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little notes
Bug and I worked on a fun craft project today. I call it “recycling art”. I got the idea from Bethany Actually’s super pretty Valentine cards. I didn’t use tin foil and tissue paper but I did re-purpose Baby Bug’s art into hearts on cards. It was really fun for both of us.
The day before I let Baby Bug “water color” some pieces of paper in her high chair. For some reason she hasn’t quite figured out that you put the paint brush in the water, then in the paint and then on the paper. She likes to put the brush in the paint, mix it around in the water to make soup and then put it on the paper. Sadly she makes a soppy mess of everything and there is no changing her mind about it.
Instead of throwing her art out, like I do so many times, I set it on the counter to dry. Amazingly, the soggy wet paper dried into these really pretty watery pieces of art. I liked the colors. There is nothing prettier than turquoise melting into blue and purple. As long as I keep her away from the black, she creates beautiful watery masterpieces.
So today I let her play with my stamp collection and stamp the now dry water-colored paper. That was a kick in the pants. I forgot how much kids like stamps. Or stamp pads I should say. She tried a number of tricks, including but not limited to stamping her fingers and face in the stamp pad. The only problem is the stamp pads are not made with washable ink like all the other art supplies I let her use. And of course she’s wearing her brand new birthday shirt from Grandma. What was I thinking?!!
While I cleaned Baby Bug up (I think the shirt will be okay) and put her down for a nap, Pounce took over. He did a very nice job don’t you think?
Just kidding. I cut out all those hearts.
I was going to cut out fish shapes to go with the under water colors but I guess the Eiffel Tower stamps and Valentines being around the corner got the best of me. I’m a hopeless romantic. Plus my fish shapes looked horrible. I’ll have to save that idea for another day.
Then I made a bunch of them because everything is a production with me. I can’t help myself. I have a lot of thank you notes to write (oh yeah, that’s what these are for. I forgot to mention that earlier) but I’m sort of hoping a few will be left over so I can sell them in my etsy shop. Forget hopeless romantic. I’m just a hopeless entrepreneur/show-off (there has got to be a better word for that but I cannot think of it).
Naturally, we had to have a proper photo shoot. And then Baby Bug woke up and that was the end of that.
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Le French Press!
Several weeks ago my beloved Hello Kitty Coffee Maker took its last gasping breath. We used it for two years straight which is pretty good considering it was pretty cheaply made in the first place. We weren’t even supposed to be using it every day anyway. It was the stop-gap coffee maker to help us get by when our original wedding present coffee maker broke.
The Hello Kitty coffee maker was supposed to be for me when I was pregnant so I could have “decaf” all to myself while Toby drank the more potent stuff from the regular pot. But you can imagine my inner glee when our regular coffee pot broke and Toby (Mr. I’m-too-manly-for-my-Banana-Republic-pants) had to pour himself manly coffee from the pink Hello Kitty pot every day. It kind of made up for the fact that I was struck with the morning sickness from hell and coffee smelled like sour garbage for the entire nine months.
Anyway, this post is not about that. This post is about my NEW FRENCH PRESS! I am so in love. Could it be because it has the word “French” in it? Possibly. But really it does make a fine cup of coffee. It took me a while to find the right ratio of coffee grounds to hot steamy water (the markings on the side? totally worthless!) but once I got it right, I was hooked. I will never go back to the old style coffee maker again. I love it that much.
Most of it is taste but part of it is the process. I love using my tea kettle. I love that I don’t have to plug anything in to make something so delicious. I like to pretend I’m back in time making coffee the old fashioned way. I also like to pretend I’m in Paris but then I’m the pretending sort of girl.
When you look like this in the morning an imagination is quite helpful. Ack! Did you see my hair? What exactly is going on up there? Obviously I cannot stand for one single hair to touch my forehead. Where is my chic hair-do of a few months ago? Do I need a hair cut already? I think so. And lets not even talk about the apron. Ugh. I am so matronly sometimes.
But anyway, that photo is taken so you can see how the French Press is used. This step is really important. You rest your hands on the little plunger knob thingy and just let them slowly push the plunger down with gravity only. No force allowed. Or else you will have grounds squeeze up the side and ruin the whole zen-ness of it, or just plain burn you. Not that I’ve tried forcing it but by reading the directions, I kind of got the idea that it could be very dangerous.
I like the process. It’s almost as nice as cooking spaghetti for dinner and drinking a big glass of cabernet while you cook. But then that’s just me. I normally hate cooking. I don’t mind making coffee.
I’m a natural morning person so it’s kind of a delayed gratification thing. I make myself do all the dishes and prepare Baby Bug’s breakfast before I can get anywhere near a cup of coffee. It’s my treat for the morning and I want it to last as long as possible.
It could be a bit of a sugar addiction. I’ve been trying to cut down on sugar for years and for some reason this is one area that I just can’t kick it. I cannot stand any kind of fake sugar. I’ve tried them all and nobody’s foolin’ me. So I’m just kind of stuck. Happily stuck.
Now off to do something about that hair! Maybe an external hard drive will help?
