Handmade Christmas Gifts

Now I can finally post some of the items I've been working on for Christmas gifts for this year.  There are always more things that I had hoped to get to, but I'm happy with these - and I hope my friends and family are as well.  I did have one giant handmade gift flop this year, but more to come on that one later (maybe - if I can still pull it out of the flop pile and re-work it).

First - yet another ric rack baby blanket.  This one was for my friend to give to her new grandson expected to arrive in a few weeks.  I just don't seem to tire of making these - they're easy and really adorable. 

This pack-n-play fabric doll (think paper dolls made out of fabric) set was made for another of my friends to give to her granddaughter.  I don't have any little girls in my life - but I was dying to make this.  So she is the lucky winner!  The fabric is from the Happy Ever After line by Riley Blake.  This pattern is included with the large pack-n-play set I hope to make 'en mass' this spring with my sister.  This really is such a cute line of fabric - hard to resist!
Here are all the pieces - dolls, clothes, hats, a crown, and of course, the "pack".

And the pieces all fit inside the little holder.

And it folds up all nice and neat.  Adorable.  Now - looking at this picture, I wish I would have sewn a cute pink button on the outside flap over the velcro stitching.  Oh well.

And this is an eyeglass lanyard for my mom.  I was looking at these trying to find one that I liked to order for her.  Then I slept on it, woke up the next morning and went "duh".  I can make one of these myself.  So there you have it - a long silver chain with a little embellishment and a metal circle at the end for the glasses to slide in.

Everything looks better with a few pearls and a silver bead added to it. 
Simple but just enough detail to "cute-i-fy" it!

And finally - a tote bag for a friend.  I had seen this pattern for a fat quarter tote bag from the Cottage Home and had wanted to make one.  Super easy and really fast to work up - which was good since I waited until the last second to whip it out. 

Here is the inside.  And really, can you ever have too many tote bags?  I say no!

Happy holidays.

German Pancakes

One of my favorite breakfasts is "German Pancakes".  At least that's what we know them as.  My mom used to make them for us when my brother and sister and I were kids.  I've also heard them called Dutch Baby pancakes or Oven pancakes.  Whatever you call them - they are still one of my most favorite breakfasts - - call it comfort food. 

 

Well I came across a pan made just for them.  Normally I just make them in either an 8x8 baking dish or if I'm doing a big batch, I'll use a 9x13 baking dish.  This oven-safe pan has the perfect curved sides and is just the right size.  I do need to remember to lower my oven rack next time just to keep the edges from over-browning.

But here it is - my recipe:

 

German Pancakes

4 T butter - let it melt in the pan in a 400 degree oven as it warms up.

Mix 6 eggs, 1 cup flour, and 1 cup milk.  Some recipes recommend a blender for the mixing - I like just a big bowl and a good whisk. 

Pour the mix in with the melted butter and pop it back in the oven.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Top with your favorite syrup and/or powdered sugar.

Um, um, good!!!!!

Fleece Blanket Service Project

 Husband's work is doing a service project for the holidays this year - fleece blankets.  They are donating them to the elementary school where his office is.  We decided to make our own instead of buying pre-made blankets.  I love being able to choose the fabric you want - - and fleece is so much better now than it was even a few years ago. 

I cut the blankets and fringed them.  Husband was responsible for tying all the fringe.  These blankets always work up so fast.  Here is our pile, ready to go to the office.

The girl ones:

 And the boy ones:

Another Christmas project done - check!

Quote Wall

We have a bathroom in our house that started out being just "the MAIN" bathroom, but is really just an extra bathroom on the floor that has all the bedrooms.  The master bath and the downstairs bath are the rooms that really got used so this one never got "decorated".  It was mainly just "hang a few things on the wall" - you know . . . the things that don't really have any other wall to go on and don't look completely hideous in a bathroom.  Well it stayed that way for many, many years.  Then along come a couple of boys.  This is now their bathroom.  One day, a while ago, I got brave and pulled all the mish-mash of stuff off the wall.  It really just didn't fit and wasn't them. 

And there that blank wall stayed while I looked everywhere and pondered what I should put up on their wall.  I even asked them for their advice - they had no solution.  I wanted something that wasn't too "babyish" because I didn't want to have to update it as they got older.  I thought I had a few prints selected from an Etsy shop but I just wasn't sure that those prints would work in their teenage bathroom (and sadly, those teenage years will come all too quickly!). 

Then I came across this blog entry from Pinching Your Pennies about her quote wall.  What a great idea.  Call it brainwashing, call it the power of positive thinking, call it whatever you want.  But over the years I know that my boys will be spending a lot of time in this room.  Why not have some positive, uplifting quotes for them to look at.  As an educator myself, I know that studies have been done that show that students actually don't really pay much attention to the bulletin boards in their classrooms.  And therefore I know this wall will not stand out to them when they're older - but I'm hoping that one day, just when they need it most, they might walk in here and glance up and what they read might make their day a little easier. 

I ordered some quotes in multiple colors from various Etsy shops and downloaded some freebie quotes from other blogs.  And how much do I love the Costco online print shop - just upload files in the comfort of my home (in my jammies), and then pick them up all shiny and pretty the next day.  I picked up some white canvases and ModPodged the prints on.  A few 3M Command strips later and I have a wall full of quotes that I love!

Husband thinks the wall is a little busy . . . I say the busier the better.  Whatever grabs their attention.  I was going for a variety of colors and sizes.  I think I succeeded.  Here are the quotes: I think I can, I new I could from the Little Engine book; There is something good in every day - source unknown.

We can do hard things (love this one!); Dream beautiful dreams and then work to make those dreams come true (son #2's current favorite one) - from Spencer W. Kimball; and If you want to be happy be good.

 Last we have CTR (Choose the right); What I love most about my home is who I share it with; and from Winnie the Pooh - Always remember . . .

I love them all - heck, I love walking in there and feeling just a little better when I read them.  I hope my boys will too!

More Pillowcases

I love making custom pillowcases!  I've made a couple of pillowcases for each of my boys here, here, and here.  My favorite tutorial for these comes from Little Birdie Secrets.  They're quick, easy, they don't take a lot of fabric, and they're super cute. 

So when my sister told me about a service project being put together by a gal that she knows, I jumped right on board.  This lady's son passed away just a few months ago - he was born with a genetic disorder and fought hard his whole life.  From the little bit I've read about him on her blog, he seemed like a wonderful son, brother, and friend.  Her idea is to gather pillowcases to donate to the local children's hospital where her son spent a lot of his time.  She's gotten quite a lot of participation from all over the country which is great to see.  I've been collecting some fun fabrics and have whipped up 25 pillowcases in the past few weeks.  Five of them will stay here for friends and family gifts.  The other 20 are headed to my sister's house tomorrow to give to her friend for the children's hospital.

Here are a couple of my favorites:  I searched all over the Salt Lake valley to find this line of fabric - Happy Ever After.  I actually ended up meeting the designer of the line.  More to come from this line of fabric in the next few weeks.  But I love it and couldn't resist making a pillowcase out of it.

This one is some cute monster fabric - I loved it because it says "Don't be afraid" right on it - I thought that was great to go to a children's hospital. 

Another boy fabric - spaceships. 

And some girly ones - flowers and butterflies.

And birds and more flowers.

And one more that I found just at the last minute that made it in to my pile.  Pirates!  Great for older and younger boys.

And here are my boys showing their personal favorite pillowcases.  This has been a good learning opportunity for them to learn about service and children's hospitals.  They were excited about these and loved helping to pick out the fabric with me. 

My Mismatched Maxi Skirt

I finally sewed something (clothing wise) that wasn't a flop and that I'm not embarrassed to wear outside my house.  I discovered maxi skirts this summer and my life will never be the same.  I {LOVE} them!  It's like wearing pajamas yet you look all fancy and dressed up.  Every store sells them - my favorites have been Target, New York & Co, Eddie Bauer, and . . . well now that I think about it, Target again.  The only problem is that they all look the same - black, gray, brown, even a blue - - - -stripes and plain knit fabric. 

And then I saw these amazingly cute maxi skirts over at iCandy Handmade.  Oh how I loved those - every kind of fun stripe and color imaginable.  And she made sewing them sound oh so easy.  So I got brave and bought some knit in a cute oatmeal/red stripe.  And there it sat on my sewing table for a few months while I tried to get brave again.  Finally, a couple of Friday nights ago - - I mustered up all the courage I had and made myself a pattern and actually cut into the material (that's always the hardest part . . . once you cut you can't go back!).  I read lots of blogs about how to sew maxi skirts (and I'm not a sewing novice).  I read tutorials on sewing with knits.  I wasn't brave enough to pull out my serger - - it scares me almost as much as the Cricut machine hiding away in my craft room!  But all the blogs said you can sew on knits with a regular machine.  So I started. 

Now I do have to say that I was very worried about not being able to perfectly match up my stripes and I didn't want that much pressure.  So I went to iCandy Handmade's tutorial for a Mismatched Maxi Skirt.  It was exactly what I needed. 

The tutorial was easy to follow.  The material was surprisingly easy to sew.  (Although I really should have dug my serger out and used it!)  And in about 30 minutes, I had myself a skirt.  I made the waistband only 3 inches wide (finished length).  And I was worried about making it a little too small around the waist.  When I tried it on after it was finished the waist was a little too big.  So I slept on it and got up the next morning to look more closely at all of my purchased maxi skirts for ideas.  The solution was simple and easy - clear elastic.  I ran to the store, grabbed a pack, and quickly sewed it in to the seam joining the waistband and skirt.  And there you have it - my first handmade mismatched maxi skirt.  I LOVE it!!! 

Here is a picture of the elastic sewn in to the waistband - genius (not to mention no fail!)

I was so happy with my little skirt that I went straight back to the internet and found another knit print with lots of different colored stripes on an oatmeal-ish background.  Another mismatched maxi skirt - done!

Now think of the possibilities.  I just need to get myself to a fabric district somewhere to pick up some really cute knits.  They are very, very difficult to find! I want to do an exposed ruffle maxi skirt from iCandy next.  How can one little skirt make me sooooooo happy?

A New Tasty Dinner: Spinach Manicotti

I try really hard to cook homemade, healthy meals for my little family as regularly as I can (except on Friday nights - I generally have a strict policy of not cooking on Friday nights.  Even mom gets a break on Fridays!).  I'm always on the look-out for new recipes and ideas for dinners.  There are only a handful of recipes that I cook over and over and over.  Usually we're trying new things and very few of them make it in to our regular list of meals we love.  This one made it in with flying colors!

I saw this Spinach Manicotti recipe over at 71toes not too long ago.  It looked like a good one to try.  She makes it without meat/vegetarian so I decided that it might be slightly more well received at my house by browning up a pound of ground turkey with the onions and then following her recipe along from there.  What a hit!  It was truly delicious! 

Everyone, including the boys, gave it a big thumbs up.  I was craving it by the second night - we made enough for a second night's meal.  Here is a close up of all the cheesy, tomatoey yumminess!

I love a great recipe!  Mmmm, mmmm, good!