Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Stitch-A-Long: FINISHED
Okay, so it turned out to be a 25 month Stitch-A-Long, rather than a 12 month Stitch-A-Long, but it is still FINISHED! And, I do like this method of taking large projects and breaking them up into “doable” chunks.
I’m afraid the budget doesn’t allow for a gorgeous double -matted frame job, so what to do, what to do? I reached way back into my “toolbox” of sewing skills (WAY back, haven’t made a quilt or wall hanging in years!), and decided to turn it into a little wall hanging. I found some sweet fabric to reflect some of the dominant colors which are also found in my office (I spend much more time there than at home, so decided that is where it will hang — it will also help on some of those challenging days to remember these “Living with Charm” words).
I considered how wide I wanted the finished product to be, and decided that I wanted the emphasis on the stitching so the borders and binding are fairly narrow.
It needed a little something to give it some form, but I didn’t want to use iron-on interfacing. I had some leftover pieces of soft white flannel which worked perfectly!
Then it was time for the binding … It has been a while since I mitered a corner, so Google was my friend! I found this great free tutorial online at Jaybird Quilts.
Success!!
Tags: cross-stitch, Debbie, Sewing, Stitch-A-Long
Pie Crust
I was in the grocery store today and the refrigerator pie crusts were on sale for $2.29 for a brand that will remain nameless. My first thought – I NEED TO GO INTO THE PIE CRUST MAKING BUSINESS!!!
Why? Well, have you ever made your own pie crust before? I hadn’t until four days ago. It is RIDICULOUSLY easy.
My husband and I were discussing our current food cravings and the first thing he wanted was a pumpkin pie.
“But sweetheart,” I told him, “I don’t have any pie crusts.”
My spoiled husband’s response was, “well can’t you just make one?”
I had never tried before and had no idea what went into it. I explained to him I would probably have to use yeast and let the dough rise and all those fun things. I also had NO motivation to go to the store to buy a pre-made pie crust. I get an F- on that one. I could not have been farther from correct.
Later in the day I turned to my trusty old allrecipes.com and looked up a pie crust recipe. OMG, I cannot believe I have never made a pie crust in my 30 years. It takes only four ingredients, and ten minutes of your time. You know what else? I think it made a BIG difference in the taste. It was the best pumpkin pie I had ever eaten, even with our family’s well guarded secret recipe (I think Libby’s stole it though because last I checked it was on the back of their pumpkin pie can).
So here is the recipe for homemade pie crust. Try it and see how yours tastes.
I have no picture because the pie disappeared far too quickly. If I remember, I’ll post one next time (which according to my husband is going to be soon).
A Quick Donation Quilt
There’s a huge Christmas charity event that happens each year where I work. They poll area schools for 100 children to come out, ‘meet Santa’, attend a party, and…the best part…get presents. This event is huge. I mean HUGE. They plan for it all year, host several fundraisers, and it always makes the local newspapers. They allow the teachers to select the students and then they take it from there to make sure each child is taken care of. I’ve seen it two years now and each time it makes me cry.
As the Christmas party gets closer, they have a silent auction to have one last fundraiser before the party. Each year I’ve wanted to donate something, but having time to prepare was always my problem (time is almost ALWAYS my problem). This year, though…this year I planned ahead and made a lap quilt to go in the auction.
I know it’s a simple design, but I’m a sucker for a good ol’ square patterned quilt. I love the simplicity of them, the allowed randomness, and, I don’t know, I just like ‘em. I made this one in red, white, and blue fabrics (that I bought in a yard sale!). While I did follow a diagonal blue and red pattern, I didn’t follow a pattern in how to arrange the various patterns of fabric. I used 9 different patterns and didn’t worry if one of the squares was touching the same pattern…I just went with it.
I did run into a little issue about which I’d like to give a ‘quilting tip’. I wasn’t paying close attention to how wide my quilt top was in relation to my back fabric. The top was about 2-3 inches wider than the back. I really didn’t want to remove a row of squares and make it narrower (the quilt measures 43″ wide and 56″ long). So I started thinking…I made my bias tape for the edges and instead of making the top side equal to the bottom side, I simply made the bottom about twice the width as the top. You can see in the pictures what I mean.
Because I was using fabric from a ‘grab bag’ found in a yard sale, I was on a bit of a ‘budget’ for the backing fabric. I didn’t have a large enough fabric piece to use for the entire back, so I ended up using four different fabrics (all were also used in the quilt top) to complete the back. I was a bit afraid of how it would turn out, but now I love it. It’s truly a scrap quilt!
(Pardon the junk on the shelves. The craft room is a work in progress.
Do you have any crafts or ideas that you frequently use for donation items?
Joan’s Homemade Hummus
I LOVE hummus … I do NOT love paying for it in the grocery store, especially for the good stuff; in addition, when you make it yourself you can control the ingredients/taste – I added some extra garlic to mine. Jen alerted me to her friend Briony’s blog several months ago, Freeze Your Way Fit, and this yummy recipe for homemade hummus. Full disclosure here – I make a HUGE mess in the kitchen when I make this recipe so I make a lot of it at one time. I can fit 3 “batches” into my 9 cup Kitchen Aid food processor; this time I made a total of 6 “batches”. Tahini is the most expensive ingredient, and it is also the messiest! Even our local Walmart here in L.A. (lower Alabama, also known as NW Florida) carries tahini, $4.75 for the amount needed to make all of these batches — it probably cost me about $12.00 to make all of the hummus shown below.
Ingredients (for one batch – multiply by 3 to fill a 9 cup food processor):
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I grew up calling these garbanzo beans!)
1 small garlic glove, minced
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground cumin
Pinch of cayenne (red) pepper
3 Tbsp. juice from lemons (I uses concentrate this time and it worked just as well)
¼ cup water
6 Tbsp. tahini, stirred well
2 Tsp. extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
Step One: Put chickpeas, garlic, salt, cumin, and cayenne in a food processor; process until fully ground. Scrape down sides with a spatula. Make sure all parts of the food processor are put together before you put the ingredients in!
Step Two: With the food processor running, slowly add the lemon juice and water and continue to process for one minute. Scrape down the sides with a spatula again.
Step Three: In a small bowl, whisk together the tahini (easier said than done – it is the consistency of tile grout!) and 2 Tbsp. oil.
With the food processor still running, add the oil-tahini mixture in a steady stream through the feed tube. Continue to process until smooth and creamy, scraping down sides as needed.
Can be served immediately with crackers. Refrigerate any not used immediately. Also freezes beautifully! Freeze small portions. Reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds on full power, stir, and heat another 5-10 seconds. If it seems a little dry, just add a little bit of olive oil.
Enjoy!
What Week is This?
I’ve been so busy with work and child and husband that I seriously fell off track. BUT, I’ve still been working on it. While I certainly haven’t tackled a project each week, I have tackled some of them. Now that we’re house hunting, I’m on a mission to get the rest of this place de-cluttered and organized.
I tackled my ‘craft project book’. I now have dividers separating each craft category with each craft project contained in its own page protector. If I wasn’t interested in the project anymore, it went in the trash. The book now is much thinner and is something I actually want to dig in to.
My linen closet is somewhat ‘tight’, meaning my shoulders don’t actually fit in the doorway. However, I try to make the most of the space that I have. I found some spare ribbon and tied each sheet set together. I’ve found that I love this method because it keeps the entire set together. Pillowcases go between the sheets, ribbons go around the set, and it’s a happy family.
Our hall closet is a place where we stash all kinds of stuff crap. In this closet I have a tub containing nothing but gift bags, gift boxes, and tissue paper. It. Was. A. Mess. I pulled everything out, reorganized the bags by occasion, placed a few sheets of matching tissue paper in each bag, and neatly put them back in the tub. I cleared out about half of them. So liberating! I also have another tub in the closet where I keep gifts. These are gifts I purchase throughout the year…things I find on a great sale, things I find that would be loved by certain people, or even things that I know will come in handy when it’s Sunday night and I remember that I’m supposed to take a generic gift to work for someone. I’m not a hoarder, I swear…I just plan ahead. I cleared out quite a few gifts and ‘set dates’ for when others were going to be given away. See all those coats and jackets? I cleared about 60% of them out. Some went to the thrift store and some went in the attic (we only get to wear jackets for about three months in Florida…which makes them last forever…which kinda stinks in a way).
The dog kennel is something that’s been seriously annoying to me. Anytime we sit in the living room and try to enjoy a movie, I stare at the kennel and give it the stink eye. After cleaning out the basket and loving how clean it looks, we’re actually considering putting up the kennel altogether.
The kitchen cabinets have also been de-cluttered. I cleared out a few Pyrex items that I haven’t used in years, but I also bought a new set of casserole dishes (OH! Did I mention that my new hobby is cooking?!?! Yes! I’m cooking!). Anyway, the cabinets have been cleaned out and it feels so much better to look for dishes and actually find them. I’ve recently discovered milk crates for organizing. One milk crate holds all my mixing/blending/chopping appliances. Before the crate, all of that stuff was scattered in the bottom of the cabinet…another mess (I SO wish I had a before picture).
My dresser drawers also were tackled. All the shirts that were too tight or too floppy either went to the attic or the thrift store. I now have stuff that fits and it’s organized and…less stressful.
I haven’t accomplished as much as I had hoped, but I’m working on it. With my new motivation, I’m hoping to see more steady progress.
Have you done any organizing and what’s your motivation?
Refrigerator Bread & Butter Pickles
It is summer, and the living is easy — 99° here at 6 pm on June 4 — after an absolutely beautiful spring, I think we’re going to have a Long. Hot. Summer. We made the first of our annual visits to A & N Blueberry Farm early Friday morning to pick blueberries (I got 10.5 pounds and Jen got around 7… pretty sure we’re going to have to squeeze in another trip!). They also had some other fresh produce for sale and I picked up some of Sarah’s delicious blueberry jam (because I don’t can), cucumbers and a nice big zucchini … I already have some yellow squash in the fridge, so just might have to make some zucchini bread later this week.
I don’t can, did you catch that above? I love the idea of canning and once helped my friend, Jenny K. (Jen’s namesake!), can about 400 pounds of tomatoes (we washed them in the bathtub). My sister-in-law, Rhonda D., is the canning queen — I love visiting when the pantry is full of homemade grape jelly, corn, tomatoes and other yummy treats from their garden. So, since I don’t can, I freeze and refrigerate! I bought these cucumbers specifically to make some EASY refrigerator pickles.
Ingredients:
7 cups cucumbers (number of cucumbers needed depends on how big they are — I used 4 today)
2 Tbsp. salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp. celery seeds
Directions:
Thinly slice cucumbers — or thickly slice, up to you! I prefer a thinner slice. Place in a colander and sprinkle cucumber slices with salt. Let stand at least 2 hours.
Meanwhile, combine the sugar, vinegar and celery seeds. Let stand until the sugar completely dissolves, stirring occasionally.
Rinse the cucumber slices and drain well. Put the cucumber slices in a large canning jar—my original recipe from about 30 years ago says “or a mayonnaise jar” … can you even buy mayo in a jar these days?? Really cram the cucumber slices in tightly. I finally had an opportunity to use this cute jar that Jen made for our annual holiday cookie exchange!
Pour the vinegar mixture over the top.
And, refrigerate. Done!
Now, try to wait 24-48 hours before snacking on these tasty morsels. Won’t kill you if you don’t wait, but they are better the longer they sit in the cider-sugar solution. I’m not sure if these ever have an “expiration” date … I’ve kept them in the fridge for weeks and they’ve been just fine.
Enjoy!
Clutter-oholics-Anonymous Weeks 7, 8, 9, 10 Whew!
Can you tell we’ve all been busy? Believe me, it’s not that we don’t want to post; we do! It’s just finding time. But…that doesn’t mean that we haven’t found little snippets of time to get projects done. Not only have I been knocking out organization projects on my list, but I’ve got lots of craft projects that I want to share. It’s just finding time.
But…here’s a brief post to show what I’ve been up to:
Week 7: I cleaned up and decluttered my back porch. My back porch was disgusting. With the weather so nice, I’ve been dying to get out there and enjoy it. But…as gross as it was, there was no way. It took me a full week of cleaning, washing down the walls, making new cushions, and getting rid of items that we no longer wanted. The lawnmower was given away on craigslist and I sold the canopy tent (folded up in the corner) to a guy needing it for his daughter’s wedding. Technically, I still need to pull down the lights (long story…don’t ask) and I also want to make a clear cover for the smoker and the grill. I used to have one for the smoker that I made a made out of an old vinyl tablecloth. Although cute, I found that it was a prime ‘hideout space’ for big, nasty frogs (I hate frogs like you have no idea). So…just this once…out with the cute, in with the practical. I’m proud to say, we’ve been sitting on the porch almost every other night and have thoroughly enjoyed it.
Week 8: I tackled my master bedroom closet. This job wore. me. out. Even my husband had a few complaints about it. Of course, I had him installing ventilated shelving at 8:30 on a Sunday night. Behold the chaotic mess that I started with:
I’m learning that to really clean out and organize a closet/cabinet/junk stash you need to get everything out of it. Everything. I’m also learning it’s great to go ahead and group and organize everything before putting it back in the closet/cabinet/abyss.
We added a shelf (at 8:30 on a Sunday night) and WOW the difference an extra shelf makes. I also said goodbye to many clothes and purses that either didn’t fit, were worn out, or I was just plain sick of wearing. I still have a small basket of things to sort through, but the closet is pretty much done. I can’t tell you how nice it is to see what clothes I have available and to know that what’s in there fits and is in the correct season. I love it. The hubby is also much happier. Which is good.
Week 9: I organized our files. I explained to my husband (about a month ago) that I wanted to get a tall file cabinet and put it in the garage so that we could merge all of our files into one area. We had our files all over the place: a milk crate in the office closet, a short cabinet in the garage, a box or two on top of the short cabinet…it was a mess. We would stack papers until I couldn’t handle it anymore and then I’d try to file them in the milk crate. The system was way less than ideal.
I knew I wasn’t going to pay full price for a four-drawer (I’m cheap frugal) so I started scanning craigslist like crazy. I even had my mom asking her work friends if they knew of anyone wanting to unload one. No success. My mom and I went to garage sales one Saturday and she saw this tall older style cabinet at one house. We looked at it and it was older, but worked fine. It was a bit scratched up, but it was going in the garage anyway so what did I care? I asked the lady how much it was and she said, “Five dollars, and I’ve got muscles sitting in the house to help load it for you. I want it GONE.” I giggled and paid the woman. All FIVE drawers work great and it even had the little frames inside for hanging files. SCORE! It took a full week of working on it during the evenings, but we now have all our files in one place as well as older files shredded. The top drawer has older files, second drawer has current files, third drawer is still empty (awesome, yes?), fourth drawer has my college notes (I’m a dork, I know) and owner’s manuals, and the bottom drawer has all of our ‘office supplies’…mainly notebooks and stuff like that. I’m thoroughly enjoying paying the bills and immediately filing the statements instead of letting them pile up like we did before.
Week 10: I organized our medicine ‘cabinet’. It used to be in the kitchen above the stove, but after another organization project, I needed that space for something else so it was relocated to the hall linen closet. Granted, the ‘before’ wasn’t too bad, but the containers (old wipes containers) were mismatched and too small for everything.
I bought six new containers (all matching) and grouped all the meds. Everything fit where it needed to and I made ‘labels’ from scrapbook paper and stuck them in the fronts of the containers. I swear…I only buy that paper for projects like this. I honestly don’t remember the last time I did any scrapbooking. The shelf is about a half inch too narrow for all three containers to fit side by side, but, as a friend of mine used to say, “If it won’t fit, force it.”
So…that’s four weeks’ worth of organizing and decluttering. Now…off to finish this week’s project. It technically isn’t on my list, but the hubby has been ‘requesting’ it (‘Pleeeeease can we clean this up?”). He better be careful…I can always request more shelving be installed at 8:30 at night.
Decadent Cake Holders
I cannot believe it has been two weeks since any of us posted! We have all been busy with end of the year school activities, spending time with our family, and getting ready for summer. I haven’t even been doing too much crafting but I have been working around the house and plan on posting a Clutter post this week! I am also hoping to post craft projects that are perfect to do with your kids this summer as I will be trying to entertain my two!
Today, I wanted to share some pictures of a Christmas gift that I made for several friends and family members. They were so easy! All I did was purchase cake/cupcake holders and decorate them with my Cricut vinyl cutouts. I am not sure how they are still holding up, but they were a hit!
This may become my quick go to gift!
Easy Patio Furniture Revamp
I don’t know about you, but I think patio furniture is pretty overpriced. It sits on the porch, gets beaten up by the elements, and clobbered by the pollen (especially if you’re in Florida). Also? It’s rare that I ever find patio furniture that’s actually comfortable. My husband and I have a rocking chair and short table set that we love. We love it because it’s fairly sturdy, it was free (a hand-me-down from my parents), it fits on our tiny back porch, and it’s very comfortable. This past weekend I cleaned up the back porch and realized that our furniture was looking a bit ‘weathered’. Here’s a quick way to revamp your patio furniture.
New Cushions/Slipcovers: If you already have cushions on your chairs, you can recover them and use the same padding. If you don’t have cushions (or want to ditch the existing padding), you can purchase new foam at any craft store (or even Wal-Mart). I used the existing cushions.
1. First I wanted to put a zipper in the back of the cushion so I could remove them for easier washing (pollen…remember the pollen). I sewed the back seam with a long stitch.
2. On the wrong side of the fabric, I pinned down my zipper (face down). Using a zipper foot, I sewed in my zipper (the face of the zipper facing the ‘ugly side’ of the seam).
3. I then re-sewed the rest of the back seam with a shorter stitch. Once secure, I flipped the fabric over and pulled out the stitches only on the zippered portion.
4. Before sewing the rest of the seams, I pinned down some smaller sections of ribbon to make ties. Since chairs differ so much, be sure you make them long enough to tie around the bars on your chairs.
5. ALSO, be sure to unzip the zipper before you sew up all the other sides of your cushion. If not, you might say a bad word as you look for your seam ripper. :-)
6. Stuff your new cushion covers with either your old cushion or new and tie to your patio chair. Because our chairs are able to fold up, I tied them loosely to keep the ribbons from getting caught and/or broken when folding up the chair.
Neck Pillows: This is an idea I would LOVE to take all the credit for, but my mom helped me come up with it. Granted, we thought it up about eight years ago, but these little pillows are still a favorite. You know that void of a space behind your neck when you lean your head back against a chair? This little pillow fills that void and is SO comfy.
1. Make a small rectangular pillow (same process for a regular pillow). Mine measured about four inches tall and six inches wide. Turn it, stuff it, and sew up the hole.
2. Attach ribbons to the middle of the back of the pillow. You can either do this on your sewing machine before you sew up and stuff the pillow or you can do it by hand after stuffing. I always forget and end up sewing mine by hand.
3. Tie the pillow to the back of your chair. You’ll probably want to sit in the chair to determine placement (comfort is an exact science!).
Table Top Cover: Sometimes outdoor tables ‘turn’ and, no matter how much you scrub and clean them, continue to look dirty. This little table cover gives you a clean look with the ‘wash and wear’ capability.
1. Spread your fabric over your table and cut along the edge. I left about three inches dangling from the lip of the table.
2. Sew up a casing along the edge. Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect…it’s for the porch!
3. Run elastic through the casing, and either tie off the ends or sew them together. I personally like sewing them with the sewing machine. I once had a tied piece of elastic came apart on me and now I always sew them together on the machine.
4. Your tablecloth is complete. Slip it over your table and voila. A simple to clean tablecloth for the back porch.
Tags: decorating, Sewing
Hot Cross Buns
I love my bread machine and use it almost exclusively to make yeast breads; but there are two exceptions to that rule — Christmas (Stollen) and Easter (Hot Cross Buns). Easter is late this year, but for some reason it still seemed to sneak up on me. Knowing Jen and family would be out of town until Sunday afternoon, I decided Thursday night (LATE!) if I was going to make any of these balls of deliciousness I’d better do it and take them in to work to share on Friday (so I didn’t sit at home and eat the whole batch all by myself!). I think they were a hit — only a couple left and I sent those home with co-workers (since I knew I still had some left at home!).
Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients:
1 pkg. yeast
¼ cup warm water
¾ cup milk
½ cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup sugar (granulated)
½ cup raisins
½ tsp. salt
4-5 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. allspice
1 egg
Directions:
Soften the yeast in the ¼ cup of warm water.
Heat milk on stove or in microwave until scalded (bubbling at edges) – took about 4 minutes in my microwave. Pour milk over butter (cut into small pieces for quicker melting) in large mixing bowl. Add sugar and salt. Cool to lukewarm. Wasn’t thinking and had the dough hook on here — actually need the regular “paddle” for the next couple of steps!
Stir in yeast mix. Add cinnamon, allspice and 3 cups of the flour. Add raisins. Mix on medium speed until combined.
Switch to dough hook (yippee for my Kitchen Aid!) or place dough on floured surface, adding additional flour until you have a nice smooth and elastic dough.
Place in a glass bowl, cover loosely with a towel, and let rise for about an hour (I turn my oven on low and set the bowl on top of the stove).
Punch down, divide (a fancy recipe term to say “pull pieces off about the size you want”) and roll into 24 buns. Brush with egg white and cut crosses (I often skip this step – like them just as well soft, without the egg white “crust”). Let rise again. Oops! Forgot to “cut” in the crosses (I did mention that it was LATE Thursday night!).
Bake at 400° for about 12 minutes, until lightly golden on top. Frost crosses.
Frosting:
1 ¼ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla (use clear flavoring if you want the frosting to stay pure white)
Enough water to make it “drizzling” consistency
Enjoy! And have a Happy Easter!
Tags: Baking, Debbie, Easter, Hot Cross Buns
