Thursday, October 21, 2010

Appley Goodness

I love all things fall. 
I love the chill in the air. I love getting out the jeans and sweaters. I love the changing of the leaves.
I love the smells of fall. The outside smells and the cozy inside smells.
image source
And you know what else is great about fall? The apples!! The most recent Rachael Ray magazine had an apple recipe for each day in October. I thought it would be so much fun to try to eat an apple a day this month. I have lots of good ideas like that, but not so much follow through. Maybe next year. I did, however, just buy some delicious Haneycrisps. 
image source

Best apple, ever! I also was lucky enough to stumble across these yummy treats.
image source
Caramel Apple Candy Corn. Need I say more?
And what is your favorite part of fall?


Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Sing a Majigs

Have you seen these furry little critters yet? Or better question, have you heard them yet? The latest Parents magazine and Family Fun magazine have them rated as some of the year's hottest toys and oddly enough I can see why. For some strange reason, I find myself attracted to these colorful creatures. And just looking at them isn't enough. When I see Sing a Majigs in stores I have to squeeze their bellies only to be rewarded with an oddly grating, yet secretly fun sound. And it goes way beyond the fact that their mouths move as if to form the sounds. On one setting, if you squeeze multiple Sing a Majigs, they harmonize! (For some odd reason this is extra fun for me. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I am a dyed in the wool Lutheran?!!) I am guessing that if this toy were to make an appearance in your home and be played with by little hands for longer than ten minutes you would go slightly crazy. However, if one is only subjected to them briefly, say at a store, they really are fun.
Have your ears been blessed by the melodious sounds of the Sing a Majigs yet? What's your verdict?

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Tutorial Tuesday: Felt Banana

Look what, or should I say who, popped up in our fruit bowl this week!
Isn't he fun? This is my first attempt at felt food. I can see where this stuff can be addicting! This little guy is actually part of Peachy's Halloween costume, but I am sure that he will still around after the costume is put away.
I found the tutorial here: http://lyneya.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/tutorial-felt-banana-in-peel-or-corn-in-husk/ and the idea for the mouth here: http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/peelable-banana-plushie. Adding the Chiquita sticker, I am proud to say, was my own idea!
The tutorial is very easy. I made it even easier by simply sewing the two layers of peel together with my machine instead of by hand. What can I say? I am not a hand sewing kind of girl.
Any guesses as to what the rest of Peachy's costume is?



Photobucket





Dragonfly Designs

Monday, October 18, 2010

Leaf Wreath

Have you heard of The CSI Project challenges? The bloggers over at CSI (Create Something Inspiring) pick a secret crafting "ingredient" that the entries must all incorporate. Most recently it was Halloween projects with Krylon spray paint. A while back, the "ingredient" was paint samples. I happily raided Wal-Mar'ts paint isle and loaded up. While I picked up the paint chips in time, I failed to complete my craft in time. Oh well, there were some pretty great crafts out there anyway. And now that I finished my paint chip project, we are enjoying it here at home.
The paint chips that I choose were large cards of a single color, I believe they were Better Homes and Gardens. With the help of the Cricut, I made each chip into a leaf shape. I hot glued each leaf shape to a styrofaom wreath that I had wrapped with gross grain ribbon. Quick, easy, and inexpensive!

Do you ever wonder what the people who work in these paint departments think when the crafsters raid their paint samples? I am always kind of trying to be inconspicuous about the whole thing, just in case they look down on taking paint samples that are not really being used for sampling paint.

Making
The Girl Creative

Sumo Sweet Stuff


Photobucket

Friday, October 15, 2010

Foodie Friday: Oatmeal Waffles

A friend recently mentioned the oatmeal waffles that she makes for her family. Here is what she had to say about them, "The following recipe won a Better Homes & Gardens Recipe Contest in 1988.  My family (and anyone else I have made them for) love them!!" They sounded delicious, so I made sure to get the recipe from her. (Thanks, Lisa!!) These are the waffles Peachy and I shared for our Wednesday morning breakfast. We topped them with fresh whipped cream, apple pie in a jar, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. And they were as good as they sounded and just as good when I re-heated them Thursday for breakfast.



Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 T. brown sugar

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl stir together flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.  Make a well in the center of flour mixture; set aside.
2. In another medium bowl beat eggs slightly.  Stir in milk, butter or margarine, and brown sugar.  Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture; stir until combined.
3. Pour about 1 1/4 cups batter onto grids of a preheated, lightly greased waffle baker.  Close lid quickly; do not open during baking.  Bake according to manufacturer's directions.  When done, use a fork to lift waffle off grid.  Repeat with remaining batter.  If desired, sprinkle with powdered sugar and top with fruit and yogurt.
 
Makes about twelve 4-inch waffles.

giveaways

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

A Content and Happy Home

In the last week I have been overcome by a feeling of complete contentment. I think that I can blame part of this on the wonderfully warm weather that we have been blessed with this month. I thought that I would share a few other things that are bringing this joy to my heart this morning.
A yummy breakfast to start our day.
I usually save cooked breakfast for special weekends, normally when we have company.
Today I decided to make a Wednesday special with a yummy, yummy breakfast.
I think that Peachy appreciated the efforts.

We happen to have some whipping cream in the fridge. Nothing like some fresh whipped cream to top off some delicious homemade waffles.
My morning coffee ritual. Have I ever shared with you how I  brew coffee? I learned this method from my father-in-law. You poor boiling water over the coffee in the cone. It makes a wonderful coffee.

Peachy has an ear infection. I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed us with modern medicine and the comfort and healing it can bring us.
Don't be fooled. I did run in a race this weekend, but I did not run a half marathon. They ran out of 5k bibs, so I was given a half marathon bib. I don't think I will ever be able to run a half marathon.
I have quite the list of sewing projects these days. Some are orders for others and some are for our family. I am so blessed to have this hobby to keep me busy and happy.
This little peanut brings endless joy to my life. She is such a sweet, sweet girl. (Even if she did put her baby into the oatmeal container this morning.)
Her play is such fun to watch right now. She is constantly trying new things  in new ways.
Yes, I am currently blessed with a content life and a heart filled with joy.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Foodie Friday: Warm Carmel Apple Cake

It was love at first sight. As soon as I saw this love looking my way from the Betty Crocker website, I knew that we would soon be spending lots of time together. And last weekend was when the magic happened!!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I had candied walnuts on hand already, so I used those.)
2 large cooking apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (about 2 1/3 cups)
1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® yellow cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon apple pie spice
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. In 1-quart heavy saucepan, cook butter, whipping cream and brown sugar over low heat, stirring occasionally, just until butter is melted. Pour into 13x9-inch pan. Sprinkle with pecans (or walnuts); top with sliced apples.
2. In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil, eggs and apple pie spice with electric mixer on low speed until moistened. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes. Carefully spoon batter over apple mixture.
3. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Loosen sides of cake from pan. Place heatproof serving platter upside down on pan; carefully turn platter and pan over. Let pan remain over cake about 1 minute so caramel can drizzle over cake. Remove pan.

I topped ours with fresh whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Betty suggested mixing frosting with whipped topping. Vanilla ice cream would also be divine.

Yes, I will definitely be making more time for Mr. WCAC in the near future.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Jack-O-Lantern Shirt and Treat Bag

Little Peachy's Halloween costume may not be complete, but that doesn't mean that we have forgotten about the upcoming costume and candy season. Would you like to see what I did with this smiley and cute little guy?
For starters, I added his charming mug to this little treat bag that I made.
Cute, no? How about adding him to a black shirt as well?
Definitely cute! Now lets dial the cuteness factor up a little.
Ah, yes. That will do!
If you would like to sample some of this sweetness, you can purchase some of your own at my Etsy shop.


Photobucket



Sumo Sweet Stuff
Making

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

The House with the Red Door


Another thing to cross off of the to do list. The front door has been painted red!! After the installation of the storm door, we removed the door and hauled it to the garage. There Mr. Cherry removed the hardware and we taped around the edges. Then it was time to prime. I used Bullseye 1-2-3 primer tinted to gray. Two coats of primer later and it was on to the painting. Here I used a exterior latex. I think I ended up with about four coats of the latex. Once it was dry and the hardware was reattached, we hung it and stood back to admire our new door. 

Unfortunately, between the storm door and the covered porch the red is quite hard to see. Oh well, I still have a red door on my house!! The houses that surround us are all the same plan, meaning, they all look the same. We already have the only blue house in our neighborhood. And now we also are the only house with a red front door!!

Monday, October 4, 2010

Kids Clothes Week Challenge

I stumbled across this wonderful challenge set for the same week that I was already making the Toddler Swing Coat. The goal of the challenge was to spend one hour each day of the week on sewing kids clothes. Does it make me unusual that I already spend a large portion of my week creating and quite often my creations are kids clothes and items? Hmmm.
I started the week by finishing up a fall hat for Peachy. I used the Hampton Hat pattern from Etsy seller Heidi and Finn. I really like how it turned out, but there was a slight problem. You see, Peachy has an abnormally large head. (No really, it is in the 100th percentile.) I made the hat a size 2T/3T, but it still didn't fit. I ended up giving the hat to the cutie in the picture.
After finishing the hat, I moved on to Peachy's swing coat.
I am thinking that I will have to try the hat pattern again for Miss Peach using the leftover lining and collar fabric.
I finished the week by creating some more pear shirts to list in my shop along with some new Halloween shirts. (I am hoping to get the Halloween shirts finished up today so that I can share them with you sometime this week.)
I also have a new dress cut out for Peachy. We will see if I can continue Kids Clothes week into this week and get some more creations done.

Making
The Girl Creative
Sumo Sweet Stuff
Keeping It Simple