with love

Upcycle Halloween Costume

2011-10-22T22:30:00.000-05:00

Part 1 done! I decided to make a fishing vest and bucket hat for Joel this year. When I went to look through my stash, I found an old pair of shorts with this great pocket.

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Play Time

2011-06-20T13:58:00.003-05:00

This morning I decided to try making some play dough. (Okay Joel was happily playing with the Play-Doh that he got in his Easter basket, and I thought he might like a few more colors.) I found this recipe online that used cornstarch and baking soda. I had everything on hand so I thought why not. Not sure why I had a 1 lb box of baking soda, but I did. It was a little tacky so as I was adding the color I used a little extra cornstarch. This also helped it not stick to my hands as I kneaded in the food coloring. We will see if Joel likes it as well as the Play-Doh. I think I may actually prefer the store bought stuff.

I'm Fast!

2011-02-17T22:32:00.000-06:00

Not to long ago Joel decided that he was fast. Anytime there is an area that he deems wide and long enough to run he will ask to go fast. As soon as he started doing this my mind went to The Flash. I knew that I wanted to make him a shirt with the flash logo on it. At first I thought that I would use freezer paper and paint it on but then changed my mind and decided to applique it instead. I really wanted to get the two colors and didn't want to take the time to make two stencils or wait on the paint dry.

I started with a red shirt from Walmart. Next I pulled up some images of The Flash's shirt on the internet. I had the basic image in my head, but wanted to get the details right. It also made the lightning bolt easier to recreate. Using PowerPoint I made the basic shape using straight lines. This helped me play around with sizing without having to redraw it over and over. Luckily I had a yellow t-shirt in my stash that was the right color. I then traced the images on to the paper side of Pellon Wonder-Under transfer web paper. After that I cut out the image and ironed it onto the backside of the t-shirts for the circle and lightning bolt. I knew that I wanted the edges to curl up a little so I cut out the pieces about a quarter of an inch outside of the transfer paper. (I still haven't mastered the satin stitch on the edges of an applique, and I wanted this to be a quick project.) Then I ironed down the circle and stitched around the outside about a quarter of an inch inside. Finally I did the same with the lightning bolt. We call this Joel's fast shirt. If you ever catch him wearing it, he might just tell you the same. Sorry all the action shots were to blurry to post. ;)

Easy Red Sauce

2010-12-22T09:10:00.002-06:00

We have been trying to eat at home more often lately which in turn has given me a little boost to try new things in the kitchen. Lately we have been making a lot of home made pizza.

To keep the cost down I decided to look into making red sauce. After looking at many differed recipes online and examining my cupboards, I thought I'd give it a try. It is pretty simple and can be easily converted to spaghetti sauce too.

Pizza Sauce
1 can tomato sauce (plain or whatever kind you like)
2-4 cloves of garlic (or more if you love garlic)
1T olive oil (I use extra virgin)

Combine all ingredients in sauce pan on stove. I use a garlic press for the garlic, but you could chop or used minced if you want. I don't really measure the EVVO, just a quick trip around the pot. I let it simmer for a 5-10 depending on how much time I have. You could go longer if you wanted to I'm sure. Now it's ready. I've kept it in the fridge for a week or so.

Pasta Sauce
4 small or 1 large can of sauce
5-8 cloves of garlic (alter to your garlic preference)
2-3 T olive oil

Additional Ingredients
1-2 t Italian Seasoning
1 t parsley flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
3 T Fresh Parmesan (I graded in some fresh Parmesan last time I did this, but I don't do this all the time. I did like the result though.)

I don't really know exactly how much I used of everything. I just guess and adjust as needed. I've also used some of the flavored tomato sauces instead of the plain. That was good too.

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A little something

2010-12-19T18:00:00.002-06:00

Most of my sewing will have to wait until after Christmas to share, but here is a little something I've been up to.

I used the tutorial on Sew Mama Sew for the pocket tissue packs. A few of these are going to become gifts for various people, but the penguin one is for me. I don't usually sew for myself this time of year, but these went together pretty fast. The great thing about these is I used fabric from my scrap pile!

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My Little Harry

2010-11-01T22:03:00.001-05:00

I love the way the snitch appears to be flying in this picture.

Did you guess right? I knew as soon as I saw Joel's scar that he had to be Harry Potter this year. I figured I had one more year to pick his costume so why not. I love the way the snitch turned out. I used golden felt and added wings to a basic ball. To get the detail that I wanted, I drew the basic shape and used this technique in a contrasting color to make it stand out.

I knew he wouldn't keep the glasses on so I just used some black felt and elastic to make them. They really look more like a mask then glasses, but that's okay. They were still cute for the 30 seconds he would leave them on. Since I had the snitch I wanted to make the Quidditch robes.

For the robe I bought a men's small tee in the right color and modified it by taking it in the shoulders and shortening the sleeves and bottom. I added the felt in the front to mimic the way the the robes tied in the movies. Overall I liked the illusion that the costume gave. He already had the broom so no extra cost there. His papa helped him find a wand in the back yard, and his costume was complete.

My little seeker catching his snitch

Flying with Mema

Sneak Peak

2010-10-22T19:10:00.000-05:00

Can you guess Joel's costume this year based on these clues?

This injury is now a cute little scar.

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Sweet Dreams

2010-09-26T21:06:00.003-05:00

I've been wanting to use some of Lucas's old t-shirts to make something for Joel for a while now and finally got around to it. I decided to try pjs since they are pretty basic in their construction. I traced a pair he had for the pants. They are a little tighter than I thought they would be, but they will work for pjs. I did have to redo the neck of the top. The first one was too tight in the neck. Hopefully try two fits. To make the pattern I cut apart an old top for the basic shape and went from there. I loosely followed the steps of the 90 minute shirt on Made.

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Worm Love

2010-09-02T21:08:00.000-05:00

This little gal get to go to her new home this weekend. I wish I could be there is person to give her to my niece even if it is a very belated birthday gift. Next year I plan to be more on top of things.

There is a patten out there somewhere for this snake/worm, but I can't remember who makes it. Joel has one that I got at a craft fair last year, and I just make up my own pattern based on his. I basically made a tube and rounded the ends. I left an opening at one of the sections to stuff her, and then hand stitched it closed. Next I embroidered the eyes and a little mouth (not pictured). I added some extra detail to the back with the little heart. I felt it was fitting for the personality that was coming through with fabrics. Enjoy your new friend, Annie!

New Wardrobe

2010-08-15T15:31:00.001-05:00

If only I could make myself a new wardrobe as easily as I did for my niece. Her birthday is coming up so I recycled some old clothing of mine and raided my fabric stash to make some new closes for her American Girl doll. I used Simplicity pattens 7083 and 4297 for my basics.

I wanted to tie the shirt and pants into the sweater I made so I added some green daisies to spruce them up a little. I think the hoodie is pretty cute. I made it out of an old sweater of mine that had a stain on the front. Kalena happens to love purple. I thought the polka dots were cute. I love that they also had the same shade of green. Don't you love it when things work out that way.

Frozen Lemon-Ginger Yogurt

2010-07-11T14:33:00.006-05:00

The other day I was looking for a recipe that used some leftover buttermilk that I had. I was looking through the recipes at Epicurious and came across this one for Lemon-Ginger frozen yogurt. They also have a cool app for the Iphone/pod if you are interested. I'd always been interested in using fresh ginger and thought that it sounded delicious. After reading the reviews I decided to use Greek yogurt to give it the tang. (One of my favorite treats right now is the tart frozen yogurt.) I enjoyed the finished product. After the initial shock of the tart my son enjoyed it too.

My Weakness

2010-07-05T19:10:00.001-05:00

I'm a sucker for pomegranate. If you put it on the label, there is a good chance I'll buy it at least once. My latest pomegranate impulse buy was this gum.

It not too bad. My normal gum choice is something with mint. However, if I'm ever craving berry, I would consider this again. I'm not sure it has a strong pomegranate taste, but good none the less.

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Grandma Camp!

2010-07-03T14:55:00.006-05:00

I have the best parents in the world. Every summer my mother hosts a week long Grandma Camp for the grandkids. Yes, a whole week with just the kids. This year we decided to do it in shifts with an overlapping weekend for the grandkids (and kids.)

To celebrate I decided to make shirts for the grandkids. I wish I'd thought ahead and made one for Grandma too, but there is always next year. I originally was planning to use freezer paper to stencil the words and design. I jumped on the computer and played around with some ideas in PowerPoint until I created something I liked. First I came up with the saying. I kept playing around with the idea of Hanging Around with Grandma, but ended up settling on Monkeying Around at Grandma Camp. After choosing the idea of a monkey, I looked at different clipart. While looking at them, I decided to applique the face of the monkey in the middle of each shirt. I knew I would need some brown and tan knit. When Hobby Lobby didn't have any tan, I thought I would try Savers. I could always use the rest of the fabric for a future project. So I bought two t-shirt in the right colors to cut up. Thank goodness that Savers is color coordinated. Next I scoured Walmart to find the shirts. I wasn't able to find ones that I like for all the kids so I dyed white ones instead. While at Hobby Lobby I did pick up some dye just in case. I like how the color turned out slightly variegated. I didn't stir constantly so the dye soaked in differently across the fabric. (It is hard to tell in the picture, but trust me it's cute.)

The one and two year olds have matching plain t-shirts. For the almost five year old I bought a single shirt with a little more detailing. The top is a little gathered giving it a feminine feel. I was not getting the look I wanted with the freezer paper for the letters so I choose to embroider the words instead. This also allowed me to curve the letters around the face of the monkey. I think they were a big hit!

The kids all wore them to the animal park. It did rain on us while we were there, but who lets a little rain ruin their fun? I think the rain was Joel's favorite part.

Now I just have to figure out next year's shirt. Any good ideas?

I love free stuff! update

2010-05-22T17:09:00.002-05:00

So a while ago I signed up to be a Buzz agent. Basically they send you products for you to try and then you just talk about them. Well I joined my first campaign and was really excited because it was a product that I'd been looking at already. The only reason that I hadn't bought it already was because I already had eye shadow at home, and I kept talking myself out of it. For once procrastination paid off.

Overall I like the eye shadow. It is fast to apply, and even the first time I liked the results. I was a little worried that it would be too bold for everyday wear, but was pleasantly surprised to find that it was just fine. The only thing that I don't like is sometimes I get a build-up in my eyelid crease, but that is easy enough to fix.

Here is the best shot I have when wearing the eye shadow and gloss. I know it's not great, but it's what you get.

I love free stuff!

2010-05-06T16:39:00.002-05:00

My first bzz agent campaign arrived today! More info to come later.

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2010-05-05T19:59:00.003-05:00

If you like this top you should check out this awsome giveaway at Dear Lillie. She has a lot of really cute stuff in her Etsy store.

Blessing

2010-04-24T17:55:00.003-05:00

A few months ago we attended an event at our church designed to help families make their homes the first place their kids are exposed to God. Every age has a different theme. Since we have a one year old, that's the one we went to. The topic was praying blessings over your children. One suggestion they had was framing one and putting it close to your child's bed. I liked the idea, but didn't want to use paper so I embroidered one of my favorites on a linen like fabric.

To start with I printed the verse off on the computer in a font I liked. Then I added the embelishments. Since the verse was about not being afraid, I went with the moon and stars. Next I traced it on to the fabric with carbon paper and a knitting needle. Since it was such a dark fabric I ended up going over the lines with a fabric marker. I think I maybe should have used a brighter contrast for the blue thread, but overall I like the way it came out.

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Treasure Hunter

2010-04-15T16:41:00.006-05:00

A few days ago my husband and I went to Savers. I'd been intrigued by it since it opened, but I had never made it in. I was really impressed with the organization and cleanliness of the store. We didn't end up getting anything for ourselves, but we did find some great buys for Joel.

Here are my favorite finds.

This is why.

Here is his dad's favorite.

First Day of Spring!

2010-03-20T13:11:00.001-05:00

You have to love Kansas. (Daffodils courtsey of my sister.)

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Silver Lining

2010-03-13T12:04:00.001-06:00

When you're up at 7:00 in the morning on a Saturday, you can do this.

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Flower Garden

2010-03-09T18:46:00.004-06:00

When browsing the many wonderful blogs during celebrate the boy month I came across this tutorial for a dress for a newborn at This Mama Makes Stuff. I happened to have some fabric that I'd been wanting to make up. I just wasn't sure what I wanted to make. After looking through my stash I also found the ribbon and infant shirt. When I finished I thought if needed a little something more so I added the pink around the collar with embroidery floss.

Sorry the pics are a little dark, but you get the idea.

The dress is a present for one of Lucas's friends. It will be their first girl after four boys and 16 years later. So I thought a little frill was in order.

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Can you tell me the time?

2010-02-21T16:58:00.004-06:00

I don't know if you're aware but Made by Rae and Made are hosting a month all about crafting for boys! (buttons below)I've been getting all kinds of great ideas and finding some wonderful new blogs to read. I haven't made that much time for sewing lately, but when I saw these cute felt watches I had to give them a try. Not to bad for a first attempt.

I modified them a little by taking the buttons off. I didn't want Joel to bite them off and choke.

Action shot below.

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Coffee Please

2010-01-10T16:37:00.003-06:00

For Christmas my sister gave me this very cute camera case and coffee sleeve.

Ever since I've wanted to use some of my scraps and make some more coffee sleeves. In November the blog Sew Mama Sew featured tons of projects. One of the techniques was thread stiching by clutterpunk. I thought this would be a good project to try it out.

Name Change

2010-01-09T15:25:00.011-06:00

I made a messenger bag for one of my nieces for Christmas and it turned out so cute I decided to make another one for my other niece. She is a big fan of dolphins so I wanted to appliqué a dolphin on the front flap.

Here is the detail on the dolphin. I used felt and embroidery floss to attach it. Felt is one of the materials I've been experimenting with lately. I was really pleased with the way it came out.

You may recognize the corduroy for the bag from the roof to the doll house below. I had just enough left to make this bag. In fact I had to get creative in the way I made the strap by piecing the parts together in a way that it would not look odd. I extended the middle by putting a strip that ran against the grain of the rest. You may be wondering why I'm sharing just how little of the main fabric I had left. Disaster struck on the night I gave the bag. I love my husbands grandparent, but I forgot about an important character trait of his grandfather. He puts his name on everything and feels that everyone else should too. Before I knew what was happening he had convinced my niece that her name should be put inside the bag in permanent marker. I didn't know how to stop it. After all it was not my bag anymore.

Needless to say Kylie was not thrilled with the execution of the labeling of her bag. To her credit she did not let it show in front of grandpa. I was trying to come up with a way of fixing the bag. Like I said I had no more fabric to make a new pocket, and I was not thrilled with the idea of taking the entire bag apart to redo the pocket as it's the first step in the process. I decided to add some additional felt appliqué. After embroidering her name and a few water drops so it would be wide enough to cover the original name I attached a large piece of felt across the marker. Much improved if I say so myself. This way she was able to keep the pocket and still have a stylish bag.

I also made a bad for my nephew, but his was more military style with a helicopter painted on the front. His dad jumps out of Blackhawks in the military so I thought he would like that. The name did not look as out of place on his bag so his mom and I decided to leave it. Sorry no picture. Somehow I forgot to take one.

Welcome Home Racoon and Rabbit

2009-11-27T20:50:00.004-06:00

I had a lot of fun decorating Annie's cottage. Just your basic plants and window for the most part. I also put a door and mailbox on the front of the house. Since I used a flower print for the inside I added a stone pathway and small pond too.

Of course I wanted to include a few creatures to live in the house. I modified a finger puppet pattern for the two animals. When she is older the felt bottoms can be taken off if she wants to use them as finger puppets.

Thanksgiving Contribution

2009-11-26T22:00:00.010-06:00

I was looking for a recipe on All Recipes yesterday and came across this recipe for stuffed mushrooms. Now I personally am not a fan of the cooked mushroom, but my husband and father-in-law love them. Surely over 1,000 people couldn't be wrong so I thought that I would give them a try.

My first attempt did not go so well. The directions said to fry until there was no liquid left, taking care not to burn the garlic. How exactly are you supposed to do that???? I tried stirring frequently, but when they started frothing I suspected I'd done something wrong.

Needless to say the garlic burned. Luckily I had enough garlic for a second attempt. I used a few of the mushrooms to replace the burned ones above. Instead of a tablespoon of oil, I only used 2 teaspoons the second time. I also went ahead and pulled them when I thought that they were done and drained them on a paper towel.

They turned out well. Even if it did take me two tries.

My husband said they were the best stuffed mushrooms he had ever had. He liked them so much he even let me take his picture enjoying them. If you like stuffed mushrooms and cream cheese you should definitely try these.

While the Boys Are Away...Mom Will Play

2009-11-08T22:01:00.003-06:00

This past weekend my husband took Joel down to visit his nana. I decided to take advantage of a weekend alone and get ahead on some Christmas presents that I wanted to make for my brother's girls.

While browsing the many sewing blogs out there I came across this fun fabric doll house at UK lass in US. I knew that I wanted to try it once I saw it. As I started looking through my fabric stash I found these three fabrics that I thought would be perfect. I'm not done yet. All the details still need to be added. More to come later.

I also knew that I wanted to make a bag for my other niece to coordinate with the dress I made her for her birthday (see previous post). I also wanted to try felt applique which I thought would mesh well with a messenger bag. I've been wanting to try one for a while. Of course as soon as I had it all cut out my sister-in-law told me that Kalena had requested a purse style bag. It's okay because I'm actually going to make her two bags.

I accidently appliqued the deer (or donkey according to my husband) in the wrong corner of the front flap so the flap is a little shorter than I would like, but overall it still turned out pretty well. I do like the applique on the front.

deer me

2009-09-06T22:52:00.008-05:00

Last Spring I was shopping for fabric when I happened acrossthis Michael Miller fabric that so reminded me of my niece Kalena. When I bought the fabric I did not know that she was going through a deer phase, but apparently she loves deer. It fit her personality so much that her mother happened across it at The Fancy Tiger, a fun little fabric and craft shop in Denver, and purchased the same fabric. We put our stashes together so that I could make her this adorable dress. I let her pick out the pattern earlier this summer so that I could make this up for her birthday. I have hopes to make a bag with the left over fabric and some coordinating fabric.

I was putting the finishing touches on the dress at my mother's house and decided to look through her buttons before going and buying some. I couldn't believe that she had these in her button stash. It turns out she also purchased them at The Fancy Tiger while visiting my brother a while ago. When I put them on they added the perfect touch.

I think that the dress was a success over all. She was dancing as she modeled for us.

flowers and balls

2009-08-10T17:26:00.007-05:00

I can't believe my summer is almost over. I haven't done as much creating as I hoped, but with a baby in the house and out of town visits (which I thoroughly enjoyed) what did I expect.

A while back I found some fabric with polka dots and flowers on a navy background. I thought that it would make a cute dress so I went ahead and got it. The original design plan that I had in my mind didn't happen. I made it up in another fabric and hated it as a dress. I turned it into an okay skirt that I may or may not wear. What I did accomplish was figuring out fold over elastic or FOE and a rolled hem with my serger. I have plans to do another skirt later that uses these same techniques. After abandoning my first design idea I purchased a McCall's pattern (M5879)where you pick the top and skirt you want to design your own dress. I chose a scoop neck and pleated skirt. I think that it came out pretty cute.

Recently I came across this really cute idea for using fabric scraps. I first saw the idea on her blog my lily eden. She calls it alphabet soup. I didn't have time or the fabrics that I wanted to make the whole alphabet so I thought I would start with Joel's name. He has fun chewing on them and throwing them around.

I thought that the O would be the easiest letter since it is basically and elipse. (Elipse is the offical term for the shape formally known as an oval. Sorry it's the fourth grade teacher coming out in me.) Surprisingly it turned out the be the toughest. I'm not sure if it was becase my guide lines were not drawn as well as the others or if it was all the curves. The J is my favorite. If you like the idea there is a give away going on here for an alphebet soup kit.

Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-06-29T16:42:00.001-05:00

Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

I've been in to aprons lately. I may just have to make one soon.

Monster Love

2009-06-22T16:40:00.005-05:00

I have always enjoyed sewing clothes and other stuff for the babies that I know. However after I thought about it, I realized that most of the babies that I have sewn for have been girls. There are all kinds of cute fabrics and patterns for little girls, but not so much for boys. I wanted to make some thing for my son; I was just waiting to find the right fabric. I was shopping last month with my mom and we came across this fabric with little monsters all over it. Finally something cute that was suitable for a little boy. After searching online for pants patterns for boys, I decided to use the free tutorial and trace around a pair that I already had.

Once I finished the pants I knew that I wanted to make a coordinating tee. I made a little onesie for a friend using the reverse applique technique so I decided to use the outline of one of the monsters from the shorts. As it is washed the edges will become softer. It also gave me an excuse to go ahead and buy the pinking shears that I've wanted. (They help stop fraying on woven fabrics like the cotton of the monsters. I cut the basic shape out using the pinking shears and then stitched around the line i drew using a disappearing ink marker for fabric. After that I cut out the monster shape from the onesie.

One of the things that I'm most proud of in the project was the little non-functional fly that I put in. It is kind of hard to see but here it is.

Buttercup Bag

2009-06-10T22:05:00.008-05:00

I felt the need to make a new bag recently. A while ago I came across the free pattern for the Buttercup Bag on the blog Made By Rae. You can make the bag with two fat quarters and that sparked my memory of two fat quarters I purchased a few years ago. I loved the fabric but was not sure what I wanted to use it for so it sat in my fabric stash. I did modify the pattern slightly. I added the loop for the button closure and attached the handle to the inside instead of the outside.

I also added a pocket to the inside. I stiched down the pocket to create two sections.

I love the button. This was the first time I used a fabric covered button in one of my projects. I think it is cute with the flowers being highlighted.

Bumpers and Blocks

2009-06-07T15:48:00.004-05:00

I finally got around to two projects I have wanted to complete this weekend. I didn't make the bumpers. My talented mother did the sewing of them for me. However, they had been falling down so we decided to try Velcro to fix the problem. The first attempt didn't work very well because the Velcro kept coming off the fabric so I got some that was sew in and adhesive. I also added bows above the Velcro to help hold it in place. So far it seems to be holding.

I also made some blocks for Joel. I loved Annie's so much that I wanted to make some for Joel as well. I found a charm back I liked at a great fabric store in Newton, Kansas, called Charlotte's. It was the Dinosaur Uproar by Moda. I did have to add one block from my mom's stash of fabric so that I could make six blocks.

Here Joel is enjoying his new toys. :)

Guitar Hero

2009-06-02T17:40:00.009-05:00

I found the cutest pair of shorts at a consignment shop for my son Joel. Even though I did not know what I would pair them with I went ahead and got them. Later I found some plain onesies at Target that I picked up, but I still wanted to spice up the outfit. My sister-in-law had recently given me the Sublime Stitching Craft Pad with all these super cute embroidery patterns. I decided to use the guitar pattern in coordinating colors to the shorts. Now I have a little rock star.

Annie's Blocks

2009-06-02T11:59:00.003-05:00

Recently my niece had a birthday. I knew that I wanted to make her something; I just wasn't sure what I wanted to make. During the night (this is when inspiration often strikes me) I had the idea to make fabric blocks. I went to the fabric store to see what I could find. I had the idea to use one of the charms packs by Moda to save me the time of coordinating and cutting the fabric. This is the one I ended up with. I had one of the fabrics in my stash so I cut two extra squares so I could make six blocks.

The construction went pretty smoothly. I stitched four of the squares together and then attached the top and bottom, leaving a hole to stuff the blocks. I think they turned out pretty cute. I have plans to make some for Joel when I find the right fabric.