Menu Board
Have you ever been stuck in a dinner rut? When this happened to us, we got into a bad habit of "I don't know what do you want for dinner" before giving up and going out to eat. Eventually, that had to stop. We started looking at our recipe books and picking out things we'd like to try and nailing down the week's menu before going shopping. This turned out lots better than wandering around the store hoping dinner inspiration would magically appear. To help us with our planning, I made this wipe off menu board. I first saw one at a friend's house and she, of course, found it on Pinterest. It's super easy and super helpful!
Three Row Reversible Japanese Lace Bracelet
Here's my first try at Japanese lace. It's a pretty simple weave and looks great in bright colors. I first saw the two row version in a book, but decided I liked the three-row variation better.
You can "regrow" green onions?
While browsing the gardening pins on Pinterest, I came across one that claimed you could plant the typically unused white root part of a green onion and it would regrow. At the time this sounded ridiculous because I'd never thought about doing anything other than throwing it in the compost bin; now I'm embarrassed I even had that thought.
Box Weave Chainmaille Bracelet
The first thing I thought of when I saw the box weave bracelet was a fancy men's bracelet that you'd see on a well-off guy on a TV show or movie. It was too neat of a weave to pass up, so I decided to use bright colors to make it a little more girly. The pictures made it look pretty complicated, but it turned out to be fairly easy once I got the hang of it.
Nail String Art
This project has been on my radar for a while thanks to Pinterest. Most of the examples I have seen use a state with a heart over a city. I decided to do my home state, but with a twist: an I for the University of Illinois instead of a heart.
Patchwork Chainmaille Bracelet
Over the holidays I was perusing Mom's collection of beading magazines and came across the article "Patchwork Principle" in the April 2008 issue of Bead & Button. It featured a bracelet made of patchwork rounds based on the Celtic star pattern designed by Amanda Shero. I loved how different and colorful it was and chose it to be my first chainmaille project. I put this bracelet together before I ever even thought about starting this blog, so this post is a show and tell. If you want to know more about it, you can find the instructions and pre-made kits at the designer's website or by tracking down the magazine.