Field Trip: Ledges State Park

So today's post isn't about making things, but I went to another state park over the weekend and I thought I should share the photos since it was quite the lovely spot. Plus, I can't help it, I'm still so excited about having a camera that takes pictures that aren't blurry!

The park was called Ledges State Park and it was about 45 minutes away, near Ames, which is where Iowa State is located. A friend mentioned it to me as being a place that had actual hiking trails (rather than the paved multi-use trails that are so popular around here, and come in handy for biking) so I figured it would be a great way to spend part of my Sunday.

You should know that I love hiking. Love it. I'd do it most days if I could and for hours on the weekend. But, it seems, Iowa doesn't feel the same way as I've yet to find a place where I can walk in the woods for even just an hour without winding up back where I started (which is a parking lot area filled with people grilling meat—which is a perfectly acceptable summertime activity, but mildly frustrating when I'm trying to walk away from populated areas).

I've decided to remain hopeful, however, because as you can see the possibility exists. I did enjoy the scenery and that the spot was quite wooded. And I liked seeing this area of native grasses and flowers. And taking pictures of it.

And this stream that was a popular place for kayaks and fishing.

Which brings me to my request. If any of you Iowans know a place that has/is:
1. unpaved hiking/walking trails that are, say, at least 4 miles long
2. in an undeveloped area, such as in a preserve or state park
3. not such the hot spot for motorcycles
4. within two hours from Des Moines

I'm remaining hopeful that such a place exists. I know this state is nearly completely planted with corn and soybeans, but all I need is one spot—just one!—to walk on a dirt trail in the woods and I'll be a happy girl. And at the end of the day if this doesn't exist here, well this just means two things: I will start going camping regularly in neighboring states and I will become much better friends with my bike. Oh and I'll remain a fervent fan of walks in Waterworks Park. Not such a horrible alternative (I say reassuringly to myself, as I force myself to look on the bright side!).

Instant Heirloom: Knit Sampler Blanket

Today's post is slightly different from most of the other Instant Heirloom's that I've posted. The maker of the item doesn't have an etsy shop or make part of her living crafting. She just happens to be very talented and enormously generous person who knits in her spare time, and often, gives her creations to other people to enjoy. Like me! Just when I thought I was done being thanked effusively for helping with Virginia's wedding, her mom sent me this amazing knitted blanket! I was absolutely shocked to receive this in the mail and so honored that Marian took the time to make me such a lovely gift.

Here you can see the entire piece, with is made up of unique pieces that show off Marian's amazing skill with knitting needles. She and V were actually the ones to reteach me to knit last summer, though I'm not kidding when I say I would do a row or two in the same time it took Marian to knit an entire hat.

This one, with its woven lattice, is something I've never seen before—and definitely cannot fathom how it's done. I will just remain in awe...

This might be my favorite square (tied with the first image with the pink flower). We know I love trees (which yes, I realize, sounds hokey every single time I say it), and I really enjoy the pink floral embellishments.

And look, my initials! I admit that I didn't even notice this detail for the first two days I had the blanket, but then V mentioned it and I couldn't believe I'd missed it. I must have been distracted by the rest of it.

Another close up of a square for you. All of this is to say that I'm incredibly grateful to have such talented people in my life who keep sending me lovely things. And knowing how I feel getting this type of a present reminds me of why I spend the time on my quilting projects* that I do—because it does really matter when someone takes the time to put a piece of themselves into a gift. Plus, just knowing that she was thinking of me, and sent me this to help me stay warm in the I-keep-hearing-they-are-so-awful Iowa winters makes me very happy.

*Just a note on my quilting since it's been a few weeks since I showed anything on here. Well, I have two projects going on right now: the wall hanging for my mom which I've been showing you, then another super secret project which I haven't since it's, you know, a secret. And that's the one I've been spending my time on. Soon I will share! (Well it might not be that soon, but I
l'll at least show you some progress on the wall hanging soon!)

Homemade Granola Bars

As I promised myself I would, I made granola bars this weekend. They are my go-to snack and I've decided that they are made with basic enough ingredients and I make so much of my own granola that I should be able to make them as well. Turns out it's not quite that simple. It's hard, in fact, to get them to hold together! This is the third recipe that I've tried, and each had varying degrees of success (one tasted awful, one was great but I had to change the cooking time significantly). But, slight crumbliness aside, these are the best I have made so far. They have excellent flavor and I am very excited to have them in my snacking future.

I printed the recipe out many months ago, and unfortunately I didn't keep a record of where it is from (I'm sorry and grateful to the lovely person who developed this!). I adjusted the recipe to suit what I had on hand, which is reflected below. I wrapped each square individually so they are just as convenient as packaged ones. Plus since I had everything in my pantry, it's sort of like they are free!

Coconut Peanut Raisin Granola Bars
Makes about 12 bars, depending on how large or small you cut them

Ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup 7-grain cereal
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 1/2 cups peanuts
2/3 cup agave nectar (you can also use honey)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp + 1/2 tsp canola oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 unsweetened shredded dried coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with 1/2 tsp canola oil.
3. Coarsely chop nuts in food processor, pulsing to prevent from pasting up. Remove and set aside.
4. Place oats, 7-grain cereal, wheat germ, nuts, and coconut on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes, stirring several times to prevent burning.
5. During the final few minutes of baking, warm up the agave nectar, the oil, the vanilla and the salt. Stir to dissolve the salt.
6. Remove the cereal mixture from the oven and reduce the temperature to 300.
7. Add the cereal mixture to a large bowl, pour in the oil/sweetener and stir to combine. Add the raisins and mix well.
8. Transfer the mixture to the baking dish. Using a flat spatula, press down on the mixture to level the surface.
*9. Bake for 25 minutes at 300 degrees. When you remove the dish from the oven, carefully slice into bars, pressing down on any bars that crumble to reshape them. The bars will be soft and crumbly while they are hot. Allow them to cool completely before attempting to remove them from the pan.

*Since I used a smaller baking pan, 8x8 as it was the closest to the suggested size, and my bars were thicker, I wound up nearly tripled the baking time to dry them out more. I covered the pan with foil for the final 20 minutes so that the top didn't get too brown, but since the temperature was so low, it just pulled out a bit more moisture. Don't be scared to experiment with different nuts (like almonds), seeds (the original recipe called for 1/4 cup of sesame seeds) and dried fruit, though if you use something bigger like apricots dice them up (or chop them in the food processor) so that they will be evenly distributed.

I love the texture of the bars and the flavor of the peanuts is delightful. Some day I'm totally making these with chocolate chips!

Inspired Image: Cara of Little Pretties

Hello, my name is Cara Veeder of Little Pretties

You can find me at caraveeder@gmail.com (until I get my website up, which will hopefully be really soon!)

This image comes from Picnic by Ellie's photostream on flickr.com

It inspires me because I've always loved children's book illustrations from the 50s and 60s. Though I grew up as a child of the 80s, my parents used to read me books from THEIR childhoods, so the vintage illustrations are nostalgic for me and hold a special place in my heart!

I particularly love the bright candy colors (and the cute little bunny in the bottom left corner!)

It makes me feel happy and young at heart.

The 3 words it conjures up are bright, playful, timeless.


Cara will be one of the very talented people helping out at the Des Moines Swap-O-Rama-Rama tomorrow, a clothing swap and day of workshops being held over at the Des Moines Social Club. A bunch of my favorite local crafty people will be there as well (and they have 250 copies of the hot-off-the-presses issue of ReadyMade to give out!) so I'm going to try to stop by. But most of the day I'll be playing shop girl at Ephemera Stationary Studio, watching the shop while the owners are on vacation—so I'll report back on Monday on how my retail experience goes! Have a great one and check out two earring designs from Cara below!

Q&A: Holly of Zes Tee Fashion

Today's Q&A with Holly of Zes Tee Fashion comes all the way from New Zealand and I think gives a nice glimpse into the creative world happening on the other side of the world. And quickly, before I forget, I was featured on Eye Spy the Universe yesterday, doing her 20 Questions feature. If you want to know more about me (or just check out her great blog!) head on over there! Okay, here's Holly!

Where do you live?
I live in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Tell me a little bit about what you make.

I make one-of-a-kind jewelry made with non-traditional materials from the hardware store, such as washers, nuts, and other interesting items. I also design printed T-shirts, including eco-friendly organic cotton and Bamboo.

How did you decide to start your line?
I was exposed to the world of art from an early age. I grew up with a passion for design after being inspired by my father`s art creations which included painting, ceramic, stained glass and jewelry making. I began painting and took regular courses at the local art studio. I continued to design as a hobby and after working for a short time as lawyer, I immigrated to New Zealand in 2003 and resided in Christchurch. While I was working in the marketing field in New Zealand, I took a business management course. After finishing it, I decided that it was time to follow my original dream and pursue my love of art. I decided to take a leadership of my life and to start my own business and translate my designs into wearable art.

Is this your full-time work?
Yes. Marketing my online shop and doing all the creative work requires me to be involved in the business full-time.

Where do you get your washers and nuts and why do you enjoy working with hardware?
I buy the hardware pieces from a big hardware store close to where I live. I also found a huge warehouse in town that sells fastening items in a wider range than the local hardware store, so I buy there as well.
I love making hardware jewelry because there are a big variety of hardware items that enable me to be creative and original in my work. I like making unique jewelry that no one else has. It’s something different that makes you stand out from the crowd. I like taking “ordinary” and “simple” items such as hardware, and take them to a different direction. Not many people think you can wear hardware bits and pieces around your neck, but I love to prove them that you can
create from hardware something beautiful to wear.

What sets the New Zealand handmade movement apart from the one in the US?
I have found out that in the US there are a lot more forums and communities that give a place to artists to share their work with eachother, it’s more organized. This is a result of the US being a much larger place than New Zealand…

How does your creative process work?
All my T-shirts are printed in New Zealand using the latest cutting edge printing technology that is called “DTG” – Direct to Garment, which uses environmentally-friendly water-based inks. My printer lives not far away from where I live, and this enables me to work closely with him and not in a remote control. All the jewelry is done by me and each piece is one-of-a-kind, so one can rest assured that no one else will have the same item.

What's your current favorite color combination?
When doing hardware jewelry I discovered the color combination of silver and gold together in one piece. Each colour enhances the other and gives more interest to the jewelry. In my T-shirt I like mostly the pastel range of the short sleeve V neck. It looks great on anyone.

What's the best part of your day?
The best part of my day is when I do my creations. It can be in any part of the day, but usually I do the creative work in the afternoon. This is what I love to do most, and it gives me a lot of pleasure.

What do you like to do when you're not working on your creations?
I love painting. In the past I used to paint mainly still life and landscapes, but here in New Zealand I started practicing more abstract painting which allows me more freedom and releases my imagination. Now my walls at home are getting filled with my paintings.

Do you have a favorite product in your shop right now?
I love equally both my jewelry line and printed T-shirt line. They are different from each other, and enable me to develop different aspects in my creativity.

V's Wedding: Welcome Bags and Favors

As I have probably mentioned, my friends Virginia and Dan threw a very personalized wedding. They set their own rules, customized their day, and tried to make sure that the components of the event felt personalized. They had guests coming from all over the country (with a large contingent coming in from the Midwest) to their Connecticut wedding, so they wanted to make sure that each guest felt personally welcomed. We assembled these bags on the Thursday leading up their wedding in late June and filled them with a local specialty, fudge from the Guilford Village Chocolatier, and a perennial favorite, champagne (with two plastic flutes). We kept things simple and added a simple embellishment of paper lace ribbon to a kraft paper bag, then fluffed out a bit of tissue for the top. As someone who got one of the bags, I can vouch that the treats were very much appreciated!

One of the other projects we did—the most labor intensive by far—was to make these British style crackers that went on each place setting. Crackers are traditionally used on holidays as a sort of a toast. Guests all link hands (crossing their own arms in front of them, holding one end of their cracker in one hand, and the end of their neighbors in the other) and pull very hard as they are told to. Paper, ribbons and trinkets inside fly all about, which is fun in itself! But then you also get a paper crown to wear, which is my favorite part.

Virginia's mom side of the family is British, so crackers have always been part of celebrations in their house and she and Dan thought it would be a nice way to bring a hint of that heritage to CT. Plus, they knew it would be fun, and awesome to have their wedding guests sporting paper crowns (which we all did—more pictures coming soon, I promise!).

But the assembly of the crowns was involved and while I was skeptical (I hadn't realized how involved they were to make until I actually sat down to figure them out by taking a part a Christmas cracker) that we'd be able to make them look entirely professional, I actually think that we did a wonderful job.

Here you can see some of the components—the crowns, the thank you cartoon that went inside of each one that also told the guests where a donation had been made in their honor, over 300 cardboard squares which made up the crackers themselves, and ribbon for each end.

We wrapped them in kraft paper, added a length of paper lace and stamped a small label with "surprise inside". It was a very successful project that truly helped make the wedding unique. I will be sharing 3 more wedding posts when I get my hands on the professional pictures that were taken—so you can expect to see more about the flowers and centerpieces, the decor, info on the delicious local meal, and probably a picture or two of the happy couple so you can see what they were wearing!

P.S. I'm not including instructions here for how exactly we made the crackers because I don't expect many of you to attempt this. But, if you do want to know how, email me and I'll be happy to help!!

Instant Heirloom: Made by Mosey

I am in love with these mobiles. Each is made by Melbourne-based Madeline, mother of two and as she says it, "expert in all things soft, cute and cuddly". No two of her creations are ever the same.

She sells these mobiles in various colors in her etsy shop, along with buntings (many of which are made with vintage fabrics) and baby quilts.

This mobile would only be for a child with a naturally cheerful disposition, or perhaps one that lived in a very sunny place to start to teach him what clouds look like!

And here are two more of my favorite mobiles of hers filled with floating butterflies. I have two baby showers coming up and while my first instinct is to try to make something, I'm honestly not sure whether I have time to start another crafting project (am currently trying to finish two quilts!), even though I'd love to make one of these. Which means Madeline might be sending some of her mobiles to the States!


Also you might have noticed that I have a new blog header. I thought that it was time to change things up and try something with a little less pattern. The fabric that I sewed the name onto is one of my favorites, a purchase from Purl Patchwork back before I left NYC. What do you guys think? Do we like it? I know that the bottom of it is a little wrinkled, but I'm inclined to go with it since this is a place all about making things ourselves, and the feeling of imperfectly perfect seems to fit. But I'd love to hear your feedback to get a sense of whether it appeals to you as well!