granola bars.

It is so awesome to be done school.  It is like immediate summer, where you can fill up every single day with fantastic things.  Today was one of those days, ie. it was mostly sunny and all I did was wander around the park, sit on the lovely, warm Stella's patio, meander through Superstore trying on straw hats, be enamoured with the entire flour section of Scoop n' Weigh (yes, I am that girl that would generally rather get an entire box of various flours than a bouquet of real ones), and go to BDI and play on the swing set - all with two other awesome girls.  And then it was only 4:30.  So much free time.  So I decided to make granola bars.

I got the recipe from another awesome friend that I worked with all last summer and have been meaning to make these since probably January...yeah it's been a little busy.  But now it's not!

I love granola bars, like so much.  The days that we are out of granola bars are almost crisis moments.  What else are you supposed to eat a 3 in the afternoon when you're hungry but also doing 8 other things at the same time?

These taste amazing.  Kind of like the apple crumble topping, and they're chewy and filling and not at all glue-y like most other granola bars.  Make these.  Make these. Make these.

granola bars.  makes 14 bars.

2 C. rolled oats.
1/2 C. brown sugar.
1/2 C. wheat germ.
1 tbsp cinnamon.
1 C. whole wheat flour.
1 C. chopped dried apricots.
1/2 tsp. salt.
1/2 C. honey. (I think you could probably also use agave syrup, I'm going to try the next time and use a little less.)
1 egg.
1/2 C. vegetable oil.
2 tsp. vanilla extract.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (300 degrees if  you're using a glass pan).  Grease a 9 x 13" pan.
Mix together dry ingredients and apricots.  In another bowl mix egg, oil, honey and vanilla. (If your add the oil first and then use the same measuring cup for the honey the honey won't stick to the measuring cup and drive you mad!)  Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ones.  Mix and press evenly into the prepared pan.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until edges are golden.  Cool 5 minutes and then cut into bars.

Thank you so much Erin for your awesome recipe, I am totally making these again, maybe with some different fruit, or nuts or chocolate! 

Enjoy the sunshine, xo.

d.i.y. chalkboard necklace.

And the crafts begin.

Last summer I spent all of May making pretty things instead of actually working.  It was lovely.  One of the things that I made was a chalkboard, I love chalkboards.  Like a lot, I love that sound of the chalk on the wood, not the screeching sound, the ...other sound.  Drawing things in chalk is just wonderful, and last summer I discovered that chalkboard paint is also wonderful.  Cut out a piece of wood, prime it, paint it with chalkboard paint, put it in a lovely frame, and BAM chalkboard.

However, after making my chalkboard I still had a ton of paint left and now that school is finished I rediscovered it in my basement and wanted to do something with it.  I had seen little chalkboard lockets on pretty little websites but I didn't particularly feel like putting the effort into constructing my own little locket, maybe later this summer!

Anyways, this is my little chalkboard necklace.  It's fun because you can draw pictures on it.  And then erase it and draw new pictures.  And who doesn't love getting to draw on a chalkboard?  I thought so.

supplies: basswood (this is 1/4" thick). drill. primer. chalkboard paint. painter's tape. acyrlic paint (optional). jump ring. chain.

one_ clean out your studio and discover that you have an entire forest of basswood left over.  Feel slightly guilty and decide you need to make something pretty out of it.

two_cut out a small rectagle (or any shape really.) This one was 2" x 2.5".  If you don't have a massive pile of basswood in your room you could also use thin plywood, or anything smooth, it might just be a bit heavier.  Drill a hole in the top for your jump ring.

three_ prime.  let dry.

four_ paint with chalkboard paint.  let dry.  paint a second coat.  I used rustoleum.  It said to wait four hours between coats, which I did for my big chalkboard, but this was so tiny that I only waited 20 minutes and it was fine.

five_ you can either leave as is, or add a pretty boarder by cutting out the inverse pattern out of painters tape and using it as a template.

six _ paint border with acrylic paint.

seven _ let dry and peel off tape.  Wait three days for the chalkboard paint to dry before drawing weird pictures/fun words on your new necklace! 

eight_ in the meantime put a jump ring through the hole at the top of  your pendant and thread a chain through so it'll be ready to wear!

Have fun drawing whatever you want! like set squares (ie, triangles with holes in them)! Or words (I wanted to write "ephemeral," but it didn't fit, so I panicked and wrote "love."  I know, I know, so lame)! To erase just wash off with a damp cloth and let dry.

xo.

focaccia bread.

Undergrad is done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a little bit exciting.  And a little bit unsettling.  Free time makes me nervous and stressed, like I should always be surrounded by a minimum of 20 people and I should have a list of things to do from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m.  And now I am at home, with my parents, kind of freaking out and making a thousand lists to keep myself calm.  Luckily these lists genereally involve fun things, along with "get a job," that I haven't been able to do all year.  All those craft projects that I bookmarked all year - yeah I can finally do them.

So with my first half day off I decided to cross off another one of the things on my "21 before 22" list and make bread.  I have never made bread.  My oven hates bread.  Pretty much all good reasons to go for it I feel. 

I saw this recipe on food coma and decided to go for it because it didn't seem incredibly intimidating.  AND IT WORKED.  Like, it actually tastes good.  It doesn't really look like hers, and not just because I put olives on it either.  It also doesn't taste like Safeway focaccia bread, it's denser because of the whole wheat, and you can actually taste the olive oil, but it's delicious.

Whatever, it rose, its whole wheat and it tastes incredibly good with balsamic vinegar.  So I'm happy.

Now off to do craft projects! xo.

oh and I bought an awesome crocheted maxi dress at Value Village the other day.  It's beautiful.