What's old is new...

I had this old dress that I wasn't a huge fan of, but it was really comfortable. It was black. When I was doing laundry months ago I got a few drops of bleach on the front of it. Five minutes later I had brown spots all down my comfy dress. Since then, I have been staring at it with hopes that it would somehow repair itself so that I could wear it again. I decided that I would give something a try before I chauffeured it to the Goodwill.  And, good news... It's been upgraded just in time for summer with a little BLEACH TIE DYE session.

How to Bleach Tie Dye your goods... 

Supplies:

- Item of clothing

- Bleach

-Bucket

-Rubberbands

- Rubber gloves (optional)

The easiest instructions ever: 

1) Take rubberbands and twist them around your item. I went in a straight line down the dress. (pic 1) 

2) Fill bucket with water and bleach (10 parts water to one part bleach). You just need enough to cover the item.

3) Place item in the bucket (let sit until you notice that it's the perfect shade)- mine was about 20 mins

4) Remove from the bucket. Cut the the rubberbands off and transport to the washing machine. Be careful, if any bleach gets on your clothes or carpet you'll have more to tie dye. :) I used an old target bag to make sure that my current dress didn't get ruined (I wouldn't put it past me).

5) Place it in the washing maching and wash on cold with NO laundry detergent.

Rubberband wrap up

Post bleach treatment- all different shades

The final product- front

Back

It's super easy and is the perfect solution for a shirt, dress, or blanket that you have ruined, are bored of, or just want to tie dye. I really want to try something that's navy blue. The black above came out a rust/brown color. So it's all a mystery. :)

- Nicola & the Little Pup

All things tasseled...

Lately, I've noticed that tassels are making a come back and I'm loving it. I'm not sure they ever really left, but I know that I could use more around my house...

This weekend we went to Maryland to see our friends June and Emy (and to check out Washington, DC). Emy (see her blog here: Emy's Blog) and I decided to step our crafting up a notch by trying to tackle a tasseled bag. We were inspired by good ol' pinterest and this cute blog (original tassel tote).  It wasn't a super hard craft, but it did take some time making all those tassels and tying all those mini knots... ugh! And the most difficult part was sewing them to the bag (my bag had a cotton liner, and embroidery thread is thick).

Here's how simple it is...

Supplies:
- embroidery thread (any colors you like)
- scissors
- a large needle (to sew the embroidery thread to the bag)
- an old bag (mine had a liner which was hard to sew. Emy's didn't, but she had to add a bead to the inside so that the tassel would stay in place).

Step 1: Make your tassels. You can find a million links with directions on Pinterest. They are super easy.

 Step 2: Lay them out to be sure that the colors are spread out the way you like them.

Step 3: Begin sewing them to the bag. This might take some time if you have a liner in your bag. We used a needle to get the thread through and tied knots on the inside to be sure that they stayed put. 

Step 4: Admire that beauty. 

The Front 

The Back.

Our bags. 

Emy's had a nice fold over the top with a gold edge. Any old bag you have looks cute. 

We're officially ready for summer! 

-Nicola & the little pup

The best french toast...

We've searched high and low for the best french toast recipe. My husband and I are big French Toast fans. But I don't like too much cinnamon or toast that's soggy. For Easter, we had decided to go for a mixture of things that were delicious. So, I searched long and hard on my beloved Pinterest, and there it was... The most delicious French Toast.  Well, good news everyone,  I think we've found the perfect recipe!

 

We got fresh baked bread from the farmers market. We sliced it nice and thick. I think that's the trick... fresh & thickly sliced bread. The bread we picked was sourdough, soft, and delicious. Then we just followed the recipe below.

The Best French Toast...
(from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Cook's Illustrated)

Ingredients:
1 large egg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted, plus extra for frying
3/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon table salt
4 to 5 slices day-old brioche or challah sliced 3/4 inch thick or 6 to 8 slices sandwich bread

Instructions:
1) Heat 10- to 12-inch skillet (preferably cast-iron) over medium heat for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, beat egg lightly in shallow pan or pie plate; whisk in butter, then milk and vanilla, and finally sugar, flour, and salt, continuing to whisk until smooth. Soak bread without oversaturating, about 40 seconds per side for brioche or challah or 30 seconds per side for sandwich bread. Pick up bread and allow excess batter to drip off; repeat with remaining slices.
2) Swirl 1 tablespoon butter in hot skillet. Transfer prepared bread to skillet; cook until golden brown, about 1 minute 45 seconds on first side and 1 minute on the second. Serve immediately. Continue, adding 1 tablespoon butter to skillet for each new batch. Yield: 4 to 5 slices.


This is not my recipe... I would like to thank Cook's Illustrated and Mary from the blog, "One Perfect Bite" for their contribution to our new breakfast staple.

 Hope you love it as much as we did.

-Nicola & the Little Pup

Vegetables

I've been dreaming of a big, huge veggie garden. You know, the kind that has such a great supply that you have to give some away because you can't keep up with it. Like this...

A few things take the wind from my sails when it comes to gardening around here... 
1) The weather
It changes so much here that I can't quite keep up. One day it's freezing and there's an ice storm, and the next is 80 degrees with a tornado watch.  That said, keeping things alive can be tricky.

2) The pesky squirrels and rabbits
I think they are adorable and may or may not feed them. However, they eat EVERYTHING. I     bought a fig tree in the fall. When I brought it home it had about 10 figs on it that were almost ready to eat. I planted it in a pot on my patio and watered it daily. Each day figs were missing. I looked all over the ground, thinking that they had fallen off. One morning, I caught a little pesky squirrel on my tree snatching a delicious fig...caught red handed!  Who knew they jacked fresh fruit? The California squirrels are all radio active and stick to old trash. And to make matters worse, the papillon was sleeping on his patio watch job.

3) I don't have the money or space to pull that garden off. One can dream.


I decided to start small. I started my garden indoors when the weather totally sucked. I picked up seeds of some of the veggies that we eat often with hopes that we would just have ONE fresh salad from the yard this summer. I like to set small, attainable goals. :)

As much as I wanted raised garden beds, I don't know my yard well enough to actually spend the time and money building them. The trees have no leaves right now, and I can't remember what the yard looked like before winter hit around here. I would hate to build it and find that it's the shadiest part of the yard. 

The solution: 

Movable tubs! I found these at the flea market. I plan to get about 5 more so that I can line them up in the sunny spots. So far, so good. I'm thinking that the little pup helps manage the wildlife around here (when he is not napping or watching TV). Most dogs bark and scare the animals away. Miles is smarter than that... he cries and whines for them to stay and is so annoying that they never return. Works for me. 

Any gardening tips from the locals? 

Cross your fingers for me. 

-Nicola & the Little Pup

 

Some little visitors.

Our friends Laura and Helen came to visit us last weekend. See, Helen is a smarty pants, and got into Duke's Law school. So they decided to come spend a weekend checking out NC. Of course, the ONE weekend that they come, it rained almost the whole time. And if that wasn't eventful enough for some Californians, there was a Tornado Warning. UGH. Not really helping my argument of how wonderful it would be if they moved here. Oh well.

Duke's Chapel.

The Duke Gardens.

Bida Manda. 

Miles got a free dumpling courtesy of Chirba Chirba. Thanks! 

Lake Wheeler.

A little Macaron lesson. 

These are WAY better than my first try. See previous blog to admire the disaster. 

Too bad the weather was crummy. I guess they'll have to come back to see the rest of NC. 

- Nicola & the little pup

The sun is finally shining...

And I've been outdoors! Hallelujah!

My bulbs! 

Cherry Blossoms between us and the neighbors

Tulips

This is all over my grass- I guess I should be considering it a weed. But I like it too much. 

Things are blooming around here... Including my allergies. 

SAYONARA winter! 

- Nicola & the Little Pup

Guest Room Upgrades.

The last few months have been pretty cold. We haven't had many visitors in a while, so I decided to spend some time switching up the guest room bedding and pillows. I do this often.

Our guest room has become more of a "California Dreamin" room if you ask me. It has all of our old beach decor and some of the art...

Don't mind the light. This room has a lot of windows. 

It's coming along just swimmingly. 

-Nicola & the little pup