Look at me.....farming......

Wow! I had no idea!!!

I saw (of course on Pinterest) that you can put the end of romaine lettuce in water and it will regrow. So of course I tried it.


And it works!!!


I've currently got two going.

As you can see, it grows pretty fast. I'm going to plant the bigger one in dirt pretty soon. I figure to actually keep it going we'll have to do this several more times so that there are always different stages of them. I'm going to try to keep them all in a big pot in the house so that all the wild critters don't get into them.

So far I'm thinking this is pretty neat. What do you think? Does this count as recycling?

What a great pot holder!

Last month at sewing club during show and tell, one of the other ladies there had a pot holder that was pure genius. I heard her tell someone else that she used a pattern that she had bought somewhere else. So, the next day I got online and found it at Whistlepig Creek Productions. You can purchase either a print version to be mailed to you or you can download a pdf file.

Anyway, I think these are genius. And the reason is because these pot holders are made in bowl form to be used in the microwave. You put the bowl in the potholder, THEN you put it in the microwave. That way, when you take it out you don't have to life something hot to get it onto your hot pad. Genius, right?!

 I'm going to be making many of them.

This is my first attempt:

 

It didn't turn out quite as bowl shaped as I wanted it, but that is totally my fault. I cut the places where the darts go (which is what makes it curl up into the bowl shape) and then trimmed my pieces. After that I didn't go back and re-cut my darts so they're smaller than they're supposed to be.

 

Oh well, it still works. I've already used it several times. I'm going to make more as soon as I have some time to sit and sew for me. I'm pretty sure these will be gifts for quite a few people this year.

Easter Wreath

I saw a picture on pinterest of a cute Easter Bunny wreath so decided I needed to make one.

Here's my finished wreath....

Here's how I made mine:

I started with a pool noodle. (Note: this is one that I picked up off the side of the road to use for something else last year and then changed my mind.)

I cut about 10 inches of it off  so that I could make a smaller circle with it. I used duct tape to hold my circle together.

 

 

Then I wrapped my boas around until it was covered. Because I used a green noodle it took me 5 boas to cover it and probably could have used another but I didn't want to wait to finish it until I made it back to the store. :0)

I used the ears from an Easter headband.

I cut them off of the head band and glued them onto my wreath. The boas have little loops at each end of them and I left one of them loose to hang the wreath with.

So here's the finished wreath.

So.....I still think it's cute, but I made my circle a little too big because I think it looks kind of like a cat. HA! And Dax says he's not sure which end of the bunny he's looking at here. (He's a sick, sick man. lol)

Anyway, today I clicked through on Pinterest and read the original post on how to she made hers -- because who would want to read the instructions first? -- and hers is a lot easier than what I did. Go figure! You can check out Mrs. B's Hive's post here, and trust me, her directions are a lot easier.

I have a finish!!

Oh my! I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted. Where has the time gone?

I have been busy, but doing orders for people (which I am grateful for) so I haven't done as many new things to show here.

I did, however, make a new purse for myself.

 

I used my new sewing machine to embroider the initial on the front of the bag (woohoo!) and to sew the bag together. I also included two large pockets in the center of the bag.

 

For the outer fabric, I used a cotton tablecloth that I bought at Target on clearance and used some red ticking from my stash to line the inside and make my pockets. I didn't have a pattern, so I was just winging it.

I'm happy with how the bag turned out, but it's rather big. Well, bigger than my other big purses. lol My husband said that he wasn't going to be seen with me if I was carrying that suitcase. But, he lies because he's already been out in public with me. Ha!

But, in his defense (and he'll probably never let me forget it) when I was at the grocery store the other day, the cashier thought it was my own shopping bag to put the groceries in (poor guy, awkward silence followed after I told him it was my purse.)

Life changing sewing tip!

Okay, I know it's been forever since I've posted something new here. I guess I'm not doing so well with the 'now' resolution as far as blogging goes......but maybe not.


I've had these pictures for some time but can't find my finished project to show. I finally decided to quit waiting for that and go ahead and post this tip 'now'. See? See how I did that? I turned things so that it looks like I really am keeping my resolution. It's one of my lesser known but highly developed talents. LOL


Anyway, I've seen it other places on the internet (which is how I found out about it) but haven't really seen it in that many places.


And I swear, it's one of the best sewing tips I've ever happened across!


I started with this ribbon (about 3 inches wide)

 

 

Now set your stitch length to the longest possible and your tension to the tightest possible and just sew down your ribbon (or fabric). That's it! (I have a video but can't seem to get it to load....grrr!)

Anyway, you'll end up with this:

Amazing, isn't it?

I used this technique for the ruffle on the comforter for Kirsten. This makes gathering so easy that I don't mind doing it at all anymore.


Let me know if you try it and if you think it's as life changing as I do!

That covers it

Two of my daughters share a bedroom. Kirsten loves zebra print and has been wanting that in their bedroom for some time. Addison, on the other hand, doesn't want it at all. Since Kirsten always gives in on these things I decided it was time for her to have her way.

But, I did still take Addison into consideration and decided not to go hog wild with the zebra print.

Last year Dax's mom had given me a black comforter set (which doesn't match anything in my bedroom) but it was a good deal. Anyway, it's a king size comforter and the girls have twin size beds. Also, because they're loft beds I didn't want something that hung way down on the sides. I measured their beds and the comforter and cutting it in half would work perfectly.

So, I gathered yards and yards of zebra print fabric and stitched it to half of that king size comforter. I topped that with some wide, hot pink rick-rack.

And, I ended up with this:

I gave Kirsten a set of sheets in a matching zebra print and Addison got a set in hot pink with white polka dots. This way, they're both happy. Score!!

Now, I do have to mention that I way underestimated how much fabric it would take to put a ruffle around two twin comforters so I originally only ordered enough to make it around one. When my second order of fabric arrived, my girls (as usual) were being nosy so I had to hide the package from them. Guess what I still can't find. Sooooo, I only have one comforter completed and the other is on hold until I can find my magic hiding place. I should probably ask the girls to look.....it would likely only take minutes for them to find it. LOL

Santa's Little Helper

That was the theme of a pageant one of my daughters did in December.

She decided to dress as an elf.

Now, I don't know if you realize this or not, but elf shoes aren't that easy to find.

I looked at several places around town with no luck so decided to just make them myself. We had plenty of notice, but of course I put it off until the night before.  Although I had designed them more than once in my head.

I started with plain green felt and a rough outline of her foot.

I used a heavier, stiff, glittered felt for the tops of the shoes. Each shoe had one green side and one red side.

This is the shape that I cut out of each. I left the one side on the edge of the felt where it's straight because that's the part that I will sew to the green bottoms. I sewed a red piece and a green piece together at the back and the front all the way to the point of the curve.

Then I stitched that to the green shoe bottom. At this point it looks like the picture below.

That's all that I did on my sewing machine. I stitched the tops together by hand. I joined my red and green sides together in the middle and stitched all the way to the point in the curve. Then I attached a bell.

They were still a little loose so I attached some ribbon to the heel parts so she could tie them around her ankle. And i stuffed some pipe cleaners into the the part that sticks up just to help them hold the bells up.

I thought they turned out pretty good, and she got lots of compliments on them at the pageant.