Crafting...Teaching Me Life Lessons

A very happy backyard

It's Wednesday and while most of the people I know are at work today...I have an unexpected day off and I'm enjoying this very moment that I'm in.

I have a warm pug in my lap, a cooling cup of coffee in front of me and a brain full of ideas for projects I'd like to work on today. 

Pandora is playing in the background because I take full advantage of listening to the stations I want to when I am by myself!  My husband and I share very different taste in music.

This week I tackled a new craft - watercolored mugs!  I took plain white mugs and followed a very simple Pinterest tutorial.

Baked (to seal in the color) and washed!

They're unique.  They're fun.  They're artsy...all things that I love!  But I'm not entirely happy because although everything indicates that they are safe to use for food purposes I can't help but feel weird that it's baked on nail polish.  I'd rather not take a risk that someone could be putting poison in their bodies. 

With that being said, I am going to have another go at this project but I will just be adding color on to the bottom of the mugs and spoons...where mouths will not be touching.

But, what's to be done with the mugs in the picture, if they aren't going to be used actually as drinking mugs?  I'm considering peppermint-scented candles to keep them a festive holiday gift! I think they will be perfect for a yankee-swap gift exchange I have coming up.

One of the things that I love about crafting is that there are no real mistakes.  What could be seen as a blooper can be easily made into something else quite useful; there's a lot of fun in the learning of new things!  It's a great exercise in not focusing on the disappointment of something not turning out as planned, but simply going with the flow.

Why is homemade ranch dressing so inspiring?

About a month ago, I was in a huge cooking slump.  I was so tired of the same old, same old...I had zero mental energy to really search for new recipes; I didn't even know where to start.  

Then my birthday came and I received two beautiful cookbooks from a friend.  Very little energy is used to flip through pages and I simply soaked up different ideas and inspiration.  Not only that, I learned how to cook delicious vegetarian and vegan meals!  This is completely out of my element!  But it's just what I needed to find my love of cooking once again.

What I find super fascinating about these lifestyles is that, while it does take extra time to prepare, the dishes are just bursting with flavor.  There are many different ingredients to each recipe I've replicated which, at times, feels a bit tedious.  But...each ingredient is a vital piece to the flavor puzzle and when I sit down to eat, it's so worth it.

What I love:

• I feel inspired again!

• My food-related Pinterest boards are filling up!

• I'm saving quite a bit of money with cutting out much of my meat eating!

• I feel fabulous!

• AND - I'm noticing a lot less food waste.  This is super important to me.

What is challenging:

• It is a lot of work!  It's not as easy to whip up a vegetarian/vegan meal as it is for me to whip up a goulash.  That's just because I'm not as used to it, so this will fade with time.

• My husband's a bit resistant because it's out of his comfort zone.  But I feel it is impolite to complain when dinner is being made for you, so whoever is cooking is the one in charge in my house!  (And the cook doesn't take care of the dishes, either.)

• Planning!  I don't like to waste, so it does take extra creativity and some research to use leftover unfamiliar ingredients and turn them into other usable things!  Thank goodness for Pinterest, because that lead me to the Silken Tofu Ranch Dressing I created the other day with leftover tofu in my fridge.  

One of the easiest things EVER to make! You just put all the ingredients in your blender and BOOM!

Delicious dressing ~ pleasing to the eyes and the belly :)

So, if you're in a rut - get a cookbook that's completely out of your comfort zone and give it a shot.  Whether you ask your friends to recommend one for you, you head to your local library, you start following the boards of people who eat very differently from you on Pinterest - shaking up your eating routines can really be eye-opening and a LOT of fun!  I know I find such enjoyment and fulfillment tinkering around in my kitchen lately.

It's like my love of crafts leaked into the kitchen and I ain't even mad about it! :)