Small New Goal: One Project, One Recipe

Remember long ago, when I was crafty? sewing up a storm? When free time was so abundant I even WASTED it sometimes? Remember? Like all the way back to April?

Lucy sure has changed the game. Ha!

But that's all right. I knew it was going to happen, and I truly don't lament this season away from SuperCraftiness. It was coming, I was prepared.

Still.

There's a part of me that craves making things... Craves being creative. Even if it is a tiny thing, a fast project, a set of photographs... Even our little garden this year... SOMETHING creative.

And so, as Lucy has been working her way out of the Troubled Newbornness, I have been able to find little pockets of precious time-- often with the help of a family member or my sweet hubby to help ride herd on the kiddos-- to get creative. And it has been like taking a long cold drink of water.

And even those little tiny moments of creativity have been so good for my soul that a small new goal hatched itself in my brain the other week. What if, while life is still running away from me and having two kids is still kicking my butt, WHAT IF I still try to do ONE little crafty or project, and try ONE new recipe a week? Just one each.... Every week. Nothing monumental... nothing expensive. Just some little crafty and some little recipe.

I have to say-- the idea has latched on, taken hold, and makes me smile. I like this goal.

So. For my first week, here is ONE recipe, and ONE crafty. Baby steps back to the Creative Life.

Recipe first:

Strawberry Bruschetta

{this recipe was found, as most will be, on Pinterest.com. SO many good ideas for food there!}

There's just something about goat cheese, basil... strawberries... Fresh fresh fresh....

And for anyone interested, here is the actual recipe, from the Annie Eats blog:

Strawberry Bruschetta

Ingredients:
1 cup strawberries, hulled and diced
1 tbsp. sugar
1 French baguette, sliced on a bias
4 oz. goat cheese
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
¼ cup minced basil leaves
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Combine the  strawberries and sugar in a small bowl; toss to combine.  Let the berries macerate for about 30 minutes so that they begin to release their juices.  Spread a thin layer of goat cheese on top of each baguette slice.  Top each slice with spoonfuls of the strawberry mixture.  Drizzle lightly with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Top each slice with the basil leaves and cracked pepper, to taste.

Source: slightly adapted from Whole Foods via The Curvy Carrot

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Next, the crafty...

Mini Pillow With Pillow Case

So Noah needed a new pillow. We'd been using a fleece pillow he and I had made together last year, and it was ratty and gross and smelled a little like pee. No thanks. So I whipped up a cute little pillow while he watched cartoons and Lucy napped.

I made it "toddler bed" sized, and after making the pillow itself, I thought it needed a pillowcase, to maybe help prevent that pee smell in the future--- easier to wash the cover than the pillow itself, and all that...

{Noah wanted in on the next photo...The ham.}

And since Lucy was still sleeping, and Noah was still amused by his cartoon, I decided it needed a fleece monogram. "N" for "Noah. 

 

I didn't really use a tutorial for the pillow project... Just whipped it out and kept measuring and adjusting as needed. If anyone needs some basic instructions, I might be able to put something together. Let me know!

Side Note: Isn't Noah so cute? Really... With his new pillow, a random Transformer in his right hand, hamming it up for my camera... Love him.

Other Side Note: Since I get to show some Noah cuteness, it seems only fair to share some Lucy cuteness... Here she is, from that same day (2.5 months old). I can't decide if I prefer black and white or color...

Isn't that smile of hers enough to make you ALMOST forget she was so tricky those first ELEVEN WEEKS? 

Ha!

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 So, happy upcoming week!
Besides trying a new crafty and recipe, my other goal is to blog Lucy's last three days of newbornness here.. I need to get that all wrapped up, ya know? And I get to take her 3-month photo... that'll be on Tuesday...

And so on and so forth. Life marches on. And it is mostly pretty good.