aaaaaand D-O-N-E!

Yesterday I posted the photos of a cool beach bag I made as a Christmas gift for my friend Chivi. I promise myself I'd made one for me.... and I did!!!! I'm so proud! That was even quicker than I expected!

I have to say though, I do like hers a little better. I couldn't remember the exact dimensions, so I kinda did whatever seemed to look good, which turned out to look okay, but not awesome. Anyways... here it is!

Beach bags make great Christmas gifts!

Christmas is here - well, at this point, it was... And it's gone!

We're not big on Christmas gifts, not even between the two of us. In general, we either take a small trip or give each other silly things. I do have one friend, Chivi, that always gets me something. Nothing fancy or huge, but a little something. So she is the one person that receives a "little something" from me every Christmas/birthday/etc.

This year, couple of days short of the big day, I realized I had no gift for her! I sort of panicked, and run to the mall. Ho-ly-cow! Mall on December 23rd = madness! So many people running around, just buying crap. Not going to play the 'crazy Argentinian socialist' card here, but all that consumerism turned me completely off...

Luckily, the one store that was almost empty was the fabric store! Naturally, I jumped in (figuratively... I didn't really jump, that would have been weird) and got a couple of yards of a super cool canvas-like fabric. Something was going to come to my mind in between the store and my house, and I had exactly one day to make it and get it to her before Christmas eve.

Thinking about my friend, and her needs and likes, I remembered I gave her (she took) one of my beach bags. It was old when she took it, and several years and a lot of beach time later, it was in great need of a replacement.

So that's what I made. A beach bag. Thinking of her, for her. :)

And here's the final product:

Straps were made out of a piece of strap I saved from a West Elm package

It has an inner pocket and all!!

I'm not gonna lie... I really really liked it, and I am also in need of a new beach bag (mine lost one of the straps a couple of days ago, and it's still sitting there, waiting to be sewn). It will happen soon. I.promise.that.to.myself.

Yoga

Long time ago, when I was still living in Argentina, I started doing yoga.

It started as a social meeting; once a week, a bunch of friends and a yoga instructor, getting together in a house. We all enjoyed it very much, and did it for almost two years. Sergio, our instructor, was an awesome dude. He would bring a lot of different options for us to choose: straps, blocks, balls, sticks.... and then, he would ask: lazy yoga? power yoga? hangover yoga? He was cool with whatever we would wanted to do that particular day. It was super fun!

When I moved to Maui, I tried keeping my "yogi" momentum going so I started a real yoga class. It wasn't what I was used to... So professional and serious and boring. I quit after a few classes. I longed that home yoga class, the friends, the homy feeling, the "I do what I want without feeling judged".

A few years passed before I realized I could still have my own home yoga. This time, no friends, no hangovers (for the most part) and no Sergio. But I was ready to go back to the commitment of doing it every week. I bought a real yoga mat (never had one of my own until that moment), found some Youtube yoga videos, and soon enough I was, once again, all in.

To my own surprise, the weekly yoga class soon turned into a daily practice. My husband got really into it as well, so we wake up early, set up our "studio" (move furniture, set up mats, blocks, straps) and turn the video on. We found the way to do it without the hassle of going to a class full of sweaty people, heavy breathings and weird noises.

Matt prefers the super active stuff. Lots of strength, lots of planks, lots of holding posses. He follows Tim for the most part. Check him out; that guy is insane! I can't really stick to it, too much for me. I like Adriene better, even though she tends to talk to much, her classes are gentle and easier for me.

I highly recommend the morning yoga video she has. It's quite old, but oh so yummy! It's always nice going back to it when you feel kinda out of it. It's a great 'come-back-to-yoga' practice... It makes me smile, every time. And it reminds me why I stick to yoga: it makes you feel good.

Yoga with Adriene - Morning Yoga

Lazy Saturday = Little Zipper Pouch

It's been a long while since last time I wrote anything here... Life's been insane this last year. I went back to school - that should say it all. A big part of my life it's completely taken by reading, writing, preparing classes, grading papers and thinking (a lot of thinking). But I have to admit it: I absolutely love it. Even though there are good and bad times (more on that maybe in a different post), overall I'm having an amazing time. And on top of that, it just feels right...

Back to what this un-eventful Saturday has brought: sewing. I haven't sewn for almost a year now. I started a pair of pants that never finished and that's pretty much all the sewing I've done (with the exception of occasional birdies that I still make when somebody orders through my Etsy Shop). So, since today I had no motivation to actually work (i.e.: more reading, more writing, more grant seeking, etc), I decided to create something new. That's something that always cheers me up when I feel lazy ;)

I had no idea what to make, and because I wanted to actually finish whatever I started, I thought of a little zipper pouch. Small project, not a lot of time or thinking, a few materials... exactly what I was looking for! So I did it, and here it is:

It turned out okay, with minor hiccups, but cute overall. I'm happy with my new pouch. I'm happy with my Saturday.

See ya next post!

When life gives you lemons...

A week ago, I run into my landlord. As usual, she asks how everything in the apartment is going and if there's anything we need. She's naturally caring and is always looking after us. Such a nice swedish lady!

They - her, her husband and three kids - live not far from where we are and have a small vegetable garden. Maui weather allows it to keep producing all year long and although small, that garden gives enough produce for them, and to share with us. That's where we come to "save" them! Ha! Every now and then, we stop by and get a mix of the best organic produce: tomatoes, chard, beets, onions, carrots, all kinds of herbs...

In her front yard, they have this huge (I mean enormous!) lemon tree that doesn't stop producing fruit! I've never seen anything like it. Bringing two full bags of them was the least we could do for them.

So, what to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon with some time to spare and a whole bunch of lemons? Naturally! Lemon pound cake! I kinda follow a recipe I found here, but I sub the all-purpose flour for a rice-whole wheat-spelt flour blend (gotta use what you have!).

The three lemons that were sacrificed

The end result :)

It turned out pretty awesome, and my apartment ended up smelling amazing! :)

Happy Sunday!

S

Pillow Cases!

It's been a while since my last post! I haven't been doing much since then, but I always manage to do a little thing here and there... ;)

Holly (Matt's mom) sent me some fabric from Maine and the pieces were so ridiculously cute, I made these pillow cases for our living room. They're super colorful and give our wood-filled living room some life! They are the envelope type, super easy to make!! You all should definitely try to do it yourself.

(Disclaimer: We are currently living in an apartment where the light is not the best of the best for photos, and I don't love to spend too much time re-touching them. Anyways, it is what it is..)

(This one went back to Maine, as a gift for our niece Cora) :)

Quick and Easy

I had a minute before stepping outside to get some cool air (cool meaning not too hot - summer in Hawaii is not a joke) so I decided to do something quick... A few materials that I had from previous projects, a couple of photos that were never "qualified" to be up in the wall and some minutes to spare... Nothing special, just a quicky. ;)

Hope you liked it and DIY. Now, out to da beach!

Aloha!

Great Quote + Some Paint + Time = New Pillow

Hi there again!

I'm not big on quotes, but lately came across a couple a really liked. I found this one by Theodore Roosevelt some time ago and wanted to do something with it. So I did :)

The arrows just came randomly. Basically they were the first thing that came to my mind when I had the white fabric and black paint in front of me. I had no stencils, but I did have masking tape! Cut some pieces and voila! Arrows!!

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are"
T. Roosevelt

Hope you liked it!

Aloha!

File Cabinet Revival

I've been thinking on doing this project for a while... And I finally did it! Ahhhhh..... Again that sense of accomplishment. I love it!

I'm in Maui, so finding old cheap furniture to work with is not easy. Garage sales, Craigslist, used furniture stores, even Salvation Army... All so expensive compared to the US mainland!!! But I guess we gotta work with what we have, so I decided to overpay for an old used dirty file cabinet I found on CL. Oh well...

It is my first "before and after" project. More like a face lift than a full transformation. Easy, kinda quick, and not a whole lotta work involved. Just paint, sand, paint, sand, paint. And here it is. Hopefully I can pin down my landlady and get a piece of wood she claims she has to convert this cabinet into a desk (or a part of it). If that happens (not if!! when, WHEN!), I'll be posting photos of the finished project. Stay tuned!

Before

After :)

Wall Art Intervention - Part I: The Bathroom

Matt and I just moved to a new house, which to my eyes, means opportunity to re-decorate! Ha! The down side is, we are renting. And when you rent there are projects that are off limits. But as I heard Alice Cooper saying in the radio* yesterday "Instead of thinking what is the worst part of the situation, think about what the best part is".

My first quick and easy move was to change the wall art. Maui's rental properties are characterized by a whole bunch of cra**y tropical style. This includes: furniture (a looooot of wicker!), prints (both in furniture and walls) and fake interior plants -as if the enormous amount of real plants outside wasn't enough! Anyways, since our landlord was adamant that "what is IN the unit, stays IN the unit", there isn't much I can do about the fake flora... I guess we will have to learn to live together. What I did do was taking out all the "wall decor" and start putting up my own style. I started with the easiest, least ambitious of all rooms: the bathroom. 

On the first wall, next to the mirror, I put two strips from the Argentinian artist, Liniers. He has a very sweet style, his drawings are exquisite and his lines are simple yet profound. I absolutely love his work (and that's why it's in my bathroom? : / Sorry!). On the other wall I put together a photo series that I found looking through my mom's old pictures' box. It's from around 1970, when my dad was in Veterinary School in Buenos Aires. To me, not only has sentimental value, but also a great sense of style. If you follow the story, these vet students are catching a cow, and after the action, they are all relaxing... I set the pictures in two pieces of wood I found, following the storyline. The third wall has a photo I bought in one of my visits to Buenos Aires, several years ago. I was already living in Maui at that time, so something that it was totally normal to me as this "Buenos Aires sky", turned to be a great image I cherish. The image belongs to an Argentinian photographer, Agustin Del Rio (Unfortunately he doesn't have a website and couldn't even find it on Google).

As everything, it's still a work in progress. It will need a couple of weeks to settle, and some more changes to the rest of the details (shower curtain is screaming for an urgent intervention!). But for now, this is my bathroom:

Liniers strips

Vet School series

"La Terraza de mi Casa" by Agustin Del Rio

Hope you all have a nice week!

Sofi

*Yes! Alice Cooper, the legendary rock singer has a radio show in Maui. Check nightswithalicecooper.com

Quick Update - Birdies

After some time making birdies and thinking of different ways to set them in the branches, I came up with this one:

It's basically the same idea but they are hanging from two branches that spin (more like a classic baby mobile). I loved it, and thought it would be nice to share it. :)

Have a great day!

Sofi

My version of the trendy pallet coffee table

I've been seeing it everywhere (Pinterest, magazines, blogs, etc), and I love it: furniture made of wooden pallets. From patio chairs to vertical gardens, from shelves to desks and tables... If you can imagine it, you can do it with pallets! So I did.

It started some time ago and I have to be honest, it took me forever to finish it! Not because it's too complicated, or it has multiple steps, it was, I guess, just laziness. Oops! Anyways, I finally made it. And even took photos of it. I got the pallets from the local grocery store, where I politely ask the manager for one and he politely told me "grab as many as you need, girl". Then, a quick stop at Home Depot with Matt, to get power tools!! Our own set! (and we're soooo happy about that). Circular saw, drill and sander, just to start. To finish it, I "borrowed" some paint from our landlord, bought 4'' wheels and voila!

The idea was to make a very short coffee table (as seen here), but turned not to be too comfy as a feet rest ;) So I decided to make a second run to the grocery store, pick up another pallet and stack 'em. Having two pallets also gave it a sort of shelf, where I display some books and my shot glass collection from around the world, courtesy of my dear group of College friends.

Here is the final product:

Well, after all this time and effort, I think it was all worth it. I'm very happy with the final result and, one more time, the feeling that you have after finishing a project like this is AMAZING! Starting with nothing and then, boom! you have a coffee table! Bliss...

Have a great week!

Sofi

The come back project

So, after a couple of weeks trying to get everything I needed for the project, I finally did. Got the wood, the paint, the knobs, the drill and last (but certainly not least!) the drill bits! With all the materials in hand, I finished the first 2012 Maui project.

It's an easy one I found online and said to myself "I love it. It's easy, pretty and I won't need to spend much in materials. I'm going to do it". So here it is:

I have it right next to my front door, so as soon as I get home I can hang everything in there and get no complaints from the other part of the team that lives in this apartment (aka: my husband). I hope you like it and this give you some encouragement to do it yourselves!

Aloha!

Sofi

aaaand..... I'm back!

Hello! After some months -actually closer to a year- of being away, we're finally back! We can say we tried the mainland for some months and we decided to come back to Maui. Even though neither of us were born or raised here, and our respective hometowns -city for me (and what a city!)- are very different from each other and to this island, we feel an un-explicable 'homey' vibe in this place.

So here we are again, ready to stay for a while. Or not. Whatever. But one thing is for sure: we're stress-free, enjoying every minute of the day, having fun with friends, and still not believing how lucky we are we live in paradise.

Three little birds

"Don't worry about a thing,
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin': "Don't worry about a thing,
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right!"

Rise up this mornin',
Smiled with the risin' sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin' sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin', ("This is my message to you-ou-ou:")

                    Bob Marley, Three Little Birds


There's a beach very close to our house -probably 5min away- we like to go. Waves are not big, and it's quite windy, that's why even though its real name is Ironwoods, we all know it as "Shitties". It's quiet and for whatever reason not a lot of people hang out there, so naturally, we do. White sand, lots of green in the background, some huge houses in the back -all of 'em empty!- and tons of drift wood. It's just amazing! There's something about this wood that I truly love. I'm not sure what it is; might be its softness? Or it's clear-almost-white color? Perhaps its story? Who knows how long ago that piece of wood was part of a live tree, or how long it's been "swimming" in the ocean and where it's been. I don't know, I just love it! And of course I wanted to use it.

I found great website, spoolsewing.com where they have a free pattern for cute birds. Following the pattern, and adding my own touch I ended up with these mobiles. I made the birds with 100% cotton, filled them with Polyfiber and glued them onto little pieces of Maui drift wood. They are simple and colorful, and can turn a regular room into a fun, full of life space. They can be hung in almost every room of the house and would make an awesome baby shower gift or a great excuse to upbeat your special corner. So far I made a two, three, five and an eleven birds mobile, but there's no limit on how many birds you can have.

I have made more than a couple, and given them away to family and friends; these birds now live in Buenos Aires, in Maui, in Maine and in Canada and for what I've been told, babies absolutely love them! According to my friend Chachi, "I set it just above where I place Simon when I change his diapers; he just stays totally still, absorbed, staring at how the birds spin".

I wonder where will be their next home?

Two Birds

 Three Birds

 Five Birds

Detailed branch from Five Birds 

 Detailed Bird

Where almost all the drift wood comes from

(sometimes I pick ramdom wood I find elsewhere)

Let's make the change!

Do you know how many coffee cup sleeves you use per year??? It's easy, if you drink a coffee a day (at least) when you're going to your work.. another one after lunch maybe? Being conservative, you have two right there... multiple it for the amount of days you work in a year, around 220 days (if you are the lucky one that takes 1 month vacation) you're already in 440 cups plus 440 cup sleeve in one year. Sounds like a lot of trash, awh? It is.

Sometimes we think about this and try to bring our own mug to the coffee store, but someone can say it's inconvenient, or it's big, or we forget, and so on. But there's something else we can do: take the sleeve out of the problem. It's not everything but it could be our little contribution. And most of the times, it's better to do something small than nothing at all. Doing some quick online research I found that cup sleeves make 2.8 billion pounds of waste each year; that sounded way too much trash that we can easily avoid by reusing the sleeve.

I think a good way to do anything you have to do is to make it fun. That's why I'm making these cute coffee cup sleeves that you can carry in your purse, leave it in your car, have it at work, slide it in between paper stacks, etc. They are all hand made with 100% cotton and have a Velcro closure, so they fit easily in 12oz, 16oz and 20oz cups. Some are made of printed canvas and some others are made from a thinner cotton and have also a layer of an insulate material so you don't burn your hand (the canvas' ones don't need it).

Email me if you'd like to help the cause by using one of these, or if you'd like to give it to someone special and spread the word.

         

My first blog

So, here we are... Finally trying to make this happen. I honestly don't know much about blogging, or even writing -specially because, as everybody knows, English is not my first language- but here we go.

My name is Sofia, I'm from Buenos Aires and I've been living in Maui with my husband, Matt, for the last three years. Even though this is not my country nor my hometown, I love it here as though it were both. We got married here, we play here, we work here, we go out on vacation from here, we invite friends and family here, we struggle here, we are homesick sometimes.. we live Maui in every possible way. And we are making it work, always having fun.

A while ago I bought a used sewing machine and start sewing small things for us. First some pillow cases, then a little pouch, stuffed animals for my niece and nephew, a pair of pants for me... I love to sew, is so relaxing and fun! And the most important thing, after you're done, you have something that didn't exist before. Seeing that all my production had had a great acceptance, I decided to start selling it. I will be posting everything I do so you can see it and eventually, buy it. I also will have as much as I can published on Etsy.com (www.sofidelasota.etsy.com), so people I don't know can enjoy it as well.

This is the first of a long series of postings filled with nice hand made stuff; I hope you enjoy it and look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Aloha!