Sweet Mother of Popcorn

Recently I've been making this super easy snack in huge massive batches because it stores forever and, well ... because it's homemade sweet popcorn. Does there really need to be an explanation?? It saddens me that people pay for this stuff when they could make it from scratch so easily and for so much less! [I am not being condescending, i used to also buy microwave popcorn til I realized how easy it was to pop on the stove!] A kilo bag of corn is dirt cheap, people.

Anyways, for 200 g (about two small handfuls) of unpopped popping corn [kernels], you'll need: 

* Three teaspoons brown sugar

* One teaspoon white/cane sugar

* One teaspoon cinnamon

* Three teaspoons(ish) unsalted butter

[* Teaspoon water]

Heat three tablespoons oil on high heat in a large pan and add in kernels. Cover your pan with a lid unless you want to lose an eye!

While corn pops, melt butter til it's liquidy but not bubbling and stir in ingredients. The brown sugar might make it a bit lumpy; if this is the case crush it with a spoon and mix in the water to make a more syrupy consistency. Once the majority of the corn is popped, transfer it to a container with a lid, drizzle the sugar syrup evenly across the popcorn, close the lid and shake shake shake it like a polaroid picture! You know what to doooOOOoooo...*

I only eat it in these tiny rammekin bowls -- not so I can control my portion sizes (let's be honest here...) but so I at least get some exercise during my frequent runs back to the kitchen for more. :)

xoxo

*I leave you with an oldie but a goodie...

Me-Made May

With the encouragement of my old boss/seamstress extraordinaire Kelly, I decided I'm going to try the Me-Made May challenge by Sozo, in which you wear at least one handmade item each day for the whole month! I adore this idea! I'll adapt it to be one handmade or refashioned piece of clothing. I figure handmade jewelry would be way too easy for me since i wear that every day anyways! But anything that I have sewn or refashioned or that's handmade by someone else is fair. It really gets you thinking about the origins of your stuff, and that's why I'm counting refashions, because they're more environmentally-friendly than buying new fresh fabric. 

 

I painted this tank top by drawing and cutting a bow design onto some contact paper and sticking the actual bow cut-out down to sponge around it and make a silhouette. It's the opposite of painting inside a design like this. I used the ever-awesome Dylon fabric paint which feels so soft and professional. SWEET.

In order for me to be totally prepared to ride out May in style, my To-Make list has now quintupled. [Thanks, Spellcheck, for assuring me that 'quintupled' is a word. Thanks also for letting me know that 'spellcheck' is not one.] Excellent. Lahv it dahling.

xoxo

Spring Jewels

Let me quickly report back from my last post and say that the Florence + the Machine show was INCREDIBLE!!! Just unreal (here is a video from the night)... and the fact that we missed the last train home after waiting in standstill crowds, ran the streets of Glasgow trying to flag down a taxi to get us to the next train station in time, failed drastically at that, and eventually found our way to the megabus station and waited around for 45 minutes on a bus that just wouldn't leave til 1 am [there were too many people wanting to get on, luckily we were at the front of the line so we got seats], just goes to prove how good her show was, because it was TOTALLY WORTH IT!

 ***

 

Anyways, sometimes when I'm struggling for pearlswirl inspiration I neurotically organize play around with my supplies til something jumps out at me. It has definitely been working for the past few days-- I feel inspi-ah-ed! I've been creating very spring-inspired designs and the recurring clock theme represents my desire for looong days and summertime!

Skipping Stones Necklace

Peppermint Tea Time Necklace

 Milk & Honey Bracelet (sold)

 Hukilau Necklace

Orange Orchard Bracelet

Tequila Sunrise Earrings

Time Stands Still Necklace

These next four will be listed in the coming days.

 

 Strawberry Mojito Bracelet

 

Chain Reaction Necklace

 

Watermelon in the Summertime Necklace

 

 Fairy Toadstool Bracelet

xoxo

Student Food That Tastes Like Real Food

I thought I would share one of my staple student-friendly recipes. This is really a good one because you do make everything yourself but it's so easy and SO cheap! You can feel good about yourself and it doesn't have to be a splurgey exception. 

To avoid the typical mac n' cheese experience, I sometimes buy 'Trottole Tricolore' (spiral-shaped multi-colored pasta which has spinach and tomato extracts in it to make it more interesting). And it's the same price as a regular pasta! High five for feeling fancy!

 The fact that the two main ingredients (tomatoes and tuna) are canned helps keep this really inexpensive, and even though fresh tastes better, this also means you can stock up on ingredients and cook it whenever you want rather than having to use something while it's fresh. 

Trottole Tricolore with Tomato-Tuna Sauce

Needed:

* 1 can cooked plum tomatoes, plus juice

* 1 whole onion

* 3-4 cloves of garlic (it's possible i might be overdoing it on the garlic front while my boyfriend is on the other side of the planet...)

* 1 tspn olive oil

* 1 generous pouring red wine

* juice from 1/2 lemon

* 1/2 can tuna

* fresh or dried basil, salt, pepper, etc. to taste

Simmer the whole can of tomato and juices on low/medium heat with the whole peeled onion sitting inside. It should never boil. Pour in the wine. Add the chopped garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and herbs/spices. Once the onion has turned pink from the tomato juices, pull it out, chop it finely, and throw the pieces back in. (This might be an unnecessary step for some but I find that this method allows the onion to turn soft and translucent while still retaining its oniony flavor, instead of just absorbing the taste of the tomato sauce.) Finally, add in the tuna and stir. Serve over pasta (or rice? Or if you're like me, then whatever you have around...) with cheese on top. Mmmmmm, i always feel good about myself after making this sauce...

And of course, this is how I really eat it... on my bed with an episode of New Girl. I just love Zooey D! 

***

In three short days I'm going to Glasgow with some friends to see the incredible Florence + the Machine!!!!! I've had her on repeat for weeks in anticipation! Here are some of my favorites... (hopefully my friends in Germany  don't have problems playing the songs like you do with youtube). She is SO GOOOOD. I can only imagine how she'll be live...

xoxo

Labor of Love

 This sweatshirt refashion had traumatic beginnings. I was all ready with my inspiration from Sincerely Kinsey, had my heart cut out of my regular sweatshirt, and the whole thing pinned and waiting. But- as I threaded my machine and tried to bring up the bobbin, it just wasn't coming. At all. 

Disclaimer: long and boring description of machine troubles incoming. If you don't know machines, you're no use to me and may simply skip ahead to next paragraph. I rethreaded it, changed bobbins, tried the magic 'turn it off and on again' fix... but my bobbin thread was staying put. The cog [?] bit underneath the bobbin casing was rotating normally as the needle moved but not the actual bobbin. Does that make sense? Has anyone ever had this?

 

After a hasty weep to myself, realization dawned: my machine is broken. It was not a pretty moment... me and my roommate in the living room in varying states of distress [I will let you guess...], her attempting to find an online version of the manual for me, me just hugging the machine and rocking it back and forth...

 And this is why I can't join Pinterest. I fixate on things. I LITERALLY cannot rest if I have an idea that can't be completed. I decided I absolutely had to handsew this lace cut out immediately or I would die. Pinterest is like a superwonderland of inspiration and projects that you want to recreate and I just know it would be physically painful for me to see so much and not be able to instantly make my own. So no.

But-- happy thoughts! I never used to wear this cause it was a bit blah but now I love it so much. I don't have a before picture but just imagine it without the heart [and with a proper collar which i cut off]. :) Just draw a heart [or any shape] onto your garment, cut it out, pin a square of lace to the inside of the garment, and either hand sew with an embroidery hoop, or machine sew. Trim the lace around the inside seam. Easy! I love that you can change the look by wearing a different color underneath.

xoxo

Delicious Wall Art

At a poster sale before Christmas I found this print [below] and snapped up one for me and one for my sister. I love it so much! I don't think it's possible to enlarge the images since I couldn't find any large versions [I guess artists have to take precautions so people don't copy and print their stuff... sad.] But anyways it's lived happily amongst my eclectic collection of wall art, including this great print Megan got me, this antique map from my mom of my home city, and countless other handmade frames and bits. Mostly awesome gifts cause my people know me so well [you's guys are the best]!

But what's the reason for this post?? I DISCOVERED THERE ARE MORE MAPS! Yes! It's true! Take a look at their supreme cuteness. The artist is Britain-based Alice Tait and I think she's genius. I love how each neighborhood or area has its own little style. They might verge a bit on the touristy side, yes, but seriously that does not detract from the design! Even if I were local to one of these cities [ahem.. WHEN I am local...] I wouldn't mind having them up.

So, what do we think? Have I gone off the deep end of cliché and twee, or do you love them too? I mean I'm only asking to be polite really... cause my mind is definitely made up. :)

xoxo

Spring Fever

 The other morning I went for a walk and before I knew it my Feet had taken me to the fabric store, my Hands and Arms had pulled a bolt of lace, spotted by my Eyes, off the shelf and my Mouth asked the man to cut 3/4 of a meter. Well done, Body Parts. You pulled it off before Brain could shut the operation down with buzzkill comments like 'no time', 'stop spending moneys' or 'you don't really need another top'. 

 And now I have what I can easily call my favorite garment I've ever sewn myself EVER. I modeled it on a tank top I love the fit of plus added some sleevies. It's french-seamed (ooh la la) and the drape on this lace is just awesome.

 It dips lower in the back- I should have gotten pictures of that...

 Spring? Please? Yes? Mara and i had fun taking these pictures and my butt only got very very minorly wet so I'm calling that a tropical Scottish day.

xoxo

P.S. Check the sidebar here to see a lovely Pearlswirl ad and to get a special discount code!

I Heart Handmade

 Oh my oh my! I could hardly contain my excitement when I found this Sass & Belle ribbon at Edinburgh Fabric Store. Did I stop myself at buying one meter? I absolutely did not.

  I went back and added it to some of my favorite handmade garments, but it will look better in the future when i can just run it under the seam directly as I'm sewing. I LOVE it!

 Swiss-dot silk, crushed velvet and soft beautiful laces. These are the words that buy my love (Davide are you reading??)

I'm obsessed with clothes-making these days. The other day I was sitting in a two-hour lecture behind a girl wearing a really interesting part-flannel, part-silk shirt and i spent 1 hour 55 minutes trying to figure out how I could recreate it and what the pattern might look like. (And the last five minutes thinking about which store would sell that type of fabric). I see seams everywhere I go and I'm mesmerized by patterned fabrics. Especially mixing patterns; I've worn this outfit or something similar every day...

And here's a sneak peek of my latest creation which I'll be showing next. Do you know what it is?

xoxo

Confession

 Last week while home I made candles with my mom! She read my post here about recycling candles and started saving all hers so we could do it together! It's super awesome to have someone read your blog and then want to recreate something you posted, even if it is only your mommy. :)

 We made eight or nine candles in pretty jars she had and I did one in a beautiful antique China tea cup she gave me for Christmas. FINALLY I succeed in my longstanding dream of making my own teacup candle! Most people my age would say this ironically, but just to be clear I am serious here. My crafting dreams are never to be made light of.

Anyways they turned out pretty and we infused them with blood orange essential oils (I'm counting each sniff as one of my five-a-day...) but we had the same problem I had last time where the wax formed a little valley in the middle as it was drying (not on the teacup but the other ones). We even waited til they were partly dried and poured more over the top but the candles weren't having any of it. Any candle-makers out there? How can I fix this problem??

***

Now. confession time. Things are about to get real on Pearlswirl Journals...

I spent eleven hours in the library today. ELEVEN. Let me put that into terms that those of you lucky enough not to be there might understand. I walked into the library at noon. Sat down at a desk. Logged onto the computer. Pulled out my notebook and my doodle-drawing pencil. STAYED THERE FOR ELEVEN HOURS. And left at eleven pm. 

Now many people [biology students, no doubt, and others who do 'real' science] would laugh this off like it's no big deal, 'haha, only eleven hours working in one day, you're so mediocre!' To them I say, 'shut up'. I have been working on this for weeks. It would have taken less time to finish today had I not had a genius lightbulb moment around Hour 4. But so there you go. My data assignment is beautiful, complete, and should preferably be gold-plated. 

But now the real confession: upon finishing working, what did i do? I came home, sat on my floor, lit all my candles around me, and attempted to destress by meditating. I kid you not. Sat on the carpet, in the dark, surrounded by fire, attempting to clear my brain of all thoughts. So naturally all I could think about was, 'i must take photos and put this on my blog!' How sad is that?! HAHA. I fail big time at meditation.

 

And then to top things off I realized that 6 open flames on the floor in a cluttered and dusty apartment probably constitutes a pretty big fire hazard. So I blew them out and now I'm here.

 

The end

xoxo

Beschäftigt But Fun.

Oh, so it seems I've been quietly neglecting my little bloggy for a couple days, but in reality I've just been a bit beschäftigt. This word is German for 'busy' or 'preoccupied'. In my opinion, the two puny English syllables in 'busy' just don't cut it. The German is much more fitting for the state of having 50 boring things on your to-do list but only enough time to complete 5 of them. How do you prioritize? Seems to me, the easiest thing to do... is to sit down with a cup of tea, and watch an episode of New Girl. Now, normally, this is my routine. No problem here. Last week was spent in exactly such a way.

But, these last couple days were a bit different because I was lucky enough to go visit my parents in Germany and some truly wonderful and incredible friends who were in town for just two wee days, and the incredible Katelyn who will soon be moving away... sniff [I also needed to fill out some important bank paperwork and have a dentist appointment, but whatevs.] Thus, during this time, I was not beschäftigt with the normal tasks, but rather beschäftigt with relaxing. For which I will revert back to the less harsh-sounding 'busy'.

Basically, folks, I been lazy. I also done got pink eye (conjunctivitis), then some form of sinusitis/laryngitis/whatever-itis. My flight connection was through Amsterdam and I was sort of afraid my small bloodshot pink eyes might be mistaken for someone having too much fun in Amsty and trying to sneak through security, but I guess they're used to such sites cause it didn't faze them! :) 2012 has not been the year of my good health so far, but I've decided that will change in March. It's Vitamin C time!

Anyways, now you've read my novel, I reward you with pictures.  

I rekindled my romance with this flufflball this weekend.

        "Are you my friend?"        "I'll let the sniff test be the judge of that."          "Oh. I'm afraid you failed."

Just like old times. Actually she and I had quite the little lovefest going on! :)

I baked Valentine's fairy cakes, and stuck to my Vitamin Resolution.

 My friend Harri and I made these chocolate cake balls again but this time put the Oreo cream filling to good use! Those are cookie crumbs and whole cloves for his appendages. [I know how ridiculous he is but he's too cute not to share...]

 Some supreme lovelies from high school. 

And... it's been a good month for being featured in Etsy treasuries too! I added arrows to make my items clearly visible but I don't think it helped...

                          Brown Sugar Blueberry                        Rising Sun

                                    Venetian Blues                                    Rusticly Rustic

I also found this link to a lampshade tutorial I made and completely forgot about way back when! I don't think I ever blogged about it here on Pearlswirl Journals, so if you're interested in the tutorial or where I used to work, go take a look!

Two beschäftigt and busy weeks these have indeed been. But I do love it that way. 

xoxo