DIY-Sharpie dye your clothes

I've always wanted to learn how to tie dye properly.  I tried to do it once way back in elementary school, but ended up with a light grey stained shirt.  (We were going for bright purple.) 

Now that summer is showing off her vibrant hues, I once again felt inspired to try this colorful art form.  Some quick researching online showed that people were actually using Sharpie markers to dye their shirts!   The method was so simple and I had all the materials at home.  Score!  So, I decided to give this craft a try. 

Here are the materials that I used:

Here's what I did: 

1. I placed a piece of cardboard inside my shirt so the marker wouldn't seep through.  (I only wanted one side of my shirt dyed.) Note:  You could probably also use a plastic bag too. 
2. I channeled my inner artist and began doodling on my shirts.  Note:  I used old markers which didn't have much ink in them.  I recommend using juicy, new, fat markers.  Then you can put more ink on the shirt and get a better effect.      
3. I stretched my t-shirt over a baking pan to catch the alcohol.  Note:  Again, you could probably just do this part with a plastic bag.
4. I used my dropper to drip alcohol onto my design.  A couple of drops was all it took to make the marker bleed. 
5. I let my shirt dry.
6. I ironed my shirt to set the colors.  (Note:  This didn't work because the colors still bled when I hand washed the shirts.  Other people suggested placing your shirts briefly in the microwave or dryer.)
7. I hand washed my shirts.

 Want to see the results?
Here's my first attempt:

My inspiration came from beach waves and fourth of July fireworks.
The design reminded hubby of a dental x-ray.

Hmm... crafty or crappy?  Not sure if I'm digging my design...

And here's my second attempt:  (This time I tried something simpler.)  

All in all the method worked relatively well.  The colors were vibrant and reminded me of watercolors.  But, the markers bled during my hand washing, resulting in staining on the back of the shirts.  Also, the rubbing alcohol and markers smelled A LOT.  So just be sure to do this in a well ventilated room!

Have you tried using sharpies to dye your clothes?

Tired with a capital T

We're currently exhausted here at the PinkStripeySocks household.  Baby Chuck has been quite fussy ever since we got back.  We're not sure why.  Maybe he's getting used to the new schedule? Maybe he's going through a growth spurt?  (They say that he's supposed to have one around 9 months.)  Or maybe he's teething?

Whatever the case may be, we're trying our best to keep him happy.  That means we let him play with utensils

and prenatal vitamins.

How do other parents deal with their kids?  Eek.  Imagine having more than one child!!! 

Parents, I salute you!

Dear dad-  Don't worry!  He's always under supervision!

(No nut) Psuedo- groundnut stew and fufu

Earlier this week I cooked my version of groundnut stew and fufu.  It's one of the dishes eaten by people in Ghana.  Now, I've never been to Africa and I've never eaten an authentic bowl of groundnut stew or fufu  before.  I learned about this dish from one of my college roommates. 

My version of groundnut stew (made with Sunbutter in a crockpot)

Great balls of fufu

Fufu is made from starchy vegetables like plantain or cassava.  It tastes like super starchy boxed mashed potatoes.  You're supposed to take the fufu in your hands and then dunk it in the stew.  Groundnut stew is an interesting dish because it pairs two unlikely ingredients:  nuts and tomatoes.  Strange right?  When I first heard about this odd pairing I had to taste it for myself.  It's surprisingly rich and delicious.  I've made this stew countless times since college, but now I substitute Sunflower butter for peanut butter.

Whenever I eat it, I always think about my college times, my old roommates, and the old rickety rowhouse house that we all shared.  I really loved living in that house.  We had a great community there.  Over a span of two years, I lived with 5 roommates, 1 subletter, a dozen or so cockroaches, several large "mice" (ok, probably rats), and 3 cats.  We housed a dozen or so large parties, countless student group meetings, and at least 180 dinners.  Our rowhouse also had a lot character.  A great wild tangle of weeds greeted us in the front yard.  Our stove was slanted and housed in a tiny tiny room separate from the kitchen. And then there was the random three-foot tall door under the staircase.  We used it to get to the laundry room in the basement. (I guess the past owners had house elves.) I remember having to crouch through it just so, otherwise I would fall down the narrow wooden stairs or my shoulders would brush up against walls covered in dust and spider webs. 

How funny that a dish from Africa makes me think of my old roommates in Baltimore.  





Curious to see what nuts and tomatoes taste like?  It's surprisingly tasty!
Ingredients:

1. 2  28oz cans of crushed tomatoes
2. a couple of carrots
3. a couple stalks of celery
4. 2 onions
5. 8 chicken drumsticks 
6. 1 spoonful of "Better than Bouillion"  (or Bouillion cube for taste)
7. Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
8. Bay leaves (optional)
9. 1/4 - 1/3 jar of Sunflower butter (Our peanut butter substitution)
10. 1 box of Fufu flour (Or, just serve over rice or with mashed potatoes)

(1)  Place the first eight ingredients into the crockpot.  (Warning:  I can't quite fit the entire two cans of tomatoes in, so I just pour the remainder in later.)
(2)  Cook in crockpot  (I make it in 6 hours.)
(3)  With about an hour left, skim out the fat, pour the rest of the tomatoes in, and add the Sunbutter.  .
(4)  Make fufu according to the directions on the box
Enjoy!  Serves 5 hungry adults 

DIY- Chalkboard table

During our final years living in Manhattan, hubby and I were poor.  In fact, we weren't just poor, we were po-- we were so poor we couldn't even afford the "or."  So when it came to furnishing our apartment, we did what we had to do.  We became trash pickers.

Yes, you read right.  We went trash picking.  As hubby and I walked around the city, we'd constantly scan over items tossed out by others.  When we spotted a piece of furniture that we liked, we would bring it back to our apartment.  The majority of our apartment was furnished that way.  We spotted our bookshelf while walking our dog outside one night.  We dragged a rather large mirror off of a pile of trash and propped it up in our dining room.  Once, we even dragged a side table off the sidewalk to a dinner with friends.  Yup, we picked up a lot of furniture from the trash.  And yes, we were really REALLY lucky that we didn't end up with a bed bug infestation.   

When we moved to Michigan, some of our trash-treasures were left to be used by my sister, some returned to the trash pile to be picked by others, and a couple pieces came with us.  Below, you'll see a dining room table that made the 800 mile trek with us:

We nabbed this baby from a student who was moving out.

 
Now that we're moving back East, hubby and I debated whether to bring this table back with us.  It's served us well, but we weren't sure if it was worth the moving cost.  So, hubby figured he'd try his hand at upcycling.  Here's what he did:

(1) He took the table apart.
(2) He used an electric sander to sand the table.
(3) He used wood filler to fill in all the imperfections.
(4) He sanded the table again.
(5) He painted the table with primer.
(6)  He painted the top of the table with two coats of chalkboard paint.
(7)  He put the table back together again.

And tada, here are the results:

I think it looks a lot more modern. Don't you?

I'm not sure how the chalkboard paint will fare in the long run.  

But right now I'm having a lot of fun writing on it!

We're baack!

We're back from our trip to the East Coast!  We logged in a lot of hours driving, touring housing, and visiting family.  Now we're exhausted and I think we'll spend the next couple of days sleeping and unwinding.  

It's definitely good to be back home.   

Guess what?

We're taking a short road trip back to the East Coast.  We can't wait for Baby Chuck to meet his family.

Have you ever wondered how pencils are made?

Chocolate covered bacon and potato chips

I finally did it.  I took the culinary plunge and dipped bacon and potato chips into chocolate.

Yum.  Heart attack and tooth decay all in one delicious package.

Here's what I did:
(1)  I cooked bacon in the microwave until they were nice and crispy.   
(2)  I melted the semi-sweet chocolate in a double boiler.
(3)  After the strips of bacon cooled, I dipped them into the chocolate.  Then, I placed the strips onto a cooling rack so that the excess chocolate would be able to drip off.
(4)  I dipped the potato chips into the chocolate and then also placed them onto the cooling rack.
(5)  I put the finished treats in the fridge to cool the chocolate.

These treats were delicious.  But I wasn't perfectly happy with the results, so there are definitely changes that I'll make next time.
(1) My bacon treats looked a bit like puny dog treats.  Next time I won't cut each strip in half. 
(2) As the treats cooled, the chocolate hardened onto the cooling rack.  Next time I'll just use parchment paper.
(3) There was a tad too much chocolate on the bacon and I didn't quite achieve that perfect salty sweet balance.  Next time I'll just drizzle chocolate over the bacon.

Hmm, what else should I dip in chocolate?

Tulip Time Pt 4

And so ends my posts on Tulip Time.  Due to rainy weather, we were only able to attend two out of the three parades.  The Kinderparade (Children's parade) was definitely my favorite.  The children looked absolutely adorable all dressed up in their Dutch best.

Tulip Time Pt 3- Quilts

I was lucky enough to visit the Holland Area Arts Council and see their quilts on display.  Each quilt was so beautifully made.  What gorgeous and vibrant colors!  What creative designs!  What intricate top stitching!  As I oohed and ahhed over each quilt, I snapped a ton of photos and Baby Chuck fell asleep.  (I don't think he's a quilt lover quite yet.)

Oh to own one of these lovely works of art.  I imagine their bright colors must bring lots of cheer on those cold and grey Michigan mornings.   Here are my five favorite quilts from the show: 

Five funny food pictures

(1)  Jelly Bean Art
Kristen Cumings recreated famous paintings like The Mona Lisa, Starry Night, and Girl with a Pearl Earring using only jelly beans.  Each tasty work of art took about 50-60 hours of work.  Even though onlookers may feel tempted to take a lick (or a bite), they really shouldn't.  Cumings used spray adhesive to stick jelly beans onto a canvas and coated the entire canvas with acrylic.  [seen on Foodiggity]



(2) "Made in America" skillets  
I love Michigan.  I also love eating.  A Michigan shaped cast iron skillet seems like a nice way to celebrate both loves.  [seen on Foodiggity]



(3) Lickable lift
Remember that scene in Charlie and the Chocolate factory where everyone gets to lick wallpaper?  Well, it's no longer a dream.  The world's first Lickable lift was installed in London about a month ago.  Its walls are covered with a little over a thousand Jaffa cookies.  Worried about germs?  Don't be.  Once a person has licked a cookie, a bell boy removes it from the wall.  [seen on Foodiggity]

 


(4) Candy Bike
I'm sure any 5-year-old... or 31-year-old girl would love this sweet ride, created by Brooklyn-based artist Britta Hope. [seen on Foodiggity]


(5) Sausage recorder
Adam Niklewicz created this Polish sausage recorder that even plays sweet music!  Can you imagine hubby playing this instrument in church?  [seen on Foodiggity]

Tulip Time Pt 2

Yesterday the rainy skies cleared and we were able to walk outside and enjoy the sights and tastes of Tulip Time.

I can't wait till I get to eat real food!

Bucket List- Tulip Time Pt 1

This past Sunday hubby attended his final graduation ceremony.

Bye bye hubby!

While he was away, Baby Chuck and I took a stroll around town to admire the tulips and enjoy Tulip Time.  Unfortunately, many of the tulips looked like this:

Oh no!  It's a stem fest!

We kept looking until we finally found some blooming tulips.  I saw other families plopping their babies in front of the tulips to take photos, so I did the same thing with Baby Chuck.  He seemed to enjoy it.

Look mom!  We found some!

Get the diaper bag.  I'm going to sneak some tulips back for dad!

Birthday reflections

Last week I celebrated my 31st birthday. 

I don't know about you, but there's something about birthdays and New Years that makes me feel reflective.  Maybe you feel it too?  I find myself thinking about who I am and where I am and what I'm doing.  And then I dream about who I want to be, and where I want to be, and what I want to be doing in the future.

I'm currently reading Parker Palmer's book, Let Your Life Speak.  Here's one of my favorite passages so far:

"Our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic self-hood, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be.  As we do so, we will not only find the joy that every human seeks-we will also find our path of authentic service in the world.  True vocation joins self and service, as Frederick Buechner asserts when he defines vocation as 'the place where your deep gladness meets the world's deep need.'"

I'm not sure where that meeting place is, but I'm going to try to spend this year finding it.

Hope you had a good weekend! 

DIY- Baking Soda Deoderizer

I have a love-hate relationship with Baby Chuck's cloth diapers.  I love using them because they help us to save money and they allow us to put less waste into landfills.  Plus, they're so colorful! 

Ah, ain't nothing prettier than a bunch of newly washed cloth diapers.

And yet, I also find myself hating them.  When they're soiled, they're just so darn stinky.  Pee eww.  Ever since Baby Chuck started eating solid foods, his waste has taken on a different odor.  Hubby describes the smell like "cinammony dead cat," whereas I think it's more of a "sweet week-old fish."  

Our last load of soiled diapers was so pungent that I almost passed out on my way down to the laundry room.  Hubby suggested that I wear a double vent gas mask next time, but I figured I'd just open a box of baking soda and leave it next to our diaper pail.  But then, after finding this deodorizer and this DIY air freshener, I felt inspired to make something similar.  I poured baking soda into an old jam jar, cut out two heart shaped vents from a piece of fabric, and then sealed the jar up. 

Smells, be gone!

CROP hunger walk

This past weekend, hubby, Baby Chuck, and I participated in the CROP Hunger walk.  We walked around the neighborhood with other church members church and collected nonperishable foods and donations.  It was quite a daunting task because we had to walk outside in the cold and rain and we had to knock on people's doors to ask them for donations.   

After two hours of walking, we were all tuckered out.  

I was very thankful that we could return home to our warm dog, warm food, and warm pjs .

 

DIY- Salt Dough Necklace Pt 2

Once I had my my flattened salt dough beads finished (click here to see how I made them), I sanded them, painted them, and mod podged them.  Once they dried, I attached jump rings to them and strung them onto braided and woven hemp string.  Here are the finished products:

(Who knew that salt and flour could make such nice beads?)

DIY- Salt Dough Necklace Pt 1

I'm currently in the middle of purging.  Maybe I'm in the mood for spring cleaning?  Maybe I'm getting an early start on moving?  Maybe I just like getting rid of stuff? Whatever the case may be, I'm tossing out stuff, donating stuff, and saving stuff for my first ever yard sale.  (Yay for yard sales!)  I've already tackled my now slimmed down stash of clothes and now I'm purging our food pantry.

We already got rid of several boxes of pasta awhile back because of our new dietary restrictions. However, I never had the heart to toss out all the wheat products.  Case in point- I found a big bag of flour just sitting there in our pantry.  What to do?  We can't use it. Donate it?  I feel strange offering a used bag of flour to friends.  Toss it out?  Bah, what a waste.  What about crafting with it?  I peeked around online and found a recipe to make beads from flour.  You know me, I was intrigued and so I had to try it out.  

Required ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup salt
- 3/4 cups cold water
(Note:  The original recipe made a LOT of dough, so I scaled it back by half.  I probably could have scaled it back even more because I still had way too much.)


Required materials:
- Baking sheet
- Bowl
- Measuring cups
- Wooden spoon
- Knife/ X-ACTO knife
- Skewer/Coffee stirrer

Optional materials:
- Food coloring
- Rolling pin
- Parchment paper
- Paper, pen, scissors

Here's what I did:
(1) I mixed the flour and salt together.
(2) Then, I mixed the water into the mixture.
(3) I kneaded the dough until it felt like play dough.
(4) I divided the dough into two balls.  I added different food coloring to each ball and kneaded until the food coloring was evenly spread throughout. (Note:  I semi-dyed my hands green in the process.  Luckily the dye washed out after several washes.)

Oooh.  What lovely colors!

(5)  I had dreams of making a big chunky necklace made up of big beads.  So, I rolled the dough out into little snakes/logs and then  grabbed off portions of the dough and rolled out uniformly shaped balls.
(6) I used the skewer to create holes through my dough balls so that I could string the beads.
(7) I baked the beads at 250 degrees for 2 hours.  

When I took the beads out, I noticed two major problems:  the beads cracked and the holes sealed up.  

Failure!  What a bummer.

I'm not sure what happened.  Perhaps I should have baked them at a lower temperature?  According to several websites, thicker pieces of salt dough are more likely to crack.  Perhaps I should have made my holes bigger?  Holes seem to have a tendency of shrinking in the oven.  After tossing out these ruined beads I saved the unused dough overnight in an air tight container.  The following day, I went in with a different strategy.

(New 5 and 6) I flattened the dough.  To create the various shapes I created a template with paper, cut it out, and then used a butter knife and an X-ACTO knife to cut the shape out of the dough.  Then, I made larger holes with my skewers.  Here are my final results:

Like diamonds in the rough, these baked salt dough beads ready to be decorated and strung

(Note:  My beads came out a bit bumpy.  I probably should have rolled the dough out using a rolling pin.  Alternatively, I read that you could bake the shapes under a glass baking dish to ensure even thickness.  Also, I found it difficult to lift my already cutout shapes onto the baking sheet.  So, I did my work on parchment paper and then lifted the entire sheet of parchment paper onto the baking pan.)

Click  here to see what I did next!

Big dreams, tiny living

As we prepare for our move back East, hubby and I have been hit with a large dose of reality.  It's fun to dream about cute Tudor style homes in Westchester (drool) or cool Manhattan apartments with exposed brick walls (double drool.)  However, these dreams cost money-a lot of money.  It's really quite daunting when you think of the amount of money.  Oy, I feel my knees getting wobbly from just the thought.  

To choose the right type of housing, we're trying to distinguish between our needs and wants.  Just how much space do we really need?  Do we need that third bedroom?  Does Baby Chuck have to go to a school system that's ranked "8"?  Would he be just fine attending a "7" (or a "6" for that matter)?  Is a washer/dryer unit in the apartment a luxury or a necessity?  Oy.  Despite hours of conversation and going back and forth, I'm still unsure of where or how we'll live.  However, I am sure that we could live in a smaller space if we thought outside of the box.  Some people are doing amazingly creative things with their very small spaces.  Here's one example that I find particularly inspiring:




Now we just need to find that 320-square-foot home and we're all set.  Just kidding....or am I?  Muah ha ha ha ha ha.

First time on bike

This weekend a special early birthday present arrived in the mail:  a baby bike seat!  Even though we only rode around the parking lot for our inaugural ride, we still had a lot of fun.  Nothing beats the feeling of the sun on your back and the wind in your hair.   

I feel the need... the need for speed!

Uh mom...can't this thing go any faster?