Less-productive Crafty Day

Yesterday was a day of great productivity in our house.
I did laundry, I cleaned bedrooms, I swept 3 times, I got the kitchen perfect, I did all of my other 'work' obligations for the week... it was a good day.
Today... less so. It's rainy, and cold, and yucky outside, and the grey skies are not very inspiring, so for most of the day I've merely sat in my chair and tried to be as productive as possible while I remain cuddled up with a constant supply of hot beverages.
Lucky for me, while grey skies may not be very inspiring, Pinterest is!

Not only have I found a recipe for supper (Tuna Noodle Casserole), recipes to try on our family vacation in a few weeks (Vietnamese Noodle Bowls and Coconut Milk Ice Cream), not to mention a whole load of crafty things to try.

I've got a bit of a policy right now: I'm not allowed to bring anything into the house unless we a) need it to improve our daily lives, or b) get rid of something else from our household to compensate. For instance - I was looking on Pinterest at all the cute DIY jewelry hangers and thinking I'd like one, but if I do, I'll need to get rid of my jewelry box. I think I'm okay with that. In my jewelry box my necklaces get tangled, I never know where a favorite piece is, and I even forget about pieces that I still love the look of but haven't worn in a while. I haven't decided on what style of jewelery holder I'll make yet, but I'm thinking of maybe three frames with lace in them, hung in a line up my wall.

I've also been feeling a bit pressed for new clothes lately. It started a couple of months ago when I wore a racing tank and a cuff bracelet and looked, well, a bit more sporty than I've dressed in the past few years - more like how I dressed in high school. Well, it turns out Matt misses that style, though he didn't say it in so many words. So while I've been stockpiling dressier clothes to kind of keep up with the standard the girls I hang out with set, it turns out Matt's been wishing I'd dress a bit spunkier sometimes. Instead of going shopping, since, well, we don't have money right now, I raided my closet. A couple of years ago I bought two shirts that were identical except for the color. They had girly bunched sleeves, a cute pattern with birds and flowers and were a nice thing to wear then. Well, two years of washing has made them shrink in all the wrong places, so while they still fit, the sleeves and the neckline are no longer flattering on me. Enter Pinterest and its wealth of ideas. I took in the sleeves a bit so it pulled the whole front down, then I made a v-neck (almost a sweetheart neckline actually...) in the front. In the back, I cut a slit above the bra-strap line, bunch all of the fabric above the cut to the collar and wrapped a spare piece of fabric around it. Here was my inspiration for the back.

A couple more things then I've got to jet to eat that yummy Tuna Noodle Casserole! (Seriously, one of my favorite meals)

Over the weekend we had Matt's sister and her husband over for a meal. I've been not buying groceries so instead of running to the store for anything I pulled 4 individual pizza doughs out of my freezer and looked through my fridge, cupboards and deep freeze for random toppings. I set out a selection ranging from italian sausage and ham sausage, goat cheese, jalapenos, peppers, asparagus, barbeque sauce, balsamic vinegar, and lots more. I am convinced that I put together the world's greatest pizza that night. I used my high end olive oil and modena balsamic vinegar, goat cheese, apples, italian sausage, parsley and asparagus. WOW. Here's a picture of my reassembled pizza after Matt tipped it over after I had layered everything perfectly.

But seriously, I'm making this every time I have pizza, and I'm going to keep italian sausage in the house for just such an occassion! (Which, how did I have italian sausage in my house in the first place?? I found it in the bottom of my freezer and was quite surprised...)

That's all, that's all!

Mrs. VanderLeek ;)