LydMc

Handmade pajama pants are the coziest There's nothing quite like cozying up on the couch in a warm, comfy pair of pajama pants, and it's even more special when the pjs in question are personalized just for you! That's what I thought when I decided to make about a dozen pairs for my friends and family for Christmas.  Making so many pants from scratch may sound crazy, but p ajama pants are actually a fun, simple  sewing project that makes wonderful gifts, especially in the cold, winter season. To make the pants extra awesome, I made several sets with mix and match pockets representing special groups like my three college roomies. Each of the pairs of pants in the set wound up with one pocket of each of the other's fabrics. How cool is that? And so it begins! The first step in this project was finding a good pattern that included pockets and selecting fabric for each person. Since the roomies' favorite color is blue across the board, I decided to honor ...

Happy Thanksgiving! I've always had a soft spot in my heart (and stomach) for Thanksgiving.  Stuck in between two majorly merchandised holidays, Thanksgiving is often overlooked and has become something of an underdog in the holiday season.  Nonetheless, Thanksgiving is quite possibly my favorite holiday to celebrate.   For me, it has always meant good times with family, sharing delicious homemade creations and catching up while hanging out in the aftermath of football and food comas.  This year, my family had the opportunity to make our Thanksgiving something completely different, so we decided it was time to start some new traditions.  'Tis the season for baking What better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than by giving thanks? And what says gratitude better than home-baked goodies? To celebrate Thanksgiving 2014, we decided to make plates of baked goods and deliver them to various servicemen and women who, by the nature of their job, hav...

Happy Halloween 2014! One of my favorite October pastimes  (besides busting out my coziest sweaters and fluffy socks)   is drawing fun costumes from the annual Halloween catalogs. Each year, I have friends pick out their favorite costumes and then I assign them to my crew of fictional characters.  The picture above is fresh off the sketchbook for Halloween 2014, and this year, the costumes were chosen by my brother, my mom, and my boyfriend (who was also kind enough to lend me some of his Prismacolor markers). Can you find the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 cameo...? Ghosts, pirates, and fairies of Halloweens past abound in my binders of old drawings, and I dug out some of the more entertaining pictures to share.  While most aren't quite as polished in the quality department, they do a great job of showing the progression of my art skills, and of costume catalogs.   Crazy as it may seem, this picture was from 10 YEARS AGO... Spooky! I had ...

Yum Yes! Fancy that, the Sushiwoks are on an infographic featuring Sushi Around the World! Visit the CheapFlights link below for full resolution! They thought I/the Sushiwoks were Canadian at first (perhaps I'm just that nice, eh?), but it all worked out in the end.  ...Eh? Thanks to Cheapflights.com.au for including Sushiwoks in the tour of international delicacies!

Shark Bark Attack! It's that time again... Shark Week is upon us and that means feeding frenzies! If you need a clever, simple, delicious treat for your Shark Week viewing party (or if you've got as many sweet teeth as a shark), check out the latest in specialty themed party food: SHARK BARK!  Just like the typical peppermint bark, each of the four flavors of Shark Bark seen here is super simple and delicious. Since they all have essentially the same foundation, let's start with the basics. White Chocolate Chips, Ahoy! First thing's first: melted chocolate. The traditional way (some might say "right" way) of melting chocolate is to use chopped up blocks of chocolate in a double boiler. If you don't have a double boiler or the patience to use one, there is another, simpler method that yields the same results. We're going to need a bigger bowl... Simply add one cup of chocolate chips (semisweet, white, etc.) to a microwave safe ...