• Home
  • shop
  • Illustration Portfolio
  • About
  • My Books

Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

Summer Goodness

August 14, 2013

Does anything say summer more than snow cones and shaved ice? OK, if you live in Oceania, they probably say winter to you, but we’ve been enjoying icy goodness a lot lately.

K got this little snow cone maker along with three syrup flavors as a birthday gift from a friend and this has been a huge hit. It’s such a good idea that I wanted to include it here as a reminder for future summer gifts (I’ve seen these on sale – the listed price on that link seems a touch high). The machine is quite small at about 10 inches high, and the diminutive size adds to its charm. The wheels are purely for decoration, though K tried to wheel it initially just for kicks. All you need to do is fill it with ice and press the big pink button on top. Shaved ice instantly spews out. I used to have a hand-crank model, and this is so much better.

I want to explore making natural, less sugar-rush-inducing syrups though. These are as artificial as it gets, though they’re fun and pretty (except when I tried to get photos of the red syrup snaking its way through the shaved ice, it looked disturbingly like blood).

Zebra approves. This is a wooden knife I got in Michigan because I thought it was so darling and wanted a memento from our trip. “Hand carved,” it declared on the tiny label. I assumed I was getting some local artisanal woodwork so I inquired about it at the register, and as the cashier handed me back my change, she smirked and said, “Yep, handmade in Kenya”. Oh well. I still like it.

Filed in: cooking • by sanae • 4 Comments

Comments

  1. Lucinda

    August 14, 2013 at 7:05 am

    what a great birthday gift idea! both my girls would LOVE one of these, as they are constantly making up concoctions together, some edible, some not:)

    Reply
    • sanae

      August 14, 2013 at 6:12 pm

      I love watching kids create “food”! K went to a cooking camp earlier this summer and absolutely loved it – they went to a pizzeria to learn how to make authentic pizzas and she was in seventh heaven!

      Reply
  2. Ute

    August 14, 2013 at 7:42 am

    Yum! I love making syrups, what a great idea to turn them into ice! This is a site that has some of my favorite recipes. It is a Geman site but the translation works pretty well:
    http://www.kuriositaetenladen.com/search/label/Sirup

    Reply
    • sanae

      August 14, 2013 at 6:20 pm

      Oh wow, those syrups look amazing (hazelnut, strawberry, mmmmmmm)!! Thanks Ute, I’ll definitely be trying these. I love how with the translation, there are certain words that just don’t have an English equivalent. There are lots of words in Japanese that I’ve never been able to translate well into English, come to think of it 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address below to get blog posts delivered to your in-box. I'll occasionally include fun digital goodies!

Order My New Book!!

Order My Latest Sewing Book!!

Archives

Categories

The word that incites terror in most newbie sewing The word that incites terror in most newbie sewing enthusiasts: zippers. Now that I have a few years of sewing under my belt I’m less cowed by them, but there’s something about long, separating zippers that still makes me nervous. I powered through, however, and made this versatile twill hooded jacket originating from a @patterncouture_ zip-up hoodie pattern meant for knit fabrics that I modified a lot. I blogged about it! Link in bio if you’d like to see the different versions I created. 

To skip zippers altogether and make a truly summery garment, swipe and check out my NEW @creativebug Tiered Dress class (link also in bio!). Back to sewing more hot weather stuff because I’m going to Japan for a special trip next week! 🇯🇵🇯🇵
Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2025 · Theme by Blog Pixie

© 2025 Sanae Ishida