I know, I know, another recipe. Sorry! But this is actually great for me, too, because I can actually look this up and make the exact dish again if I want to. This pleases my husband, because I literally am never able to make the same thing twice! Ha!
Trick or Treat? Brussels and Beets!
Happy Thursday!
When I originally decided to start blogging, I never intended to add recipes to my collection of topics. But last night I made a meatless chili for dinner in the slow-cooker (off the top of my head) that had my husband going back for third and fourth bowls.
My cooking is much like my sewing – I do what I feel like doing in that moment and get a slightly different result every single time I make something. I like it that way. It’s always an experiment in my kitchen, and you never know exactly what you’re going to get.
So my husband and I moved in together in 1999, and I’ve been cooking for him daily ever since. There’s been a few occasions over the last 15, almost 16 years that he just plain didn’t like what I made; but, come on now, you can’t please everybody all the time!
Anyway, over dinner, he convinced me that I should be adding everything to the blog, including, and most importantly, recipes; because I am an experienced, non-trained professional of the culinary arts and cooking is something I do at least three times a day! I’m half-kidding here. It is what he said, but he was probably halfway making fun of me.
Matt and the kids like my food, so that’s good enough for me. But you might like this, too; so I think I’ll share.
A Magnolia Blooms in November! (Tutorial for a Project to do with Your Kids!)
Today was the first day in a long time that the kids and I didn’t have a schedule to keep. That usually makes for a crazy, disorganized, kind of all-over-the-place day; but today I had a plan! Actually, I’ve had this project in my mind for months now.
Since moving in our house almost eight years ago, we have been doing nothing but home improvements. The latest major thing my husband built was a gate across our driveway. He is awesome and let my imagination guide the construction of the gate. I really wanted it painted black and a certain shape.
Matt delivered, as usual:
Literally the day I saw it finished and painted black, I came up w/ a mural for the inside of it. This side isn’t as showy and pretty as the side that you see when you pull up to the house, which is fine. But the sharp contrast of the black against the natural fencing had me immediately thinking of an all silver/white, whimsical winter theme. I actually drew it out in chalk and everything. (You can still see some of my chalk lines in the picture.) It was awesome! I had a large tree to one side that had no leaves left on it, the moon, and the silhouette of some snow-covered evergreens on a distant hill. And then I thought of my kids’ handprints as the leaves on the bare tree in the foreground. Triple 9-1-1 level awesome!
Hello, iPhone — and My Confession of Bad Behavior!
Good rainy Monday morning!
Guess what? My husband’s wish came true this weekend, and we are now the proud owners of two brand new iPhones. I think he’s really happy; me, not surprisingly, not so much.
The Gift of the Elderly
This post has been writing itself on the inside of my forehead like a flashing billboard every night when I close my eyes for about a week now, and I think I’m finally ready to write it.
Have you ever walked through the forest, looked at the towering, mature trees around you and wondered what they have lived through, what they have seen? Have you wished you could ask the trees, the nature around you to fill you in on what’s happened in their lifetimes, what generations before them had passed on to them? I think of this often, almost every time I go through the woods. Imagine the level of communication between nature and the Native Americans when things were still unsettled, when nature was shelter, entertainment, livelihood. Was this tree a favorite of a young boy seventy-five years ago? It looks like it could be about that old…
You could call it an obsession; I tend to think it’s more of an inquisitive desire to connect to what was before me. But it is always on my mind.
ABOUT
Hello! Thank you for stopping by!
My name is Chiara. In my previous life (aka before I had children), I was a Type-A-personality court reporter and CART captioner who was tightly wound and working way too much.
Now that I have kids that are growing up way too fast, I’ve learned to say no to the things I can’t do and put my whole heart into the tasks I take on. I like to focus on taking the time (making the time, really!) to smell the roses and nourish my family through food, spirit, and creativity.
I also LOVE to sew!
I named this blog Sew Old School for a reason. I consider what I do to be sewing old school — from the machine(s) I use (I have a collection of three treadles), to the absence of purchased patterns, and to the fact that I sew from a picture in my head. My projects are far from perfect; they are often my first attempts. My goal is to get my followers sewing old school like I am!
When you sew old school, you challenge yourself to tap into your imagination and create true art, something one-of-a-kind every time!
I’m really glad you’re here! Let’s go (sew)!
For questions, comments, tutorial requests, or feedback concerning this blog, please contact me at culviculvi@gmail.com.
Princess Anna from Frozen Cape Tutorial – FREE!
After a solid week of my daughter asking me to make her an Anna costume, I decided that it would be a fun project, and a nice series to add to this blog.
As is our usual practice, my girl and I sat down and talked and drew out our sketch of what we wanted. This particular costume has many aspects to it. We drew them all out. So here is our starting point:
Non-Dairy Ice Cream and Princess Knee for the Sick Child
Good Wednesday afternoon!
I am on my A-game today as my already moody four-year-old has come down w/ a cold suddenly. Some people are sweet when they are sick; she isn’t. I’m her mother, so I can be honest about it! I really have to use my imagination and creativity to entertain this under-the-weather little royal.
What can elevate a kid’s mood like ice cream? Absolutely nothing! But we have quite the collection of food allergies in our household, so the ice cream’s got to be crafty, just like everything else around here. It’s got to be dairy-free, peanut-free, soy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, and, of course, flavorful and healthy, too. What a list to fulfill! Good thing I like a challenge!
Super-Duper Quick and Easy Anna from Frozen Hat Tutorial – FREE!
We love the movie Frozen in our house, just like most other families w/ toddler girls who think they are princesses do! But the one line that is my daughter’s favorite of the whole movie is: The cold never bothered me anywhere [sic].
Since we are in the Northeast and approaching winter, that’s a big problem!
But I have the solution, people! A functional Anna fleece hat. Two layers of fleece w/ Anna bangs and braids! Hopefully, no more fighting about wearing a hat. I can say that my daughter is wearing hers in the house, so I consider that a win. One point, Mom!
Ballet Slippers Tutorial – No Pattern Needed and FREE!
Hello, hello!
Let me start off by saying that I am so excited to be adding this tutorial! Secondly, I am self-taught w/ sewing and probably go about things in the wrong way, but it works for me and I kind of like the challenge. I sort of view my creations as art, so I tend to wing it w/ a lot of things. You can tweak this pattern tons of ways (as I have myself) to get different looks, fits, etc. Look how cute they are!
What If We All Kept Our Flip Phones?
As a person who has never been to church more than a handful of times in my entire life, I’ve always had a sense of spirit/energy/religion for as far back as I can remember. I realized at a young age that I hated the way my insides would never let me forget if I hadn’t handled a situation optimally and felt genuinely and completely satisfied when I had performed up to my expectations. To this day, until I see otherwise, I believe that there’s value in every experience I have and every person I encounter.
Cake Crafting
Since both of my kids and I have numerous food allergies, hypoallergenic (to us, anyway) cake-baking has become kind of a fun tradition for birthdays. My husband and I try to go all out w/ three-dimensional, really creative cakes that the kids will love.
Last Few Days With Our Praying Mantis, Duncan!
Good, early, early Thursday morning!
I can feel the air changing and sense that the cool fall air is here to stay.
Besides the breathing challenges I face w/ asthma during seasonal changes, I really like the fall. Wherever we go, the kids are stomping and sliding and ice skating through the leaves. The gray skies remind me of Oregon a little. But the thing I miss most about this summer leaving us is our first great year w/ the garden. We were really successful and the kids and I had so, so, so much fun tending to our plant babies every day!
My Take on a Little Mermaid Birthday Party
Good Morning!
So this is the first project/event that I did that had me thinking I should really start blogging, that their might be other people out there that just live and breathe and dig this creative stuff. I guess it’s kind of cheating since I made all of these things over a month ago, but since I haven’t shared it here yet, we’ll consider it a new topic.
My daughter’s fourth birthday was looming and she was all about The Little Mermaid. So was my two-year-old son, for that matter.
Please take absolutely no offense here if you are a fan of the full-on Disney birthday party. The decoration packages are absolutely adorable, I agree. (I also own all of the Disney Princess movies, thanks to a slightly crazy, princess-obsessed grandmother – my mom.) But, I swear, there’s something wrong w/ my insides. If I don’t do something really over-the-top, craft-wise, for my kids’ birthdays, I feel like I’ve let not only them down, but myself.
SewOldSchool 