Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Friday, March 19, 2010

Fibers on Friday

I haven't been knitting like crazy, but that's because we're prepping for an 18 hour drive down to Florida, so I know I'll have plenty of knitting time during the trip. I hope to make LOTS of progress on this little Baby Doll Tank. Here's how it stands now. When we return I hope to show you a nearly finished top! I'll be back in two weeks :-)

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Tutu Shirts

The other day we were in Target and my sparkely kid spotted a tutu-shirt with fire works. She just KNEW it would be perfect for our trip to Disney World. She pictured herself watching the fireworks show wearing this shirt.

Well, THIS mom knew I had seen a tutu tutorial (haha) and I knew we could make a special one all on our own.

I found the tutorial on Joy's Hope.

I took these two plain shirts.


Sewed on the tutu.


And the kids went to town with fabric paint. You can see the fireworks interpretation :-) My other girl chose to draw a scene....which hurt my brain at first, because I really wanted the fireworks theme, but I let it go :-)


Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Monday, March 15, 2010

Meatless Monday! Pasta with Asparagus

I have marked so many recipes to try from this month's Cooking Light Magazine! This dish is loosely based on this recipe: Pasta with Asparagus, Pancetta, and Pine Nuts. Of course I omitted the pancetta, and I used pecans instead of pine nuts because that's all I had on hand.

It was very delicious. The lemony sauce would probably even make whole wheat pasta taste good :-)

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces uncooked cavatappi pasta
  • 1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut diagonally into 1 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 3 tablespoons pine nuts (or whatever)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; add asparagus to pan during last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain. Sprinkle pasta mixture with garlic; return to pan, and toss well.

2. Arrange [pine] nuts in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan. Bake at 400° for 3 minutes or until golden and fragrant, stirring occasionally. Place in a small bowl.

3. Combine lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle over pasta mixture; toss well to coat. Sprinkle with [pine] nuts and cheese.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

A JEAN Skirt

I've been on a re-purposing kick lately, huh? No card making in a LONG time! I've been wanting to turn some of my old jeans into skirts. I figured I'd practice with a little pair of capris from my kids.

I'm sorry I have no before pictures because my husband took the camera to work! GASP! But here's the little skirt made from a pair of capris.

The front:

The back:

The decorative heart stitches I used!

You'll note I used left over fabric from this project to add the panels to this skirt.

I looked at several sites to get ideas on exactly how to do this project. I took bits and pieces from a few and just winged it for the rest. This is the site I mainly referred to; not martha.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Washer Necklaces

I'm not a jewelry wearing girl any more. I don't know what happened. Ask anyone who knew me from 7th grade through highschool, and they'd tell you I was someone with a ring on every finger and a couple bracelets on my wrist. And my nails were always done.

Oh yeah, that's right. Then the Army happened.

Oh yeah, I forgot, then kids happened.

Anyway, I thought these simple, crafty, personalized, necklaces were perfect for me! They're made from washers! You know, little things that slip under a nut or a bolt. You know....found at hardware stores! But they're spruced up with scrapbooking paper and stamped with any message your little heart desires!

Here's one I made for myself.


I stamped "Mom" on the back. I bought the metal alphabet stamp set at Harbor Freight for like $5. Get yourself a hammer, a couple taps later, you've got yourself a nice little personalized necklace.

This one I made for a loved one. It's a present and I haven't given it yet, so I won't reveal what's written on the back. It's special :-)


To give credit where credit is due, I saw this idea on a few blogs. I'm not sure of every one, but the step by step method is found here, on Crafting Chicks.

What I've found:

~ I used Glossy Accents to make the paper glass-like. Next time I'll try Mod Podge because I think it will dry harder. The Glossy Accents seems to remain a little tacky and soft.

~ I'm not 100% thrilled with any of the necklace material I found. At first I used a leather rope from the jewelry section of Michael's, but it never laid flat, even after wearing it for hours. Then I got this string stuff as pictured and it's ok, but I don't know how to add a clasp, so I just tie it.

Anyway, I'm really happy with the project and I can envision a collection of these, adorned with any kind of patterned paper, to go with absolutely anything I'm wearing.

I'm going to add this project to Somewhat Simple Strut Your Stuff Thursday. Click the button to see what everyone else has been doing!

giveaways

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Sparkely shirt make-over

This child of mine loves sparkly things. When I saw this shirt hanging in the thrift store, I knew I had to do something with it for her. Perhaps you can see that it's really too wide and the neck is too big.

I sewed a seam right up the sides of the shirt, eliminating about 2 inches of fabric on both sides and half of the arm opening.

Then I cut the excess fabric off.


So now it's much more fitting, but I still don't know how to make the neck smaller. Any suggestions?

In any case, it's cute with a turtle neck underneath :-)

Wordless Wednesday: Ladies in Waiting


For more WW, visit 5 Minutes for Mom

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

And sewing.......

Here are the little jumper dresses I promised to show you. These are made from a man's button down shirt. My man doesn't wear button down shirts. It's a uniform or it's a t-shirt and I'm ok with that. Because there are thrift stores chock full of button down shirts! Some with dry cleaning tags still attached!

I followed this tutorial from Blue Cricket Design. It was pretty easy to follow, although I'm not sure I did the straps right. Also, just something I encountered: if it's a shirt with pockets, you'll have to remove them. If the shirt is faded, the fabric beneath the pocket will be darker and it will be evident on the back of what will become your dress. I'm sure after a few washes it will all even out.

The shirts (XL I think):

Dress #1


Dress #2


The buttons are supposed to go down the back, but it's nice either way. My girls were not very cooperative with the pictures....sorry!

I love these dresses! I'm in awe of people who can envision patterns such as this. I'm THANKFUL for the people who do and then take the time to teach us all! Thank you, Blue Cricket Design!

I've been sewing!

A LOT!

I've been inspired by some of the crafty blogs I read to repurpose thrift store finds into something cute and wearable; both for me and my girls. So I came across this tutorial from Sew Much Ado on how to make a kid's ruffled skirt out of an adult shirt.

First stop: thrift store!


There was a special on this day: fill a bag with any clothes for $5. So all of this cost $5!! Six lady's shirts. I used five of them for skirts and the white one served as the ruffles.

Next stop: sewing machine!

Final destination: look at this cuteness!!!

(Note the flower on this one above. It was a bedazzled piece on the chest of the shirt. I cut it out and transferred it as an iron on to the skirt.)

(This one was so stripey and colorful, I thought it needed no ruffles.)


(I LOVED this shirt above and was really hoping I could make it a skirt for me, but alas, my legs are too long.)

(Look at the bruised legs on this girl! Perhaps she shouldn't be wearing skirts at all!)

That wasn't all the sewing I did. Oh no! Stay tuned for cute little jumper dresses I made from men's button down shirts. And also, a ruffled skirt for me!



Monday, March 1, 2010

Meatless Monday! California Grilled Veggie Sandwich

It's March 1st! One day closer to spring! This sandwich makes me think of spring and summer and nice, light, easy food! It's from allrecipes.com. My sister shared this recipe with me a couple years ago. I've made it several times. It's delicious! It's garlicky! Try it!

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/8 cup olive oil
  • 1 cup sliced red bell peppers
  • 1 small zucchini, sliced
  • 1 red onion, sliced
  • 1 small yellow squash, sliced
  • 2 (4-x6-inch) focaccia bread pieces, split horizontally
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions

  1. In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, minced garlic, and lemon juice. Set aside in the refrigerator.
  2. Preheat the grill for high heat.
  3. Brush vegetables with olive oil on each side. Brush grate with oil. Place bell peppers and zucchini closest to the middle of the grill, and set onion and squash pieces around them. Cook for about 3 minutes, turn, and cook for another 3 minutes. The peppers may take a bit longer. Remove from grill, and set aside.
  4. Spread some of the mayonnaise mixture on the cut sides of the bread, and sprinkle each one with feta cheese. Place on the grill cheese side up, and cover with lid for 2 to 3 minutes. This will warm the bread, and slightly melt the cheese. Watch carefully so the bottoms don't burn. Remove from grill, and layer with the vegetables. Enjoy as open faced grilled sandwiches.