Creativity runs in the family

    So just like me, my sister is a crafster as well. Her recent creation is a butterfly dress for her daughter, Charlotte. Her inspiration came from http://sewingin-nomansland.blogspot.com/2011/03/butterfly-dress-and-headband.html?m=1.
  
  You can do this any size you would like. What we found easiest since we didn't have a template was another dress and we just  fold in half. Then you would trace just like the website says. You should cut two pieces and then lay them inside out and sew all around except the bottom. Next you can hem the bottom of the dress.

     



 Once this is done put it aside so you can make your homemade bias tape. You can get the bias tape make at Joanna's for about 5 dollars. This site shows a detailed how-to on bias tapehttp://www.danamadeit.com/2008/07/technique-understanding-bias-and-making-bias-tape.html.

      Next use the tape on the sleeves and scrunch the neck. After that on the fold, cut out 2 butterfly sleeve and pin. Then scrunch up the butterfly sleeves. Finally pin bias tape all around the top and sew to top stitch. Tada you got yourself a cute little dress. :)
    You can make a slit in the back, hem and add buttons to make it easier to get out but we omitted this step.

Mornings in my growing garden

     It is now officially spring, a time for growth in nature in all shapes and forms. It actually reminds me of the Disney shorts, Silly Symphonies flowers and trees. When all of nature is waking up from it's long winter slumber and welcoming us with it's beautiful and scented song.

     Most morning's I wake up and the first thing I do is hug my cats and then go outside to water my little garden. At the moment it seem one of my plant's is doing the opposite of everything else in nature. My cyclamen is actually going to sleep so that in three months it will wake up and sing its own happy song. I also planted some sunflower seeds that I got from the Sunflower Market the other day. I'm hoping they will show their pretty faces in about two weeks. While I was doing all of this I notice some pesky little critters flying around my plants so I decided to pull out my homemade garden repellent. I got the recipe off of http://www.marthastewart.com/275371/dealing-with-pests-and-problems/@center/276996/vegetable-garden-guide. I made a few minor adjustments and I didn't keep mine in as long the first time I used it, which still worked out fine.

• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 tbsp. minced garlic
• 2 tbsp. cayenne pepper ( chipolte pepper works too.)
• 3 cups water

Place everything in a spraybottle and then put in a fridge for 30 mins. Keep up to a week with the chopped onions inside and then take them out. It will then keep for up to 3 weeks after that and leave in the fridge.

            When I was making breakfast this morning I noticed that my green onions were getting droopy so I remembered that you could stick them in water and they will grow. I put mine in soil so lets see which works better.

            I'm not a hardcore gardener yet but I'm sure it can do wonder's on your hands. I don't  mind though because I love to feel the earth between me fingers, but just in case you want your hands to return to their silky state here is the cure, http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/03/make-your-own-gardeners-hand-scrub.html.

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Shamrock Shake :)

          I found this wonderful recipe for how to make  a shamrock shake just like McD's on http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/952069/shamrock-shake-recipe. I made some minor adjustments considering I didn't have the 2 cups of ice cream like this recipe.

• 2 cups of ice
• 1 cup of powder milk
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tbsp. of sugar
• 1 tsp. peppermint
• whipped cream and green sprinkles

     Place all of these ingredients into a blender and blend to consistency of your liking. Place in a cup and garnish with whipped cream and sprinkles. It will make about 16 ounces.

            When I first made this I forgot to put sugar and it was very strong with the flavor of the peppermint. Feel free to adjust the sugar to your desired amount, but I thought two tbsp. would be a good starting point.

              Now just sit back and relax and enjoy the refreshing flavor mint! :)

Easter basket

Its that time of year again when Easter bunnies and cadbury eggs become the common scene in every store. So I thought it would be neat to make my own basket to hold those treats in. I had some old magazines lying around so I decided to make it out of that.

     First I rolled the sheets of magazine, which was about one and half magazines.

Then I used modge podge to paste about a hundred into a spiral for the bottom. I used a rubber band to hold it together so it can dry.

 Next with about 24 rolls weave them in and out of each other to make the outside of the basket. You will have two halfs that you will have to paste together.

I used a rubber band to dry this too. Finally paste two side by side and then and then another two. Glue these together to make your handle. Attach to the inside and tada you've got a basket.

Easter basket goodies

I like to think holidays give us a reason to celebrate and give back to others. Well as apart of my doing that I'm making goodies for my nieces Easter baskets. I've decided jello in the shape of a bunny would be nice and then a nice trinket of some sort. For my niece, Charlotte I made Dorothy and toto barrettes and for Madison, I made a soft version of groceries. I got my idea for the soft groceries from http://www.etsy.com/listing/61382585/grocery-market-bag-felt-play-food-set  and for the barrettes http://www.etsy.com/listing/91133793/dorothy-and-toto-inspired-hair-clip-from. Now these sites don't show you how to make them. You of course have to buy them, but it doesn't require to much for either one.
     For the barrettes you just need scissors, glue gun and 5 types of ribbon. I just looked at the picture and I cut to what I saw fit right.
      For the groceries you just need felt, thread, sewing machine, scissors, stuffing  and a needle. Again I cut the pieces to how I saw fit and then sewed them together like I would if I did a soft block, fill and slip stitch shut. If you want an idea here is a blog that shows how to do a cube http://www.sweetfigments.com/2009/02/tutorial-tuesday-soft-baby-cube-from.html?m=1. 
   I know these aren't typical Easter gifts,but I just could'nt resist and thought it would be great to be different. My next project is magazine baskets and a Easter candy filled vase with flowers on top. :)

Lastest kitchen creation

One of my favorite snacks is cheese sticks. I eat them so often that I thought I should learn how to make them myself.  Most of the recipes I come across use string cheese but I only had my shredded mozzarella cheese so I did my own version that way. I got my recipe inspiration from Skinny Taste.  Since I didn't have the cheese sticks I just mold the cheese into sticks and froze them like the recipe. I also only used panko crumbs, but the end result was delicious! :) 

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups of shredded or 1/2 in. thick all around sliced mozzarella or cheese of choice
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tbsp flour
• 5 tbsp Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 5 tbsp panko crumbs
• 2 tsp parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp dried parsley

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line a pan with parchment paper.

First start out by molding the cheese into the shape of what would have been the shape of string cheese. You can also just cut your cheese into the shape. Then you will place them into the freezer until frozen.

Now place three bowl out to place an egg in one, flour in another and remaining ingredients in the last.

Take out your cheese and start the conga line. Coat with flour first, shake shake shake the access off, coat with the egg and then crumb mixture. Repeat until all cheese is coated.

Place on a parchment lined pan and bake for 4-5 minutes on one side, flip and do 4-5 more minutes. Make sure they don't start to melt.

Serve with favorite sauce.


















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Redoing the inside of you house on a budget.

Now I know that I personally take care of my kitchen the most. To me it is the heart of the home and every meal I make has a story or has a life to bring to whomever consumes it. I'm not very good at decorating the rest of my house though, but I am slowly coming around to it. I think my to biggest discoveries at the moment are jars and uses of magazines. Jars can be reused for everything from preserves to a plants new home. Magazines on the other hand have made me realize that there is a whole new other dimension on that one. I just made a few month back a mirror with rolled magazine sheets around it. It really brought life to our one lifeless living room. I got the idea from http://bluevelvetchair.blogspot.com/2011/11/tutorial-recycled-magazines-as-mirror.html. I didn't use quite as many as she did and mine were fatter, but I love it anyway. Another great blog that has wonderful ideas is http://bluevelvetchair.blogspot.com/2011/11/tutorial-recycled-magazines-as-mirror.html. This is where I got the idea to make frames out of magazines. It might not be every ones cup of tea, but I liked them. 

        We needed to get curtains and afters pricing how much everything would be I decided to get some bamboo sticks from Michael's and then we used what would of been the part to hold back the curtain to hold the sticks. I think it came out ok. Then I used pipe cleaners to tie back the curtains and tacked them.

          The next things that I wanted to conquer was a coffee table. I saw this table that you could make out of pallets and I decided that was something I was going to do. This blog gave me the idea http://www.thewonderforest.com/2011/09/diy-rustic-pallet-coffee-table.html. I only used one pallet though, which still came out fine. The worst part about this project was taking the pallet apart, but when all said in done it was worth it.
           Our bedroom still needs alot of work and so does the bathroom, but all in good time I guess. One thing  that I managed to do though was make a simple headboard  above our bed so it wasn't just plain wall anymore.  This blog http://theberry.com/2011/11/04/daily-awww-love-is-all-around-40-photos/ shows theirs in frames, but I didn't do mine that way. I printed all the pictures and then pasted them into a heart.
        Another thing that is developing more then the rest of our apartment is the outside. I just bought a lemon tree and in February I bought a cyclamen so I could put it in my childhood chair. So far the cyclamen is surviving, but I wasn't a green thumb when I started this journey and didn't know the specifics of such a plant. I also love hummingbird feeders and thought it would be cool to make my own. I made it out of an old hot sauce bottle. It would probably be fine without the feeding tube because it had a little lid with a hole that doesn't allow much out, but to be on the safe side I bought one just in case. Another weakness of ours is wind chime's. Mostly because of  the story behind it that makes them so special.
        

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Getting ready for easter

Slowly I am discovering that I can make my own candy and well just about everything. So this year I am going to make my own easter candy. I'm slowly working up to the task and as I have learned from Valentine's Day, I need to give myself time and not do it all at once. One task that I have already gotten out of the way is the sanding sugar for my peeps. :) Who wants to pay $5 for a little amount when they can buy a bag of sugar, throw your favorite dye in, heat on 350 degrees for less then 5 minutes ( just to get rid of the moisture) and tada sanding sugar! Props to http://www.yesterdayontuesday.com/2011/06/make-your-own-sanding-sugar.html for figuring thing one out. Also I just bought some bakers twine, but I thought hey just for kicks what about doing that yourself too.  Well what do you know http://thefrugalcrafter.wordpress.com/2011/04/19/make-your-own-bakers-twine/ proved that its possible and for about $3.  I just ordered my easter bunny cookie cutter and easter mold on etsy.com.  My molds are from http://www.etsy.com/shop/KaiserVonVintage?ref=seller_info and my cookie cutter, boxes and twines are from http://www.etsy.com/shop/BakersBlingShop. I plan to make cadbury eggs, peeps, whoppers, jelly beans and chocolate bunnys. I'm going to get most of my help from http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/84272.