Decoupaged table with book pages

We'd been using this old table to hold some of Jack's toys in his room. Ugh, pretty depressing right?
I think I found it in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco when I was pregnant with him. Anyway, it REAAALLLY needed an update.

 See the fake wood bubbling? I knew it needed more than just a paint job. So I took it apart which was easy since it was just screwed together.

I thought about leaving the legs 'natural' since they still looked okay and thought it may add some interest. I did polish them up a bit with this restorer. Then I painted the top and bottom shelves green. I had some spray paint left over from this project.

Then I rummaged through Jack's books to find an old one with cool art. A few years ago I picked up a box of old books from a school sale. There were a few with pretty cool illustrations but that were otherwise pretty trashed (no covers, pages missing...) I thought this one would be perfect for this project.

 I measured the shelves and cut out a template for my paper 'tiles.' I needed 16 for the table. The book had exactly that many pages, including the title page. I probably wouldn't have included that one if I had enough pictures, but I think it actually looks pretty cool (and now we'll always know what book we used!)

 Then I painted the tops of the shelves (one at a time) with a thin coat of Mod Podge. You can find this in any craft store. I used the matte, but you can use whichever you prefer. I love this stuff.

I decided to start with the bottom shelf in case I ran into problems, I'd figure them out before I did the top. I'm glad I did this since my first attempt resulted in some major bubbling. After doing some research and messing around with the process, I found that I achieved the best results this way:

1. Paint a thin coat on your surface.

2. Position your paper where you want it.

3. Press it and smooth the paper down, concentrating on those edges! Do your best to get the bubbles out.

4. Wait for that bottom layer of Mod Podge to dry before...

5. Applying a top coat. Wait for that to dry.

6. Put two more coats on, waiting for the Podge to dry completely in between. Some coats took 20 minutes to dry, but it seemed as the layer got thicker it took longer.

And Voila! So much better!

Pumpkin bread with cream cheese filling and homemade vanilla extract

Seriously, this looks so good I think I'm going to make it for dinner tonight.  Find the recipe here

I also made some homemade vanilla extract a few weeks back. I found the recipe in this awesome book that I got for Christmas last year.

The homemade vanilla is relatively simple to make, and pretty inexpensive when you consider how much a tiny jar of extract costs. This recipe makes a ton (about two cups worth) and uses just five vanilla beans (about $3 at Whole Foods) and two cups of vodka (the cost depends on the quality of vodka you use, I had Smirnoff on hand.)

To make it, you just gather a mason jar (mine held 16 oz. filled up to the very top,) some vanilla beans (5) and rum or vodka. Open and scrape the vanilla pods, stuff the seeds and the pods into the jar and fill it up with your alcohol.

Then let it sit for a few months before using, shaking every week or so. Mine should be ready around Thanksgiving, before I begin all my holiday baking. And I seriously go through a lot of vanilla, more so than liquor (especially now that I'm pregnant!) The flavor of the homemade variety is supposed to be much better. This is what mine looked like after I made it, but it's already much darker now after just a few weeks.

Moosewood Brownies

I think I've found my brownie recipe. I baked off a tray of these decadent, fudgy brownies for a pool party recently. The pool party ended up getting canceled...and guess what happened to all the brownies?

No, I didn't eat all of them. I froze half (they freeze beautifully--are even more moist once thawed) and shared them with lucky friends who happened to drop by over the next few weeks. I must confess, however, that I probably ate about half of them. I can't help it, I love a seriously good brownie.

Moosewood Brownies

adapted from Moosewood Cookbook

• 5 ounces unsweetened chocolate (5 squares)
• 2 sticks butter 
• 1 3/4 cups packed light brown sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3/4 c. flour
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or anything else)

Directions:

1. Butter a 9x13-inch baking pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Gently melt the chocolate. Let it cool for about 10 minutes.
3. Cream the butter and sugar in a medium-sized bowl until light and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
5. Stir in the vanilla.
6. Stir constantly as you drizzle in the melted chocolate. After all the chocolate is in, beat well for a minute or two.
7. Stir in flour.
8. Mix just enough to blend thoroughly.
9. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
10. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center come out clean.
11. Cut into squares while still hot, then allow to cool for at least 10 minutes, if you can wait that long.

I want to make this!

 Isn't this hand-sewn bird just the prettiest thing you've seen all day?
The pattern can be found in this book:

Whale watching and rugelach

We spent the weekend looking for whales out at Bodega Bay. We saw a few sprays, but no actual whale was spotted. The weather was clear and sunny and cool--Jack ran around in the fields while my girlfriend, Bri, and I ate scones and jam.

And a few projects were finished when someone got a cold (Jack) and someone else (me) got to stay home from work and keep him company.
First: an aquarium scene made out of construction paper and sequins.

Second: some seriously delicious rugelach.

You can find the recipe in my favorite baking cookbook: Martha's Baking Handbook or online here. These are so friggin' good, I have a tummy ache from eating waaay too many. The flaky layers are almost pastry-like and hold chocolate slivers, finely-chopped walnuts, raisins and sticky apricot jam. The filling in my book is different from the one online, I used 1 cup of walnuts, 1/4 cup of sugar and only 3/4 cup of jam. I made half of ours with chocolate, the other with raisins, all with nuts. Too good.

And from what I remember from my coffee shop days, rugelach freeze really well once baked. (I've already put more than half in the freezer to deter a late night rugelach attack.)

And I found this in a drawer the other day, don't you just love these? Jack is fascinated by it, and always wants to drink the water out of it. Yuck.

A Birthday smock

A little friend of ours was having her 2nd birthday, so I whipped up this quick smock using a pattern from Amy Karol's Bend-the Rules Sewing. I wanted to do a trial run of the pattern before making one for Christmas this year for my little man. Our friend is a very girly girl, so I chose this blue fabric with little blue roses and a wide red bias tape for the edges. It's made from one piece of fabric, but took me a surprisingly long time to make (I don't know why, but Lord knows I'm not the fastest sewer.)

I thought it came out really well, and it was rather a hit at the party (if I may say so myself.) I'm hoping to find a cool fabric for Jack's, maybe with dinosaurs on it. His smock will most likely be more of an apron, since we'll probably use it primarily for baking and making pancakes on weekends. The size given in the book (with the pattern enlarged to the suggested 235%) is about a 2T-3T and would comfortably fit most of the 2-3-year-olds that we know.

In other news, we were lucky enough to spend a morning the other day watching a family of deer eat pears beneath the tree in our front yard. Our bedroom window looks out onto the tree, so we could safely watch them without freaking them out. I gotta say, deer sure drool a lot more than I'd thought.

This will come in handy this summer...

The Hunger Games

I am obsessed with these books. They are a trilogy, the first one being The Hunger Games. A review from Amazon describes the tale as "a gripping story set in a post-apocalyptic world where a replacement for the United States demands a tribute from each of its territories: two children to be used as gladiators in a televised fight to the death." I know, brutal.

At first, I wasn't sure that I could get into books with as much violence as these have got, but I quickly got over that. They are real page-turners and the plot gives you what you want. I found myself saying, I wish this would happen...and then a few chapters later, it would.  Books with short chapters are great too--they tell the stories in little nuggets, perfect for lunch breaks or nap times. And there are great cliffhanger endings for nearly each chapter. "His heart was no longer beating" or "And that is how a revolution dies." They are classified as young adult lit, but aren't as full of sappy, drawn-out conversations as say, the Twilight series (which I loved but ended up skimming over a lot of the romantic stuff.)

I'm on the last book now, Mockingjay. A friend who recommended these books found this one a bit slower than the others. I'm enjoying it so far. Anyone have ideas for good summertime reading?