Crafty Em

My name is Emma and I love everything crafty. Follow my adventures in canning, jamming, sewing and other DIY projects.

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Rosemary and Onion Focaccia

Every month, one of the teams I work on has a team lunch where we either choose a theme or a secret ingredient. This month's was Rosemary. I decided to make this rosemary focaccia recipe I found on Bon Appetit and then make a rosemary and garlic butter to accompany it. 

Recipe for the focaccia:

INGREDIENTS

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided, plus more

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour plus more

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt plus more

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves

Freshly ground black pepper

PREPARATION

Lightly oil a large bowl; set aside. Combine 1 3/4 cups flour, 1 1/2 tsp. salt, sugar, yeast, and 3/4 cup water in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on low speed for 5 minutes. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl. Increase speed to medium and mix for 6 minutes (dough will be very soft). Form dough into a ball. (Alternatively, vigorously stir ingredients to form a ragged dough. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Knead dough, sprinkling with flour by tablespoonfuls as necessary to prevent sticking, until smooth, 4–5 minutes. This will result in a denser bread than mixer method.) Transfer to prepared bowl. Cover; let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Chill overnight.

Brush a large rimmed baking sheet with 2 Tbsp. oil. Stretch and press dough on sheet into a rectangle slightly smaller than the sheet. Brush dough with remaining 2 Tbsp. oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap; let stand in a warm, draft-free area until dough has almost doubled in size, 1 1/2–2 hours.

Preheat oven to 500°. Remove plastic wrap and dimple dough with your fingertips. Scatter onion, rosemary, and oregano over dough; season with salt and pepper. Bake focaccia until golden brown, 10–15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature before slicing.

Butter Recipe:

This is painfully simple. I combined 1 stick of butter with a tablespoon of garlic and a tablespoon of rosemary (or to taste). I let the butter soften until very malleable, then mixed in the garlic and rosemary. After I was done, I wrapped the butter into a log in wax paper and refrigerated it. 

FYI: It was a huge hit. Enjoy!

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The Family Room

Since this room is where the TV and music is, I wanted it to be warm and comforting. Above the sofa hang photographs that my husband and I took while we were in collage (photojournalism majors). They are special to us, because we displayed these exact photos at our wedding as a gallery of our work. 

The family room has two really nice built-in corner cabinets. One serves as a home for all of our glassware (wine glasses, etc) but the other needed a design aesthetic. We have some many lovely family treasures and I wanted to display them in this cabinet; so it became a memory cabinet. Inside are old family photos, little knick-knacks my great-grandmother collected, antique porcelain and glassware, and my favorite: a wooden block with a picture of my father on it. He made it for his father as a father's day present and is carved "To Dad."

On the wall are these really cute illustrations of our dogs, Winston & Flash. (You can see more of them at their blog: http://giraffeandmonster.tumblr.com/). My sister had them done by the very talented April Kuhn.

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The Dining Room

We were gifted this gorgeous Nichols & Stone dining set for our wedding four years ago and it fit perfectly in our new dining room. To accentuate the room, I found new curtains at Marshalls just to add a little pattern. 

As a housewarming present, a friend gave us these adorable gold pig bookends from CB2. Ironically, I had purchased a set when I saw them just a few weeks prior. So now one of the gold pigs sits as a statue in the dining room window. 

There are some improvements planned for this room including a new lighting fixture and perhaps tearing down the wall that separates it from the kitchen to open up the space, so stay tuned. 

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The Living Room

I found these chairs on sale at Pottery Barn during Labor Day weekend. We needed more seating in the formal living room, but I wanted chairs because they allow for flexible seating arrangements. 

Then, while feeding my addiction to T.J Maxx and Marshalls, I found these teal, beaded pillows and Tahari home curtains. 

The result is a more formal seating area that has a light, airy but sophisticated feel. 

Bargain shopping for the win!

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A glowing back porch. We got these great lights at Target, Smith & Hawken brand, $24.99 per set. 

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Re-landscaping

Before the cold hit, we did a little re-landscaping outside. When we bought the house, there were large evergreen shrubs that really blocked off the front of the house. So we removed those and replaced them with Euonymus and daylillies. Euonymus are great small mounding shrubs that typically have either a white/green or yellow/green variegated leaves. It gives a little color variation to the front yard while not blocking off the front of the house. 

Second, there were a lot of legacy flowers and shrubs that were overgrown in the back. We cleared some out and put a few perennials including my favorite: Russian sage. Russian sage is a gorgeous, more unusual looking perennial that has very soft, almost white stems and lovely purple flowers that have a nice scent. They grow tall, so they provide the needed height in this bed. 

We have a lot more to do around the house, but it’s a start going into the winter. 

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It's been a while, and here's why: we bought a house! Now, prepare for lots of photos of decorating and maybe even some craftiness. 

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Stir until your arm falls off. Why do you think our Grandmas had such rockin' arms

- Crafty Em, Tips on Jam Making

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Photos | Picking Strawberries

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Homemade | Strawberry Basil Jam

With 14 pounds of beautiful, local strawberries, I decided it was high time to break in my new copper preserving pan and make some jam!

Strawberry basil jam that is. 

Ingredients:

14 pounds of strawberries

9 cups of sugar

4 lemons, juiced and zested

2 cups of chopped fresh basil

Directions

1. Sterilize jars and prepare lids

2. Put the berries, lemon juice, zest and sugar into a preserving pan, or a heavy bottomed saucepan. 

3. Bring to a boil and stir frequently. Continue to heat jam until it reaches approximately 220 degrees F or when jam passes the cold plate test.

4. Add in basil with 5 minutes left of cooking. 

5. Ladle hot jam into jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rims and threads, and close with lids.

6. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, then remove from water and let cool completely, 12 hours without moving.

Enjoy!

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Welcome to Pennsylvania Wine Country

A little promotional video I created while at Baltimore magazine. 

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Travel: A Weekend in Pennsylvania Wine Country

Go slow for baby grapes at Hauser Estate Winery

The deck at The Vineyard at Grandview

Downtown Harrisburg at Dusk

Pedestrian bridge in Harrisburg

Very old bottles at Allegro Vineyard

The Vineyard at Grandview

The Vineyard at Hershey

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Sewn | Felt Monsters

I found these adorable monsters on It's Always Autumn and fell in love. They are super easy and kids will love them. You can make it a project to do together also!

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Create | Graphic Baby Announcement

One of my oldest friends recently gave birth to an adorable baby boy. I wanted to make her a fun baby announcement that had all of his stats, etc.

Check it out:

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Baby blanket made with a pink minky fabric and elephant flannel.

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Sewn | Dog Bandanas

Materials:

1/2 yard of fabric

Coordinating color thread

Sew-on velcro

Sewing machine

Iron & ironing board

Directions:

Find some ridiculous adorably fabric for your pups.

Make yourself a pattern based on your dog's size.

Cut out the fabric according to your pattern and pin it with RIGHT sides facing. Stitch the sides together. You can leave the top of the triangle open. For the collar part, stitch three sides leaving one long side open.

Flip right side out and iron flat. For the collar portion, iron the rough sides under.

Insert the top of the triangle into the bottom of the collar portion. Stitch along the collar portion, sewing the triangle into the collar.

Sew on velcro on the opposing collar sides.

Let your dog's inner diva shine with their shiny new bandana!

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Sewn | Christmas Stockings

Materials:

Felt in two colors (I use red and white for women and green and white for men)

Matching thread

Ribbon or trim

Glitter fabric paint

Directions

Make a pattern of how you want your stocking to look

Cut felt according to your pattern

Sew along the edges and then trim

Cut a long strip and create a loop. Sew this to the inside of the stocking at the top to create a hanger.

Cut white felt and sew along the edges on the top

Hand sew ribbon or trim to the bottom of the white felt making sure to only attach the trim to the white portion. Do not sew through the whole stocking.

Write name on top with glitter fabric paint and let dry.