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.

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"?

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 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?

my non-pinterest idea list of little girl clothes

I've had a run of reading sewing blogs this week. Reading and bookmarking and thinking, "I want that, and that, and OH! LOOK!" Since I don't do Pinterest (and no, I'm not going to start) ... here are the top 5 things on my list right now. Of course, this does not mean that I'm actually capable of making any of them because hello, I just started sewing. But I did just buy this "how to sew" book (and I want to take her beginner e-class in September) so maybe I can work up to some of these things.

I am most definitely not a designer. I love clothes that mix up a lot of different colors and patterns, and still look so put together. Actually arranging that kind of outfit ... yyyyeah. Not my talent. Looking at a bolt of fabric and picturing what I can do with it - not so much. But these blogs and pictures are getting me thinking that maybe I can figure it out at least a little bit.

These are the dresses and skirts that have really struck me this week:

original post: Sew Together - I saw it on Project Run and Play

The bottom hem of this skirt is 23 feet. Oh. My. That is a truckload of fabric! I love love love the color-block tiers - I really want to learn how to do that. Maybe not 23 feet worth of it, but it is definitely on my to-do list.

original post: See Kate Sew

I was just clicking back through old links on this blog because it was a new one for me, and stopped cold on this dress. There's a tutorial for it and it looks so easy! It's a simple and plain dress - no busy prints (not that there's anything wrong with prints of course - I love them), but this is really fancied up into a piece of art. Art that you wear.

original post: MADE

Ah, Dana.  The blog that started it all. Seriously. Dana got me thinking I could actually sew for my kids, and here we go. Her daughter Lucy is the exact age, and appears to be the exact same size, as my oldest. So anything I see on Lucy in the pictures, there's a good chance it will look exactly the same on SM. This says SUMMER to me, in lots of ways. Where's the seersucker?

original post: Craftiness is not Optional - she was a guest on See Kate Sew's ruffles month/pleat week. (Hello? A whole month devoted to RUFFLES? Awesome!)

I'm starting with skirts for my girls ... this would certainly be a way to fancy them up! And oh look - while I was finding the original post to credit this picture, I came across a tutorial on this blog on how to make a tiered skirt. BOOYAH! Now I just need the right fabric combination for one! Or two or five ...
 

original post: Hopeful Threads. I don't remember how I found this blog, but what a great idea - to sew things with the purpose of donating them to the needy. This month, they're sewing for Dress a Girl Around the World, and that's what this particular dress is going to.

I have found my Independence Day dresses for my girls ... if I could just find that fabric! It's perfect. I'd make it for all 4 of my girls. There's a link in the post to a free pdf pattern for it, which I have already downloaded.

Easter outfits!

I did it! I'm so impressed with myself! I made skirts for myself and my 2 big girls, and dresses for my 2 little girls. I also made the diaper cover and little headband for the baby, and drawstring circle purses for the other 3 girls. And here we are!

I did get individual pictures of all of the girls, but we hit a glitch in the camera download and not everything made the transfer. I'm also having problems flipping things from horizontal to vertical ... the joys of learning a new photo editing program.

Anyway ... I LOVE the pink edging on SM's skirt - just regular ol' 1-inch bias tape from Walmart. She likes the double skirt - when she's out picking dandelions by the truckload, she folds up the top skirt to be her basket and she's still modest because the lower skirt doesn't go anywhere. It's 2 entirely separate skirts attached at the waist, rather than one skirt with a funky extension for the bottom.

I think what impressed me the most about myself - the shock that I succeeded - was TA's diaper cover. The leg holes were kind of a pain to sew but I managed and she has her diaper covered when she wears the dress without a onesie underneath.

In the process of making all 5 or 10 or however many individual items ... I learned how to make buttonholes, I learned that I have no idea how to estimate how much elastic is needed for my girls' super-skinny waists (not much), and I learned that what works for a skirt for a small kid does not work the same way for an adult ... my skirt looked okay. It's wearable. But I do not like the way it hangs on me. When I find a skirt pattern that I like and that is cut to fit me well, I'm going to take this one apart and do it again because I really love the fabric.

My skirt - fabric from Modern Fabric Studio
The 4 girls' outfits - fabric from 7 Layer Studio, the lime squeeze colorway set (bought at fabric.com but they are apparently not carrying it anymore, which is a shame because it's REALLY cute)
The 2 skirts for the big girls - the simple skirt tutorial on MADE
JE's dress - the "ballet-neck toddler dress" in the book One Yard Wonders
TA's dress and headband - from a regular paper pattern, New Look E6576
TA's diaper cover - MADE's perfect diaper cover saves the day. I hate it when baby dresses don't have diaper covers.
their circle purses - I traced my largest mixing bowl onto 2 layers of fabric, and sewed them together all the way around so it's a double thickness of the fabric and can be turned inside out (if it gets dirty. Which, knowing my girls, it will.) I did little button holes all the way around, wove a ribbon through them, and pulled it up into a little bag.

sneaky muffins

Okay, so about those 12 recipes I said I'd post this calendar year ...

I told my kids this morning that I was baking "chocolate chip muffins" because RG won't touch vegetables. This is what I did:

3 eggs
3/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup milk
1 cup brown sugar
3 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon (I think this should be cut to 2)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
lots of chocolate chips - I didn't measure, just dumped in most of a 12 oz bag.

Mix ingredients down to zucchini, then add all the dry ingredients, then add the chocolate chips.

Bake at 325 for 1 hour if doing 2 9x5 loaves, 20 minutes if doing muffins. I got 30 muffins out of it.

They've been out of the oven long enough to cool, and RG is already on her second one.

The original recipe is here. This is all my variation. No oil, half the sugar from the original recipe, extra zucchini, applesauce, and flaxseed. I have no idea how healthy these are, but a lot more than the original recipe would have been!

Frozen Rainbow Pie

The original recipe of Frosty Lime Pie comes from a Company's Coming cook book.  Obviously my amazing husband tweaked a few things.

FILLING
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup lime juice
1 tsp (or more) grated lime rind
1 egg white, room temperature
1 cup whipping cream
2-4 drops food coloring

Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Beat in egg yolk.  Add lime juice and rind; mix in slowly.  In a separate bowl, beat egg white with clean beater until stiff; fold in.  Using the same separate bowl and beaters, beat cream until stiff; fold in.  Add food coloring.  Pour into prepared pie shell and freeze.  Let thaw approximately 15 minutes before serving.

CRUST
1/3 cup butter
1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
(for chocolate crust add 3 tbsp cocoa)

Melt butter.  Add crumbs and sugar.  Press evenly on bottom and sides of 9 inch pie plate.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Cool.


Now if you look at the picture you'll notice that it isn't just green.  Aaron always has to take things one step further.  He took the exact same recipe and divided it into thirds, making layers of lemon, orange and lime.  It is difficult to divide an egg yolk into thirds, but possible.  When pouring into the crust, wait an hour between layers.  And we topped it with whipped cream with raspberries or strawberries mixed in (raspberries blend much better when whipping the cream).

Note: We have tried this with a regular pie crust, but it tends to thaw too slowly compared to the filling making it difficult to slice.  The graham cracker crust is a wonderful compliment and is amazingly easy to make!

more inspiration

I have the MADE blog in the side column as an inspiration link ... found another one. Through MADE, actually.

the Purl Bee

It's the blog for a sewing shop in New York City. I am literally going through every single page of this blog - I'm up to page 41 - and I can't tell you how many specific projects I have bookmarked already. More than 20. Mostly things made out of felt and regular fabric - Christmas ornaments, soft toys for my kids, things for my house ... cloth napkins, anyone? Seriously. These and Beth, you need these for your parents' house on Cape Cod. I don't know the first thing about boats or anything nautical, but aren't those amazing? And coasters. Who uses coasters? I don't, but I might have to make some now.

I don't have many knitting projects bookmarked because I don't know how. Yet. I did start learning last fall but didn't get very far with it. This site seriously makes me want to learn to knit well. And live in a cold environment. It's too hot and muggy in Mississippi to think about wearing a scarf or even own a sweater, but on this blog, the sweaters and scarves and blankets are amazing. We have to move somewhere cold so I can wear them, and dress up my little kids in them. And I want this rug.

sewing goal so far

Yeah, so that sewing goal of posting 12 projects this year, at one per month? And it's March 31 and I still haven't posted anything ... BUT! I have been sewing!

I started with finishing the fish for the baby's cloth fishbowl in the Christmas present post.

Then I did a test run for the pattern I wanted to use for the girls' Easter dresses. Adam got me the book One Yard Wonders for Christmas, and it's in there - it's a variation of a pillowcase dress. I used some vintage-y fabric that someone gave me when they were cleaning out their sewing room to move. Good thing I did the test run because since I finished it, SM won't wear it and is insisting that she asked for a skirt rather than a dress. That's a load of garbage, but either way, she won't wear the dress. And that's too bad because I really like it. 

While I was at it, RG got a new skirt. When I make something for one, it's only fair that I make something for the other. She chose which fabric she wanted, and I put it together in just a couple of afternoons. The thing that took the longest was doing the elastic around the waist because at first I sewed it all shut without trying it on her and it was way too loose. So I had to undo it and tighten it up. I love the pink rick-rack around the bottom - my first detail I've added on anything I've ever sewn. Which, of course, is not much yet, but still. Details! I'm not good at details like this, so I was really happy that it actually worked and looks cute.

 practicing something from her ballet class at a gas station stop on our recent trip to Texas - there was music playing outside the store

happy girl in her skirt that Mom made

I've started the Easter outfits. JE's is done - it's a dress from the same pattern as the first one. TA's is cut out and started - it's a sundress with buttons over the shoulders. I'm using an actual paper pattern for the first time, borrowed from my next door neighbor. I think I can get the facing done tonight when Adam gets home from his church meeting. SM and RG will have skirts, probably with white shirts. I'm using this tutorial for simple skirts from Made - SM will get the double skirt with the bias tape binding around the hem (the green one with yellow trim in the tutorial). RG will get just the regular skirt, and I got some lace trim to have peek out from the bottom as a little flourish for her. 

AND I even got fabric to make myself a new skirt for Easter! The kids get new clothes. Why not me too? It will also follow the simple skirt idea - I don't have the time or expertise yet to do anything more fancy. But I'm really excited about the fabric - I got it from Modern Fabric Studio from their clearance section. LOVE their selection and the service was good - I had some followup emails about the purchase that I appreciated, and when the fabric arrived, SM declared it "the most beautiful fabric in the world!" I got 3 different fabrics from them, but only have plans for one piece so far. I will definitely keep them in my bookmarks to buy from them again.

So here are my January/February projects, and a preview for March/April. I'll definitely take pictures of all the Easter dresses and get those posted soon. And I already have a bunch more projects lined up as soon as the Easter dresses are done. I took the girls to Walmart a couple of weeks ago and they all chose fabric to get 2 t-shirt dresses. Each. Eight more dresses - there's April/May.

Grand total on clothes I've made so far: 4 Christmas dresses, 2 playdresses, 1 test run for the Easter dresses, 1 skirt for fun, 1 Easter dress.

On the schedule: 1 more Easter dress, 3 Easter skirts, 8 more playdresses. 

finally - the Christmas presents I made

For this Christmas, I decided to make at least one thing each for Adam and the girls, and homemade for all the extended family we were getting gifts for. Here are my results (and this is going to be a long post):

patchwork quilt doll blankets for my 3 big girls, plus two more for cousins. I used this idea as my inspiration for making them. When I was going through a friend's scrap box for another project, I also thought of doing the patchwork - they were 4-inch squares, 4 across and down so about 16 inches square total. You'd want to adjust based on the size of doll you're making it for - we have fairly small dolls.

Adam wanted a fleece liner for his sleeping bag, which is a summer-weight bag but he has some winter camping to do this year with the Boy Scouts (if you can call it "winter" around here). I actually just gave him the fleece in his gift box because I ran out of time, and I sewed it later in the week. But it was done before New Years! I had teased him about getting him something pink and princessy so he would think of his girls back home while he was out camping, and he actually asked (because I was "really" going to get him pink fleece for his sleeping bag) that whatever I got, it not be embarrassing. I tried to find Lightning McQueen or something equally as kid-fun but definitely BOY, but all I could find was Thomas the Train. Eh. I went with soccer balls (on a BLUE background) because my boy LOVES soccer.

Baby got a cloth fishbowl and fish ... which will be played with by her sisters. Inspiration, pattern, and directions here. I did hit a point partway through making the first section of the bowl when I got really aggravated with it. It was a bit more challenging and time consuming than I had anticipated. But then it came together and I thought, "OH! That's how it works!" And I was really excited about it. I'm not saying I'm going to rush out to make a bunch more of them but in the end, I'm glad I did it. It's really cute, and maybe if we have boys later, I'll make one for them out of boy prints instead of all the flowers. No fish in the picture because I have to redo them.

I stole the idea for ribbon boards for the girls' hairbows from a friend. I've seen these boards for photos and other bulletin board uses, but here we go with the hairbows! I had two 11x14 frames that the glass had broken from so they weren't being used. I painted them to be the same color, and made the boards out of cardboard (cut to size from a diaper box), quilt batting, fabric, ribbon, and my trusty hot glue gun. The ribbons are glued on the back, but not tacked down at the cross points like they would be on a photo board. That's where you clip on the hairbows. I made some of these, some were bought, some were given to us.

I got my sister Emily's name in our sibling gift exchange and the theme was "something useful." I had some fleece left over from a baby blanket with penguins on it - she LOVES penguins. It was so her. And the pink was to remind her of us and our PINK girls! I made a hat and scarf for her. I also made a scarf out of the blue fleece that I specially ordered for my sister Tawnia as a sort of thank-you for all the help she gave us this past summer on our family reunion vacation. I was almost 7 months pregnant with TA at the time and was not keeping up with my other 3 kiddos. Tawnia was AMAZINGLY helpful. Anyway, before I wrapped and boxed up the scarves and hat, SM and RG modeled them.

close up of the hat - I added a little fringe on the top. I used a fleece hat that Adam has for my pattern mockup. It was 4 quarter pieces, and then a band all the way around the bottom.

I didn't get pictures of the next three things ... My brother and his family spent Christmas with us, so I made gifts for them. I made a fleece pillow for my nephew. I got the idea from a display at Hobby Lobby - get a pillow form from Walmart or something, cut a big square of fleece for each side, and do knotted edges all the way around. I had boy-print fleece already for my baby blankets that hadn't been cut into yet - blue background with lizards on it.

My 12-year-old niece got a couple of little makeup bags - this is the tutorial that I used. I altered the measurements slightly to make it a little more narrow from top to bottom, and wider from side to side. I had to buy a whole yard of oilcloth because that was the smallest measurement and only used a few inches of it so now I need to figure out what else to make with it. More makeup bags? It's a dark purple background with funky Hawaiian looking flowers on it - orange and yellow.

For Grandma and Grandpa, who also spent the holidays with us, I bought 4 plain white dish towels and had my 4 girls draw on them with fabric markers. Well, the baby didn't do the drawing - I did big block letters of her name and each letter was a different color. That idea came from the Family Fun magazine.

Adam even got in on the homemade trend. He made me a pegboard for the many spools of thread I'm accumulating with my new hobby of sewing. The pegs are at an angle so I can hang this on the wall and still see all the colors on the spools. (I can't figure out how to rotate the pictures in my new photo program - it's very annoying.)

Adam cut (with machine tools owned by a friend from church), sanded down, and painted this wood set for my brother and his wife. The model was a wood piece just saying LOVE that we received as a gift last year from a friend.

And now you have lots of ideas for Christmas this year, or birthdays between now and then, or just stuff for fun!