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!

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.

St. Patty's Day Banner

Top o' the Marnin' to ya!

It's all about banners, is it not? Honestly, when I first started noticing how many bloggers were making them and posting about them, I really didn't get it. But, now that I have a Valentine's Banner and this Shamrock Banner under my belt, I have to say I'm diggin' them. It's a really cute way to decorate a mantel, or in my case this ledge that separates our living room from dining room.


For these shamrocks, I just cut out the shape from felt. Then, I shrunk the pattern by 20% and cut out the decorative fabric to sew in the middle of it. I shrunk another one down another 20%, so I had varying sizes of felt and decorative fabric. I just top stitched around the decorative fabric (no stuffing or batting this time around as I did with the Valentine's one).


I fully intended on fastening these shamrocks to the ribbon with decorated clothes pins, but they were too heavy and just flopped over. So, I went with safety pins instead.


Edited to add this button. Come see all the other St. Patty's Day ideas at Somewhat Simple!

Fibers on Friday

You'll recall last week I had these swatches completed and was set to cast on for this adorable Baby Doll Tank project.

I started it, but didn't like how it looked (too loose). So, I went to my favorite yarn shop and bought new yarn. So here's the start of this project in light purple.

Wordless Wednesday: A Hidden Stash

(I found this candy stashed under the girls' bathroom sink! Rascals!)

For more WW, visit 5 Minutes for Mom

Meatless Monday! A Salad

I feel like I'm running out of meatless ideas that have been tried by me and are worth posting. Because, while most of our meals are meatless, some recipes are just easy ones like spaghetti or peirogies, or eggs. I'm going to come up with some new ones soon, but in the meantime here's a salad that my kids made. Their first very own salad.

(Yes, frozen Blueberries were a part of this salad!)

(Let it be known, I have NEVER told this girl to pose like this!)

Dream

I saw this tutorial on a blog called Joy's Hope on how to make One Word Canvas Art. I thought it was so pretty, so I came up with these to hang over my girls' beds.


(The colors on this one are not accurate. The background is a solid purple and her walls are bright yellow)

I followed her instructions to a T, right down to using the same font (called Pharmacy, available for download on DaFonts). I didn't sew around the edges of the letters because a) one of my kids threw a fit over the prospect b) I tried it on the second one for the more obliging kid and it just wasn't great, so I took it out.

I LOVE this project. I think it would be fitting in any number of settings; a Welcome sign, a Kitchen sign, a Coffee nook sign, a bathroom sign......I could go nuts! Maybe I will!