Tuesday, December 4, 2018

A Link to a Free Printable for Christmas and a Free Printable from Maggie Mack Makes

The first thing I do for Christmas is change some of my pictures to Christmas themed pictures or use old Christmas cards. Here are a few ideas.


The printable above is available to download from the Graphics Fairy using this link: Swedish Santa from Graphics Fairy it is one of the Victorian Santa's on this link. I printed it out on card stock then...


Using the glitter glue, I highlighted just his beard.


It is very subtle but I really like it.



Next is this winter birdhouse that you can download the picture at the end of this post.


Again I printed the picture out on card stock and then I painted matte Mod Podge in the area that I wanted to glitter. While the Mod Podge was still wet I sprinkled a generous amount of iridescent glitter on it and I let it dry. 


A few years ago after an unusual snowfall in our area, I went out to the yard and took this picture of my snow covered birdhouse. I removed most of the background using photoshop. Here is the downloadable .jpg picture, 300DPI, for your own use (please), just right click on the picture and choose "Save picture as" to save to your computer or jump drive.

Hugs!

Saturday, November 3, 2018

Fall Decor


Just a little decorating for fall...this should work well thru Thanksgiving. Mantel with little real pumpkin and amber glass pumpkin.

Three velvet homemade pumpkins with real pumpkin stem (thank you Trader Joe's). Super easy tutorial to follow soon.
Another handmade pumpkin using ticking fabric and an old real stem from last year.
My collection of silver glass pumpkins and gourds which are several years old...I'm glad that I'm seeing these again in stores this year. These are by far my favorite fall items!
So pretty at night with the candles burning, deep cleansing breath. Be sure to check out my post on Falling Leaves Pillow Cover tutorial from last year.

Sunday, October 28, 2018

Beautiful Fall Foliage



Last week we took a little trip to see the fall foliage. We decided to head to Mount Baker since neither of us had been there in the fall (without snow being on the ground). The barn picture was taken from the side of Highway 9, on the way to the mountain.

This was taken as we were motoring down the highway!

Almost to the top! A little lake by the side of the road (taken from the car window, though my Hubby did slow down a little). Wish the colors in the picture were as bright as in person.

At the top, looking South. Lots of little trails to walk on! So pretty.

Looking Southeast.

Wow, gorgeous looking North.

On the way down, lots of switch backs in the road, looking Southeast.

Another switchback and we were looking South again.

Last, some of the lava rock formations. What a fun day!

Friday, April 13, 2018

Make Your Own Planting Pots


Yes, peat pots that you buy at the store are not expensive, but why buy them when you can make them so easily? Here is how...
You will need:
Kraft Paper (or brown paper bags if you have extra)
School Glue or paste
Ruler
Cutting mat (optional)
Scissors or rotary cutter
Bottle to shape pot - I use a slender vinegar bottle
Crayon or Felt Tip Marker

I cut the paper 10" long by 6.5" and can make three pots from one 6.5" length of Kraft paper.

Then fold the paper back about .5" along the length of one side of the 10" paper. This will be the top of the pot. 

Time to label if you know what you are planting already (easier to do than after the pot is made).

Now wrap the paper around the bottle and paste together. 

After the edge has dried a bit, paste the bottom of the pot as above around the bottle.

Then press the bottom on a hard surface.

The bottom should look similar to this when dry.

Make lots.... I soak my seeds and let them begin to sprout with a moist paper towel to cover them. Just like second grade! Then add soil to the pots, water if dry and let stand awhile before adding the sprouted seeds. 

Watch your plants grow! Plant pots and all, and watch them grow some more.

Here they are in the garden. And the pots disappear over the season. I usually start my Sweet Peas on Valentine's Day. Now I need to make more for my Sunflowers!

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Easter! Eggs and Bunnies


Oh my, Easter is next Sunday! How did that happen? I feel like Alice's rabbit "I'm Late!". Find the tutorial on How to make natural looking Easter Eggs from last year. I love these, and just put them out on my mantel for 2018. Little white bunnies and a hand made (by me) faux bird nest with the natural looking eggs in it. 

I love bunnies, and have been collecting them for awhile. But I've lost some of my bunnies, I know that I put them in a very safe place...oh, where? Maybe I'll find them in time for Easter!

Friday, March 16, 2018

Potato Soup for St. Pat's Day


I haven't made Potato Soup in years, but for St. Patrick's Day I thought that I would give it a try. It turned out amazingly good. When I was a kid my mom used to make potato soup and we would have it with lots of saltine crackers in it (crushed of course). Her soup was basic potato, milk, celery, onions, and a little butter. She never thickened it or mashed the potatoes and she used a lot of celery. I loved it! My taste is a little different now that I'm no longer seven so here is how I made my new version. I think the carrots make the soup extra good.

St. Pat's Day Potato Soup

2 T butter (use more if you like)
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1 small carrot, finely chopped
Sauté in large sauce pan until tender but not browned. Add in:
1 14.5 oz. can low sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
1 chicken bullion cube
4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed in bite size cubes
Bring to a boil and simmer until the potatoes are tender. Use the back of a spoon to mash some of the potatoes, but not all.
Add:
1/2 cup Half and Half
3 T mashed potato flakes or granules
3 T Neufchatel Cheese or Cream Cheese
Stir until the cheese melts and the soup thickens
(Optional) Stir in: 
1 medium russet potato, baked and cut into small cubes, with or without skin
Serve while HOT! Don't burn your tongue :)
You can leave out the cheese and mashed potato flakes if you like a thin soup.



HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Adaptive Nightgowns for Mom



Sometimes it happens, someone you know is no longer able to dress themselves. And finding adaptive clothing is not that easy. Here is a tutorial on how to re-fashion an already made nightgown into a hospital type gown that opens in the back. Hopefully making it easier for the person or their caregiver to dress. I have been searching the internet for patterns or ready-made hospital gowns, but to put it nicely, they are either very expensive and/or not so attractive. And I did not find ONE with long sleeves!  
I headed off to Macy's and found two very cute night gowns for less than $15 each. Can't even buy the fabric for that price!  

This polar fleece purple one.
And a red and white flannel one, both were full length gowns. I'll show you what I did. First I cut off 7 inches on the Purple one and 8 inches red one. The purple one was a bit shorter and since it was polar fleece I knew that I would not have to hem the edge. I used this material to create the modesty panel in back. Just cut along one seam making a long strip of fabric.
Next, using my rotary cutter and ruler, I cut  the entire length of the gown on one side in back -just were the curve on the neck of the garment flattens out. Put a small hem on the side that lapped over the modesty panel to finish it. For the modesty panel on both gowns I hemmed the modesty panel for the neck - curving it slightly. For the red gown I put wrong sides together with a 1/4 inch seam. Folded back with right sides together, pressed then sewed another 1/4 inch plus a little more to seam (making a French seam), or you could just zigzag to keep from fraying. Shortened and hemmed the modesty panel to match the length of the gown. Added ribbons to the top neckline on both the gown and panel and added two at the waist to tie the gown shut.
For the purple gown I just zigzagged the modesty panel to the back and used buttons and buttonholes to close the neckline of the gown. I added ribbon at the waistline, too. Now mom has two nice gowns that are easy for her help to get on. So far the gowns are both holding up well!

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Snack Time While Crafting

I love Cheetos, but hate the orange fingers after eating them! Just use Chopsticks! Not only do you not get orange fingers, but you tend to eat them more slowly. And I'm all for slowing down on the snacks. Other greasily snacks can be eaten this way, too! The best part is no damage to whatever you are working on.

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Tatted Snowflake

On my Christmas post I showed the tatted star snowflake that I made last year and mentioned I was making a different one for this year (2017). Now that all the Christmas gifts have been given I thought that I would show you the 2017 model. Ta Da!
And believe it or not - I think that I have found the one for 2018! Just started making a sample.

Thursday, February 15, 2018

A Hand Made Winter Quilt - My First Pieced Quilt

The idea for this quilt started several years ago while I was on a Christmas tour of houses in our local area. The thing is...I told someone from my garden club about what I wanted to make. And if you tell someone, then you need to do it!  I described a red and white quilt with red embroidered cardinals. Ta da,  that is what happened!  Not that I didn't consider other embroidery motifs before I made it. There is the cutest little reindeer embroidery pattern from Ann the Gran called "Rudolph Reindeer" and so many snowflake patterns, too. But in the end the "Winter Cardinal" won out. This way it is a winter quilt rather than just a Christmas quilt. 
I found the directions for this easy quilt in a Gooseberry Patch Christmas book I checked out from our very tiny local library. The next challenge was to choose the fabric. I needed to pick six fabrics (half a yard each) the ones making the final cut where: two plain fabrics, red and white; two dotted fabrics, white with white dots and red with white dots; red and white stripes;  and a small gingham check in red and white...plus the white polar fleece for the back (about 2 and a half yards). Finding reds that did not clash and whites that didn't look pink next to the red took awhile. There were several fabrics that just did not work as well as I had hoped, for instance the zigzag fabric shown above and a large gingham check not shown.  I was exhausted and hadn't even started to sew! Made several 7" square templates from my favorite freezer paper and cut out a total of eighty squares. I ended up using only 54 squares (six per row - 9 rows total) which made a perfect cuddle on the couch size.
The cardinals took awhile to embroider, some are complete in the picture above. And as you can see I had a lot of help for the layout. 
So much help that I ended up laying it out on the dining room table. Time to sew the blocks into rows, then the rows together using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Finished squares are 6 inches. Sewing the squares together went much more smoothly than I originally anticipated! The block corners met where they were supposed to. Imagine!
I researched several quilting websites before this step. Time to make the quilt "sandwich" with the top, batting and the polar fleece backing. I used sew-able basting spray "Spray n Bond" between layers which I've used many times to hoop fabric for embroidery and had on hand. Then large safety pins to hold the layers in place.

Taking my time and using my walking foot for first time since I started sewing many years ago, I carefully stitched 5/8 inch stitch line from the seam on all sides of the blocks. I loosened the tension on the sewing machine and used a large stitch. Love the way it looks! Trimmed the batting to an inch and a half all the way around. Then pulled and pinned the polar fleece evenly around the quilt, mitering the corners and stitched in place. Fini.
Tilly loves it, too!

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love this simple Valentine's Day craft - folded book heart. My brother- and sister-in-law gave me this little red memo book for Christmas and it was perfect to make this.
Click Here to find the tutorial to make your own folded book heart.

Hope you are having a wonderful Valentine's Day!