Thursday, October 28, 2010
Giveaway: My "Thank You" to YOU!
Guest Blogger: My Furry 4 Legged Friend
I don't know about you, but I'm sure happy that it's the season for pants... and so are my legs...maybe not my hubby...but he'll get over it, I mean I did live through "Mustache March" !
Tutorial: Corkboard Makeover
The Lorax Project: Repurposing A Gum Ball Dispenser
A very long time ago, I picked up a fun little red gum ball dispenser from an auction (this is when we lived in Florida). I had intentions of using it... to dispense gum balls... but do you know how difficult it is to find the correct size gum ball to fit inside my little dispenser? I have searched high and low, and haven't come across any, and yet, I'm not willing to part with this cute little trinket. I have a tendency to use objects for something other than what they are intended for... it's just my thing. One day I'll take you on a tour of my home front, and will show you everything that's used for something other than what they were made for. So, I decided this cute little dispenser needed a new purpose, and here's what I came up with... for now (since I always change my mind!)
Giveaway from Georgie
Recipe from "The Sometimes Single Mom"...
1 3.9 oz package of chocolate pudding mix
Guest Blogger: Sam
The first time I lived over seas was the summer of 1990. I had one year of high school German under my belt and headed off to live with a wonderful German family outside of Frankfurt. I enjoyed learning more about the German people, keeping a list of my new words (which I still have) and traveling. We took trips around the local area and a big trip to the freshly former East Germany. I remember seeing East Germany for the first time. I didn’t know enough to understand the looks I received when I spoke English. Later after college I worked for Daimler-Benz. I lived in a dorm with other interns from all over the world. It was wonderful to have so many cultures together and often made for odd pairings. There were several girls from former Eastern countries. One girl in particular stood a bit further from me. As the months grew she began to talk to me and we became friends. When I left she wrote me a note telling me that she was surprised to learn I was not what she thought Americans were like. She had class each day to teach her of the horrible West. I did not meet the stereotypes. I also became close with a girl from Moscow and visited her that summer. She too commented that I was not what she had been taught. We were all blinded by the cold war and didn’t know it till we became friends.
The last time I lived in Germany I rented a room from an older German couple. They were great and made me feel at home. They would invite me to their apartment to cook and make schnapps. One evening we were looking at a map of the world. They asked for me to show them where I lived, went to university etc. We got to talking about their travels. The elderly man began to talk about his time in the Nazi army during World War II. He cried as he told me about being at D-day and how he was forced into the war by threats to his sisters and mother. He had to shoot to stay alive. I realized that my view of the war was based on my family and my history books but not on the real life people who were there; that I had not heard the other side of the story. I am not saying by any means that I agree with the Nazi worldview. I am saying that we so often only see our side of history or of current events. When I returned to the states the following summer I went to see Saving Private Ryan. I had to leave the theater. I could not take a side and cheer as I had always done.
Living in South Korea often makes me think of my time in Germany. I realize I held a stereotype of South Koreans and didn’t realize it. They are friendly and helpful, technical and cultured, big city dwellers and country folk. The live divided in a country whose buildings are just about all built since the end of the war. Many families have families in the north that they will never see again. The north is taught interesting ideas about the south and the rest of the world for that matter. The war and the timeline that lead up to it may not be just like my history books taught. I now have real life people and their culture to add to the mix.
We all see life through the glasses of our experience and our culture. It is interesting to put some one else’s glasses on. It often shows us that some times things are not wrong, just different or not the color we thought they were.
...Fabric Giveaway...
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Featured Artist and Shop: Crafty Christi
Recipe from: Tini (my sister)
Cream of Chicken & Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients:
1 large onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
¼ cup butter
½ cup flour
8 cups chicken broth
3 cups cooked wild rice
1 cup cubed, cooked chicken
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 cup evaporated milk
¼ cup sniped chives
Directions:
~ In a large saucepan sauté onion, carrot and celery in butter until tender. Stir in flour until blended. Gradually, add broth and stir.
~ Stir in chicken, rice, salt and pepper.
~ Bring to boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes until thickened. Stir in milk; cook 3-5 minutes longer.
~ Garnish with chives (or cracked pepper)
Yields 10 servings.
Guest Blogger: Ferial-Shmerial (tutorial and giveaway)
Anyeonghaseyo from Korea! My name is Ferial-Shmerial and I hail from Northern California. My husband and I have lived in Korea now for 2+ years teaching English. During our time here in Korea we have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know K. Davis, and what a wonderful lady she is! It is an absolute honor to be guest-blogging for her on this, her first blog-aversary!
Start by cutting your chosen fabric into a few one-inch strips.
Put some glue at the very end of one of the sides of the headband and attach one of your fabric strips to the headband, making sure to leave a little fabric dangling off of the end. Begin wrapping the fabric around the headband, on an angle, using a dot of glue with each wrap.
Pull each wrap tight so that the fabric is resting flat on the headband, but don't pull too tight.
If you run out of fabric before you are finished wrapping the entire headband, do not fear! It is very easy to continue with a new strip of fabric.
To finish off, take those bits of dangling fabric on each side of the headband and tuck them on the outside** of the headband and then glue them down.
Once the headband and rosette are both dry, you can attach the rosette to the headband with the glue. I usually put the headband on my head and make a little marking of where I would like the rosette to be attached first. Make sure to glue down all ends of the rosette so that it is resting nice and flat against the headband.
Once you get the hang of using the glue and fabric you can experiment with all sorts of different designs! Here are a few of my experiments:
Happy Headband-ing and Happy Blogiversary K. Davis!
Happy Blogiversary To Me!
It's so hard to believe that it's already been one year of blogging...and I'm enjoying it so much, I'm just going to keep on going! Tons has happened since I first started writing my blog- We moved from Germany to Korea, I started my etsy shop, took my photography skills to the next level by setting up "shop", we started our adoption process... WOW... LOTS has happened, ay? And you all have supported me along the way (by reading and commenting) and today we are going to celebrate! I have a bunch of posts lined up (11 others to be exact) and
Piles of Rolls...
Also, don't forget...tomorrow starts my 12 hour Blogiversary celebration! It'll start at 10:00 am (Korean time) and go until 10:00 pm. Giveaways will not close until November 3rd, so you'll have plenty of time to participate!