koala brains

End of an era

2011-07-04T22:34:00.001-04:00

How things quickly change! I was going to rebrand koalabrains to be a site all about google analytics for etsy shop owners but I abandoned that effort when another opportunity presented itself. I started the blog and wrote a few posts but before I could officially announce it, I got a job.

I decided I was going to put myself out there and see if I could actually get a job back in marketing after being out of the picture just shy of 6 years. I seriously doubted I was, well, marketable. The morning I decided to start looking for a job I texted a friend and within 30 minutes she told me about a job and the company's executive VP wanted my resume. Fast forward 3 weeks and I got an offer. The way everything played out, it was meant to be that I got this job. I feel VERY fortunate. Lucky for me that VP knew of me and my reputation because we were at the same company where I was last. My boss was someone who I reported to briefly about 10 years ago. Both of them moved up in the world and left the company to this one and now here I am. So weird that just a couple months ago a job wasn't even on my radar. The first couple weeks were surreal. I had moments where I felt I was in a dream and I wanted things back the way they were. I had the "I want my mommy" moments, if you know what I mean. I knew it was only a matter of time when I'd be fine. I mean, I asked for this. Tomorrow marks my 5th week on the job and I must say, I am enjoying it. It feels normal to me now.

My husband is working from home now and cares for Boo. He's an amazing and fun dad so she is having a blast although she misses me. I miss her so much and that'll never change but I noticed the time we do spend together, I'm not distracted with housework and getting things done like I was when I stayed home. I'm able to be totally present with her.

I started this blog soon after Rebecca's birth. It's an end of an era where I had the privilege to stay home to care for her. She's off to kindergarten next month. I love that I have this blog to remind me of the this period of time. My time is limited so for now I will set aside my craft endeavors and spend as much time with her and David.

Thank you for following my blog.

Best to you,

Kaori

Hint about the new blog

2011-04-06T12:19:00.000-04:00

The site is up but I'm not announcing the URL yet (although you can easily guess) because I need to write a few more posts before I officially launch. I'm putting to work my marketing research and data analytics background, knowledge of Etsy, and familiarity of the crafty virtual world in which we all escape to and love. I enjoy simplifying the complicated. I have so many ideas and what I initially conceived has been niched down but of course there is a phase 2 where I will explore my other ideas. ;) Be back soon...

M.I.A.

2011-03-12T15:36:00.004-05:00

Yeah, don't ask. I've been around but haven't blogged in FOREVER. I guess I got a little burned out on crafting and blogging so I took a vacation. During my time off I took some time to ponder the future of koala brains. I've been feeling the urge to freshen things up so I thought of a new purpose (but still craft related) for koala brains that I think you will really like. It's something I've wanted to do for a while but was too chicken. Here's the thing - when I come up with business ideas, I often don't act on them because of the fear of failure or that I can't do it perfectly. I also think 1000 steps into the future of the idea/business which overwhelms and paralyzes me from taking action. I'm over this way of thinking. Yes, this is a declaration so I can't take it back, can I? LOL, enough with my melodrama. I'm working hard to bring the revamped koala brains to you. For now I'm keeping the new purpose a surprise. Stay tuned - it will be unveiled soon!!

Easiest doggie bed ever

2010-06-14T09:20:00.004-04:00

My mini schnauzer Yuki is small enough that she'll crawl up Boo's sham every chance she gets. She quickly gets shoo'd off but it gave me an idea. Why not get Yuki her own pillow? Talk about the easiest doggie bed ever - of course this will only work if your dog is small and would work great for cats, too. Just get a cute decorative sham and slip in an inexpensive pillow and you have a doggie bed! I picked up 2 shams from a thrift store and I lucked out and got 2 brand new pillows, there, too - all for a total $4. It sure is a whole lot easier than making one.

Vintage dolls and clothes galore!

2010-06-14T00:45:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I went yard sale-ing and stumbled across a My Best Friend Jenny doll (brown haired, circa 1978), several outfits, and a bunch of uncut patterns - all for less than $10! Boo renamed her Ruby. She said she wanted another so she can play with a friend so I went on ebay and ordered the blonde Mandy doll who was renamed Sugar. These dolls are precious. I wish I had one when I was a kid. Dark haired tan dolls were rare when I was a kid so it would've been nice to have a doll that resembled me but glad Boo has her now because Ruby looks so much like her! I've made 2 outfits thus far (the one Ruby is wearing) and the red skirt w/ lace and red check top on top left of pic of clothes. I was told by another woman who makes clothes for these dolls that I can take American Girl doll patterns and reduce them by 10% and they'll fit although I have plenty of the groovy 70's patterns to keep me busy for a while. Seriously, though, aren't these the cutest dolls? I think I love them more than Boo!

Sprouts!

2010-06-01T14:52:00.001-04:00

I've been daydreaming about growing a variety of sprouts and wheatgrass inside my house so I was up until 1am the other night researching how to grow them. I think I have the sprouts part down but still need to figure out the best way to grow wheatgrass. I'm using a large mason jar with a stainless steel screen for a top that I picked up at Whole Foods for sprouting. I have a bag of organic alfalfa seeds I bought last year and the quality is pretty poor because there are a bunch of seeds that didn't sprout. I read it's important to use quality seeds and I believe it. I'm still shopping around online for seeds. I really want to grow some mung bean sprouts because we are all addicted to this vinegared sprouts recipe. I let Boo assemble it with me and she can't wait for it to be done so she can dive in. The recipe says to boil the sprouts but I just use them raw. If you make it like I do, just toss the sprouts in the sauce and let it sit for about 15 minutes and they'll wilt down as if they were cooked. I don't cook them to preserve all the enzymes. I'm on month 2 of eating raw and love it. Here's what I made the other night for dinner. You'll find the recipe for the rolls here.

Healthy Living

2010-05-23T00:40:00.003-04:00

I joined a committee for a new farmers market. I'm an administrator for the facebook page and web girl of the website. I heard about it from a friend and was so excited to have a farmers market nearby that I volunteered to help. It's been a lot of fun and I really like all the women I've met. The grand opening was yesterday and it went extremely well which reflects the organization of the committee. I'm so impressed by the focus and dedication of everyone - it's so nice to be surrounded by them. Many of the vendors sold out quickly despite of the fact that it poured the first 30 minutes. It was awesome that the rain didn't deter people from coming. We project on a sunny day, we'll have twice as many people.

5 weeks ago I started incorporating a lot of raw food (I'd say about 80%) into my diet again. I've been starting each morning with a glass of freshly made fruit and vegetable juice. As result, I have way more energy with less sleep, my skin looks better, and I've lost weight. I did this last year and I don't know why I quit. As you know from my previous post, I was ignoring my gluten and dairy intolerance. Oops. I finally got to a point where I wanted to stop so eating lots of raw food was my idea of hitting the reset button. I only meant to do it for 2-3 weeks but I'm keeping it up because it feels too good not to. I made this ridiculously delicious mango breakfast cobbler by raw food guru and chef, Ani Phyo. We all love this dish that we have a 2nd serving for an afternoon snack! Trust me, you've got to try this. When you do, be sure to soak the nuts in filtered water over night and rinse before using. Doing this makes nuts soft thus digestible by our bodies. I omitted the agave syrup because I didn't want to add more sweetness to the dish that is already naturally sweet. I've made it every weekend since I first tried it a month ago because it's that good.

Sweet necklace

2010-04-13T20:06:00.007-04:00

Candy necklaces and bracelets sure are sweet accessories. Boo got a set as a party favor a few weeks ago and I told her she could only have a few pieces (I would've given her more the next day but she forgot about them - thankfully). That's no fun, she said, because she wanted to ingest it all, but she had an idea for something better. She suggested we buy sweet and colorful cereal and string them into a necklace. What a great idea, I thought, so off to the store we went. I strung crochet thread onto a plastic embroidery needle I picked up at Joann's and handed it over to Boo along with a bowl of Cascadian Farm Fruitful O's so she could string it herself. We'd never had the cereal but it was somewhat healthy with the right shape and was colorful enough to substitute candy. We only did it the one time and the forgotten full box sits in the pantry. This would be a fun activity to do when she has a friend over for a play date - I'll have to remember that. Ooh, we'll have to make a couple for Friday because we are going to a festival with her little friend. How fun it'll be for them to wear their snack! Would be a fun activity to do at a birthday party, too.

Spring Break

2010-04-12T22:57:00.007-04:00

It was spring break last week so Boo and I headed down to New Orleans and the Northshore for a fun-filled week with friends. We packed it all in for sure. Day 1: Breakfast at Camellia Grill then the Audubon Zoo. Day 2: Strawberry picking. We went crazy picking berries so made daiquiris, ice cream, and pie with our harvest. The pie was absolutely delicious but I forgot to write down the recipe. I asked my friend K to email it to me so once I receive it, I will post it. Day 3: Did the touristy thing and had beignets at Cafe du Monde then went to the Insectarium. Day 4: Went on a safari at the wildlife preserve. I also got to get my LA food in - gumbo, boiled crawfish, and my gotta-have oyster po-boy. What diet restrictions, right? Of course none of these activities compared to the time I got to spend with my girlfriends who I've known since we were kids.

By the way, I was pleasantly surprised at the number of tourists in the French Quarter. We only ventured around Jackson Square since the cafe was just across the street. Evidently since the Saints won the Superbowl (Who Dat!) there has been an increase in tourism. Awesome.

Introducing Yuki

2010-04-01T21:58:00.001-04:00

I can't believe I haven't posted about our new addition, Yuki (means "snow" in Japanese). She is 5 months old today. We got her in February and she has made our household so happy. We absolutely adore her. We are really blessed because she's a good girl with a great disposition and laid back. I sometimes forget she's still a pup. I had never seen a white miniature schnauzer until I met her. Isn't she a cutie?!?!?

Love it - cake for breakfast

2010-01-11T21:42:00.000-05:00

It's the new year and I've been trying different recipes. I made a quinoa breakfast cake (although more like a bread) this evening and it's unbelievably good! I told Boo if she went to bed without any issues tonight she could have "cake" in the morning. She was pretty excited about it so I hope she'll like it. I modified it slightly by leaving out the brown sugar and increased the agave to 1/2 cups. Believe me, it's plenty sweet. I also added a mix of craisins and raisins and left out the coconut because I am not a fan of grated coconut. This is a keeper!

My old T is now Boo's "new" T

2009-12-28T23:09:00.009-05:00

I have a bunch of cute tees set aside to refashion for Boo and I finally made something. I bought a pattern from Lil Blue Boo and it's awesome! Since this was my first attempt, I didn't do anything fun and crazy like you should with this pattern. I took a long sleeve shirt that I haven't worn in years because it's too short and boxy and made it into a cute shirt for Boo. The pattern is easy with lots of pictures and clear instructions. Believe me, I didn't do the pattern justice because you can do so much to it - you must check out the link to see adorable completed pieces. I did make a change by shortening the neck pattern piece by 1" because when I used the original piece, it was too big and stretched out looking but that could be because the cotton tee was pretty thin. I definitely am making more and trying out fun combinations so as to really accentuate the cuteness of this pattern. I can't wait to make more! The thrift store is calling me...

4 Aprons

2009-11-29T10:44:00.002-05:00

Here's my first sewing project in months (as modeled by my friend in action with a butternut squash souffle in hand) and I made 4 of them. It's aprons C and F from McCall's pattern M5997. We visited her and her family for an early Thanksgiving celebration and I thought it would be cute for us and our girls to have matching aprons. I made a few changes. First, I made the apron/skirt a single piece instead of 3 panels. Then I made a change to the pockets - rather than taking a pocket and folding the sides over for a finish edge, I sewed 2 pieces wrong sides together leaving the very top open to turn it out (hence you'll need to cut out 4 pockets instead of 2). This step saves time and it makes a cleaner pocket. Be crazy and use a different fabric for the inside of the pocket. It's a little surprise that the wearer of the apron may or may not realize. Finally, I didn't cut the straps on the bias as the pattern says because I was short on fabric (I used some from my stash which was a little bit shy of the yardage requirement). I just cut it along the grain and it turned out fine since it's just used as a strap and not as bias tape. I made Boo's by folding them by hand whereas with the others I used a bias tape maker. The latter method is much quicker. Do yourself a favor and pick up a 1" bias tape maker which you can get for a few bucks. You'll get a lot of use out of it. I liked making these aprons and am planning to make another for a friend. 5th time? Unheard of for me so this is definitely a winner of a pattern. I get to practice attaching a ruffle and making bias tape while creating an adorable apron.

By the way, when taking pics of Boo in her apron, I asked her to spread her arms out like she was about to give a hug and this is what I get. She was cracking up while she was doing it so it was in jest. That's a new development - her ability to be funny.

Felted sweater to baby booties

2009-11-16T19:31:00.009-05:00

I have a beautiful blue felted sweater that has been waiting patiently to be re-purposed and at last, its wish has come true. I used Heather Bailey's "Bitty Booties" pattern. The felt I used is super thick so I had to modify by keeping the seam visible on the outside. It'd be cute to make again using corduroy.

Welcome to the world, C. T. !

Me in a book!

2009-11-11T11:00:00.004-05:00

When the editors at Kirtsy asked if they could publish one of my blog posts for their upcoming book, I thought it was a prank. I googled their names to make sure they were legit and called the phone number they provided. Lucky for me, they were the real deal so of course I said YES! This all happened a year ago or so. Well, I just got an email today saying the book will be released on November 15. This is so freakin' cool! It's crazy that something I wrote is going to be in a book that will be sold in Borders, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon!!!!!! I can't wait to see the book. When you go to this link, scroll to the right and you'll see a photo collage and you'll see 2 year old Boo on the 1st column, 3rd block down.
Thank you to Kirtsy for including little ol' me!!!

Shorten jeans, keep the original hem

2009-11-02T21:02:00.010-05:00

What's up with the length of jeans these days? I just bought a pair and it's about 2 1/2" too long! I'm 5'6" so it's not as if I'm short. A few years ago I attempted my first European hem on a pair of jeans. This is a technique where you can shorten your jeans but leave the original hem. It's really easy to do so if you have basic sewing skills, do it yourself rather than taking it to a tailor. You can even sew it by hand if you don't have a machine. I followed the instructions provided here but before I sewed, I basted then tried it on with various pairs of shoes I'll be wearing just to make sure the length was right. Once I was satisfied (I had to adjust it some more so glad I did this step), I sewed then trimmed the excess. Looks pro! Tip: For a new pair of jeans, wash them first before hemming (since they'll most likely shrink).

Super duper moisturizing lotion recipe

2009-10-30T21:00:00.003-04:00

Who knew that you can make lotion at home - I didn't until recently. I googled and found this recipe in several places in the blogosphere so decided to try it out. It originally appeared in the Winter 97 issue of Handcraft Illustrated Magazine.

Aloe Vera Lotion

1 cup aloe vera gel
1 tsp. shea butter (original recipe calls for lanolin)
1 tsp. vitamin E oil
1/3 cup of coconut oil
3/4 oz. of beeswax
3/4 cup of almond oil
1 tsp. essential oil of any fragrance

1. In a blender, mix aloe and vitamin E on low until thoroughly combined.
2. Melt shea butter, coconut oil, and beeswax in a double boiler. Stir well. When melted, add almond oil.
3. Turn the blender back on to medium speed, and slowly pour the beeswax mixture into the blender until you achieve a mayonnaise-like texture. Add essential oil and mix for another few seconds.
4. Pour into a small container that will hold amount of lotion to last a couple weeks and store the rest in the refrigerator. Keep the small container in a cool, dry place.

This lotion doesn't contain any preservatives so will spoil. How long it'll take to spoil, I don't know. I feel comfortable with 2 weeks but it could be longer. I'm no expert so do your homework before to make sure if you like.

This lotion is very thick and rich making it perfect for your hands and feet. I have really dry skin so I use this for my face, too. I wouldn't apply this to my skin in the summer (I'd use the other lotion)because it's just too heavy but in the cold weather, my skin gets parched and needs something intensive. It didn't take long to make (15 minutes start to finish) but the clean up took twice that. Use a grease cutting dish soap for sure. UPDATE: I got an immersion blender which works beautifully. Much easier to clean and for sanitary purposes, the blender is just for lotion making and not for food.

I was able to find everything I needed at the health food store but had difficulties tracking down beeswax. I ended up ordering it online. Check out this 1 lb. brick - I have plenty to experiment with, don't you think?!? Ever since reading the book Secret Life of Bees, I've been fascinated by bees and the health benefits of honey and beeswax. The other day I day dreamed of raising my own bees and creating a cosmetics line. Nice fantasy, because that is all that it is for me. I'm happy just playing around and making things for me. I made lip balm, too, but didn't really follow a recipe. It turned out fine but I would like it more solid so next time will add more beeswax. This evening I made a candle. It's been a couple hours so it should be ready to burn. Can't wait to try it out.

Update: Boo gets dry spots. No lie - if I apply this lotion to it, the next day, the dry spot is gone. My friend's son had some eczema spots and the lotion helped tremendously. Pretty cool, huh?

Yard sale finds - desk and dresser

2009-10-25T19:56:00.014-04:00

I stopped by several yard sales on Friday and Saturday and I couldn't believe my luck! On Friday, I picked up a couple picture frames I plan to repaint then was on my way to the grocery store when I saw a sign for a yard sale that wasn't advertised on Craigslist. I did a u-turn and went to check it out and I'm so glad I did because that is where I bought the white desk, 2 shadow boxes, 2 lamp shades, and a funky white/orange floating shelf all for $21! I was so giddy when I saw the desk. A woman in her late 40's told me it was her desk when she was a girl. It is rock solid, heavy, and in good condition so I grabbed it. I am going to get a chair from IKEA (hot pink to match the desk?). Right now I have it in Boo's playroom for her to use but I'm considering using it as an end table for my bedroom but not sure yet.

On Saturday Boo accompanied me. Once again we were done and on our way home when we saw a sign for a yard sale so we went to check it out. Way in the back of the garage covered with junk was this dresser. I almost didn't see it but glad I did because it is too cool. They wanted $30 but I was able to negotiate down to $18 - what I had left in my pocket. The feet are a little scuffed but I can touch it up, I think. I'm also not sure where I'll put it. There are 3 places it can go and depending on where, will determine if I paint it or leave as is (learning toward the latter). The thought crossed my mind to paint both pieces the same color and use them in the same room so that's an option, too. I've been thinking about retro furniture the past couple weeks so it's such a coincidence that I find these two pieces. I really want a mid-century modern dining table so maybe soon I'll find one for a deal.

I'm kind of nervous about spray painting furniture. I've painted small objects but nothing daunting. I definitely need to do some research to get some tips to ensure I do it really well. Let me know if you have any lessons learned on this topic.

Update: I'm keeping the dresser/sideboard as is and it sits in the dining room. I covered the scratches with some good Old English and it looks great. I bought a dining table and the wood color matches perfectly!

No sew headboard

2009-10-18T19:45:00.003-04:00

Boo's new headboard

4 years ago Boo and I were taking a walk in the neighborhood when we came upon a huge canvas leaning against a neighbor's garbage can waiting for trash pick up. They can be pricey (that size at Michael's goes for $99), especially ones this big, so I knew I had to have it. I was pushing her in her stroller w/ one hand and lugging the canvas w/ the other hoping none of my neighbors would see me hauling it in fear they would think I actually liked the painting! Made it home safely and it's been sitting in the garage all this time because I haven't figured out what to do with it. I haven't been inspired to paint in a very long time. Well, the other night I lay sleepless in bed because I was bombarded with decorating ideas and that's when it came to me. I would use the canvas as a headboard for Boo. Finally around 2 am, I managed to fall asleep but the first thing I did when I woke up was measure the canvas and would you believe it - it was the PERFECT size as a headboard for a queen bed! Boo asked me what I was going to do with it and when I told her, she said:

Boo: I like the cat picture. I want it on my wall.
Me: I don't think so. It'll give you nightmares. (Immediate regret as I spoke those words.)
Boo: What's that mean?
Me: Um, nothing. Forget it. (Moved quickly on to another topic. Thankfully she let go of the idea.)

I wiped it down with soap and water since it had been collecting dust then covered it with a twin duvet cover I picked up at IKEA. I removed the stitching of the opening so I could slip it over the canvas - got lazy and just pulled it apart gently but would've been smarter to use a seam ripper. I thought of wrapping the canvas with batting but decided to skip it and it's fine without it. I thought I would need to cut up the duvet to fit but it slipped on, dare I say, PERFECTLY! The extra length is tucked behind the canvas at the bottom and it's unnoticeable. I don't even have the headboard attached to the wall because it's sitting on the floor and the mattress and box spring are holding it in place. Since Boo is still prone to rolling off her bed, I want her bed to be as low as possible so I have the box spring directly on the floor rather than sitting in a frame. I originally had it on so the material lays flat but I scrunched it and like how it looks. So there you go, a non-sewing headboard that took a couple minutes to assemble!

Materials:
- Canvas dimensions: 61' x 49 3/4" (Michael's carries a 60' x 49". Mine is slightly larger because of the frame.)
- Duvet cover: Twin

Caterpillars galore!

2009-10-07T20:40:00.016-04:00

The past few days, Boo has been examining what's left of the garden and has found 9 caterpillars on the dill plant! 6 of them are teeny tiny and obviously newly hatched while the other 3 are further along. After doing some research, all but one (still unidentified) are black swallowtails. Of the handful of caterpillars Boo has captured this summer, two have created a cocoon and emerged from them as adults - one was a butterfly and the other a moth. I read black swallowtails along with monarchs are the easiest to raise to adulthood so we have a pretty good chance at success.

Today we cleaned out the cage because these caterpillars are pooping machines. Boo held them as I cleaned and before we put them back in, we examined them closely. How fascinating! I took some pictures to share because they are amazing and beautiful creatures. I love how their legs protrude and grasp the branches. Oh, and the coolest thing we observed about these caterpillars is that they have what's called an osmetrium which is an orange fleshy forked organ that sticks out of their head when disturbed. It's there to scare off predators because it gives off a bad smell (we didn't notice a smell since our faces weren't that close to it). Boo was holding one and we saw this flash of orange which made us both giggle in surprise.
If you haven't tried to raise a caterpillar to adulthood, give it a try. You have to give them fresh food and clean the cage daily but it's not a big deal and it's well worth it when you are rewarded with a butterfly (or moth). :)

I am what I eat and apply

2009-10-05T20:33:00.011-04:00

I'm selective of what I eat so I started to think that I need to be the same about what I ingest through my skin. I use a lot of body lotion because of my dry skin so I am going to make my own. The recipe calls for beeswax and I haven't been able to find it in stores so I just placed an order this evening for a pound of it. I'll post about it when I make it. I did make my own face moisturizer and so far so good. It's a straight-forward recipe that I modified slightly from the original:

2 TB aloe vera gel - drinkable kind
6 drops of lavender essential oil
3 drops of vitamin E oil
1/2 tsp vegetable glycerin

I bought everything except the glycerin at a health food store. I picked up a bottle of glycerin at Kroger in the pharmacy section so you can probably find it at a drugstore. Mix all the ingredients together and voila, face lotion. Before I use it, I give it a little shake. The blogger who I got this recipe from said this lotion faded a sun/age spot on her skin and I like that. I hope it fades the ones on my face!

I have replaced the following with natural alternatives and am pleased with the results. Soap - I use Dr. Bronner's castile soap. Shampoo & conditioner - I use various natural kinds without sulfates and paraben (I try different brands to mix it up and keep it fun). Every 4th shampoo, I use a baking soda solution and follow it with an apple cider vinegar rinse. To remove my eye make up, I use coconut oil which doesn't bother my eyes at all. Toner - witch hazel is perfect. Lip balm - I use various kinds I pick up at the health food store but now that I will have beeswax, I plan to make my own.

Makeup is a tough one. I don't think I'll be able to switch eyeliners or mascara. As far as lipstick, I like Burt's Bees lip shimmers because they are 100% natural and have a peppermint tingle. I hear conflicting information about mineral makeup. Is that a good choice or is something else better? I need to do some more research. I'm almost out of foundation so need to figure something out soon. And how about sunblock? I apply it every day and I know it's full of chemicals. Is there such a thing as a natural option?

Too much of a good thing

2009-09-21T21:40:00.000-04:00

I do love spicy food but this dish was so freakin' hot that my head and neck(!) were sweating. Maybe I had a death wish or something that day but I ate my portion because despite the heat, it was really tasty. DB really loves me because he ate his portion although I knew he didn't want to partake in this masochistic act. Note to self: use thai green curry paste sparingly. The recipe called for 2-3 TB and I used 2 1/2. Next time, I'll use 1 1/2. In this recipe I added red potatoes, green beans, carrots, cilantro, chicken and eggplants from the garden. Not posting this recipe for said reason. I'm not giving up on this dish. I will find a recipe that works because I love the flavors.

Homemade dishwasher powder

2009-09-17T19:53:00.008-04:00

I'm still working on replacing the chemical laden cleaning products in our house with non-toxic versions. I no longer use conventional all-purpose or glass cleaner because I make my own but there are still a lot of other products I need to replace. My current project: dishwasher solution. I've been using Costco's eco-friendly powder but I haven't been able to find it the past few trips so I decided to make my own.

Last year I made a dishwasher solution but didn't like it because it left a residue on the dishes. A couple days ago I attempted another recipe but this time the dishes came out nice and clean. Easy recipe to make: equal parts borax and washing soda. I've seen recipes where baking soda is used instead of the washing soda but I decided to use it because it cuts grease (baking soda does not) in addition to being an odor neutralizer. I found both items at Kroger in the laundry detergent section. I filled the rinsing dispenser with white vinegar and used 2 TB of the homemade mix. Now I have to say, I rinse the dishes really well before placing them in the dishwasher so if you're the type to leave food on the plates, I'm not sure what results you'll get. I'm still going to play around with this recipe. I've seen where people add salt and citric acid (unsweetened lemonade packs/kool-aid) so want to give that a shot. If anyone has a recipe they have been using and really like, would love to hear about it. Will let you know how it goes.

Update: The mixture above wasn't cutting it so I added conventional dishwasher powder. It's probably a 60/40 blend and the dishes come out clean.

Gluten free banana muffins

2009-08-27T21:40:00.000-04:00

I'm sure I mentioned this before but I LOVE baked goods and I cannot imagine life without them. Boo and I made Pattycake's "easy gluten-free banana bread" mini muffins last week for her 4th birthday celebration at school. They were a hit with the kids - - except there was one table where I was making small talk as I was handing them out and I asked them, "who likes bananas?!?!?", expecting them all to say, "ME!!" but of course there was one who didn't so he refused to try it. His loss... Yeah, I should know better than to mention ingredients to kids!

Update: I baked the mini muffins for 15-20 minutes at the same temperature as the recipe.

Getting around tomato crack

2009-08-24T21:47:00.006-04:00

Is that some serious cracking or what? The tomato seems pretty happy about it, though! Tomatoes crack because of irregular watering. Here's what I learned:

Tomatoes tend to crack when they receive irregular water. If your tomatoes have gone through a dry spell and you try to make up for it with frequent waterings, the inside of the tomato will plump up faster than the outside can stretch and grow. As a result the outer skin of the tomato splits open or cracks.

Tomatoes that crack are still edible. They just won't keep as long. You can prevent future tomatoes cracking by making sure that they receive water regularly, whether or not it rains. Mulching the area around the tomatoes will also help maintain ground moisture levels. Finally, look for varieties that are resistant to cracking. Source

Well, I can honestly say I don't water the garden on a regular basis. The truth is, I have gotten lazy. Want to know how I "fixed" the situation? I've been making fried green tomatoes so I use them BEFORE they get a chance to crack. Oh, but I was planning to do that all along...uh-huh, sure. We are getting plenty of sweet ripe cherry tomatoes so there's no shortage of tomatoes in our household. I've never made fried green tomatoes until recently. They're pretty tasty. I just dip them in egg and coated them in a combination of brown rice flour, salt, pepper, and corn flour then pan fry them with a little olive oil. Tomorrow I'm going to try some by replacing the corn flour with coarse chickpea flour. That should by yummy!

Cabbage stuffed with creamy eggplant and assorted veggies

2009-07-20T21:39:00.000-04:00

I got the eggplants from the garden and I wanted a dish that was creamy that satisfied the fat craving that one gets from alfredo sauce or some sort of mayonnaise based salad BUT it had to be healthy (the nut spread is key in the creaminess of the dish). Every eggplant dish I know of requires lots of oil to soften it so I came up with this recipe which uses the water that is released from the other veggies to infuse the eggplant with moisture and flavor. In the past week I have made this twice and can't get enough. I made a huge batch yesterday (about 4x the recipe) because of all the eggplants that were ready to use. I couldn't use one of the Ichiban eggplants because it got too big so was seedy. I used young eggplants so the seeds were super tender so the texture of the dish isn't affected by the seeds. The big one in the picture had some seeds so I scraped them out.

Creamy eggplant with assorted veggies
Makes approximately 3 1/4 cups
Note: I like this to be chunky so I chopped all the veggies and minced the garlic

3/4 cup eggplant, peeled and seeds removed
2/3 cup carrots
2/3 cup red onions
1 cup portobello mushrooms
1/2 cup red pepper
1 cup tomatoes
2 cloves minced garlic
2 TB olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 TB balsamic vinegar
1 tsp agave nectar (or other sweetener)
1/3 cup nut spread

Saute first 7 ingredients in olive oil for about 5 minutes. Mix in salt, vinegar, and agave nectar. Cover the pan and cook on low for 30 minutes (or when veggies are tender), stirring often. Remove from heat and mix in the nut spread. Add salt if needed.

In the photo of the completed dish, I blanched napa cabbage leaves for a minute then stuffed it. Other ideas:

- Toss this with your favorite pasta. I use Tinkyada brown rice pasta.
- Eat it as is as the main or side dish.
- Top it on chicken, a baked potato, or a piece of fish.
- Roll it up with some raw veggies and nori.

Veggie nori rolls

2009-07-16T21:37:00.001-04:00

I've been eating veggie rolls a few times a week for lunch because it's light and quick to prepare. I fill it with carrots, sauteed asparagus, cucumbers, blanched napa cabbage, and a nut spread all wrapped up in nori (sushi seaweed sheet). Use whatever veggies that sound good to you. I bought some bean sprouts today so will add that to the mix tomorrow. Two rolls are enough for me and keeps my belly happy until the next meal 2-3 hours later.

Assemble as shown in this picture and roll it up. Add a little water to the end of the nori so it'll stick to itself. Dip the roll in the teriyaki sauce and enjoy!

Teriyaki sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp grated garlic

I use a microplane to grate. Mix all together in a bowl.

Nut spread
1/2 cup raw soaked macadamia nuts
1 1/2 cups raw soaked cashews
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 TB soy sauce
1 tsp garlic
1 TB Spike Seasoning (salt-free)

Soak the nuts overnight. Rinse the nuts then add them to the food processor along with the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.

I got the raw macadamia nuts in the bulk section at Whole Foods and the raw cashews from an Indian grocery store. You will have plenty of the nut mixture leftover. Use it as a veggie dip or save it for an eggplant recipe I will post soon.

Fruit flies must die!

2009-07-01T18:00:00.000-04:00

I'm re-posting this because fruit flies have appeared but only briefly because I did the below and got rid of them pronto. It works! To minimize them, rinse off your produce if you are going to have them sit on your counter. I think I got some because I forgot to rinse the bananas and oranges. Lesson learned.

Ugh, I HATE fruit flies (well, who doesn't) and somehow they got in the kitchen. I wonder if eggs were on the bananas then hatched in the house. They have a life span of 10 days so those pesky little buggers could really drive me nuts IF I didn't know how to get rid of them. I have a trick and it WORKS! I filled a short "on the rocks" glass with about a 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar with a little squirt of dish soap. I placed it by the bananas and snuck away, waiting...waiting for them to plunge to their untimely death. I went by 10 minutes later and there were 3 little suckers who fell into my trap and were dead. After a couple hours there were 10 of them. No others have joined the party in several hours so I think I got them all. Give this a try the next time you get these uninvited pests.

Pesto Zucchini Tomato Gratin

2009-06-26T21:35:00.000-04:00

I really enjoy cooking meals at lunch because I can go about it at a leisurely pace. In the evenings, I feel like I'm racing to get everything done in time to get Boo in bed by 7 so some of the fun is taken out of cooking. The past couple days I've been trying new recipes at lunch and here's one I made yesterday. It's a pesto zucchini tomato gratin from Karina's Kitchen. I followed the recipe except I added zucchini blossoms (have a bunch from the garden, not sure what to do with them) and substituted the mozzarella with feta since I have a big tub of it in the fridge. I made brown rice noodles and tossed them in pesto as the recipe recommends and it was yummy. It's been so long since I gave Boo pesto that she has no recollection of ever eating it. She didn't like the gratin part but absolutely loved the pasta with pesto so I gave that to her along with a mug of sweet potato bisque from Trader Joe's. She said "mmmm" the entire time and asked for it for dinner that night. DB and I really enjoyed this dish and I actually prefer it sans the pasta.

Veggies and assorted dips

2009-06-20T21:00:00.001-04:00

This always happens...when I cook yummy meals (besides the old standbys), I don't craft. Or if I'm crafting, I'm not really into putting forth the extra effort to crank out some interesting dishes. Can I have some balance, please? I haven't stepped into the craft room all week but I've been cooking some yummy stuff. Here's what we had for dinner the other evening. The weather wasn't too miserably hot so we ate outside.

Celery, carrots, cucumber, & cauliflower
with
Clockwise: white bean dip (w/ basil on top), roasted
carrot and garbanzo bean dip, and eggplant tapenade

The white bean dip was a recipe I found on a blog and it came out super bland so I doctored it up by adding salsa, fresh basil and added the rosemary into the dip, not on top. It actually turned out delicious! Here's the recipe:

3 TB extra-virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 15.5 oz cans white beans (cannellini, navy, great northern - which I used) drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup water
2 TB fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 TB basil, finely chopped
1/2 cup or more black bean and corn salsa (add to your liking)

In a medium pan, heat oil and add onion. Cook over medium-high heat 5 minutes, or until onion becomes translucent. Add garlic, stirring, and cook one minute. In a food processor, pulse together everything except the salsa. After it's the texture of your liking, pour into bowl and mix in salsa.

I goofed on Just Bento's roasted carrot dip so I had to fix it and it actually came out really good. The addition of the beans makes it more nutritious but I still do love the original (w/ half the sweetener) which I make on a regular basis. I modified the ingredients slightly as follows:

2 large carrots
4 TB tahini
1 TB olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt or to taste
1/2 TB raw cane or light brown sugar, or to taste (I don't like mine too sweet)
1 tsp. ground cumin
Pinch red chili pepper powder, or to taste (I left this out for Boo)
1 can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

Heat the oven to 180°C / 360°F. Wash two carrots, cut them up roughly, sprinkle with a little salt, and wrap them loosely in kitchen parchment paper or aluminum foil. Bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes, until soft. Open the paper up for the last few minutes to evaporate any accumulated moisture.

Let cool a bit, and put the pieces in the bowl of a food processor with the other ingredients. Drizzle some water to help the blender along. Process until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

I've made Karina's Kitchen's eggplant tapenade several times and it's oh so delicious! I follow the recipe exactly. I have some left over so I'm going to shred zucchini like spaghetti and toss it in with the tapenade and call it lunch.

All these dips with veggies make for a light meal on a hot day or you can serve them as an appetizer. I like to cut up extra veggies so they make for an easy and quick snack. I find if everything is prepped and ready to eat, well, I'll eat them. Boo ate all the dips but said she preferred the original carrot dip. I was actually surprised she ate the white bean dip because it had a kick to it from the salsa. She ate the tapenade but didn't say anything about it.

I have a recipe I'm going to make tomorrow for Father's Day dinner. I've never made it so I'm hoping it'll turn out. It sounds good on paper. If it's a winner, I'll definitely blog about it. Have a good day tomorrow!!!

Shirt dress for school

2009-06-10T20:59:00.010-04:00

Picked up this shirt at a yard sale a couple months ago for $2 knowing I'd make it into a shirt dress for Boo. Thanks to Tracy of Amazing Mae and Dana of Made for this design. I finished it with a little hiccup. I didn't adjust the sleeve as Dana recommended for larger kids so it was too small thus pulling in her pits so I made it sleeveless. I changed the buttons and reattached the pocket since Boo is all about collecting rocks, sticks, leaves, coins, and whatever else she finds interesting. Cool, another school outfit to add to the wardrobe.

The theme at school this week is cooking so I was able to convince her that she needed to pull her hair back with a barrette. I put one of my felt flower hairclips in her hair. You can check out my previous post for the tutorial.

Super healthy raw wilted kale salad

2009-06-07T07:00:00.000-04:00

So far DB and I made 3 recipes from The Raw Chef blog and each have been delicious. We made carrot and orange cake, lasagna (I prefer this version over the traditional pasta kind), and on Sunday I made wilted kale salad with a creamy chipotle dressing. There's a farmer's market nearby where a local organic farmer sells absolutely beautiful leafy greens this time of the year so I stopped by last Saturday and bought 3 bunches of kale. I can't remember the names but they were two different kinds and much tender than the variety you would typically find at the grocery store. I really enjoyed the salad and felt so energized immediately after. DB and I had small portions because it fills you up plus it requires a lot of chewing which is a good thing (I can be bad about not chewing my food enough). I modified the recipe because I didn't realize I was missing some of the ingredients until I was prepping. We ran out of hulled hemp seeds so I replaced it with 1/2 cup finely chopped raw walnuts and 1/2 cup finely chopped raw cashews. I didn't have chipotle peppers either so I followed the recommended replacement. I had 2 avocados instead of 3 so there wasn't as much dressing. Despite these modifications, the dish came out great. Next time I make this, though, I'm cutting the recipe in half because there's just two of us so we had tons leftover and there's just so much raw kale I can consume. Boo tasted it but didn't like it which didn't surprise me. I don't think a dish can get any healthier than this one!

Men's polo to preschooler tunic

2009-06-04T08:25:00.010-04:00

I found this men's Penguin polo at a thrift store for $1! and knew I wanted to make it into a tunic for Boo because the colors follow the school dress code.

Here's what I did:

1. I placed a tank on top of the shirt to outline the sleeves then placed a dress on top to determine the width.

2. Replaced the white buttons with navy.

3. Removed the pocket, resized it, and attached it back.

4. Took the bottom few inches of the polo and made it into the ruffle. Kept existing hem so I didn't have to do it again.

I made some navy shorts for her to go with it.

And the winner is...

2009-06-01T08:00:00.002-04:00

I'm glad I decided to pick the winner randomly because I have so many favorite comments. Thank you all for participating in my giveaway and taking the time and being good sports about sharing what makes you unique/weird. :) If you haven't done so, take a moment to read through them - you'll be cracking up for sure. I was thinking about listing my favorites but then I thought you many not want me featuring your quirkiness! I have to say, many of your comments are normal to me so does that mean I'm really weird? I hope so because normal is boring - LOL!

So now the moment you've been waiting for, the winner is comment # 61 made by Bowlby of Katie's Korner. Congratulations! Please email your mailing address to me at koalabrains@gmail.com and I'll get the necklace out to you. Here's what she said (okay, so as the winner, I will feature what she wrote!):

What's weird about me? Where do I start! Well...my latest thing is that I've discovered I can't throw away boxes. Just plain, cardboard boxes. I have to save them. I have no idea why.

Thanks again to you all. This was a lot of fun!

May giveaway!!

2009-05-27T00:01:00.013-04:00

Guess what? I am participating in Sew,Mama,Sew!'s May giveaway day. My goody that can be yours is a necklace I designed and made which I call, "Trance". I made it along with a few others in this design several years ago and pulled it out from my inventory. It's made of sterling silver and the stone is quartz and faceted (flat faces on surface so will reflect light). A cool fact: this design was in a fashion spread in Pregnancy Magazine in June 2005! Jewelry has been on my mind lately so I thought it'd be appropriate to offer a necklace for the giveaway (I've been seriously thinking about designing jewelry again and re-opening my etsy store.).

The necklace can be yours and all you have to do is leave a comment telling me one thing that is unique/weird about YOU between now and May 31. I know, it's weird of me to ask you but I want to make it fun. I wouldn't ask you to do this without telling you one of mine so here goes: For some reason when I get angry and I'm around electronics, they go batty. I can't even tell you how many copy and fax machines jammed and how many times my pc locked up or crashed. In the past year I killed TWO laptops. No, I didn't drop them, they just started crashing until they no longer worked! DB who is an ex-programmer was perplexed as to what happened.

I will select a winner randomly on June 1 and post the results (I previously stated I'd choose based on my favorite answer but I can already tell I'm going to have problems b/c how to decide???). Just check back so you can claim your necklace. I will ship it to you by June 3 so the turnaround will be quick. Oh and I will ship internationally so this is open to everybody. Good luck!

BFFs

2009-05-20T22:06:00.003-04:00

Boo with Violet admire the jelly fish exhibit.

We went to the Georgia Aquarium today and had a wonderful time. Here's Boo with her friend Violet. They were born on the same day and have been friends since they were 5 months old.

Teachers' gifts

2009-05-18T06:00:00.004-04:00

Left: (Sterling silver) wire wrapped faceted glass beads with sterling pendant.

Right: Faceted semi-precious stone (don't remember the name) on sterling silver chain.

Wednesday was Boo's last day of preschool. We gave her teachers necklaces I made, a picture of Boo with each of them, and a class picture I took at the mother's day tea party. We both adore them so were sad to say goodbye. Actually, she was sad for about a day then she remembered Montessori starts soon. She's so excited about it that she asks me every day when school starts and I tell her June 1. Wait, that's in 2 weeks -where did the time go? I made 3 gauchos but still need to make more bottoms and some tops for her school uniform. Guess what I'll be doing?

Kiddie embroidery and dress making

2009-05-15T17:42:00.003-04:00

I wish I could remember where I saw this because I want to give credit where it's deserved because it's a great idea to allow your little one to "sew" safely. I was online Monday night trying to figure out what kind of craft to do with the preschoolers for their last day (I ended up getting foam kits. For the boys, pirate patch and a sword; for the girls, foam flower pendant with beads) so I was hopping from one new blog to another. Boo and I picked up some plastic embroidery needles and a hoop from Joann's on Tuesday so she could "sew". I has some burlap and went with it because of it's big gaps which would make it easy for her. Maybe I should draw some shapes for her to follow to make it more interesting. She said it was fun but after a few minutes she said to me, "what does this make - pants?". She was disappointed that she wasn't - she really wanted to sew an article of clothing. So...

Yesterday morning I told her she could help me sew a dress for her doll Lindsay after she cleaned her playroom (which she did - is this not the toughest thing to get your kids to do??). When it was time to sew, I sat her on my lap and let her place her hand on the fabric to guide it, well away from the needle. I also had her make her hand into fists (so no fingers sticking out) and I placed my hands over hers then sewed slowly. She did this for the hem and the sides. The straps were too thin so I only let her remove the needles only when I said she could. This was a no frills dress with no finished seams so it was a quickie plus matches the dress I made for her that I wrote about in the previous post.

Mother's Day tea party dress

2009-05-12T21:50:00.003-04:00

Boo's preschool class had a party for the mommies on Friday so I wanted to have her new dress ready for it. They had presents for us and a little performance and it was absolutely ADORABLE - I was so proud of her! Anyway, here she is in her new dress made from a pillow case I picked up at a yard sale for $1. I had some ruffle (was in a big bag of ric rac and other trim I picked up at a thrift store) and polka dot fabric from Joann's that I also used for the dress. This was my second time making something for her sans a pattern so I'm happy with the results. Now, I did have to rip it apart and do it twice because the straps were too long and so was the length of the dress but it was a good exercise. I originally wasn't going to have adjustable straps but I figured it would be the best way to ensure the length was just right (especially since I had to correct it and wasn't about to do it again). Also the ease around the bust is about 1 1/2" so she can wear this next year, too, and perhaps the following as a long top. You can click on the pics to enlarge it.

The "bumpits" mermaid

2009-05-10T10:00:00.004-04:00

I always find a lot of cute things at PB Kids and I often think, "I can make that" but I never do...until now. I saw a decoupaged mermaid for $90 and knew right away I had to make it. Boo and I went straight to Joann's and spent a whopping $7 on supplies. It would've cost more had I not already have Modge Podge, glue, and an assortment of paper.
First I sketched the mermaid to the size I wanted on the canvas then cut it in pieces (hair, body, dress, etc.) and used them as templates. I then cut out the 5 pieces of paper for the waves (drew it out on the back of the paper first). I used scrapbook paper, card stock, gift wrap, tissue paper and even a piece of rick rack. Before adhering the pieces to the canvas, I painted a thin and sheer coat of pink watercolor then after it dried, I laid the pieces out to my liking. I took my time cutting the paper Friday night while watching a movie with DB.

Last night I did the fun part of assembling it all together. I've decoupaged on canvas before and the one thing I've had problems with is bubbling of the paper. The solution to this is to adhere the paper (Modge Podge or glue) to the canvas and let it dry before applying a coat of MP on top. By the way, I glued one layer at a time and accidentally glued the hair too high in relation to where the mermaid fins fall so my mermaid has the "bumpits" hairdo! The commercial cracks me up because it's soooo cheesy (as are all "as seen on TV" product commercials) but it works because I can't help but to watch it. The look is definitely not for me but I bet they are selling those things like crazy. I know this mermaid bought some for herself and loves it!

The mermaid is done and now all I have to do is decide where to hang her. It'll probably go in Boo's bathroom. It would be fun to give it an ocean theme...

P.S. - It's a fact that Elmer's glue (polyvinyl acetate based glue) and other craft glue dry through the evaporation of water. I bet gluing paper than modge podging over it before it dries is what causes the bubbling. The water is trying to evaporate but can't because of the MP seal so it gets trapped under the paper and pushes it upwards. Makes sense, right? That's my theory.

Yard sale find

2009-05-08T01:03:00.007-04:00

As soon as I saw the pillowcases, I knew I had to have them. When I got home, I laid out the yummy ingredients as you see here for a dress for Boo. I ended up not adding the band across the chest but added the pink polka dot fabric elsewhere. I just finished it and can't wait for Boo to wear it in the morning. Photos to come soon.

Got a lot of ideas and projects. I need to come up with a craft project for Boo's preschool class for their end of the year party that's not messy, only takes about 10 minutes, and appropriate for 3-4 year olds. I also need to make necklaces for her two teachers and the good thing is I already know the design (something I've made in the past). I went to Pottery Barn Kids today and saw something I'm going to make for a fraction of the cost. I bought some fabric to make more tops for me. I have another necklace idea for me that I want to make into reality. I want to do this, and I want to do that! I'm oozing with creative energy. Just need to prioritize and focus...

Koala brains necklace

2009-05-04T10:52:00.016-04:00

"Koala Brains" came to be in 1998 when I married my husband and I changed my last name. Every time Word spell checked my documents, it wanted to correct the spelling of my name to koala brains. It cracked me up so I never made it "add" to the dictionary because I wanted to see the suggested correction. The name has always stuck so when it was time to name my blog, I knew it had to be koala brains. It'll always be part of me so last night I made this necklace. I made another necklace recently but I have to remove it when I shower or go to sleep so I wanted a necklace that I could wear all the time. This is it. The pendant is made out of 20 gauge sterling silver and is about the size of a nickel. I didn't want it shiny so it has a brushed steel look (it's a little shinier in real life).

Once you have the tools, it's not too difficult to make. There's no soldering involved which is a plus. I printed out the logo then used rubber cement to glue it onto a sheet of silver. I punched a little indentation in the koala's head then took my jeweler's drill to create a hole there. I fed the (thin) jeweler's saw into the hole then cut out the design. More here and here on how to cut out silver. I didn't make the trunk of the tree as thick by the koala's head because it would make the piece of silver between it and the head too thin so it would fall off. This is the one part I'm not happy about but whatever, it's fine (Wow, I really am getting better about my perfectionism! I would've tossed this out once upon a time.). I then cut out the circle, peeled off the paper, added a hole at the top, then sanded the pendant. I have a jeweler's bench which I attach a bench pin (surface for filing and sawing) so I can work on the piece. Check out the first link above because there's a picture of a bench pin attached to an anvil which can then be attached to a regular table so you don't have to invest in a jeweler's desk.

I also completed an outfit (top is a refashion) so I'll have to post that later. I have a dress in mind for Boo that I want to have ready for Friday for her school's Mother's Day tea. Hope you have a good week!

Repeat

2009-05-02T00:41:00.004-04:00

I sewed a bunch of clothes for Boo last year and I'm so happy because she can wear them again this year. This is one of my favorite outfits which is made out of sheets that she wore on Wednesday for picture day. I made the skirt before using different fabric and you can read more about the pattern I used here in a prior post. She's got a long torso so the top could be a little longer. It's not a problem right now but if she outgrows the length by early summer I plan to lengthen it by adding another band. You can check out this post for pattern information on the top.

Swirly skirt

2009-04-29T12:18:00.004-04:00

I found this fabric in the remnants box at Joann's a while ago. The fabric is pretty loud so I figured I would use it for Boo but I decided to make it into a skirt for me. It is a stretchy knit (mixed w/ poly and spandex perhaps) so I made a waistband that folds over (no need for elastic). I really like it so I feel more confident to try out prints. :)

Healed and crafting again

2009-04-27T19:24:00.010-04:00

Didn't really craft much last week because of jury duty and my injured pinky. I cut it on the kitchen mandoline on Tuesday night and surprisingly by Saturday my finger felt fine. I can't believe how quickly it healed considering on the day I cut it, I thought it would be weeks before it would get better.

Saturday afternoon was L's 2nd birthday party so I whipped up another tiara (pattern here) and wand in the morning. She also received a picture frame. I picked up 8 picture frames at Target a couple days after Valentine's Day when all the holiday items were 70% off. I've been giving one to the little girls for their birthdays and using it as a card. What I mean is, I cut out a piece of scrapbook paper the size of a picture then apply a second piece of paper where I write a happy birthday message. This way, I don't have to worry about providing a card. I just let the moms know there's a frame in the gift bag so they can warn their little ones to be gentle when they are opening it. I love making this set because it's quick, easy, and most importantly it's been a hit with the girls.

I have a busy week because I need to put in some hours in the evening to catch up with work but will squeeze in some crafting time because I have several WIPs that need completing. I refashioned a top of DB's into a shirt for me and I haven't touched it in over a week because I'm not sure about the print. I can't tell if it looks cool or a print that a grandpa would wear! I figure I'll finish it up and post and see what you all think because I need some opinions. I'm also in the process of making a necklace for me and almost done with DB's gauchos/capris. I need to make more clothes for me because it seems we skipped spring here in Georgia and went straight to summer! I'm thinking of making some dresses.

Add a trace font to help with writing

2009-04-24T08:00:00.004-04:00

Boo has expressed interest in writing her name and can do it with some help. The thought came to me the other night to create a worksheet where she can trace her name as well as other words she wants to write. I found this free trace font and it works out great. I can write what I want in Word and print it out. To conserve paper insert it in a plastic sleeve and use a dry erase pen to trace the letters. To make the lesson more interesting, I'll tell her that her name means enchantingly beautiful, shy but confident with friends, a smart, kind, honest loving person. I just googled her name and that's the definition per Wikipedia. Of course, I (typical mom) happen to agree with Wikipedia!

I have Windows Vista so the way I installed my font was to download it first into a folder. It was a zip file so I double clicked on it to open it up. I then went to my control panel and found the Font icon. I double clicked on it and once it opened up, right mouse clicked in the folder and selected "install new font". A directory will open up and you'll just need to find where you stored your download and select it. That's all there is to it. If you have a different operating system or a Mac, just query "install new font" in help.

Thank you Rachel at One Pretty Thing for featuring this post!

Painful pizza

2009-04-22T00:01:00.000-04:00

I've been wanting to make homemade gluten free pizza for us since we're all trying our best to keep gluten to a miniumum (I'm still in denial about my intolerance to it). I thought it would be fun to have pizza night at home, getting the family involved with making the dough and playing around with different topping combos. Yesterday Boo and I tested out Bob's Red Mill GF pizza crust and it was easy to make and pretty tasty. I roasted some mushrooms and zucchini in advance, made an olive oil garlic sauce, added more veggies & herbs (roasted red peppers, artichokes, spring onions, basil, thyme), and feta and we have dinner. It did come at a cost, though...whilst slicing pieces of zucchinni with my mandolin, it happened. My poor pinky! It didn't hurt until an hour later...that's when you know it's a bad cut when you don't feel it at first. I didn't use the safety feature so it was a dumb move on my part. At least the pizza came out well. I would be really upset if after the sacrifice, my dinner stunk!

Featured refashionista

2009-04-21T08:00:00.006-04:00

Guess who's the featured refashionista on Wardrobe Refashion??? Check out the interview.

Thank you Nikki for featuring me!!!

Raw Lasagna

2009-04-19T21:34:00.013-04:00

DB surprised me by making this absolutely delicious lasagna (photo courtesy of The Raw Chef Blog) this evening. It's raw, vegan, and the flavors and textures complement each other extremely well. I couldn't get enough of the lasagna and am actually thinking about tomorrow when I can eat it again! The "cheese" is made from macadamia and pine nuts and is AMAZING - it was creamy like ricotta cheese in traditional lasagna. We ate it at 6pm and it's 10pm now and it has kept me full although writing about it is making me hungry again! This is the 2nd recipe DB has made from The Raw Chef and both are delicious (other was a carrot cake) and we're not even vegans or vegetarians. He has a few recipes bookmarked so we'll have to try one out this weekend.

Note: The walnut meat layer was really salty from the miso and soy sauce so DB left the salt out from the other components of the recipe.

4/20 Update: It's even better the next day. I've already eaten it twice today!

Tiaras for birthday girls

2009-04-01T20:00:00.002-04:00

Do sunglasses really conceal one's identity? When worn indoors, I think it calls attention to the wearer causing me to do a double take to see if they are someone famous. Totally defeats the purpose, don't ya think? I mean, look at Boo - she's not hiding from anyone. Well, okay, she's wearing some wackadoodle shades and wearing a tiara so of course you're gonna stare!

Boo happily models one of two tiaras and a wand I made for two birthday girls celebrating their 4th. The two parties were this past weekend so we were pretty busy but had lots of fun. I also had a high school friend visiting from California so both Boo and I had lots on our social calendar which isn't typical with us. I do need to get out more because I had a blast.

I made this before and loved how it turned out. You can't go wrong with a tiara for all those princess loving girls! I followed the tutorial created by Jessica at juicy bits but this time I made my own pattern which is available to you for download. I kept the width of it the same so you can cut the elastic and cover to the same measurements as the tutorial. Jessica was super cool about me using my own pattern and providing it to you. By the way, after the pic above was taken Boo asked if it was hers and I explained they were gifts. She said she wants one, too, so I'll make another. A princess can never have too many tiaras...

Hello, outfit

2009-03-29T20:00:00.000-04:00

We love Hello Kitty so I freezer paper stenciled kitty with her red bow onto Boo's black tee. I found the image here and reduced it by 50%. As I was stenciling I thought it would look great with a plaid skirt and just happened to have some fabric I could use. The ruffle of the skirt could've been cut to match the top half better but considering it was my first attempt at matching plaids, I'm giving myself a break. :) I attached navy bloomers to the skirt so Boo would only have to worry about 2 layers (underwear and skirt) of bottoms instead of 3 (underwear, bloomers, and skirt). The poofiness of the bloomers kind of interfere with the fall of the skirt so next time I'm either making them like underwear or shorts. By the way, how cute would this outfit be with red Dr. Martens boots? Fun to imagine but probably not a good idea at this age. They're so clunky I fear they are a tripping hazard.

Tights to knee highs

2009-03-26T11:00:00.002-04:00

I think knee highs on Boo are precious. Instead of buying them right away, I decided to look through my stash of clothes for refashioning and came across 4 printed tights sized 12-24 months. They are so cute that I held on to them thinking I could use them for something. I didn't stray too far in making them into socks. The foot of the tights are smaller than her feet but she can wear it just fine. The heel area isn't thicker so it's not an issue that it hits her on the bottom of her feet.

I cut them off as high as possible then attached ribbing from another pair of socks. I bet you could just fold over the cut edge and hand stitch but I wanted to try this method and it worked. I folded the sock ribbing in half onto itself then attached it to the sock as shown. I used a zig zag stitch and pulled the fabric as I sewed. Simple.

Sweet, salty, and tart...yum yum

2009-03-24T19:59:00.013-04:00

This salad is so delicious that I've been eating a variation of this 1-2 times a day for the past 5 days!

What's in this scrumptious salad: baby spinach, blue cheese crumbles, avocado, craisins, mandarin oranges, and toasted almond slices lightly drizzled with Annie's lite honey mustard dressing.

I only had avocados in it this one time, have replaced the almonds with pine nuts or macadamia nuts, added salmon or a veggie patty, etc... I actually prefer it without meat. It's lovely as is. You're only limited by what you don't have in your kitchen. :)

When I find something I love that's healthy, I will eat it practically every day until I'm sick of it. How long can that be? Well, I've been eating my low-cal buffalo chicken salad at least once a week for the past month and a half so I can eat the same food for a while (for the first few weeks, I ate it about 3 times a week!). Don't you have kids like me? I guess some things you just don't grow out of!

I'm crazy for gauchos

2009-03-22T15:26:00.012-04:00

Love, love gauchos because they are cool in the summer like a skirt plus they are pretty darn cute. Unlike skirts, though, I don't have to worry about Boo's panties showing with gauchos. I've made her about 6 of these since last year and will continue making these (I really need to make some for myself, too.). The school dresscode calls for navy or khaki bottoms and I'm pretty sure these are navy. Black or navy?? I choose navy. These are super lightweight so perfect to wear now through fall. I had to add something to make it less uniform-ish so I sewed on the plaid heart applique and top stitched with red thread so these will coordinate nicely with red, white, or navy tops. I used the same pattern (McCall's 5455 now out of print) as I posted about before but enlarged the seams by 1" plus the length a few inches. The pattern was made for knit fabric but adding the extra inches plus inserting elastic for the waistband allows me to use non-stretch fabric. I did cut the waistband on the bias so it had some stretch. I'm not sure if this was absolutely necessary but figured it couldn't hurt. I bought the fabric on clearance for $2/yard so each pair cost $1 to make since I only need 1/2 yard per pants - gotta love a deal! Now I'm off to make more in khaki.

Posing in her refashion

2009-03-18T12:24:00.003-04:00

Got Boo to pose with her "new" jumper (I guess you call it that). She'll wear this with a short tee come summer for school.

Extending the life and length of a fave

2009-03-15T21:56:00.006-04:00

This is my favorite jumper of Boo's because it's a simple design yet the flap with pockets on the front makes it interesting. It's a size 2T-3T that she's been wearing since she was a year old so I've gotten quite attached to it. It still fits her but it's gotten too short so rather than getting rid of it, I added some length. I also took some tiny tan ric rac and covered the two stitches at the bottom of the skirt. I prefer the look of the original but the revised version is better than nothing. I just need to make something for her to wear under it since she'll be sitting on the floor a lot - I'm thinking bloomers, capri length leggings or pants, or maybe just shorts. For her new school she's required to wear khaki or navy bottoms with a red, navy, or white top. Unfortunately, her wardrobe doesn't consist of these colors with the exception of this, a pair of khaki shorts, and a couple white tees so looks like I'm going to be busy making school clothes. It's all supposed to be solid but when I visited the school, kids were wearing patterned tops and dresses. I will stick closer to the requirements by staying with solids but will add embellishment that may be patterned. I'm limited but will rely on some creativity to make her clothes fun and not so uniform-ish.

The NEW everyday necklace

2009-03-11T19:18:00.010-04:00

I've been wearing the same necklace since fall and am tired of it. It's the one pictured here that's square with the single heart which I wore on a ball chain that was about 18" long. Now that spring is approaching I wanted a necklace that was as short as possible without being a choker so this is what I came up with. This is actually something I designed 5 years ago. I have several journals with jewelry ideas so I decided to look through them rather than designing something from scratch. I'm glad I did because I love this necklace. I used 12 gauge sterling silver wire to form into the S shape and hammered the ends to make them somewhat flat. Using a ring mandrel and rubber mallet, I was able to form the curves on each end. I filed the ends so they are smooth so I don't feel a sharp edge against my neck. I opted to use 3 chains for the first picture to add some texture since the chains like to twist around on each other. After I made this I realized I could make the chain interchangeable so I made one with brown leather and have black leather on order. The pendant stays put with the exception of when Boo plays with it and takes it off the loops. :o) There are a couple other designs I found that I still like so looks like it's time to make some more necklaces.

Make your switch plates pretty with paper

2009-03-01T19:43:00.023-05:00

I love Sundays because I can craft a couple hours during the day while DB plays with Boo. My craft room has french doors that open up to the playroom so I keep them open so I can still chat with them as they play. There are windows opposite the doors that take up most of the wall so I have a wonderful view of the backyard. It snowed (unusual for us) all day today so it was a treat to craft and admire the snow.

I've been wanting to decorate the switch plates in the playroom (left), craft room (right), and Boo's bedroom (tutorial) so I did them today. I completed four and it's amazing how something so little can perk up a room. I looked at some tutorials online but did mine a little differently so decided to document what I did and provide them to you. I chose to make mine with paper since there's a huge variety, availability, and accessibility plus paper is really inexpensive. This is an instant gratification kinda craft which is just right when you don't have a bunch of time but want to accomplish some sort of project. You can download the instructions here.

By the way, I didn't have any acrylic sealer so I'll have to go buy some. I've never used it nor do I know what to get so I googled it and this is what came up. I'm not sure if this is good stuff or not but at least now I know acrylic sealer is in a spray can. Just an FYI in case you didn't know like me. If there's one you like, please let me know

P.S. - I have a flickr group so if you cover some switch plates, would love it if you upload pics. Have fun!

Gifts for a sweet little girl

2009-02-25T06:00:00.001-05:00

I've had Habitual's kimono tutorial bookmarked for a while and finally made one for my friend's 3 month old. Can you tell I love this fabric combination because I've used it here, here, and for the silly girl doll pictured below which was given to her as well. I have a little bit of the fabric left and will be so sad when it's all gone. Anyway, I made it in a size 6-12 months so she can enjoy it for a while. The only modification I made to it was I made the bias tape/strap longer. I probably added 8" to the total length so the straps are a couple inches longer each (there are straps inside, too). When I showed it to Boo, she said I should make matching pants so I did. I had a 2T pattern so modified it to fit a wee one. I'm thinking about making one for Boo but make it longer so it goes down below her knees so it can be used as a summer robe. You know, something I can throw on her after getting out of the tub that she can wear while drying her hair.

Happy Mardi Gras!

2009-02-24T02:00:00.000-05:00

I have many fond memories (and hazy ones) of Mardi Gras. There are several weekends of parades leading up to Fat Tuesday so as a teen, my friends and I were partied out by the time it rolled around. I do want to take Boo to experience Mardi Gras and will try next year. Note: Mardi Gras has a family component and obviously it's not attending the parades anywhere near the French Quarter. Even as a teen we avoided the touristy areas because they were crazy overcrowded.

To celebrate Mardi Gras, I made gumbo on Sunday. It's a recipe I've used many times before and LOVE. I nursed the roux and it came out nice and thick - actually a little too thick so I added some more broth. Luckily I didn't have any more chicken stock so used some clam juice that I happened to have that was going to be used for seafood risotto. Mmmmmmm, that was a nice accidental touch that I'll be doing from now on. This gumbo reminds me of the one we served at a wine/gourmet food/restaurant/caterer/store I used to work at in high school and in the summers during college. The gumbo looks red in the picture but it's actually more reddish brown in reality. I made it with chicken breast, chicken andouille, and shrimp. Even though I'm not there in New Orleans to celebrate, I have a little taste of the Big Easy right here at home!

Another silly girl

2009-02-22T21:51:00.004-05:00

I just finished the 3rd silly girl doll and she looks a lot better than the other two I made. Hmmmm, now that I look at the others, they kind of look freakish more than silly with the eyes so wide apart - hee hee!!! This one is going to Baby A who is 3 month old. She will sit on a shelf watching over her as she grows. This silly girl can't wait for the day when Baby A is old enough to play with her!

Wide-eyed girls

2009-02-22T18:53:00.006-05:00

For Boo's Valentine's Day present, I made her Crafty Carnival's Silly Girl Doll. Hers is on the right with brown eyes while the one on the left will be going to a friend's daughter. I used the template provided but made some changes to simplify the doll:

- Used felt for the body and eye balls.

- Buttons for the iris and pupils.

- Added a top...took trim and wrapped it around the body so it's a backless top (see 2nd pic).

- Gave her panties with a heart...she's flashing you in the pic.

- Didn't turn the body inside out...instead stitched close to the edge around the perimeter of the body.

- Added bangs. Took a long piece of yarn and wrapped it around a few loops as if I was starting a pom pom. Snipped the loops then attached the bangs and created a part by wrapping the long piece of yarn from the bangs around the center of the long piece of hair making up the pig tails. Hand sewed a few stitches to keep hair in place.

I hand-stitched and used some Fabri-tac to secure the skirt, top, panties, and hair to the body and added some fray-check to the ends of the ribbon. I forgot to add a little blush to their cheeks so I'll do that later. This pattern was a lot of fun to make and I'm actually in the process of making a 3rd.

I think it's called cut-out applique or somethin'...

2009-02-14T00:00:00.006-05:00

As cool as hole-y jeans are, I decided to patch Boo's jeans (you've probably seen this cut-out look with tees). My little assistant abandoned her project (drawing on her hands and arm) and helped me pin. By the way, the markers were "washable" tattoo markers thus made for writing on skin but didn't completely come off. Is there such a thing as markers that actually washes off completely because I have yet to find them. Anyway, on to how I did it:

1. Make a heart template then trace it on the jeans using a water soluble pen.

2. Cut a piece of corduroy at least 2" more in diameter of the heart. I used pink corduroy that was cut from 12-18 months pants she wore once upon a time. Place it under the hole pinning it in place. Just pin through the top layer (where the hole is) and not through to the back side.

3. Sew the corduory to the jeans by following the outline of the heart.

4. Cut the heart out inside the outline being careful not to cut into the corduroy. Turn inside out and trim the excess corduory and voila, you're done!

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!!

Preschool goodies

2009-02-13T23:30:00.016-05:00

Today was Boo's Valentine's Day party and card exchange at school so we whipped up a batch of rice krispie treats yesterday to give to her classmates. She helped me make (and eat) them. I thought it would be fun for us to assemble them together but she had other plans. It was a gorgeous day yesterday with the temperature in the high 60's so she wanted to be outside to play so that we did. I assembled them later that night. I kind of felt a tad bit guilty that she barely participated - I even signed the cards for her...but secretly (ok, not anymore) I was kind of glad so I could make them look the way I wanted them. I know, I know, I will have to let go and let her do it the way she wants since it's her deal but until she really cares, I'll just do it my way (did I mention I'm kind of a control freak?). I'm thinking I might have another year left??? Anyway, after preschool on Monday, a couple moms were talking about how their 3-4 year olds were signing their names on the cards and I'm thinking, "they can write their name?". I guess I need to start working on that w/ my child. I did note though that about 2/3 of the cards from her classmates today were signed by their mom or dad so that made me feel better. I also rationalize in my head that she's one of the youngest. Her bday is in August so she just made the cut off so there are kids who are almost a year older than her which is a big difference. Okay, that makes me feel better, too. Oh, and her name is long with 7 letters. I'm good at coming up with excuses - I've got more. Ha ha...I'm sure I'm not alone in this way of thinking!

For her two teachers I made sugar scrub like I did the other day but this time I scented it with ginger and orange. Mmmmmm, it smells so refreshing. Luckily I had a little leftover for me. To decorate the jar, I cut a strip of scrapbook paper and hot glued a round cardstock on top. I glued a paper heart and hand wrote what it was. We gave them treats, too, and then packaged them in the brown bag with yarn. By the way, I received a couple inquiries about the recipe for the other scrub so I'm providing one for this version:

2 cups sugar
2 TB powdered ginger
1/8 teaspoon sweet orange essential oil
1/2 cup grapeseed oil

Mix the dry ingredients together. Combine the oils then pour into the dry mix. Tweak it as you wish because the recipe is a starting point so customize it to your liking. If you want a stronger scent, add more. If you want the scrub to be wetter, add more oil. If you like your scrub on the dry side, slowly trickle the oil and mix. Continue until it's to your desired consistency. Easy, right? I just made up this recipe because I wanted to keep it simple. I happened to have the sweet orange oil (got at Whole Foods on sale - I think it was $5) and picked up the grapeseed oil at a wholesale natural food store that I frequent. I've seen other scrubs that use olive oil which is readily available and less expensive than grapeseed oil. By the way, I used brown sugar for the teachers but I'm not going to use them moving forward because the smell does overpower a bit.

We are exchanging gifts tomorrow morning so that'll be fun. DB is getting an iTunes gift card and Boo gets a putt putt set and a doll I made which I'll post about later. Hope y'all have a Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Crown and wand

2009-02-10T19:00:00.002-05:00

I finally made the felt crown that's been on my to do list. It is very easy and quick to make and something I can make as gifts for little ones. I asked Boo this evening if daddy had seen it yet and she said no and ran off to get it. She returned a few minutes later in her princess dress, the crown, and wand in hand. I made the first wand a couple months ago and have been meaning to put together a tutorial for it but the blog Zakka Life made one just like it recently so I'm linking to it so you can make one for yourself. The only difference is I made a felt cover for the wooden dowel and the ribbon is tucked inside the star. I actually like how her ribbon is on the outside so I'll have to do that from now on. This set could've been the perfect Valentine's Day present but I couldn't wait to give it to her. If you need a quick gift to make for your little one, check out the tutorials. By the way, Boo tucked the crown under her pillow tonight saying it would make it magical. Can't wait to find out tomorrow morning what kind of powers it possesses!

Little birdhouse in your soul

2009-02-07T20:06:00.018-05:00

As I was writing this post, I was thinking about what to name it and the They Might Be Giants' song Little Birdhouse in Your Soul started playing in my head. It must of been in my subconscious while I was making this since I wasn't even thinking when I made the blue canary nor did I think about it when I hung it by the light switch. Check out the first two sections of the lyrics and you'll see what I mean. I know the song's lyrics aren't literal but part of it was with this project. So weird...

When I saw the tutorial by Pretty Ditty for a fabric bird cage, I knew I had to make it for Boo. I finally got around to it and I am soooo happy with the results. I placed it on my dresser last night and Boo saw it first thing in the morning. I was still in bed half asleep and I hear her gasp then she says, "Look, look, awwww, it's soooo cute!!" DB handed it to her and I see a blurry figure (no contacts in my eyes so I was blind as a bat) walk by with the cage in her arms. It's such a good feeling when she adores something I make for her. We decided to hang it in her playroom where we can admire it since we spend a lot of time in there.

I followed the directions for the cage except used 18 gauge copper wire which I already had (which is slightly thicker than the 20 gauge) and added the trim to the base which I scored a while back from a thrift store. I made up the contents of the cage. I made the blue canary with felt and a little polyfill. I dreaded cutting tiny pieces of felt for the eyes but didn't have to do it because the idea came to me to use buttons. I sifted through my button jar and found a flower button and layered it with a tiny black button. For the bird's perch, I cut a piece of the copper wire and sewed a felt tube and slipped the wire in and stitched the ends closed. For the heart, I cut several pieces of felt and sandwiched them together to add some dimension. You can see from the top down picture the different color layers of the heart. I used a single piece of white crochet thread for the bird, perch, and heart. I didn't have to glue them to the thread - I guess there's enough texture to the felt to "stick" to the thread. Speaking of glue, I used Fabri-tac for the first time and it's seriously good stuff. I used it to attach the trim to the base and it dried quickly and adhered nicely. I've used the fabric for other projects. The pink polka dot fabric is Boo's crib sheet, the base made from sheets, and the cage is made of vintage fabric. This project was a lot of fun to make and one I highly recommend.

Love tree

2009-02-04T18:39:00.008-05:00

We snipped some branches from a tree in our backyard and from them hung little notes of love. It's a fun and easy project we like to do. Boo tells me what she loves and I write them down for her. "I love pink", "I love bugs", and "I love quesadillas" are just a few of the things she had me write. DB and I have our loves on there, too. After Valentine's day I'll take down the little notes and put them in a small ziplock bag and put them away in a keepsake box along with the notes from last year and other miscellaneous things I treasure. This is our Valentine tradition we'll continue to do for years to come.

It's simple to do: Just take a vase and fill it with tree limbs. I placed some pinecones in the vase to keep the limbs in place. You can add whatever you like - rocks, glass marbles, candy, etc. Cut out little pieces of paper (you could even take it a step further than I did and cut out heart shaped paper) and punch a hole so you can thread ribbon or yarn to tie it on the love tree. Write what you love and hang them on the tree and voila, a Valentine's centerpiece for your table.

Thank you presents

2009-02-03T19:20:00.014-05:00

We stayed with my friend K and her family when we went to Louisiana a couple weeks ago. They were so welcoming and such wonderful hosts that I wanted to do something special to thank them. I finally finished everything and this is what they are getting:

She has a little child's rocking chair for her 2 year old that has been passed down for 6 generations in her family. She had the seat recovered with fabric that would reflect the period when it was made and had some leftover so sent it to me months ago to make something out of it for her. I made it into a pillow she can use in her living room where the rocking chair is plus it matches her furniture. She's got lots of tan and maroon so this will fit in nicely.

She does yoga so I made a yoga bag for her out of home decor fabric. It's by Waverly and the coolest thing is that it only cost me $1.50 a yard!!!! At first I didn't realize how steeply discounted it was but when I did, I bought 6 yards since I know I can find plenty of projects to utilize the fabric. Her husband just started taking yoga, too, so I made one for him using duck cloth. I'm not sure if he's going to use it but he has one if he wants to. I used the pattern out of Lotta Jansdotter's book. Let me tell you, it was a cinch and super quick to make. I even made one for myself which I'm modeling for you.

Finally, I made some cinnamon almond sugar scrub. I made it out of white sugar and a litte bit of light brown sugar (for the scent and color), almond extract, cinnamon, and grapeseed oil. The jar is acrylic so won't break if dropped in the shower by greasy hands. I bought two other containers because I'm going to make sugar scrubs for Boo's teachers for Valentine's day.

Not sure what I'm going to craft next. Between now and the weekend, I'll think of something. I'm working MWF mornings and every week night until I catch up so crafting is reserved for the weekends only.

Panda

2009-02-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Meet Panda. She was born today and cannot wait to be loved by a special little girl who turns 3 next month (who will also receive a jar of felt sugar cookies). The little girl's animal is a panda because it rhymes with her name so I thought it would be fun to make her one. I got the tutorial from Molly Chicken. I kept her simple and think she is a cutie. I took the pic of her on a canvas that I decoupaged with scrapbook paper. I started it in the summer and have yet to finish it because I was disappointed by how the modge podge made the paper ripple. User error, I'm sure - if anyone knows what I'm doing wrong, please tell me. It's starting to grow on me and I should just go ahead and finish it. Boo isn't going to notice the imperfections.

Writing about Panda reminds me to write about Pandora? Have you heard of it? It's a free online radio station that delivers music you want to hear. I love it for its simplicity and ability to identify what I like. What you do is enter an artist you like and Pandora plays like music determined through analysis. Here's a snippet explaining how this is done:

Each song in the Music Genome Project (taxonomy of musical information) is analyzed using up to 400 distinct musical characteristics by a trained music analyst. These attributes capture not only the musical identity of a song, but also the many significant qualities that are relevant to understanding the musical preferences of listeners. The typical music analyst working on the Music Genome Project has a four-year degree in music theory, composition or performance, has passed through a selective screening process and has completed intensive training in the Music Genome's rigorous and precise methodology. To qualify for the work, analysts must have a firm grounding in music theory, including familiarity with a wide range of styles and sounds.

It is seriously the coolest way of listening to and discovering new music. I created a station with my favorite artist and it's interesting because about every 3 -4 songs is something I have that I love. I guess my ears have honed in on the qualities of the genre of my preference. Check it out. I'm hooked!!!

Trip was fun

2009-01-29T20:00:00.005-05:00

The trip to Mandeville (childhood home) was a lot of fun. There was a 3 day seminar held in New Orleans (30 minutes away) DB was attending so we went as a family. While DB worked, I had fun with my girlfriends from high school and their children. Went to the Insectarium, played at a super cool park, and went out on a ride on the boat, hung out with good friends, and ate yummy food. I told my friends ahead of time I had to have an oyster po-boy and gumbo, which I had and enjoyed every bite. I was lucky to have had boiled crawfish, too, since the season had just started. Mmmmmmmm... I forgot how good the french bread is there. I had to eat the bread (see po-boy link to read why it's one of a kind). If you ever had it, you would want it, too. ;) Speaking of bread, I just cannot stick with my 100% gluten free diet anymore. It's just so hard. I'm shooting for 50-75% GF and that'll make me happy. 2009 is about making life realistic and not setting expectations so high that they are impossible to maintain. Oh my - big time deja vu as I wrote that. Anyways...there was a butterfly room at the bug museum where they flew freely - here's a pic of Boo and her friend looking at butterflies. I wish we lived closer but home is here in ATL and here we shall stay.

The boat ride on the Tchefuncte River was so much fun. The thing with southern Louisiana winters is that it is common for it to be 30F one day then 65F (and even higher) the next which is what happened while we were there. I forgot how cool the cypress trees look with Spanish moss strewn throughout - the things you don't notice or appreciate until you move away. I love the pic of Boo and ZQ - we stopped and played on a sandbar where the Tchefuncte meets Lake Pontchartrain. I look forward to when we can go again!

Boo's school bag

2009-01-04T17:00:00.003-05:00

Boo is really into dogs so when I found pink and brown fabric with dogs all over it, I knew that was going to be the theme of her school bag. It's medium weight cotton by Debbie Mumm. I selected brown polka dot fabric and the 2nd find du jour was fabric with doggy commands that perfectly complemented the theme and colors of the bag. I left Joann's feeling giddy with my fabric selection and excited about the project. I used the Margaret bag tutorial by oh, fransson! and it was a lot of fun to make. Her instructions and pictures are very easy to follow. I didn't have a single "say what?" moment so highly recommend the bag. I modified it slightly by shortening the strap, added a pocket to the outside, and added a cup holder to keep Boo's thermos upright (althought it doesn't leak, just a safeguard). I accidentally bought non-fusible interfacing and only had enough fusible at home for the exterior of the bag so instead of "gluing" the flannel lining to the exterior with fusible interfacing, I cut the flannel to the same size as the exterior and sewed it on. I didn't encounter any problems nor see anything weird with this modification. You can't see it but I embroidered Boo's name onto a small white felt bone and attached it to one of the interior pockets. I am very happy with the results. It's just the right size to hold a change of clothes, her thermos, and bento box plus some space for stuff she'll bring home. When I gave her the bag this morning, she said, "wow". Nice!

I LOVE this granola!!!

2008-12-23T19:00:00.001-05:00

I typically have a smoothie every morning but need a little something between it and lunch. I wanted a change from eggs so I made a batch of Altered Plates' granola but modified it a bit to make it gluten free. I made it once before and it came out yummy but oatmeal (even the gluten free kind - bummer) and I just don't get along so this time I replaced it with crispy brown rice cereal. I like it better with the rice because of the crispy texture it adds plus it isn't as heavy as the version with oatmeal.

Ingredients:
3 cups Erewhon's gluten free crispy brown rice cereal
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup corn flour
3/4 cup coconut powder or finely shredded
3/4 cup roughly chopped almonds
1/2 cup roughly chopped cashews
1/2 cup roughtly chopped pecans
3/4 cup roughly chopped walnuts
7 teaspoons sesame seeds
1/2 cup flax meal
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds or pepitas
1/4 hulled hemp seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cardamom
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla

add-ins for the post-baking mix:
1 cup chopped dried dates

Follow baking directions from Altered Plates' recipe but change the cooking time to the following: Bake 15 minutes, mix then rotate pans, bake another 10 minutes, mix then rotate pans and cook another 5 minutes. Thus total baking time = 30 minutes. It might be better the first time you make this to bake for 15 minutes then mix and rotate every 5 minutes since ovens differ and you don't want to burn the granola. The cooking time must've changed because I replaced the oatmeal with crispy rice cereal.

I love eating this with chopped apples, bananas, and almond milk. I felt lazy this morning so just had granola with almond milk and it was just as yummy. Give this one a try - it is absolutely delicious!

McCall's 5456

2008-12-15T16:16:00.006-05:00

Here's a new top I made for Boo. I also made matching leggings in the rose color that she can wear under this in the spring.

This is top C from McCall's 5456. I left off the rick rack, lengthened the top to above the knee, and modified the sleeves. This was the second time making this and I also made top D. I did run into some problems with top C - the neck band was too long so I had to play with it to match up to the shirt. This happened last time, too, but I thought I did it wrong the first time. The other issue is she has to wear a top under both shirts because the opening is so low. Other than those two issues, I like these tops. It was fun selecting the fabric for them. I love how creative you can get with kid clothes!

Paper ornaments

2008-12-09T19:23:00.008-05:00

I made these paper ornaments last night while watching our favorite shows Terminator and Heroes. I used my trusty paper cutter and went to town on these card stocks by Amy Butler. I love the paper because they are double sided with different patterns so they make these ornaments that much more interesting. I have them hanging on the right half of the opening (that is as wide as the kitchen) between the kitchen and living room. I used beading thread that's pretty clear and stuck them to the top of the molding with blue painter's tape so you cannot see how they are attached making them appear very seamless and neat looking so they look like they are floating. They slowly rotate constantly so look really cool. Boo was in awe when she saw them this morning. I took a bunch of pictures and 3 of them came out fine. My basic camera doesn't know which to focus on - the image infront of it or the background. Anyways, you get the gist. There's our Christmas tree in the background that we got last night. We're giving it until tomorrow for the limbs to drop a bit before decorating. I love the smell.

These were easy to make and would be a fun project with your kids - check out the tutorial. I love simple crafts that yield such beauty.

See ya later. I'm off to make coffee cup cozies.

Pin cushion on my wrist

2008-12-06T20:55:00.009-05:00

I found an awesome tutorial for this pin cushion cuff. I have several pin cushions I recently made yet I have difficulties keeping track of them. I drift from station to station and I have a bad habit of moving them around. This one will allow me to have pins on me and a place to put them back on wherever I may wander in my craftroom. I have one step left and that is to attach the velcro. I feel like I'm always looking for a pin cushion as I craft so hopefully this will resolve that issue.

3 weeks left

2008-12-05T07:58:00.009-05:00

The Christmas countdown - 20 days left. I haven't been motivated to craft for a few days. I did cut out a pattern last night so I am still moving along but I would feel a sense of accomplishment if I had some more completed projects.

I made this advent calendar last year and it's been great to have because Boo no longer wakes up and asks, "Is it Christmas today?", as she did in November. Every morning we come downstairs and move one of the ornaments up to the tree. She knows once all the ornaments are on the tree, it's Christmas. The advent calendar is made of canvas, corduroy, oil cloth, buttons, recycled knit, yarn, wool felt, & sequins. I sewed a decorative stitch for the garland and the grid, painted the numbers using a stencil and acrylic paint, and bought little ornaments from Target. My challenge was to make it out of stuff I already had and I was successful except for the ornaments. There's the front plus a back (all corduroy) so before I stitched them together I tucked a secret note inside for Boo. You would have to remove some stitching to get to it but perhaps one day many years from now she will open it.

Baby doll sling tutorial

2008-12-01T00:25:00.007-05:00

My 3 year old Boo LOVES to take baby Lindsay with her when we run errands. The problem is, Lindsay is pretty heavy so she gets tired of holding her. The other day we were at Borders for story time and she got tired of holding Lindsay so she handed her to me and I stuck her between my body and my bag as if it were a sling. A-ha!!! The solution was to make Boo a baby sling!

I took some scrap fabric and made a test sling first to determine the right length for her body (strip of fabric with ends knotted together so that the sling falls just about the hip with the doll in place). You will have to do this if you have a smaller or larger child. Here are instructions on how to make one for a child the size of Boo who is 38" tall and has a long torso.

1. Cut one piece of fabric 36" x 27".

2. Fold lengthwise (so it's 36" x 13 1/2") right sides together then sew along the length with a 1/4" seam.

3. Sew 1/2" from the edge on each end of tube (don't sew the ends together). Now fold along the stitch as shown. Sure, you can measure 1/2" from the edge then fold over but I find this method to be easy and quick. I just make sure the stitch is on the wrong side so it's not visible on the right side. Or you can baste then remove the thread.

4. Turn right side out and press the top and bottom. Baste the ends closed to prevent shifting when sewing the ends together.

5. Overlap the ends 1/2" and pin.

6. Sew as close to the edge as possible. Flip it out and repeat - you now have two parallel lines. You're done!

Fold the sling lengthwise. Drape it over you child's body with the open side facing up. Open the fold that's on the hip and place the doll against your child's body. The doll's bottom will sit right in the fold. Tell your child to place her hand against the doll to keep her in place. Another thing you can do for comfort is to fold the top flap over her shoulder cap which keeps the sling from laying against the neck. I forgot to do this when I took the pic but I haven't tried it so not sure if it will stay with a wiggly 3 year old.

Hope your little one likes the baby doll sling as much as Boo! If you make one, I would love for you to post a pic in koala brains' crafty friends group on flickr.

My on-the-go bag

2008-11-28T19:05:00.007-05:00

I've been looking for a purse that goes across my chest since I find this placement comfortable and keeps the bag secure against my body. No matter the design of a bag, it can slip off my shoulder when I have one hand full of grocery bags and the other holding Boo's hand. I haven't had luck finding one so I decided to make one and I love the look and function of it. It only carries the necessities but that's all I need because when I have a larger bag, I end up carrying a bunch of junk.

You can read more about my bag at Wardrobe Refashion.

Felt doggy bowls and bones

2008-11-25T23:45:00.002-05:00

Boo is really into her stuffed dogs Barnie, Jack 1, and Jack 2. I made some felt bones and bowls filled with water and dog food to give to her for Christmas. The bowls were a cinch to make but it took a little playing around to come up with the right circle size to line up with the bowl. Thought I'd share so you wouldn't have to go through that process. I made mine out of felt but I bet the bowl in a cute fabric that has interfacing on it would be adorable.

Here's what you'll need per bowl:
- One circle with a 5" diameter for the bottom of the bowl
- Two bands 8 1/4" x 4"
- Two circles with a 6" diameter, this is the food
- Two circles with a 6" diameter, this is the water

Note: You can click on the image for a close up (sorry, they are tad blurry).

Sew together the 2 bands along the 4" ends with a 3/8" seam. Turn right side out then fold wrong sides together as shown. Press fold which is going to be the rim of the bowl.

Pin the 5" diameter circle to the bottom of the band. Sew 3/8" seam. Turn the bowl out so the sewn edges are now inside the bowl. I sewed four parallel lines along the band as decoration plus it adds a little body so the bowl stays somewhat round.

For the food, I cut out two 6" diameter circles in brown and sewed together leaving a small opening so I could turn it right side out. Then I stuffed it polyfil and stitched up the hole. To add some dimension to it, I handstitched random lines about 1/4" long pulling them taut. (I pulled it in and out from the top to bottom). I repeated the process with the water but didn't pull through as tightly since I just wanted a ripple effect.

I also made some bones using white felt. I drew out a template then cut out the bones. Stitched 1/4" seam leaving a small opening along one of the long edges, stuffed with polyfil, and closed it up.

I hope all this is clear. As I wrote this I found it challenging to translate the steps I took into words. Please leave a comment or email me if anything is unclear.

If you decide to make any of these, I would love for you to post a pic at my flickr group. Thanks!

Good tunes

2008-11-24T20:31:00.005-05:00

I have music on all day at home and recently found the best station (in my humble opinion) on Sirius: First Wave - classic alternative rock. It's 80's non-pop music - like The Smiths, Talking Heads, U2, Simple Minds, etc. It's 80's music served up sans the cheese (although I do enjoy the cheese, too). It's one of those stations that you can leave on in the background and enjoy. Talk about taking me back. The memories are in there somewhere and I find it so fascinating how certain smells and music bring them out. Before FW, I switched between XM Chill and Lucy (90's alt rock) - I think FW is the perfect middle between sedate music and alt rock, although I like the extremes, too.

I haven't listened to my ipod in a few weeks - love what I have in there but I've been listening to it so much it's time for a break. I love loungey music with a groovy 60's sound but also dark and moody electronic chill (if that makes sense - yeah, I just globbed a few descriptions together). If anyone is interested in swapping tunes since I'm always looking for new stuff (although I do not like country), email me. My CD mix to you will probably include Massive Attack, Supreme Beings of Leisure, Mono, Morcheeba, Madonna, Bittersweet, just to mention a few.

Crispy brown rice snacks

2008-11-20T21:59:00.009-05:00

I haven't had rice krispie treats in a while and I was craving them the other day so I made a healthier version I found on the back of my cereal box. It's a recipe for Erewhon cereal's crispy rice snacks. I tried cutting back the honey but it's all needed in order to keep the balls intact. 1/2 cup sounded like a lot to me but the recipe yields about 6 dozen snacks so it's spread out quite a bit. I rolled them in toasted sesame seeds so they can be handled without leaving a sticky mess on your fingers. This is a quick, tasty, and dairy & gluten free treat that I will make again. Let me know what you think if you make this.

Crayon rolls for the kiddies

2008-11-20T21:10:00.000-05:00

Cranking out a bunch of the same thing is a challenge for me because of my craft ADD. I am making a bunch of crayon rolls for the little ones in my life so I decided to break it out in steps. I cut out all the fabric first then sewing them assembly line style. This approach has helped me stay on track and motivated to complete them. I also am only making a couple each night so I don't grow too weary. I plan to give these along with either a drawing pad or coloring/activity book. I have some for the little boys that I didn't photograph.

I made them using Skip to My Lou's tutorial which was easy to follow. I found colored pencils that are the same length as crayons so didn't have to modify the rolls at all. The pencils are a little thinner but not so much so that I had to change the width of the pockets. You know, as I write this I thought of something - instead of making each roll all crayons or all pencils, I'm going to mix them up.

Eeeve-ah

2008-11-18T23:30:00.005-05:00

Boo has been eagerly awaiting the release of Wall-E, the first movie she saw at the theater. She has a few imaginary friends and Wall-E and Eve are two of them along with their babies. A few weeks ago we ran errands for a couple hours and I kid you not, she spoke to them the entire time! She held their hands, had me hold their robobabies, wanted to buy them panties (explained to her robots don't wear them), and so much more. It's a lot of fun to see her imagination in action.

We went to Target this morning to buy the flick, which was released today. I made her a special outfit last night to celebrate the day. I applied freezer paper stencils on tees before so I thought it would be fun to stencil Eve, who I traced from a Kleenex box of all things. I made her a pair of wide-legged pants just like the ones I made for me that is pictured here. I modified her gaucho pattern by lengthening it and sewed 7 lines along the bottom for embellishment. I love the pants on her so much that I cut out fabric in slate and olive. By the way, I wasn't about dressing us alike (personally thought it was kinda cheesy) but here I am making the same pants as I wear regularly. What's going on? Oh my - I am my mother! Okay, I will make a few that coordinate, but not match exactly...

P.S. - If you are interested, check out the tutorial for the freezer paper stencils.

Featured on One Pretty Thing

2008-11-16T20:47:00.009-05:00

Cool beans (can you guess my age?) - Rachel at One Pretty Thing featured my yarn Billy Buttons tutorial this weekend! Have you seen her blog? I've been following it and love it because she compiles awesome tutorials from the blogosphere. I must warn you, though, her blog is going to suck you in with all its coolness and inspiration. And for you crafters, once you are able to pry your blurry eyes away, you'll have a long list of craft to do's to add to your already long list. I love it!

And the winner is...

2008-11-12T18:51:00.003-05:00

Emily of Ravenhill - congratulations! She wins 3 felt hair clips. The color combination will be a surprise! I do plan to write a tutorial for this one day but not sure when because I'm starting to feel a tad anxious about completing all the gifts I want to make for Christmas and Hanukkah. I also owe my bro-in-law fleece pants (RB - soon, I promise!).

Be sure to visit Emily's beautiful and inspiring blog. She makes the most adorable matryoshka dolls.

Intergalactic

2008-11-12T08:40:00.000-05:00

This is the second fleece hoody outfit I made for Boo and I have plenty of fleece to make more. The first one (pic below) I made has a big heart on it which I chose. This time I asked her what she wanted appliqued and she said she wanted a robot. She's really into them and especially loves Wall-e and Eve. Wall-e was her first movie at the theaters so it has a special place in her heart. I sketched the robot, cut it out on fleece, then sewed it on by machine except the heart which I did by hand. Boo really loves her outfit and wants to wear it all the time (love that when it happens). The only problem is whenever I look at it, Intergalactic (I love the video - it cracks me up!) starts playing in my head and won't leave until she takes off the hoody! I don't want to start hating the song since it's on constant replay. I wish I knew how to make it stop. Ugh.

Check Molly Monkey off my list!

2008-11-10T19:16:00.010-05:00

Yippee - I finished Molly Monkey last night and I'm thrilled with the results!! I hope Boo will love her as much as I do. The brown and tan of her body plus her red shoes are made out of wool felt. Her skirt, sleeves, and socks are made out of fabric scraps I used to make clothes for Boo. The polka dot body is made out of Boo's old crib sheet and the beret is made out of her 12-18 month old corduroy pants. I love that Molly will be a reminder of Boo's early years.

A BIG thank you to Larissa at mmmcrafts for creating Molly and providing the pattern and instructions which were very clear and easy to follow. This was my first softie ever and now I can't wait to make more!

Crafting to do list is growing and growing...

2008-11-08T12:15:00.003-05:00

I haven't felt like crafting the past week but I started this post Thurs and it got me energized to start a project. It happens - I run out of steam so I take the time to peruse the blog world or my to do list for inspiration. Compiling this list got me focused again so I started mmmcraft's Molly Monkey last night which I want to give to Boo for Christmas. I'm really happy with the results thus far - can't wait to get back to working on it. DB is taking Boo to the park this afternoon to give me a break so I shall craft then.

Here's my list of cool tutorials that I found and thought I'd pass it along. I am sooo glad I did this because when I went to boot my laptop yesterday, it wouldn't start up. DB looked it over and said it was dead. If I didn't draft this post the other night, I would've lost all my bookmarked tutorials which took me hours of scouring to find! I knew the laptop was on its last leg since it's 6 years old and has been acting funny for awhile, was just waiting for it to croak to buy another. My new one is on order and will be here 2-4 days so in the meantime I'm using DB's. Okay, so here's the list:

Christmas themed

- Modern paper ornaments by design sponge

- 3-D Paper snowflake by wikiHow

- Soft tree pattern by little birds handmade

Gift boxes

- Chinese take-out box by iDiY

- Gift boxes by Craft Leftovers

Various tutes

- Felt crown by Juicy bits...

- Stickers by Salt and Chocolate

- Sewing/needle book by Nini Makes

- Recycled bath mat by Ecologue

- Party garland by the purl bee

- Bird embroidery pattern by The Floss Box

- Ruby doll by one red robin

- Anna Panda doll by mollychicken

- Sticky notebooks by greetingarts

- Felt crayon roll & fabric crayon roll from Skip to my Lou

- Pinwheel coasters from The long thread

- Fabric pom poms from mollychicken

- Pinspinners from Allsorts

- Patchwork kitchen mat by Sew, Mama, Sew!
- Ribbon tag ball by Patchwork Bumblebee

Ones I made already:

- Fantabulous pin cushions by craftblog (mine here)

- Pocket tissue holder by Skip to my Lou (mine here)

- Doll diaper by Skip to my Lou (mine here)

My current WIP:
- Molly Monkey by mmmcrafts

There were a bunch more that I didn't get a chance to include when I drafted this post. Oh well, it won't be a problem to continue adding to this list because there are so many cool tutorials out there. Hope this list inspires you - it certainly has for me. Happy crafting!

Billy Buttons - the tutorial

2008-11-05T21:30:00.010-05:00

Here is my tutorial for Billy Buttons made out of yarn that I wrote about the other day. To celebrate fall, you can make them out of orange or the gold I used. Beige would be pretty, too. I tried making them in an evergreen color and it just didn't look right. It looked like dyed potpourri. I want to give credit to Bella Dia for her tutorial on pom poms. Check out hers if my directions aren't clear and pick up on step 3. The only difference with mine is I tie the yarn together a second time. You can click on the pictures for a close up view. Here it is:

STEP 1:
Wrap yarn around your four fingers 50 times (for the big pom pom flowers) or two fingers for Billy buttons. Not too tight but not loose either - just enough tension where it's wrapped snuggly around your fingers.

STEP 2:
Cut a separate piece of yarn that's about 6"-12" and wrap it around the middle of the loop of yarn as tight as you can. Note: it's tied horizontally...

STEP 3:

Here's where the tutorial differs from Bella Dia's...wrap the loops again w/ the extra string but this time vertically so basically you are tying the loops with a " + " (direction of the ties). This makes sure the pom pom stays intact.

STEP 4:
Take 20 gauge floral wire and wrap it around as shown. Before you loop the shorter end around the longer one, make sure the wire is snug around the yarn. I wanted to use 22 gauge but Joann's was out. You can use either.

STEP 5:
Snip the shorter end so that about a 1/4" remains. Use pliers to bend the 1/4" toward the inside of the pom pom. Rub your fingers along it to make sure it isn't pokey.

STEP 6:
Snip the loops.

STEP 7:
Trim the pom pom until you achieve your desired results.

STEP 8:
Rub your fingers along the wire to bend. This will result in a slight and smooth bend in the stem.

Voila! That's it. I've been spending too much time in my craft room lately in the evenings and abandoning DB so this is something I can do in the living room while hanging out with him. I bought a bunch of tall vases at a thrift store to stash away so I can make little arrangements to give as gifts since there's just so much I can have in my home before it gets a bit crazy looking. By the way, this is a great craft project to do with your kids - I look forward to making these with Boo one day. Have fun!

PS: If you decide to make this, I would love for you to post a pic at my flickr group. Thanks!

Giveaway time!!!

2008-11-05T10:21:00.006-05:00

To celebrate Barack Obama's election win, I'm giving away 3 felt flower hair clips. The color combinations will be a surprise. :0)

To qualify, please leave a comment on this post then kindly provide a link to my blog on your blog.

You have until Wednesday, November 12 to qualify. I'll randomly select a name then announce the winner on Thursday. Be sure to check back in case I can't access your email.

P.S.
- You do not have to have a blog to qualify.
- Even if you aren't happy with the results, at least you can be thankful campaign season is over, right? ;)

Handmade Billy Buttons!

2008-11-04T22:48:00.025-05:00

I bought various dried flowers and leaves for this arrangement several years ago. I'm not sure the name of the larger round yellow pokey flowers but I recently found out the smaller balls are called Billy Buttons or Craspedia globosas. A while ago, I came across a photo in Domino magazine where a few buttons were arranged in a simple white vase (got mine at Ikea) like the following pictures - I had enough billy buttons to pull from this arrangement.

I love the simplicity of Billy Buttons and how they look modern arranged like this. I stumbled on my crafted version of them whilst making a pom pom for a tea cosy - which by the way I have since abandoned. The idea came to me to make them in the same yellow to mimic the flower and I think it came out really well. The picture on the left is the real deal and the other is my version. Not identical but looks pretty similar, eh?

Stay tuned...I will post a tutorial for this tomorrow.

Happy Halloween!!

2008-10-31T19:05:00.002-04:00

Happy Halloween - hope y'all have a safe and fun evening!

My first successful pants

2008-10-30T20:12:00.014-04:00

The Wardrobe Refashion challenge begins Nov. 1 but I have already started. I signed up for 4 months. Boo and I went to the mall to meet up with a friend and her little girl and I was so tempted. I wanted to buy clothes but I stayed strong. I was so close to buying a purse but didn't because I have too many already and I think it's considered part of the wardrobe anyhow.

My mom made me take sewing classes when I was in jr. high and I wasn't thrilled about it but am glad she made me do it. She was an amazing seamstress - I only wish I took it seriously then so that I could've learned more from her. She did teach me some but we never got to the advanced stuff because I lost interest. Since those classes and lessons I sewed a little here and there. (A friend from high school still has a shirt I made for her when we were 15! I want to see it to check out my skills.) A couple years ago, I picked up sewing again and this time, I was having fun because I was making clothes for Boo. As my confidence grew I sewed more and more. Only recently have I felt ready to go beyond my comfort zone and try making clothes for me. I made these pants and LOVE them. These are the first of anything that I made for me that worked. I'm picky about fit so have been disappointed in the past with other attempts. These are made out of fleece and are so warm, comfortable, and best of all they were easy to make. I like these because they are fitted from the waist to slightly past the hips and flared at the bottom so they look kind of like dress pants but they are actually (fancy) sweats. I made these plus a heather gray and have fabric to make black, tan, and brown. I used McCall's pattern M5398. Based on my measurements, I was supposed to make them in medium but I made them in small instead since I wanted them fitted and am glad I did because the mediums would've been too big. If you don't want them fitted in the derriere then go with your size as it matches to the pattern. The waistband is too high for my comfort so I shortened it so it falls below my belly button. As is, it sits right on the waist. As I said, easy pants that are versatile since it can be dressed up or down. Be sure to wear it with a fitted top so the proportions are in check. Seriously, I am going to wear this style all winter. I do have plans to make a long skirt so that can mix it up so I'm not constantly in these.

Dress converted

2008-10-28T19:48:00.001-04:00

I picked up this dress at Old Navy on clearance a couple weeks ago at the same time I bought the $.99 tank. Got it thinking I could wear it in the spring but changed my mind when I tried it on at home and Boo kept pulling the top down. Um, yeah - not cool. I made the mistake of laughing when she first did it (immediate reaction) so she thought it was hilarious to keep doing it. I won't be wearing this as is. So as to not let this dress go to waste, I converted it into a skirt. I removed the strap, folded the top down to create a thick waistband and then stitched it in place. It took me less than 10 minutes to do this and now I have a cute skirt. I wanted to wear it the other day but it was cool in the house so I wore it with socks and a long sleeve tee with a short sleeve tee on top. I wasn't going for the bag lady look but that's certainly what I got - ha ha. I'll just save it for spring and summer.

Cozy fleece outfit for Boo

2008-10-25T12:18:00.004-04:00

I love this outfit - I want one for myself sans the hearts since that would look silly on a 36 year old! Talk about warm, soft, and just plain comfortable! I made this out of remnants I got at Joann's. Remnants are 50% off the regular price and I got these an additional 50% off of that so this outfit was less than $5! I LOVE deals and I would say this falls in that category. I made my own pattern for the first time ever for the entire outfit. For the hoody, I took apart one she wore last year that is too short in the sleeves and length. I know you can create patterns without deconstructing a piece but since she can't wear it anyways, I just took the easy way out. I bought a pattern just in case this one didn't come out - you can make a similar hoody by using McCall's M4644. It includes a jumper and pants, too. By the way, I love the slippers (from Target) she has on. If only they made it in my size!

I bought a BUNCH of fleece to make clothes for the entire family. I made some pants for DB and he loves them so I am making more. I want to make a long skirt and wide legged pants for moi. Honestly, I have at least 20 yards of fleece piled high in the corner of my craft room. I have other fabric, too - I kind of went on a fabric buying binge, if you can't tell. Needless to say, I have plenty to keep me busy!

The 10 minute skirt for Boo

2008-10-23T20:15:00.003-04:00

Last weekend, Old Navy had racks and racks full of tank tops for $.99 so I picked one up in XL to make a skirt for Boo. I had never made one from a tank but I figured it couldn't be that hard and I was right. It took about 10 minutes to make and I'm happy with the results. No hemming is required because the bottom of the skirt is the bottom of the tank.

Here's how I did it with a 2nd tank:

- Cut across the top, just below the bottom of the arm hole so you are left with the image to the right.

- Turn inside out then fold down 1/4" from raw edge of the top of the skirt, then fold over again 1" and stitch in place to create the elastic waistband casing. Leave small opening to insert elastic.

- Insert elastic, stitch together. Stitch the opening closed.

- Turn right side out and tada - a skirt!

By the way, THANK YOU to craftblog for featuring the pin cushions I made based on their tutorial.

Jewelry for little girls

2008-10-21T20:05:00.007-04:00

I really enjoy giving people handmade gifts and Boo has picked up on that. Yesterday she wanted to make necklaces for her friends and her baby Lindsay. I brought over the jars of inexpensive plastic beads with big holes I bought at Michael's and poured them onto a big plate so she could sift through them and choose the beads she wanted to use. We use Stretch Magic which is a strong and stretchy elastic for stringing the beads together. I highly recommend getting it with the 1mm diameter because anything thinner won't be strong enough to withstand constant taking on and off. Just string the beads to the desired length, apply a knot with both elastic ends together (see pic), and apply a dab of super glue on the knot. I've been making these necklaces with matching bracelets for Boo and her little friends and they all love them (see last pic - some of Boo's for dress up).

We tried doing this together when Boo was 2 1/2 and she couldn't do it but now at 3, she can do it fairly well. She got a little frustrated and wanted to quit after 15 minutes but she did manage to finish Lindsay's necklace with a little coaxing. This is a simple craft you can do with your children to make for themselves and for their friends as gifts. There's a huge assortment of plastic beads so go check them out. You can even get alphabet beads to spell out names to personalize them. Have fun!

Wardrobe Refashion pledge

2008-10-19T20:25:00.001-04:00

I did it! I signed up with Wardrobe Refashion and pledged the following:

I, koala brains, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 4 months. I pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself (and Boo) with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoted, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed, koala brains.

Ever since I started refashioning clothes, I look at them differently. I think, what can I make this into? It's a challenging and creative game that is a lot of fun to play. I have bags of clothes I own that I don't wear anymore so I have plenty to work with to convert into other articles of clothing. I've been wanting to sign up with Wardrobe Refashion but wasn't sure I was up for the challenge but I feel good about it now. Wish me luck!

Sweet and spicy roasted kabocha

2008-10-15T16:35:00.002-04:00

I am so ready for sweater weather. Around this time of the year, here in the south we are teased with bursts of cool weather then it gets warm again until finally it stays cool. It was 80 today so it's not feeling like fall at all. Last week when it actually felt like the season, I roasted a pumpkin and it was heavenly! The recipe calls for kabocha which is a Japanese pumpkin that tastes like a combination of pumpkin and sweet potatoes. According to Wikipedia, it's rich in beta carotene, with iron, vitamin C, potassium, and smaller traces of calcium, folic acid, and minute amounts of B vitamins. In other words, good stuff! I have had it fried, stewed, and steamed but not roasted (I don't think I have) until I tried Just Hungry's recipe for sweet and spicy roasted kabocha. I LOVE this recipe and since I first tried it last month, I have made it three times! I have another kabocha on my counter that I plan to roast this weekend. I use gluten free soy sauce so it's wheat free. Boo likes spicy food so has no problem eating this but if you have kids who aren't too keen on spicy, I'd reduce the amount of cayenne the recipe calls for. Just add a little then taste the sauce and add more if you like. I like my food spicy so I create two batches - the recipe version and mine with extra cayenne. I grew up in the New Orleans area so I'm all about spicy food!

Finally, baby Lindsay gets cloth diapers!

2008-10-13T16:54:00.008-04:00

Meet baby Lindsay. Constant companion and sleeptime buddy of Boo's since she got her from her great aunt and uncle when she was 1. We take her for walks in her stroller, feed her, change her clothes, she plays games with us, and we take care of her when she's sick. All of this but she doesn't get her diaper changed. Why? Because she didn't have any until now! I've been meaning to make them for her for a while now (along with many other things on my craft to do list) and finally did. I found the diaper tutorial from Skip to My Lou, the same blog where I learned to make the tissue paper covers. I did have to tweak the pattern since it was too small for the almost newborn sized Lindsay. I first cut out the pattern as is and wrapped it around her to see where I needed to enlarge it. I had to do this a couple times before I got it to my liking. For the two pink diapers I recycled Boo's soft baby towel. I embellished them with felt and stitched them on with embroidery floss. As the tutorial states, it is very easy to make. This is definitely something any doll loving little girl would want!