OCH 3.0

020614_iphone_0197

Dear Readers,

You may have noticed that OCH has been offline for awhile. I came to the conclusion in January that it was time for a change both esthetically and in what I share here.

What started purely as a home improvement story has slow changed incorporating crafts, recipes and stories about our daily lives. This has been a welcome change and I realized it was time to make this shift more intentional with a complete rebranding. I hope you will love this change as much as I do.

New Look

OCH New Homepage

The first thing you will notice is the brand new look of the website. I wanted something that looked more like our home and just have a bit more personality.

OCHheader_031114

You will notice my navigation has changed to reflect the type of posts I plan to share. I hope to spend a little time each week writing about projects around the house, my creative pursuits, what inspires me, what I am making in the kitchen, our life and of course cats.

Category Pages

OCHarchiveshot_031114

Each category page has a brand new grid format that’s super easy to scan and locate old projects.

OCHweddingshot_031114

Under the life & cats page you will find our wedding archive. Last year was completely dominated by the wedding and it took a lot out of me in the best way. I put my all in and I still have a few stories to tell about that process because I believe it was transformative for me in a bunch of interesting ways. I want to remember that, so I will share it here. I also want to write about our wedding budget since I feel money is often glossed over and I know for me – I liked to learn the details about what others did.

Weekly Newsletter

I have also redesigned my email newsletter. I used to have a subscription email that went out immediately after I posted something new. I’ve decided to switch this up into a weekly formatted digest on Friday afternoons. I will be including some original content in the newsletter as well, so if you are interested you can sign up in the sidebar.

Design Work

I will also relaunched my design business Andrea Zoe Designs. My website will launch later this month. I will be offering webpage design plus wedding stationery and prints. Expect a full write up and shiny new button in the sidebar soon.

Overall, I am very excited by this redesign. I hope it will be a better representation of me.

In celebration of the relaunch, I will be posting everyday this week.  So enjoy your St. Patty’s Day and I’ll see you back here tomorrow.

Thanks for reading,
Andrea

DIY Painted Planner

DIY Painted Planner

Ever get inspired in an office supply store? I love wandering around and being inspired by all the supplies. Well on my last trip, I picked up two clearance agenda planners that spoke to my inner artgirl.

DIY Painted Planner

Marked down to $9.00, I picked up two of these executive looking planners with the intention of painting them and turning one into a notebook and the other into my 2014 agenda calendar.

DIY Painted Planner

What I did

1. Created a blank canvas. Using my fabric paint (which is your basic acrylic paint with a textile medium to make it soft and pliable) I painted the nylon white. It took three thin coats to get a nice opaque white.

2. Add pattern. For my first planner I decided to go monotone. I reproduced my signature herringbone stripes with a Sharpie. First, I marked out the stripes with a ruler and then just free-handed the stripes.

3. Add color. After My first design was an epic fail on planner #2 (think thick red stripes), so I painted over it and then went with a more subtle approach. Bubblegum pink stripes decorated with a diagonal repeating pattern. which I painted on with a white paint pen.

4. Seal them. When both planners were was dry, I covered them each with an acrylic varnish to seal and protect the paint. Once dry I took them to work to test out.

Now it’s just a matter of testing out the durability. I plan on reporting back to show you how they are fair later this spring, but after a week of use they still are looking good.

Make this! Green Soup

Make This! Green Soup

Today I start a new little feature called “make this!” where I write about what I am loving. When I am a little worn out or just off (like from adjusting back to a work schedule), I make this soup.

It’s got so many great-for-you ingredients and it tastes divine. I’ve made it countless times for dinner, get-togethers and just because I crave it.

This green soup recipe I use is from 101 Cookbooks that was adapted from Anna Thomas’s Love Soup Cookbook. The only thing I did differently is add two sweet potatoes and kale instead of spinach.

Green Soup

  • 1 large onion
  • olive oil
  • 2 sweet potatoes
  • 1 leek (white and light green parts)
  • 1 bunch of kale
  • 1 bunch chard (pick green chard if you truly want a green soup. Rainbow chard will turn the soup a lovely red)
  • 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh ginger
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 4 cups of water
  • Salt and pepper

Green Soup: How to

1. Chop up your onion and sauté it with olive oil on a low heat for 20-30 minutes until it caramelizes.

2. Peel and chop two sweet potatoes.

3. Add four cups of water to a pot.

4. Add your chopped sweet potatoes and a little salt. Bring to a boil.

Green Soup: How to

5. Wash your leek, chard and kale. Leeks have to be washed really well to remove any sediment.

6. Chop the veggies and ginger up. For the chard, slice out the stalks and chop them fine. They take longer to cook.

7. Add the veggies to the pot with a little salt. Cover and cook for 30 minutes. Add the vegetable broth to the pot and Add the onions when nice and caramelized.

8. Squeeze the juice of one lemon in thee soup before serving. Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy with a nice hunk of break.

*****

I hope you try this next time you feel a cold coming or just want a hearty, good-for-you soup. Enjoy!