Thursday, January 31, 2013

Valentine Felt Heart Garland


Well, it didn't turn out as I expected.  It's not terrible.  I definitely needed stiffer and thicker felt but I used what I had on hand and had no plans of buying any.  I should have took a couple pointers from my inspiration listed below but I had my own ideas...=)  Since my felt was so thin, when I tried to hang it, it flattened out the tops of the hearts, that's why I hung it the way that I did to try and make the best of it.  

How I Did It...

I cut 20 strips of felt 1 x 5 inches...


I folded each of them in half and stitched along the fold...


I connected the hearts before I stitched each of the hearts closed.  I did this by stitching them together from what will end up being the inside of each of the hearts at approximately 1/3 of the distance from the first stitching.



I attached ribbon hooks to the 2 outside hearts...


Finally, I stitched each of the hearts closed...





Inspiration:  blog.betzwhite.com

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Valentine Paper Heart Garland


Love, Love, Love this!  

Steel had a great time punching out hearts for me...


I stitched them together...


I stitched on little ribbon loops for hanging...


I hung them over the kitchen sink...




Inspiration:  www.iheartnaptime.net

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Math Pack App

Pic 2

This is one of the educational apps that I installed on Steel's tablet.  We played it last week and we both had a lot of fun.  It's for grades K-9 so there's something for all ages!

Check it out at...

Monday, January 28, 2013

Steel's Steelers Quilt


Finis!  I started this quilt back in December and had to put it on hold for the holidays and just picked it back up this weekend to finally finished it!  I am very pleased!  It's another 'quilt as you go' with a a little different twist than my Quilt As You Go Baby Quilt.  It was definitely simpler but this was still very time consuming due to the size (twin) and the fact that I pieced the back together as well.  (The back is the same pattern as the front but the fabrics are in different order.)  The 'quilt as you go' process is definitely the way to go!  By quilt as you go, I mean just that.  I pieced each row together, attached it the the back row with batting, quilted the row, and pieced each row together.  No quilting a full size quilt!  For my baby quilt, I actually quilted each block and them pieced it together.  Quilting by rows is a much simpler process.  

I designed a pattern that would look like it was just randomly pieced together but made sure that none of the pieces would match up at the corners.  I did this because I have such a hard time getting my blocks to line up at the corners in a regular block quilt.  This way, it's not supposed to match up so no headaches, right?!  

Click Read More for How I Did It...

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Gooey Chocolate Cake


This doesn't cut well and obviously doesn't photograph well because of it but it is delicious!!!  I adapted Gooey Butter Cake to make it a chocolate lover's dream!  It turned out great!  I'm really trying to take better pictures but if it's not the operator (a.k.a. me) it's something like this.  Argh! Oh well...

Click Read More for the Recipe...

Saturday, January 26, 2013

AVG Anti Virus App

It's been EONS since I posted about an APP.  I guess that big idea of mine fell to the wayside, huh?  Well, we got our little guy a tablet for Christmas (it was a smashing hit!), so I felt it was time to point out some more apps (finally).

I pre-loaded it myself with tons of (mostly educational) apps.  I figured he would for sure find all the fun stuff himself without a problem.  Pre-loading it saved money and we were able to get a better quality than those tablets marketed for kids.  Sure buying it with all kinds of apps geared towards kids is a great convenience but it was kinda fun looking them up and trying them out before I put the tablet back in the box and wrapped it.

At the time, the tablet was too new for all the accessories, so I just found a good rugged case for it this week on amazon.  It looks like an old tire - tough.  I'm not too sure how drop safe it really is but it is better than nothing at all!

So on to my post...

I thought I would start off with what I thought to be the most important... An Anti Virus.

AVG


It says that it protects against viruses, malware and spyware.  (not sure what malware is, is that new??  lol)  We have only used the free one thus far.  I'm still not into paying for apps, got enough this to pay for!!  =)

We just recently started using an anti virus on our phones.  We went anti virus free for a year and a half and we started getting these crazy alerts that I have no idea where they came from.  I didn't even know that you could protect your smartphone with this little feature.  I'm not sure that it is really fool proof but I feel safer knowing that it scans my apps when they are downloaded looking for potential risks.  This is especially critical for the little guy that doesn't quite understand how viruses work.  I'm not sure that I really do either.  I'm sure in due time he will understand better than I do.

Tune in next week for another Fun App...

Friday, January 25, 2013

Cream of Some Soup

This may literally be the best tip I have ever found.  (See my source at the bottom of the post.)  Who doesn't add some kind of cream of some kind of soup or another to their current recipes.  It's a quick, creamy recipe fix'er upper.  It's ingenious.  Well, it was until I found this bad boy...  It's so simple.  It calls for Dry Non-fat Milk that I found to be a bit pricey, or more than I expected anyway.  I only found it sold in larger quantities so that may be part of the problem.  After I bought some, I found it cheaper at another store so I guess it pays to shop around.  =)  Try it, you'll like it! 


Ingredients
1 c Dry Non-fat Milk
3/4 c Cornstarch
1 T Minced Onion
1 t Parsley Flakes
1 t Ground Black Pepper
2 T Bouillon (flavor of choice)

Directions
Add 1/3 cup of mix and 1 cup water for each Cream of Some Soup. 

My New Spin:
-Make up the recipe without the bouillon
-Add 1/3 cup of mix, 1 Tablespoon of bouillon (flavor of choice) and 1 cup of water for each Cream of Some Soup needed.

Note that this is more that the original 2 T in the full mix but who doesn't like a bit of extra flavor? This allows you to only make up one mix and use it for everything!  I made up a batch and keep in the cabinet so I have it handy when I need it.

Source:  1orangegiraffe.blogspot.com

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Gage Update


We had so much fun playing with Gage this past weekend!  Not sure his father (cough, browns fan, cough) thought it was a great time but these grandparents had a blast!  I think Gage really enjoyed it too!



Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Big Sister Gift Idea


I got a couple things for Gage's big sister.  I stuffed them in this tote that I made.  Check out the tote here.  


I also made this shirt with a fun iron on that I found.  Check that post out here.


I also stuffed the bag with a couple girly hair accessories and a bracelet making kit. 

Inspiration:  TipJunkie.com

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Big Sister Tote using Silhouette Vinyl Stencil




I made the new big sister a tote to put your little gifts in.  I made a stencil in vinyl using my silhouette and fabric paint. 

Click Read More for How I Did It...

Monday, January 21, 2013

Big Sister Tee - Iron On


They really do have some nice iron ons out there that don't look 'cheesy'.  I was going to make my own design until I saw this and figured due to my time constraints, this would be easier and it was super cute.  I wanted to bring out a gift for the new big sister so that she didn't feel left out because the baby was getting so many gifts and attention.  I made this shirt and a bag and stuffed it with some other little things to give to the new big sister. 

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Gooey Butter Cake


It is definitely what it is called.  It's yummy, pretty sweet and will satisfy that sweet tooth.  (I made an oops and added double the sugar, now that was sweet!)  I plan to make a chocolate version soon!  

Click Read More for the Recipe...

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Mongolian Beef - Crockpot & Freezer Meal

http://whoneedsacape.com/2012/11/easy-crockpot-mongolian-beef/

G'Ma & G'Pa's Onesie - Fabric Marker & Silhouette Vinyl Stencil


This is another example of using a Silhouette to make a stencil out of vinyl and filling it in with a fabric marker.  I added some freehand-ed writing to it.  I'm sure I could have cut that out in vinyl as well but I opted not to.  Check out my other onesie using a fabric Marker & Silhouette Stencil HERE.  




Friday, January 18, 2013

Steel Loves Me Onesie - Fabric Marker & Silhouette Vinyl Stencil


I made this Onesie using a Fabric Marker and a stencil I cut out of vinyl using my Silhouette.  

1.  I designed my stencil using Silhouette Studio, cut it out in vinyl on my Silhouette and affixed it to a onesie.


2.  I used a fabric marker to color in the stencil.  I lost a piece of vinyl for the inside of one of the e's that I made due with freehand-ing.


It was that easy... It looks so much better than freehand-ing the whole thing.


Thursday, January 17, 2013

Baby Animal Personalized Picture Frame - Silhouette Vinyl


I made this personalized picture frame using vinyl lettering cut out using my Silhouette.  I found the frame and animals at Hobby Lobby.  Check out Gage's Baby Stat WordArt for a tutorial on how to use transfer tape with vinyl lettering.  This is super simple and anything personalized is a great gift.  





Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Pirate Onesie - Iron On


I found this adorable iron on at the craft store when I was picking up some supplies.  I just had to buy it because... Several years back we took a boat trip to Cedar Point and the Islands and the kids were pretty wound up and were yelling 'Pirates! Land Ho!...' among other other pirate sayings on our voyage.  We had to listen to it for 3 hours, it got a little old...lol.  Well, on the trip home, 10 minutes into our trip one of our motors went (broke).  We had to limp home on one motor in rough seas.  All the kids got sea sick.  It was a ten hour trip.  We, on the other hand, made the best of it and turned the tables on the kids...  We yelled the same 'Pirates! Land Ho!', the kids didn't find it as amusing as we did.  It was great!  So, you see just why I had to buy the iron on and make this.  =) 

(That was the same trip that we got lost in fog on the lake, the gps was not working and we ended up in Canada...seriously, true story.)

Check out the other Iron On Onesie post HERE.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Mom's Pal Onesie - Fabric Applique


This is another Fabric Applique Onesie that I made for our little Gage.  It was Pappy's idea... He used to call Jacklyn his Pal when she was little so he wanted a onesie made for Gage.  Check out my tutorial other Fabric Appliqued Onesies HERE.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Gage's Baby Stats WordArt


I still keep saying that I am going to make one for myself (7 years later) but I love these!  I linked two other projects at the end of this post if you want to check those out as well.  I made this one with cardstock backing in the frame because I knew Gage's room was white, where the two other projects, I left the backing off so that the wall color would show through.  

Click Read More for How I Did It...

Sunday, January 13, 2013

The newest addition to our family...


Gage joined us last Wednesday, weighing in at 7 pounds 4 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long.  He's perfect and mom is doing well.  They are both at home settling in.



Steel got to meet him yesterday and loved holding him.  He asked to hold him a second time before we left for home.  We hope to see him again next weekend.  It's going to be a long week!






Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Chocolate Chip Cannolis


This was a first for me!  It was so amazingly easy and amazingly yummy!  I had no idea how simple they were to make.  I actually had no idea that they were made with ricotta cheese.  I always assumed it was some kind of cream cheese concoction.  Will be making these again in the near future, for sure!  I cheated a little and bought the shells at the grocery store bakery, I wasn't ambitious enough to make my own.  =)

Click Read More for the Recipe...