Sunny Sunflowers

I think sunflowers are my second favorite flower (gerbera daisies are my first). Last weekend I stopped at one of our local farm stands to get some veggies and I couldn't resist taking home a couple stems. September is in full swing, which means summer is sadly on it's way out. These sunny jewels will be gone before long.

I love driving past a sunflower field, stretching toward the sky, top heavy with happy blooms and floppy leaves. They make me want to whip out a pair of scissors and cut myself a big bouquet!  

There's just something about flowers that draws me to them and makes me appreciate creation. A delicate form of beauty. Exquisite. Unique. Colorful. Temporal. They bring me joy. I like looking at them. Especially in my kitchen. How I wish they didn't have an expiration date. 

So pretty I had to take a couple photos. I'm thankful for sunflowers and the sunny days that bring them.

New Recipe Page

I added a recipe page to Sohl Design, located at the far right tab. I was surprised to realize I've posted 40+ recipes! I wanted an easier way to find them, instead of rifling through months and months of archives, guessing where one might be. I decided it was time to house them in a central location. You're welcome. 


I have to be honest, I don't want to organize that again! Formatting with Blogger can be a bear, especially for a designer. I feel like I'm trapped in Microsoft Word prison. Give me Adobe software, please, I beg of you! After fussing with the text and spacing to no avail, I gave up. It's not perfect, but it's functional and convenient. If any of the links don't work, please send me a note. I hope you enjoy trying some of my favorite recipes. Check it out, so I don't feel like my efforts were in vain. Enjoy!

Thin Crust Sausage and Pesto Pizza

I like experimenting with making my own pizzas. When I'm not making naan pizza, thin crust pizza is my next favorite. This time I made a sausage and pesto pizza with caramelized onions, Greek olives and mozzarella cheese. It. Was. Amazing.

Pillsbury has a really good refrigerated thin crust pizza dough. It comes in a tube like their crescent rolls. And it makes a good size pizza.

Ingredients:
11 oz Pillsbury Thin Crust Pizza Crust
2 links of Italian sausage (mild or hot)
8 oz jar of pesto sauce (I used Classico)
1 white onion
Mozzarella cheese, shredded
6-8 Ciliengni mozzarella balls, sliced in half (fresh mozzarella)
Greek olives, sliced in half


Directions:
Preheat oven according to pizza dough directions (350 or 400) 
Unroll pizza dough onto a large baking sheet that has been coated with cooking spray. Pre-bake crust for 10 minutes.
Saute the sausage, casings removed and broken into pieces, in a little olive oil, then remove from pan and set aside. 
Add thinly sliced onion to pan and cook until translucent and caramelized.
Spread pesto sauce onto pre-baked crust (as much as you like, I used about 1/2 the jar).
Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and a little grated Pecorino Romano cheese if you like.
Add the cooked onions and sausage.
Add the sliced Greek olives and fresh mozzarella. 
Sprinkle a little more cheese on top.
Bake about 10-12 minutes, depending how crispy you like your pizza. 

When it comes out of the oven, I slide it onto a wooden cutting board and slice it up. The flavor of the pesto with the onions and sausage is sooo good. Delicious! Andrew doesn't like Greek olives (he doesn't like olives of any kind for that matter), so I kept them on my half of the pizza. You can add whatever toppings you like - artichoke hearts, maybe asparagus or veggies. You can be very creative when it comes to pizza. The dough is a blank canvas waiting to be filled with your favorite toppings.

Ribbon Organizer

At last! A perfectly easy way to store ribbon spools! I found this inexpensive ribbon organizer tutorial at Spunky Junky via Pinterest. Are you on Pinterest yet? Who isn't. Join the pinning party! 

All you need is a slotted plastic bin like this with holes running down all sides. This one is about 14 inches by 11 inches from Wal-mart. I already had a few of these in my garage, so as soon as I saw this idea, I literally ran the the garage to find one. 


You will also need a 1/4 inch dowel rod. I got one at Lowes for about .63 cents. My husband cut it into three 16-inch sections (I only needed two). 

Slide two dowels through the sides of the basket and add your ribbon spools. The ends of the ribbon stay put in each hole - up to 24 rolls! How smart and convenient is that? I'm so glad I found this ribbon organizing idea. Sure beats having to untangle them all in a box!

Office/Craft Room Furniture Rearranging

Last Saturday, I got the itch to organize my office/craft room and rearrange the furniture. It's pretty much been the same set-up since we moved in 4 years ago. Unfortunately, the L-shaped desk is a non-movable piece, because it's so large, it has to be in a corner, and that's where all the outlets, cords and internet connection are located. Plan B. Let's see if I can trade spaces with the bed and the sewing desk.  

Success! There was JUST enough room to fit the bed on the wall where the sewing desk used to be. It was a tight fit between the closet door and entrance to the room.

BEFORE - This is where the sewing desk used to be. 

BEFORE - And this is where the bed used to be. 

AFTER - After switching the two, I had room to bring out a tall narrow bookcase that used to be in the closet. Just the storage I need for my craft supplies and sewing goodies. 

I have 6 white photo boxes labeled with various supplies - velcro, brushes, clothespins, glue, etc. Everything is stashed away but easy to access. My organizer cans fit up there too, with pens, pencils, markers and paint brushes. Learn how you can make some handy can organizers here.

 

I removed the "fake wood" cardboard backing from the back of the bookcase. What a difference! I like being able to see the wall color through the shelves.

It now holds my button jar and milk glass storage vessels.

The room actually feels bigger now. I like the way my workspace looks. It's a little more unified and inviting. It also forced me to clean out the craft closet but there's more work to be done in there. Thankfully it's behind closed doors! 

Doesn't organizing feel good? I like having a place for everything. Especially when it looks nice too.

Fabric Rosette Headbands, Take Two

After being slightly disappointed with my first attempt at making a fabric rosette headband, I decided to try again. This time, with thinner fabric and smaller rosettes. 

I found the perfect stretchy headbands at Ollie's Bargain Outlet for just .79 cents. I wish I bought more than just two packs, because each pack came with two thick ones and two thin ones. The thin headbands are ideal.

I followed the same technique from NatSprat, with the addition of adding mesh/toile for an extra level of embellishment. I love how this one turned out and I've already worn it a few times. 

Photo courtesy of Bethany Chase Photography
Bethany took a great photo while I happened to be wearing my new headband at craft night. I hope it's ok I borrowed this one Bethany, it was waaaaay better than the photos I was trying to take myself. Please visit Bethany's beautiful blog :)

I also made this sweet pink rosette headband for my niece Sydney. I sent it to her along with the button bobby pins.

I was thrilled to see photos of her wearing it on her first day of kindergarten! Sydney and Morgen are getting so big. Aren't they the cutest? I love Morgan's glasses. They both just make me want to squeeze their cheeks and hug them!

Bobby Pins with Buttons

This is a little project I tried the other day, after being inspired by a Pick Your Plum offer. Have you heard of Pick Your Plum? You can sign up to have weekday emails sent to you with discounted craft items and other creative goodies. I haven't ordered anything from them yet, but I like some of the things I've seen. 

This was the email photo that sparked the light bulb in my mind to try making some embellished bobby pins myself. A cute inexpensive craft. 

I got some booby pins, large and small, at the Dollar Tree. 

Fished out some small colorful buttons from my button jar. 

I traced the button onto black felt and cut it out. 

I stitched the tiny felt circle onto the closed end of the bobby pin with black thread. I sewed around and around a few times, but it kept sliding...

To help the felt circle stay put, I glued it with a dot of hot glue. That's my yellow hot glue gun from 3D design class in college - with my name on it in black Sharpie. 

I glued the button on top of the felt circle with another dot of hot glue and pressed it down.

I made 5 different colors to send to my niece Sydney for her birthday. She just started kindergarten! I hope she likes wearing them. (I also hope the buttons don't fall off!).

I assembled them on a piece of white card stock wrapped with some string, similar to the Pick Your Plum photo. What a cute little gift!