Curiouser and Curiouser

Handmade for Clark

2011-02-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

I have to share more of Rebecca's handiwork by posting this adorable ensemble she sewed for Clark. We love it!

Fruit Juice "Jell-O"

2011-02-15T12:07:00.003-07:00

Did you know that you can make jell-o out of fruit juices? It is a healthier dessert or snack for kids and adults. I bet kids would love them cut into cute, festive shapes and in a variety of colors.

The recipe is simple: 1 envelope of unflavored gelatin to 1 cup of juice. For example, in the recipe bellow I used 4 cups of White Grape Peach juice and 4 envelopes of gelatin and it fit in an 8"x8" pan.

RECIPE
Mix 4 envelopes of gelatin and about 1 cup of the juice in a bowl and set aside. Heat the remaining 3 cups of juice on the stove until it just begins to boil. At that point, pour the hot juice over the gelatin mixture and stir until all gelatin is dissolved. Pour into an 8"x8" pan and chill for 3 hours or until firm.
For perfect shapes, dip the pan in hot water for a moment or two then turn it onto a solid coolish surface like a granite counter top or glass cutting board. Cut into shapes and serve cold.

Handmade for Clara

2011-01-31T21:13:00.002-07:00

Rebecca sewed an outfit for Clara when I was pregnant. Clara wore the outfit for the first time today and it is absolutely adorable. There's nothing like hand-sewn clothes. I took some pictures in the lovely winter afternoon sun that flooded our living room today both to show off the cute baby (about the only "creative" thing I've had time for lately) and to celebrate Rebecca's handiwork.

Thank you so much, Becca. It's good to have friends like you.

Peace, Love, Joy & A Crappy Quilt

2011-01-18T16:16:00.001-07:00

For all of my good intentions, I did manage to do 2 of my many ideas for Christmas projects this year. The pillows were all made from toweling from the French General Lumiere de Noel line by Moda. I embroidered the words on with my Janome embroidery skills.

What was not so skillful is the quilt. It was fun designing it and making the Christmas Tree squares, but if you look closely there are all kinds of mistakes. We cuddled underneath it with a cup of coco anyway. :)

100% Italian Cotton Boxer Shorts

2011-01-18T16:14:00.002-07:00

I am the lucky beneficiary of these beautiful fabrics.

I have a friend who works at a factory where they make dress shirts out of the finest fabrics from Italy. They are custom made and cost $200 a pop. The leftovers are usually sent to the garbage can but Jessi has been taking them home & sometimes gives them to me. They are generally small pieces, about 1/2 a yard or so. Very rarely I will get over 2 yards in one cut. This makes me really happy. And I have even more than are pictured here.

I love how they come in these perfect bundles in an array of colors!

I do have a problem knowing exactly what to do with them all. I donated a lot to making aprons and bonnets for the upcoming Trek trip for the youth. But, Adam and I have been walking around in some pretty savvy underwear! Boxers!

This is a pair I made for myself. I had a lot of fun picking neon thread and purple fabric for the tie.

These are some really comfortable threads. Any ideas on what else I can make with these???

Diaper Bag

2011-01-18T16:13:00.002-07:00

This pattern came from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones. I also use some of her Love fabric.

I love all the space and pockets. I use it for a temple bag.

Adam's Winter Projects Part 2

2011-01-18T16:12:00.001-07:00

This is a french side table. The cabriole legs were a new challenge for Adam and they turned out perfect.

Once again, the hardware can really change how a piece looks, and we both loved this lion head. It reminds us of door knockers in London and lion head soup bowls filled with French Onion soup.

Notice the decorative boarder along the drawer.
This is also made from mahogany and plans are found on the New Yankee website.

Adam's Winter Projects Part 1

2011-01-18T16:11:00.002-07:00

My husband Adam was busy in the garage for most of the holiday season making many things that beautified our home.

I love relaxing in a bath with a good book and so he made me this. It is quarter-sawn oak, with a danish oil and a few coats of oil urethane.

I love this dresser he made for our bedroom. It is a 7-drawer chest made of mahogany. Plans for this chest can be found on the New Yankee Workshop

I especially love the brass hardware. They really set it off nicely.

My art teacher painted this beautiful oil painting of the two of us, but Adam made the frame. Again, quarter-sawn oak, danish oil, but finished with a lacquer.

Happy Halloween Again!

2010-10-26T15:42:00.003-06:00

I've got a few things in queue, but until I get those organized, I need your help again with the

4th Annual Halloween Pumpkin Carving Contest!

Every year, my husbands family battle it out with pumpkin carving prowess to see who is the most creative/funny of all. The winner gets bragging rights, which is as good as cash to them (I include myself in that statement). If you get a chance, please click on the link which brings you to the contest page on my husbands burger site. The votes will be tallied on Halloween night.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

New coffee table

2010-09-12T15:27:00.005-06:00

My husband and I made a rustic coffee table with plans found at http://ana-white.com/ and we LOVE it! If you do not have a miter saw, Home Depot will cut the wood for you. Then all you have to do is follow the plans and drill in the screws to put it together. While sanding we rounded some edges and put some grooves it it to make it look worn, then finished it with Early American stain and a satin clear finish. Ana's site has a lot of cool furniture plans and they are all free so check it out!

Ghastlies Reversible Place Mats

2010-09-12T07:24:00.004-06:00

I had a little time this weekend to work on a project and so I went for these. They are incredibly easy to make and useful. So, they are a good project when you are short on time. I had been wanting to use this adorable fabric, The Ghastlies by Alexander Henrey. It came out last year, but you can still find it online in a few shops.

I made these reversible so that I could use these all year (per Adam's recommendation. He doesn't like to have a lot of stuff in a box that you only get out once a year. A good point.)

The Stuff
1 yard fabric for front or 4 fat quarters
1 yard fabric for back or 4 fat quarters
2 yards Peltex #70 by Pellon
any embelishments you like (I used Ric Rac, 1 pkg for each mat, 4 total)

The How-To:
Cut fabric for the front and back of mats 19"x14" (or 1" squared larger than you want the finished product to be).
Cut #70 into 4 pieces 18"x13"

Make sure you wash the fabric before you begin. This is important for place mats because you will almost definitely need to wash them later and the fabric will shrink and make the place mats wonky.
Place a front and back piece right sides together and sew around with a 1/2" seam allowance, leaving an 8" opening for inserting the Peltex pieces. Turn right sides out. To insert Peltex, roll up and insert, then flatten and work into corners. Sew the opening closed. Because the Peltex will roll a bit from being bound in a bolt, iron the mats with a steam iron and they flatten out in seconds.
To give the finishing touch, sew a 1/4" seam allowance around the mats. If you are using Ric Rac, attach it at this point.

this is based on a pattern from Amy Butler's In Stitches

Christmas Cookies!

2010-08-12T19:17:00.004-06:00

Ok - so Christmas is over but I made these cookies a while back and the technique is what is important here: Royal Icing. That is how you get those smooth, beautiful designs on cookies. It dries quite hard so the designs stay, but it is still soft enough to eat. A quick google search will bring up many recipes. Look for ones that use pasteurized egg whites vs. meringue powder, such as Alton Brown's. You can use different extracts for flavor. Also, powdered or gel food coloring is best.

Adjust the thickness of the recipe with water. Add more for an even spread such as in the solid green cookies above. Leave out water for a thicker consistency and more control for detailed work, such as the dots on the cookie on the far right. The one on the bottom with the blue dot right in the middle of the cookie had too much water in the blue icing and the dot became more of a blob.
It was really fun and easy to work with. The icing is very forgiving. I also used silver edible beads to decorate.

I think I will be making some heart-shaped cookies come February!

Chocolate-covered Marshmallow Cookies

2010-08-12T19:16:00.002-06:00

I made these tonight and they made my husband really happy. The recipe is very simple, only makes about 15 cookies, and is rather quick to make. It is a sort of s'more meets moon pie. I also think they would be fun to tamper with. For example, they look so mysterious its hard to tell exactly what's in there. I might try to add a dollop of peanut butter, perhaps a few drops of peppermint axtract in the chocolate, or use marshmallow cream next time.

It is also fun to do a google image search and see others' creative take on this crowd-pleasin' cookie. Recipe is from the Sept 2010 Everyday Food by Martha Stewart. And it is also below for you. :)
1/4 cup plus 2 T e/ flour, whole-wheat flour
1/4 t e/ baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon
3 T unsalted butter at room temp.
3 T light-brown sugar
1 large egg
9 large marshmallows, halved
9 oz (2 c) semisweet chocolate chopped (or choc. chips)

350 degrees. Whisk dry ingredients in a bowl. in another bowl beat butter and sugar for about 4 min or until light. Add egg and beat to combine. Gradually add flour mix. Drop dough tablespoonfuls onto parchment lined cookie sheet 3" apart. Dip bottom of a measuring cup in flour and flatten cookies to about 2" in diameter. Bake until dry and set, about 7 minutes. Remove from oven, top each cookie with a marshmallow half and bake until soft, about 2-3 minutes. Flatten the marshmallows with a spatula. Let cool completely on sheet on cooling rack. Melt the chocolate in a deep bowl. Coat the cookie, using a fork to lift it out and tap on the edge of the bowl to remove excess chocolate. Place back on parchment lined cookie sheet and refrigerate for 10 minutes. YUM!

Strawberries and Cream

2010-08-12T19:14:00.001-06:00

Inspired by Jen's recipe for berry sorbet (which is quite delicious and I have some in my freezer right now) I found this recipe for a strawberry version that uses sweetened condensed milk . . . and let me tell you this is so good. Period. I was just eating it out of the bowl before I ever put it in the freezer. I mean this is lip-smackin' strawberry heaven. So easy and is simply a must try. The recipe can be found here. And I can be found in the corner of my house, the spoon in bowl, dollop in my mouth, and crushing anyone with a mad stare who dares to feign a bite. Is that a bit strong? Just make your own and we can all be happy.

Hand-stamped Muslin Ribbon

2010-08-12T08:42:00.002-06:00

I finally got my ribbon in the mail yesterday from French Country 1908 and they are gorgeous! I will use them to wrap up Christmas gifts this year, and I might add the top, gown one to a dress project . . . we will see.

Looking at them in person made me think I might be able to make more myself. I did a bit of a google search and found this tutorial. There were others as well.

Now I just need to find out what type of glue she uses to attach the bling and then I'm all set to make more of my own. Any suggestions?

In the French Country 1908 shop she also makes gift bags, candles, and other goodies. You should check it out. Apparently she even has a deal with a NY shop to sell her items.
FYI, because they are being shipped from Canada they take a bit longer to get here. I got mine just over 2 weeks from when I ordered them and she quoted me 2-3 weeks.

If any of you have ideas on embellishing on this craft I'd love to hear them!

Getting ready for baby!

2010-07-21T22:32:00.010-06:00

My new niece is almost here!

Thanks to the infant dress pattern and the onesie idea from rebecca, I was able to make my own little dresses and onesies for baby emma. I just had to post them because they all came out so cute.

Look how cute the hearts and stitching is on this onesie that my mom did. Such a cute idea.

Picnic Blanket

2010-07-21T12:38:00.003-06:00

For a while I have been keeping my eyes open for a good use for some oilcloth. There are always lunch bags, etc. but I don't really need one and I wanted to make something useful. I found a free pattern by Amy Butler called, Laminated Picnic Blanket with Carrying Case, and it struck a chord with me. I hate bringing out even our old blankets and getting them full of sticker burs and other roughage. And where I am from it rains a lot, so there is always a chance that the dampness will seep through and wet our little bums. So, for me this pattern was a bit of inspiration.

I found this lovely Japanese oilcloth at the local Sew Crafty. It is from the line Echino by Etsuko Furuya.

It matched perfectly with this fabric I already had from the same line called Border Print Grassy Plain that I got at the International Quilt Festival last year. It has been sitting in my "must find something good for this fabric soon" pile for almost a year.

Anyway, I did not really follow the instructions, just saw her idea and jumped right in. But this is not one of those projects I am going to say is "so easy" or "you could whip this up in no time." I hated working on this project. Oil cloth was so not easy to work with! I even bought a special pressure foot and everything. But, it is done. It works. And it is as cute as I hoped it would be, even though I was pulling out my hair the whole time.

I even made my own little carrying case. I cut a strip 2 inches longer than the circumference of the rolled up blanket and sewed Velcro at each end. Then, I made some bias tape for the handle and attached it to one end. I added a button hole to the other end. When the case is wrapped around the bundle and velcroed shut, the handle slips through the button hole, making it nice and secure. I think the picture gives better detail than my explanation.

If anyone has tips on working with this beastly fabric, I'd love to hear them.

Japanese Dress Making, a,b: Part 1

2010-07-20T12:27:00.006-06:00

I fell in love with this fabric and finally decided on a dress pattern I thought would compliment the beautiful design - something not too busy so that the focus is more on the print than the pattern. The pattern came from the Japanese dress book: Stylish Dress Book, most likely found on etsy.com

I really like the selvage edges of fabric and think it is a shame they are so often trimmed off and thrown out. I thought it would be fun to include it in my dress. It adds a token of who made the fabric and I thought it added an appropriate modern look to the neckline. I added a slightly raised boat neck to the dress as well, which is done with a really thick binding. I thought this also helped to bring in an element of elegance. This way the dress is swanky enough for a date, elegant enough for church and casual enough to go shopping in.

Japanese Dress Making a,b: Part 2

2010-07-20T12:23:00.004-06:00

I added my favorite grosgrain to accent the skirt of the dress as well as on the sleeves.

The dress pattern came from dress a which is a simple a-line pattern. I added a drop waist by sewing swimsuit elastic to the inside, to help give the shape we westerners appreciate.

The sleeves were from dress, or top, b which are my favorite sleeves in the whole book. They are made of 2 parts: a top form-fitting piece attached to the lower piece which bubbles out a bit with a gathering. It is an elegant 3/4 sleeve length which can easily be lengthened if desired.

Guest-Room Slippers

2010-07-19T18:19:00.001-06:00

Taking a break from Amy Butler's In Stitches I finally completed these little house shoes. The pattern is found in Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. I started these about a month ago, intending them to be the project that would ease me back into sewing upon returning from our trip. They took no time at all, I was nearly done when I got to the soles. The soles, as pictured below, are made from felted wool for durability. It is a great idea. I really was all for having a sole on my slippers, until I read the how-to. I was supposed to attach it with a nice attractive and decorative blanket-stitch. I had never done it before, thought, "how hard could it be," and made my first attempt at it on my precious shoes. Disaster. It was horrendous! In the end I ditched the idea of having a thick sole; "Who needs a decent protective sole on their shoes," I questioned to no one in particular. I set the shoes on my nightstand, and there they remained for a hole month. They tried on a new hat and became my personal coasters for a while. And one day last week, clearing away a few papers, I noticed my sad little slippers doing a job that just wasn't in their hearts. They were born to shod my feet and i knew right then and there that I needed to restore them to their rightful place. Disregarding the rules, I abandoned the blanket-stitch (it is not a very attractive stitch, after all), and used a tried-and-true straight stitch, recalling a method used once before. Perfect. These two were made for each other.

Amy Butler's Wide-Leg Lounge Pants

2010-07-18T14:08:00.002-06:00

Right now I am loving pairing pastels, especially soft purples, with black and I wanted an excuse to use this combination. I decided to make these super comfy lounge pants from Amy Butler's In Stitches. Adam looooves them! I am not sure why, they look kind of dorky on me, but he thinks they are the bees knees. :)

These are perfectly cozy & roomy. They are breezy while still keeping you warm; the perfect combination for hot weather outside, and the a/c going inside.

The pattern comes together pretty quickly and easily. However, I did make one change. The pattern says to make a drawstring out of the fabric, insert it into the two buttonholes in the front of the pants - and then you're done. Well, being a connosieur of comfy pants, I knew exactly what I wanted. For me, comfy lounge pants means one thing: an elastic waist. So, first I left about a 1 1/2" opening at the seam where the drawstring would go (the seam at the waist). Then I took a piece of no-roll 1" elastic and placed it around my waist and measured it. I added one inch to that length, cut it off, attached a safety pin to one end and fed the piece into the opening, threaded it around the waist and back out the same opening. I stitched the 2 ends together with a 1/2" seam allowance. Then I stitched the opening closed. Next, I inserted purple ribbon through one button hole and out the other, using a safety pin. This finishes the look with a cute accent!

French Seam

2010-07-18T13:40:00.002-06:00

This is a seam I learned recently and I have found it very useful. It is not appropriate for all projects, however, when you can use it, I highly recommend it. It adds a great finished and professional look to your projects.

The French Seam is comprised of only two straight stitches and creates a finished seam. It is ideal to use especially if you do not have a serger or an over-locking stitch, or similar, on your sewing machine. It also uses far less thread than serging or over-locking and is much quicker.

To begin, take your two pieces of fabric and place them WRONG sides together. Sew the edges together with a seam allowance of half of what the pattern allows. For example, if your pattern has a seam allowance of 1/2", then sew 1/4". Pictured below is an example. I sewed these 2 pieces of fabric Wrong sides together at a 1/4" seam.

Next, iron the seam open, pictured below. It may seam like a good step to skip, but it really helps to create a smooth finished seam.

Now fold the two pieces at the seam with RIGHT sides facing. You can iron at this point, if you wish:

Finally, sew along the seam 1/4" from the edge (a 1/4" seam allowance). This gives you a total of 1/2" seam allowance used. The finished seam has all raw edges tucked nicely inside the two pieces and out of sight. I really love this new technique. It is not always the most appropriate "serging" option, so I recommend reading through all the instructions first to make sure that it will not get in the way before using it. For example, I just made some drawstring bags and because of a few steps where you actually go in and open the seam at 2 points, and insert the drawstring, this type of seam would have really been a nuisance to deal with.

Anyway, if this stitch is new for you, I hope you find it useful!

Berry Sorbet

2010-07-11T21:18:00.000-06:00

In the July issue of Martha Stewart, she had a recipe card for raspberry sorbet. It is the easiest thing I have ever made with such a high pay-off.

Pulse 12 oz of frozen berries in food processor. Mix together 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water until sugar dissolves. Add to berries and pulse until smooth. Put it in an air tight container for at least 30 minutes. Serve with homemade whipped cream. Makes about 4 servings.

I've made this twice now, once with raspberries and once with a triple berry mixture. Both so very good. The raspberry sorbet is a gorgeous, bright color and is very tart, which I love. The triple berry is sweeter and very tasty. I bought a large bag of frozen berries, made three batches, and put them in the same container to keep in the freezer. I plan on having some of this in my freezer at all times this summer.

(This is the triple berry sorbet. Pictures aren't great. It was nighttime and we have a dark house.)

4th of July Triple Berry Pie!

2010-07-09T16:57:00.002-06:00

*** Stars ***
I got this idea from the Martha Stewart Living magazine for July 2010 (or was it June? July makes more sense). I made a strawberry, blackberry, and raspberry filling that I sort of made up based on other recipes. I found these tiny star cookie cutters from Williams Sonoma on sale and this pie turned out so darn cute! The red boiling over only added to the festive look of this pie. Most importantly, it tasted delicious! This triple combination of berries was so tasty. I used all fresh berries. I highly recommend trying it before the summer is over.

Japanese Dress Making: Part 2

2010-07-09T16:04:00.002-06:00

Japanese Dress Making, i: Part 1

2010-07-09T16:03:00.003-06:00

After being gone for so long I could not wait to clear the dust off of my sewing machine and get to work. My first project was this dress. It is sort of a Frankenstein of many parts of the Japanese dress making book: Stylish Dress Book. I was rather intimidated to begin this project as all instructions are in Japanese. But, I bought it from a seller on etsy.com who also provides a link to many translated sewing terms. Also, a quick Google search gave me a few more resources to buoy up my courage. The google results were actually more helpful than the ones from the seller because I could not match a single Japanese character from the instructions to her list!

I must say that out of all of the dresses I have made so far, this one is my most successful. Normally I end a dress project saying something like, "OK, so I can't lift my left arm up all the way, and I sewed the skirt on backwards, but it looks good so that's OK with me!. I did something!"

so that really made me happy. :)

I did dress i from the book which is pictured below on the model in black. I used sleeves from a different pattern, added a belt for some shape, and made some ruffles for style, and there you have it! The fabric is also Japanese which I bought here from Purl Soho.

I highly recommend this book if you want a lot of dress patterns. This is more of a beginner-intermediate level dress making book. The patterns also use a lot of the same pieces to make the different variations, so it is easy to exchange parts of a pattern with others in the book. One thing to remember is that these patterns do not come with seam allowances so you need to add those in when copying your pattern.A source of inspiration for me is Make Something a blog by a woman who runs a fabric shop out of Canada. There is a whole section of her blog dedicated to Japanese dress making.

Fat Quarter Dress

2010-07-09T16:01:00.002-06:00

This is a really sweet little dress made for infants. It fits 6-12 lb. babies. It is fast and easy to make, cheap and fun to embellish. You only need 1 fat quarter for the back and the bottom portion for the front. Then you use another scrap of fabric (or you can just go ahead and buy another fat quarter that coordinates, like I did with these) for the top piece in the front. You also need a couple of snaps or buttons for the back. The pattern makes a sleeveless dress, but I think puckered sleeves are so cute on little babies, so I had to add some. You can buy the pattern here. Or you know you can always borrow mine. I added ribbon and rickrack to mine because that is what I had on hand, but of course the possibilities are endless!

Amy Butler: Kimono Style Robe

2010-07-09T15:54:00.003-06:00

Ok - let me start out by telling you how much I love this robe. The fabric is wonderful. It is not too thin or too thick and it feels great! I bought it from a website that was liquidating their stores, so I got the fabric and the ribbon for just a few bucks. This was a relatively easy project (it took me longer to make the infant fat quarter dress than this). I love wearing robes. I have thick soft ones and a nice thick towel one. They are great especially in cold weather. But when it is hot, or when traveling I wanted to have a nice lightweight robe that would be easy to pack. This pattern is perfect. I made it a size too big because I love having a roomy robe. Makes it all the more cozy! :) I think I will embroider an initial or something on it. It took 3 yards of fabric and that is all you need. I embellished it with the ribbon at the bottom, which is the nice thing about this robe, you can really have fun with it if you want - or just be sort of boring like me and not go outside of the patterns instructions. Pattern is found in her In Stitches book.

Cookie Swap

2010-07-09T14:59:00.004-06:00

Whoa, it's been awhile. I haven't been doing many crafty things lately, but I have been trying some new cooking/baking ideas. This summer has been filled with big batches of roasted everything, like garlic, tomatoes, and whole spatchcocked chickens (thanks to Rebecca and Everyday Foods)! YUM.

My new favorite thing is Cookie Swap by Julia Usher. If you have a second, go to the link and look through the pages a bit. It is amazing what she does with her cookies. It's inspired me to go all out with my very own cookie swap, so any of you that live around me should be expecting an invitation in the near future. I tried the Watermelon chocolate chip cookies. They came out so cute, that I just had to share with you guys.

Sorry the quality is so bad. Only the camera phone was on hand. Of course they don't look as good as hers do, but it was my first try. Using a basic sugar roll-out cookie recipe and food coloring, make a 6''x3'' red cookie log, then wrap a plain dough sheet around the red log and then a green dough sheet around that. Slice the log into separate cookies and cut in half to get watermelon halves. Press mini chocolate chips flat-side-up in the red part. Seems easy right? Beware, this is not as easy as it was in the instructions. After each step, chill the dough for an hour or two to make it stiffer and easier to work with.

Let me know if you want the full recipe and I can scan it and email it to you.

My first tomato of the season....

2010-06-07T18:33:00.004-06:00

All of my tomatoes are just becoming buds or flowering except for THIS one! It was the only sign of life on my roma tomato plant for the last 2 months and tonight I made a sourdough margarita pizza with it! Hidden underneath the mozzarella is a garlic pesto made with basil that is from my garden as well.

Chocolate-Spice Cupcakes

2010-04-25T13:03:00.003-06:00

Michelle has Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook and last night we made these cupcakes. The only thing we did differently is leave out the candied ginger. And, seriously, these were sooo tasty. They are not too overwhelmingly spiced up or too rich. The glaze sets off the chocolate in the cakes wonderfully. Some who were there had reservations about the cupcakes, but 3 cupcakes later, I think we can safely say that everyone enjoyed them. :) Nobody could stop at one.

Here is the recipe.

Homemade Doughnuts

2010-04-15T16:26:00.002-06:00

Mmmmmm :)

So, thanks to Kalina I am now obsessed with The Pioneer Woman's blog. I stayed up until 3:00 am reading her Black Heels to Tracker Wheels romance. It will make your heart go pitter patter. Please read it if you have not already. I know, I'm like the last person on the block to hear about her. Bought her cookbook. Love it. Love her.

Anyway, the recipe is here.

Don't let the darkness of these doughnuts worry you. They were not hard, burnt, or in any way unsatisfying. I cut the recipe in half and what you see is how many it made minus a doughnut or two that I ate (or 3).

Easter Goodies

2010-04-15T15:58:00.003-06:00

I made these makeup bags for my sisters and my mom for Easter and filled them with grass and chocolate. It was a very easy, very rewarding project. I used home decor weight fabric from Etsuko Furuya's Fall 2009 fabric. The pattern came from Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle. I bought the book from amazon used for just 3 dollars and it is just full of cute patterns for Christmas, or really anytime of year, if you just use non-Christmasy fabrics. It has everything from quilt patterns and advent calendars, to cute teddy bears, dolls, and house shoes. She uses some surprising decorations that aren't very traditional but they seems like they are. She is Australian and I believe this book was printed in the UK. Which means, no seam allowances are in the patterns.

This purse pattern uses such a small amount of fabric. I bought four fat quarters and made 3 with it. And I have enough left over to make another.

Aviary Quilt

2010-04-15T14:50:00.001-06:00

Here are a few more photos so that you can see the details, if you like.

Her back side looks pretty nice, too, don't you think?!

Aviary Quilt

2010-04-15T14:49:00.002-06:00

Here is the finished front side that was machine sewn, and there is no visible seam.

Here is the back where I hand-stitched it together using the very useful blind stitch that my brilliant friend Kalina showed me.

And hereis the beauty!

Aviary Quilt

2010-04-15T14:38:00.005-06:00

I FIANLLY finished my Aviary Quilt and I must say that I am very pleased with it. It is not perfect. The corners do not all match up properly. Its a little bumpy in a few places. And the notes from my quilter after she finished were not words of encouragement telling me how amazed she was at my finery and skill with a sewing machine, or how perfectly each individual block was placed - that there was not a finer layout; each piece was placed in precisely the very spot that would put it in harmony with all the other tones and colors it would be conjoined with (a matter I put a LOT of time into). But it is mine. It is my little creation, and I wanted to share it with all of you. Including a few of the methods, which were all obtained through various blogs, books, and better sewers than myself.

Here we go -

First of all, I must make a special note of the inspiration for this quilt. This beautiful, sweet fabric I found with Jen that one day we went to that glorious candy-store-of-a quilt shop. I loved the little eggs with the little speckles and their names. I bought a yard, having no idea what I was going to do with it. (ever done that before?? Yeah - I do it all the time, too.)

I started with 2 bundles of layer cakes (each piece was about 10" x 10"). And I used just about all of them. I separated them into stacks of lights and darks, first. This is important so that there are rather distinct rows or darks and lights in the finished product. Then, I made pairs of squares from each stack in attractive groupings. I took the two squares, placed one on top of the other and I cut them twice, from one corner to its opposite diamond corner. I had 8 triangles cut from the 2 layer cake squares. I paired two triangles of one pattern with two from the other, sewed them together, and ended up with 2 full squares again.
After I made all of the squares, I placed each piece in the meticulous manner mentioned above. Then I took note of all of the egg patterned material pieces I would need to fill in the border and cut and placed them with the rest. I began sewing, one diagonal strip at a time, then connecting them to each other as I went along. In the picture you can see the rows I had already sewn in strips then attached together in the bottom left corner. In the middle is the diagonal row I just finished which I am about to attach to the rest. And then the top right corner are all the individual squares ready to be connected to one another.
That's the basic body of the quilt. I then did a couple of borders to make it the size I wanted, and to get the look I wanted as well. I did a small border made from the strips of a jelly roll. And I did a much wider border with the pink toile I love so much. There will be a pillow made from the fabric . . . someday.

To show you how I did the binding I have a few self-explanatory photos. First, I stumbled upon this nifty little tool that I have since fallen in love with. Seriously, I am trying to think up projects to do, just so I can use this little thingy. I think it is called, oddly enough, a binding maker. Not sure, but that's what I call it. This is a 1/2" binding maker, which means you need 2" strips of the fabric. You put it through one end and when it comes out the other, it is all folder in this perfect little bi-fold piece of heaven. And you just iron it as it comes through. Makes life much easier. Although, as I gather from my readings, this is not the most sturdy of binding methods, so keep that in mind if you are making something that will get a lot of washing and you want it to last a long time.

My mother-in-law introduced me to these quilter's clips. They were very helpful in having a strong hold on the pieces while they waited to be sewn together. But, I did find that I rather liked the glass head pins much better when it came to actually sewing. Just my preference from my meager experience as a novice quilter. I am sure I must not have been using them exactly right because, as I sewed, the binding would get pushed and bunched up and I'd have to re-clip over and over again. Maybe it was a tension problem?? Not sure. But the pins elevated the problem, so I went with them instead.

After the binding was complete, I put it right-sides facing each other, against the front of the quilt. Make sure to place it about 1/4" - 1/2" from the raw edge. I sewed along the top edge of the binding, the edge closest to the raw edge of the quilt, as close as possible to the edge of the binding. Then, you just flip it over to the back and hand sew it together with a bind stitch.

This might be fun

2010-04-02T21:00:00.000-06:00

Fat Quarter Swap

dots

2010-03-27T15:48:00.001-06:00

Don't you just love these earrings???? I adore them! They were a surprise from happyasaclam and I feel quite like that happy little clam wearing them right now! They are beautiful! Does she know me, or what?! Please, if you have not already, stop by her shop and check out her beautiful designs. The craftsmanship is excellent. They would make a great gift - for yourself ;) Thank you, Ketti! LOVE them!

I made this tunic recently with this sweet dot fabric I found on sale at Sew, Mama, Sew!
The pattern can be found here. You all know how I love Sew Serendipity patterns. This one is from the Juliet Tunic. I used sleeves from my latest sewing book . . . photos and projects to come later.

SALE!

2010-03-22T22:01:00.002-06:00

jcarolinecreative.com is discontinuing its fabric selection and has major mark downs on beautiful fabrics. I ordered 10 total yards of the cotton supreme solids (pictured) plus some peacock ribbon. All for just $23. Look how beautiful the colors are! And the fabric feels just beautiful! This is a real bargain. I just got these in the mail today and am so happy with them that I ordered a bit more today. You have to build your stash when the price is right, right? Well, if you are interested there are still a lot of colors and prints and canvas options left.

Spreadable Strawberries

2010-03-22T21:58:00.002-06:00

Well, I made my first successful batch of home canned goods all by myself. I went with strawberries, they are my favorite food. I have had a hard time finding a canning pot with a rack in a decent price range. I'm told it is not the season for it. So, I sat with my head in one hand, the basic canning kit my mother-in-law got me for Christmas in the other, feeling a bit discouraged. Then I had this great idea! I have a multi pot (if you don't have one I highly recommend them!) and it has a really deep sitting pasta insert that could easily be used as a rack. Well, it was a bit space constrained for anything larger than these tiny 4 oz. jars. But, I had already bought them, as Adam and I have thrown away so many jars of homemade jelly that was only half eaten because it goes bad before just the two of us can conquer it. I found that it held 5 jars just right. Until I find a better canning pot, this is working swimmingly.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd love to hear. And any cool canning experiences, recipes, or advice you have. I'm just getting started with this domestic self-sufficiency.

This recipe is found here on MarthaStewart.com, and I follow it with the canning instructions. I doubled the recipe and got these twelve 4 oz. jars and a little extra that we ate right away.

Ingredients

Makes 1 3/4 cups

1 quart hulled strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions

In a food processor, process strawberries until coarsely chopped. Transfer to a large skillet and stir in sugar and lemon juice. Cook over medium-high, stirring frequently, until jam is thickened and bubbles completely cover surface, 9 to 10 minutes.
Transfer jam into prepared jars (they need to have been sterilized by boiling them and still warm). Leave about 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles if necessary. Wipe rim. Have prepared the sterilized and still warm lids and bands. Center lid onto the jar and screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars and let cool for 24 hours, and store.

Panel Napkins

2010-03-20T14:00:00.002-06:00

Have you ever noticed those cute book panel fabric prints? I have seen a few and wondered what else I could do with them. My mother's birthday was approaching and I walked the aisles of the quilter's shop looking for inspiration when I noticed a bunch of lovely Beatrix Potter fabrics. My mother loves her stories and artwork. Well, I thought about a few different things I could make, but I needed something that wouldn't take too long because her birthday was just a few days away. These are what I came up with.

I made her these Beatrix Potter napkins. I bought one yard of fabric which completed the panel, there were 12 different scenes from the Beatrix Potter books measuring about 11 x 11. I also bought 1 yard of coordinating Beatrix Potter fabric for the back of the napkins. I layered the 2 fabrics on top of each other, wrong sides together, and cut out each scene with my rotary cutter and set them aside. I also bought 1/2 yard of tiny floral printed fabric for a decorative binding. I cut them into 2" wide strips and made the bias tape. I then proceeded to frame each napkin with the binding. Easy as pie!

What do you do with these adorable and unique prints?

Loving Amy Butler's Love

2010-03-19T15:10:00.002-06:00

I finished this dress a while back but I haven't been able to wear it because of the cold and rainy winter we've had. But spring is approaching and its time to whip this baby out!
I bought this fabric from Amy Butler's Love line and thought it would make such a lovely Easter dress. I pulled apart an old dress that has been traveling around with me for 3 years unworn. I made pattern pieces from each piece and came up with this dress. I somehow lucked out and did not have to use a zipper!

The dress is 3 pieces: 1 solid piece for the back and 2 for the front. To make room for my size b's I made the empire waist with two tucks or folds. This helped give it form, and made room so that I could skipp out on the zipper.

I'm working on a top right now that has this dress' same basic form.

Here it is.

To add sleeves, just use a sleeve pattern from another pattern. With this dress I needed to make my own sleeves because I did not have a pattern I could use. I wanted to do a tutorial on how to draft your own sleeve pattern but, honestly, I do not remember how I did it! A little bit of luck, some tape measure, and mostly just going for it and hoping it turns out wearable!

Cherry Blossoms and Goldfinches Triptych

2010-03-18T08:57:00.004-06:00

I got a commission to do a cherry blossom and goldfinch triptych based on a similar watercolor painting from my etsy shop. The client, happyasaclam, has her own shop where she uses recycled sterling silver, among other things, to design and create beautiful jewelry. You should definitely take a look at her shop. Each piece is unique and sophisticated.

Last night, at 3:30 am I could not sleep because I had all these ideas for the painting and I just had to work on it. By 8:30 I was happy with what I had done, and could declare it complete. :)
I wanted to share the finished product with you all. They're each 11 x 14 and will be framed above her bed, individually.

Above is a picture showing you how each connects to each other.

I must say that the pictures really flatten out the color, and I believe they look a lot better in real life. The cherry blossoms are based on photos I took of the cherry trees in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris.
I hope she, and you, enjoys them!

Homemade Book Plates

2010-03-14T19:08:00.000-06:00

I found this really great blog: The Graphics Fairy.
It is a blog dedicated to providing beautiful, vintage, free clip art with ideas for using them. There are so many images that I love. One in particular was a set of vintage images that she made into bookplates. Which I used above. I bought label paper from Online Labels. This is a great site where you can buy MANY different types and sizes of label paper, and in a variety of colors. It is also great because you can buy them in bulk, or just buy exactly as many as you need. I used a piece of light blue label paper, the label being the entire sheet so I could cut them according to their different sizes. I wrote in my email address and name with a pen.

Baby Birthday

2010-03-08T23:01:00.003-07:00

We celebrated my daughter's first birthday over the weekend. I did two tiny crafty-ish things for her party that I thought I'd share.

She has a stuffed bear that she's had since she was 4 months old, from our camping trip in Yellowstone. She loves this bear. Sleeps with it, talks to it, snuggles it. It's her lovey. I made her a little bear cake for her party by baking a cake in two 9-inch pans and cutting the snout and ears out of one of the rounds and frosting them onto the other round. I realize there are much better bear cakes out there, but this was my little attempt.

I also made a photo banner for a decoration. I took pictures of her from the day she was born and one for each month of her first twelve months and sewed them all together with a zig-zag stitch, leaving 3-4 inches in between each one. I made two strands, since they wouldn't all fit into one in the space I wanted to use. It was really simple and cute and easy and a nice way for guests to see how she's grown in the past year.

Making your own stamp - **Update

2010-03-04T09:42:00.001-07:00

Kallan came over the other day and, so generously, with all of these supplies to show me how to make your own stamp! I couldn't believe she did that for me! She got me started on this stamp and I have to say it was SOO fun! All sorts of ideas were coming as we made this: making your own stamp to print your own fabric with was my favorite. I have wanted to make my own printed fabric for a while and learning this was the shot in the arm that relationship needed!! ;)

thanks kallan

this was so easy, I think all of you scrapbookers out there should give this a try.

Candied Pecans

2010-03-01T19:32:00.003-07:00

I've tried a few recipes for candied pecans and this one is my favorite. They come out nice and shiny and the sugar isn't too overpowering. Put them on salads, ice cream, or just eat them plain! Make one batch and you can snack on them for the next two weeks.

2 1/2 cups pecan halves
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 cup granulated sugar (I usually use less because they lose their pecan flavor)
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
candy thermometer (optional)
wax paper

Mix pecans and oil and spread out on a baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes at 300 degrees. The pecans need to be cool before you can do anything with them. In a saucepan, stir sugar, cinnamon, salt, and water over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Using a candy thermometer or the Soft Ball Test to boil the mixture to 236 degrees. Then turn off the heat, stir in the vanilla, and stir in the pecans until well coated. Using a slotted spoon or fork, transfer pecans to wax paper and separate them (a lot will be stuck together). Let them dry and then enjoy!

Soft Ball Test: After the sugar mixture boils for a few minutes, drop a small amount of it into a glass of ice cold water. If it forms a ball and is soft enough to roll around with your fingers, it is the right temperature.

Everything Tote

2010-02-28T21:10:00.006-07:00

I ADORE Heather Ross - her fabric, her tan, and her book:

There are so many practical, cute, and unintimidating patterns and projects in this book. I think it is a book that I can really see myself using every pattern that is in it. I have already made some good headway - my most recent project: the Everything Tote:

I should have taken a picture holding it so you can see how big this thing is. It is HUGE. But it is also unintruding. I thought at first it would just be used as a weekend bag, but the way it slouches as you wear it make the size hardly noticeable. It is so lightweight and easy to carry, while it carries everything :)

I made one for my sister as well that I made into a diaper bag. I added a lot more pockets and made them deeper. I also added a key ring. It was really cute, but I sent it home with her without taking pictures for you to see.

Old Pattern, New Skirt

2010-02-28T21:10:00.003-07:00

I have really gotten a lot of use out of this skirt pattern. The first skirt I made from it turned out really well and it was a great use for the Kaffe Fassett material I bought at the Houston Quilt Show. The next skirt I made was also a great way to utilize some beautiful material, but I had a few issues with that darn invisible zipper. After a bit of a struggle and some not very nice words on my part we are friends now.

Last week I found this material particularly striking at Sew Crafty and purchased a nice little bundle, brought
it home, and for the third time pulled out this reliable pattern. I finished this skirt in no time. It is probably my best invisible zipper, thanks to this VERY detailed tutorial.

But then I was unsure about that ruffle on the bottom. Is that too childish? I go back and forth about it. I can't decide if I should loose the bottom trim and ruffle altogether or just leave it. Your thoughts? I get caught up with how fun it is to make this skirt and add things like ruffles and forget about what is "cool." :)

Anyway, I think this pattern is TOTALLY worth the $11. It is a great basic skirt pattern to go off of and make so many different variations with. Let your creative curiosities loose and make a skirt for yourself! I am already planning my next one!

Making your own Stamp

2010-02-27T08:59:00.009-07:00

I had the idea of using parts of the very pretty and probably very expensive wedding invitations I receive and making a wedding card out of it. I couldn't justify just throwing all that pretty paper and ribbon away. So there it is:

But mainly this post is about stamping and making your own stamp. I've been wanting to make one to stamp on the back of the cards I've made that says "Made Especially for You" or "Uniquely yours" or something like that. I bought the tools for $16 at Hobby Lobby, which I'm sure you could find cheaper, but I was just ready to have them. I printed out the image I wanted to cut out and traced it with pencil. Then I immediately put the paper face down and rubbed the pencil off onto the surface of the rubber block (at Hobby Lobby for only $1.99). Now is the fun part. Using all the different tips of the Lino cutter, cut away around the lines of pencil marks leaving the pencil marks raised. This takes some practice so start with big, thick lines and work your way to smaller ones. Then you have your very own, unique stamp!

**EDIT**

So I made that stamp to put on the back of the cards I make. Also, here's a better picture of how to do it. I printed out the letters "Made Just For You" and traced them with pencil and transferred it onto the stamp by placing it traced side down and rubbing the words off. Same with the flourish design (which was surprisingly easier than the text).

You can tell it's not perfect, but practice makes perfect.

My favorite place to get prints.

2010-02-24T08:21:00.001-07:00

50% Off 8x10 Prints!

This week save 50% on your 8x10 prints! 8x10 E-surface prints are just 99¢ each. 8x10 Metallic and True B&W prints are just $1.24 each! Simply enter promo code 8x10sale at checkout. The promotion runs from now until Saturday at midnight CST, February 27th.

IMPORTANT
• Promo code 8x10sale must be entered at checkout to receive the 50% discount.
• Mpix promo codes do not appy to orders placed through ROES.

Artisan Bread

2010-02-17T10:33:00.003-07:00

Here's a recipe for the bread that I absolutely love. I recently mentioned it in another cooking post on my personal blog here. This bread is SO EASY. Requires no kneading, no special attention. It makes 4 loaves but you don't have to make them all at once. And the bread itself is crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. Great for dipping in olive oil, for soaking up sauce or gravy, or for spreading with butter just for the heck of it. Try it. You won't be disappointed.

1 1/2 tbsp yeast (about 2 packets)
1 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
6 1/2 cups flour
cornmeal, water

In a large bowl or plastic container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups warm water. Let it sit for a minute or two. Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover but not with airtight lid. Let dough rise at room tempeature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours). In our house, which is cold in the wintertime, I usually let it rise 3-5 hours.

Get ready to bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as 2 weeks.

When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit size piece with serrated knife. Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.

Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.

Dust loaves with flour. Slash top with sharp knife 2 or 3 times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam (this is what will give the bread it's crusty yummy exterior). Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool.

Yeild 4 loaves.

Notes:
- If you don't have a pizza stone, stretch rounded dough into oval and place in a greased nonstick loaf pan. Let rest 40 minutes. Heat oven to 450 degrees for 5 minutes. Place pan on middle rack.
- If the dough is refrigerated, it will need a little longer to warm up before you bake it. Maybe an hour, maybe 90 minutes depending on the temp of your house. Ours is cold, so it takes awhile.
- This dough will keep in your fridge for up to 2 weeks, so you don't have to make it all at once if you don't want to.
- I wish I could find the link for this recipe. There was an article about it in the New York times a couple years ago and our friend referred it to us.

Seashells

2010-02-15T21:10:00.003-07:00

Andy and I were down at the beach in California a few weeks ago and collected many different shells. He really wanted to do a craft with them and I was a little weary of doing a seashell craft seeing as how I relate them to cheesy beach houses decorated in the 90's. But my smart little Andy came up with the idea of making them into magnets. It was all his idea so I give him all of the credit. We just filled them with plaster of paris and let them set for about 15 minutes. We then dropped a magnet on top of the plaster and waited for them to set completely. Aaannd that's it! It was so easy and I thought they turned out really cute. Another seashell craft I loved is found here on Martha Stewart.com. That'll be our next project.

Gnocci with Summer Vegetables

2010-02-15T13:22:00.001-07:00

I got this recipe from Martha Stewart. It is surprisingly delicious! Adam and I thought it sounded good enough to try sometime and after we made it once, it became a regular in our house. It is a great way to use a lot of basil leaves from your plant. It only takes like 15 minutes to make. & just look at all those colors! It is a very healthy and hearty meal. I hope you try it and enjoy it as much as we do.
Serves 4
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 zucchini or summer squash, or one of each (about 2 pounds total), quartered and sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 package (15 to 16 ounces) frozen gnocchi
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
2 tablespoons grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Directions
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add squash and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until squash is crisp-tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until juicy, about 2 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook gnocchi according to package instructions. Reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid, drain gnocchi and transfer to skillet. Toss gnocchi, adding enough cooking liquid to create a sauce. Remove from heat and stir in basil, cheese, butter, and lemon juice. Serve!

Haylee Baby Shower

2010-02-15T12:55:00.001-07:00

I used nest plates and bowls, etc. and made these napkins using my embroidery machine. They each have a different bird or nest on them.

Instead of games everyone gathered around a table cutting out images from Alexander Henry's Zoo material. I prepared the fabric by ironing it onto the fusible web, so guests just came, cut and ironed on. After they left I secured each critter with some clear thread. Haylee picked the best one for a prize and the winner was: the third onesie from the left, Tiffany's.
Of course I forgot to take pictures during the party!!! I really need to try and think "pictures" more. Adam took all these photos for me before and after guests arrived.

Congratulations Haylee! Thank you to everyone who came! It was such a lovely occasion.

Haylee Baby Shower

2010-02-15T12:53:00.001-07:00

I made a twig chandelier out of branches that I bought for my Halloween party and were, miraculously, still thriving. I secured the branches together with wire that was wrapped with brachy looking paper so that it blended in. I found it at Michael's.

I hung paper birds and little paper planes from it, taped fluttering butterflies to it and some ribbon.

It was hanging from our regular chandelier.

Haylee Brown's Baby Shower

2010-02-15T12:43:00.001-07:00

We had a baby shower for Haylee Brown this weekend. She is due to have a little boy February 23rd. I decorated with a theme of birds and paper planes.

This chocolate bird was easily created using a duck cookie cutter, tracing it onto wax paper and the following the outline with melted chocolate and filling it in with swirls. Let dry & them peel off and place on the cupcakes

"Name Storm"
They do not have a name yet, so I had a little station for quests to write down name ideas.

We had birds and paper airplanes everywhere.

No Strings Attached

2010-02-08T19:03:00.001-07:00

I made the "Super Quick and Easy Baby Quilt" from Patchwork + Quilted Gifts (same as Rebecca's unicorn quilt). It took me much longer than I expected, but the skill level is VERY easy. However, I made mine much bigger than the throw size blanket. This project was also pretty cheap, because I found my fabric for less than $2 per yard. This is one of my first times to attempt to sew and I have caught the bug! Rebecca added the initials for me and they turned out great :) She also helped me cut all the millions of strings in between the dots with no strings attached. Muchas gracias Rebecca.

Glass head pins

2010-01-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

Jen introduced me to these, and they were a revelation. You can sew over them and they won't harm your machine. This turned out to be very timely information because I have since began my first "real" quilt and I go through so many pinnings that it has cut down on the prep time by half! They go through fabric with greater ease than my other pins. These guys have quickly been turning into my best friends, so I thought it appropriate to commit a whole blog post just to them!

Big Smiles

2010-01-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

Ok - so, I know this is supposed to be strictly a craft blog, but I had to share this, because dang - this girl is CUTE! And I wanted to show everyone proof that I was able to hold Marian for over 2 minutes AND she smiled! Is that ok that I shared this??

Mona Lisa Smile

2010-01-26T18:14:00.003-07:00

Ok, so my friends said that she looked like the mona lisa. I would never say that about my own painting. But, here she is - my sister, Candace Lee Rhoads.

I finally finished her. Again, photography is not my strong point. I must say that I think it looks a lot better in person. But, I wanted to share it with you guys anyway.

I'll try and take some better photos, rather than always using the camera on my phone. ;)

pappa al pomodoro

2010-01-26T17:57:00.001-07:00

I can't get enough of my Ina Garten cookbook Adam got me for Christmas, Back to Basics. EVERYTHING I've made has been simply delicious! Here is a soup I made for some friends and family recently, that I wanted to share. It was a big hit, so I thought some of you might like it, too.

It goes like this . . .

Cook: 1 hr 30 min

Total: 2 hr 0 min

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1/2 cup good olive oil
2 cups chopped yellow onion (2 onions)
1 cup medium-diced carrots, unpeeled (3 carrots)
1 fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, and medium-diced (1 1/2 cups)
4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
3 cups (1-inch) diced ciabatta cubes, crusts removed
2 (28-ounce) cans good Italian plum tomatoes
4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

For the topping:

3 cups (1-inch) diced ciabatta cubes
2 ounces thickly sliced pancetta, chopped
24 to 30 whole fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons good olive oil, plus more for serving
Salt and pepper

Directions

Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, fennel, and garlic and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until tender. Add the ciabatta cubes and cook for 5 more minutes. Place the tomatoes in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process just until coarsely chopped. Add the tomatoes to the pot along with the chicken stock, red wine, basil, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and allow to simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

For the topping, place the ciabatta cubes, pancetta, and basil on a sheet pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss well. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 25 minutes, until all the ingredients are crisp. The basil leaves will turn dark and crisp, which is perfectly fine. Reheat the soup, if necessary, beat with a wire whisk until the bread is broken up. Stir in the Parmesan and taste for seasoning. Serve hot sprinkled with the topping and drizzled with additional olive oil.

Tea Towels

2010-01-26T17:29:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone. I hope that your absence from the blog is because you are swamped with fun projects, not because you aren't enjoying it anymore.

Today I wanted to share with you these tea towels that I made at the last sewing group. These were really easy and I was very excited about how they turned out. I bought a packet of 3 giant tea towels that I cut in half to make them more normal sized. I finished off the unfinished side with coordinating fabric and a fabric loop so that it can hang, fastened with a decorative button.

The blue one with the bird, whale and snail were all done with an iron on applique process. The whale has a bit of hand embroidery. The green one is a cute little pair of hedgehogs that were done with my machine embroidery.

Free "Patchwork + Quilted Gifts" patterns

2010-01-15T15:30:00.002-07:00

So, Jen enlightened us with the recommendation for this book:

Well, as I was searching on Martha Stewart's website today for some baby shower ideas, I stumbled upon a very familiar tutorial. Sure enough, it was a tutorial from this very book! Right there on Martha Stewart's website! For free! What's more, there are a whoppin' 4 free patterns with instructions, etc. from this book for you to enjoy.

I hope this news is as exciting to you as it is for me. Go here. If you scroll down to the bottom of the article, you'll find the links.

Any Knitters Out There?

2010-01-07T20:05:00.003-07:00

Here I am. I'm sitting on my couch, the football game on in front of me with the volume off, husband next to me and a nicely finished, first-ever stockinette swatch in my lap. It looks good, I must say, and I feel encouraged to begin the pair of baby booties that will become my first knitting project. I cast off my 33 stitches, read the next line of instruction, and . . . . I'm lost. I understand that I need to begin 10 rows of stockinette stitching, but I'm confused - does my cast off row count as the first row of the stockinette stitch? How do I know which is the right and which is the wrong side? Do I start with purl or do I start with knit? These are questions I'm willing to get to the bottom of - but can anyone help me??

You guys are probably way ahead of me on this...

2010-01-07T15:37:00.004-07:00

Have you guys heard of the scrapbooker Ali Edwards? I had never heard of her until today, probably because I'm not a scrapbooker. But, looking at her website and seeing the cool things she makes really makes we wish I were a scrapbooker.

The sad truth is: paper crafting is not my forte. Every attempt I make ends up being pretty laughable. Just the other day, I needed to make a card for a baby shower. I have a stack of baby scrap book paper - a nice brand new stack, even. I made some selections, did some cutting, had no idea what kind of adhesive to use so I used double-sided tape. I learned that folding scrapbook paper doesn't really work. The very outermost layer of the paper separated along the crease. The edges were all wonky, the layout kind of off. The heart and soul might have been there, but the final product was definitely not something worth keeping. Really. I'm not just being modest here.

Even still, looking at Ali's website made me really want to create some keepsakes. I loved her December daily book. I look at that and think: I wanna do that! It could be in my own scrappy, rag tag style. But then I realize I don't have near the amount of products it would take to accomplish something like that. The papers, the scissors, the punches, the embellishments, the dodads and gizmos. And I thought of all the many dollars it would take to accumulate that kind of stuff.

For you scrapbookers out there: How did you do it? How did you get all your supplies? I imagine it's an ongoing process, that you're always getting more. But where does one start? And should one who is so imprecise and paper-challenged as myself even TRY to start??

More handmade gifts

2010-01-02T22:11:00.008-07:00

Now that Christmas is over and presents have been delivered and opened, I can disclose the items I made this year for my sister, Stacy (co-author here) and her family. She has an adorable son who is almost a year and a half and she is expecting another baby in February.

For my nephew:

A plush alphabet. Originally, I was going to put little magnets inside these. Until the project template said to never, under any circumstances put magnets in a toy for a child under 3 years old. The instructions were so emphatic, I was too scared to do it anyway. So, I left them out. I had a charm pack of baby-ish fabrics so I used all the boy appropriate ones and backed the letters with yellow flannel. I fringed the edges of the letters. Sorry, the photographs of the letters is a crappy one. The bag was an afterthought. I had all these letters, and was so excited to have them completed. I laid them all out and then wondered how on earth I would send them and how on earth my sweet nephew would keep them all in the same place. So, I grabbed a white scrap out of my basket, some stray blue ribbon, and some green fabric scraps (from another handmade gift I had made for this nephew), and set to work. It didn't take long. I had appliqued the letters on - and not very neatly or precisely, but it did the trick. I was pretty proud of the little bag. It's nothing great, but I did it without a pattern and it only took me an hour or two.

For nephew #2 after he joins us later this year:

A flannel rag quilt. It took 12 flannel fat quarters and 2-ish yards of plan flannel. Each fat quarter was cut into 3 rectangles, 2 small squares, and 1 large square. The 2 yards of plain flannel were cut into as many shapes. You make a 3-layer stack: patterned square, right side out, plain flannel in the middle, and then another patterned square, right side out. Sew an x across the stack. Make a similar stack for each shape, then piece them together (I suppose you'd have to buy the pattern at this point), making sure all seams are on the outside. Snip all the seams every 1/4 inch or so, then wash to get it nice and frayed. This was a really fun and pretty simple little blanket to make...and so cute for a baby gift.

For Stacy and her hubby:

Crocheted dishrags. Great for cleaning off dishes. Can be thrown in the wash to avoid stinkiness and used over and over again.

I had all kinds of other ideas swimming around my head for Christmas things I wanted to make, but time got away from me. Maybe next year...I honestly feel like I'll have to start in June to get all the decorations and things I want by Christmas next year.

Homemade Christmas Gift #4

2009-12-16T21:48:00.006-07:00

I saw these I Spy bags on Sew, Mama, Sew's Scrapbuster month and had to try them for myself. I went back to see how it was done, but the tutorial was taken off for some reason. I just tried to make it from what I saw the first time and turns out they are pretty easy and quick to make.

I wanted to make my niece and nephew animal bags, so I drew them right on the fabric and cut two layers of each out. Then I cut a window out of one layer of each and fit a piece of thick, clear plastic in and stitched it on. I added eyes, nose, etc to the front layer then I stitched the two layers together leaving a 2 inch opening in the bottom to add the filler. I added tiny star pasta, buttons, numbers, and different little charms that were half off at Hobby Lobby. Sorry these pictures are so bad. I promise they look better in person.

Christmas Gift #3

2009-12-15T12:36:00.005-07:00

I wanted to get my 10-year-old nephew away from the TV and PSP, so I decided to make him something to get him outdoors. These flag football belts are pretty easy, but time consuming. It was all worth it because I loved how they turned out.

No pattern needed. You just need three different color fabrics (for the belt and two team colors for the flags), D rings (I like using the larger ones), and velcro. I found that the sticky back velcro gums up the sewing machines needle, so use regular velcro and it goes sooooo much more quickly. I wanted my belts to look finished (even though my nephew will never even notice), so I folded the edges in, ironed, and stitched. I also made my favorite reversible drawstring bag from Yarnmonster for them to be stored in.

Christmas Gift #2

2009-12-13T14:32:00.005-07:00

I know this isn't really homemade, but it kind of is because I designed it and used pictures that I took. Oh well, I think it's a great gift anyway. I think calendars are perfect for Christmas gifts because it's the start of a new year. Even if it's just kind of a gag gift (like mine to my sister) or for your own use. I'm in the process of making one for myself of my family's trip to Mount Rainier.

There are many different places that offer this service. I chose Sam's because it was only going to cost $10.00 and you can completely personalize it. They use thick, glossy cardstock that looks great with the photos. You can choose from about 12 different themes or just have a blank background. Some of the themes are really ornate and pretty while others are geared more towards kids and babies. Then you can choose how many pictures on a page and what size and shape they are. My favorite feature by far is that you can personalize each day with a different picture, change the color of the box, add text, and change the color and size of text. You can really do a lot with this $10 calendar. I was really impressed with how it turned out.

Homemade Christmas Gift #1

2009-12-13T14:00:00.006-07:00

Anyone need ideas for inexpensive homemade Christmas gifts this year? I've got a few. Some are my own, some are from others, some aren't necessarily homemade, but all are personal and relatively easy. I'll be posting them throughout the week so you'll have enough time if you wanted to make one or two before Christmas. If you have any homemade gifts you're giving this year, please post them! I need more ideas!!!

This scarf is from Katiedid's blog.

I used really thick, 100% wool yarn. The thicker the yarn, the easier it will be to keep it together. Measure how long you want the scarf to be and cut as many strands you need for your desired width. Then line them up and stitch back and forth in sections. The sections can be as long or as short as you want. I also liked using contrasting color threads. This isn't really a quick project until you get the hang of if, so give yourself a day to finish.

DIY ruffle skirt or dress

2009-11-30T11:05:00.001-07:00

Well, I found this amazing dress from JCrew for $40 bucks! It is normally $200. There was just one in the store so I quickly grabbed it. Upon bringing it home I discovered that I just could not make it work - the tube top was a problem, it was the wrong size and too complicated for me to alter myself, etc. So I took a lot of photos, returned it and made a skirt similar to it using a basic skirt pattern I had for the base, and adding the ruffle and layers based on the dress. I had to use this beautiful fabric I bought from the quilt festival that has just been starring at me ever since, pleading with me to use it on something. So, though the end product is a bit flashy in color, I really love my skirt.

Remember if you live near me, I never cut the patterns I buy. If you would like to borrow, please let me know. You are welcome to them.

DIY ribbon cardigan

2009-11-30T10:44:00.004-07:00

I went to JCrew for the special prices on Black Friday and found a plain black cardigan for $20. I love their Jackie cardigans and own a few, but they are way pricey, especially the more frill they have. I generally buy them at the outlet, but they are never that cheap & usually they only carry the plain ones.

I bought the black one and about 2 yards of grosgrain ribbon and embelished mine to resemble the grosgrain ribbon cardigan they have for sale right now for $90 (the tan one above). I am really happy with it. Just a bunch of folds and knots pinned in place, and a few stitches later, voila!

I promise it looks much cuter on than in the pictures.

What kind of deals did y'all get?

Sorry about my photos - that's not an area that I can brag about.

How to sew an invisible zipper

2009-11-28T20:09:00.002-07:00

Here is a great step-by-step tutorial on how to sew an invisible zipper. It has plenty of photos to help one on one's way. Just thought I'd share it :)

Free Sewing Patterns

2009-11-28T19:15:00.003-07:00

Hi everyone. I hope you all had a very restful and enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday. I tried a new pie recipe that I won't be trying again. But, I still managed to have a great time with my family, cooking and listening to Christmas music - our Thanksgiving tradition.

I have also been sick, so I spent a lot of time on couch surfing the internet in my wetsuit. My time-wasting took a turn for the productive when I found Burda Style. Have you already heard of it? It is a website that sales beautiful and cool patterns for cheap, but best of all it has FREE patterns, too. And these ones aren't hokey, indefinite, and the same ol' patterns that you can find everywhere, like the bajillion apron patterns out there. One of my favorite free ones is this bathing suit pattern.

It also has great how-to's, like a tutorial for creating a "leaf pleated bodice." I didn't even know what that was, but it sounds fun!

Anyway, if you are interested in a clothing project, you should check this website out. There is a lot more than just patterns and techniques. I think any sewer would want to save this site in their bookmarks.

Happy sewing!

Sewing Group #5 blooms

2009-11-21T11:18:00.003-07:00

Here is the tutorial we used. The top pic is the one I was basing mine on, just not that big, and white. The bottom photo is my finished blossom. Julia and Haylee finished theirs that night (in just 2 hours) - and I must say that they were quite coveted. Both turned out really lovely. Can't wait for the next group! Good job girlies!

Easy Unicorn Quilt

2009-11-21T11:17:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! I made this quilt from the book that Jen suggested, Patchwork & Quilted Gifts .
The quilt is called "Super Quick and Easy Baby Quilt," (I made mine a throw size) under the 2-4-hour gifts. The idea is that you take your front fabric, back fabric, and batting, layer then in this order, from top to bottom: front fabric, right side up; back fabric wrong side up; batting. Pin and sew all the way around leaving a 6" opening for turning. Turn and lay flat. To quilt all you do is make a mark every 4" (check your batting and see the limit for how far the quilting can be spaced apart) and use one of the fun and tight stitches on your sewing machine and do one on every mark. I used orange: you can see them on the princess and the pea side, but what is nice is that on the unicorn side it blends in sew ;) well with the print that you do not notice the quilting. It was a cinch!

It is the same idea as tying, just a hip, new twist. And you feel pretty cool that you just made a quilt in only a few hours.

oh felt

2009-11-19T13:24:00.007-07:00

I know all of you are probably getting sick of me, but i promise this is the last one for a little while.

I've been getting a lot of free reusable tote bags for some reason, so instead of letting them sit around (because there's only so many bags you need for groceries, supplies, etc.) I decided to change them a bit and use them as gift bags for christmas. I used a couple of red bags, made little holiday scenes with about $1 worth of felt and hot glue, and zig-zag stitched them on top of the printed words. They came out a lot better than I thought they would. Is it rude to ask for the bags back?

If you don't have any tote bags on hand, you can get them for $1 at Hobby Lobby or Michaels and it's so much more personal, reusable, and about the same price as buying those glossy, already printed gift bags. You can also use them for birthdays, baby showers, or any occasion!

And yes I know, there is no santa because he seemed too hard and there are no reins because they cluttered up the scene. Does that make it look off?

Scrappy Alphabet

2009-11-16T12:09:00.004-07:00

Last month was Sew, Mama, Sew's Scrapbuster month and there were soooooooo many good ideas for how to use up all your scraps to make something cute/practical. Check it out if you get a chance. That is where I got this idea for the alphabet.

These are easy but they kind of take a while to finish the whole set. So if you're giving this as a gift, don't try to make it last minute. It's 2 layers of fabric with two layers of cotton batting in the middle. Trace the printed out letter on the fabric and sew along the mark. The person who made this tutorial says to cut out the small holes on letters like B or Q or R first and then sew around the edge, but I sewed first and cut them out later and it worked fine. Just do both and find which way is easier for you.

I got the reversible drawstring bag tutorial from Yarnmonster. I love these bags. They are so easy and quick. The ABC is one layer of felt sewed on.

Play Dough

2009-11-12T19:01:00.005-07:00

This play dough recipe is from my mom who calls it, "the definitive recipe for play dough". She won't have anything to do with store bought play dough because she likes this recipe so much better. I have to agree with her. When I made this recipe for my boys this week I was swimming in feelings of nostalgia and appreciation for my mom. I remember well getting to choose my color, stir the mixture as it thickened, and then massage the warm dough with my little hands. I also remember licking the salty residue off my fingers after playing with my dough. I caught Luke doing the exact same thing.

I could go on and on about the benefits of these types of real life and tactile activities for little ones. They need to use their hands to experience things, develop their fine motor skills, learn some basic chemistry, and enjoy open ended creative outlets. The most important thing, however, is that play dough is really fun. It spans all ages and abilities.

Gather ingredients:

1 cup water
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 cup salt
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
food coloring

Combine in saucepan and stir well.
Stir constantly over medium heat until mixture becomes thick and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, about two or three minutes.

Cool slightly and knead until smooth.
Proceed to make ninja turtles.

This recipe will keep a very long time in an airtight container.

P.S. I tried (and failed) to post my bio in the about us post. So here goes:

I am Carrie. I just turned 31 and live in the Washington DC metro area with my husband and our three boys. Luke is five and a half, Noah just turned three and Isaac will be a year old next week. I am not sure when my love of crafting started. I was well into college before I started to see myself as creative. I had many an epiphany about my creative abilities while taking my required art class. I try and find ways to spend more time sewing, scrapbooking, cooking, and taking pictures than I spend running errands, cleaning or picking up Legos. I will admit though, sometimes the Legos win.

Felt gift for kids #2

2009-11-11T09:40:00.005-07:00

These headbands were inspired by Talane's sweet baby Lily. She has some like these and I thought they were so cute. So I made some of my own for my 2 nieces (and one on the way!). The flower looks so misshapen because I sewed it with no template, but I kind of like the asymmetry. I made a template for the bird and the wing to make it a little easier. The LSU tiger stripes had to be hot glued on because it looked really messy when i was trying to sew them on. I also glued together the two felt layers (I was getting lazy). When sewing onto the elastic band, make sure you don't go through both layers of the felt so the stitches will not show on the front side.

I got the elastic at Jo-Ann's for $0.80 a yard, but they only had black, white, or cream. If you know where I can get some colored elastic, I would love you forever.

La Pastina

2009-11-09T20:24:00.003-07:00

So, there was supposed to be a picture with this post. But, I got so excited about eating it that I totally forgot to take a picture. Then, I went to look online for a photo and came across this recipe that not only looks amazing, but is totally going to overshadow my simple recipe here. Still, the basic recipe is great to know because it's a starting place for a whole lot of yummy variety.

For those of you who don't know, I was a missionary in Italy for a year and a half. I'm no Italian, but I like to think I know my way around pasta if only slightly better than the average American. Pastina literally means little pasta. It's mostly a kid's meal, but adults eat it too. It is soooo good when it's cold outside. And it's even better when you're sick. The ingredients are simple and easy on the body and still a bit nutritious.

You can find pastina in the pasta isle, in baggies usually, or little boxes. My favorite shape is stars, but you'll also find orzo and little ditalini (tiny circle tubes).

To make pastina, you want 1 part pasta, 2 parts water. If you're making it for yourself, use 1/2 cup pastina and 1 cup water. Bring the water to a boil, adding a bouillon cube and a healthy drizzle of olive oil while the water is heating up. When boiling, add the pasta. Stir, stir, stir until the pasta is cooked. These little guys are really good at sticking to the bottom of the pot. If it's getting toward the end, and the water is almost gone (it will look like the pasta itself is boiling, there won't be excess water) but the pasta isn't quite cooked, feel free to add more water a bit at a time until the noodles are done. Taste it towards the end and add a little salt if it needs it, but it usually doesn't. Pour it into a bowl, add as much parmesan cheese as you like, and enjoy! It's good, easy comfort food.

And there's a lot you can do with this basic recipe. There's really no limit, as the link above so effectively demonstrates. A few other simple ideas:
- when you add the pasta, drop in some frozen peas.
- if you want more of a soup, use less pasta or more water...duh.
- when it's done, add diced tomato, fresh mozzarella, and a little basil.
- add a little bit of canned diced tomato with juice and some white beans and whatever italian herbs you like (I'm always partial to basil).

This is so simple and easy, I really kind of feel silly posting it here. But, it tasted so good tonight (I'm feeling a little under the weather) and it's something I always come back to...Hope you like!

Felt gift for kids #1

2009-11-09T10:01:00.006-07:00

There are quite a few babies in my family right now and I wanted to make something that was original and just for the twins birthday. So, this is what came out, felt bracelets. If you want a quick, cute and inexpensive gift, this is great.

For the girls, I drew the flower outline on paper and cut it out as a template. Then I used the template to cut two felt flowers, sewed them together by just following the edge of the flower (that was kind of tedious and difficult). Then I did the same thing with another layer of the flower, the leaf, and band. I arranged the flowers how i liked them, cut a tiny hole in the middle, put the ring on the back of button through, and then sewed everything together nice and tight (because it will probably be roughed up a little). Then I arranged the leaf and sewed it on. I had to make sure that I wasn't going through both layers of the felt with the needle so thread wouldn't show on the front. With the band, I couldn't measure the kids wrist until I got to the party, so I had to guess how long it should be. When we got to the party and they opened the gift, I then measured and hammered snaps in the right spot.

I found that sewing a flower straight on to two layers of felt with no template is wayyyyy easier, but it doesn't come out as neat. But I kind of like the asymmetrical look (as you'll see in my next post).

The only thing I don't like about these is that when the kids opened them, they didn't jump up and down with excitement (like I did when I saw the end product of these). But, that's 2 year-olds for you. I hope they like them and want to wear them at least sometime. Oh well, I love them anyway.

One more thing from the Halloween party

2009-11-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

I made this by taking a photo we took of this painting, cropping it so that it was just the girl, developed it at Costco for just a few dollars, then splattered it with blood (acrilic paint) to make it look evil. I painted a knife in her hand, slit her throat, and put blood dripping everywhere. This was a fun decoration to make for my party and really cheap.

I also made this bunting on the cheap. I took colors that went with the season and cut out equal sized triangles. Then I just sewed them together with a zigzag stitch. It can be reused for any party. The rats on the wall are the martha stewart rats.

Just in time for the holidays

2009-11-08T21:33:00.002-07:00

Let me warn you now, this tutorial is extremely detailed with lots of pictures to explain even further the steps and tricks. These candy apples are kind of my husband’s thing and he threatened to never make them again if I didn’t write this up thoroughly.

4 apples (granny smith preferably)

1 14 oz. bag of Caramels

2 tbsp milk

6 oz chocolate (milk or white)

2 tbsp unflavored shortening

Whatever toppings you want!

First, wash the apples and dry them completely. The wax on store bought apples will keep the caramel from sticking. Once washed and dried, place them in the refrigerator so that they are cold when you dip them.

We like using Kraft brand caramels since they taste great and popsicle sticks come in the bag. Push the popsicle sticks in the apples making sure you don’t break through the bottom (1) and place them on a large plate that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.

In a double boiler, start melting the caramels and add 2 tbsp of milk (2). Make sure to keep stirring until all the candies are melted smooth(3).

When all of the candies are melted, remove from heat, tilt to the side, dip your apple, and roll all the sides in the caramel (4). You must be quick about this as the cold apples will help the caramels stick to the apple but if you leave the apple in too long it will re-melt the caramel off of the apple.

When most of the apple is covered, let the excess drip off and scrape the caramel off of the bottom of the apple with a spoon to make it flat (so it sits upright on the plate). They should be so shiny that you can see yourself in them (5). If you have extra, just pour it on top of the apples to totally cover them with caramel (6). You don’t have to worry about it not being smooth because it will be covered up with chocolate and toppings!

We use Ghirardelli melting chocolate because we got a good deal on them, but you can use whatever chocolate you want (7). In a double boiler, start melting the chocolate and add 2 tbsp of shortening. When the chocolate is melted smooth, take it off the heat and let it cool to about room temperature.

You can use anything you want for toppings. Prepare your toppings by chopping them into small chunks. We use a food mill which is like a small food processor. We like this because it doesn’t turn our toppings into a powder. Spread whatever toppings you want on large plates (8).

When the chocolate is cool, dip and roll the apples in the chocolate (9), allow the excess chocolate to drip off and re-dip if you like. You must wait for chocolate to go from shiny to a dull matte and then roll them in the toppings (10).

Refrigerate them for 15 minutes and they’re ready to eat (11)! We found that a tic tac toe cut works best for serving (12).

These are combinations that we found we really liked:

-White chocolate/Oreo

-White chocolate/Brown sugar and cinnamon

-Milk chocolate/Butterfinger

-Milk chocolate/pecans

-or you can mix them all together!

Sorry this tutorial was so long, but these are just so tasty and I wanted to share it with everyone!

A Hoot!

2009-11-08T21:26:00.004-07:00

Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted anything...we've been so busy!!! A tiny sliver of that busy-ness was making my baby girl's first Halloween costume. I used this pattern from Martha Stewart. The pattern calls for regular white felt for the front "feathers" but there was some fuzzy white felt on the shelf with the regular stuff and I thought fuzzy would be more fun. Also, if you go to the link and look at the picture of the baby wearing the costume, you'll see that that baby seems perfectly happy wearing those goggles. Marian resisted them at all costs. There was screaming, pushing, and even tears. So I didn't push it.

My husband and I wanted to keep our costumes low key, so we figured we'd go thematic. A few felt leaves stitched to headbands and gloves, a little bird's nest with a few eggs in it, color-appropriate clothing, and we were all set. Easy, and nothing spectacular.

Disclaimer: the lighting wasn't working for us when we were taking these pictures, and so they suck.

Apple Crumble

2009-11-08T21:07:00.001-07:00

I took my favorite recipe from Jen and used apples instead. I took 3 apples, pealed cored and chopped and put them in a skillet with 4 T butter and about 1/4 c water. I heated them over medium until the apples were almost like applesauce (with some just a little thick or tough). I made the incredibly easy crumble topping, placed them in the ramekins and baked them according to the recipe. Top with vanilla ice cream. There you have it, another hit.

Sew Serendipity

2009-11-08T14:13:00.002-07:00

I bought a few patterns from Serendipity Studios and this shirt and skirt are what I have made so far. If any of you live in the area (Houston) I will gladly lend my patterns to you. The shirt is made from her Olivia Dress pattern, and the skirt from her Emaline Skirt pattern. These are great patterns to have because they are easy to follow and manipulate or change to create something unique. They are a good base to go off of.

Sewing Group #4

2009-11-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

I made the Katiedid quilt. I think I might embroidery my nephews name on it. What d oyou think?

Halloween Party - Malone Style!

2009-11-08T13:45:00.004-07:00

Adam and I (above) hosted a Halloween party at our house this year. I wanted to share the costumes and some of the ideas. We got our pictures from the favorite children's book Where the Wild Things Are. I am Max in my wolf suit and Adam is a wild thing! I got the tutorials for our headdresses (i coulsn't think of a better word! hats?) here: Max, Wild Thing
Chris Brown (above)won a prize for most creative costume. He was a bacon eating robot. Kallan and Joseph (she has already posted their costumes) won best couple. Adam won best overall. It was really hard to vote because there were such great costumes.

Steve and Kalina Broadbent pulled this off nicely!
This is my little nephew - what a charming and short vampire!
My bushy tail and my witchy-witch of a sister Candace!
Megan looks Awesome!

Bosc pears with skull name tags for guests to take on their way out.
Megan Hicks made this pumpkin look easy to make - I don't know how she did it but it was AWESOME!

I did not take any photos, so I am at the mercy of Kalina (the official photographer of the evening) to share hers. She is posting them little by little as she has time to work on them here, if you want to check them out.

Landscape Quilt

2009-11-08T13:01:00.003-07:00

Hi everyone. It has been a while since I have posted, so you are going to get a lot of me today. This is from the landscape wuilt class I took at the Quilt Festival. The first photo is one I took of my sister, below is the quilt I made from it.

I wanted to share the how-to so that you can make one, if you wish. It is very easy, and makes a great gift. Mine is still not finished. All I need to do is the binding, once I find something I like, and when you do the binding you need to also sew on a fold or "tunnel" of fabric, from which to hang it. The end size is the size of a fat quarter.

How-to:

Gather all of the fabrics to make your picture. It is important to get a sky (if you have one) something for the base layer (I used a print with foliage because I had no sky in mine), and any other of the most important layers (horizon, lake, mountains, etc.). Then gather bits of fabric to make the other images in your picture you want there. For example, I found fabric with a park bench on it which fit in perfectly with the picture, and I also took out my sister. :) It is important to simplify - take out anything unnecessary or anything that distracts from the main reason you chose the picture. I took our my sister, because the reason I chose this one is obviously because of the beautiful blossoming cherry trees. However, thanks to Kallan, you know you can print pictures onto printable fabric, cut out your subject and glue them in. Also, there are many batiks that are wondrful for creating the natural environment: rocks, trees, water, etc.
Other supplies: acid free glue stick, clear thread (or color of your choice for quilting), scissors, tracing paper and pencil, an 8x10 color print of your image and a 16x20 black and white print.
Cut out your shapes. Trace your main images from your 16x 20 onto paper, cut out and then use your pattern to cut the image out of your fabric. For instance, if you have a mountain horizon, trace the shape onto paper, cut out then place it onto your mountain fabric, cut, and glue onto your base layer. Continue until you have replicated your picture. Pin onto your batting and the fabric for the back of the quilt.
Quilt. Quilting it with the clear thread is helpful because your thread will not take away from your picture. Or, use your thread to enhance your picture. For example, if you have a sky, you can use a blue fabric and then quilt in shapes of clouds to give that effect. This is also a good way to do water.
Bind and add some sort of loop for hanging.

Please take a moment to check out my teacher's site. That way you can get a feel for how beautiful they can be.

Costumes!!!

2009-11-02T15:25:00.006-07:00

I guess I'll be the first to post pictures of this years Halloween costumes. I want to see what all of you did also! I usually don't go all out with my costume, but since I had a party to go to that required them, I had some fun with it.

We went as an old timey cop and robber. I'm really bad at taking pictures showing how I made things, so I just have pictures of the finished product and I'll have to tell you how i did it. This was a surprisingly inexpensive couples costume. My husband used his navy blue suit and we pinned the collar up (you can kind of tell if you look closely). The baton is unfinished wood sprayed black, the hat is an old hat that we covered in navy fabric and stuffed batting in to get the height, and the badge is from a costume store for $4. I bought a kids long sleeve white shirt from Hobby Lobby for $5, used tape to make wide stripes, and spray painted it black. For the money bag, I cut a big circle out of some cream cotton fabric, stuffed it with newspaper, and tied it together at the top with a rubber band. Everything else (the mustache, belt, $ on the money bag, badge on the hat, and mask) was made from felt! Felt is my new favorite fabric (if you can call it fabric). Especially since it's 4 sheets for $1 at the craft store and stays in place when sewing together. All I did was make templates for everything (see below), cut out two of each, sewed together wrong sides out, and flipped it to the right side. For the money symbol, I just made one copy and sewed it face up on the fabric (before I stuffed it of course).

Again, I want to see what you did this year! Especially kids costumes.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-29T09:50:00.004-06:00

I need some help from all of you. To get in the Halloween spirit, my husbands family has a pumpkin carving contest every year. They can make anything a contest... The prize is bragging rights. So, if you get a chance, I would love for you to vote for your favorite pumpkin at BurgerTyme which is my husband's burger blog. All the votes are tallied on Halloween night.

If you carved pumpkins this year, I'd love to see them!

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

10% off at Sew, Mama, Sew!

2009-10-28T11:23:00.001-06:00

Ends Nov. 1st. Includes sale and clearance items. Type in the code HH3KICKOFF.

Developing your fancy photos

2009-10-28T08:12:00.004-06:00

I just wanted to share this great site for developing your photos. I heard about it from a friend who is a semiprofessional photographer who has won many awards for his photography. He has really nice equipment, as I know many of you have recently invested in some nice cameras. Well, this is the place to get them developed. Mpix.com
This place is great because their products are professional quality and the price is extremely cheap. You can even get all of your framing done through them as well, which is equally affordable for custom framing. You should sign up for their specials sent via email, which are pretty frequent. An example of their pricing: 8x10 = $1.99, and many times they send out the promotion for half off, etc. Also, you can print your images in many media types: wall clings, deck of cards, puzzles, greeting cards. Another perk, you can order your prints, framed items, etc. in boxes that will no where have their name on it so that the receiver is surprised until time to open. This was especially useful for me last Christmas. I got a few of Adam's prized photos printed and framed by them. When the boxes arrived, he was home to get them, but had no idea what would be inside. (Also, I had budgeted a certain amount for the picture to get framed, when I found out how cheap it was, I got to order another one of his favorites in a frame!)
This is a really affordable way to print your photos that you have taken great care to make professional and memorable. If you have invested the money in a nice camera, this site is the way to go. They even have a service that allows them to have one of their professional developers look at the photo before printing and enhance it in all the right ways. And, if this option is not free, then it doesn't cost much. I've used it a lot and can't remember paying much (if anything) for it and it is really helpful.

Anyway - in answer to your question, yes, I am getting paid for this post. JKJKJKJKJK! Ok, i'll pass the mike on . . .

Fabric Frames and Mattes

2009-10-27T15:37:00.007-06:00

I sort of mentioned this craft before, but I thought I might expand on it and show some pictures of how I did it (even though I'm sure you could figure it out on your own). This is a cheap and really simple way to use scraps from your favorite fabrics and to bring color or tie a room together. The matte below is for a 4x6 picture and cost .50! The unfinished wood frame above cost only $2.00 and is wrapped in one of the larger scraps of floral chiffon. As a side note, I don't have kids yet, so my sweet pup, Pearl, is the subject of a good bit of my photos. And yes, that is Lord of the Rings in the background...I admit I'm a nerd.

First, I positioned the frame/matte face down over the desired part of the fabric (face down also) and freehand cut with a rotary cutter ½-1 inch around the outside of the frame/matte. It doesn’t have to be perfect because that extra fabric will be glued to the back of the frame where no one will see it. I hot glued the ½-1 inch fabric borders one side at a time to the back of the frame, making sure it is pulled taut. Then I freehand cut about ½-1 inch inside the matte. With a rectangle frame/matte, I cut a slit from the inside corner to the frame on all four corners and pulled taut and hot glued it to the frame. With the circle frame/matte, I made many slits about 2 inches apart from each other. Each slit should be glued one a time so you can control how tight the fabric is pulled over the frame/matte. The bottom left picture shows this step. When you’re done, there should be no wrinkles or gathering of fabric on the front of the frame/matte.

Spinach-Ricotta Pesto Pasta with Crisp Prosciutto and Asparagus

2009-10-26T14:03:00.004-06:00

Josh and I got to enjoy this scrumptious pasta dish for Sunday dinner. It was super easy to make. We really really liked it. Hope you do to, if you make it that is.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ask-aida/spinach-ricotta-pesto-pasta-with-crisp-prosciutto-and-asparagus-recipe/index.html

Giant Cupcake

2009-10-25T14:02:00.003-06:00

I've been looking for an excuse to buy Wilton's Giant Cupcake cake pan for a while now. My niece's 4th birthday proved to be the perfect reason. She loves cupcakes, and she loves the fun girly-girl color schemes that would make the cake especially cute. I did a little bit of research online, and I found this tutorial for making a candy liner for the cupcake.

I used two Duncan Hines Devil's Food cake mixes to fill the pan - I discarded about a cup of batter, but probably could've discarded two because I ended up having to trim quite a bit off the top of the cakes once they were cooked. I started baking them at 350, but after 15 minutes or so I found some tips online that said 325 was better so I reduced the temp. I'll start at 325 next time, because I think the outer edges were a little overdone. It takes a long time to cook because it's such a deep, thick base. It ended up being in the oven for 65 minutes. I don't think I trimmed the base quite enough before putting it in the candy liner, because this morning it was cracked a little bit - I think because it was too big. But it wasn't too noticeable, and luckily held together long enough for the birthday girl to get a good look at it. I also could have used a turntable (or helper monkey!) when frosting it, because I had several breaks and crooked parts in the frosting. I used my Cricut die-cutting machine (my most favorite crafting tool!) to make the letters and flowers, then taped them to lollipop sticks and stuck them in the cake.

This picture with the water bottle helps show the scale of the cake - it really is a giant cupcake!

The birthday girl was thrilled with the results - she'd never seen anything like it. Now I'll have to think up more excuses to make this!

OOooo Scary!

2009-10-21T17:09:00.002-06:00

And these I just made with the left over chocolate, i thought they were kinda cute.

Candy Corn Cookies

2009-10-21T16:43:00.004-06:00

These yummy and cute looking cookies are super easy to make. All you do is use your favorite sugar cookie recipe (or if in a hurry you can use pillsbury) add orange food coloring and cut into triangles. Bake as directed. Use white and brown baking chocolate for the ends. Don't dip them into the chocolate just spread it on with the back of the spoon. If you dip it adds too much weight for the cookies and they tend to break. Enjoy