Sorry for the hiatus! I was out of town June 25th-July 4th, and had no way of uploading anything to the blog! (And by out of town I mean, driving from the west coast all the way to the east coast!)

I have been trying to mix up my meal plan, so I’m not always eating tacos and homemade pizza. I tried a tomato-cream sauce via allrecipes.com. I changed my version slightly, because I am a lover of garlic.

Here is the recipe (with my modifications in bold):

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced 
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 tablespoon fresh basil leaves
• 3/4 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar (if you don’t want it too sweet.)

In a saucepan, saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Make sure it doesn’t burn. Add tomatoes, basil, sugar, oregano, salt and pepper into a blender and blend until consistency is slightly chunky. Pour blender mixture into saucepan. Bring to boil and continue to boil 5 minutes or until most of the liquid evaporates. Remove from heat; stir in whipping cream and butter. Reduce heat and simmer 5 more minutes. Add red wine vinegar, to neutralize sweetness if desired.

Pour over or toss with cooked pasta. Grade plenty of parmesan cheese and dress it up with a fresh basil leaf on top.

If you want to try the original instead click: HERE.

Last summer I made a neon dress, (tutorial: here) and I since have been obsessed with anything neon.  I love how tan it makes you look, and how a neon object can throw its color diffuse onto your white walls!

Here is a treasury with all sorts of neon items (I love love the cube rings!).  Enjoy!

‘Summer Neons’ by Laura Olphie

Bright colors, perfect for sunny days!

Rhinestone Friendship B… makunaima $19.90	Neon Flower Earrings, 8… VintageOoakDes… $6.50	Wooden Salad Bowl Set o… WindandWillowH… $149.00	Neon Hippie Statement B… lonkoosh $65.00
Turban Headband Neon Fl… BlueBirdsFlyBo… $24.00	Neon Bright Color Wood … NHartisan $6.00	Ampersand Screen Print … shopampersand $22.00	Vanilla – Smartphone ca… honeycrush $14.80
NEON Yellow Fly Earring… CreaShines $17.00	Set of 5 Neon Summer No… CookieBits $10.00	Ice Cream Sherbet Soap … AubreyEApothec… $7.95	Aqua Blue Sailor Nautic… REDbytina $4.99
Neon Braided Scarf / Ne… SIMPLEandBOLD $15.00	Lemon Sugar Cookie Lip … SakuraBathAndB… $3.50	5×7 STAR MOTEL Retro Ne… gandolphoto $15.00	Neon Green Peplum Dress… lipglossandbla… $75.00

PS Welcome everyone from Pinterest!

Hello World,

I finally tried freezer paper stenciling! It took me a while to actually find it in my town, but I finally found some, and it was about $6 a roll at Walmart.

It’s actually really easy to do too! This was really cheap for me because I nabbed this tank top at a thrift store for a whole $0.50.

Here is how you do it:

1.  Cut your freezer paper to your desired size.  Now either draw or print on the paper side, not the waxy side. (Only with an ink jet printer!  If you use a laser printer the freezer paper will bind with your printer and ruin it! I have a laser printer, so I went back to my elementary school skills and freehanded/traced an image with the use of a window.)

2.  Next place a piece of cardboard in between the front and back of your shirt. (This way the paint doesn’t seep through.)

3.  Iron the freezer paper, waxy side down on your shirt.  Make sure that all edges and small detail points are nice and stuck on.

4.  Paint onto your shirt with a sponge-like applicator brush.  (I mixed acrylic paint with Monotype base, which I had leftover from a printmaking class… I’m not exactly sure if it will last, but the bottle does say it is permanent. (Fabric paint or textile ink might be safer.))

5.  Do as many layers of paint until you are satisfied with the color payoff.

6.  Allow your paint to completely dry. I was impatient and took a blowdryer to it.

7.  Gently peel off your freezer paper, it should come off very easily.

8.  Iron your shirt to set the paint. Place a layer of plain cotton fabric between your shirt and the iron if you are worried about it sticking to your iron. Then allow to cool and enjoy!