Spring has sprung?

Jealous of everyone in blogland's pictures of spring, I am happy to report that we have had 3 spring days in a row. Yay for 70 degree weather! I've been working in the garden a lot, which is an interesting experience because I've never had my own garden. When I was a kid, one of my weekly chores during the warmer months was to weed and water the garden. I can't tell you how much I hated that! Now I'm excited to have my own garden, to plant the things I want, and to reap the benefits of a vegetable garden. Check back in a few months to see if I still feel this way! Ha! Anyway, the interesting thing about inheriting someone else's garden (that being the previous owner of our new house), is that you're never sure what they planted or where. Like for instance, the daffodils in the middle of my backyard. Picture this:

-me pushing Isaiah in the stroller out to the back yard, huge shovel in hand

-me digging a huge hole in the ground to transplant the daffodils to the front yard

-me running to the front yard, bulbs in hand

-Isaiah screaming bloody murder because he is in the back all alone

-me looking around to see if my new neighbors are about to call CPS on me

Luckily all parties survived and the daffodil has a new home in the front yard for everyone to enjoy. The daffodils are sharing their spotlight with these beautiful pansies too!

I was wondering if there we any avid garderners out there that could maybe identify this little thing. I have about 3 of them in my yard, and I'm not sure if it's a bulb or something I should just pull up. I know the picture's not great, but that's the best I can do.

And finally, some crafting was accomplished! It's for my Martha Stewart swap (if you're my partner look away!). I know I said I was going to wait until the swap was over, but it's so cute and springy I just had to share. It's still a WIP but this is a fun, easy project! Just flour sacks from Target, buttons, and a little embroidery.

Yummy Treats

I promise I will show some craft projects as soon as I'm done with this swap. I have barely found time or space to do any crafting since we moved into our house. It is nearly impossible to get anything unpacked with Isaiah running around. Last night he was up from about 12-3 am for some reason. He never does that so I'm wondering if he's getting sick. Now I feel like a zombie, thank goodness for coffee!

When Isaiah was first born, my dear friend Meg sent me a cookbook called The Petit Appetit Cookbook by Lisa Barnes. It's a great book and contains recipes for babies and toddlers. All the recipes are organic and list all the nutrional information as well. You can find more information at here site here. Yesterday I whipped up a batch of the Mini Banana Apple Bran Muffins. Let this picture tell you if Isaiah enjoyed them or not.

I should add a disclaimer to this picture though. If you let your child eat, oh say 5 of these muffins in a day, you may be in for some heavy duty diaper changing.

And they're not just for kids, I found them mighty tasty too! They are so easy to just pop in your mouth and are easy for Isaiah to hold in his hand. You can also make larger ones as well. I added some cinnamon and nutmeg, you could also add some Apple Pie spice, or whatever you have. The recipe didn't call for it, but I think it needed it. I also made another batch where I pushed the banana down into the muffin and I think that worked out better. The recipe is simple, easy, and best of all, doesn't require a mixer! Anyway, here's the recipe.

Mini Banana Apple Bran Muffins

1 cup organic whole wheat flour

1/2 cup organic oat bran

1 teas baking soda

1/2 teas salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup organic applesauce

3 medium bananas, 1 mashed and 2 sliced

1/2 cup packed organic light brown sugar

2 organic eggs

Preheat overn to 375. Grease 24 mini muffin pans or 12 regular cups. With a fork, combine flour, bran, baking soda , and salt in a small mixing bowl. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat or in a microwave for 25 seconds on High. In a large bowl, combine melted butter, applesauce, mashed banana, sugar, and eggs. Mix together with a rubber spatula. Add flour mixture to applesauce mixture and stir until just blended. Batter will be lumpy and very moist.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling two- thirds full. Place banana slice on top of each muffin. Bake for 12 minutes, or until golden brown and set. Cool muffins in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes before turning out muffins.

whoooeee look what got done!

(Watch out, long winded and lots of pictures ahead!)


So last night, after much thanks to my husband, I (we) finally finished the dresser. I'm so happy to have it done so that I can now start organizing all our clothes that are all over the floor. It looks really good, but now I'm a little disappointed that it clashes with the window seat dresser that we refinished from the thrift store. I guess it's not really that bad, in fact, my husband was getting really mad at me last night for even mentioning it. Guys are so funny. Anyway, here's the finished dresser, after 3 days and a few beers.

Another thing that got done this weekend was some organizing, sorting, and folding of my fabric. I used Happy Zombie's method, except I didn't have a ruler, so I cut one out of cardboard from one of the millions of boxes we have. So, here's the stashformation, as she says.

And finally, since I got some things cleaned up yesterday, I went to the thrift store, sans child. It was nice to go early in the morning alone and get first dibs on the items. My sister-in-law and niece have been reading the American Girl books, and they had 20 there for .60 each. That was such a bargain. More importantly I found some nice fabrics. The fabrics always come in bunches at the thrift store. The blue and green is my favorite and the reason I bought the bag in the first place.

Since I just organized my fabrics, I thought that I'd give away something that I don't need or won't use. I'm not sure how many people read this blog, but I'll give it a shot. Anyway, this Easter Egg fabric was in the bundle from the thrift store. It's cotton, and I think it's about 2 yards, maybe a little less, I didn't measure it. Leave me a comment if you would like it, if there's more than one person wanting it, I'll do a drawing tomorrow or the next day. BUT.. if you get it, I want to see how you used it! I have no idea what I'd do with something like this so I'm offering it to any takers. Have a good beginning to the week. It's supposed to be 70 here today!

An unconventional workout

If you've ever put together a piece of Ikea furniture, you know that it can be a trying experience. Usually I love the challenge of putting things together, but there is something to be said about putting Ikea things together. Now seeing as this is what the mess of my bedroom looks like and the lack of storage we have, we opted for a large dresser.

I should have known when it came in 2 boxes that this was going to be quite the feat. But, as I said, I'm always up for a challenge. So yesterday, during Isaiah's nap, I was feeling quite ambitious and decided that I could put the thing together myself (even though there is a clear picture of 2 people doing it in the directions). I opened both boxes and out came about 200 different pieces. Case in point:

It wasn't long before I broke into a sweat, literally. You have to use about a million screws on each side and then tilt the piece up and down about 3 times. I mean, this is a pretty big piece, it comes up to my chest. Not to mention you have to use an allen wrench for everything. Those things really hurt your fingers. I felt like I had gone for a really brisk walk. I'm sure I wasn't looking too pretty either. Be glad I didn't document any pictures of myself!

The worst part about Ikea furniture is the directions. I hate just picture directions, but I also hate just word directions. They could have made my whole life easier by just printing both! Hell, I would've tried to read Japanese if they printed that.

Of course, the best part of Ikea is the price. I know they save cost by making the consumers feel like they just worked in the factory putting it together. So when it comes to sweat over saving money, I'll take saving money.

So finally the core is done, but I had to stop when I had to make each drawer. I'll leave that to be today's project. Here's what's finished so far. Wish me luck and have a great friday!

Thrifting and something crunchy

I had written this whole elaborate post on Isaiah's birthday party, but when I went to post the pictures, they didn't show up. I figured, what kind of post would that be, so I'll save that for another day. Instead here are some little things that I picked up at the thrift store while I was shopping for my Good Things swap. This is by far the best thrift store I have ever been to, they always have great things, and fabric! These plates I just thought were so cute. It was one of those things I had passed on at a previous trip to the store and figured that if they were still there, that I was meant to have them. Luckily, they were still there, and it happened to be a monday which means 25% off everything, so for a measily 60 cents, this is what I got.

Also, as mentioned in my organzing rant, I have a million margarita glasses. So what does one need to make margaritas? Fresh lime juice from my very own, very cute $1.81 juicer. They almost always have great fabric too. One special trip I picked up this sample pack of fabrics for less than $2.00. They are perfect for making wristlets and pouches.

And for 40 cents, I found two old issues of Cooking Light magazines, one of which had a very great recipe for some yummy granola. Recipe Here. I didnt have some of the ingredients, so I substituted for what I had. Instead of orange juice I used apple, and I added a small amount of Maple Syrup for the vanilla. I also didn't have any flaxseed, but I didn't miss it. As for the nuts I used almonds and hazelnuts and added a handful of coconut. Oh, and added a tiny bit more cinnamon than the recipe called for. De-lish!

For a little laugh

Since Isaiah decided to wake up at 2:30 in morning last night and inexplicably cried for 2 hours, I thought I'd post a video of him at 7 months that makes me laugh everytime. I have probably watched it about 100 times. No kidding. At least when I watch this, I can remember that he's not always this whiny and difficult ;).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heJE1a3VbiY

And don't think we're mean parents... he actually loves them (still)!

The joys of moving

So after two days of sitting under boxes and Isaiah pulling things out of them (and ripping them apart and eating them), I decided it was probably time to start unpacking. I should have started with some kind of game plan, but I didn't, and now I'm kicking myself for it. I started with the kitchen stuff, much of which is still in it's original packing because they were never unpacked from our wedding shower. It's almost like having another wedding shower as I get to look at all the "new" things again. I have decided that we have entirely too many glasses. I counted at least 17 wine glasses, 10 margarita glasses, 9 small drinking glasses, 7 larger drinking glasses, 4 pub glasses, 1 other sort of beer cup, and 5 shot glasses. Looks like will be doing a lot of drinking! Now I had organized the kitchen a couple of weeks ago before Isaiah's birthday party, and thought to myself, "this is not too bad, everything fits." Well, this was before the second round of boxes had arrived at our house, and I realized that half of them contained kitchen things! Of course, my husband wants nothing to do with this, as he has no patience and worse organizational skills than I do. I need to be on Mission Organization!

On another note, I am participating in the Martha Stewart Good things swap, over on Craftster. I am enjoying this a lot, but it's awfully hard to get to my crafting supplies, and find a spot to do them! I can't wait for my partner to get my things, so that I can post them and she can enjoy them. It has been a lot of fun already. Anyway.. lots of rambling today. Have a nice and hopefully springy day, even though there's no signs of it here!

Martha x 2

I often wonder what's it like to be organized all the time. I have my moments, but for the most part, I am a very mess person. Especially when it comes to crafting and sewing. My husband and I recently moved into our new house. We had been staying at my in-laws in the basement, which is literally bigger than our new house. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to have our own place, and love not living under someone else's expectations, but I do miss my lack of crafting space. Right now I am sitting under piles of boxes, overwhelmed in finding a place for it all. I took so many pictures of Martha's crafting area on her set. I was so envious of how neat and tidy it was. Of course, no one was using it, and it has to look neat, but it's Martha, and I bet her house looks like that too.

I am especially jealous of this crafting table. I only wish that I could find enough room in my house for something like this. It would certainly solve the storage issue. There has also been many posts by other bloggers, like Heather's, who have the most beautiful studios. If only I had that decorating/organizing gene in me!

This is a wall pocket that was on the side of the flower refridgerator. It held all the gardening tools and seed packets. Now I really want to make one of these!

Well, now I'm off to unpack and try to find places for things. Any suggestions on storing fabric in a small place? I have a ton!

Martha Martha MARTHA!

Yesterday was a big day for me! Not only did I get to go to NYC kid-less, but I was also lucky enough to go to a taping of the Martha Stewart Show. I am still in shock that I even got to go and that I was literally feet from her. Here's how my day went:

My mother-in-law , sister-in-law, and I left Baltimore by train at 6 am. We arrived in NYC at around 9 am. I should point out, that I grew up in Hyde park, NY which is about 1 1/2 north of the city. I miss the city a lot!! Anyway, we walked around for a bit while waiting for my aunt to arrive. We then headed down to W. 26th street to the studio where Martha is filmed, and got in line with a bunch of other excited women who were waiting for their tickets as well. Although, now that I think of it, I was much more excited. I am such a nerd! So, shortly after this, a nice young girl came out, took our names and gave us a ticket. It was so simple! We then had to be back an hr and a half later to go into the studio, so we went down the street for brunch. At 12:30 we went got in line, went through security, and enjoyed yummy chocolate chip cookies while filling out questionaires. By this point, I was so anxious to just get up to the studio. I couldnt wait for the show to start taping!

Then, we were all called into the studio and started filing in. There were about 5 different people directing us to our places. Somehow, we were seated right on the floor, eventhough there were plenty of other people there before us. My sister -in-law and I were right in the front row, next to where the greenhouse is on the set.

They go through a whole lot of directions with the audience, how to clap, when to clap, etc. Then the warm up guy, Joey, entertains for a while, until it is time for Martha to come out. This is the staff preparing the swaps outs for the food. I wish this wasn't so blurry!

Then they say... 10 seconds to go...ahh.. my heart starting racing, I turned bright red... I couldn't believe she was going to be right in front of me! It was so surreal, like watching it on tv, only we were actually there!

I must say, Ms. Martha is amazing at what she does. She only made one mistake the entire hour. Can you imagine that? She was also very funny and prettier and skinnier in person. My sister-in-law and I were staring at her very long, skinny legs through the whole show! We didn't get to meet her, but it was just as amazing to be at the show. I'll have to write more about the actually show later, it has taken me so long just to write this post.

Dolls Dolls everywhere!

So this year for Christmas, my 4 year old niece got an American Girl doll (Elizabeth) from Nana. Me being the super crafty, have to make all my Christmas presents, kind of person, decided to make a dress for the doll. I must say so myself that it did turn out beautifully, even though I had to stop and read the directions like a billion times and ask my mother in law for help. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of that dress, but will shortly as my sister in law and two kids are coming to visit today. Yay! Anyway, the neighboor next door, Layla, say the dress I was making for my niece and of course wanted an outfit of her own. So, she picked this cute little number, a vest, shirt, pants and beret. This was fun to make and I learned some nice techniques from it. Now, my niece wants the same exact outfit so she can play with Layla. She might be a little disappointed to find out that it's not made yet, but hey, they're here 2 days early! So here's Layla with her doll, Kaylee. (Not sure if I'm spelling that right). Oh, and the doll's hat is not on because she told me that she didn't like it that much. Gotta love honesty!

Crafty Adventure

So last night I decided that I would make a patchwork something out of all my lovely scraps. Little did I know that it was going to take more scraps than I had a lot more effort than I thought. So here's the outcome. A nice little pillow that I would like to donate to the Carlos Fund if they still need some items. I'm not sure if they do or not. But, it's a thought.

darn you blogger!

Ok.. so I just spent the last half hour talking about Isaiah almost being 1 year old and what I was doing at this time last year. But stupid blogger somehow managed to erase it in the blink of an eye, so now Im going to just post this picture of him practing walking. grrrrrrr... at least Isaiah is cute!

Busy Sewing away

A while ago, I happened upon a nice tutorial for making a patchwork quilted purse. I don't know where the link is, but I'll find it soon. Anyway, I love the purses and I was just dying to make some of my own, so this week was a busy sewing week. Here's how they turned out. The first one is a bit smaller than the other two because I only used 7 pieces for each side, instead of 8. Most of the fabric for the purple one came from my sister in law. She had a huge stash of fabrics from when my niece was a baby (4 years ago!). We loved sewing baby clothes for her and is pretty much when I started being obsessed with sewing.

This is my ebay fabric purchase purse! haha. say that ten times fast. The blue fabric is a vintage fabric that I just adore and had to have. It looks so pretty here and now Im using the same color scheme to make an Amy Butler purse, which is a task and a half.

And though it was intended to be, this is my Valentine's Day purse. This one is my fav and the thrid one I made. I did more quilting on this one and I think it made a big difference. I should have show a picture of the lining, but I forgot. Anyway, it is the same as the one with the small red flowers on the white background. This fabric is awesome and it was such a steal at Joann's, which rarely has fabric I love. Also, these last two have magnetic snaps that make the purse more functional, in my opinion.

I wish I could keep these for myself, but I must sell them to support my purse making habit and to decorate my new house. Off to take care of the little one. He is itching to get out of his corral and practice walking. Yikes!

Long time no post

Well, if I did this for a living, I would never get paid. It seems that I either have nothing interesting to say on a daily basis, or I am just really busy. Anyway, I've been working hard on the house and have had little time to myself. A couple of days ago, I found a tutorial for these purses online somewhere. I may find it later and share the link with you. Here's what I have come up with, and another one to follow soon. Also a picture of Isaiah's first time in the snow. He absolutely loved it! Crawling around in his huge snowsuit and eating the snow. It was the first snowfall of the winter and I'm happy to have had it, even if it was very small. Hope there's more to come soon.

It's been a long time...

I am really bad at this whole blogging deal. I am really envious of those people who seem to be able to write something everyday. And, not just anything, something interesting and with substance. I think part of my problem is that I don't write very well to begin with. When I first started John, my husband, we were in college and he would read my papers. I can tell you the first one he read was full of marks and corrections. I think that he thought he was dating a very dumb girl, or one that just couldn't write. In any case, I'll be trying to dream up of more things to write and projects to show. We just returned from Florida a few days ago and I'm trying to get back into the swing of things.

Recently I've been obsessed with making Yo-Yos. They are easy to make and ooooh so cute. Here's a great tutorial. I just love her stuff. It is so creative and it really makes me wish I were a better seamstress. Now if I could only figure out what to do with them.

Here's Isaiah's christmas picture with his cousins. We had a good time celebrating Isaiah's first Christmas. It's hard to believe last time this year I was still pregnant and about ready to pop. Anyway, I must go as Isaiah is refusing to fall asleep for the night.

Happy Little Clutches

well here are the finished clutches. The person placing this order will remain nameless, just in case any clutch recipients are reading this. So, you know who you are if you ordered these and I hope you adore them! I think they turned out very cute. I always love sewing bags from fabric combinations that people have chosen. It allows me to see other color and pattern combos that I may have never put together myself! So here are the bags for "nameless", so sorry if you absolutely have to have them because they are all for "nameless", but I would be happy to make you one anyway.

This one went along for the ride and is available to sale. Just contact me if you're interested.

I would also like to say a word about Lindsey Lohan (LL, as G and Ryan call her on E!News). I find her statement on attending AA hilarious. (you can find it here http://www.imdb.com, my main source of news haha). She says she's been going to AA for a year, but is only sober for 7 days. But then goes on to say she doesnt drink because she's not even legal. Oh the joys of a young person with tons of money and nothing better to do! Anyway, that's my news update for now.

Anatomy of a Clutch

I've been sewing up a storm and decided to document the process. Not every step has been included, but here's a quick synopsis....





The cutting begins..








All cut out and waiting for interfacing..





Pile of all the pieces with darts sewn in








Sewn up, trimmed and ready to be turned right side out














I'll post the finished clutches when done!!

Clutches

I just wanted to clarify my earlier post on the clutches. The three pictures below were each at cost, $10 as those were the first ones I had made. They are now $20 each. Sorry for any confusion!

New Bags

Well.. I'm back from Florida and I've been busy trying to get some new bags put together. This has proved to be a difficult task as Isaiah is getting into everything. We left the saucer at our new house and I have nothing here to corral him. Coupled with the fact that he is not napping as he usually does, I have little time to sew without chasing after him. Anyway, here's what I've been able to get done so far. Two are just the usual tote style, one large, one small. The other is a new design I'm working on. I'm pleased with how it's turned out, but I still need to perfect the little details. Anyway... here they are:

Returning from Florida

Well, I've been on a little bit of a hiatus because I have been in Florida for the past two weeks visiting my sister-in-law and her new baby. I hope to have some pictures up shortly and to have some new bags to show off this week. Just in time for Christmas shopping!