Month: July 2018

ashkenaz.

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Hula time! For my second hula performance with Halau Makana we danced at Ashkenaz Music and Dance Community Center. Ashkenaz has music and dance events six days a week; the last Sunday of each month is dedicated to Ethnic Dance. Pre-performance I asked Hubby to take a photo of me in my Halau Makana gear and pre-hula hair. He took a mirror photo O_o, and then a real one… Behind the scenes! While I was waiting my turn to practice our routine, I enjoyed the sweet sounds of soundcheck (our band was awesome!), watched some of the performances, and helped get costumes ready. Check the space! Ashkenaz has been a Berkeley establishment for 45 years; imagine all the sharing and community building that has happened over the years in this space! I performed the same dance as my first performance, but this time we had different costumes: Red! Ooh la la. I had so much fun performing with these ladies. And to start a tradition – selfies with Cat! Since I was only in one dance, …

craft lady reporting for duty.

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A friend of a friend got married and I was craft summoned! I helped with day-of decor set up. It felt like a craft challenge. It was pretty exciting. The reception was held at Hillside Community Church in El Cerrito just a mile from my home. When I arrived the bride had a whole squad of decor helpers setting up all of the guest tables. The decor themes included elephants and travel so they had postcards and elephant figurines on display. My mission: pie bar set up and assorted sign making! I brought some of my craft lady display boxes and decor, and was given doilies, fabrics, and chalkboards to play with. My friend Laura was on map duty, as well as signs, making sure everything was pretty, and then tending bar at the wedding – she did it all! Before/During:  Display hack: tape boxes together for varied height! Font inspo: the wedding invites! After:  Pie bar close ups! I’m really into these crocheted doilies and golden elephants! And I couldn’t help but take so …

flower coasters.

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Remember when I pressed flowers on Earth Day? I finally made something with them: coasters! Materials and tools: Pressed flowers (My friend Kayla of Impressed by Nature has fun, easy to use flower presses!) Decoupage glue (My favorite is ArtMinds – a Michaels brand – because it doesn’t leave a sticky residue which means you don’t have to put a top coat of sorts. It also comes in a glossy version.) Tiles (I found these at Home Depot) Foam brush How to: You can plan out where you want your petals to go, or just go for it! Brush on a layer of glue. Add petals. Coat tile with an even layer of glue. I like to coat on at least three layers of glue. Allow to dry between layers of glue (10-15 minutes), then allow to dry over night after adding the final layer of glue. Note that some of the petals changed color or bled – the hydrangeas and the bougainvilleas in particular. If I were to do this again I’d stick with yellows …

fruit party.

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Another coworker leaving means another fun party to throw! 🙁 and 🙂 We made it a summer theme and asked people to bring fruits and veggies to share. We dubbed this all the “Hello Summer, Bye Bye Melissa.” party! One coworker made a watermelon basket! We also had cucumber-blueberry water and some pan dulce (in case fruits and veggies were too healthy… 😉 ). For decor, I raided my honeycomb and paper stash. I picked a few honeycombs in summery colors – I thought they would pair nicely with all the fresh fruits and veggies. I also made tiny honeycomb fruits on sticks by adding a paper leaf on top. Placing them in jars with floral sand added some nice height to the tablescape. I also made food picks with washi tape, and I found one paper fan in my party decor stash so I made a kiwi wedge – thanks Oh Happy Day! Plus, for added tablescape fun (or chaos!) I cut fruity scrapbook paper into scatterable sizes – kind of like large, easy-to-clean-up confetti. And what …

animal ears!

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As part of the Make Art Family Day programming, the Museum of Craft and Design invited me to lead the animal ear headband craft inspired by the current exhibit: Judy Kensley McKie’s Cast of Characters. Charlotte at the Museum gathered all these great supplies to use, including this fascinating glitter fabric paper that (get this!) doesn’t flake off or make a mess! We had headbands in all the colors, plus sparkly gems and furry poms. It was fun to see people get creative with the supplies set out. Some made headbands inspired by real animals; some created their own creatures. We got your polar bear, your ram, mythical leaf creatures… Headbands inspired by starfish, bunnies, deer, lion cubs… Yay, crafternoon! Also, headbands and headdresses need to be a thing people wear on the regular. They are so fun!

red, white, and indigo.

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I love me a good party theme pun, so when Fourth of July rolled around I was like, um “red, white and indigo?” Yes! I invited some friends to join me for an afternoon of casual indigo dyeing. My friend Laura laser beamed a bunch of shapes for me out of acrylic. I had been dyeing to use them. They are brilliant! And since they are clear you can see some of the color change on the fabric. The big reveal…     Not a lot of pictures here because I was busy having too much fun. Mostly I just wanted to share my pun with you. 😜 I leave you with these fun patriotic donuts. And this video…     Until my next pun party! Hope you all had a fun, happy, and spectacular 4th! Check out my previous posts about indigo dyeing, too: Ready, Set, Indigo / Indigo Magic

cactus pricklies.

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Back in the desert! A quick work trip to the Palm Springs area means I get to do a little exploring. I stumbled upon Moller’s Garden Center  where cactus dreams come true. Moller’s has lots of plant varieties, but I was in the market for a cactus to bring home to my parents. I am obsessed with cacti right now (I blame Moorten). They don’t fair too well in the Bay Area (where I live); my parents, though live in a warm and dry climate – perfect for cacti! I got these lil nuggets. One turns purple in the winter! You can see it here turning back to green… I also found out the furry fuzzy soft looking dots on these cacti are not cute and fluffy at all. I rammed my hand into the purple one while trying to stop the cart and all those little pricklies, though they looked like fur on my knuckles, were painful to remove. I still have spikes in my hand that were too small to remove; it’s been over …

chocolate party.

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My sister and I threw a chocolate themed party for Father’s Day this year. We had a chocolate tasting, a chocolate inspired menu, and a chocolate activity. This could be a fun party idea for any occasion! Chocolate Tasting I searched for locally made chocolate bars and found Nohmad Snack co based in Torrance. We tried four of their single origin bars. Chocolate Menu It was a fun challenge to come up with a chocolate menu that wasn’t all sweet. I made chicken mole, cauliflower and peppers with picada sauce, and chocolate bread pudding. For the mole, I used Oaktown Spice Shop‘s Mole Poblano blend – a nice shortcut! For the veggie dish, oh my gosh, make double the picada sauce – it is so good. For the bread pudding, I was super impressed that I made a custard and not egg drop soup! Chocolate Activity What’s a family hang out day without an activity! My sister put together a design-your-own chocolate dessert topping. My niece got really into it. She made a double-sided piece! …

lavender festival.

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If you’re a fan of lavender, I highly recommend the Lavender Festival in Cherry Valley. It’s not a U-Pick type of experience (which is something else on my list of funs to do!), but it’s an immersive lavender experience.There’s shopping, music, hay rides, crafts, food…plus, it doesn’t get ridiculously crowded so you can enjoy in a relaxed setting. This year I went with my sister, niece, and nephews.Food First things first, there was so many lavender-inspired foods and beverages. It was warm out so we tried the lavender lemonade, iced tea, and ice cream. I wished we were hungrier because then we could have also tried the lavender cheesecake and beef brisket (yes, beef brisket!). Also, they have an afternoon tea and a sit-down farm to table dinner that I would have loved to be a part of. Next time!Shopping The farm has an extensive line of lavender projects for sale. They also invited a few local makers to vend. You name it and they probably infused lavender into it – tea, lotions, honey, face …