vegan tastiness.

every wednesday night is LOST night at our house. we have my sister over and usually our friend allison who is practically a sister too. we cook a tasty dinner and then cozy up on the couch for some good old fashioned tv time!

one of my new years resolutions was to cook vegan 3x a week. i have to applaud myself because i'm really doing a good job of sticking to that. the hardest part being vegan for me is to give up cheese which is why i could never commit to a strict vegan diet.

i love love love 101cookbooks.com. heidi, who writes this blog, is a vegetarian (as am i) and she often cooks vegan, which i love doing too. amanda and allison are both vegans so last night for dinner i whipped up some vegan delights. for dinner i used a recipe from one of heidi's that i've been dying to try for a long time... orange pan glazed temeph. yuuummmmm! she suggested serving it with kale and wheat berries but i served it with broccoli, brown rice and vegan spring rolls. the tempeh was soooo tasty and full of flavor but for some reason, when it cooked, the tempeh soaked all the sauce up and there wasn't alot to put over the top of the rice/broccoli. other than that, it was delicious and i will definitely be cooking this again. next time though, i'm going to throw a little flour in to see if that will thicken up the mixture and prevent the sauce from getting soaked up by the tempeh.

since i took care of dinner, allison brought over stuff to make dessert. this was our favorite part. vegan oreo (yep, oreos are vegan!) milkshakes... she used vanilla soy ice cream, vanilla soy milk and a whole lotta oreos. tasty.

so, go on 101cookbooks and check out some tasty recipes. it's easy to be healthy when it tastes so damn good.

enjoy. xoxo.

owl love you forever.

in keeping with the owl theme this week... i made a cute project with my son a few days ago. he found a a big fat pinecone at the park on monday that was begging to be used in a project. so, when we got home we put that thing to use.

all you need is:

• brown, black, white and orange construction paper
• feathers (can get a a craft store, we used brown/black)
• glue stick
• hot glue (obviously parents, you do this part...)
• scissors
• a pinecone of choice

first cut out all the pieces to build your owl. this is a great lesson in shapes for your little one. all the pieces are very simple. you need to cut two ovals (for the wings) from the brown paper, an orange triangle (for the beak), two white circles for the eyes (you can also use googly eyes, but i didn't have any around... or couldn't find them... ha ha.), and two black smaller circles for the inside of the eyes.

plug in the hot glue gun (preferably away from your child). now take the glue stick (or have your child do this part) and cover the brown ovals. have your little one glue on feathers to the brown ovals for the wings. we were very generous with the feathers for ours.

then glue the black circles in the middle of the white circles for the eyes. for the beak, you can gently fold the triangle in half length wise to shape it a little if you'd like.

now all you have to do is glue the pieces on. i simply folded a small part of the top of each wing and glued each one to the side of the pinecone. then the eyes, beak and that's it! what a fun, simple and cheap project.

i hope you enjoy this craft. xoxo.

first fridays... it's a riot. (right tony?)

this friday you don't want to miss first fridays in 5 points!


anomaly will be showcasing new works by herb ephlick. he's got a modern, progressive street art style and adds a little political satire to the mix. it's really cool stuff and the smaller pieces will be running at about $75. would make a nice present for that special someone for valentine's day!

the free beer and wine will be flowin' till it's gone AND we'll have tons of new OBEY straight from southern cali!!!

make sure to also check out lots of other fun stuff going on around the neighborhood. live music and art at FLUX, beers and tasty treats at RAGLANDS, O'BROTHERS, STEAMWORKS and more!!! make a night of it and don't let the cold weather scare you away! there will be plenty of beer flowing to keep you toasty.

hope to see you in 5P friday!

6-9P (or later!)

xoxo.

more cutesy animal valentines!

tell the one you love how 'tweet' he/she is with a birdy card! this one is my favorite! i got the cute printed card from the $1 store in a pack of 8 for a buck! (i know, so cute!!!) and then used solid card stock to build the picture. i have drawn out all the patterns, and if my scanner is working, i will post the patterns later so you can try this at home. i'm heading to the store shortly with a lot on my to do list, so we'll what the day brings.

another take is to make a little tag instead of a card. fill a cool jar (i went with a flea market find from the other day!) with tasty candies and special treats and tie the tag around the top. what a cute lil' summin' for someone special. i'd already stamped this one, but after the fact i thought of putting 'a special tweet just for you' on it... oh well there's always next time.

i was feeling inspired to make more little paper patchwork animals last night. i did a little mouse stamped with "be my big cheese please"... i know... i know... so dorky, but isn't that what valentine's day is all about.

i've got so many ideas to write about this week... i'm going to post a kid craft... yesterday after the park, my son and i made a cute owl out of a pine cone. pics and instructions to come! yay!

and can i just say, 3 cheers for multiple posts in a week! you better watch out... there's loads more where this came from. i don't know where all this blogging energy is coming from, but i love it.

don't miss craftacular tuesdays TONIGHT from 6:30-8:30. it's always a great time!

until then... xoxo.

whooooo do you love?

ok, so valentine's day is a little bit hallmark-esque waste of a day, but it's nice to remind the ones you care about that in fact you do care about them. what better way to do that than with an adorable handmade owl card. clearly this owl's got love on it's mind. how about you?

come to anomaly tomorrow night and make this too cute card!

when? 6:30-8:30

bring? 5 bucks and crafty friends

call if you've got any questions... 354-7002

see you tomorrow night! xoxox.

fabulous flea markets.

i just have to share some amazing flea market finds from my adventures today. i love flea markets and i really love scavenging for treasures... broken jewelry, rusty chairs and vintage sheets just waiting for me to take home!

i used to work every single sunday and it sucked. i pretty much work every saturday already and then giving up my sunday too... i needed to regain some sanity so i haven't been working sundays for the past few weeks. it's so nice to be able to go out and do things... especially with the weather like it was today. i took full advantage of a sunday off and headed to the flea market! it's great for finding cool stuff but also the people watching... you never know what you're going to see.

i scored...

• a handstitched wall hanging, with vintage frame. $2. the details and craftsmanship are absolutely incredible! it made me wonder if in 40 years someone would be buying my crafts at a flea market. :)
  

• a ball mason jar. $1. these are pretty easy to find, but there is something about the charm of a mason jar full of flowers.
  
• a lion counter. $1. this is so freaking cute and i've never seen anything like it! the middle turns and the number counts up to 31 so you can keep track of the days of the month. i got it for my son to use to practice his counting.
  
• a super fun pair of vintage shoes. $3. the print is so bright and springy and they fit perfectly. (well, maybe a little snug but we suffer for fashion, right?)
  
• and the score of the day... $3. a set of 4 vintage craft books from 1974. it's the LeeWards Illustrated Library of Arts and Crafts. sure to pull from for inspiration for future craft nights. most excellent. the cover art is wonderful!
  
• 2 baskets of strawberries and a bunch of cilantro. $4. fresh and delicious.

• women's liberation button and broken earring. 50 cents each. the button is SO cool. i love it because buying it today made me think about the person that wore it during the feminist movement. this button was worn by someone with the passion and drive to fight for something she (or he?!?) believed in. but i bought it today, to inspire me to never forget what drive and passion can do. although there's still a long way to go, we live in an age where an african american is now the president! this country has really evolved and gives me hope for future generations

stay tuned. i'm posting the tuesday night project tomorrow. i've got a couple projects lined up and i'm still trying to decide what to do!!!

until then... xoxo.

picture perfect.

so sorry about last week. i was super sick and didn't get out of bed for practically 24 hours! so i apologize if any of you came out to a cancelled craft night!!! that being said, we're back in business tomorrow night with an all new, super cute craft!

some of our regulars were nice enough to donate phone wire that is so much fun to craft with! (thanks sandra and gail!!!) this tuesday we're painting, then adorning wooden picture frames with wire flowers and buttons!

not to get all mushy on everyone, but i just have to say that i've met some really amazing people at craftacular and i'm so thankful for all the support you have all shown for this! you all are the ones that inspire me at times, when i'm feeling a little less than enthused, to keep going. you guys make me laugh and inspire me. plus i love the craft community we're building! i really can't thank you enough for your continued support!

i'd really love to start having a few more classes a week. i've had lots of requests for specific areas. we'll see where 2009 takes us. i've got so many ideas and things i'd like to do this year, i just need to get on it!!!

and for all of you that are interetsed in selling your wares, you should check out RAM. it's going to be a phenomenal event held every saturday right on the river in riverside!

so much for my new years resolution of posting more than once a week! i guess i've still got time to work on it though... it is only january. i've also had requests for tutorials, so i may work on that too.

hope to see you to you all at anomaly, 6:30-8:30. BYOB. it's fun.

also SAVE THE DATE... FIRST FRIDAYS IS COMING UP ONE WEEK FROM THIS FRIDAY. who doesn't love a party in 5 points?

make sure to check out JAXSCENE for other cool happenings going on in this amazing city of ours!!! woo hoo!

xoxo,
emily