handmade sewn journals

I learned how to bind books while volunteering at a museum in Philadelphia but have not used the skill since. I thought a set of handmade journals would be a great Mother's Day gift for my mom who has everything. She has since added photo corners and uses the books to show off photos of her garden with photo corners. Add the corners yourself and gift them to someone traveling for the summer or in need of a grandmother's brag-book.

For the pages of the book I used regular copy paper and for the cover, used wrapping paper from Greenwich Letterpress (but PaperSource also has a great selection). To sew the pages together I used an embroidery needle large enough to thread baker's twine, but punched the holes with a sewing machine needle- very sharp! Lastly, doing a simple stitch the way up and then down the spine of the book creates a backstitch while bringing both ends of the thread together.

Happy creating!


I just love the way the neons pops with the peacock plumes. Too pretty to wrap!

DIY succulent gardens

To enjoy the weather this weekend and to let our minds wander from busy work schedules, Mark and I visited the cherry blossom festival at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, Sakura Matsuri. The planned festivities were great but we really enjoyed strolling in an out of exhibits, in spite of the crowds. For it being so close to our apartment, we should visit on a quieter weekend.

My favorite exhibit was the dessert room. I love succulents and cacti for their fierce, independent attitude. They don't need much to survive, don't really create much of an ecosystem with other plants and can stand up for themselves. We should all be a little more like a desert plant.

They are also aesthetically pleasing to my eye so I decided that I needed some in my home. Mind you, these are the first plants introduced into my apartment so I must really love them a lot. It didn't take many supplies or much effort to create a small succulent garden that now lives on my bedroom windowsill. I wish I could say they all look as vibrant as they do in this pic, but I may have watered them too much and am awaiting a quick recovery (fingers crossed, but I may have just killed an indestructible plant).


How to...

For this repotting, I didn't need any more dirt than was included with my three plants, but extra potting soil might be needed. Depending on the depth of your bowl, line the bottom with potting soil and arrange plants in the dirt. Fill around the plants so their is an even layer of dirt but leave room until the lip of the dish. Set a layer of pebbles over the potting soil so no dirt can be seen.

Be sure to save the nursery tags that came with the plants to refer to for care instructions. If you are a nervous botany newbie like me, you might want to refer to these more often than you would think.

I used a vintage compote from Brooklyn Flea but think it would be really fun to plant single succulents in old tea cups and ice cream dishes.

instagramming at the BBG

because everything tastes better homemade... orancello!

first off, let me introduce myself.  i'm carla, and i'm a new mommy who, in addition to being purely addicted to my newborn son crosby, i also enjoy fashion, cooking, party planning, paper & yes, booze. every mother offers all sorts of advice when you are pregnant & after you have the baby; the most common tip i received was to "sleep when the baby sleeps" not me, i make booze.

ok, i'm probably coming off as a complete alcoholic.  false.  it's just that every once in awhile i will make a batch of something yummy and keep some for me & my husband casey and save the rest to give away as gifts.  there's just something about a swing-top bottle that makes me feel all warm & fuzzy.   this goes back as far as i can remember, my family has always made their own wine.  and every sunday, when we would gather for dinner there would be a big swing top bottle filled with our family's homemade vino. and who am i kidding, it didn't have to be a sunday either,  no matter what the meal or what day of the week it was, seeing the homemade wine on the table was as expected as the salt, pepper or butter.

as the years passed by and as i grew older i have, in a way, inadvertently continued the "sisterhood of the traveling swing top" if you will, at dinner parties and brunches i host i fill differently etched glass swing-tops with different flavored waters, or with freshly squeezed orange juice, apple juice or milk.  casey & i have started having a boozy eggnog making party every year too, where every guest gets to leave with a few bottles of their very own homemade eggnog to last them through the holidays, we've made homemade baileys, and for our wedding rehearsal we made homemade limoncello as everyone's favors. which brings me to why we are here.  i am going to bestow upon you how to make your very own batch of orancello.

what you need: 

+ 1 750mL bottle of Grain Alcohol
+ 12-15 oranges  {any kind will do, experiment!}
+ a large glass bowl/jar/container that comes with a lid as you'll need to store the whole batch for 3 weeks
+ sharp potato peeler
+ strainers [one for rough strain, one for fine strain]
+ 4-6 small bottles with corks or swing tops, or old liquor bottles to store your batch
+ 2.2 C sugar
+ 4.5 C
+ water


what you do:
when peeling the oranges: you want the rinds only, not the white pithy part. do this to all of the oranges.

for simple syrup: add 2.2 C sugar to 4.5 C of boiling water, mix to dissolve sugar, let cool to room temp

 

there you have it! you now know how to make your very own batch of orancello! for some fun ways to enjoy your orancello, come visit my blog over at barefoot + pine!

jewish apple cake french toast

Sunday's brunch started with the bright idea for Challah french toast. It was going to be my first time making french toast and I was very excited to take on the delicacy with my favorite fluffy bread. Saturday night's pizza-making party left me with a jar of buttery cinnamon apples (you'll just have to wait until Thursday to find out why!) so Sunday brunch got a little more interesting once I decided to cover our french toast in hot cinnamon apples. When I found cream cheese in my refrigerator, I knew it was fate.

This was going to be a cream cheese-stuffed Challah french toast with hot apples. Three of my favoritest Jewish foods all in one breakfast dish (I couldn't find the right place for a matzoh ball)!

Since I happened upon this amazing dish by experimenting, I thought I would share my recipes.


French Toast Egg Dip
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of yogurt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract



Hot Cinnamon Apples
2 macintosh apples
3 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of sugar
1/4 cup of water
2 teaspoons of cinnamon

Over medium heat, melt butter in a shallow pan. Core and cut apples into very small pieces.* Add sugar, cinnamon and apples to melted butter. Toss apples around to evenly distribute butter and sugar. Pour water and let sit until a syrup is formed. Can in a sterilized jar for up to two weeks in the fridge!

*I kept the skin on my apples because I love the color but this recipe would work just as well skinned.

dark and stormy cocktails

Last week I took an impromptu hiatus from blogging. Our mini vacation to Boston had me in a holiday mode that lasted into this weekend. We enjoyed Saturday's perfect weather with brunch, craft shows and bike rides. Around 4 o'clock we started a party with our neighbors that began with drinks on our balconies and ended with fancy pizzas at midnight.

Our neighbors are the bartenders of the party, always mixing us something new. They came over this time with a quartet of Dark and Stormies, the official drink of Bermuda. It was a cool refreshing cocktail that I know I will be serving up a lot this summer for guests on our balcony. They are as simple as they are beautiful.

Dark & Stormy
1 part dark rum
2 parts ginger beer
lime wedge for garnish

Since my weekend was filled with cooking and drinking with those I love most I am going to spend the whole week of Apartment Chef posts with recipes and food inspiration. I hope you're hungry!