2010 January | from the Hall at Home

Design a Quiche

Kitchen

Jan 192010

After digging for inspiring ideas on the net I found a recipe for a quiche with sweet peppers and mushrooms. I took this for a basis on which to build a quiche recipe for dinner last night. Never before have I attempted quiche – my mom hated making them as they seemed a drawn out process.

Basically you need a crust - margarine rubbed with flour with a little salt for more flavor I decided to add mustard powder.

The main ingredients of the filling are – cream, eggs and cheese

To add variety I added PEPPADEWS, and mushrooms that I chilled for a bit with a few splashes of Balsamic vinegar,Tabasco sauce, Italian herbs, spring onions (fresh cut) salt and black pepper

Baked it till the center was done – It was great! The peppers balanced the blandness of the eggs

Made two mini quiches for my lunch today

Packed those Holiday goodies

Living Area

Jan 162010

In my recent move I lost my Christmas tree Decorations. I had one solitary African beaded bauble winking its tiny reflections of the Christmas lights. I specially left a box empty ready to pack the decorations away neatly and all together so that next year decorating will be a pleasure. Unpack, unfold, and put up. The storage box is a decor item on its own and remains in the dining area.

Christmas storage

A story box…

Gifts from the Home, Living Area

Jan 152010

Painted Supa wood box, Acryllic paint, pencil detail, sealed with Modge Podge

When giving a gift to your Husband, or in my case it was my future husband, sometimes you are giving a gift to yourself too. I made this box to keep all the letters my husband received when he served a two year mission in The Kenya, Nairobi Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. I just thought about Africa and how I could simply yet stylishly decorate the box to remind us of that special time in life. Snail mail was all that could reach him, so envelopes and handwriting were incorporated along with the simple use of graphite pencil, an earthy addition reminiscent of dusty roads in places of drought. (because I live in Africa I know that there is more to the continent than animal print – there seems to be more leopard print out there symbolizing Africa than there is on leopards in Africa)

The box just closes it is so full of the letters, some of them novels. My Husband was my best friend. We knew each other for 5months before we realized our relationship could be more. A month after that we decided that we should marry. I was 19, he was 17. Looking back it was like we were 5year olds playing pretend. At 19 he served his mission and soon after his 22nd Birthday we married.

The box is a conversation piece and a reminder of how grateful we are to finely be together – the apart times were not that hard – we needed to grow.

Small friends for Charm

Gifts from the Home

Jan 112010

Isabella Minature

I created this miniature caricature of my mother,s cat Isabella as a Christmas present. This tiny figurine watches you from the side table in the guest bedroom. If you where in the Main Bedroom of the house you would find the real much larger Isabella watching you sleep from the side table.

She is just made from air drying craft clay. In design college I learnt to make characters like this to have a three dimensional reference to create animations from.

Fast, Frozen, Foods for Baby

Kitchen

Jan 112010

A thick apple, banana, and apricot smoothie for baby and you! I have benefited from making baby food wholesome and homemade. The varieties are endless. His fruit blends double as smoothies for me and his vegetable mixes become dinner in the form of soup. Baby needs no added ingredients like salt so I add those later to “the big peoples dish”. I did some reading up and decided what would be best for my baby to start eating and then I got out my magic blender – I recommend a Braun Multi Quick as it is quick, easy to clean and comes with many options depending on the quantity of food you are needing to blend

http://www.braun.com/global/household/food-preparation/hand-blenders/multiquick-artiste.html

Add a little cooled boiled water to help the blender create a completely smooth texture perfect for baby’s first tastes.

I found ice trays with lids at my local plastic wholesale store which I use to freeze the food in meal size portions. Ordinary ice trays work as well just cover them in plastic wrap.

Dining: a painting of mine

Living Area

Jan 082010

I learnt oil painting when I was 14. This is my latest completed work. I took a picture on my cell phone of a couple dining in the small town of Graaf Reinet, South Africa, and painted this image from it – intimate, romantic and real.

Dinner by Candle Light

Child Art

Nursery

Jan 082010

Decorate with kids art. Children draw with more creativity than some adults wish for. I attended art classes from age 5 till 10 and have kept my works now 20 years on they are make great home decor, fun and vibey.

At age 5 a portrait of my Mom on the beach

Online inspiriation

The Hall at Home

Jan 082010

I often brows this sight and am on their mailing list, I pick up creative leads for my home and interpret their ideas for my practical needs. http://www.bhg.com

Line a bamboo blind

Home Office

Jan 082010

Curtains are not my favorite feature in a room – I usually get minimal gathered curtains exactly the same colors as the wall so I notice them less. A quick and easy alternative I made to avoid having curtains in my room as a teen ager was a bamboo blind. Bamboo blinds are affordable but give you no privacy at night as light shines through them. To counter act this get fabric in a dark shade to your liking the size of the blind, sew a seam around and then punctuate it with buttons you like. Then button onto the bamboo blind. Night privacy achieved.

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Welcome Home

I'm an artist at heart. Studied Interior Design. Worked as a Children's Interior Designer for a year. Loved Graphic Design, Art and Architecture from my childhood. Dapple in Illustration & loose all perspective on life if I'm not being creative daily. Overjoyed to be a wife and mother. Resident of Johannesburg, South Africa. This blog domain was a Christmas present from my Hubby in 2009. Build other people and businesses Wordpress blogs now. Loved first year of Design degree as it covered the basis of multimedia, graphic and interior design - and we were not allowed near computers. The line between craft and art is non-existent in my life. All of this is done from my home... wherever it happens to be.