Saturday, July 31, 2010

Birthday Crafting

I am still here. Summer has been an especially hectic time for us. It started off with being in a horrible car accident over Memorial Day weekend. God totally watched over my family and only by His grace did we all get out with no major injuries. My hubby and I could hardly move for a few days but we healed up pretty quickly considering what could have been.

We bought a new-to-us vehicle, went on a few trips to see family, sold our house that had been on the market for 10 months, and in between all of that the girls have been sick off and on. We have battled Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease and I believe my youngest had Roseola.

Just last week my oldest turned 4! I can't believe it. I was determined to do some sewing for her for her birthday and I did. It felt so good to get a bit crafty again. It had been so long. I think my girls can play in the basement play/sewing room without killing each other for a longer period of time now. That helped alot!

So what did I make? Well, let me show you....

The first thing I did was find a small white T-Shirt at the Dollar Store and appliqued a number 4 out of vintage kitty fabric on the front. I added some pink ric-rac trim to the collar. Here's a piece of advice....When adding ric-rac trim to the collar of a t-shirt, do NOT sew it around the entire collar. The excited birthday child will not be able to squeeze her 4 year old head through the hole opening. You will then have to rip out half of the trim while your family is waiting to go out for lunch at Olive Garden and you will be so embarrassed for not thinking of this beforehand. So there! Free advice!
4 Years Old
I also wanted to make a cute headband for her to wear with her birthday shirt. I found this great tutorial on making Scrap Flowers and went with it. I also sewed together two long skinny rectangles right sides together, turned them right side out, and sewed a finishing seam all around the outside. WAH-LAH...a head band that you can tie around your child's head. I hot glued my scrap flowers to the head band and felt all proud of myself. I think it turned out very cute.
4 Years Old
As you probably know I make and decorate my girls' birthday cakes. I have so enjoyed this tradition. This year since Peanut was old enough to decide what she would like on her cake, I came up with 4 choices for her from ideas I found online. She got to choose from Strawberry Shortcake, Mr. Potato Head, Curious George and Cookie Monster. She picked Mr. Potato Head which actually became Mrs. Potato Head when I was decorating it. This was such an easy cake because I just used a star tip and grass tip to decorate then Potato Head pieces. So easy and so cute.
4 Years Old
For the actual cake I made a homemade Pink Lemonade cake. I discovered this recipe a few weeks ago and knew I wanted to try it out for Peanut's birthday. It was so much yummier than something out of a box. Yum!

When she made her decision I remembered a tutorial I had seen online for felt Potato Heads so of course, I had to make one for her in honor of her cake choice. I also made a drawstring bag for her to keep the pieces in. I used sticky velcro on the pieces but have realized very quickly I am going to need to actually stitch them to the felt pieces.
4 Years Old
I had so much fun making things for Peanut. It spurred me on to get busy on a bunting I had started making during winter but put aside. My triangles are currently in the dryer getting their perfectly frayed edges. I will be sewing them together hopefully tonight. Once the finished product is hung in the girls' room, I will post a picture. I am very excited to see how it turns out.

I also have a wreath and felt sitting on my kitchen table waiting to be turned into a something pretty to hang on my front door!

Friday, July 16, 2010

Spring Rolls

This is something I made up on my own after watching a PBS cooking show and seeing how spring rolls are made. These were so easy and a hit with my hubby. They didn't go over as well with the kids. Mom and Dad will enjoy these without the kiddos!

Chop up half a head of cabbage, 2 big carrots, an onion and a 2-3 cloves of garlic. Sautee the cabbage and carrots in some olive oil. Add onions once cabbage and carrots are softened. Add in garlic when onions are soft. Season with salt and pepper. This should all take only maybe 10 minutes.

You will need a package of egg roll wrappers. I found these in the healthy food refrigerated section at my grocery store. Put a clump of the cabbage mixture in center of egg roll wrapper and wrap up. Fill as many as you would like. Heat an inch of olive oil in a deep skillet. Place spring rolls in hot oil. Let fry for just a minute or less and turn.

These were so yummy!

Yummy, Easy Salsa

Do you know how easy it is to make salsa? Do you know how much better it is than the stuff in the jar? Well, I am going to teach you and you'll thank me. I know you will because my husband does every time I make it.

The bliss of the recipe is you can really do whatever you want. This is what I do, but you can change anything and do your own thing.

Chop up 1-2 tomatoes, 1 medium onion (1/2 of a big one), 1 avocado and a handful of cilantro. Mix together in a bowl. Dump in a rinsed can of black beans and a can of corn. Add salt and pepper to taste and a big splash of lemon juice. Grab a bag of chips and there you have it! YUM!