Braelynn's Oops dress

I really should have thought this out a little better before I embroidered on it.
 

Since this little dress already had the cherries embroidered on it when I purchased it, I thought it would be fun just to personalize it.

 

 

Unfortunately, I didn't take into consideration the busy checked fabric.

You can barely read her name and it makes me go cross-sighted just looking at it.

 

 

I am thinking maybe I should have appliqued a solid fabric on first and then added her name.

 

Oh, well...

Live and Learn.

(She's just gonna drool on it anyway.)

Laundry room - overhaul

WARNING:

The before pictures are not for the "faint of heart".
Some of you may want to cover your eyes or have your young children leave the room.

********

Before

Below is a picture of the sturdy shelves which are hiding behind those beautiful curtains above.
(Can you just feel the sarcasm?)

Everyone needs a place to hang clothes as they come out of the dryer, right?
This is actually the backside of a door we closed in from our family room.

The faux parquet floor was original to the house (back in 1968) and was desperate for a cover-up.

Mr. Fisherman was not excited to lay tile floor so we chose a

quick and easy peel and stick.

At first I was a little leery about using peel and stick, but it stuck really well and turned out looking pretty good after all.

 

Okay...

If your still with me and haven't had to "turn away" or close your eyes from the frightening before pictures, here are a few much better - not so scary - photos.

 

Mr. Fisherman built me new cabinets above the washer and dryer.

 

 

 

 

 

He even built me a shelf over the washer and dryer.

 

 

 

 

Now, for that "clothes hanger"...

 

 

 

Did you notice?

The shelves are not all the same height.

I wanted to make use of every inch of space so I measured the things I wanted to store here before Mr. Fisherman built the shelves.

 

AND....

 

Drum roll, please......

  

 

What's lurking behind that curtain????

All sorts of stuff...

 

 

I live in a tiny little 1400 square foot home; I have to take advantage of EVERY

little space available.

I love all my new storage space.

 

I bought enough fabric to make a curtain to hide my new storage and to make a matching curtain for the window.

 

 

I used scrap fabric from my stash to decorate the wall.

  (sorry for the bad lighting)

 

I saw this idea online and thought I would give it a try.

I ironed Heat and Bond onto my fabric scraps, cut the letters out, peeled the Heat and Bond off, and ironed (yes, ironed) them onto the wall. It worked perfectly.

We completed the laundry room a year ago - I'm just getting around to posting.

Those letters have been on the wall a year now and I have had no issues with them peeling off.

They still look just as good as the day I ironed them on.

 

Hope this wasn't too scary for you!

 

 

Linking today to:

http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/

http://thecsiproject.com/

http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/

http://www.cleanandscentsible.com/

http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com/

http://tatertotsandjello.com/

http://diyshowoff.com/

http://www.bystephanielynn.com/

http://www.notjustahousewife.net/

Clever button organization

 

Does your button box look like this?

  

Are you having trouble finding matching buttons?

 

Here's a tip I picked up from my mom.

 

 String your matching buttons together with thread.

 

Pretty smart mom, huh?





I decided on ric rac

  

After reading Debbie's comment on this post saying "ric rac is cute yet durable" I thought - she's right!

Ric rac would be more durable.

 

It still looks a bit plain to me, but hey...



 

Elmo likes it!

 

He says the back looks just as cute as the front.

  

 

The Best and Easiest Pork Chops - EVER!

I LOVE my slow cooker.

 EVERYTHING I make in my slow cooker comes out yummy.

 

Last night's dinner was no exception.

All it takes are three little ingredients.

Ingredients:
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 package Hidden Valley Original Ranch seasoning mix
4 thick cut boneless pork chops
 

 

Instructions:

1. Mix the seasoning mix with the cream of chicken soup.

2. Spread about 1/2 cup of your mixture in the bottom of your slow cooker.

3. Place pork chops in slow cooker. 

  

 

 

4. Pour remaining mixture over pork chops.

 

 

5. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

  

 

We like ours with yellow rice and fresh (not canned) green beans.

(The gravy is much thicker than it looks on the plate).

  I even had enough gravy and beans left for dinner tonight.

I'm thinking...

Baked chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes and this yummy gravy.

Mmmmmmm.....

 

If you like this recipe you might want to check out my easy slow cooker roast too.

 

Have a great day!

 

 

Linking today to:

http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/

http://www.bystephanielynn.com/

 

Auditioning trim and playing soccer

 

I started making a bib for Braelynn and came to a halt.

It looks too plain and not girly enough.

I have been auditioning different trims. I'm looking at bias tape, eyelet lace, ric rac, etc.

Here's all I have so far.



 

I may even end up adding a bit more embroidery.

 

In the meantime, I found this cute little soccer duck.

(Remember, I am having a new niece and two new nephews)

 

 

 

From a very young age my nephew's sport of choice has always been soccer.

When he wasn't playing he was coaching.

Since his wife will be having a boy I thought this might be something to add to his gift.

I am thinking maybe a matching hooded towel with his name on it.

Whadda ya think, isn't he cute?

 

Goodbye Friday's Favorites.

 

You may (or may not) have noticed I neglected to write a Friday's Favorites post last week.

There's a reason.
Plain and simple - I am bored with it.

Since I don't do bored well, I am saying "Goodbye".

 

Now, having said that....

I wanted to share one of my favorite ways to wrap a gift for a sewing friend.

Remember my Colorful gingham check post?

We attended Dallas's 13th birthday bash Saturday night and what a bash it was!
DJ, dancing, bonfire, BBQ, lots of gifts and this adorable cake.

Since Dallas received her first sewing machine for Christmas I decided to theme her gift around sewing.

My sewing machine caddy is one of the most useful things in my sewing room.
With that in mind, I went to work to making Dallas her own sewing machine caddy.

Dallas loves bright, cheerful colors so I chose a fabric I thought might appeal to her.

 

I filled the pockets with a few useful notions - tape measure, marking pencil, ribbons, small scissors, pin cushion and an elastic threader.

 

I  wrapped her gift in fabric, tied it with grosgrain ribbon and added my homemade button tag.

 Hoping she will recycle her "wrapping paper" and ribbon, I also included a tutorial for sewing a drawstring bag.


 I can't wait to see her very first sewing project.


Linking today to:
http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/
http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com/
http://tatertotsandjello.com/
http://www.bystephanielynn.com/



How do you sew your burps?

 

I made this one using leftover flannel from Braelynn's minky blanket and a purchased terry cloth bath towel.
 I find a bath towel to be heavier than the terry cloth purchased by the yard from the fabric store.

 This burp was quick and easy to sew.

 I drew a pattern from tissue paper and used it to cut out both the flannel and bath towel.

Before stitching the two together, I embroidered my design.

 

 

 I then stitched my terry cloth and flannel right sides together, turned and top stitched.

 

 

On to the next baby project....

Colorful gingham check

 

I am taking a break from sewing baby things to make a birthday gift for a friend.

 

My friend, Dallas, is turning 13 and her mom and dad are giving her a big bash on Saturday.

 Once the party is over, I will be able to share, but until then....

Shhhh.... it's a secret.

 

Braelynn's minky blanket - DONE!



Yippee!

 

Talk about a love/hate relationship.

 

I finally finished this little headache - and now - I am in love with it.



Sewing this blanket was kind of like having a baby.

While experiencing  labor pains, you swear you will NEVER do this again.

As soon as you set eyes on that sweet new baby, you forget the pain he or she put you through and all you see is cute and cuddly.

One of my first concerns was trying to applique onto this stretchy, soft, bumpy fabric.
THAT was the easy part!

The applique came out perfect.

I will take blame for some of the issues I had with this fabric.
My first mistake was thinking I would do this quick self binding technique I saw on U-tube.
HUGE mistake!
No matter how I tried, this technique just wasn't made to work with minky fabric.
Needless to say...my new best friend (sorry Deb) became my seam ripper.
I ended up cutting a separate border for the bottom, sewed right sides together, turned it right side out and top stitched.
Sounds easy doesn't it?
Nope.
I had a heck of a time trying to square up the minky fabric to stitch onto the flannel back.
A gazillion pins later, I was ready to sew the minky to the flannel back.
I changed my regular machine foot to a walking foot and carefully sewed over every pin.
You heard that right...I sewed OVER every pin!
I wasn't about to remove even one single pin and take the chance that minky would go wonky and I would have to start all over again.

To my surprise, when it was finished, it folded perfectly square!

How 'bout that.

After all that labor...

I see only cute and cuddly.

 

Thanks to everyone for your sweet and encouraging comments that kept me going.  

 

Have a happy Monday!

 

Linking today to:

http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/

http://www.sew-much-ado.com/

Two tips you need to know BEFORE sewing with minky

Tip number one....

Invest in a gazillion pins!
 

No, really...

 

 

 ...a gazillion.

If your not quite sure how many a gazillion is - try making a minky blanket - you will find out.

***************************

Tip number two
 (This should probably be tip number one)

Fine tune your patience!
(Believe me, you will need this one)

I have never had a fabric try my patience quite as much as minky.
A few days ago I couldn't wait to get started.
Now, I wonder....is this EVER gonna end???

Minky Blanket

 

I am holding my breath as I applique on this (oh, so stretchy) minky fabric.

  

So far so good...

keeping my fingers crossed.



Friday's favorites

 

 

My new favorite kitchen gadget.

~ Cuisinart's Automatic Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker ~



 

 

Actually, it's not mine.

I bought it for my daughter for Christmas.

 

It's much better than those old things we had to crank for hours.

 

(source)

 

All you do is pour your ingredients in, hit the on switch, and wait 20 minutes.

Yep. Homemade ice cream in 20 minutes.

 

 Creamy vanilla....

 

 

 Makes you want to lick the paddle, doesn't it?

 

 

 Or better yet...

why not pour a little chocolate on it.

 

 

Clean up is simple too - just 3 little parts to wash.

 

Mmmmmmm....

Ice cream sandwhich cookies.

It just keeps getting better, doesn't it?