Ruby Chickadee

yarn wreath

2010-12-17T05:47:00.000-08:00

I showed this wreath in a previous post but wanted to share a little about how I made it.

I bought:
a Styrofoam wreath form
a skein of yarn

Already had:
fabri-tac
fabric scraps
hot glue gun

I wrapped the yarn around the wreath form tightly one time a around and then haphazardly a few times more.

I made some fabric flowers (google it, you'll find all sorts of tutorials!) by cutting some long strips of fabric and twisting and turning them into a circle, occasionally securing them with Fabri-Tac. I played with the flowers a little deciding on placement, then hot glued them to the yarn wrapped wreath.

I needed something to hang it with so I braided three strips of fabric and wrapped it around the top for a hanging loop. Viola! Super easy cute wreath!

quilted note cards

2010-12-14T09:51:00.000-08:00

I made a few of these "quilted" note cards the other evening to put with teacher gifts. It was about 4:00 pm when I started them. I don't know why on earth I thought that was a good time. Stella is usually pretty cranktastic around 4. I think I was just trying to kill time before we all piled in the car to drive around and look at Christmas lights. Stella stood next to me trying to grab EVERYTHING off the table, tripping over the sewing machine cord, crying and trying to get me to pick her up. I only got 3 done. I really like them. I will definitely be making more!

We ended up not even getting to see lights. The snow started really coming down and kept us snuggled inside playing old maid.

baking with kids

2010-12-13T09:15:00.000-08:00

We made gingerbread muffins the other day and I thought I would document our baking adventure. Ruby and I usually bake together while Stella is napping. It's just easier that way. It didn't work out like that the other day and we had to do it with the Stella monster at our feet. I can't forget to mention the dog who stands right under us willing things to fall with her mind.

Ruby likes to help get everything out and open the containers. She refuses to stand on the stool unless she has shoes or socks on. It's always an ordeal, her getting shoes on so we can start. We organize everything in the order we use them, usually dry ingredients together and wet together

As we mixed and such Stella kept trying to climb the stool and Ruby kept stepping on her fingers. Lots of crying and whining. Stella thinks that she should be able to do everything that Ruby does. She really looks up to her big sister!

This girl loves to mix! She may not be the best at but she sure thinks it's fun. She also like to crack the eggs. She did a great job when we made these muffins but most of the time we end up shells in the bowl and egg all over.

Then we (meaning me!) cleaned up while the muffins baked. I try to clean up as we go so we don't have a HUGE mess at the end.

The girls sat on the couch waiting for the timer to buzz. They love to periodically look into the oven to make sure they are , in the words of Ruby, "lookin' good!".

Finally! Time to eat!!

If you're Stella you eat and DESTROY!

Gingerbread Muffins

1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. milk
1/2 c. oil
1/4 c. molasses
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375

Combine all dry ingredients; stir well to break up brown sugar. Beat together liquid ingredients and stir into dry mixture just until moistened. Do not over stir. Spoon batter into 12 paper lined muffin cups. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon sugar (er used very coarse sugar) over each muffin. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

gingerbread house and a mini snowman

2010-12-09T15:24:00.001-08:00

I bought a gingerbread house kit a few weeks ago at Target with Ruby. I have done one of these in the past with no luck. It totally fell apart. Ruby really wanted to do one so I agreed. I think it turned out pretty cute for what you get in the box! The icing was pre-made in a plastic bag. You had to knead it to make it soft enough to work with. It didn't work very well!

Ruby was interested in decorating it for all of about 5 minutes then all she wanted to do was eat the candy that came in the kit. I told her she could have whatever was left. She made sure there was a lot left.

The roof slid off a bit and gumballs went crashing down even though we waited 15 minutes after putting the roof on before decorating like the directions say. Oh well, it was fun nonetheless!

It snowed a little over the weekend and Ruby was begging to play outside. To say that I dislike playing in the snow would be understatement. If the girls want to play in the snow Lance has to take them. Lance too Ruby out and they built this adorable tiny little snowman! The first one of winter!

around the house

2010-12-08T15:23:00.000-08:00

The Reading Corner

2010-12-02T16:10:00.001-08:00

Ruby loves to read. She reads all the time. I wanted to set up a space in her room where she could cuddle up and read till her hearts content.

She got the little chair for her 1st birthday and she loves the dollhouse shelf. I wanted to add something to make it a little bit more magical and special for her. I whipped up this fabric pennant banner and hung it up. She LOVES it! She said its beautiful. She also told me that Stella needs one for her room because it's not pretty. I happen to think that Stella has a very pretty room. I guess Ruby doesn't share the same sentiment. Of course Miss Stella loves the reading corner for a different reason, destruction!

Give Thanks Jar

2010-11-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

Lets ignore that fact that the last time I posted was in May and jump right in...

Since November is the month of Thanksgiving I wanted to do something to help Ruby ( and really all of us!) understand and think about how much we have to be thankful for. Everyday each member of our family is to write something they are thankful for on a piece of paper and drop it into the Give Thanks Jar. We will do this everyday leading up to Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving we will dump out the jar and read all the wonderful things we are thankful for.

Ruby has been having a great time with this activity. She reminds all of us, especially her Daddy, to fill out our give thanks cards.

custom iPad cover

2010-05-06T18:17:00.001-07:00

Sunday was my wonderful husbands 33rd birthday. He is so hard to buy gifts for and I had no idea what to get him. What do you get the man who has everything? He has recently gotten and iPad and he had no case for it. Ahh perfect! I decided to make a lightly padded iPad case as his birthday gift.

It was a pretty easy project. I measured the iPad and cut a template (1/2" bigger all the way around). I then cut two pieces of canvas, two pieces of batting and two pieces of the lining fabric. I quilted the canvas and batting pieces together and sewed 3 of the 4 edges making a pocket. I sewed the lining pieces the same way (but no quilting) leaving a space open on the bottom for flipping. I put the pockets inside each other right sides together sewed around the top edges and then flipped them right side out, pressed it and then sewed around the top again..viola!

Did that make sense to anyone but me?? Hah!

I should add that the iPad fits all the way into the pouch quite snugly. I left it sticking out a bit for photo purposes.

shirts repurposed

2010-05-03T10:38:00.001-07:00

These shirts became this little outfit for Ruby:

I cut the polo shirt the length I wanted it to be and sewed a casing at the top for the elastic. I threaded the elastic through and sewed it shut. So easy! I then cut strips from the striped shirt twirled them into a circle and sewed them onto the skirt and shirt. Not too shabby for an almost free outfit!

squirrel in da house!

2010-04-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

Holy Crap! About 10 seconds after this picture was taken this squirrel was running through my house like a maniac!

Like a typical Thursday Stella and I went to pick Ruby up from school. All was well when we left the house. When we got home I put everything down as usual and Ruby sat on the couch to take her shoes off. I was setting some things down on the dining room table when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I walk into the kitchen to see this little butthole stuck between the screen door and the kitchen door. The crazy squirrel chewed a hole in the screen and crawled in!!! I thought I would grab the camera and take a picture, too funny to pass up right? So I take this picture and BAM! the thing crawls under the flipping door and into my house! I scream as it's running at me, then it bolts into the dining room and living room all the while I'm screaming and Ruby is screaming as it runs past her which then make Stella scream. I didn't know what to do so I grab my purse and the girls and run out the front door. As we are making our way to safety I see the creature run back into the kitchen and go to the door.

Ruby, Stella and I are on the front porch not knowing what to do I try to call Lance but he was busy and couldn't answer. I call my mom and luckily she was right down the street and willing to help us out. She comes over and sweeps through the entire house searching for Mr. Squirrel. He must have crawled back under the door because she found no trace of him. How's that for an eventful afternoon!?

I love wildlife just not in my house!

reverse prints

2010-04-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what else to call these other than reverse prints. These are cute and super easy. I painted a canvas and had Ruby press her hands into the wet paint. When she picked them back up we were left with these cute little prints. We repeated the same thing but used Stella's feet.

I haven't decided where I'm going to hang these yet...

These would make a great Mother's Day or Father's Day gifts!

Happy Earth Day

2010-04-22T17:23:00.000-07:00

garden adventure

2010-04-19T18:04:00.001-07:00

I am so excited to dive into our gardening adventure this summer! Our friends have been doing raised gardens for a few years with great success. Every time they go out of town during the growing season I volunteer myself to take care of the gardens. I spend a little time watering and checking things out and I get to harvest and keep anything that is ready, pretty good payoff! Ruby always accompanies me on this task and really enjoys it, plus she likes to play with all the toys in their backyard, hah!

Well, this year it's our turn to give growing our own food a whirl. Ruby is so excited, she has been asking to have our own garden for that past two summers. I am stoked to spend less money at the farmers market! My wonderful husband made her dream come true over the weekend. He took time out of his busy schedule to build us this 4 x 8 raised bed. We filled it with 21 bags of organic garden soil, we could still use a few more. I am still trying to decide exactly what we should grow. I am thinking zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes and herbs, nothing difficult for our first year.

I have wonderful visions of me tending to the garden, Ruby helping then doing her own thing while Stella lays on a blanket in the shade and soaks up her surroundings.

homemade laundry powder

2010-04-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

I'm always looking for ways to save money and be easy on the environment. I had read about making your own laundry powder but thought it seemed unnecessary then I thought about how much I pay for eco-friendly detergent. Seemed like a no brainer that I should give it a try. I searched and searched for a recipe that sounded good to me and I ended up mix combining a few.

Homemade Laundry Powder

1 bar grated castile soap (like Dr. Bronners. You can use Fels-Naptha but that's not as eco-friendly)
1 cup washing soda
1 cup borax
1 cup baking soda

Mix together and use 2 tablespoons per load

When you grate your soap you will get shreds like this but they won't dissolve well if you wash in cold water like we do. I put these into my food processor and pulverized them to make a powder. Much better!

After everything is mixed store it in a jar. I've noticed that it settles and clumps a bit so you need to periodically give it a good shake.

I've washed 3 loads with this now, towel, colors and whites. It works really well but I have noticed that I need to pretreat some stains more so than I would if I was using a regular detergent. All in all I give it 2 thumbs up!

learning to write

2010-04-11T16:48:00.001-07:00

Awhile back I was looking for an activity to keep Ruby busy. I was really excited when I came across this website where you can type and print our own handwriting practice sheets. Not only did I come up with something to keep her busy but it was also something to further her education, woot! Ruby loves letters and writing her name so this was perfect! She has been able to write her name for a while now but it's not always legible. These are the perfect practice sheets for her to really understand the shapes of the letters. She giggled when she saw the one that said "I am a rockstar".

ruffle butt

2010-04-09T10:15:00.001-07:00

I wanted to share this little ruffle butt onesie that was in Stella's Easter basket. There is nothing cute than a baby with a ruffley butt! I used the tutorial on Ucreate, the directions for without a serger. The tutorial was easy to follow and took no time at all. The onesie I used is from Old Navy, don't remember how much it cost and I used some scraps from my stash. You can't see it in the picture but I also added a square applique to the front in the same fabric. Cute! I have to dress her in this stuff while I still can!

"Mom, I'm done!"

The headband she is wearing is going to be a whole different post....

sisters

2010-04-06T10:52:00.001-07:00

Stella is finally at the age where she is getting to be a lot more fun for Ruby to interact with. It fills my heart with joy to see the two of them smiling and belly laughing at each other. The other morning Stella was jibber jabbing on the floor while I went to get Ruby up for the day, she was getting kind of loud, Ruby heard her and said with a chuckle, "Hang on Stella, I'm coming!". She couldn't wait to see her baby sister. *sigh* I hope it always stays that way. I wish for them to be good friends through life and always be able to lean on each other. Stella thinks Ruby is the bees knees too, she is always looking for her and smiling at her. Looking up to her big sister, learning things from her. I hope my girls can have the kind of friendship my sister and I have. I am looking forward to watching their relationship grow as they do.

overnight oatmeal

2010-03-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

This is my new favorite breakfast. It's filling and keeps me going until lunch. I also like the fact that you put it together the night before so it's ready in the morning, no fuss. I love oatmeal but I find that instant doesn't keep me full very long and is loaded with sugar. I hate cooking the other kind so overnight oatmeal is the perfect solution!

Overnight Oatmeal
serves 4

2 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking)
2 cups milk
vanilla extract, cinnamon and brown sugar to suit your taste
(I usually use 1 tsp brown sugar per serving, a dash of vanilla and a lot of cinnamon)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, cover and put in the refrigerator over night.
You can either heat it up or eat it cold. I like mine hot.

Topping ideas:
berries (I often throw some frozen ones in mine before I heat it in the microwave)
bananas
diced apples/pears
chopped nuts

Enjoy!

too soon

2010-03-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

We had to say goodbye to our dog Chopper last night. He was only 8 years old but lost the ability to walk and was having seizures multiple times a week. It was time but that didn't make it any easier. He will be greatly missed. I love you Chopper Chew!

for the easter basket

2010-03-22T10:17:00.001-07:00

The Easter Bunny will be putting these little lovelies in Miss Ruby's basket this year. Cute, right? The pattern for the crown is over at Juicy Bits. Great pattern. It's not a great picture but you get the idea. I hand stitched the flowers on the crown instead of using the machine, I think it adds a bit more whimsy. For the wand I found a star that I liked and used it as a template. I added a mid weight iron on backing to make the stars a bit more stiff. We all know how rough 3 year olds can be on things, I would like this to last! I stitched it all together, stuffed it and glued it to a ribbon wrapped dow rod. I hope this adds a little magic to her life...

Maybe Stella will get a ruffle butt onesie....hmmm

coffee cozy

2010-03-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite little gifts to sew. I got the pattern from House On Hill Road. It's super easy and cute. I made this one for my mom as a birthday gift. I paired it with a gift card to Starbucks. When I purchased the gift card I asked for an empty cup. I put this, the card and a piece of candy in the the cup. I wrapped it in plastic and tied it with bakers twine, viola, a cute and easy gift!

tricky tricky

2010-03-18T10:05:00.001-07:00

A tricky little leprechaun was lurking around our house yesterday. He turned the yogurt green at breakfast, the applesauce green at lunch and at dinner he turned the chocolate chip pancakes green! Tricky tricky little guy...

time flies

2010-03-16T09:58:00.000-07:00

I can't...
...believe...
...she is...
... 4 months old!

chewy cupcake brownies

2010-02-08T11:23:00.000-08:00

Chewy Cupcake Brownies adapted from Weight Watchers

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cups unpacked brown sugar
1 Tbs unpacked brown sugar
3 Tbs unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 tsp vinegar
1 1/2 tsp margarine , melted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In a second bowl stir together remaining ingredients. Pour water mixture over flour mixture and stir until batter is smooth.
Pour into a nonstick 12-hole muffin tin coated with cooking spray, filling until half full. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.
Remove from oven. Let sit 5 minutes, then turn out onto rack to completely cool.

I love these little cakes! They are a great semi-healthy little treat. If you do weight watchers it is only 1 point for one of these little guys. They taste super yummy with a little fat free whipped cream on the top.

welcome february

2010-02-01T10:48:00.001-08:00

We have a tent to hide in...

...cuddles to keep us warm....

...and of course a mound of laundry to fold.

I am trying a new recipe as well, slow cooker blueberry coffee cake. If it turns out good I will post the recipe. It sounded too interesting to pass up!

a little tea party

2010-01-28T10:27:00.000-08:00

What little girl doesn't want to have a tea party? Last week when Ruby and I were at the library she picked out a Fancy Nancy book about tea parties. The book had snack ideas and such, it sounds like fun. We made some fancy tea party snacks and invited grandma over. Ruby was so excited! Our fancy snacks consisted of:
Raspberry yogurt covered pretzels
Oatmeal cranberry cookies
Carrots
Ants on a log
Mixed berry swirls
Marshmallow and banana slices on a toothpick
Gingerbread tea and
Apple juice
We put all the snacks on a fancy plate and used cloth napkins.
It was the perfect way to spend an afternoon, it was special.

my little stella library

2010-01-21T07:40:00.000-08:00

Every child loves to have items with his/her name on it, right? I happened across a Stella book at the library while I was pregnant with Miss Stella. We already had Stella picked out as her name and Ruby and I thought it was pretty cool to see a book with her name as the title. We checked it out and Ruby (and I) fell in love. I decided to search for more and check those out as well. We love them! The other day I was browsing Amazon.com for some stuff and happened across the My Little Stella Library! Score!

It comes with four of the Stella books,
Stella, Star of the Sea
Stella, Princess of the Sky
Stella, Fairy of the Forest
Stella, Queen of the Snow
These books are about the adventures of Stella and her little brother Sam. Sam asks a lot of questions and Stella answers them, sometimes silly and sometimes correct.

I adore the pictures in these little books and Ruby enjoys reading about all the silly things Stella and Sam talk about. Check them out when you get a chance!

oatmeal cranberry cookies, healthy style

2010-01-18T11:02:00.000-08:00

I love to bake so I am forever on a quest to make my baked goods healthier. I guess so I don't feel bad when I shove it all in my mouth! I came across this recipe for Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies the other day and thought I would give it a try. I was pretty excited to see that they only called for 2 TBS of butter as opposed to 2 sticks. Ruby and I whipped up a batch of these bad boys and they are so good! It seems like when you make a "healthy" cookie the consistency is usually off, but these are perfect, chewy goodness!

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup dried cranberries

2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper, foil, or silicone mats

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and set the rack on the lower and upper thirds of the oven.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar until smooth. Mix in the brown sugar, then the egg, applesauce, and vanilla.

4. Stir in the dry ingredients, then the oats and cranberries.

5. Drop the batter by rounded teaspoons 2-inches apart on the baking sheets and use a fork to gently flatten the dough.

6. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes.

The recipe made about 24 cookies (I like bigger cookies). I put some in the cookie jar and some in the freezer. They freeze really well. You could use raisins or chocolate chips instead of cranberries if you want.

necklace

2010-01-11T11:24:00.001-08:00

I received this wonderful necklace as a Christmas gift from my brother. I had been wanting a piece of jewelry with both girls names on it since Stella was born. This necklace is perfect! It's from Moppetscloset. It is just the right size and beautifully stamped. My brother chose the little pictures below the names and he couldn't have chose more perfectly, a chickadee for Ruby and a star for Stella.

well hello 2010...

2010-01-04T12:17:00.000-08:00

...you kind of snuck up on me! Hopefully 2010 will bring some more blogging! I haven't been crafting much lately since Miss Stella likes to be held to sleep and when she does lay down I have a house to clean and Ruby to play with!
So here's to a new year...

announcement

2009-11-18T08:21:00.001-08:00

This is the gorgeous birth announcement my sister in law made for Miss Stella. I love the way it turned out. I asked her to make something "old lady-ish". It turned out perfect!

She's here!

2009-11-01T06:21:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the world Stella Evangeline! Born on October 27th at 8:39 pm, weighing 8lbs 1 oz, 20.5 inches long. We are all doing well and adjusting to life with a preschooler and infant.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween!

warmth

2009-10-20T07:48:00.001-07:00

We went out to dinner the other day and I put one of the scarves I had knitted and Ruby couldn't take her eyes off of it. She told me, "I wish I had a scarf like that." I did what any crafty mom would do, I told her I would make her one as well. She was so happy you would have thought I handed her a new toy. I love the fact that she gets so excited over the handmade items her Mama makes her.

I took her to the store but apparently they don't carry the yarn I used for my scarf so I let her pick out what she wanted. She really wanted it to be blue. We found this super soft and chunky blue with green yarn. It matches her new coat perfectly, score! I started knitting it last night and will be finished with it today. Ruby is funny, she thinks it should be done already. "Mommy is my scarf done yet!?"

mobile redo

2009-10-01T07:54:00.000-07:00

Ruby had a mobile when she was a baby that we had gotten at Pottery Barn Kids. It was expensive so I wanted to reuse it in the baby's room. One problem, the brightly colored butterflies and purple cover didn't really match the decor we have in the nursery. My solution was to strip it down to nothing and start over. I hand sewed little stuffed hearts from wool felt and secured them with ribbon. It turned out perfect! It's simple and goes really well in the room, plus I didn't have to buy a new one. That's always a plus.

This is what the mobile looked like before, sorry it's not the best picture

cozy toes

2009-09-29T10:09:00.001-07:00

I've been slowly but surely finishing up little project for the arrival of this little baby. I made these last weekend with this pattern. I messed up in a few spots but oh well, the baby won't care.
I made them extra cozy but lining them with warm, soft fleece. All nice and snuggly!

around the house on a friday

2009-09-18T10:06:00.001-07:00

Have a wonderful weekend!

reuse crayons

2009-09-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Ruby and I made these giant crayons. We took the paper off all the broken pieces put them in the oven and melted them into these fun swirly creations. This is a great way to use up all those pieces you would end up throwing in the garbage. Creating less garbage is always a good thing!

Heat the oven to 275
Put the crayon pieces in a muffin tin (you may want to spray them with vegetable oil) for about 7-10 minutes, keep checking them
Remove and let them cool completely, hit the bottom of the tin to help release the crayons

baby stuff

2009-09-14T06:31:00.001-07:00

I've been slowly working on decorations for the new babies room. It's not like when I was pregnant with Ruby and her room was totally done by the time I was 28 weeks. Crazy! I only have a few more things to do in order to make it complete, we'll see how long it takes to get those few things done.

I made this name banner from the book Stitched In Time by Alicia Paulson. I think it turned out pretty cute, although the one in the book is cuter. For Ruby I had hand painted wooden letters and hung them over her crib, but that just didn't seem like it was going to match what we have going on in this room. I needed something softer, more vintagey; if that makes sense. The banner from the book seemed to fit the bill.

I decided that we needed a pillow on the rocker. When I started thinking about all the late night/ early morning rockings and feedings I remembered that the chair was a bit uncomfortable because of it's low back. There is nowhere to rest your head. That seems like a pretty important feature to have left off a rocking chair. A pillow to shove behind my head when I can't hold it up anymore seemed like a necessary addition. A bought a pillow insert and whipped up this pillow cover I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

I love the addition of the vintage doily, it gives it that girly, old lady like feel. I am wishing the rest of our house looked like the nursery.

a friday afternoon

2009-09-11T15:38:00.001-07:00

I am in the process of teaching myself how to crochet. I was going to make a ripple blanket but couldn't figure it out. It's supposed to be really easy but I digress. I figured maybe I should start with something a little easier, so double crochet it is. I like projects where I get to sit on my 33 week pregnant butt since I get winded and tired so easily now. Not to mention every time I move I have to pee. Ruby was not to thrilled with my choice of projects, but we made it work. While I crocheted she danced around, made me pretend cakes, had a surprise party and used that wonderful imagination she has.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

growing up

2009-09-03T09:46:00.000-07:00

Well, the first day of preschool was a success! I was a little worried last night when she told me with the saddest face, "I don't want you to leave me, I don't want to go". Break my heart! I was always a crier when it came to going to school, I never wanted to go. I was hoping I wasn't going to get payback for the guilt I laid on my mom! When it came time to say our good-byes she gave hugs and kisses and was off playing, no problem. I'm so proud of her! When I picked her up later she could hardly contain her excitement! She told me she got to play with Mr. Potato Head, animals and color a picture. Ahh, my little girl is growing up.

treehouse

2009-09-02T10:30:00.002-07:00

Our local park (Mt. Airy Forest) has this amazing treehouse. It has a ramp that leads you through a zig zag of trees so it's handicap accessible. My mom and I took Ruby this morning and she loved it! She was so excited, she was running around the trees, peering out the windows, laughing and giggling, music to my ears. It reminded me of a giant fairy house, lots of nooks and crannies. This is a place we will definitely be visiting again.

first embroidery

2009-08-27T09:46:00.001-07:00

Ruby is constantly saying "Lets do something together", "I want to play something with you". I was wracking my brain today trying to figure out something different to do with her since we already played Chutes and Ladders and Candy Land a bazillion times. I don't know what made me think of it but suddenly embroidery popped into my head. I thought I had a safety needle in my stash somewhere but ,alas, I only had regular ones and she was already excited to try it so I let her use a regular needle (bad mommy!) She did really well! She only poked herself once and then she was done but she was so proud of the work she had created that she recovered quickly. I think it may be time to invest in some type of child friendly embroidery tools.

shirts

2009-08-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

I whipped up this little shirt for the Rubster to wear on her first day of preschool. I can't believe she starts preschool next week! It's crazy how fast they grow up. She is pretty excited. She says "You will drop me off and then you will come back and pick me up", like she is convincing herself it's going to be okay because I'm going to come back and pick her up. I think she will have a lot of fun.

I made one of these shirts as a gift for my niece who is due to arrive on September 1st. I decided our new little monster needed a shirt too. The Riley one still needs something else, but I'm not sure what. I was thinking maybe a flower but I haven't decided where to place it yet. I guess I better get moving on that!

chalk paint

2009-08-17T09:53:00.001-07:00

I'm always on the hunt for fun, cheap and easy activities to do with Ruby. I have come across chalk paint on a few sites and thought it was right up Ruby's alley. It's super easy to make and it's stuff you already have on hand. We really had a great time painting together, although I wish it would have taken a bit longer than 25 minutes to run out of paint. Next time I will have to mix more.

Chalk Paint

Put 2 Tbs cornstarch, 2 Tbs water, 4 drops of food coloring in muffin cups. Mix it all together and get painting!

weekend sewing

2009-08-13T04:51:00.000-07:00

Can I just say how much I love this book (Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross)? I haven't made anything from it yet but I see myself making quite a few of the projects. I've been trying to get it from the library since it was released but they don't have it so I bit the bullet and bought it over the weekend. I'm glad I did. Even if I don't make anything out of it it's still a great book to page through.

name tag

2009-08-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

Ruby starts preschool (*tear*) in a few weeks and I had every intention of making her a backpack. I searched and searched for a pattern that I thought I could handle but found nothing. I'm a little disappointed that I had to buy her a backpack but I'll get over it. I wanted her bag to have some kind of special handmade aspect to it so I settled on an embroidered name tag. I whipped this up the other day with help from the Rubster, she pick the colors. She was pretty excited to see it hanging from her little backpack.

favorite salsa

2009-08-10T09:44:00.000-07:00

This is my FAVORITE salsa. I can take a giant container of this salsa to a party and it will be completely gone by the time we leave. It's chunky, fresh tasting and has a bit of a kick, but best of all it's stupid easy! I decided to make some up for the week and figured I would share it. I never measure anything but when I made it this afternoon I figured I would do a little measuring so I could write down a recipe.

Favorite Salsa

2 cans Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies
1 can corn
1 cup diced red onion
1 cup chopped cilantro
juice of 1 lime

Mix everything together.
How easy was that?
You can add more or less onion, cilantro or lime according to your taste.

happy thursday

2009-08-06T10:17:00.001-07:00

Sometimes all it takes it a few bubbles to put a smile on your face.

big girl

2009-08-01T10:45:00.001-07:00

Happy 3rd Birthday sweet girl!

birthday outfit

2009-07-28T17:51:00.001-07:00

Miss Ruby has a birthday on Saturday. I can't believe my little girl is turning 3! It's so crazy to hear her talk now. She has big kid conversations and is really getting things, you know. It's amazing to me how much their little minds soak up at this age. She loves spelling and reading. Everything is "How do you spell ?"; she wants to know how to spell EVERYTHING! While reading to her she picks out and points to words that I didn't even know she could recognize. It's amazing what can change in a year for kids.

I told her I would make her a special birthday outfit, she was super excited. I settled on making her a skirt and shirt. I let Ruby pick the fabric out of my stash and was a little surprised by her choice, but she was adamant about using this fabric. When I told her I would make her a shirt with the number 3 on it she got a huge smile on her face, "I'm going to be 3!". I couldn't just leave it with a naked 3 so I embroidered a couple of hearts. Viola, birthday outfit complete.

lemonade and cucumbers

2009-07-26T10:29:00.000-07:00

Ruby and I ventured out to the farmers market this morning to get some yumminess. Peaceful Acres Lavender Farm just so happened to be there selling their lavender and giving samples of lavender tea cookies. They also had a station set up for the kids to make sachets. How cute! Ruby put lavender and mint in hers and tied it with twine and beads. I couldn't leave the booth without buying something so I bought a bag of culinary lavender. They had a recipe for lavender lemonade that sounded yummy. When we got home I made the lavender infused syrup, squeezed all the lemons and finished the lemonade only to find out that you're not supposed to ingest lavender while pregnant. Doh! Now I have this delicious lemonade staring at me in the fridge saying "drink me!"

Our real reason for going to the market this morning was to get a ton of cucumbers. Guess what I'm going to be making this week. If you said pickles you're correct. I am going to try a different recipe than I used last year in hopes that they turn out better. The ones I canned last season had a good flavor but we're a little mushy. I want crunchy pickles!

smore's cookies

2009-07-23T10:10:00.001-07:00

I saw this on a blog (forgive me I can't remember where!) awhile ago. These are like the best creation ever and so easy! They are all gooey, melty and yummy!

You need:
2 striped fudge round cookies
1 marshmallow

Place one marshmallow on top of a cookie and put in the microwave. Microwave until the marshmallow puffs up, about 10 seconds. Smash second cookie on top and viola! Devour and make another one!

home

2009-07-22T09:47:00.001-07:00

We are home from Myrtle Beach. Ruby was awesome for both car rides. Yay! We got in some nice beach and pool time and found some great sea shells.

bag-o-fun

2009-07-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

I've been getting things ready for vacation this week. Getting ready to leave is always so much work! We leave for Myrtle Beach on Sunday morning at 4 am. I'm not looking forward to the long haul being pregnant and having an almost 3 year old but I'm trying to pack things to make it a little easier. I put together this bag-o-fun for Ruby. I found the flash cards in the dollar bin at Target, score! The 2 movies we on sale for $5 each, I'll also be packing a ton of movies we already own. I also got some new books, a notebook, colored pencils, kaleidoscope and Tinkerbell cards. I will be adding some things we already have at home as well. Hopefully some of this will help ease the stress of being in the car for 12 hours. She did well when we made the drive to Hilton Head last year so *fingers crossed* for this year!

I also got a ton of snacks for the ride. I am stocked up on juice boxes, Fruitabu, fruit leather, individual bags of Annie's Cheddar Bunnies, Pretzels, Teddy Grahams and boxes of princess raisins. Who knew they made little boxes of raisins with the Disney Princesses on them? Crazy.

I am open to suggestions if anyone has some!

not a bubble dress

2009-07-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

I saw this tutorial the other day on My Mama Made It and HAD to make it. I thought Ruby would look adorable in a bubble dress, she thought otherwise. I put it on her after I finished it and she wasn't having the elastic on the bottom so I took it out and now it's just a dress. Still cute!

change and a dress

2009-07-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posting, we've been pretty busy around here. We made the big move this weekend. We switched our bedroom from upstairs to downstairs. Our bedroom is now crammed into the tiny little first floor room which means the baby is going to have the biggest room in the house, go figure. It's going to take a little getting used to, OK well a lot of getting used to, but we'll manage. It's been pretty weird not being on the same floor as Ruby, but I know it's the right choice to have the girls in separate rooms during the first year or so. Any who...

I made this dress for Ruby and few weeks ago from the Sweet Little Dress pattern by Leila and Ben. I can't say enough good things about this dress and pattern. The pattern is very easy to follow and the dress always turns out adorable! I I made 2 of these dresses last year and I will keep making them until Ruby is too big to wear them.

new hats and booties

2009-06-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

I made these little hats and booties this week. Not a great picture but you get the idea. Now all I need is a baby to put them on. Hah! Our little girl isn't due until October 31st. I have so much to do before she arrives. We need to do some rearranging of the rooms in our house. Lance and I will be moving our bedroom into the first floor office and giving the new baby our old room upstairs. So much work is involved in switching these rooms. Emptying closets, finding storage, going through bins and bins of baby clothes, buying furniture, ugh! Our house is going to be so cramped!

fresh blueberries

2009-06-25T16:15:00.000-07:00

I bought a ton of blueberries at the Farmers Market on Sunday. I had every intention of freezing some of them but what's the fun in that? We've been munching on them daily but I wanted to make something with them. I came across this recipe for blueberry crumb bars on Smitten Kitchen. Ruby and I were up bright and early this morning and looking for something to do so I had her help me whip these up. This is a great recipe to let your kids help with. She helped stir the flour mixture, wash the blueberries, press the crumbly mixture into the pan and so on so forth. I feel this recipe was an excellent use of our blueberries and I will be making it again!

Blueberry Crumb Bars - Smitten Kitchen

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup cold butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon salt

Zest and juice of one lemon

4 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar

4 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. (This took an extra 10 to 15 minutes in my oven.) Cool completely before cutting into squares.

sun tea

2009-06-24T17:47:00.000-07:00

One of the many things I love about summer.

5 tea bags + 1 gallon of water + sunshine = delicious

Pour some in a glass with ice, mix in some lemonade, pure heaven

saturday afternoon

2009-06-20T10:14:00.001-07:00

We took Ruby to the Butterfly Show this afternoon and we all had a great time. Ruby was so excited to see all the beautiful butterflies floating and flitting around. When they would float by her head she would crouch and giggle, such a girl. The amazement and wonder on her face was well worth the $10 admission.

When we went through the bonsai room they had silk worms on display and caterpillars in all stages of their life cycle. Ruby loves caterpillars so that was definitely a plus. There was a little craft station set up for the kids to color butterflies and such. Ruby made a butterfly bracelet. You would have thought she was wearing a bracelet made of diamonds and rubies. She also scored a book on insect life cycles and a pack of bugs that grow when you put them in water. After the show we stopped at the coffee shop for peach smoothies and sandwiches. Why can't every day be life this?

wool felt shoes

2009-06-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

I've been on a library kick lately, checking out tons of books. I checked out B Is For Baby by Suzanna Stirling. It has some cute projects in it but the little shoes were to adorable for me to pass up on making. The pattern was easy to follow and the shoes turned out just as cute as in the book. I still have some pink so it looks like I'm going to be making a pink pair as well.

Crib Bedding

2009-06-18T02:19:00.000-07:00

Since we found out we're having another girl I've been on a search for crib bedding that I like that isn't out of this world expensive. I , of course, like things from Pottery Barn Kids and Land of Nod, but they are a little out of our price range. I thought about making my own for like a second, too much work. I decided to look on Ebay and came across an auction for a Honey, I Shrunk The Doll Dresses bumper and crib skirt. They are in excellent used condition (or so it says, we'll see when it arrives). I snagged these for a total of $39 with shipping, not to shabby!

That's one thing I can check off my list now.

It's a....

2009-06-16T19:20:00.000-07:00

....GIRL! I had my 20 weeks ultrasound yesterday and found out we are having another girl. Yay for not having to buy all new clothes!

crock pot yogurt

2009-05-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

Success! I had found a few recipes for making plain yogurt in a crock pot and decided that I needed to give it a try. I was a little sceptical, as always, it just sounded too easy. Well it worked, and it's delicious! You don't know how excited I was when I opened the lid to the crock pot this morning and saw that the yogurt had thickened. It's runnier than store bought so I can't really see giving a bowl of it to Ruby. Can you say MESS! It would be great with cereal, fruit, mixed in smoothies, anything really that you use plain yogurt for. I ate a little with some honey mixed in.

The sites I used:

A Year of Crock Potting

Nourishing Days

Now go forth and make yogurt!

things to do

2009-04-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

I found a recipe for making yogurt in the crock pot and I must say I feel like I need to try it! It sounds so easy that I can't not do it.

I ordered some fabric and such to make Ruby some summer clothes.

Get this awful smell out of my house! I know part of the problem is that I'm pregnant, so everything smells so much more powerful. My house smells like a sour wet dog. I am trying EVERYTHING. Right now I have baking soda sitting on the carpet in hopes that it absorbs the smell.

Bake this bread. Ummm, yum!

and just for fun...

bad blogger

2009-04-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

I apologize, I've been a horrible blogger for a while now.
I found out I was pregnant (woohoo!) a while back and started feeling awful. Yay for morning sickness! So, needless to say I haven't been doing a whole lot of cooking, sewing or anything fun for that matter. I'm hoping to get back on track soon and start posting more. I cooked dinner tonight and was going to take pictures and post about it. Sooooo glad I didn't! I made mushroom saag and believe me, it was a dinner FAIL. Oh well, you can't win them all.

Yay for being pregnant, boo to feeling sick!

pretend pickle soup

2009-03-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

We decided to get Ruby a play kitchen last night. She has been needing me to play with her so much lately she seems to have lost the ability to play by herself. I'm kind of hoping the play kitchen will remedy that a little. We went to Target and picked up the one they had there. It's pretty cute, but a pain in the butt to put together. So many screws!!

She seems to love it so far today. She made me cake soup, egg soup and pickle soup. Not sure why everything is soup, but hey, as long as she's busy right?

signs of spring

2009-03-06T09:54:00.000-08:00

Today is supposed to be like 65 degrees and tomorrow is supposed to around 72! Can you believe it!? I took Ruby outside for a bit yesterday and she was so happy yelling "It's spring, It's spring!!".

sick

2009-03-04T06:20:00.000-08:00

I have to apologize for my lack of posting. We (Ruby and I) have some sickness going around, yuck. I will resume some regular posting in a few days.

colors

2009-02-24T09:43:00.000-08:00

"What color do you like?"

I often hear this question from Ruby while we are sitting or laying on the couch. She wants to know what color(s) on her painting that I like, she also wants me to know the ones that she likes. Who knew that her painting would also serve as a color learning game!? She could seriously stand on the couch for an hour going back and forth with this question. Pointing at all the different places on her picture that she likes or finds interesting.

reflections

2009-02-20T10:10:00.000-08:00

Oh the wonders of a mirror when you're 2. Who knew making funny faces or just seeing yourself could be so much fun. I need to take a lesson from Ruby and be happy with myself when I look in the mirror. I think we all need to make more silly faces, don't you?

Happy Friday!

works in progress

2009-02-18T15:55:00.000-08:00

I have a few things I've been working on lately.

The quilt that I started back in September, made with Sandi Henderson's Farmers Market line. It's not quite turning out how I had envisioned, but it will be cute none the less.

Embroidering the matching piece to the Hansel and Gretel that I completed a few weeks ago. They are so stinkin' cute!

Drawings, these will be talked about in more detail later..now is a good time for you to practice some patience!

crayon recycling

2009-02-17T10:08:00.000-08:00

I happened across this website and thought that I would share it. Crazy Crayons has a crayon recycling program. You send them all your left over crayon pieces, you don't even have to peel the wrappers off. They will recycle them into new crayons, how cool is that!? I haven't sent any in yet, but I plan to.

beans, bread and catching up

2009-02-13T09:51:00.000-08:00

I had an old friend stop by for lunch yesterday so that we could catch up and reminisce about the "good ol' days". I love it when you see someone you haven't seen in ages but it's like you were never apart, never skipped a beat. Know what I mean? We had a great afternoon sharing stories old and new. She brought over notes we had passed to each other in high school English class!?! Who keeps that stuff!?! I must say, I'm glad she kept it. It was soooo much fun stepping back into those days for an afternoon.

I wanted to make something easy for our lunch. I figured black bean soup, bread and salad would be easy enough. I found a recipe years ago for black bean soup that was supposed to taste like Panera's. It's pretty close, I've changed a few things over the years so I figured I'd share my recipe with you.

Black Bean Soup

1 onion

2 celery ribs

2 cloves of garlic

2 small or 1 large vegetable bouillon cube

1 3/4 cup boiling water

2 cans black beans, undrained

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1/2 of a lemons juice

1 Tbs cornstarch

1. Place onion and celery in food processor until finely chopped.

2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a pot; simmer for 10 minutes

3. Add half a can of black beans, salt and cumin; cook 5 minutes

4. Being very careful not to burn yourself, place soup in blender and puree; pour back into pot

5. Add the rest of the beans to the soup.

6. Combine cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water

7. Add lemon juice and cornstarch to the soup while stirring; salt and pepper to taste. Cook until soup is thickened.

Delicious served with a homemade crusty bread!

fat quarter swap

2009-02-10T10:41:00.001-08:00

(photo from sewmamasew.com)

Sew Mama Sew is hosting a fat quarter swap, check it out and sign up!

around the house on a friday

2009-02-06T09:56:00.000-08:00

hansel and gretel

2009-02-04T17:42:00.000-08:00

I love these little guys! I plan on embroidering the matching piece of this scene from behind. I'm not sure what I'm going to go with them, but they are cute just the same. I'm think they might make the perfect addition to a quilt.

oatmeal cake with broiled raisin and nut topping

2009-02-03T15:52:00.000-08:00

Oatmeal Cake with Broiled Raisin and Nut Topping - adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 cup rolled oats
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 recipe broiled nut and raisin topping

1. Allow butter and eggs to stand a room temperature for 30 minutes. Grease and flour a 9 inch springform pan; set aside. Pour 1 1/4 cups boiling water over oats. Stir until combined; let stand 20 minutes. Stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and nutmeg; set aside.

2. In a large bowl beat butter on medium to high for 30 seconds. Add sugar and brown sugar and vanilla; beat until well combined. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and oatmeal mixture to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.

3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Remove side of pan; cool on wire rack for at least 30 minutes more.

4. Transfer cake to oven proof plate. Spread topping over warm cake. Broil about 4 inches from heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Cool on wire rack before serving.

Broiled Raisin and Nut Topping
In a medium sauce pan combine 1/4 cup butter and 2 tablespoon milk. Cook and stir until butter melts. Add 1/2 cup packed brown sugar; stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Stir in 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/3 cup raisins.

Enjoy!!

ice + snow = beauty

2009-01-29T08:09:00.001-08:00

dump cake

2009-01-28T10:56:00.001-08:00

In the boredom of being stuck in the house during the snow/ice storm yesterday Ruby and I decided it would be a good idea for her to make a cake. She made a dump cake. This recipe is so flippin' easy that she practically did it all by herself. She was so proud of herself, she couldn't wait for Daddy to get home and eat some! I highly recommend letting your preschooler show off his/her culinary skills with this recipe!

Dump Cake

1 20 oz can crushed pineapple

1 20 oz cherry pie filling

1 box yellow cake mix

3/4 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350

Pour pineapple (juice and all) in a 9 x 13 in pan, spread it evenly.

Spoon cherry pie filling evenly over pineapple.

Sprinkle cake mix over the fruit.

Cut butter into squares and place them on top of cake mix.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Serve warm, would be super yummy with ice cream!

hello snow

2009-01-27T15:50:00.001-08:00

heart lion

2009-01-27T09:51:00.000-08:00

Ruby was bored yesterday, imagine that. I got out some card stock and cut out little hearts for her to color on, I figured we could make some Valentine cards with them. She scribbled on all of them and said "I all done". Hrm, that didn't occupy her as long as I had hoped. I asked her what she wanted to do with them and she said she wanted to make a "heart lion". Umm, what? I don't know how to make a heart lion!
I put my thinking cap on and tried to figure out how to execute this imaginative request. Ok, I have a paper plate, tape, scissors, crayons, hearts and a paint stir. I drew a lion face and cut eye holes in the plate. I put some tape on the back of each heart and let Ruby stick them on. We added the paint stir on the back and VIOLA! The heart lion actually turned out to be a pretty fun little project for the two of us.

Heart Lion = loads of fun!

seeing red

2009-01-26T09:52:00.000-08:00

Over the past few days I've been working on some Valentine's Day embroidery which then worked it's way into an embroidered card (pictured above). I used a piece of plain white card stock, wrote the words "i love you" on it and used a simple back stitch to embroider the lettering. I love how it turned out, simple and cute. I want more Valentine's crafts, anyone have an good suggestions?

today we...

2009-01-22T13:05:00.000-08:00

built a tent from sheets

picked out fabric for my next project

had a visit from Grandma

the usual cleaning and laundry

baked oatmeal raisin cookies

What did you do today?

patchwork scarf

2009-01-21T16:32:00.000-08:00

Since I've been embroidering I have been wracking my brain trying to come up with ways to use my little creations. I've been wanting to make a patchwork scarf and a few weeks now. I got out my fabric bin , pulled out some scraps and pieced it together. The dancing folk couple looks perfect on it! I had a scrap of fleece that I used as a backing. Ahh, so warm and cozy. Ruby loves it! After I finished it she asked if she could put it on, I told her of course. She had it on until I make her take it off to eat dinner. Yea, I think she liked it. She seems to like this scarf more than any of the dolls I have recently made for her, go figure.

when you don't want to get fat apple cake

2009-01-19T10:05:00.000-08:00

I got this recipe on the Weight Watchers website last weekend. I made it and wasn't wowed by the result. It had a lot of potential but it wasn't quite right. Don't get me wrong, it was good but a little on the dry side. I decided to make it again on Saturday but with some changes. The result was delicious!

Apple Cake adapted from Weight Watchers

4 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup plain fat free yogurt
2 Tbsp light butter, melted
1 Tbsp fresh orange juice
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup plus 3 Tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tso baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 large apple, peeled. cored and thinly sliced
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease an 8-in round cake pan.

Place apples 1 tsp of sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and stir. Set aside.

Beat eggs and 1/2 cup of sugar in a large with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in yogurt, melted butter, orange juice and vanilla extract.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt and sift together. Fold into the cake batter.

Spoon about half of the batter into prepared pan and smooth out. Layer apples on top in a circular pattern making sure to get all the sugar, cinnamon and any juices into the cake pan. Spoon the rest of the cake batter on top of the apples and spread out as best you can.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cut into 8 pieces and serve. It's delicious with whipped cream.

For anyone who cares one piece equals 3 points

oh edgar

2009-01-16T16:36:00.000-08:00

READ THIS BOOK!!! I am a little over half way through and I can say without a doubt it is one of my all time favorite books. I highly recommend reading it. It looks long, but it's a pretty easy read. It's not what I call "fancy writing".

Now go forth and read!

old school

2009-01-15T09:39:00.000-08:00

I've been scouring the net for free vintage embroidery patterns and came across a few. I decided to work these little folk dancers and cute little girl holding eggs. I'm thinking I need to get some flour sacks or something to embroider so I will have a useful product in the end. I keep doing it on these little pieces of fabric with no intentions for use. I know I could always frame them but how many framed pieces of embroidery can one really have? Any ideas?

cookies

2009-01-14T09:56:00.000-08:00

Ruby received these wonderful felt cookies as a gift from her Zia this weekend. She loves them, and I have to admit that I love them too! Ruby likes to smoosh them all together and say it's a cookie hamburger. Creative huh?

You can buy some of Zia's felt creations here and read her blog Fioretta, here

meet olive and archie

2009-01-13T11:36:00.000-08:00

Lance bought me the pattern for these dolls as a Christmas present. Yay! I had been dying to make these! They aren't quite finished, Archie still needs a collar and shoe laces. Now I need to get started on making their accessories!

The pattern is from Wee Wonderfuls.

cool new blog

2009-01-11T15:50:00.000-08:00

My uber creative brother started a blog, Polvera, featuring some of his drawings. I urge you to check it out!

around the house on a friday

2009-01-09T11:36:00.000-08:00

Have a great weekend!!

a face only a mother could love

2009-01-08T09:59:00.000-08:00

Life is so rough for a dog.

vinegar

2009-01-07T09:53:00.000-08:00

Vinegar is amazing. It's so versatile. I am going to name some ways that I use vinegar in my home:

As a fabric softener- add 1/2 a cup to your softener dispenser or add it to the rinse cycle. It leaves your clothes soft without all the yucky chemicals that are in traditional fabric softeners
Clean hardwood floors- spray it on and wipe it off
Glass cleaner- spray it on and wipe it off
Floor cleaner- mix castille soap in a bucket with water and vinegar and mop, no need to rinse
Toilet bowl cleaner- put about 1/3 cup of baking soda, a squirt of castille soap and about a cup of vinegar in the bowl and let it fizz, swish it around and flush
Making pickles
Zit zapper- soak a cotton swab in cider vinegar, add a drop of tea tree oil; apply to blemish before bedtime

How do you use vinegar in your home?

thief

2009-01-05T16:44:00.000-08:00

I have a thief on my hands. I started making the Wee Wonderfuls Olive doll last night. I had all the pieces sitting on my table waiting to be put together today. When I came downstairs in the morning I noticed something was missing! A very important piece, an arm. I know it didn't just get up and walk away. Their was only one thing I could think of that happened.....Oscar.

Oscar is our big, dopey, furry, lovable thief of a cat. I know he took it, or at least moved it. Oscar has a history of stealing things. He has stolen paper, rubber bands, money, keys, anything really. I looked everywhere for the darn arm. I looked on the floor in every room, in the basement, in the cat food bowl (he sometimes takes things there). After searching for what seemed like forever, I finally found the arm! Woohoo! Oscar had pushed it under my sewing machine. So it looks like Olive won't be a one armed bandit after all.

nutcracker doll

2008-12-31T10:11:00.000-08:00

I received a copy of Alicia Paulson's Stitched In Time as a Christmas gift. I was super stoked when I opened it! I've been itching to make something and I had enough to scraps to make the Nutcracker Doll. I am pretty happy with how it turned out. It was a fairly easy pattern to follow. It does have quite a bit of hand sewing but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I really like the sweet little facial features. I think her lips are adorable!

She needs a few finishing touches, like ribbon on her braids and some little flower embellishments for her hair. We'll see if that actually gets done though.

introducing...

2008-12-29T09:50:00.000-08:00

... Ruby the photographer! Ruby got a kid tough digital camera for Christmas. She loves the thing! When she opened it up on Christmas she didn't want to open the rest of her presents, she only wanted her camera. Lance thought it would be cute to set up a photo blog to post life through the eyes of a 2 year old. So without further ado, I give you....... I Take Your Picture.

busy?

2008-12-23T11:31:00.000-08:00

I laugh at busy! During the hustle and bustle of getting last minute gifts together, packing to go out of town, making some food for Christmas Eve dinner and cleaning, I decided it would be a fabulous idea to whip up a new skirt for Ruby. I pulled out my box-o-fabric, rummaged through it to see if I had any scrap pieces big enough. Lucky me, I did! I used this tutorial. I think the skirt turned out pretty snazzy. I still need for her to try it on, but I'm pretty sure it will fit. If not I can make some minor adjustments. Now my little chickadee has a new skirt to wear for the family Christmas Eve party. I think she'll be happy when she wakes up from her nap to find a cute new skirt waiting for her.

Happy Holidays!!!! Enjoy every minute of this season!

cookies galore

2008-12-22T11:11:00.001-08:00

I am swimming in cookies over here! Yesterday was my cookie exchange party. Everyone baked such beautiful, delicious cookies. There was a nice assortment.

Ginger cookies
Butter cookies
Lemon tea cookies
Traditional Italian pizzelles
Peanutty candy bar cookies
Santa's whiskers
Mint chocolate truffle cookies
Gooey chocolate butter cookies

We all sat around snacking on appetizers and cookies, drinking tea, hot chocolate and coffee, sharing stories and randomness. It really was a nice gathering. It felt good to sit down and relax with friends during this rushed, busy time. I put together a little recipe book of all the cookies we had for everyone to take home. I will definetly be making some of these recipes! Yum! Everyone left with about 9 dozen different kinds of cookies to share, give as gifts or just eat themselves. So all in all the cookies exchange was a success.

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

a big thank you!

2008-12-21T10:17:00.000-08:00

Thank you to Isabella over at Fioretta for passing the following award on to me...

I love that someone feels I am creative enough to receive an award!

I am supposed to pass this on to 6 other bloggers but first I am to list 6 things that make me happy.

How much Ruby is enjoying the holiday season. She can't get enough Christmas shows and decorations.
The fact that my cookies for the cookie exchange turned out so well
Hot chocolate
Sleeping
Big strong hugs from Lance
Hanging out with family and friends

I pass this award on to...