girl scouts, eat your hearts out!

homemade 'wichcraft peanut butter cookies, originally uploaded by flanmela.

i am obsessed with quite a few things in NYC. many of my obsessions are found in bakeries all over the city. they run long and deep (i'm still pining over that amazing stollen i had from almondine four years ago...) i usually try to beat them into submission by spending months researching, baking , eating ....

some years ago (5? 6?), a good friend of ours gave me a little brown bag and told me that he had gotten these cookies from a new little sandwich shop, called 'wichcraft. there in lay bits and pieces of a peanut butter sandwich cookie that was amazing. amazing. it was in bits and pieces because it is such a delicate cookie, but its delicacy only adds to the experience -- it's both rich and dainty. and it's delicious.

now there are 'wichcrafts all over the city -- but none in brooklyn! time to take matters into my own hands. and the recipe i found was right on the money. a fabulous cookie.

primed and ready!

dollhouse, primed to be painted, originally uploaded by flanmela.

the exterior of the house is fully sanded and primed (well, not the shingles, but i don't think those need to be primed...) I've pinked out a color for the house (freudian slip that i let stand) and can't wait to get it looking less like a haunted house and more like a real doll house!

i've painted one side already and can tell you: it is no easy task! i have much respect for painters of REAL houses, and now, more so! it's hard, detail driven work. but i've given myself plenty of time (b-day is end of march) so i'm not feeling overwhelmed.

once the outside is done, i'll start playing with the interior!

well, enough chatting. i have approximately 1 hour before the afternoon rush begins. off to paint!

dream house, dreamy project

full front, originally uploaded by flanmela.

i bought my dream house last weekend. it's definitely a fixer upper, but it has great bones and once the renovation is done, it's going to be fabulous. i'll be giving it to my five-year old daughter on her birthday and i hope it'll be loved and used for a long, long time.

but in the meantime, i get to go *crazy* renovating it!! i've just bought some exterior paint and am experimenting with that now. i have grand plans for the interior --



including wall paper, new flooring and -- of course -- adorable, miniature furniture. there is an abundance of information and resources out there for making and renovating dollhouses (the likes of which, i never knew). the (lack of) limit to the number of things that can be obsessed over never ceases to amaze me!

oh, and the bulk of this renovation will be occurring (hopefully out of kids' sight) in our basement, thus making it a very appropriate subject for my "downstairs brooklyn" blog.

meanwhile, i'm off to finish the middle monster's "mulan dress". she is very thorough in her love of all dresses disney -- though she doesn't know who mulan is, she knows and wants the dress.

christmas pjs for the boys

IMG_0003, originally uploaded by flanmela.

well, at least one of them. the other boy wasn't around when i had the camera ready.

i do love these pjs -- they're oliver+s bedtime pjs, sized 3T in flannel. i have made the pants umpteen times before, but the top i had never made. extraordinarily simple to make, while being very, very cute and easy to wear! the only thing i would (and did) change on the pattern was the making of the ties (they basically had them as bias tape, double folded and stitched down; i would do a pull-through tie) and the attachment of the ties (they do it after the garment is complete; i would attach them in the seams).

otherwise, a fabulously adorable boy in his super scrumptious (or, as he would say: "de-LISH-shush") pjs.

tiered skirts are perfect for ...

back to school. this one's in liberty babycord.

tiered skirt in liberty babycord, originally uploaded by flanmela.

and this one is in echino. cute, comfy and easy.

Cute little Japanese open-backed tunic

Cute little Japanese open-backed tunic, originally uploaded by flanmela.

okay, so this is old (from this summer) but if i don't post about it, i'll forget i ever did it. it was a gift for the middle bug's best buddy. i hope i see her in it someday!

thanksgiving napkins

thanksgiving napkins, originally uploaded by flanmela.

i have discovered, since i began sewing, a very surprising fact: i love ironing. and this project is *the* project for ironing lovers!

i saw this post on purlbee awhile ago and promptly went out to my local fabric shop a bought 2 yds of linen and some fall-themed half yard pieces. it's taken me a while to actually do the sewing, but once i started, it only took 2 hrs to make the 10 napkins. here they are:

there is a lot of pressing, but i've discovered that i enjoy the pre-sewing process as much, if not more, than the sewing itself. and the results are really lovely. thanks, purlbee!