Treat Dreams

The warm Indian summer weather gave me an excuse to have some ice cream at my new discovery, Treat Dreams on Woodward in Ferndale. They make their own ice cream in lots of unique flavors.


They have lots of yummy looking baked goods as well.



For $3.50 I had this big cup of ice cream. This time I had "Trick-or-Treat Bag" with 4 kinds of candy bars mixed in. On the bottom something more adult - Cardamon Pear. I've also tried their Salted Caramel and Mounds of Pink - both amazing!



I heard they sometimes have German chocolate - I love that flavor and hope sometime I can try their version. It would be nice if you could check their updated daily flavors on their website.

-- Post From My iPhone

Earrings Remixed

And here are the earrings that I promised in my last post. I got two pairs from the necklace - a larger pair that I put with smokey pearls....

and a smaller pair that has gray blue crystals.

These are some of my new favorites - I wear them all the time! I think I managed quite nicely to get both a necklace and 2 pairs of earrings from one piece!

Another Jewelry Remix - Newb's - Holland, MI

You know I just can't leave jewelry that I purchase just the way it is. Here is a cute little necklace that I bought a while back at a shop in Holland called Newb's:

Now this is a perfectly cute necklace. I think it originally came from American Eagle. I bought it for around three dollars. I liked the chain and the design on the charms. I decided I wanted to use the charms to make earrings. (I'll share them in the next post.) This is how I reused the chains to make a new necklace:

I mixed in some quartz, a crystal, and a variety of silver beads. It's an interesting mix, I think!

If you are in Holland and like discounted jewelry, you should check out Newb's. They recently moved into the downtown on River Avenue. They have brand jewelry from places like Chico's and other cute accessories all marked at crazy discounts. Last November on Black Friday, they had a sale where most pieces were 3 for ten dollars. I bought quite a few items, and many that I didn't even remix!

Stay tuned - the remixed earrings are coming soon!

Eiffel Tower Necklacee

I made this Eiffel Tower Necklace using a charm that I found at Michaels. (I do love their 40 % off coupons!) I made a dangle out of it so I could clip it onto my dangle chain. More examples of how I use the dangle chain here. I like this necklace, because it reminds me of my favorite city in the world!

Mango Salsa Couscous

I love mango, and especially love it in salsa! Several years ago I was playing around with making mango salsa and I got the idea to combine it with couscous. This colorful dish has ended up being one of my top ten favorite recipes - one that I make over and over again. It is fresh and tropical and goes great with any kind of chicken, fish, or shrimp that has a citrus base. I will eat it even as my main dish, it is that good!

I make this dish with Israeli couscous (sometimes called maftoul in the Middle Eastern section on the market) which has a larger grain than regular couscous. This can be difficult to find, but recently I have found it at Trader Joes. If you live in the Detroit metro area, you can likely find it at one of our many Middle Eastern markets. I'm sure it would work with regular couscous, but I love the texture of the larger couscous.

Mango Salsa Couscous

To make the couscous:

1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water
1 Tablespoon olive oil


Combine the broth, juice, and water in a pan and heat until warm. Meanwhile, in another large shallow pan (I use a Dutch oven), heat the olive oil. Add the couscous and toast it, stirring it constantly, until golden brown (about 5 minutes). Add the warm broth and stir. Reduce to medium heat and boil until the liquid disappears. Set aside to cool.

To make the salsa:

2 0r 3 mangoes
1 red pepper
1/2 sweet onion
1 bunch of cilantro
juice of one lime
salt to taste


First cut the mango into pieces. I like to score the mango in 2 directions and turn it, so the mango pops up in cubes that you can easily cut off.

Cut the red pepper and onion into medium sized chunks. Cut the tops off the cilantro. Stick it all into a food processor. Use the pulse to chop it all together. Remove from the processor. (If you don't have a processor, you could chop it all by hand.)


Combine the salsa and the couscous together. Add salt and the juice of one lime and blend.

Serve chilled.

Rustic Quartz Necklaces

Last spring, I stopped in at the Bead Bonanza show at the Southfield Pavilion and did a bit of browsing and a bit of buying. One of the strands of beads that I bought was a rustic quartz that was cut in a rough crystal shape. I liked these beads because they looked worn and vintage.

I combined one quartz bead with some turquoise and a neat mixture of seed beads that I also picked up at the show. This has been one of my favorite necklaces to wear this summer.


I also combined some quartz and a cute little silver dangle into a pendant that I have been wearing on a chain. This goes with everything, so it also has gotten quite a bit of "wearplay."


The next Bead Bonanza is on October 10, 2010 at the Southfield Pavilion. If you like beads, they have a great selection from vendors from all over!

Oxford Shirt Art Smocks - Tutorial

When I found out I was going to be teaching art this year, I knew I needed to come up with a easy way to make some smocks that could protect my clothes! I decided to use striped men's oxford style shirts as a short cut to quicky sew something together. Once I figured out what I wanted to do, it took less than an hour to make each smock.


I picked up a bag of 11 men's shirts at Encore, our school's new resale shop. They were having an end of season sale, so I got the entire bag for six dollars! I bought large sizes so I could get maximum coverage.


I found two shirts that I wanted to combine that were similar in size. For the top, I decided to cut off the collar so that the smock would fit comfortably over my clothes. (You could choose to leave the collar on, if you wished.)


I rolled the edge under, and used a zigzag stitch sew it down. Nothing fancy, just fast and durable. This is how it looked when I was done:


Then, on the top section of the smock, I drew a straight line across the bottom edge and then cut it to even out the edge.


Be care to avoid running into the buttons when you draw the line- try to trim either a couple inches above or below the button so you have a clear area to sew your seams.


For the bottom part of the smock, take your second shirt and draw a line just under the sleeves. Once again, be careful that you don't run into any buttons.


Put the right sides together, and sew the top and the bottom together. If the sizes of the two shirts don't exactly match, make little tucks along the seams - no one will notice!


I pressed the seams down, and then top stiched along the edge of the lower shirt.

Then I had to figure out an easy way to make a pocket! I used the cuff and part of one of the sleeves. I carefully took it apart at the seams, and pressed the edges underneath. Then I sewed the cuff onto the smock to make a pocket. I did two lines of stitching to help make it durable. It is a cute and practical touch! I sewed the buttons back on top the buttonholes because I thought it added a cute touch.


So that's all it takes to make these smocks. They are now my signature art room look, and provide my clothes with lots of protection from paint and mess!