I have lots of vintage linens -pillowcases, sheets, napkins, hankies, you name it. I think they have such lovely patterns and colors so why not feature them on a little pocket notebook? I've written up a simple tutorial.






cut your folder. you only need the bottom portion.













You can use plain paper, lined paper, scrapbook paper, graph paper, stationary sheets-
 whatever you like








There you have it! I have to give credit to Katherine @http://makingchickensalad.blogspot.com/ for the great diy post on Design*Sponge that inspired this project! You can find it here http://www.designspongeonline.com/2009/08/diy-project-vintage-sheet-file-folders.html

Thanks for looking!

 I recently made this ring and I am just in love with it. The gorgeous vintage flower was formerly a clip-on earring. Often in my thrifting and estate sale adventures I have come across clip-on earrings. I usually just pass them by without giving them a second thought.

Clip-on or no I had to have these vintage beauties. According to the stamp on the hardware they were made in Germany. I imagine some lovely lady wore these with a fabulous full-skirted frock. I'll be wearing mine with just about everything I think.

The base was made with a Vintaj diamond filigree that I bent into a ring shape. After removing the metal hardware I just adhered the ring on to the base and voila!

Thanks for looking!

I ended my long hiatus from my sewing machine with this little guy. He was about half machine sewn and the rest was done by hand. He's the first sewn softie I've done in a long time. He's kinda scrappy. I used bits from my vintage pile. His feet are a little wonky because the only plain black fabric I had was jersey. I'm not going to say sewing those itty bitty limbs was super fun but, I adore the end result. He needs a name don't you think? Any suggestions?



I kinda love how this picture came out. Mr. Pig looks as if he's telling a corny joke like this one: "Did you hear about the piglets who wanted to do something special for mother’s day?" "What did they do?" "They threw a sowprize party." Mr. Froggy is just not impressed.

I followed the pattern from Sew Me, Love Me and the instructions were well laid out and easy to follow. The photos in this book are lovely. All her little stuffed friends have a sweet homey look to them. Lots of patchwork and button details. I've already started on the next one! Thanks for looking, have a lovely day!

I absolutely love a cup of hot tea. My friends and I love to have little fancy tea parties for fun. I saw this charm bracelet over at mod cloth (sold out) and I thought it was adorable!

I was so *charmed* by it (yuk yuk) I went to the craft store to raid the dollhouse/miniatures section. With the little tea cups, I made myself some earrings! Luckily the little cups are really light so they're just perfect.  I'm in love and I've already worn them a bunch. I still have the rest of the set left over so maybe I'll make a bracelet for a friend.


I think they hang just perfectly.

Thanks for looking, C & C appreciated.

Hooray! My first FO for the new year. I made this for a dear lady and I hope she likes it. The pattern was easy enough and worked up very quickly. I made it with Louisa Hardings Kashmir Aran, which is nice but all three balls I used had knots in them :/ Has anyone else used those yarns? Problems?

I liked the design of the pattern, but I don't like the seam down the middle so much. I think I might do something different than the chain stitch cast on next time. It's not noticeable if you are wearing it so, it's not so bad I guess.





on ravelry -http://www.ravelry.com/projects/xoxok/cardiff-cowl-2
Thanks for looking!

I really loved this pattern. I used some Vanna's Choice from my stash just in case it went into the Pile of No Return. But, after knitting and knitting and knitting and then putting off sewing the buttons on for a month, it is finally finished! Hoorah. The Pattern comes from www.knitty.com.











I will definitely be making more of these! (after the new year, of course!)

on Ravelry - http://www.ravelry.com/projects/xoxok/carnaby-skirt

I was inspired by the latest issue of Bust magazine to make these and I am so thrilled that I did. SO tasty. I made a few alterations to the recipe.The lack of excessive sweetness took a little getting used to. The recipe calls for brown rice sugar, not those little individually wrapped caramel candies so the processed sugar was nixed. This really allowed for the peanut butter taste to come through and wow, it was heavenly.

I kinda want to have these around all the time! I would suggest using old fashioned popsicle sticks rather than bamboo skewers. The skewers tended to be a little weak for the heavy apples and some of them broke.

Here's my Penny the Panda, I got the pattern from the lion brand website. I think she's sweet. I whipped her up while watching Top Gear and Jaws.

I made her mostly according to pattern, except I didn't felt her. I also thought she was cuter without legs (I made them, just thought she looked better without -is that creepy?)

I also made a little flower out of a yo-yo from some vintage fabric I had.

thanks for looking.

Upton's Naturals Chorizo Style Seitan

I give it 5 out of 5 stars. Wow, I ate this in a breakfast burrito and was knocked out. I really didn't know what to expect but, I was impressed. Vegan, free of GMO's and incredibly tasty. It was not made primarily of soy, which was a plus for me but, it did contain wheat so that may be limiting for some. Great texture and taste. The crumbles did not become soggy when cooked (like some meat alternatives.) This is exactly what I look for in pre-packaged veggie foods.

I got it at Whole Foods for 4.99 (or something like that). Upton's also has a recipe blog which I look forward to using some of their recipes.

This recipe came from the June/July issue of ReadyMade magazine. As soon as I saw it I had to try it. Simple and delicious.  

Makes: about 1 quart

3 c Greek-style yogurt (I used 2 cups plain & 1 vanilla flavored)
1½ c sugar (I only used 1 cup)
¼ c freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 t vanilla
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t dried lemon zest
⅛ t salt
1 c fresh strawberries, quartered and thinly sliced

1. Combine the yogurt, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon, lemon zest, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth.

2. Freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Add strawberries during the last minute of mixing in the ice cream maker. Transfer frozen yogurt to an airtight container and place in the freezer for 2 to 4 hours before serving.

I like this recipe because : in addition to being very tasty, there was almost no work involved (easy is good) and it only used a handful of ingredients. I altered it just a little bit to suit my needs.