Girls Emergency Kits--the day you save may be your own!

Imagine a scenario where you've been stuck out in the world with an ill-fitting shoe, a loose hem, chapped lips or a surprising visit from Aunt Flo. Oh wait, never mind--no woman needs to imagine such a thing, because it's happened to everyone! But now imagine this: what if you had a solution to every common hang nail, allergy attack and gaping button tucked away in an adorable little clutch that fits easily into your purse, but is cute and convenient enough to be the only bag you need?

The days of "Oh, if only I had a....!" are over! You can be the most prepared and put together chick in the room with your very own Girl's Emergency Kit, available now at stitchvixen.etsy.com.

Great as gifts, but totally indispensable for yourself too, the Emergency Kits come fully stocked with four bobby pins, four safety pins in two sizes, two band aids, two tampons, lip balm, an emery board, tissues, a pen, and even an emergency piece of chocolate! All this in a variety of hip, cute and funny designs. Buy one today for only $22.95!

All this could be in your possession..imagine the possibilities!

1,001 Craft NIghts

For while back in the mid aughts, I hosted a series of parties that served a number of fantastic purposes for me: I'd invite great friends over for hang outs, I'd get to teach people about art and crafts, and I'd get to make stuff, which was what I'd be doing otherwise anyway. I hosted a bi-weekly Craft Night, and we alternated between learning and making a new craft, and an "open craft" format so people could bring knitting projects, sketch books, whatever they wanted, and just hang out and make things.

The best part about it though was that people came for the crafts, but they stayed for the great parties that came about when friends got together. Sometimes our crafts would be a great hit and people would stay for hours inspired to finish whatever they were working on. Sometimes we'd mess around with an idea for a while, and then spend the rest of the night watching weird stuff on the internet or making fun of each other. Not everyone who came wanted to do an activity, but everyone felt comfortable.

Friends would bring drinks and snacks, and I would provide the materials for each new craft we learned. I had fun planning ahead and researching our new projects, and loved to tie them into the seasons. We made yarn creatures for Easter, carved pumpkins for Halloween, and made Christmas cards in December.

Since we would usually have a broad range of experience among our participants, I would try to keep it simple and open to artistic expression. Planning a craft that was too time or labor-intensive would often mean people who weren't confident wouldn't try, and most people who did wouldn't finish their project by the end of the night, and that's kind of a bummer. You also want to make sure you have enough critical tools for everyone to share--if your project requires exacto knives or glue sticks, you'll definitely need more than one so people don't get hung up waiting their turn.

We made things like Artist Trading Cards, small, tradeable collages that represent the maker. We Started out with cardstock cards cut into rectangles of 4" by 3". Using magazines, old art books, small sketches and even photocopies from other sources, we'd select images that represent our personalities or a particular idea. You practice laying them out in a way that makes a shape or tells a story that you like before glueing anything down, then once you have the design you like, use a glue stick to secure your pictures. Once it's all assembled, I'd recommend sealing your collage with a clear lacquer like Mod Podge to keep everything down and looking shiny.

I was in the middle of a baby-crazy phase at the time. Don't ask.

Space was sometimes an issue, since I was living in a small two-bedroom duplex with my sister and boyfriend for most of our Craft Nights. We luckily had a lot of counter space, and it was just as likely that some people were just there to hang out anyway, so didn't necessarily have to account for everybody.

Sometimes though, we did have to get pretty creative with space. One fall we'd planned to have a pumpkin carving party on our back patio, but as it so often happens in Oregon, it rained. Friends still showed up, toting their pumpkins, so we laid tarps out on the living room floor held down with all manners of soup pots, buckets and garbage bags to collect pumpkin guts. We managed to carve eight or nine pumpkins inside and didn't stain the carpet!

Another fun and easy craft is the Potato Self. Everyone brings their own potato, and I would provide a selection of fabric scraps for clothes, yarn for hair, colored markers for facial details, Popsicle sticks for arms, buttons or other little craft items for eyes and details, and a hot glue gun for adhesiveness.A measuring tape is also helpful to make sure you cut out clothes that will fit your potato. In the next couple of weeks I'll publish a tutorial on how to make these adorable potato people!

Spitting image, I dare say.

Craft Night was a big hit for a good couple of years, but after I while I got busy, or lazy or something, and they sort of tapered off. I've thought about the idea of hosting Craft Nights again, or shaking it up a bit and hosting a Saturday Crafternoon one of these days. It's a great way to get people together in the darker months, and as the calendar is insisting on reminding us, nearly over. What an awesome occasion to gather your friends together for beers, hot glue, pliers, glitter and good times!

Rescue Post!

Holy crap, I'm a terrible blogger. Well, that's not fair--I bet you I could be an A#1 blogger if I wasn't also working full time/going to school part time/trying to start a business from home--but as it is, I am letting the blog go neglected, and that bums me out! I apologize for being inconsistent with this blogging project, and I want you to know it is definitely still a priority to me, but I can't keep up with a commitment to make regular posts and contributions until some changes take place in the next month and my time opens up. In the meantime, however, I am compiling stories, crafts, photos, recipes, and even jotting down a few draft posts to go FULL LAUNCH with the La Vie Celebre! blog in early fall. I'll have so much to share with you, you guys! It's gonna be awesome.

In the meantime: I want to share with you one of my favorite low-fat substitution desserts that is easy as pie (or in this case, cake) to make, and gives you the satisfaction of the original with like, 10% of the fat. (all math listed here is somewhere between an estimation and an exaggeration, fyi.)

Graham cracker cheesecake snacks

I love cheesecake. Who doesn't love cheesecake? I used to work at a Barnes and Noble bookstore that had a full cafe in it, and featured big slabs of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, and I would inevitably use my employee discount to purchase far more creamy, sugary, fatty deliciousness than one should really eat on a regular basis. Once I started my weight loss journey that obviously had to be a big change for me, but I knew I'd still WANT the cheesecake--and if there was nothing else readily available and comparatively tasty, I'd end up eating it, feeling guilty, discouraged etc, and stay fat.

I think the reason why a lot of people don't succeed at weight loss (and then feel bad about it) is that on the surface we're just asked to give up certain foods that any logical person could tell you prohibits weight loss, but what we are actually required to give up is everything that goes along with the food--the emotional connections, the memory triggers, the textures and sensations of the food, and the social interactions, let alone the taste. So what I've tried to do as I worked off the weight, and have worked to keep off the weight, is think about substitutions not just in terms of ingredients and nutrition, but about textures, tastes and experiences as well.

Think about biting into a classic cherry cheesecake with a graham cracker crust: the sensations are cool, creamy, a little bit crumbly; the tastes are sweet, tangy, and rich. THAT's really what you're going for when you set in to eat a cheesecake, so if we can find a way to cut out the fat from all the cream cheese and all the added sugar, you can still feel like you're eating food you like, and enjoy all the happy feelings that go with that! And also: it's so, so simple and cheap!

Obviously, if you were entertaining or hoping to have a cheesecake substitute for a holiday or celebration, we would want to look for another solution that had a better presentation factor, but as far as a personal snack or dessert goes, this one is a winner:

Two full-size graham crackers (reduced fat if you're will to pay extra, which I am not)

two tablespoons (one serving size) of Weight Watchers whipped cream cheese

one tablespoon of your choice of jam--I like cherry, but blueberry, strawberry and raspberry all work great too

1/8 tsp sugar

a dash of cinnamon

You can probably see where I'm going with thism but the first step is sort of a weird one: put the graham crackers in the microwave for about 10 seconds. This will help reduce the obvious "cracker"ness of them, and make them more like a pie crust.

Then I break the graham crackers up into quarters along the perforation, and spread the cream cheese evenly over each of the segments. You'll be surprised by how far 2 tablespoons can stretch!

Then I sprinkle each one with a dusting of the sugar and cinnamon, and add a dollop of jam to each cracker. Voila! Instant, affordable, and very low fat dessert option! I still go by the old weight watchers system (they've revamped their points plan and since I'm not a member I don't have access to their new formula) and the original calculation for this snack would only be 3 points!

This particular recipe is great as a late night snack with hot tea or cocoa. Enjoy! And stay tuned, La Vie Celebre! will continue..it'll just be a pleasant surprise when I update, until my schedule gets regulated. Thanks for reading!