Junie Moon: May 2011

Monday, May 16, 2011

Beach Time and a Monogram

Summer has begun for me. The following picture shows the beach I lounge about on as though I truly am Chief Mermaid of All the Seas. The sand really is this white and the color of the water is why this section of Florida is called the Emerald Coast.

Anyway, I happened upon a project idea at Let The Tide Pull Your Dreams Ashore blog that looked like fun but also has a rather practical purpose—well, to me it’s practical. Monogram your beach water jug.

After an unsuccessful search locally for a pink ½-gallon Igloo jug, I ordered one from Dick’s Sporting Goods. My green monogram was ordered from 2PreppyGirls. Both items arrived fairly quickly and the project itself took me a grand total of thirty seconds to finish.

Here is my monogrammed jug’s beach debut. The pink-and-green theme is rather perky—which is more than I can say of myself after putting on my swimsuit. Ah well, one of the best things about going to the beach is the feeling that all is well in the world and your troubles can just slip away with the tide.

Resources

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Sewing: Kindle Case

When my husband bought the iPad for me, I gave him my Kindle. The iPad, however, is not a good thing to take to the beach as you cannot see the screen at all out in sunlight. So, I have a new Kindle to resolve the reading-on-the-beach problem.

Naturally, my Kindle needs something lovely to protect it. I used my own pattern to sew a case.

Obviously, I’m still using pieces of that same yard of mermaid fabric from which I’ve been sewing lately. I can milk a yard of fabric to within a millimeter of its little woven life. Thanks to Heather Ross (updated 03/27/13: thank you for letting me know I accidentally said Bailey instead of Ross), my projects are looking suitably summery.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Sewing: iPhone 4 Sleeve

How was your Mother’s Day weekend? The weather this weekend was gorgeous and I loafed at the beach.

Besides the end of the semester and Mother’s Day, my blessings for last week included getting a new white iPhone 4 to replace my failing Blackberry Curve. I did not realize how fragile the glass casing is on the iPhone as I’ve never had one before. So, I took steps to protect my new connection to the world before running off to the beach.

You are probably tired of seeing this same fabric in my latest projects, but I intend to use every single inch of any fabric already in my stash or purchased in the future.

Erin Erickson’s tutorial was used to make this project. The instructions were easy to follow and the project took a minimal amount of time to complete—much appreciated since I wanted to go to the beach and not spend all my time indoors.

Now my new phone is safe and I found another way to use my beloved Heather Bailey fabric.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Another Mermaid Swam By

I have finished another project featuring my precious Heather Bailey fabric. This time D.H. Buscher’s Manicure Kit Cover tutorial was put into use, a project I initially found on One Pretty Thing. Unfortunately, the Buscher blog experienced some kind of problem which deleted six months of her work, so I am not sure where you can find a copy of her tutorial. I’m so glad I’d saved a copy in my project binder. Updated 7:04 p.m.: a lovely reader found a link you can use to access the tutorial. Thank you, Anonymous!

Although I’ve not put all my little tools in the pockets yet, I think you get the idea of how the little kit looks on the inside. Just as was done with the cosmetic brush kit, I used a magnetic snap for the manicure kit.

Here are my two projects together, the new manicure kit and the cosmetic brush kit I shared with you the other day. Two of my summer projects done—May is proving to be a lovely month for me already.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Orange Zest Madeleines

Along with some sewing projects, new recipes have made their way on my must-do-right-away list. One of those recipes is for madeleines. While I’ve made these little cakes before, I thought I’d try yet another recipe version.

Dry, dense, heavy madeleines do not excite me; however, the particular recipe I used this time resulted in a cake that was moist and delicious with a lovely, light flavor as the result of using just the right amount of freshly-zested orange.

I learned three things when trying this new recipe:

Do not over-mix the batter.
Chill the batter in the fridge for at least an hour.
Bake your madeleines the same day they will be served.

Source: Amazon.com

The recipe was published in The New York Times and is an adaptation from one found in The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts.

A batch was made for my knitting group and another for my mother-in-law’s bridge group’s game day. Both batches were eaten in what seemed one heart beat of time.

Monday, May 2, 2011

A Mermaid Swam By

Hello, May, I’m so happy you are here. May heralds breathing time for me, this year is no different. Oh, the joy of this month! To celebrate, I’ve begun working on my little list of projects with summer in mind.

First on my list was making a cosmetic brush case using two different fabrics from Heather Bailey’s Mendocino line retrieved from my stash. I followed the very easy instructions found in a tutorial created by Juliette Landers of Sewing Republic which was posted on Tipnut.

Heavy-weight Peltex was used for interfacing and a magnetic snap for the closure. The case unfolds to reveal numerous pockets sewn inside.

I have a good set of Chanel makeup brushes, but I love Sonia Kashuk's Hidden Treasure Brush Set—the coral design is so perfect for my ocean-themed project. I purchased the coral brushes at Target a few years ago.