Urban Comfort

Fabric Cards

 

I can never seem to get my Christmas cards out on time, and truthfully, I've all but given up on ever getting it together.  Valentine's Day is a different story.  The pressures of the holiday season have eased and no one is really expecting a card from me, so it's that much more fun to create them.  Still, I have a job, a toddler, a household, and a life to run and I need cards that I can create quickly. 

For several years, I have been using these heart shaped cards from Paper Source.  They come in a number of colors, 20 to a pack, and they're so simple, yet infinitely versatile.  This really works for me because I like to tailor the card to the recipient.  Each year I try different things and have a lot of fun in the process.  This year I decided to make fabric cards.  It couldn't be easier.  Here's how:

Supplies:

heart shaped cards, double-sided adhesive sheets, fabric scissors, scraps of fabric that are as large as the cards, rubber stamps (optional), red pigment ink pad (optional), embellishments (buttons, ribbon scraps, ric rac, lace)

Directions:

Plain Fabric Covered Card:  Cut a piece of double-sided adhesive that's slightly larger than the heart card; peel off one side of the backing and adhere it to the back side of a fabric scrap. Turn the adhesive backed fabric over and smooth out any wrinkles or air bubbles with your hands. Turn the fabric back over, remove the second piece of backing, and lay the heart card onto the adhesive. Trim any excess fabric and adhesive, following the lines of the card as a guide. (If the adhesive comes off on your scissors, just peel it off and keep going. It won't harm your scissors).  Embellish the card as desired.

Stamped Fabric Card:  To minimize any waste, cut out pieces of fabric and stamp them BEFORE adhering them to the card.  This way, if you make a mistake, you won't lose the card itself, only the fabric scrap.  I like to use clear stamps for these.  They generally come in multiples and I like being able to see exactly where I'm placing the design.  However, regular rubber stamps will work as well.  Also, give your fabric a little time to dry before handling it. Then proceed with the directions above.

Tip: If you want to cut out your own heart shapes, cut rectangular pieces of fabric, adhesive, and card stock and layer them together.  Place your heart template on the layered card stock and lightly trace around it with pencil; cut out just inside the traced line.

 
And that's it!  You can try this with textured fabrics (though smoother fabrics are better for stamping), including velvet, lace, linen, cotton, silk, burlap, muslin (my favorite for stamping), etc.  It takes so little fabric to create these that it's a great way to use leftover scraps from other projects - which is a lot better than tossing them in the trash.

Product Resources & Recommendations:

Therm O Web double-sided adhesive sheets
Fiskars Micro-Tip Scissors
Fabri-Tac glue for embellishments
Clear Stamps used:  "xoxo" from Martha Stewart Crafts (Valentine set); similar Stamped Stitches

Free Vintage Images

 

If you spend enough time sifting through blogs, you will discover a very generous creative community. There are projects and ideas and plenty of visual inspiration, but there are also websites and blogs solely devoted to offering free, public-domain imagery to be used for all your creative needs.  I would be remiss if I didn't share these valuable resources.  Here are some of my favorites:

Just Something I Made  Vintage labels, photos, graphics - and inspirational projects to go along with them.

The Vintage Moth  Old photos, maps, postcards, ledger pages, illustrations, and the like

Vintage Printable  The mushroom print shown above is from Vintage Printable. They have a wide range of images available, from a variety of sources.  

Botanicus  A library of botanical prints to use

Vintage Holiday Crafts  Lots of colorful, vintage holiday illustrations, cards, and postcards

The Graphics Fairy  A wide variety of resources, from old ledger pages to illustrations, vintage postcards, and wallpaper prints   

Enjoy!

Kmart Style

 
Cajun and Creole cooking often include one pot meals that serve an entire family - jambalaya, gumbo, and the like.  So I'm always on the lookout for roomy serving dishes that can hold a pot of something, keep it warm, and still look attractive on the table.  This covered bowl from the Country Living Collection at Kmart fits the bill.  It's subtle detailing and clean lines make it display worthy, it can go in the oven (up to 350 degrees), and most importantly, fits my budget.  I think it's a great value for the money.  

Photo from Kmart.com

Repurposing the Nut Pick

 
I have a small collection of nut picks, not that I knew I was buying nut picks a decade ago, when I made my first purchase in Savannah, Georgia.  I thought they were simply wonderful Southern cocktail picks - and so that's how I used them.  I later found out that they were actually vintage nut picks, but I didn't care. Who needs a nut pick anymore?  And since it's one of the lesser used utensils, they tend to be available for a song, even the sterling silver ones. It's not hard to find them in sets, but I prefer to buy them individually. I've always been more of a mix and match person, anyway.  And if you really want to make them your own, buy picks that have an area for engraving.  Later, when you have a full set, you can take them to be engraved with your monogram.  Instant heirloom! 

*One thing to note:  Nut picks vary in how much curvature they have at the bottom.  Less curved nut picks make better cocktail picks.

 

 

Something Sweet

 
I ordered this sweet little Gocco printed recipe book from The Transatlantic Press.  It's a perfect gift for the aspiring baker, filled with your favorite recipes, of course.  I also love these measuring spoons.  I use them all the time, since there are lots of old recipes that call for a pinch of this, a dash of that.  Add a little spool of baker's twine and you're set. 

 

Reinventing an Heirloom Recipe

  
 
It gets a little tricky, reinventing a cherished recipe from a beloved, deceased grandmother. There's the nagging guilt, a feeling that you're trampling on sacred ground, thinking you can somehow improve the already wonderful. But there it was, a cake that I loved, that caused me a few problems when I followed the recipe - a fig cake so lusciously moist and flavorful that it never lasted more than a day in my household.

So what was the problem with that? Well, it started with the figs. My grandmother would preserve figs every summer and then use them in this cake. The recipe called for a full 16 ounces, coarsely mashed.  I inherited two jars of her last batch and made the beloved cake for my family, my first time baking it. What I discovered was that preserved figs are really, really sticky, which translated to them making the cake stick to the pan. I had liberally greased and floured every inch of that pan and the resulting cake tasted heavenly, but looked like it had been mauled by wild beasts. Fine for family, not so fine if I wanted to serve anyone else. Then there was the matter of spices. The original recipe called only for cinnamon, but I wanted a little nutmeg thrown in there, too. The last ingredient substitution was a no brainer - I decided to use buttermilk instead of whole milk with a teaspoon of vinegar.  

The decisions unfolded organically from there. My first thought was that I'd preserve the figs from the tree in our courtyard and keep them for the cake. I thought I'd just cut them up into smaller pieces and see if that helped. Unfortunately, we had an unusual drought over the summer and the figs never fully ripened. I checked with farmers locally and couldn't find enough to work with. With that option out the window, I resorted to store bought fig preserves. They made a difference in how the cake came out of the pan, but the effects (texture and moistness) seemed to vary according to the brand I used and the amount.  

Many cakes later, I finally found the combination I loved. Hands down, Sclafani Abruzzo Fig preserves yield the cake with the best texture and aesthetic appearance, and I only need about half of what the original recipe calls for. While I appreciate seasonal bounty, I'm not ashamed to admit that I have a stack of Sclafani preserves waiting in the pantry, ready to satisfy our cravings. And though my grandmother would never have admitted it, I think she would be pleased as well.

Fig Cake:

2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 dash salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup buttermilk
Approximately 1 cup fig preserves (Sclafani fig preserves come in a 12.35 oz. jar)
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt or tube pan.  (I use solid shortening.)
 
2. Mix sugar, oil, and eggs until well blended (if using a standing mixer, mix on medium speed).

3. In another bowl, combine dry ingredients, then add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk. Mix well.

4. Fold in fig preserves and chopped pecans.

5. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs.  Let the cake rest in the pan for 15 or 20 minutes.  Using the tip of a knife, gently loosen the cake from the sides of the pan and invert on a wire rack to finish cooling.

It's a Bargain!

 

Like most people I know, the current recession has changed my shopping habits. When you hear about magazines closing shop or ad sales being down, people like me are losing jobs.  We're the self-employed who are sometimes gainfully employed and sometimes unemployed, without the benefits. But it hasn't been all bad. Being thrifty has, quite simply, forced me to be more creative and to look for bargains, in a way that I might not have thought of before.  

Take thrift stores, for example. Short-sighted though it may have been, I can't say that I've spent much time in them.  Antique stores, sure, but actual, honest to God thrift stores such as Goodwill or Salvation Army, not so much.  But this past year, I've stopped off and made donations and then ventured inside to check out the wares.  I started small - interesting glassware to use as props, the perfect cake plates, that type of thing. Now I've moved on to furniture and larger items, looking for diamonds in the rough (I have an entire living room that needs to be furnished, as almost everything that worked in our New York apartment is all wrong in our New Orleans home).  Today's haul is pictured above.  A few props, glass bowls that I'll try to create compotes out of (or float gardenias in during the summer), a pretty set of glasses, a couple of jelly glasses and a chemistry breaker to add to existing collections, glassware to practice etching on, and the mirror - worth more than what I paid for everything, which was a grand total of  $30.  I'll take that over retail any day!  

 

Haiti

 
It's been almost two weeks since the earthquake in Haiti.  I have spent a part of each day in tears, trying to process the magnitude of the disaster, feeling sorrow and grief for those who've lost so much, crying tears of joy for those who defied the odds, being moved by the sounds of Haitians who continue to sing and give praise to God, feeling humbled by the tremendous generosity that the American people have shown through their giving. Some of those feelings are similar to watching the aftermath of Katrina unfold on television, watching a world fall apart and feeling helpless against the onslaught.  

My family has had ties to Haiti for the better part of twenty years.  My mother has lived there on and off, currently residing in the seaside town of Jacmel.  My sisters lived there as teenagers; there are many friends and loved ones that they care deeply for.  I've only visited once, more than a decade ago.  It was, quite frankly, the hardest trip I've ever taken, the one I was most unprepared for.  I went, because I had long been fascinated by Haiti - its culture, its struggles, the political upheaval...but still, nothing could have prepared me for the abject poverty that I encountered.

Long after the discomforts of that trip, however, what has stayed with me the most was the generosity, the kindness, and the joy of the Haitian people.  I visited people who had very little, but graciously offered me all they had.  I walked in the heart of a slum, with giggling children trailing behind, showing me their world with the excitement that only children can have.  I watched them joyfully splashing each other along the trash strewn shoreline of the Caribbean, oblivious to all that was around them.  And I understood, in that trip, the true resilience of the Haitian people.

The road to recovery will be long and hard and we mustn't forget them once the current news cycle moves on to something else.  Continue to give, even if it's just a few dollars at a time.   Already, we've shown how we can begin changing the world, one dollar, one kind deed, at a time.  

American Red Cross
Doctors Without Borders
Hope for Haiti Now
UNICEF

*I wanted to include this story, not for sensationalism, but because Sonia Flury wanted to share her story. I think that part of healing comes from being able to tell your story, from having people hear you.  But be forewarned - it's a difficult piece to read.  I cried through most of it. 

Cupcake Liner Cards

 
I'm enchanted with cupcake liners and there are so many different styles to choose from these days.  The problem is, most of the design that compelled me to buy them gets lost once cupcakes are baked in them. I've even tried the double liner, and that's not a foolproof solution either.  But, they're great to craft with! For Valentine's Day, I thought they would make sweet cards for the younger set (or the young at heart) and they're a cinch to create.  

Materials:

Cupcake liners in assorted colors and sizes
Pinking shears (optional)
Double-sided tape or quick-setting craft glue
Heart punch or template
Fine glitter
Ribbon
Pin backs or small, flat magnets
Plain cardstock
Ruler and craft knife (or a paper trimmer) 
Valentine stamps
Ink pad

Directions:

I like to trim the edges of my cupcake liners with pinking shears, for added texture.  If you'd like to do this, fold the cupcake liner in half and trim about 1/4-inch in from the edge.  Open up.  Repeat with another cupcake liner of the same size.  Lastly, trim a smaller cupcake liner or cut a larger one about 3/4-inch in from the edge.  

Gather the middle of each cupcake liner and scrunch it up.  (The more you scrunch it up, the more of a ruffly effect you'll get.)  Flatten the middle section with your fingertips.  Repeat for the last two, then layer the cupcake liners as shown, securing with double-sided tape or quick-setting glue.  

Punch a heart shape from cardstock and coat with glue.  Sprinkle with fine glitter and shake off excess. Set aside to dry.  When heart is dry, attach to the middle of the layered cupcake liners.  Then cut two strips of ribbon and glue to the back.  Notch the ends of the ribbon, if desired.  Finally, glue a pin back or small, flat magnet to the back of the layered cupcake liners.  Set aside to dry.

In the meantime, cut colored cardstock into 4x6-inch cards and stamp a Valentine sentiment along the bottom of the card.  Attach the cupcake liner pin (or magnet) to the card with double-sided tape. 

Tip:  I'm impatient and I don't like to wait for things to dry.  I'm particularly fond of Therm O Web double-sided adhesive sheets.  I can cut small pieces to secure things together or I can cut the heart shape from it (back with colored cardstock before cutting or punching it out) and sprinkle the glitter onto the sticky side.  It's even strong enough to secure a magnet or pin back.  If you decide to go the glue route, I highly recommend Beacon Adhesive's 3n1 craft glue, available at stores like Michaels.  It's a staple in my tool kit and it dries quickly.

 
 
 Sources:

Cupcake liners:  Bake It Pretty & Fancy Flours
Glitter:  Iridescent glitter from Martha Stewart Crafts
 

UPDATE 1/12:  For lots of fun Valentine ideas, head over to Michelle Paige for the Valentine Link Party.

Valentine Garland

 

Here's a project I did a couple of years back for Better Homes and Gardens. I still like it as much now as I did then. It's the perfect project for a winter afternoon and would be equally at home in a window, across a mantel, or over a doorway.  It also lends itself to personal customization and embellishment (If I'd had my way, a few buttons would have made their way onto the hearts).  Here's the simple how-to:

Materials Needed:

Fabric scraps
Fusible interfacing (to add some weight to the fabric and keep it from fraying)
Iron-on adhesive sheets (such as Therm O Web brand)
Heart templates
Pinking shears
Plain fabric shears
Iron and ironing board
Small hole punch
1/4-inch wide ribbon

Directions:

Apply fusible interfacing to the back of each fabric used.  Cut larger hearts with pinking shears and smaller hearts with plain fabric shears.  Use iron-on adhesive on the backs of the smaller hearts and fuse to the larger heart.  Punch a small hole in both sides of each layered heart and join the hearts together with satin ribbon.  Attach longer lengths of satin ribbon at the ends for hanging.

Hearts and Crafts

 

It's been a while since I've done a craft feature for kids, so it was refreshing to create crafts for one of my favorite holidays.  Pictured above is just one of the craft ideas featured in Parents magazine's "Hearts and Crafts" Valentine party feature. See the rest of this feature at Parents.com.  (P.S.  The food ideas featured are simply too cute as well, courtesy of one of my favorite food stylists, Karen Tack.)

 

Stenciled Dresser

   

I created a stenciling feature for Family Circle this past summer and was so inspired by the process that I decided to give a castoff a makeover. Unfortunately, I didn't take a "before" photo of this particular project, but trust me, it felt like nothing more than a drab, brown dresser with ugly hardware. Though it wasn't aesthetically pleasing, the drawers were stable and I thought the dresser had good bones and therefore, potential.  (Storage is always in short supply in my household, so decorative pieces of furniture also have to be workhorses).  I painted the dresser, then I reused the stencil I had used on the pillows, to make patterned drawer fronts.  It wasn't at all difficult, though it does require some patience and drying time, since you need to place the stencil over already painted areas in order to create the pattern.  I love the results! The hardware was a score, too.  Each drawer pull cost about a buck at my local Lowe's Hardware. You can't beat that.

 

 

For more ideas and stenciling tips, Download the feature.  For this project, however, there are a couple of tips that aren't covered in the feature.  Make sure that you remove the hardware from the drawers before stenciling, and line up the drawers in the correct order.  This will allow you to keep the pattern consistent from drawer to drawer.  I also found it helpful to stencil from the middle of the drawer, outwards.  This keeps the pattern properly centered and creates visual balance.

 

  

I first used the stencil on these pillows, featured in Family Circle.   

A Great Sandwich

 
I am enamored with sandwiches.  I'm lucky in that regard; I live in a city that produces some of the most exquisite regional sandwiches this country has ever seen.  But this sandwich has captured my heart. Pulled pork so tender that it simply melts on your tongue, topped with cole slaw, on a homemade bun.  It is simply one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth.  So if you're ever in New Orleans, I highly encourage you to stop by Butcher and experience this treat for yourself.