Tutorial Tuesday: Car Caddy

Have you seen the cute as a button matchbox car caddies floating around on the internet? Homemade by Jill has a great one. I used her measurements, but changed it up a bit to make it a little bit easier. I will include my directions here. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the process, but I think that it will be pretty clear.
Directions:
1. Cut two rectangles of fabric measuring 11 1/2" by 8 1/2". (I used one piece of corduroy and one piece of a cotton flannel car print.)
2. Cut one rectangle of fabric measuring 11 1/2" by 6". (In some of my caddies I used the corduroy for this step and in others I used the flannel.)
3. Press the 11 1/2" by 6" rectangle in half, wrong sides together, creating a 11 1/2" by 3" rectangle.
4. Place your pressed piece, pressed edge up, on the right side of a 11 1/2" by 8 1/2" corduroy rectangle. (Line up raw edges on the bottom and sides.)

5. Stitch through all three pieces of fabric in the middle of the set. Stitch two more rows 2 3/4" to the left and right of the middle. 

6. Cut 3" by 11" rectangle out of black felt for the road. Cut yellow gross grain ribbon into five 1" lengths for the center line of the road. (I adhered fusible web onto the ribbon before cutting it.) Sew the ribbon pieces down the middle of the felt.

7. Stitch road 1/2" from the top of the stitched set.

8. Place stitched set on top of remaining 11 1/2" by 8 1/2" rectangle, wrong sides together.

9. Serge around entire rectangle through all layers.

10. Cut two 12" lengths of 1" wide belting. Finish off the edges and sew on the top and bottom of the patterned piece for handles.

Updating Peachy's Room

A while back I stumbled across this picture from the Real Simple website.

Isn't that a great way to jazz up a nursery room dresser? 

I had to give it a try in Little Peachy's room. 

Here is Peachy showing us the before.

Here is the after with new knobs and ribbon. (I ran out. Bummer. Don't worry I'll buy more and finish the project soon.)

Here is a close up of the ribbons. (I decided to cut mine shorter than the RS picture out of sheer practicality.)

Here is what Peachy decided to do while I switched out the knobs and added the ribbons. Yes, she is stuck in a wooden close rack. Yes, she removed the items that had been drying on the rack. Yes, I got my camera and took pictures before rescuing her. Yes, she amuses me too.

Foodie Friday: Fiesta Chicken and Rice

Grilling season has begun! Woohoo! I have been taking full advantage of the warm, sunny days and grilling up a storm. We had this yumminess the other night for our supper. It was deliciousness on a plate.

Ingredients:
-4 chicken breasts
    Marinade:
-4 T olive oil
-4 oz rum or tequila
-2 T lime juice
-2 T chili powder
-1 T garlic powder
-1/2 t salt
-1 T cumin
   Rice:
- 4 c cooked rice
-1 tomato chopped
-1 t lime juice
-2 T chopped cilantro

Directions:
1. Mix marinade ingredients. (I first mixed everything except the oil, then I slowly whisked the oil in.) Pour marinade over chicken and allow to marinade for about an hour.
2. Grill chicken over medium heat until it reaches 160 degrees.
3. Mix rice with the remaining ingredients.
4. Cut chicken into strips and serve over a bed of rice.

Up, Up & . . .

Peachy has mastered a new skill. Can you guess what it is by the title of this post?

Yes, she can now pull herself to a standing position.

Apparently she would like to start a blog of her own.

The Perfect Solution

Remember this skirt?

I decided that it would be the perfect skirt for Easter. The $78 price tag? Not so perfect. Thankfully I had the perfect solution.

That solution came in the form of an envelope from McCalls Pattern Company with the number 5431 on it. After a quick trip to JoAnn Fabrics, an hour of cutting, one phone call to my mom, and an hour of sewing the perfect solution looked something like this:

Did you notice that the yoke on Peachy's dress matches my skirt? I actually made her dress first. When I went looking for fabric for myself I found the piece again and decided we could pull off a little matchy-matchy.

Peachy's dress is from the New Look patten 6878. The fabric was also purchased at JoAnn's.