Author: eileenmm1988

My love of sea glass went from 0 to 60 in about two seconds. Prior to summer of 2017, I didn’t even know that sea glass existed and now finding glass at the beach has become an obsession. We went to Lake Michigan for a family reunion and my husband said that we needed to try to find one piece of sea glass for his mom. Once he explained what this mysterious glass was and we found 1 piece, I became unstoppable on my daily morning and nightly sea glass searches which sometimes lasted 2 hours. After this trip, thanks to some coaching, I learned how to wrap the pieces of sea glass to create jewelry!

Pro tip: as I learned during my search for sea glass on the beach, there is “legit” sea glass which is no longer sharp and is frosted/opaque. And then there is random glass you find on the beach which is apparently not sea glass. Check “the google” to see the difference.

Side note: if you want to do this project and can’t get to the beach, you can buy sea glass. It’s just less fun.

Quick project summary: To make the sea glass necklaces, I purchased the following at Michaels: jewelry pliers, wire cutter, jewelry wire (I liked the double braided kind because I thought it was prettier), necklace chains, and lollipop sticks. I started by selecting the best pieces of glass for necklaces – think shapes that look like your typical pendant.

From there, I followed this wrapping technique (and I used a lollipop stick instead of a pencil for a slightly smaller loop at the top of each pendant)! Over time, I experimented with different styles of wrapping and found that the key was to make sure the pendant was wrapped on both sides and the bottom so the glass did not slip out of the wrapping over time. Once the glass was wrapped, I just slipped it onto the chains from Michaels and voila!

Things I loved about this project: Searching for sea glass is the best – it adds an extra fun element to walking on the beach and if you’re like me and my husband, you can also make it competitive, too (this is how you end up walking the beach for two hours attempting to see who can find the most or the last piece of glass). Additionally, the pendants are really fun to wear – definitely a conversation topic and I love that each one has a story. Of course, you can also gift these and I personally think they are much cooler than your typical souvenir from a trip.

Another unique element about sea glass searching is that, much like knitting, there is actually a little sea glass searching community. Once on the beach in Virginia, while looking for glass, I met a woman who always gifts a piece of sea glass to each new person she meets. It was so fun to trade glass with her!

Once you’ve made necklaces, there are tons of other great things to do with sea glass. You can make sea glass mobiles, sea glass art, etc. We actually got a clear glass lamp and are filling it with sea glass and I love the tradition of adding to it after each trip.

What I would do differently: I would definitely expand to earrings and other more complex jewelry. I only made necklaces because earrings or even bracelets seemed a bit more complex to me. Maybe this summer, I’ll get the guts to do some earrings! Additionally, I used some plain wire and some braided wire for the necklaces – the braided wire looks much prettier in my humble opinion.

Things I also enjoyed while doing this project:

-Drinking rose

-Hanging with my fabulous sea glass coaches

-Learning about the different colors of sea glass. which are more rare (purple/red!), and what types of glass the sea glass may have originated from

-Reading this book about sea glass

Tired of hearing from me about my projects? I am. So thank goodness I’ve convinced an amazing set of ladies to be guest project bloggers. Our first blogger is my dear friend and one of my favorite kick butt females, Tori. Thanks for indulging my blog adventure, Tori. Here we go! PS – Tori is better at this than me already and she provided photos of each step of her project. Make sure to check out the collage at the end to see what your hanging planter project will look like along the way!

Intro to me and my project: I am so grateful to be guest-projecting for my beloved Eileen. My name is Tori and I met Eileen while working together in DC. I am a former musician,  neuroscience lover, and recent millennial plant band-wagoner! If you, too, have jumped on the plant trend, this project should help transform some of those basic pots into stand outs. I love an impulse Trader Joe’s or local nursery buy, but vehemently hate the basic pots that come with it. I have no idea why they irk me, but I want cool pots and I want to spend almost zero money and that’s the way it is to be. So I devised a little, impeccably easy way to make hanging pots out of those free ones. 

Quick project summary: Take your ugly basic pot, mine was red, and find a color of super basic string or twine that goes with the basic park. I chose red, fairly thin string. If your free pot bottom is larger than your palm, get sturdier string so it’ll hold up. Measure the length you’d like the pot to hang, say you’d like it to hang down two feet, and add 8-12 inches to get your total length. Loop the string so that each side of the loop is your total length 8 times. You’ll have 8 strings on each side of the loop that are your total length, with both ends of the string end on the same place on the loop. Pull the loop taught so that one end is opposite the area where both the ends are. Tie the top of the loop 2-3 inches from the top that *doesnt* have the cut ends. Now, holding the tied off loop, which will be how you hang the pot, pull the whole loop taught and cut all of the string at the opposite end where the two ends were. From the top knot, section the strings into four groups of equal string numbers. Knot one bunch of four strings, as a unit, half way between the top knot and the recently-sheared ends. Repeat with the other three bunches. Lay the four knots out next to one another on a flat surface. From your new four knots, separate the strings into bunches of two, laid out. Halfway between the knots and the cut ends, form and tie new bunches of four; start with the second-to-the-left bunch of two, combine with a bunch of two strings originating from the knot-bunch to the right, making a V. Repeat so all of these new bunches have two strings from different originating knots. Combine the left-most bunch of two strings with the right-most bunch of two strings. Repeat the combining of strings and tying halfway between the last knot and the cut ends, paying close attention to make the knots roughly in parallel across the strings, until you have around 2-3 inches. Hold the hanging loop and pull all of the strings (now-net) taught, and tie all of the strings in a knot with 2-3 inches of string left out, like a tassel. Then, loving nestle the formerly ugly and basic pot through the large gaps between strings at the top. Place the pot centered over the tassel knot, and pull up on the hanger to test how the plant fits. Adjust your plant in your coordinating hanger, making sure you gently put the foliage through the net gaps, as when hanging there is a lot of pressure on the strings. 

Things I loved about this project: It’s rhythmic! And actually simple. You get in a groove and it took me under 20 minutes. I also hate ugly pots And this fixes it for only $1.99 for string! And nothing gives me more joy than being frugal and cute.  

What I would do differently: At first I just plopped my plant in and hung it, not realizing I could damage the leaves with the net. I also think it could look cool to have more strings, and just follow the “divide by four” rule and continue to halve. 

I also used this to make a small hand sanitizer that I strung up on my door so that I can sanitize as soon as I get home in the time of covid-19.

Things I also enjoyed while doing this project: I listened to Ologies, an amazing podcast in which Alie Ward interviews a scientist about their lives and expertise. I drank a lot of water which is technically boring but, remember to hydrate! 

Ice cream is most definitely one of my favorite foods – next to: raspberries, lemons, chocolate mousse, pickles and eggplant parm. Refined palate, I know. In grad school, I was known for bringing a pint of Ben and Jerry’s to my Thursday night classes for dinner. Over time, I realized that if I wanted to eat ice cream almost daily in the summers, I probably needed a slightly less sugary alternative to Ben and Jerry’s. Insert: nice cream.

Quick project summary: Before hopping on the increasingly popular nice cream train, I did some research and compared a few different recipes. This post was helpful for technique and also helped me confirm I didn’t need to buy a “yonanas” machine to help me make the recipe.

Unlike what the post above says though, I actually cut my bananas before I froze them and thought this made things a bit easier. I’d also personally recommend not freezing the bananas until they are completely solid. I found it was much easier to get the consistency I wanted if the bananas were mostly but not entirely frozen. To start the nice cream off, I blended the bananas alone first and then adding my mix ins.

I opted for a few different flavors – some more like traditional ice cream and some a bit more sorbet-like in case the bananas didn’t give me the creamy consistency I was hoping for. Here’s what I choose:

-Raspberry mint ice cream: blend frozen bananas, add in some frozen raspberries and fresh mint and blend some more! Top with fresh mint.

-Vanilla peach: blend frozen bananas, add in frozen peaches, vanilla, and a little cinnamon and blend some more. Top with peach slices. (You could probably make this one boozy with a little bourbon and it would be super tasty).

-Chocolate chip vanilla: blend frozen bananas, add in vanilla and cinnamon, blend some more. Stir in mini chocolate chips. Top with mini chocolate chips (all the chocolate, puhhlleeassee).

Things I loved about this project: The consistency of the nice cream was everything I hoped for and more – actually creamy and pretty darn close to real ice cream (let’s be honest, not as good as Ben and Jerry’s or more importantly, as good as Dairy Godmother in Del Ray but not bad for a no added sugar substitute). I also loved how refreshing this was and the option to make the flavors as strong as I wanted them.

What I would do differently: I think this is a hangover from my youth but I don’t like chunks in my yogurt or ice cream – this meant I didn’t enjoy the peach quite as much as the other flavors. The peach was definitely a little less well blended as you might be able to tell from the pictures above. I’d also love to try making a mint chocolate chip with lots of fresh peppermint and maybe some chocolate shavings. Finally, nice cream is definitely best served pretty close to making it OR it needs to sit out of the freezer for a bit before being ready to eat (of course, if you lack patience like me, you can also do about 15 seconds in the microwave) – much like halo top or other alternative ice creams this stuff gets very hard in the freezer.

Things I also enjoyed while doing this project:

-Hosting monthly wine club with friends (pre social distancing, of course)

-Listening to By the Book podcast

Special shout-out to my friend, Amelia, who introduced these brownies to me. Anyone who knows me well, knows that my sweet tooth is as stubborn as I am and sugar is my actual kryptonite. That said, in attempting to thwart my pesky sweet tooth, I’ve tried making a variety of healthy cakes, brownies, breads and muffins. I can genuinely say this recipe is the best “healthy” version of any sweet I have made. Run, don’t walk to make these brownies!

Quick project summary: All you need to bring you happiness is this recipe. That said, a few bakers tips (some from me and some from Amelia):

1. For extra chocolate-y flavor, double the cocoa.
2. This recipe calls for cashew butter but you can use any nut butter you have on hand. I found this best with almond butter.
3. You may want to add eggs for some additional fluffiness. (Amelia and I add 2).
4. You can bring in other toppings or mix-ins – given my stubborn sweet tooth, I add some chocolate chips (see photo above for the allergy-free brand of chocolate chips I like) and Amelia recommends some nuts!

Things I loved about this project: Love everything about this recipe. Also love that unlike many other “healthy” versions of sweets, the batter for these brownies also tastes delicious and you can enjoy cleaning the bowl before you bake!

Delicious. Sweet tooth satisfied. End of story.

What I would do differently: Mashing the baked sweet potatoes is definitely key. You want to mash them to avoid large chunks, and also stringy-ness. Also, over time, I started making these in muffin cups rather than a brownie pan. This freezes well and the muffin cups make for easy freezing and snacking!

Things I also enjoyed while doing this project:

-Listening to “No New Friends” by LSD

-Using my new lap desk from Amazon to work from home

-Participating in a readathon with friends

For those that don’t know, May is mental health awareness month. For those that haven’t picked up on it yet, a lot of my own mental health challenges stem from grief at my mom’s passing. In honor of mental health awareness month, my promise to be authentic, and my mom, here are some thoughts from me on my own mental health journey. I recognize everyone’s experience with mental health varies but I hope my nuggets can help in some small way. After today, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled project programming!

Have you ever had your worst nightmare come true? Mine did. Or so I thought – ten years ago when I was sitting in the ICU restraining my mother from pulling out her ventilator, having a family member threaten my dad and my lives, and witnessing my grandparents watch their daughter die without being able to have final words. My first reaction to my mom’s sudden and imminent death was that I wished I could die instead – in my opinion at the time, I had nothing left to live for. My mom and I were the Lorelei and Rory Gilmore of Malvern, Pennsylvania and life without her was unfathomable and empty. (If you haven’t watched all of Gilmore Girls stop reading this now and turn on Netflix).

After my mom passed, I expected to curl up into a ball and never leave my house or to cry incessantly every day. People told me I’d break down or that I’d never get over it. Truly, I’ve never gotten over it (and I don’t ever expect to) but not in the morbid way that everyone around me seemed to predict. Much to my surprise, my grief was different – in summary, my overwhelming feeling was that someone had physically and emotionally cut me in half when my mom died. I felt I was just a shadow of my former self. But, that shadow still went about moving to a new city, attending graduate school, getting a new job, making new friends and care giving for my grandparents. That person also became best friends with my dad, had a lot of laughs amidst the sorrow, and became closer to my extended cousins than ever before.

In addition to “plugging and chugging through daily life,” what that empty half lost to grief gave me was an opportunity to rebuild my life to become whole again. While I would give anything to have my mom back again, it was this rebuilding that helped me turn my grief to gratitude. Yes, the rebuilding was scrappy, messy, and ended in tears, puking, anger and grief counseling for many years. But what I learned about myself and what I saw in people around me made me grateful again to be alive and grateful for the perspectives my traumatic experience had given me.

For anyone experiencing grief or a challenging time, the nuggets below became the lynch-pin to building a life that is happier than I could have ever imagined (even before my mom passed):

-You are stronger than you think. As my favorite mug says, “yes, I actually can.” For me, this meant physically and emotionally. It meant being able to stay awake for nearly 10 days straight to soak in every moment with my mom. It meant experiencing big life events with out my mom (including my wedding which I had previously decided would never happen once my mom passed). It meant taking three years to visit my mom’s grave but being able to finally stand there and have a little conversation with her.

–Everything is fleeting. Including life. So savor each moment – don’t sweat that missed deadline, instead spend time on things that give you energy, and establish connections with others. And if your day sucks or your week or your month, this too shall pass. Don’t let too many of them suck though because you’re just missing out on goodness around you.

–You’re not unique. Or alone. Even in your darkest moment. Yes, we all experience our grief or hardship in distinct ways but that person sitting next to you on the metro or the girl at work who talks too loud in her cubicle all day, they have their own hardships too. Understand this and find connections and support from others.

–Be vulnerable. Share your struggle. It helps others carry some of the burden with you and most importantly, there are few better feelings than sharing a completely authentic moment with someone. For me, its involved saying things like: I’m not ok OR I don’t know how to move past this anxiety that is weighing on me and feels like a small elephant has taken up residence on my chest. Yes – it did take me over two years to actually talk to anyone (including my own family) about how much I missed my mom. But, once I started being vulnerable, I’ve found that sharing your vulnerability not only helps you but sometimes unexpectedly helps others too who may be experiencing a challenge but are afraid too share themselves. Have the courage to be vulnerable (even when it makes you feel the opposite of strong).

–Be grateful. Even on your worst days, find something to be thankful for. And if you need to, write it down. Every. Freaking. Day. Until gratitude becomes a habit. There are enough Pinterest pins to make an entire board of gratitude jar designs. Go build your own – I used my gratitude jar as a chance to learn how to fold origami and use puffy paints for the first time in fifteen years (did you think I’d get through this post without a single reference to a “little project”?). Eventually, that gratitude translates from being thankful that you can finally eat again or that you slept more than two hours to being grateful that you are the person you are or being grateful you’ve created the life and support system around you. And for me, it made me grateful to be alive and allowed me to find joy daily.

For starters, I’d like to note that making “infusing liquor” your new hobby is really ill-advised unless you have a plan of what you will do with all of it! I decided in late December 2019 that infusing booze would be my 2020 hobby – especially after how much fun I had with making the vanilla in 2019. Unless you plan to gift your infusions, this can be a project but definitely not a hobby. If you’re wondering, the beverages pictured above are all still sitting on my counter about half full because two people cannot drink that much liquor in a short time!

That said, infused beverages felt super luxurious and these are fun to drink so highly recommend and I’m considering making more infused beverages as a 2020 holiday gift. And on second thought, these don’t expire so I guess we do have a while to drink them! Cheers!

Quick project summary: For my first infusions, I used the pt.1 cocktail infusion kit. This made the process very easy as the mixes are premade and all you need to do is pick your favorite beverage, flavors and mix (literally, that easy)! The infusions kit itself makes a great gift and so does the infused beverage, too. These mixes have really complex flavors and they look gorgeous too (see picture above).

For my second infusion, I actually followed a recipe for chai pear brandy but substituted the brandy for bourbon. It was delicious and super easy because it only used chai tea bags and a pear (making this a fun project that you could do with items you have around the house on a day when you’re feeling a little bored). To do this, you infuse the bourbon with the chai tea bags first for several days or a week, then infuse with the pear for a week or two after that. Here’s a page that contains the chai pear recipe and a few others that I still want to try.

Things I loved about this project: First, this definitely fits in the “easy but snazzy” category – infused alcohol isn’t something you get to experience often (at least not me, maybe other people are less boring?!?!) so it felt like a bit of an occasion just having this at home. Second, this was fun for sharing at a girls night and I think if you were really into it, you could have a pretty kick butt tasting party. Finally, I’ve left these out on the counter because they look like a decoration – mostly thanks to these awesome bottles I was gifted to store them in, too. They’re not making the bottles I used anymore but here’s something similar.

What I would do differently: For the pt.1 infusions, I wish I had infused them for a longer time and had done more taste tests along the way. They definitely require more time than the directions on the kit say. After the first round of infusions, I infused for weeks at a time rather than days. I also took the advice of the recipe above and taste tested every 5 days or so – huge help!

Things I also enjoyed while doing this project:

-Decorating the apartment for Valentine’s Day using some of target’s awesome vase fillers (seriously, target seasonal vase fillers are the best).

-Also, decorating related – starting a new photo wall of all black and white art/photos. Note that this is our third apartment photo wall – I’m running out of walls to decorate. Send help.

TLDR: If you want a tie-dye shirt, let me know because I have more than I’d like to admit.

Quick project summary: For my tie-dye endeavors, I decided to purchase a kit off of Michael’s (for 20 percent off). I personally used the Tulip Kit. I found shirts on Amazon from Hanes and the Amazon Essentials brands – from my online research this was cheaper than Old Navy or Target.

I had planned to tie-dye outside but due to a bunch of rainy days, I ended up tie-dying indoors in the kitchen. The Tulip Kit includes squeeze bottles for the dye which made this way less messy than the tie-dye I did at age six.

To do the tie-dye, I watched a couple quick you tube videos on how to rubberband the shirts. I think the “target” method came out the prettiest (see above) as did the swirl method! Once I wrapped the shirts, I ran them under cool water to make them damp, sprayed them with dye and left them in ziploc bags for 8 hours. After 8 hours, I rinsed, cut off the rubberbands and washed them in cold water individually (or with shirts that had all the same dye colors on them). And voila!

Things I loved about this project: This project definitely fulfilled my desire to play. And to get a little messy, too – it was like the adult version of playing with glitter in the kitchen when you have a babysitter or your parents aren’t looking (not that I ever did that as a child). Also, if I have children someday, none of you can give any of them anything with glitter. Ever.

This project also made me realize how many of the projects I sometimes do could be considered “chores” – for example, cooking/closet organizing, etc. I love to do them but they aren’t a total break and disconnect from the day-to-day. Tie-dye felt completely recreational which I appreciated more than I anticipated. If you don’t know this about me, I’m for sure a “to-do” list person and this was a project that had nothing to do with my “to-dos”.

Additionally, this was easy enough that I could even do the project before work (thanks to no commuting) but the product was cool enough that it felt like a legit craft. Weirdly, I really enjoyed the “reveal” of each of the shirts – my level of excitement for this also led me to believe that I might have taken getting enjoyment out of the little things in life a bit too far during covid.

And finally, since tie-dye is apparently in now I can actually wear these shirts on my zoom calls and get lots of fun comments from coworkers.

What I would do differently: I would definitely recommend using different gloves than the ones provided in the kit. My hands were incredibly green for multiple days to the point where I was slightly embarrassed for people to see them (even though it was just on zoom).

Things I also enjoyed while doing this project:

-Listening to old Vanessa Carlton songs

-Drinking cold pressed juice from South Block (delivered contactlessly)

-Wearing this top from amazon!

Knitting and I have a weekly date on my couch – and have for about the last 6 years. Each year, for the past 7 years, I have attempted to learn a new hobby annually – it helped me get over the fact that I wasn’t in school anymore and gave me an outside of work activity. Knitting was the 2014 hobby and is definitely the “stickiest” hobby of everything I’ve tried so far (it’s way cooler than mindful coloring and way healthier than making 3 loaves of bread a week). But, the real reason knitting stuck is that knitting (and also having pets – see the cat + knitting featured in the photos above) is probably one of the single-best things I do to help with anxiety.

I started to knit at a pretty pivotal point from an anxiety standpoint: basically at the point in life where I recall feeling the most anxious but also when I had already started going to therapy to help manage some of my grief and anxiety. This was about four years after my mom passed away (which means I really had only been truly processing her passing for two years). For me, knitting solved a few anxiety and grief related challenges:

First, it allowed me to sit still. After my mom passed, I swear I didn’t stop moving for probably 3 years but a point hit where I missed the ability to just sit and relax and I was so tired that I didn’t even know what it felt like not to be tired (side note: pretty sure I didn’t feel normal energy levels until probably 5-7 years after my moms passing). Knitting provided that chance to sit still and rest my body – I could knit and allow my mind to wander but I was comforted by the needles and yarn between my fingers. Bonus: I started knitting scarves for cancer patients and delivering them to the hospital that helped my mom – the ability to do some acts of service for those patients brought me a lot of comfort.

Second, knitting was there as meditative exercise when I wasn’t able to quiet my mind enough to meditate. Eventually, I started a more weekly meditation practice but for some time, my mom’s passing and the events surrounding it were too tragic for me to process and made meditating scary. Knitting enabled me to think, a bit, but also to focus on counting stitches.

Third, knitting can be done almost anytime and anywhere. I often get most anxious on travel or during times of change. Fun fact: I never travel overnight (anywhere) without knitting. Yes, this means I’ve brought knitting to bachelorette parties, happy hour with friends, had a coworker send a photo to many of my other coworkers of me knitting on a plane, and knit on the beach in Florida (my cousins can attest to this from our annual cousincations).

I’m not going to go into as much detail in this post about how to knit. I’m probably not qualified to explain that but I hope I’ve sold you on the value of knitting. If not, here’s a little summary of articles that point to knitting benefits: https://www.mhanational.org/blog/mental-health-benefits-knitting.

Quick project summary: I recommend starting your knitting journey with a simple scarf using just a knit stitch, large needles, and thick yarn. My personal preference is the Lion Brand Thick N Quick Yarn which you can get at Michaels or on Amazon – it’s not too pricey, easy to learn on, and comes in lots of fun colors. I’d recommend size 13 or 15 needles.

From there, I’d suggest casting on 10 stitches (leave a bit of extra yarn at the beginning) and knitting until you get to the length that suits you. You can then cast off (leave a bit of extra yarn at the end, too) and using a finishing needle, stitch the two sides together. You will have a seam on your scarf if you use this method but it’s easy to do at home! If you’re more advanced or ambitious, you can use the kitcheners stitch to bring both sides of the scarf together (in this scenario, you would not cast off).

If you don’t know how to knit, fear not! There are tons of great youtube videos and books available! Reach out if you want specific recommendations on these for your skill level!

Things I loved about this project: I think I sold you on knitting upfront. But, just in case I didn’t here are a couple things I love about knitting:

-Scarves make great gifts! And people love an infinity scarf. If you don’t have a family member or friend who appreciates a scarf, they’re also great to donate.

-You can watch TV while you knit. In fact, I watched almost 20 seasons of Law and Order SVU while knitting. (Let’s not calculate how many hours of TV that is).

-If you have cats, yarn is a built in cat toy.

What I would do differently: I have heard that “knitting in the round” is a slightly easier way to do infinity scarves and also allows you to do hats, too! I’d like to learn to knit in the round plus a few more stitches in the future.

Things I also enjoyed while doing this project:

The aforementioned: Law and Order SVU

Also, most of the TV I watched while on stay at home order: The Circle, Too Hot to Handle, Listen to Your Heart, Love is Blind (and other random reality TV shows).

Pre-covid: riding the Amtrak train to see family and friends.

This has to be one of my all time favorite projects. And one of my projects that friends and family loved to be gifted the most, too. Ever since I was little, I always preferred to give homemade instead of store bought gifts – I personally feel its a little extra thoughtful and you can’t put a price on it. For me, this also saves a lot of awkwardness of figuring out how much to spend on someone too. With gifting in mind, I’m posting this as my second project because while it involves little effort to assemble, it takes a long time to be ready to use. If you start in the next month or two, your homemade vanilla will be ready in time for winter holiday gifts.

Sidenote: excuse my crappy photos. I started this blog way after I took those photos which were just for me to see and not the wide world of the internet.

Quick project summary: For this project, in terms of supplies: I bought vanilla beans (Tahitian Extract Grade B beans) off amazon. Depending on how many bottles of vanilla you want to make you will need 5-6 beans per bottle (assuming each bottle is 8 ounces). Also off amazon, I bought the vanilla jars: Estilo Swing Top Easy Cap Clear Glass Bottles, Square. I also bought handles of 80 proof or greater vodka from the liquor store (cheap vodka is fine). You may also want to buy some funnels for pouring the vanilla. And for a finishing touch, I went to Michaels and got some little gold labels for the bottles (pictured above).

**Very important sidenote: if you make as much vanilla as I did, bring a companion to the liquor store. I got a lot of side eye when I went to the liquor store alone and left with 5 handles of vodka on a Monday.**

In terms of the steps, they were very simple:

-First, I took the vanilla beans and I cut them vertically. I cut them only on one side but for quicker results, you might cut them vertically in a couple of places.

-Second, I put 5-6 beans in each of the glass bottles.

-Third, I used a funnel to pour the vodka into the jars. I filled them nearly to the top but tried to cover the full vanilla beans with each pour.

-Finally, I kept my vanilla in a cabinet that was dark but in a place I frequently walked by – to keep the vanilla creation process going I tried to shake the bottles about every two weeks so I really needed the visual reminder. The vanilla was ready in six months but was a little lighter than I wanted and continued to get a richer brown over time which I preferred. When I was ready to gift my vanilla, I added labels.

Things I loved about this project: This project was SO easy – but felt pretty fancy and made a snazzy gift. Family and friends loved receiving this at the holidays and because of how unique and useful this was, it felt like a gift that could stand on it’s own and didn’t need to be packaged with other homemade treats to make a solid present. My husband and I even added a bottle of vanilla to each of our monetary tips for our wedding vendors and they loved it, too.

This is also the gift that keeps on giving. A fun fact about vanilla with the beans left in is that if you continue to add vodka over time, it will continue to generate new vanilla for a pretty long period of time (you can also add more cuts to the beans over time to extend the life of vanilla making!).

Making this vanilla also felt like sharing the joy I get from baking with others and I’ve gotten many texts from friends using this vanilla to make delicious cakes/cookies, etc. This warms my heart because baking has always been therapeutic for me and I love sharing things that bring me joy with others. Baking is a way to use my hands at the end of the day after staring at a computer screen. Plus, kneading and whisking help me get some nervous energy out. I enjoy the idea that in some way I’m helping others do a little baking therapy, too.

What I would do differently: I wished I had started this project further in advance of when I planned to gift it. The research I did online told me it would be ready for consumption 6 months in but I just didn’t feel like it was quite as concentrated as something I’d typically buy off store shelves. I’d recommend a couple extra months. Also, I was a little too excited for this project and I didn’t shop around enough for cheaper supplies – I felt the bottles I used were a little overpriced and vanilla beans aren’t cheap either.

Things I also enjoyed while doing this project:

-Listening to Lady Gaga’s “The Cure” on repeat

-Drinking chai (it just felt right with vanilla making) – I enjoyed the Pacific Spice Chai powder mix they have at Giant.

If you’re like me, you may have stocked up on a couple too many canned goods during a pandemic-fueled grocery shopping frenzy. I am now drowning in boxes of chick pea/lentil pasta and wondering how the pasta-loving Italian gene got such a hold over my brain in my weak moment at Giant. The canned food stock up combined with the desire for some serious comfort food led me to play around with making homemade marinara. Hopefully this is a solid and easy-ish first project that you can do with things you already have at home.

Quick project summary: To make the marinara, I researched a few different recipes and then ultimately decided to play around a bit with combining them. Here’s what I did:

-Put about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a large pan

-Added half a white onion and cooked it for a couple minutes on its own followed by added 4 cloves of garlic

-After the onion and garlic cooked together, I added in basil, salt and pepper (you could also use italian seasoning instead of just basil but I found the basil was all I needed). I also added 1-2 tablespoons of butter at this point and stirred the butter, garlic, onion and spice mixture together until the butter melted.

-I then added 2 14oz cans of unsalted diced tomatoes and 1 small can of tomato paste as well as 10 ounces of water. I let this simmer for 30 minutes and stirred occasionally.

-After this cooled down, I used an immersion blender to get the sauce to the consistency I wanted.

We ate this as pictured above over spaghetti squash with chorizo, asparagus, smashed potatoes, and challah.

Why I love this project: I was so happy to be able to make a marinara sauce that didn’t take 10 hours but still tasted delicious. I also loved that we finally knew what was in our tomato sauce and that it was pretty basic/minimal ingredients. Plus, this made a good amount of sauce which we repurposed for multiple different meals including over chick pea pasta, chicken parm, and to make a “tomato sauce sandwich” which was a childhood favorite of mine (it really is just tomato sauce between two slices of bread – sounds lame but 11/10).

I loved this project because it reminded me of my great Aunt Susie (more on her later but in short she was a serious BAMF). Sometimes when the world seems upended, either personally or more broadly *insert pandemic here*, a little reminder of simpler times or the fact that I can create something both functional and fun to make is just the boost I need.

What I would do differently: I might recommend using crushed tomatoes instead of diced. I think you could skip the immersion blender that way and potentially get more consistency across the sauce.

Things I also enjoyed while doing this project:

-Listening to the Sara Bareilles “King of Anything” album – solid good cooking music

-Drinking Stephen Miller’s Cabernet – reasonably priced and delicious

-Burning a new candle from target called “Succulent Garden”