crafty stuff

March was a busy sewing month for me because of Matt's room redo but I managed to do a few other things as well.

I made my bird for this month's YOE..

I finished some more dammit dolls for my make it monthly gift.
Given the situation with the team, I decided to make Saints dolls to give to friends...I hate to say it but I think we'll need them.


this poor guy has NO idea what's in store for him...

I also redid the front door and did some Easter decorating around the house....


These eggs are some real ones that were blown and then hand painted. We got them when we lived overseas and my mom gave them to me a few years ago.
It is amazing they have not been damaged in all these years.

The little rabbit with the toadstool umbrella was in my Easter basket many many years ago

and so was this little momma rabbit in her cute dress...

more eggs...wouldn't this be a neat thing to try?....


and then some topiaries I made from peeps....


I stumbled across this bunny and got it 75% off because it had some chips in the paint and the eggs were missing....

Nothing a little bit of paint couldn't fix though. Being crafty has its advantages.

Dessert of the Month

Last fall, I ran across this eclair recipe and knew I would try it for Dean. He LOVES eclairs...and so do the kids.
Then the holidays came and went and then Dean found out his cholesterol was high...so I kept putting this recipe on the back burner.

I finally made them for him the other night and they were a hit with the entire family. I don't like stuff with filling but even I liked these.....yummy.

The recipe calls for a size 10 tip to pipe the dough and I was thrilled I had one on hand.
Then mine came out small and wonky...I just made twice as many and blamed it on the recipe. It didn't dawn on me until the next day that I had used an ICING tip instead of a PASTRY tip!


No one cared because they tasted great and that is what matters around here. Now that they were a hit, I'll go out and purchase the correct tips to make them properly.

Matt's room re-do

Matt has been wanting a change in his bedroom so we did that as part of his birthday this year.

Dean and I looked EVERYWHERE and finally decided on a comforter set we knew he would like. The problem was, they didn't have any of the accessory pieces for the room.



Without going into all the details of a long suffering search and looking at appalling prices for pre made curtains, I decided to just do it myself.

I went back to the store and bought a second comforter set in the next size down. Then I ripped all the seams on everything and pulled out the stuffing (they don't use the good stuff in these comforter sets y'all...)

The comforter became reversible curtains...





The bed skirt and stuffing became pillows. And the shams became a curtain for his window seat.


I found coordinating fabrics and finished his seat cushion and recovered his old bean bag to tie everything in together.


Dean helped me paint an accent wall to match the repainted shelves....





And we used garage hooks for the curtain tie backs



I lined the curtains with black fabric instead of muslin and now when they are closed, his room is as dark as a cave...and he loves it.


I REALLY wanted to do one wall with a piece of corrugated metal but that idea got nixed by Dean and Kaela.
All Matt needs to do now is to clean up his room.....good luck with that!

second childhood

Mojo's nickname used to be Mr. GP....aka Mr. Grumpy Pants.

But that nickname no longer fits. When we moved here 5 years ago, he started going through his second childhood.
He is NEVER grumpy...far from it. He is super playful and the vet says he is the most fit corgi he has ever seen. (That is due in part to running extra hard to keep up with Ginger.)

Along with all that renewed energy and happiness comes some naughtiness too.

Not only does he steal toys from the cats but he is constantly getting caught in their little tunnel thingie.


and sometimes he just knocks it out of the way so he can take a nap on their carpet.

we are blessed to have such a happy healthy 11 year old!

Monday

Decide on a whim to cook a big dinner to go with the simple salad originally planned for dinner...even though it means standing for about 3 and a half hours in the kitchen....on a Monday, after work.

Get started by putting on your new teacup apron and then covering your sweet daughter with a warm blanket so she can take a nap before doing more homework...


pull out this cookbook for your favorite focaccia recipe....



heat the olive oil mixture needed for the dough in the microwave a little since it is supposed to infuse overnight...but only for 30 seconds....


while the dough is rising, make some red sauce using your dad's recipe and set it to simmer:

(Saute half an onion that has been minced, add 4 crushed cloves of garlic, 1 can tomato paste, 1 small can tomato sauce, 1 large can crushed tomatoes, 2 large cans water. Juice of 1 lemon, salt and pepper, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp sugar and a scant tsp of chili powder for kick.)

then make some stuffing for jumbo shells...
(saute the other half of the minced onion with more crushed garlic along with a pound and a half of ground beef. Then add Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Drain. Add several handfuls of freshly chopped spinach and mix well. Then add a small container of ricotta cheese, 1 egg and a couple palmfuls of grated Parmesan. TASTE it to correct seasonings)


as for the grated Parmesan and Romano cheeses...grate your own, it is SO much better...and easy to do with the right equipment.


realize you are thirsty and bypass the H20 for this...


then stuff the shells, pour a bunch of that sauce of them, then cover the whole thing with mozzarella you bought for sandwiches.... you can always go get more cheese later in the week.
Bake the shells at 350 until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly so it looks like this....


remember to bake the focaccia bread....when it is done, it looks like this:

forget to take a photo of the salad that started the whole thing because everyone knocks you out of the way to get to the food.

Go to the table and be happy knowing that all that time in the kitchen was TOTALLY worth it!

catching up...

Lately, things have been pretty busy around here. I don't seem to have time to blog so thought I'd do a little catching up today.

Saturday I was doing laundry and when I went to finish it Sunday morning, our 12 year old washer had died overnight. Argh....don't you just hate it when appliances die?

Luckily, Matt is pretty handy so after church, he helped Dean install a new one...



I'm in the process of changing Matt's bedroom to give him a new look...I can't wit to show everything but it isn't done yet so it will be another week before the big reveal.
Even so, Suki thought she would with all the measuring...




I also made a couple aprons for myself with some fabric I had in my stash. I'm so bad about making my own things and decided this year I'd be better.
This is a smock apron. I bought the pattern 2 years ago and never used it. The photo is awful but I haven't had time to try it on for pics...




and this is made from the Emmeline pattern by Sew Liberated, which I won from Meg 4 years ago and never used before.
For those who know this pattern, I did not make it reversible. It just gets too hot here in the south....I love it though.

To keep everyone going over the weekend, I made some of my homemade cinnamon rolls. This batch was extra yummy because I topped these with the regular icing and then drizzled caramel over them while warm. They were so good!

The recipe is here if you'd like to make some of your own!
Have a great week!

Florida

We were in Florida a couple weekends ago to attend my brother in laws memorial service.

As we pulled out, the kids were cutting up before settling in with music and books.


It is always great to see my family....although there were tears, there was a lot of laughter too...



Thank you to Phil. Because of him, we did some dancing...







some of us made fun of how OTHER people danced...Thank you Sheri for the PERFECT imitation of said family member!

we also caught up with old friends...

and generally hung out...


Bill would have approved, he always enjoyed getting together with family.

Birthday Boy

Yesterday was Matt's 16th birthday. I was home alone baking his cake and doing a few other last minute things when I pulled out his baby books.

Word to the wise....DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!!!!!

I get so weepy.....just nuts to do that to myself.

Anyway, I can't believe that our sweet, laid back son is 16 years old.
Next he'll be taking driving lessons....and needing a car (good luck with THAT!)

Since his birthday fell during the middle of the week, we just kept it low key, he doesn't like to be fussed over. This weekend, we'll take him out to dinner at his favorite place....Ch Ch Ch CHANGS!

Happy Birthday again Matt, we love you!!!