Barefoot Daydreams

Zuppa Toscana

2012-02-01T00:51:00.004-05:00

This is a copy of Olive Garden's soup. Yum!
(can't remember where I got it - sorry!)

Ingredients
1 lb Italian sausage
1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 large diced white onion
4 Tbsp bacon pieces
2 tsp garlic puree
10 c water
5 cubes chicken bouillon
1 c heavy cream
1 lb sliced Russet potatoes
1/4 of a bunch of kale

Directions:

Saute sausage and red pepper and drain off excess fat.

In the same pan, saute bacon, onions and garlic over low to medium heat for approx 15 minutes or until the onions are soft.

Heat boullion and water until boiling.

Add sliced potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.

Pour in heavy cream and cook until thoroughly heated.

Stir in sausage and kale, heat thoroughly and serve.

The red pepper can make it a bit hot, so use less if you don't want a lot of heat. I usually add quite a bit of kale because I like it and its the good-for-you part!

Thimbleanna posted a similar recipe the other day that has kielbasa instead of sausage and doesn't have the cream added. Sounds good to me as well - its on my to-try list. I'm all about soups right now, and I probably shouldn't be eating cream anyway, since I still need to lose weight and the baby doesn't much like my eating dairy yet.

Sorry that there's no photo - the little one is teething and he was tired and fussing when we made this the other night. I was too lazy to get a photo of it. My table isn't clean anyway. Ha!

Striped Pixie Hat In Use

2012-01-22T13:48:00.003-05:00

Hello again.

I still don't really have any time to get very much done outside the basics, but we're doing well. Little brother is sleeping wonderfully - love that kid! - and eating constantly. Big brother is a crazy little monkey and he makes lots of work for his Mama cleaning things up.

Work is a bugger from December through January, so I'm running behind on everything right now. Here's hoping that we'll sorta catch up soon.

The whole new year thing motivates me to get lots of things accomplished, and it's frustrating as all get out that I never seem to get any of them done. But I have big plans! I intend to clean/purge/organize this house from top to bottom. I doubt that will happen, but I guess we'll see how far I get. I also need to get reacquainted with my treadmill and finish getting rid of the baby weight.

But I thought I'd show you a few more pictures of my little monkey. Here's the little striped pixie hat that I showed you awhile back. I can't get big brother to cooperate for semi-posed photos for the life of me - he's two after all! - so here's little brother wearing his. These are from back when he was brand new, of course. He's grown a little bit since then!

I could eat him up! I'd forgotten just how much I love baby smells. The soft warm fuzzy head and yummy milk breath kill me.

New Arrival

2011-11-19T00:19:00.004-05:00

Yes, he's here.

I know its been a little while. Two months, to be exact. Its a little baffling how much time a new baby takes up. Add it to a house with a busy two-year-old, a part time job for me and sometimes crazy hours for The Man and mix in two dogs, and time gets away from you.

Kent Daniel was born on September 19th, one day after his due date. Thankfully, there was no on-again, off-again labor this time, and he was born just 8 hours after labor started. We had an even quicker delivery this time - just an hour and a half after arriving at the hospital. Good thing we live pretty close. He was 8 lbs, 2 oz and 22" long and he's perfect. I'm in love.

These days, I waiver between ignoring everything else and enjoying the ridiculous amount of time spent nursing him, and stressing out about my work not getting done and the house being a giant mess.

Big brother has been alternately adorable and incredibly aggravating. He's getting his two year molars and starting to be interested in potty training. He has gotten up at all hours of the night and rarely stays in bed the first time he's put in there. This is new. He's always been the perfect sleeper. Now he sleeps with a baby gate on his door, both to keep him in at night and to give me a little extra sleep in the morning. This is all temporary, I hope.

The little guy is only waking once a night to feed, so I can't complain. I feel like we're already through the rough start and we can move on. I cope so much better with enough sleep.

I don't imagine I'll be ambitious enough to get any quilting done anytime soon. I've really had the urge lately to make a ripple afghan of some sort (here, and here) although, I don't know why, or when I might have time. I also have a quilt that I've been hand quilting for ages. Maybe over Thanksgiving I can get some work done on it.

My latest obsession is photography, which is natural, I suppose, since I am at home with two little munchkins who are getting bigger every day. The Man told me I can get a new camera for my birthday/Christmas and I'm excited about that. I am hoping to buy the Canon EOS 60D. My Rebel has done well, but it is 5 years old and I'm excited to upgrade. I took a class from nicole's classes last January, so hopefully I've made improvements over the last year and can continue to improve. I've been shooting in manual since the class and I feel like I've gotten the hang of it. I really just need to practice, since shooting a really fast moving target (aka toddler) isn't easy!

So anyway, that's what is going on in my life right now. Perhaps I'll be back every now and then. We'll see.

More Washcloths

2011-09-17T13:18:00.002-04:00

Last night I finished up another stack of washcloths for this little one. He's still not made an appearance. I'm starting to feel like he never will, even though his due date isn't until tomorrow. In the meantime, I keep my hands busy making things.

Baby Wraps

2011-09-13T16:23:00.006-04:00

Instead of starting my post with a photo of a newborn baby, I should point out that this is not my baby or photograph. Ha ha!

Source: etsy.com via Barefoot on Pinterest

Found these wraps at the PropShop on Etsy recently and decided to try making them for this new little kiddo. It is super simple and I feel a little silly that I bought a pattern to make them, but whatever. It turned out just like the photo. They are so soft.

Since the stitch is so large, they don't really hold a shape, but as a wrap for a photo, that works just fine. You can tuck it in around them and it will stretch to fit as you need.

This first one is made from Moda Dea Dream yarn in Pecan. Its my favorite. Nice and neutral. It was done as crochet. Its really just that you need a very large hook. Nothing difficult. I found it hard to see my stitches though, since they were so large and the yarn is fuzzy.

The second one is Moda Dea dream in Leaf, I think. I did this one as knit. I had the super-large needles already, so I wanted to try it that way. It was easier to knit, since there's really no missing stitches when they're sitting on your needle.

I had to search around for the yarn a bit, because it seems to be discontinued. In fact, Moda Dea doesn't even exist anymore, does it? Its too bad, because its so lovely and soft.

Striped Pixie Hats

2011-09-10T14:15:00.004-04:00

I made these awhile ago from a pattern I got from Etsy. I don't have any pictures of them on, cause the Little Man doesn't leave hats on very long and of course, the other little man isn't here yet. But the idea was that perhaps I could get a photo of the two together wearing them. Wishing thinking, I'm sure.

But it was interesting to learn how to knit them. These two were knit on regular needles and sewed together. I don't like sewing knitted stuff up - mostly because I don't know that I'm doing it right. But since these hats won't get a lot of use, it will be fine. I just procrastinated on finishing them for a long time because I was too lazy to sew them shut. Sad, I know.

Anyway, I'm stockpiling a few ideas and trying to think how I'd like to photograph the little guy when he makes his appearance. I'd love to hire a photographer, but I don't think I can justify it. So I will try my hand at it myself. I've got a few other things made up, like this, although I'm not sure if I'll be brave enough to try it. I guess it depends on how big this baby is when he gets here! Ha!

Yet Another T-Shirt

2011-09-06T16:58:00.002-04:00

Found this black t-shirt in the clearance clothes at Target the other day and decided to grab one and make another shirt for the Little Man. The Man wears a lot of black and adding the dog to it made me think of him. Its a Belgian Malinois, in case you're wondering what kind of dog it is...it is rather abstract, isn't it?

2011-08-30T16:05:00.002-04:00

One of these days, I'm going to get it added to my side bar or something, but not today.

I am on pinterest now, if you have any interest in seeing my pins. I'm avoiding looking around too much, because of the time suck factor, and using it more as my personal inspiration board. There's so much fabulous stuff on there, though!

New Dresser for the Little Man

2011-08-27T15:37:00.005-04:00

We switched the Little Man to a toddler bed a few months ago, so that he could get used to it before his little brother arrives. It went very well, except that the little monkey who never gives up now has an entire room full of distraction that he can use to keep from taking a nap. Sometimes this means his room is a disaster twice a day. Oh well. He does great at night and he entertains himself fairly well during his "nap," so I will be happy with that. The Man keeps reminding me that I can't make him sleep, and he's right.

We also needed to get him a new dresser because we planned on keeping his original dresser together with the crib, since they match. We had a hard time finding anything that we liked, or rather, the right combination of price and quality.

So we bought a toddler bed that we liked from Amazon and went ahead and decided to go cheap and bought the Hemnes dresser from Ikea to go with it. Since they don't match anyway, I wanted to try painting it. I did it a few weeks ago, and it wasn't really very fun to maneuver around my big belly. It took a few hours per coat, since I painted the insides as well, and I put on 1 coat of primer and 2 coats of paint that I think was supposed to be self-priming.

I am really liking the paint color in his room. I wanted to use the London Fog (the gray I've been using in the bathrooms and on his little stool), but while it looks plenty dark enough on the walls of the bathrooms, its really pretty light on the stool. So I went a couple shades darker and used Plymouth Rock instead.

We'll see how well it really holds up to the little monkey over time. Its already got some chips here and there and the some has rubbed off on the drawers because, quite frankly, the drawers don't fit perfectly. I like the dresser overall, though. Hopefully he won't try climbing in the drawers, because they will never hold his weight!

Anyway, hooray for progress! I just feel like I need to move some stuff on his wall now, but we'll see. Probably won't get around to that. Baby number 2 is due in three weeks!

2011-08-24T20:48:00.003-04:00

Here's another freezer paper stenciled t-shirt that I made for the Little Man a while back. Its a stylized version of the Pittsburgh skyline found here.

Leftover Curtain Fabric

2011-08-19T15:51:00.004-04:00

And this is what I did with the leftover curtain fabric. The other print is Gotcha Gray also from Premier Prints and it is a twill. They have lots of other colors as well. . . wonder what I could possibly need them for?

Dutch sneaks in the picture for the sunshine.

Our couch pillows were looking really awful, but the inserts were feather and still nice, so I made some new pillow covers.

They definitely need to be removable and washable, but I hate how an envelope back pillow always seems to gape open in the back, so I decided to put in invisible zippers. I've never done that on a pillow before, and when I tried it on The Little Man's bean bag, it worked okay, but not perfectly.

This time I found several different YouTube videos to see how its done, because none were completely clear to me and I can never understand the product directions on traditional sewing supplies like zippers or patterns (is that just me? I consider myself intelligent and the sentences read like some other language altogether). Anyway, it worked and it was easy. They aren't quite invisible because I didn't buy the special Coats invisible zipper foot and just used the one that came with my machine, but they're darn near invisible. Good enough for me!

Porch Pillows

2011-08-17T16:49:00.007-04:00

We bought rockers for our front porch this summer, and I was feeling like we needed some pillows to go on them. I was sorta leaning towards buying the Sundial pillow from West Elm for out there, but decided against it, because it was just too much after paying for shipping. I'm pretty sure that these will be on the ground fairly often, as the front porch is an outdoor play area for the Little Man.

Sundial outdoor pillow in Papaya from West Elm

So, this is what I did with the fabric from the Little Man's old curtains. I made some pillows for my porch!

This is a much better use for that shower curtain fabric. I like it much better as pillows, and since its "recycled" fabric, let him throw them on the ground if he must!

Curtains for the Little Man

2011-08-05T16:45:00.008-04:00

I finally found the fabric that I wanted to make curtains for the Little Man's room. Yay! I believe that its been a year and a half since we moved him out of my office (his nursery) into his own bedroom.

I tried out some all white grommet top curtains at first, and they were just too plain and boring. Then I found a navy shower curtain with a printed ivory design on them that I thought might work if I cut them and reconfigured them into panels. You can see them in the bookshelf post. They ended up being to dark and too skimpy for my taste.

I was hoping for a chevron print that I could use, but I never could quite bring myself to buy the ones that I found. They have a nice blue or yellow or brown at Fabric.com, but I what I wanted was gray. Pale gray.

Well, then it occurred to me that those are all Premier Prints fabrics. So I searched for Premier Prints and found their website. I am such an idiot. How did I not know these existed? I've actually used several of their prints before when I made all those aprons for Christmas several years ago. Ta da! Their Zig Zag design comes in the perfect Ash/White print. (I'll save you the leg work if you happen to want this fabric and tell you that the cheapest place that I found it was here, btw.)

I ended up buying 8 yards of fabric, so that I would have some extra, because I love it. I was trying to figure out how to cut it the right length, so I ended up folding it in half and laying it out the length of my living room/dining room and just using a measuring tape. Of course, the Little Man decided not to nap that day, so I had to get him up while I still had the fabric laid out and was trying to double-check my calculations before cutting.

He put on his rain boots and his 8-ball bike helmet and was riding his trike up and down the fabric like it was a runner just for him. He was saying "Wheeee!" and going back and forth and stomping around in his rain boots. He was in rare form and totally cracking me up. I was laughing so hard and trying to capture him on video to show The Man. Its a wonder I even cut these things right.

So here they are . . .

I'd never made curtains, but I wanted to do it right, if I was going to spend so much money on fabric. I wanted fully-lined, professional-looking curtains. I found an excellent tutorial here. I bought drapery lining at JoAnns. I don't know much about linings, but it was heavy enough and soft and about middle-of-the-road price. I learned how to make a blind hem on You Tube. Awesome. They turned out perfect!

I am so happy with how these look in his room. They are perfect! I'm nearly finished with it now. I wish I knew of a better way to store all his stuff, but this is how it is. We've already swapped his crib for a toddler bed, and now we need to swap out a new dresser for his changing table/dresser. We've already got the dresser, and I painted it last week.

Now I just have to get my act together and get my office ready to be set up as the nursery again. I'm getting concerned that number two is coming sooner, rather than later, so I need to get things done. Seriously. I'm not ready.

Oh, and if you happen to like this fabric for curtains, but don't want to sew them - lookie here. Someone is selling custom panels on eBay.

Step Stool

2011-08-03T20:25:00.004-04:00

A few months ago, I saw vintage step stool plans posted on Ana White's blog and I decided that I was going to make one. Myself.

We have an old "rustic" stool that was The Man's when he was a kid, but its not very tall. The Little Man uses it all the time and drags it from counter to counter in our kitchen, depending on where the action is. I figured we will be needing more stools around this place and I would like something cute. You never see cute stools in the store.

I figured this one would do the trick and get him up a little bit higher.

I convinced The Man that I was really going to do it, so we bought some lumber. It cost more than I was hoping, but what I bought was enough for a stool and half, probably. I even convinced him to carry up his miter saw out to the back patio for me.

The first afternoon I attempted to use it, The Man was already gone for work and the Little Man was supposed to be napping. I couldn't even figure out how to unlatch the dumb saw. I sent him texts and he tried to explain it to me, but I couldn't find the latch for the life of me. I had to cover it back up and wait for him to show me how. Sad, I know.

The next afternoon, however, I got most of my cuts made and realized that some of the lumber is too wide for the miter saw. Oops. Had to wait for help again. We ended up cutting through one side and then the other with the miter saw, because we don't have a table saw. It worked.

The next afternoon I had free, I needed a jig saw to cut out the sides. I found the jig saw in the garage, but there was no blade in it. I texted The Man again and he told me where to find the blades. Found them, but I couldn't figure out how to get them in the saw. I even googled for the manual and couldn't find one online, so I had to wait for help again. Ridiculous.

Anyway, I got everything all cut out and The Man helped me figure out the screws and stuff that I needed and he showed me how to pre-drill the holes and screw it all together. Yay!

Anyway, this is turning into a ridiculously long explanation, but my point is that it was actually pretty simple to make. Obviously, I had no idea what I was doing, but I did manage to make it all by myself. Which means it is easy.

The paint color is Benjamin Moore London Fog (my new favorite gray/taupe color) that I used ages ago in our basement. I love the color, but it didn't occur to me that there would be little dirty footprints on it at all times. Oh well.. I was going to take different pictures of it, but why? This is exactly how the stool is going to be used and what it will look like in my kitchen.

Now I'm thinking I could use one that is maybe a tad wider for the sink in the bathroom. . . but with only 6 weeks to go before the second Little Man is due, when would I do that? At least this time, I know how to use the tools!

Second Babies

2011-07-28T12:38:00.004-04:00

So its true what they say about second children not getting the same attention. I'm already not paying the same amount of attention to this little guy. I'm working on it, however.

I wanted to make him a blanket of his own, but I can't find any different yarn that I like at JoAnns. I really should find a real yarn shop with nice yarn, but who has the time? I found this gray on clearance at JoAnns the other day, so I bought all they had and made him a quick blanket out of it.

I used the same seed stitch as for the washcloths and the same crochet hook as well (N). Hopefully it won't get all wonky-looking with a loose stitch, but I wanted it to be soft and drapey and honestly, it was not enough yarn. I needed a large stitch to make the blanket big enough. Its not quite as big as I would have liked, but it will be a good stroller-sized blanket and work well while he's little. And its nice and soft.

Now I need to make him some washcloths of his own! Soon . . .

Another T-Shirt

2011-07-26T00:33:00.003-04:00

I'm enjoying the whole freezer paper stencil thing. If I had any more good ideas for designs, I think I'd do more. I picked up this t-shirt and some red shorts for the Little Man at Once Upon a Child and decided to do a lifeguard shirt. It just seemed to go with the outfit. Since he is two, I added the "swim at your own risk" to be funny.

My little paleface looks good in red, I think. It seems to be his favorite color.

He got a new toddler bed recently so that we can use the crib for the new baby (the switch went very well, by the way - yay!) and we didn't want to make the switch at the last minute and let him feel like he gave up his crib for the new kiddo. Anyway, since he is now free to climb in and out of his bed at will, he's been getting in his dresser and emptying things out and spreading toys and diapers and clothes everywhere. It never fails, though, that he finds the two red shorts he has. If anything is pulled out of the dresser, it is a pair of red shorts. Sometimes he brings them back to bed with him. Why? Heck if I know . . . it must just be his favorite color. That's all I can figure.

Houndstooth Quilt

2011-07-22T16:36:00.005-04:00

I mentioned awhile ago that I had made a baby quilt for my sister for her baby shower in January. The shower was a bit last minute (my sister only makes it home twice a year), so I didn't have a whole lot of time to work with. I saw the houndstooth quilt on Vanessa Christenson's blog and decided to make one like that.

My sister went traditional in the nursery and its completely done up in pink and white, so I did the quilt in the same colors. I didn't buy the pattern, because I figured the block was easy enough to figure out on my own. It took me a little tweaking to figure out the size of the strips to cut to make the block size that I wanted, but I got it and it turned out nicely.

I was too tired to remember to take a picture of the quilt before I gave it to her. How lame is that? Pregnancy does that to me, I guess.

Here's a bad picture from the shower, though.

I can't locate any specific instructions for making the houndstooth block at the moment - I don't remember what blog it was that I got them from, but you could pick up V & Co's pattern if you don't want to figure it out yourself.

I also saw a post awhile back at Camille Roskelley's blog with a ruler that would make the block as well. I should find this ruler somewhere in case I ever want to make one again.

Catching Up {again}

2011-07-15T00:25:00.003-04:00

I know I said I was going to try to start posting again, but surprise surprise, it hasn't really happened! But I have a good excuse.

We are expecting again. Our second little boy is due in September. I'm sure you know how it goes...at first too tired to do anything, then too busy trying to do everything and then too tired to do much again.

I have been doing some things here and there, though. This is a project that I made for the Little Man for Christmas. Its his very own monogrammed bean bag. It turned out nicely, but it was more of bear to make than I expected, though.

I Googled for free bean bag patterns for awhile before I settled on one. I wish I could remember where I got it from, but I can't. Its been awhile. I just picked one that seemed as if it would be big enough. I made an inner bladder for it out of muslin so it could be washed and of course, this means that the outer cover needed a zipper.

I've never really understood zippers and I've only attempted it once or twice. I ended up buying a couple zippers before I finally got one that would be appropriate. I think it was a parka zipper or something ridiculous that I had to buy in order to get one that was long enough. I found a tutorial for a hidden zipper and it turned out well enough.

Then I picked out bean bag fill. I wanted to buy the tiny little beads so that it wouldn't smoosh down completely over time. Well, I can't say I recommend what I settled on. I bought the Poly-fil Micro beads. They're expensive, but I didn't figure it would take too many bags. We bought them at Joanns one bag at a time so that I could use coupons on them. And each time, I would carefully dump the bag in, make a HUGE mess, and realize that it wasn't going to be enough. Seriously. I can't remember for sure how many I bought, but it was waaaay too many. Six at least. They cleaned up easily enough, but they were everywhere.

I sewed up the muslin and the outer bag with a regular stitch and went over that with a zig zag stitch as well, hoping that would ensure that the bag would be leak-proof. I monogrammed Jack's name on it (that part turned out well - yay!) and stuffed the bag.

Well, the bag has been loved and enjoyed by both the little man and the dog since then. It of course, has needed to be washed by now. I took it apart in the basement, since it felt like there were stray beads inside. There were. Everywhere. There is about an inch long opening in the bladder. How? I have no idea. I tried to vacuum them out of the cover and then I gave up and put it in the washer. After the washer filled, I fished beads out by hand as best I could.

Its been sitting in my basement now for months while I get around to sewing it shut.

Long story short....I think I'd recommend plunking down the cash to buy a monogrammed bean bag elsewhere. Or don't use micro beads. Maybe shredded foam? This project was way too expensive and messy and aggravating. I did actually buy the pattern for a Rollie Pollie from Dana-made-it and perhaps sometime I'll try it again with another fill. Someday. When I recover from my annoyance at this one.

The Time In Between

2011-03-19T14:53:00.005-04:00

Life gets away from me, I guess. I'm not sure if I should just drop the blog altogether or start blogging about more of my personal life. It doesn't really matter either way, I suppose. I just have very little time to really create much any more. Oh well.

I do have something to show you. I've been itching to try freezer paper stenciling for awhile now. I bought freezer paper a year ago or more (ha!) and bought some plain t-shirts for the Little Man over the winter and I've never gotten around to doing it. No good reason why, other than I can't seem to settle on a design.

But I finally sat down and did it last week. I figured if I didn't do it now, he'd grow out of the shirts I bought! I started with a white & navy t-shirt that I found at Once Upon a Child for $1.50. Can't beat that. I bought some Jacquard textile paint at JoAnns (months ago), because I read somewhere that it was good paint. And here it is:

I think the design could be a little crisper. I wasn't sure how to long iron the freezer paper on, but I think perhaps it should have been a little longer than I did. It turned out pretty well though, and the navy paint is nice and dark. I haven't washed it yet, so hopefully it lasts as well. After it dried, I put the little H on the front. It was actually super easy and didn't take too long, either.

In case you don't know how to do it, here's the short version. Cut your freezer paper to 8 1/2 x 11" and tape the corners to a sheet of printer paper. Print your design on the paper side of the freezer paper. Take off the printer paper and cut out the stencil with a cutting mat and exacto knife. Iron the stencil to your shirt with the plastic side down. Make sure its on there well, but don't burn your shirt. Put something inside the shirt (I used cardboard) to keep the paint from seeping through and paint on the design. When the paint has dried, peel off the stencil and heat set the design with your iron. I turned the shirt inside out and put a cloth on top of it so that I wouldn't burn the shirt, because that is something that I would do. Voila!

I tried another shirt as well. This one has a more detailed design, but it worked perfectly. I found a black and white Superman logo online and added the type to the bottom. It takes awhile to cut out the tiny letters, but it wasn't bad. I ironed the stencil a little longer on this one and it is nice and crisp. I put this design on the back as well, because this shirt has a pocket on the front. I'd rather have had it on the front, so next time, I'd pick that pocket off and put the design on the front. Otherwise, its great. I have to go find some more shirts and designs to paint. This was rather fun!

Washcloths

2011-02-07T15:47:00.004-05:00

My little sister is expecting her first baby in May. We had a baby shower for her a couple weeks ago with rather little notice to prepare. I wanted to make something for her, so I started with these washcloths again (like I made for my little one). I used the Nature's Choice Organic Cotton yard again because I like the texture and softness of them and I think they look so nice brand new. They work up nice and quick and you can get 3 per skein of yarn.

I've used them now for more than a year and a half with my little guy and the only problem is that they don't look as nice as they do when they're brand new. They don't stay perfectly shaped and there is a little bit of pilling. I don't mind, though, because they are still quite a bit softer than any baby wash cloths that you normally see.

I did make her a quilt as well and failed to get a picture of it. How pathetic is that? It was rather rushed and I was just happy to have it done and completely forgot. I'll find one and show it to soon.

Knitting

2011-01-19T22:42:00.002-05:00

I decided a few months ago that I wanted to learn to knit for real. There's so many YouTube videos that you can watch to learn this sort of thing, there's really no excuse for not trying it anymore if you want to.

I've actually known how to cast on and do a knit stitch and bind off for ages. One of these days I'll do something that uses more than just that, but I decided to start with the classic simple scarf.

This is for the Little Man. Of course, he has no intentions of wearing it. I've tried to put it on him, but he doesn't even leave it on long enough for me to snap a picture of him. He likes to drape things around his neck, though, so perhaps if I leave it out where he can get at it, he'll eventually try it out.

I made it double length, thinking I could fold it in half and pull the ends through, making it harder for him to remove himself. Not so much. Clever little bugger. Oh well. I successfully made a scarf. Except that the edges aren't so neat. I'm not sure what to do about that. Should google it. There must be something out there to help, right?

I also picked up this book. Perhaps I'll try something from here next.

Bookshelf for The Little Man's Room

2011-01-10T22:55:00.006-05:00

I'm going to just jump right in and start all over again here. I don't know that I really have time for blogging, but who does, right?

So I'm trying to think of things that I've done in the past year that I could post about. Funny thing is, there probably aren't many.

But if you happen to remember waaaay back last year when I posted about a bookshelf under a window that I saw in Cottage Living (I think), well, here's the update.

I did get The Man to build them for me. I happened to find Ana White's site not long after I saw that picture. She posted plans for a very similar shelf, so we modified it a bit, but its basically the same thing.

What are we doing, Dad?

Hey, its just my size!

The Little Man has loved his bookshelf, so it was well-worth putting up. He has easy access to his books - he can see most of them and can reach them all. Being the control freak that I am, I put them all back in the same place and he knows where to find the one he wants. Ha! I have since added a couple big storage baskets underneath the shelf for his toys, so it works out well in such a small room. Unfortunately, there's still too many toys in the room, but what can ya do?

It's based on Pottery Barn's Collector's Shelves, so if you don't have the inclination to build yourself one, you could buy these. They're pretty cheap to make, though.

**if you're anything like me, Ana White's site can be a huge time suck! You were warned!

CraigsEasy

2010-12-28T15:31:00.003-05:00

I recently found CraigsEasy through Three Men and a Lady (BTW, you should check out her house photos) and thought this was too good not to share (unless you live in Pittsburgh, in which case, you should forget I said anything and leave the good stuff to me!)

How much do you hate having to click in and out of every listing that sounds interesting at Craigslist? Its a giant time suck. There are some hidden gems in there, but it takes awhile to find them and I don't always have the time for that.

CraigsEasy changes that. You drag their button to your toolbar and then when you run a search at Craiglist, just click on the button and Voila! It creates a page with all the photos from those listings. Hallelujah! This takes the time sink that is Craigslist and makes it disappear. I love this!

Tumblr

2010-11-02T00:16:00.002-04:00

One of these days, I'll be back or at least in here every now and then. I did start posting a bit on Tumblr. My intention is to use it as a place to post photos or links to things that inspire me or are just on my mind, so you can check that out if you're interested.

I Just Found The Cutest Thing

2010-02-03T11:44:00.004-05:00

I wish I had found them before the Little Man was born. Month stickers for onesies. They are transparent, so they look like they are on the shirt...CUTE!

image from pickysticky etsy shop

I have a friend who is due in a few weeks. Perhaps I'll get them for her, since its a bit late for me at least this time around. Is it weird to buy this now for a future baby??

They also have belly stickers for pregnant moms.

{few things I never get around to posting}

2010-01-17T23:01:00.002-05:00

Really like this doily table runner idea here.

Discovered that I really want to make a pair of baby booties like these (see white on white!)

Intrigued by the idea of making something like this, if only for the excuse to make something.

Want this somewhere in my house, but can't really justify the price to myself.

Would like to put this in the downstairs bathroom, but again with the pesky high price.

Okay, I think that's it for now. I'm waaaaaaaaay behind on everything single thing just now, so this will have to do.

Out!

Another Apron

2010-01-12T00:13:00.003-05:00

I only made one gift for Christmas. It was for my sister-in-law, since I didn't make one for her back when I made all the other aprons several years ago.

I had a heck of a time with the monogramming. The thread kept breaking on me and I couldn't figure out why. Perhaps it was just the thread, but it was making me very angry. I suppose that's why I don't use the machine more often. I always seem to be having some problem or another with using it.

But I do like the apron and the potholders were quick and easy. I didn't bother to hand stitch the binding on this time. I don't know why I did it before, other than it seems like the proper way to go. But these are not quilts, so I don't think its necessary. And sewing heavy-weight fabric like that is hard on your fingers!

New Garage Door

2010-01-02T13:20:00.002-05:00

So here it is. Our new garage door. We ordered this waaaaay back in October and it didn't get installed until the end of the year. I guess we weren't the only ones wanting new garage doors.

I do like it, though. Its much quieter than the old door and looks better. The old door was wooden and had many coats of paint on it and someone very sloppily painted the trim. We got a little bit wider trim to cover that up. It should give us better insulation as well. Yay!

And More Animals

2010-01-02T13:14:00.005-05:00

I've been hard at work making more animals. I may be slightly obsessed. The Little Man isn't too terribly interested in stuffed animals right now, but perhaps he'll like them better later. I'm enjoying myself, anyway.

I like the giraffe best, so far. Isn't he cute?

The monkey is cute too, although his face didn't quite turn out the way I wanted.
The giraffe and monkey patterns were from Roxycraft.

Turtle is quick and easy.

And the oversize duckling is meant to be felted, but I didn't bother.

Busy, Busy

2009-12-23T17:22:00.003-05:00

Things are hopping around here right now! Wahoo! We finally got someone in here to rebuild our basement bathroom. Yes, that was April that I mentioned it. It took us up until about 2 weeks ago to get anywhere on it. I'll show ya that later. Its not finished yet.

We also have a new garage door coming on Monday. We ordered that over 2 months ago and what should have been 2 weeks turned into 10ish? Apparently we weren't the only ones looking for a new door right now. Figures!

BUT . . . I did find a bit of time to be crafty lately. I have been working on the little crochet animals in the evenings, but I managed to make a quilt top. Yay! It was super easy and came together quickly. Wonder how long it will take me to get it quilted??

It is my version of a quilt that is included in the Amy Butler software. I didn't quite get the colors I was going for, but it will do. I would have liked the gray a bit darker and the yellow a little more subtle. Oh well. I guess that's what happens when you buy fabrics online.

I do like it, though. It is intended for the Little Man. If I ever do finish it. Wish me luck!

Jellycat Plush

2009-12-17T16:39:00.004-05:00

I found these stuffed animals from Jellycat awhile ago and contemplated getting something for the Little Man. Aren't they cute? These are the bashful animals.

I find myself torn between wanting to buy him everything and wanting my house less cluttered. What?! Those don't go together?? It is Christmas, though...

KitchenAid Pasta Press

2009-12-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

photos from Williams Sonoma

Did you happen to see this KitchenAid Pasta Press on Martha? I soo need one. Or maybe not at that price. But I want one. It looked so easy and the packaging they did for the pasta was cute.

More Amigurumi

2009-12-13T23:32:00.004-05:00

I worked on more of these little animals over Thanksgiving and I finished several little ones.

The bear needs a bow or something, doesn't he?

This is Dutch in amigurumi form. Sorta.

The penguin is my favorite. He's silly looking, but cute.

I really need to hurry up if I'm going to get any more made for Christmas, don't I? I've gotten sidetracked with other things just lately. I'll hopefully get around to showing you what those things are soon!

Outdoor Lights

2009-11-30T18:08:00.005-05:00

I know this will be super-fascinating, but I was excited that we finally bought outdoor lights. The old ones needed to be replaced badly, but I was looking for something in brushed nickel that I liked and never did find anything, at least in my price range. So I finally gave up and we bought these instead. We've ordered a new garage door and I figure that they will match any hardware that we put on that. So yay! One small thing checked off my list.

Before

After - does anyone else think it seems weird to have a single light up there like that?
I'd rather put up one on each side, but oh well. There are house numbers underneath it,
so that helps a little, but still. It feels a little strange to me.

Front porch before - chipped paint on the railing and all!

After - whoops! Forgot to take an after for the front door and a before for the side. Whatever. They're the same light. I finally got The Man to finish painting the railings for me.
Looks much better.

After - side door light.

There's so much more to be done, but those old lights were really bugging me! One thing at a time........

Amigurumi Elephant

2009-11-22T13:55:00.005-05:00

Have you ever tried amigurumi? I've thought about it, but I always assumed it would be more complicated than it looks or would be too time-consuming. I decided to give it a go the other night, and make some little animals for the Little Man.

It wasn't hard at all. The hardest part is sewing all those little pieces on. That hurt my fingers, but I didn't have the right needle and it was a giant pain in the butt trying to get it threaded with the yarn.

Isn't this little elephant adorable? I hope he likes him! Now I have to decide whether or not to save him for Christmas... I realize the Little Man won't remember either way, but I should give him something for Christmas, don't you think?

I'm envisioning a little galvanized bucket filled with amigurumi animals, handmade by his Mama for his first Christmas. Perhaps I will do that. Now I need to make a run to grab some more appropriate colored yarn for these animals. I actually picked the elephant because I had gray on hand.

Patterns are from Lion Brand....elephant here and lots more here.

Measuring Spoons

2009-11-20T21:01:00.005-05:00

I saw these Measuring spoons from Anthropologie as a Christmas gift idea in the December issue of Country Living, I believe. I think perhaps I need these!

{Behind}

2009-11-20T18:06:00.003-05:00

Is it sad that I've discovered some cute pictures of the Little Man that I don't remember taking?? I'm running about a month behind in editing my pictures and I found some last night that I'd forgotten about. Ack. That's what I get for taking so many, huh?

I guess I'll get to them all eventually . . . Too many is better than too few!

Child's Bookshelf

2009-11-13T19:39:00.004-05:00

I have been going through my Cottage Living magazines recently, looking for something that I think I remember seeing in there and not finding it. I am starting to think perhaps that it is in another magazine. Ugh. This is going to take me awhile to find, I'm afraid. In the meantime, I've been copying recipes and other things that catch my eye, since I have a terrible habit of putting down magazines and forgetting altogether the things in them that I liked.

Anyway. I found this in one of the issues. Unfortunately, I've already forgotten which one, and I'm not going to look it up to find out but I scanned it in to save it for when we start putting together the Little Man's room.

The Little Man is currently set up in my office and as much as I like that, I think its a bad idea. At least for long-term. I am not getting as much work done as I would like and I think after the beginning of the year, he's going to move into the spare room so I can get some work done while he's asleep.

I think this is simple enough that perhaps I can persuade The Man to replicate for me. I like the idea of having a little bookshelf that the Little Man can reach. We'll have to see - its a little room!

Single Serving Pie in a Jar

2009-11-11T19:54:00.002-05:00

What a cute idea! I am now craving little strawberry rhubarb pies with a crumb topping.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

2009-11-05T20:05:00.006-05:00

I just finished watching the first season of HBO's "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Its based on a series of books by Alexander McCall Smith. I discovered his books a couple years ago and have read them all as they've come out (there are several ongoing series) and have enjoyed them. They're light and funny.

It was interesting to see the book as a show and The Man and I both enjoyed it. It was taped entirely on location in Botswana and the scenery is beautiful and even the credits and colors of the whole thing were bright and beautiful. I'm not sure what I expected Botswana to look like, but it was interesting to see the actual place after having read the books.

Check it out. Its available from Netflix. You should really also check out his books as well. Our library has most of them available as e-audiobooks, so I imagine that other libraries do as well.

A Long Walk in the Woods

2009-10-20T20:39:00.003-04:00

A couple weeks ago, my husband and I decided to take a short little trip that was supposed to be a nice hike through a wetlands area and end up at a waterfall. It was something that we had read about in Pursuits magazine (a magazine about Pennsylvania designed to get you to visit PA) and since it was near the outlets in Grove City as well, we thought we'd go up, take a nice walk, take some pictures and hit the outlets before heading home.

I'm not sure what's wrong with us, but we didn't read the article as closely as we should have, apparently. We knew it was about 3 miles back to the falls, but it seemed to take forever and for some reason, I was thinking a 3 mile loop. The wetlands, while interesting, were not an hour's worth of interesting. We saw lots of redwinged blackbirds and one crane.

The Little Man behaved wonderfully. He doesn't mind just looking around at everything usually. Dutch gave up after awhile and insisted on being carried. We walked and walked and wondered where in the world the waterfall was. Finally, we came to the main road. Where was the waterfall? Did we miss it?

I got a little bit of cell reception, so I called Mom & Dad and asked them to read the article to me again. Turns out it was just down the main road a little ways and behind an antique shop. The walk through the wetlands was completely unnecessary and most definitely not a loop. We had, however, parked our car back at the other end of this loooooong trail and it was getting dark, so we turned around and made the hour long walk back to the car.

By then, of course, it was time to feed the Little Man again so we gave up on the waterfall altogether. I was tired of walking and lugging around the camera and the dog and The Man had carried the Little Man the whole way. We were both starving. So we popped in to the outlets long enough to look at Carters and decide that the clothes were entirely too expensive for such a little person and we got fast food for dinner.

Moral of the story is read the entire article closely. Next time, at least, we know where the dumb waterfall is and we won't have to walk through the boring wetlands to get to it. At least the weather was nice and the trail was pretty.

Decoys

2009-10-15T13:42:00.004-04:00

Occasionally, we have some visitors to our backyard that I like to snap pics of and send to my Dad, because they get lots of turkeys at their house and he enjoys them. I like to remind him that we even get them in the big city. Dad always teases that mine are just decoys.

So these are my decoys wandering around the back yard and finding things to eat. I don't mind these visitors. They don't eat my flowers like the other visitors tend to.

Oh, Good Grief.

2009-10-14T06:00:00.002-04:00

I need these.

image from Victoria Trading Company

spotted at Bakerella

New Hat

2009-10-13T12:56:00.005-04:00

I made a hat for the Little Man this week from this pattern that I tried for myself awhile back. It took me several tries to get it right. I had to undo it and add more rows and use a bigger hook than called for to fit him. I crochet rather tight and maybe he has a big head. I don't know. But it fits and its done and since it doesn't take too long to make, I didn't mind too much. I think it looks much better on him than mine does on me! Perhaps its the lack of hair.

Soup for Fall

2009-10-10T16:28:00.004-04:00

I found this recipe for butternut squash soup last fall when Mom gave me some squash and I had no idea what to do with it. The soup smells heavenly while cooking - onions & garlic and then cinnamon, ginger, cloves and cayenne pepper. Mmm. Its a bit sweet, but it has a nice bite to it. I'd consider it more of an appetizer or side rather than main course, but its nice and even The Man likes it.

I didn't take a picture because I didn't have a chance, and well, its orange soup. Use your imagination.

Creamy Butternut Squash with Cinnamon Soup

INGREDIENTS

* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 1/2 pounds peeled and seeded butternut squash , cut into 1-inch chunks
* 1 large onion, cut into large dice
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 1 pinch sugar
* 3 large garlic cloves, thickly sliced
* 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 3 cups chicken broth, homemade or from a carton or can
* 1 1/2 cups half-and-half (or whole milk)
* Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Garnish: store-bought apple chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large, deep saute pan until shimmering.

2. Add butternut squash, then onion; saute, stirring very little at first, then more frequently, until squash start to turn golden brown, 7 to 8 minutes.

3. Reduce heat to low and add butter, sugar and garlic; continue cooking until all vegetables are a rich spotty caramel color, about 10 minutes longer.

4. Add cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and cayenne pepper; continue to saute until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute longer.

5. Add broth; bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, until squash is tender, about 10 minutes.

6. Using an immersion blender or traditional blender, puree until very smooth, 30 seconds to 1 minute. (If using a traditional blender, vent it either by removing the lid's pop-out center or by lifting one edge of the lid. Drape the blender canister with a kitchen towel. To 'clean' the canister, pour in a little half-and-half, blend briefly, then add to the soup.)

7. Return to pan (or a soup pot); add enough half-and-half so the mixture is souplike, yet thick enough to float garnish. Taste, and add salt and pepper if needed. Heat through, ladle into bowls, garnish and serve.

Original recipe located here.

Mobile Modifications

2009-10-09T06:00:00.001-04:00

I've been wanting to do something else to the little man's mobile for awhile now, but couldn't quite decide what. I tried just punching out circles and hanging them in there, but it wasn't doing it for me. Then I remembered Martha's bird mobile. Perfect.

I printed out the template and cut one out of black cardstock. I liked it, so I made more. You can get 8 out of one sheet of paper and it doesn't take very long. My kind of crafting, these days . . .

I made the birds last night after he went to sleep and hung them up this afternoon. I think I like it! Unless you consider that the black birds are slightly creepy, but I still like it. You could always do it in patterned paper or other colors or shapes, for that matter, I suppose. Come to think of it, robin's egg blue might be even better.

For now, anyway, it satisfies me. Its nice and simple.

Crochet Slippers

2009-10-08T06:00:00.000-04:00

photo belongs to Lisa van Klaveren

Found these via the Etsy shop of Lisa van Klaveren of Holland Designs. Its a free pattern of hers at Petite Purls for crochet ballet slipper flats They look cute. I'm tempted to try them - too bad I don't have any little girls! Maybe I will anyway just for the heck of it.

I Actually Sewed Something

2009-10-07T06:00:00.000-04:00

I am full of big ideas. I think its because I've managed to surround myself with inspiration from all the blogs, magazines, catalogs, and TV that are full of things that I just have to have or make. The problem is, I never get enough time or focus or whatever to do the things that I would like to.

Part of it is because I am cheap. Part of it is because the Man and I sometimes can't make a decision to save our lives. Part of it is because there are too many ideas, too little time. Whatever it is, its ridiculous and frustrating. I've got to adjust my expectations down to realistic levels and learn to be content with whatever it is that I can do with what I've got. And try to focus.

So that's where I'm at. My house is a mess, there are projects started and not finished. There are improvements that should be made to our house. But we'll get there. Right now, I am trying to just enjoy a certain little man who smiles and laughs and thinks its hilarious if I squeal back when he squeals. I am crazy about the little monkey.

But anyway. I did sew something the other day. I saw this bedskirt at Pottery Barn and I wanted it. I figured I could just add buttons to my bedskirt and get the same thing. It would make those pleats lay nicer.

I couldn't find any fabric-covered buttons, so I just bought these shell buttons cause I thought they were prettier, anyway. I took it off the bed and measured 3" down the pleat and sewed them on. I wrestled the thing back on the bed and then it occurred to me. You'll never see them! The duvet is much too long for that. Suck. Now what? I don't know. I'm still mulling that one over.

Pics on the Wall

2009-10-05T00:14:00.003-04:00

Its amazing! I finally hung some pictures on the wall! Okay, there are a few hung up in my house, but precious few. The Man likes to give me a hard time about all the pictures that I have sitting around that are never hung up. My official reason is that I'm waiting until we get our "real" furniture so that I know for sure where I want to hang them. Nevermind that we may not actually buy furniture anytime soon.

So Mom had the idea awhile back that I should frame our feet pictures and hang them above our bed. I actually thought that was a good idea and so I tried to get the pictures printed at Costco. I found frames first so that I could make sure I had the right size. It can be hard to find square frames. I picked these up at Ikea. BTW, did you know that Costco now prints 8x8 and 12x12's? That's cool. That will be nice for scrapbooking. If I ever get around to doing anyway. I have plans. Big plans.

Anyway. So I submitted my pictures to Costco online and got a phone call the next day to let me know that they couldn't print them. She wasn't sure why, but perhaps they were not high enough resolution. The computer was just kicking them out. Okie doke. I made them bigger and resubmitted them. At least they called. I was surprised at that. Then I went in to pick them up. They were kicked out again and they couldn't tell me why. I knew that they were plenty big enough that time.

They gave me a phone number for technical support. I e-mailed customer service online and for some reason, they just resubmitted my order again. Same one. So I stopped in again. No. Still didn't print. ARGH! This time, I decided to try to make them smaller. Good grief, it worked. Who knew? They don't tell you anywhere that there is a maximum size that they can be. The whole thing was just ridiculous. But anyway. I got them. After something like a month.........

I'm not quite sure that I love them there above the bed. Perhaps its just the bed frame that doesn't look right with it. But whatever. I have pictures hung. And that's a good thing.

Pumpkin Hats

2009-10-03T20:18:00.002-04:00

I always thought those pumpkin hats were quite goofy, but then I saw this. . .

Oh good grief. Might want a pumpkin hat for Jack. I need a photo like that.

Big Bad Wolf

2009-09-29T16:51:00.003-04:00

by DownUnderDogDesigns via Etsy

Need a big bad wolf costume for your dog?? Awesome.

SWAK Embroidery

2009-09-15T16:01:00.003-04:00

I found SWAK Embroidery a little while back and really wanted to do some more embroidery. Check out the monkey. Wouldn't that be cute? There's one for applique and one that is completely embroidered. Of course, there are other animals as well.

Also found this cute polka dot alphabet.

And applique alphabets.

And an argyle font frame.

Also found instructions for embroidering on a baby onesie. I was wondering how you would do that.

Anyway, it gave me the "bug", but unfortunately, I don't have time to mess with that stuff right now. I really have other things to focus on around here, such as my messy house, but I'm filing this away for later.

Monkey Quilt

2009-09-12T17:40:00.002-04:00

Still not accomplishing much creatively since my little monkey takes up all of my time, but I borrowed this book from the library the other day to check it out. There was a cute monkey quilt by Laurraine Yuyama of Patchwork Pottery. I have filed that away for future reference. Perhaps a monkey quilt of some sort is in Jack's future. Someday. Check out the pictures on Flickr.

Fern Animals

2009-08-29T17:25:00.005-04:00

Found this little bird awhile ago and loved it. Seriously, how stinkin cute. I need one for my window ledge. Check them out on Etsy and Big Cartel. More photos of her adorable birds here.

Jack and His Pal

2009-08-27T15:47:00.002-04:00

My boys . . . hard to work with the little stinkers looking so cute.

Another Yo Yo Quilt

2009-08-21T18:03:00.004-04:00

Can you believe it? Me either. I'm starting another yo yo quilt. I'm quite sure it won't be all that big, but I haven't decided yet how big it will be. This one will be for Jack and I decided to make it more colorful. I've even got orange in it. That's a new one for me. I'm not quite done picking fabrics yet. I think perhaps it needs a couple more. Maybe gray? I'm not sure the white fits in there either, but I'm still mulling it over.

I don't know when I'll ever manage to get it finished, but I just had the itch and figured that it was something involved a lot of hand sewing, which I can do at night after Jack has gone to bed. So we'll see if it ever gets done!

Fin + Roe

2009-08-15T16:02:00.005-04:00

Found Fin + Roe a couple weeks ago on another blog (of course, I've forgotten which one. What else is new?) and decided to order a few magnets as a late birth announcement of sorts. Or just because I liked them. Take your pick.

They were super fast with the order. I got the proof that evening just a few hours after I ordered. I ordered on Tuesday night and they arrived on Friday. How's that for quick? And the packaging was cute. I'm a sucker for packaging.

Happy 2nd Birthday To My Little Friend

2009-08-09T15:54:00.003-04:00

No cake this year, but we love him just the same. Extra Pupperoni instead.

Sheesh, I Am a Mom

2009-08-05T17:24:00.004-04:00

Today is Wednesday. It is The Man's day off, and we run our errands together on Wednesdays. We do pretty much everything that we need to do on these days to save making multiple trips. We're not big shoppers, so sometimes it can be a long day for us, but we enjoy doing it together.

Now that we have Jack, our afternoons have become a little more complicated, but he's not too bad. I usually end up feeding him at some point, since the timing makes it rather unavoidable.

Today, I put him in cute little shorts and shirt and just after he started eating, he pooped ALL over me. It was one of those ones that shoots up the back, rather than down, and it was really wet. It went up and down my thigh and into the seat. Needless to say, this cut our day short, since I didn't bring myself a second change of clothes. Who knew you'd need one?? His shirt was completely clean and there was only a tad bit on his shorts, probably from what was on my thigh. I had a couple things for him to wear, of course. Figures.

Agh. I love the little guy anyway. How could I not?

We'll try again tomorrow, I guess.

Bobo Intriguing Objects

2009-08-04T16:40:00.004-04:00

Found Bobo Intriguing Objects recently . . . can't remember whose blog mentioned it now, but they do have some interesting stuff.

Driftwood Chandelier

Brugge planter

Pigeon basket coffee table

Industrial counter

Brickmaker coffee table

Alexandre table

Architect coffee table

I could use a few interesting objects in our house.

Small Cake

2009-08-03T17:27:00.004-04:00

I recently bought some small, but deep cake pans because I have some sort of fascination with wanting to make tall layered cakes. I can hardly make large cakes with more layers (too much cake tempting me), so I bought these cake pans. They are 6" pans that are 3" deep.

Our anniversary was, well, last month (I'm way behind on things) and that gave me an excuse to make a cake. I made the fabulous chocolate cake and frosting that I used for The Man's birthday.

I am in love with the frosting. Not too sweet and its perfectly light smooth. Ack. I'd make the frosting just to eat it with a spoon. The cakes are the perfect size to sit on my littlest cake stands. Cute. The Man helped me frost it, since I've still got trouble having both hands available for very long. . .

HERSHEY'S "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. 10 to 12 servings.

Old Fashioned Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients

Makes about 3 cups

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
2/3 cup sour cream

Directions

Sift sugar, cocoa powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.
Put butter and cream cheese into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high until fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add sugar mixture. Mix in chocolate and sour cream. Use immediately.

Pasta with Goat Cheese and Roasted Asparagus

2009-07-14T21:29:00.002-04:00

photo from Martha Stewart.com

Tried this recently and discovered goat cheese. I had never had it before and I think its really good. Its got a nice tang to it. The roasted asparagus is really good too; I was eating it with my fingers before putting it in the pasta. I think it has more flavor than steaming it. Try it.

Ingredients

Serves 4

2 bunches asparagus (2 pounds total), tough ends removed
4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
12 ounces cavatappi or other short pasta
1 small log soft goat cheese (5 ounces), crumbled
2 to 3 tablespoons snipped fresh chives, for garnish

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for pasta. Place asparagus on a large rimmed baking sheet; dot with 1 tablespoon butter, and season with salt and pepper. Roast until tender, tossing occasionally, 10 to 15 minutes; cut into 2-inch lengths.
While asparagus is roasting, generously salt boiling water. Add pasta, and cook until al dente, according to package instructions. Set aside 1 1/2 cups pasta water; drain pasta and return to pot.
In a medium bowl, combine goat cheese, remaining 3 tablespoons butter, and 1/2 cup pasta water. Season with salt and pepper, and whisk until smooth. Add goat-cheese mixture and asparagus to pasta; toss to combine, adding more pasta water if necessary for sauce to coat pasta. Serve pasta garnished with chives.

Original Recipe from Everyday Food here.

Crocheted Stash Basket

2009-07-11T06:00:00.000-04:00

With instructions at Purl Bee

More Little Girl Dresses

2009-07-09T11:23:00.002-04:00

Seen via With This Ring . . .

I love how simple and beautiful these dresses are from Whitten Grey.

Plumb - Me

2009-07-05T22:40:00.002-04:00

This whole album is good, but this one is my favorite right now.

African Violet Pincushions

2009-06-30T21:29:00.002-04:00

How to make an African Violet Pincushion tutorial here.

Iron On Onesies

2009-06-28T15:01:00.002-04:00

Seen via Decor8......

Animal iron-on onesies at Cookie Mag using fusible web & animal font from Da Font.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T18:21:00.004-04:00

To my one and only

from the two of us.

Great Idea

2009-06-17T16:28:00.002-04:00

I saw this over at Making It Lovely and I think its a great idea for taking photos of your baby every month. She used felt and ribbon with an interchangeable button center and will use to pin on her baby's shirt and take a picture of her each month in the same chair to see how she grows.

image from Making It Lovely

Sheesh. Jack is going to be 4 weeks old on Sunday. I need to get my butt in gear and see what I can come up with to use for him.

Second Airplane

2009-06-12T06:00:00.001-04:00

We went back into Marshall's a little while ago and The Man decided that we did, indeed, need the second airplane for Jack's room. I'm not alone in my justifications. I have a partner!

Mobile

2009-06-10T06:00:00.002-04:00

I found a mobile at Ikea awhile ago and I bought it, since it was cheap and white. It is super long, but I figured I could restring it and make it short enough.I did restring it yesterday. I'm not quite sure that its short enough yet. I haven't decided yet what to do with it. Hang it anyway? I'd hate to put the hole in the ceiling and change my mind. Still thinking it over.

Fun Things for Jack's Room

2009-06-08T19:50:00.002-04:00

Found these via someone else's blog (can't remember who. . .) and thought they would be something fun to frame up and hang in Jack's room. Whenever he gets a room. You know, the whole its-for-the-baby excuse again.

Obsolete meters and gauges by porkchopshow

Wooden Gears by porkchopshow

Wooden Skeleton Keys by porkchopshow

Still. I think it will be cute if I ever get around to framing them. I am starting to wonder how much I will ever accomplish around here from here on out.

Available at Porkchopshow on Etsy.

New Arrival

2009-05-30T08:01:00.003-04:00

After a 3 day on-again, off-again labor, Jack Douglas was born at 2:21 AM (just a little over 2 hours after we arrived at the hospital) on Sunday morning. We surprised the nurses, doctors and ourselves by being so quick. He was 7 lbs, 14 oz and 19 1/2" long. He's perfect!

Crib Set

2009-05-20T07:51:00.007-04:00

I finally finished my crib set yesterday. Not that it was that difficult to finish, but its more like I had a hard time getting myself motivated to finish it.

I skipped making a crib sheet, since it is so darn cheap to buy plain sheets. Someday, though, I'm going to try making crib sheets. It looks easy enough. There's a tutorial here from Michael Miller Fabrics, should you want to try it. There are also instructions for making a crib set here (at J. Caroline Creative) as well.

Anyway. The dust ruffle is easy. There is a pleat in the middle of the front and the back. You could skip the back, since no one will even see it, but that didn't occur to me. I just measured how long each side needed to be and sewed on the grosgrain ribbon and hemmed the bottoms. Then you attach them to the rectangle that is the deck (the part that goes under the mattress). Easy enough.

I bought bumper batting at JoAnns, cause I wanted it to be a little thicker than just a quilted bumper, but not too thick. I just sewed on the two ribbons and extended them out 15" for ties. You sew the rectangles together and then hand sew the bottoms shut. That's what I've been procrastinating about - sewing the bottoms shut. I didn't do a terribly neat job on that and I'm not sure why, but whatever. It doesn't look that bad and it is the bottom of the bumpers, after all. Oh, and I used Fray Check on the ends of the ribbons and that seems to work great.

The only problem that I have with the bumpers is that they are a tad too long, but you can make them fit fine. The other thing is that there is an even number of posts on the front of the crib, so there is no "middle" to tie the bumpers too. What's up with that? Also, there is ribbon on both the tops and bottoms of the bumpers and only the bottom one can be seen. Oh well!

I like how it turned out overall and I like the gray bows on the outside. I am tempted to make up a dust ruffle in brown as well for another sheet that I have, but I don't think I'll do any more bumpers. Technically, you're not even supposed to have them anymore.

So there it is. Very simple. We'll see if we can keep it clean.

Simple Baby Quilt

2009-05-16T19:45:00.003-04:00

I finished a little baby quilt this week. It isn't necessarily made for this baby, because it just isn't quite what I'm in the mood for. It was something I wanted to try with some fabric that I already had on hand. I wanted to see what I'd come up with out of what I already had. So its very simple.

I am annoyed because it is not my best work. I'm not sure why, but perhaps its just the mood that I'm in. But its okay and the colors will work. That's a pale blue stripe, by the way. The color just isn't showing up well in the photos.

Diaper Bag

2009-05-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

I have been slowly making myself a diaper bag and some accessories to go along with it. I don't really have any idea what I need/want in a diaper bag, but I made something I think I like and there's no reason that I can't just use it for something else if I want. I just liked the fabric. Its dry clean only, which may be dumb on my part, but its what I wanted. I bought some Scotchguard to spray it with and hopefully that will help keep it clean.

I made it 6" wide and put some nice deep pockets on the sides.

Clip for hanging keys

Lots of big pockets in the inside for who-knows-what?

The changing pad I backed with iron-on vinyl and added ties to the end so it can be rolled up.

This is probably unnecessary, but I used the leftover fabric to make a diaper and wipes bag. I was thinking that perhaps it could be carried instead of a diaper bag occasionally. It didn't quite turn out exactly how I pictured it - perhaps because the lip won't lay flat for me and velcro looks dumb. I haven't thought of a better idea for it yet, though. Pretty buttons?

I must admit that I am looking forward to seeing the

tiny bum that fits in such tiny diapers. They're cute.

Brocade Home

2009-05-13T06:00:00.000-04:00

Found this duvet at Brocade Home the other day. I wouldn't mind having one. Is it wierd that I would like a collection of duvets? I like bed linens, I guess.

Crochet-Edged Flannel Blanket

2009-05-12T06:00:00.000-04:00

I decided to try something new and put a crochet edge on flannel blanket. I washed the flannel, hemmed it and then punched holes about 1/4" apart around the edge of the blanket.

I've read that you can just poke your crochet hook through, but I can't really see how. So I bought a small hole punch (I think it was the 1/16" hole punch) for it. It worked fine, but sure makes your hand hurt after doing an entire blanket!

Then I used the remainder of the yarn from the little afghan and did a simple edging around it. I think I like it. It wouldn't hurt to use a finer yarn for it - this might be a little thick, but it turned out fine. I even washed up all the blankets a couple days ago and they all came out just like they went in.

I may even like this better than the other flannel blankets that I put the binding on, but perhaps its just the gray that I like.

Martha Stewart Baby Shower Show

2009-05-11T06:00:00.000-04:00

The other day Martha had a Baby Shower Show and the part that I liked was their idea for a Bird Mobile. I thought they were rather cute. If I had time or motivation, I would be tempted to try to make one. I am very quickly running out of both, however....
Still cute though. I'm filing this away for future inspiration.

This Week

2009-05-10T06:00:00.001-04:00

So I have reached the point where we're going to be seeing the doctor every week from here on out. I was surprised to be told this week that we've actually made some progress. Yikes. The doctor asked if we'd washed the clothes and picked names and I had to say no to both. We still don't have a pediatrician either, so I was told to get on that and nevermind washing the clothes.

What can I say? I'm a bit slow and might still be in denial. So this week, I washed clothes.

Can you tell what we're having ??

Yeah, still no pediatrician, but The Man asked his buddies and got some recommendations, so we'll need to get on that this coming week. He installed the car seat too, so we're not doing too bad, right?? We're under 30 days now. . .

Salad Boxes Follow-Up

2009-05-09T19:13:00.003-04:00

So, I got my husband to make me some of the salad boxes that I posted about awhile ago. I think that it was probably about a month ago that we made them and planted the lettuces.

Well, here they are today. I think they are ready to start cutting, although we haven't done that yet. Perhaps tomorrow we will try it! I'm curious to see if they will grow again or if we'll need to reseed. I've never grown lettuce before, so we'll find out.

The smaller plants in the back of this box are spinach. Those don't seem to be quite ready yet. Anyway. The boxes seem to have worked very well! The Man has enjoyed watching his lettuce grow too, so that was fun. I think he was munching on it the other day as he was checking them out. Cute.

Shabby Apple Baby Dresses

2009-05-06T06:00:00.000-04:00

Photos from Shabby Baby

Saw these mentioned on With This Ring.

Some of these dresses at Shabby Baby are so adorable that I almost with that I was having a little girl. How cute! I love the gray one.

And Another Baby Afghan

2009-05-04T06:00:00.000-04:00

This one I really like. I wasn't crazy about the color in the store, but I wanted to try it and I couldn't find any other grays that I really liked. I am really liking it now. I think it may be my favorite.

Its actually the perfect color for my currently gray-obsessed mind. Oh, and it matches nicely with the crib set that I'm working on (almost finished - will post pics soon).

This one is Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Stone.

Another Blanket for Baby

2009-05-02T20:27:00.005-04:00

I finished another little afghan for the baby. I thought that this yarn would be more gray, but its nearly black. Oh well. I did a more lacy pattern for it to make up for such a dark color.

I think I have more blankets than I know what to do with at this point, but I guess I just enjoy making things that I can work on in the evenings on the couch with my little dog snuggled in the lap. We both enjoy that.

This is Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Charcoal

Aeroplane

2009-04-30T06:00:00.000-04:00

I drug the Man into Marshalls briefly a couple days ago and lo and behold, found something I had to have. Actually, not sure what my problem is just now, because I am generally a tightwad, but I am so in the mood to buy anything and everything my little heart desires. I'm blaming it on the pregnancy and hoping it goes away. Its not like we are finding enough legitimate things to spend money on these days with the equipment that a baby requires. But I digress.

Isn't it cute? We both thought that it would be a great thing to put in the baby's room. Of course. Its for the baby! Perfect reason to buy anything, right?

Tea Poster

2009-04-28T06:00:00.000-04:00

Saw this poster a couple months ago at the Keep Calm Gallery and it made me think of Mom. She is a tea person. If you visit her, you will probably end up with a tea cup in your hand.

I thought I'd try to recreate this poster myself and it turned out great. I printed it and framed it for Mom's birthday. I forgot to take a picture of it after I framed it, but here's the poster.

I think perhaps I need one for myself. Then I could add it to the collection of pictures that I love, but haven't actually hung yet. Yup. I have one. You're not surprised, are you?

Roses and Vase Sleeves

2009-04-26T06:00:00.001-04:00

A little while ago, I had a chance to run into Pottery Barn in the mall and found these vase sleeves or wraps or whatever they called them. I really liked them. I've not seen them online or in their catalogs, so why they were in the store, I have no idea. They had nice heavy hurricane glass with them, but they were too much, so I picked up some glasses at W*lMart instead and they work fine.

Then the Man bought me a couple dozen roses from S*m's Club and I decided to put them in the sleeve. Those roses are now 2 1/2 weeks old. What in the world? I don't think I've ever had them last so long. They are lovely. I am ready to forget the little tiny bouquets of flowers you can get for cheap. I'm going for the big bunches of roses!

Buckets Gets His Paw Fixed

2009-04-25T20:12:00.004-04:00

I've put off a lot of things lately, one of which was fixing the paw of Dutch's "girlfriend" Buckets. Her paw had come open and a pouch of little tiny beads were spilling everywhere. We gathered all the beads up and put her in a plastic bag and hid her away until I could get around to fixing her.

The other day, I decided it was really pathetic that I hadn't fixed the little guys favorite toy, so I got her down while Dutch was out soaking in the sunlight and unlikely to come see what I was doing. I hadn't gotten very far before the Man saw what I was working on and of course, he brought Dutch back to check it out.

That little stinker was so excited. He cried and begged and bounced off my leg the entire time. Fortunately, it didn't take long to get her stitched and Dutch happily dragged her off to the sunshine.And I've got something, however little, crossed off that never-ending list of mine.

Goof

2009-04-16T06:00:00.002-04:00

He's a silly dog. I'm not sure what he was doing, but he was cute.

I had to crouch down on all fours to get his picture.

I even, in a moment of complete stupidity, tried to lay on
my stomach to get his picture. That hurt. Duh.

Monogram Designs

2009-04-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

Any idea where I you can find monogram designs like these? These are from the RH Baby & Child. I love the bordered designs especially, but you never see things like this in embroidery design selections.

The cutest things that I've found are from Heirloom Letters. This is one of my favorites.

Hurricanes

2009-04-12T19:53:00.002-04:00

Check out these hurricane lanterns from West Elm. I like!

Exactly 2 months to go!

2009-04-07T17:50:00.001-04:00

Childbirth classes start tomorrow. We took the hospital tour last week. This is starting to get real.

Yikes!

Another Quilt for Baby

2009-04-06T06:00:00.001-04:00

I don't know how good an idea this was, but I decided a couple weeks ago to take apart the blanket that came with the crib bedding set that I bought and make quilts out of it instead. I figured that I would take each half of the fabric and back it with some super plush minky for a really soft quilt.

It was hard to sew with the minky on the back. I had to turn down the tension to 0 and really push the fabric through the machine. It didn't turn out perfectly, but it turned out rather well. I just quilted a crosshatch following the print on the fabric. I ended up just using plain white fabric for the binding. I sewed it to the minky side and then turned it over and did the hand sewing on the fabric side.

I did start the quilt with the other half of the fabric, but it was looking horrible. I have a few rows of stitching to rip out and then I'll have to repin the whole thing, so of course, I just put it on the shelf and we'll see how long it takes me to get back to it. I really like the other fabric, though, so I'll get to it. Surely!

It is pretty soft. I didn't wash it, so I'm not sure how that will turn out. I thought I'd wait until the other one was done and do them together. Hope it works!

Aww

2009-04-04T06:00:00.001-04:00

Feathers and Fairy lights, anyone? I like. . .

photo from http://www.reallylindabarker.co.uk/

Basement Bathroom

2009-04-02T06:00:00.000-04:00

I mentioned a week or so ago that we had a contractor come out to look at our bathroom and to give us a quote on it. We've already ripped it out completely and now we need someone to rebuild it, since we don't really know what we're doing. Home improvement stuff is not The Man's forte, so if he's willing to earn what we need to pay someone else to do it, whatever. That works.

We haven't actually heard back from the guys yet (who's surprised at that??), but we've been doing our shopping and trying to decide what we want to use for materials so that we can get those purchased as soon as they decide they're ready to start.

These pictures are from the original walk-through. As you can see, it was a horribly ugly and tiny little bathroom. Its not going to get more than an inch or two bigger, but its still a bathroom. It will at least look nice when we're done and at least those tiles will be gone! I've never seen so many different tiles in one shower. The guy that built this house was very, um, resourceful. I had forgotten just how tiny this bathroom is. I think we'll have to put some storage or something outside the door!

This is what we've picked out so far.

Tile from Home Depot, faucets from Home Depot, pedestal sink at Lowes.

Wholecloth is Finished

2009-03-31T06:00:00.000-04:00

So this past week, I had my 3 hour glucose tolerance test (BTW, still don't know if I passed or not, but so far no calls from the doctor's office, so I hope that's a good sign) and I had just finished the quilting on this wholecloth crib quilt. I made up some binding for it and had to leave it sit for a day without working on it. That was actually hard. I find hand sewing the binding to be addictive and irresistable. How can you not? You spend ages on a quilt and just a few more hours sewing to finish it all up.

Anyway, I wanted to take it along with me to have something to do in the lab. I did take a book, but I have a hard time concentrating on books when people are talking around me. Sewing is perfect, except that it sometimes makes people want to talk to you, which is exactly what happened. But it helped to pass the time, anyway. I finished the entire binding during my appointment.

After the test, I came home, treated it for a couple little blood stains I managed to get on it from pricking myself when quilting and threw it in the laundry. I am so impatient to see the final product and washing just makes it perfect.

The Man made me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, so I ate that while trying to get some work caught up. Wow. I wasn't hungry until after I finally got to eat. About half an hour after I ate it, I got all hot and started sweating and ended up going to lie down for awhile. It went away after 15 minutes or so and then I felt fine. What in the world was that about? The sugar and the fasting suddenly get to me?

But the quilt is finished and it is perfect. The preprinted design completely disappeared and the quilt is wonderfully soft and wrinkly. Whose genius idea was this to make it for a baby boy? I'm thinking he doesn't get to really touch it. Much.

Wish I could get better photos of it, but this is the best I could do. I tried. I think you can click on them to enlarge and see a little closer.

Salad Tables and Boxes

2009-03-29T06:00:00.002-04:00

The other day on Martha, there was a Jon Traunfeld from the University of Maryland talking about making salad tables and he demonstrated building the table and showed a smaller salad box. What a great idea!

I've been thinking about how/where we can put some sort of raised bed in our backyard. The deer are terrible pests. It never occurred to me that I'd have deer trouble in the city, but what did I know? They've already eaten my budding tulips for this year.

Anyway, you can check out the segment and the instructions at Martha's website here, or for more detailed instructions and information, including the smaller salad boxes, download here from the Maryland Cooperative Extension.

Photos from University of Maryland's instruction sheet

I so want these right now!

2009-03-28T18:31:00.003-04:00

These lemon spritz cookies with buttercream filling are beautiful and sound yummy. I want.

I Don't Know Where I Am

2009-03-20T20:18:00.005-04:00

So its been almost 3 weeks since I last posted. I don't know where I've been. I have a lot of things on my mind right now, I guess, and don't seem to have anything actually completed to talk about.

What's on my mind? Um.

Well, I have 79 days before the baby is due, according to my little ticker thing. Am I ready? No. We set up the crib and dresser in my office, but we are missing a mattress yet. That's about all that we've purchased.

Got the lamp from Pier 1 this week and I bought nickel knobs to replace the wooden ones that came with the dresser. I like.

I did pick up a bedding set I liked, but I still want to make another. I don't know why. Because I can.

After watching the rates for a couple months, we've decided to go ahead and refinance our mortgage. Yay! This excites me, cause we're knocking off more than 2 points on our rate. 'Course, we'll have to shell out for the fees, but whatever. The payback is worth it. I've already recalculated everything on my spreadsheet, because I'm that nerd that gets totally excited over the spreadsheets.

We also had a contractor come out yesterday to give us a quote on rebuilding the basement bathroom that we ripped out almost a year ago. I can't tell you how much it excites me to get started on this too. We're going to redo the basement bathroom first and then, hopefully, we will move right on to the upstairs bathroom. They said they could start in 2 weeks, so we've been out looking at tile and pedestal sinks and fixtures for down there cause it sounds like it won't take long to complete. Its a tiny bathroom, so I guess that's not a surprise. Yay!

Let's see. What else? Oh, I failed my first glucose screening test by 1 point. Suck. Now I have to go back for a 3 hour test with blood draws every hour. I can't tell you how much that annoys me. I hate this stuff and every time I go to the lab, its packed with weird people. The doctor is still lecturing me on cakes, cookies & ice cream and looking at me like that must be all that I eat. From what I have heard, 2 out of 3 women who fail the first test pass the second. I desperately hope that works for me, but I am not holding my breath. I have decided that I don't particularly like her, but I've gotten scheduled for her again. My 3rd time in a row. Oh well. The appointments from here on out don't sound like much fun.

I did finish a few items that I've had unfinished for ages and put them in the Etsy shop. Yay for that too.

Gray Corduroy Bag

Ruffled Apron 1

Ruffled Apron 2

Oh, and I could possibly be getting another dog. Its a long story. Not a toy dog, though. Regular sized. I don't know how I feel about this, but whatever. Bad timing?? Agh. I'll survive, right? We'll see. I'm currently ignoring the idea until it appears that it will actually happen. That's my favorite tactic.

So. That's it. I'll be back around eventually.

Silly dog. Isn't he cute?

Beautiful Food

2009-02-26T06:00:00.001-05:00

I found this food blog the other day (mentioned on decor8) and wow. The pictures are just beautiful. It makes me hungry just looking at it.

Check out Cannelle et Vanille, even if just for the pictures.