Christmas quilts

I can finally post pictures of the projects that have been taking alot of my time. I made 3 good sized pieced quilts for gifts this year. I made my Mom and Dad each one. My Moms I used a Moda honey bun in the prints form the Aviary line. There are light greens, blues and pinks. I didn't follow a pattern just sewed all of the pieces from the honey bun together end to end in a strip. I then started sewing them together long ways till I had my width. It was time consuming but alot of fun! I got to use a professional long armed machine to quilt all of the quilts. My new Mother in Law Carole has the machine. When we went to Cheyenne for Thanksgiving, we spent time quilting the 3 quilts. I did them all myself and had a ball!!! This is what the machine looks like although it wasn't computerized. The stand and rollers with the machine take up a whole bedroom! I did a rose pattern in Mom's. My Dad's I used a Moda jelly roll in dark tones. I followed a pattern in a book called "stacked coins". It was also fun and so easy with the strips already cut for you. I have a hard time picking fabric out unless it is in a "line" all together because I am so color anal when it comes to fabric or paper. So it is so easy to have someone else put the fabrics together and they are amazing! The pattern we quilted on Dad's was a wave. It turned out to be my favorite. I love the dark colors. The 3rd quilt was for my very good friend Lonni. She has been such a great friend and confidant to me and wanted her to know how much she means to me. She has been through some rough times lately and I thought she could use something special for herself. I drew out the pattern and went for it! The fabric I used was bright pink, green and white. I got the fabric from Quilts Ect. I don't know what the lines name is... When we quilted Lonni's I wanted to try my hand at free hand quilting on the machine. So Carole showed me a loopy type pattern to freehand. As I was quilting it, I noticed that the loops looked like a cursive L for Lonni. I was thrilled! So at the bottom of the quilt, we sewed "Lonni" into the quilt. It was so cool! I had so much fun making these that I want to make small quilts for the couch for the different holidays. I have a Moda turnover (triangles) in the fabric line of Figgy Pudding that will be my Christmas quilt for the couch, but it will wait to be for next year. For Valentines Day I have a Moda "Candy Kisses" charm pack. I think this will be my first to work on and hopefully get it done for this year!

Felt Food and Tea Set

I started making felt food for my niece for Christmas last year. I started making some for Tate this year because I finally talked Paul into letting me get a kitchen for him. As I was making his food, I made double of everything to sell at a boutique. Knowing that if the boutique didn't go well, I would use them for Christmas gifts. Here is the whole set: Well, the boutique flopped so I thought I would put them on our local classifieds to see if I could get some extra money. The next day I got a request to make a tea set for a lady for her daughter for Christmas. I started it last week and finished it today. It was fun! Here is the whole set: Teapot, teacups, saucers,tray, lemons, tea bag, sugar cube and napkins.

Ipod Halloween costume

With the boys getting older, Halloween gets harder to find costumes that aren't childish. This is the ultimate cool kid costume! We got 2 pieces of foam core board from Walmart and some white cord. I used cardstock for the gray area. The circle took 3 pieces of 12x12 paper. I traced the Tupperware Thats-a-bowl for the dial. I cut the letters, apple logo and the arrows out with my cricut and a program called SCAL. If you want to know more about this wonderful money saving program for your cricut, check out Sure Cuts A Lot It is an amazing program!!! We used white cord to make some straps to keep the costume on Bradley's shoulders and to keep it tighter to his body. As for the headphones, I was going to make them with white cord and some screen pieces somehow till we found these at Ross! They are speakers for your Ipod! We made a little pocket inside the costume to put an ipod in so that we can hook it up with the speakers that he is holding. This week we are planning on downloading some Halloween tunes for the big day! Stay tuned later this week for the Rubics Cube costume...

Skirt and babylegs

I found this most amazing and inspirational blog that I got the ideas for this little skirt and babylegs. It is called Make it and Love it. Ashley is the gal with all of the imagination. I found this shirt at Target in the men's dept for $2. I cut the top off of the shirt and used the bottom of the shirt for the little skirt. I had some white knit fabric that I made a white skirt a little longer than the blue. Then I rolled the white to the outside to make the casing. The bottom hem of the blue is the hem of the original shirt. The tank top in the little girls dept. for $1.98. I cut off the top of the tank and cut it apart at the seams so I had 2 pieces. I squared the edges with my rotary cutter and then hemmed the end. The other end is the original hem from the tank top. Then I sewed the long sides together and there you have it! Darling baby legs for $1.98. (baby legs are a new word for baby leg warmers that you pull all the way up to the top of their leg to keep them warm. Here is a site that makes them: http://store.babylegs.com/catalog/Top-Sellers Here is the end result! They are so fun! Shhhhh because I am going to find a darling shirt for my niece and give it to her for Christmas!!

Canvas wall art

http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif I have seen others make something similar to these online and have always wanted to try my hand at them. I found the 12x12 inch pre-stretched canvas' at Big Lots. The paper that I used is My Minds Eye. The lines that the paper is from is "Plie", "Pirouette", "Ballet", and "Chassé". When I found paper that I liked to match my craft/scrap room, I bought a few embellishments that matched all of the paper to decorate them with. I started my painting the canvas with acrylic paints. I used colors that coordinated with the paper - lt. pink, lt. green and a lt. blue. The canvas was a little smaller than a true 12x12 so the paper didn't fit exactly. I had to trim down the scalloped paper that I loved so much. I decided to cut the scallop off 3 of the 4 sides. Then it fit well with a small portion on the painted canvas showing for a border. Once I got everything laid out on each canvas the way I wanted them to look in the end, I inked all of the edges even the edge of the canvas. I used a dark brown color lightly on the edges. Now for the messy part! MODGE PODGE! I love this stuff! I got a medium sized sponge brush all gooped up with MP (modge podge)and went to town. I coated the top canvas really well and laid the patterned paper on top. With the brush modge podge the top of the paper. Spread it evenly over top and sealing the paper to the canvas. Every time I added something new to the page I put MP on the bottom of the piece set it on the canvas and then sealed it over top again with the MP. To make the canvas edges shiny like the top of the canvas at the end, I MP'ed them too. Let them dry 24 hours and then you can hang them! My idea behind leaving mats for pictures was that I want to change the pictures every so often. I didn't want to MP any to the canvas' because then they would get outdated because my kids won't stop growing and changing. I can use double stick tape and replace them! Hope you enjoyed this project!

Vinyl wall decor

We just did a big re-arrange or bedrooms in our house. Dallin and Bradley were in the basement on bunkbeds. They have destroyed the basement and we need to repaint it. Paul and I decided to "take back" the basement and move the toys upstairs to their rooms. I moved my scraproom downstairs to their old room after re-painting it. We split up Dallin and Bradley in hopes of them getting along better with Tyson. Dallin and Tyson are in the Disney cars room in the bunk beds. Bradley is in my old scrap room with Tate in the queen bed. With all of the changes, we wanted to make their rooms more personal. Dallin is in Tyson's cars room so I wanted him to have his own little area. We put a shelf up for his things and made his bed on top a place where Tyson isn't allowed... to give Dallin his space. Bradley wanted his room to be sports stuff. We found a cheap comforter for the bed at Ross that has sports equipment on it. This is how his walls turned out... I will post pictures of my cute cute scrap room another day after I get the vinyl up. BYE!

Afton's Easter dress

I got a wild hair and asked Nicole if I could make Afton an easter dress. She let me and here is the result! I think it turned out pretty cute if you don't get too close to the arms! Let this be your warning to you... if you get this pattern, New Look pattern #6577 http://www.simplicity.com/dv1_v4.cfm?design=6577 the directions are screwy! I had to call the stupid 800 phone line to figure it out. The instructions were nothing like the lady said! But it turned out pretty cute. I used Tate to try it on and measure it because he and Afton are the same height. SO here is this picture for posterity!

Apparently I am really into food since I have started eating a little healthier. These definatly are not in the healthy recipe books, but I really want to try them! Homemade Samoas (a.k.a. Caramel de-Lites) Cookies 1 cup butter, soft 1/2 cup sugar 2 cups all purpose flour 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp vanilla extract up to 2 tbsp milk Preheat oven to 350F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all). The dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky. Roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out between pieces of wax paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and use a knife, or the end of a wide straw, to cut a smaller center hole. Repeat with remaining dough. Alternatively, use scant tablespoons of dough and press into an even layer in a mini donut pan to form the rounds. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set. If using a mini donut pan, bake for only about 10 minutes, until edges are light gold. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Topping 3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened) 12-oz good-quality chewy caramels 1/4 tsp salt 3 tbsp milk 8 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok) Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside. Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula. Using the spatula or a small offset spatula, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 tsp per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with. While topping sets up, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate. Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container. Makes about 3 1/2-4 dozen cookies. Note: These cookies are fairly time consuming to make, but if you take your time and have fun with them, the results will be worth it. That said, if you want something a little bit quicker, try baking a batch of Samoas Bars instead, which require no rolling and cutting of the dough! Found on this website http://bakingbites.com/2008/01/homemade-girl-scout-cookies-samoas/

Yummy recipe

We made this soup tonight for dinner and really liked it. It had so much flavor! We added chicken chunks that were cooked in a frying pan before. Paul put the cooked chicken into the pot and then de-glazed the pan. He poured all of the juices into the soup to cook. YUMMY! CORN AND POTATO CHOWDER 2 c. diced potatoes 1 c. sliced carrots 1 c. chopped celery 1/4 c. chopped green onion (optional) 1 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 3/4 c. water 2 c. corn 1 1/2 c. milk 1/2 c. evaporated milk or cream 1 c. shredded cheese Simmer potatoes, carrots, celery, green onion, salt, pepper and water, covered, 15 minutes. Add corn and simmer another 5 minutes. Add milk, cream and cheese; stir until cheese melts and soup is heated. Do not boil. *We doubled the recipe for our family and it made enough for lunches the next day.

Fun little shoulder bag...

I love to make different bags. There are some darling patterns online that are free or you could make up your own. This one I made up my own. It was a piece of fabric that was 44" wide and I cut a strip 9" off. Take that piece and fold it in half and cut it at the fold so you have 2 pieces. Take one of the strips that is now 9"x 22" and fold it in half with the right sides together. Sew up the two sides and leave the top open. Repeat with the other 9"x22" fabric. I like to trim the corners off without cutting into the seam. it makes it easier when you flip it. Then there isn't so much bulk in the corners of the bag. Now take one of the squares and turn it right side out. This will be the outside of your bag. Put the other square that is inside out into the other square and match up corners. To finish the edge, you can turn both pieces to the inside twice and sew it together. For the shoulder strap I used a piece that was 60" x 4". I ironed it in half and then I opened it up and turned the edges in about 1/4 ". Then I sewed a straight stitch down the length of the strap. I ironed it again to make sure it was straight because I am anal that way. To attach the strap I folded the edge once and sewed it to the seams on the sides. One of them I sewed the strap on the back side. It is a little different, but that is what is fun. To figure out how to try new things. Enjoy!

New Blog...

I have wanted to start a blog with pictures and ideas of some fun craft ideas, but didn't want to have it with my family blog. Then I can have cute pink backgrounds! I actually made one quite a few months ago but never did anything with it and now it won't let me in to my own blog! duh... I love to make fun new ideas and I love sharing them. I will now try and keep record of where I found the pictures and ideas and even link sometimes, but I haven't kept track so far. This first project I made the other day for my Taters. He loves to watch the big boys play Guitar Hero. Now he can pretend with them. I drew the guitar freehand and it is in no way shape of form perfect, but works. My inspiration was from an email Patrese sent me with some cute little guitars. I loved them but wanted it a little bigger. I cut out the pattern and traced it on fabric. I cut a top and a bottom at the same time. Next I ironed wonder under onto the fabric scraps that I was using for the circles, rectangles and lines on the neck on the guitar. After ironing the WU (wonder under) I traced the shaped onto the paper part of the WU and cut them out and ironed them on. I stitched with a decorative stitch around the shapes to keep it them stuck down. Then I drew with a pencil the lines that will be the strings of the guitar. I used a regular straight stitch to sew the lines. After the sewing is done, I sewed buttons onto the head. I then put the right sides together and pinned it together. I sewed it together leaving an opening to turn it inside out at the bottom of the guitar. I turned it inside out and began the stuffing. It was hard to get the neck stuffed enough that it would stand up straight. I ended up putting a stick in it to keep the neck straight up. Now I know why they made it smaller in the picture. There are a few things that I would do differently but I am happy with it. I would def. make it smaller and the neck shorter to the body of the guitar. Mmmm clear as mud?