Special Request: Good Luck Bracelet

This weekend, a friend decided she needed a bracelet to bring her good luck on her final exams. I offered to make one, this is what it looks like:

That is right, it says 'Jesus Brotha'. I have to say that this is one of the funniest things I have made in a while. Chelsea, you are a crazy gal! Good luck on your exams!

I have lots of beads left, do you have any bracelet suggestions?

My Pumpkin Seedling Is So Tall

I started these pumpkin seedlings just a few days ago, the one on the right is over five inches tall already. It is really amazing how fast it is growing. Here are some more plant updates - just 18 more days until they will be transplanted into the tiny garden.

These are the watermelon seedlings. They were started the same day as the pumpkins and are tiny in comparison; still tall, but they didn't amaze me like that pumpkin.

The tomato plants are getting quite large and are definitely ready for their new homes. These six are headed to work with me today to be given to some coworkers. I noticed that there are a few flower buds on a few of the tomato plants:

This is one of the Belize Pink Heart plants, they seem to be the most advanced of the three varieties I planted. (Green Zebra plants are the runts of the bunch.)

I have also purchased some mint and need to re-pot them. I am pretty excited about these two and the mojito parties to come.

These are the containers for the marigolds I still haven't started - I ran out of soil then got lazy. I should spend a few hours finishing up these pots and get the marigolds going. Another thing on my "to plant list" is lettuce - I should have put some seeds in the ground this weekend, but haven't yet. The spinach was finally started, they are still quite small though. How are your gardens growing?

Forty Years

Today is Earth Day! This year I decided I should make some environmental specific resolutions. It turns out this is a common thing.

day thirty three part of my 365 photo project

Here are my Earth Day resolutions:

• No more packaged pre-cut salad mixes! Over the weekend I made a salad with leaf lettuce I cut myself. It tasted way better than the bagged salad, it stays fresh longer, it is less expensive, and it doesn't take much time and effort to cut it yourself. I decided that I am not buying bagged salad again!
• Composting! Since I am gardening, I just have to compost. I borrowed The Complete Compost Gardening Guide from the library (renewed it a few times) and am now planning on purchasing a copy for myself. It is full of great ideas that I can't wait to implement in my garden; I think I need three or four different compost bins/heaps now.
• Make a rain barrel and collect the rain! I didn't ever think this would be very practical in my area since we normally get around eleven inches of precipitation in a year, but after the last two crazy storms we that overflowed the gutters I realized that there really is a lot of rain coming off the roof.
• Eat lots of peanut butter! Today I am going to try and have peanut butter for every meal. It shouldn't be very hard because I LOVE PEANUT BUTTER! Here is my plan so far: breakfast = oats + peanut butter + blueberries + strawberry yogurt (Also called yoatgurt which I read about on Budget Bites Monday and ate for breakfast both Tuesday and Wednesday. It is delicious!) Lunch will be a peanut butter and banana sandwich. I am not sure what dinner will be.
• Make more of these face scrubby things, some cloth napkins, and more hankies! Reusable items are the best. The face scrubby things I made last summer are a great alternative to cotton balls, I need to make some more so I don't have to do laundry as often. I have been wanting to buy or make some everyday cloth napkins, I am not sure why I have been putting this off. Question: If you were to go to someone's house and they had only handkerchiefs, no tissues, would you find that weird and be opposed to it? I have a few more boxes of tissues, but I think I want to make or get a bunch of hankies and use only them once the tissues are gone.

So what are your resolutions? Would anybody else like to join me in eating lots of peanut butter today?

An Apron

I spent a lot of time this weekend pulling weeds and a little bit of time working on this apron:

I am quite excited about how it is turning out, I have six pictures to share with you! Here is the entire front of the apron so far:

And here is the back:

Some photos of the details and another of the front:

There is a little bit more work to do on it still. A pocket for the front has been suggested and will be implemented. I think it needs some sort of fasteners so I can gather my bountiful garden harvests. What do you think?

The Winner

The embroidered notepad now belongs to Tyler!

And because I said I would, here are photos of my second Japanese cheesecake:

Scratched the top when trying to move it to the plate, boo.

I am very happy to say that this one's texture is how it should be, moist and very light. Absolutely delicious, I definitely recommend trying this recipe!

Treat!

Yesterday morning, I woke up extra early to make this Japanese cheesecake I found via The Kitchn.

This didn't turn out quite like it should have. I was going to blame the early morning hour for my inability to read the instructions carefully/completely, but I now realize I had printed the recipe before it was updated with additional instructions and clarifications so it isn't really my fault.

Here is what I did wrong:
Mess up #1 - I covered the top of the pan with aluminum foil instead of the sides and bottom.
Mess up #2 - The water I added around the baking pan was not boiling.

Despite these mistakes, the cake tastes wonderful. It has an interesting texture, not what it should be though - I think it is a bit too wet (caused by being covered during baking). I bought some more cream cheese and am trying this morning to make one correctly. I'll take pictures and share them with you on Thursday.

R E M I N D E R :
Today is the last day to enter to win the anniversary gift.

Ready to Grow

This week, with the help of a friend (thank you Tyler) I made my garden plans a reality:

The pumpkins will go in the large section along the bottom/right. It isn't quite to my original specifications (I am not very good at eyeballing measurements), but they are close enough. The wood was from pallets and were exactly the right lengths for the paths! How lucky is that?

Marigolds and other flowers are next on the planting schedule - I will keep you updated on the garden's progress.

PS. You have until Tuesday to enter to win the Moleskine I am giving away. Remember to leave a comment!

A Painting

Using a canvas, some gesso, and the majority of a tube of green acrylic paint I made this for my friend Danielle's birthday:

I don't have much experience with painting, but I think it turned out nicely. The bottom right corner with lots of rounded/swirly brush strokes:

Here you can see the slight raised texture:

I am now thinking about doing a set of tiny canvas for myself.

Anniversary Gift

Yesterday marked my first blogiversary. I have been blogging for an entire year! Hurrah! As a thank you to all my readers I have decided to have a giveaway. You can win this embroidered Moleskine:

The first anniversary is traditionally the paper anniversary hence the notepad with the number one on it. The Moleskine is their 3 1/2 x 5 1/2" size and has graph paper sheets! Here is a picture of the insides:

This lovely notebook could be yours; here's how to win:

1. Leave a comment below by Tuesday April 13th 11:59pm MDT.
2. Wait. The winner will be picked using a random number generator and will be announced on my Thursday April 15th post.

Note: Anyone can enter, even if they live outside the US.

You may also notice a little bit of remodeling around here... I moved the header to the left and the sidebar up a bit. Another change: the site is now officially www.millyandtilly.com. Hurray for the first year!