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February 25, 2011

My Busy Thursday!

Well, yesterday was a busy nap time for me.  I got many things accomplished and there is no better nap time than that... except when I am also taking a nap! ;-)

Here is what I got done:
1) I finished a onesie dress for the Little Ladybug... pic later in post :-)
2) I did laundry... exciting right??
3) I made another baby head cuddle toy for my basket for the Heart for the World Auction at church.
4) I made delicious chocolate chip cookie covered Oreos... oh heavens these are good!

Well, it may not sound like a lot when its put in list form... but I think I did pretty good for one nap time sitting! :-)

Here is a picture of the new dress I got done for the Little Ladybug.  I think it is just adorable and it was oh so easy!  It is almost cute enough to use for her Easter dress this year... except I want that to be a fancy poofy dress... so I might have to see if I can modify this simple idea to make it more of a "poofy fancy" dress.


Onesie dress


Details

What do you think?  I made it by basically following the tutorials here and here.  I modified both tutorials a little bit to make my dress.  I basically used the jersey dress directions only I put my seams inside since I didn't use a knit material and it would fray if I didn't finish it off.  Try it out... you will be amazed at the results and will be oh so glad you did! 


And because I know that all of you are just drooling over the thought of chocolate chip cookie covered Oreos (or at least if you are like me you are) I will share how I made mine. 

  • I started by making my typical chocolate chip cookie dough recipe... make whatever one you like.  I doubled mine so I could have more cookies in the end.  Keep in mind that each of these cookies takes the amount of dough normally required for two cookies... make sense?
  • Then, place a spoonful of dough on your cookie sheet.
  • Squish an Oreo down in the middle of your dough. 
  • Next, place another spoonful of cookie dough on top of the Oreo.  Try to smooth it out over the top.  If it isn't perfect its okay because the dough flattens itself as it cooks anyways.  I was able to fit about 6 cookies on my cookie sheet.... you don't want to overfill your cookie sheet.

Cookies baking! :-)

  • Place in the oven and bake (at the temp your recipe suggests) for between 13 and 17 minutes or until done to your liking. 
  • Take out and E-N-J-O-Y!   These cookies are really best enjoyed warm out of the oven with a nice glass of milk... oh its Heaven people... Heaven. 



Next up, a tutorial on how our Little Ladybug's big girl car seat went from the before picture to the after picture :-)





Linking to:

                            make it wear it              Transformation Thursday

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February 22, 2011

A Favorite Winter Recipe

At our house winter is the time where we do the most cooking.  We have LOTS of favorite winter recipes and I do try to mix it up every once in a while with new ones.  However, one of the best we have is for Cheesy Potato Soup.  I can not remember where I got the original recipe from... and I do change it up from the original to make it our own.  I thought since this is a favoite of ours and is perfect on a cold winter day like today I would share it with you.  So, here it is... our "Cheesy Potato Soup"


Ingredients

  • 3 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery  (optional... we don't use it)
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion  (Optional... we don't use it)
  • 1 cube chicken bouillon
  • 1 cup water ( We use 1 and a half cups)
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley  (Optional... we don't use it)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 pinch ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups milk (We use 2 cups of milk)
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded American cheese  (We use cheddar)
  • 1 cup chopped ham, cooked hamburger, or cooked bacon (We use deli ham)
Directions

In a large pot add potatoes, chicken bullion and water (if you are adding the onions and celery add it now too...).  Season with salt and pepper and simmer until potatoes are tender. 

In a separate bowl mix the flour and milk and blend well.  Once potatoes are tender and the flouer is well blended with the milk, pour the milk mixture into the potatoes.  Cook until the mixture becomes thick.

Now stir in your shredded cheese and meat of your choice.  Stir until the cheese is melted.  Serve while hot! :-)

We LOVE this soup!  Usually we make garlic bread to go with it, but regular bread would go well too.  Sorry for no picture... we ate it all up before I thought to take one ;-)
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February 18, 2011

Little Ruffle Skirt... Big Ruffle Skirt

For our Little Ladybug's first Valentine's day I wanted her to have a special outfit.  This naturally led me to make something since I couldn't afford to go out and buy a new outfit for her.  What I came up with was a ruffle skirt with matching heart onesie and heart hair clips.  I would love to share it with you and to try to explain how I made my ruffle skirt... because it really is easy and you can do it! :-)


This was the best pic I got with details of the outfit... sorry about the crying... she didn't like holding still.  Silly girl!

I also made myself a ruffle skirt... and I love how it turned out.  I was worried it was a little too "80's prom queen" but everyone assured me that it wasn't.  It made me feel cute and girly, and really, what girl doesn't love an outfit like that?!?!?


Okay... so now how to make this fun skirt.  After that, more pictures! :-)

To make the Little Ladybug's skirt I started with a rectangle of lining fabric that was 10 inches by 27inches.  I sewed the 10 inch edges together to make a tube.... make sense?  Then I hemmed one edge of the tube. 

Next I cut the first ruffle.  Now, for the first ruffle I didn't actually ruffle it at all... I let the elastic waistband do that for me. :-)  My first piece of ruffle fabric was 5 inches by 27 inches.  I then sewed it in a tube like the lining and hemmed one edge. 

After I was done hemming I stuck the ruffle tube into the lining tube.  To do this have the lining tube turned wrong side out.  Then stick the ruffle (turned wrong side out) inside the lining.  Once you have this done you should see the right side of the lining facing the wrong side of the ruffle.  The right side of your ruffle should be inside the tube.  Got it???

Next you are going to fold down (together) the edge of the fabric.  You are now going to make the casing for your elastic.  Basically I took the edge and folded it down a half inch or so (depending on the width of your elastic).  I made sure to fold the raw edges under so that they would no longer be seen.  I hope this is all making sense... I hate that I forgot to take pictures!  Pin this all the way around making sure to leave an opening for your elastic to go in.  I left my opening in the back right where the seam was when I made the "tube" of fabric.

After you have your casing sewn you have two choices.  You can add your elastic now ooooor you can wait and add it at the end and move on to the other two ruffles.  I chose to do my other two ruffles first then add the elastic at the end. 

To make my other two ruffles I cut lengths of material that were 3 1/2 inches wide by 41 inches.  Basically I made the ruffle length 1 1/2 times the size of the lining material so that I had enough material to create the ruffles. For example, my lining was 27 inches, therefore, I did 27 plus 13.5 (half of 27... I did round up to 14 though) to get my ruffle length... hope that makes sense.

Next I sewed these two pieces into tubes.  Then I hemmed them.

After hemming one edge I used my ruffle foot on my sewing machine to create the ruffles.  If you don't have a ruffle foot you can create your ruffles the old fashioned way... use the longest stitch length your machine has and sew.  Do not backstitch!  Then pull the bobbin thread to ruffle. 

Next I simply pinned on my ruffles so that the top edge of my ruffle was under the bottom of the previous ruffle and sewed it on.  I did this with both of my ruffles. 

At this point you can decide to add more ruffles... ooor I simply hemmed my lining up a bit more to hide it under the last ruffle.  Your choice. 

Next I added my elastic.  16 1/2 inches of elastic for the size skirt I made.  I always attach a safety pin to my elastic and just push it through my casing.  When I get to the end I sew the ends of the elastic together and then sew up my hole in my casing.  If you want to add a special tag or anything add it before sewing up this hole. 

And your done!  I promise... it really is easy!  Sorry for the lack of pics... i will have to make another skirt and document it with pictures!

For the onesie I simply got a cheapo plain onesie.  Then I cut a heart out of white felt and another heart that was a little bit smaller out of my skirt fabric.  I then sewed the fabric heart to the felt heart... then I simply pinned the whole thing onto my onesie and sewed it in place.  Easy as pie!

For the adorable hair clips I did the same thing as the onesie applique only in a smaller size.  And presto!  Valentine outfit complete!

The measurements I just mentioned fit my little girl.  She is 11 months old but on the small size.  I would say these measurements would work pretty well for a 6 to 12 month size.  You can adjust to make any size skirt though.  Simply measure the waist and then do that measurement plus half.  Sooo, if your waist is 16 inches then your lining material would be 16 inches plus 8 inches = 24 inches.  Make sense?  So easy!   Your elastic measurement is simply the waist measurement.

Okay, I hope all this made sense.  If you have any questions leave a comment and I will try to explain better!

More pics... :-)






How do you turn these... grrr???


Happy Valentine's Day! 
Happy Sewing!!



Linking to:

The Lettered Cottage

                                                  

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February 14, 2011

LOVE

Well, today is Valentine's day!  Today is a day that some people hate and some people love.  I of course fall into the category of people who love Valentine's day.  It is a day to celebrate love and the people that you love.  However, when I put it that way, it makes me think... isn't every day a day like that.  Or at least shouldn't every day be a day like that?

On this Valentine's day I want to say I love you to my sweetie who, 5 years ago today took me to the beach and asked me to be his forever!  Happy Valentine's day baby... I love you very much!!!


In other news  (sort of)... I made the cutest Valentine's day outfit for my little ladybug to wear today.  I will post a pic of it and a quick how to later this week.... so make sure you stay tuned!

Happy Hearts Day to you!!! 


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February 9, 2011

I linked to these great link parties...

I decided to really be brave and put myself out there by linking to some Wednesday link parties!  Here is where the parties I joined are: Domestically Speaking, The Thrifty Home, annnnd Show and Tell Wednesday at Blue Cricket Design.  Have fun looking at all the other great inspirational projects out there!

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February 7, 2011

$3.25 Kitchen Refresh

I had a busy Saturday this past weekend! Not only did I make Rainbowlicious pancakes for my little family, but, I also painted all my kitchen cabinets and did a kitchen refresh for $3.25.  Yep, you read that right... $3.25!!! Thank you very much to the Grand Haven Habitat for Humanity Restore! :-) 

Here is what our kitchen started as when we moved in a year and a half ago...


    


Please be kind to my dirty dishes in the sink... our dishwasher was and still is broke!


Now, just after these pics were taken we painted the kitchen... yay!   And it looked oh so very much better... see...





Ahhhh... muuuch better!  We loved how warm the room felt after painting it!  However, I did not like the holes in the middle of the cabinets where some idiot goofball had put the hardware... geesh!  So we put on new hardware and covered the holes with the wood pieces you see here.  A good temporary fix...

However, this weekend I got sick of it!  I was sick of the icky looking cabinets and the wood pieces that didn't match and decided it was time to take some action!  I have been thinking about what I wanted to do to the cabinets since before we moved in... and have looked at blogs, magazines, and books for inspiration... so I knew what look I was going for.  Before I could start we took a trip to the restore and got some supplies... a light switch cover, some fun mesh metal, and a paintbrush.

I used paint we already had (the trim color we have used all over the house) to paint my cabinets.  I simply gave them a light sanding... very light... probably too light but I was too excited to worry about propriety!  Then I washed them down and once they were dry I took my paint and paint brush and got to work.  I simply drybrushed each cabinet.  After the first cabinet I got very scared... and almost lost my nerve... but really there was no going back.  So, I kept going and this is how it turned out....










Please ignore the still wintery stuff I need to put away... I know!


Now I mentioned metal mesh.  Well, the metal mesh was for where we took out the fake drawer fronts in front of the sink... see... I love this little detail... :-)


Overall, I really loved how it turned out!! I know that I still need to change up the counter top somehow and that I need a window treatment.... buuut what do you think??? Do you like it???

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February 6, 2011

Rainbowliciousness!!!

Yesterday was a yummy morning!  I was actually kind of excited to get out of bed.  The reason was all because of these lovely little things:

RAINBOW PANCAKES!!!

They were so gosh darn yummy!  You really should try to make some.  I used the recipe from The Idea Room.  To make the rainbow simpy pour the pancake batter into different bowls and add food coloring.  I will tell you that the more food coloring you add to make your colors more intense the better the color will show up when you cook your pancakes.   It was so much fun to make rainbow pancakes... it made a snowy blah morning very exciting! I just couldn't believe that I had not thought of this before... I mean, duh!  Even our little Ladybug enjoyed her rainbowliciousness...

The only suggestion I have for you in regards to the recipe from the idea room is to add a little bit of vanilla to the pancakes... it will make them super yummy! 

Enjoy your rainbowliciousness! :-)


YUMMY



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February 2, 2011

Baby Leggings to wear under skirts and dresses...

This weekend Old Navy had an extra 30% off all of their clearance items.  I maaay have broken down and bought an adorable purple skirt and purple shirt for my little ladybug.  :-)  I may also have broken down and got myself a dress and two tank tops... but at $5 for a dress and 1.50 for tank tops you can't justify saying no!  Annnnyways... this post is not about my super duper ADORABLE dress... it is about baby leggings. 

I wanted to dress my little Ladybug in her purple outfit with some leggings.  However, she did not have purple leggings... enter the problem.  So I thought about it and remembered I had saved a tutorial on how to make toddler leggings here at Shwin and Shwin.  In remembering this I wondered if I had any purple material I could use to make some leggings.  So, I headed up to my closet and... enter the solution!  In my closet I found an old purple long sleeve t-shirt that I haven't worn in about two years... so guess what... it got chopped up and turned into baby leggings.  It was easy and really only took me about a half hour to make my baby leggings. 

Here is how I did it...

Supplies:
  • An old long sleeve t-shirt
  • A good fitting diaper cover
  • A pair of good fitting leggings
  • Scissors
  • Pins
  • Tape measure
  • Elastic
  • A sewing machine
Step one:
  Using your child's good fitting leggings measure from the ankle to the crotch.  This is the measurement you will use for making the legs of your leggings. For the leggings I made it was 9.5 inches.  These were for 9 month size. 

Step two:
   Lay out your old long sleeve t-shirt.  Measure up each sleeve (from the cuff) the measurement you got in step one... sooo for me it was 9.5 inches.  Then cut.  I did not draw a line or anything, but I suppose if you wanted to be really precise you could draw a line before you cut. 



Step three:
   After cutting off your arms (which will now be your legs) lay them aside.  using the side of the shirt pin on your good fitting diaper cover.  Make sure you allow about a quarter of an inch in seam allowance around the diaper cover.  (In other words... don't cut right next to it but a little bit away from it to give room for your seams.)  Make sure that as you are cutting you stretch out the top elastic of your cover or your new piece of fabric will not be too small... been there... done that!   Hopefully the pic will explain this step better...lol!




Step four:
   After cutting out your "diaper cover" sew the crotch seam and the side seam.  If you cut your piece using the side of the shirt you should only have one side seam to sew...yay! :-)



Step five:
  Turn your legs (old sleeves) right side out.  Place them inside the diaper cover you just made (the diaper cover is still wrong side out).  Pin the raw edge of your leg opening around the raw edge of your leg opening... does that make sense?  Make sure you pin so that the seam for the leg will face the inside of your pants... like between the legs.  I had to stretch my sleeve a little to get it to match the diaper cover but that's okay.  Now sew it together.  :-)  Repeat for the second leg.

This is just to show you how to place it in... you will need to make sure the raw edges are even when you pin and sew... :-)

Step six: 
   Almost done...seeee isn't this quick!    now turn the whole thing right side out.  Measure the pair of leggings that fit to find out how much elastic you need.  I just took my leggings and measured across the top with them not stretched out.   It turned out that for the 9 month size I needed 16 inches of elastic. 

Step seven:
  Creating the casing for the elastic.  Fold down the top edge of your new pants so that the width is a little bit more than the width of your elastic.  Pin this all the way around the top of your new pants.  Sew right next to the raw edge.  Make sure that you leave an opening about a half inch wide so you can put your elastic in. (Sorry I don't have a picture for this part... I got too excited becasuse they were almost done!)

Step eight:
  Thread your elastic into your pants.  The best way to do this... the way my mom taught me :-)... is to attach a safety pin to one end and thread it through.  Watch your other end that it does not go all the way into your casing. ;-)  After your elastic is threaded through, overlap the ends and sew them together.  Then sew up the hole that you used to add your elastic. 

Step nine:
  Put on a baby or toddler with a skirt or dress and think about how adorable they look and how those leggings were free (or really cheap) to make! :-)




Now... don't worry if they look a little funky when you are done... mine do... see:

Sorry for the sideways-ness... I can't figure out how to turn it.


That is why I said they are to wear under a skirt or dress... that way no one will see the funky-ness!

Happy Sewing! :-)




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