Seela Made

DIY: magnetic pincushion

It's time again for another simple, functional craft with a vintage twist. Need a cute magnetic pincushion to dress up your sewing space? This hardly requires a how-to from me, but here are a few easy steps to get your started.

Materials: small plates like butter pats, child size tea cup saucers, tea bag plates (once you start looking you will find them all over, be sure to collect a few so you can make one for you and all of your friends), super glue, strong magnets (I have used these magnets from Joann in the past, but if the bottom lip of your plate doesn't have enough room for such a large/thick magnet, I like using these small but super strong magnets).

Step 1: Collect a few plates for your pincushion.

Step 2: Dab a bit of super glue to the back of the magnet.

Step 3: Glue the magnet to the back of the plate.

Step 4: Enjoy - and get sewing, you've got a cute new pincushion to use! xo

 

Learning to Can: strawberry jam

Strawberries are in season a few weeks early here in Ohio. We weren't really planning on picking berries but the giant fields filled with people lured us in and we couldn't resist. Two giant buckets and 8 quarts of strawberries later we drove home with red stained hands and berry filled bellies.

I can't get over how pretty these strawberries were, so perfectly red and unbruised. Not to mention delicious, nothing like what you get at the grocery store.

What does one do with so many strawberries you ask? First you make strawberry shortcake everyday of the week of course and then smoothies and then toast because you also make jam - JAM! 

I've canned a small handful of things now (see here, here, here, here and here) but this jam is the BEST so far. Hands down the most delicious and therefore also the most rewarding. While I encourage you to go out and pick berries as fast as you can I should also warn you, making jam is one hot sticky mess.

I mostly used the recipe on the pectin box (I used a low sugar recipe), but I also found this website helpful. One batch, 6-8 cups of mashed strawberries, made 8 half pints of jam for me.

Now, get out there and pick some strawberries, you've got jam to make! xo

Hen + Chicks: DIY gardening with a vintage twist

Hen + Chicks are one of my favorite plants to grow. Super hardy and in need of little care, they are fun to watch as they grow, grow, grow before your very eyes. I found these neat vintage vegetable cans at the flea market and thought they would make fun planters for my growing succulent garden. 

Want to give some of your own hen + chicks a cute home? Here's what I did...

  

Materials: vintage tins, drill with small drill bit, potting soil, hen + chicks, coco moss (not pictured), twine, fun tags (also not pictured). You can find hen + chicks and coco moss at your local nursery, hardware store, etc.

  

   

  

Step 1: Drill a few holes in the bottom of your tin. Three or four should do the trick, having a pot with good drainage is important to the health of your plant.

Step 2: Fill your tin to the brim with potting soil. Make sure your soil is moist to start with, if you're using a bag of potting soil add water to it first, mix it around, then add it to your tin. 

Step 3: Plant the hen+chicks. Hen+chicks don't have much of a root system so it's easy to simply insert the plant/root into the soil. If you're breaking up a group of hen+chicks, gently pull the root of one plant (chick) from the main plant (hen). 

Step 4: Water. Give the plant a good dose of water to help the roots grow. For future watering, let the soil dry out between watering.

  

  

Step 5: Add coco moss around the plant. I like to add moss around the hen+chick, giving it a little nest to live in because I think it gives the plant a more finished look. Submerge the moss in a bowl of water, give it a good swish, then pull a bunch of long strands together. Gently bend and circle the moss around the plant until it looks like a nest. If it gets a bit wild you can always put the moss back in the water and start over,  or simply trim with a pair of scissors. 

Step 6: Add twine around the tin to give it some texture. A long scrap of fabric or pattered paper would be cute too!

Step 7: If you're like me your projects keep growing... this is where I decided the plants needed some general store flair in the way of a fun tag/label. I went to the trouble of aging my tags by dying them in some tea. Once dry, I stamped "Hen + Chick" on the front and tied it to the tin with twine.

  

Step 8: Enjoy -- my what a super cute plant you have! Or do what I did and send a little "plant kit" to your friend (she'll have to supply the plant of course, I don't think the hen + chicks would make it through the mail)!

A few words on Hen + Chicks: They are super easy to grow, perfect for a newbie gardener. Because they're succulents they don't need much water, just lots of sunlight. They can stay outside all year, even through snow! My mom has always had a pot of hen + chicks in her garden. Last year they were growing so well they were literally breaking the pot apart. Since my mom's supply was so abundant I stole a few for my own backyard garden. The plants have grown so well this year I have enough to sell at an upcoming antique show I'm vending at (plus some)!

In the top picture you can see I just re-potted a bunch of the tiniest babies out of the group to give them room to grow. The other picture is one of the largest "hens" from last year - just look how much its grown! 

Happy Gardening! xo

Shop Update Today!

A limited number of kitchen and desk caddies are available in the shop today (sewing organizers coming soon)! Caddies are perfect for summer entertaining. My favorite new use is filling a caddy up with treats in the kitchen and grabbing it on the way out the door to the patio where summer awaits me every evening. :)

Check out the new items here: seelamade etsy shop

lately.

+ remembering what life at home feels like after a two week road trip out west.

+ sifting through hundreds of photos from the trip to make a photo album(s).

+ celebrating moms day with the two awesome moms in my life!

+ digging into the dirt, planting, figuring out how much to water (how much not to water?).

+ picking strawberries at a local organic farm. I'm thinking strawberry jam?

+ getting items ready to sell at the first big antique show of the season this coming weekend.

+ better yet... getting items ready for a shop update. The first round (kitchen and desk caddies) should be up tomorrow morning! 

DIY: photostrip wall art

When we moved into this house I didn't go crazy getting art on the walls or getting things decorated. Instead I stashed everything in the spare bedroom and left the house blank. I know that sounds weird to some people, but for me I want a clean slate. I want to fill each wall, corner and little niche with the perfect something specific to that space. It's a slow process to be sure, but that's okay. 

Now that our kitchen is looking amazing, it's time for some wall art. Awhile back I saw this great wall art tutorial that was just the inspiration I needed. Someone once teased about the fact that I don't have any personal pictures of Kevin and I in the house. I'm not sure why that is, I guess we just don't have a lot of pictures of the two of us.

So, I challenged myself to take more pictures of us over the last month. I ended up with four pictures - only four (two of those were taken in desperation the night before I did this project)!! Luckily I only needed four photos, so this worked out great.

   

I used photos from my instagram so they were already square, but you could use any photos for this. In photoshop elements I made a 1.5" x 6" strip and printed it out on matte photo paper (here is a tutorial I found online if you need help, photo strip how-to).

I just used random stuff from around the house for the rest of the project. I really wanted it to be fast and simple. The red and white looking sticker is actually a metal thumb tack covered with washi tape and the frame is a left over Ikea frame from the old house. The frame is missing the original matte so I used a piece of thick white paper for the backing.

I printed out the ampersand in the size I wanted and then used it as a template. The paper is just a piece of graph paper and behind it is a piece of green card stock that matched the photos.

Tape it all down and that's all there is too it! Such a simple and rewarding project. Walking into the kitchen seeing these silly photos of us makes me so happy. I can't imagine how it will feel walking through an entire house with things on the wall someday - haha. 

DIY: knitting a dishcloth

Knitting a new stack of dishcloths was one of the items on my 'twenty nine before 29' list. Both my mom and nana have always used handmade dishcloths in their kitchens. When I was a teenager my mom taught me how to knit beginning with this project. It's so easy and rewarding, small mindless knitting projects really are the best!

This pattern is pretty close to the one I use, and I might give this pattern a try sometime to see if it makes a more finished edge. Either way if you're looking to add a little handmade into your life or just want to learn to knit, this project is a nice place to start. Happy knitting! 

setting goals and sticking to them: 29 Days Of It

Mission run or walk at least one mile for 29 days was completed!

I am super pumped to say that I knocked this one out of the park! With the exception of one day last week when things became too hectic/stressful/just plain busy into the wee hours of the night, I was able to run or walk at least one mile for the last 29 days.

Kevin and I are fairly good about running a few days every week and we walk the dog and take her on hikes so this wasn't the hardest challenge to make. But deciding to do it everyday, no matter how busy, was a big commitment. Normally when the days are long the last thing we do is drag our feet off the couch and go for a run. But, it was so nice to know that even if we couldn't run, we were committed to throwing on our shoes and taking a long walk around the neighborhood. I can't think of a single time that we regretted the choice. Life has been pretty heavy lately so getting out the door made for some much needed conversation and time to decompress. 

And after it was all said and done last week, we ran our frist race of 2012!

Ugh! It was a terrible day for a 5K. Super dreary, rainy, cloudy, mega cold morning. We still went out and ran pretty well (just a few seconds off my best personal time) so when it was over I was glad we went. I thought that maybe with all of the recent running (I've been running faster and longer and overall feel stronger) that I would magically run a super fast race but I think the gross day got the best of me - it's hard to get motivated when you're cold and wet! 

The take away: I LOVE setting goals and sticking to them. I'm already dreaming up the next big running goal. Maybe it will be a monthly thing? Also, can we talk about how great having a picture from every run/walk is, seeing the pictures all together makes me giddy!

How do you feel about setting goals? Setting any big goals lately and checking them off your list?

twenty nine before 29 list complete!

I'm happy to report that my 'twenty nine before 29' list is finished - check out this pictorial grid of success! I celebrated my birthday at the end of last week and gave myself through the weekend to finish everything up (view the full list here). The rainy weather kept me from completing a few things - but not too many - and I'm totally happy with my success. 

In summary: We did not go canoeing - boo! We tried and tried, but two weekends in a row the weather was poor and literally rained on my parade. That's okay, I just added it to my 'thirty before 30' list! I ended up swapping the curtain project, opting to purchase and hang curtains in the studio instead of working on curtains for the living room. Otherwise I feel pretty happy about all of the items that got crossed off this list and I'm eager to share some of the projects here on the blog.

The take away: I was reminded that making goals and sticking to them is both satisfying and rewarding. I was eager to keep crossing things off the list and I never felt cramped for time like I couldn't be flexible and do something else. If anything it made me crave getting more stuff done, helping me accomplish more things in the last twenty nine days than I could have dreamed.

Where to go from here: Make more lists. You heard it right, I'm buckling down and making all sorts of new goals for myself. Kevin too. Even Stella the dog isn't safe from my list writing!

** all photos brought to you by my love for instagram. 

The Kitchen: a finished look

As promised, I bring you a finished look at our kitchen. Check it out, but beware, this post is picture heavy!

A closer look at how things turned out...

Some of the fun details...

On the other side of the kitchen lives the eat-in-kitchen area complete with an awesome big sunny window and sweet jelly cupboard.

There are still a few things we would like to work on in the kitchen... change the lighting fixture over the table, redo floors, do something with those bi-fold shutter doors... but today is a day for celebration. As the first big update we've made to our little house I'd say so far this has been a great success. It's nice to have a place in the house that looks and feels more like us and something that we can be totally proud of. Hooray!