Vegan New Years Feast: Recipe Suggestions

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm trying to go sugar free in January. It's tough! Another goal I have for 2015 is to eat more vegan - I'm a vegetarian but I'm hoping to reduce my carbon footprint further by eating less eggs and dairy. And I got off to a great start on New Years eve with a delicious vegan New Years dinner! 

Keith and I spent a pretty quiet New Years with his parents and sister. With me being a vegetarian and my sis-in-law being allergic to both gluten and dairy, the New Year's dinner proved a bit of a challenge. In the end we went with three recipes from the fantastic vegan food blogger Oh she glows. And since it was such a hit, I thought I'd share the menu with you!

My apologies for the bad flash photo, I didn't think to document the process so all I had was my phone camera. But you'll find much more appetizing photos on the Oh She Glows blog anyway - I definitely recommend checking it out!

- Glazed Lentil Walnut Apple loaf. Though a bit labor intensive, this loaf was a big hit. I love bean/lentil loaves, they're so hearty and filling. The tasty glaze made this loaf feel a bit more festive, and I loved the addition of the apple and celery.

- Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Avocado Garlic Aioli. This was my sis-in-law's favorite recipe of the bunch - the potatoes were the perfect amount of crispy and the avocado aioli was fantastic. We did "cheat" a bit here as we didn't manage to find vegan mayo at my in-laws' local grocery store, but next time I make these I fully intend to use vegan mayo (I have used this brand before with great results).

- Nut Butter Crusted Parsnip Fries. Since Keith is not a fan of potatoes, we made these parsnip fries as an alternative side dish. They were fantastic, and far healthier than regular fries since they were baked rather than deep fried. I've already bought another bag of parsnips to make them again!

- Vegan Chocolate Mousse Without Added Sugar. This is a recipe from another (now dormant) blog called Vegan Magic. I was very excited to find a creamy vegan mousse recipe without added sugar. It may be because we were already so full from the main course, but we found the chocolate mousse almost TOO rich - next time I will try adding a bit more liquid coconut milk to dilute it a bit.

With fantastic recipes like these, there's no need to miss dairy. I'll keep you posted as I venture further into the world of vegan cuisine!

My Pinterest To Do-List

Are you a Pinterest fan? I totally am! I find it a great way to bookmark craft ideas, patterns and tutorials, as well as images that simply catch my eye in some way - a color combination, an unusual fabric, a spark of inspiration... Sometimes though, Pinterest can become less about finding inspiration for actual craft projects, and more of a black hole which sucks you in - and before you know it, three hours which COULD have been spent crafting are instead spent in front of the computer. So to challenge myself top actually MAKE some of the things from my Pinterest boards, I compiled a list of some favorite projects that I've pinned over the last year or so. All are reasonably simple projects which include instructions, so I really have no excuse to just GET GOING ALREADY.

1. Sashiko embroidery @ the Purl Bee 2. Awesome elastic pen strap @ tutsplus.com 3. House satchet @ a Spoonful of Sugar 4. Heart friendship bracelets @ HonestlyWTF 5. Zippered pouch @ A Quilters Table 6. Earbud Circle Pouch @ erinerickson.com 7. Brilliant Potholder @ Miss Mary Sewing Classes 8. A faster way to make plus quilts @ For the Love of George 9. Quick hair iron cozy by gatheringtwigs @ Craftster

So much inspiration! I actually already started one of these projects a while back - fabric house ornaments made using the excellent tutorial from Retro Mama. I'm planning to turn them into lavender sachets for our closets.  


See, I've already come this far. About time I finish these! I will keep you updated on my progress. :-)

Geek week: Harry Potter crafts

Alright, this will be the last of my "geek week" posts. But since I am a huge Harry Potter fan, it didn't seem right to do a "geek week" without including some Potter-inspired crafts!

1. Handmade Hogwarts Notebooks 2. Owl paper cut 3. Gorgeous necklace by Guilia Snape 4. Amazing Death Eater mask by Epbot 5. Snitch Christmas Ornament tutorial 6. Free Owl Post printable 7. Awesome Potions book including instructions 8. Deathly hallows paper piecing 9. Amazing handmade wands

The above are a collection of some of my favorite Harry Potter crafts from around the web. I especially love crafts that aim to recreate magical items from the books in detail, like realistic looking wands, school books or magical sweets. Quirky, but still grown up, you know? I don't want my home to look like the Warner Bros' merchandise store threw up all over it... I don't have a lot of Potter memorabilia at home, but I do have one distinctly geeky home decor detail. Here we go:

Yeah, that's a picture of our toilet. A completely normal, muggle toilet. Right?

NO! In fact, it's the entrance to the Ministry of Magic! This is a nice easter egg for visiting Potter fans - I'm sure it looks completely crazy to everyone else. :-) It was a quick craft to do, all I did was do a google image search for "Ministry of Magic", print out the logo and cover the whole image with scotch tape. That way it's firmly attached to the inside of the toilet lid, and you don't have to worry about messing up the image when you're cleaning.

Does your geekiness show in your home? How?

Smash book saturday: Inspiration

I haven't been doing much smash booking this week, there's been so much else going on. But I have been thinking a lot about ideas for future pages, and browsing Flickr and Pinterest for inspiration. I thought I would share some pages by talented smash bookers which caught my attention!

Smash book inspiration:

1. Lovely neutrals 2. Simple travel page 3. Apples and pears 4. Purple spread 5. "Grow" page 6. Journaling on a doily! 7. Photo focus page 8. Make stuff happen collage 9. Currently page 10. Colorful collage 11. Colorful pocket page 12. A great way to add short notes 13. More beautiful simplicity

I'd like to get a bit more creative in my smash book, maybe even add some paint and collage. These photos have inspired me to try that in my next book! I'm also starting a list of topics that I want to journal/smash about in the future, for those days when I can't think what to write. Here it is so far, in case you need ideas:
To Smash:
My craft space
In the news today
Hexagon themed page
Adjectives starting with the letters of my name
Dinner/meal plans
Dreams (keep a notepad by the bed!)
Crafts I want to make
My neighbourhood
Books to read
My current obsessions
Favorite Quotes
Seasons (take more photos)
Healthy eating
Current to do list

Back to school

We're back from Riga! We had a great time, there was so much to see. We visited the amazing beaches outside the city,swam in the sea, got massages, rode a pedal boat on the canal, shopped, visited loads of interesting museums, rode go-carts and watched 4D cinema, and walked around the beautiful Vecriga (Old Town) and Art Nouveau districts. My feet were so sore after 4 days of sightseeing!

But now we are back home - and school has started! It was a bit of a shock at first, but I'm really enjoying being a student again! It looks like I'm going to be really busy in the coming weeks, so I probably won't be blogging as much as I'd like... But tonight I wanted to share something that's on my mind a lot these days:

Fun and pretty school supplies!

1. hand bound journal 2. pencil case 3. organizer 4. pencil cup 5. book pin 6. stationery sampler 7. letterhead set 8. tote bag 9. note cards 10. custom bookplates 11. journal 12. note cards 13. stikcy notes 14. pencil case 15. journal 16. mini planner

Aren't they just lovely? I want them all!

Chocolate OD - Oreo Brownies

Time for some baking! I found a marvelous recipe for Oreo brownies on Craftster the other day and I just knew I had to try it. I think they turned out quite well, and Keith loved them. They're extremely chocolate-y!

If you'd like to try them yourselves, the recipe can be found in this post. Since I couldn't find any Brownie mix (in Sweden we still like to bake from scratch!) I used this great brownie recipe. Go on, try it, you know you want to!

Also, there's a great giveaway going on over at Handmade Giveaways blog - check it out for a chance to win a cute little coin purse!

My favorite craft tutorials

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been a while. There has been a lot of things going on, good and bad. The (very) bad thing is that we've been informed that our company is considering closing down their Gothenburg office, which means I'll probably be out of work in a month or so. And at the worst possible time, too! I'm very worried, but trying to stay positive.

The good thing is that I've been crafting away for several different Craftster swaps. Pictures coming soon! In the meantime I thought I'd share some of my favorite craft tutorials. This is the current top 5:

Photo from CraftPudding

1. Make a baby food jar pincushion - This is a sweet little tutorial that CraftPudding posted a couple of weeks back, I can't wait to try it out. A great way to repurpose old glass jars!

2. Excellent bookbinding tutorial - This is a wonderful tutorial if you have ever wanted to try bookbinding but feel intimidated by all the tools and complex techniques out there. Clear instructions, helpful pics, and no expensive tools required!

3. Toadstool tutorial - I recently rediscovered this tute, it's great! Make a cute pincushion or ornament and decorate it to your heart's content! Author LucyKate even arranged a toadstool swap - see all the photos here.

4. Fabric ATC tutorial - This tute has some great tips and tricks for making fabric ATCs. I want to experiment more with non-paper ATCs as soon as I'm done with the Craftster Alphabet ATC swap.

5. Fabric Dollhouse Tutorial - I haven't had a chance to make this yet, but I had to share it anyway. Such an adorable idea!

Flickr friends

We had a lovely time with my mother, I just wish she could come visit more often! The picture below shows some of the OREO hearts from my last post, all wrapped up as a Valentines gift for mom.

I'm leaving town tomorrow morning to visit my sister, her fiancée and my little niece, so there won't be much craftiness this weekend. I thought I'd leave you with a mosaic of wonderful photos from some of my Flickr contacts. Such talent, and wonderful photography!

1. Lavender Love, 2. babette blanket - the beginning, 3. For the Birds Swap, 4. ATC: Jardin, 5. buttons, 6. fabric collage, 7. Crochet granny's, 8. Work in progress, 9. shabby tea -- postcard to-be

Have a great weekend everyone!

Achoo!

I'm sorry it's been ages since my last post, but I've been REALLY sick! Keith got a cold last week so of course I caught it too, only worse! Not much energy left over for blogging - or anything else for that matter. Also, school started up again on Monday, and this semester looks like it's going to be a lot of work... Phew!

Anyway, I just HAD to make a post today to thank Gina at Soul Glo for sending me the most amazing ephemera pack! I won a giveaway over at her blog a few weeks ago, and today my package arrived, and it's just awesome. So many pretty things! There are pages from old books, postcards, scrabble tiles, ribbon, flowers, and lots and lots of cool paper and images. I can't wait to use everything! Here's a pic of some of the goodies (there was no way I could fit them all in one pic):

I'm afraid I don't have much altered artyness to show you yet, but here are some doodles I made yesterday:

I mainly made this to experiment with packaging tape transfers... It's a great method for getting semi-transparent images like the one on this page - you can see the text through the image of the hand holding the plant. I made a ton last week, as I went though some old magazines headed for the recycling. Now I just have to find a way to use all of them! :-)

I'm going to be super busy this week as I prepare for my mothers wedding on Saturday (I'm so excited!) so I probably won't be blogging again until the weekend is over. Have a great week everyone!

Happy surprises

I love surprises! I went to visit my little niece Stella again this weekend (I can't believe she's a month old already!) and when I got back home yesterday I found I have been given two blog awards! Thanks so much guys!

First up, Anke over at Anart Island Studios gave me this great blogger friends "gold card". Thanks Anke!

The rules for this award are:
1. Only 5 people allowed.
2. 4 have to be dedicated followers of your blog.
3. one has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. you must link back to whoever gave you the award.

As this blog is only a little over a month old, I don't have too many regular followers yet. But some people have been with me since the beginning, and I really appreciate that!

1. Cecilia over at Nifty deserves to win this award because her blog is a great source of inspiration for me, and her comments always brighten up my day. Plus, it's always fun to meet fellow Swedes out there in the craft blog universe!
2. I'd also like to nominate Robyn over at Craft With Me, stop by her blog for some inspiration and a peek into her crafty life!
3. Autumn of Creative Combustion is another of my regular visitors, and all her encouraging comments have really raised my crafty confidence. Thanks Autumn!
4. Next up is Cassie of Gifts for Nonnie. I love her blog - she is a great photographer and I I am in total awe of her embroidery skills. Make sure to drop by and check out her latest pieces!
5. Last but not least, I'd like to nominate Jenny from the lovely blog Jenny S Stitcher and Scribbler. She visited me after I joined her in celebrating her 100th (!!!) post last week, and I hope she'll drop by again in the future!

And as if that wasn't enough, I received a second award from Robyn of Craft With Me, thank you so much!

Here we go:

Here are the rules for this award:
1. Put the logo on your blog;
2.Add a link to the person who awarded you;
3. Nominate at least seven other blogs;
4. Add links to those blogs on your blog; and
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

1. I love to visit Laura of Bugs and Fishes and see her latest felt creations. She is also the creator of the Crafting 365 flickr group - these ladies are amazing!
2. Hanna of iHanna's Creative Space is another Swedish crafter and artist who makes the most amazing things! Visiting her is always a great injection of creativity.
3. Goody-goody is another one of my favorite blogs, always an inspiration to visit, and lots of great tutorials!
4. SweetJessie is another great blog filled with vintage:y goodness and beautiful projects. Pay her a visit and see for yourselves!
5. Dandelion Daisy is a blog specialized on ATCs, and I love to visit her whenever I get stuck on what to make for the Craftster ATC swaps.
6. Amy of LucyKate Crafts is an amazing seamstress who designs great stuffies, cushions and craft kits. I especially love her little birdies!
7. Finally, ArtsyMama is one of my all time favorite blogs. It just has it all: great photography, beautiful art, vintage and estate sale finds, fun stories... Make sure to drop by!


What a great way to start the week!

Craft green this weekend!

We're going to visit Keith's parents this weekend, so I won't be blogging for a couple of days... I thought I'd leave you with a couple of ideas for awesome, environmentally friendly craft projects.

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The story: A couple of days ago, my dad and I spent over an hour on the phone discussing creativity, awareness and the politics behind the whole DIY-movement. My dad is a librarian in the small town where I grew up, and he's very involved in the community. He told me that they are having trouble finding fun activities and projects to get young people involved - so naturally I suggested crafting! I love crafts with a political edge like subversive cross stitch or knit graffiti, as well as environmentally aware "reduce, reuse, recycle" projects. Dad asked me to e-mail him some links to "green" craft ideas that I thought would work well at youth centers and workshops. I had lots of fun looking them up for him! I'm sure you've heard of most of them before, but here are a couple of my favorites:

Great tutorial for making handmade paper: I'm trying this as soon as I get back home, I love the look of handmade paper!
Making a cake stand out of thrifted plates and china: An awesome gift idea is using old plates, serving dishes and candle sticks to make cute cake stands. This example uses clear glass plates, but I love how it looks with different colored plates as well.
Make your own envelopes: I'm always looking for ways to use all the old magazines and junk mail I get... This is a template for turning them into pretty envelopes.
Another cute sweater project: I've been brain storming about what to do with the wool sweaters I got last week, and this is one of the projects on my to do-list.
The record bowl: This is a classic, it's so simple and fun!

Have a great crafty weekend!