Velvet Curtain Open


Gray Curtain in Kitchen Closed

Gray Curtain in Kitchen Closed


Gray Curtain in Kitchen Opened

Gray Curtain in Kitchen Opened

When Spring comes, I switch out these gray velvet curtains for something , lighter, friendlier, and more colorful. I found two curtains at Pier One on sale when we first moved in; I loved the colors and snatched them up. I hung the one in the kitchen from it’s bottom hem instead of using the loops (again using the iron-on hem tape to shorten the curtain to fit).

Curtain at Front Door Closed

Curtain at Front Door Closed (Plus Cat)


Curtain at Front Door Opened

Curtain at Front Door Opened (Plus Cat)


Curtain at Kitchen Closed

Curtain at Kitchen Closed


Curtain at Kitchen Open

Curtain at Kitchen Open

Sorry for the poor quality of all the open curtain images; I couldn’t get my lighting settings right when I was taking pictures.

Flower-Shaped Treat Box How-To

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One of the blogs that I read everyday is Prudent Baby. They have really cute projects and generally inspiring posts. They also have lots of contests for various prizes, but I usually don’t enter because their contests are usually sewing-related (and I am not a sewer–yet). However, on March 17th they announced a, “Sweet on Paper Contest,” to win an 11×17 Brother Printer. I really need a new printer, so I developed this flower-shaped box as my entry. The azaleas that are starting to bloom around our yard to signal the start of spring were an excellent source of inspiration.
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Socks with Sandals

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  • Sandals with Socks

  • I love, love, love the concept of wearing socks with sandals. This photo shows me trying out this style with my brand new pair of OTBT Black Trenton’s (that I got on final-pair sale for a great deal at Lori’s Shoes of Chicago).

    These shoes are super-cute, comfy, and make me about 6′-4″ (eye-to-eye with my husband). They’re great, and I have no worries about wearing them without socks. But can anyone really wear sandals with socks? There are tons of article on the interwebs about how socks with sandals may no longer be a faux-pas, but I dunno. There are some days that I don’t care about breaking the rules, but there are other days that I do want to look to put together. I think I’ll err on the conservative side of this issue and opt for sandals with opaque black tights or bare feet only (most of the time).

My New Favorite Candidate: Vote Red Wine

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  • Vote Red Wine

  • Saturday morning, I had the luxury of driving around and doing some thrift store shopping in North Carolina. I hit my favorite thrift stores in Calabash, Sunset Beach, and Ocean Isle. (I found some cool items too, but that’s another story.) Heading north on Highway 179, I saw this very awesome sign right next to Big Nell’s Pit Stop; I have truly found my candidate in the next election.

    There’s really nothing else to say.

Winter Yarn Wreath (with little owl friend)

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I love outside Christmas decorations. We actually start our outdoor decorating in October for Halloween, use our non-carved pumpkins & add some scarecrows for Thanksgiving, then take down all the autumn and put up pretty lights and a wreath. (If it was up to me, I’d leave our Christmas lights up year-round, but Rob thinks it might make the neighbors think that we’re just too lazy to take them down…) Continue reading →

Our Fra Diavolo Spaghetti Sauce (Yummy! Spicy!)

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I think everyone craves hearty, warm foods in the winter. At our house, we usually cook a lot more curry, stew, and chili. One thing we love to make is our spaghetti sauce; Rob and I both like hot, so this is a pretty hot dish. However, this dish only uses cayenne and crushed red pepper flakes because we generally have that on hand. (lots of it) When we recently made this spaghetti, we served it with Tracy’s Killer Garlic Bread. That bread was awesome, amazing, words cannot describe the joy…

Spicy Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound ground hot sausage
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1/2 medium-sized chopped onion
  • 2 cans chopped tomatoes (14.5 oz can)
  • 29 oz. can of tomato sauce
  • 8 oz. can of tomato sauce
  • 2 cans of tomato paste (6 oz. can)
  • 2 tsp. basil
  • 1 tsp. oregano
  • 1/4 tsp. thyme
  • 1/2 tsp. parsley
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • Black Pepper to taste
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp. red wine vinegar
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tbsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes*
  • 1 tbsp Cayenne Pepper*

*Adjust to your liking; we love spicy!

In a large skillet, brown sausage and beef on medium heat. When they’re no longer pink, add in the onion to brown also. Stir frequently. When the meat is browned to your liking and the onions are tender, spoon out most of the remaining oil from the meat. Add all the other ingredients, cover, and cook for two hours on medium-low heat (stirring occasionally). Serve over pasta and top with some good grated parmesan (or skip the parm if you’re my cheese-hating husband). Yummy!

Spicy Spaghetti Sauce

Sunday’s Skillet Toffee

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Rob and I wanted to try our hand at toffee this holiday season (what a great gift for everyone!), so I decided to try this AMAZING recipe from Apartment Therapy. I never knew toffee was so easy to make. And because I’m not a big candy maker, I found the whole process truly fascinating. I took pictures step-by-step to share the coolness.

We ended up making 3 batches. It’s pretty easy clean-up (hot water melts all the hard candy), and each batch goes very quickly. I tried to use my candy thermometer to measure the temperature to make sure I got it to a “hard crack” temperature (300-310), but the mixture wasn’t deep enough in the skillet. That said, the cracking on the toffee is perfect. You just have to get it to a deep golden brown (constantly stirring). We made one change from the original recipe; we used toasted pecan bits as our topping because it just felt more southern to us than the almonds. It’s seriously a perfect recipe!

Tinseled Pompom Garland

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There have been a lot of really cute garlands around this holiday season. I’ve been especially drawn to the felted ball garlands, like this one at Anthropologie:
Anthropologie Garland

or this one at Branch:Branch Garland

And, I think this Christmas ornament garland from Crate & Barrel is also pretty cute:
Crate and Barrel Garland

I set about doing some research investigating what kind of garland cost would fit into our budget. (I already suspected a DIY solution would be required.) Using the garlands previously mentioned, their prices per linear foot are $11.66, $8.00, and $1.55 (in the order in which they appear). Using ribbon twirled around our tree, I calculated that we need approximately 50 feet of garland. This would make the cost $583, $400, and $77.50, respectively. The Crate and Barrel garland cost isn’t too bad, but the Anthropologie and Branch garlands were way out of our price range. But I still preferred the felted wool balls (especially the continuous ring of balls like the one from Branch).

A visit to Walmart’s craft department gave me an idea–a garland from Tinseled Pompoms. Tinseled pompoms are not the same as the felted wool balls, but they’re still pretty cute. (And they sparkle!) I figured an experiment was in order to check out the cost. I assembled my materials: 1 Bag of Tinseled Pompoms (75 per bag), Clear Fishing Line, and a Needle.
The Materials

I used a pretty big needle and just pushed it through the center of each of the pompoms.
Needle through the Pompom

When I was through with the bag (about 15 minutes), I had 3 feet of garland.
Garland!

The pompoms are $2.97 per bag; one linear foot of garland costs about $1.00. To finish up the entire garland, it will cost $50.00 (give or take). This is the most affordable garland! And I’m really pleased with the end result. I love the size variation and the tinsel.
On the tree

I will post a better picture when we’re through decorating the tree. Making this garland can be a bit time-consuming, but it’s an easy activity to do when you’re chilling out watching a movie; the whole family can get involved. And the end product can be used again and again!

Semi-Homemade Christmas Stockings

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When it came time to make some Christmas stockings for my husband and me, I was limited by the fact that I can’t sew. (I know this is a severe character flaw that I will begin to remedy in the new year via sewing classes from my mother.) I had no idea what I wanted our stockings to look like, but I love patterns and texture. And I can embroider.

Christmas Stockings 1
I purchased some ready-made, extra large (we love things in our stockings and the nuts, candies, and fruit take up a lot of space) stockings for cheap. I went to my fabric craft reserve and picked out some vintage fabrics and a set of green striped sheets. The stockings had white furry cuffs at the top, so I removed the cuffs and used the size as a general guide for the new green-striped cuffs I added.

Embellishment was a difficult choice, but I decided to use a winter/Christmas theme–snowflakes for me, Christmas trees for Rob. If we ever need to make some more stockings in the future (ie – if we ever have kids), I’ll probably do one with presents, or stars, or gingerbread men shapes; the possibilities are endless! I cut snowflakes and trees out of the vintage fabrics and tacked them on with some glue and embroidery – french knots and running stitches. I used my laptop to lay out our names in a script font and then traced the names through the green-striped sheet using a fabric pen and relying on the light of my laptop for the tracing. I embroidered our names with a crewel yarn to give them some oomph.

Detail Shot 1

Detail Shot 2

The last step was sewing the new cuffs on to the stockings. I did it all with very simple stitches (by hand), but they are surprisingly sturdy. The overall product is pretty rustic, but I’m really pleased with them. The fabrics are so pretty, and I love the green striped cuffs with the red stockings. I’ve saved the sheets & vintage fabrics in a special box, so if we do ever have kids I can use the same method to make new ones! (Or if I ever feel like doing stockings for all the animals!)

Christmas Stockings 2