Happy September!!! Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. I love hunkering down, wearing big baggy sweatshirts, sipping hot mulled cider with freshly-made donuts, getting red cheeks from hiking in the chilly air, roasting potatoes with sea salt and herbes de provence, lighting pine-tree scented candles and having icy cold PUMPKIN ALE! I think the pumpkin ale just might be my favorite…
However, it’s still very early in September and the temperature hasn’t dropped yet – in fact, it was really hot today! With my Autumn mindset, I did something not-so-smart.
HOT Banana-Bread-Oatmeal. This was absolutely delicious but I was sweating while eating it in my 80 degree house. This had 1 cup of cooked steel cut oats, 1/2 of a banana mashed in, a teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of walnuts, a splash of unsweetened soymilk and a dollop of whipped cream to make it pretty :).
After a little coffee and digestion, I hit the gym for an hour and a half. I spent 40 minutes on the elliptical, burned 400 calories, went 3 miles, then did a variety of weights. I did four sets of fifteen reps on the lat pulldown at 45lbs. I tried for 60lbs, but I really overdid my first day there and decided to be smart this time. I tend to be an extremist – I love going on ten-mile hikes, spending three hours running on the beach, lifting weights until I can’t move any part of my body and planning half-year camping excursions that never seem to amount to anything. I’m working on balance, and being okay with healthy amounts of exercise. It takes time. ANYWAY, after the lat pulldowns I did assisted pull-ups, tricep dips, leg presses, and about a billion crunches. I’m sore but I definitely didn’t overdo it today. I’m learning!
I promised you an arts and crafts blog, so here we go!
This one is hard to see, but it’s a drawstring bag made of old jeans I had. I was inspired by the leather shoulder bag that Amanda Bynes had in the movie, “What a Girl Wants“. Yes, I made this bag a very, very long time ago. I’m pretty slick with the sewing machine and added an accent around the bottom with an old scarf.
This is an apron I made with another pair of old jeans and ANOTHER old scarf. I actually made about a dozen bags out of jeans and sold a couple to some neighbors when I was younger.
This is the last denim apron that remains. It’s actually very handy for when I cook – the pockets hold all of the utensils.
I went through a painting phase a few years ago. For this frame, I took a picture from my Backpacker magazine and glued it into a wooden frame I found at Michael’s, then mixed together my paints to match the colors and extended the picture out onto the frame. This was my first one! I was quite proud :).
This was one I made for my dad for Fathers’ Day. After this one, all the time and detail started to feel very tedious and I gave it up.
That brings us to today. Here again are the bowls I made. I’m not that happy with them, but I realize that it’s a learning process, and I’m looking forward to next week.
Other creations of mine include hemp bracelets, friendship bracelets, hair wraps, sewing fabric extensions onto the bottoms of my jeans (remember when these were in style?), and slicing and dicing t-shirts into what I believed were “fashionable” shirts. I also have a candle-making kit in my closet, as well as a soap-making kit. Up next on my craft list is beer – creating Craft Beer will definitely be my new art and hobby!
Let’s see some pictures of your favorite arts/crafts you’ve made!