Little happy things

Here are four things that made me feel happy this past week:

1.  Hanging out with family and far-away friends

2.  Baby Chuck eating his first slice of gluten free pizza

3.  Feeling inspired by Hoboken's Arts and Crafts festival

4.   Seeing this artist's gorgeous hand-cut coin pendants

Hope you had  a good weekend too!

Crapty Fridays- Make a flower wreath out of plastic bags

When I woke up the morning of our trip to the Renaissance Faire, I realized that I hadn't planned out any costumes to wear.  Now that just would not do.  Unlike Maria, I wasn't able to quickly whip up three outfits using thick window drapes.  But, as a crapter I was able to quickly crapt two headpieces fit for a tiny king and a peasant girl.

Here's how I made the "floral" wreath:

Materials: 
- plastic bags (I used a thicker plastic bag, but I think thinner ones would have created more delicate flowers)
- scissors
- thin stretchy headband (although you could always make your own by cutting up a t-shirt)

Step 1:  Cut your plastic bag into long strips     (Baby Chuck- "Oh no!  Another crapt!")

Step 2:  Wrap the strip around your fingers.  (We're basically creating a plastic pom-pom.)

Step 3:  Slip your plastic loops off your fingers.  Tie a thin strip of plastic around the middle of your plastic loops. (Make sure that it is tightly tied so your flower petals stay put.)  Cut through the end of the loops and make rounded (or zig zag, or whatever shape you want) edges.

Step 4:  Starting on one side of the tie, pull each sheet of plastic up towards the middle.  Repeat for the other side. 

Step 5:  Tie your plastic flower onto a headband.  Make more flowers until you cover the headband.  (Note:  I ran out of time so I wasn't able to make a complete crown, but I think you get the point.)

Then I made a small crown for King Baby Chuck:

Materials:
- old cardboard cereal boxes
- tape
- aluminum foil
- stickers
- scissors
- pen
- ruler (optional)

Using a ruler I drew out one half crown.  Then, I cut it out and used it as a template to trace out another. 

I wrapped my cardboard  pieces in aluminum foil and then taped them together.  I made sure that the shiny side faced out.  I used stickers to decorate the crown.  To ensure that the crown stayed on Baby Chuck's head, I  taped a cardboard "x" inside.

Sometimes I'm so glad that Baby Chuck is only one and can't talk back.  He's pretty willing to go along with my crapty shenanigans and doesn't mind wearing trash.

Baby Chuck- "Oh mom, you're so trashy."  Me-  "Thanks!"

Tee hee hee.  I think he looked better in the crown than me.

Sun-dried tomatoes- A delicious fail

When I was at the grocery store the other day I spied a great sale on some organic tomatoes.  I couldn't help myself and promptly bought a whole bunch.  But when I got home I had no idea what to do with them. And then a crazy thought popped into my head:  I'm going to make me some sun-dried tomatoes.

Ah sun-dried tomatoes.  My mouth watered at the thought and I imagined dark eyed women with long wavy hair and colorful peasant skirts placing tomatoes out to dry.  I then imagined myself as one of them, singing in a beautiful country side. 

But who was I kidding?  I live in the city.  I'd have to lay my beautiful tomatoes out on asphalt and then fight off the gigantic rats and pigeons for a taste. 

So instead I cheated a bit.  I cut my tomatoes in half and placed them (cut side up) in a glass dish.  I drizzled a little bit of olive oil over them and sprinkled them with salt, pepper, and oregano.  Then I put them in a 200 degree oven and waited... and waited... and napped... and waited...

Here's what they looked like going into the oven:

After 3 hours of baking they just looked wrinkled. 
After 6 hours of baking, a rich tomato aroma filled our apartment. 
After 10 hours of baking, they were still not quite done.  By that time I couldn't wait any longer, so I took them out and ate one.  It was tangy and delicious.
 

So you may be wondering, will I be making these again? 
Heck no. 

The next time I want to live out my pastoral Italian daydreams, I 'm just going to put on a peasant skirt and buy a container of these from the store.