Toilet Paper Sunburst.

It took weeks of collecting toilet and paper towel rolls from everyone I know, two days of designing, three hours of assembly, four glasses of wine and several hot glue gun burns . . but the sunburst is complete and I love it!

What you need:

As many toilet and paper towel rolls as you can collect

Hot glue gun

Scissors

Drop cloth/shop towels

What to do:

Cut your rolls into strips about an inch or two thick (see previous post about toilet paper roll flowers).

Lay the strips out in a pattern of your choice on top of the drop cloths. I used two old bath towels that are covered in various glues, pastes and burn holes from other craft projects. Experiment with the shape; I tried about a million different layouts before deciding on this one. I took five strips and laid them out in a flower shape, then added from there out.

When you're ready to glue, start with the center and glue the core five pieces together. Don't try to make an exact copy of what you laid out because that will not happen. You just have to let your creative juices flow and place and glue as you see fit.

Once everything is glued together and completely dry, simply find a home for it and stick her on the wall. The sunburst I made is huge, so large that I almost couldn't carry it myself, and I hung it with six nails (two at the top, one on either side and two at the bottom).

Enjoy!

Penne with artichoke hearts and tomatoes in white wine sauce.

1 lb whole wheat penne pasta

1/4 C onion, minced

3 small cloves garlic, minced

1 C diced tomatoes

1/3 C white wine (plus more as needed)

8 artichoke hearts, quartered

1 T fresh parsley

salt and pepper to taste

In a large pan, saute onion in olive oil over medium heat until soft. Add garlic and cook another two minutes.

Add tomatoes, artichoke hearts, wine and salt and pepper and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring and adding additional wine as necessary.

Meanwhile, cook penne in pot of boiling water (with a splash of olive oil) until al dente.

Add pasta to tomato and artichoke mix and heat together. Add parsley and serve.

This will make a shit ton of pasta and it will dry out as it sits in the fridge. When heating up the leftovers, just douse them in more wine (If you didn't drink the rest of the bottle, that is. If you did drink the rest of the bottle, this is an excuse to buy another).

Pizza & Dexter night with Candice.

Store bought crust with spicy mushroom marinara, Daiya soy mozzarella, artichoke hearts & Gardein chikn

EDIT: Just kidding guys! Daiya is soy free!

The absolute messiest project I have ever done.

Tutorial here: http://crafted-love.blogspot.com/2011/02/weekend-diys-yarn-chandeliers.html

- Be prepared to get covered everywhere in schloppy glue/cornstarch. EVERYWHERE.

- Make sure to have 300+ feet of twine/string/yarn.

- I used punch balls from the dollar store because I wanted them to be spheres rather than balloon shaped.

- If you hang them to dry by a window, be prepared for the heat to explode the balloons. My roommate nearly had a heart attack when this happened. Oops.

- Its easier to take a HUGE piece of string and wrap it several times around rather than cutting smaller pieces. It's harder to keep the string from tangling in the glue schlopp but you dont have to worry about loose ends sticking out places. This will make sense to you when you're doing it.

Tada!

Rice King.

Every Chinese food loving vegan in Utah needs to trek to Provo to eat at Rice King. It's been one of my favorite places to eat for the past few years but I hardly get to enjoy it since I find nothing else about Provo remotely appealing. Luckily, Candice and I had an excuse to do just that on Saturday when Megan played a show at The Riverwoods. Their vegan menu is HUGE and chock full of unhealthy fake meaty goodness AND most of their dishes are only $6.95! Observe;

The spread.

Peppersteak Beef Soy

Golden Tofu (This alone could be a meal, it's huge).

Sesame Chicken Soy

The staff are beyond friendly but the service is pretty slow; so if you're traveling from Salt Lake be sure to have a few hours total to kill. IT'S WORTH IT, I PROMISE.

RICE KING

278 W Center St

Provo, UT

Bedroom: twine and twigs.

Creamy Chikn' and Asparagus Crescent Rolls

1 pkg Kroger crescent rolls

3 handfuls of diced Morning Star Farms chikn strips

1 handful of diced asparagus

Few tablespoons of veganaise, cream cheeze, or sour cream

Few shakes of garlic power, onion powder & Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute asparagus and chikn in olive oil over medium heat.

Place in a mixing bowl and cool to room temperature; then add remaining ingredients.

Unroll crescent rolls and spoon a tablespoon or two of filling on each triangle, then tuck in sides and roll up.

Place on a cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Toilet paper rolls!

I saw this idea on Pinterest and had to make it. I've commissioned everyone I know to save their toilet and paper towel rolls; and even with huge Mormon families contributing, it's taking quite awhile to get the amount I need. I got impatient and decided to try out a small version of what I have planned and I love it. Easy peasy, quick, and pretty.

What you need:
Tons of paper towel and toilet paper rolls (sticky pieces of left behind paper removed)
Hot glue gun
Scissors

Flatten the roll and cut into small strips. I just eyeballed and got about 8-9 strips from one roll.

Lay out the strips on a flat surface in a pattern of your choice. I used a flower shape for this version, but the other rolls I have saved are for a HUGE sunburst pattern that will take awhile to finish. Then you simply hot glue the strips together at the connecting points and use paper clips to keep them secure until they dry.

After you have enough individual flowers, lay them out in another pattern together and repeat the previous steps. Once it dries, find a wall to hang it on and marvel at your badass DIY skills.

April 1, 2011

Poplar Street Pub

jeans - J Brand

jacket- Old Navy

bag - Charlotte Russe

scarf - Gap

top - Forever21

sweater - Express

shoes - Target

News!

I've been really busy lately; crafting all sorts of projects, cooking delicious food, being a dance machine all over town and finalizing the sale of my car. Today I officially said my goodbyes and handed over the bill of sale. It felt amazing to pay off my loan and send the remainder straight to my credit card. Is this what it feels like to be a real life adult?