My List Is Getting Pretty Long

Life never seems to get less busy! My list of chores, work, and yes, even crafts, seems to just keep getting bigger and bigger. I did manage to squeak out a Monogram Taggie for a baby gift that needs to get out in the mail soon. Of course there is a baby blanket to go with it that needs to be finished that is right on top of the PILE list of things to do.

I do love making these little things though - simple but cute!

And just so I don't seem to be completely out of touch with my crafty side, I have been spending some late nights working on jewelry projects for my friend's business. It's been good "practice" for me and fun to get some new ideas. I'm such a symmetrical jewelry maker - her designs are anything but symmetrical. Love it! Ok - I'm going to make some time this week . . . we'll see what I come up with!

A Halloween Quiet Book

If you know me - or if you read my blog - you know that I {LoVe} a good quiet book! I've made my fair share including one for my boys with lots and lots and lots of interchangeable pages. I've also made a couple of Pirate-themed quiet books using a pattern that I bought over at Everyday Celebrations. Well LeAnne has lots of other patterns for quiet books with other themes. I fell in love with her Halloween Quiet Book and finally had some time to sit down and make it. My first "fall craft" of this year - - it kind of makes me a little sad. But then again, it turned out so cute, you have to love it!A cute little softie ghost and a witch.An adorable spider (probably my favorite page!) and a bat.A black cat and a pumpkin with three little finger puppets to store inside (pumpkin, bat, and ghost). The front and back covers.

LeAnne's patterns are super easy to follow and really, really cute! My biggest hint is to take the time to prep all of the pages before you sit down to sew. It makes the whole process go quickly and smoothly. Oh - and don't sew the pages together until you're sure that you've finished every last detail! Or you can just settle for some hot glue instead of sewing on a few buttons that you might have forgotten to put on - it all works out in the end. {LoVe It}!!!

Now I'm searching for a Christmas/Winter themed quiet book. I have narrowed it down to a couple of patterns. I can't wait to see how they turn out!

What Can You Do With an Old Key?

I have a friend who has a thriving jewelry business. She is an amazing designer and always has very cute ideas. I've bought lots of jewelry from her. In fact, she was the person who taught me how to make my own jewelry. She often is a vendor in a local Labor Day weekend craft fair - a very large and wonderful craft fair. She called me about a week ago asking if I was available to help her with her inventory for the fair. Of course I jumped at the opportunity. Since it isn't MY business, it's a relaxing "pass time" for me.

She is making lots of different pieces, as you would expect. My task is to make these cute key pendants. She has them on these little hooks so that they are interchangeable on a chain. I've been working late every night this week to keep up. Here are each of the styles.I'll have completed over 200 of them this week. I can't wait to see what else she has for sale. I pretty much just take out my services in trade for new jewelry.

I was excited to see what she had done with these keys. I bought a collection of brass keys awhile back from an Etsy shop and had set them aside because I didn't have any big creative spurt. Well, I followed her inspiration and created my own new key pendant - love it!

More Cooking

I'm just coming off a wonderful 9 day (working) vacation with my family in Maine and New Hampshire. Beautiful! We packed our days and nights and managed to put a pretty big dent in Maine's lobster population while we were at it. I took my yo-yo's with me and didn't open the bag to sew even one. I've got a lot of catching up to do on those. I've also been working on some jewelry for a friend - I'll show that later this week.

The only other thing I have managed to do (besides putting away clean laundry from the trip and trying to get the house back in order) is cook a little bit.

First up - Tin Foil Dinners: these bring back great memories from my childhood. We would always have these when we were camping in our camper every summer. I found a slight variation on my mom's recipe over at The Crafting Chicks. She added cream of mushroom soup to make some gravy - and we loved it! I used ground turkey instead of ground beef. We added in some fresh mushrooms. And since the boys got to "make" their own, they ate very well. Love the gravy!

We came home to a garden full of tomatoes. In fact, tomatoes are pretty much all we plant anymore. Between the boys and the dog (who loves to pluck tomatoes off the vine and eat them himself), its a race to see who can eat them as soon as they are ripe. I found a yummy recipe on For the Love of Cooking and we created a yummy Caprese Salad. A little fresh mozzarella, home grown tomatoes, (dried) basil - the fresh basil at the grocery store was beyond its date) and some olive oil mixed with balsamic vinegar. Yummy!

2 of my 3 Favorite Things - Dessert Recipe

OH MY!!! One of the blogs that I follow regularly posted this dessert recipe a few days ago. It had two of my three most favorite dessert items in it . . . so I had to try it. Kierste over at Brown Paper Packages shared a recipe (originally from the Food Network) for Chocolate Caramel Bars. Of course anything with both chocolate and caramel in it has to be good (just add in some marshmallow and then you've got me, hands down!).

I made it this afternoon . . . . and it was a little slice of heaven. Go check out the recipe HERE. Super yummy. My only recommendations - decrease the amount of butter in the graham cracker crust (maybe 1 stick of butter instead of 1 1/2 sticks). Also, substitute milk chocolate chips in place of the semi-sweet chips (personal preference). All in all - incredibly yummy. Oh, let me also say that even without a candy thermometer, the caramel was surprisingly easy. Just follow the time guideline and you'll be fine. Um Um Good! I'll be making this again, and again, and probably again - - - after I get my bike out and go for a few really long rides after eating my share of this.

Boy's Applique T Shirts

This idea is all over blogland . . . and I've been collecting images and ideas for a long time now. I even purchased a couple of white t shirts awhile ago from Hobby Lobby. They've just been staring at me waiting for the right idea to pop in to my head. After crawling in bed last night and being unable to fall asleep, I grabbed my iPad and started cruising the web for more applique ideas. I goggled "Sambo" which is our nickname for son #2. Turns out that Sambo is a type of martial arts. They have their own logo and t shirts. So I decided it was perfect and promptly got out of bed and headed downstairs to knock-it-off.

Here is my version. Super fast and super easy. I decided to satin stitch around each of the letters and that really was what took the longest time. I used my computer to create the letters and stars. Then trace them on to heat n' bond and then on to the fabric. Iron on and then sew down and ta da . . . a new, custom made, personalized shirt.Son #1 was a little tougher to come up with just the right idea. So I waited until he woke up this morning to run a few concepts passed him. At first he wanted a flying saucer with some words on it. But then we looked at this cute shark with a fish skeleton found on a cute but incredibly expensive boys clothing store. I'm no artist, but these were simple shapes to freehand. Son #1 selected some fabrics out of my (ever growing) scrap stash . . . a little heat n' bond and a few well placed stitches later and he has his own custom shirt.

And here they are (on a break from their water fight with dad) showing off their new shirts. I think I might be officially addicted now. Cute and easy and oh . . . the possibilities!

Just a little of This and That . . .

We've been having way too much fun this summer and I've been having a hard time sitting myself down to craft. I did spend a few minutes last night putting a few beads together. These beads have been sitting on the shelf staring at me for more than a few months.

I bought these beads at JoAnn's awhile back - and they're much prettier in person. The picture doesn't do them justice. They are pretty browns and blues.And then . . . there's turquoise. I {love} turquoise. I have lots of it - all kinds. I found these round beads a long time ago and finally put them together for a bracelet and matching drop earrings. Can't wait to wear them.I've also finally got the back pieced to my charm baby quilt. Now I just need to run and grab some warm & natural batting and decide if I'm going to try free motion quilting it myself . . . or if I'll wimp out and drop it off to be quilted by a professional! We shall see.