Thursday, May 26, 2011

Fibers on Friday



Happy Fibers on Friday! Thanks for joining this fun party dedicated to knitting and crocheting!!

I'm not home right now. I've scheduled this posting. We are enjoying our 4th annual camping trip to Ocean City, MD. I know I'll be doing a little knitting while we're away, especially during the car ride and ferry ride, but we'll also be enjoying....

Campfires

S'Mores

Geo Caching


Fairy Forts

The Beach



And goofing off






Monday, May 23, 2011

Meatless Monday! Pizza



Do you have a favorite homemade pizza recipe? Before now, if we were having pizza at home, I'd just buy a Boboli Pizza shell. But then my sister told me of this super easy food processor pizza dough and now I'm hooked!

This is the recipe from Cuisinart for the pizza dough.

But for the sauce, my sister told me to simply take a can of diced tomatoes (preferably with Italian seasoning already in, but just add them if you only have plain). Drain them into a colander and then smash them with a fork to make a nice, thick sauce.

Top with your other favorite cheese and ingredients and you have a delicious, FRESH, pizza!

I made two batches last week and split one amongst my kids and the other was for me and my husband. I partially baked the crusts on parchment paper before I loaded them with toppings and found it to be so easy to transfer into and out of the oven that way.

Enjoy!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Fibers on Friday: Washcloths





Hi there! Welcome to Fibers on Friday!! I'm happy to have you join this fun party dedicated to knitting, crochet, or anything else fiber related!

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I would be knitting some washcloths to put on the bake sale table at my Mom's fundraiser this weekend. I also mentioned that I knew I would only be able to pound out a couple because it just doesn't go that quickly for me. Well, I did complete two! I knit the horsey washcloth as planned and was thrilled with how it came out. I still had time to knit another, so I opted for the cabbage patch pattern, which I ADORE! I can't wait to make some for me!

Today I received a package in the mail from Cris. She volunteered to crochet some washcloths for this event! Despite having a little faux pas whereby her stash of washcloths was innocently taken by a friend, she was able to get SEVEN washcloths to me!! Amazing and thoughtful!!



The Princess and the Polyester

This afternoon I put the finishing touches on Madison's quilt. It's on her bed and waiting for her return from school!


It's so bright and fun and girlie! I can't wait to move and get into a new house with new rooms to paint.....and coordinate everything around these quilts!!

This one took me several hours more to finish because I decided to sew the binding by hand. I did Paige's quilt binding on the sewing machine, without knowing how to do a blind hem, so it's not the best way to do it. This one, though, I did a blind hem by hand. Wow! That was HARD on my hands....and neck....and back! I give serious credit to those of you who quilt the whole thing by hand! In the end, it's a much prettier finished product and like my husband said last night as I was plucking away at it, "If it was easy, everyone would have quilts." Yup Yup.

How do you like the sheets I got to go with it? I had a heck of a time buying sheets. I could not find a suitable shade of blue (in a good quality sheet) to go with this quilt. I looked high and low. So, I settled on this set from Wal Mart even though they're cheapy. I figured a 6 year old would not be too particular about the quality of her sheets. I mean what does she know about cotton/polyester blends and thread counts?!

HA!

5 minutes after putting her to bed she comes out to tell us she can't sleep on her new sheets because her feet are a little clammy and they're sticking to her sheets! We sent her back to bed having her deal with it for goodness sakes!

The next night her feet were clean and not clammy (OMG!).....she still said she didn't like her new sheets.

I think we shall write a new children's book entitled The Princess and the Polyester. We have created a monster :-)

Monday, May 16, 2011

Trash toTreasure {Boxes}

I almost feel a little guilty about this project. Almost. A little.

My kids love treasure boxes. Both kids have different ideas for what they love to keep in them. And it changes from day to day. Sometimes it's rocks, other times it's silly bands, and the next day it will be Squinkies.

They've had these boxes for years now. One was a build-your-own craft from Home Depot and the other was a little trinket box they decorated at a Princess Camp they attended.

As you can see. They had fun with markers, stickers, gems, and glitter. But, the "pretty" factor?? Ugh....here's where my guilt creeps in. So, I asked them....."Would you mind if Mommy re-painted these and made them match your room?" They agreed.

Ahhhhhh! I LOVE how they look now! I chiseled off all the gems, peeled the stickers, and sanded the glue off. I removed the hinges from the two of them and primed them all. Then I used a white, glossy, spray paint. The purple and aqua paint for the hearts is interior paint samples we had left over from another project from their rooms, so it remains coordinating (and once again kept me from needing to buy anything for this).

The rosettes came from quilt scraps. I must say the quilt scraps have gone a LONG way! I should put together a post that encompasses all I've done with just scraps!


So pretty! And the girls both love the transformation!

Friday, May 13, 2011

Fibers on Friday



Hi there! Welcome to Fibers on Friday!! I'm happy to have you join this fun party dedicated to knitting, crochet, or anything else fiber related.

I know I'm not the only one, but I'm a little frustrated that I have to rewrite this post. I had it all set to publish last night and Blogger had their malfunction and it was lost. Gone.

All talk of socks is OVER! Done! Here they are in completion and I'm sure I will not be knitting another pair any time soon. I love wearing knitted socks, but I don't much like the process of knitting them. Maybe next winter when I'm living in Florida and can't stand to have anything much bigger than socks sitting on my lap while knitting.

I also finished this horse washcloth for my Mom's fundraiser. I just have to weave in ends. I'm not thrilled with the lack of clarity of the horse head. I swear, I can barely even see it. I handed it to my husband last night to see if he could figure it out (he's been away) and he saw it right away. Who knows...

I knit it in the Sugar and Cream cotton, Denim. I like the yarn. I also just ordered some of knit picks new cotton yarn especially for washcloths, and I got a dark brown. Maybe I'll try another horse with that color and see if it shows up better.



Monday, May 9, 2011

Hula Hoops

We have bought hula hoops a couple of times. Cheap, bendy, weak, plastic hula hoops for $5 from your everyday supercenter. But, they're junk. They're too light to get a good hoop action going, the kids like to lasso one another and as soon as they do, the cheap hoops bend.

So, I went on the hunt for DIY hula hoops. I'm so glad I did! Right before Christmas, I found this site. I went to Home Depot and bought all the supplies; irrigation tubing, PVC pipe cutters, couplers, and colorful electrical tape. It was a small investment, but I decided I was going to make several hoops as Christmas gifts for all the young people in my family.

These hoops have been sitting out in our back yard through all sorts of weather. They are used almost daily. They haven't bent or gotten damaged in any way. They are sturdy and heavy enough to get some good hula hooping action going. I LOVE them!

I made one for me and my original goal was to be able to hula hoop straight through this song. It took a little time, I'm proud to say....I got that! My favorite time to practice is after a run, while cooling down, on the back porch.



And here's my superstar hula hooper providing some basic instruction :-)


Thursday, May 5, 2011

Fibers on Friday: Pillow Craze!



Hi there! Welcome to Fibers on Friday!! I'm happy to have you join this fun party dedicated to knitting, crochet, or anything else fiber related (like hand made pillows!)

I'll have more to post on the knitting front next week. I only have the toe to complete on my sock. I have cast on for a shawl I'm going to knit for my Mom. And I will start my washcloths for my Mom's fund raiser I spoke of here.

In the meantime, though, I went a little crazy sewing pillows yesterday and today. I've had these scraps laying around from my quilt projects. I knew I was going to make pillows, but I wasn't sure exactly what kind of pillows until I saw these Sprocket Pillows....I fell in love! This is as close to adventure sewing (as my cousin calls it!) as I'll probably ever get!

I didn't have full pieces of fabrics big enough for each wedge, so I made scrappy pieces of fabric from which to cut the wedges....so brave of me :-)

I used plain white muslin in between the scrappy wedges. And here you have it!

Then I needed to make one to match the other quilt. The quilt itself is not complete, otherwise I'd have already shown it to you. But here's a sneak preview of the fabrics I used. Again, I pieced together left over scraps. In this case, I made four 9" squares and sewed them all together and made this pillow which sports and envelope-type opening in the back for easy removal and washing.


And by now I was on a roll! I needed to make one for my bed. In this case, I only had one of the fabrics used in the making of my quilt. So, i looked through my stash and found two shirts that were already a little cut up for other projects. The off-white one is just a knit top. The green one is a shirred top.

I put it together with the blue print that matches my quilt and there you have it!

I didn't have to leave the house for any of this! Good thing, too, what with gas prices as they are. You have to make things work with what's on hand!

I LOVE how they all turned out. I love having a couple more touches of handmade on these beds which are quickly becoming more and more handmade with all the quilting I've been doing. Handmade touches all over the house. It makes me happy!



Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Hummingbirds!



Mom will come soon.....I promise :-)

I was going to sit down and blog about a project I did today. I made a scrappy pillow to match my girl's quilt I just made. But, I've been pointed in another direction. Sometimes you just gotta roll with it.

Today I put my hummingbird feeder out full of nice fresh nectar. Within hours, I had my little visitors! I had no idea they were even in our area yet! Sneaky little rascals, traveling all the way here from Mexico and not even announcing their arrival! Maybe if they weren't hummingbirds I would have known. That's what dad would say. Maybe if they flew in shaking their tambourines and pounding drums I would have known. Oh, but wait, that's what the gypsy moths do. Nope, the little hummingbirds glide right in, quietly humming and looking no worse for the wear after their long journey. Amazing....but hungry!!

A blog friend told me she liked my Dad just by virtue of seeing his beautiful leather work and hearing the things I say. Well, it's no wonder. My dad is probably the most likable human being on the face of the planet. He'll say I shouldn't have said that. But, it's true. Humble, he is.

So, in honor of my hummingbirds arriving today I'd like to show you MY prized possession that Dad recently made for me.


Stunning! And apropos for today.....Happy Hummingbird Day!! So, if you saw the pictures of the purse he made for my sister, you'll recognize that we each got matching hummingbirds. That's so special to me!

Link

So, there you have a little more about my Dad and his beautiful work!!

~~Happy Hummingbird Day~~

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Spring Nuggets

I finally got my own Limitless Label set from Papertrey Ink. I borrowed my friend's set last year when I made these. I was excited to get them working, so made up some nuggets for my kids' Spring party at school (I know you don't need to see any more Easter ideas, but imagine the other things you can do with these labels!)

If you've never seen these in action, let me tell you....the stamp fills the size of an address label perfectly. And as you can see from the image above, you can customize each stamp with a little sentiment or icon of your choice. I happened to order the labels from papertrey this time and I must say they are superior to ones you'd buy at an office store....just really sticky and wonderful.

And one address label wraps around a Hershey Nugget just right!


And there you have a cute little treat that's perfect for almost any occasion. I plan on making more for our swim instructors when this session is over.