Fabric Covered Table Makeover

I recently moved to a new home in Minneapolis (I'll share pics soon!), and one of the perks of the new place is that I gained a craft room with French doors.  I moved my old sewing table into the room, but it felt bland.  So I decided to update it with a fun vintage-inspired fabric I found at a local shop in my new neighborhood. 

Before

After

I love the pop of color from the coral and fuschia; isn't it fun?

To recreate this technique, all you need is a flat, smooth furniture surface, some Mod Podge, a paint brush, and enough fabric to cover the piece.

Overall, the project took a total of 2 hours and cost around $25.  Not bad for a fun update!

Strategize: Working from Home

Do you work from home? This semester my schedule allows for working from home a few days each week.  There a few key tips that I have realized are pivotal for my working from home success.  Let's discuss!

1.  Get Dressed.  I'm serious.  It sounds simple and easy, but it is even more simple and easy to stay in your pajamas when you roll out of bed and onto your computer to start right in on work.  The simple act of going through a morning routine (washing your face, put on a bra, wear REAL clothes) can do wonders for feeling productive and professional.

2.  Make a Schedule.  Plan your day in time segments.  When working at home there are so many distractions and other to-dos that can come up.  Instead of trying to avoid work by scrubbing under the oven, plan a few 15-30 minute work breaks to use for errands, household tasks, whatever.

3.  Go Outside.  A big benefit of working from home is the luxury of fitting in "you" time whenever you need it.  Instead of having an hour for lunch as you would at an office, take an hour and go to yoga.  Go for a run.  Meet a friend for a walk/talk session.  Refresh your mind and perspective with some fresh air.  You will be ready to buckle back down and wrap up your work when you finish.

4.  Eat Normal Meals.  I find that when I'm working from home, I love to sneak into the pantry for handfuls of this or that quite frequently.  I have been trying to take set times for meals instead of this nibble-method (which undoubtedly is an intended distraction that piles on extra food that I don't need).  I will start with checking personal email with breakfast and coffee, work until I feel hungry (which is usually around 1pm), and put together a quick lunch.  If I take time out of the day for exercise, I make something that I can munch on while getting back to work.  It feels much more structured to eat real meals.

5.  Lists and Rewards.  Make lists! Week lists, day lists, to-do lists, to-do-tomorrow lists.  I find it helpful to keep track of what I have accomplished and what is yet to be done.  When you make it through a list or accomplish some challenging tasks, reward yourself! Take 10 minutes to browse favorite blogs, check in with your significant other, make some tea.

Do you work from home? How do you stay on track?

How To Avoid The Gym

I don't go to the gym.  That's right.  I said it.

It's cold.  And dark.  And snowing.  Why would anyone want to trek to the gym?  Besides, gym memberships add up fast.  Personally, I would rather spend my $50 (or $60... or more...) on projects for the apartment, or a nice dinner out.

I have developed a stash of exercise ideas to keep up my fitness without having to rely on the gym.  Some of these workouts have made a huge impact on my motivation to stay fit during the winter.  I have to say, my strength and flexibility are improving every day! Here are some ways to work out without going to the gym.

1. Run or Walk
I know, it's freezing out, and daylight is minimal.  I avoid going out on the coldest of days, but when it is manageable, I like to bundle up and hit the road for some fresh air and a few miles.  If I can't handle the thought of running in the cold, I put on some extra layers, grab my iPod, and walk around my neighborhood to get some exercise while taking care of my errands.

2. Nike Training Club iPhone App
I can't say enough about this app! My best friend introduced me to it, and I can't thank her enough.  You can choose your type of workout (strength, cardio, core, flexibility), your fitness level, and a workout that fits your time availability.  The app guides you through the workout, complete with motivational phrases occasionally.  I love it! I do at least 3-4 of these workouts each week.  Did I mention it's FREE!? Seriously.  Get this now.

3. Yoga Podcasts
Did you know you can download free yoga podcasts from iTunes? Once they are downloaded, simply play the podcast from your computer, iPod, or phone and follow along on your yoga mat.  My favorite are Dave Farmar's podcasts.  I subscribe so that I automatically get any new episodes.  The podcasts are entertaining and fun, and definitely give you the yoga workout you have been craving.

 source: Power Yoga Chicago

4. New Student/Member Perks
If you do want to quit being a hermit and venture out into public, most health clubs have new member perks or trial periods.  This goes for yoga and pilates studios too! Plus, you get the chance to try several new studios or health clubs and "shop around" in case you do want to invest in a membership.

5. Lululemon Classes
Did you know most Lululemon stores offer free yoga classes and health groups? My neighborhood store offers 1-2 classes each week, and hosts a running club.  It's a great way to enjoy your community without any cost, and can turn into a great social opportunity too.  Give them a try!

Use and Reuse: Almond Hummus

I loved making almond milk over the weekend (shout out: way to go Mom and Dad for learning how to make it, and for making a fresh batch last night!), but didn't think about the fact that the process would yield both delicious nut milk and a bunch of ground nut pulp.  I wanted to do something to make use of the almonds to make sure they didn't go to waste.  The result: almond hummus! Here's how...

Nut Pulp Hummus

Inspired by My New Roots

Ingredients

1 small garlic clove

2 tablespoons tahini

Juice of 1 lemon

5 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon olive oil

Salt, pepper, spices to taste

1.  Mince garlic by pulsing in the food processor a few times.

2.  Add tahini, lemon juice, water, olive oil, salt, pepper, and other spices if you like (I used a small pinch of cumin and a small pinch of cayenne).  Process for a few seconds until combined.

3.  Add nut pulp gradually, processing with every few spoonfuls added.  If the texture seems to dry and crumbly, add more water/olive oil until the texture smoothes out and is to your liking (it took me another drizzle of oil and 1-2 tablespoons of water).

We enjoyed the hummus tonight as a snack while waiting for dinner to cook, scooping up the deliciousness with carrot and red pepper sticks.  I would also love this spread on toast with avocado for a light lunch!

Homemade Almond Milk

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I have been an almond milk aficionado for a few years now.  I have almost exclusively used almond milk instead of cow's milk for baking, drinking, cereal, oatmeal, hot chocolate, coffee creamer... you get the idea.  I love the clean slightly nutty taste, and find that I digest it much more easily than cow's milk. I have also noticed my skin has improved since making this switch! Bonus!

I finally made the leap and made my own almond milk over the weekend.  It turned out great, and was beyond simple.  Here's how...

Homemade Nut Milk 

Makes 4 cups

1. Cover 1 cup of almonds (or choose any other nut or seed you like!) with water, soak 8 hours.

2. Rinse soaked nuts/seeds thoroughly.

3. Combine soaked nuts/seeds with 4 cups water in a blender.  Blend approximately 3 minutes, or until the liquid is white and milky, and the nuts/seeds have been broken into very small pieces.

4. Strain using a nut milk bag, cheesecloth, pantyhose, anything with small pores! I used cheesecloth over a fine strainer, and it worked great.

5. Refrigerate and enjoy! 

(keeps 3-4 days)

I love how this recipe can be adapted to any nut or seed.  It is also easily adapted for quantity.  If you know you won't go through 4 cups of milk, decrease the quantity! Just keep the ratio of nuts/seeds to milk 1:4.  I plan to make 2 cups of milk every few days, using 1/2 cup soaked nuts and 2 cups water.

More fun ideas using homemade almond (or nut/seed of your choice!) milk to come.  

Have a great week!

DIY: Canvas Word Art

This Christmas, I wanted to make more DIY gifts to make items more meaningful and keep my budget reasonable.  One idea I came across was the perfect gift for my best friend.  I found this wall art inspiration on Jess Lively's blog.  She repurposed an old canvas painting to display a cute phrase in trendy font.  I took this idea and ran with it, especially because the words chosen are my best friend's wedding song!

What you need: A canvas in the size of your choice (I found mine on sale at Michael's), paint brushes (I already had on hand), and acrylic paint in your preferred colors.  I chose a deep teal and a light moss green.  I also got a slightly off-white color to fix edges and mistakes.

Find your font choice, I used "Tall, Dark, and Handsome" which I downloaded for free online.  Print out the words/letters you want, cut, and trace onto the canvas.  Then, just fill in the letters (or, paint all around the letters if you want a background color) with the acrylic paint.

I love how the canvas turned out! My friend loved it too :)

How To: Make a Chevron Rug

This summer I took on a project of making my own rug.  I'm trying to decorate the new Chicago pad, and doing so on a very tight budget.  Did you know that rugs are expensive? Well, I learned that lesson very quickly.  The solution? Make your own! 

I knew I wanted a chic, trendy styled rug- chevron was the perfect choice.  I chose a beautiful dark teal color that will look great regardless of the season.  Here's how it was done...

Gallery Wall How-To

Did you see the gallery wall in our lake house tour?  It has been a pretty big and important project for us.  Our family goes back 6 generations in the small town, and we wanted a way to showcase and celebrate our history there.  We thought a wall filled with family pictures throughout the generations was a great way to do that. 

We're not sure if this is how you are supposed to make a gallery wall, but this is how we made ours.  And the imperfect system (there's really no measurement involved) worked for our lake house space where imperfection and laid-back lifestyles are welcomed. 

It turns out this old roll of plastic table cloth has been one of our best crafting tools of the summer.  It was integral to the wall gallery (and also to a homemade rug - which we will share later!).

I covered the wall with the plastic table cloth and fit it to the area I was intending to cover with frames.  I ended up making it smaller in the end due to lack of frames, but the initial plan was mapped out directly on the wall like so.

The whole template was then transferred to a large enough floor space (lucky for us, it stayed right in that room).

Then, gather your frames!  We went with the Ikea Virserum frame in 4 sizes (8x10 picture, 5x7, 4x6, and 3x5).  The Ikea frames made the wall affordable, and the small sizes let us maximize the amount of pictures we fit on the wall.  In a different space, I probably would have chosen different sizes or unified sizes; be sure to put a lot of thought into the overall impact you want a wall to have before buying a bunch of frames.

Start laying out frames onto the template.  This takes LOTS of trial and error - it was our 4th or 5th try that got turned into a final layout.

We finally got something we liked! 

We traced the frames, which were wrapped in plastic still so they were protected, with permanent markers to keep track of the pattern.

It helped to move some off while we traced nearby frames.

All traced!

Then, grab your handy-dandy neighborhood Dad (and in our case, Uncle) to help put the template back on the wall!  We ran out of frames to completely fill the wall and live 3 hours from the nearest Ikea, so we decided to work with what we had instead of delaying and adding on.  But it worked just as well.

Hang the frames right onto the wall over the plastic table cloth.

This took a while, and it's a bit tricky when your frames are very close to each other.

All hung!

Then, carefully cut and remove the plastic from around the frames.  But be careful - they might fall of the wall easily if you bump them the wrong way!  You will have to lift some frames off, but the table plastic pulled away from the nails really easily.

Then, all of a sudden: 

It was done!  (Yes, we are still working on filling the frames :)

Special thanks to our dad who made it happen with his picture frame-hanging suaveness. 

Recipe: Homemade Granola

I love taking Sundays to prep some meal components to keep me stocked up throughout the week.  This weekend I made some fresh granola to make breakfasts quick and easy.  It turned out great- nutty, slightly sweet, crunchy, and satisfying.  It is simple to make, and endlessly variable.  Plus, it is gluten free (if you use gluten free oats), and can be made vegan if you substitute a different liquid sweetener.  Bonus!

SLR Granola
Makes 5 cups


Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup puffed rice

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup almonds, roughly chopped

1/2 cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 honey*

2 tbsp brown sugar, packed

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp kosher salt

3/4 cup golden raisins

3/4 cup dried cherries


Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine oats, puffed rice cereal, pumpkin seeds, and nuts in a large bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt until well combined.  Pour liquids over oat mixture and toss well to coat thoroughly.  Spread mixture out onto a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, stirring well every 10 minutes.

Remove granola from oven when golden brown and fragrant (it will not be crunchy yet, don't worry! It will crisp up when it cools!).  Add raisins and cherries, tossing to distribute.  Let cool thoroughly.

*Choose any liquid sweetener you prefer.  Maple syrup or agave would be great options!

Nutritionals
Approximate, Per 1/4 cup serving
140 calories, 6.1 grams fat, 0.8 grams saturated fat, 1.2 grams polyunsaturated fat, 4.8 grams monounsaturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 25.5 grams carbohydrate, 2.7 grams fiber, 7.3 grams sugar, 2.4 grams protein

What are your favorite granola mix-ins? What other make-ahead breakfasts do you love?