fabric mural

With me being poor and jobless, I needed a cheap project and I need to fill up the space on the wall behind my TV. Since I live in an apartment, I couldn't paint my mural.... After seeing a craftster post of how you could use spray starch and fabric to imitate those Blik surface graphics, I decided to bring it to the next level. I made many mistakes, but finally got the thing up and running.... and it is STILL on the wall (despite my cat, Rio's, efforts to pull it down).

You may want to test it on an unsightly area of your house to make sure no starch residue remains that can't be wiped off with a damp cloth after you deced to remove the mural/wall graphic/whatever you call it. I have really matte walls, and still had no problems with it... but better safe than sorry!

Materials/Cost Analysis:
Spray Starch - $1
Fabric (1.5 yrds brown, .5 yrds red, 1 yrd green) - $10
Wrapping Paper (Or you could use newspaper) - $2
Markers
Scissors

Total Cost = $13
Total Time = 4+ hours

1. Making the Stencil: To start, you need to draw your template/stencil. I did this on junky wrapping paper, but you could do it on newspaper if you wanted. Initially, I tried to keep my stencil pretty much all one piece. As you can see, my design is HUGE (8ft long/6 ft high), so I did the branches separately. Once you have everything traced or drawn the way you like, cut it out. I did the leaves and birds after I had the trunk mastered.... but you'd do the same thing with them.

2. Transferring Stencil to Fabric: Take the stencils you made and draw them onto the back side of your fabric with a marker or the like. Then cut them out using a very sharp shears so the edges won't be likely to fray.

Mistakes Made/Lessons Learned For This Step -
a. Make sure to flip the stencil over otherwise your whole design will be upside down when you go to put it on your wall. I didn't do this until about halfway through making everything VERY complicated.
b. Use a sharpie or other non-water soluble marker to draw on your fabric with. I used plain old markers and ended up hating myself for it later becuase the spray starch made it soluble and it was all over the place... including my wall!
c. No need to try and keep your design/stencil in large pieces. You can see my tree trunk is segmented because the weight was too great for the starch to hold up.... and it was impossible to smooth onto the wall with a giant piece.

3. Sticking The Fabric to the Wall: Put down a plastic garbage sack or the like to prevent starch from getting on your carpet/floor. Spray a generous amount of starch on the back of your fabric. Smooth onto wall.

Mistakes Made/Lessons Learned For This Step -
a. First time I put it up, part fell down. This is becuase I didn't soak the pieces well enough. You need to really soak them, like dripping with starch. Yeah, it will drip down your wall, but you can just go back and wipe it off when you are done.
b. Make sure to get the edges extra well. They will be more likely to curl away from the wall.


Final Thoughts: I'm extremely pleased with the result, I just stare at it sometimes. After the initially falling down, nothing has come down since (granted it is only a day later). If you are doing smaller pieces, you should have no trouble keeping them up. I suspect mine were on the upper limits of what the starch could handle. The trunk is starting to 'bubble' because they are such big pieces, but it makes it more visually interesting and more like bark, so I'm leaving it that way... birds and leaves haven't bubbled at all though (they are less than 8x10" in size).

If you try it, GOOD LUCK!

CEREAL REVIEW: Jumbo Multi-Grain Krispies with a Touch of Honey

Jumbo Multi-Grain Krispies with a Touch of Honey. Wow, it sounds like a lot, try saying it... Jumbo Multi-Grain Krispies with a Touch of Honey. It doesn't really roll off the tongue. Luckily the latest cereal from Kellogg's rolls down the throat much better.

Basically take a normal Rice Krispie, embiggen it and add a dash of honey and you have the Jumbo Krispies. The same taste is there, and the honey makes you not have to add any extra sugar.

One of the most telling signs the cereal is damn good--after I had a bowl of Jumbo Krispies, I reused the milk for a bowl of normal Krispies, and they were a letdown. Kellogg's actually improved on one of their flagship products with the addition of girth!

Jumbo Rice Krispies truly can stand up to its cousins in Cocoa Krispies, Rice Krispie Treats Cereal and Rice Krispies with Strawberries--in that it's a slight update, slight change on a great formula.

There are really only two problems with the cereal. There's the aforementioned name problem (I was gonna try and call them JRKs, but then people might think I was making a lame joke), and then there's also the fact that it's not very crispy (errr, krispie). This actually isn't a problem for me, because I'm one of the 5 people in America who likes mushy cereal. However, legions of fans hate the mush, and they just might take it out on this cereal. Their loss.

This minor setback knocks it down to four out of five cereal pieces. Basically, if it stays on the shelves, I'll keep buying it--I'm already on my second box.

I salivate at the thought of making Rice Krispie Treats with these...

meetup

Last night, we went out with some friends for a change. New friends. There is a website called 'meetup' and there are groups for pretty much every interest and big city, so basically, you join and attend events planned by the organizers. Great way to meet new people with similar interests in a new city.

I joined because I'm shy. Since I'm not in college anymore, I don't really have an easy way to meet anyone, and it is very unlike me to just walk up to someone and strike up conversation. Really, how do people do that?

Anyway, so we went out with these guys a few weeks ago to play laser tag (which is way overrated imo). My first impression was that they were kind of clicky. Like they all knew each other and it was hard for us to break into the circle. I was bummed.

Plus, they brought a very creepy guy last time. He didn't speak the whole time. Wore headphones. Was really rude when asked questions by our waitress like 'what kind of ice cream would you like?' He just rolled his eyes like 'why are you bothering me with these questions, ugh.' I mean, if you were gonna act like that, why even come?

Back to the present. Or more recent past. We went out with them again, a couple new people this time. Ate at Typhoon, a thai restaurant. Good food (I had eggplant lover with fried tofu)--a bit on the spicy side for me and my tofu was overcooked for my tastes. After we went to someone's apartment to play Rock Band.

This is where it probably was apparent that I had too much to drink. I mean, I'm not one to be sloppy, so that wasn't the case. But, I did sing lead for a few songs. No one else wanted to so I figured as long as they knew *I* knew I couldn't sing, it'd be okay. Maybe others would try it to. I also sang a duet of sorts with another person there. Ha.

At this meetup, everyone was more outgoing and open. So, this shows me that first impressions aren't always right. Maybe WE were the ones not reaching out to them to talk last time, thus that is why they were talking to each other. All in all a good night, and I'm working through the sluggish next day syndrome currently!

Fun with analytics!!

Idaho!?!? More like Udaho! U da ho from Boise! Yeah, that's right, Boise in Idaho, our pi-eth state. Why don't you go back to Twin Falls, Idaho? Or are you one of those Nampa, Idaho folks?

Oh wait, I know it now. Udaho... Idaho!

recipe: hummus pizza

Okay, I'm one of those strange people. Those strange people who don't really like pizza. At all. I think it has something to do with the sauce, and I really like everything else about it from what I can tell. There are a few atypical pizzas that I love, including Papa Murphy's Gourmet Chicken Pizza (sans chicken) and Ian's Mac and Cheese Pizza (oh, omnomnom)! I'm now adding our hummus pizza to the list.

You could make this whole recipe simpler if you bought hummus from the store and one of those pre-baked pizza crusts, but it wouldn't be as good. Store-bought hummus pails in comparison to home made, plus it is so easy to make and a lot cheaper if you do it yourself.



Hummus Pizza Recipe

Pizza Dough Ingredients:

3 c flour
.25 dry active yeast (one packet)
1 T sugar
1 t salt
2 T olive oil
1 c warm water (110 F)
Dried or fresh chopped basil, parsley, and oregano to taste.

Sauce (aka hummus) Ingredients:
*note: you will make more sauce than needed, you can freeze the extra or you can snack on it. or you could halve the ingredients listed here. you could also use another kind of hummus, this one is from allrecipes.com*

30 oz garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 c water
1/4 c tahini (found in ethnic foods aisle or by the peanut butter)
1/4 c fresh lemon juice
2 T olive oil
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce (they come in a can in the ethnic food section of well-stocked grocers, you don't need the whole can--just a single chile)
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 t cumin
7 oz roasted red peppers
6 sun-dried tomatoes (if dry, soak in water before using)
1/2 c chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

Pizza Ingredients:
*note: you can really use whatever meats/veg you have in your fridge, this was scrumptious though. the quantities of these ingredients depends on your taste.

Shredded Mozzarella
Mushrooms
Red Bell Pepper
Spinach
Broccoli
Minced Garlic

Cooking Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 F.

2. Mix dry ingredients for pizza dough in large bowl. Stir in water and oil. Roll/flatten dough onto a greased cookie sheet or pizza pan. Bake for 17 mins.

3. Once crust is out of the oven, turn heat up to 425 F.

4. Using a food processor, grind all the hummus ingredients togethere into a smooth paste.

5. Wash and cut toppings into bite sized pieces. Drizzle with olive oil and roast them on a George Foreman or saute them in a pan until just starting to become tender.

6. Toss cooked vegetables with a little garlic (to taste).

7. Spread a layer of hummus onto your crust. Top with mozzeralla. Distribute your vegetables evenly, top with another sprinkle of cheese.

8. Cook for 5 minutes at 425 F.

And that's all she wrote!

CEREAL REVIEW: Mini-Wheats: Little Bites: Chocolate

Mini-Wheats: Little Bites: Chocolate might already have the title for most colons in a cereal title, but can its name hold up to its colon numeroscity?

No. It cannot. Here at Pacific Midwest, we sampled the latest offering from Kellogg's and its Mini-Wheats brand of awesomeness, and we were left thoroughly disappointed.

Approaching this cereal, we though "Mini-Wheats are good... and chocolate is good. We are approaching taste nirvana." However, when the taste seems like Sonny the Cuckoo bird had unmentionable sex with a cardboard box, we were less than enthused with the outcome. The chocolate didn't come through, the mini-wheat didn't come through. This leaves you with a crap taste in your mouth and nothing to write home about. Mini-Wheats: Littles Bites: Chocolate thoroughly qualifies as anti-delicious, surprising us all.

The only good side is at 14.5 ounces, the box seems rather small, but then I realized Kellogg's charges the same price for the much better standard frosted Mini-Wheats. As a result, I can only give this cereal 2 out of 5 cereal grains.

10 things i wish for but cannot have

Just a fun list of things I want, but cannot have for one reason or another. This will preserve them for when I can have them!

1. Dyson Animal Ball - We have so much pet hair and kitty litter in our apartment that I would LOVE a better vacuum. The price tag ($550) on this baby is a bit steep for me right now. We are also working on getting the kitty litter under control by toilet training our cats... only on day two so I don't know if it will be a success just yet.



2. Bread Machine - Seems like Kevin eats A LOT of bread. I'm not that big into store bought bread because I prefer it to be fresh. Need a bread machine though because it is too time consuming for me to do by hand. I did one focaccia loaf a long time ago and decided it was too much work. I'd also love to make sprout breads and whole grain that isn't dry.




3. Comfy Shoes - I pretty much have two pairs of shoes that I can wear with any sort of frequency. One of them is not very warm, and my feet end up numb. These looked comfy, warm, and more importantly they aren't made of leather.




4. Solargon - A nice eco-friendly yurt. I think the climate of the Northwest would be good for a yurt. They have a 30' (685 sq. feet) or 20' (300 sq. feet)... I'd probably get two and hook them together and put a loft up in one. Only $24,000 for the materials for 1 - 20'er.



5. Earth Box - I'm trying to go for more of an urban homestead existence (as much as you can without a yard and very little sunlight). I'd like to get a couple of these for my vegetables since 70% of the food I buy is produce. In the distant future, I'd like to get some goats for milk and cheese and chickens for eggs, but probably won't happen given some limitations.



6. Terresentials Shampoo - I'd like to go no poo, but my hair is so thin and short that it doesn't work very well for me. Plus, I like the smell of shampoo since I can't/won't use candles or airfresheners because of the birds and because they are made out of cancerous aromatic rings! This shampoo is made out of rocks and minerals that pretty much replicates the saponification process. They hit you with a 7.95 handling charge though, so I'd like to buy more than one when I finally do.


7. Dogs - I want one ASAP, which means August at the earliest. Kevin likes little yappy dogs, I like big dogs, but ultimately, I don't think he cares. The following breeds are ones I'd like to have before I die (most don't get along with each other, so it may take awhile!): Pit Bull, Pointer, Alaskan Malamute, Great Pyrenees, Golden Retriever, Siberian Husky, Akita, Shiba Inu, Austrailian Shepard, Newfoundland, Great Dane...