Thursday, May 13, 2010

Artistic vs. Crafty





The above pieces of artwork from Corid makes my heart hurt a little and I'm not quite sure why.  They are beautiful, creative and imaginative.  I don't know if it's the colors, the expressions on their faces or the mixed media but they evoke that feeling from me.  That being said, I'm trying to figure out where to put them in my house...now.  I love them!

I have always been crafty but never artistic.  I can not draw to save my life.  I have tried to draw, paint, chalk, etc. and it's just not something God wants me to do, I guess.  I have to say I am in awe of people who are able to do what they love for a living, especially artists.  I'm definitely a little lot jealous.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Recipe: Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

The cookies to be sampled by the official taste tester...
Sampling the goodies...
And we have a winner folks! 

Definitely go check out Annie's Eats.  There are so many recipes there on my to make list.  Now I can cross off the Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies.  They are officially in my binder of go to recipes.  These cookies are so yummy and springy.  That is if you are into the citrus thing.  On Mother's Day, everyone gobbled them up and I was even asked for the recipe, so they were a hit in our house! 

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Screensaver Freebie

*Photo from Real Simple website, Craig Cutler

I have this clock as my screensaver, and I love it!  How About Orange blogged about it a little while ago and I read it about it in Real Simple.  It's a great idea so I thought I would pass it along.  Go check out her blog (if you haven't already).  She has lovely taste and always passes along good finds and great ideas.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Pulled Pork: Recipe for a Crowd

*Photo from allrecipes.com because I forgot to take a pic!

Yesterday we hosted my husband's side of the family over here for Mother's Day.  Being that is was "my day" I didn't want to work my rear off in the kitchen.  This pulled pork recipe is cheap, easy, you can make it the day ahead and it feeds a crowd.  Here's what you need:

5-10 lb. pork shoulder roast or pork butt roast
1 can beef broth
1/4 -1/2 cup brewed coffee
BBQ sauce of your choice

Salt and pepper your roast then place in your crock pot.  Pour in broth and coffee.  Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.  Remove meat from crock pot and let cool.  Shred with a couple forks or clean fingers.  Reserve 1/2 cup of cooking liquid and get rid of the rest.  If your meat looks a little dry, add some of the reserved liquid back to the shredded meat.  Here is where you have a choice.  You can add sauce to the entire pot o' meat or serve it "dry" and let people put on their own sauce.  I like to have 3-4 different types of sauce and people can put on their own as well as jalapenos and pickles.  Put out some yummy rolls and watch it disappear! 

I cooked a 10 pound roast and it fed 17 people.  There are a lot of young guys in the family who eat a lot so take that as you will.  Luckily, I had just the right amount of meat and there were plenty of awesome side dishes brought as well.

For dessert, I made blackberry cobbler from this recipe.  Sooo yummy with vanilla ice cream!

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day! 

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Sweet.Simple.Handmade.

Some glittery stickers from Michael's picked out by Miss Ava...
Black and white photos of the little dear...
Some crayons and cardstock...
Careful placement of stickers...
And HOORAY!  A handmade Mother's Day card for the grandmas and great-grandmas!
Yes, I did about 75% of the work on these but she did a great job coloring the back and placing the stickers all by herself.  You can tell by the smile on her face just how much she loves stickers. She was quite proud of these when she finished which made my part in the cards totally worth it!

*The font is called Red Star.  Not quite sure were I found it otherwise I would link to it.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Tutorial: "Green" Snack Bags

This project started with an urgent email from a friend (Hi Valerie!) about making some party favors for her two adorable sons.  She knew she wanted some hot/cold packs made out of dino print and something else that would ship well and not weigh a ton because it was going to London.  I had seen these here and here and thought they were adorable.  They went on my to-make list and I just hadn't gotten around to them yet.  Here was my chance. 

~These are very easy to make in assembly style fashion so keep that in mind and make more than you think you need.  There are so many uses for these little cuties!!~

Materials:
cotton fabric
unbleached muslin for the lining
sew on velcro

Cut your fabrics into 12 x 7 rectangles. I was able to double my fabric and cut 2 panels out at a time with my rotary cutter.  Cut your velcro into 5 1/2 inch strips.  Use whatever width velcro you like.  I choose a skinny one so little hands could easily get it open.  If you can only get your hands on the wider stuff then just cut it in half.


With your fabrics facing right sides together, pin and sew both 7 inch sides using 1/4 inch seam allowance.  Press your seams to the patterned side.  Then turn you fabric the right side out and press again.


With your nicely pressed rectangle in front of you muslin side up, place your velcro on each side of the 7 inch side.  Velcro was a booger to pin through so I used used a large paper clip to hold it in place and it worked out great.  Just eyeball where it should be.  I decided to use a zigzag stitch to secure the velcro because I was using skinny pieces.  If you are using wider velcro you would want to opt for sewing around the edges of the velcro.  I also changed my needle to something a little heavier to plow through that velcro.




I ended up really liking how the stitch looked on the outside of the bags.


Fold your fabric right sides together again and pin along the sides.  Sew along the sides to close up your little bag.



To keep the fabric from fraying, sew a zigzag stich along the sides.  Trim away any stray fibers.  You can see there is still a stray on my photo...whoops!



Turn right side out and ta-da!!  You now have the cutest little velcro bag.



WATCH OUT THEY MULTIPLY! 
See the little dino packs too.  So cute and easy to make as well.


You can make these in any size and use them for any purpose other than snacks. 

~Make one to throw in your purse to hold your lip gloss and chapstick.
~Put your little guys cars in it to take to a friends house.
~Tote around crayons and stickers to keep your little one busy at the doctor's office.
~Throw out the bulky puzzle boxes and store the pieces in one of these little guys instead.
~I loved Emily's idea of putting M&Ms in it to take to the movies.


With so many cute fabrics you can go nuts making these.  I'd love to hear your ideas of what you would use these pouches for. 

Happy Sewing!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Talk of the Fire Hydrant

I saw this and nearly spit out my water because I was laughing so hard.  What dog wouldn't want to wear one of these from Rear Gear on Etsy.  Check out all the choices too.
 What a great gag gift for anyone with a dog...or cat.  Totally worth the $7 to see the look on the person's face you are giving it to.

I love Etsy for having a store that sells these.