Stupid Easy Iced Tea

As a lover of caffeine and things-that-are-zero-calories-and-won't-give-me-cancer-but-are-still-sweet, tea is my go to beverage as an easy and delicious way to do something good for my body and energy levels.
Oh, and tastebuds. Mmmm... tea.
Combined with this avid love of tea is the love of not being uncomfortably hot and ICED TEA has become a daily drink for me in this unusually warm May (Mmmm... unusually warm May).

Stupid easy iced tea:
This "recipe" is just as it's name imply's, stupid easy. This is a simple way to make your tea iced in the same amount of time as it takes to steep.

Start with TWO glasses (a big one and a little one) and the tea you want to ice. If you aren't used to steeping your own tea I would recommend starting with fruity teas like this tropical green tea from DAVIDsTEA. If you are usually unsuccessful in steeping tea then opt for an herbal tea or a rooibos tea, because they don't have "tea" (camellia sinensis plant, which is what white, black, green, oolong and pu'erh tea's are made of) they won't go bitter when they're steeped too long or in water that's too hot... 

In order to not be seen as a tea snob for using loose tea and that lovely intro to tea steeping seminar, I want to add that it is just as easy to use plan ol' tea bags to make iced tea. Just use two. 

Quite clearly, I am not a nerd. 

The next step is to start steeping your tea in the small cup using only a cup or so of water. If you are using loose tea put in at least twice the amount of when you drink it hot. If you want to add sugar or anything do it now to the hot tea. 

Fill the large cup with ice all the way to the top. 

 Once your tea has steeped for it's normal amount of time carefully pour the one cup of super concentrated tea into the cup full of ice. A lot of the ice melts and once you mix it you end up with the perfect amount of ice cold tea without having to wait for it to chill

 See? Iced tea perfection... Mmmm. 

In other "tea related" news... cats like sitting beside tea shop bags, not inside them. Which, while it's cute, isn't really Instagram worthy... disappointment. 

What I've been up to...

Unfortunatley most of my creativity for the last few months has been taken up with school, so here's a few snapshots of the projects I've done there. Enjoy!

This is a WW2 inspired dress, I liked the combination of a feminine hourglass shape with the military style. It didn't turn out quite as I hoped, the waist isn't as cinched as I would have liked. 

The back of a dress made of paper mache and gold leaf for an "unconventional materials challenge" that my school does. 

This is the front of the paper mache dress, it was entered in a contest for the city of Edmonton which was a great experience. The dress is baroque inspired as I am a HUGE fan of history and because paper mache can keep a wide shape easily. 

Jacket that is inspired by the actress Emma Stone, turned out pretty much how I wanted it to (success!), I hope to wear it in the future (right now I'm terrified of ruining it before our "critique") 

"Time Machine" corset, my first foray into steampunk. This is probably my favorite project of the whole year not only because it turned out well but because it was very involved and I learned a lot of skills making it. The lights (hard to see in the picture but they line the top and bottom) were a challenge both to get a hold of (seriously, battery powered LED's should be easy to find) and to get into the corset. The clock on the top needed its own special pocket, I needed to learn how to age metal for the belts and how to rivet and grommet - SO MUCH FUN! I just wish I could wear it all the time :P. 

Looking at it all now it doesn't really seem like much, but I can tell you it seemed rather impossible at the time to get it all done. I suppose one project at a time is really key. That and to love what your doing enough that you really put your heart in it. 

KB. 

School project 1 (umm... technically 3, fist published :S)

Hey everybody, 

So just wanted to share some pictures of what I'm up to in school - currently studying to be in Fashion design :)! 

So: here goes! This is a blouse project... (sorry that the photo's aren't great - still learning!) 

The overall look, obviously better in 3D then lying flat :P 

The cool thing about this design is the double arm, something I want to include in a lot of designs. This is an exaggerated petal sleeve and a basic sleeve with an elongated cuff. 

The cuff has a lot of buttons... I LOVE the shape of the cuff :). 

You get it on by this keyhole in the back, held by some pretty frog clasps. I love the keyhole design as well. 

Hope you all like it! Definitely inspired by a dress that Liv Tyler wore in the Fellowship of the Ring, I'm usually inspired by elves (the tall, elegant sort, not the Santa's little helper/cookie baking variety). Had a lot of fun making this one :). 

It's beginning to taste a lot like Christmas...

Hey!
Welcome to the new blog :). This is just the basic and fun adventures of craftiness, cooking and creativity that I would love to share and hopefully inspire some people to make some great things!
Anyway, on with the blog!

Ahh, Christmas! Steeped in tradition and swimming with all of grandma's favorite cookie recipes Christmas is probably the time of year I'm most inspired to bake, cook or in anyway possible make very-unhealthy-treats-and-gain-20-pounds (all in the spirit!). Over the summer I experimented making  syrups and felt inclined to make a Christmas flavored syrup to be added to carbonated water to make Christmas soda! Mmmm...

So question 1, what does Christmas taste like?
I'm sure almost everyone has a different thought when they hear what does Christmas taste like (some of you are probably thinking "please don't make turkey soda, please don't make turkey soda!), but I do think there is at least one very basic flavor combination that's always affiliated with the Christmas season. Cranberries and Oranges! Mmmm...

And where would these delectable Christmas fruits be without their lovely holiday buddies: Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Cloves?

Mmmm, now onto the recipe! 

What you need: 

1 1/2 cup Water

1 1/2 cup Sugar (oh yeah!) 

1/2 cup Orange juice 

zest of 1 orange (note - this may add a bitter aftertaste to the syrup so if you don't want that just add the juice)

1 half a bag of Cranberries (probably 2-3 cups) 

2 teaspoons of cinnamon 

1 teaspoon of cloves 

pinch of nutmeg 

What you need to do: 

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and put over max heat till boiled and sugar is dissolved. 

Turn the heat down to a low setting and allow to simmer until the liquid is the consistency of a syrup. 

Looks good right? Now strain out the cranberries

Once that is done, you can make cranberry sauce by mashing the cranberries if you don't want to throw them out. 

Now you have Christmas syrup and cranberry sauce! Two recipes in one!! 

The possibilities for this syrup are probably infinite in the Christmas Universe, cake, icing, (ummm...)  there must be tons of drink possibilities too! I made Italian Soda's and they were DELICIOUS! 

So, drink up everyone and have a Merry Christmas!