1. avengers pots!

    it’s possible that the avengers have eaten my brain. i bought two of these plants (phil and phil, one of which got renamed clint) the night we saw the movie. i decided to paint the pots, but while i was out buying supplies i saw this bright flamingo plant and figured the team really needed her. painting these was super-easy (mostly acrylic paint on regluar old ceramic pots, although i mixed some fabric paint in there as well) and i love how they came out.

    tips for doing this at home!

    • wipe down the outside of the pots and let them dry before you start painting
    • a thin, even layer of matte acrylic paint works best and also dries really quickly
    • if you’re using thicker paint or anything glossy, let it dry for 24 hours! i didn’t let the phil pot dry long enough, and now the shirt/tie have some bubbling :/
    • for the straight lines, use masking tape to give yourself a border. foam brushes work great for painting the larger section. i used an edge brush for hawkeye’s symbol and around black widow’s belt and my favorite small brush for painting the details.
  2. another coworker birthday means another batch of cookies! this particular coworker refused give me any direction for what she wanted, but eventually let slip that mint chocolate chip is her favorite ice cream. it happens to be my favorite too, so of course i latched onto that for a recipe idea.i ended up using that chocolate cookie base again (if it ain’t broke, etc etc) but instead of butterscotch chips i added minty candies: two packages of andes candies (chopped up pretty small, although a bag of the pre-chopped andes candies chips would have been easier) and one package of hersey’s mint chocolate bliss candies (also chopped up, but not as small). i was a little disappointed that they only had the milk chocolate kind at target, since dark chocolate + mint = THE BEST, but it ended up adding just the right amount of sweetness to the cookies.the batter was incredibly thick, so i finished the mixing by hand. i ended up with a lot of cookies, but my coworkers devoured them in record time and still ended up fighting over the last few!

    another coworker birthday means another batch of cookies! this particular coworker refused give me any direction for what she wanted, but eventually let slip that mint chocolate chip is her favorite ice cream. it happens to be my favorite too, so of course i latched onto that for a recipe idea.

    i ended up using that chocolate cookie base again (if it ain’t broke, etc etc) but instead of butterscotch chips i added minty candies: two packages of andes candies (chopped up pretty small, although a bag of the pre-chopped andes candies chips would have been easier) and one package of hersey’s mint chocolate bliss candies (also chopped up, but not as small). i was a little disappointed that they only had the milk chocolate kind at target, since dark chocolate + mint = THE BEST, but it ended up adding just the right amount of sweetness to the cookies.

    the batter was incredibly thick, so i finished the mixing by hand. i ended up with a lot of cookies, but my coworkers devoured them in record time and still ended up fighting over the last few!

  3. or as my brother calls them: snick snicks!

    one of my coworkers requested snickerdoodles for her birthday, so i decided to try my hand at what i had wrongly convinced myself was a complicated cookie. since my mom was out of town for the night, i used a friend’s recipe instead. everyone loved the cookies, but they were denser than my mom’s (it’s possible i undercooked them) and something about them tasted off to me. i am notoriously judgmental of my own baking, but i decided to try again with my mom’s recipe anyway.

    this is an adapted version of my mom’s recipe, with a few changes from things i liked about kait’s. i also bought fresh eggs and cinnamon in case they had been the problem in the first cookies. i’m not sure which change did the trick, but these tasted much more like mom’s- light, crispy, and just begging for a cup of tea to go with them. they also survived being mailed all over the country, since i had to do SOMETHING with the second batch ;)

    snickerdoodles

    for cookies:
    1 1/2 cups (3/4 lb, 3 sticks) butter, softened
    2 1/2 cups sugar
    3 eggs
    1 1/2 tsp vanilla
    4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
    1 1/2 tsp baking soda
    1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
    1/2 tsp salt
    1/2 tsp cinnamon

    for topping:
    2 tbsp cinnamon
    3 tbsp sugar

    01. preheat oven to 375 degrees.

    02. in a large bowl or an electric mixer, beat  butter and sugar until creamy. beat in eggs and vanilla.

    03. in another bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and cinnamon; gradually add to butter mixture, blending thoroughly.

    04. in a small bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar for topping. roll dough into 1 inch balls (if you have a small ice cream scoop, use that), then roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat. place about 2 inches apart on baking sheets.

    05. bake in 375 degree oven for about 11 minutes or until lightly browned. let cool on baking sheets for about a minute, then transfer to racks and let cool completely. makes about 55 cookies.


    tips: this dough is thick (and delicious!) so keep an eye on your mixer while you’re adding the flour. also, in between batches, stick your dough in the fridge and your extra pan in the freezer. it’ll help the cookies not get melty before you can get them in the oven. and finally, my mom said to grease the cookie sheets but i didn’t and had no problems. if your sheets aren’t non-stick or just suck, i would probably use parchment paper instead of greasing. but i hate greasing pans, so what do i know?

  4. last halloween, my roommate dressed as deryn from scott westerfeld’s leviathan series and let me make her a sweet aviator hat with a modified version of the pattern i already had. it came out great and sewed up really quickly, and her costume, as you can see, looked fantastic!

    last halloween, my roommate dressed as deryn from scott westerfeld’s leviathan series and let me make her a sweet aviator hat with a modified version of the pattern i already had. it came out great and sewed up really quickly, and her costume, as you can see, looked fantastic!

  5. chocolate butterscotch cookies. i bought butterscotch chips a few months ago and never got around to using them, so i decided to find a recipe for them this weekend using only things i already had in the pantry. i settled on this recipe for chocolate chocolate chip cookies, and just substituted the butterscotch chips for the chocolate ones. the cookies are very chocolatey, and have a nice crust with a soft center. the butterscotch chips add an unexpected flavor that’s making me wish i still had some milk from the last time i made cookies!

    chocolate butterscotch cookies.

    i bought butterscotch chips a few months ago and never got around to using them, so i decided to find a recipe for them this weekend using only things i already had in the pantry. i settled on this recipe for chocolate chocolate chip cookies, and just substituted the butterscotch chips for the chocolate ones.

    the cookies are very chocolatey, and have a nice crust with a soft center. the butterscotch chips add an unexpected flavor that’s making me wish i still had some milk from the last time i made cookies!

  6. i was too busy last week to bake something for my office christmas party, so i promised my coworkers something extra special this week. PLUS my christmas present from my parents got here (a bright yellow kitchen aid stand mixer! you know you’re a grown-up when you consider appliances as toys at christmas) and i needed to test it out. and of course, these hot cocoa cookies have been making the rounds, and i can’t resist chocolate and marshmallows. i nommed tested one fresh from the oven, and let me tell you- these cookies are rich. they’re more like a brownie than a cookie, and the gooey center and melty marshmallow really bring the whole thing together. if i ever make them again, i’ll probably use at least some milk chocolate in them, because i prefer my sweets to be sweet, but with a cold glass of milk they were nearly perfect. and of course, i’m positive these will be a big hit in the office tomorrow.

    i was too busy last week to bake something for my office christmas party, so i promised my coworkers something extra special this week. PLUS my christmas present from my parents got here (a bright yellow kitchen aid stand mixer! you know you’re a grown-up when you consider appliances as toys at christmas) and i needed to test it out. and of course, these hot cocoa cookies have been making the rounds, and i can’t resist chocolate and marshmallows.

    i nommed tested one fresh from the oven, and let me tell you- these cookies are rich. they’re more like a brownie than a cookie, and the gooey center and melty marshmallow really bring the whole thing together. if i ever make them again, i’ll probably use at least some milk chocolate in them, because i prefer my sweets to be sweet, but with a cold glass of milk they were nearly perfect. and of course, i’m positive these will be a big hit in the office tomorrow.

  7. butterbeer whoopie pies.

    when my friend let me know she would be hosting another wizard rock show, i immediately started planning what i would bake. i will use the flimsiest excuse to bake ridiculous desserts (i even invented a holiday), so actual events are very exciting for me. i had been toying with the idea of butterbeer cake pops, but then whoopie pies starting showing up everywhere and they looked like more fun. sadly, the internet was lacking a butterbeer whoopie pie recipe, so i cobbled together a couple of recipes after several taste tests at potterland.

    i live so close to hogsmeade that i knew i couldn’t make these unless they tasted like actual butterbeer, and the second batch was perfect. the cakes were full of butterscotch flavor, and the frosting added just the right hint of marshmallow.

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  8. i’m heading up to new jersey at the end of the week, which means i will get there just in time for my mom’s birthday. i usually fret a lot about what to get her- she’s a reader, but we read totally different books (and the last time i bought her one, she got over halfway through it before realizing she already owned it), and other than that she doesn’t have much use for STUFF. so this year i sewed her a sweet scarf (based on this pattern), turned a ring i found at the shiny stuff store into a pin, AND i will be giving her the cd i ostensibly bought her for mother’s day: damion suomi and the minor prophets’ go, and sell all of your things. in the words of my roommate, i am turning my mother into a hipster for her birthday. now what the hell do i get her for christmas? (also, good news! ish! the much-promised recipe for butterbeer whoopie pies is written up (the second batch came out PERFECTLY) and should hopefully be up this weekend.)

    i’m heading up to new jersey at the end of the week, which means i will get there just in time for my mom’s birthday. i usually fret a lot about what to get her- she’s a reader, but we read totally different books (and the last time i bought her one, she got over halfway through it before realizing she already owned it), and other than that she doesn’t have much use for STUFF. so this year i sewed her a sweet scarf (based on this pattern), turned a ring i found at the shiny stuff store into a pin, AND i will be giving her the cd i ostensibly bought her for mother’s day: damion suomi and the minor prophets’ go, and sell all of your things. in the words of my roommate, i am turning my mother into a hipster for her birthday.

    now what the hell do i get her for christmas?

    (also, good news! ish! the much-promised recipe for butterbeer whoopie pies is written up (the second batch came out PERFECTLY) and should hopefully be up this weekend.)

  9. butterbeer whoopie pies. these were a test run since i had to cobble together so many different recipes to get what i wanted, so after i make them for real next week (for the wizard rock show my friend is hosting) i’ll be able to post the recipe! until then, you’ll just have to take my word for it on how delicious they are.

    butterbeer whoopie pies.

    these were a test run since i had to cobble together so many different recipes to get what i wanted, so after i make them for real next week (for the wizard rock show my friend is hosting) i’ll be able to post the recipe! until then, you’ll just have to take my word for it on how delicious they are.

  10. in preparation to a long*, cold** trip to wisconsin for work, i decided to sew this adorable hat (pattern from angry chicken), which turned out to be a lot easier than i thought it would be. it took all of west side story and most of gypsy to cut it all out and sew it, and that includes a lot of time spent fussing with the automatic buttonhole setting on my sewing machine and also getting distracted by natalie wood. (spoilers: the buttonhole setting sucks. next time i will buy some cord or something instead.) it also takes less than a yard of fabric, so i will probably be making a lot of hats for christmas gifts this year. (the outside of mine is a thin brown corduroy and the lining is jersey owl print.) this pattern would also make a great quidditch or aviator hat, so i might play around with those styles a bit too. *ten days. but i’m missing so many concerts!**low 50s! i legit can’t handle it, cos the south has made me weak.

    in preparation to a long*, cold** trip to wisconsin for work, i decided to sew this adorable hat (pattern from angry chicken), which turned out to be a lot easier than i thought it would be. it took all of west side story and most of gypsy to cut it all out and sew it, and that includes a lot of time spent fussing with the automatic buttonhole setting on my sewing machine and also getting distracted by natalie wood. (spoilers: the buttonhole setting sucks. next time i will buy some cord or something instead.) it also takes less than a yard of fabric, so i will probably be making a lot of hats for christmas gifts this year. (the outside of mine is a thin brown corduroy and the lining is jersey owl print.)

    this pattern would also make a great quidditch or aviator hat, so i might play around with those styles a bit too.

    *ten days. but i’m missing so many concerts!
    **low 50s! i legit can’t handle it, cos the south has made me weak.

About me

my name is lisa. sometimes i make stuff.