Oreo and cereals mini cheesecake

I hear that the Oreos are some sort of top of the nutritional pyramid for kids. Ore rule, or so  it seems. I did like the commercials, but I was never curious to try them.

Up until recently when I bought a 4-pack. Of course I couldn’t test them just like that, so I tried some sort of a cheesecake, put together with whatever else I had in the fridge…

Tulips, tulips, tulips…out of an egg carton

I was telling you in one of my posts that I am determined to reuse, recycle, upcycle all the stuff I have gathered around the house.

When I made the Oreo cheesecake I used the last two eggs and I got left with the egg carton.

I usually throw it away, but today, I looked at it and I saw…tulips! 

Duct tape bag out of a kitchen towel

Since I have started to seek relaxation time and my way out of the day to day routine by crafting, I’ve started bringing out from my storage boxes and drawers all sorts of potential materials for my future craft projects, so I’m in dire need of some organization of my craft creation corner.

Besides that, one of my goals is to stop throwing away so easily the things which, at first sight, I might think I would not need anymore.

When I brought the sea coast in my bedroom, I had some scraps of fabric left and I keep moving them around. So, in the spirit of upcycling, I took one of them out, laid it on the table and waited to get an idea of what to do with it…

M is for Maria (I)

Maria’s Mom and I have known each other since we were just toddlers. Our Moms worked at  the same Institute  and we used to go together to the Christmas parties thrown for the employees’ children, to the Zoo, in the park to ride the carousels… We did become friends ourselves when we grew up… 10 years now?!

Then Maria came along. Maria is a beautiful and cheerful, smart and very curious child.

Last time the girls came to visit me, Maria painted salt dough Christmas tree decorations and she helped me to make some pizza. I cannot find the proper words to tell you how delighted she was to paint without restrictions and how many slices of the pizza she made she managed to eat!

And since the girls are due to visit me again, I wanted to prepare for Maria a new activity.

I have asked Maria’s Mom to send me a photo of Maria’s favourite place in the house. 

Are headbands still in fashion?

I have always liked the thin headbands, made from plastic. A while ago I used to have lots of them in all sorts of colors and I used to wear them two or three at a time, matching them with whatever I wore.

The sea coast in the bedroom

In my small apartment, the bedroom is also – how else?...small. Therefore I painted it white as it is well known that white enlarges a space, makes it look more airy. 

But because I love the beach, the seaside, in my bedroom one can find little pieces of the coast. 

Bead, bead on a string.

Do you also keep little nothings around the house hoping that one day you will use them again?

I do that. Everything I have used for upcycling mysister’s dress were things that were not used anymore, but saved “for later” – maybe I’ll use them sometime… The same with the plastic jar I have used for my first upcycled flower pot.  I am planning to start reusing – in different ways and for different purposes-  all the little nothings  I have saved along the time… to stop having them well hidden and give them a new purpose.

Recently I went through all my cases and boxes and I ran into some old wooden beads. Long time ago they were a necklace whose string decided to not want its destiny anymore. The string left us, but the beads stayed. I keep looking at them for some days now, thinking what to do with them, as their colour perfectly matches one of the shirts I love.

So I took some cotton string and cut 4 stripes of about 2 meters each and I folded all of them in half.

Old dress, new dress

“You take it, sister. I am not wearing it anymore…look, it is stained…maybe you can do something about it” said my sister when I was “shopping” through her wardrobe.

Now came its turn. I took three shirts nobody wears anymore for different reasons: one is burnt with the iron, one is too large, the other has ruffles and is no longer cool.

Elastic sheets, line up!

I love elastic sheets. They are the only ones which resist without piling up underneath me during the night. However, I hate that they are soooo difficult to fold without clumps.

Until today! Since I have managed to organize all the plastic bags in the kitchen, couldn’t I use the same method for the elastic sheets? Let’s try it:

Cearceafuri, alinierea!

Imi plac foarte tare cearceafurile cu elastic. Sunt singurele care rezista  fara sa se adune ghemotoc sub mine in timpul nopții. Nu-mi place insa la ele faptul ca-s extrem de greu de impachetat fara cocoloase.

Pana azi! Dacă tot am reusit sa pun la punct toate pungile din bucatarie, n-aa putea folosi aceeasi metoda si pentru cearceafuri? Sa incercam:

Chocolate trio muffins

Don’t you, once in a while, get a craving for something full of chocolate and puffy?

There are no better deserts than the ones with chocolate. Lots of chocolate!

Chocolate cake from today can be baked in any sort of tray or pan, but I chose the muffin pan.

150 g all-purpose flour, mixed with one teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of baking soda. 

1 milk chocolate (100g), together with 1 dark chocolate (100 g, 70% cacoa) and a stick of unsalted butter (200g) put together in the sauna.

Pungi, pungi, pungi!

Niciodata nu imi iau de acasa pungi cand ma duc la cumparaturi, desi imi propun de fiecare data. Rezultatul? Multe, multe pungi pe care nu le arunc, caci data viitoare siguuur imi iau cu mine una-doua. Aiurea! Prin urmare am incercat sa gasesc un loc sa le stochez si un mod de a le face mici si aduna in mod organizat. Din nou…aiurea!

Pana acum le impachetam asa: 

Plastic bags, plastic bags, plastic bags

Whenever I go grocery shopping, I never ever take some of the plastic bags I already have at home, even though I always promise myself I would. The result? Lots and lots of plastic bags that I never throw away, as net time I will suuurely take one or two with me. Riiight!

So, I have tried to find a place to store them and a way of making them small and fold them in an organized manner. Again…riiiiight!

Let’s paint, let’s colour…

The second terracotta pot keeps tempting me, asking for its beautification session. 

Apple pot

No, it is not a new crock pot recipe…although, if I think about it, it could be a good recipe. But no, the apple pot I am making today is not edible.

Let there be spring

It snowed again. After 3 days of sunshine and spring like weather. The 3 days of sunshine put me in a mad mood for gardening. What gardening to do when the weatherman talks about a yellow code for blizzard?

At least I can get ready! Said and done!

I ran over to one of the bricolage places around here and got myself 4 terracotta pots. Ordered myself some acrylic  primer , decoupage glue (the European version of Mod Podge), some acrylic  paints and as of yesterday I have started.

I started off with a different type of pot though:  a plastic sort of jar, laying around the balcony since last year. I washed it, got rid of any grease and made some wholes in its bottom for the excess water to drip out- I am going to use it as a flower pot, right? 

Ghiveci cu mere

Nu, nu e o noua reteta…desi daca stau sa ma gandesc bine, ar putea iesi ceva gustos. Dar nu, ghiveciul cu mere de astazi este necomestibil.

Sa vina primavara

Iar a nins. Dupa 3 zile de soare si de temperaturi primavaratice. Cele 3 zile de soare au avut ca rezultat o pofta nebuna de gradinarit. Ce sa gradinaresti cand la meteo anunta cod galben de viscol?

Dar macar pot sa ma pregatesc! Zis si făcut!

Am dat fuga la unul din magazinele de bricolaj si mi-am luat 4 ghivece de teracota. Am facut comanda de grund acrilic, adeziv pentru decoupage, culori acrilice si de ieri am inceput.

Mi-am făcut mana pe un altfel de recipient: un borcan de plastic ce zacea de anul trecut prin balcon. L-am spalat, degresat si i-am făcut niste gauri pentru scurgerea excesului de apa – doar planuiesc sa-l folosesc pe post de ghiveci, nu?

Fried rice, with vegetables- Thai style

As a kid I grew up around Malaysians. Back then – I think I was 5- 6 years old- I was fascinated by everything that the Malaysians had and we didn’t have at home. The smell and taste of their food made quite an impression on me. Even now, if I close my eyes and think of the olden times, I can, right away, recall the smell of food in their homes and the taste of their rice.

Spre cladirea Coltului de Rai…

Se spune ca fericirea sta in lucruri marunte.

In anul ce a trecut, am tot cautat-o, pe ici, pe acolo – ba in gradina de mi-am încropit-o pe balcon, ba in diferitele bunataturi pe care le-am preparat, ba in micile decoratiuni ce mi-au ieșit din maini.

Pe toate le-am pozat, recunosc,  neprofesionist, cu telefonul si le-am impartasit cu cei dragi mie.

Mi-am adus aminte de gradina bunicii ori de cate ori udam rosiile din jardiniera – ce miros divin au frunzele rosiilor!

Mi-am adus aminte de toate calatoriile mele cand am făcut tabloul cu monede ramase prin buzunare. V-ati uitat vreodata cu atentie la monedele din alte tari?

Towards building my own Piece of Heaven…

They say happiness lays in little things.

This past year I kept searching for it, here and there- in the garden I have put together in my balcony, in the different goodies I have baked or cooked in my kitchen, in the small crafts  I did.

All of them I have taken pictures of, I admit, unprofessional , with my phone and shared them with the ones dear to me. 

I time traveled in my grandma’s garden every time I watered the tomatoes on the balcony – what a heavenly smell the tomato leaves have!  

I remembered all my travels when I put together the coins wall art picture made with  long lost coins. Have you ever took the time to carefully look at other countries’ coins?

I played around making salt dough Christmas tree decorations and then painting them. The delight on the faces of my dear ones when they have received them for Christmas! „Did you make them??”

Every year there is a group of about 30 carolers of all ages that, without fail, come to my place on Christmas day. How else could I wait for them, other than with a variety of cookies I baked?

How can I not be thrilled that I re-used an old and scrappy book into a beautiful door wreath?

How not to want to replicate such moments?

No, I don’t have a lot of free time- my average work day is of about 10 hours- but I am determined that the little spare time I have to fill it up with happiness moments and if, by means of this blog, I get another person to seek and find happiness in the little things, that I would have made a difference.

I invite you along with me to find back the little joys, to learn to use our imagination, to feel beautifully, to surround ourselves with the things that look pretty to us, to escape, at least for a few hours, this reeling rhythm of our lives and find our Piece of Heaven.