Naturally Dyed Eggs

Happy Easter!

In the past few years I have been slowly switching from artificial store-bought dyes to food-based dyes for my Easter eggs.

Last year I used beets and coffee and this year I added tea and a dash of paprika to the mix. The results are the best so far.

I started with pastured eggs from my local farmers market (the nearest one is in San Mateo). They came in two sizes: tiny Poulet eggs, which greatly varied in color, from white to blue to brown, and regular sized white shell eggs.

First, I set up my coloring station on the kitchen counter.

- Cups and wine glasses to hold the eggs for overnight soaking.
- Egg cartons to rest the eggs on the next day.
- Textured stockings, which I cut into squares for wrapping the eggs in.
- Twine to tie the eggs with.
- Parsley leaves.

Then, I got to cooking up my colors.

BEETS
I put a couple of cups of water in a pan, then added 4 small sliced beets. After they were cooked (about 5-10 min in boiling water), I strained the water into 3 cups/wine glasses, which I filled only about 1/3 to 1/2.
Beet juice looks gorgeous wine red, but note that the eggs turn out more of a grayish hue.

COFFEE
Coffee gets you a darker shade of brown, which I love. One cup water to one heaping table spoon of coffee (I used instant coffee).

PAPRIKA
This was the first time I used paprika to color eggs, and the result is that reddish egg you see in the photo. I used only about 1/3 of a spoon to 1/2 cup of chamomile tea.

TEA
Since I didn't want to use my fancy green tea for this, I used 2 bags of rooibos tea in 1 cup of water. The eggs turned a little pink/gray, which is great. I also used chamomile tea to get the palest shade of yellow. It's very subtle, as you can see in the photo above.

THE METHOD
To make the parsley leaf imprint on the egg, first hard boil your eggs. Once done, dab a bit of white vinegar on a paper towel and wipe the eggs clean. Place a parsley leaf on the egg and wrap it in a square piece of stocking, then tightly tie the stocking with your twine.

Soak the eggs in hot color liquid over night, then untie in the morning and pat dry. Let the eggs rest for a few minutes, and for a finishing touch, dab a little sunflower oil on a napkin and gently wipe the eggs to get them to shine.

Arrange your naturally dyed eggs in a basket, throw in some paper flowers and let your family/friends/guests choose their eggs for cracking (that's how we do it in the old country :)).

Happy Valentine's Day / St. Trifun

To all you love birds out there, Happy Valentine's Day!!!

To all wine-lovers and merry folk from my old country -
Let's hear it for Sv. Trifun :)

Cheers!!!

Lights in December

As I go home after work, my train ride takes me through dark Massachusetts forrests, fields and mini-lakes.

In December, these rides happen in the dark.

As my train rushes through the cold night, sometimes the darkness is broken by a flash of Christmas lights outlining houses, porches and windows.

I see a random street drenched in yellow light here and there. Some car's headlights. Some inflated Snowman sitting in the yard.

I see them for a split second before they disappear behind.

Flash, and they're gone.

But sometimes it's all it takes to make you warm.

 
Art (from top to bottom): Field at Night by Harry Boardman; Night Lights in the North End by Hillary de la Bruere, and Sparkle and Dance by Irene Suchocki.

Highlights from My Trip To Vienna

Vienna is magical this time of year. The Christkindlmarkt (Christmas Market) at Rathauspark is in full swing, and the snow that started falling last Saturday night turned our Austrian stay all the more delightful.

Graz was pretty awesome, too. Growing up in a small town and cobblestone streets in Macedonia, it was a great joy to visit Graz's pretty city squares designed just for pedestrians.

The cobblestones, which were repaved in my home town, are still at large in Austria.
What could be more charming? As you walk, each step has it's own melodic sound, especially if you walk on those high heels, terribly inadequate for long promenades :)

We found some great shops featuring handmade decoration pieces from independent artists, as well as always-stylish home accessories from Alessi (which are so hard to come by in the States). 

I just love the hanging branches and presents in this window display :)


Another thing I'll remember Austria by: Maroni - the roasted chestnuts sold at every street corner.

I could never resist chestnuts in any form, but these delicious treats, though a bit expensive (10 chestnuts for 2.5 EUR), were absolutely perfect - every time.

In the end, Austria was all about re-connecting, eating (Sachertorte, maroni, fabulous breads, and lots of meat) and drinking (spiced wine, and lots of alcoholic coffees like "faiton" with a shot of rum or "corretto" - espresso with a shot of grappa).

Love, Wine

While the whole world celebrates St. Valentine's Day, tomorrow my husband and I will raise our glasses to the patron saint and protector of wine: St. Trifun.

St Trifun (sounds similar to St. Tree-foon) is a Christian Orthodox saint very popular in my old country of Macedonia. Each February, usually on the 14th, Macedonian winemakers go to their vineyards to prune the vines and hope for a good year.

On St. Trifun's Day, everybody drinks wine, usually red, and also rakija - a type of brandy made from grapes - a potent stuff, golden yellow and known for terrible hangovers, but fabulous when accompanied with feta cheese and red ripe tomatoes.

Both of my uncles on my mother's side used to make wine, and I remember that as a girl the whole family would gather at their vineyards to help in the pruning. We would all be there at grape-picking time in September, too. ...And together once the first batch of wine (usually shiraz) was ready too :)
Ah, the festivities ...

So, cheers to love and cheers to wine!!




Wine Bottle Hurricanes from johnnyrich10 on Etsy:

Happy 2010!

As I'm preparing for a New Year's trip to Washington, DC, I can't help but share these two drawings by Penelope and Pip (the first one) and Pipo Doll (the second one).

I find winter landscapes, especially naked tree branches against the snow rather magical. Check out their other drawings. They are pretty dreamy, too!

Cheers! And have a Happy New Year!!!

Winter Songs

How lovely...

Check out these amazing Winter Songs from The Hotel Cafe.



My favorite from the collection: Fiona Apple's Frosty the Snowman :)


Happy Holidays and lots of joy this season!!

- Marija

Handmade Bird Ornaments

Paper Birds ornaments are really easy to make. All you need is some card-stock paper, glue and glitter. You can also use vellum paper for the wings and jewel accents for the eyes.

Just trace the shape of a bird (in one simple line) on card stock and cut it out, then glitter the whole bird or just the outlines. Be as creative as you like.

I used snow flakes glitter (in three shapes/sizes) from the Martha Stewart collection to cover the bird (both sides), and after the glitter and glue dried, I hot-glued the light-blue vellum paper wings and added the sparkly jewel eyes.




I got the inspiration for these bird ornaments from Paper-Source and Lupin.

Quilled Snowlakes

One of my friends, Marija Pavlovska, is a fellow crafter who also likes to work with paper. She's amazing when it comes to quilling paper and creating snowflake cards, abstract art gift boxes and other amazing things.

Her Etsy shop is coming soon, so stay tuned.

For now, you can take a peek at her work here.

Enjoy!!





I just love the 3D quality of these. Pretty lovely, isn't it?

And these adorable handmade gift boxes are perfect for holding little treasures.





To see other quilled snowflakes, checkout my previous blog post here.

Handmade Ornaments: Felt and Paper

Here's a selection of amazing handmade ornaments that might inspire you to create your own.
Enjoy...









From top to bottom: Felt Acorns made by Fairyfolk, Scalloped Paper Ornaments by Prismera, Quilled Snowflakes by Kirroyale.

Handmade Felt Ornaments

Another fun idea for tree decorations: Handmade Felt Ornaments.



Laura Howard, a.k.a Lupin creates these wonderful decorations from wool felt. You can find these and other lovely things, both to decorate your home and wear in your hair :)

I especially like her handmade headbands.

Pedal power lights Copenhagen's Christmas tree

A brilliant idea: Copenhagen’s annual Christmas tree this year will be lit up with the help of bicycles.

Danish citizens can ride the 15 bicycles in Copenhagen’s City Hall Square to create enough power for the 700 LED bulbs that adorn the 17-meter-tall tree.

You can see the Christmas tree and the effort here.

This is one of the several features in City Hall Square that will transform this civic space into an environmentally-friendly arena from December 7th to December 18th.

Hopefully, this will help bring attention to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) occurring during the same time period in Copenhagen.

Read more about it here.

Natural Ornaments

Holiday decorations can be especially beautiful when they're handmade AND all-natural.

Check out these ornaments, kissing-balls, wreaths and other decorations made by Allison from NHWoodsCreations.







She collects natural products either from the woods or her NH garden (such as, pine cones, foliage, flowers, bits of wood, etc) and uses them to create her designs.

I'm a big fan of her orange garland and her apple and pine cone wreaths. They look pretty festive, don't they?

Felt Stockings

I recenlty found some amazing felt stockings in rikrak's Etsy shop.

Unfortunately, they all got sold out (well, that's good news for Kristal Davis, a.k.a. rikrak), but you can still see how wonderful they are, and maybe get an idea of how to make your own holiday stockings.