simply homemade

I've been thinking....

2012-02-01T13:51:00.003-05:00

I have so many thoughts in my brain that sometimes I get nothing done at all.

I've been thinking about:

*teaching a 4 part beginner class on how to sew

*foot # 35 (invisible zipper foot...thanks a lot Kate!)

*My laundry room reno (more exciting details to follow...and this pic is not it, but pretty right?)

*Miss M's wardrobe (which is taking forever by the way!)

* chocolate ....because when am I NOT thinking about chocolate?!

Making some more clothes with my vintage patterns!

but here I sit, eating my chocolate (yes, I have a problem) Doing none of these things.....just thinking about them....well I suppose I am doing something about this Lindt bar. {happy sigh}

So, what's on YOUR mind?

Vintage pattern love

2012-01-30T11:12:00.000-05:00

For as long as I can remember I've wanted a peacoat. They're so classy! But, and I'm not going to lie to you, I'm so darn cheap, I couldn't ever justify spending the money to buy one. Blah. A few months ago however, my darling neighbor brought over a bunch of super cool vintage patterns. I squealed just a little when I pulled this one out of the bag! I actually really like the skirt too but one project at a time right? Psh.

This is why I love to sew! I can't even express how tickled I am with the finished product and I even learned a new technique along the way: bound button holes! So that was very exciting. Husband of course was speechless, and just kept applauding my bound button holes.

End sarcasm.

Husband did no such thing and couldn't understand why I was hopping around with

joy at my new found skill.

Oh well.

A pleated table runner

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

This tutorial has been lurking in my posts for a long time....like since August. I was able to share this tutorial on "See Kate Sew" for her pleat week edition. I completely forgot about it until I was looking through my drafts today. Poor thing. So neglected.

I actually really love pleats but we have a love/hate relationship.

I love them, they hate me. We've had some difficult projects in the past

and I think we both blame the other for failed attempts at what should

have been lovely pleat-y things.

Here's what I came up with for Pleat weeks.

a pleated table runner.

Measure your table. My table is big what with 5 youngin's and all.

Your length should be your desired length x 3. It's long I know,

but I wanted really fat pleats. The width of my runner is 13".

Step 2:

Hem all four edges.

If you have a serger, use it! It'll make your life easier.

Step 5:

Stitch down the center of the entire length of the runner.

You know, just to keep things in place.

And that's it. Pretty simple.

Another Pinterest Menu

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

I've been a "dinner time" slacker. I don't know what it is but I just haven't been inspired to spend much time in the kitchen. No joke, we've had Ramen noodles for dinner.like 3 times in the last 2 weeks. Don't get me wrong I like a good bowl of beef noodles but not 3 times in 2 weeks. I decided to get off my duff and actually plan dinner for this week. I figure if it's on Pinterest it's got to be good.....at least it'll look pretty.

Last time I did this (click here) my dinners were wildly successful (at least Husband thought so). The "Skillet rosemary chicken", and the "Slow cooker baby back ribs" were to die for. Awesome recipes! So here's my

menu for this week. If you try any of these let me know how they turn out!

Click on the pictures to see the recipes!

Project: "Wardrobe for miss M"

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

My dear baby girl has no clothes. At first I thought it was my lack of enthusiasm for keeping up with the laundry, but as I washed, dried, and folded heaps of clothing I realized I'm just a bad mom and had neglected this poor girl. Don't get me wrong, she hasn't exactly been running around naked. She does have clothes, she's just low on cute matching and unstained clothes.

(As I type I realize that this sounds really bad......oh well, I'm over it.)
Solution:

I plan on restocking my dolly's closet using the stacks of fabric in my craft/laundry room.

Here are some of my inspirations:

Stay tuned in the next few weeks for a whole bunch of tutorials!

T-shirt gone cardigan

2012-01-17T22:57:00.000-05:00

Sad story: Back in September I took a little trip to Utah for my baby sister's wedding. A dear friend of mine and I, spent an afternoon traipsing all over Salt Lake City (that's not the sad part). The sad part of the story is when I realized that I left my most beloved grey cardigan and have seemingly lost it forever. I seriously wore that thing ALL the time and now (sniff) I can't.

Happy story: While it will never replace my darling grey cardi, I decided to perk up and make a new one for myself out of a lovely mustard jersey T-shirt.

It's a card again

Watch it. Love it.

Yes....I am super dork!

Dresses

2012-01-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

I've always had grand intentions of sewing Christmas dresses. This past Christmas was no different. I sketched the designs for each girl and 3 days before Christmas I finally buckled down and did it! I'm sort of dumb like that but hey, it got done this year so we won't dwell on my deficiencies. I used the same pattern for the older girls but made them different to compliment their personalities. The younger one got a dress with no sleeves because I was feeling particularly lazy by the time I started her dress. So she wears a cardigan with hers.......

and sticks her tongue out for the pictures.....precious.

Birthday boy

2012-01-14T13:08:00.003-05:00

The hater had a birthday.

It was a lovely day full of money, monsters, legos, and glow sticks.

Ironically, if it's a monster shaped tasty cake pop, he LOVES what I make!

The best orange scones.....EVER

2012-01-12T09:04:00.001-05:00

I love Saturdays. I get to sleep in and usually I don't have anywhere to go.

The past several Saturdays I've been making scones for breakfast.

I also love scones and so Saturdays, I've decided, will be scone days.

Here is one of my favorites:

Orange Scones

3 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

2-1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp orange zest divided

6 Tbsp cold butter

1 cup vanilla yogurt

1/4 cup orange juice

2 Tbsp heavy cream

2 Tbsp sugar

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and half of the orange zest. With a pastry blender, cut in your butter until it's a nice crumbly texture. Stir in yogurt and juice just until moistened. Pat dough into

a flat circle that's about an inch thick. Cut into 12 wedges. Combine the 2 Tablespoons of sugar and the remaining orange zest. Brush the dough with cream and then sprinkle the orange sugar on top. Separate the wedges slightly and bake for 15-20 minutes at 400° or until the edges are golden.

I always like to serve my scones with some clotted cream. To make the clotted cream (and I'm sure this is not authentic) I beat 1 cup of heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form. I then add (while still whipping) 2 tsp. sugar and 2 tsp. lemon juice. It should get quite thick and, for lack of a better word, clot-y looking. I try really hard to eat healthy during the week so I feel justified in indulging a bit on the weekends.

What's your favorite indulgence?

I don't think I was meant to eat Gogurt!

2012-01-06T09:46:00.001-05:00

As dainty as I'd like people to believe I am, It's mostly not true.

Don't get me wrong. I bathe, wash my clothes, and brush my teeth regularly.

I even floss! But for some reason my slob shows when attempting to put food into my mouth.

I can't even tell you how many times I've gone out of my house with bits of food

splayed all over my clothes. Gross, I know. But unintentional I assure you.

Do you know what Husband remembers most about our first date?!

My being a slob at dinner.

I have no memory of this.

I remember what I was wearing (aside from the food apparently), and I

remember that he asked me to sing for him...which, I'm not going to lie to you, was really weird.

I truly don't remember spilling anything at dinner, however, I absolutely believe him!

I like to think that that incident (and many others) was what endeared me to him. Yes, it

wasn't my witty remarks, or my fabulous hair....it was me spilling food on myself like a 2 year old.

Mother Earth

2012-01-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

As I was rummaging through my pictures a little while ago, I found this one of my thespian daughter

that I had completely forgotten about. I meant to blog about it but was wrapped up in bows! (ha, pun-y!)

Imagine my pride and joy when she came home early in September exclaiming that she landed the role of

Mother Earth in her school play! Okay, so I was the dorkiest drama nerd of all time when I was in

school, so I really was excited. And then her teacher told me that we'd need to come up with a costume for her. Yes!! I think Mrs. G was reluctant to ask the parents to make costumes but I felt enthusiastic because I'm also a nerd in that department too!

We really could have gone the paper mache route but I, for whatever reason, just didn't want to do that. Then I thought, I'd make her a big tutu with green and blue tulle and have her wear a shirt with a picture of the Earth on it.....but this girl's not a frilly one. Instead, I grabbed a long sleeved shirt from Target, used this outline of North and South America, then slapped some of this on to make the continents stick to the shirt.

The last step was to top stitch, and let me tell you, that was no picnic! It was a giant pain....like huge!

You know the thing I liked best about this costume? It's something that she still wears!! That's my favorite kind of costume by far.

A sad moment for the crafty lady

2012-01-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

I suppose I knew it was coming. I mean how long do boys really want their moms to sew stuff for them?

It still came as a shock when my sweet 6 year old told me, matter of fact, "I hate what you make."

uh....okay. Great.

I had made him pajama pants. And he hated them.

But you know what buddy? For that snarky comment you get to wear those pj's until middle school!!

Take that hater.

My Top 10 for 2011

2011-12-31T19:56:00.001-05:00

Yah, I'm copying (sorry Rachel...sort of). I'll be honest with you, my craftership has not been happening lately. I've been too busy laying around doing nothing. It's been a glorious Christmas vacation. Nowhere to go and chillin' with my peeps. Perfect. I read my buddy Rachel's Top Ten Posts....uh post, and was curious what my stats would be like. So I checked them out and this is what I found (click on the pics to go to the original posts):

My blogging hat is on the shelf! Merry Christmas people!

2011-12-19T11:12:00.000-05:00

Friends, I know that in an earlier post I promised stories and food (recipes).

Something has to give and it's got to be the blog....for now.

I still have:

Christmas dresses to finish,

movies to watch (namely: How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Christmas Story, It's a wonderful Life, and Elf )

Candy to make

and kids to play with

Also, I've become severely engrossed in one "Jane Eyre" and have for the past several days

had my little nose stuck in the middle of it's pages.

So if you'll excuse me, I'm going bid you farewell until the New Year!

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever holiday you choose to celebrate this season and that you are able to enjoy good food and long naps! (that's on my Christmas wish list!!)

Cherry Shortbread

2011-12-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

Angels Once in a While

Author unknown

In September 1960, I woke up one morning with six hungry babies and just 75 cents in my pocket. Their father was gone. The boys ranged from three months to seven years; their sister was two.

Their Dad had never been much more than a presence they feared. Whenever they heard his tires crunch on the gravel driveway they would scramble to hide under their beds. He did manage to leave 15 dollars a week to buy groceries. Now that he had decided to leave, there would be no more beatings, but no food either. If there was a welfare system in effect in southern Indiana at that time, I certainly knew nothing about it.

I scrubbed the kids until they looked brand new and then put on my best homemade dress. I loaded them into the rusty old 51 Chevy and drove off to find a job. The seven of us went to every factory, store and restaurant in our small town. No luck. The kids stayed, crammed into the car and tried to be quiet while I tried to convince whomever would listen that I was willing to learn or do anything. I had to have a job. Still no luck.

The last place we went to, just a few miles out of town, was an old Root Beer Barrel drive-in that had been converted to a truck stop. It was called the Big Wheel. An old lady named Granny owned the place and she peeked out of the window from time to time at all those kids. She needed someone on the graveyard shift, 11 at night until seven in the morning. She paid 65 cents an hour and I could start that night.

I raced home and called the teenager down the street that baby-sat for people. I bargained with her to come and sleep on my sofa for a dollar a night. She could arrive with her pajamas on and the kids would already be asleep. This seemed like a good arrangement to her, so we made a deal. That night when the little ones and I knelt to say our prayers we all thanked God for finding Mommy a job. And so I started at the Big Wheel.

When I got home in the mornings I woke the baby-sitter up and sent her home with one dollar of my tip money - fully half of what I averaged every night. As the weeks went by, heating bills added another strain to my meager wage. The tires on the old Chevy had the consistency of penny balloons and began to leak. I had to fill them with air on the way to work and again every morning before I could go home. One bleak fall morning, I dragged myself to the car to go home and found four tires in the back seat. New tires! There was no note, no nothing, just those beautiful brand new tires. Had angels taken up residence in Indiana? I wondered. I made a deal with the owner of the local service station. In exchange for his mounting the new tires, I would clean up his office. I remember it took me a lot longer to scrub his floor than it did for him to do the tires.

I was now working six nights instead of five and it still wasn't enough. Christmas was coming and I knew there would be no money for toys for the kids. I found a can of red paint and started repairing and painting some old toys. Then I hid them in the basement so there would be something for Santa to deliver on Christmas morning. Clothes were a worry too. I was sewing patches on top of patches on the boys pants and soon they would be too far gone to repair.

On Christmas Eve the usual customers were drinking coffee in the Big Wheel. These were the truckers, Les, Frank, and Jim, and a state trooper named Joe. A few musicians were hanging around after a gig at the Legion and were dropping nickels in the pinball machine. The regulars all just sat around and talked through the wee hours of the morning and then left to get home before the sun came up. When it was time for me to go home at seven o'clock on Christmas morning I hurried to the car. I was hoping the kids wouldn't wake up before I managed to get home and get the presents from the basement and place them under the tree. (We had cut down a small cedar tree by the side of the road down by the dump.)

It was still dark and I couldn't see much, but there appeared to be some dark shadows in the car - or was that just a trick of the night? Something certainly looked different, but it was hard to tell what. When I reached the car I peered warily into one of the side windows. Then my jaw dropped in amazement. My old battered Chevy was full to the top with boxes of all shapes and sizes. I quickly opened the driver's side door, scrambled inside and kneeled in the front facing the back seat. Reaching back, I pulled off the lid of the top box. Inside was a whole case of little blue jeans, sizes 2-10! I looked inside another box: It was full of shirts to go with the jeans. Then I peeked inside some of the other boxes: There were candy and nuts and bananas and bags of groceries. There was an enormous ham for baking, and canned vegetables and potatoes. There was pudding and Jell-O and cookies, pie filling and flour. There was a whole bag of laundry supplies and cleaning items. And there were five toy trucks and one beautiful little doll. As I drove back through empty streets as the sun slowly rose on the most amazing Christmas Day of my life, I was sobbing with gratitude. And I will never forget the joy on the fac es of my little ones that precious morning.

Yes, there were angels in Indiana that long-ago December.

And they all hung out at the Big Wheel truck stop.

Cherry Shortbread

3 Cups all purpose flour

3/4 Cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Cup butter, chilled

1/2 Cup maraschino cherries, drained and finely chopped

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.

With a pastry blender cut in the butter until it resembles cornmeal in texture. Stir in the cherries. Spread evenly into two round cake pans. With a flat bottomed glass press the dough down firmly. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the edges are slightly browned. Cut into wedges while still warm. Allow it to cool completely.

Old Fashioned Fudge and a story

2011-12-13T06:36:00.003-05:00

When I was a kid, my family had this tradition of reading a Christmas-y story every night in December. You know the "feel good" kind that always makes you cry? Ya, that's what we did. Lots of crying all through December but it was great. I always really loved that particular tradition and tried to implement it in my own home. I say try because we usually miss a lot of nights! I'm sure many of you have heard these, but I'm going to share some of my most favorite stories with you up until Christmas. And because I just started my baking I'll probably have a recipe to go along with it too!

Trouble at the Inn

by Dina Donohue

For years now whenever Christmas pageants are talked about in a certain little town in the Midwest, someone is sure to mention the name of Wallace Purling. Wally’s performance in one annual production of the Nativity play has slipped into the realm of legend. But the old timers who were in the audience that night never tire of recalling exactly what happened.

Wally was nine that year and in the second grade, though he should have been in the fourth. Most people in town knew that he had difficulty in keeping up. He was big and clumsy, slow in movement and mind. Still, Wally was well liked by the other children in his class, all of whom were smaller than he, though the boys had trouble hiding their irritation if the uncoordinated Wally asked to play ball with them.

Most often they’d find a way to keep him off the field, but Wally would hang around anyway—not sulking, just hoping. He was always a helpful boy, a willing and smiling one, and the natural protector, paradoxically, of the underdog. Sometimes if the older boys chased the younger ones away, it would always be Wally who’d say, “Can’t they stay? They’re no bother.”

Wally fancied the idea of being a shepherd with a flute in the Christmas pageant that year, but the play’s director, Miss Lumbard, assigned him to a more important role. After all, she reasoned, the Innkeeper did not have too many lines, and Wally’s size would make his refusal of lodging to Joseph more forceful.

And so it happened that the usual large, partisan audience gathered for the town’s Yuletide extravaganza of the staffs and creches, of beards, crowns, halos and a whole stageful of squeaky voices. No one on stage or off was more caught up in the magic of the night than Wallace Purling. They said later that he stood in the wings and watched the performance with such fascination that from time to time Miss Lumbard had to make sure he didn’t wander onstage before his cue.

Then the time came when Joseph appeared, slowly, tenderly guiding Mary to the door of the inn. Joseph knocked hard on the wooden door set into the painted backdrop. Wally the Innkeeper was there, waiting. “What do you want?” Wally said, swinging the door open with a brusque gesture.

“We seek lodging.”

“Seek it elsewhere.” Wally looked straight ahead but spoke vigorously. “The inn is filled.”

“Sir, we have asked everywhere in vain. We have traveled far and are very weary.”

“There is no room in this inn for you.” Wally looked properly stern.

“Please, good innkeeper, this is my wife, Mary. She is heavy with child and needs a place to rest. Surely you must have some small corner for her. She is so tired.”

Now, for the first time, the Innkeeper relaxed his stiff stance and looked down at Mary. With that, there was a long pause, long enough to make the audience a bit tense with embarrassment.

“No! Begone!” the prompter whispered from the wings.

“No!” Wally repeated automatically. “Begone!”

Joseph sadly placed his arm around Mary, and Mary laid her head upon his shoulder, and the two of them started to move away. The Innkeeper did not return inside his inn, however. Wally stood there in the doorway, watching the forlorn couple. His mouth was open, his brow creased with concern, his eyes filling unmistakably with tears.

“Don’t go, Joseph,” Wally called out. “Bring Mary back.” And Wallace Purling’s face grew into a bright smile. “You can have my room.”

Some people in town thought that the pageant had been ruined. Yet there were others—many others—who considered it the most Christmas of all Christmas pageants they had ever seen.

This fudge is seriously the best fudge I've ever tasted. My grandmother always used this recipe and while it may seem a little scary it's well worth the effort to master! Here are a few candy making tips that should always be used:

* You're going to want every last drop of candy to end up in a little wax paper wrapper, but never, and I mean never, scrape your pan as you're pouring out your candy. This will turn it grainy/sugary. And that's gross!

* As you cook your candy on the stove top, wash down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water. This also prevents grainy yucky candy.

* Butter is a must. If your recipe calls for butter use butter! You cannot substitute on this one. Sorry.

* If you don't have a candy thermometer it's okay, but you'll have to have a cup of ice water on hand to check the stage of your candy often. (cold water candy test)

Old Fashioned Fudge

4 Cups sugar

3 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 Cup light corn syrup

1-1/2 Cup heavy cream

1/4 Cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a large heavy saucepan, stir together sugar, cocoa, and cream of tartar. Stir in the corn syrup and cream. Cook over medium high heat to 236 degrees (soft ball stage). Pour out on a buttered surface and cool to lukewarm. Add the butter and beat with a wooden spoon. Beat until creamy, then add vanilla. Knead the fudge until the vanilla is incorporated and form into a rectangle (or put it in a small buttered dish). Cover with plastic wrap.

Scrappy Christmas Bows

2011-12-09T09:29:00.001-05:00

I wrapped all of our Christmas gifts a couple of days ago and let me tell you, I'm so darn excited for Christmas!! Not just for the presents, but a culmination of all sorts of lovely Christmas-y things:

Snow (a rarity in TN but I'm crossing my fingers)

Homemade fudge

Christmas carols

fuzzy socks

Sappy stories that make my cry (no matter how many times I've read them)

Great Christmas movies

twinkle lights around town

and

the good that the season brings out in everyone (usually)

My last project for "Top it With a Bow" weeks is a tutorial for a "scrappy" gift bow (over the top I know...insert sarcasm) . I love the stacked bows a ton, but there are already a huge amount of tutes on that. This is just a simple classic bow and I'm going to be dressing up all of our gifts with them this year!

To start cut out a simple template shaped sort of like this

Super simple and seriously you can make a stack of them in like 10 minutes.

Next week I'll be focusing on homemade candies and cookies......and maybe a sewing project or two!

Happy Friday!

Guest Post: Charlie from Attempting Aloha

2011-12-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

Today our guest is the lovely Charlie from Attempting Aloha. Her blog is full of great DIY decorating ideas and tutorials. Plus she's a super cute writer. So read this darling post and then go check out Charlie's blog for more inspiration.

Aloha, Simply Homemade readers!

I'm Charlie from Attempting Aloha. Today I'm sharing a post I did last Christmas on how to make gift bows out of ribbon for headbands and hair clips. As a mom of three girls, there's never a shortage of hair stuff around, but these are such a fun twist on regular bows for the holiday season. :)

I've seen a lot of homemade gift bows out there this season. I think the original tutorial came from How About Orange:

I saw these back in November and made a few out of magazine pages and loved them. Then I thought, "these would be super cute hair clips or headbands!"First I tried making them out of some charmeuse fabric, but it was so floppy. I wasn't feeling the love for it. I even attempted a couple different techniques to make the fabric stiffer (like a good inventor). Mod Podge? A mess. It eventually dried decent but definitely not worth the hassle it was to get even one strip stiff.Heated sugar water? A VERY sticky mess that never dried!Boo.Needed a new medium, the fabric I was using wasn't cutting the cheese. Ribbon!! And I shortened the length and used a smaller width to keep them more firm and crisp looking.So for this larger blue one I used the instructions shown on the How About Orange site (link above), but I cut the lengths to 6", 5", and 4". I think center was 2". And I hot glued them instead of stapling. I also considered stitching them, but mostly I was feeling lazy and didn't want to go upstairs to get my sewing crap out.

Once I had the bow completed, I cut out two circes from some flannel fabric I had on hand. Felt also works great with hot glue. Put glue all over one circle and then attach it to the bottom of the bow. Put glue on the second circle, open the clip, and sandwich the top "jaw" of the clip between the flannel circle on the bow and the glued side of the second circle. Underneath should look like this when finished: (but more centered...leave me alone..)

The smaller ones were cut out of 3/8" ribbon at 5", 4.25", and 3.5". The smallest was still 2".This time I made a headband. I used the same 3/8" ribbon and wrapped it around an old lame-o Disney princess headband and hot glued the ends down. Still attached the flannel circle and then sandwiched the headband between two flannel pieces. This particular one I did two small bows side by side.

Thanks for having me, Amanda! If you have a chance, I'd love it if you'd come by my blog for a visit.Aloha and Mele Kalikimaka,CharlieAttempting Aloha

Charlie, these are adorable!! Thank you so much for sharing. Here's a little peek at the fabulous things you'll find at Attempting Aloha:

"topped with a bow" dress tutorial

2011-12-07T06:00:00.001-05:00

This is my Caity bug. She has almost no dresses due to her untimely growth spurts. (Growing up can be a beast!) Usually I put my tutorials together with my "littlest" baby girl as the model but poor Caitlin has been wearing the same dress to church for a month! I suppose it's her turn. Don't tell her, but I made her new fancy dress out of a sheet from Walmart.........a sheet!

If you like the look but are afraid to create your own pattern, just use a jumper pattern and add the sash and belt loop (you'll see what I mean further down).

Really the ginormous bow is what makes the dress....true story.

I realize that my lining pieces are not the same size....make yours the same size.

My brain was taking a brief leave of absence here.

twirl baby twirl!

Guest Post: Malinda from Dalhlhartlane

2011-12-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

Joining us today is Malinda from Dahlhartlane. Malinda's blog is full of fun/awesome tutorials. She's a complete rock star mom (check out the amazing Halloween costumes she's made for her kids)! Malinda, you're absolutely inspiring.

Hi, my name is Malinda from Dahlhartlane and I am tickled pink to be here on Amanda's blog today! Since I am a mother of three boys, when Amanda asked me to come up with a tutorial for her bow series the first thing that popped in my head to make were little boy bow ties. Now, I know tutorials on bow ties are all over blog land, but this version is a bit different than the rest and I love it's little double-layered rounded edges.

For these ties, you need to cut out four 3x4 slightly rounded rectangles and one long 2 1/2x 19 inch strip. Of course, you can modify this depending on the size of your child and how big or small you like your bow. You will also need a small strip of velcro (or some other type of clasp).

Take your little rounded rectangle-ish shapes and place them in two pairs with right sides facing in.

Sew each pair around the edges but be sure to leave one inch open in the middle of one side of the base.

Next, fold your long strip of fabric in half and sew along the long edge.

Turn everything right-side-out (I like to do this with a knitting needle) and iron them flat. Take your newly sewn strip of fabric and cut about three inches off and set aside. This little strip will be used to secure your bow in place later.

Take the long strip and turn the ends in by poking your finger into the tube slightly. Sew shut.

Sew on your velcro at the ends of your strip and you collar is complete! Hot dog! Now that aside while you finish your bow.

Now, stack your curved rectangle pieces and push your needle and thread through the centers like this:

Pull tight to gather and then wrap your thread tightly around the center several times.

Place your bow on top of the good side of your collar (the side without the seam running down the middle) and then wrap the extra little strip of fabric around both. Turn ends under.

Stitch it shut and your done!

Hot dog! Now your little man is ready for any holiday party thrown his way!

I started making these bow ties several years ago and haven't been able to stop ever since. Any sort of fabric can be used to get the exact look you are hoping for. In fact, come over to my blog to see how I made similar bow ties out of wool sweaters! Super cozy, amazingly easy, and incredibly cute. Thanks, Amanda, for hosting me today! I hope everyone has a wonderful day and holiday season!

These bow ties are SOOO cute!! Thank you Malinda for joining me for "Bow Weeks".
And tell your cute little man that he rocks the bowtie!!

Here's a sneak peek at some more of Malinda's fabulous tutorials.

Guest Post: Rachel from Maybe Matilda

2011-12-05T08:00:00.001-05:00

I'm super excited about today's guest blogger. Rachel is one amazing lady and her blog, "Maybe Matilda" is one of my very favorites! She's always posting great tutorials and witty blog rants (those are my favorite I laugh a LOT). I had the opportunity to hang out with her in September and let me tell you, she's as lovely and as genuine as she seems to be on her blog!

Hey hey! I'm Rachel, from Maybe Matilda, and I'm glad to be a part of Amanda's Top it With a Bow event! She was one of my first bloggy friends . . . and the only one I've met in real life yet! Go ahead and feel jealous of our fun day at Ikea, it's all right. I have a fun little bow project that's so quick to whip up, and would make a great simple Christmas gift (either to give away, or for yourself to wear around the holidays or to a Christmas party!). You can easily substitute any other bow-making instructions for mine if you prefer another look.

This little bow tie necklace is fast and simple, and I think it's pretty dang cute! This style is selling at Urban Outfitters for $28, but my version didn't cost a dime since I used an old necklace chain I already had and leftover fabric scraps.

You can make your bow whatever size you’d like—I wanted mine to be on the small side, so the measurements I give here will make a bow about 3” wide and 1 1/2” tall, but you can adapt it to whatever size sounds good to you. I think it would be really cute big, like 5 inches across, but I wasn't brave enough to wear something that bold!

Start by cutting a square of fabric 3 ½” by 3 ½” (or change the size by cutting it the width you’d like it to be when finished, plus an additional ½” to allow for ¼” seam allowance on each side, and double the desired height and add ½”). If you’d like your bow to be a little sturdier, apply lightweight interfacing.

Iron your fabric, then fold it in half with the right sides together. You’ll need to sew around all three open edges, leaving an open space at the top to allow you to turn it inside out. Stitch ¼” from the edge, starting at one short end and sewing up the short end, around the corner, and about 1/3 of the way across the long end—stop sewing here, lift your presser foot and cut the thread, leave about an inch of space unsewn, and continue sewing across the final 1/3rd of the long end, around the corner, and down the other short end.

Trim your threads and cut the corners off of your fabric (make sure not to clip across your stitching!).

Turn the rectangle right side out through the opening at the top. Make sure the corners are pushed out, nice and pointy. Fold the unsewn, open portion down into the rectangle so it is level with the rest of the fabric, and iron.

Topstitch around all four sides as close to the edge as you can. Start your topstitching halfway through one of the long sides so the center piece of your bow will cover your starting and ending point.

Now you're done with the main bow piece! You should have a nice little rectangle with stitching around all the edges.

Now we need to make the little fabric piece that wraps around the center and keeps it tight in a bow shape.Cut a second rectangle, roughly 2" by 2 1/2" (or, if you're making a different size bow, double the width you want it to be and add 1/2" to that, and make it tall enough to wrap around your bow snugly with at least 1/2" to spare).

I don't know about you, but I hate trying to turn teeny tiny little loops of fabric right side out after sewing them into a tube, so I did this the lazy way . . . just fold in about 1/4" of each long side of the rectangle toward the wrong side of the fabric, like so:

Iron those sides down, if you're feeling ambitious, and fold it in half lengthwise:

Again, you can iron here (I didn't. Lazy.) Sew down the long ends only, close to the edge.

(As you can see, I probably should have ironed, since it's a little crooked. We'll pretend that's the camera angle. Oh well, it doesn't really matter.)

Fold it in half so the two short ends are touching, check the fit around your bow (it needs to be loose enough to be able to slip onto the short end of the bow, and also loose enough to be able to flip the whole center piece inside out to hide the sewn edge, so leave a little extra wiggle room), and sew the two short ends together. Trim off the extra fabric and flip it inside out so the seam is hidden inside.

Now just scoot it onto your rectangle and you have a sweet little bow!

You could stop here and attach this to hairclips, elastics, or pins to clip onto clothing. To make a necklace out of it, I used a chain from a necklace I made a while ago (and wore once), and just took off the pieces that I didn't want on this necklace, and clipped the whole thing in half--I left the little blue beads on the chain since I kind of liked how they made the necklace asymmetrical and contrasted with the color of the bow. If you want to add beads to your chain, just clip one side of the chain into thirds and place a few beads onto an eye pin and reattach to the chain.

Using a needle and thread, stitch the last link of the chain to the upper outer corner of your bow on each side, making sure that you're only sewing through the back layer of fabric and not all the way through to the front of the bow. Sew through it a few times to make sure it's secure, and trim your threads.

My chain was long enough to just slip over my head without needing a clasp, but if you made yours shorter than this, attach a clasp to the ends and you're good to go!

How easy was that? Thanks for having me over, Amanda, and feel free to stop by and say hi at
Maybe Matilda!

Have a lovely day!Rachel

Thank you so much Rachel for sharing this cute necklace! I'm thinking the girls at my house ALL need one of these. Here's a sneak peek at what Rachel does:

Bow Clutch tutorial

2011-12-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

If you're familiar with this blog, you may have noticed that I like bags and clutches. (see here, here, here, & here) Ya, I like 'em a lot. So it's probably no surprise to you that one of my tutorials would be a clutch. Yes, a lovely clutch to keep all of the hidden things in your purse found or maybe a Christmas gift for your sister, or mother, or your favorite aunt.

Turn the clutch right side out and hand stitch the opening in the lining closed. Then top stitch the top around the zipper. That's it! Now you can either throw it in your purse or wrap it up for some lucky gal to open up on Christmas morning.....or you can make two.

Shirred leg warmers topped with a bow

2011-12-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

I've been an adoring fan of legwarmers lately. They're so cute and snuggly. I knew when I saw these on Pinterest that I had to make my baby girl some. Only I'd stitch bows on instead of flowers. (she'll likely get some with flowers too!) This was a very simple and quick project and because I used jersey there really was no need to hem. (Don't you just love a lazy jersey project?!)

Click here for a great tutorial on how to shirr using elastic thread. The only things I did differently was I increased the length of my stitch.

When you're done stitching up the leg warmers hand stitch the bows on top. I made mine like this. But you could also tie a bow with ribbon. Whatever works for you.

guest post: Rebecca from My Girlish Whims

2011-12-01T08:00:00.001-05:00

I asked Rebecca from My Girlish Whims to guest post today and help me celebrate bows! What a cute and stylish girl she is. I'm very excited that she agreed to hang out at Simply Homemade today!

Hello Simply Homemade readers! My name is Rebecca and I blog over at My Girlish Whims, a blog all about beading, crafting, and general life as a girl!!

For my "Top it With a Bow" post I decided to show you how to make a cute card, just by adding a little bow to it!

To make your own, all you need is a piece of card stock, ribbon, a hot glue gun, and a pair of scissors.

Cut the card stock in half

And then fold it hamburger style to make a very plain card, just begging to be topped with a bow :)

Cut three pieces of ribbon, make the biggest one about 4 inches, the next 3 and a half, the smallest an inch.

Hot glue the ends together on the two larger ribbon pieces

Dab a piece of hot glue into the center of one of the undersides, and then press down.

Put another dab of hot glue on the top of the larger loop and place the smaller loop on top.

Cut another piece of ribbon that will be big enough to go around the front of your card and glue the two stacked loops to it. Wrap the one inch piece of ribbon around the middle and hot glue it around the back.

Hot glue the bow onto the card, and you are good to go!

Best part about this project? Only takes 10 minutes to make, and you only really need two supplies! Next time you're in a bind and need a cute card fast, try making one with a bow!

Thanks so much for having me here Amanda. I'd love for you all to stop over and say hi on my blog! Hope everyone has been enjoying all the pretty bow posts!

Thanks Rebecca! What a simple and cute way to dress up a card! Make sure to go check out Rebecca's blog for cute tutorials and fun anecdotes. She also has great link up party every Wednesday!!

Flow-y Bow-y Skirt tutorial

2011-11-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

Skirts just may be my favorite thing to wear. I {heart} them! Especially when I can top them with a ginormous bow! With all the skirts in my closet, this is probably my new most favorite one!! Do you want to know the best part? It's a super quick (as far as clothes are concerned) project!

You'll need:

2-3 yds of fabric

interfacing

1 7-9 inch zipper

all the usual sewing supplies.....like scissors and thread.

Gather each skirt panel and attach them to the front and back waistbands.

Then sew in the zipper like we did with this skirt. Only, of course, apply the zipper at the top of the waistband because....well, we've already sewn the skirt panels to the waistband (let's see how many times I can say "waistband" in one post shall we?!) Finish up
"code word" top of skirt by folding the lining inside and stitching in place. ( I hand stitched my waistband inside so that I wouldn't have stitching on the outside, but you can do it however you want to)

After that you'll need to make your sash. I cut mine 10" wide by 4X's my waist measurement. With right sides together I folded it lengthwise and sewed along the raw edges....of course I left an opening so that I could turn it right side out......I'm sorry for lack of pics by the way. Somebody, I won't name names, got a tad lazy.
So yeah, turn your sash and stitch the openings.....oh and then hem the bottom.

Ta-da & hoorah!!

This tutorial is a bit messy but I would like to direct your attention to this skirt. This Flow-y Bow-y skirt is essentially the same idea only without pockets and buttons, and then adding belt loops and a sash. Have fun, and email me with any questions you might have.

A simple fabric bow tutorial

2011-11-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

I've been making a ton of these. My girls can't get enough. Every time I stitch up a new one they fight over who gets to wear it. Oh the simple joys of young girlhood. I've been using them in the chiclets' hair but you could do all sorts of things with them like: shoe clips, brooches, cuffs, embellish a belt, or a top, or anything you want a bow on! Also, play around with the size. The finished bow is about 4-1/2 inches wide and 3 inches tall. As my Zumba instructor always says, "make it your own." (she mostly says that because some of us really can't wiggle our hips.) But seriously, put your own flavor into what you make and you'll love it!

Arrange your bow like this then tack in place.

Easy peasy right?! I'd love to see what you all are up to "bow" wise, hence the linky party down below.....link up, have fun, and make some bow-full things!

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"Top it With a Bow" Blog Event Kick off

2011-11-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

I love the holiday season. It was always a magical time for me as a little girl and I suppose it still is now that I'm....an older girl? I wanted to do some sort of blog event in celebration of the impending Christmas season, so I thought everything "bows" would be appropriate. Aren't bows the best? They're so classic and lovely.
You can put a bow on almost anything! How great is that? Over the next 2 weeks I'll have several tutorials and some amazing guests. I'm so stinkin' excited!! You'll love them.

Today I wanted to share some of the inspiration that I found whilst strolling through Pinterest.

This darling little dress was the beginning of my recent bow obsession. It's absolutely delicious. I vowed I would try to"knock" it off the moment I saw it. I may even have a tutorial up my sleeve for something similar.
Enjoy the Pinterest love and be sure to come back for some bow filled fun!

Aah! Look at the Wellies with bows!!

Gotta love "See Kate Sew"!

Help me get the word out:

reversible vest tutorial

2011-11-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

I know Halloween was eons ago, but stick with me. This post is relevant, I promise. For Halloween my baby was a "newsie." While frantically searching in the dress up box for something he could wear, I stumbled on this hat and had a wonderful epiphany! Newsies!! Yes. I really enjoy making costumes (or parts of costumes) that can be used in everyday life. So a vest was a good option. Little boys should all have vests in their wardrobes, it's a fact! So this boy now has a vest (never mind that he will no longer allow me to even pull it out of his closet).

I started by using one of his button up shirts to create a pattern.

I wanted faux pockets but if you don't, just skip the next three steps.

Next add buttons and button holes and slap that vest on your boy (or girl).

A sneak peek at "Top it With a Bow" blog event

2011-11-22T08:04:00.001-05:00

Just six more days until my first ever blog event! Here's a little sneak peek at what I've been working on......

Gratitude

2011-11-21T13:48:00.001-05:00

brined and roasted turkey recipe

Last year the the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Thomas S. Monson)

spoke about the importance of gratitude. In his sermon, he told a story that was related to him by a man named Gordon Green. This story touched my heart so much. I hope you'll love it as much as I did.

Gordon tells how he grew up on a farm in Canada, where he and his siblings had to hurry home from school while the other children played ball and went swimming. Their father, however, had the capacity to help them understand that their work amounted to something. This was especially true after harvesttime when the family celebrated Thanksgiving, for on that day their father gave them a great gift. He took an inventory of everything they had.

On Thanksgiving morning he would take them to the cellar with its barrels of apples, bins of beets, carrots packed in sand, and mountains of sacked potatoes as well as peas, corn, string beans, jellies, strawberries, and other preserves which filled their shelves. He had the children count everything carefully. Then they went out to the barn and figured how many tons of hay there were and how many bushels of grain in the granary. They counted the cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and geese. Their father said he wanted to see how they stood, but they knew he really wanted them to realize on that feast day how richly God had blessed them and had smiled upon all their hours of work. Finally, when they sat down to the feast their mother had prepared, the blessings were something they felt.

Gordon indicated, however, that the Thanksgiving he remembered most thankfully was the year they seemed to have nothing for which to be grateful.

The year started off well: they had leftover hay, lots of seed, four litters of pigs, and their father had a little money set aside so that someday he could afford to buy a hay loader—a wonderful machine most farmers just dreamed of owning. It was also the year that electricity came to their town—although not to them because they couldn’t afford it.

One night when Gordon’s mother was doing her big wash, his father stepped in and took his turn over the washboard and asked his wife to rest and do her knitting. He said, “You spend more time doing the wash than sleeping. Do you think we should break down and get electricity?” Although elated at the prospect, she shed a tear or two as she thought of the hay loader that wouldn’t be bought.

So the electrical line went up their lane that year. Although it was nothing fancy, they acquired a washing machine that worked all day by itself and brilliant lightbulbs that dangled from each ceiling. There were no more lamps to fill with oil, no more wicks to cut, no more sooty chimneys to wash. The lamps went quietly off to the attic.

The coming of electricity to their farm was almost the last good thing that happened to them that year. Just as their crops were starting to come through the ground, the rains started. When the water finally receded, there wasn’t a plant left anywhere. They planted again, but more rains beat the crops into the earth. Their potatoes rotted in the mud. They sold a couple of cows and all the pigs and other livestock they had intended to keep, getting very low prices for them because everybody else had to do the same thing. All they harvested that year was a patch of turnips which had somehow weathered the storms.

Then it was Thanksgiving again. Their mother said, “Maybe we’d better forget it this year. We haven’t even got a goose left.”

On Thanksgiving morning, however, Gordon’s father showed up with a jackrabbit and asked his wife to cook it. Grudgingly she started the job, indicating it would take a long time to cook that tough old thing. When it was finally on the table with some of the turnips that had survived, the children refused to eat. Gordon’s mother cried, and then his father did a strange thing. He went up to the attic, got an oil lamp, took it back to the table, and lighted it. He told the children to turn out the electric lights. When there was only the lamp again, they could hardly believe that it had been that dark before. They wondered how they had ever seen anything without the bright lights made possible by electricity.

The food was blessed, and everyone ate. When dinner was over, they all sat quietly. Wrote Gordon:

“In the humble dimness of the old lamp we were beginning to see clearly again. …

“It [was] a lovely meal. The jack rabbit tasted like turkey and the turnips were the mildest we could recall. …

“… [Our] home … , for all its want, was so rich [to] us.”

^{Bonnie, thanks for the reminder.}

^{for the full article click here}

Cranberry Sauce and Thanksgiving musings

2011-11-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

Simple and Amazing Cranberry Sauce Recipe
via sweetsavorylife.com

This whole week is going to be dedicated to Thanksgiving. I have a very tender spot for this particular holiday. My love of Thanksgiving has nothing to do with any spectacular life changing event. But rather, small seemingly insignificant things: gumdrop turkeys, fancy china at Grandma Williams' house, sneaking olives from the relish tray, pumpkin pie mounded with whipped cream, full tummies, laughing at dorky brothers, and being with my family.

This year is my very first year to host Thanksgiving. In ten years of marriage I've never done this and I'm semi nervous but a whole lot of excited! I have my whole menu planned and carefully tucked in my junk drawer...I'm awesome like that. If everything goes as planned our dinner will look something like this:

Wish me luck and stay tuned for more tasty recipes from my junk drawer menu!

amazing pizza crust

2011-11-18T12:40:00.000-05:00

I love to bake (unless there are unruly children are running under my legs). My favorite are breads. I really enjoy getting a recipe for something that I usually just grab at the store like croissants, french bread, sourdough loaves, bagels, or english muffins. I have a recipe for all of these but there's a reason I usually just buy them. They're more time consuming! But I'll tell you what, you'll never taste anything as lovely as a fresh croissant from the oven!

For my birthday, Husband bought me The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. This book is AMAZING!! Not only are the recipes fantastic, but she explains which flours are best to use, and why you're supposed to do certain things when making bread. Like adding salt while actually kneading the dough (for a bunch of breads). The salt will kill the yeast if it comes in direct contact with it.

Husband scored serious points with this gift!!

I'd like to share the pizza crust recipe with you because it's life altering....at least it was for me. The only things I changed were the oven temp (I baked my crust at 450 instead of 475) and I doubled the ingredients. So without further ado:

Perfect Pizza Dough

From the book The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Total Time

3 hours

Introduction

What I like most in a pizza crust is something between a thin, crisp crust and the more bready old style. This pizza recipe makes a 10-inch pizza, which I find perfect for two people.

Ingredients

	¾	cup plus 1 tablespoon flour (4 ounces), preferably unbleached all-purpose or Italian-style
	½	tsp. instant yeast
	½	tsp. sugar
	½	tsp. salt
	⅓	liquid cup water at room temperature (70 to 90 degrees)
	4	tsp. olive oil

Steps

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, instant yeast, and sugar. Whisk in the salt (this keeps the yeast from coming into direct contact with the salt, which would kill it).
Make a well in the center and pour in the water. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, gradually stir the flour into the water until all the flour is moistened and a dough just begins to form, about 20 seconds. It should come away from the bowl but still stick to it a little, and be a little rough-looking, not silky smooth. Do not overmix, as this will cause the dough to become stickier.
Pour the oil into a 2-cup measuring cup (to give the dough room to double in size) or a small bowl. With oiled fingers or an oiled spatula, place the dough in the oiled cup and turn it over to coat on all sides with the oil. Cover it tightly.
If you want to use the dough soon, allow it to sit at room temperature for 1 hour or until doubled. For the best flavor development, make the dough at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours ahead, and allow it to sit at room temperature for only 30 minutes or until slightly puffy. Then set the dough, still in the measuring cup, in the refrigerator. Remove it 1 hour before you want to put it in the oven.
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees 1 hour before baking. Have an oven shelf at the lowest level and place a baking stone on it before preheating.
With oiled fingers, lift the dough out of the measuring cup or bowl. Holding the dough in one hand, pour a little of the oil left in the cup or bowl onto the pizza pan, and spread it all over the pan with your fingers. Set the dough on the pan and press it down with your fingers to deflate it gently. Shape it into a smooth round by tucking under the edges. If there are any holes, knead it very lightly until smooth. Allow the dough to sit for 15 minutes, covered, to relax it.
Using your fingertips, press the dough from the center to the outer edge to stretch it into a 10-inch circle, leaving the outer ½ inch thicker than the rest to form a lip. If the dough resists stretching (as will happen if you have activated the gluten by overkneading it), cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest for a few minutes longer before proceeding.
Brush the surface of the dough with any remaining olive oil. Cover it with plastic wrap and allow it to sit for 30 to 45 minutes, until it becomes light and slightly puffy with air.
Set the pizza pan directly on the hot stone and bake for 5 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and spread toppings (such as Pizza Tomato Sauce) over the dough. Return the pan to the stone for 5 minutes or until the toppings have melted and the crust is golden; or, for an extra-crisp and browned bottom crust, using a pancake turner or baker’s peel, slide the pizza from the pan directly onto the stone. After 2 minutes, slip a small metal spatula under one edge of the pizza; if the bottom is golden, raise the pizza to a higher shelf.
Transfer the pizza to a cutting board and cut with a pizza wheel, sharp knife, or scissors. Serve hot.

Cabbages and Roses.....Winning!

2011-11-15T17:00:00.000-05:00

Have you ever visited Urban Farm Girl? If not, you should probably go there now! Her blog is so inspiring and lovely. Her taste in decor is stunning. Awhile back I learned (from her blog) that Cabbages and Roses were teaming up with Moda to create fabric for us folks in the US that love C&B! "Hooray" I said. To make things even more fun she hosted a giveaway for 2 yards of lovely Moda/C&R fabric! So I entered....you know what? Freakishly I won! I think I screamed a little, and I may have startled husband at the same time. But whatever.

Even the packaging is pretty. sigh

oh lovely lovely fabric.....now what to do with you??

Watch out pins!!

2011-11-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

Do you ever sew over pins?

So do I.

Scripture/book cover tutorial

2011-11-10T13:13:00.003-05:00

I love Thursdays. Husband worksMonday-Thursday every week (4 10's) and so in my mind Thursday marks the beginning of my weekend. Inlight of that little bit of

randomness, Happy Thursday!!

Let's rewind back one and a half months.So I get this email from a very nice lady saying she digs the scripture coveron the ol' blog. She then proceeds to ask me if I would be willing to make somefor her church's book store. I say "Heck YES!" (not a directquote....I was much more professional) And so begins the supply shopping,invoice making, and stressing. Wow! Random bit of fun-ness. Right?Unfortunately this is all going down whilst I'm frantically trying to makecostumes for Halloween and get some stuff done for Christmas. That little bitof fun-ness has turned into a big fat chore. So typical me I've procrastinatedand am on frantic mode again. In spite of this I've decided to waste some moretime to create this tutorial for you. That's how much I love you!! Now, beaware that I kept forgetting to take pictures so I'm going to have to explainin words how to do some steps.....this is really a simple project though soyou'll be fine. If you have questions though email me and I'll help you decodethe directions.

Okay, yes you need to do some simple math.Measure your book top to bottom side to side. You'll need to measure the widthof the spine and add that to your "width" measurement. I then added aninch each way for my seam allowance.

The interior flaps (aka: the little doohickeys that keep the coveron the book) will be folded in half lengthwise. There's no real science to thewidth measurement. They just need to be the same length top to bottom as themain body of the cover.

Did I confuse the crap out of you? I'mreally good at explaining things in a nonsensical way. This really is such asimple project though. Once you get the pieces cut out you'll be able to seehow they're supposed to go together. E-mail me with questions if you have them.Happy Thursday!

Halloween fun

2011-11-01T09:02:00.002-04:00

15 minutes before the "trunk or treat" I'm still working on costumes. I don't know why I do this to myself, but I do it without fail every year. I work well under pressure, wait, let me clarify: I work quickly under pressure. I am however a terrible beast when I'm stressed. My house falls to pieces and the children are eating candy for breakfast.Ask anyone in my house, and they'll happily tell you the horrid truth about me. The Husband said he was "done with this last minute crap". (His words not mine) I think he was just bitter because I made him clean out the family bus....ya, that's it. Despite the frazzledness that I bring on myself we had an awesome Halloween.

We had a grand time, scored tons of loot, and were loved by all of the grandmas on our street. All in all it was a very successful night!

Pinterest. It's what's for dinner.

2011-10-26T12:37:00.005-04:00

I've been loving Pinterest....LOVING it! There are so many amazing
people, crafts, food(s?), fashions. I had a friend that I was talking to
about Pinterest and she's like, "isn't that the site that just makes you
feel bad about yourself?" Funny. I suppose it could be huh? Perfectly
adorned homes and people reside there. But oh my how I love looking
at all the pretty food. In celebration of my love affair with Pinterest I'm
creating my menu exclusively from my food board. And here's the line
up. I can hardly wait. Food this pretty certainly tastes good right? Definitely!

click on the pictures to see the recipe and the amazing blogs responsible

Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken

Skillet Rosemary Chicken

Honey Sauced Chicken

Chicken Parmesan Bake

Toasted Ravioli

Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs

Watching crayons melt

2011-10-25T22:41:00.000-04:00

There are some days (or weeks) that I feel completely lost in my creative

realm. And then there are some days (or weeks) that creativity has to take

a back seat to what is most important. Trips to the park, Movie Monday,

baking cookies, building tents, sipping hot cocoa, and watching crayons

melt have taken priority in past weeks. What a delightful 2 weeks off!

School pictures

2011-10-08T19:52:00.001-04:00

I'm a bit of a portrait snob. So I never opt for the school pictures.
(although ironically this year they were all really cute, but whatever)
I know my kids will probably need therapy for yet another one of my
deficiencies but I'm sure someday they'll get their issues resolved. Our
usual photographer and his family (aka best friend's hubs) moved
away so being the cheapskate that I am I loaded the kidlets into the
bus (suburban) drove to a falling down junky building, and proceeded
to snap all sorts of pictures of my darlings. Most of them turned out
awful but I got a few of each kid that are wall worthy and really that's
all that I need! Right?

Crochet along and my cowls

2011-10-05T13:45:00.003-04:00

I've been wanting to learn how to crochet for...like...ever. So when

Rachel from: Maybe Matilda hosted a crochet along I was like,

"heck yes!"

I'm sure you already saw my sad attempt at the "should have been

square but wasn't" dishcloth. That's what happened when I tried to

teach myself....ironically I did the same thing with cowl #1. I thought

to myself, "self, you've already mastered the single, half double, and

double crochet stitches I'm sure you can skip ahead and figure out

how to read that cowl pattern." Yup, that's what I said to myself.

You know what, I lied to my poor self because, while it wasn't an epic failure

(it still looks okay) it sure wasn't right! I found out quickly that crochet

patterns are written (or may as well be written) in ancient Hebrew!

So thank you Rachel for your awesome dissection of that pattern. If you want

to know how to make a fish net just let me know (wink wink).

Here's me getting my poser on....don't laugh, all my smiley pictures

looked like poop!

Fish net cowl (the wrong way)

Time out cowl (the right way)

alter

2011-09-30T06:52:00.000-04:00

I'm all about re-purposing. You know, turn a shirt into a skirt. Create a lovely
cowl out of an old sweater, that sort of thing. Sometimes though, I just want
what I have to fit right. So here's a very condensed instruction on how to alter
a big shirt to fit you.

crochet

2011-09-28T06:49:00.000-04:00

I'm learning to crochet.

Too bad I didn't know what I was doing.

It still works though, that rhombus shaped dishcloth.

More house shoes

2011-09-26T17:52:00.000-04:00

I sure am loving this pattern testing business.

When this pattern showed up in my inbox I was pretty darn happy.
Moccasins rock! Although I'm wishing now that I wouldn't have chickened
out on the purple thread that I was considering for the tops of the shoes.
oh well.

Don't you just love wood grain fabric?!

A trip and a bag

2011-09-19T22:32:00.001-04:00

* I'm heading to Utah tomorrow. No kids. No husband. Just me.

* I don't quite know how to feel about this trip....a little excited

and maybe a little guilty for being excited.

* Can I just say that my husband just may be a saint?!

* I'm a dork and made a new bag just for the occasion

* Said bag was an old perma pleated wool skirt...you know the ones

from the 80's! Love it!!

* I don't like flying...so I'm a little nervous.

Wish me luck! (and the husband too)

guacamole...my way!

2011-09-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

I haven't always been a fan of guacamole. In fact it's only been a recent
development. I made some for a pool party over the summer (don't ask
me why because at that point I still wasn't loving it.) and found that I really
truly liked it....a lot! It turns out that some other folks liked it too. There
were no leftovers. *I think someone may have even licked the bowl....
heathen! So in my effort to document my recipes here's one for guacamole.

Guacamole

3 avocados
2 tomatillos
3-4 cloves of garlic
juice from a 1/2 of a lime
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno
1/3 cup onion
1/3 cup sour cream
salt to taste

Remove the seeds from the avocados and squish out the insides into a
blender. Remove the husk from the tomatillos, quarter them and throw them
in the blender too. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend to the consistency
that suits you. For me I blend the heck out it....I'm not a chunk lover.

Note: I have a friend from Mexico. He tells me this isn't the traditional way of
making guacamole. So technically my recipe should be called "Avocado dip".
I still plan on calling it guacamole though!

* I should also explain that I may have over exaggerated a little. No one
actually licked the bowl....but I really didn't have leftovers. That part was truth.

bedroom schemes

2011-09-12T09:47:00.003-04:00

For Christmas this year I've decided that my kids are getting bedroom
makeovers. We bought the bedding at Target last January...seriously.
It's all been in the basement since just after last Christmas. I couldn't pass
up the 60% off! I never can.

Now, I'm not even close to being good at decorating rooms. So to help me
out I thought I'd put all of my ideas in one spot (aka: the ever impressive
paint program). Now I just need to buy some fabric, paint some walls, and
get cracking on the wall decor.

Boys Room

Oldest Girl Room

Shared Girl Room

Hooray for house shoes

2011-09-08T07:57:00.000-04:00

I recently signed up to be a pattern tester for ithinksew.com. Imagine my
delight when I opened up my email to find this lovely pattern for me to try!
Seriously tickled pink! I'm wearing them now and they're super comfy and
all I need is a warm blanket and a toasty cup of cocoa...and maybe some
cookies. (grief, I know how my diet is going to go today)

A little corn for Sunday

2011-09-06T12:30:00.000-04:00

At church I've been assigned to work with the 12-18 year old young ladies.
It really is such a fun calling. They keep me young and I make them super
corny handouts when I teach lessons on Sunday.

They almost rolled their eyes when I handed these out. Almost but not quite.

It was a nice thought

2011-09-02T06:11:00.000-04:00

There's this dress on Anthro that I thought was just lovely. Nice and billowy.
Perfect for cinching with a pretty belt. Personally though, I have a really hard
time buying dresses because I look at them and I think to myself, "self,
I might be able to make something just like that" to which I respond, "yes,
and for half the cost! Do it!"

Poor husband was asked the question, "how does my new dress look?" To
which he replied (reluctantly), "Well sweetie.....it sort of looks like a robe."
Ya, I suppose it sort of does. Poor guy. That was a loaded question I think.

Oh well. Maybe next time.

a friendly surprise

2011-08-31T12:43:00.003-04:00

Wow, don't you just love opening your email only to find

out you're the winner to a giveaway?! I do. In fact, I just did!

Button Mad. Have you heard of them? They have such pretty

little buttons....and I just won some owls! I can't wait to receive

them. They have a blog too with fun tutorials, recipes, and

buttons!

I LOVE them!!

Kettle corn....made in a kettle! (sort of)

2011-08-30T15:32:00.003-04:00

Kettle corn: so sweet, so salty, so good! I love the stuff and I'm

not ashamed to say that I pretty much ate half my body weight of

this particular batch.

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons of oil (I found this fancy popcorn oil at world market)

1/2 cup popcorn kernals

1/4 cup sugar

salt to taste

in a large pot combine popcorn and oil. Set burner to medium heat.

I also add some salt. (If you look closely, you can see a crazy lady

on the salt...uh...taking a picture of the salt)

Cover your pan and move the pan over (not above) the burner.

If you don't keep the kernels moving, they'll burn. And I've always

been of the opinion that burned popcorn smells remarkably like

skunk stink....just sayin'.

When the oil starts to really sizzle, stir in the sugar. Make sure

to keep the kernels moving. When the corn starts popping I swear

it's the most rewarding thing. Don't ask me why, but it is! Keep moving

that pan sister! When the popping slows turn off the heat and remove

the pan. Take the lid off and admire your industriousness! Stir it up and

add more salt.

Eat up. Enjoy!

Play Sword

2011-08-29T06:30:00.001-04:00

While some take time to grow into their manly-ness, Some boys are

ALL boy right from the start. "Baby Wyatt," (as coined by precious big

sister) is all boy! He makes fantastic monster noises and thinks burps

and other gaseous noises are HI-larious. His favorite game? Pulling out

my wire whisks and dueling with his sister. So when this boy's birthday

rolled around I knew just what to make for him. Swords! Yes, I suppose

I do encourage this behavior.....What?!

To make your own you'll need:

* 2 stocky sword cutouts from coordinating fabrics

* 2 ridiculously stiff fusible interfacing sword cutouts

On each fabric cutout iron the interfacing....trim them as necessary.

Place them together (interfacing sides kissing, as it were)

Then add a button or two and throw the weaponry to your 2 year old.

Now put down that wire whisk mister and go fight your sister!

It's all about presentation

2011-08-24T06:19:00.000-04:00

I finally figured out how to package my Etsy sales.....burlap and clear vinyl.

It's a winner!!

A rainbow cake...I couldn't resist!

2011-08-22T06:38:00.002-04:00

The birthday boy

The cake

I know these have been floating around blog land and it's not original at

all, but I couldn't resist. Sometimes original is overrated anyway....at least

when it comes to cake! If it's delectable then it doesn't really matter that

everyone and their dog is making it..right? I did want to share the icing

recipe because it's a party waiting to happen in your mouth. I couldn't stop

"tasting" it!

Whipped cream frosting

1 8oz. package cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1- Beat cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy.

2- Add salt and vanilla

3- In a separate bowl use an electric mixer to beat whipping cream.

Beat until stiff peaks form but be careful not to whip too long cause

you'll end up with butter. Butter's good but not for this recipe!

4- Fold whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture

Voila! Heaven in a bowl!!

* to fill and frost the rainbow cake, I doubled this recipe. Also, this is

a really soft frosting so it's not going to be very smooth on the outside.

Story about a girl

2011-08-20T09:00:00.002-04:00

Once upon a time, there was a girl. This girl was, what some may think,

rather odd. She marched to the beat of a crazy drummer, if you will.

Her favorite hobbies included at the time: making furniture for Barbies

out of cardboard (the dresser drawers actually pulled out), building

cardboard dwellings (you know, condos, cottages, dance studios), creating

a huge make-up stash with nothing but crayons, paper, and elmer's glue,

and designing clothes in her sketch book. Of course she always wanted to

be different from everybody else, which was good, because she was.

When this girl was in high school she began to shop at thrift stores to bulk up

her wardrobe....heaven knows you can find some crazy junk there! And

she did! She found all sorts of treasures including her favorite jacket that

she wore until it completely fell apart last year(sad day). She also found some

fabulous drapes that (in HER mind) made a lovely gown for the senior ball.

(I'm not sure that it was lovely but she still had the guts to wear it proudly.)

Well, the girl is grown now and has a few crazy kids of her own. She's put aside

her crayon/paper makeup but still shops at thrift stores searching for things

that can become treasures. Most of the time it's a disappointment but every

once in a while She comes out of there with a gem!

Thrifted curtain panel turned table runner! Come see how I did it (super easy)

over at See Kate Sew where I'll be guest posting today!

We start 'em early

2011-08-19T06:22:00.000-04:00

When my younger sister was a kid, she told me that she wanted

eleven kids.....so they could do ALL her chores. "Light bulb"

I have five, A little less than 5o%. I figure, they can do the chores from

now on, and I'll sew bags and skirts. It's a brilliant plan! So until further

notice, I'll be at my sewing machine if anyone needs me!

a twisty sort of thing

2011-08-16T06:17:00.004-04:00

I found a clutch awhile ago as I was perusing Pinterest. It made me swoon

and I knew I had to try it out.....cause that's how I be! (argg)

Also, did you know that Amy Butler now sells rayon fabric?! It's wonderful,

and it drapes beautifully!! I made a blouse with some.....I'm wearing it now

and it's a glorious comfy thing.

Just some stuff

2011-08-14T16:25:00.003-04:00

It always amazes me how fast my week goes when I'm

obsessing/thinking about my crafty ideas and pursuits.

Recently I've been wrapped up in setting up a photo shoot

featuring items that I'm going to throw in my shop. My

awesome photographer friend mentioned that she had envisioned

a 50's type silhouette...you know, tiny waist and a full skirt.

So naturally, I thought "I know, I'll make a new dress for my photo

shoot!" Brilliant. As if I didn't have enough to do, right? Of course, instead

of making this dress , I pumped out a pleated skirt and an Anthro

knock off dress. (Both of which turned out to be epic failures.) I'll have to

dedicate a separate post for those little gems. Mostly so that you all can

have a good laugh....Heaven knows my darling husband did. (not really he

was mostly confused.)

on a side note....isn't this dress fantastic!! I'm really loving Pinterest these days!

Some scripture covers and random thoughts

2011-08-05T20:51:00.001-04:00

I've become disenchanted with my blog and here's why: In the
recent past I tried (I'm ashamed to say) to post what I thought
other people would like. I'm embarassed to confess such things
but it's true. You know what else? It's exhausting!! Trying to
figure out what floats someone else's boat is tough and virtually
not worth it! Besides that, I felt I was losing some of my creativity
working in such a manner. I'm Amanda Pendley hear me roar.."rawr!"
Whoosh! It feels good to get that off my chest.

On an entirely different note, I made some scripture/book covers. I
think I'll do a tutorial someday. Until then, here are some photos.

Giveaway at Maybe Matilda

2011-08-01T13:21:00.003-04:00

I have a friend. Her name is Rachel. She's one groovy chick

and it's too bad I don't know her for real. I cyber met Rachel

at one of those super fun linky parties and I'm pretty sure she's

my long lost twin sister. We even have the same haircut (though she

sports it much better than I...and she's way cuter). Well, Rachel has

an amazing blog that I stalk...I mean follow. She's such a darling and

is hosting a giveaway for none other than my own Etsy shop! Hooray

so run over and enter because let's face it, free stuff rocks!

ps. check out this great blog. She featured my shop (squeal) and is super

sweet and oh so chic!

ruffly topped skirt

2011-07-25T15:45:00.002-04:00

Ruffles have been done to death but I still love them. Can I

confess something though? I made this skirt just a hair too

skinny so when I wear it, the ruffles get pushed out. That's

why you're seeing the ever popular clothes pin shot. Wish me

luck on my sit ups!

Dear Blog

2011-07-21T11:32:00.005-04:00

Dear Blog,

I've been avoiding you. Not because I don't love you and

not because I don't appreciate all the one on one time you've

given me. It's because of a few things.

1. I don't feel particularly creative as of late.

2. School just started and I'm all of the sudden stressed (go figure)

3. My kids need me. Let's face it, they get a little neglected when

you and I are hanging out.

4. I was just put in charge of the youth (of the female persuasion)

at church so now I'm even more stressed and busy!

5. I feel a strange urge to better prioritize my life. You know, more

family, less you.

I hope you understand and know that I'll never completely leave you sweet

blog of mine, but right now I just need you to take a back seat whilst I enjoy

my husband and kids.

xoxox,

Amanda

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes

2011-07-15T05:38:00.001-04:00

My great loves: chocolate and cream cheese. Hello gorgeous!

My awesome 7 year old requested these for her birthday last

month. Bless her. These tasties turned out lovely and I'm pretty

sure I gained 5 pounds loving them. They were worth it!

1 chocolate cake mix.

Cream cheese filling

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Chocolate Frosting

3-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons baking cocoa
1/2 cup butter, melted
6 tablespoons 2% milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Mix cake ingredients according to package directions. Place in

lined cupcake pans and set aside.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and salt until smooth and creamy.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Place a dollop of the cream cheese filling on top of each batter filled

cupcake tin.

Bake for 24-26 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

cool and frost!

an award and some random facts about me

2011-06-30T16:30:00.004-04:00

I woke up a couple of weeks ago to a lovely comment from Shannon

at Shannon Sews. She tagged me with the "One Lovely Blog"

award. very flattering and fun....so thanks Shannon!

I guess I'm supposed to write 7 things about myself....this should

be interesting. Bear with me while I make a goober of myself!

1. I sort my Skittles-

whenever I eat Skittles, I have to sort them by color and then eat

them in this order: yellow, purple, green, orange, and red.

Honestly, this is the most OCD thing I do....I'm not really all

that particular with anything else. Just Skittles.

2. I made a dress from old curtains-

My senior year of high school I got REALLY into sewing for myself.

I made all of my formals that year one of them being made from

some old blue shimmery drapes that I picked up from the thrift store.

Looking back it was a hideous idea but nobody had the same dress!

I love originality!

3. I like to sing-

I've been a singer all my life (not the best, but not bad either). I had

great dreams of going pro. I even made a demo cd (super embarrassing).

Instead of singing on a big stage, I sing lullabies and I'm sold out every

night!

4. I love old junk-

Antiques make me happy. Give me a chippy white dresser and

flowers in an old mason jar and I am one happy girl! In fact my idea of

a good time is dinner and an antique shop or some sort of historical

museum. Party animal.....woohoo!

5. I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

(aka: Mormon)-

I've been a member of this church all my life and I love it! I love the

doctrine, I love the people, and I love the opportunities to serve.

6. Running sucks but I do it-

I run mainly for health purposes. I'm not a fast runner and I'm

exhausted after only a mile and a half but I love my chocolate chip

cookies and I figured one day it'd catch up to me if I didn't start

exercising. I probably should lay off the sweets too but I'm not to that

point in my health journey.

7. I'm a chocolate snob-

Let's face it. Europe has the States hog tied when it comes to chocolate.

Symphony and Dove are okay but European chocolate is divine....ya, I'm

that passionate er nerdy about it.

Here's what I've been up to

2011-06-29T10:30:00.002-04:00

I'm really digging the smashed ruffle look as evidenced

by these......

I really can't help myself. They're a super fun, easy, and quick project.

I made a fanny pack....you can laugh.

2011-06-29T10:28:00.002-04:00

This is me getting my "pose" on. Ridiculous? Yes.

I've been running for a little while. I am soooo not an athlete,

but I figure that I should exercise to maintain a more healthy lifestyle

(note that as I type this garbage I'm polishing off the last of my giant

Symphony bar).

I decided that I like spandex....I look awful in it but it doesn't creep

up while I'm running. (you know what I'm talking about!)

However, my spandex is not outfitted with pockets. I usually just

hold my mp3 player but it gets very bothersome to not have my hands

free. So I built this fanny pack belt pocket thingy. It holds my junk fine.

Unfortunately, it bounces on top of my gut while I run. Not a flattering

feeling I can assure you. I suppose it's back to the drawing board with

this one.

Stay tuned. I plan on making a bajillion of these!

a bag and some clutches

2011-06-23T15:15:00.001-04:00

So you're probably thinking, "doesn't this girl have a life?

More bags, really?
The answer: no probably not. I mean there are things that
I really should be doing, but those are the un-fun things.

Laundry being at the top of my "should be doing but not wanting

to do them" list. (It's funny, that one always wins.)

I've had these vintage purse handles hanging around for a couple of

months now and I'm so glad I held onto them. They are just fun.

And these clutches while very simple in design, scream flirty...

maybe. (it sounded good anyway).

Oh, and aren't my model's feet just the cutest?! I love her

shiny red flats. I may need to snag me a pair.

a non post post

2011-06-21T21:32:00.003-04:00

I've got some super overwhelm-ishness going on right

now. Not sure what the trouble could be....oh ya,

SUMMER BREAK!

Whoosh, I'm tired....and I may or may not need a cupcake.

And the winner is.........

2011-06-17T20:00:00.005-04:00

Rachel from Maybe Matilda

Rachel said...

And I'm a follower!

more bags....sheesh enough already!

2011-06-14T05:17:00.003-04:00

Have you noticed that I love bags? I've been making an

awful lot of them lately. I just can't get enough! Sometimes

I dream about bags....but that's between you and me. ahem.

I made these bags for my daughters' teachers....a token for

putting up with them I suppose. Ha! Joking, they're great girls.

They had awesome teachers though and awesome teachers need

bags! (or so they say)

The pattern is from "i think sew." She does a great job.

Panera gift card giveaway!! CLOSED

2011-06-12T23:20:00.007-04:00

Nothing beats homemade bread smeared with butter and

jam. Nothing! But who has time to make bread? I have a

solution: Panera. I love Panera. Tasty soups, flaky pastries,

and chewy breads. Mmmm! Are you hungry yet? I am. I

haven't eaten breakfast and I'm fairly ravenous now. Guess

what? I have a $25 gift card that I'm giving away. It's about time

I hosted a giveaway, right?! Right. You all have been so kind

in reading and commenting that it's only fitting to do something

in return. Okay onto the rules and stuff.

How to enter:

leave a separate comment for each entry

1. leave a comment letting me know what you love at Panera.

If you've never been then just tell me whatever random factoid that

pops into your head.

2. For a 2nd entry: follow me...if you're already following, leave me a

comment telling me so.

3. For a third entry: Facebook, twitter, or blog about this giveaway.

So that's it! Giveaway ends June 17th at 5 PM EST. If you have

questions drop me an email. I will announce the winner at 8 PM

that night...so check back. If I don't hear from the winner within

24 hours I'll have to choose another one...that would be sad.

ps. I am not in any way affiliated with Panera. I just really like their

food and wanted to share the love with my amazing followers!

a thankful moment

2011-06-12T21:50:00.005-04:00

Tonight I'm thankful for fireflies.

I'm thankful for mason jars and lazy

Sunday evenings.

I'm thankful for cowboy boots, messy hair

and pajama day.

And I'm thankful for the joy that

comes from late night firefly hunts.

thoughts about a boy and some bags

2011-06-07T08:48:00.003-04:00

Summer has officially begun....today. I'm so excited.

No schedules, no waking up early, no morning time

stress. It's gonna be an awesome 6 weeks (year round school).

This school year is going to be a tough one though. My Spencer

boy is starting kindergarten. With my 2 older girls I

wasn't sad to send them (horrible mom I know). But for some reason

I'm getting really sad about him going off to school.

He's been my little buddy. He's usually the one that loves me and

he gives the best "Spencer hugs"of all time. Here are some bags I

made for his preschool teachers.......

They liked Spencer hugs too!

Big pocket skirt Tutorial

2011-06-03T05:59:00.002-04:00

I've decided that I like skirts. They're perfect for

summer. So breezy and pretty. I need more. Here's one

that I made out of some cotton seersucker. Left overs

from baby boy's pants. Aww, match-y match-y! Cute.

Oh, and in case any of you were wondering, my legs are

so white because I'm wearing white stockings....ya, I only

wish I were wearing white stockings. They're just really that

mayo-ish. sigh-

What you'll need for this project:

1 - 2 yards of cute fabric

1/4 yard coordinating fabric (for the pocket lining)

1 -7" zipper

2 covered buttons

interfacing

The first thing you need to do is measure your waist where

you want the skirt to sit. I wanted mine up at my natural waist

line. Your skirt panels should be anywhere from one and a half

to two times your waist measurement. Then of course your waist

band should be 4 inches by whatever your waist plus one inch.

My pocket is eleven inches tall, 9-1/2 inches wide and the cut

out bit comes down 4 inches. (gosh, I hope I'm either making

sense or that you're having a nice nap!)

Turn pockets right side out.

for fun....and making me crazy...er

2011-06-02T22:38:00.003-04:00

It's really no big secret that I like to sew random unrelated things.

Bags, skirts, shoes, belts...random. I also have been sewing and

selling cloth diapers on Etsy. I guess I was feeling a little tied down.

You know not enough variety. So I've decided to take a bit of a

break and focus on a little something I like to call Amanda's Beans.

Carrot soup (you've gotta try this one!)

2011-06-01T14:02:00.001-04:00

While I'm not real big on pureed soup, I would likely drink
this one all day if I could. A friend of mine shared this recipe
with me a couple weeks ago....I'm so glad she did. I tweaked
it just a hair. Cause that's how I be. (insert super bad gangsta face)

Carrot soup

5 Tbsp. butter
2 lbs. carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 red onion chopped
* 4 strips orange sweet pepper (1 tweak)
salt and pepper
1 tsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. allspice
4 large green onions chopped (just the white parts)
**6 cups chicken broth (4 cups broth, 2 cups half and half 2 tweaks)
4 small potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 bay leaf
1 half lemon, squeezed

In a large pot melt butter over medium heat. Saute carrots, onion
and pepper. Add the next 8 ingredients. Stir for 4 minutes. Add broth,
potatoes, and bay leaf. Cover, lower heat, and simmer 25 minutes.
Removed from heat. Strain into a large bowl (you don't want to pour
all that good stuff in your sink...that would be bad). Place veggies in
a blender and puree. Pour puree back into the broth. Add half and half
to hot soup. Serve with hot butter rolls. Yum!

Bon appetit!!

It was a t-shirt...now it'll cover butts

2011-05-27T17:29:00.001-04:00

So, I found this brand new looking Geek Squad shirt

at Good Will awhile ago and I thought to myself, "that

belongs on a bottom!" I'm kicking myself for not buying

more....there were like 4 or 5. Darn.

Art folder

2011-05-26T05:27:00.001-04:00

There's always a birthday party. Always. And as often as I intend to

make little gifts to set aside for just such occasions I never do. Instead,

I cut, pin, scheme, stitch, rip, and stress an hour before party time.

Why do I do this you ask? Your guess is as good as mine.

Happy birthday Lily.

Strawberry pecan salad

2011-05-25T08:16:00.002-04:00

Don't you just love chick food?! Salads, croissants, soup, cheesecake,
good ol' chick food. Here's what I had for lunch yesterday.

The best part? No one else will eat it!! Cheers all around for food I love

that my family won't touch!You want a salad now, don't you? Good news,
I have a recipe. (sort of)

Dressing:

1 Cup olive oil or canola oil
1/3 cup pomegranate infused balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup onion chopped
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Combine all ingredients in a blender and whir it until the mixture is
smooth. Chill for at least an hour.

With the salad, you can be creative. Here's what's in mine:

romaine lettuce
strawberries
glazed pecans
sunflower seeds
feta cheese
crasins
grilled chicken

But really, you could do all sorts of tasty combinations. Be creative!!

a poet

2011-05-22T05:26:00.003-04:00

A momma's got to brag on her kids sometimes.

Stars

Twinkle at night gathering groups to see.

In the oceans, lakes, where they gather free.

A twinkle in your eye, free and bright.

Hundreds of stars grouping

Thousands and millions of groups.

-Evelyn Pendley

Everyone needs a smashed ruffle tote

2011-05-20T05:11:00.000-04:00

I'm officially a lover of bags. I love making, designing,

sporting and, stuffing them! My husband just rolls his

eyes now when he sees me donning a new bag...he also

usually mutters something about " this makes a million

and one" something sarcastic, semi true, and a little over

exaggerated. Lucky for him these bags are not for me.

I already made one for myself in yellow.....

that makes a million and two!

simply homemade

I've been thinking....

Vintage pattern love

A pleated table runner

Another Pinterest Menu

Project: "Wardrobe for miss M"

T-shirt gone cardigan

Dresses

Birthday boy

The best orange scones.....EVER

I don't think I was meant to eat Gogurt!

Mother Earth

A sad moment for the crafty lady

My Top 10 for 2011

My blogging hat is on the shelf! Merry Christmas people!

Cherry Shortbread

Old Fashioned Fudge and a story

Scrappy Christmas Bows

Guest Post: Charlie from Attempting Aloha

"topped with a bow" dress tutorial

Guest Post: Malinda from Dalhlhartlane

Guest Post: Rachel from Maybe Matilda

Bow Clutch tutorial

Shirred leg warmers topped with a bow

guest post: Rebecca from My Girlish Whims

Flow-y Bow-y Skirt tutorial

A simple fabric bow tutorial

"Top it With a Bow" Blog Event Kick off

reversible vest tutorial

A sneak peek at "Top it With a Bow" blog event

Gratitude

Cranberry Sauce and Thanksgiving musings

amazing pizza crust

Perfect Pizza Dough

From the book The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Introduction

Ingredients

Steps

Cabbages and Roses.....Winning!

Watch out pins!!

Scripture/book cover tutorial

Halloween fun

Pinterest. It's what's for dinner.

Watching crayons melt

School pictures

Crochet along and my cowls

alter

crochet

More house shoes

A trip and a bag

guacamole...my way!

bedroom schemes

Hooray for house shoes

A little corn for Sunday

It was a nice thought

a friendly surprise

Kettle corn....made in a kettle! (sort of)

Play Sword

It's all about presentation

A rainbow cake...I couldn't resist!

Story about a girl

We start 'em early

a twisty sort of thing

Just some stuff

Some scripture covers and random thoughts

Giveaway at Maybe Matilda

ruffly topped skirt

Dear Blog

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes

an award and some random facts about me

Here's what I've been up to

I made a fanny pack....you can laugh.

a bag and some clutches

a non post post

And the winner is.........

more bags....sheesh enough already!

Panera gift card giveaway!! **CLOSED**

a thankful moment

thoughts about a boy and some bags

Big pocket skirt Tutorial

Panera gift card giveaway!! CLOSED