Snowman Plate Craft

Found this idea online somewhere - years ago!! Just use 2 paper plate... cut the rolled edge off for the face, use some fabric strips and buttons for accents, and voila! Pictured here with our friend from North Carolina, Ms. Flat Aubree!

Perler bead T-Rex

The boy was so proud of this... and for a 6-year-old boy to invest more than 30 minutes on anything that's NOT electronic, well, I'm pretty proud, too!!

PJ Set for Nephews - With Initial

My brother and sister-in-law had twins back in May so I figured they needed a way to tell them apart 10 Christmases from now... felt appliqued initials! I just bought some white T-shirt onesies (regular T for the toddler), ironed some interfacing underneath, and stitched a felt cut-out on top. I will definitely be using this technique again!

Puppets and bag

This set is for my nephew... Mandy, don't peek! I just searched online for puppets, and with a few attempts, I was able to come up with a variety of animals. But animals weren't enough. My nephew loves to wear a cape and be "SUPER WILL", so I figured he needed a Super Will puppet, too!

Bib and matching booties

I've been practicing applique. This set is for my son's guitar teacher. The fabric has little guitars on it - how perfect! To make it more boyish, I used a denim fabric to tone it down.

Jewelery Pouch

Well, I got a crazy vision on how to create a jewelery pouch (like the one's "Thirty-one" sells). This was my first attempt, and I'm okay with the way it turned out. I was more concerned with how to insert the zippers and maintain the "fully lined" look. Definitely going to try making some more of these. Great stash buster! And if you can find zippers 50% off, you've got a great gift for a buck!

Christmas PJ pants

Ahh, the PJ pant tradition continues! This year, I made a total of 9! The trend is catching on :)

Matching Mom and Daughter Aprons

I've never been big on aprons... until my aunt found a vintage style pattern that I fell in love with! She made a few suggestions (she's a connoisseur and lifetime wearer) and this was the result. It's completely reversible and the ruffle at the bottom is actually a flounce. To make it reversible, I just put the buttonholes on the apron, and the neck strap has several buttons on each side (so you can remove if you want to reverse the apron, but also to make the size adjustable).

The child's apron is slightly different. I recently visited a craft show with my mom and one of the vendors was selling these adorable child's aprons. It's a simple smock style apron, but the straps are a satin ribbon. And instead of sewing the ribbon in place, there's a casing along each underarm side. Insert the ribbon at the bottom side opening, send it out the top at one neck side, then send it back down the other neck side, and out the opening at the other underarm. To secure, just pull the sides - it adjusts the entire apron to grow with your budding chef! Sounds a little confusing, but it makes the apron completely adjustable, and oh, so easy!! Just be sure you have a really looooong ribbon!

Smocked Bishop for Thanksgiving Dinner

I finished up this bishop literally the morning of Thanksgiving for my daughter! They're so classy... it was worth the effort.

Camo Cake

The boy asked for a special ops helicopter cake... he got a camo cake, instead! Made with a million star dots!!

FOUR hours and a BOTTLE of wine later... voila!

Halloween Luminarios

Found this idea in one of those recipe idea books that you find at the check-out. They were so easy. Recruited the kids to help with the cutting and pasting. That was they're ante for making me go trick-or-treating with them!!

Why, YES! I CAN make sushi!!!

My awesome cousin, Alicia, taught me and supplied me with all of the necessary know-how and gadgets to make sushi at home. And it's so much fun!! The kids got to pick what they wanted in them... and what they wanted omitted, more importantly!

Pumpkin Cake Pops

I WISH I could take credit for these!! My friend, Heidi, made these. I've been wanting to try for years, but was always intimidated. No longer!! Perhaps Frosty the Snowman pops - coming soon?

Pumpkin Nachos

How cute!! Just use a pumpkin-shaped (or any other shape) cookie cutter on a corn tortilla, top with cheddar (it's orange) and broil for a few minutes! Ghosts are also easy with mozzarella. The kids liked these so much, they requested them for lunch AFTER Halloween, too!

New top - - - for ME!

I haven't sewn anything in months. Boys went to a gun show and the girl is sick, so I took advantage of some ME time!

This is Simplicity "It's So Easy" number 2962, and man, was it easy! I used a combo of view A and B - I didn't want sleeves, but the pockets were ADORABLE! Plus, I liked the longer length.

Really, there were no alterations. I used cheapo fabric since this was my first go with this pattern. Under the arms needed to be pulled in, and if/when I use this pattern again, I'll pull in the shoulder seams about an inch on each side. AND, the next time, I want to add some jewels to the collar. This top is dying for some BLING!



ACK... and without the glare!

Cake for a dinner party

Learnt how to fan strawberries... thank you YOUTUBE! Simply slice the strawberries, but leave the top and stem intact. The thinner the slices, the better. Then just push down on the stem and fan the strawberry out. So simple and so elegant.

Cake Practice

Wow! It's been a while!! We moved across the country - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

The kids' birthdays are right around the corner. I let the kids pick out the cakes they wanted from the local grocery store. $40 a piece! Yeah, so I'm making their cakes this year. (Unless Super Cyndi wants to fly out and be on cake duty.)

I've always wanted to be a great cake decorator, but I must give props to those that can do it. It's HARD! Steady hand is necessary, and I just don't have it.

This is my first attempt with rolled fondant. I've played with marshmallow fondant. It's fun, but not quite as classy (looks powdery).

This cake is just a yellow cake mix with the Wilton buttercream icing recipe on top. Rolled fondant on top of buttercream icing. I also added a few drops of almond extract to the fondant, since fondant is actually pretty gross.

The key is to stick the cake in the freezer for about 45 minutes between each step. (bake, freeze cooled cake, apply icing, freeze, smooth icing with hot knife, freeze, apply fondant, freeze, apply decorations, done!)

New Flannel PJ's for spring!

Made these while in FL. The kiddos love them! The boys' is a dino print and the girls' is a pastel print that she'd picked out, ohhh, 2 years ago!

SpongeBob PJ pants

Yay for spongebob! The kids absolutely LOVE these! I took the picture on my phone so it's a little blurry!

Crocheted hair accessories

Okay, these are so fun! And so simple it's really a crime!

They only require a few yards of yarn, so it's great for using up scraps.

You can find the pattern here:

http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/70sponyties.html

Scrap blanket

This is the mother of all grannies!

I had some leftovers that I simply couldn't toss, so this is what evolved.

Knit dress

I really would like to master the art of working with knits. It's harder than I thought it would be... really hit or miss.

This came out "okay". The girl loves it because it's so soft and well, has bright flowers on it. I have enough fabric to try at least one other pattern, so I'm going to give it another shot.

Fun spring butterfly dress

This is just a simple dress pattern... it wasn't designed to be smocked, but this alteration is super easy to make. Instead of using the bottom part of the dress pattern, simply use the entire width of the fabric for both the front and back and pleat a few rows. The simple addition of a few smocking rows really adds a personal touch. Sorry this is a wrinkly mess!