Is there anything they can't do?

Or that they aren't willing to try...if I ask them? You may remember that Maris learned to do simple embroidery back here. She was so proud of herself. What's interesting is that when I brought her home, her 11 y/o brother saw what she made and he seriously said, "I want to learn how to sew,"  and I'm thinking, "Darlin', you're speaking my language." Unfortunately, with the holidays being so crazy busy, we didn't get around to it right away. But then, oh yes...but then I saw this project on Sew Mama Sew and it fairly shouted at me to be used to teach all the kidlings how to do simple embroidery. They love doing things for their parents and they love doing crafts...perfect, right? Yes indeed! Each of them drew their message on tracing paper and then put the image onto the material using a transfer pencil. However, next time we'll draw directly onto the material with a water soluble pen because some of the transfer pencil shows through the embroidery. There was a lot of needle rethreading and getting knots out, but still, will you look at all this fun and concentration?


Spencer soon found that the light from the aquarium helped him see where his needle should come up.


Maris took to it like the old pro she is now.


I think the tongue sticking out helps Konner with his concentration.



Talk about persistance! We began the project Saturday evening and though I left them with instructions to help each other finish, I was fretting that it might be too difficult or frustrating to do by themselves. So, I called Sunday morning to see if the kids could come to my house to finish and my d-i-l said they were already parked in the upstairs hallway working away. Really? How cool is that?

They did come over for a while and managed to get all the embroidery completed before they went back home. I worked on the envelopes, but each of them worked diligently to finish their letters.

I couldn't resist this one. Do you think she's had enough embroidery for the night? That's exactly how I feel some days when I've spent too much time sewing on difficult projects.


Konner kept saying, "this is so cool! This is so cool!" Shoot, even Spencer stuck with it in spite of it being pretty tedious for him.

I have to attach buttons and make buttonholes, but otherwise, the Valentines are ready for the parents. Mom and Dad are going to be so surprised. I ask myself, why didn't my mom do projects like this with my kids? Drat!



Isn't this just the coolest thing?

Delighted!

Yippee!! I won the give-away at Mary Beth's blog. I'm both surprised and delighted. When I initially commented on the give-away, it was to let her know that I was going to copy her idea for a give-away of my own. I had no inkling that I might win hers. How cool is that? I've already emailed to tell her that I have plans for all the goodies, but the first thing I'm going to do is nip a bit of that yummy chocolate bar. Oooh, can't wait!

And now, for the real reason I'm here today. As you know, I've joined the One Small Change project and my January change was to compost all of the scraps that I normally toss in the winter. I don't know why I had been tossing scraps in the trash because I compost all Spring, Summer and Fall. Did I think they wouldn't decompose? Was it too much effort to walk across the yard in my boots to dump the bucket? (haha....I laughed when I originally wrote that last sentence because I said I walk across the yard to dump the bucket in my boots. Too funny. I don't dump the scraps in my boots. Seriously!)  Anyway, the composting has been going great. I have made a concerted effort to separate out the scraps that the ducks will eat, and they've been enjoying their little treats, but everything else has been going into the flower garden. I'll be curious to see what the pile looks like when we have the Spring thaw, but I'm sure it will all turn under quite nicely.

I posted this last Wednesday about my change for February and then I came back to say the produce bag didn't turn out quite like I wanted because the cheesecloth was too thin. Jennifer quickly replied that she edited her tutorial to include using a heavier cloth, but I didn't see that until this morning...after I had bought mosquito netting and had another go at the produce bags.

Oh, it worked up great this time and the material was so easy to work with. I salvaged an old shoe lace from my sewing notions for the drawstring and now the bag is light, see-through, very inexpensive and quite sturdy so it should hold up to multiple uses. I've got a few more to make and then I'm ready for my February change. I need to get my hooks up by the back door so my shopping and produce bags are handy and within sight when I leave for the grocery store. This is fun! Please tell me you're participating too?

If you decide to make the produce bags, please use Jennifer's tutorial. It's very easy to follow and the bags really are quite sturdy.

I've got another great post for later this week that features a Sew Mama Sew tutorial. It was a special Valentines project that I helped the grandkids make for their parents. Beautiful and so much fun!

Grab a cup of tea....

and get comfortable because we've got some catching up to do.

I've been to the beach with my new camera and I was so surprised at the colors of winter! Who would have thought?





I've also been doing a lot of sewing lately....

See those directions up there? The part where it talks about a 2" cushion? haha...oops! See, I have this wonderful rolling storage bench that I use when I'm sewing, but the hard top is not the least bit comfortable to sit on, which means I needed a cushion. So, I design this very simple seat cushion and off I go to the fabric store to buy a foam pad, but while I was there I decided 2" wasn't thick enough for my tush and I bought a 3" pad instead. Well, someone sort of forgot to change the sewing directions and then when I finished the cushion cover it didn't fit. (knucklehead!) But it turned out so well I simply had to buy the 2" foam to fit it. No way was I ripping out my marvelous sewing.



This is the close-up of my clever little zipper trick for getting the pad inside. Oh, it wasn't difficult to sew at all, but it sure taxed my brain as I was designing it. I have such a hard time visualizing how something will look.

And, yes, I still have the 3" foam, but I'll probably make a floor cushion out of that. It's a family thing that we sit on the floor alot. I don't know why....

Then there was this beautiful quilted fabric that just jumped into my arms as I walked about the store. I guess I'm cured of not being able to figure out how to use fabric because this one also had a definite purpose before I bought it. It's loosely based on Amanda Soule's letter satchel, but since the material was already quilted, I simply bound off the edges with bias tape. I so want to keep it, but I think it's going to my granddaughter instead. Hey, I want to be my granddaughter!

I intended to sew this up last night, but didn't have the right color thread. You gotta love a guy who automatically offers to take you to the fabric store for more thread. Right? Even better is when said guy is at the store, walks up, hands you a button and says, "this is perfect for your project."

And the button is perfect! How cool is that? This satchel was so quick and easy that I made it up before I went to work this morning. I have enough material to make another project but that one is still in the design stage. Again, it's for my granddaughter. Did I mention I want to be her?

You want another must make soup recipe? Another that will blow you away? Try this one.

Sorry about the half eaten soup picture, but at least I remembered before it was all gone. My girlfriend came up with this recipe first and all I said when I tasted it was, "mmmmm, mmmmm, mmmmm!"

Spicy Chicken Rice Soup
4 c vegetable broth (Imagine)
2 c cooked wild rice
1 chicken breast, cooked, diced
1 8oz can Mexican tomato sauce (El Pato)
1 8oz can water chestnuts, diced

Mix everything together in a pan, bring to boiling and add 2 big handfuls of spinach just before serving. Enjoy!

This has a bit of a bite to it (that's what the Leinie is for), but you won't believe how delicious it is. You'll soon be going "mmmm, mmmm, mmmm" too. I promise.

Alright, that's enough from me. I'm coming over to visit the rest of you for a while....and I'm bringing my tea with me. Save me a good spot, won't you?

One Small Change

Woo hoo! I found my change for February. I was uncomfortably aware of all the plastic produce bags going into my cart last night as I shopped. Today, I followed this link from Sara's site. I've seen directions for other bags online, but I thought they were too heavy for produce. Cheesecloth weighs next to nothing. Yippee!

Updated 1/28 - I made one of these bags last night and I don't think I'll be making more with cheesecloth. It seemed like a lot of work for something that turned out to be so fragile. Perhaps there are different qualities of cheesecloth, but mine snags very easily and I just don't think this will hold up very well. Still, it's a great idea and now I'm looking for a stronger, yet still lightweight fabric. I'm thinking of re-using the mesh bags that some vegetables come in. If I fold down the top and add a drawstring through the double thickness, it should be strong enough, right? That way I don't have to purchase any additional material either. What do you think?

By the way, composting has been going great and everything that doesn't get fed to the ducks or squirrels goes into the compost pile. Shucks, it's not so hard to walk across the yard in my boots. *grins*

One Small Change isn't so hard after all is it? How's it going for you?

Dee-licious!

This was Brent's idea and I'm giving credit where credit is due, but since he didn't write down the original recipe (bad Brent), we played around with it again last night. Oh. My. Yummm. You should go make some right now! It's a Strawberry Vinaigrette dressing that he served over a salad of greens, Feta cheese and walnut bits. Did I mention it's super easy too? Did I mention you just might be licking the bowl clean? I didn't, but I could have.



Strawberry Vinaigrette Dressing

14 frozen strawberries (I recommend thawing them a bit)
1/3 c Balsamic Vinegar
4 T water
3 T sugar

Whirl all the ingredients in a blender until it's all mixed up. Toss with your salad and enjoy.

Tah dah!

Look what I found! I have no idea how I got to Lia's place, but I know I was linking around (good term) and when I stumbled upon her blog I just knew I had to make her adorable bags. And you know what? These are next year's Christmas presents. Oh, I could jump for joy because these were so stinkin' easy and they turned out so stinkin' cute! Add to that, I used more fabric that Alex so graciously sent me last summer. Come on....what girl isn't gonna want one of these? Heck, I'm making one for myself too. I can think of many uses for an adorable bag. Hmmm, I'm wondering how well these will work to hold yarn for my projects?


Oh my gosh, I've been having way too much fun in the sewing room lately. Now, what should I do next? Oooh, I've got an idea.....but I might need your help. I have more material to make another of these and I would like to give it away, as a thank you, for all the guidance and fabulous ideas I get from all of you. But here's the thing, how do you handle a give away? Really, I want to know and if you don't tell me then I can't give one of these bags away. And they really are as stinkin' cute as I said they were.

I learned it from you.

A couple weeks ago, Brent and I were out for one of our sunrise walks, but this time it was bitter cold in the woods. I kept taking off my gloves and putting them in my coat pocket because I needed my fingers for the camera functions, and since my camera batteries kept freezing, I had to tuck spares inside my pockets as well to keep warm. Then there were the necessary things like tissues and chapstick and a snack, but with so much in my pockets, I was afraid that I would drop something really important whenever I pulled my gloves back out. I came up with the perfect solution (which I'll post once I make it), but that solution required a trip to my local thrift store. Oh, did we ever find a treasure there - a super long, super large cashmere turtleneck sweater that begged to go home with us. It was crazy soft and thick and plush and I promptly threw it in the washer and felted it.

So far, I've gotten two hats, this neck gator (I simply cut the neck off the sweater) a pair of mittens and a pair of leg warmers. I believe another pair of mittens is coming up too.



We wore these yesterday during another early morning hike at the lakeshore and let me say this just one time.....it is heaven to wear cashmere. Can you believe we got all of this heavenly goodness for only $13.00? You gotta love thrift stores!

By the way Nicola, I never would have come up with that idea on my own. It was only from the resourcefulness of my fellow bloggers that I thought of felting the cashmere and repurposing the felt. Thanks everyone. You're so darned helpful!