The Pickled Herring

A little stitchery

2012-02-08T23:20:00.000-07:00

I recently picked up a cross stitch project from my mom's old stash. It's yet another "Valkommen" ("welcome" in Swedish) bell pull hanging. I really like the colors in this one: rust, greens, and blues.

I've been having an unintentional crafting break these past few weeks. It just sort of happened, or rather, didn't happen. So I've decided that I need to be a little more intentional about getting my craft on. Starting....now.

In other news, I just hopped on the Pinterest bandwagon. Quite inspirational stuff on there, hopefully it will inspire some projects!

Quick wedding recap

2012-02-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I have been married for [almost] 8 months! Woo! I never got around to posting any of our pics so here is a quick recap of the day.

All of our ceremony pictures were done by the wonderful John of J. Stuart Photography.

Ceremony

Unity candle lighting

First kiss as husband and wife!

Hitched!

Cutest flower girl ever

A few outdoor pics

The bridal party

Love Ryan's face

Getting on our getaway "car"

And we're off

Success.

Our reception photos were taken by Ryan's groomsman and good friend, Roger Metcalf.

Cake time!

Dancing with the cutest niece ever.

And the cutest nephew ever, in the cutest little suit ever.

Dancing with the hubs, the dancing machine.

Love.

We had a wonderful day celebrating with all of our friends and family. We are so thankful to everyone who participated, helped, and traveled to celebrate with us on our special day.

Who doesn't love butter?

2012-01-29T10:18:00.000-07:00

When I think of butter, I think of Paula Deen. I think of toast, bagels, and filling every nook in my waffle with butter. I love butter. But who doesn't?

(note: this is a purely rhetorical question, I really don't want to hear about anyone who doesn't love butter)

In Ashely English's Homemade Living : Home Dairy, she walks you through how to make fresh, homemade butter. Delicious. Butter is so easy to make. You probably made it way back in preschool (or at least kids who grew up in MI did...) by shaking a jar with a marble and cream in it. It's so easy and so good.

I had some leftover heavy cream sitting in my fridge from when Alisha and I made cheese last weekend. And since I don't really use heavy cream, I decided to whip up some butter! It turned out wonderfully and now I have 2 balls of butter and 1 jar of fresh buttermilk. Yum.

The entire process is pretty darn fun to watch. You start with whipping the heavy cream. And then it starts to look like this:

Then like this:

And then like this:

And finally like this:

It took about 10 - 15 minutes to whip the cream into butter. There came a point when I started to worry it was never going to turn into butter. Then I drank another cup of coffee and before I had time to finish it, the butter was done.

It is pretty grand waking up and having fresh butter and marmalade on your toast.

Life is good. Happy weekending.

Reduce, Reuse, Have Fun

2012-01-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

Ever since I started canning again, I began to save all my glass jars from pasta sauce and the like. Unfortunately, you can't safely use those jars for canning, but I've been finding many other ways to make good use of them!

I began storing my grains and dry beans in the glass jars in my cupboard. It makes things look far more organized, plus it helps save on space since we don't really have a pantry at our apartment (oh the joys of LA apartments...). Then I figured, why not use them for decoration? So I threw a tea light in each of the jars and put them out on our back porch table.

What to do next? Maybe pour wax in the jars and make giant candles?!

Adventures in Home Dairy

2012-01-21T17:26:00.000-07:00

I recently acquired Home Dairy, a fabulous book all about how to make yoru own dairy products ranging from cheese to sour cream. Let me tell you, it is amazing. If you are at all interested in making your own dairy products this book is a huge help! Ashley English does a fantastic job of laying out all you need to know about your favorite dairy items and how you (yes, you!) can make them at home.

Making cheese has been something I've done twice before, both times a simple farmer's cheese. I was feeling ready to take on something a bit more challenging...but not too much more. So my friend Alisha came over and we decided to tackle the Indian Paneer cheese recipe in the book.

We got to work. We brought the milk to a gentle boil, which took quite some time, but we were being extra cautious and kept it on pretty low heat to avoid scorching the milk.

The best part of the process was hands down when we added the lemon juice and saw the milk coagulate before our very eyes. Gets me every time.

Then we drained the curds in a cheesecloth.

And pressed the curds with some weight. We used some heave books and heavy votives.

And three hours later, voila! Paneer!

Another great thing about the Home Dairy book is that after giving you a number of recipes for cheese, yogurt, and ice cream (among various other delicious dairy delicacies...), Ashley includes recipes that incorporate the dairy products you just made, such as Saag Paneer. It's a delightful combination of Indian spices, spinach and the paneer cheese. Mmmm.

The day was a raging success. Next we will try our hand at another cheese - goat perhaps? Then onto the complicated cheese section - swiss and gorgonzola here we come!

DIY Vanilla Extract

2012-01-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

If you haven't noticed, I love baking. One of the things I don't enjoy about baking sometimes is the price of the ingredients, mainly pure extracts. That stuff is expensive. So what better way to cut down the cost than to make your own?! I decided to start with making my own vanilla extract.

You will need:
1 - 2 vanilla beans
Approx. 1 cup vodka
1 glass jar to store your extract

It is actually surprisingly easy. It's just vodka + 1 split vanilla bean.

I used 1.5 Madagascar vanilla beans to make the extract. First, cut your vanilla bean in half lengthwise so that it will fit into your glass jar. Then cut along the bean exposing the inside.

Then put your beans in a clean, glass jar. I reused an old jam jar. Pour vodka over your beans. I read that you should use about 1/3 cup vodka per bean. I used almost a full cup for my 1.5 vanilla beans. I then made sure all my beans were fully submerged in the vodka.

Now, it's just time to wait until all that vanilla goodness is sucked out and into the vodka, about 2 months stewing time. And when you think of it, give it a gentle shake every once and a while.

Here it is after 1 month of stewing. You can see it's already much darker from all that vanilla-y goodness.

I'll be sure to let you know how it compares to the store bought variety when I can use it in a month. It smells sweet and delicious already!

Solvang trip

2012-01-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

Part two of my travel escapades include a fantastic trip with wonderful friends to a little Danish town here in California called Solvang. It's a frickin' cute town. We walked all around town and ate lunch, complete with aebleskivers, before we headed to wine country for some tastings. Yes, this was the second weekend in a row of wine tasting for me and Ryan, and no, we weren't complaining.

Here are a few picture highlites of our fun little weekend getaway.

That is supposed to be a recreation of the Danish mermaid behind us. We have crazy faces in the picture because the sun was shining so brightly.

Yay for wine tasting!

Life size chess, anyone?

And you can't go to Solvang and not ride the standing clog. Ryan may or may not have almost fallen off. (hint: he did)

And we ended our fun little journey at this gem: Andersen's pea soup. It was delicous and pea-soupy.

It was sad to see our friends leave, but we are so glad they got to spend a fun-filled week with us!

Sidenote: I will resume my usual crafty blogging soon!

Catching up...

2012-01-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

A very happy 2012 to everyone! I am so thankful that I was able to ring in this new year with Ryan over a 4-day weekend - woo! We had a blast celebrating up in San Francisco and exploring the surrounding area, including Napa and Sonoma Vally.

Here is a quick photo-review of our trip!

Wine tasting...yum.

Naturally, we ended our little va-cay at the Walt Disney Family Museum. It was an amazingly well done museum and we loved it...especially Ryan. :)

It was a glorious time and I have a feeling that 2012 is going to be one heck of a year.

Hitting the road

2011-12-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I are off to San Francisco for the long weekend! I will be taking a brief blogging break for the next week or so. I wish you all a very happy new year, happy 2012!

Photo taken by our wonderful photographer, John.

Scandinavian Christmas Round-up

2011-12-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

God Jul / Merry Christmas!

Thanks for joining in the fun of Scandinavian Christmas! Here is a list of all the recipes and crafts that were featured these past 12 days, be sure to check them out!

Day 1: Tutorial for a Lucia crown card

Day 2: Pam's recipe for Palaeg Choklad

Day 3: Carina's recipe for Danish brunede kartofler

Day 4: Helena's tutorial for Danish Woven Hearts

Day 5: Karin's tutorial for Swedish Smallkarameller

Day 6: Rachel's tutorial for a Dala Horse Crown

Day 7: Astrid told us all about Nisse

Day 8: Birgitte showed us how to make heart ornaments

Day 9: Ryan's (my hubby!) recipe for Swedish glogg

Day 10: Erica's recipe for Norwegian rosettes

Day 11: Margit's recipe for Rice Pudding

Day 12: Leila's recipe for Swedish Pickled Herring in Mustard Sauce

Have a very merry Christmas!

Scandinavian Christmas: Day 12

2011-12-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

It's the twelfth day of Scandinavian Christmas! A huge thank you to everyone who participated in making this series so much fun! I will be posting a round-up and recap of all the participants and projects tomorrow (Christmas Day, woo!). I thought it only fitting to end the series again with a new recipe for pickled herring. If you didn't already know, I love herring. For our Christmas Eve dinner we always have a full Swedish smorgasbord, complete with at least 3 (this year 5) different kinds of herring. Today I will share a recipe for one of my favorite kinds - mustard herring.

Last year for the Scandinavian Christmas series we were lucky to have Pernilla share her own pickled herring recipe here. I love the red onion in it.

This year I found an amazing recipe from Leila's blog. Her blog is all about recipes and books, you have to make sure you check it out, stat! It is also full of great photos and recipes, Swedish mustard herring being one of them.

photo from Leila

The recipe for Swedish Mustard Herring is found here on Leila's blog. She writes clear and concise directions for the recipe that are easy to follow. If you've never tried pickled herring before, now is your chance!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Scandinavian Christmas: Day 11

2011-12-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

Scandinavian Christmas, Day 11 - woo! I hope you all have been enjoying the series as much as I have. It is been so much fun to see what everyone has to share. There have been so many great crafts and recipes this year and I can't wait to try them out! Today Margit is graciously sharing her wonderful rice pudding recipe with everyone.

Rice pudding

2 liter whole milk/full cream milk

250 g/0,50 pound pudding rice

1 coffespoon salt

Heat the milk until it boils. Add the pudding rice, then stir with low heat, when it is just boiling put lid on it, but it has to be stirred often. This lasts for an hour, and then add the salt.

Served warm with sugar and cinnamon and a lump of butter in the middle.

It is a tradition, to place a bowl with rice pudding some deserted place: under the roof or in the stables for the “nisse”.

And it is a tradition to put an almond into the bowl when it is served, the person who gets the almond wins a present. The present is very often a little pink pig made of marzipan.

There are several ways to cheat, the most common is that the person who gets the almond hides it in their cheek, and looks very innocent, suspiciously innocent, or that you look very innocent without the almond, and the whole family suspect one another to be in possession of it.

Another way to cheat is to make sure that the children get the almond and to have a present that is fitting for a child. My grandmother once served an almond in every portion, and the whole family sat around the table looking very innocent.

Instead of eating it hot, you cool it and add vanilla, sugar and almonds cut in slices, It is not supposed to be too sweet. Instead of cherry sauce you can use other berries for the sauce.

The name risalamande sounds french, but it is never heard about in france, there is a Swedish variety: Ris a la malta, as far as I now there are small pieces of tangerines from a tin in it.

Merry Christmas,

Margit

Scandinavian Christmas: Day 10

2011-12-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day 10! I can't believe the series is just about over! If you're just joining the fun, this Scandinavian Christmas series has been all about Scandinavian Christmas traditions, recipes, and crafts shared by some very creative and talented bloggers out there. If you have any Scandinavian Christmas photos you'd like to share, add them to the Flickr group here. Today we will be hearing from Erica, my cousin Sten's wife. She is an amazing cook, baker and comes up some creative decorating ideas and shares all about her adventures over at her blog here. Today she will show us how to make these tasty Norwegian treats!

I am excited to share a Scandinavian tradition with you today! My Grandparents are from Norway and my Grandma happens to be an excellent baker. Growing up my mom remembers Christmas traditions centering around Norwegian cooking and baking. My dad is Italian, so growing up we managed to mix the two, but here is one of the great Scandinavian specialities --Rosettes!

A Rosette is a thin, cookie-like, deep-fried, pastry of Scandinavian origin. Rosettes are traditionally made during Christmas time with intricately designed irons. The iron is heated in oil, then dipped in the batter, then re-immersed in the oil to create a crisp shell around the metal. Usually, the edges of the rosettes are then dusted with sugar.

My mother received her Rosette set from an elderly woman at our old church. I love the box it came in, and the years of cookie making memories! It only cost $4.00 back in the day!

There are very few ingredients, and if you can get your hands on one of the irons, I think you should definitely give the recipe a try!

2 eggs
1 T Sugar
1/4 t salt
1 C Flour
1 C Milk
1 t vanilla

Beat eggs, sugar, salt. Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth.
Heat Rosette iron in deep, hot, oil 350-375 for 2 minutes.

Drain excess from iron.

Dip in batter to 1/4 inch from top of iron, then immediately into hot oil.Fry until golden brown 10 seconds.

Lift out, tip upside down to drain.With fork, push Rosette off iron onto rack placed over paper towels. Reheat iron, repeat.Stir batter from time to time (because it will get oil into it)Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

There is nothing I love more than baking with my mom. It will always be one of my favorite things. She has taught me everything I know in the kitchen and I am grateful for her heritage and the Scandinavian recipes that are now a part of our lives.

Thank you Pickled Herring for this opportunity to share this with you all!

God Jul,

Erica

Scandinavian Christmas: Day 9

2011-12-21T07:27:00.001-07:00

Today I get to introduce you all to my husband, Ryan! As I'm sure you already know from when I've written about him before that he is one heck of a nice fellow. He is currently in grad school and spends most of his time writing, seeing movies and drinking cold coffee (ew). Today he is here to share about how we met and how a little something Scandinavian was involved.

Prior to December 2008, my exposure to Scandinavian culture was limited to plastic trolls with neon pink hair, the Norway pavilion at Epcot, and IKEA. I mean, I knew the basics. Scandinavia is cold. And the region’s major cultural export of the past fifty years was ABBA. But aside from that, my knowledge was limited.

My vested interest in Scandinavia took a dramatic leap forward in December 2008 when I met this Swedish girl at a Christmas party. She began talking about a Swedish mulled wine called glogg. I immediately feigned interest in order to make a good impression.

I got her number, friend-requested her on Facebook, and then we both went back to our respective homes for Christmas. I wanted to stay in the forefront of this girl’s mind over the two-week break, so I hatched a plan. I was going to make glogg for my family.

So I called her. I asked her all about glogg. What spices should I put in it? What kind of wine? What year? What brand? How much? Either she thought I was some dude who was seriously into mulled wine, or she could see through my veneer and knew I liked her. No matter what, I was talking to her.

And now I’m married to her.

And we just celebrated her birthday with a glogg party.

Looking to impress a Swedish girl this holiday season? Use this glogg recipe…the one Kathryn gave me over the phone.

Delicious Glogg

1 bottle red wine
1 bottle brandy
1 cup cranberry juice (or water would work too)
1 orange, sliced and zested
2 cinnamon sticks
10 cardamom pods
5-10 whole cloves
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup almonds (not roasted or salted)
1/2 - 1 cup sugar (depending on your sweetness taste)
chopped almonds and raisins for serving

First, put your cranberry juice in a large pot on the stove. Add all the spices, sugar, raisins, and orange. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and let the spices steep for 15 minutes (or allow to sit overnight). Add your almonds, wine and brandy. Heat through and serve in glogg mugs which are small and cute. Add fresh almonds and raisins in your mug right before drinking.

Scandinavian Christmas: Day 8

2011-12-20T08:54:00.001-07:00

Today marks day 8 of Scandinavian Christmas, it's flying by and Christmas is practically here! Remember to add your photos to the Scandinavian Christmas 2011 Flickr group here to join in the fun! Today we get to hear from a wonderful Danish blogger, Birgitte. She blogs over at SewDanish where she shares a variety of crafts that focus primarily on Danish textile art. She also has a great Etsy shop here where she makes a range of crafty items from handmade gift tags to origami Christmas stars. Today she is here to share with us how to make these cute Danish heart ornaments! To start, I asked her a few questions so we could get to know her a little more...

1. What isyour Scandinavian heritage?

I’m a 100%native Dane spending the first 3 ½ decades of my life living and working inDenmark. While working aboard, I met my American husband and for quite someyears we have been living in England, which makes it very easy to nip over toDenmark to visit family and friends.

Usually wecelebrate Christmas with my family in Copenhagen which is always a lovely time.Copenhagen is so beautifully decorated at Christmas time and it is such aspecial treat strolling the pedestrian zone in the city center, just taking in thelights and atmosphere.

2. What'syour favorite Christmas cookie?

Oh that isa difficult one! I love the Danish traditional Christmas cookies and alwaysbake between 3-5 different kinds during the month of December. Danish Christmascookies are generally a lot smaller and very crisp compared to the hugeAmerican soft chocolate chip cookies. I often try to add a new recipe and currently one of my newcomers is myfavorite. It is a small round cookie baked with fresh orange rind and decoratedwith dark chocolate. Yummy.

3. Whatyour favorite type of craft to do (knitting, sewing, embroidery...etc...)?

Over theyears, since early childhood, I have touched base with a huge amount oftechniques. I’ve always been crafting and creating things. Currently I’mexploring the borderline between art quilting and contemporary machine (freestyle) embroidery throwing in a bit of mixed media.

I belongto a contemporary textile art group called. ‘Fibrefusion’ where we are alwaysworking towards exhibition deadlines resulting in several machine and handstitching projects on the go. Formindless relaxing I do love a spot of either knitting or crocheting.

HAPPY GOEASY CHRISTMAS HEARTS

As a childmy mother every year got my sister and I to make Christmas ornaments in theweeks leading up to Christmas. We had little store bought ornaments and Ibelieve that my appreciation for unique handmade ornaments started there. Icannot help designing and making Christmas ornaments, and being able to listthem in my Etsy shop: SewDanish has been great. I love making the oldDanish/Scandinavian traditional ornaments with an updated twist as well asdesigning new.

Ideveloped the technique for the Christmas ornaments, when I was having funexperimenting and making samples for Fibrefusion' recently published book‘Muslin’, which an inspirational and experimental work book about creatinglovely fiber art using thin, inexpensive, loose weave fabrics.

Start bylayering 10 -12 layers of muslin/calico/turbin cotton in approx. 6 x 8 inch (15x 20 cm) oblong. The muslin can be any colour you like.

Ifchoosing white/off white you have the option of coloring the hearts afterstitching.

Draw 2hearts (or any other simple shape) on a piece of cartridge paper or ‘stitch andtear’. Don’t cut out. Pin the pattern along the 4 edges of the muslin bundle.

Ifstitching the hearts free hand on the machine, you may skip drawing a pattern.

Threadyour sewing machine and stitch the hearts either by following your pattern ordrawing the shape in free motionon your machine.

When freemotion stitching lower the feed dogs, release the top thread tension and zerothe stitch length. Now you are in control of moving the fabric creating thestitched lines.

OR you canleave your machine ‘normal’ with the feed dogs up, normal top tension andstitch length 2.5 – 3. Both will work.

I preferfree styling it for a more relaxed look, but have a play and see what suitsyou.

Stitch,following your first out line, by going over it at least 4 times. You canstitch these bands as wide or as narrow as you like. The stitch lines need tobe very close and partly on top of each other. Now repeat these stitch lines inside the heart. Depending onthe size of the heart repeat onceor twice (or more).

Removeyour fabric from the machine. With a pair of scissors cut very close along, butnot into, the outermost stitched band.

Now lookat your heart and decide what areas you would like to cut away between thestitched lines. The aim is to create higher and lower areas. With a finepointed pair of scissors carefully cut through only the 5-6 top layers ofmuslin. It is easier to cut a few layers at the time than doing it all in onego.

The heartcan now be further embellished with hand embroidery and or beads. Add a pieceof string, twine, raffia or ribbon to hang your hearts.

If youaren’t too keen on the slightly raw, frayed edges, you can seal the edges witha bit of acrylic paint like shown on the stars.

Thesestars have a different look to the hearts, as they were sewn on whitemuslin/calico and dyed afterwards. The stars were then embellished with handembroidery and the surface was ever so lightly dry brushed with acrylic paintfor added texture.

Please note the boring bits:

Theseinstructions are for personal use only. You are however welcome to use a singlephoto and a brief description , linking them back to where you came across theinstructions.

Theinstructions may not be republished in their entirety without the permission ofme, the author, Birgitte Hendricks. I can be contacted through my blog http://SewDanish.blogspot.com

A huge thank you again to Birgitte for sharing this great tutorial! Be sure to stop by her blog and take a look around her Etsy shop!

Scandinavian Christmas: Day 7

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

Today we welcome Astrid over from Red Red Completely Red. Her blog is full of many things I love, especially things Scandinavian. She has a fantastic Etsy shop with adorable felted items and the cutest personalized embroidery hoops you will probably ever see. Astrid is quite talented at what she does and I am excited that she is here today sharing all about the mischievous Nisse!

Growing up, our family's Danish roots were always particularly evident at Christmas. Perhaps it's because the Scandinavians have such a great sense of style in their decorations, or such tasty pepparkaker, but so many of the Christmas traditions I continue with my family come from the Danes. One of these is the existence of nisse (or tomte to some) -- the cheeky little red elves who, legend has it, deliver the presents.

Last year, I set friends and family a little Christmas Challenge, to channel their mischievous inner nisse, and cover their neighbourhoods in Christmas hats. We had a lot of fun dressing up all of the stone lawn ornaments around here, and really enjoyed a cheeky new take on Christmas spirit -- 'good' deeds done anonymously, under the cover of darkness!

This year, no more mischief is needed in our house. One-and-a-half year old Tilly is our resident nisse, and loves creating as much good-humoured trouble as she can. Our hoard of stuffed snowmen "magically" move about the house now, and often surprise me by waiting outside of doors. Every day items like keys and watches disappear, and then turn up later, hanging from the Christmas tree. (So it's no wonder we're always late to everything!)

For us, the nisse bring out the playful side of the Christmas season, and help us strike a balance between not doing enough to make the celebration special, and taking the festivities too seriously. A little or prank or two -- which can, of course, be blamed on the nisse -- make for lots of funny family memories!

I hope those cheeky nisse pay a visit to your home this Christmas. Remember, a little treat left out for your nisse ensures he stays happy and doesn't cause any real trouble!

Scandinavian Christmas: Day 6

2011-12-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Today we welcome back Rachel, from Nest Full of Eggs, to share how to make an adorable Dala Horse felt crown. Rachel's blog is full of wonderful ideas relating to craft, gluten-free life, and fun projects for kids. She has been featured in various magazines and always comes up with clever ideas! I am so thankful that Rachel is participating in this series again and sharing such a one-of-a-kind Scandinavian gift for the Christmas season. I am definitely making one of these for next Christmas for my niece!

Here's how to make a Dala horse felt crown for dress-up ~ a handmade Christmas gift for that special child in your life.

Supplies needed:

2 coordinating colors of wool blend felt (I used mustard yellow & navy blue)

5 inches of elastic (I used 3/4 inch wide elastic)

9.5 inches by 2.5 inches piece of coordinating cotton fabric

large & small Dala horse cookie cutters

16 inches Dala horse ribbon

matching thread

sewing machine

What you do:

With some paper, trace the Dala horse cookie cutters & cut them out, these will be your templates & use those to cut out Dala horses from the navy blue felt.

Also from the navy blue felt I cut a 16 inch by 1.25 inch piece to go under the inch wide Dala horse ribbon.

From the mustard yellow felt cut 2 pieces that are 16 inches by 7 inches, shape the top how you want it to look (I made 3 points).

With the front crown piece sew the Dala horses on, next sew the front and back crown pieces together (I started a couple inches up from the bottom & I didn't sew the bottom together as the bottom will be sewed together when the ribbon is sewn on).

Now sew the ribbon with navy felt behind it to the bottom of the crown.

Next it's time to sewing the elastic casing, fold the cotton fabric in half lengthwise & sew .25 inch seam, turn right side out, thread the elastic through the casing.

Take each end of elastic w/casing & tuck it in between the 2 layers of felt about .5 inch, then zig zag stitch all those layers together.

There you have a felt crown with a Scandinavian touch.

Have a Merry Scandinavian Christmas !

Thank you, Rachel, for this fun tutorial! Be sure to pop over to Rachel's blog, Nest Full of Eggs, and check out her post about Nordic Christmas Decorations!

Scandinavian Christmas: Day 5

2011-12-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

Today I am quite excited to welcome another fantastic Swedish blogger, Karin. I just discovered Karin's fun and creative craft blog, Nordic Craft, a couple months ago and was so pleased that she agreed to participate in this series! Today she is sharing a fun tutorial for adults and kids alike (or adult kids too!) to spread a little Scandinavian Christmas cheer.

When Kathryn approached me about writing a guest post for her “Scandinavian Christmas” series, I immediately dropped what I was doing and started jotting down ideas for Christmas crafts and topics. It was harder than you’d think! After all, I’ve never thought much about “Scandinavian Christmas” –to me it’s just “Christmas”! After some thinking, I decided to share a tutorial for a Christmas craft that most Swedish children (and adults!) will be familiar with, and that you can find in most Swedish homes this time of year: Smällkarameller! These tree decorations are a (less noisy) version of the Christmas crackers so popular in the UK, but I have yet to spot them on a Christmas tree anywhere outside Scandinavia. Made of simple materials and easy to customize to your heart’s content, they can be made by anyone from 4 years and up. If your child can handle a pair of scissors, they can make these!

Image by BfloMom on Flickr

Once I decided what to make, there was another problem – getting decent photographs! As you can imagine, living this close to the Arctic Circle presents some unique challenges… In December, the sun doesn’t rise until 8 am here, and it starts getting dark around 2.30. Not a lot of natural light for my photography! I hope you’ll forgive the quality of the photos – and if anyone wants to contribute some frequent flyer miles for a trip to the Bahamas, drop me a line!

Tutorial: Smällkarameller / Christmas Crackers

What you’ll need:

- An emptytoilet paper roll

- 2coordinating sheets of tissue paper (roughly 50x50 cm / 20x20 inches)

- A piece ofstring or ribbon (about 45 cm / 18 inches)

- SharpScissors

- A coupleof paper clips

- Pencil

- Clear tape

Start by laying yourtissue paper sheets on the table, one on top of the other. The color you placeat the bottom will be the one that shows on the outside of your ornament. Usethe paper clips to keep the tissue paper from shifting around while you areworking. Center your toilet roll at the bottom of the tissue paper and mark thesides with a pencil.

Start by folding oneside of the tissue papers towards the center by about 1 cm (1/3 inch). Run yourfinger along the edge to make a sharp crease. Keep folding back and forth in an“accordion” manner. Don’t worry too much about making perfectly even folds –this will not be visible later on! Accordionfold the paper until you get to the mark you made with your pencil. Put a paper clip around your folded edge tokeep the “accordion” together.

Fold the opposite sideof the tissue paper in the same manner, until your paper looks like this:

Lay the toilet roll inthe middle of the paper to make sure you have left enough of the paperunfolded. Now, get your scissors and start cutting the folded sides into“fringes” about ¼ inch (1/2 cm) wide. Be careful not to cut too far into theunfolded part of the tissue paper! You can make the fringes slightly wider ornarrower according to your tastes, but this is the width I like best.

Once you have cutfringes in both ends of your tissue paper, place your toilet roll in the centerand roll the paper around it, securing the end of the paper with a piece oftape. Next, separate the fringes from each other and “fluff” them out, beingcareful not to tear the tissue paper. Shake your ornament a little to fluff itup properly!

At this time, you canchoose to place a little treat or sweet inside the cracker. Some families liketo stick a little something inside, and then tear the ornaments apart when thetree is taken down after Christmas. Since I’m planning to reuse my ornamentnext year, I left it empty. After you fill the cracker (or if you decide notto), tie the ends of the string around each end of the cracker for hanging. Ifyou’re using solid colored tissue paper, you can choose to decorate the frontof your ornament with a sticker or some glitter. All done!!

It’s easy to varythese ornaments by using different colors of tissue paper, different sizedcardboard rolls and embellishments. They can be used without strings todecorate the dinner table or hung in a window. Fair warning though: they can bea bit addictive to make!

A big thank you again to Karin for sharing this fun project and participating in the Scandinavian Christmas series!

Scandinavian Christmas: Day 4

2011-12-16T17:00:00.001-07:00

Today I am thrilled to introduce you to one of the newest Scandinavian bloggers I've met this year, Helena. Helena blogs over at Crafty and Creativity and shares wonderful tutorials and ideas for unique crafts and design. Many of her designs have been featured in magazines throughout Sweden (and beyond)! She shares her incredible photos on her Flickr stream here, be sure to check out her "Christmas Decoration Display" photos - so cute! Helena is also a graphic designer with her own business, Bildbiten. Today Helena will share with us a great tutorial on how to make woven paper hearts, something I've wanted to try for years!

How to make Scandinavian Braided Paper Hearts:

- Cut out the template. (located on Helena's blog here)

- Fold the paper of your choice.

- Place the template on the paper. The dashed line on the template must align against the paper folding.

- Trace around the template with a pen and cut.

- You need two identical "half hearts", preferably in a contrasting color or different patterns.

If you've never braided hearts before I suggest you start with a "dummy" in plain copy paper and mark one half with the numbers 1-3 and the other one with the letters A-C, like in my picture. If you still feel a bit confused, please take a look at this smart tutorial.

Start with no 3:

Thread 3 over C, through B and over A (as shown in my pictures above)

Now it's time for no 2:

Thread 2 through C, over B and through A.

And finally, no 3:

Thread 3 over C, through B and over A.

Now you should be able to open the heart like a basket.

Glue or tape the handle in place. You're done!

Thank you, Helena, for sharing such a great tutorial for these adorable hearts!

Scandinavian Christmas: Day 3

2011-12-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

Today Carina from Carina's Craftblog is popping over to share with us how to make Danish

brunede kartofler, a delicious and different way to make potatoes! I first met Carina when I started the Scandinavian Christmas series last year and have since enjoyed keeping up with her blog and many ventures such as her embroidery line Polka and Bloom, and her fabric designs on Spoonflower. She designed some of the cutest Dala horse fabric I've ever seen! I'm so glad she is participating in the series again this year and without further adieu, let's all learn how to make brunede kartofler!

Thank you, Kathryn, for including me in your Scandi Christmas celebrations!

Brunede kartofler are usualy eaten on Christmas Eve with regular boiled potatoes, roast duck or roast pork, along with pickled red cabbage and gravy. Brunede kartofler is perhaps a strange concept, but they are really, really yummy! Enjoy!

Brunede kartofler /Caramelized potatoes

You will need:

Potatoes - as many as you like/need

Sugar - enough to cover a frying pan (this will make more sense when we get to it)

A bit of butter - about a tablespoon's worth, cut into small bits

Water - ½-1 tablespoon

Frying pan with a lid.

Stirring utensil which isn't made of wood (it can be difficult to clean off the caramelized sugar)

Boil your potatoes in salted water until they are just cooked through, don't overcook them. Smallish potatoes are best. It's best to boil the potatoes in their skin and then peel off the skin afterwards. If your potatoes are larger than 5cm/2" cut them in half. Let the potatoes cool down completely before proceeding.

When caramelizing the potatoes it's important that the frying pan is only just large enough to fit the potatoes, this will help keep in the heat and prevent the sugar from crystalizing.

Cover the frying pan in sugar, should be about 1cm/ 3/8" thick. Give or take, it doesn't have to be that thick all over. Turn on the heat, medium heat, and let the sugar melt. Don't stir the sugar, just let it melt in its own good time. For a while it will look like nothing is happening, but resist that temptation to stir the sugar! Make sure that the sugar doesn't burn.

Once all the sugar is melted quickly add the butter and water and stir it into the melted sugar. Then immediately add the potatoes.

Make sure the potatoes are covered in the sugar mass. You might want to scoop the caramelized sugar onto the potatoes. Put the lid on the frying pan and turn the heat to low. After 5 minutes stir the potatoes and scoop more caramelized sugar onto the potatoes if necessary. Pop the lid back on and leave for another 10-15 minutes. The potatoes should start to look nicely browned by now. If the caramelized sugar isn't sticking that much to the potatoes, turn the heat down a little bit more and leave for a bit longer.

Thank you, Carina, for sharing this wonderful recipe!

Scandinavian Christmas: Palaeg Chokolade

2011-12-14T07:30:00.003-07:00

If you don't know today's guest blogger, Pam, now is your chance to meet one of the nicest bloggers out there. Pam blogs over at Gingerbread Snowflakes, a blog devoted to "seasonal comforts" and all things Christmas. She has dabbled in various art forms including knitting, weaving and photography, to name just a few...I can hardly think of an art she hasn't tried. She has mentioned wanting to tackle woodcarving next so she can create her very own tomte and other figurines.

I bet she filled up on one of her favorite Scandinavian treats yesterday on St. Lucia Day - lussekatter! And she is here today to share another one of her favorites - palaeg chokolade!

Palaeg chokolade! A yummy Danish breakfast treat!

Once Carina introduced palaeg chokolade on Carina's Craft Blog this summer, I was determined to find it! However, since I have been unable to find it available in local markets or in American Scandinavian Shops on line, I came up with this "homemade" version! And it is delicious!

Palaeg chokolade is a very, very thin piece of chocolate designed to be placed on top of a piece of hot breakfast toast. (Personally, I like mine to be thin enough to get melty, but I believe most Danes prefer it to remain hard.)

Here is how to make this tasty Danish treat for your family during the holiday season!

TO MAKE YOUR VERY OWN PALAEG CHOCOLADE YOU WILL NEED:

3.5 oz. chocolate bar

double boiler or bowl that will rest on the lip of a saucepan

off-set spatula

cookie cutters

sharp knife

wax paper or parchment

flat cookie baking sheet

Note about chocolate: Almost any chocolate bar you like will work - milk, semi-sweet, dark. I thought I would be as "authentic" as possible by going to Ikea and buying this chocolate! It is very good by the way - but it is actually made in Spain for Ikea - so maybe not quite so authentic!

We use 70% dark chocolate in our family, but I think a semi-sweet bar or the Ikea product labeled dark chocolate (more like semi-sweet and made for Ikea in Germany) would be preferred by children as children tend to prefer a sweeter chocolate.

1. Begin by chopping your chocolate bars into small pieces. The smaller the pieces, the more quickly and evenly your chocolate will melt. Place the chocolate in the top portion of a double boiler (or heat proof bowl).

2. Bring about 1" of water to boil in the bottom of the double boiler (or sauce pan). Remove from heat and let sit about 5 to 8 minutes.

3. Place the bowl with the chopped chocolate over the slightly cooled hot water.

4. Gently stir occasionally until the chocolate is completely melted. (Don't be tempted to hurry the melting process by using boiling water to melt the chocolate.) Be patient - the chocolate will melt!

5. Place a piece of wax paper (or parchment) onto a flat (rimless) cookie sheet.

6. Pour your melted chocolate onto the wax paper and immediately spread into a square about 10" x 12". Try to spread to an even thickness - but expect some unevenness in your slab. Your chocolate will be quite thin.

7. Allow the chocolate to cool and harden at room temperature. You will know it is ready for the next step when it looses it "wet, melted" appearance and the sheen is gone.

You will notice the chocolate is still quite pliable.

(Do not put it in the fridge to speed up the process.) The chocolate will harden at room temperature very quickly - usually within 10 to 15 minutes.

8. Select your cookie cutter, place on the chocolate slab and press down firmly making sure that all parts of the design cut completely through the chocolate.

9. Carefully remove the chocolate around the "cookie" shape before attempting to transfer the chocolate to the bread or a storage tin.

10. A dough scraper is a great tool for moving your chocolate from place to place. However, once removed from the wax paper, your chocolate pieces are easily handled by hand. They are very thin so you must be gentle but you should have no problem moving them by hand if you prefer.

TIPS THAT WILL COME IN HANDY!

Sometimes no matter how hard you try to make sure every bit of your cookie cutter cuts completely through your chocolate, there will be a corner here or there that resists your best efforts! A sharp paring knife will take care of the problem!

Simple cookie cutters work better than say a Dala Horse cutter! I figured I could live without the leg but when the head broke off, I gave it up!

Stick to simple shapes! They really do work best!

Your palaeg chokolade can be stored between layers of wax paper in an air tight cookie tin in a cool spot. Layer your shapes so that similar shapes are sitting on top of each other. This should prevent breaking.

WHEN YOU ARE READY TO SERVE PALAEG CHOKOLADE:

1. Cut your bread into a shape similar to the shape of the chocolate. (I usually try to make my toast shapes a little larger than the actual piece of chocolate.)

2. Toast the bread and while it is still hot place your palaeg chokolade right on top. It will begin melting immediately!

3. I like to lightly butter my toast before adding the chocolate. But I don't know if it is traditional.

If you don't want to go to all the trouble of cutting shapes, simply cut your chocolate slab into rectangles. A 10" x 12" slab will yield 6 standard bread slice size pieces of palaeg chokolade.

Toast your bread slice, place your slab of chocolate on the hot toast, let it melt a few moments and enjoy a little bit of Danish heaven!

Oh and I saved every scrap of chocolate after cutting shapes! They melt onto the hot toast just as well as their prettier cousins!

I am thinking of testing palaeg chokolade on hot buttered biscuits, scones, pancakes and waffles! If you decide to get adventurous and try palaeg chokolade on one of these other "breakfast breads" let me know how you like it. I am thinking palaeg chokolade on waffles just has to be delicious!

A HUGE thank you to Pam for sharing palaeg chokolade today! I know I can't wait to try the whole chocolate for breakfast thing, those Danes really know what they're doing! Be sure to check out Pam's fabulous cookie recipe swap that she is hosting on her blog - join in the fun and try out some new cookies this season!

Scandinavian Christmas, Day 1

2011-12-13T05:26:00.002-07:00

Happy St. Lucia Day!

And welcome to the very first day of the Scandinavian Christmas series 2011! This series is going to be packed full of fun Scandinavian recipes, crafts and traditions shared by fellow bloggers. I would love for you to join in the series by adding your own photos to the Scandinavian Christmas 2011 Flickr group here. Check back for fun photos and ideas!

Today I will be sharing a bit about St. Lucia day and some traditions that go along with it.

For those of you unfamiliar with St. Lucia Day, here is how it is described according to the makers of this ornament:

"Celebrated in Scandinavian homes during the early hours of December 13th, longest night of the year, a young woman dressed in a white gown, brings coffee and sweet breads to her parents. She wears a crown of twigs or holly glowing with candles. Following, her brothers wear tall, pointed caps (star boys), her sisters dressed in white, carry lit candles. She represents Saint Lucia, born in Sicily, who lived in first century Rome, a young Christian martyr burned at the stake because she would not give up her faith to marry an unbeliever. In Sweden, the feast day of Lucia is celebrated as a festival of lights."

Growing up, we always celebrated with cardamom bread, copious amounts of coffee, and pepparkakor. I know traditionally Swedes usually have lusskatter, but I never seem to have saffron on hand to whip some up. So cardamom bread always makes a nice substitute I think.

In honor of St. Lucia day, I will be sharing how to make a Lucia crown card with felt.

You will need:

cardstock (either in red or green)

felt in green and white cut into shapes below

yellow wool roving or felt

Start by arranging your "candles" on the cardstock in the center. Use hot glue to stick them to the cardstock.

Next, begin hot gluing your felt leaves over the bottom of the candles.

Continue gluing on the leaves until you have the desired shape of your crown. I used 8 leaves.

Pull off tiny bits of the yellow roving and glue to ends of your white candles. They may need to be trimmed down a bit with scissors.

I stamped "God Jul" at the bottom for the heck of it. You could just as easily leave it blank or write your own message at the bottom.

Send the card to someone you love!

Thank you so much for joining me today in the Scandinavian Christmas 2011 series! Tomorrow we will be hearing from Pam over at Gingerbread Snowflakes with a very tasty Danish treat!

New knit cowl for "winter"

2011-12-11T16:31:00.006-07:00

Some of you may know that while I currently reside here in LA, I was born and raised in Michigan. Home of freezing winters and snowstorms galore. I then moved to Chicago, which also has its fair share of blizzards and frost, and then I finally wised up and moved to the West coast where sunshine abounds.

That being said, you'd think that a midwestern girl like me wouldn't be getting cold here in LA when it drops below 70. I've completely lost my edge, I get cold so easily now. It doesn't help that our apartment doesn't even have heat yet! Ryan and I were going to try to make it through the LA "winter" without having to turn on our gas (so we can have heat), but we finally caved and the gas man is making his way out to turn on our gas....in another 2 weeks!?! So, until then, we will be under mountains of blankets and thinking of warm places. And just so you don't think I'm completely crazy and can't hack the cold, it's been crazy cold for LA this past week - Ryan even had frost on his car last week!?

All that to say that I have been knitting like crazy. Because I knit when I'm cold. And I came up with my own pattern for an LA "winter" cowl. And I want to share the said pattern with everyone and anyone who wants to make their own.

You will need:

size 13 circular needles

1 skein worsted weight yarn (I used a nylon/acrylic blend)

The Pattern

Cast on 165 stitches* (no gauge for this pattern, it doesn't really matter)

Row 1: Work in knit stitch for first 4 rows (4)

Row 5: Purl 3 rows (7)

Rows 8-28: Repeat rows 1-7, 3 times

Row 29: Knit last 3 rows. Cast off.

*Be very careful not to twist your stitches when connecting them on the circular needles. I may or may not have worked 24 rows before realizing mine were twisted. Oops.

Because it is knit on such large needles, you can wrap it around up to 3 times.

Wear your new cowl, or give as a gift!

(Photo credits: Ryan, my funny hubby who can always make me laugh.)

Caramel Nut Grahams

2011-12-11T16:31:00.005-07:00

Saturday was spent doing a marathon of Christmas cookie baking with my sister. We made chocolate peanut butter balls, pecan tassies, and these delicious caramel nut grahams. They are so easy and so addicting. And they keep well when made in advance, because who really has time to make fresh Christmas cookies the day before?!

You will only need these 4 simple ingredients:

1 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

pecans, coarsely chopped (we used about 8oz)

Graham crackers

First, break graham crackers into 4 rectangles. Line them up in the bottom of a jelly roll pan, touching each other.

Melt the butter and sugar together in a saucepan and let simmer for a couple minutes. Pour mixture over the graham cracker layer in the jelly roll pan. Spread evenly. Put pan into a 350 degree oven and bake for 8 - 10 minutes, until they have bubbled throughout for about 3 minutes. Immediately sprinkle with coarsely chopped pecans. Let cool for about 4 - 7 minutes and remove from jelly roll pan with spatula, transfer to waxed paper. Let cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Yum.

I am linking this cookie recipe over at Pam's (Gingerbread Snowflakes) Cookie Swap 2011. There are some awesome recipes there, check them out!

And come back on Tuesday, December 13 for the kickoff of the Scandinavian Christmas 2011 series. There will be more recipes and crafts to share!

Baked goods...

2011-12-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

Ryan gave me Deceptively Delicous by Jessica Seinfeild for my birthday last week and ever since I've been testing out a few of the recipes. The cookbook is all about incorporating veggie purees into items that usually don't contain them to make them a little more nutritious. It still doesn't really make a pan of brownies healthy just because you add 1/2 cup of veggie puree, but it's still fun to add some in and see if you can tell.

The second recipe I tried were these oatmeal blueberry bars (with spinach!) and I thought they turned out great! You can't taste the pureed spinach at all in the filling, which is 1 cup low-sugar blueberry preserves (I actually used a mix of my homemade raspberry jam and IKEA lingonberries...) and 1/2 cup pureed spinach. Even Ryan couldn't taste it and that means it's a winner.

But....the first recipe I tried definitely had remnants of vegetable taste in the spice bread. It's official name was gingerbread spice cake, but we call it broccoli bread. The 1 cup of broccoli puree with 1/2 cup carrot puree really stand out and overpower the bread so it doesn't taste very gingerbread-y at all. It actually tasted less like broccoli when it was fresh out of the oven, but once cooled....eek.

It looks pretty though!

It's been fun pureeing veggies into baked goods, now I need to try some of the non-baked recipes in the book.

Swedish Christmas Fair: the loot

2011-12-07T18:48:00.000-07:00

So let's look at the loot that I picked up from the Swedish Christmas fair. There was an amazing booth of secondhand books in Swedish. And the best part...they were buy one get one free at $1 a book, so 50 cents a book! I got a Swedish cookbook from the 70's, I just love the cover.

And for the free book I got this Jan Guillou novel. I read part of his trilogy on the Knights Templar for my senior seminar class in Swedish and want to brush up since my Swedish is fading, fast.

These homemade little tomte were made by volunteers from the Swedish Church of Los Angeles, so cute!

Ryan and I bought 2 straw ornaments to expand our very small collection so we can decorate our tree!

And this original design Lucia card shouted my mom so I picked it up for her.

This linen calendar was from the same booth as the secondhand books. It was only 50 cents!

I know it's from 1992 but I thought for 50 cents I could make something with the adorable pictures surrounding the calendar part. I love the old Swedish coffee pot picture.

And the pots and pans.

And last, but certainly not least, I bought a yard of this precious fabric. It will make an adorable Christmas runner once I hem the ends.

So, as you can see, the fair was a raging success! I am quite thrilled with my purchases and can't wait to apply for a booth next year. I feel good that I got a few gifts and am feeling almost ready for Christmas! :)

Swedish Christmas Fair: the program and craft fair

2011-12-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

Well, it's no surprise that the Swedish Christmas Fair was a smashing success! Ryan and I stocked up on semlor (Ryan's first time having one!) and lussekatter and later had some glogg. There were many a craft booth and I am determined to be one of them next year! So much cute stuff there! I'll share my finds in another post and for now I will share a few pictures of the fair itself.

The booths were tons of fun to browse and see cute Swedish ornaments and other creative Christmas decor. They had booths for linens/textiles, books, jewlery, shirts, and other handmade beauties.

And there were some traditional Swedish dances during some of the fair!

And, the food. Oh my. Ryan had never had semlor before so we made sure to get some.

Ryan clearly loved the marzipan middle, he ate it right out. :)

But he loved the whole thing and finished it all! They were quite scrumptious.

We met up with some fellow Swede fans from my college (North Park University, go Vikings!) and watched the Lucia processional together.

Sorry for the following dark, fuzzy photos. They turn out the lights during the processional and I took a few pictures but they didn't turn out amazing...

They sang a medley of Swedish songs and it was so good!

Ryan and I drank our glogg while we waited for the Lucia processional to begin.

Ryan loves his glogg.

A bird's eye view of the fair.

The front end where they setup tables to eat. And in the corner was the cutest crafting corner for kids! They were making paper Lucia crowns, precious! I not-so-secretly wanted to make one for myself...but the chairs were a bit small. :)

The other side with all of the craft booths.

The happy couple enjoying a fun day shopping, eating and glogg-drinking at the Swedish Christmas fair! Stay tuned for the loot post later, I scored some awesome stuff!

Swedish Christmas Fair

2011-12-04T11:45:00.002-07:00

Today I am so excited to go to the SWEA International Swedish Christmas Fair 2011, WOO! If you live in the Los Angeles area, I highly recommend going. There will be a Lucia processional at 12 PM and 3 PM. I went with my sister a couple of years ago and we were quite impressed with all of the food, crafts and program.

I am excited to have a mug of glogg.

source

And dig into a Lussekatter...yum.

Source

And I'm really looking forward to visiting all the Swedish craft booths! I might try to get a booth here next year I think, I've been wanting to do another craft fair and this one seems right up my alley!

Gift Tag Tutorial

2011-12-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

These are so super easy and quick! They just require some paper punches. If you wanted to make even easier ones you would only need the large "gift tag" punch on the far left. I also used my snowflake punch and the small hole punch to make them a little spiffier.

First, just punch out your gift tags using the large punch. Make a lot in various colors.

Next, add your embellishment. In my case, I used the snowflakes.

Then glue together. I did two versions - one using the punched gift tag glued on white paper and then one white gift tag with the punched-out snowflake glued on it.

I plan on making quite a few more before the holidays. I have a "God Jul" (Merry Christmas in Swedish) stamp that would look cute on the gift tags too. I need to try that version yet.

Last, use your small hole punch to make a hole on the right side to fit ribbons and such. This step is totally optional as you could just as easily glue or tape these directly on your gifts.

Can you believe that Christmas is almost here?! How did that happen so fast?!

Finished Cable Knit Cowl

2011-11-28T08:20:00.003-07:00

Well, it's finished! It took a little less than a week to complete and it was fun to make. I added some buttons along the side (or you can wear them in the back) instead of sewing the seam.

I went ahead and cropped my face out of the above shot, early morning pictures are not so great.

I cut off the buttons from one of my old cardigans that I haven't worn in 2 years. I figured at least I'll get some use out of it now. I just love the little crowns on them, they look Swedish to me.

And, in this last shot I tried to get a better view of the cable knit throughout. You can't see them as well since it's all in stockinette stitch, but it makes it lay nicely around your neck. I used Julianne's pattern here and thought it was a great one!

Half cable knit cowl

2011-11-20T21:49:00.003-07:00

I have been knitting away this entire weekend after coming into some beige-ish, nylon/acrylic blended yarn from my Aunt (thank you!). I'm knitting a cowl since it's been getting quite chilly here in SoCal during these Fall months and I will soon be in the very chilly midwest.

I love the cable stitches that are worked throughout, it really spices it up a bit! I am using this free pattern from Julianne that she titled the "Burberry inspired cowl neck scarf". The scarf she got the inspiration from (Burberry) was $750 (?!?!?!). I personally don't know of anyone who would spend that much to keep their neck warm.

I actually don't even know if I will keep this project or gift it...I'm still deciding. It will largely depend on how it turns out (or how attached I become...ha).

I'll be sure to post some finished pictures when it's completed. I just love knitting when it's cold out!

Scandinavian Christmas 2011

2011-11-19T17:56:00.007-07:00

Thanksgiving is almost here which means Christmas is peaking it's little head around the corner. I loved putting together the Scandinavian Christmas series last year and am so happy to say that it will be happening again this year!

Kicking off on December 13, Santa Lucia Day (!), there will be a series of guest bloggers sharing some of their Scandinavian traditions, Scandinavian Christmas crafts, and Scandinavian recipes. Prepare yourselves to get seriously Scandinavian this holiday season.

There were so many awesome guest posts last year, one even for pickled herring! I hope you stick around to check the series out this December, you won't want to miss the incredible creative minds that are participating this year!

Hat Model

2011-11-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally was able to see if the hat I knit for my nephew fit his sweet little head...and it does! The only thing is that I'm not sure he's a hat-wearing kinda kid. He enjoyed pulling it off quite a bit. :)

Trying to get a picture while it was still on his head proved to be a bit difficult...

He certainly is a little cutie.

Lemon Poppyseed Tartlettes

2011-11-15T08:20:00.001-07:00

I made these little guys this past weekend. Since I don't own tartlette pans, I just used my muffin tins and filled the dough halfway up instead. Totally works in place of the mini pans (not that I wouldn't love some cutesy tartlette pans someday...hint hint, Ryan...).

One word: ohmygoshthesearesogood!

Thank you, Martha .

Christmas E-Book

2011-11-10T08:20:00.002-07:00

I'm happy to announce that my Ho Ho Ho Christmas Gift Bag tutorial has been featured in this Christmas E-Book! It is full of great ideas for homemade Christmas gifts among many other things. So if you're looking for some fun, free ideas, check it out!

Easy Knit Pillow Tutorial

2011-11-07T08:37:00.004-07:00

This is the project I have been working on this past week. Knitting away during my free time, it only took one week to finish knitting the front to this pillow. And I wasn't knitting very often, it went quite quickly. I love that it is a bit softer to lay on when I'm zoning out on the couch reading a magazine (November issue of Real Simple, anyone? So good.) and they are a bit bigger than the last pillows I made.

If you don't know how to knit it's no problem, you can repurpose an old wool sweater or buy one from a thrift store. If you do knit, I recommend using larger needles so the lining fabric can peek through.

Ok, let's get started! Gather your supplies:

One 17 x 21 inch stockinette stitch knit swatch
(I used size 15 needles, cast on 65 stitches and knitted until it measured 17")
One 17 x 21 inch piece of lining fabric
(I used white flannel)
One 17 x 21 inch piece of fabric for the back
Stuffing for the pillow
Needle/thread

1. Cut and assemble your layers of fabric. Lay your back piece of fabric right-side up and place your knitted swatch on top, wrong-side up.

2. Place your lining piece on top of your knitted swatch.

3. Pin in place. Leave a 3 inch gap in the bottom of your pillow.

4. Sew around the pillow using a 1/2 inch - 1 inch seam allowance. I used quite a big seam allowance here to allow for the knitted piece, feel free to adjust accordingly.

5. Turn right-side out through the gap you left in the bottom.

6. Stuff with filling. I start stuffing with the four corners and add gradually from there. Distribute evenly and keep in mind that it will flatten out a bit after use.

7. Pin the gap closed by folding in both sides 1/2 inch. Sew either using your machine or hand stitching with an invisible stitch.

Enjoy your soft and comfy knitted pillow!

Recent knitting project

2011-11-03T07:22:00.004-07:00

My current knitting project is this super easy and quick knit pillow. I just started it this week and it is going by quite fast! I'm using huge knitting needs so I'm sure that helps, size 15.

I'm using a nice two-tone wool yarn of gray and white. My plan is to sew a pillow, one side solid black fabric, and the front side this knit with a lining of black or white fabric underneath. That's why I'm using such large needles, I want to be able to get a peak of the fabric underneath.

I just love quick knits.
If it turns out as cute as it is in my head then I will share a fun tutorial so you can all make your own! Here's to hoping this project doesn't bomb like the last project I attempted...

Major craft fail

2011-11-02T07:28:00.003-07:00

I was so excited about this project before I started and then the more and more that went into it the more and more I didn't like it. I was attempting to make a Fall wreath by taking a straw wreath (cheap) and hot gluing split peas all over it. I saw quite a few like it when I googled "diy fall wreath".

So I bought some new hot glue and got started. Word to the wise, do NOT buy RoseArt brand hot glue, it is awful. I did a section with teh glue I had and it worked great and as soon as I switched to this glue things started going downhill, fast.

I started gluing the split peas on...

And one by one they kept falling off when I switched to the other hot glue.

You can see the section on the right side where they are sticking, that was from my previous glue stick (which I wish I had more of...).

Needless to say, this time-consuming project was discouraging and I ended up scrapping the hot glue idea altogether. Instead, I wrapped some white fabric around the entire wreath and will hopefully figure out an alternative idea to the whole Fall wreath idea.

Boo!

2011-10-27T07:18:00.001-07:00

In true Halloween spirit I thought I'd share a picture from Calico Ghost Town that Ryan and I stopped through on our road trip out West. Happy Halloween!

We also stopped at the Cadillac Ranch and spray painted a few cadillacs.

And we stopped at the Grand Canyon (among various other random stops), woah baby is it grand. It was my very first visit there, Ryan's second, and I was amazed by how huge it really is in person...wow. Overall, it was a pretty darn awesome road trip.

A Christmas Hat

2011-10-25T07:27:00.003-07:00

I just finished knitting this Christmas stocking cap for my little nephew. I have yet to have him try it on, so I hope it fits!

I used an alpaca wool blend and it will certainly keep his little head warm! I'm knitting him one more before he heads to the midwest for Thanksgiving/Christmas and it will definitely be more Scandinavian looking. I'll try to get a picture of him modeling them both when they're finished!

Antique find

2011-10-21T16:29:00.002-07:00

Check out this awesome trim I found a month back at an antique store! Ryan and I took a short weekend trip to Solana Beach here in California and came upon an adorable little antique shop specializing in antique sewing products - amazing!

Now I need to decide what to do with it...

Pumpkin Pasta

2011-10-15T07:16:00.001-07:00

Last week here in California was a nice cool week that really reminded me of a midwestern Fall, minus the color changing leaves (the best part!), so I felt like cooking Fall-themed things. I came across this cheese ravioli with a pumpkin sauce in one of my holiday cookbooks and gave it a whirl and boy am I glad I did - yum.

I just used prepackaged 3-cheese ravioli and made the sauce in 15 minutes.

Pumpkin Sauce:

1. Cut up 1 onion (I used a medium-sized red onion) and saute with a little olive oil. Add 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (if you don't like the taste you can totally omit these, but I love them so I added extra...). Saute until soft.

2. Measure 1 cup milk. Mix 1 Tablespoon flour with a little bit of milk, once combined add the remaining 1 cup of milk. Add to the sauteed onions and stir constantly on high heat until it thickens.

3. Add the 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup pumpkin puree and mix throroughly. Pour over your cooked ravioli and enjoy a Fall dinner!

Christmas Stitching...

2011-10-13T07:17:00.003-07:00

Here is a small peak of my latest Christmas project, a printed embroidery kit from my mom's linen closet. I'm learning all sorts of stiches I've never done before and love it!

Pardon the camera string that somehow got in the shot, I was in a hurry. Can you believe Christmas is only 2 and a half months away?! It's sneaking up on us quickly!

Homegrown happiness

2011-10-10T07:21:00.003-07:00

Ryan and I have a lovely little patio that is perfect for a few potted plants. So far we have a rather large pot for herbs and a second, not so large, pot for our 2 pepper plants. We are growing jalepenos and habanero peppers, spicy! The first batch was finally ready to be picked and here we have it:

Since Ryan loves all things extra spicy, I made him some pepper jelly from the peppers. It was my first experience making a jelly, I've only made jams up until now. So easy! I used the recipe straight from my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook in the "preserves" section. It's sweet and spicy, I think it would actually be pretty tasty on some grilled chicken or pork.

Craft club is this week and I'm so looking forward to it! I think I will use that time to finally start me and Ryan's Christmas stockings. Hope you have a great week!

Dala Craftalong on WhipUp

2011-10-07T14:59:00.002-07:00

Remember the Dala Horse Craftalong? Well Carina just did a guest post about it over at WhipUp, check it out here!

Hand-spun yarn

2011-10-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

As I was organizing some bags of craft supplies, I came across a few older crafts I haven't done in a while, like these balls of hand-spun yarn. I began spinning in college and was instantly hooked. I used a drop-spindle, and while it takes quite a while to get a decent amount of yarn spun, it is so addicting!

These are just a few of the balls I completed. I only ever knitted a hat from the yarn I spun, but would love to do a bigger project with all hand-spun yarn. I love multi-step projects. Buying the wool (one day I'd love to have my own sheep for wool!), spinning the wool, winding into balls, choosing a pattern, knitting the said pattern and then wearing (or gifting) the final product!

My next knitting project will be knitted Christmas stockings for me and Ryan's first Christmas!

Felted Dryer Balls Tutorial

2011-09-29T19:55:00.000-07:00

Want an eco-friendly way to dry your clothes? Hanging them on a clothesline is the best! But if you don't have 7 days of sunshine like we do here in California, these dryer balls will help you save money, use less chemical-y fabric softener, and save on energy.

These 100% felted wool dryer balls will speed your drying time and are just fun to make!

You will need:

Wool roving and/or 100% wool yarn

An old pair of tights or nylons

First, take your yarn or roving and create a small ball:

Next, take your roving and break into small strands.

Wrap the strands tightly around your yarn ball. Continue until it is the size you want your dryer ball. Mine are about 2 inches in diameter. I think 2-3 inches would make the most efficient size dryer balls.

Feel free to snazz them up a bit and add bits of decorative roving around in a design. Or, needle felt a design after you are finished.

Put the ball into your tights (or nylons) and knot between balls.

Wash in washer on the hottest cycle. It is okay to wash them with a load of clothes. I ran mine in two loads of wash and through two drying cycles.

Ta da, felted wool!

Enjoy shorter drying times. These are especially great if you have to go to a laundromat and use a timed dryer, they help get your clothes as dry as quickly as possible.

Happy felting!

A fat wife and full barn...

2011-09-27T07:00:00.001-07:00

...never did any man harm

After posting about this Jane Snead pattern I did a little research and found out that the owner (I think?) has a ebay shop and sells some of the old kits! Unfortunately, I didn't see my favorite one in the mix:

But I'm going to keep looking! Here are a few other of my faves from the book:

This one reminds me of my older sister, she loves everything tulilps.

The next two just make me giggle.

This one is just cute.

I found this one on ebay and want to stitch it for me and Ryan's 1 year anniversary.

I so wish people still designed cross stitch like this. Maybe I will start to!

I have a new found love for cross stitch. Something about how relaxing it is to stitch and stitch and let your mind relax. Plus it's the perfect portable craft. Yay for cross stitching!

Finished Stitching

2011-09-25T16:03:00.003-07:00

I finally finished the Swedish bell pull I started a couple months ago. It actually went pretty fast, I just didn't work on it consistently. It says "Welcome" in Swedish. I just have to hem the edges, attach the bell pull and then hang it up!

If you didn't know, I acquired the above cross stitch kit from my mom who had some adorable Scandinavian kits hidden away in her linen closet. Along with the kit I found a Jane Snead sampler (a mail order company that is now out of business, sad) book which contained this pattern that I'm trying my best to find a copy of:

It is definitely one of my favorites from the sampler book. There are many more awesome patterns that I will share at a later time, they are pretty great.

Polish Cookies

2011-09-23T15:43:00.003-07:00

Ryan and I recently came into a plate of these delicious polish cookies called chrusciki. I've never had them until today and they are so good you can't stop at just one...or five.

They're light, airy and full of sugary goodness. Our landlord is a very sweet Polish woman who we've been trading little treats with. She stopped by this afternoon while I was cleaning and dropped these off. Needless to say, I took a coffee break. Now, I'm on a blog break.

I linked to a recipe for these above if you're interested in attempting them yourself. And you should because they're amazing. Yum.

Organizing a wall

2011-09-22T07:22:00.001-07:00

I'm attempting to use up my stash of fabric (or at least make a dent in it) by making projects from the many craft books I've acquired over the years. So I decided to make a wall organizer from Lotta's Simple Sewing book.

We hung it on the wall right when you walk in the door. That way it's convenient to put any mail or coupons right in a pocket. I also threw some pens, tape, and scissors in some pockets too.

The only part I'm not quite happy with yet is the wooden dowel I used to hang it up, it's not quite long enough so the fabric bunches on either side. An easy fix but I need to go someplace that sells them.

It feels good to have a place for things to go when I walk through the door. I was tired of stacks of junk mail just sitting around and this does the trick. Yay for organizing!

Sunday brunch and pillows

2011-09-18T09:13:00.004-07:00

My favorite meal of the day is breakfast. Maybe it's all those years of my mom telling me it's the most important meal of the day, but I love it. Weekdays I always eat cereal or oatmeal, but on weekends...breakfast craziness ensues.

Today my dear friend Alisha is making her way over to break the fast with me and Ryan. I'm branching out and attempting baked eggs in tomatoes!

In the above picture, I've hollowed out 6 roma tomatoes by cutting off the very top and scooping the insides out with a spoon. Then I cut a bit off the bottom so they would stay upright in my casserole dish. I added some sauteed onions and spinach and will fill each tomato with eggs and then bake for 15 minutes at 400.

We'll also have oven potatoes and pumpkin bread I made yesterday. I'm trying to act like it's Fall out here in California even when it's sunny and hot everyday. Baking Fall things helps.

And in unrelated news, I whipped up some simple 16" square pillows yesterday for our couch. I started and finished while watching New Scandinavian Cooking on PBS (love this show!). One side of the pillow is solid black and the other is the patterned fabric. I need to make a few more yet, but thought I'd make a couple more interesting ones to pair with the basic look.

3 Citrus Marmalade

2011-09-11T16:25:00.000-07:00

The three-citrus marmalade I attempted last night is now finished!

What started out as lemons, grapefruits and oranges turned into 5 lovely jars of the marmalade.

It took me a long time to chop all that rind off the fruit without a zester (which I have already added to my Christmas list after this). And it took quite a while to reach the 220 degree mark, about an hour. I was getting worried it would change the taste of the marmalade if it kept cooking, but it finally reached 220.

It still looked pretty syrup-y too when I poured it in the jars, then I was worried that all that hard work would be for naught if they didn't gel properly. But, rest assured, when I woke up this morning they had gelled quite nicely.

I like this picture of the morning sun shining through the jars. The jar on the right was only filled halfway since I used a small jar for the other half to give to my sister.

Overall, tastes great on toast. You can really taste the orange the most, with a hint of lemon. I found it pretty hard to taste the grapefruit at all. I might add a wee bit more in the future. If you like orange marmalade, you'll love this recipe!

Three Citrus Marmalade:

adapted from Food in Jars

3 navel oranges

2 red grapefruit (the store didn't carry any other variety so I went with red)

4 lemons (mine were very tiny)

6 cups sugar

4 cups water

Wash all your fruit thoroughly since you will be using and eating the rind. Zest your fruit in fine ribbons. I think a French zester would be ideal for this job. Add all of your zest to 4 cups of water and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

While zest cooks, finish removing all the rind, pithe (white stuff around the citrus) and seeds, and put your fruit in a bowl (I had about 4 cups of fruit). When zest has finished cooking, add the fruit along with the sugar. Bring to a boil and keep at medium-high heat until the marmalade reaches 220 degrees, it took me an hour to reach this temperature.

Pour into sterilized jars and can in a water bath for 5 minutes.

Eat it up!

Citrus marmalade in the works

2011-09-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight I am tackling this recipe for three-citrus marmalade. I'm using grapefruit, oranges and lemons. I don't own a zester so it looks like I'm in for a long night of hand chopping these suckers...which somehow I'm actually looking forward to.

I'll post the finished product soon!

Hugs

2011-09-03T12:18:00.002-07:00

Hug O' War

from the book "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein (1974)

I will not play at tug o' war.

I'd rather play at hug o' war,

Where everyone hugs

Instead of tugs,

Where everyone giggles

And rolls on the rug,

Where everyone kisses,

And everyone grins,

And everyone cuddles,

And everyone wins.

I'm having a very relaxed Saturday. Catching up on some reading, cross stitching, coffee-drinking and hanging out with the ol' husband.

Happy Labor Day, enjoy the long weekend!

Spiced Carrot Pickles

2011-08-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, carrot pickles. After living in Japan and eating pickled veggies with practically every meal, I've recently started to miss it. Good thing I've been in a canning phase, because I've found sound pretty awesome pickled veggie recipes. Today I tried my hand at some pickled carrots.

I was inspired by Marisa's (Food In Jars) pickled carrots and went from there. I used a blend of coriander, pepper flakes, garlic, chinese star anise, and crushed bay leaves for my spice blend for the brine. I'm anxious to dig in...but I have to wait until they are fully pickled!

I'm planning on keeping these in the refrigerator, so I didn't process them to make them shelf-safe. If they turn out well, I'd love to make a larger batch...maybe even use baby carrots? Wouldn't those be cute? I love mini things.

Still stitching...

2011-08-29T08:00:00.003-07:00

Just a little update of my progress from my latest cross stitch project. It's coming along, slowly but surely.

In other news, I'm co-hosting a craft club this week which I'm super stoked about! What's better than some fun girls getting together to craft?!

Happy Monday.

Dala Round-Up: Week 4

2011-08-22T19:34:00.006-07:00

Hi all! Today is the last day of the Dala Horse Craftalong. It has been so much fun seeing what you've created and how everyone has been so excited about this! Here are a few of the latest additions to the Craftalong Flickr group:

Christina (Golden Lilly Crafts) made this adorable Dala Lavender Heart Pillow.

Muriel (Hopfaldera) created this cutesy Dala pouch. I love the stitching on this, so, so, so cute!

Meg (Megacrafty) made this amazing and intricate polymer clay ornament!

Thank you all so much for joining in the Dala crafting fun! It was such a blast seeing what everyone made and how many different Dala projects were made!

Just because the Craftalong is over doesn't mean you can't still make something Dala-themed. Feel free to keep adding any additional photos and projects to the Flickr group here.

2011-08-22T11:53:00.004-07:00

Hi everyone! Today I'm guest posting over at Astrid's blog, Red Red, come say hi!

I'm sharing a tutorial on how to make an inverted-appliqued Dala Horse hot pad! And today's the last day of the Craftalong, I'll be doing a round-up later today.

Work in progress

2011-08-20T17:32:00.003-07:00

A while back I was looking for some fun cross stitch patterns but couldn't find any. And then I went through my mom's linen closet. Lo and behold, cross stitch kit gold! She had this super cute pattern for a Swedish bell pull that says "Welcome" in Swedish. It's been my go-to project these days when I have a few minutes and want to do something crafty.

In other news, I'm looking forward to Fall and Winter so I can pick up my knitting again. I know I can pick it up now, but just don't have quite the same motivation as when it's cold out.

Happy weekend!

Jam, a love story

2011-08-19T02:30:00.001-07:00

Jam. I’m currently in a jamming/canning phase. I’ve only made two batches so far, but I dream about all sorts of things to jam and can. If only I had an unlimited supply of canning jars and fresh produce…and time, too, I guess.

My love of canning goes all the way back to two weeks ago; when I stumbled across this blog. It makes you want to can pretty much everything you see.

My love for jam, however, goes back a bit farther. Back in college, my bestie and I spent a summer in northern Michigan. We were ice cream-scoopers by day, jammers by night. We had a freakishly strong right arm (because of all the scooping) which only helped us in our jamming ventures. We even created our own jamming company - We Be Jammin’. Although, it should be said that we gave away more jam than actually selling…but, hey, we had fun. We picked our own strawberries and blueberries and made delicious jams and preserves. Needless to say, it was a grand summer.

My first batch of jam this season was raspberry jam. I found these cute little jars – 4 oz. quilted Ball jars – and got to jamming. Then a couple days ago I made peach vanilla-bean jam. I’ve never used a real vanilla bean before, it was fun! I love seeing all the flecks of vanilla throughout the jam.

Photo from Food In Jars

I'm dying to try this Orange-Ginger Marmalade...yum. And then I want to attempt homemade pickles. Anyone know of a good recipe for either dill or bread and butter pickles?

Dala Round-Up: Week 3

2011-08-15T03:30:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I can't believe that we're already over halfway done with the craftalong, that seems nuts! But, it's true. There has been some fantastic new additions to the Flickr pool this past week, check out what's been created:

Pam (Gingerbread Snowflakes) made matching Dala aprons for her and her daughter using Carina's fabric - don't you love the green trim?!

Perhaps the smallest of the Dala projects so far, Dunderklumpen12 created these mini felt Dala brooches.

Jani (the Butterfly Jungle) embroidered this cutie of a Dala right onto an apron.

Christina (Golden Lilly Crafts) made these adorable Dala babies! What I love most is that she gave them each a different name. From left to right: Thor, Inga, Brother Bo, and Laila. She even has a great tutorial showing how to make your own Dala softie (pattern included!).

And, Andrea over at the Paper Sparrow created these free printables for some Dala stationary - how awesome is that?! [hint: pretty darn awesome]

It's not too late, you can still join in! The Dala Craftalong continues until August 21. But don't worry, there are no rules against Dala crafting after the 21st, it's even encouraged. Upload any of your new Dala crafts to the Dala Craftalong Flickr group here.

Happy Crafting! :)

Easy-Peasy-Dala-Horsey Apron

2011-08-08T03:51:00.005-07:00

I finally finished the tutorial I promised last week. It is seriously easy. The hardest part of this tutorial was trying to get the pattern figured out. Tricky stuff for a girl like me. But with the help of the friendly blogging world and deciding to just upload it to flickr, I finally figured it out!

So without further adieu, here it is!

You will need:

1/2 yard of Dala fabric (Carina's is super-duper-adorable)

Bias tape - 1/2" and 1/4" double-folded (1 package of each will do)

Pattern pieces here, printed and put together

Sewing machine/thread/scissors

Ok! Let's get started!

First, print out the linked pattern, assemble and cut. Pin the pattern and cut out your fabric.

Next, pin your 1/4" bias tape around the bottom and sides of the apron. You don't need to cut an exact amount of the bias tape. Just pin around and trim off any excess. Then, sew. Carefully. I'm usually a cheater when it comes to pinning things, but this part is actually crucial that you pin and sew it well. Take your time. You can use the 1/2" bias tape for this part too if you think it'll be easier.

Make sure when you're sewing that you're catching the three layers: front of the bias, fabric, back of the bias. The fabric easily slips out if you don't pin it well.

Lastly, [yes, it's this fast!] pin your 1/2" bias tape centered on your apron and across the top. Sew, sew, sew! Start at one end of the bias tape and sew shut along the entire edge, catching the apron section on your way to the other end.

Bake something Swedish. Think about Dalas. Enjoy.

And if you haven't yet, join in the Dala Craftalong!

Dala Decor

2011-08-03T20:15:00.002-07:00

Just wanted to share a little Dala decor around my sister's house that is inspiring for the craftalong month.

The apron tutorial is still in the works. Check back Saturday for the free pattern and tutorial!

Dala gift

2011-07-27T12:14:00.004-07:00

I wasn't planning a craftalong post for today, but then I received a special surprise in the mail and I just have to share because it totally fits into the Dala-theme!

My bestest friend in the whole world sent this to me and Ryan as our wedding gift! It's from a little Swedish shop called Hemslojd. One one side it says "welcome" in Swedish and the other side is our last name.

It's meant for hanging, so Ryan and I have to go get a couple hooks to hang it on. Yay for another trip to IKEA!

Dala Tea Apron

2011-07-25T18:31:00.006-07:00

Welcome! If you're not familiar with what's happening over here, you're in for quite a treat. Carina of Carina's Craftblog, Pam of Gingerbread Snowflakes, Hanna of iHanna, and myself are taking part in a Dala Horse Craftalong. And we want all of you to join in the Dala Horse fun! Create something inspired by the Dala Horse, anything you want and upload any pictures to the Flickr group here.

So, for my first Dala Horse project, I used this adorable fabric I found in Japan. I bought it not knowing what I would make with it.

[please forgive me for the horrible lighting of the following photos. Please also forgive the wrinkly nature of the fabric, I still don't have an iron yet!]

And I used up 1/2 of it making this apron.

[Yes, I am fake cooking in this photo]

This is one easy-peasy apron to make. Not only is it cute, but it's practical. I especially love wearing tea aprons when I'm washing dishes. If I had thought ahead to how much I love wearing tea aprons while washing dishes I would have added some oilcloth backing...alas, I just now am realizing this.

I'm working on a tutorial for this very apron, a scalloped-edge, easy-peasy, Dala Horsey apron. So you too can have yourself a Dala Horse apron. You could even use Carina's super-cute Dala Horse fabric!

Now, what else should I make with the leftover fabric? Hmmm...

Dala Horse Craftalong!

2011-07-24T16:00:00.005-07:00

Yup, you heard me right, a Dala Horse Craftalong! Pam of Gingerbread Snowflakes rounded up a few of us Scandinavian crafters to start a Dala Horse Craftalong! So together with Carina of Carina's Craftblog, and Hanna of iHanna, we will be conducting a fun craftalong with all of you crafty folks out there to join in!

So what is a craftalong, you ask? Well, this is how it will work. The 4 of us will all be blogging for a month about Dala Horse themed crafts and offering helpful how-to's and tips. And we're asking you to join in the fun by creating either one of our projects or create your very own! Then once you get started, upload some of your progress over at the Flikcr group here.

Here are a few Dala crafts that you may have seen here on the Pickled Herring before:

The felted Dala coaster

The Dala stamp

And, the Dala bridal horse.

Please join in the fun! I am currently working on many fun projects including a Dala apron, a Dala hot pad, Dala coasters....and so much more! Pam has made some pretty impressive 3D Dala horses along with some ornaments. And Carina has a freakin' sweet Dala embroidery pattern to check out, and Hanna has some sweet photos of the actual city where it all started!

I can't wait to see what all of you come up with, please join in the fun!

I'm baaaack!

2011-07-23T16:54:00.000-07:00

I would like to say a quick hello to everyone after my hiatus from the blogging world.

Hello!

Ryan and I are officially married and moved into our new place out in California! After many weeks of living out of a suitcase and traveling cross-country, it feels good to be finally getting settled in. I'll share more pictures at a later date and time, I want to do one giant wedding post. I'm still getting my "crafting corner" in order, but the crafts are starting even without it being finished.

And stay tuned...tomorrow is going to be quite a spectacular start to a new series!

Mr. and Mrs.

2011-06-24T10:26:00.004-07:00

Just wanted to share a quick couple photos of our wedding celebration! We just got back from our honeymoon (or funny-moon as Ryan calls it) and packing up to drive out to California, woo hoo! I'll be back in the blogging world soon!

The fabulous photos you see above were taken by Ryan's awesome friend, Roger.

4 days...woah!

2011-06-07T09:56:00.003-07:00

I've been so swamped with wedding planning and packing that I haven't posted in weeks, sorry!

I just want to let you all know that I will be taking a short break from blogging for the next month or so while I get married (yay!), go on a honeymoon (super yay!) and move back out to California. I'll try to get a token post or two in after the wedding to share a few pictures though! :)

And there is something VERY exciting taking place in the blogging world near the end of July so be sure to stay tuned to get your fix of Scandinavian craziness!!!!

Wedding favors...

2011-05-19T13:24:00.002-07:00

This week my mom and I have been busy making prototypes of the tags that will be on the candy boxes (for the candy table we're having for the wedding favors). This is the one I like the best. I bought that super fun scalloped punch from Country Needleworks here in town, and even if I don't end up using it for this, I will definitely use it later.

You also may have noticed that the stamp I used here is not the stamp I originally was going to use. Unfortunately, through the chaos of packing and unpacking, I have absolutely no idea where I put it so I had to order a new stamp. I love this one too though so it's really a win-win situation. :)

The random mid-May post

2011-05-15T15:21:00.004-07:00

Hello folks. Long time no post!

I don't have much to post at the moment, but thought I'd share a few random tidbits with you. First - these little Swedish baby booties I made for my nephew:

And they are reversible! But, I'm sad to say that I only made 1 booty because by the time I finished it he had outgrown it. I still think it's pretty cute though.

Second item of business, this cross stitch piece my grandma has at her house, I love it. It reminds me of my grandma. I've been super into cross stitch these days, my mom found some of her old kits that she bought but never made so I've been plugging away at them. I'll post my progress one of these days.

Does anyone know where you can find a stamped cross stitch kit (that's a cute pattern? I love the old samplers but can't find any!!)? I can't find one for the life of me, and I'm usually pretty good at finding craft supplies. Hmmm...

And lastly, I'm getting married in one month to this handsome guy - woah baby!

(picture from the Tokyo airport, we hadn't slept in a while...)

Norwegian Easter Cookies

2011-04-22T06:30:00.002-07:00

I stayed up making some Norwegian Easter cookies last night and am I ever glad I did, they're pretty darn tasty! Pam over at Gingerbread Snowflakes has been doing a ton of Easter posts, and these were one of them.

The ingredients are pretty much like a shortbread but brushed with egg and topped with sugar. Unfortunately, I did not have any pearl sugar on hand so I just used some plain sugar and a little colored sugar too.

Yuuuummmm!

Norwegian Easter Cookies

from Epicurious

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

4 cups flour

3 sticks butter

1 teaspoon baking powder

pearl sugar to top (or colored sugar)

Mix together sugar and butter, add 1 egg (only 1 of the 2!). Sift the flour and baking powder together and slowly add to the mixture. You're supposed to refrigerate them...but I didn't. Shape dough into little balls and make indentations with your thumbs. Brush with the 2nd beaten egg and sprinkle sugar on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes.

Happy Easter everyone!