Birds of a Feather

As you all know I am creating my on parrot costume. I have the wings and a red dress/shirt already, but to make myself a little more bird-like I’ve decided to make a feathered bib-necklace.

You Need

1/2 Sheet of felt

Hot Glue

Ribbon

Embellishments (feathers, beads, jewels, sequins, etc.)

Scissors

1. Begin with 1/2 a sheet of felt, whatever color you decide is best.

2. Fold in half. Hamburger style.

3. With these two cuts you will make your blocky piece of felt into a swooping bib necklace. Since my necklace represents a feathery bird breast, mine is rather wide and I did not cut much off. If you want a necklace for everyday I suggest making it more narrow, thus taking more felt off.

4. Open your newly cut felt up and check out the shape. Do you like it? If you don’t, cut more off. It is always safer to cut less to begin with, then edit from there.

5. Once you are happy with the shape of your felt begin placing embellishments. I always lay things out first before I secure them with the hot glue, and if you are using something like beads or sequins it will probably benefit you as well.

6. Everything laid out and planned? Good. Now you can start gluing! I used hot glue, but you can also use tacky craft glue. Again, it all depends on what you are using to decorate your necklace.

7. Gather ribbon for the ties on your necklace. You will want two pieces, both with enough length to tie around your neck. I chose a thin red ribbon for mine, but feel free to play with different widths to create the look you want. I put a dab of hot glue on either side of the felt and set the ribbon at an angle so the necklace will sit nicely without bunching in the center.

8. Wear! I can’t wait to get the rest of my costume together and show you all how it turns out.

Please, excuse the bed head and sketchy bathroom lighting

This necklace is a little outrageous and you may not want to wear it as an everyday jewelry piece. However, if you used a thinner piece of felt and other sequins or beads or whatever it is that inspires you- go for it! It is simple, light and comfortable to wear.

I might just make myself another one to wear in a more casual setting.

Eat More Potatoes

Pommes Duchess

Happy Potato Day!

It may not be a national holiday, but it certainly was at school today. We made potatoes in five different ways. All delicious, but the best had to be the mashed potatoes or Pommes Puree. Mashed potatoes are mouth watering to begin with but once you add a few ounces of butter and almost 2 cups of cream, they becoming irresistible. That may be why I ate almost the entire pan by myself during class.

It was my most favorite breakfast yet!

The Pommes Frites (french fries) were not bad either.

Pommes Duchess

The Pommes Duchess had to be the most beautiful out of all the dishes. Creamy mashed potatoes piped out and glazed with an eggwash, and then baked in an oven made these pillowy mounds perfect for any Duchess.

Gratin Dauphinois

Though Gratin Dauphinois does not win the beauty contest, it has the flavor to kick any of these dishes butts. Thinly sliced potato with cream, butter, and topped with bubbly Gruyere cheese- you can’t go wrong!

Steaming Pommes Boulangere

Pommes Boulangere is a simple dish of thick slices of potatoes and onion, briefly sauteed in butter, then baked in an oven with chicken stock until tender. It is yummy, but is hard to stand up to the flavor of the other creamy and cheesy companions.

Culinary Foundations Kitchen

I love going to school.

Costume Update!

I have finished the wings for my parrot costume!

Parrot Wings

They may look kind of small, but I have short stubby arms, so just 2 lengths of felt fit them perfectly.

I also finished the beau’s Jafar hat! With my first attempt of making a felt hat- I am very pleased. I stitched up the sides with black embroidery thread and used two smaller side panels of felt to make the hat large enough. I had trouble finding a large center stone for the base of the feather, so I grouped multiple gems together instead. It looks kind of like a flower, which I was not going for at all. However, if I do find a large gem, I will be ripping those smaller ones off in a second.

Jafar Hat

The next pieces for these costumes are a red feather necklace for the parrot, which I will be doing a tutorial on in my next post, and a snake scepter out of polymer clay.

Enjoy and stay tuned!

The Early Bird

Halloween is slowly, but steadily, approaching and I refused to let it sneak up on me again this year! You can only pull of a bed sheet toga so many times before you become predictable.

This year I am going to be a parrot. Yes, a parrot. I will be creating this entire costume myself, as well!

Looks like fun, right?

The felt will be for the feathers and the glittery foam will be for a mask (beak). I also have some feathers, red t-shirt and ribbon there. I am still working out the details in my head, but construction should begin sooner rather than later. Why so soon? I am a lucky girl, lucky enough to have a certain boyfriend of mine to be Jafar for a matching costume set!

I will be making him a hat and a snake scepter after I finish my Iago costume.

Class has moved quickly from sauces to soups to vegetables and now tomorrow we will be making fettuccine alfredo! It is hard to believe that there are only two more weeks left of this semester. Everything moves so quickly it is hard to take the time to appreciate how much I’ve learned along the way, especially between full time work and full time school. A girl has got to sleep!

Why don’t I just leave some of these food pictures here for you to enjoy?

Lentil Salad with Vinaigrette

Pasta e’Fagioli

Braised Lettuce Rolls stuffed with bacon and breadcrumbs