So just in case you're wondering where I went for the last week or so, I went on a much deserved sun-soaked vacation.  I know, I know, it's October, but it turns out it's the perfect time to go to St. Augustine Florida to enjoy the last few days of warm ocean water.  No one else seems to know this, so we kinda get the beach to ourselves.

This year we hadn't planned on going until my husband was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma in March.  We decided then that once he was done with treatments we would celebrate with a trip with the family down to Florida.  We have been going to St. Augustine since I have been married to Matt and taking family vacations.  I love it there!  It's America's oldest city.  Where Ponce de Leon came to America.  While the locals say there is the fountain of youth there, I really think it's just the Palm trees, the sand and the surf that makes you feel younger.


So there were the 7 of us in Florida for 7 days.  and while I was on vacation, I still had to attend my online class to Anatomy and Physiology.  My internet connection didn't behave though and got booted off so often it just wasn't worth staying on.  But even though I didn't get to hear my teacher, I still studied. (Yes Mrs. Eastman, I did!)  But I also thought about what I would talk to you about when I got back.  I think the first thing should be to finish up the last post I had before I left.  I was writing about a dress I was working on.  The pattern was too small for me but I had already cut the pieces before I realized my horrible mistake.  But then got the brilliant idea to use the pattern to my advantage and try it anyways.  Well, let me say the matching process took FOREVER! But even though I was able to match the pattern of the fabric, it still didn't work out too well, but because it's such a dark fabric and the placement of the extra pieces, it is hidden enough that you can't really see the extra panels.

I know, I should have put some shoes on! But oh well, it's finished and I love it!!

I took it to Florida thinking I'd get a chance to wear it, but alas, no luck.  That's okay, I'll wear it soon.

Now I'm off to finish my knitted sweater vest before it gets any cooler here.

Happy crafting!

I bet you're wondering where I have been this past week?

BUSY!!  I had some new neighbors move in a couple of houses down and some cleaning to do to get ready for my vacation in a week.  So what did I do during this time as far as crafts?  I did some knitting on my sweater vest and then some on a gift for someone for christmas and started sewing a dress for myself.

I've always wanted to be able to make clothes for myself and my family.  This time, I'll be the guinea pig and make a dress that is really easy so far.  I did the worst part of it already, but went to try it on, and wouldn't you know I looked at the measurements wrong.  When I looked at the measurements on the packet, it said a 22 is for a bust of 46.  For some gosh-darn-it reason I thought that was for the band size.  I'm actually a 50 in the bust.  So I need to fix that.  But I can't just re-cut the pieces since I got the fabric on clearance and there was only so much of it left on the bolt.  I have a little left, but not enough to fix the problem.  So what I'm thinking I will do is just take off the lining and re-cut those since I bought MORE than enough of that and then just add 2 inches to each side of the seam.  Since it will be under my arms, it shouldn't be that noticeable and maybe if I'm clever enough I can try to match the print exactly so you wouldn't be able to see it ever.

This is the pattern I am using.  I did modify the neckline to match the dress on the left, but like the cap sleeve on the right.  So on the pattern I transferred the markings to make the neckline I wanted on the right side or dress B pattern.  

This is the top.  I got it for $4.00 a yard at Joann's. I'm so excited to see it coming together.  I will post pictures when I get more done.  But for now, I will take a break and finish it tomorrow.

Happy Crafting!!

Today is Saturday and my day for getting the house spic and span.   I also don't want my house to take my breath away with all the chemicals from cleaning.  But what can I use that will clean and not make me have to vacate my home till it airs out?  Natural cleaning products.  Recently I shared with you my all-purpose spray to clean anything that you need to wipe down.  But now I need to figure out how to clean my floors. Currently I have linoleum floors in my kitchen and each bathroom and carpet that's as old as my husband in the other areas of my home.  Talk about gross!  I can just imagine the amount of dirt underneath that carpet. We do plan on replacing all the floors in the next few months, but for now it's still the same thing when we moved in.  The linoleum is pretty old and cracking around the edges and rolling up where the cabinets meet the floor.  Then the seams are coming apart and holding tons of dirt.  The texture is so deep that the dirt just won't come up no matter how much I scrub.

So here I am with ugly disgusting floors and no matter how many times I sweep or mop, it just doesn't look any cleaner.  For awhile now I have owned the Libman Freedom Mop.  I love it because the scrub pads can be washed.  I have two for the times I forget to wash the other one to reuse it.  It also allows you to use your own cleaner.  No more throwing away the wipes that don't go very far anyways before having to replace it. I think for my kitchen floor I'd have to use like 3 of the wipes to get my floor clean.  They dry out so fast.  So when I bought this, I don't waste my money on those things anymore!

I also read other people's blogs and am an avid pinner on Pintrest.  I came across several pins that showed a good floor cleaner that is made from natural or no harsh chemicals.  I saw one in particular from Food.com that looked easy and I already had the ingredients to make it.  I wanted to do it right then so that appealed to me.  The author of the recipe is The Daycare Lady.  She states that this will clean any floor and make your house smell good too.

Floor Grease Cutter Cleaner

1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup washing soda  found in the laundry aisle close to fabric softeners in Walmart
1 tbsp of liquid dish soap
2 gallons of warm water

She does say not use on waxed floors because it may make your wax on the floor come up and get gunky.

So I did this and poured some in my Libman mop and went to work.  I decided to spray some on the floor and let it soak just to make sure it did the job.  I have to say WOW!!!!   I didn't realize how BAD my floors were.  I had used a magic eraser mop head when I moved in to clean them from being horribly dirty, but they sadly discontinued those.  I wish I had known that a long time ago because I would have bought them all!!!

But I also had issues with spots that were on my floor from the texture I mentioned.  I sprayed it down with some of the all purpose cleaner and let it sit.  After a few minutes, I grabbed my cleaning cloth and started to wipe it away.  I took a little elbow grease, but I LOVE the cleaning it gave me.  My floors have never looked better.  Even after I used the Magic Eraser mop head.  It is all natural and doesn't smell strong.  It left a lighter smelling kitchen.
I adore this and will never use anything else again.

I'm off to find more ways to clean my home with no harsh chemicals!

Have a crafty day!

Another Thursday morning!  It seems like the week has just flown by!  As I sit here in my pj's wondering what to do this weekend, I know that it should be on starting prep work for the trip we will be taking in a couple of weeks. 

I have watched my son's sleeping habits in the car lately and have noticed how his neck is craned over and it just looks so uncomfortable.  I can't stand to see him like that, so about a week ago I had this brilliant idea to make a Seat Pet look-a-like.  I didn't care if it looked exactly like it, but wanted the ability to make sure his head had a pillow to sleep on.  I did want to make it so it would cover the seat belt in front of him to make sure it didn't fall down.  The first one I made the head was too small.  It worked, but his head would fall off easily.  Plus when he wasn't using it, the head would flop down.  So I got the idea to make the pillow head bigger and then add a flap with Velcro to hold it on the seat belt too. 

The original Seat Pet has a cushier body and a pocket with a zipper to hold stuff, but like I said, I don't think he needs that.  Plus I didn't have a ton of time to figure it out.  Or a ton of supplies to keep trying. 

So here's his new Seat Belt friend.  His is a black and white puppy.  I made the whole body from black cotton.

I made the strap cover 9 inches wide.  I wanted to have 2 3/4 flap on either side of the middle 4 inches. That way there would be 5 inches of fabric to fold around the seat belt.  I used a pillow sewing method to build the seat belt cover portion.  Once I had it sewn up on three sides, I slipped in some natural cotton batting.  Then I just put it under the sewing machine taking care to fold the seam in toward the batting.  I sewed a straight line right on top.  Then I added the Velcro strips.  I took my flaps and placed them folded the way that they would be on the seat belt, then sewed my Velcro strips appropriately.   Then came the head.  I basically did an 8 inch oval.  I had previously done a 4 inch oval, but that wasn't big enough.  I also didn't line the first one and the stuffing started to try to come out slowly.  So I wanted to make sure that didn't happen again.  This time I added a lining to make sure that didn't happen again.  I didn't want to use the cotton again afraid that it would still poke out, so I used some satin I had lying around.  I just cut four pieces total of the head.  Two of the cotton and then two of the satin.  I cut two 4 inch pieces of cotton and used the same method as the seat belt cover.  I sewed on the Velcro to one side of the flap. Then on one of the pieces of cotton, I stitched the flap on.  Then using the flap, placed the other side of the Velcro and stitched it on the head.  I sandwiched them together putting the cotton with the fronts facing each other, then on either side placing the satin lining on the top and bottom of the cotton with the front facing out. 

Then I sewed those layers together leaving an opening to pull it inside out.  I wanted to make the eyes stand out, so I cut some felt and then sewed them on using a running stitch.  Then I added the button eyes and sewed on the mouth. Once done, I filled with Poly-fil stuffing.  It comes in a bag and when you pull some out it looks like little balls of batting.  I stuff it to the desired firmness.  I made sure mine was pretty firm.  I used the invisible stitch method to close it up.  I added the ears and then stitched on the tongue.  I then stitched it to the seat belt cover using the invisible stitch.  I did that on both side of the head and seat cover. 

And Voila!  You have your very own Seat Pet!  If you want, you could make a stitched tube in the center of the seat belt cover and stuff it.  The originals also had arms and legs. 

Here are the pictures of mine.

 

 

I hope you find this helpful.  Have a wonderful day!

Good Day!
Today was a cool day here in Signal Mountain, TN.  Makes me feel like Fall is here more and more.  As well as the fact that my kitchen has been beckoning me to it for the last week.

I love this time of year because of the warmth of my oven and the smells going through my small house.  My husband of 8 years loves it too.  To be honest, when he was in the mood for something from the oven, he would turn on the Food Network Channel knowing it'd make me want to make something.

I LOVE to bake and could do it all day everyday.  In fact once my son is grown, I want to open my own cookie store/cafe.  Now that the days are getting shorter and cooler, I feel drawn to make tons of goodies for all my friends and family.  I promise that I won't go overboard because we're all trying to watch our waistlines.  But luckily for you, I can put the recipes on here for my favorite goodies so that you can make it and I feel like I did.

One of the things I love to make is Pie.  Absolutely love how I can take some flour and shortening and mold it into the best pie crust and then fill it to my heart's content.  I had such a hard time finding a recipe for an apple pie like you find in restaurants.  Finally I found one that allows the apples to cook properly and not be over or under cooked.  I found a recipe that seemed like it would be a good one because of the age of it, but not quite.  It called for hot water in the pie.  First it seemed too much ( 1 cup ) and second shouldn't the apples make it more moist by baking it?  But I tried it anyways and the crust was soggy and the apples weren't cooked.  I even tried to just use the canned apple pie filling, but was left wanting a homemade apple pie even more.  It was too soft.  Finally, I found the perfect recipe by adding what I liked about one pie recipe and removing what I didn't like.  And today I'm going to share this recipe with you.  You lucky dogs!

First off, don't be put off by the vinegar in the pie crust.  Trust me on this.  Put it in there.  It will make your crust flaky but not so flaky you can't take it out of the plate.  Second, I have to dice my apples.  I did this to make sure that the pieces were small enough that the heat would distribute evenly and cook them thoroughly.
But if you like them sliced, by all means go ahead and slice them thinly.  One more thing and I promise the recipe is next.  Make sure you let that pie cool COMPLETELY before slicing into it.

Perfect Crust

Makes 2 double crust pies

3 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/4 cups shortening
1 tsp vinegar
1 egg slightly beaten room temperature
6-8 tbsp water
1 tsp salt

Cut shortening in flour until resembles cornmeal.  You can do this with your hands or I use a pastry blender.
In separate bowl mix egg , water, vinegar and salt.  Make a well in the flour and add the wet ingredients.
Mix together just till it combines in chunks of dough.  Divide into 4 portions.  Wrap and chill for two hours.
Use a small amount of flour to dust your counter and roll out till 1/4 inch thick.  Fold in half then again to make a large wedge.  Place wedge in 1/4 of the pie plate and then unfold.  Make sure to press it gently when fitting it into pie plate.

Apple Pie

6 medium Fuji or Gala apples
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 stick butter
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp flour

Preheat oven to 450.
Peel apples and either slice them thin or dice.  Place in a bowl and add the sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, cornstarch and flour.  Toss well to combine.  Place in a crust and then top with butter.  Place another crust on top, flute and then cut vents.   Bake at 450 for 10 mins.  Reduce to 350 for another 35 minutes. Cool completely.

This is the Apple Pie I made for my best friend who was feeling ill and needed a pick me up.   I got this fabulous crust cutter at a local apple farm.  I used the pieces that were cut out to decorate the top.  To make it stick I brushed the crust with egg white.  Since it was wet I added some sugar to the top too.

I hope you enjoy and have a wonderful day!

Cleaning day

Today I don't have to go anywhere so my hubby took the car to work himself.  So I'm home alone with my 4 year old.  What's a girl to do all day long?

Clean!!!!!

It's time to straighten up after a week of adventures in our house.  Now, I do clean during the week, but about once a week I give the house a good cleaning as a clean slate.  Kind of starting over.  It's still not perfect because let's face it,  we actually live in our house with a 4 year old boy.  Impossible to keep clean.  But I try to spend a little bit of time everyday to keep it all under control.  So today will be laundry day for Ben and then putting things back in their home and dusting.  I will vaccum and clean the toilet today.  I have two bathrooms, but Matt uses that one alone so that's his job.  

Let's talk cleaning supplies.  Do you just buy what's on the shelf at the store or are you trying to find something less harmful to the environment?  I had to change after my husband started chemo.  The smells if conventional cleaners hurt his lungs and made his nausea worse.  I even made my own laundry soap.  I also have asthma so when I switched,  it was also good for me and my lungs.  

Here's the recipe for an all purpose cleaner.

2 tsp vinegar

1 tsp borax

1/4 cup Castile soap

Essential oil for scent

Distiller warm water

Funnel vinegar and borax in a spray bottle.  Add Castile soap and a few drops of essential oil and swirl.  Fill with warm water.  Swirl again.  Use as needed on counters or anywhere you need a good cleaning.  Shake before using.

I love it and use it in my kitchen mostly.  It's safe for wood.  I also use lemon essential oil because it has anti microbial properties.  

I hope you enjoy and comment if you have a favorite cleaning recipe to share.

My new passion

I have re-discovered sewing.  One of my neighbors son was turning 5.  Close to losing his teeth.  So I made him a Monster tooth fairy pillow. He loved it!  

I decided it was so cute, that I'd make one for my son's best friend for his 5th birthday.  Now I'm thinking of selling them on Etsy.  

In just a few weeks I'm going to go on vacation.  My son has been napping in the car lately since he won't nap in his bed.  His head, of course, flips to the side.  Looks very uncomfortable.  I can't buy a Seat Pet, so I decided to try and make one from fabric I already own.  

I need to make a few tweaks,  but I'll post a pic on here soon.  

Have a crafty day!!!