Pinterest Projects Completed

Here are several Pinterest projects I completed over the weekend. Thanks to all contributors out there for the non-stop inspiration!

 

1. Pebbles on boot tray to keep it all neat, add coolness and hide mud and dirt (a bag of river pebbles at Lowes Hardware (~$3) is enough to fill about three boot trays)
2. Foamy bath paints (shaving cream and a couple of drops of food coloring, "serve" in a muffin tray and provide a cheap painter's brush :))
3. DIY all purpose surface cleaner (about 1:1 vinegar to water, some lemon juice and one drop of food coloring to distinguish from other cleaners in the house)
4. DIY liquid laundry detergent (tutorial @ "Why Not Sew? Quilts" blog)
5. DIY sink, tile and faucet cleaner (equal parts of vinegar and blue Dawn, heat up the vinegar in the microwave a bit before mixing the two)

Now on to the next thing...

 

Express Mushroom Risotto

I am not a crock pot, slow cooker type of person, I don't have the time nor the patience for dishes that take a long time to cook. That's why I love my Fagor pressure cooker. We got it as a wedding gift from my husband's grandmother and have been so pleased with everything I have made with it. As an added plus, it's Made in Spain, so I like that I'm contributing to my native country's current dismal economy.
Here's my favorite dish so far:

EXPRESS MUSHROOM RISOTTO 

(Delicious, mushroom and parmesan risotto ready in 10 minutes!)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Arborio rice
• 4 1/2 cups of reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 16 oz baby bella mushrooms
• Some extra virgin olive oil
• 2 TBS of Chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

How to:

1. In a pan, drizzle some olive oil and sautee 1 TBS of chopped garlic until golden.Then add the mushrooms and let them cook at medium heat.
2. While the mushrooms are cooking, drizzle some more olive oil into the pressure cooker and add the other 1 TBS of chopped garlic. (Optional: You can also add some chopped onion here, I'm not a huge onion fan...)
3. Once the garlic is golden, add the rice and toss around a bit until translucent brown. Then pour the chicken broth into the cooker, stir well, close the lid and turn up the heat.
4. Once the pressure builds up, turn down the heat and set the timer for 7 minutes.
5. When the mushrooms are cooked (it should only take a few minutes) remove this pan from the heat.
6. When the 7 minutes are up on the timer, release the pressure of the cooker, open the lid and add the mushrooms, parmesan and salt and pepper to taste. Stir, serve and decorate with parmesan shavings and toasted tortillas.

Optional: Add a TBS of butter with the mushrooms to the risotto at the end to make it creamier. Some white wine can also be added along with the chicken broth, to bring out the flavors of the mushrooms and parmesan. Mushrooms can be swaped for peas, aspargus, artichoke or anything else you like. If the vegetables are frozen (or take longer to cook like the aspargus), you can add them to the rice at the beginning, before closing the pressure cooker. You can probably do the same with the mushrooms, I've never tried it this way, I feel like they would get too mushy, I don't know.

The Easiest Knitting Project Ever

Scarves used to be the easiest knitting project ever. Now it's cowls. Same as a scarf, just much shorter. They were all over the stores during the holiday season, the thing to wear this winter. I made several to give away as gifts, the ones in the picture were made with only two skeins of Loops & Threads "Cozy Wool" and size 13 needles, but any chunky wool works well. Make it as wide as you like, garter stitch all the way to the desired length, THEN GIVE IT A TWIST before you sew the two ends together using the same wool and mattress stitch. Halve the width and double the length for an infinity scarf!

Scarves Galore

Despite my recent obsession with cowls (given that I have very little patience for projects that take more than a few hours to complete), there are still times (like a 17 hour car trip) where I need a more prolongued distraction. Here are a couple I have made recently. The yarn for the striped one is Lion Brand "Vanna's Choice". The speckled one was really fun to make using Lion Brand "Hometown USA" in Jersey Gardens  and big size 13 needles. The Lion Brand Yarn website is great at providing information on all their different types of yarn as well as tons of well-organized, easily browsable FREE patterns.

Some Projects From Last Year

Here is a glimpse at some projects I completed last year (the ones that I'm particularly pleased with anyway).

The Kid's Play Kitchen (a team effort)

Pool Cover-ups

Captain Hook and Tinkerbell

Extending the Life of Tighty-Whiteys

Nobody likes tight underpants. Leo (4 yo) is in between sizes and for some reason they don't make a size 5T in your classic, all-white Fruit of the Loom tighy whiteys (or I can't find one), the 6T size is huge on him. So, I decided to use his outgrown flannel PJ's to put "additions" on the elastic waists. The result: underpants with a few more months of life left in them, and a much more comfortable "seam".

Basic Beanie

I have made several of these over the years. You can quickly whip one up in a few hours. The pattern was modified from a basic hat one from the Stitch 'n Bitch book by Debbie Stoller. Hats are fun to make, easily customizable and make great gifts. I have also made some baby ones using the same basic pattern, with regular or round needles and adorned them with knit flowers. Here are several versions of the basic beanie. Let me know if you are interested in more information regarding size of needles, yarn, etc.

Refurbishing a $5 Toy Ironing Board

My two goals for projects this year will be: thriftyness and repurposing. I bought this toy ironing board and iron for $5. The cover was stained with paint. I gave it a second life by making a quilted cover out of an old shirt and a fleece scrap (for the cushioning) left over from making Christmas stockings. Much more classy now...

2012: A Year in Projects

This blog is born from my recent addiction to Pinterest. I'll be keeping track of my projects here: crafts, around the house, kids activities, etc. I think that recording and making them public is a good motivator to actually doing them. In turn I'll also be able to make my own contributions to this new, awesome common good... I don't know how interesting a lot of them will be to the general public, but feel free to follow, read, steal or comment. Cheers.