Handmade Gift with a Recipe

Maddie made two homemade gifts for her friend.

She made a canvas using the same method she used for boards in her room here.

And she made stuffed mushrooms.

These are always a hit!

I got the recipe from a good friend years ago!

Sofia tried them and loved them last week at the homecoming festivities.

So Maddie made them for Sofia's birthday as well!

Nothing like a hand made gift!

(we did throw in a little starbucks gift card)

Stuffed Mushrooms

12 large mushrooms

1 cube butter (not margarine)

1/2 cup italian breadcrumbs

1 T finely chopped onion

1 T parsley finely chopped (optional)

1 egg slightly beaten

Salt/Pepper

Wipe mushroom cpas clean. Melt 4 tablespoons butter. Dip mushrooms in butter to coat. Mix breadcrumbs, parsley, onion, egg and a little salt and pepper. Fill mushroom caps, melt the remaining butter. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and drizzle with the remaining butter.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes!

I didn't say it was healthy...Paula Deen would like it because of the stick of butter!!

Giant Bubbles!

So back around 4th of July I wanted to make these giant bubbles.

I had seen it on a blog to do it yourself.

We had one years ago made by Klutz.

I tried to take the easy way out and buy one but they don't make them anymore according to the gal at the store.

Fortunately my friend Heather had a post on how to do it.

And we were off to home depot for supplies. (See Heather's link for how to details)

This took all of 5-10 minutes to put together.

I did hammer tap the screw eyes into the dowels to get them started, than just hand twisted.

Ellie surveying the progress.

Big bubbles here we come!

I have to confess we did not use the glycerine or the distilled water.

I am told the glycerine will help the bubbles stay together better.

But this was entertaining. And almost addictive!

Ellie and will hunt for glycerine today to see if it makes a difference.

We will let you know!!

Summer Crafts

I really enjoy working on craft projects.

I do seem to be better at helping the kids get their projects going!

Madeline is good at once we get the goods for a project she is typically focused at getting it done, unlike her mother.

And if we have a project for Madeline I try to find something for Ellie to do too.

So we have two projects here. One for Ellie.

Supplies:

One small canvas.

A bag of colorful colored buttons. (we chose one's in the shape of flowers)

Glue (We used tacky glue)

I drew a block letter of her first initial.

Spread the glue around a section at a time.

Then glue on the buttons.

I helped her a little with spatial relationship, filling in some spots with the smaller buttons.

Madeline wanted to make two more boards to go with her original "Sandy Toes" Canvases blogged here.

We found clip art on the internet for a volleyball and a palm tree.

We then took the copies to get them enlarged to the desired size.

She placed it on her light table to trace out the individual shapes.

(You could also trace your projects by placing your paper on a window.)

If you pick something without too much detail it is a little easier.

She used the outline of the whole ball with pink, and placed patterned/colored

pieces for the detail.

Mod podge was the glue of choice.

Then she glued the whole ball to a white canvas.

And finished with a top coat of modge podge over the whole board.

The palm tree was clip art.

She did the island and water free hand.

Here is the finished product.

Inexpensive, cute, and something she did herself with just a few suggestions from mom :)

Sewing Day!

So the first sewing day was last Friday.

We decided the first project would be a pillow for Madeline's room.

We are using this pattern from Amy Butler.

It is free on her website. The pattern is here.

She has other free sewing patterns and CRAFT patterns if you go to her website here

and click on tab at the top on the far right.

Love her fabric designs and sewing projects.

But, back to our sewing day.

I am not sure Madeline loved it : (

But, she stuck with it.

One mistake I made trying to get by with fabric we had on hand.

This sometimes makes a project take a little longer because you often have to be a little more creative with your resources.

Plus, I need to find a way to keep this little one busier.

(This is her favorite new dress up outfit.)

The sewing day ended when we ran out of trim.

But, Madeline is doing great work.

So what I learned?

I need to be more prepared.

Make sure all supplies are on hand.

Have a good project for Ellie to work on.

Madeline said she liked the sewing part....it is the pinning and cutting she wasn't so fond of, I think a good tv show or movie on would make this part less tedious. I know that's what I like to do when I am sewing.

I think if I could sit down with her and work on something simultaneously might also help.

I was very distracted and multi-tasking last Friday.

I am not sure we will get back to it today.

We have a Girl Scout meeting.

We did buy fabric for the next project...

Canvas Sign

Do you remember the post last year about making a one word canvas?

Well Madeline put one together for her room.

She printed the letters in the size and font she wanted on the computer.

Than she traced them using a light box onto scrapbook paper she had printed out.

(I had her trace the letters in reverse on the back of the paper so you wouldn't

see the drawn lines. If you don't have a light box a window would work well too.)

This was a little tedious but she did a great job!

Then she mod podged them onto a canvas she had already painted.

The trickiest part getting the letters centered and straight.

Here they are in her room.

Still thinking about what adornments we can add to the signs.

Also, will be filling empty quadrants with some other crafts she is working on.

She is a crafty girl!

Valentine Craft

We made a little Valentine Craft.

The idea came from my good "friend" Martha Stewart.

For complete directions go here.

Picture above from Martha Stewart.

This was a fun craft. All you need: old crayons, wax paper and an iron.

We found that a hand held pencil sharpener worked best.

(We tried a vegetable peeler too...but the pencil sharpener worked a little better.)

I did not photograph all the steps but basically you shred the crayon,

fold the wax paper over,

iron and then cut out the shapes you want.

Remember complete directions are on the Martha Stewart website link above.

We decided to display it a little different.

Sort of like a mobile over Ellie's bed.

We punched holes in the hearts

and hung them with embroidery floss from and embroidery hoop.

We also added some bejeweled pipe cleaners for added bling!!

What inspires you? Pass it on!

Let me start by saying not sure why everything is being underlined. It is late and I can't figure out how to turn it off....oh well here we go!

Do you like to sew?

Would you like to learn to sew?

Wouldn't you want to shop in fabric stores like these?

City Craft, in Dallas, Texas

Not a box store like Joann's or Beverly's.

The Stitch Lab, Austin, Texas

But one of these unique stores or as they are sometimes referred to as boutique stores

with lots of charm!

The picture above is from Maisonette; this store is within driving distance!

It is actually owned by a mother and her two daughters each with their own specialty, art, sewing and photography.

I am going to go here. Soon.

This store above is called Whipstitch.

It is in Atlanta.

Probably won't be going here anytime soon.

But...

I am following her blog.

There are two entries of interest here....

First I signed up for a Sewing Buddy.

What is this you may ask?

It is a sewing pen pal.

I want to start sewing more this year!

You can read all about it here.

Maybe you would like to join too, she is still accepting applicants.

The second entry of interest can be found here.

It is about sewing with kids.

The connections that can be made when working on a project together.

She is going to start posting projects for kids.

I learned to sew when I was a kid.

I remember my mom sewing my clothes.

I remember my great-grandmother visiting

and I got to stitch by hand with a needle, thread and a paper bag.

Later I took home ec in middle school,

more sewing classes in high school,

I even squeezed a class in during college.

I worked at a fabric store one summer.

Talk about feeding a habit.

I took a quilting class when my husband was deployed (it kept me busy at night after the kids were in bed!)

Unfortunately here in California Home Ec has been lost in budget cuts.

Madeline wants to learn to sew.

I am going to try and teach her.

We are going to designate a day/afternoon.

We are going to start Friday.

First project a pillow.

I can't wait to see what the kid projects are from Whipstitch,

she said although they are geared for the young

she said she and some friends would enjoy doing them too.

So check it out maybe there is something you will want to try.

Maybe with your daughter?

Blogs

Have you heard of a book-azine?

I first heard about Matthew Mead

and his Holiday Book-azine on the

Mary Englebriet blog.

I love Mary Englebriet!

Big Fan!

Wish the Magazine would come back but it looks like that will not happen.

She mentioned this holiday book-azine, and

Mary Englebriet has something featured in it!

It is only sold on-line and I am very tempted to purchase it!

Mary Englebriet also mentioned something else I had never heard of an "e-zine".

Basically it is a magazine on the computer.

Amy Powers has issued an e-zine called Inspired Ideas.

Her blog is called inspire co. and can be found here.

Here is the cover of her fall e-zine. You can look at it page by page here.

The Christmas edition just came out too! You can view it here.

This issue is over 130 pages! It has contributions from other craft bloggers,

and projects for the holidays. The pictures are great! And there

is probably at least one craft idea you will come away with.

A "book-azine" an "e-zine" who knew!

Misc....trip...craft...project!

We are back from Hawaii!!

Great family trip....there was the beach, the pool, relaxing, snorkeling,

fireworks....what more can you ask for?

Already planning our next trip!

We have been back a week already yikes! It took a day or two to get things organized again. (Never quite as organized as I would like but you know how that goes.)


We found a fun craft over at the Pink and Green Mama, Cornstarch Sidewalk Chalk Paint. This is easy cheap fun. All you need is cornstarch, food coloring, a muffin tin, paint brush and water. It entertained the 2 year old and the 13 year old! Got to love that!






Next project...filling this void. This was a grassed area but when they put the pool in this is where the bobcat trekked back and forth, back and forth, so the grass died. I have been wanting some raised garden boxes and was inspired by my friend Shannon to get moving on it. (See her post on raised gardens here.)

So this weekend by handy-husband built me two garden boxes. We used Douglas Fir, (non-pressure treated wood...we did spray a water sealant on the wood to protect it a bit.) Yesterday I unloaded two cubic yards (or two truckloads of soil) to fill the boxes. (I did get a little help unloading the second truck!)

Next step some soil additives, chicken manure or something of the like....and then garden plants. You may think it is a little late to start a garden in San Diego, and it probably is. I am hoping since it really isn't warm yet it will work out just fine.