Birthday Boy

Wow, time flies.  Buddy is now eleven....it seems like just yesterday he was crawling down the hallway crying because he wanted to go to bed...here's his birthday cake.  I even took my hair out of the ponytail it was in for the picture...he is adamantly opposed to my hair being up.  Seriously,  he goes around pulling out the ponytail holder/clip.  The woman he marries will have a nice budget for clothes and hair. Fortunately, my husband isn't vary partiular.  The boy was most excited because I allowed him to help decorate the cake.  We only had about 25 minutes, so I was thrilled with how it turned out...I even used store bought icing with all those extra chemicals...shame on me.  Here's the inspiration:   how-to-make-a-pirate-ship-cake

Meatless Monday

To stretch our grocery budget and add variety to the diet we've gone back to meatless Mondays.  Dinner was a big hit yesterday:  fried green tomatoes, cheese grits, and a combination of these two recipes Hungry Mama zucchini pancakes / all recipes zucchini pancakes.  We might eat this frequently while I have tomatoes and zucchini from the garden.

Getting back on track

A while back I started reading an ebook 31 Days to Clean.  I even started doing some of the challenges...and then life as I knew it was interrupted.  It's interesting how that seems to happen to me regularly... so I'm trying to get back on track and grow in maintaining our home so that it is a peaceful place for us to work and play.  Here's my mission statement:

Sewing Camp - Totebags

I loved seeing the creativity and personality of the girls show with their fabric selections.  Simplicity totebag

Sewing Camp - Pillow

Here are the directions: 9Patch 

Sewing Camp - Pillowcases

I'm teaching a sewing camp at our church this week and the teens are doing a great job.  Here's their first project using these directions:  Quilts of Valor Pillowcase

First Fruits

We have ripe tomatoes!!

Bathroom Toilet

My teenager pointed out that I haven't posted a picture of my new toilet...isn't it stylish?  I was going to use the old one, but after an hour (well...maybe it wasn't that long) of scrubbing I appealed to the dear husband for a new one.  He jumped in the truck (literally) and came home with this.  He had been asking since January if I wanted to replace the old one.  My new bathroom is beautiful.  I was a little concerned about the green, but with the cabinet and toilet I am loving it.  I can't completely reveal the whole room yet...it might take until July when my sister returns for another visit and brings a mirror.  But we've come from here: 

The toilet is in the same place as before.

Little Sassy Skirt

 While my twin sister was here she appliqued t-shirts for the little girls to match skirts that were ready to sew.  I finally finished the one skirt in time for church yesterday...hopefully the other will be finished before the day is out.  (Why is there wheat growing in my wild flower patch?)  Here are a couple more pictures.

Pillowcase Dresses

Yesterday evening I hosted a Girl's Night Out to make pillowcase dresses to donate to a school/orphanage in Guatemala.  It was great fun and the dresses are adorable.  We used a combination of instructions - I like deeper armholes than these  pillowcase_dress_how_to  so the top edge can be turned down without sewing on a facing.   Here are a few things I learned and some I'm thankful that the Lord had prompted me to do. 

Fabric Covered Napkin Rings

We were excited to find out some friends would be in town and had time for dinner on Monday.   It was a perfect opportunity for a little crafting fun using items on hand.  A larger piece of this fabric was used for the border on a pillowcase dress last Friday. For some reason we always seem to have an abundance of empty toilet paper tubes.  Our fabric scraps were 1" x 18";  it would have been easier for the children if they had been longer.  Here are complete instructions:  With or Without Nap Fabric Napkin Rings

Cherry Chocolate Pie Recipe

Cherry Chocolate Pie

I've had this recipe posted on my refrigerator for a few months and finally made it last week while my sister and bil were in town.  I made two thinking one would not be enough for the 8 people eating it - a little went a long way.  It was very sweet.  I think it would be yummy with strawberry glaze pie in the middle rather than cherry pie filling.

Strawberry Glaze Pie

This is one of my favorite recipes, from summer, during childhood (probably my FAVORITE).  Strawberry season is earlier here in TN, it is now one of my favorite spring recipes.

The children were helping with the Cool Whip...I prefer real whipped cream, slightly sweetened...but when you're working with a time limit, it is awesome with Cool Whip.

Here's the recipe.

Dance Teacher Thank You Cards

I saw this dance-teacher-thank-you-tags on Thursday and had to copy it.   While the big children were rehearsing for their choir concert yesterday I cut, taped and was finished just it time to put up the ballerina's hair in time for her recital.

I thought it was a creative way to "wrap" an iTunes giftcard.  The dds didn't quite get the "Thank You for teaching me how to get my groove on."  The teachers did.

Spring Dresses

Here's a picture of the spring dresses.  I'm amazed the lengths are the same...didn't plan it that way at all. 

Laundry Tub Skirt

 One of my Mother's Day requests was time to sew...so while the oldest dd cleaned up the kitchen after lunch (dh had bought crab cakes) I made the skirt for my laundry tub/counter.  I am thrilled to have a sink in my laundry room.  The skirt is velcroed to the frame the dh built.

Happy Mother's Day

Here are a few pictures from our home today.  Strawberry shortcake for breakfast...yum! 

Happy Birthday with a Rose Cake

 

We now have a teenager at our house.  I'm excited about how the cake turned out.  It was quick and easy. It does have an abundance of icing.   Had we not had some leftover icing from Easter I would have used yellow....in honor of the Queen's outfit & hat, but since purple is a "royal" color and one of the dd's favorite colors it worked out splendidly.

A Finished Project

I finally finished the binding on the quilt I inheritied over five years ago.  Now, that a new month is here, I need to look at my UFO projects and see what I'm to be finishing this month.  I am hoping to have the laundry room and the bathroom projects completed.

Breakfast

I've been a bit discouraged by our school progress...but at least my children can cook.  The seven year old wanted an omelet for breakfast...the ten year old found a cookbook and got busy.   I also have a new favorite breakfast casserole.

Happy Easter

My twin always makes the most amazing cards.  I never did get around to posting Easter greetings and since the storms are keeping us awake (and we're fortunate to still have power) I thought I'd post a few pictures.  I did finish the dresses I was making in time for pictures Saturday evening (even had the buttons on).    I hope the photographer was able to get a few good pictures.  Here's a glimpse.

31 Days to Clean

I'm in the mood to clean out.  Maybe this will help:  31-days-to-clean

Good Friday Fun - Easter Eggs

We started off the day with the chidren looking for some items we could dye our eggs with.  Here's what they came up with. 

These are my first two ripe (almost) strawberries...sorry, we can't use them. 

Buttercups & dandelions...can definitely use them.

Red cabbage...that will work. 

Easter Preview

We've been ill around here and the original picture date was rained out (fortunate since pink eyes weren't something I wanted to remember at the time...although know I'm wishing I had taken a few pictures).  I have been making progress on these...

The big princess looked adorable at her cello recital.  The little princess will be naked if I don't get some sewing done tomorrow.

 The most exciting news of the week is that I now have a working washer & dryer again.  The laundry room isn't quite ready for a complete reveal...but I am thrilled to have a washer again.

There's a Dinosaur in My Loaf of Bread

Yesterday, when I was slicing bread I ran into something hard....

Fun Accessories

Wow, it's been a while since I've been on here.  No, we haven't been idle.  We've been busy working on some different projects and taking a short trip (and recovering from that trip).  I was reminded today by my dd's outfit that I forgot to post pictures of her new accessories.  She was given a new skirt that was a little too long.  A couple of weeks ago, before church, I ripped off the bottom tier and turned it into rosettes.  I forgot to take a picture of both together....

Happy St. Patrick's Day

When I saw this recipe in the February/March 2011 Cook's Country I knew I had to make it.  My husband enjoys mint chocolate chip ice cream so I thought this cake would be perfect for our anniversary.  Bob had planned to take me out to dinner yesterday so I made it today.

Strawberry Clip

I had some fun last week with a friend making some strawberry hairclips from here:  Sew Homegrown Strawberry-shortclip.  They turned out berry cute.   I am hoping to do some sewing and organizing in my "free" time this week (the bookshelf in the background needs attention).  We also need to get back to working on the laundry room.  Since today is my anniversary (15 years!!!) I think we're going out to dinner instead of working on our house project.

Johnsonville House Party

It was a busy day with a basketball tournament, some consignment shopping and a Johnsonville Sausage House Party with 39 people...I guess 40 if you count the baby.  A house full of people and wonderful food.  With the helping hands of a couple of friends we were able to enjoy Italian Sausage Rigatoni.  We started the evening with some Johnsonville Snack Sausage and Spicy Sausage Queso.   I was too busy talking and cutting cake to take pictures of our yummy desserts.

I turned my quilt block from last weekend into a pillow for my friend who is anticipating the arrival of a daughter in a couple weeks.  Fortunately, I found the perfect pink for the backing and ruffle in the attic.  I also made some fun bibs.

Laundry Room Paint

The dh has been working to upgrade the software on our household computers this week.  I'm thrilled I'll be able to use the recipe software he bought me a couple of years ago for my birthday.  Unfortunately, I won't be able to paint the laundry room this weekend.  Here's the blue I've chosen.  The green is for the bathroom. 

February Reading

I received this as a Christmas present and didn't know anything about it (I'm out of touch with what book clubs were reading last year).  I put it on my list to read in February and I actually finished this a couple of weeks ago (amazing considering it is 444 pages).  I found myself hoping I'd be stuck in traffic or have to wait for dance class to finish so I could read a few more pages.  There were a few things I didn't appreciate about this novel and therefore will not allow my daughter (12) to read it.  I was disappointed in the ending, but this book made me laugh out loud and cry.  It is fiction and therefore the things I do not like about this book are merely my opinion.  There are thousands of reviews on Amazon and I can agree with both the favorable and the negative.

Firetruck Print Baby Quilt

Our friends were blessed with a new baby a couple of weeks ago.  This is his present made from my stash of firetruck fabric.  There's a bigger version of this in the works for a special fireman in the family.

A New Dress

Yesterday, before church, I made the littlest girl a new dress.  She had been wearing a shirt, that never fit her sister, around the house.  I'm not sure who it would have fit.

Shadow Applique Quilt Block

My husband graciously allowed me some time away this afternoon, at my favorite sewing shop (Gina's), to learn a new technique with my sewing/embroidery machine.  I haven't decided what I'm going to turn this into, but I think it is beautiful.  It's from a set of designs Baby Chicks 'n' Bows by Kathy Drew.  Kathy is amazing.  Her quilts are spectacular...now I'm thinking I need to sign-up for her Freestyle Machine Quilting class.

Too Many Clothes

For the past month I've been making weekly trips to do our laundry.  In the process I have determined we have too many clothes.  Cleaning out our closets & drawers definitely needs to be on my project list. 

Birthday Cake

My littlest girl is a bag lady.  It was appropriate to make a purse cake.

Sewing project update

I'll need to make quick progess if I'm going to reach my goals for the month.  I did get pleats in for the little girls' dresses for Easter.  I was determined to do this last week so I could spend time on Saturday smocking at the TN Cello Workshop my daughter attended.  When I realized I didn't have a dowel long enough to roll the fabric on I had to get creative.   I used the curtain rod from the kitchen...worked great.

A beautiful day

It was a beautiful day here...the weather and the roses on my kitchen table made for a happy mama.  The little girls were delighted with their new leg warmers...I didn't realize the dd wore the one upside down...