BOW IT!

I took a pair of sleeves and made myself a bow.

Here we have a vintage blouse that I adopted when my mother wanted to get rid of it, but that I am - lets face it- most likely never going to wear:

Unless we procrastinate a bit on everything else I have on the to-do list and tweak this one a little bit.

Snip snap off with the sleeves we go!

In general (and this is a true generalisation), short sleeves work best for me. So if an item is not being worn often enough shortening its sleeves often helps for me. You have seen me turn sleeves into pockets before on a dress and immediately earn plus points (equals wear-points) but if you can't make pockets, make a bow - in this case we will pimp up this blouse to get a pussy bow by making a ribbon from the sleeves.

In order for you to tie it properly into a bow around your neck and not just a knot (which could be quite nice as well) you need the ribbon, or tie,  to be at least about 110cm. One could make the ribbons such that they are sewn to, and begin at the front sides of the shirt, in whic case they could be shorterBut I wanted mine to be sturdy and go around my neck.

Because the sleeves are not long enough by themselves to make the tie in one (or two) I put it together of four pieces, two narrower to meet under the collar in the neck, and two that widen towards the edges, to be tied into tbe bow. You can see the seams where I sew the pieces together when the ribbon is hanging like this but it won't show when it is tied into a bow.

Hem the sleeves and voila! The shirt got wear-me points again!

So I wore it right away. Here with a RubyLea-turban and an old Zara skirt from 2009 or '10 (that does not have stretch and that I really, truly do wonder how it is possible I can still button in the waist, as it seems few other items from, umm, pre 2014 or so can be fastened without a painful inhalation, and sometimes not even that helps. Sniff.).

DAG'S ROOM

At the end of last summer we renovated a room for Dag!

Ever since we moved out of the flat in the city to stay in the countryside permanently we have been living in a constant renovation state, or rather, the notion of a we-should-be-renovating state. Half of our downstairs still consists of a labyrinth of boxes, and while I knew this would be a slow process, it is driving me insane nontetheless. However, slowly but certainly we have managed to get some things done:  a year ago we turned what I had referred to as "the renovation hole" into a walk-in closet, and at the end of summer we finally got around fixing Dag a proper room!
(Earlier this year we renovated a room for Dag's older brother -the oldest boy has moved away from home to study already- and as late as then we finally also got proper electricity in this room; everything had been with extention chords there forever. We also got electricity to the walk-in closet and some chords and plugs in our bedroom corrected.  That one sure was a big moment of "finally"; phew!) 

Last July we emptied the old kids room; took out the plastic carpet from the 1980's, tore down the old wall paper and renewed the walls.

The old room was a pretty ok light blue but I wanted more warmth so the walls became a sunny light yellow. We lay in wooden floor boards.

Eddi and his father built a mini walk-in closet; I find it easier to decorate when you get more corners in big rooms. Plus big closets that go all the way to the ceiling are always a win storage-wize.
I painted the floor and for a moment of mind-slip almost managed to paint me in one of those handy corners. But just almost. 

Dag keeps all his dress-up items and ninja gear in his closet.

Ninjas are his thing, still. He likes to build them out of Hama-pearls and is pretty creative with them!

Most of his ninjas are in the form of Legos though. I got myself an old-school Dymo and have been labelling a lot of things around the house as I've been organising. Dag learned to read last year so he can help keep the order of his Spinjizus and those tiny tiny claw-hands. (Mind you, these here are the smallest special-pieces only. The amount of legos in the house, after three boys, is overwhelming.)

The castle poster is a vintage school poster that Dag got when he had his short fling with knights in between ninja-phases.

The table surface is the same the older boys had in Tapiola; the old kitchen top from that flat's original kitchen.

The bunny with a view on Jupiter lives next to the moon.
Facebook ads sure know how to sell me things.

There are still some small things to be done in here like a bookshelf and curtains (and, in this room as in all the others: taking out and painting those damn windows! That work will either suck to do, or cost sooo much to have done, I have no idea when it actually will ever happen)  - but otherwise we are on the winning side of this one already!

And every now and then there's a disco in here!

MANGO-LEMON VEGAN NO-BAKE CHEESECAKE

Lets start the week with some cake!

The other day I was a guest at a radio show where we talked about the usual things that I tend to visit various shows for, but also had some chit chat on different things, one of them being food.
But I can't really asnwer the question of weather I cook or not correctly. Perhaps a boring  'sometimes' is the right answer. Most of the time I just make what I can get away with quickly (and, as you may recall, due to how I work I most often buy something fast that I have in my car...sniff). But sometimes I do cook properly, and mainly tend to bake things. And I have a habit of not really following recipes, but rather get inspired by them, and often coming up with things myself.

So - here is a semi-raw, no-bake, vegan and  gluten free cheesecake without white sugar that I put together for Easter.

Ok, I know the above categories will make some go "blah" but for me the thing with making these "free of"-cakes is that they should be as yummy and sweet-tooth soothing as any so called conventional cake, and not a substitute. Plus, if it's breakfast worthy it's a bonus because, reaaaally, who would not want to have cake for breakfast?
(Ok, I actually know several weirdos who would answer with a 'not me' to that one but in my universe cake for breakfast equals awesomeness, mmmkay?)

The crust on this one is made with less nuts than usual for some variation, by using roasted buckwheat instead. I am normally not too fond of the taste of buckwheat, but when roasted it has pleasant taste and makes the crust more piquant.
The cake has a lemond curd-y layer in the middle, and a fruity cheese layer on top made with fabulous oat-based PåMackan cream cheese. (It's a great product; tastes just like the real thing!) If nuts are an issue you could try leave them out and use only sunflower seeds for the crust instead (in which case you might have to leave out the mid layer which is made mainly from cashews, or then make a lemon paste of something else). If this does not have to be vegan you can of course make the cheese out of regular Philadelpia or similar.  If the mango is very sweet itself you might not need any extra sweetener, depending on your preferences. I used some agave syrup. Coconut oil is used to firm the cheese filling, but sometimes I have made fillings using cocoa butter instead (but that is way more expensive and not something I have at home regularly).
The cake mold I use is 22cm, alas, if you want a higher creation then use a smaller mold.

Alright! As this is no-bake you'll manage without an oven. Apart from a kitchen mixer, here's what you will need:

For the crust -
1,5 dl  raw buckwheat
2,5 dl walnuts
1,5 dl sunflower seeds
175g dates (approx.), soaked for a while if dried and pressed
lemon zest
1 tbs oil

For the faux lemon curd paste-
4dl cashews
juice of 2 lemons
vanilla
sweetener of your choice

For the cheese filling -
1 mango
1 pack (150g) of På Mackan vegan cream cheese
a little lemon zest
sweetener of your choice
a dash of vanilla
2 tbs melted coconut oil

Dry-roast the buckwheat in a pan on mid-to high heat. Be careful not to burn them; move them around.

Put the buckwheat (I keep writing buckwhat. Like buck-WHAT? Haha) in the kitchen mixer and mix, adding first walnuts about a dl at a time and then the seeds, until you have a semi smooth texture. It's okay to leave a bit of crunch.

Add the dates (squeeze out excess water if you had them soaked) and mix, then the lemon zest and the oil. Press into a cake mold and put in the fridge while doing the rest.

Next step! Mix the cashews smooth, add the lemon juice, the vanilla, and a bit of sweetener. You will get a rather firm paste. Spread/press it out on the crust and put back into the fridge.

Time for the cheese filling! Mash the mango and mix it smooth with the cream cheese. Add the rest.
(At this point of the preparation I thought that my mind had fucked this up, because the luke warm mango-cheese mix did not taste good right our of the mixer. But fear not! It will be nice once it has cooled down!)

Pour the filling on the cake and put in the fridge for an hour or two (or freezer, if you want it quicker. Also, some decoration would porpably be nice, but I never got that far. Berries would be a good suggestion!). Then serve and enjoy!

Store in a sealed box if you don't eat all at once.

BLUE MONDAY

Lets end the week with some creative music playing. Or making.

Orkestra Obsolete play Blue Monday using 1930s instruments  (BBC Arts)

In Swedish there is actually a separate verb for playing and making music on an instrument, more in the sence of performing it or playing together: musicera, as can you say 'musisoida' in Finnish. One can refer to that as musicerande (kind of like something that someone or some people were occupied with, or "the music that they were making" as in the present particle of the word. < I had to look that term up, as it is after all almost 20 years since I last had grammar, erhm). But there does not seem to be an English equivalent for such a word... Briefly and totally non-academically based on how other words and endings are used (for example a demonstration of something - to demonstrate), I would make the word musicate up, but it already exists on the internet (not in Merriam Webster though) and means something else: to be absored in music. But well, why not:
Let's end this week with some creative musication shall we?

MAGIC DROPS

Lately I've let the foundations and powders (I usually use mineral powder foundation for everyday use) rest in my drawer and used only this - Lumene's Instant Glow Beauty Serum.

I had a friend praise it for magic a while back and tried a sample in the shop but didn't really get what it was about. But when I got a small bottle as part of a Christmas gift and actally tried it on my face instead of at the palm of my hand I realised it really does something.

Not sure what it that is, but it works. I't wont offer coverage nor fill out any fine wrinkles but it somehow makes things i.e. the face, look nice.

All in all I actually use less make up and skin care now when odler, than in my twenties. Or; less product. Part of it is age and convenience and (mainly) a different way to see yourself, part is propably also that I do a heavy stage make up often which calls for the face to rest. I do love make up and prefer strong lips (as you know) but unless it's a special day when I do a 30sec eyeliner* it's often just a quick base - now the serum - a bit of rouge (powder or creme) and the lips, fix my lashes and I'm done. In summer I plan to get extentions again and can skip the last step.

*) After twenty years of drawing the same shape it's almost an eyes-closed-thing. Although – the years along with gravity  is not making itself unnoticed and the usual shape needs to be altered a bit these days in order for the direction of the eyeliner wing to point up and not down. Sigh.

Disclaimer: As usual, nothing here is sponsored (unless specifically mentioned) and this is just my own opinion and will to recommend something. Altough I would gladly take a few years supply of this would anyone hand me.

HAPPILY EVER AFTER

You recently saw a couple of the photos we took with AskoJonathan Photography for my Happily Ever After-act.

Because behind-the-scenes photos always make things better here's the set up for the series.

A lot can be, and is done by photoshop, but the more you can put into the set organically the better.

So I had the other photoshootees of the day functioning as ground for my rose bushes. As one does.

Obviously the raw shots where there's a faun peeking out under my elbow are the best ones.

Here are some shots of how the actual act looks on stage -

photo: Bernhard Miettinen

photo: Minna Jerrman

photo: Bernhard Miettinen

It's my most Burton-esque act, that even though it begins eerie and sad, sort of a too-late Sleeping Beauty scenario, actually is rather humorous. In a tragicomic Burton kind of way. It started out as an idea for a quick Halloween act for our own event, where I wanted to dance with, what I first just planned as a ghost out of fabric, but then came up with - a skeleton (that you could see me craft on the kitchen floor in October...).  And then of course other things happen, as they tend to do in burlesque.

Some acts I plan for years before I start working with them practically, and some I work on for a year or years before they're out, but sometimes I get the idea and song on spot at once and can get practical right away, which was the case in this one. This act got to jump ahead in the queue (I usually have several acts in the making in one stage or another at once) and was stage ready in a month. Is is a lot of fun to perform (and my bony friend here has a great smile), even though the beginning got so sad I always get a little moved by it myself. Haha.

photo: Asko Jonathan Photography

And tonight it's on at the last ever Pirates Pleasures club: Witch Please!

Sail with me onto dark water at Wäiski!

BLACK CATS AND OLD EASTER DETAILS

Happy Easter!

Here is my little black cat on this year's Easter-ing tour (or whatever we shall decide to call it in English).

As our house still looks like shit I'll post some old pictures of how it looked this time of year back when it was stil nice.

Enjoy your chocolate!