Alaskan Christmas Bazaar 2014

We are half-way through our craft-fair season, with only one more show to go!

This past weekend, we were at the Alaskan Christmas Bazaar at Anchorage City Church and were thrilled to see so many of you there! It was by far the busiest this show has ever been. We had a steady stream of people from before the show started until at least 3:30, which is rare. We loved every minute of it. Thank you to all of you who came out. We saw plenty of friendly faces and met many new people. It was great!

This is the only picture I took...but at least there is a picture, which is an improvement from our last show!

We now a have a break until the Wonderfully Made Christmas Bazaar at Cornerstone Church on 12/13/14. If you didn't get a chance to come out this past weekend, hopefully we will see you then!

Sarah and Nathania

Walk in the woods

So while you all down there in the lower forty-eight are freezing, we in Alaska are having a really depressing winter. Why? Because you took all our snow!

The last two weeks have consisted of 30-40 degree weather with Chinooks blowing through. Boo. That means all our lovely snow is melting into ice and we've had rain for the past two weeks. Ugh.

We have to laugh up here when people are complaining of the snow and cold...cause we would welcome it with open arms. We like our skiing in these parts.

Not wanting to be cooped up, and having a rambunctious dog that gets into mischief when she hasn't been outside, I have been taking walks in the woods nearby.

Even with the icky snow/ice its still very pretty.

The trail I like to take is often traveled by the moose. The slushy snow made for great tracks to be made all up and down the trail. I was just glad I didn't run into them while on the trail!

 

 

Highbush cranberries.

Lots of sticks on the trail...no good for skiing, but very good for a project I have in mind.

Anyone want to send the snow back? That would be great!

 

Stay Warm!

Sarah

Make Do March...random here we go..

So I am in the midst of a couple of projects, plus I'm not feeling to hot...so you're gonna get the most random post I think I've ever written:)

Enter the bad iPhone photos...

I made this very large poof. It's extra wrinkly in the picture but you get the point:) I'm in the process of stuffing it. I am not allowed to buy stuffing...so I'm stuffing it with plastic bags. Good way to recycle. right? The only down side is that it requires an astronomical amount of bags. So it's half stuffed. I will update when its fully stuffed. Mind you it may not be until December.

I was driving along the other day and saw this beautiful van...with the above written on it. The passengers looked a little sketchy...so I took the picture sneakily:)

Do you see things like this where you live? Or is this a purely Alaskan thing?

For spring break, Andy and I went north a bit to Talkeetna. We had fantastic weather. Look at the view! The mountains from the left are: Hunter, Foraker, and Denali/McKinley. They are huge!

Denali

SOO big. We can actually see it from Anchorage, but being so much closer it is so much grander!

You may be getting a whole lot of posts about this mountain...as Andy will be climbing it this June.

What have you been working on?

Sarah

Headboard, that I made myself:)

Andy has been complaining for about 6 months that we needed a headboard, because his pillows kept falling down between the bed and the wall. He looked on craigslist and showed me about 10 different ones...and I didn't like any of them. Nathania and I had been wanting to make upholstered headboards, but Andy wasn't too sure about it, so we made a simple wood one. I got the idea out of the book by the fantastic duo over at YoungHouseLove.

We bought 10 foot boards from Home Depot, and had them cut them in half. Queen size beds are 5 ft across, so it worked out perfectly. Instead of getting regular boards, we used the boards that linked together like a tongue and groove.

While at Home Depot, we picked up some stain (Minwax Red Mahogany), and we set things up in the garage to stain. We were going through a nice little warm up (40s)that melted ALL the snow --boo!--so I was able to do the staining with the garage door open. As I sit here writing this, it's -10 outside which is much more normal for January in Anchorage.  We had to let the stain dry extra long because of the temperature...you're not really supposed to stain at temperatures below 50. We also bought a 2x4 and cut that in half--I think it was a 12 footer.

We screwed the boards into the 2x4s and then drilled holes into the base and bolted them to the metal bed frame. We used the 7 of the 8 boards we had from the store.

The boards, hardware and stain was about $40 total.

Cheaper than anything we found on craigslist!

We really like the result. We have to move the pictures either up or possible up to the middle and put them together.  Thats what my friend Krista suggested...and then maybe getting new bedside lights, that are taller. 

What do you think?

Happy DIYing!

Sarah

Linked to:

Seward Craft Fair

Happy New Year! It's been a busy last month and unfortunately the blog has been ignored horribly!

Our third craft fair this year, was in Seward, AK which is about 2 1/2 hours south of Anchorage.

So we packed up Nathania's car and headed out.

It was such a pretty drive. We had had negative temperatures four about 3 weeks and the stuff on the trees isn't snow, but hoar frost. Very thick hoar frost. Makes for a beautiful drive!

We were working on the slippers on the way down:)

This was our booth set up. We had a large space, and brought an extra table...it worked well.

This was our new way of hanging put our buntings, I found two CD holders for free on Craigslist. It worked well for our display.

Overall, it was a great show. But it wasn't as busy as we would have liked...not sure if we'll do it again next year.

Sarah

Can I get a little help from my Friends?

Hi All!

I have something I'd like a little help with...if you're so inclined.

I work at a school with kids who are lower on the economic scale. Many of our students will never travel outside our state, and the exposure to new and or different places around the world is limited. One of our 5th grade teachers is trying to collect postcards from around the world, to ignite discussions about different  places--and this is where I need your help!

Would you be willing to send our students a postcard?

This doesn't have to have much information...just your name and a hello! If you want you can include a return address...the students are working on special "Alaskan" thank yous, which you will receive if you include a return address. But it's not necessary.

If you're willing...please email me and I will provide the schools address.

Thanks!

Sarah

anniversary trip

Three weeks ago...yup I'm behind at posting...but anyways, about three weeks ago, Andy and I celebrated our anniversary. We've done the going out for a nice dinner thing, and thought we should do something different. So we decided to be "tourists!" In a state that has great stock in tourism it wasn't difficult:)

We were able to get a great deal at Aleyska--the fanciest hotel in Alaska...it also happens to be the only ski resort up here. So we headed down to Girdwood for the evening. When we got there we found out we had a great view of the mountain! We traipsed around the grounds a little bit. Taking pictures of the ginormous begonias and such.

The next morning we got up and headed down to Seward to go kayaking. Our friends Peter and Alex had been up the week before and had gone...recommending it highly even though they went in the pouring rain. So we thought we would try it. We've never been kayaking up here and there was a coupon! 

Hello!!!

We had really nice weather...no rain. Now to explain something about Seward. It rains there...all.the.time. We had some cloud coverage at the beginning but it let up and we were able to get some great views.

We did the 8 hour trip, which included getting out at Cains Head...and hiking up to an abandoned fort from WWII. It was really neat, and the view from up top was spectacular!

Overall we had a great time celebrating our anniversary and have decided that doing something touristy was the way to go...maybe it will become a tradition!

Do you have any anniversary traditions?

Sarah

summer adventures

Hello Party People!!! Whats happening?

Well, lately I have been a terrible blogger....but with the weather we've had...who can blame me. I am officially tanner than I would have been if I lived in MI still. At least my arms, hands, face and a little bit of my legs...which for me is TAN!!

Wow, long tangent. Todays post is going to be more of a photo post of life lately.

Making food a rainbow is so much more fun to eat!

We got to hang out with these peeps for a week. Too bad the warm weather came the day they left, but it was still highly enjoyable!

(andy's siblings, Jordan and his wife Jodi, and his sister Emily)

Checking out the wildlife at the Conservation Center!

Lots O' babies there!

The lynx were out and about and beautiful!

and the tiger in the grass...oh wait thats Lucy!!!

We went camping at Eklutna lake...

this was our view:)

and came home to a beautiful rainbow! It was actually a double rainbowm but we couldn't pick it up with our camera!

How have you been enjoying your summer?

Sarah

you're my favorite

Last Saturday night, Nathania and I hosted a "Favorite Things Exchange"

We got the idea from Joy over at joyshope.com you should go check her out...she's a pretty cool lady!

We began the evening with some good finger-lip-smacking food! Nathania and I didn't want to have the more traditional foods....veggie tray, fruit salad....not that there is anything wrong with those, but we wanted variety.

We came up with some good ideas...

SO yummy!

This is a shortbread, ricotta, chocolate, raspberry parfait....needed a little more sweetener, but super tasty. I got the recipe from watching me some Dr. Oz. It's apparently not super un-healthy...well minus the shortbread:)

These were a favorite. Nathania made them so I'm not sure what goes into them. They got a little crispy but were very yummy!

We also had Goat Cheese Grape Truffles, Watermelon/Mango/Lime fruit salad, stuffed mushrooms, sangria and a tasty punch. We liked all of our recipes....so maybe we'll share them if interested!

Now onto the actual party. Everyone brought 5 of the same thing under $8. We went around and explained why the item we brought was our favorite. Then we drew 5 names from a bowl and those lucky ladies got to take the item home!

Fun right?

After everyone had been given their stuff, they had a number and we went around and were able to "steal" an item we didn't get but really wanted! There were also numbers given out so that each lady could pick out a goody tote.

I made these simple totes from fabric from my stash. The only thing I went and bought was the strap...the ladies got to pick a bag to take their swag back home in!

This is a picture of most of the stuff. I had to steal my pictures from Krista...I don't know where my camera was!

Nyree brought shea butter and a body polisher...I love the lotion! So great for dry hands!

This is a dutch treat that was part of my favorite thing. You put it on toast and it is DE-licious! I also gave a painting edger...so useful when painting, you don't really need to tape!

This was Krista's favorite thing. It's Maple, Cinnamon Almond butter....so yummy! You can check out her post on it here.

 

Nathania also brought a dutch treat. She brought packets of Nasi Goreng...it's an Indonesian rice dish. We had to get our mom to send us a box with our treats in it...cause you can't get them her in AK...THANKS MOM!!!!

Nathania also made lavender beeswax lotion.

Beth brought some homemade lemon bars and some fun nail polish! Andy ate half my lemon bars...so not cool!

Lisa brought a little goody bag with laundry soap, white chocolate, sticky notes and some lip balm.

There were two other ladies there, Alecia and Mallory...and I don't have a picture of their stuff! But Mallory brought some good lotion...we have some dry hands in these here parts! I don't remember what it was called...but will find out!

Alecia brought some coasters and modpodge so that you can decoupage the coasters with family pictures...thus having a coaster and picture all in one!

Overall the party was a huge success! We're planning another "themed" party....and it's gonna be a good one! What are some of your favorite things?

Sarah

salmon...cakes!

Salmon is a fantastic fish that graces the waters of Alaska. Last summer Andy and I had the opportunity to go down to the village Storman grew up in, and while we were there the Reds (sockeye) were running.  We helped can some of the fish and they gave us some to take home.

Now, whats a girl who grew up the Midwest to do with all the fish?

Well...use some of it for fantastic salmon dip....and then let it sit in her pantry.

Great use of good fish right?

not.

Well the other day I saw a recipe for salmon cakes....light bulb!

That's right, we've made salmon cakes twice in the last week and I think it is one of our favorite ways to eat canned salmon!

What did I put in them?

I put:

two jars of canned salmon

some minced onion

some minced garlic

Tbsp lemon or lime juice

Tbsp lite soy sauce

2 Tbsp grainy mustard

1 cup of Italian bread crumbs

2 eggs

Mix, and make into patties. Fry for 2-3 minutes a side.

Pair with homemade tarter sauce:

Mayo with chopped up dill pickles

Let it sit while you make your patties...it tastes better after you let it sit.

Serve with a salad...super healthy and tasty!

Enjoy!

Sarah

weekending

What did you all do this past weekend?

We worked in the yard this weekend...we had some snoopy visitors.....

We were able to get some free brick off of craigslist. Talk about a steal! We had to dig them up but it didn't take that long!

See that? Green grass!

My hostas are coming back up! WOOhoo!

This is my un-planted raised bed. I only planted half of it last year, but it did really well and so I wanted to expand

So we built another bed...just gotta get some dirt!

We also put a make-shift walkway out of pavers between the two beds. Less mowing!

So now I have to two beds to grows stuff in this year! SOO excited!

 

What did you do this weekend?

Sarah