PEACHES

Lots of masking tape going down at Ye Olde Casa Peaches today. Woke up this morning and decided it would be a great day to paint the living room white. Benjamin Moore Super White, to be specific. How’s it going? It’s going…white. Photos to follow.

In the meantime, thought I’d share this interview I did with Michaels. It’s kinda weird – they put my photo in the background so it looks like I’m peeping over the edge of the article like a giant. Rawr!

If you look hard, in the background, you can also see a photo of me on the wall, age 9, dressed as a hot pink spandex meter maid. Oh hell yes. I should probably share a larger version of that picture sometimes, because, not gonna lie, it’s pretty spectacular. I have plans for gilded framing.

Click here to read more over at Michael’s.

Dear Copper Pudding Molds

by PEACHES 16 Comments

Dear Copper Pudding Molds,

Hey Lady! It’s been a while, right?! Man. What’s it been, 20 years? 30? You used to be hanging on the walls of every kitchen in America (or at least every kitchen that counted, RIGHT?). What happened to you? Now I see you laying around at the thrift store looking all dusty and used up. Your’e like, “They never even put me in the oven!” and I’m like, “I know, girl, I know.”

But remember the good times, okay? You were loved. You were so loved. I’ll be honest with you, actually, as a child, I used to feel really insecure about the fact that we didn’t have you hanging up in our kitchen. I was an 80s latchkey kid, watching waaaay too much television, and from what I could see you were evvvvvvvvverywhere, and I just didn’t understand how everyone else could have copper pudding molds, but we didn’t. It just wasn’t fair. It wasn’t. I mean, I don’t want to make you feel bad, but you weren’t there for me. It’s not your fault, but you weren’t. It’s okay, I know you were hanging out with everyone else. And I don’t blame you.

I mean, seriously. Look at you. Here you are on The Cosby Show, hanging out with the Huxtables, looking fine. Pans. Pots, even some measuring scoops above the spice rack. You can’t see it in this pic, but there were like another 5 of you hanging in the archway at the rear of the kitchen. You were upstaging everyone with your awesomeness, even Denise’s outfits. And that is really saying something.

And here you were in Miami, chillin in with the ladies on the Golden Girls. Remember in the early season when there was a copper fish pan near the door, but they replaced you with a shallow basket? Yeah, I didn’t get that either.

And let us not forget your star performance on Who’s the Boss. Not even Alyssa Millano’s 6″ bitch-flip bangs could outshine you, Copper Pudding Molds. In this role, you played the part of decorative frying pans in a Connecticut farmhouse, owned by Angela Bower, a pioneering post-feminist career woman with a male housekeeper, played by the always delightful, Tony Danza. As the ultimate symbol of the domestic arts, you echoed the transition between gender stereotypes, harkening the dawn of a new era. This may have been your finest hour to date!

But, I must say, my personal favorite was your role in Mr. Belvedere. Again, not unlike Who’s the Boss, you laid the foundation for a wise-cracking male housekeeper, but this time, set in the turmoil of a typical American household. You stood for excellence. For tradition. If the Owens family represented the fractured and faulted new America, you represented a decidely staunch, established, and British perspective. Your presence was second to none on that show, even the theme song, which – let’s admit – was extraordinary.

With that said, imagine my surprise to see you again, playing a supporting role in what might be the most popular television series in Great Britain – or dare I say the planet – right now: Downton Abbey.

There you are serving both master and servant alike, bringing function and form to all you do. Copper Pudding Mold, this is nothing less than a triumph! After all these years living downtrodden at the thrift store like Grizabella the Glamourcat, I for one am excited to see you on the upswing. In fact, I’m thinking, perhaps now is the time to make up for all those years as a kid when you never came to my house. Now is the time to celebrate you in all your 80s weirdness and wonder. Now is the time for your return to greatness!

Copper Pudding Molds, this is only a hello. A new begining.

See you soon!

Things I Want for My Birthday

by PEACHES 27 Comments

Woke up this morning to find a cicada buzzing around under my covers. In bed. With me.

If you have never seen a cicada, understand that this is not a good thing. A Cicada is an insect somewhere between a horse fly and a cockroach, roughly the size of a fat man’s thumb, aggressive and loud, somewhere between 15 – 20 years old. It is an ollllld ass bug. And it was in my bed. So I screamed, got the vaccum cleaner hose, sucked it down. Now it’s buzzing and thumbing around in the vacuum canister as I sit here writing this. Not gonna feel bad. Nope. Eff him. Let him rot for an hour. It’s my birthday, and monster bugs in the bed is a helluva way to wake up.

Mingo candles by Mod Cloth.

Yup. My birthday is Sunday. I’ll be 35. Bill Murray will be 64.

Weird fact: Bill Murray and I were born on the same day in the very same hospital. I’m not sure what the makes us, but I’d be cool if he like wanted to show up and dance at my party. Just sayin’.

And while we are on the subject, and I am feeling put-upon and entitled by surving the Cicada Horror of 2014, here are some other things I want for my birthday:

1. Benedict Cumberbatch dressed as Mr. Darcy coming out of a lake in a wet shirt. Why is this not a cake topper? Who is going to make money off of this one?

2. A tour of the world’s finest cat cafes. An excellent place for a birthday party!

3. Whose flamingo bike is this and how do I get it? Pinterest is no help, they don’t ask these kinds of questions on Dateline, and I for one demand answers.

4. The David Bowie exhibit is coming to Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art in four days. FOUR DAYS. I’ll start working on my eye makeup tomorrow.

So that is what I know about that. Now I’m off to release the hellion cicada from his dusty chamber, followed by a morning of epic thrifting in farmtown and some apple picking — my favorite birthday tradition.

Happy weekend!

Paintchip Seating Card Display for Under $10

by PEACHES 4 Comments

I’m closing down at my last week of work. Woot! I’m feeling a little bit nostalgic today, and seeing as it is Throwback Thursday, let’s throwback to a year ago this week, to my friends John and Noeleen’s wedding.

Noeleen and I have a lengthy history sorting out event nametags and seating assignments, so it was appropriate that I helped her out with her seating card table. Do you recognize where these came from?

Paintchips. Over 80 shades of coral and pink – her wedding colors. This concept was loosly based on this yellow art piece featuring 1,200 names for yellow I made several years back (more throwback!)…AND it harkens forward to the art piece we made last month for John and Noeleen’s living room (you can see that over at Queen Latifah).

For the base, I just double stick taped a couple of pieces of white foam board, then ran around the edges with some striped washi tape. Dressmaker pins, a gold Sharpie, and desktop easel and whamo: an awesome seating card display for under $10. Not bad.

Happy anniversary to John and Noeleen!

Comfort Food: Berry Cobbler

by PEACHES 13 Comments

If you ever drive down a Midwestern country highway in summer, you will occasionally see a weather beaten sign, usually scrawled on cardboard by someone who appears to enjoy writing in oversized markers with their feet: U-PICK.
This is code for “bring a bucket and pick stuff” which is another way of saying “super cheap, super fresh produce HERE.”

You gotta go.

Sometimes it’s corn, sometimes it’s apples. My favorite U-Pick is blueberries. The season doesn’t last long, but there is something very different about the taste of a blueberry ripened on the bush, and a blueberry ripened in the box. I can’t tell you what it is, but it’s good. They farm blueberries everywhere but this taste that follows this seasonal ceremony of bush picking is uniquely Midwestern and devastatingly delicious. It’s totally worth driving 90 miles to East Jesus Michigan to find a field, the right right field, to go U-Picking.

Also, it’s oddly satisfying. Your hands come out looking like you killed a smurf, but it’s worth it for the seven letter payoff of all payoffs: cobbler.

I hesitate to post this like it’s a recipe that I came up with because 1. I didn’t and 2. It’s not really a recipe. This is another one of those things I assume everyone learned from an eccentric aunt, but here I am, finding myself having to make up for eccentric aunts everywhere.

It’s okay though. I’ll be eccentric enough for all of us.

BERRY COBBLER RECIPE (not that you will need to write it down – you’ll remember it by heart after the first time)

3 cups fresh berries or fruit cut roughly the same size (apples and peaches work especially well)
1 box yellow cake mix
1 stick of butter, melted
1 egg
1 dash of cinnamon
important yet optional element: parchment paper

All you do is line a brownie pan with parchment paper and fill with your fruit. The parchment is critical, in my opinion, because without it, a good chunk of the fruit will stick to the pan. Not only does that make for messy clean-up, it means you lose the best part of the dish, and I’m so not okay with that.

To make the crumble top stuff, just mix the four other ingredients with a spoon, then sprinkle on top, then pop in the oven for 30 minutes at 350. It comes out gold and bubbly, ready to serve over ice cream.

This isn’t so much a recipe as it is an all-purpose formula ratio. Doesn’t matter what kind of fruit or cake mix you use. It works great with gluten free cake mix, as well as that horse crap they sell down at the healthfood store. Also, you can swap cake mix for cornbread mix, and swap the fruit for leftover stew. Bam! Instant Shepard’s Pie Sorta Thing. My dad used to make it with sloppy joes. When was the last time I even had a sloppy joe? Is sloppy joe capitalized? Am I insulting Joe? And why was he sloppy?

I digress. You see where this is going. It’s just a nifty thing and it’s weirdly appealing. Dudes in particular seem to like this sort of warm and gooey, free-form style desert. It’s man food. It’s good food. It’s comfort food. It’s good!

Speaking of comfort food…

I don’t know about you, but I am so sad to hear about the passing of Robin Williams. Some 24 hours after the story broke, I find the news of his death is resonating with me more than I expected. And I don’t think I am alone in this feeling. What a tremendous loss — to all of us.

But, I worry. Because, while it is wonderful to watch the news and social media and see the outpouring of tributes and appreciation, I cannot help but feel some sort of paradoxical guilt for taking part in the audience. Is that crazy? Perhaps, had this man not felt the pressure of an audience, would he have felt the freedom to seek the help he needed before it was too late? Does my attention and desire for information feed this bloodthirsty cycle of broken celebrity? I worry. I see anchormen posted in trucks outside this man’s home, where his family and neighbors live. Do they not deserve to grieve in peace? Or is it comforting to them to know their loved one was admired, no — loved, by so many? I worry. It’s strange to feel these connections to people we have never met, yet we feel them every day. Television. The movies. The internet. We are so connected. Connected. Oddly enough, just last weekend I was listening to an interview between Marc Maron and Robin Williams (worth listening to, btw) and after half an hour I felt like I knew this man better than some people I have known my whole life. That was my connection. A one-way connection. Connected to what, I don’t know, but I worry the burden of the thousands of anonymous connections may have contributed in some small way to this man’s loneliness and perhaps even his death. I don’t know. I don’t. It’s troubling indeed. At this point I’m just rambling, but I feel like these things are worth saying aloud….or should I say in type. That is our connection too.

Like so many others, I will be up tonight watching Dead Poet’s Society and hugging my cat a little more than usual, thankful to live in a world where we can witness people with such talent. To my fellow Midwesterner Robin Williams, O Captain My Captain, I raise a slice of cobbler to you.

Bramble Patch July 2014

by PEACHES 1 Comment

July, where have you gone?! One month of summer left, y’all. Let’s make it count!

Pool party!

My recent work for ILoveToCreate has blossomed a new appreciation for tie dye (did you see my duvet?)…if you know a man who is crazy enough to appreciate tie dye underwear, you have to do this one. You just have to.

This cat sanctuary got a makeover that has me thinking I need to up my cat lady game.

Have you ever heard of the Great Parisian Waiter’s Race?

Move over Chipotle: cilantro lime cauliflower rice.

This new take on inexpensive linoleum tile is the raddest thing evur.

Michelle from Full House does Foucalt. Fascinating.

Paste Magazine’s 10 DIY and Craft Bloggers to watch (one of them might be familiar).

Nature hikes + Instagram = cutest travel albums.

Wreath made from copper kitchen scrubbers. Cheap, easy, non-season specific, and could be surprisingly modern on the right door. I dig it.

I recently took these online classes in food photography from Leela Cyd. I’m not even a food blogger or anything, but I found them super helpful. If you are not familiar with Skillshare, you gotta get on that horse — they are an excellent source for online learning, especially for creative types.

Ouf. This video is all kinds of powerful.

My Favorite Picture of You from Furlined on Vimeo.

Front Porch Makeover for Under $100

by PEACHES 16 Comments

There were grand plans to strip, sand, and paint the porch in the spring…but then spring turned to summer and “strip, sand, paint the porch” turned into “let’s buy cheap furniture at Goodwill and spray paint it yellow.”

Story of my life.

The swing was from the people who used to live here but it was past due for a coat of paint too, and as with most things in life, when in doubt, I go for red. The three chairs came from Goodwill, marked three for $15. How was I to pass on that?

I forgot to take a full on before photo, so you’ll have to trust me when I tell you they were not cute.
Great lines, very Miami Golden Girls in the 80’s, but the wood was glossy red-brown and cushions were this nubbly barf colored beige-cream office chair type of fabric. No thank you. I could have made my own cushions, but H&M carries seat cushions*, including these ones in a most bodacious hexagon pattern for under $10. I was keeping this on teh cheap, but I figured by the time I spent money on fabric, stuffing and zippers, it would have crossed way more than $30 for three. So this was a good call.

*I don’t see the hexagon seat cushions I bought from H&M online, but they have some equally cute striped ones worth a looksee.

I just love the look of brightly colored painted wicker, rattan, and bamboo. I think we are all so used to seeing it painted white, it’s fun to see it presented as something unexpected, especially when paired with a modern looking fabric.

The pillow on the porch swing is from Ikea. Not intended for outdoors but for $5 I can risk it and/or run it through a washing machine at teh end of the season. The green rug/mat/runner thing was also under $10 and from Ikea. It’s nice, but in retrospect I sorta wish I had sprung for one of these larger $20 indoor/outdoor mats from World Market. Sometimes a little more cash-cash makes a lot more boom-boom.

The plants I picked out here are all suitable as houseplants as well. They’ll soak up as much outside time as they can but will move indoors by October. Then assuming I don’t kill them, will move outside again come next spring. You see what I did there?

Speaking of houseplants….Note those big purple hanging plants on the left. They are called Wandering Jews and you’ll see them for sale late summer every year. If you see one, and you have been looking for an impressive-yet-low-maintenance house plant, get one. As someone who has a history of killing houseplants, these are my absolute favorite. I cannot praise them enough. Not just because they are this gorgeous eggplant purple striped with grey-green-silver fronts, but because they grow and grow, even indoors in low light, and, get this: you are not supposed to water them until they look limp. A plant that TELLS ME when to water it? Hello! They tend to get sort of leggy, so you just snip off 10” or so and put the snippet in a vase of water and it’ll grow roots underwater and eventually you can replant somewhere else. Or not. I keep a vase of these leggy snippets on a bookshelf year round and it’s a great touch of botanical in the room without any cost or upkeep. I’ll swap the water out every month or two, but that’s it. Really, it is great plant. If you see one around this time of year I suggest you grab one. Feel free to make it a boho macramé hanger too. It’ll like that a lot.

So, let’s tally this off…
3 chairs: $15
3 cans of yellow and red spray paint: $14.97
1 floor mat: $9.95
4 cushions: $35
4 plants: $25

TOTAL: $99.92

Not too shabby!

Happy Weekend

by PEACHES 2 Comments

Happy Saturday, Sweetums!

It’s been a busy week for me, although you would not know it by my lack of posts…

Some exciting blog developments on front side (you’ll see those soon), and some not so exciting developments on the backside (like nearly losing my domain, ripping my hair out, a little crying, and extensive time on the phone w sketchy Eastern European men. It’s all good now, but word to the wise, do not set your domain to auto-renew on credit card without noting the expiration date). Throw in a couple of emergency trips to the vet with Lola (all good too) and wrapping up my day job (getting good soon), and I’m excited for the weekend.

SO READY.

I’ll tell you something: Nobody does ruffled crop tops like Ann-Margret in Bye Bye Birdie. Nobody.

Onward and upward, y’all. Happy weekend!

Yarn Tassel Knob Bobbles

by PEACHES 22 Comments

My recent yarn kick turned into a tassel kick which has now turned into a knob bobble kick. Now I want all of my door knobs to have jewelry. Yarn jewelry. Also, I’m sorta tired of wreaths and stuff so I’m thinking knob bobbles are a home trend I can get behind. Also, it’s fun to say – knob bobbles. Sounds like pirate speak. Arrr me hearties, hard to starboard and yarn tassel me knob bobbles.

Sorry guys, that’s probably porn speak for something I don’t know about.

I’m guessing everyone learned to make yarn tassle bookmarks for Mother’s Day as a kid, amiright? Some of us even took it a step farther and learned to make yarn dolls (overachievers!) but for those who need a refresher, here it is.

Pro tip: Things get much more exciting when you mix yarn with twine and string and such.

So that’s it. You just wind the yarn around the book about 50 times, tie it off, snip it in half, and bam – TWO tassels. You will feel so accomplished you’ll want to make a bunch more.

…and that’s good because if you make a few, you can tie them on to an old bracelet, wrap some more yearn around the bracelet, and make yourself a knob bobble.

…Or not. Leave your knobs naked. See if I care. You just see.

Or you can tie off solo tassels on odd knobs around the house.

Like this.

And this one looks like one of the objects that turned into French people in Beauty and the Beast.

Ouuuu. Fancy!

Warning: these are addictive.

They are great no-thinking-required craft to make while watching a movie or on long car trips. My plan is to let the tassels pile up for a few months then makes them into to knob bobbles for Christmas — a nifty little gift on its own, or tied onto the front of a package. Obviously, I see jungle bells in the mix. Stay tunned!

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PEACHES