Handmade Pretties

New Gadget: Twist and Sparkle

2012-01-04T09:23:00.000-08:00

Sparkle baby! Sparkle! In just a minute, I will be enjoying a glass of sparkling Raspberry Mint water.

My husband got me a Isi Twist and Sparkle for Christmas, and it is fantastic. I have a raging La Croix habit, and can easily go through 3-4 cans a day. I like the Twist and Sparkle because I can use it to create fresh fruit infused sparkling water, and I can make a bottle when I want (no more late night trips to the store to buy a warm case of La Croix).

To keep a stash on hand, each day I prepare two bottle of fruit water. I have tried fresh pineapple, oranges, clementines, mixed berry, and raspberry. This time of year, oranges and clementines are abundant, so I have been favoring those, but I also like to use frozen raspberries with a little dried mint from last summer's garden. I put in about 1/2 an orange or a small handful of raspberries with water (i use our tap water, but you could go all fancy and use filtered water). I let the bottle chill in the fridge until I am ready to fizz it up. The fizz lasts best for a few hours (I have no problem drinking 4 cups of infused water in just a few hours). It will keep overnight, but it is not as fizzy.

I think next I will try infused cucumber water, and some classic lemon lime.

Do It Yourself: Empty Spool Candy/Cracker Ornaments

2011-12-03T11:23:00.000-08:00

This ornament was made by Sylvia (I helped her with the hot glue). She decided to make hers a piece of sour candy by gluing a paper label to the front.

This ornament was made by Beatrice (with the hot glue assist). Beatrice's is Sweet Sour Candy (?).

If you sew as much as I do, you probably have a giant bin full of empty thread spools. They are too good to throw away, but yet hard to use (especially the modern plastic ones). I designed this little project to do on a rainy (yes RAINY) December afternoon with the kiddos. My girls are 4 and 7, this project uses hot glue, so I needed to help them with the gluing and cutting the pieces to the right size. This project would be perfect for kids just a little bit older (8+).

Materials:
floral wire (medium gage)
wide ribbon
felt
empty spool
thin ribbon
hot glue
scissors

Prepare your pieces by cutting the felt into a rectangle that is large enough to roll entirely around the circumference of the spool with a little bit of an overlap. Leave the ends at least 1 1/2 " longer than the spool on each side.

Thread the wire through the center of the spool and bend a hook at the end. Secure this into the spokes of the spool with a small dab of hot glue.

Next, secure one edge of the felt with hot glue to the spool. lay the ribbon over it and secure the ribbon with hot glue to the spool as well.

Roll the felt and the ribbon around the spool. Fold the edge of the ribbon over the edge of the felt and secure with hot glue.

Finish rolling the felt and ribbon around the spool and secure with hot glue.

Using the thin ribbon, gather the ends and tie with a decorative bow.

To hang the ornament, either leave the wire long and bend a hook, OR clip the wire short, and bend over to create a loop to which you will tie a hanging ribbon.

Add a paper label if desired with glue.

To create a dish of candies, omit the center wire and continue with the rest of the steps.

Santa Cop means to show the new ornament who is the boss...

Recipes: Bee Balm Sun Tea

2011-07-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

A fine jar of Bee Balm Tea in front of our Bee Balm patch. Bee Balm is in the mint family and has a sweet minty flavor. Bee Balm blossoms are also a lovely addition to salads.

It's summer, and at our house, we drink sun tea. Lots and lots of sun tea. The problem is that after a few glasses, my caffeine intolerance kicks in and I can have no more. Additionally, the girls love tea, but I am not really all that enthusiastic about hopping them up with chemical energy all day. So we invented Bee Balm Sun Tea. It is very easy to make, and quite delicious.

Bee Balm Sun Tea
5-7 Bee Balm Blossoms
A handful of Fresh Basil
A Handful of Fresh Mint
2-3T Dried Hibiscus flowers and rosehips (optional to enhance the pink color)

In a CLEAN (scrubbed with hot soapy water) clear glass jar, fill about two to three inches from the top with water. Add all ingredients (if using hibiscus and rosehips place these in a tea ball or t-sac). Place the jar in direct sunlight for 3-4 hours. Remove the ingredients and chill.

An alternate brewing method which yields a less strong tea is to cold brew the tea in the fridge for 24 hours.

The tea is great on ice with or without a touch of honey.

Note: for those of you with weak or compromised immune systems, the cold brew method is probably the safest, as sun brewed tea can sometimes promote the growth of bacteria.

Patterns: Better Homes and Gardens Pouf

2011-06-21T08:40:00.000-07:00

Two lucky BHG subscribers will WIN the one of the ottomans in the photo above. Both are made by Lara Newsom of Handmade Pretties.

Open the latest copy of Better Homes and Gardens and you will find a stitched yellow burlap ottoman made by Handmade Pretties as a set piece. After creating the ottoman as a mere photo prop, the editors at BHG asked me to create a pattern that would be available for free online (all you have to do is register with BHG to download the pattern). For $50 or less, you can create one of your own.

In addition to generating all of the digital pattern files and written instructions, I spent a day working with Amy Panos of BHG on the set of the photo shoot. Two lucky BHG subscribers will WIN the two ottomans in the photo above.

Favorite Songs: Buoy - The Nightgowns

2011-06-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

I love the lyrics in this song. It's like coming out of a fog and finding yourself in the bright sunshine. (or like coming out of the basement and finally getting to go to bed...)

Magazine Feature: Do It Yourself Magazine Spring 2011

2011-06-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

Title Page for the Story. I created the dyed and starched candy dishes.

I worked with Jessica Thomas on Eye Candy for the Spring 2011 issue of Do It Yourself Magazine. I spent a good month collecting doilies and lace, dying doilies and lace, painting doilies and lace, and finally sewing doilies and lace. I created the stiffened doily dishes using watered down white glue and a final coat of shellac. I used a similar technique to adhere the lace to votives and a large mason jar vase. I also created the five lace and doily embellished pillows on page 83. The teal pillow in the front simply used doilies as stencils for spray paint. The others featured doilies and lace sewn to the surface of the pillow.

A lovely stack of pillows. I designed and produced all five lace and doily pillows.

A shot of the votives and the mason jar vase.

Magazine Feature: Giant Monkey Block Pattern

2011-06-08T07:28:00.000-07:00

The finished dice right before I dropped it off at Meredith.

The Winter 2010 issue of Quilts and More (published by Meredith), features a pattern that I created for an over-sized monkey block. I generated all of the digital files for the patterns and wrote the instructions. Meredith shot all of the amazing photos with the baby (my babies are big girls now). Eventually, I will offer this pattern for sale on my etsy site.

The magazine cover

Title Page of the pattern

Magazine Feature: Do It Yourself Magazine Winter 2010

2011-06-07T11:10:00.000-07:00

The title page of the story. I hand cut and stitched the felt artwork for this page.

"We Love Felt" is published in the Winter 2010 issue of Do It Yourself magazine (pg 76). I worked on this piece with Jessica Thomas to create the backdrops and cube props. I created the title page "We Love Felt" piece. Additionally, one of my felted wool brooches is featured on page 79.

I created the felt covered block set pieces for this shoot.

More of the felt block in action.

My brooch is the spiky red orange flower in the foreground.

Handmade Pretties in Pottery Barn

2011-03-29T15:12:00.001-07:00

This photo belongs to Pottery Barn Copyright 2011, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The ball in this photo is made by Handmade Pretties.

You might open up the latest Pottery Barn catalog and notice a pink and green sweater ball next to the crib in the photo of the Wildflowers bedding set. Yes. It is a Handmade Pretties ball. I think I still have bits of those sweaters in the bin ready to be sewn!

Good news! I offer sweater balls in a rainbow of colors. You can either choose your color palette to match your decor (doesn't the ball look GREAT in the photo!) or order one of my very popular rainbow sweater balls. These balls can also be personalized and make a really great gift.

I also offer sweater balls in a fun mini size.

Do It Yourself: Cardboard City!

2011-03-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

Beatrice playing with the finished product. They also had fun making a circle to keep out tornadoes (yes, they are true midwestern girls).

How many times have you heard "Mom! When are we going to do something fun?" I hear this about ten times a day (ironically it is often on the way home from the zoo or some other epic adventure.) Over Spring Break, our wallets demanded that we find some fun stuff to do at home. So we created cardboard city scapes.

Handmade Pretties uses a lot of 5 pound stuffing boxes, so we chose these as our starting box. Any large box will work.

The first step is to open up the box. Open the flaps on the top and the bottom, then carefully break the seam along the side of the box.

Next, draw your city scape on the main portion of the box (you will be cutting off the top flaps and using the bottom flaps as the supports to make the city stand). Using scissors or a serrated knife, cut out your city. I prefer the serrated knife, since it can be used like a saw, but I have been known to cut deeply into my finger tips while doing this, so be very careful.

Now, draw some doors that sit right along the crease between the main body of the box and the bottom flaps (this way the doors will be at ground level). When you cut out the doors, be sure to leave one side attached if you want the door to open and close.

Beatrice carefully choosing her stickers.

The final step is to give the city scape to your children to decorate. My kids used markers and stickers, but crayons, stamps, paint, and/or glitter glue can also be used.

Sylvia putting on the finishing touches.

Once the kids are done decorating, set up your city and play! The city scapes are a fun addition to blocks and cars, and can be easily folded flat to store. Once the kids are done with them, don't forget to recycle the cardboard!

Do It Yourself: Little Red Riding Hood Game

2011-03-07T07:35:00.001-08:00

We used little wooden peg dolls that we found at Michaels for the game pieces.

Several years ago for Christmas, we bought the girls a small collection of blank books and puzzles from Bare Books. We also bought a blank game board with a spinner and a set of cards. We FINALLY decided it was time to make our first game.

First I showed the girls the game board, and we started talking about what kind of game they would like to play. We talked about which games we already have and how those games are played. They really like Candy Land (and candy...) so they wanted something with a path. They kicked around ideas including unicorns, candy, Little Red Riding Hood, and unicorns dressed up like little red riding hood looking for candy. Looking for a theme that had a story line they were both familiar with and that wasn't overly complex, we opted to make a Little Red Riding Hood game.

Getting Started:
Once we got our theme in mind, we started by deciding how the players would move through the game. They both like spinners more than dice, so we used the blank spinner that we got with the game board. It was divided into six sections four sections strictly for movement (go forward 1,2,3, or 4 spaces), one penalty type section (the wolf), and the bonus section (cookies and muffins). The girls also enjoy Chutes and Ladders (ok they like the ladder part better than the chute part) so they wanted to include "wolf paths" so that little red could cut through the forest and get to Grandma's house faster. To add an extra educational aspect to the game, we made the blank cards into "wolf cards". The wolf cards feature simple math problems, spelling, story completion (What big eyes you have the better to ________ you with"), and a handful of lose a turn cards. When the player spins a wolf, they have to answer a wolf card. If they get the answer correct, they get to move one space if not they lose a turn. Also, if the player lands on the space that leads to the wolf path, they can draw a wolf card. If they answer correctly, they get to cross the path. If the cookie/muffin section of the spinner is spun, the player gets to advance to the next cookie or muffin space on the board.

Planning out the game ahead of time will make a big difference in how it ends up.

You can see some of our preliminary plans on the drawings next to the game.

Get to Work:

My girls are six and three (almost four), so I needed to give them simple tasks that would make them feel like they were really contributing to the game. Sylvia (my six year old) is very artistic, so after I drew in the basic path, her job was to draw grandma's house and all of the background decorations. (She chose to make it Grandpa's house, apparently grandma was at the grocery store...) Beatrice helped me decorate the wolf cards and drew little red's house at the start. Sylvia also worked on the spinner. We used markers and watercolors to color in the game board. Both girls are pretty good at painting, so all three of us painted in the background of the board using watercolors.

The final missing piece were the player pieces. Of course the girls wanted them to look like Little Red Riding Hood, so we took a break and went to Michael's to find some blank peg dolls. I cut little red pieces of fabric for hoods and to distinguish players we used different colors of yarn to tie the hoods. I drew the faces with a sharpie.

While at Michael's we also purchased a gift box large enough to hold the game. I taped paper dividers inside the box to hold the parts, and the girls beautified the outside.

This is a 9.5" x 12" gift box that I taped paper dividers into to house our game. We also considered a shallow plastic bin, but I am cheap, and the 69¢ box won.

Working on the game board. Sylvia is finishing up Grandpa's House, Bea is finishing up Little Red's House.

My little game elf hard at work.

After TWO HOURS of solid work (I can't believe they stayed with me the WHOLE time!) the game is ready to play!

The whole process took us over two hours to complete. Sylvia was completely on board the entire time, while Beatrice took a snack break and a drawing break. This project (or a similar one) would be a great activity for kids 6-10. There are a few things I would change about the game, for example, there are not enough penalty spots and there is no way for a player to move backwards, so it is pretty easy to play. As a parent, I like that the game can end pretty fast, but the kids would probably get a good lesson from having to move backwards. Overall, I am happy with the game. The girls definitely love it, since we play it at least once a day...

Do It Yourself: Marshmallow and Toothpick Erector Set

2011-02-11T10:37:00.000-08:00

Beatrice with our creation.

It's cold. It's really cold, and Beatrice is bored. Really bored. While we could play another round of Tea Party the game, today I decided to try something a little different. We built a structure out of marshmallows and toothpicks.

Here is what you need to try it too:
One bag of mini marshmallows
AT LEAST 2 -250 count boxes of toothpicks (we use the round ones because my kids are used to being around pointy things, but flat would work too)

Start simply by showing your child how to stick the toothpicks into the marshmallows. Explore basic shapes like barbells, wands, triangles, squares, etc. Move on to more complex shapes like cubes etc. Beatrice and I worked together on our structure. We started by building onto our simple shapes as the structure grew, we talked about what shapes were the strongest (triangles) and how to build support to hold up the structure. As one piece sagged, we built others to hold it up. We played for almost 45 minutes.

Beatrice is 3 and a half years old, and she was able to add to the structure and support her own additions. I helped her if she asked and worked on the "groundwork" to make sure she had a good time building. The structure will continually morph as you build. Parts will sag down as you prop up other parts. Pyramidal supports will hold up sagging sections while emphasizing the importance of supporting structures. See the photos for examples.

Building with blocks, legos, tinker toys or even marshmallows and toothpicks teaches very important spatial and mathematical concepts to your child and is rewarding and fun!

Close-Up

The Masterpiece!

Do It Yourself: No Sew Arm Warmers A.K.A. Stop Mitten Gap!

2011-01-26T07:27:00.000-08:00

Sylvia modeling the finished goods

This one is for all those kids out there with cold wrists!

If you have spent any amount of time playing in the snow, you have probably experienced the chilling shock of snow on bare wrists. As a child, it was my mission in winter to perfect the art of carefully tucking my mittens into my coat sleeves, but one swift move in a snow ball fight would undo all of my hard work. Now that I have my own children, I want to spare them the agony, so I made them a few pairs of fleece arm warmers. They work like a charm.

Yesterday, an old friend of mine suggested I create mittens to sell that are longer so that her own daughter can enjoy hours of fun in the snow. While I haven't had the time to work out the pattern, I have come up with a great solution for all the parents out there who don't have time to sew.

Here is what you will need:

1 pair of children's knee socks - holes in the toes do not matter so feel free to recycle an old pair
1 pair of scissors

1. lay the sock flat, and cut across the foot of the sock and the edge of the heel. Be sure to leave a little fabric so there is a piece to go between the fingers and the thumb to help keep the arm warmer in place.

2. Insert the arm of a child. Beatrice is modeling the proper technique for applying this product.

3. Put the glove on over the arm warmer and then the coat. The arm warmer will help protect your child's wrist, making snow play far more exciting!

This pattern can be used for adults as well! Involve your kids by allowing them to select which sock they will use. Older children (6+) should be able to make the cuts as well. To prevent serious fraying, select a sock that is mostly cotton or wooly, avoid high nylon content (which wouldn't be all that warm anyway). Hand wash when needed.

Etsy Favorites: What Santa Brought

2011-01-13T11:36:00.000-08:00

It is one thing to believe in buying handmade, it is another to actually do so. This year I made it my goal to get at least 75% of our presents handmade. The other 25% were books, a couple of movies, and a few games. My customers are so good to me, I try to spread the love out as much as I can. Here are some of the great items we scored on Etsy this year!

You may see Scott out wearing this fantastic Tshirt. It is from Billyyy.

The girls got a chicken dinner, pumpkin pie, AND witches brew from Mudpie Kids.

This little guy lives on Sylvia's bed now. We bought it from Cuore.

We got one of each for the girls. Purchased from Sweet Bonny.

Stuffed this baby in Scott's stocking. Bought it from Nowvember, home of the amazing rainbow vomiting cat journals.

Buck Yeah poster for the man in my life from Mixed Species. LOVE this shop.

Hers and hers superhero capes from Baby Pop. Now in addition to playing Wild West they can play Wild West plus Superheros.

I bought two of these cuties for my girls from Tokyo Inspired. They arrived gift wrapped in Japanese paper which helped proliferate the whole Santa thing.

Purchased from Timberps for my step-brother. He predicts this will add a whole new level to the "wood" jokes in shop class.

Purchased from Arizona Dreams for Sylvia after being told that she would no longer have bad dreams if only we'd buy her a dreamcatcher. These were the nicest ones we saw on Etsy.

I'm Helpful: How to Carry More Than One Coat

2011-01-11T11:22:00.001-08:00

I love winter. I really do. Without it, I feel lost in a perpetual time loop. I do not, however, like the crap that goes along with winter, like coats. I can deal with my own coat, but there is nothing more frustrating than being out with a couple of kids who refuse to carry their own coats. I have been tempted to leave the coats where the kids drop them, walk off and say something like "I hope the kid who finds your coat likes it," and "Boy are you going to be cold when we go back outside," but those little turds will just walk away, leaving a perfectly good winter coat to be swept up by the world. So inevitably, I end up carrying three winter coats (as we are beyond the age of the stroller). Not only does this make my arms tired, but it makes me super grouchy.

The other day, we had to kill a few hours at the mall while our brakes were being worked on. The thought of carrying three coats, my purse, and all the other little stupid things the kids hand me was overwhelming. So I devised a way to turn our coats into a sling bag. The integral part of this device is a scarf. I prefer an adult length scarf, but a kid scarf will do in a pinch.

1. starting with the biggest coat, place the coats inside each other (like a russian doll) stuff the sleeves inside one another.

2. Thread the scarf through the sleeves so the ends are sticking out of either sleeve.

3. Zip or button all of the coats.

4. Tie the ends of the scarf together (I like a square knot) to create a strap.

5. Sling the coats over your shoulder and carry on!

Recipes: Homemade Pumpkin Muffins

2010-10-31T07:25:00.001-07:00

It's Halloween! And what would be more suitable than fresh baked pumpkin muffins. I used the flesh of one of the Vif D'Etampes Pumpkins that we grew in our garden this year. Fresh made pumpkin puree lacks the tinny taste of canned pumpkin and allows you to use the flesh of the many wonderful varieties of pumpkins available on the market.

Dry ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup flax seeds
1/3 cup pepitas or sunflower seeds (unsalted)

Wet Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cups milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
1 cup pumpkin puree (canned or *fresh made)
2/3 cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line muffin tins (makes about 18-24 regular sized muffins)

Mix together all of the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and set aside. In a medium sided bowl combine all wet ingredients. Combine the wet and dry ingredients until just mixed (do not overmix). Fill muffin tins about 2/3 full and bake for about 16-18 minutes until a knife comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Cool and enjoy with fresh butter.

* Fresh made pumpkin puree
Select a pie pumpkin, vif d'etampes, or long island cheese pumpkin. I prefer the long island cheese pumpkins. These are the pumpkins that are the same color as a butternut squash on the outside and yield a sweet creamy bright orange flesh. Cut in half and scoop out seeds. Place upside down on a baking sheet (be sure to use one with sides as cooking pumpkin WILL release water). Bake for 40-55 minutes at 375 degrees (larger pumpkins take longer than smaller ones). Your pumpkin will be done when the dome collapses. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Carefully remove the flesh from the outer shell. Mash the flesh with a potato ricer (for muffins or breads) or puree (for pies and custards) in a food processor. You will likely have ALOT of pumpkin puree, the excess can be frozen and stored for up to a year. I portion out the frozen puree into 2 cups portions (this is how much puree is called for in my pie recipe).

In the Studio: Homemade Dust Filter

2010-09-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

My super fantastic dust collector.

If you've ever used a serger, you know that it can generate some serious lint. With what I do, the lint can get overwhelming both physically and emotionally. I worry what all those little fibers are doing to my body and our home. My first step to battle the lint was to purchase a canister vac with a hose so I can periodically suck up the lint. This did help, however I knew I could do better.

I often wear a dust mask when I lay out skirts (just moving cut sweaters is linty) and when I sew. I found that traditional dust mask work well, but they tend to irritate my face, so I fashioned a cowboy style dust mask from several layers of fleece. Between this and the constant vacuuming, the air in my studio has improved, but constantly wearing a dust mask makes my work feel like hard work, so I began to look for an alternative.

Here I am sewing with my dust mask and headphones.

I considered buying an expensive air filter but worried that the amount of lint I generate would instantly destroy it. Instead I rigged up my own air filter using a recycled mail box, a small fan, and several layers of high lift quilt batting.

Materials:
small circular fan (mine is about 10" in diameter)
box (I recycled a 12 X 12 X 8 priority mail box, just make sure your fan barely fits inside)
2 scrap pieces of high loft polyester quilt batting the same size as your box
packing tape
box cutter or serrated bread knife
staples
ruler

1. tape the box on one side be sure to tape on the edges for all four flaps.

2. Cut a circle the approximate size of your fan using the knife (i prefer a serrated bread knife b/c it works like a saw) tape the flaps around the circle to secure.

3. on the side of your box cut a rectangular opening on three sides to allow access to your fan to turn on and off. Leave the flap attached to act like a door.

The access door for fan controls.

4. Put the fan inside the box and tape it to the bottom of the box. Pull the cord through one of the corners between the flaps.

4. On the untaped side of the box, cut off the top flap. For the three remaining flaps, measure in 1" and on the inside of the flap using the dull side of the knife (or a pen) score a line to allow easy folding.

5. fold the flaps in and then measure out 1" and cut off the remainder of the flap. fold in the flaps and tape. This will create the channel for your filter to sit.

This shot shows the handle attachment and the filter slot.

6. using 1" scraps of cardboard, staple the two layers of quilt batting to the cardboard on all four sides. I taped the corners of min to be sure they stayed together (the staples do not like to go through two layers of cardboard).

The filter sitting outside of the slot.

7. put your filter in and secure with a few straight pins (if not when you turn on your fan the air pressure will suck the filter inside the box).

This shows the filter being inserted into the slot. I taped the top of the filter and stuck a few straight pins through the cardboard to hold it in place when the fan is on.

8. Using a 3-4" scrap of cardboard, create the handle by folding it in thirds. About 1 " up from both ends of the handle cut through the outside folds and spread out to create feet. Tape the middle section around to make a smooth handle and securely tape the to the top of the box.

I have my filter placed directly behind my serger at tableheight and it seems to do a really great job pulling the dust away from me. I can actually see the dust collecting on the fiberfill. When it gets full, I will try vacuuming it first and if that fails, I'll make a new filter.

Songs to Live By: Decemberists - California One /Youth and Beauty Brigade

2010-09-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

While moving away from Los Angeles definitely had it's benefits (home ownership, Grandma Louise), there are definitely days I miss it. Growing up, aside from the fact that my Aunt Carol lived there, I could see no reason to even visit California, yet through a twist of fate I ended up at Cal Arts for graduate school in 2001.

We lived there for almost six years. We grew two babies, made friends, ate delicious food, hiked the mountains, sat on beaches, saw a few B list celebrities, but my favorite memory is driving down highway 1 on the fourth of July. The sun set just as the highway hit the beach. There were people camped out on the beach shooting fireworks out over the ocean. Sylvia was sleeping in the backseat and Scott and I quietly took it all in.

There are so many little unexpected things about Los Angeles that I miss. Hazy layers of city stacked against the hills, mountains hugging the edges, full of people from all over the world where a person can eventually find anything they should wish. It's a longing I never thought I'd be capable of feeling for a gigantic monster like Los Angeles.

I fought the urge to romanticize California (truly it is not in my nature to romanticize ANYTHING) yet anytime I hear someone singing about California my heart swells and my sappy side shows. Iowa is where we'll stay, but for some reason, it's these quiet drizzly days (the days I liked the most in Los Angeles) that remind me that we've left.

Around Our House: Squash Gone Wild!

2010-09-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

ONE days harvest! I am so sick of eating summer squash!

This is the year of the squash! We planted several varieties, but ONE has managed to take over nearly our entire back yard... Zucchino Rampicante Squash.

It IS delicious. It is firmer than regular zucchini, and it is hilarious and slightly pornographic (we like to wear the big ones around our necks while we stroke the swollen bulb at the end for comedic effect).

I was happy to see OTHER neighbors with squash gone wild. I suppose it likes the super wet summer we've had.

Tonight I shall make stuffed squash blossoms. We'll see if we can't stop the reproduction for a few days!

Here is our plant. Taking over the world. Look for it in your neck of the woods any day now...

Around Our House: The Shoulder Incident

2010-08-30T14:29:00.000-07:00

The two "bulletholes" on the front. It took three tiny incisions to get the job done.

The "bullethole" on the back.

So many of you may know that in June of 2010 I had shoulder surgery. Most of you probably do not know why, so here goes.

I have hypermobile joints, and I always have (fingers, knees, and shoulders). When I was about 10 I remember jumping into my aunt's swimming pool, finding that something was wrong with my arm, and barely making it to the edge of the pool. I am fairly certain this was the first time my shoulder dislocated (or subluxated). When my shoulder would dislocate, at first I could wiggle it back in joint, but in recent years, reducing (or relocating) the joint required traction. I can remember at least 12 instances of my shoulders dislocating. Here are a few examples of the activities during which dislocation happened:

Swimming (jumping in, and straight swimming)
Skiing
Swinging on a Swing set
Playing air hockey
Sleeping on my belly
Making the bed
Getting up off of the couch
Lobbing the cat (i know i know bad cat mommy)
Stretching

My list of things I wouldn't do kept getting larger and larger. When I was in high school, I actually had a doctor tell me that I was just looking for attention and that if my shoulder had actually dislocated, I would have been in the hospital. In 1998, I learned of a procedure where they would heat shrink the capsular tissues (the sock of tissue that surrounds the joint for stabilization) to create a tighter joint and prevent dislocations. I had this done on both shoulders. As it turns out, this procedure wasn't very successful for most people (a lot of people with recurrent dislocations are athletic) so they no longer do this surgery. For me, it worked pretty well. After the surgeries, I went almost ten years before my next dislocation.

The first of my most recent series of dislocations happened right after Beatrice was born. I was sleeping on an air mattress with a toddler and an infant (right after our move to Iowa before Scott arrived with our furniture) and the damn cat kept walking across us on the bed. I grabbed him and tried to lob him off the bed which caused my left shoulder to come out. It took a lot longer to get back in joint and I was completely freaked out. I took some advil and that was that. About a year and a half later, I was making Sylvia's bed and went to pull myself up and my shoulder went out inferior (down). All of my previous dislocations had been anterior (they went out the front of the joint) which is the most common type of dislocation. Inferior dislocations are rare and mine required traction to get it back in joint (thankfully I have watched a lot of medical dramas on TV, and had the sense to grab the bunk bed and pull down).

After the second time, I started seeing a physical therapist. Fortunately, he had been through the same type of issues, and was very informative about exactly what was going on with my shoulder. After about a month of therapy (with little improvement) i went to see an osteopath (Dr Honkamp). He did x-rays and an MRI and determined, that I had Hill-Sachs defect on the humeral head (which is caused from the soft head of the humerus butting up against bone during the dislocations) and that my caspular tissue was indeed "floppy". I was given the option to either have the surgery or not. On one hand, joints tend to tighten with age. Since I am in my mid 30s, there was a good chance my joints would tighten and this would no longer be a problem. On the other hand, random shoulder dislocations are scary and painful. I opted to wait it out. I decided that if I had another dislocation in a year, I would do the surgery. I lasted 14 months.

My last dislocation was the final straw. When my shoulder would dislocate, it was painful, but the worst result was the three months of painful back spasms and spinal misalignment that would follow. The last dislocation happened while I was stretching (I literally had my arms up over my head and the joint clunked out). I made my appointment with Dr Honkamp that day.

The surgery I had is called a Bankhart Repair. Basically what had happened in my joint was that as my humeral head came out of the socket, it had been pushing the labrum (a disc of cartilage that cups the head of the humerus on the scapula) off of the bone and stretching it out. In addition, the capsule (a cuff of tissue that fits over the entire shoulder joint) was loose (like a pair of socks whose elastic has failed). During the surgery, Dr Honkamp gathered up the loose edge of my labrum and re-sutured it to the scapula. He also added some very stylish pleats to my capsule to make it tighter. It was all done orthoscopically.

This is a before and after of my capsule. To the trained eye, you can see how terribly stretched out it was. For the rest of us, just imagine the blue stitches pulling the big pink center part tighter together.

This the the before and after of my labrum. The photo on the left shows a wispy translucent tissue. That is my labrum all floppy and floating around. The photo on the right shows the stitches reattaching the labrum to my scapula.

This is the backside of my humeral head. The white is cartilage (which should be covering most of the head). The pink is bone. I've had so many dislocations that the cartilage is significantly worn off.

When the surgery was done, I spent a few days in extreme pain. I had a bad reaction to the hydrocodone and had to take an anti-emetic with it to keep from throwing up. I slept a lot (propped up like a princess on ton of pillows). After about two weeks, I was able to function on Darvocet. It took a full month and a half to get down to regular pain meds like Advil and Tylenol. Now, about three months out, I do not need to take anything as the pain is minimal.

I had to wear an immobilizer for a full month (the one the gave me at the surgery center was so hot and ugly I had to make a new one - if you need a pattern to make one for yourself, let me know!) I was not supposed to drive while wearing the immobilizer, but honestly after about two weeks of being driven and being stuck at home with two bored kids, I did some driving. I started physical therapy to regain my range of motion after the first 4 weeks. After 2 months, I started doing a little strengthening. I currently have a good range of motion (I lack a little rotation) and hope to have it strong and normal in the next month or two.

This is a fairly major surgery. They treat the recovery as if the bone has been broken. It is more serious than a rotator cuff surgery. After the surgery, it will take almost six months to get the joint back to "normal". For me the most frustrating part at this point is the weakness of the joint. After a solid two months of atrophy, I find lifting and carrying to be difficult. Most of my pain comes from stress on the joint due to lack of strength. Hopefully this will improve as I continue with physical therapy.

If anyone out there is scheduled for this type of surgery or if you suffer from frequent dislocations, please contact me! I am happy to share my experience.

Songs to LIve By: Cut Copy - Far Away

2010-07-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

I love this song. I must admit, it totally freaks me out to hear music I like on television shows, for example when this song showed up in a club scene in the 6th season of Nip/Tuck (yes. I watched Nip/Tuck on Netflix). Having gone to college in the 90s, I was so used to having to struggle, pour through music rags, spend hours at the record store, and attend countless hours of live music to find anything worth listening to. Thank you internet....

Around Our House: Bea's 3rd Birthday

2010-06-23T10:55:00.000-07:00

Cutting the cake. Note the reuse of our old sea themed shower curtain as a table runner.

Well I am a little late with this post, but for those of you gearing up for your own birthday parties, here's our version of a fun fish party. The girls and I had a great time planning together and working on the decorations and goodie bags. This party was at least four afternoons of crafts and activities.

We started out by making our goodie bags. I found some fun fish stickers, made little packs of gummie worms and swedish fish, and purchased beach balls for all of the kids. We always buy plain paper bags in different colors and have the kids draw on them. It is hard to find printed birthday materials that aren't covered in Disney characters. For the candies, we found clear plastic treat bags and bought bulk packages and divided them up to save some money. I bought the beach balls from Oriental Trading (not a big fan of cheap throw away toys, but the beach balls SHOULD last all summer).

We also bought cheap plain paper plates in fun aquatic colors and had the girls either draw on them or if you kids are too young, have them stick a few theme related stickers on them. We also purchased three rolls of streamers and a package of balloons. I had an old sea themed shower curtain that I cut into table runners and a cover for our fireplace screen. I had also scored a few seaweed like decorations from a garage sale (by the way always look for decorations at thrift stores or garage sales and conversely anything you do not use or can be used again, be sure to try selling at your garage sale or donate to a thrift store).

I like to have a craft for all of the kids to do, so for this party, we made fishing games. Ahead of time, I made the fishing poles. I purchased short (about 12") dowels, twine, and magnets. If you can find magnets with holes, get hose, otherwise the regular ceramic discs are fine.

Do it Yourself Fishing Game:

Craft foam cut into fish shapes with paper clip hooks. Allow the kids to decorate their own with markers and crayons.

Finishing up the poles with hot glue.

12" long dowels about the thickness of a pencil (or wooden chopsticks)
twine
ceramic magnets (with a hole if available)
assorted colors of craft foam
paper clips
hot glue gun and sticks

Cut your twine into 12" long pieces. Tie to one end of the pole and seal it with a small dab of hot glue. If you have magnets with holes, tie them to the other end of the twine. If not, apply a dab of glue to one side of the magnet and stick the twine to the glue allowing yourself enough room to tie the twine around the magnet.

Cut the craft foam into fish shapes including eels, octopuses, starfish, or any other sea creature you can think up. Allow the children to decorate their own fish using markers and stick on shapes. Slip a paperclip over the end of the fish mouth to act as a hook.

This game is fum for all ages, but you should use caution with magnets around small children who might choke on or swallow the magnets (they can come loose from the twine and pose a serious health risk for young children if swallowed).

Day Before the Party

The girls decorated the starfish with sprinkles and I edged them with frosting.

The day before, we baked and decorated our starfish and fish shaped sugar cookies. We also made our gummie worm and peep sushi. If you have ever made real sushi, these are very similar.
Use a rolled out fruit roll-up in place of the seaweed, rice crispie treats as the rice mixture, and gummie worms and peeps for the "meat". Form the sushi rolls while the rice crispie treats are still warm and flexible and thoroughly butter or grease your hands while working.

The candy sushi was a BIG hit. I wish I could claim credit for this one because they are FABULOUS!

Day of the Party

I woke up early and decorated the cake that I had baked the night before. I was going for an aquarium cake. Check with your local library, many have cake pans to loan.

My kids are always grouchy on party day. I can't figure it out.

After squaring away the food, I decorated the house with three rolls of streamers. I made sure to use them all and the effect was really fun.

The food table with streamer skirt.

I put streamers everywhere.

Grandma Louise keeping my very pregnant cousin company. The green seaweed spirals were a garage sale find.

The party was really fun and the girls and I are already planning for the next one...

Recipes: Super Duper Easy Fruit Juice Slushie

2010-06-22T08:56:00.000-07:00

Beatrice enjoying her Apple Raspberry Slushie

Nothing is more refreshing in the heat of summer than an icy cold slushie. My problem is that I can't bring myself to give my kids the nasty sugar packed toxic blue slushies they want from the ice cream shop, so we make ours at home. All you need is a decent blender, frozen juice concentrate, water, and ice cubes.

1 can frozen juice concentrate
16-18 regular sized ice cubes
1 1/2 c cold water

Add all ingredients to the blender and blend on high until smooth. If the slushie is too thick, add a little more water. Serves 4-6.

Note: we often cut this recipe in half (i've got two small kids) and reserve the remainder of the juice concentrate in the freezer for next time.

New Product: Giant Fleece Dice

2010-04-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

Six dice ready for some fun! Shown here are purple, red, light green, kelly green, yellow, and lavender.

When a customer requested giant fleece dice, I had no idea how much I would like them! The second Sylvia (my 5 year old) saw one, she informed me that I would have to make her a green one. Beatrice (my 3 year old) quickly followed up with her order for a purple one.

It turns out there are numerous ways to use these giant dice, but my hands-down favorite is to play the clean-up game. Each night before bed, we all take turns rolling the dice and then putting away that number of toys. It usually takes about three rounds to get the whole room tidied up, and the girls are thrilled to play!

We have also been playing a math game where we roll two dice and then add the two numbers together. And admittedly, when the room has been destroyed, we roll BOTH dice during the clean up game.

These can be made in any color, I have a large stock of fleece on hand. I can also make these out of wool for a slight bump on the price.

Order yours today by following this link:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/45604573/clean-up-game-giant-fleece-dice-one-dice

Around Our House: Blue Violets... For DINNER

2010-04-15T07:20:00.000-07:00

Lovely Blue Violets in a tossed salad of fresh picked spinach and dandelion greens accompanied by blooms and leaves of a very resilient Pak Choy that overwintered in our garden.

If you ever needed a good reason not to spray your yard with nasty chemicals, consider all of the edible "weeds" that voluntarily grow each year. One of my favorites (aside from the dandelion) is the Common Blue Violet (Viola papilionacea). Every spring, little heart shaped leaves peek out from the ground to be soon followed by a sea of dainty purple and white blossoms. When I was a little girl, we had violets all over our backyard and spent countless hours picking them and pressing them in books. As a botany student at Iowa State in the late 90s, I discovered these cuties were also edible.

Taken from Peterson Field Guides: Edible Wild Plants by Lee Allen Peterson.
Use: salad, cooked green, soup thickener, tea, candy The tender young leaves can be added to salads or boiled for 10-15 minutes to make a palatable green, or added to soup as an okralike thickener. Violet leaves are rather bland and are best mixed with other greens. The dried leaves can be made into a tea. The flowers can be candied. The leaves are rich in vitamin A and C.

My FAVORITE thing to do with my violets is to add the flowers to salads. In the early spring, when there is not much color in your garden aside from the lovely greens, these little flowers make a cheerful addition.

In the past we've also made candied violets by brushing each petal with a diluted mixture of egg whites and then coating each flower with extra fine granulated sugar and allowing to completely dessicate before storing. One year we packaged these up for Mother's Day.

Other fine edible (midwestern US) plants include white clovers, common plantains (not the bananas), dandelions, lamb's-quarter, day lilies, and shepherds purse (to name a few more common yard weeds). Wild plants typically contain a broader range of phytochemicals and nutrients since they are tasked with having to survive outside of the neatly confined and carefully tended environment of the garden. So before you destroy the bounty that nature has bestowed upon you, take a moment to get to know your weeds (buy a book of your region!) and take a nibble.

Common plantain. Very young leaves can be added to salads or boiled for cooked greens.

Shepherd's Purse. Young greens can be eaten as salad or cooked. Dried seed pods can be ground for a pepper-like seasoning.

Around Our House: ASPARAGUS!

2010-04-14T07:31:00.001-07:00

Victory is MINE!

It took two growing seasons, but this, the start of the third growing season, has given us ASPARAGUS! I just cut my first handful about five minutes ago. My stalks are about the size of my fingers and beautifully green. Admittedly, I will have a hard time waiting for Scott to come home for dinner to eat them.

In honor of my asparagus, I want to share one of my favorite asparagus recipes. Lemon asparagus coleslaw.

Lemon Asparagus Coleslaw

1 pound asparagus
1/2 head green cabbage
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 lemon
2T olive oil
salt and pepper

Lightly steam the asparagus (about 3 minutes) and immerse in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Pat dry and slice on the bias into thin slivers. Thinly slice the cabbage and onions. You'll want equal parts asparagus to cabbage. Zest the lemon, and add to the mix. Add the olive oil and the juice from one half of the lemon (unless you like your coleslaw with a bit more zing). Toss and salt and pepper to taste. Serves 4-6.

I also like to add white beans or dried cherry tomatoes to this salad.

Handmade Pretties in the Press: Readymade - April 2010

2010-04-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

This is the cover you MUST find on your newsstand!

This is the perfect example of why I ALWAYS do my best work with every order I ship. When Shay Ometz purchased a set of rainbow sweater balls and a personalized giant fleece ball from me, I had no idea they would end up in the pages of one of my favorite magazines!

Pick up the April 2010 issue of Readymade and immediately turn to page 70 and 71 to see three of my balls in the amazing East Dallas home that Ometz shares with her husband and two children. A few of these photos were also featured on Design Sponge.

Don't forget to check out page 34 to see Brianne Sanchez' awesome engagement photos. She's a friend of mine who writes for Juice Magazine in Des Moines.

Page 70. I have dreams of a kids' room this lovely.

Pg 71. Divine

Around Our House: Kombucha or Bust - Part 2

2010-04-05T10:21:00.000-07:00

Well I have successfully started a kombucha mother from a bottle of Original GT's. Due to the fact that we are total cheapskates, I had to wait about 4 weeks for it to grow to a decent size (our house is at about 65 degrees in the winter). After it warmed up a bit (in the 70s last week!) it really took off.

Last Wednesday, I started my first batch. I am using organic green tea that I bought at Wang's in Urbandale, although next time I think I'll get my tea from Friedrich (they have a great selection of bulk teas). I brewed about 1 1/2 gallons of green tea (about 14 tea bags) and added 2 cups of turbinado sugar (i would have used regular refined since it gets used up by the kombucha mother, but I actually did not have any.) I moved the mother out of the starter jar (never letting her touch metal!) and into the shiny new 2 1/2 gallon jar I bought at target for $19. I also added about 2 cups of the starter kombucha. The remainder I bottled with a slice of ginger and it is sitting on my counter for 5 days then it is into the fridge for consumption! I have heard the first batch used to grow the mother is not as tasty, so we'll see how my first bottles taste.

As you can see it is getting disgusting! In about a week and a half, I should be able to bottle the batch and start the next one! For those of you in the Des Moines area interested in trying this out, I should have mothers to share in the next few months.

Recipes: White Bean Fennel Salad with Lemon and Dried Cherry Tomatoes

2010-04-04T16:26:00.000-07:00

This salad is a good reason to grow fennel this summer. Its bright slightly sweet anise crunch pairs nicely against the tang of the fresh squeezed lemon and creamy starch of the beans.

Ingredients:

1 can great northern beans (or 1 1/2 C freshly cooked white beans)
1 fennel bulb
2 T chopped green onions
1 lemon for zest and juice
2 T chopped dried cherry tomatoes (if using regular sundried tomatoes, soak and chop first)
2 T olive oil
salt to taste
lettuce leaves for garnish

First rinse the beans and place in medium bowl. Slice the large portion of the fennel bulb into thin bite sized strips. Mince 2 T of the fennel leaves if desired. Add the fennel, onions, and beans together. Mix in the zest from one lemon, and the juice from one half of the lemon (the whole lemon can be used however I find the result to be a tad too tangy). If using dried cherry tomatoes, pulverize in a baggy with a rolling pin to create a fine mince. If the tomatoes are not dry enough to shatter, you should soak briefly and mince with a knife. Add to the other vegetables. Add the olive oil, mix well. Salt to taste. Serve on fresh lettuce leaves.

Serves 2 for a meal or 4 as a side

Dried Cherry Tomatoes

When summer gives you too many cherry tomatoes, a food dehydrator can be your best friend. We try to dry at least two quart jars of cherry tomatoes each season. Simply slice your cherry tomatoes in half and place on the tray of a food dehydrator for one to two days. They are delicious on salads or reconstituted in stews and casseroles.

New Product: Vintage Tie Gadget/iPod Cases

2010-04-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

Dad does NOT want another tie! He WANTS a gadget case MADE from a tie!

I finally found a use for the giant stash of vintage ties I have been saving. These fun little pouches are perfect for cell phones, iPods, and any other device that needs protecting. Each is lined with wool blend felt and closes with a flap.

Around Our House: Seeds are in the Mail

2010-03-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

We ordered seeds for these cute little egg gourds. It is never too early to plan a craft for the kiddos.

Last night Scott and I finally made our seed order from Baker Creek Heirlooms. The catalog showed up in December and we have been oggling it for the last three months.

We ordered from them last year and got a great Purple Podded Pole Bean, that grew more beans than we could ever eat. I was harvesting over 7 pounds every few days! We also got a few orka varieties, pak choy, and three different melons.

This year I made sure to add a good variety of lettuces, broccoli, herbs, carrots, and most importantly squash and pumpkins. I found it the hardest to pick out squash. I love all the different colors and shapes of squash. After making pumpkin pie out of one the the most beautiful Long Island Cheese pumpkins last fall I don't think I can ever use a regular pie pumpkin again.

The girls and I will start planting out seedlings today, and then it is out into the muck to clean up the garden and get it going! I did notice yesterday that some very helpful bunnies have fertilized for us...

I couldn't resist this French pumpkin, Musquee De Provence.

Etsy Favorites: Bonnet!

2010-03-13T21:12:00.000-08:00

I didn't even know I wanted a bonnet until I opened Etsy this morning and found this fantastic reversible bonnet!

Miss Minoes out of Leiden, has created this amazing reversible flip-flopable sunhat/bonnet (there are four ways to wear it) that is so casually crazy that I think even I could pull it off (and I am NOT a hat person). I might need this for our summer outings and even a little light gardening.

New Products: Something for the Ladies

2010-03-12T15:08:00.001-08:00

Here are a few pics of my new line of ladies skirts! I got bored with making straight panel skirts (not to mention finding copy cat sellers), so I put on my thinking cap and designed these fabulous skirts!

They twirl and sway a little like a square dancing skirt but are fabulously light and cool. Perfect for spring and summer. They are made from recycled jersey and T-shirts. Each one is guaranteed unique, as I do not follow a specific pattern (it's more of a process!) I pull together coordinating fabrics, and get to work. Each skirt is overlock serged for extra durability. My wide jersey fold over waistband allows you to wear your skirt up or down a few inches depending on your mood. It also allows for a wide range of fit, so if you plan to drop a few pounds over the summer, order a size or two smaller than you need and wear it as you lose weight!

Click here to order one of your own!

New Products: What's New in March!

2010-03-11T10:57:00.000-08:00

I have been diligently designing new product lines for Handmade Pretties. Here are a few gems that have come off of the machines in the last few days.

Recycled Jersey Skirts!

Recycled Jersey Skirts with built-in Pantaloons!

Recycled T-shirt Bloomers!

And One Super Fantastic Floor Length Sweater Skirt!

Personal Favorites: 15 Albums

2010-03-10T08:25:00.000-08:00

I originally posted this as a note on my facebook page, but I found it to be blog worthy, or rather I have been feeling too lazy to write new blogs so I am reposting this.

So here are 15 albums that in someway changed my life and/or made it more tolerable. These all span from about 1993 to 2006 (mostly known as the college years). I find it harder to become completely smitten with an album in the age of the iPod. There are a few, but that is another post entirely.

Gateway Albums = pot for your ears...

1. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream: This album made me love music again. Popular music in the late 80s and early 90s had nearly destroyed music for me. When I heard this album, I had finally found a jumping off point. I am not saying it is the best album or that I would even haul it with me to a desert island...but.

2. Bottledog - Hot Dolphin Terror at Chirpgobble : THIS album completely changed music for me. I was in Ames in the early days of Bottledog, and when Laura Watral (of Coupleskate) sent me this album, it totally freaked me out. I thought it was really really weird and maybe not in a good way, and then it totally got under my skin and completely changed the way I listened to music.

The actual album cover is a painting by Andrew Kleindolph (Femur).

Saved My Soul From Breaking into a Million Pieces Albums = Prozac!

3. Bedhead - Beheaded : Perhaps I could have lived without this album, but I am fairly certain that I would not have wanted to.

4. Dirty Three - Horse Stories : Same deal. My cd player actually asked me to pick something else.

5. Rex - C : I had entire friendships based on a mutual love of this album.

6. The Palace Brothers - Days in the Wake : Vinyl. Probably trashed from repeated playings. It is still one of the first albums when spinning some vinyl

7. P.J. Harvey - Stories from the City Stories from the Sea : Grad school really sucked the first term. PJ helped me deal. This is not necessarily my favorite PJ album (Dry probably holds that title), but it was somehow more important.

8. Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne : Good grad school elixir.

9. Neko Case - Blacklisted : My children subconsciously know this entire album b/c I sang it all the time in the car whilst preg. Beatrice will sing "I Wish I was the Moon" from start to finish.

Albums that Made good art = crack?

10. Godheadsilo - Elephantitus of the Night : Try NOT to paint to this

11. Trans Am - It's a tie between Surveillance and Futureworld : Painting in the OMB!

12. Bill Ding - Trust in God but Tie Up Your Camels : I remember making a lot of paper to this
album.

13. 18th dye - Tribute to a Bus: General mayhem.

14. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Self titled : I recall doing a lot of sewing to this disc

15. The Arcade Fire - Funeral : many a website was created with this playing in my ears.

Around Our House: Kombucha or Bust - Part 1

2010-03-02T11:30:00.000-08:00

Working from home with the kiddos means that I have strange shifts. Most of my sewing happens at night between the hours of 9pm and 2:30am. Since the girls are alive and ready to rumble at 7am, this often leaves me sleep deprived. I have found that drinking a bottle of kombucha every other day helps me kick the fatigue.

After forking over about $12 for three bottles of kombucha, I have decided to start brewing my own. My first step? Kombucha mother.

I have purchased an original bottle of GT's kombucha (it is raw and unpasteurized). Following the instructions I have been reading online, I will pour this bottle into a jar with some sweet tea and let it sit until I get this...

It might look skanky, but it's fantastic.

Let the process begin.

Do It Yourself: Flutter Butterfly Puppets

2010-03-01T13:48:00.000-08:00

One bright and sunny butterfly floating on the breeze.

This is a great project to make while you are waiting and waiting and waiting for spring. These cheerful little butterflies make great puppets or even a fun bouquet. Do this as an afternoon activity or make these as a craft at a birthday party! Perfect for children old enough to use markers up to adults.

Supplies:
basket style coffee filters
food coloring
spray bottle filled with water
washable markers
chenille stems (some traditional style and bump stems)
scissors

All of our supplies ready to go.

1. Beautify the wings (coffee filters). We started by wetting a filter on top of a towel and dropping food coloring onto the filter. You can also draw on a dry filter and them wet it to make the colors run. We hung ours to dry using a hanging laundry carousel. We did this part of the project on one day and finished it the next. Filters should be dry before continuing.

2. Further beautiful your wings if desired. After our dye job dried, we drew patterns and lines on them with markers.

3. pinch the center of the filter, trying to keep an even amount of "wing" on both sides of the pinch.

Pinching the wings into shape.

4. Take one of the bump chenille stems (cut in half) and wrap the thin middle around the pinched wings twice.

Ready to wrap the bump stem around the middle of the wings.

Wrapped and ready for antennae.

4. Take a regular chenille stem cut in half and wrap both ends around a marker to curl. Fold it into a "V" shape.

Curling the antennae.

5. Center the bottom of the "V" on the top of the butterfly's head.

Lined up and ready.

5. Fold the tip over and wrap around the antennae a few times to secure.

Folded over and ready to wrap around the antennae to secure them to the head.

6. At this point you have a butterfly. You can attach them to gifts, or tie a string to suspend. But we like to make butterfly puppets. Taking a whole chenille stem (not the bumpy ones) sneak the tip of it under the center back of the butterfly's body.

Attaching the controls.

7. Twist to secure and you now have a butterfly puppet. Hold the far end of the stem and allow your butterfly to gently bob and sway with the breeze. If your stem gets bent, you may need to replace it. Gather together a handful of butterflies for a bright and cheerful bouquet!

Fly little friend!

Project designed by Lara Newsom of Handmade Pretties

Around Our House: Painting Painting Painting

2010-03-01T07:53:00.000-08:00

Well we could wait no longer for fresh spring breezes, we had to start painting my husband's man cave yesterday. He chose Toasted Pumpkin by Behr for the color. Yes. I let him pick the color. This is how you know I love him. We bought Behr's low VOC paint that is supposed to be paint and primer in one, but I have to say that IF they ever do truly make a one coat paint I do not think it will be in my lifetime. Painting over the bright sky blue with orange is definitely a two coat job.

I suppose it was probably less fumy, but it was still too much for my sensitive head. If we had been able to open the windows, it would have been more tolerable. Today the room smells a little "painty", but not too bad. We will however wait until spring to do the girls' room.

Here are some cute pics of our girls "helping". They like to paint for about ten to fifteen minutes and then they are done and will let us get to work.

The girls hard at work.

My step-brother Josh came over to help. I had him prime over our tree, since it broke my heart to do it (Sylvia and I painted it together when she was 3).

Welcome to Esty: Sandy Dyas Photography

2010-02-28T09:56:00.001-08:00

I love this photo of Caroline flying through the air. Photo by Sandy Dyas

My first new Etsy shop to feature is a good friend of mine, Sandy Dyas. She is a fabulous photographer with a knack for catching reality at it's most sincere. I am positively smitten with her photo of her granddaughter bouncing on the bed in her supergirl outfit. I'll let her shop description tell the rest of her story.

Sandy Dyas Fine Art Photography

Welcome to My World. Indeed this world is rather strange, a bit unusual and beautiful too. I have had a camera in my hand since I was a young girl. Cameras make you pay attention to what is right in front of you. For years I used film and sometimes still do but I own several digital cameras now in addition to my old-school cameras.

Drawn to people and their environments - and especially natural light, I strive to create a collaborative and authentic portrait of the world we live in. I look for photographs in the constantly changing world that strike a note with me; images that contain reality and ambiguity. I use my camera as a way to see, to interact with the world and to remember.

Early in my career, I owned a small portraiture business in Bellevue, a small Iowa town near the Mississippi River. A dozen years later, I moved to Iowa City. I received my MFA in Intermedia (Performance Art & Video). My first book of photographs entitled Down to the River; Portraits of Iowa Musicians was published by the University of Iowa Press in June 2007.

My photographs have appeared in the New York Times, Glamour, Jane, Simon & Schuster, No Depression, Newsweek, Random House, RedHouse Records, Vogue and many more publications.

Photographs are printed on Fuji Lustre E Surface Photographic Paper unless otherwise noted.
All prints are on archival paper and printed at a excellent professional lab I am been using for many years. There are more options such as: Metallic Photographic Paper, Canvas on Masonite and more - Just Ask!

Most images can be printed at various sizes.

More about my work:
http://www.sandydyas.com
http://sandydyas.blogspot.com/

James and the Pronghorn. Photo by Sandy Dyas

Green Dress on Orange Wall. Photo by Sandy Dyas

Handmade Pretties in the Press: Better Homes and Gardens - March 2010

2010-02-27T06:50:00.000-08:00

This cute little shamrock brooch (on page 18 of the March 2010 issue of Better Homes and Gardens) is made from felt, vintage lace, and a beautiful brown glass button from my grandmother's button collection. While I make more elaborate intricately stitched brooches for sale on my website, this brooch is relatively easy to make with just a few supplies like felt, lace, buttons, tacky glue, hot glue, and a safety pin. I simply cut two clover shapes from felt, and then trimmed one down so that it would nest nicely inside the other and carefully glued the lace down with tacky glue. The button is sewn to the center, and the safety pin is glued to the back using hot glue on a strip of felt to cover one side of the safety pin like a band-aid. My daughter and I sewed one on a headband for her to wear at school on St. Patrick's Day.

Page 18 of the March 2010 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. The whole issue is full of beautiful colors and great spring inspirations. Perfect for those of us lost in the land of "Snowmageddon".

Our simple shamrock headband. The clover is glued together and the buttons are sewn on. The whole thing is sewn to the fabric covered headband, although, glue would probably work too.

One of my shamrock brooches for sale on my etsy site.

Etsy Favorites: Sub Rosa Fashion

2010-02-25T12:00:00.000-08:00

Sub Rosa Fashion is out of Sarajevo. I have found several artists based out of Sarajevo who masterfully use color and texture in their knitting and crocheting. The line of clothing made by Sub Rosa is fun and unusual, but not outside of the realm of practical. It is relatively affordable as well considering how much time and materials must go into each piece. She uses a broad range of colors, ruffles, and textures to create her fabulous unique pieces.

I just love the crazy colorful oversized ribbing.

The uneven hemline reminds me of seaweed.

Ok what pink ruffle loving gal DOESN'T want this dress!

Do It Yourself: Handmade Labels

2010-02-24T16:35:00.000-08:00

When I started selling my products on etsy, I ran into a problem. How to label all of my items without spending a ton of money or having to wait for reorders. Originally, I would print out labels on iron transfer ink jet paper and fuse it to felt. These labels worked fairly well. As my business grew, I found that I rarely had time to make more. The print would also tear a little towards the edge of the felt, not to mention my complete lack of ability when it comes to ironing-on. So I began to look into new methods.

Here is an example of one of my early iron-on labels sewn to the bottom of a titty pincushion.

I tried shrinky dinks, mainly because I wanted to MAKE shrinky dinks. This was even MORE labor intensive and convoluted than the iron-on decals, but made for a very unique and charismatic label. I have kept this idea around for some of my more expensive jewelry items.

Here is a shrinky dink label sewn to a fun mushroom pincushion.

Finally, I had the idea to have a stamp made of my logo. I found a company online, Rubber Stamping Across America, that would create an 8" x 10" stamp sheet for a small price. Since there was extra space on the sheet, I designed several fun stamps to use with my work, and had my logo made in two sizes. I had to cut the sheet and attach each stamp to a wooden block, but it was well worth the effort. I recommend paying the couple of extra dollars to get the adhesive backing pre-glued.

When I make labels, I use black "StazOn" brand ink. It claims to not be for use on fabric, but I have washed my labels on clothing repeatedly with only minimal fading. I use different colored scraps from larger projects to print the labels. To cut the labels, I prefer to use my pinking shears. The labels are sewn on by hand or by machine with a tight zigzag stitch.

For my skirts and pants, I have found it to be more efficient to stamp directly on the garment. I purchased a set of number stamps to stamp the size. This saves me the extra step of sewing on the labels after the garment is complete.

The tools for the job.

Stamped labels in action on rainbow sweater balls.

Handmade Pretties in the Press: Design Sponge - July 13, 2009

2010-02-24T06:08:00.000-08:00

I love seeing my work photographed in beautiful homes. This July 2009 feature of Shay Ometz' home shows my recycled sweater balls and my giant fleece ball.

My recycled sweater balls were initially designed as a toy, but so many of my customers tell me they are buying a set for their bed or their living room. As you can see from these photos, the results are stunning.

Recycled Sweater Balls as decorative throw pillow. Photo from Design Sponge

One of my giant fleece balls are peeking out of the bin under the table. I very much remember making this ball, so it is great to see it in it's home. Photo from Design Sponge.

Etsy Favorites: Paper Airplane Launcher

2010-02-23T06:21:00.000-08:00

When my daughter turned 5, I looked desperately for handmade games and toys to buy for her. While inventive art stuffies are nice to look at, they are really not all that engaging for an intelligent five year old. I wanted to buy her some sort of board game or other toy that required something more than just her imagination (because trust me, she's got that one covered). After searching for days, the best I could come up with were a few stacking games and a fishing game. I bought a few things handmade, made a few things, and purchased most of the games from a locally run educational toy store.

I wish I had found Times 3 Toys! They make really great wooden boats powered by balloons and rubber bands and paper airplane launchers. I love the paper airplane launcher. It holds any kind of paper airplane, so I can imagine an airforce of differently shaped airplanes flying through the air.

I've got this shop bookmarked for next year!

Handmade Pretties in the Press: Recycled Sweater Skirt

2010-02-22T08:52:00.000-08:00

Sweater skirt in action!

I have been making my recycled sweater skirts since Fall of 2007. Their one of a kind charm has made them popular on both my etsy site and at craft fairs.

They have been featured in numerous blogs and online magazines. Here are just a few.

The Long Thread - Sept 26, 2008

Etsy Finds - Child-Likes with Babble.com - Dec 16, 2008

Etsy Storque: Handmade Confessional - Dec 17, 2008

Babble.com - Holiday Gift Guide 2008

Baltimore Etsy - Jan 19, 2009

Ozowiezo Blog - April 2009

Kids Trend Weekly - Oct 4, 2009

Tryhandmade.com - Jan 11, 2010

Screen Shot from tryhandmade.com

A screen shot from Babble.com

Screen Shot from Kids Trend Weekly

Etsy Favorites: Heidi Legwarmers

2010-02-21T07:10:00.000-08:00

Yikes! I do not like legwarmers, but I WANT THESE! The colors are spot on, and the embroidery detail down the front brings a tear of joy to my eye. I am dusting off my ledehosen and braiding my hair as you read this. At a mere $17, these beauties from Olga11223 are a steal!

Etsy Favorites: A Coincidence?

2010-02-19T12:46:00.002-08:00

When I mark favorites, it is typically a random occurrence. I mark items I see on the front page, or items as they scroll through the recently listed items. Sometimes, if I am looking for something in particular, I will mark items I like so I can come back to them.

I love opening my favorites and finding mini accidentally curated collections of items. Here is what I found today.

Harold and Maude Paper Dolls by Little Grey Goose.

6 Tiny Portraits by Be Happy Now.

Love Bird Note Card by Fancy Me Flyin.

Fluffy Owl Yarn Wreath by Knock Knocking.

Brigid by Kelly Packer

Handmade Pretties in the Press: Do It Yourself Magazine - Winter 2009

2010-02-19T07:27:00.000-08:00

Last year I worked with Jessica Thomas on the "Best of Show" article for Do It Yourself Magazine - winter 2009. My products were featured on the cover of the magazine (the ball in the background and the small pincushion on the desk), and in the article (a ball and pincushion). I also created the Best of Show title ribbon using my large stash of vintage fabrics.

While this magazine had gone under my radar, after reading the last three issues, this is fast becoming one of my favorites! Be sure to join the DIY facebook fan site. They make great posts about project ideas and other discussions.

On the cover: my ball is in the lower left under the lamp, and my pincushion is on top of the pile of books on the desk.

Hours well spent. This turned out so great! I was able to showcase some of my vintage fabrics AND my embroidery...

My ball and pincushion are side by side on the top of the shelf.

Around Our House: Home Photography Success!

2010-02-18T13:02:00.000-08:00

I have recently perfected my photo area. It turns out that out white curtains and a king sized white sheet over our bench make a perfect backdrop when slightly overexposed. The lighting in our front room is good almost all day, especially right now with so much reflected light off of the snow. I like the ephemeral quality of the image.

This set up also seems to work great for photographing my products.

Sylvia is wearing a new pair of pants from my spring and summer line. They are made from recycled jersey and fit like high waters. Check my etsy shop for current clothing listings.

Beatrice is wearing a cute Hannah Anderson pants and dress outfit. I found this one at a yard sale for a dollar. It had a small hole on the knee which I patched with a small piece of coordinating pink jersey, and it turned out great!

Handmade Pretties in the Press: Better Homes and Gardens - Nov 2009

2010-02-18T07:46:00.000-08:00

In addition to product features, I have been doing some contract work for Meredith (the mothership of Better Homes and Gardens, Readymade, and DIY to name a few). I created these fun pockets to showcase new pocket sized digital video recorders. Each pocket is made from felt and hand embroidered. This feature ran in the November 2009 issue of BHG.

Here is the feature that ran in the magazine.

Here are all of the pockets I made for the shoot.

Etsy Favorites: Rainbow Sweater

2010-02-18T07:40:00.000-08:00

Ok so all you really have to do is SAY rainbow sweater and I am on board. When I saw this amazing sweater last night, my heart skipped a beat. I realized that not only do I love rainbow sweaters, I love diagonal knits. I've seen A LOT of sweaters, and this one by Canann is one of my favorites.

This sweater has a nostalgic 80s feel that I very much enjoy. It reminds me of the video for "My Girls" by the Animal Collective

Handmade Pretties in the Press: Better Homes and Gardens - April 2009

2010-02-17T10:57:00.000-08:00

Last year in the April 2009 issue, Better Homes and Gardens featured my iPod cases. Check my shop for the latest iPod and gadget cases that I make.

Handmade Pretties in the Press: Pregnancy & Newborn - Nov 09

2010-02-16T07:41:00.000-08:00

Handmade Pretties has been getting some press lately. Here is a rainbow sweater ball nicely featured in Pregnancy and Newborn.

Here is the feature from the November 2009 issue of Pregnancy and Newborn.

New Products: St. Patricks Day Brooches

2010-02-16T07:35:00.000-08:00

Here in the snowcone that is Iowa, I am definitely ready for some warm spring action. My St Patrick's Day brooches offer a quick peek of the lovely spring to come. Look for a simplified version made by me in the March issue of Better Homes and Gardens!

Vintage buttons beautify the center of this one.

Vintage photography makes everything look like an heirloom!

Etsy Favorites: Red Bloom Muff of Fabulousness

2010-02-16T06:08:00.000-08:00

Fabulous indeed! The photo is ALSO fabulous, the pale aqua walls against the brilliant red makes me want to start painting again. I absolutely LOVE the texture and color of this piece. Birdism obviously spent some serious love putting this muff together. Wouldn't this be amazing in a winter wedding?

Etsy Favorites: 4 Season Cone Gnomes from CutesyPoo

2010-02-15T14:42:00.001-08:00

I don't know about you, but here in the land of the perpetual snow, I would like the spring gnome to start pulling his weight. These cute little guys arrive in the form of a .pdf file that you can print from home and assemble. At $1.99 I almost don't even have to think about it! Cutesypoo Toys also makes similar gnomes in fabric, pre-assembled.

I picture these up on a shelf in the girls' room or peek out from behind a plant. What about you?

Favorite Shops: Home Ec. Workshop, Iowa City

2010-02-15T11:45:00.000-08:00

The fabric cutting table at Home Ec. Photo from Dreaming Bear

This past weekend, my husband and I were FINALLY able to take a road trip out of town without the children. We went to Iowa City to see our old friend William Elliot Whitmore play a rock show at the Blue Moose Taphouse in Iowa City. We got into town a little early and had time to visit some of the shops that have opened up since we moved away in 2001.

I visited Home Ec Workshop on the recommendation of Arin and Karen from Ephemera in Des Moines. The shop is on Linn Street just North of Market, on the west side of the road. Back in our I.C.days, the building used to house a guitar store and a used book store that is still on the corner. The Hamburg Inn will probably always slop it out across the street, and I have to admit a twinge of jealousy when I realized that the "Chill and Grill" has now become a falafel restaurant.

Home Ec, which is in a small store front in the middle of the block, has a small front room with fabric, a middle room with yarns, and a back classroom/workshop area. They have also incorporated a small coffee and snack shop.

I ordered a chai (and imagined eating one of the red velvet cupcakes) and browsed around. Their fabric room is small, but well stocked. They did not have quite as much space as someplace like Crafty Planet in Minneapolis, but the prints they do stock were well coordinated, made me drool, and the prices are comparable. I do not knit or crochet, but I found it impossible to avoid petting the stock of yarns, particularly some of the finer spun japanese yarns.

The chai was fabulous, perfectly sweetened with honey (not sticky sweet like the crap they serve at Starbucks) and made with milk from cows who eat real grass (GASP)! Aside from the great stuff (they even had a little vintage and a little handmade mixed in), I would come back just to visit with the ladies. Codi and her partner Alisa could not have been any nicer.

If you live near Iowa City or find yourself in town, take a few minutes to stop in the shop to admire the colors, drink some chai, and stock up on something lovely for your next project.

Home Ec. Workshop
207 N. Linn Street
Iowa City, Iowa 52245

We hope our next stop can include a visit to White Rabbit.

The yarn room. Photo from Dreaming Bear

Etsy Favorites: Last Five Etsy Purchases

2010-02-10T06:12:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder what etsy sellers are buying on etsy? Here are five items I purchased for the holidays.

Ham Earrings. I bought these for my best friend, because who doesn't need a pair of ham earrings? Found at Sweet Meats

Seriously? Why Wait. Be Rad now. Three awesome screened posters from Mixed Species

Every year I purchase or make new ornaments for the tree. These came from Old World Primitives

These cuties came from Katie Anna. The girls love them!

And who doesn't like getting clean with booger soap? Made by Annie Poo

Do It Yourself: Valentine's Day Crackers

2010-02-08T10:53:00.000-08:00

The finished goods, ready for delivery.

Oh sure Valentine's Day is a corporate creation to get us to buy each other satin underwear and boxes of chocolate, but it is also a great time to whip up something delightfully pink, fill it with chocolate, and give it to the people you love (or even like a little).

This Valentine's Day, my girls and I made Valentine's Day crackers filled with chocolate kisses for their class. This project is relatively simple. Children over 8 should be able to finish this project with little assistance, while younger kids will need help, but will still enjoy filling the tubes with goodies.

Our work station

Materials
Scotch Tape
Cardstock cut into 3" x 4.25" pieces
Tissue paper cut into 10" x 8" pieces (the thin gift wrapping type is best)
Scissors
thin ribbon or yarn cut into 10" pieces
Medium to large stickers
Kisses or other small candies or treats

Our supplies ready to go. I use my paper cutter to cut down the tissue and cardstock to size.

Roll the cardstock into 3" tubes. Overlap the edges of the cardstock about 1/2" and tape.

With the tube on the 8" side of the tissue paper, roll the tissue around the tube. Twist one end closed, and stick the sticker on the seam of the tissue (little ones are great at sticking the stickers). Tie a ribbon on the twisted end.

Rolling the tube in tissue.

Before we have twisted the end.

Check that the tissue paper opening is clear into the tube, and insert two kisses (or other small goodies). Twist the other end closed and tie with a ribbon.

One end twisted and tied and ready to be filled.

Beatrice (2) filling the tubes with kisses for her friends.

A few years back when making stamps for my business, I had stamps made of my girls' names. The kids' schools want each valentine to only be signed, not individually addressed, so we use the stamps to sign the valentines.

For our close friends and family, we will be making larger versions of this project filled with more treats and a few pics of the girls. If you have a stash of cardboard tubes from toilet paper or paper towels, you can use those, otherwise create larger cardstock tubes.

Happy Crafting!

Handmade Pretties Special Offers: Themed Giant Fleece Ball Special

2010-01-30T11:11:00.001-08:00

I am currently looking to make more giant fleece balls using themes that I have not previously produced. If you order a new themed ball, I am offering $5 off the regular price. A few ideas I have are outer space, flowers, princess, animals, underwater, cupcakes/teaparty, etc.

If you would like to place an order, please visit my etsy site.

Farm Themed Ball

Owl Themed Ball

Rock N Roll Themed Ball

Around Our House: Keeping the Kids Busy One Block of Styrofoam at a Time

2010-01-26T14:58:00.000-08:00

In an effort to get more time to work in my studio, I have been devising projects for the kids to do while I work. Our latest project came when we ordered our new iMac.

Both girls got a piece of styrofoam. Sylvia (at 5) is old enough to handle a very small hammer, so I give her a handful of nails and a small handcrank drill with a drill bit. She pounds nails and drills holes and sometimes violently beats the tar out of her block of foam. Beatrice (at 2) is a little small for the hammer, so I give her a pincushion full of pins, a handful of buttons, cut off labels, ribbons, and pieces of felt and paper. She happily stabs pins with buttons and ribbons into the foam. Now before you call DHS or try this with your own children, please remember that my kids have grown up around my sewing supplies and have proven to me that they understand which end of the pin is the stabbing side. And of course they are current on their tetanus shots.

This activity helps them with their fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. Plus it keeps them busy for about twenty minutes.

Beatrice concentrating on threading buttons onto the pins.

Sylvia wielding her junior sized hammer. She's even got her tongue in on the action.

It's Hammer Time!

Do It Yourself: Decoupage Light Switch Plates

2010-01-10T10:09:00.000-08:00

A squirrel toting ham in a shopping basket! Even the Anchorman approves (and yes he is an original Janet Stewart...)

Remembering the Ephemera of Your Life

Before we moved back to Iowa from Los Angeles, I purchased a set of Pop Ink cocktail napkins featuring adorable little animals with knives and meat. This package of napkins has remained safely preserved in an unexplored kitchen drawer since our move in 2007. Imagine my horror when I realized that my children had discovered my booty and had been using them to wipe their faces - GASP!

This left me with the dilemma of whether to continue hoarding this little package of divinity or figure out a way to preserve it's glory for future generations of animal and meat loving folk.

The obvious answer was decoupage. For my napkins, I used a water proof decoupage medium that I got on sale at Joanns. You definitely want something waterproof so you can give it a wipe down when cleaning. I first removed and cleaned the switchplates. I like to rough them up a bit with some fine sandpaper to give the medium something to grab onto. Cut your image to fit the switchplate. In the case of the napkins, I made sure that I cut them big enough to wrap around the edges slightly. Brush a thin layer of medium onto the switchplate. Carefully place your image and brush on a thin layer of medium. If your image extends to the edge, wrap the image around the edges. Gently tamp down on the image with the brush to ensure good contact and to lessen wrinkles. Allow to dry completely. At this point, using an exacto knife, cut a diagonal slit from one corner of the switch opening (or outlet opening) and repeat for the other corners. Brush on another thin coat and wrap the switch edges to the inside of the cover. Allow to dry completely.

Once your plate is dry, use an awl or a pen to open the screw holes and replace the cover on the wall. Be very careful as the screwhead comes in contact with the cover so that you do not twist and tear the image.

Had to cut off the meat cleaver, but it's sweet just the same.

Another method I have used that has been surprisingly durable is to affix a postcard to the face of the switch plate using double sided tape.

I first selected a card that allowed about 1/4 of an inch to wrap around the edge of the plate. I coated the back with tape being sure to go all the way to the edges. I like the tape that is all stick and no plastic backer (be sure to use PERMANENT tape!) Center the plate and press down carefully wrap the edges around and stick to the inside back of the plate. Use and exacto knife to cut diagonally corner to corner for the switch opening. Wrap these edges around to the back. Use an awl or pen to open the holes and replace on the wall! This method does not have a waterproof coating so it may not be the best for high traffic switchplates, however, I did this almost three years ago (on a high traffic switch) and have had no problems at all! Most cards have a glossly coating which helps to repel dirt and grime.

Happy crafting!

Around Our House: Christmas Favorites

2009-12-29T07:04:00.001-08:00

Over the years, I have amassed a fairly large collection of ornaments. My own tree started my second year of college when I purchased a 3' tree on clearance. That year I made all of my own decorations using copper (wire and sheets that had come from an estate sale) and metallic raffia. I also made a long strand of Fimo beads that has long since disappeared. This is also the same year I made the first two stockings.

This is the whole set. The first two belong to Scott and I (the two in the middle).

Beatrice's stocking won Best of Show at the Iowa State Fair in 2008. I couldn't have been happier. I saved fabrics for over ten years so our family stockings would match.

Through college I collected unique or weird ornaments whenever I found them. I like to catch end of season clearance sales, but have been know to pay full price.

Is it a dog? Is it a flocked dog with plastic tree branches coming out of its head? No. It is a reindeer. Obviously. Found at Calipso in Valley West Mall 2009

Last year's addition to our creepy snowman collection. While this one isn't particularly creepy, it is covered in glitter and fabulous. Found at Porch Light 2008

This one was so weird it had to come home with me. And if I remember correctly, it came from Target in 2007.

Santa Cop. Nothing says Christmas like getting busted by a billy club wielding Santa. Found at Hobby Lobby 2007

When I was in college, my grandma Louise started the tradition of allowing each of us to select one ornament from the tree each year. I have such strong memories of the ornaments from her tree. A few of my favorites were the little plastic horns (that made noise), the tiny fairy tale books, and all of the ornaments made by my grandma and her friends for the church craft bazaar over the years.

This set of bells came from grandma's tree.

When I was in Los Angeles, Grandma sent me this old ceramic bell that used to be on her tree when she was a little girl.

Since I spend quite a bit of time at craft shows during the holiday season, I have found a number of spectacular handmade ornaments to add to my collection.

This one is made by Skirt. A couple of crafty gals out of Iowa City.

This sweet pinecone was made by Danelle of Monster Fashion

My greatest resource for ornaments has come from my children. I like to spend time each year making ornaments with them. The first year, we used self sticking laminating paper to cover images that we hole punched and hung from strings. Last year, we painted a lot of pre-made ornaments from craft stores. But this year, we made the most fabulous pipe cleaner ornaments. I had the girls both draw faces on circles that we cut out and glued on as heads. The girls then chose doodads for each person to hold. As you can see they turned out amazing!

Made with Sylvia in 2008. I helped to sew the chunk of serger scraps she found on top.

Made with Beatrice 2009. She is just starting to draw faces, for this project, she enjoyed gluing plastic eyes to her colored faces.

Made with Sylvia 2009. Sylvia did such an amazing job drawing faces. This snowman is one of my favorites. I particularly love the carrot he is holding.

Another of Sylvia's. This one is an angel. The idea for this project came from a fun shop on etsy (from whom I purchased three sets of ornaments) Old World Primatives She uses great vintage images atop her lovely ornaments.

In a few days, we will pack up the tree. Each ornament will be carefully packed away so that someday they might grace the trees of my own children and grandchildren. Another great pretty Christmas gone by...

Around Our House: Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-26T07:57:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

So I have escaped the basement momentarily to host Thanksgiving for our third year. Grandma Louise was kind enough to allow us the honor : )

Shockingly, I just went outside to pick a fresh arugula garnish for our turkey platter!

This year I am keeping with traditional recipes for the sake of time and sanity. I am making the turkey, stuffing, squash, green beans with bacon, pumpkin pie, custard pie, corn on the cob, apple pie (one two crust and one with an amaretti cookie topping, and a tasty selection of pickles from the garden. We grew the squash and beans, and the turkey, apples, bread, eggs, milk, and corn are all produced locally.

I have to skip dinner at my aunt's house to work on orders this year. But it'll be worth it to feel caught up!

Around Our House: Clean that Toilet!

2009-10-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

Best Toilet Cleaner EVER!!!!

Ok so this might not excite most as much as it does me, BUT, I have discovered the best toilet cleaner ever.

With two small children who refuse to flush or sleep through a flushing toilet, our toilet can get some pretty gross stains. I hate using harsh chemical cleaners, both environmentally, and because I am afraid the kids will get some on them if they use the toilet while I am waiting for the cleaner to work. But nothing makes me sadder than a nasty stink potty. SO here is my technique for perfectly clean potties.

Turn off the water at the valve. Flush the stool. If the water level is low then you are good to go. I often have to don some rubber gloves and scoop out a little of the excess water. Pour about a third of a gallon of distilled white vinegar and allow to sit for an hour. Using a toilet brush, scrub away the yuck. For super stubborn stains, I have let it sit for another hour and then gone at it again. If you are REALLY brave and need to hurry the process, a Mr Clean magic eraser will take it right off. Like Magic. Turn your water back on and flush away all your troubles.

For stinky toilets that just need freshening, pour a half a cup of Borax (found in the laundry aisle) and swish with a brush. Allow to sit for an hour (or overnight).

Note that if you pour vinegar and borax in the toilet together, you may create a volcano. Borax is similar to baking soda.

Recipes: Grandma Louise's Chili Relish

2009-08-16T07:50:00.000-07:00

Grandma Louise's Chili Relish

It takes a lot of tomatoes, and a good 8 hours to cook down, but it is worth every minute of effort. My grandma Louise has been making chili relish since before I was born. She always served it with hamburgers, but I've found it to be great with hot dogs, meatloaf, sandwiches, and my favorite homemade black bean patties.

The recipe for the Chili Relish is copied directly from grandma's own recipe card. The recipe for the black bean patties is one I developed in college.

Chili Relish

18 tomatoes (skinned, cored, seeded, and roughly chopped)
2 green peppers (roughly chopped)
2 medium onions (roughly chopped)
1 1/2 C sugar
2 C white vinegar
2 t salt
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1 t allspice

In small batches, finely chop the tomatoes, onions, and peppers in a food processor. Put in a large heavy pot* and add the rest of the ingredients. Allow the mixture to simmer for approximately 8 hours. When the relish is finished, it will be the consistency of ketchup and will have cooked down to about 1/4 of the original mixture.

When the mixture is nearly finished cooking, sterilize half pint jars and lids. Spoon the mixture into the jars, and seal (process in a water bath for 20 minutes).

Makes around 8 1/2 pints

Here is the chili relish when it is finished. You can see how full the pot was in the beginning. The key to this recipe is slow patient cooking.

* Grandma Louise always makes a double batch and uses her roaster set on low. Patience is key.

Black Bean Patties

1 1/2 C cooked bean beans (or one can)
1/2 C Quick Oats
1 t fresh oregano (or 1/2 t dried)
1 clove chopped garlic
2 T Olive Oil
salt and pepper to taste
5T olive oil (for cooking)

Mash the beans into a smooth paste with a hand mixer or a potato ricer. Add the oatmeal and spices. The mixture will be slightly crumbly. Add the olive oil. The mixture should have the consistency of a stiff dough. Form the dough into patties that are about the size of a hamburger and about 3/4 inch thick.

In a non-stick skillet, heat 5 T olive oil over medium heat. Brown the patties on both sides for about 5 minutes each. As the patties cook, it is useful to press down slightly on each side.

Serve on a bun with Homemade Chili Relish!

Serves 4

Around Our House: Growing Italian Stuffing Tomatoes

2009-08-15T15:42:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics of one of the more unusual tomatoes we are growing this year. It is an Italian Stuffing Tomato. It's mostly hollow (a lot like it's cousin the pepper), and has a very meaty texture. I've been hollowing them out and putting them in the deep freeze to make lovely baked stuffed tomatoes this winter. I'll post a recipe when I feel like turning on the oven again.

The outside is a lovely red with orange streaks.

Here is the inside after having been scooped out.

Recipes: Sesame Almond Coleslaw

2009-08-12T09:05:00.000-07:00

Sesame Almond Coleslaw

Growing up, I always hated coleslaw. Once I discovered alternate ways to dress cabbage, I learned that coleslaw is one of my favorite summer dishes. It is high in vitamin C and fiber, and light enough to go with just about anything.

This is my recipe for a light slightly sweet coleslaw that works well as a side dish, or is fabulous topped with a grilled chicken breast and served as a main course.

The last meal I served with this coleslaw was a marinated minute steak with sauteed peppers and tomatoes. Delicious!

Sesame Almond Coleslaw

1 small head of green cabbage
1 T toasted sesame oil
2 T rice vinegar
2 T honey
1/4 t garlic powder
1 small red onion thinly sliced
1/2 C dry toasted unsalted sliced almonds
salt and pepper to taste

Slice the cabbage into thin slices. In a small bowl, mix together the oil, vinegar, honey, and garlic powder. Toss together the cabbage, onion, almonds, and dressing. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4-6 as a side
or
2-4 as a dinner salad (topped with a chicken breast or fried tofu)

If you need to prepare this recipe ahead of time, hold the cabbage and the dressing separately and toss just prior to serving.

Alternate Ingredients:

Substitute grapefruit juice for the rice vinegar for a tasty citrus coleslaw

Add sesame seeds (1/4 c) in place of the almonds

Add a 1/2 c of orange sections (peeled with the membrane removed) or 1/4 C dried cranberries.

Recipes: Dried Zucchini

2009-08-05T14:28:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh Zucchini!

This year we've planted three hills of summer squash (cocozelle, black beauty, and yellow crookneck), so now we are faced with what to do with it all. One of my favorite and most interesting ways to put up the harvest is to make Dried Zucchini Chips. I make mine a little spicy and find that they are a perfect mid afternoon snack since they are full of flavor and crunch (and fiber so WATCH OUT!)

You will need a food dehydrator or you will need to be able to keep your oven at a low temp for a prolonged period of time (I've done this by cycling it on and off).

We bought our dehydrator at a garage sale a few years back, and there seems to be no shortage of them, so keep your eyes peeled.

Here is my recipe for Spicy Dried Zucchini Chips

5-6 medium to large summer squash (zucchini or other soft fleshed squash)
1 cup cold water
2 T Sriracha (A.K.A. Rooster Sauce)
2 T Soy Sauce
1 T garlic powder
1 T salt
2 T toasted sesame oil

Slice the summer squash into 1/4" chips. Mix together all ingredients except the squash. Coat the chips well with the marinade (I often let them soak while I set up the dehydrator).

Lay your chips out in a single layer on the dehydrator trays. My dehydrator will hold about 5-6 medium to large squash worth of chips, but yours may hold more or less.

Turn on the dehydrator and open the vent holes wide. Allow to dehydrate for about 24-36 hours. Rotate the trays several times during this process.

When your chips are completely dry, they should be quite crunchy. Store in a well sealed container. This will yield about 1 - 2 cups of chips.

Around Our House: Daddy Loves His Girls

2009-07-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

How I know daddy loves his girls...

This is the spread Scott had laid out for the wiener kids when we got back from swimming lessons. Even I was surprised.

Around Our House: Garden Booty

2009-07-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

Big crop of the week.

In spite of the wilt plaguing our tomatoes, we are starting to get a good crop. I think I might try to can a few this weekend.

Our peppers are super happy. I think it may have been the extra fertilizer we tossed in when we planted them. I actually had enough to freeze about a pint. I usually just get a bag started and add to it until it is full. Seems to work well.

Our zucchini and squash are slowly coming, which is good, we are not yet overwhelmed. I baked a delicious zucchini cake last night and we had sauteed squash and zucchini for supper.

We get about two cucumbers a day which seems perfect for daily consumption, however, I will have to buy cucs to do any pickled this year. We used up the rest of our lime pickles, which are a necessity for chicken or tuna salad. I think I'll make the bread and butter pickles out of zucchini again this year, we tried it last year and worked great!

We also picked a giant bucket full of turnips. Hmmm. I have decided to try to make some Middle Eastern Turnip pickles (those funky bright pink pickles they serve at good falafel places). The recipe is fermented so I'll let you know how that goes!

Here are a few pics of our bounty.

Recipes: Chicken Ratatouille

2009-07-15T11:39:00.000-07:00

Chicken Ratatouille

This is my recipe for a delicious and relatively simple summer meal.

1 whole 5-6 pound chicken cut into parts and skinned (reserve the chicken back and gizzards for stock).
2 cloves garlic crushed or grated
1 medium sized onion diced
2 medium sized zucchini diced
2 medium sized yellow squash diced
2 peppers (any color, chopped)
6 T olive oil
4 T butter
3-4 medium to large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
2 T chopped fresh oregano

Heat half of the oil and butter in a heavy covered pot over medium high heat. Add the chicken and garlic. Brown chicken on both sides and turn down the heat and cover. Stir every 5 minutes and cook about 25-30 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, heat the remaining oil in a large skillet over a medium heat. Add the onions and brown (about 3-5 minutes). Add the zucchini, squash, and peppers cook until tender (another 5 minutes). Add the tomatoes and oregano and set the heat to low. When the chicken thigh is cooked through, add the vegetables to the chicken. Allow to simmer about 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with chicken quinoa. Serves 4.

Chicken Quinoa

3 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups quinoa
1T chopped parsley

Bring stock to a boil (if you have reserved the chicken back and gizzard add 1 chopped onion, or use your vegetable trimmings from the ratatouille, boil for 30 minutes with 6 cups water). Add quinoa. Stir occasionally for 20-25 minutes or until the quinoa is soft and starts to unfurl its white seed curl. Add 1 T chopped parsley. Salt to taste.

NOTE: I like to buy the chicken from a local chicken farmer who raises his chickens free range. Check your local farmers market for home grown chicken. This meal can also use eggplant, if you have it available, or may be stretched with extra veggies. If you are stretching the meal, you may consider picking the chicken from the bone and mixing it in casserole style.

Around Our House: How Our Garden Grows

2009-07-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

Let the feast begin!

I just picked the first of our summer veggies. I've gotten a few random tomatoes, peppers, and squash over the last few weeks, but today was the first time I picked enough for a meal!

We've got wilt on the cucumbers and tomatoes again, and we are afraid we will have to deal with it for the next few years. We're monitoring which varieties do the best against it and plan to plant those next year. We have all but completely lost the Poona Kheera cucumbers, but the delikatesse are doing great (so far). I saw a few baby melons and squash today. I just hope they get enough summer to grow fruits.

It's been so cool, we are still picking lettuce, which is good since I forgot to plant chard or collards for summer salads...

Here is the garden a few weeks ago. The pole beans are JUST starting to flower.

The cucumber machine before the Poona Kheeras died.

The greens. And reds. We planted several types of lettuce, red orach, chard, and basil.

The big crop... Guess I don't need to wash the canning jars QUITE yet.

2009-07-13T17:07:00.000-07:00

Great photos of my work in a BEAUTIFUL home. Look for the giant personalized fleece ball in the basket and the two sweater balls on the bed.

Design Sponge Blog - http://www.designspongeonline.com/2009/07/sneak-peek-shay-ometz-of-fossil.html

Around Our House: Freezing Blueberries

2009-07-09T11:26:00.000-07:00

Freeze those BLUEBERRIES!

I just put 9 quarts of blueberries in the deep freeze. They were $1.49 a pint at our local Fareway. Whenever you see blueberries at $1.49 or less per pint BUY THEM (especially if you are prone to buying frozen berries for smoothies etc.)! They freeze beautifully! Just put them in a ziplock bag and freeze. Last winter I put up about 8 quarts and wished we had another 8 (for a family of four). We would use them in baking, for smoothies, or as a fruit side for our little ones.

Other berries such as raspberries and gooseberries freeze well too.

Another food I freeze when cheap is peppers. Just chop them and put them in a freezer bag, and you are ready to dump some in chili, or sprinkle a few on a quesadilla.

Later this summer, I will be freezing tomatoes, corn, green beans, squash, and zucchini. I'll let you know when that exciting time comes...

2009-07-06T20:26:00.000-07:00

Quick and Easy Blueberry Nectarine Fluff

This is one of my favorite summer recipes. This is my creation based on my undying love of waldorf salad. Increase the fruit for a less fluffy salad.

one pint fresh blueberries (don't even try to use frozen)
6-8 ripe nectarines sliced
one 8 oz package reduced fat cream cheese - softened
one 8 oz tub cool whip
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Slice the nectarines and rinse the blueberries and set aside. Using a hand mixer (or whisk) whip together the cream cheese, cool whip, and cinnamon. Combine the fluff with the fruit (and nuts). Serve or chill. Will hold overnight if desired.

For a sweeter salad, whip 1/2 cup honey with the cool whip and cream cheese. Or go grandma crazy and throw in some mini marshmallows!

Serves 6-8

2009-07-05T18:20:00.000-07:00

Choosing a Pincushion

With the assortment of beautiful and unique pincushions available out there, how do you go about selecting one to fit your needs?

Start by determining where and how you will use your pincushion. Do you sew mostly on a machine? Or do you do mostly hand sewing?

Machine sewing typically requires a pincushion that can hold a lot of pins and that is weighted or somehow fixed to your workstation (so it won't slide as you slam your pins down into it). A broad stabbing surface makes it easier to hit the target.

I often have two pincushions in my machine sewing work areas, one where I pin my patterns and the other by the machine. As the pincushion near my cutting and pinning station empties, I swap it for the one that has filled up by the machine. I would beware of any pincushion made inside teacups or other breakable containers for next to the machine (how many times have I knocked my pincushion off as the fabric pulls through the machine). Some people find a small dish with a magnet attached to the bottom next to the machine is the most useful (again, how many of THESE have I knocked over...)

For hand sewing I prefer a smaller pincushion. I typically sew with just a few needles (between 3-5) and keep about five pins on hand in case I need them. The hand sewing station is where the cute little bottlecap pincushions, pincushions inside teacups, and other smaller pincushions are handy. I use one of my own wrapped wool pincushions because they sit nice and flat, are easy to stab, and the wool seems to keep my needles nice. While weighting may still be useful, I have found that I am not nearly as aggressive whilst stabbing as I am hand sewing. If you are a person who embroiders and prefers to keep several needles threaded at the same time, you may still opt for a larger flatter style pincushion.

Another consideration is if you store your pincushion or leave it out. If you need to pack your pincushion up inside your sewing basket, be sure to select one that is a suitable size, and has a firm grip on the pins and needles. Needle books are a great option for inside the sewing basket, as you may leave your needles threaded without getting the thread tangled inside the basket (simply hitch the thread around the needle after you have stuck it into the book).

Pincushions are the perfect gift for the crafty type. A great place to start looking is etsy.com

Here are a few of mine.

Wrapped Wool Pincushion by Handmade Pretties - This is a larger wrapped wool pincushion perfect for handsewing or embroidery. Eye catching and unique this beauty can double as art. Made from recycled wool.

Wrapped Wool Pincushion by Handmade Pretties - This is a smaller wrapped wool pincushion perfect for handsewing. Each one it unique.

Cutest Ever Kitty Pincushion by Handmade Pretties - Pick from several color options, or get one to match your own kitty. Can sit on its butt or belly, perfect for machine sewing station.

Patchwork Needlebook by Handmade Pretties - hold needles or pins on several pages a must for any sewing basket. Made from vintage quilt tops.

Wooly Block Pincushion with Vintage Buttons by Handmade Pretties - Gigantic. Perfect next to the machine, but cute on display. Features vintage buttons and recycled wool.

Here are a few of my favorite pincushion shops on etsy.com

Loose String

Small, Medium, and Large. All beautifully embroidered in a rainbow of colors. Loose String's pincushions would be a welcome addition to my sewing basket anyday.

Feltmates

Super darn cute. Too small for next to my machine, but cute enough to hang out with me in the living room to accept needles while I sew. Comes in several colors, and some of the birds have friends. Be sure to also check out the awesome measuring tapes Feltmates has to offer!

Catherinette

If you seriously *heart* sewing, here's your pincushion... One of several off the wall pincushions.

The Daily Pincushion

A great selection of darling hand embroidered pincushions big and small. Great gifts for the crafty person in your life.

For more wonderfully unique pincushions, check out etsy.com

2009-07-02T11:39:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhh Jello.

What could be more delicious than a jiggling fruity glob of jello? Why jello packed with tuna and mayonnaise of course.

Jellied Tuna with Mayonnaise

1 package lemon Jell-O
1 cup boiling water
1 cup cold water
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup tuna fish, flaked
1 cup peas (fresh-cooked or canned)
2 tablespoons pimento, finely chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Dissolve jell-o in boiling water. Add cold water, vinegar, and salt. Chill. When slightly thickened, fold in remaining ingredients. Blend. Turn into individual molds. Chill until firm. Unmold on crisp lettuce. Garnish with additional mayonnaise. Serves 6-8.

Taken from The Complete Jell-o Recipe Book copyright 1929.

2009-06-24T06:39:00.000-07:00

CREAMED BRAINS

This is the first installation of a series of recipes that actually make me gag. I have found these in my collection of vintage cookbooks, and hope you enjoy...

Creamed Brains

1 Brain
1 Cup White Sauce
Salt, Pepper, Paprika

Cover brain with slightly salted cold water. Let stand 2 hours. Drain. Cover with boiling water. Boil 20 miniutes. Drain. Chill quickly. Remove the finers. Cut in pieces. Add white sauce. Season to taste. Serve in patty shells. If desired, 1 tablespoon chopped green pepper and 1 tablespoon chopped pimento may be added to give variety in flavor.

4 servings.

The Household Searchlight 1946

Yummers.

2009-06-22T10:59:00.001-07:00

We did it. In spite of my desires to glob rocks and jewels into crusty bits of concrete, Sylvia solved our Grotto conundrum by gluing pompoms and stickers onto a shoebox. It's a little more suitable for toddlers and preschool children : ) Even Beatrice (at 2) was able to get into the fun and glue her weight in pompoms.

Here is a shot of our "Pony Grottos" more crap to be glued down soon... I think we may paint a little and squirt on a little glitter glue. Ooo I think I also have a baggie of rhinestones mwwahhahahahah.

2009-06-22T06:07:00.001-07:00

Go Grotto!

How does one go about making a Grotto of Redemption? Yesterday, my family went to visit the Grotto of Redemption in West Branch, Iowa. My four year old was completely and utterly inspired. She has been asking me all morning when we will get started on our "Pony Grotto" .

I am thinking plaster or hot glue. But I also have two bags of concrete in the garage... I think we'll start by gathering rocks and sparkles.

The Family amidst the grotto

To say it was impressive was an understatement

Look MA! I'm a statue...

2009-06-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

Easy Pickled Radishes

So due to our overabundance of radishes (we decided to do a "living mulch" this year). We have been seeking new ways to enjoy these sassy garden goodies.

Here is one super quick recipe that is tasty and so easy any knife wielding monkey could do it.

You'll need:
Radishes - probably about a pound or two.
A jar of Classen Pickles (or other dill pickle) minus all the pickles, save the juice

Slice the radishes and put them in the pickle juice. Put the lid on and leave it in the fridge for a week. Good as a Bloody Mary garnish, fun on a salad, or just a yummy spicy snack.

2009-06-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

Knock Knock.

Who's There?

Giant Tree Branch.

2009-06-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

Gardening. Ugh. I hate the weeding but love the harvest. Ah well. We just gave the tomatoes a layer of newspaper and compost and forced their unhappy souls into tomato cages.

We picked out first "june bearing" strawberry today. If I didn't have children, I could tell you how it tasted... Looks like I may get one soon.

We've got three mysterious pole bean black holes. No matter what I plant there, they won't grow. I may have to give in and let one of the volunteer tomatoes take over. Our damn okra won't go either... Guess my thumb isn't yet green enough.

Scott is out here right now erecting our bean tee pees. I am admittedly pretty excited. Although, I have a feeling hunkering down amidst bean plants and all of the pollinating pals may not really float my boat anymore. The kiddos will probably like it.

I froze about 2 quarts of rhubarb. I've already made two batches of Rhubarb Jam. We have one frozen apple pie left from last fall's apple extravaganza. (see kiddos sitting in the harvest). And about fifteen jars of Apple Butter... I am excited for the tomatoes. We finally finished all of the tomato chutney and canned toms, and we have nearly eaten all of the sun dried cherry tomatoes.

Grow Baby Grow...

2009-06-13T19:57:00.001-07:00

Off to the basement.

Hi ho Hi Ho it's off to work I go. I think the hardest part about working in the evenings is that I nearly always fall asleep while putting the girls to bed and then I have to peel myself away from sleep and drag my grumpy ass down to the basement to work. It is far more awful than waking up in the morning.

Tonight I should be working on orders. Which I likely will. But I would also like to get to work on my state fair entries...

Here is a pic of some of the pillow covers I have been making lately. I just filled a wholesale order for them about a week ago...

2008-02-24T19:15:00.001-08:00

Just go to

handmadepretties.etsy.com

if you want to see what I do.