Simple Heart

Bathroom Redo-Part 1

2011-02-07T14:01:00.000-08:00

I'm going to give my bathroom a face-lift. Want to follow along?

I started to call this The Crack Shack Bathroom Makeover, but that's a little extreme. My house isn't THAT bad. It is however, a double-wide trailer from the '70s so making this room into a silk purse ain't going to be easy.

Here is the grand tour:
Wall facing you as you first walk in:

I think I've mentioned before that we are renters and that my landlady loooves those stick-on borders. Each room has a different theme. And look! This room has a matching valance. yay

And yes, that's a random patch of wood-grain contact paper on the wall. I think someone had the idea to put that around the room with some trim to look like faux wainscoting and that's as far as they made it.

Sink area/vanity:
That medicine cabinet/mirror combo has got to go. When you slide open the flimsy little cupboard, Hello Kitty band-aids and Pepto start flying out at you.

A better look at the cabinet:

It used to have wood-grain contact paper on the drawers (and only the drawers, but not the door ??) and that was the first thing to go.

The other first step was the ceiling. The metal part of the light fixtures used to be brass. They got a shot of white spray paint along with the fan cover. And I painted the dingy ceiling with white paint.

Next step: tearing down the wallpaper (which is the driving force behind this project, it was peeling off in huge chunks) and it's going to be nasty.

I'll be tracking the budget too.
Tally so far: $0 (I already had the white paint and spray paint)

My New Baby

2011-02-07T12:50:00.001-08:00

If you're expecting pictures of a precious newborn, you may be excused now. If a serger can make your heart go pitter-pat, read on.

Isn't she lovely?
Its an older model: Singer Ultralock 14U234

I found this on Craigslist for $30! It turned out not to be such a great deal when I found that the cord sent home with me was the wrong one. I sent the seller an email hoping that it was just a simple mix-up. Nope.
I did find a used cord at a shop so I'm out a little more, but still a good deal.
If you've acquired one of these too, the owner's manual is available for free download here.

So. Now armed with the proper cord and the manual I sat down to play. Aaargh! With the tension set to the manufacturer's recommendations it looked great on the front but all wonky and loopy on the back. All of my tinkering with the dials just made it wonkier.

A few Googles later I found a random comment in a post about someone having trouble with the tension on their identical machine. This saint recommended the following combination for the tension dials:

Success! It works fantastic. Now what should I sew?

Baby Quilt

2010-12-11T19:36:00.000-08:00

Before the Christmas crafting began in earnest I made a baby quilt for my new niece. I found the pictures of it lurking on the computer and realized I had forgotten to share it. Here is my version of this quilt found on Moda Bake Shop. I left out the words and chose colors that are a little less...well, just less. If you're a fan of vibrant colors, be sure to check the link to see photos of the original. Mine is also quite a bit smaller than the pattern, both in over-all size and the size of the blocks and applique. I made the hexagons starting with a 5 inch square. I can post the mini-sized applique pieces I used if anyone is interested in making a baby version like this one.

I used comfy, fuzzy fabric for the back. You can see that it's tied, so I guess it's not technically a quilt. But it's nice and warm for a December baby. With pretty appliqued flowers

And polka dots

I hope they like it.

Birthday Dress

2010-12-11T19:24:00.001-08:00

Baby's Birthday dress made of chilly-weather corduroy. The color is lovely but a bit plain on its own. So I made a yoke with some pleats underneath and a bit of embroidery. Here it is holding still:

My attempt at embroidery:

Aaand here it is modeled and blurry:

Hrmph

2010-12-07T15:15:00.000-08:00

We found the movie Lilo & Stitch at the thrift store and Buggy promptly became obsessed. She likes to dance along with the hula parts of the movie, so I found a Hula for Kids DVD and had the grand idea that I would make a grass skirt to go along as a Christmas gift. Ha!

It was going great, I even made spanky pants to go underneath because I knew she would insist on wearing it when people came to visit:

Then when the waistband was in, it was all but done and I was patting myself on the back, I cut the tulle into strips to resemble grass. And that's how I ended up with this hot mess:

Hrmph.

Advent Calendar

2010-12-01T13:26:00.001-08:00

We've never had an Advent Calendar in our home until last year when someone gave the family one as a gift. About the same time I saw this post on Ikat Bag for the calendar she made with her kiddos. And I've had the idea stuck in my head since then.
Here is our attempt at it:

We made our trees the same and decorated them with a bag of 'spangles'. Even the baby got in on the fun, her trees are the ones that look like they are leaking sap.
Then I hot-glued the trees to a piece of foam core from the Dollar Store and topped it off with a sprinkle of fake snow.

I try to find ways to include the true meaning of Christmas as we make our own traditions. So I wrote the Christmas story out, as it might make sense to a 5 year old, on 24 pieces of paper and tucked them up inside. Of course, there is also chocolate, little ornaments, and small toys in there as well.
Our trees do not have stars on them, but they do have a very important feature. See the little holes in the top? I wanted to include little slips of paper with fun things to do like getting our tree, baking cookies, etc; but I worried that we would pop the tree open and the surprise inside wouldn't be feasible with the schedule (or lack thereof) for the day. And I would be stuck with either disappointed little girls or trying to MAKE everybody have fun in a hurry. Yay, how festive.
So when inspiration strikes, I can just roll a piece of paper with the surprise and stick it in the hole.

And you thought I was just a sloppy tree maker. Oh no, there is a method to the madness. Well, plus I'm sloppy.

Wreath Making 101

2010-11-30T22:29:00.000-08:00

There has been some interest in how I make a wreath (OK, one person but that's a biggie for this blog). So I made another wreath to give as a gift and took some pictures to share with you.

Here is what you'll need:

An old wire hanger, florists wire, wire cutters and a pair of garden clippers. This hanger happened to be wrapped in some sort of green coating so all the better. Snip off the hook and bend the wire into a circle. It doesn't have to be perfect, the greenery will hide any wonky parts. Snip off the excess wire and twist the ends to join:

Clip sections from your greenery and make a little bunch, like so:

(Keep in mind that mistletoe is toxic if you are using it for your wreath, so it should be kept away from little helpers and hung up high)

Place the bunch along the wreath frame and wrap it a few times along the length of the stems with florists wire. If you are not dexterity-challenged like me, you can leave the wire on the spool and wind it around the frame; I find it easier to work with 12-inch sections of wire. Make a new bunch of greenery and lay it along the frame so it is covering the stem ends of the previous bunch and keep wrapping with the wire as you go:

Working around the frame and covering the wire on the previous bunch as you go:

(Yes, that's blood on my finger. I thought about GIMP-ing it out, but I'm all about keeping it real. I should probably add a band-aid to the list of things you'll need)

Until you are back where you started. Then tuck the ends of the last bunch up under the first to hide the last of the wire. Snip off any greenery that is hanging out and messing up your circle-y shape:

The back:

For larger projects that carry a bit more weight, I have a little different method. That ugly thing on the left is a "real" wreath frame like you might find on a wreath that you've purchased. I mocked up an example of a frame that I've made in the past using heavy wire that I scavenged off something. That's what you see on the right, just two circles wired together at intervals with a lighter gauge wire. It can be made standard-sized for your door or ginormous for a space like over your garage doors.

Again, clip sections of greenery until you have a nice full bunch. Cut a 5-inch section of florists wire and form it into a hook:

Put the loop of the hook over the ends of the greenery:

Give it a couple twists to secure and lay the bunch along the frame. Use the ends of the florists wire to attach it to the frame:

Keep making bunches and layering them on the frame as in the previous example. Tucking in sprigs of different evergreens or random berries looks lovely too:

Keep going until you get all the way around (I didn't have enough fir, the neighbor ran me off his property) and clip the stray ends to clean it up. Wrap it with pretty ribbon, tie on a bow or just hang as is.
Any questions?

Mistletoe Wreath

2010-11-29T15:27:00.000-08:00

Its nice to be known.
Mr. SH was walking in the woods when he spied some mistletoe in the top of an oak tree. He knew that I would want it to make something, so he brought a bunch home.
And, of course, he was right. I made it into a little wreath that afternoon. Its the first Christmas-y thing I've put up and it looks lovely hanging from the door of my china hutch.
And how do you get mistletoe out of the top of an oak tree, you ask? With a shotgun, silly.

That's not what I said

2010-11-23T12:40:00.000-08:00

I said I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, not a white... oh, nevermind. I'll take it.

If you live somewhere snowy you're probably thinking 'whoopie-doo". But snow that sticks to the ground is a big deal in this part of Oregon.

Other exciting news around here: my "baby" is two. I'll see if I can find her birthday dress and take a picture to show you.

You won't be seeing the cake. I took my eyes off it for two seconds and she took full advantage. Up until that point it was a bear.

Bookish Bag

2010-11-13T13:38:00.000-08:00

A birthday gift for someone who always has a lot to carry (literally and figuratively):

I was inspired by this tutorial, but made mine a little larger because I wanted it to accomodate books in addition to being handbag:

I was determined to have the topstitching along the front and back, but I must have ripped it out 8 times before I gave up that dream. I'm guessing it had something to do with the way the wales of the corduroy fed through the feed dogs, but I could NOT sew a straight line. So I stitched something like it by hand with embroidery floss.

Pockets for pencils and one for a gadget. I put some ribbon on the top of a couple pockets after I realized they blended in with the lining so well, they became invisible.

And a big pocket on the other side for...stuff.

Brush Embroidery Cake

2010-11-10T15:20:00.001-08:00

If the question of whether or not you can do brush embroidery work on Italian Meringue Buttercream has been keeping you up at night, I'm here to tell you its possible (names have been smudged to protect the innocent):

Well, my recipe is really a combination of IMBC with "regular" buttercream to make it a little easier to work with, but still. Its not as clean looking as it probably is on crusting buttercream but its pretty and a bit out of the ordinary, so I'm glad I tried it.

It was somewhat time consuming and I don't recommend that you drink a lot of caffeine beforehand as it does require a steady hand with the brush.

I was aiming for clusters of hydrangeas, but I think I missed the mark.

Its hard out here for a squirrel

2010-11-10T14:54:00.000-08:00

There are no acorns on our trees this year. None. Someone told me that acorns are biennial, which would explain the problem but I'm not sure if that's true or not. If that's so you'd think the trees would talk it over and decide to how to stagger their vacations so we aren't left hanging.
This is annoying for me since I had planned to enjoy some acorn craftiness, both the grown-up kind and with my girls.

But I imagine the poor squirrel has that same sick feeling I get when I check my bank account balance.

Pumpkin

2010-10-27T14:08:00.000-07:00

If you have ever referred to me as "crafty" and I scoffed at the idea, I would like to submit this as evidence to back my claim:

I was actually thinking ours wasn't too bad until I saw this. Sweet Mercy! Now THAT'S a paper mache pumpkin. Blowing the balloon up in the strings? Genius.
Okay, I did have a 5 year old helping me with this one.
If you don't know me in 'real life', then you wouldn't know yet that I lost my mind and started homeschooling our daughter this year. So this was a school project leading up to our trip to the pumpkin patch. I had the grand idea that we could talk about basic pumpkin anatomy and maybe find a coloring page to go with that. I couldn't find anything close to what I had in mind other than this, so we went 3-D. After the paper dried and we popped the balloon, I cut away part of the side so we could give our pumpkin some seeds and pulp.

I'm seriously thinking of making another this week just to try the string idea. It would be a solo project though, Buggy's squeamishness about all things sticky trumps her desire to make a huge mess.

Pettiskirt

2010-06-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

I found it! My sewing mojo, that is. It was buried under the heap of half-finished projects on my desk.
Just in time too, since I have a couple of projects to make that have an actual dead-line. I'm making flower girl dresses and wanted to make a pettiskirt for each girl. I used KitschyCoo's tutorial, except I made only two layers of tulle since these are intended to be worn under a dress rather than as a stand-alone skirt. I used a rather wide elastic so that it can be worn with other dresses that aren't quite as long by rolling the elastic over to shorten the length.
I wanted a little bit of poof, not a bell-like skirt. See? Little poof:

This dress isn't hemmed, its a practice before I suck it up and slice into my cotton sateen, of which I have juuuuust enough to make the skirts. *gulp*

I went for a walk today

2010-05-25T15:37:00.000-07:00

past the squirrels scolding me from the tree tops.
Up hill and down, past the wildflowers in bloom.
Past the field where a coyote stopped being sneaky to watch me pass and the Herefords, who seemed unconcerned about the coyote, stopped munching to stare at me like I was nuts.
Past the Killdeer running in the road and calling to distract me from their nest.
Right up to the home of the German Shepherd, with his deep bark and shedding hair that stands out in crazy clumps and patches.
Then I turned around and went home.

It ain't easy being cool

2010-05-06T15:56:00.000-07:00

I'm honestly trying to get my assigned garment done by the sew-along deadline this time.

I guess first I should explain what happened to the skirt I made. No, I did not set it on fire. What I did was rip the whole thing apart and take it in a little at the side seams. It didn't fit as smoothly after that, but it was doable. Then, a short time later, I bent over to pick something up off the floor and ripped the pants I was wearing.
Goo fell out.
Not good.
So...I cut back on the Oreo cookies and other things that make life worth living and managed to lose a few pounds. Now the skirt fits loose again. I need to just start over. bleh.

So on to the t-shirt. My upper body measurements have not changed since age 14 (stupid Titty Fairy), so I figured it would be a safe project to tackle.
Things were going great until I slipped it on and realized I'd done something waaay wrong when I measured my shoulders:

Yeah, those aren't sleeves, that's over-hang.

So, I can pretend I did it on purpose and call them kimono-flutter sleeves or I can hack off the excess and see what happens when I attach the sleeves. But wait! I drafted the sleeves to fit into the original armhole. gaaa!

So should I unpick it and try to fix my jacked up pieces? Something tells me that unpicking knit material is not fun.

Or scrap the whole thing, redo my shoulder measurements, and go see what other kinds of knits Joann has on the clearance rack?

I think I'll go hit the Oreo's.

Crochet Necklaces

2010-05-04T18:54:00.000-07:00

Crocheting wire is at once easier and harder than I thought it would be. I wasn't expecting that linking together tiny loops of wire would be easy, and its not, but I wasn't prepared for how sore my poor fingers would get. There is definitely a knack to it that I haven't learned yet.
But I did give myself a little pep talk so I wouldn't get too depressed when my first few attempts weren't fit to wear into public. But, honestly, this method is really forgiving. Here is the first necklace I made:

Its made with rose quartz and a simple chain "stitch", without any blank loops between the stones. You can see that I didn't attach a chain and just started adding stones once I had a couple inches of chain stitches:

I like it but I fiddle with it a lot because of where it sits on my neck. I wish I had made it just a little longer, I probably won't wear it much for the same reason I don't wear turtlenecks.

I like my second necklace better because of the color and how it sits on my neck:

I added some chain to this one to make it a little more flexible. This necklace has round beads on chain stitches and teardrop shaped beads attached with a half double crochet so they sit a little lower than the round beads:
These are loads of fun to make. I can't wait to get my mitts on some more beads so I can try some different designs I have in mind. When I get the hang of this, I'll do a tutorial so you all can make some too.

I'm fickle that way...

2010-04-28T19:15:00.000-07:00

I get bored making the same thing over and over again.

Once I become fixated on a certain project or craft, I try to learn as much about it as possible; to the exclusion of all else (ie: dishes, laundry). But when I get bored, I'm ready to move on. So I've been in a crafty slump lately. Too bored with my many works-in-progress to be bothered with them.

I haven't had a new obsession lately. Until now...

(Image via lizix26's Etsy shop)

(Image via galit's Etsy shop)

Must. Learn. To. Crochet. Jewelry.

The Crazy

2010-03-31T21:37:00.000-07:00

Judging by the concerned messages I've received from family members, setting a dress on fire is not a rational thing to do.

I guess I should clarify that I did not come unhinged after a small setback.
That little charred pile is actually the end result of several days and many hours of work down the tube (sleep deprivation may have also played a small role).
Now I'm kind of feeling like I've been caught with my pants down. Whoops, I showed the world a little too much crazy. I thought about deleting the post so other folks wouldn't stumble across my little lapse, but I think it should all be here: The Good, The Bad and The Crazy.
Speaking of which, I've tried to go back to the fabric store twice and I think I have a new psychosis to explain when I pursue therapy after this little episode.
Does anyone else suffer from FabricStoreophobia? The symptoms include breaking out into a sweat, inability to make a decision, sensitivity to the antics of small children and alternating between holding back hysterical giggles and holding back tears of self-pity.

Anyone else?

No one?

Just me?
(Note to self: next time you snap your bean, don't write a blog post about it. You're scaring people.)

I Lost My Temper

2010-03-30T09:50:00.000-07:00

We have to go to the store today so Buggy can pick out new fabric for her Easter dress. I can guarantee you it won't be JoAnn's Tutti Fruity fabric.

How did I not see this coming?

2010-03-24T12:25:00.000-07:00

When the zipper went in without a hitch I should have been suspicious.

When I tried binding the waist with ribbon for the first time, and it went great I should have known.

But noooo. I kept right on stitching and, for some odd reason, was surprised when I slipped my new skirt on to find this:

Maybe its not a total loss. Maybe SlimFast will see this fabulously staged and in-focus photo and offer to buy it for an ad campaign.

Wait, I don't think I've ever had a SlimFast. crap.

I'm Not Cool

2010-03-22T15:07:00.000-07:00

Shocking, I know.
Today I'm specifically referring to Kitschy Coo's sew-along (aka The Cool Girls' Club) which I was supposed to be participating in. When she announced it I thought everyone would be working through their skirts step-by-step which would give me ample time to catch up if when I fell behind. So not the case. I was supposed to have the whole thing done by last Saturday. oops.

So last night I took the measurements needed for the skirt and made my overdue muslin from a bed sheet. It was a little snug, I had to do some serious gut-sucking to pin it shut at the zipper opening. Boooo.

Then, this afternoon, when I put it back on to take some pictures it fit nicely with a little gap at the waist even. I puzzled over this until I realized the culprit: lactose. I'm a little bit lactose intolerant. Not so much that I can't have ice cream ever; just enough that I suffer the consequences if when I do eat it. So if you suffer from the same malady, I suggest not taking your measurements after a huge bowl of ice cream. Even if you aren't lactose intolerant, I suggest not doing it because the numbers on the measuring tape will make you regret every yummy bite.

I tried to take the skirt pictures in my bathroom mirror but the lighting in there does not allow for that sort of craziness. So I took my new camera out to the front porch and tried out the timer mode.

It beeps.

Loud.

I started to worry that the neighbors would call in the bomb squad. So I took the camera out back where the landscaping is so much nicer and took these somewhat blurry pictures (the camera focused on my landscaper's hard work so then the fruitcake leaping in front of the camera is out of focus).

I like the flare, I think it falls nicely from my less-than-proportionate hips:

I think I might increase the darts in the back just a little since I have a little extra room there post-ice cream. I think it will be OK since all this body measuring has inspired me to flop around in front of the TV while some skinny minx demonstrates the proper way to do Pilates:

Yes, custom made is good. I don't think I own a skirt that falls away from my junk this nicely:

Now I realize that the camera must not have been sitting on level surface.

Don't worry, my legs are both the same length.

So far I'm really liking this book: Design it Yourself Clothes by Cal Patch

Scarf

2010-03-15T14:12:00.000-07:00

This feels a little anti-climatic. After all the whining I've done it seems like I should have something a little more exciting than a picture of the thing laying on the table. But I'm coming down off a birthday cake high so you'll have to wait for a day when I'm not feeling so fat and schlumpy to see a "modeled" picture of the scarf. So here it is:

In person it is actually gorgeous (due to the yarn, not my skillz), super soft and fluid.

This stitch was so easy, I wondered why it was rated intermediate. The instructions for the wrap did include some decreasing which I totally ignored. I just cast on 37 stitches and ran with the standard instructions. Thank you Berroco.

Alicia was right, the hard won battles mean the most. I'm going to wear this thing until its 80 degrees outside. And if anyone asks me if I made my scarf, instead of demurring, I'm going to say Yes I Did!

Unrelated:

If they ever come out of their hidey hole, I'll introduce you to the newest members of the SimpleHeart family.

I Can Go Backwards

2010-03-04T15:03:00.000-08:00

My latest obsession isn't crafty and it isn't going very well.
I have a new (to me) big girl camera. But no lenses yet. *sigh* So that's why I haven't been a very prolific blogger lately. It irks me to have to use the little point-and-shoot when there is an awesome camera on the shelf mocking me.
I am happy to report that my knitting is going much better. I can even go backward now!
I started on the different pattern with some success. Then, when I had enough rows done to make it a tragedy... I screwed up. So I HAD to figure out how to remove the needle, unravel my hard work and figure out how to get it back in. I'm halfway done so I should be able to show you guys in the near future.
In other news, I have my very first customer in my Etsy shop. That's REALLY exciting.
I'm working on aprons right now and a tutorial for a vintage-style apron. I have big plans and lots of good stuff coming up and, hopefully, better pictures of it all.

Thrifting Finds

2010-02-20T09:04:00.000-08:00

I saw a post on another blog with some really great vintage fabric and it reminded me that I haven't been telling you about my thrifted goodies. I don't know why, I mean, I like thrifting vicariously through other people and I've found some great things lately (giant picnic basket where my yarn now resides). I need to quit trying to figure out what other people like and remember that this is a blog of things that I like. And I like cheap stuff:

Speaking of cheap, those apple were free. Thank you neighbor man.

Check out that bowl, its all one piece of wood! Do you know what I mean? Its not a bunch of blocks of wood glued together and then carved into a bowl. Its one big ol' chunk. They don't make stuff like that anymore. Well, not for $1.99 anyway. Mr. SimpleHeart offered to refinish the bowl for me, but I like the rustic-y look.

And I'd just like to say that there are enormous benefits to frequenting the same shop and being familiar to the folks there (or maybe its because the shop is run entirely by dudes). Either way, my buddy at the register rang those sheets up at 50% off (even though they weren't part of that sale). Thank you thrift store man.

Knitting Knews

2010-02-17T09:28:00.000-08:00

I told you about the fuzzy yarn I bought and my plans to make a scarf. And I believe I mentioned that knitting does not come easily for me; this time is no exception. I found this free pattern on the Berroco site and gave it an honest try.

See the pretty ribbing? I so wanted to make this.

But I lost count of all the times I had to rip the whole thing out. I don't know how to fix mistakes, you see. I can only go forward, so when I drop a stitch or make a mistake I just sit there dumbfounded. Trying to go backward and unknit stitches makes me want to stab myself in the eye with the needle and forget about taking the needle out and ripping stitches with the intention of putting the needle back in. So when the first few yards of the beautiful (and expensive) yarn started to show wear from my fumbling, I realized I needed a Plan B.
If I wanted to wear the thing anytime before August, something different had to happen. I told myself that knitting any kind of pattern would just have to wait until the girls are a little older. I have enough trouble without somebody asking me for a cup of juice in the middle of a 'knit back and front of stitch'.
So, I did all three skeins in basic knit stitch and came up short. When I went back to the yarn shop for another skein and forked over another $8, I started having second thoughts. If I was going to pay that much for yarn I should use it to make what I really want, not what is good enough. Right?
Right. So I tried anew with the fresh skein of yarn (much to the confusion of Mr. SimpleHeart). And lemme tell you, its not going any better.
Then I read this post on Posie Gets Cozy and it really resonated. But just keep knitting knowing full well that you've made a mistake and being OK with that? Not likely to happen here, that's a sure way to bring the eye twitch back.

So now what? When I was looking around on the Berroco site for the scarf picture, I found this:

Oooo, purty. Never mind that its rated Intermediate, I shouldn't let that discourage me.
Right?
Right.

Its Too Quiet

2010-02-08T11:39:00.000-08:00

That makes me nervous. What do you suppose they are doing?
Oh, there they are.

What's so interesting? What could have possibly held their attention for so long they forgot to argue about who is getting the sippy cup?

*gasp*

A little deer is tearing up my carefully manicured lawn!

Ooo, the landscaper is going to be livid!

I'll zoom in so you can have a closer look. He looks pretty rough. We have a parasite in this area that makes the deer shed their hair in weird clumps and patches. Poor little guy.

Wait! Don't feel too bad for Scruffy. See that iris behind him that is just beginning to come up? Yep, gone.

And the winner is...

2010-02-04T05:25:00.000-08:00

Me!
This has been a week of disappointments, both blogity and otherwise, so at first I was feeling down because my giveaway was a dismal failure.

But then I thought about the people who did comment. First, Erin, whom I emailed out of the blue regarding including her blog in my Why Cast Iron? series. She has been friendly and supportive of my little endeavors from the start. I'd be disappointed if she didn't win.

Then, last night, I let out a whoop that made Mr. SimpleHeart jump and say "Whaa?". I squealed, "A celebrity commented on my giveaway". His eyebrows shot up so I had to clarify what celebrity means to me. She's not in movies or a famous band; Rachel (of One Pretty Thing) is a craft blog rock star! I just visit her site every day to see what goodies she has rounded up from all the talented craft bloggers out there, no need to spend all day online. If I want to make something and I'm wondering if a tutorial is available, I don't Google it, I use the search feature on her website. She has single-handedly saved my children from eating canned soup for dinner every night. I'd be disappointed if she didn't win.

So, random number generator, I say phoey on you. I'll give skillet mitts to whomever I dang well please. I'll be contacting both "winners" to see what size mitts they prefer.

Diaper Wallet Tutorial

2010-02-01T18:55:00.001-08:00

They grow so fast, don't they? My little baby is spending the Sunday School hour in the nursery now instead of nestled in my lap. So its time to pare down what I carry, we really just need the necessities now in case of ... well, you know. I looked around for a diaper wallet tutorial but wasn't thrilled with the pouch style that I found. I thought I'd prefer the folding type I've seen so I had to wing it. But you don't, here is my spanking new tutorial for a folding-style diaper wallet:

1. Cut your main fabric pieces:

2 - 11x12 in. pieces for the inner pockets

2 - 11x14 in. pieces for the outer shell. It would be fun to have different colors for the inner and outer sides of the shell too.

Also, think about what kind of closure you would like to have (or if you want one at all). I made a tab with a button on the outside, but a magnetic snap or velcro would work equally as well. If you opt for a snap it should be inserted in step 2 (follow instructions on snap packaging) before the pockets are sewn to the shell.

2. Fold both pocket pieces in half lengthwise with wrong sides together; and press. Align the long raw edge (arrow points to this edge in the photo below) with the short side of one of the shell pieces; right sides facing. Sew around just the 3 sides that have raw edges with a 1/4 in. seam allowance. At the corners, leave the needle in the down position and pivot the fabric to make sharp corners. Leave the folded edge open as in the photo. Repeat for other pocket. It will look like this:

3. I decided on a rounded tab and button closure so I used this specialized tool for making the rounded edge. Actually, this is a gasket thingy from a sippy cup, but any round-ish object you find around your house would work too. Or you could make it square. Just trace around your special tool:

4. Extend the curved edge with a ruler so that it measures about 3 1/2 in. in length. Cut 1/4 in. from the line for a seam allowance:

5. Place the pieces right sides together and sew around 1/4 in. from the edge. Clip the seam allowance around the curve:

6. Turn the tab right side out and press. Pin to the pocket with the raw edges aligned. Place the other piece of shell fabric on top with the right sides facing. Like so:

Here it is with the top piece of fabric folded back a little to give you a better idea of what your fabric sandwich should look like at this point:

7. Pin all the layers together. As a reminder to myself not to sew all the way around I like to leave doubled pins where I should stop:

8. Now sew around the edge with a 1/2 in. seam allowance, stopping where the double pins are to leave a space for turning the fabric right side out. Clip the excess fabric at the corners and turn right side out. Gently poke the fabric at the corners so you have a nice rectangular shape and press. Topstitch around very close to the edge and your wallet will look like this:

9. Now just finish up with a button hole in the tab and sew a button to the opposite side (or use velcro)

See? Super easy. I think this would be a great beginner project. Let me know if you make one, I'd like to see.

Skillet Mitt Giveaway

2010-02-01T10:17:00.000-08:00

This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to all the participants...both of you.

The number of visitors to my little blog has been up this last week so, as promised, we're having a giveaway.

This giveaway is for a set of two cast iron skillet mitts. I made a shorter size last week and added it to the shop, so the winner can pick the sizes they prefer. Two standard size, two stubbys or go crazy and get one of each.

I love these little mitts and use mine everyday. I keep them on the skillet handle through cooking, cleaning and storage until they look so gross I'd be embarrassed for guests to see them. Then I just pop them off and throw them in the wash with the kitchen towels. Super simple to care for and no burnt fingers.

I've been waffling about how to hand out the chances to win. It doesn't seem right to offer you an extra chance to win if you tweet the giveaway. For one, I have no idea what that means really since I've never tweeted anything in my life. Nor do I have a Facebook page or any plans to do either of those things in the near future. So here is what I've decided:

1. a simple comment will get you one entry.

2. if you subscribe to this blog with a Reader or via e-mail, leave a separate comment letting me know and that will double your chances to win.

3. if you have a blog and post about this giveaway, leave another comment (with a link so the rest of us can visit you), and you'll be entered again.

This giveaway is open to everybody, including folks in other countries. It is open until midnight PST on Wednesday (2/3/10). Winner will be choosen with a random number service and announced on Thursday (2/4/10) morning.

Eeek, I'm so excited.

Ready, Set, Go!

New Banner

2010-01-31T16:49:00.000-08:00

I worked really hard to make a new banner with a winter-y theme. I tried so many times to make the bare branches look like branches and not blood veins. I abstained from stealing a Graham & Brown wallpaper and modifying it for my banner, even though it looked 100 times better than what I made, because that would just be wrong. I was good! I toiled over this thing! I double-checked the html to make sure I was making it the right size.
So will somebody please tell me why the blasted thing hangs over the side of the banner area?

Why Cast Iron? Part III

2010-01-27T16:08:00.000-08:00

We've talked about the health and eco-benefits of using cast iron, but maybe you're still thinking "ya, but its still a pain in my bum to take care of". Oh no, that's where you're wrong my friend.

There really aren't any hard and fast rules when it comes to using cast iron cookware. However, there are a few things I recommend avoiding to get the best results.

I mentioned that I reach for a cast iron pan 9 times out of 10. So what am I cooking the other 10% of the time? If I'm cooking anything that contains tomatoes I use a stainless-steel pan and the same goes for boiling a pot of water (to cook pasta, etc). But like I said, these aren't concrete rules, so you'll find folks who do cook tomato-based dishes and, in fact, swear that by doing so they are leaching extra iron in their diet. While that is another health benefit of cast iron, I'd still recommend against it because all that leaching is also removing some of your finish.

Wait! I can think of one absolute rule: do NOT take your hot pan from the stove and stick it in cold water. It could break. Oh, and standing water is the devil. That's two.

So, what about when dinner is done and its time to clean up?

There are two schools of thought here. Some people are firmly on the No Soap side while others aren't averse to a little suds.

I've rounded up a couple links for your reading pleasure.

Well, the first one might not titillate you. Its a pretty straight-forward presentation of caring for your cast iron including why its OK to use soap. And it is, but you will never experience cookware nirvana if you do.

I suggest reading this post over at One Particular Kitchen titled Cast Iron Care: Not for the Germaphobic. First, the title made me chuckle and I was happy to find information that outlined the old-school way of caring for cast iron, while keeping it simple. Plus, its a great read because the author is friendly, witty and gorgeous *waves at Erin* (actually, I've never met her, but I'm sure she is stunning).

So go read the One Particular Kitchen post and I'll say ditto. But I would like to add one more thing: I have good luck cleaning my skillets with grease. What? No, really. I'm not that great at remembering to clean the pan when its still warm so if I find something gunking up my pan, I put it on a burner to warm, add a little butter/oil/whatever is handy and let it melt into the gunk. Then it scrapes off easily and the pan can go to the sink for a little hot water swish, it works just like deglazing a pan.

I couldn't think of a recipe to share with you today, I'm just too worn out from trying to bring you all over to ~~the dark side~~ my way of thinking.

So, have a great weekend and I will see you all back here for The Big Giveaway on Monday.

And if you come here for craftiness and you're thinking "just sew something already, I don't want your stinkin mitts". Relax, I made something yesterday and took tons of pictures. Watch for a tutorial next week that is a great beginners project!

Why Cast Iron? Part II

2010-01-25T15:48:00.000-08:00

This is part two of a series designed to pique your interest in cast iron cookware (and the little mitts I make to go on the handles. Sneaky, ain't I?).
In addition to being flat out fabulous cookware, cast iron also loves Mother Earth.

Disclaimer: ~~I do not eat twigs and berries, have never had dreadlocks and do not belong to the Sierra Club or GreenPeace. So if you are looking for a hippie hero you've come to the wrong place.~~ I am not a "green" expert.

I hate waste, in any form, so I appreciate that cast iron literally lasts for generations. A lot of cooks are using their Granny's cast iron pans and they are just as good today as they were 50 years ago (if not better). Cast iron is also recyclable but often there is no need; even the rustiest, nastiest pans can be reseasoned and put back to good use. So if you're considering a purchase, check your local thrift stores before paying retail.

Do you have any non-stick cookware that is flaking a little? Keep in mind that those flakes are being transferred to your food (and body) and also washed down the drain. The chemicals used to manufacture non-stick coatings, 4 of which never break down, are washed into our waterways and environment. And while the manufacture of cast iron is not without ramifications, it pales in comparison to the levels of toxicity generated by non-stick cookware. Here is a link to the eco-responsibility page of Lodge Mfg, if you're interested in reading about what they've done to reduce their environmental impact.

A couple of less obvious advantages of cast iron:
1. If you're caring for your pans properly, you aren't using soap to clean them. No detergents down the drain!
2. Cast iron holds heat exceptionally well, and so uses less energy to cook your meal.

Food for thought, and now some food for your tummy:

Cast iron lends itself remarkably well to going from stovetop to oven, so I always reach for my Dutch oven when its time to make

Pot Roast
3 1/2 - 4 lb pot roast
salt & pepper
2 T. vegetable oil
1 med. onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 stem thyme
1 - 1/2 c. water
6 carrots, cut into lg. chunks
1 1/2 lb. potatoes, quartered

1. Heat oven to 300. Liberally sprinkle roast with salt and pepper.
Heat oil in a Dutch oven over med-high heat & brown roast on all sides. Remove and set aside.
2. Reduce heat to med-low, add onion; cook until it begins to soften. Add garlic, broth and thyme; scrape pan to release yummy browned bits. Return roast to pan and add just enough water to come halfway up the sides of roast (this is important: too little you're roasting, halfway you're braising, too much and you're just boiling the bejeebers out of it). Bring liquid to a simmer, cover with a lid and place in the oven.
3. Cook, turning every 30 minutes, for 2 hours. Add carrots and potatoes (you can also add the onion at this point; but I'm a fan of onion flavor, not necessarily a big bite of onion so I prefer mine cooked to mush). Cook another 2 hours, turning the roast every 30 min., or until the roast is tender. Remove roast and vegies (a slotted spoon is handy) to a warm platter. Strain the pan juices (I usually don't bother) and thicken to make gravy. Season to taste.

Why Cast Iron? Part I

2010-01-25T09:25:00.000-08:00

Okay, here's the part where I shamelessly promote things in my Etsy shop.

I've added my little Cast Iron Mitts to the shop and wanted to explain why I have such an affection for this kind of cookware. But the list of all the reasons why cast iron rocks grew longer and longer. So I decided to break it up into a few shorter posts and declare this to be "Cast Iron Week".
When I'm cooking I will reach for a cast iron pan 9 times out of 10. I do not own any non-stick cookware. Why?

(I was going to insert a picture of a dead parakeet here but it was just too gross.)

Because there is enough evidence that non-stick cookware is hazardous to your health to give me a healthy fear of it.

Cast iron builds a non-stick coating through the carbonization of fats; so over time it just gets better and better.

Non-stick cookware is made with perfluorochemicals (PFCs) which, when heated to a certain temperature, give off a toxic gas that is especially lethal to birds. DuPont (manufacturer of teflon) would like me (and you) to believe that this only happens at extreme temperatures not reached during normal use. They classify "normal" use as cooking over low to medium heat. So if you've ever set your non-stick pan on the burner and forgotten about it for a couple minutes... yup, you may have had polymer fume fever. No, I didn't just make that up.

I know that all my readers are brilliant, so I'm going to provide a link to both sides of the issue and let you make your own informed decision. For my family, I've decided that its just not worth the risk especially considering that there is a much better alternative out there.

Check here to read DuPont's FAQ about teflon.

Here is a link to ewg.org where you can read about their independent tests.

I was thinking that instead of just being a know-it-all, I should share with you some practical information as well. So I thought about some of the recipes that I make in my cast iron pans. Then I realized I'd invited a food blogger to stop by the blog. uh-oh. So, even at risk of ridicule here is a recipe that I made in my skillet this weekend:

Fry Bread

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. shortening

3/4 cup milk

1. Combine dry ingredients. Cut in shortening. Add enough milk to make the dough come together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly.

2. Divide dough into 8 portions. Pat with hands until dough forms a round about 1/4 inch thick. Use your finger to poke a hole in the center.

3.Fry in about an inch of oil that is hot but not smoking. Turn only once, frying about 1 minute on each side. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.

We had this with a pot of beans. Yum.

So much for shorter posts, eh?

I did it!

2010-01-20T16:27:00.000-08:00

But you can't say it regular, you have to say it like somebody crazy.

Say it like.... like Bobcat Goldthwait. Ya, all high pitched and freaking out. Because that's what I'm doing right now.

Look at my little Etsy Shop thingy in the sidebar. *eeeeeeeeeeeek*

*deep breath*

Okay, I know its customary for crafty bloggers to have a giveaway when they add a new item to their shop, but... since I only have a handful of readers (half of whom I share DNA with) it seems a little silly. So if you can think of someone you know that cooks with cast iron and would like to have a set of these mitts, refer them to my little blog and we'll do a giveaway:

I have Analytics and I'm not afraid to use it, so all you lurkers get out there and drag your friends kicking and screaming to my blog. I'll do my part and go soliciting readers and we'll meet back here for the give-away, lets shoot for February 1st. How does that sound?

And do yourself a favor and go to that YouTube link for Bobcat, I just about fell out of my chair.

I'm gonna do it

2010-01-18T05:48:00.000-08:00

Really.

Since I started this blog I've been telling you its so I can shamelessly hawk my Etsy Shop. Except it doesn't exist. Well, actually it does. Its just sitting there sad and empty.

A lot of things have been holding me back:

#1-I'm a weenie. Have you been there lately (Etsy, I mean)? Its full of fabulously talented creative people. I feel out-classed when I look at the things other people are making.

#2-I'm stinky (at graphics, I mean). But I kept plugging away at it and I finally made a banner and avatar that I'm not mortified to put up in my shop. You could stop by and tell me what you think if you have a minute.

#3-It would be insanity to start up my shop smack in the middle of the Christmas rush. Or that's what I was telling myself during December. Now we're halfway through January, so what's my excuse?

I guess I'm just being a weenie now. I need to set a goal. Yup, like 'I will open my shop by the end of this week'.

Did I just say that?

Should I poke "publish post" and let you all see that I just said that?

Cause then I'd HAVE to do it!

*deep breath*

John Deere Cake

2010-01-15T08:21:00.000-08:00

I made a cake yesterday. Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

I think I'll tell you what didn't work first, then cheer myself with the good news.

Flop #1: The Cake
I had a recipe for Buttermilk White Cake that I had high hopes for because buttermilk makes all baked goods lovely and moist, right? Blech, it felt like cornbread in your mouth.

#2: The Frosting
I've made Swiss Meringue Buttercream before. Now THAT is frosting, in the cookbook alongside the recipe I've written a little note that says 'heaven on a cupcake'. And it is, but its also very light and delicate and so I've never tried to use it for decorating. So when I found Italian Meringue Buttercream, along with promises that it is more stable than the Swiss method, I was excited to try it. Things were going along swimmingly until the last step *cue ominous music*, adding the butter. It turned into butter soup. It was delicious soup but useless for icing a cake. I tried adding powdered sugar, hoping to thicken it enough to salvage the mess but after adding enough to make my teeth ache, it was still a loss. So I whipped up a batch of the old standby.

And landing somewhere in between yay and boo: reverse icing. I'll briefly explain: you ice a piece of parchment, assemble the cake on top, ice the sides and flip the whole thing over. Why would anyone try this insanity? Its supposed to give you an absolutely level top and a sharp edge, which it did. But the cake was frozen (easier to work with) when I started and once it started to warm up weird things happened. The top became, ah... not level. And air bubbles started to push out the frosting on the sides making big, ugly cake hernias. Hmm, yep, I should probably file that under flop.

Here is the cake before things started going downhill:

I am depressed, maybe it wasn't a good idea to start with the bad news.

So, what worked?

My diy Bake-Even strips! I just dampened some strips of towel and wrapped them around the pans before sliding them in the oven. The cakes came out nice and high but with no dome. Of course, afterward it occurred to me to Google it and I see that other folks are wrapping their lengths of wet towel in foil. Must try!

I'm also pretty pleased with my first frozen buttercream transfer. I'll briefly explain: print a mirror image of a graphic, tape wax paper over it, outline the design, fill in with thin frosting and freeze until it turns into a pancake you can flip over and place on the cake. I know mine has weird lines, but I'm learning. This was actually easier than I expected, you should try it too.

Or not, if cake decorating doesn't blow your skirt up.

creamer query

2010-01-12T20:23:00.000-08:00

Since I've refurbished the china hutch, I keep an eye open when I'm at the thrift store for pretties to put inside. Today we found a little vintage creamer that I like and at the store it had the little lid taped on so I didn't notice this at first. But when I set it in the hutch I noticed that the lid sits a little wonky:
I was curious so I Googled it and found a listing on ebay with the identical creamer and no lid.

Are any of my readers knowledgeable about such things? I wonder if the lid had been mistakenly added to mine? I'm displaying it without the lid because the wonkiness is really obvious on the shelf at eye level. What do you think?

Acorn Jumper

2010-01-10T13:54:00.000-08:00

In the purple dress post I was belly-aching about the fact that the major pattern companies seem to be unaware that little kids are .... little, and bemoaning the fact that I don't know how to draft a sloper. So maybe now you're wondering (or not) 'if you don't ordinarily follow a pattern and you can't draft a pattern, what are you doing over there?'

Well its a very complicated and precise process involving... a Sharpie. To be fair, although I am labeling it as such, I should warn you that this is not an in-depth tutorial because I didn't take step-by-step photos as I was feeling a little frazzled. Its more like a guideline or an overview. If you're an absolute beginner, DON'T attempt to follow this dreck.

The first step is having a dress that resembles the look you're after. Buggy already had this jumper in her closet so I laid it on a big piece of blank newsprint (freezer paper or standard sized paper taped together also work) and traced around the front and back using a marker.

The skirt is made up of tiers but I didn't think that would look as nice with the print fabric I had, but I wanted more than just a basic A-line. Hmm, what to do? I cruised through some of the websites of popular children's clothing lines and ~~stole ideas~~ found inspiration. I found one I liked that had large box pleats on the front. In this next photo we see the finished bodice and the front of the skirt with contrasting fabric for the inside of the pleats. That's a pretty big leap (actually that's a huge leap, it should be illegal for me to call this a tutorial) so I'll do my best to explain what I did.After tracing all the pieces of the original jumper, I cut them out with extra around the perimeter for seam allowance (I like 3/8" for garment seams). If you're planning to make the large pleats in the front, add an additional 3/8" to each side of the front of the skirt for seam allowance. The original jumper also had facings, which for some reason I don't care for. I cut a front and back bodice piece from the contrasting brown fabric for a lining. Also I should mention that I wanted to forgo the zipper in the back so I extended the back bodice at the shoulder straps enough to overlap at the front for a button closure. If you're also liking the look (and ease) of buttons, just measure over your daughter's shoulder to find the right length for the strap and don't forget to add extra for seam allowance.

When the pieces are all cut out its time to sew the bodice. Put the print fabric pieces right sides together and sew at the side seams (under the armhole); repeat for the lining pieces. Press seams open. **If I forget to mention it, always assume that you should press a seam after it is sewn**

Place the print fabric and lining together with right sides facing and side seams matched; sew all the way around the top (all the curvy parts, ie. armholes, straps and neckline). Turn right side out and press.

For the skirt, I measured an equal distance from each side and just cut right up the front. The contrasting pieces are just rectangles that measure 6 3/4" wide and are a little longer than the skirt (so I can cut them to match the curve of the hem once I sew the skirt together. Like I said very precise...).

This next picture shows the front of the skirt with the inserts, um... inserted and on the right side you see that I brought the print fabric together. Sew the pleats closed, along the seam, to about 3 1/2" down the seam line (or about the distance to the hip). Spread the contrasting fabric so that an equal amount overlaps each side of the seam and press. Thus forming the box pleat.

With right side together, sew the skirt front and back together at the side seams and press.

Time to sew the skirt to bodice. Place them right sides together and match the side seams. Sew around, taking care to keep your pleats nice and flat.

Sew on the buttons and make button-holes in the straps.

Hem the bottom to the desired length and press the pleats again to get them nice and flat.

Here is my finished jumper laying flat:

Here it is on my favorite four year old:

And here is a picture that shows the pleats nicely flared out:

I realize that parts of this are pretty vague, so if you need more specifics about a step, please don't hesitate to ask.

Also, one of my favorite blogs to read, Ikat Bag, has promised a jumper tutorial soon. Lier knows what she is doing, so wander that way and see what she has in store. Her blog is worth a visit anyway because it is stuffed full of free tutorials (real ones), plus she is witty and hilarious.

Perfect Storm

2010-01-06T15:57:00.000-08:00

My eye is twitching, its too much.
The delivery man just dropped off a package of new books including this one:

Remember this post when I mentioned I'd like to splurge on some delicious yarn? The really tiny town I live in has a really great yarn shop! I'd never visited before so I almost died when I walked in and saw the floor to ceiling cubbies and baskets filled with yummy, soft yarn. And a table with chairs where a couple of ladies were knitting and clucking about grandbabies. It was all so wonderful but I forced myself to make a decision and came home with this:

This yarn is a wool, alpaca and silk blend and it. is. heavenly. *squeals* I am not blessed with knitting skills but with yarn that is such a pleasure to hold in your hand, who cares!

Plus, I have some corduroy that I found on the sale rack when JoAnn was having the 50% sale. It has an acorn print, which Buggy is wild about, so I've been working on a jumper for her. I took a few pictures and I'd really like to finish because I'm excited to share them with you guys.

I'm surrounded by fabulousness and I just want to immerse myself in everything at once. So now you're wondering how all this combines to make a perfect storm?

1. The landlady is visiting on Friday so I need to kick some of the toys under the couch and try to keep the house somewhat clean until then.

2. The baby is getting 4 teeth all at once.

Just like that.

Photography Attempts

2010-01-02T13:19:00.000-08:00

I've been experimenting with taking my camera off of the auto setting. So yesterday when we went for a drive, it was a perfect opportunity to try some of my new-found knowledge. Some of the results were truly lame:

And sometimes I take a shot that gives me hope that I won't always be stinky at photography:

It has been pretty typical Oregon weather lately (hallelujah, single-digit weather does not amuse me) so the streams were full and rushing along. Around every corner was a surprise waterfall created by the run-off water. This photo is actually taken on a bridge (mossy surface in the foreground) over a creek. I set the aperture as high and as low as my camera would allow for two different photos. This photo is the one with the aperture set high (8.0 with ISO at 100) and I like the flow-y look it gives the water.
If you're interested in learning a little more about photography, I like the articles on Pioneer Woman's site. They give enough information to inspire me without making my head hurt.

Christmas Gifts

2009-12-31T18:15:00.000-08:00

I've been in a funk since Christmas has come and gone. I spent so much time in down-to-the-wire mode, I'm a little confused and lost now. I pick up a project and wander off to find that thingy I needed... forget what I was looking for and then see something in another room, set down the original project to work on another... find that thingy I was looking for to begin with and wonder what in the world I did with the first project. Anyone else there? I spend all day piddling with things and never get anything done.

Now that the gifts have all been gifted, I can share the handmade goodies that I was working on pre-funk.

For Buggy and my niece and nephew, I made pillows with their name appliqued on the front and a patchwork border. Here is my little niece's (her name is considerably shorter than the other two kids so she got some flowers too):

And on the back a big pocket! For Christmas it had stocking stuffer-y things inside like stickers and candy. But I was thinking it would be good for stashing secret stuff or taking toys and games on a car trip.

And, of course, we needed more manly colors for my nephew:

Plus a super cool button for my favorite T-ball player:

And where are pics of Buggy's pillow? Let's blame it on the funk. (Yeow, I'd better go back and make sure I used an "n" in the other spots)

Here is a fun project, I know I'll be doing some more of these around Mother's Day (don't look Mom). I've never done anything like this and was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was.

I took pictures of the girls with a window behind their heads. A little photo editing to bump up the contrast and make them B&W, then I printed photos of each girl on regular paper. I used a sharp craft knife to cut out their heads and used that as a pattern to cut black paper in the shape of cuteness. Double-stick tape is holding it to the parchment colored paper. Originally, the silhouettes were slightly smaller than the 5x7 frames, but I thought it needed a bit more white space to look pleasing to the eye so I shrank their heads to 4x6 size. I also wanted oval frames to give it a more vintage-y feel but didn't realize until the last minute that they are really hard to find.

And now I'd like you all to take a second look at the shape of my youngest daughter's head and send a little sympathy my way.

Fleece Coat

2009-12-23T14:42:00.000-08:00

I mentioned that I wanted to make a coat for Buggy and was planning to use fleece. To be honest, I was worried about how it was going to behave. I even felt a little nervous when it was time to put scissors to fabric. But I am happy to report that fleece is wonderful stuff. One of my sewing pet peeves is exposed unravel-y seams, so that made working with fleece especially nice. One place I did have trouble was making a decent button-hole. Its like trying to cut through leather, even with a sharp craft knife. Does anyone have any suggestions to make it easier?

So here is my little model wearing her new coat:

This is the lining she picked:

I let her choose from the section of flannel backed satin because I wanted to add an extra layer of warmth. I hope it isn't overkill combined with the fleece.

And since my model wasn't terribly willing and the first picture is a little blurry, this is what it looks like holding still:

This is Simplicity 2534, which is a girl's size. I traced the size 3 but used the length measurements of the size 5 markings. I made a muslin from an old sheet and it fit her up pretty nicely, I wanted it a bit roomy so it will fit over layers. I don't say this very often about something I've sewn, but... I'm pleased. I think we might even take this out into public without fear of someone saying "Oh, did your mom make that for you". Its not that I'm ashamed that her clothes are handmade, I just don't want it to be immediately obvious. You know?

A Tale of Two Dresses-Part Two

2009-12-16T22:27:00.000-08:00

I learned a lot about creating a bodice that fits when using a commercial pattern on the first go round. This time I did not blindly cut the size that Simplicity seems to think will fit a 12 month baby. I took my chubby little cherub's chest measurement and did some measuring of the pattern pieces. A 6 month size seemed the closest so I cut a muslin from an old sheet and slipped it on. It fit quite nicely! I think the only thing I changed was the length of the skirt. While I had the bodice on my babe I measured from the bottom to where I wanted the skirt to fall and used that measurement for the the skirt pieces.

So where is the the hair-pulling and gnashing of teeth? In the tiny sleeves! For some reason I was fixated on having tiny white ribbon on the sleeves and nothing could sway me. Not even the growing pile of discards at my feet. Once I realized my mental health cannot support sewing tiny white ribbon it came together pretty quickly. So I finally got pictures taken and I filched a copy from my on-line preview to show the dress:

Have I had enough? Oh no, I can see the end of my Christmas crafting on the horizon and I have my next sewing project in the works: a fleece coat for Buggy. I've never sewn fleece, so I'll let you know how much gnashing is involved. Plus I think I'll invest in some lovely soft yarn to make myself a scarf. Now there's a project riddled with angst, I normally just skip straight to swearing. But I'm not ready to admit my mental health cannot support knitting. Stay tuned you might learn some new words.

Cinnamon-errific

2009-12-07T16:25:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wandered through the Christmas section of a store and smelled a terrific cinnamon smell? And followed your nose to a display of little mesh sacks with half a dozen scented pine cones, for which they are charging $4.99?

I love that smell, but I'm just too cheap to plunk down that kind of money. So when I saw the craft in this post, I was excited to try it. And we even had the ingredients on hand, not that there's a lot, just cinnamon and applesauce.

Last night Buggy and I made these and I got that smell I'm after:

I strung them on a ribbon to make a garland decoration but the hearts (with two holes) are the only thing that hangs facing outward when the ribbon is suspended (er, duh). I'm just too OCD to hang it up like that so I'll get another little .50 cent jar of cinnamon for another batch. I think the little guys with one hole (I can hear you snickering) will turn into ornaments to hang on the tree or tie onto a gift:

A Tale of Two Dresses-Part 1

2009-11-27T20:56:00.000-08:00

I'm missing some chromosomes. Specifically the ones dealing with girly stuff like making a pleasing hair-do, accessorizing, and matching colors. I'm never sure if I look put together and I'm afraid this extends to dressing my little girls too. So with this in mind I decided to make a different dress for each girl from the same fabric which I pilfered from my Mom's stash. This way, I reasoned, they would be sure to match when they have their picture taken together. What could be easier? Bah!

I don't usually sew from a pattern so I foolishly bought a pattern for each girl in the size they wear when we buy off the rack. I started with Buggy's and even went down a size, because she is such a slim girl, and made a 3. The half-finished dress hung on her like a tater sack, there was so much extra fabric at the sides and the v-neck was positively indecent. I looked around for ideas and Lier fortuitously posted about slopers around the time I was freaking out. (I left a comment and she visited my blog and left me a comment, eeeeee; what a classy lady!) But that's a whole new skill set, which I intend to learn, and this project needed help NOW since I intended to have the girls photographed around the time my baby turned one ( 2 weeks ago, whoops). So I hauled out a set of sewing encyclopedias I found at a garage sale last summer and opened the Sewing for Children book.

It had several good suggestions, like not using interfacing on kids' clothes, so that step was skipped and the dress looks fine to me. They also suggested buying a pattern in the size that fits your child's chest measurement and slashing the pattern to lengthen it where necessary. So for Buggy, I need a 12 mo. size baby pattern (I swear I feed her)! Luckily, I had the pattern for my baby's dress, so I traced a bodice from that and added the details I liked from the girl's pattern, like the shaped v-neck. I used the girl's pattern as a guide for the length of the bodice and made a muslin from this:

It was a little snug across the shoulders so I slashed the armscye and moved it over about a 1/4 inch on the front and back pieces (purple arrows) and lengthened the bodice a little more (blue arrows) as Buggy is quite long waisted:

Here is the (almost) finished dress:

You can see in the pic that it really wouldn't have hurt to make the dress a little smaller in the chest. The underskirt was not part of the pattern but the pilfered material is thin so it needed an extra layer and this was my solution. I used a piece of white sheet (I should do a post on all the places I've used that sheet) to make a flared skirt and attached a strip of eyelet trim to the bottom.

Stay tuned for Part 2, the baby's dress, which I am feverishly working on now.

Have questions or want more detailed info about how I altered the commercial pattern? Leave a comment or, if you're shy about everybody seeing your question, shoot me an e-mail.

Thanksgiving Linens

2009-11-25T10:19:00.000-08:00

I don't do much entertaining, when I do its normally of the paper plate variety. But for this Thanksgiving I've invited family for dinner and I wanted to be able to set a festive table. According to Martha's checklist I should be ironing my linens in preparation for the holiday, but I'm sure that's just a suggestion. Why would I do that when I could stay up half the night sewing napkins and a tablecloth?

And why not take the time for photos while I'm at it so I can show all of you? First, I should say that this is a story of making do with what I had on hand. I had some flour sack dish towels that I had purchased that were NOT high quality and I do NOT suggest that you also try this with cheap-o dish towels because they were a nightmare to sew.

The first thing I did with mine was give them a bath in strong tea to knock down the bright white color so people wouldn't feel shy about wiping their greasy lips on them:

I cut the dishtowels in half and they were really a little smaller than what I had in mind. When making these I suggest that you start with fabric that you can cut enough 20-inch (at least) squares to make the desired number of napkins.

So then I cut 3 1/2 inch strips from my tablecloth fabric and cut the strips into sections the width of my napkins. One long side of each strip was pressed 1/4 inch toward the wrong-side of the fabric:

Oh, look how nicely my iron burn is healing (ick, sorry)

Then I stacked them up in this order:
-napkin (right-side up)

-trim (right-side up with the un-pressed edge lined up with short side of napkin)

-trim (wrong-side up and with the un-pressed edge at top also)

-napkin (wrong-side up)

I folded each over a little to give a sort of cut-away view:

Sew around the perimeter with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. At the corners, leave the needle in the down position and pivot the fabric to make sharp corners. Leave yourself a 3 inch hole to turn. Clip the excess fabric at corners, turn right-side out and use some sort of poker-thingy to gently push the corners out. If you lined all the pieces up right it should look like this when turned and pressed:

Topstitch around very close to the edge. Remember that pressed edge? Topstitch along the pressed edge of the trim also making sure to catch the pressed edge on the other side:

Here is my finished set. One for each adult plus a miniature for Buggy so she feels special too:

All that cutting of strips left my tablecloth a little too short (oops) so I cut some strips of dark brown fabric for a border. It ended up giving it a nicer finished edge. Yay for happy accidents. And here is the squash I was thinking of using for a centerpiece:

Hmm, you're probably right. It would be hard to have a conversation around that thing. But what, I ask you, should I do with a 50 pound squash? This is actually what I was thinking of using:

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours.

A Grown-up Cake

2009-11-11T18:11:00.000-08:00

Today is my sweet SIL's birthday and I was flattered when her equally sweet SOP asked me to make her cake. It was fun to plan a cake for a grown-up, I hope she likes it. He (SOP) asked for a chocolate cake but I forgot to ask what kind of filling so I tried Chocolate Ganache. The leftovers were yummy so I think it will be tasty with the cake. As a member of the Church of Chocolate, I firmly believe there is no such thing as too much chocolate; lets hope they are also Believers.

I've read a few posts lately on other blogs in which people discussed "Why I blog" and it got me thinking about 'Why I blog'. Not just to trick you into thinking that I'm ever-so clever and so you must buy stuff from my Etsy shop (in the event that I ever open it), that is one reason, but I think the biggest reason is to share knowledge. I love it when I stumble across a trick or crafty goody that makes me go 'Ooooh, what an excellent idea'. So in that spirit I offer the things I learned on this cake:

I tried the flower nail method when baking the cake. That is, I put a flower nail in the center of the cake pans and poured the batter around it before putting them in the oven. This is supposed to help the inside bake at the same rate as the outer part nearest the pan edge. There was a small dome to cut off but I don't think quite as much as if I'd left them out. Probably Bake-Even strips are still the way to go.

I also learned that it is a pain in the keister to pipe chocolate ganache in a chilly house. I knew I wanted the color scheme to be white, pink and brown, but when I tried tinting the white frosting with brown gel food coloring it just looked like... well, poop (literally, even Mr. SimpleHeart saw it lurking in a bowl and said "what the *@#^ is that"). So I had the bright idea I would use the leftover ganache, but it kept hardening in the tip so that I had to hold it over simmering water for a minute to soften it enough to pipe. The first try looked so awful I put the cake in the fridge to cool the chocolate enough that I could pick it off with a toothpick. Then out came an off-set spatula and a cup of hot water so I could give the cake a shave and start over. grrr. Probably a technique best saved for milder weather.

Speaking of ganache, I didn't have cream on hand so I made it with evaporated milk. I used about 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/4 cup milk and that worked great!

This was my first try doing corelli lace and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I've tried it before on a practice board and it looked, um, wrong. Then I read somewhere that its like drawing a bunch of cursive r's and s's together and I said "ah-hah". It totally helped to envision that while I was squiggling.

I made sweet SIL an apron for her birthday. I cruised the Anthro site for ideas and made her a knock-off of a cute one I saw. I took a pic of me wearing it but... bleh. We'll have to see if she'll send us some cute shots of her wearing it so I can show you.

China Hutch Redo

2009-11-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

How it all started:

Act I
Mr. SimpleHeart: "Would you like a china hutch?"

Me: "Yes! Wait, is it made of wood or pressboard? If its a nice wood one then yes, if its the assemble-from-a-box sort then no."

Mr. SimpleHeart: "I'll find out."

Act II

Mr. SimpleHeart: "Is it wood."

GuyatWork: "I dunno, I'll ask my wife."

GuyatWork's Wife: "It must be, its over 40 years old."

This is what I got:

The most surprising thing here is not that the hutch is most certainly NOT wood, but that my husband asked me in the first place. Anytime we are having a conversation about furniture I know he is only half listening because most of his attention is focused on the answer to this equation:

This is what I made from it:

(please pardon the photos, its November in Oregon so lighting is an issue, but I really wanted to show you)

The first thing to go was that enormous moulding sitting up there demanding to know why my appliances aren't Avocado Green or Harvest Gold. I found a piece of moulding with clean lines in the scrap pile and cut it to size for the top and bottom.

Next, several coats of cream colored paint and that was about as far as my planning went. Then Mr. SimpleHeart suggested spray painting the inside which made it an easy job, EXCEPT for taping paper over the windows. Imagine wallpapering a hobbit's house while doing the Limbo and you'll get the idea. I stood in the paint section for a looong time before settling on a champagne color with metallic flecks. When I started the project I really thought I wanted color but...

1. I was afraid the wrong colors on the hutch would limit the color of dishware I could display.

2. We're renters and our landlady has a penchant for those stick-on wallpaper borders. There is a different one in every room, no really, the cardinals from the Living Room run right smack into the apples in the Dining Room. We're used to it now but I spent the first month we lived here staring up with my mouth hanging open. So really, we have plenty of color for now.

Sooo, I stuck with pretty neutral shades. It looks a little olive-y in low light but its growing on me. Now I just need some really great hardware and I've got my lemonade.

Sticker Shock

2009-11-04T06:24:00.000-08:00

...at Goodwill. I've been spoiled by the good deals at our local thrift store so nearly everything we looked at went right back on the shelf. I didn't find any great sheets but I did find a couple pieces of fabric worth bringing home:

the floral one is home decor weight which I like to use for making handbags. Because anyone who has been to my home knows that cream colored fabric has no business being used to actually grace the furniture. The print is quite large though, it would have to be a pretty big bag, we'll see.

At the store I thought the red-ish fabric was a baby cord but its heavy, more like a denim. There is about three yards of it (not bad for $2), plenty for a jumper since Buggy needs some warmer dresses.

It was a fun trip to the "Big City", including a stop at Joann's for some Mod Podge. What is it about that store that makes children lose their mind?

Like a herd of turtles

2009-11-01T21:36:00.000-08:00

I'm making slow but sure progress toward opening my Etsy shop. One of the things on the to-do list is making some lovely packaging. I had two criteria: it should be reusable and lightweight (shipping is a bummer). I had that thought in the back of my mind when I saw this tutorial on making string from fabric scraps. I liked the idea but sewing them by hand and with tiny scraps didn't seem realistic (2 kids, limited attention span...). Then, when I was standing on my head in the remnant bin rummaging around like a bum, I came across this fabric:

Since it was a remnant I have to assume that other people bought the rest of the bolt. What are they doing with it? This stuff is seizure-inducing!
But I digress, here's what I did with it (and a sneak peek at a shop item):

I cut it into 1 inch strips, folded it wrong-sides together, and stitched up the middle. Then I put it through the laundry since I was after a homespun, frayed look:

I dunno, does it look homespun or like a kindergarten class project? I'm planning a thank you hang tag to tie in the bow, so it should be completely reusable when untied. Would you reuse a fabric string that is about a yard in length for wrapping up a gift or ... whatever?

(That is a skillet handle cozy if you're wondering; or if your mind is in the gutter)

new banner

2009-10-30T16:33:00.000-07:00

Lookee, lookee what I made. If you've been here before you must be marveling at the giant leaps I've made in learning GIMP (which I heartily recommend btw). If you're new to my newly autumn-y blog, let me assure you this is a huge improvement.
I haven't learned enough that I can tell you what it was I did wrong on the last banner, but the first two words that it brought to mind were 'jacked up'.
If you are learning GIMP or have been inspired by my ~~mediocre~~ fabulous banner, there are some great tutorials on YouTube. I like this guy, except I developed the annoying habit of talking to myself with a British accent when I'm using GIMP.
For those who are not familiar with GIMP, its like PhotoShop except for the price. Its freee!

Sad Goodbye

2009-10-26T13:03:00.000-07:00

Today the SimpleHeart household says good-bye to a much loved friend:

Yes, a swing. And no, I haven't lost my mind; its just muddled with sentimentality-itis. This has soothed and rocked both of my babies to sleep countless times. I know it looks old and tired, but I love it. Originally, I had a battery operated swing but spent all my time counting the clicks and worrying over how many batteries we would go through. This one is wonderful, just give her crank a spin and let potential energy do its thing.
Sadly, the baby is growing fast and doesn't use it anymore so its time to pass it on. Before we let her go (the swing, not the baby!) I decided a little makeover was in order. I didn't want her to feel dowdy sitting next to all the fancy swings with buttons for lights, sounds, vibrators, etc. Her cushion was pretty faded and thin:

So I picked a fabric from the stash that I thought wasn't too gender-specific and made a new one with lots of poof for a new tiny tushie:

I laid the old cushion on the fabric and traced around its three sections, with a little extra for seam allowance (about the width of my thumb, I wasn't being scientific). I cut out these plus matching pieces of white sheet for backing. A double layer of quilt batting was sandwiched between the print fabric and backing for the poof. I had some purchased bias tape that was really too narrow for this project but, with lots of grumbling, I made it work for the edging. The top has piping instead of a ruffle, which is a nice update. I made the holes that the straps thread through like a button-hole, except huge.

A new cushion and a fresh coat of disinfectant has her looking lovely. I hope she finds a new home where they love her as much as we have. *sniff, sniff*

Good Enough

2009-10-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a nice amount of lavender this summer *waves at Mom* and have been planning to make sachets. I found a pretty mauve-y linen on the bargain rack at JoAnn's and had it already cut into rectangles. I had every intention of embroidering them with a pretty little flower, all Posie gets Cozy-style, to have a few for me and a few to give as gifts.

Then this afternoon I walked into the girls' room to put away some clothes when reality, and the smell from the diaper pail, hit me.

So I grabbed my rectangles and whipped out a few hasty sachets:

First I stitched around the perimeter, leaving a little hole. Then I turned them right-side out, pressed and topstitched around the edge, still leaving the hole open. A funnel from the kitchen made quick work of filling each with a handful of lavender. Then I stuck a loop of ribbon in the hole and finished topstitching to close. If I hadn't been in such a flaming rush I would have realized how much smarter it would be to stick the ribbon between the layers before sewing so it would pop out nicely centered when I turned it (you'll notice the pic doesn't show my stitching or wonky ribbons).

Ah well, the baby is blissfully napping with the smell of flowers instead of the smell of, um...

I still plan to embroider a few, I'm thinking these would make excellent gifts for the extra people you want to give a little something (mailman/lady, teachers, etc.).

Dishwasher Update

2009-10-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

You may remember from my last post that I was planning to try using homemade dishwasher detergent for the first time and I was a little worried about what the machine would think of it. Let's say it was... unimpressed. Now I don't mean the dishes didn't get clean, they did. I'm talking about the hairy, grinding, parts-are-flying-apart-inside noises it started to make halfway thru the cycle (cripes, I hope my land-lady doesn't read this).

So I started tearing it apart. The first thing I discovered is that someone with busy hands opened the lid on one of the baskets and put a couple cake decorating tips down in the machine. So now I wonder if the noises are a plastic tip that did not fare as well as the metal or my concoction. So I tore it apart farther:

Eeeeeew! But, alas, no plastic bits. Then I started to think (not my strong suit) my homemade detergent contains baking soda. AND I followed another suggestion on the same site and filled my rinse aid reservoir with vinegar! So I did a little chemistry experiment in my sink:

Here we see a cup of hot water with a dab of my dandy detergent... about a second after I added a little vinegar:

And here it is a couple seconds later. The reaction was super short, nothing crazy.

What gives? Should I call a chemist or the Maytag man?

Update #2: I went Googling and found that other people who use it found it unsatisfactory in the cleanliness dept. but no one said it wrecked their machine. Uh-oh!

Thrifty AND Cheap

2009-10-14T07:59:00.001-07:00

If you've been following along with us you know by now I like to go to the thrift store on Tuesdays. Its 20% off day and yesterday they had 50% off all furniture, too. I think I showed admirable restraint; I did not even go to the furniture section. If I had brought home another stick of furniture I'm pretty sure it would have caused Mr. SimpleHeart's blood pressure to spike. I'm forever dragging in one thing while promising to edit another and well...

I did get a pretty linen skirt half off:

I was waffling about whether this would be a skirt for me or get added to the fabric pile. It was a size 14 so I slipped it on for size. I was thinking: 'Wow that was a little snug to pull on, maybe I should start using the chocolate chips to make cookies for the babies instead of eating them directly out of the bag.' Then I noticed the button and zipper I hadn't used. Whew. Into the pile it goes!

And since this isn't very exciting thrifty news, I'd like to share one of my money-savers. I've been making my own laundry soap for about a year and I love it. I can do a load of laundry for pennies and it really isn't that hard to make. There are a ton of recipes on TipNut and I use a modified version (hard, well water) of the powdered recipe. If you read thru the comments a lot of people have trouble with the consistency of the liquid and/or have a chemical reaction in their kitchen. So I stick with the powder with great results and it takes me about 10 minutes to make a batch that lasts a couple months.
The other day I came across a recipe for homemade dishwasher detergent. I scribbled it on a scrap of paper and promptly forgot where in the heck I read it. Which was kinda important because one of the comments on that blog asked how much should be used in a load. I planned to check the response when it was posted but now I can't find my way back. I've made a batch so I'll just have to wing it. On the bright side, I'm actually looking forward to loading and running the machine. We'll see what it thinks of my concoction. If you don't hear from me for a while, call the Coast Guard, I'm adrift in the kitchen.

Girl's Dress Refashion

2009-10-10T11:07:00.001-07:00

I found a dress in the $1 bin at my favorite consignment shop and liked it except for the fact that it was a back-less halter style. I like to dress my little girls like, well... little girls. So it came home with us but found new life as a skirt. I took pictures as I went so I could share; I was thinking this would work equally well to salvage a favorite dress that has a stain on the top.

Here is the original:

1. I cut the bodice off and measured my little ~~victim~~ daughter to find the length of the skirt that looked best when sitting at her natural waist. It was a bit long so I cut a couple inches off following the curve of the original waistline (the full skirt is folded in half in the pic). Here we see the dissected dress nicely laid out:

No? How 'bout this:

2. Cut a piece of coordinating fabric for the waistband. Go ahead, interrupt whatever your daughter is doing to measure her waist; she won't mind at all. Buggy's waist is about 19 inches, I needed 2 in. for ease so it can be pulled over her tushie and an inch for seam allowance. So I cut a 22 x 4(width) in. strip of white material. Sew the short sides together, right-sides facing, with 1/2 in. seam allowance to form a ring; press seam open (oops, didn't get a photo of this).

3. Sew, using a long stitch, 1/4 in. from the top of the skirt, leaving the threads long. Pull on one thread to gather the fullness of the skirt to the size of the waistband. Evenly distribute the gathering and pin, right-sides together, to the waistband:

4. Sew, with 3/8 in. seam allowance, so this stitching is just on the outside of the thread used to gather. Press the seam so the allowance is toward the waistband. Also, fold over the other long edge of the waistband 1/4 in. as shown in the photo and press:

5. Fold waistband in half, lengthwise, with wrong sides together so that the pressed edge slightly (1/8 in.) overlaps the stitching of the seam you just finished. Pin in place, but place your pins so they can be easily removed from the right-side of the material (you'll be sewing "blind"!). Like so:

6. Sew veeery carefully just along the right-side edge of the waistband so that the stitching catches the pressed edge in the back. Stop short of sewing all the way around, leaving a 3 in. opening to insert the elastic. See how the raw edges are enclosed in the waist now? Very nice:

7. Cut a piece of elastic that is equal to the waist measurement minus about 2 in. (17 in. for this example). Thread elastic thru the opening. You can just overlap the ends of the elastic and securely stitch them together to form a ring or try this method: Cut a small scrap of material the width of the elastic and sew the ends of the elastic to it. This way it lays flat and eliminates the uncomfy bump in the waist. First side:

2nd side:

8. Tuck elastic ends into the waistband and do a little test run to make sure it slips on and off easily. If all is well, finish stitching along the waistband.

Ta-dah:

I had originally planned to use the dress top to make sort of a sash/cummerbund but couldn't get it to look right. So I unpicked the little flowers on it and attached them to the waist of our skirt with some pink ribbon from the stash. With a flower left over to sew onto a hair elastic:

Birthday Cake

2009-10-06T01:25:00.000-07:00

I was undecided about posting photos of the cake I made. I was thinking those of you who don't have much experience with decorating will probably think this is a lovely cake. BUT the folks with a small amount of know-how will have passed me up and are probably enjoying a ~~little laugh~~ guffaw at my expense. In the end, I decided this is my space to share my creations, even the imperfect ones, so you can take your entertainment in either form (but please humor me if you comment).
So here is the big reveal:

*First, just let me say that there was not a weird color variation on the finished product. This is what happens if someone forgets to take a pic before writing the name of someone else's child on a cake that they intend to post online. Then the person, who is still learning GIMP, attempts to erase the name with a photo editing tool.*

1. The cake itself is a dressed up box mix using the WASC (White Almond Sour Cream) recipe from Cake Central. I have to say I'm just not a fan of almond flavoring, and while it was moist but not crumbly (the pitfalls of a lot of white cake recipes) I thought it a little overly sweet. It made a huge batch, enough for 2 13x9-inch pans. Strawberry Mousse filling.

3. I used the Buttercream Dream recipe from the same site and reduced the amount of sugar and so the amount of liquid used. Then I found it hard to get the right consistency; it was great for icing but needed tinkering before I could make a decent flower. Lots of learning on this cake.

4. Since I didn't have a pretty pan to put it all on, I tried my hand at making fondant (marshmallow fondant in this case) to cover an upside-down baking sheet. I know this stuff is far more popular than buttercream these days but I'm still not sure why.

4. The tiara was made with royal icing. Someone has kindly posted a tutorial for this on Cake Central, downloadable templates are also available there. That site is a fabulous place to go for inspiration. Here is a close-up of mine:

I know, it would have been a lot more impressive with a little bling (Luster Dust). But remember that I live in a veeery tiny town so bling is at least an hour from me.

Birthday Fun

2009-10-05T15:01:00.000-07:00

Our sweet little niece turned 4 this weekend so we've been busy making her gifts. Buggy was in charge of the customized wrapping paper. I cut a section off of our roll of blank newsprint, opened a new box of crayons and set her to work. I didn't take a picture because... well, lets just say she doesn't have a future in the wrapping paper industry. She kept getting side-tracked by absolutely everything except her project.

My contribution was a new outfit, and since the birthday girl likes dresses and ballet it was a tutu-ish skirt with this matching top (seen here modeled by the lovely Buggy):

It was pretty simple so I thought I'd share how I made this little embellishment:

1. I cut out a paper heart the size I liked and pinned it onto the wrong-side of the shirt using a four-year-old body as a placement guide. I also added a layer of light sew-in interfacing, I'm not sure that this step is necessary but I used it since this was my first time sewing on a tee (I did all this on the wrong-side so I could keep track of my interfacing, which wouldn't be necessary if you skipped it). Then I carefully stitched around the pattern with pink thread:

It occurs to me that this would be a great embellishment on its own, assuming your bobbin does not implode three times while trying to sew a tidy heart. This is how mine looks on the right-side after this step:

(My crummy sewing skills are only surpassed by my even crummier photo editing skills. Ah well, you get the idea)

2. I cut some 1-inch strips of tulle and stitched down the middle with a long stitch. Pull on one thread to ruffle it up so it matches the perimeter of the heart and pin it down using the stitching as a guide:

3. Then just carefully top-stitch along the heart. I left the ruffle thread in because I thought it added to the look nicely (and because separating it from the tulle is a pain in the kazoo). Here we see my model workin' the entire outfit:

The skirt was inspired by this tutorial on Pink Picket Fence. I made a basic three tiered-skirt and sewed on a couple rows of ruffled tulle per tier. I could do a little how-to for the skirt too if anyone is interested.

Monkeying Around

2009-09-30T12:32:00.000-07:00

I've been eyeing this sheet the past couple of times we visited the thrift shop. It was $1.99 but since I didn't have anything specific in mind for it, I kept passing it up. But this time it was on sale for 75% off! Of course, I couldn't pass on that. Any suggestions?

Then I spotted this:
The tag said full-sized sheet, but I saw the buttons running down one side and knew better. A duvet cover for $2.99, with a cute monkey! You can't beat that with a stick.

I'm taking a break from canning and wanted to show off my treasures. Now I'm off to load up the canner again. Is it weird that I love that little snap sound the lids make when they are sealing? Yes? Oh well, story of my life.

pin cushion

2009-09-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

I have a sister-in-law who is creative with paper crafts and can do some amazing things with family photos (whereas mine are languishing in the hard drive or shoe boxes). She has recently taken an interest in sewing and stopped by for some pointers on how to get along with her machine. I am, of course, the perfect person to ask as all of my machine meltdowns are met with complete grace and composure. And if your child is in Sunday School with my daughter, I have no idea where she learned that word.

So I wanted to make her a "Welcome to Sewing" gift and decided on a pin cushion. I used the free pattern from this site and included my BFF: a stitch ripper.

I love these buttons and wish I were a better photographer so you could see how they catch the light and sparkle.

meringue pie makes me nervous

2009-09-11T08:25:00.000-07:00

I once had a cat named Willy. One day after having left a lemon meringue pie on the kitchen counter to cool, I walked in to find a third of it gone and Willy buried neck-deep in the remaining two-thirds. I let out a screech and he popped out wild eyed and covered in sticky meringue. I haven't had a cat since who showed a weakness for pastries, but I always get nervous that I'll find my pie has been wrecked by a feline.

So I'm sure by now word has gotten around about my witty and informative blog and I've attracted legions of followers. Maybe one of you super-cool people could tell me what I'm doing wrong with my meringue? This is a picture of the 4-egg meringue I made yesterday. Shouldn't it be, um, bigger? A little more voluminous?

fungus fun

2009-09-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

We've been impatiently waiting for a good rain and last week the sky let loose. So this weekend found us in the woods hunting for little spots of orange under the trees. We found quite a few for this early in the year.

I didn't find the first one of the year (we always have a little contest) but this is the first one I found.

We still had a few left last night so I made pizza with chanterelles. Mmmm. It was out-of-this-world-yummy. I was a little worried that the fabulous taste of the mushrooms would be lost in the flavor mish-mash; but really it made a great pizza. Here is some of the leftover 3-cheese with mushroom variety.

Circle Skirt

2009-09-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

They say your way of thinking completely changes when you have kids and I find that to be true. For example, I hadn't really thought about it but after cruising the toy section I realized Barbie is a little trampy.
"Whaaat", you say. "The venerable doll who has entertained generations of little girls? "
Don't believe me? I have evidence to back my claim. Seriously, do you go camping in strappy platform sandals? Does your veterinarian/pediatrician/daycare provider, etc. wear a mini skirt? Do you know anyone who owns silver vinyl capris?

So what's a mama worried about role models to do? ~~Not buy impossibly skinny dolls~~ Make your own clothes, of course!

Here is our best doll modeling her new circle skirt. The plan is to make a few outfits to wrap up in time for Christmas. I think a new doll (and a top) is in order.

Thrifting

2009-09-01T16:14:00.000-07:00

We stopped at our (sorta) local thrift store today and found some treasures. Tuesdays are 20% off and they add that to their tag sales, so you can really add up the savings. Like the alarm clock I got for 90 cents. WooHoo! And I do specifically want one, I didn't just get it because it was a sweet deal. I'm trying to set up an Etsy shop and find there just isn't enough time in my day if I get up when I hear the baby's first holler. But I'm not much of a morning person so...
Buggy (oldest daughter) picked out a bag of pop beads (I'm a sucker for anything I remember from my own childhood). And my favorite? Its a toss-up between my new handbag ($2.29) and this:

lunch buns

2009-08-31T14:17:00.000-07:00

Not much time for sewing yet today. But now the baby is taking her nap and I have time to show you what I have managed to accomplish: lunch buns. That sounds funny but its what we call them at our house. My husband likes them in his lunchbox and they're handy to have in the freezer for those mornings when you need to be out of the house NOW and you realize you haven't fed your babies yet. Here's how it works:

Dough is separated into sections and rolled into rounds. Add your favorite filling, today we are doing cheese, scrambled egg and bacon.

Fold the edges together, pinch to close and turn.

Bake the little guys until they are pretty and browned...mmm

Here is a view of the inside yumminess. Sorry its a little blurry, I didn't have the camera set to capture something moving at high speed. Also, the buns are not giant, that's a four-year-old hand grabbing a snack.
If you are interested in the recipe for the dough, shoot me an e-mail. I'm happy to share.

First

2009-08-29T22:36:00.000-07:00

This is my new place to collect and share the simple little things that put a smile in my heart. "Like what" you may ask (or would if I had any readers). I think mostly crafts like sewing, crochet and needlework. My hits and misses in the kitchen, some of the adventures of my little family. And random things that crack me up.