Birthday apron

My sister's birthday was last week and I couldn't find what I planned on getting her.  I hate when that happens.

When she was here for Matt's graduation, she was telling me how she is wearing out the aprons I've made her so I decided to make her a new one.  

Once when she visited, she had commented on one of my Christmas aprons, liking it because of it's simplicity...so I used it as a pattern and created her one like it.
It has a double pocket and is long enough she can use it to wipe her hands on, while keeping the top half covered while cooking bubbly stuff that splatters.

It is void of ruffles and ric rac and bobble trim and such, because she doesn't like a lot of foo-foo.
BUT....I couldn't help myself and added a touch of whimsy...a little quote tape from Alice in Wonderland.

It is probably the simplest apron I've ever made...but I know it will be used and enjoyed and that is what matters most.

worth the time....

Tammy from T's Daily Treasures sent this to me last week via viber.  

I love it so much, I thought I'd share it here.  

I had to watch it twice.  Once to watch the action and the second time to read the subtitles.  Of course, once you watch the action, you don't NEED the subtitles...emotions are a universal language.

Believe me, it is worth it........

Thank you Tammy for thinking of me and for being such a great friend!

Basil Parmesan Chicken

Last week I was off for a few days and when I'm off, I cook!

Tuesday, I made a tomato sauce I found on pinterest.  Here is the link I used.
I had several tomatoes and threw in a large jar of tomatoes a friend gave me last year.  So, I added an extra red bell pepper, two heads of garlic and a couple onions.  I used more oil too....I roasted it for an hour at 425 and then turned the oven off and let it sit an additional hour. 

Oh my goodness, it is a lovely sauce and soooo easy.....after cooling a bit, I put it in the pot....

and turned it into this using an immersion blender.  No extra anything was needed...the jar of tomatoes had enough juice to keep it from being too thick.

soooo what to do with it?  I put it in the refrigerator over night to use the next day...that is, after dunking a lot of bread in it!

So Wednesday rolls around and I'm ready to use that sauce....here is what I did.
I took 2 sheets of my basil butter and melted it and mixed it with some Parmesan cheese and dunked the chicken in it before rolling it in seasoned bread crumbs.  Then I set it aside...

I heated some olive oil and fried them up 1-2 minutes each side...not long, just to brown them....and nestled the breasts in that AMAZING pasta sauce I made yesterday....

Once done, I covered everything with a little bit of shredded mozzarella and cheddar....and baked it at 350 until the chicken was cooked through (I used a meat thermometer to be sure.)

Pretty....

Matt wiped the leftovers out for lunch the next day....but I have ONE jar of that sauce left...

Hmmm..I think I need to make some focaccia bread...

Crochet for twins!

A friend of mine is having twins...VERY soon!

I made her some little things awhile ago (click here to see them) but had to stop the creating process because I ended up with a bad case of poison ivy while I was weeding.  Yay, me.   

It lasted a MONTH y'all!    As soon as I thought things were better, the dried up patches would start itching and swell up again.  Then I'd have to start back up with the vinegar and benadryl cream.  That prescription steroid cream my doctor gave me?  Meh...didn't do a THANG....I'm lucky like that.

In any event, the second my blisters dried up for REALS, I grabbed my yarn and hook and started creating.  It was a FLURRY of yarn around here because I had to make two of both things.

Amy had a pin of two hats that were for sale on etsy.  The original hats were knit and I'm not that good yet.  Instead, I used a couple different crochet patterns (1 free and 1 purchased so I can't share) and morphed them together to get these.  Similar and so cute!  I used "I Love This Yarn" for the hats so they would have a little umpf to them and stand up.

Then I made her two little photo prop/stroller sized receiving blankets to go with the hats.  I used Yarn Bee Effervesce baby yarn for the blankets for softness.
I got the pattern from lacy crochet here but adjusted the pattern to make it much smaller.  I also used two strands held together and worked a different edge.  The blankets turned out so soft and squishy.  I was planning on edging the entire thing with short fringe but decided against it at the last minute.  

 BTW, The color actually matches the hats.   I took the photos at different times because of my ongoing love affair with poison ivy and had already wrapped the hats before making the blankets. 

Her twins are going to be soooo cute in their little photo.  I am hoping she will let me share their photo here once taken.

last days....

The last days of school are closing in.  

Friends pen lovely flowers on each other's hands...

Someone sits outside after school to start on her tan....

Good friends get together, enjoying the weather and toasting the summer to come....

Flowers bloom and are cut to fill rooms with lovely fragrance....

and heavy meals are replaced with lighter fare...

Are you ready?

interesting evening...

After our wild weekend, it was back to normal on Monday.  Until that evening!  

While making a sandwich for Matt, smoke started pouring into the kitchen through the ac vents.  Something was definitely on fire.....(thankfully not much and not for long...)

We piled out of the house as I was calling 911.  Apparently, the motor to the downstairs a/c had shorted out and caught fire.  It quickly went out because there was nothing to feed it.  Other than smoke and a broken air conditioner, we were o.k.   It took two different repairs on two different days, but we are now back to normal.

I thought how lucky we were.  This happened in daylight and we were all together in one room, including the pets.  I can't imagine it happening at night with people sleeping in different parts of the house!

As you can see, Mojo wasn't concerned and went straight back to stealing cat toys while wearing this lovely "outfit."

I've decided he must love the smell of catnip as much as they do...or he missed his calling as a cat!

what a weekend!

My sisters came to Matt's graduation and stayed for the weekend.  We took advantage and spent the time catching up, eating and shopping...

There is a little place full of small boutiques not far from here....we love going there to shop....and EAT!  I forgot to get a photo of what they had....but I had Crawfish Monica!  Oh man, it was soooo good.

Sadly, a rainstorm hit HARD so we headed home instead of running around in the rain.  

The storm pushed through over night so luckily, we got to go into New Orleans the next day.    

I want a chubby mini cooper....can't get one right now.  But if I ever do, I want THIS one in french blue!  Or maybe the Clubman...or Crossman....hmmm, decisions, decisions.

While in town, Dean bought my Mother's Day present.....and I love them!  Now I need to find something other than jeans to wear.  Gotta show them off!

Sheri and Page found some goodies too.  In all, we had a great weekend full of fun times, food and margaritas!

Graduation!

Last week was a whirlwind.  We had lots going on with work and getting ready for Matt's big day....

After cleaning the house for company, I got my last hug before he left...

Can you tell he was excited?

The weather was beautiful.  A storm front was on the way so it was cooler than usual.  The best part is that it was windy enough to blow all the bugs away.

just think...two more years and it is HER TURN!



Congrats to our sweet son!

The eye has it!

 I found a tutorial via pinterest and had to try it out for a swap I'm hosting.....very easy and VERY creepy!  

 I didn't work nearly as hard on mine as the creator of the tutorial.  Her eye looks much more realistic.

 If you are interested, here is the info.  

Basil is back!

Basil is back and we are SO glad!  The lovely green leaves make me happy....in fact, they make everyone happy...

Why?

Because, with basil we can have bruschetta again!  Lovely before dinner....or instead of dinner....or as a snack or instead of popcorn.    Yum.
Dean likes his with red....and I white, but we both agree that it is wonderful.  We have to act quickly or the kids will gobble it all up!

To make us even happier, I have already put a pound of basil butter up!  Yep, Sunday evening I harvested 3 plants.   And none to soon as we just finished all of our basil butter from the last harvest.

Now we can have basil bread......mmmmmmm  

Click on all the links for the recipes!

Pixie Dust scarf

Last week I found a pin I wanted to try from Fiber Flux.  I love her patterns and loved the look of the scarf she created....but wanted to use the last of my Noro yarn.  I knew it wouldn't  look the same because the yarns are totally different...but I still love how it turned out!

If you are interested in the pattern or want to see the original scarf, click here.

21 Days Without Worry

This past week at work has been interesting.  I thought I had a bad case of bug bites but then someone at work said it looked like I had chicken pox so I was freaking out. (more on that later)
The next day I went to the doctor.  He said, "Luckily you just got into poison ivy."  He followed that with, "Too bad you are so allergic to it."

So now I am covered in calamine and my ENTIRE family runs from me.  Kaela touched my arm today and actually screamed.  A large part of the rash is on the underside of my arms so Dean calls me "The Creeper" because I have to let the lotion dry with my arms in the air...and when I walk by he says "coin, coin!"

I have gross blisters and stuff and am very uncomfortable with itchy, weepy, stingy skin.  That being said, I haven't gotten to do any fun crafty stuff.   

Okay, back to the point of this post.   Earlier in the week when I thought I had chicken pox, I  was freaking out because a co- worker is pregnant, and we had just talked and chicken pox is highly contagious and deadly to unborn babies and she already had a high risk pregnancy with TWINS and I have to warn her and oh my gosh she is now in the hospital on bed rest and, and, and.......see how easily it spins out of control?  All at once worry was controlling my thoughts and I wasn't even sure I HAD chicken pox. (yes, you CAN get them twice, it is just rare.)

It was then that I realized for the umpteenth time that I am a HUGE worry wart.  And it has gotten worse.  In fact, over the last several months, it has grown to EPIC proportions....but I won't bore you with the details.   

Instead I'll share what I've decided to do about it.

I am going to try something to rid myself of this bad habit and any of you other worry warts out there are invited to join me. (Please, oh, please tell me I'm not the only one with this problem.)

Starting this past Monday and for a total of 21 days I am going to practice being worry free.   In my planner I have cut and stapled scripture to every day for the next 21 days.    Here is the place I found the verses.  I cut out the ones I felt would apply to me and had plenty left to keep going for a total of 50 days.  

I have the one below taped to my computer screen at work.  I love it.  I could say it was my favorite but then I'd find another I liked better so I'll just say I really like it!  

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."  Phil 4:6

I look at it this way, even if I can't stop myself from worrying about certain things, I'll worry LESS overall.   

In short, by trusting in Him as I should, I will lessen my own anxiety.

One a day, winding down.

The last few days of Spring Break were spent playing Nurse Nightingale to Kaela.  The strep she had seriously kicked her booty...

When she gets sick, she wants to sit on the couch and snuggle with me.  On those days, she doesn't want me to crochet or do anything except hold her. 

But while she slept, I managed to do a few crafty things.  (Links are at the end of the post.)

I made a cat toy for Suki...she loved it!

I made this thing I call a door slam jammer, for a friend's baby shower.  I found the picture and just made it from there.  I linked to someone on etsy that sells them.

I also made my hands free baby towels.  I am so glad I didn't jump ship and start making bath towel aprons instead.  Every new mom I have given these to tells me that it is her child's favorite bath time "thing." A special towel just for them....

I take care of my feet but don't do anything really fancy.  That being said, I took 10 minutes and soaked my feet using a recipe I found.   I have one small callous on the very center of each foot and some dry skin on my heels. Nothing serious but still I thought I'd do this soak every other day for a week and see if it helped.  My feet felt refreshed and smelled pretty good the rest of the day.

  

I also continued making another scarf....

Overall, I'm glad that I tried to do "one a day" this past week.  I think it will prove to have done what was intended...kick me out of my rut and get me moving......

I link up to the original post (if possible) for people who don't use pinterest.
crocheted cat toy
slammer jammer (for sale on etsy, no pattern)
baby towel 
foot soak