I suppose I wouldn't be a real sewer (or seamstress or sewist or whatever "people who sew" are called these days) if my kids hadn't ruined something at some point. I was working on trick-or-treat bags yesterday as well as some fabric pumpkins (found here on PS I Quilt - aren't those cute? And totally easy!)
Tonight, Adam was going to sew something really quick on one of his hammocks and we discovered that the bobbin case for the machine has vanished, along with the bobbin spool I was last using ... And we did a lot of housecleaning today, so I have no idea where that thing could possibly be. The spool is easy to replace, but the bobbin case? Yeah. No sewing at all until that thing is either located or I find another one online to replace it because the machine doesn't work without it. My 2-year-old and 6-year-old absolutely will not leave my sewing stuff alone, and both are good at absconding with things - like small bobbin cases, possibly - that they decide to claim as their own. Sigh.
Good thing I'm not working on Halloween costumes - they're done. Christmas presents, on the other hand ... that's going to be a little more difficult to get started on.
27 October 2012
23 October 2012
Disney trip outfits
Adam decided a few weeks ago that we were going to Disney World for my 40th (gag) birthday - yay! He asked me for a budget (since I'm our financial manager), told me the dates we'd be gone, and assigned me to make outfits for the girls for every day we'd be in the DW parks. Other than that, I knew nothing, not even what hotel we were going to stay in. It was my birthday present!
We were there last week and it was a great trip - the biggest surprise was that my parents and sister were in the hotel room next door. Hooray hooray for family helping with small kids!
I made princess dresses, which I've already posted about ... and then the girls never wore them at Disney World. It was too hot and humid the whole time to even think about wearing satin. Well, I have Halloween outfits for all of them now.
I got stuff to make country flag shirts for Epcot - I ordered little 4x6 inch desk flags from countries in our family's heritage - England, Germany, Denmark, and Poland. I pulled them off the little sticks and was going to applique them to plain t-shirts and have them worn with jeans. That didn't happen either. With "cold weather" setting in for fall and winter, you can't find short sleeved shirts ANYWHERE in stores. And don't get me started about how much of a pain in the neck it is to find PLAIN shirts at all without garish and ugly pictures and words all over them. I ended up buying long-sleeved shirts and one of the baby's shirts was a turtleneck. It's 90 freaking degrees outside (even in October), and all I can find at the store is a turtleneck? Seriously? For Epcot, they just wore the US flag shirts I got at Walmart for Independence Day with shorts. SM wore her Pledge of Allegiance skirt.
They wore two of the things I made ... the first day at the Magic Kingdom, they all matched with pink Minnie Mouse fabric that I found on fabric.com and at Walmart. I ended up buying it at Walmart (even though I'm really hating on that store these days) so I could start sewing right away and not wait for the shipping. I got the accent fabrics from a local small fabric shop (Stitch-n-Frame) - the woman at the shop was fantastic in helping me pick stuff out that I never would have considered on my own. I was definitely willing to pay more for these fabrics just to have the help in choosing them, plus they're from the fancy shmancy fabric designers that I read about on sewing blogs but have never actually come across in a store until now - the floral print is from Riley Blake and the pink dots were from Michael Moore.
SM's dress was the same pillowcase style dress from the One Yard Wonders book that I made for JE at Easter. I embellished it with a ruffle around the waist, which idea I got from Sumo's Sweet Stuff (via Project Run and Play).
RG wanted a skirt. I was shooting for this ruffle from Flamingo Toes but I put the ruffle together without taking the taller bit into consideration. Oops. Need to read ahead better. So I just attached the ruffle I had to the bottom of the skirt and called it good. I do still want the Flamingo Toes skirt and even know which fabric combo I'm going to use for it. It's just a question of who will get the new skirt. Maybe me.
JE's outfit was from the One Yard Wonders book - a pinafore over a shirt and shorts. She's still in diapers so she needed something over her bum. I prefer her in shorts or leggings, not just a diaper cover. I like how it looked like a jumper - you couldn't really see the shorts, but when she got chocolate ice cream all over the pinafore in the afternoon, we just took it off and she was still fully dressed.
And baby TA - I went around and around with trying to figure out a dress or jumper for her, until a friend told me to just put her in a skirt with a onesie. I did this tiered skirt tutorial from Craftiness is not Optional and it's so teeny and cute! I really like the look of this skirt, so I'll be making more of them. I need to tweak the proportions a little bit next time - because my sewing is not total precision, I need at least one inch extra on the middle and bottom layers to accommodate for the gathering and hem.
This was the clearest shot I got of all 4 outfits. Hopefully my dad or sister got a better one at some point during the day! Some of our princess pictures didn't turn out (Rapunzel is completely out of focus, for one) so I'm glad we had multiple cameras going. This was taken within 10 minutes of getting past the front gate on our first day, and wow - the stars aligned for this. Leading up to the trip, every time we asked the girls who they wanted to meet, the first name was always Mary Poppins. And there she was as soon as we got there.
For Animal Kingdom, we had safari vests, of course! They were done mostly freehand - I measured and traced around t-shirts and made test versions out of an old sheet before I cut into my main fabric. I used cotton ticking (which is usually used for upholstery and frequently has stripes - I found some plain), got random fat quarters from the Walmart craft section to make the pockets, and colored flower buttons to coordinate.
I was winging it when I made the first test vest - I traced a shirt onto the sheet and sewed it all up and it didn't work really well. My mom found this tutorial on Couturier Mommy on how to make a vest pattern from a shirt tracing, which I mostly followed - I still eyeballed it for the armhole lines. I traced the shirt onto a piece of packing paper that we use for large art projects, then pinned that to the fabric ... that went much better. TA's vest ended up a bit too small - it fit around her, but was snug and it was too hot for her to wear anything fitted. So she didn't wear it very long. RG was also not being very cooperative that day so she didn't wear her's very long either. I have no pictures of all 4 of them at AK - I think my dad got one but I don't have it yet. Here's one of SM and one of JE at Rafiki's petting zoo to give you an idea - bias tape around the armholes, buttons and buttonholes down the front, and patch pockets all over the front.
It was a lot of work getting ready for the trip with the sewing but it was fun, and I worked on my sewing skills. I learned that major projects like the princess dresses are still waaaaay beyond my reach and I'm really glad that I have friends like Kera to walk me through them (and/or do them for me). I got more practice on gathering stitches, buttonholes, and bias tape. I figured out, a little bit, how to make a pattern traced off a current article of clothing, and tried a couple of new tutorials that I hadn't done before. I'm branching out!
We were there last week and it was a great trip - the biggest surprise was that my parents and sister were in the hotel room next door. Hooray hooray for family helping with small kids!
I made princess dresses, which I've already posted about ... and then the girls never wore them at Disney World. It was too hot and humid the whole time to even think about wearing satin. Well, I have Halloween outfits for all of them now.
I got stuff to make country flag shirts for Epcot - I ordered little 4x6 inch desk flags from countries in our family's heritage - England, Germany, Denmark, and Poland. I pulled them off the little sticks and was going to applique them to plain t-shirts and have them worn with jeans. That didn't happen either. With "cold weather" setting in for fall and winter, you can't find short sleeved shirts ANYWHERE in stores. And don't get me started about how much of a pain in the neck it is to find PLAIN shirts at all without garish and ugly pictures and words all over them. I ended up buying long-sleeved shirts and one of the baby's shirts was a turtleneck. It's 90 freaking degrees outside (even in October), and all I can find at the store is a turtleneck? Seriously? For Epcot, they just wore the US flag shirts I got at Walmart for Independence Day with shorts. SM wore her Pledge of Allegiance skirt.
They wore two of the things I made ... the first day at the Magic Kingdom, they all matched with pink Minnie Mouse fabric that I found on fabric.com and at Walmart. I ended up buying it at Walmart (even though I'm really hating on that store these days) so I could start sewing right away and not wait for the shipping. I got the accent fabrics from a local small fabric shop (Stitch-n-Frame) - the woman at the shop was fantastic in helping me pick stuff out that I never would have considered on my own. I was definitely willing to pay more for these fabrics just to have the help in choosing them, plus they're from the fancy shmancy fabric designers that I read about on sewing blogs but have never actually come across in a store until now - the floral print is from Riley Blake and the pink dots were from Michael Moore.
SM's dress was the same pillowcase style dress from the One Yard Wonders book that I made for JE at Easter. I embellished it with a ruffle around the waist, which idea I got from Sumo's Sweet Stuff (via Project Run and Play).
RG wanted a skirt. I was shooting for this ruffle from Flamingo Toes but I put the ruffle together without taking the taller bit into consideration. Oops. Need to read ahead better. So I just attached the ruffle I had to the bottom of the skirt and called it good. I do still want the Flamingo Toes skirt and even know which fabric combo I'm going to use for it. It's just a question of who will get the new skirt. Maybe me.
JE's outfit was from the One Yard Wonders book - a pinafore over a shirt and shorts. She's still in diapers so she needed something over her bum. I prefer her in shorts or leggings, not just a diaper cover. I like how it looked like a jumper - you couldn't really see the shorts, but when she got chocolate ice cream all over the pinafore in the afternoon, we just took it off and she was still fully dressed.
And baby TA - I went around and around with trying to figure out a dress or jumper for her, until a friend told me to just put her in a skirt with a onesie. I did this tiered skirt tutorial from Craftiness is not Optional and it's so teeny and cute! I really like the look of this skirt, so I'll be making more of them. I need to tweak the proportions a little bit next time - because my sewing is not total precision, I need at least one inch extra on the middle and bottom layers to accommodate for the gathering and hem.
This was the clearest shot I got of all 4 outfits. Hopefully my dad or sister got a better one at some point during the day! Some of our princess pictures didn't turn out (Rapunzel is completely out of focus, for one) so I'm glad we had multiple cameras going. This was taken within 10 minutes of getting past the front gate on our first day, and wow - the stars aligned for this. Leading up to the trip, every time we asked the girls who they wanted to meet, the first name was always Mary Poppins. And there she was as soon as we got there.
For Animal Kingdom, we had safari vests, of course! They were done mostly freehand - I measured and traced around t-shirts and made test versions out of an old sheet before I cut into my main fabric. I used cotton ticking (which is usually used for upholstery and frequently has stripes - I found some plain), got random fat quarters from the Walmart craft section to make the pockets, and colored flower buttons to coordinate.
I was winging it when I made the first test vest - I traced a shirt onto the sheet and sewed it all up and it didn't work really well. My mom found this tutorial on Couturier Mommy on how to make a vest pattern from a shirt tracing, which I mostly followed - I still eyeballed it for the armhole lines. I traced the shirt onto a piece of packing paper that we use for large art projects, then pinned that to the fabric ... that went much better. TA's vest ended up a bit too small - it fit around her, but was snug and it was too hot for her to wear anything fitted. So she didn't wear it very long. RG was also not being very cooperative that day so she didn't wear her's very long either. I have no pictures of all 4 of them at AK - I think my dad got one but I don't have it yet. Here's one of SM and one of JE at Rafiki's petting zoo to give you an idea - bias tape around the armholes, buttons and buttonholes down the front, and patch pockets all over the front.
It was a lot of work getting ready for the trip with the sewing but it was fun, and I worked on my sewing skills. I learned that major projects like the princess dresses are still waaaaay beyond my reach and I'm really glad that I have friends like Kera to walk me through them (and/or do them for me). I got more practice on gathering stitches, buttonholes, and bias tape. I figured out, a little bit, how to make a pattern traced off a current article of clothing, and tried a couple of new tutorials that I hadn't done before. I'm branching out!
05 October 2012
princess dress preview
Adam decided a few weeks ago that we're going to Disney World for my birthday and promptly assigned me to make new clothes for the girls, particularly princess dresses for when we're at the Magic Kingdom. I've been sewing like a madwoman for about a month now - all the princess dresses, a Minnie Mouse print, and now I'm working on safari vests for visiting Animal Kingdom.
Here's a sneak preview of the princess dresses (mainly for my mom and sisters). These are horrible pictures, but you can see the dresses. We'll get better ones in about 10 days in front of Cinderella's castle!
The catch is that these all began as adult sized formalwear, and has been cut down and restyled into princess dresses for little kids. My friend Kera (the one I keep mentioning) introduced me to this idea during the summer - you get formals from the thrift store or the back of your closet, and you've just scored a truckload of satin yardage for next to nothing.
SM's dress - blue with the sheer overlay and white ribbon - is a top and skirt because that was the best way to cut down the dress. It was originally a bridesmaid dress from my brother's wedding.
The other girls were outfitted from two formals that I got at a thrift store for 10 bucks total. Kera the Genius cut down RG's purple dress and it's darn near the original, only now sized for a 5-year-old. The big wrap-around looks a little odd here because she had her shoulders positioned weird. It looks like a big bow around her - really cute. Kera did the whole thing with her serger - I did a little bit of hand stitching on the top to get everything into place, but that was it.
JE's teal dress was actually a skirt to begin and we modified it using this dress from A Girl and a Glue Gun as the idea, minus the tulle over the top. Kera had lace that matched perfectly in her own stash which is around the bottom between the silver ribbons. It looks awesome. I've already made her a hairbow (just need to hot-glue it to the clip) out of the lace. Kera did about 95% of this dress in one night while I did TA's 3 times because I kept screwing it up.
TA's dress was copied directly from the same post as JE's - her main fabric was the bottom cut off RG's original dress, and I got the sheer overlay from Walmart. I wanted tulle but you apparently can't get it unless you go to Jackson. 60 miles one way for tulle is not happening.
Now to figure out shoes ...
Here's a sneak preview of the princess dresses (mainly for my mom and sisters). These are horrible pictures, but you can see the dresses. We'll get better ones in about 10 days in front of Cinderella's castle!
The catch is that these all began as adult sized formalwear, and has been cut down and restyled into princess dresses for little kids. My friend Kera (the one I keep mentioning) introduced me to this idea during the summer - you get formals from the thrift store or the back of your closet, and you've just scored a truckload of satin yardage for next to nothing.
SM's dress - blue with the sheer overlay and white ribbon - is a top and skirt because that was the best way to cut down the dress. It was originally a bridesmaid dress from my brother's wedding.
The other girls were outfitted from two formals that I got at a thrift store for 10 bucks total. Kera the Genius cut down RG's purple dress and it's darn near the original, only now sized for a 5-year-old. The big wrap-around looks a little odd here because she had her shoulders positioned weird. It looks like a big bow around her - really cute. Kera did the whole thing with her serger - I did a little bit of hand stitching on the top to get everything into place, but that was it.
JE's teal dress was actually a skirt to begin and we modified it using this dress from A Girl and a Glue Gun as the idea, minus the tulle over the top. Kera had lace that matched perfectly in her own stash which is around the bottom between the silver ribbons. It looks awesome. I've already made her a hairbow (just need to hot-glue it to the clip) out of the lace. Kera did about 95% of this dress in one night while I did TA's 3 times because I kept screwing it up.
TA's dress was copied directly from the same post as JE's - her main fabric was the bottom cut off RG's original dress, and I got the sheer overlay from Walmart. I wanted tulle but you apparently can't get it unless you go to Jackson. 60 miles one way for tulle is not happening.
Now to figure out shoes ...
28 September 2012
Kids Clothes Week Challenge
I just stumbled across the Kids Clothes Week Challenge on the Elsie Marley blog (mentioned in today's post on Made about the wretched kids clothes on Project Runway). Basically, the challenge is to spend 1 hour per day for 7 days (October 8-14) making clothing items for children and see what you've got by the end of the week. The blog owner (whose name is NOT Elsie) apparently does this in both the spring and fall.
It's a Monday-Sunday challenge, and that's a really crazy week for us coming up - RG and TA's birthdays are Monday and Thursday that week, and we'll be on the road that Sunday on our way to Disney World. I don't know if I'll do it or not but I might still be working on Disney World outfits anyway ... so maybe I will? I don't know. Maybe I'll hold off until spring. But it sounds like a fun thing to participate in, and probably get more ideas from the Flickr group that everyone can post their photos on.
If anyone else is looking for something to do - maybe some motivation to get going on making Halloween costumes for the kiddos, or something ... there you go!
Excuse me, I apparently need to go solve a problem involving a large "test tube" of water with a bunch of tiny Connect Four pieces in the bottom that's being fought over in the middle of my living room.
It's a Monday-Sunday challenge, and that's a really crazy week for us coming up - RG and TA's birthdays are Monday and Thursday that week, and we'll be on the road that Sunday on our way to Disney World. I don't know if I'll do it or not but I might still be working on Disney World outfits anyway ... so maybe I will? I don't know. Maybe I'll hold off until spring. But it sounds like a fun thing to participate in, and probably get more ideas from the Flickr group that everyone can post their photos on.
If anyone else is looking for something to do - maybe some motivation to get going on making Halloween costumes for the kiddos, or something ... there you go!
Excuse me, I apparently need to go solve a problem involving a large "test tube" of water with a bunch of tiny Connect Four pieces in the bottom that's being fought over in the middle of my living room.
17 July 2012
cradle makeover
Aaron's grandfather built a cradle for Aaron's siblings when they were young. At some point someone repainted it with the blue base and detailing. For the last few years it has been sitting in someone's garage (on the opposite side of the family, strangely enough), and when Aaron found out his sister wasn't using it, he wanted it for our little girl. I thought it was a sweet idea, but as soon as I saw the cradle I knew it had to get repainted.
So Aaron cleaned it, sanded it, and got to painting. The first coat was quite the surprise because the color we picked out was NOT purple. But we were patient and added another two coats of paint.
And there we have it! A beautiful chocolate brown, suitable for many babies to come. We were planning on adding some pink details for our girl, but once we saw the deep glossy brown we decided no other decoration was needed. All that's left is to make a small foam mattress (most likely from an egg carton camping pad), and it's ready for the little one to arrive!
11 July 2012
kids and food
My sister-in-law linked to this post about kids wasting food on Facebook. Oh my goodness - that is SO my kids. Especially with the apples. One or two bites, and then I find the whole apple in random places, like on the couch or the bookshelves. It drives me batty. So that blog post made part of me want to laugh, and the other part of me to throw something against the wall. But not food.
Our similar "entertainment" here, just in the past 18 hours ... we were having a clean-out-the-leftovers-in-the-fridge dinner last night, so everyone could have whatever they wanted. RG asked for scrambled eggs so Adam made them just for her. As soon as he put them on a plate and handed them to her, she said, "Well actually I wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." He darn near about threw the plate. She did eventually eat it but only after I threatened to give the eggs to the baby and she could go hungry. And just now, JE asked for a piece of bread. I handed one to her and she threw it on the floor - no, she wanted a sandwich. I really can't tell you the last time she ate her sandwich - she just mangles them so they're inedible for anyone else to eat. And the one I just made her - as soon as I put it on the table, she shoved the plate away while yelling, "NO!" And then flailing on the floor, howling about who knows what.
Will someone please just shoot me in the face with a bazooka.
Our similar "entertainment" here, just in the past 18 hours ... we were having a clean-out-the-leftovers-in-the-fridge dinner last night, so everyone could have whatever they wanted. RG asked for scrambled eggs so Adam made them just for her. As soon as he put them on a plate and handed them to her, she said, "Well actually I wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." He darn near about threw the plate. She did eventually eat it but only after I threatened to give the eggs to the baby and she could go hungry. And just now, JE asked for a piece of bread. I handed one to her and she threw it on the floor - no, she wanted a sandwich. I really can't tell you the last time she ate her sandwich - she just mangles them so they're inedible for anyone else to eat. And the one I just made her - as soon as I put it on the table, she shoved the plate away while yelling, "NO!" And then flailing on the floor, howling about who knows what.
Will someone please just shoot me in the face with a bazooka.
05 July 2012
random stuff
I didn't get any sewing done in May or June because Adam took over my sewing machine. He was making hammocks for his Scout troop before their summer camp week. They turned out pretty well! He really liked sleeping in his, rather than on a cot for 5 nights! At one point during his sewing marathon, he said something about getting a second sewing machine. That made me laugh because here we are completely new to this, and we're already talking about multiple sewing machines. And a serger. But hey - my friend Kera has 3 or 4 sewing machines and she uses them all for different things. She's got quite the set-up all over her family room sometimes, when she's doing big projects like Halloween costumes for all 6 of her kids.
Anyway, I don't have pictures of anything right now, but since I got my machine back, I have made ...
- a felt garland for Adam's birthday and Father's Day, like my Christmas one ... this one was just circles rather than all the mixed shapes. I used various shades of blue, and threw in the occasional green, yellow, or orange to break it up. I really like it! I plan to make one for each of the girls in their "signature color" for when we celebrate their birthdays and other big events.
- a "cozy" for Adam's camp gear - see this post for how their Scout troop is starting to do their food on overnight campouts and what that item is. Adam was going to make one for himself but I beat him to it and gave it to him as part of his birthday stuff. I made one out of old jeans and some cotton fabric on the inside (blue and white stripes ... but one of these days, I gotta stick something cutsey and girly on the inside of some of his Scout stuff - mwa ha ha!), and I put 3 layers of quilt batting in between. My machine didn't like how thick it all was but we managed to get it done.
- one of the t-shirt playdresses. I have the fixin's for 6 of them (2 each for SM, RG, and JE) plus 2 sundresses for the baby. I made one of them awhile ago, and finally took the time to make the 2nd one earlier this week. I'm giving myself a deadline of next week to get the whole bunch of them done. I want this pile of fabric off my dining room table where it has taken up residence for over a month.
- two Independence Day skirts, for SM and JE. RG didn't want one and I didn't have time to make anything for the baby. The fabric was in the stash I got from a lady at church cleaning out her fabric storage and she gave a bunch to me. It's an off-white background with the Pledge of Allegiance printed all over it and some little flags. I did the Simple Skirt from MADE, like I did with the Easter skirts so they went very fast. I'm getting better at this! Yay! My next thing to figure out with skirts for the girls is how to embellish them - add a ruffle around the bottom or do a different model/tutorial for a skirt. Something new and different.
Anyway, I don't have pictures of anything right now, but since I got my machine back, I have made ...
- a felt garland for Adam's birthday and Father's Day, like my Christmas one ... this one was just circles rather than all the mixed shapes. I used various shades of blue, and threw in the occasional green, yellow, or orange to break it up. I really like it! I plan to make one for each of the girls in their "signature color" for when we celebrate their birthdays and other big events.
- a "cozy" for Adam's camp gear - see this post for how their Scout troop is starting to do their food on overnight campouts and what that item is. Adam was going to make one for himself but I beat him to it and gave it to him as part of his birthday stuff. I made one out of old jeans and some cotton fabric on the inside (blue and white stripes ... but one of these days, I gotta stick something cutsey and girly on the inside of some of his Scout stuff - mwa ha ha!), and I put 3 layers of quilt batting in between. My machine didn't like how thick it all was but we managed to get it done.
- one of the t-shirt playdresses. I have the fixin's for 6 of them (2 each for SM, RG, and JE) plus 2 sundresses for the baby. I made one of them awhile ago, and finally took the time to make the 2nd one earlier this week. I'm giving myself a deadline of next week to get the whole bunch of them done. I want this pile of fabric off my dining room table where it has taken up residence for over a month.
- two Independence Day skirts, for SM and JE. RG didn't want one and I didn't have time to make anything for the baby. The fabric was in the stash I got from a lady at church cleaning out her fabric storage and she gave a bunch to me. It's an off-white background with the Pledge of Allegiance printed all over it and some little flags. I did the Simple Skirt from MADE, like I did with the Easter skirts so they went very fast. I'm getting better at this! Yay! My next thing to figure out with skirts for the girls is how to embellish them - add a ruffle around the bottom or do a different model/tutorial for a skirt. Something new and different.
30 June 2012
Things to do with Blueberries
It's berry season! I always love it when they are actually affordable at the grocery store, but FREE is even better. I've been picking quarts and quarts of berries from bushes that grow wild behind my parents' farm, and I'm literally running out of things to do with them. Here are a few of the things I've come up with:
1. The best blueberry muffins you've ever tried are here. Absolutely delicious. They never last more than a day. The recipe, strangely, only makes 8-9, so make sure to put some water in the bottoms of the empty muffin cups so that they don't burn. Also, the crumb topping seems to make an exceptionally large amount, so I reduced it a bit.
2. Blueberry pie, completely from scratch. (Wow, that sounds SO Martha Stewart!) I made the crust from scratch, which I've never done before, using this recipe from "Made" (which we reference an awful lot on this blog). It was easy and tasty, though my lack of skill made it a little ugly. That just means that I need to try again! I used the recipe for pie from the good ol' red-plaid covered Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, which was one of the best wedding presents we received.
3. Jam! Trina actually inspired me to give it a try last year, but I never did. I was a bit intimidated, but there's really not much to it. I used this recipe at a friend's suggestion, and it was delicious. I've made five pints so far, which will keep my family in jelly for the next six months or so. In an interesting twist, I was also able to use my grandfather's old Bell jars and canner; he died two years ago, and it was really neat to utilize the things he had put to use my entire life.
4. Salad that's BETTER and CHEAPER than Wendy's berry chicken salad: In a salad bowl, toss a handful of fresh spinach, a few blueberries and strawberries, some feta cheese, and some slivered almonds (better if you toast them for a few minutes). You can throw in some chicken, too, and it's even better! Top it with a raspberry vinaigrette, or really go pioneer woman: sprinkle olive oil and balsamic vinegar together with a pinch of salt, then toss it all together. This is a great lunch!
5. For breakfast, add blueberries to a bowl of Corn Flakes or Cheerios (or the store brand version); it makes a simple, quick breakfast taste a bit more gourmet.
6. If you, like me, are running out of ideas, freeze the rest to enjoy later. There's a trick: DO NOT wash the berries you're going freeze; this will keep them from being too mushy later. Spread the unwashed berries in a single layer on a cookie sheet or in a flat tupperware container, then freeze them. When they are solid, you can store them in a bag in the freezer, and it's easy to remove just the ones you want without having to thaw a massive lump of berries.
If you have any suggestions I've missed, do share...it's only June, and there are a lot more blueberries in my future.
1. The best blueberry muffins you've ever tried are here. Absolutely delicious. They never last more than a day. The recipe, strangely, only makes 8-9, so make sure to put some water in the bottoms of the empty muffin cups so that they don't burn. Also, the crumb topping seems to make an exceptionally large amount, so I reduced it a bit.
2. Blueberry pie, completely from scratch. (Wow, that sounds SO Martha Stewart!) I made the crust from scratch, which I've never done before, using this recipe from "Made" (which we reference an awful lot on this blog). It was easy and tasty, though my lack of skill made it a little ugly. That just means that I need to try again! I used the recipe for pie from the good ol' red-plaid covered Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, which was one of the best wedding presents we received.
3. Jam! Trina actually inspired me to give it a try last year, but I never did. I was a bit intimidated, but there's really not much to it. I used this recipe at a friend's suggestion, and it was delicious. I've made five pints so far, which will keep my family in jelly for the next six months or so. In an interesting twist, I was also able to use my grandfather's old Bell jars and canner; he died two years ago, and it was really neat to utilize the things he had put to use my entire life.
4. Salad that's BETTER and CHEAPER than Wendy's berry chicken salad: In a salad bowl, toss a handful of fresh spinach, a few blueberries and strawberries, some feta cheese, and some slivered almonds (better if you toast them for a few minutes). You can throw in some chicken, too, and it's even better! Top it with a raspberry vinaigrette, or really go pioneer woman: sprinkle olive oil and balsamic vinegar together with a pinch of salt, then toss it all together. This is a great lunch!
5. For breakfast, add blueberries to a bowl of Corn Flakes or Cheerios (or the store brand version); it makes a simple, quick breakfast taste a bit more gourmet.
6. If you, like me, are running out of ideas, freeze the rest to enjoy later. There's a trick: DO NOT wash the berries you're going freeze; this will keep them from being too mushy later. Spread the unwashed berries in a single layer on a cookie sheet or in a flat tupperware container, then freeze them. When they are solid, you can store them in a bag in the freezer, and it's easy to remove just the ones you want without having to thaw a massive lump of berries.
If you have any suggestions I've missed, do share...it's only June, and there are a lot more blueberries in my future.
29 May 2012
Feeling crafty lately
I've had a productive week. In the last few days I cut off a pair of ripped blue jeans, sewed buttons on two pairs of pants, repaired a hole in a sweater, and removed outdated shoulder pads from a blazer. I also made two coupon file organizers (which people bought from me for real money!), and I stumbled across this gem on the internet: http://psimadethis.com/tagged/fashion/page/5. (The drawback of this website is that it doesn't have individual pages for individual projects; the project to which I'm referring is at the bottom. Some of her stuff is a bit too fashion-forward for me, but a lot of it is cute.)
Basically, you take an old, stretched-out, pit-stained shirt, and turn it into an infinity scarf. I had a t-shirt that fit the bill. It had been a favorite of mine 30 pounds ago, but it now hung on me; it also had armpit stains, but it just seemed too cute to throw away. (I tried to find a picture of the shirt in its original state, but no luck.) After literally less than five minutes of work, I had a new accessory!
I've really gotten into this "up cycling" thing. It's fun to take something old and turn it into something new and creative.
So, that leads me to my next question: I've found lots of uses for old clothes, and I've also come up with ways to improve upon something old or worn. I haven't yet figured out anything to do with old shorts. I have several pairs that are too big for me now that I've lost baby weight, but they don't fit anyone else in the family either. Do they just get donated to Goodwill, or does anyone have another idea of what to do with them?
What are some things you have "up cycled"?
Basically, you take an old, stretched-out, pit-stained shirt, and turn it into an infinity scarf. I had a t-shirt that fit the bill. It had been a favorite of mine 30 pounds ago, but it now hung on me; it also had armpit stains, but it just seemed too cute to throw away. (I tried to find a picture of the shirt in its original state, but no luck.) After literally less than five minutes of work, I had a new accessory!
So, that leads me to my next question: I've found lots of uses for old clothes, and I've also come up with ways to improve upon something old or worn. I haven't yet figured out anything to do with old shorts. I have several pairs that are too big for me now that I've lost baby weight, but they don't fit anyone else in the family either. Do they just get donated to Goodwill, or does anyone have another idea of what to do with them?
What are some things you have "up cycled"?
22 May 2012
Birthday Gifts
I have made it a goal of mine to focus more on handmade presents lately. (I did it at Christmas, too.) A few reasons: they cost less, they are more personal, and no one in my life needs more cheap plastic toys. So when my little girl's second birthday rolled around this month, I chose two handmade gifts to make for her.
The first was a circle skirt from this website; I absolutely love MADE and find lots of my inspiration from there. (I also did a shirt dress last week, but I don't have a photo of it.) I read Dana's tutorial and saw her say how easy this skirt was, but I assumed that there was no way it could really be that simple, especially since her sewing skills are head and shoulders above mine. But, really, the longest part was drawing the perfectly-curved line for the pattern. The entire project took about an hour, and the only tedious part was the hemming. I used a scrap of fabric I had laying around -- less than a yard -- and spent about $2 for some colored elastic at JoAnn's. My daughter loves it; it's very feminine and girly and perfect for spinning in circles while we dance in the living room.
The next three gift-giving opportunities I have coming up are both for my husband: Father's Day, our anniversary, and his birthday. At some point, I'd like to learn to sew a men's shirt, but until then, I'm not sure I have anything in my repertoire that will serve as an appropriate homemade adult male gift. Any suggestions?
The first was a circle skirt from this website; I absolutely love MADE and find lots of my inspiration from there. (I also did a shirt dress last week, but I don't have a photo of it.) I read Dana's tutorial and saw her say how easy this skirt was, but I assumed that there was no way it could really be that simple, especially since her sewing skills are head and shoulders above mine. But, really, the longest part was drawing the perfectly-curved line for the pattern. The entire project took about an hour, and the only tedious part was the hemming. I used a scrap of fabric I had laying around -- less than a yard -- and spent about $2 for some colored elastic at JoAnn's. My daughter loves it; it's very feminine and girly and perfect for spinning in circles while we dance in the living room.
The second project took a bit longer and was much more involved, but I'm prouder of it. The pattern came from the book Little Things to Sew, which I borrowed from a friend. (The last thing I need is another sewing book sitting around reminding me of how little time I have to devote to sewing.) However, if I was going to buy another sewing book, this would be it. It's full of clothes, toys, and kid-sized useful items specifically designed for small children. There are dresses, backpacks, art smocks...and a fabulous child-sized front baby carrier. I spend a lot of times these days with my six-month-old son in a Baby Bjorn, and my two-year-old gets irritated because I can't then pick her up. I kind of hoped that a carrier of her own, for her own doll (named "Baby", conveniently enough) might cheer her up a bit.
The pattern itself is quite simple, and very little fabric is required. However, some of the curves are tiny, and didn't come out quite as neatly as I'd have preferred. She didn't notice, though! In fact -- sadly -- she was kind of underwhelmed. She was more interested in her new crayons. Bummer. So I couldn't get a picture of her wearing the baby carrier; I'm hoping it will grow on her.
The next three gift-giving opportunities I have coming up are both for my husband: Father's Day, our anniversary, and his birthday. At some point, I'd like to learn to sew a men's shirt, but until then, I'm not sure I have anything in my repertoire that will serve as an appropriate homemade adult male gift. Any suggestions?
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