Boxed lunch picnic party!!

 Ever since we decided to visit CO for Easter I knew I wanted to throw my big sister a surprise baby shower. I spent months dreaming up ideas, I really wanted it to be perfect. She is my oldest sister and has always been a role model of mine. :) As a girl whenever I felt crumby she was always there to pick me up and say something nice and encouraging to me. Seriously, I owe much of my self confidence to her! Love you D-llyn!   Since she is expecting her fifth child I felt she needed a huge party! But instead of the traditional baby shower I wanted to celebrate her, so I decided to call it a mommy shower! I was really wanting to do a picnic party on the grass but it was FREEZING that day so we did it inside. :) I think it turned out so pretty, maybe even better than if it had been outside. 

The decorations were a collection of the prettiest pink pom poms ever and the cutest confetti garland. My sister Annie Carie made the pom poms using Martha's method, and made the confetti garland by punching circles out of card stock and sewing them together. They really made it feel like a party. We loved them so much we left them up till Easter, and might be there still. :) Since I love origami boxes I knew I had to incorporate them into the party some how. When I was brainstorming with  Annie Carie, & she mentioned doing boxed lunches, I just about screamed! Origami boxed lunches, it was meant to be! And I had just the right wallpaper for the job too, yellow gingham! I decorated each box with a tissue paper sash that was held closed with a clothes pin, and the name tags were made using my easy DIY doily instructions.

First we all yelled "Surprise!", then we sat down to eat our boxed lunches.  Each of the boxes was stuffed full of these goodies: a ham sandwich, an orange, a strawberry cupcake, & 2  powdered sugar doughnuts. So Yummy!! Next we played a candy guessing game. It was full of fun and laughter. I was terrible at guessing but somehow got candy anyway. ;)

Because the yellow and pink color scheme reminded me of pink lemonade, that's what I planned to drink. All they had at the store was kiwi strawberry, still yummy though. I used my moms cute white pot to put the drinks on ice. Isn't it the best? I want one just like it!  We had such a fun time! 

Hope you had a great Easter I'll post photos of ours soon, my mom always makes the best table-scapes. Thanks for stopping by.

Check it out

Guess what, I shared this crochet tutorial over at luvinthemomyhood. Go check it out. I'll be posting the full post here in a few days but in the mean time you can see it over on her blog.

what I am up to right now

We're getting ready for Easter over here. And this year that means road trip! In deciding what needs to get packed, I am thinking of a list like this:

• sewing machine ( for sewing at my moms house)
• fabric
• embroidery hoop, needle, and threads (for sewing in the car)
• random things to entertain kids (this could be a whole other list, or book even)
• clothes
• diapers
• car ride snacks
• camera
• home made books on tape (need to make some new ones for this trip)
• music

Here is a tip to anyone who needs a new way to keep kids happy on a long car ride. Before you go, let the kids record themselves telling jokes, made up stories, and just being goofy. Your kids will love to listen to themselves, and, It will become a treasured keepsake when they are older. I was surprised how much my kids loved to listen to that tape! Our favorite part was the recording of the baby laughing. It made the entire car burst into laughs every time. :)

Next week I am guest posting over at luvinthemommyhood for Comfy Sews VS Cozy Knits, so be sure and come back and see what it is I'm doing! :)

Tutorial: ruffled crepe paper streamers

  Hello everyone! I am so excited for today's post! :) I want to welcome all the readers coming over from See Kate Sew. Please stay a while and look around. :)

If you haven't ever been to Kate's blog go and check it out!!  She prints her own fabric, made the coolest clutch from a vintage book, and I am thrilled to be a part of her Ruffle Event! Check it out, for three whole weeks there will be guest posts, inspirations, and giveaways all about ruffles! :)

For my ruffle post I am showing you how to ruffle crepe paper streamers. I am using my ruffles to decorate origami boxes, but you can do anything you want with yours! The possibilities are endless!

 Lets start ruffling! :)

Materials :

• Crepe paper streamers
• sewing machine (or needle and thread)

1. The first thing you need to do is sew a straight stitch down the middle (or side depending on what kind of ruffle you want). If you want two layers sew through two streamers at the same time.
In making ruffles of any kind you Do NOT back stitch, the threads need to be loose and pull-able.
2. Next, tie a knot in the threads at one end.  This enables you to pull freely without the worry of pulling the thread completely out. (Something I did so many times it's not even funny, thus the creation of this step).

 3. Now pull one of the threads at the end that that has no knot. You can gather the ruffle loose or really full whatever you want! :)

4. Once you have the ruffle to the desired fullness, tie a knot at the other end (the end with no knot) and trim the excess threads. 

5. (optional)  If you want to you can sew on top of your ruffle after you have gathered it to keep it from sliding around on the thread. (I was impatient and ready to move on, so I opted out on this step for some of my ruffles).

You're done!

Now is the fun part where you get to figure out what to do with your ruffles! :)  I had been itching to make origami boxes again so I did. :) While at the thrift store a while back, I found a huge old ledger book full of ledger paper, I tried using it for origami and I am smitten!  It is just the right weight and looks so pretty all folded up! :) I used the ruffles to decorate the boxes and since ruffles are so textured you really don't need anything else on the package. 

  I was having so much fun so I did two color schemes; sherbet (above), and blues (below).

I was going crazy making ruffles so I sewed some to card-stock and made a matching card. I also made the envelope out of the ledger paper by tracing another envelope.

For this package I added a pretty blue ribbon on top of the white ruffle to give it an extra pop.  I also used ledger paper to make a simple ruffled card.

Thanks for stopping by! :)

vintage school books

I have a collection of vintage school books that my daughter uses to practice reading.  The illustrations in some are so incredible.  I thought I would share a few. :)

 Thanks for stopping by! :) Come back soon because I have some ruffles up my sleeve for See Kate Sew's Ruffle event!

Made by you: Doily craft and crocheted gnome hat

Just look at this, isn't it beautiful ? Keren made the tiny doily inspired by my doily tutorial. See how she did it here.

 Oh and BTW Thanks so much you guys for the gnome hat love! It has gone viral! I am blown away at how much people love it! :) It has had 11,972 page views to date. Gosh you are all so nice and so super awesome! Oh and you are all so talented! Just look at all these cute gnome hats people made using my tutorial! :)

 made by Delia Creates

 made by Kuky Ideas

 made by Emmmy Lizzzy

made by Fluff and Nonsense

Tutorial: How to make colorful yarn rope

 I have had a little hair braider for a while now, but only recently did I use it in crafting.  It is now one of my favorite craft tools! I have seen these come with four, three and two prongs. They are so easy to use. I found mine at the thrift store. I thought it would be fun to make a little tutorial for you.

 

-Materials-

• Hair braiding tool
• yarn
• 1 safety pin

 

1. Start by cutting the same length of yarn in each color.2. Tie all yarns into a knot at one end.
3. Use the safety pin to pin the knot to a heavy object. (I used my heavy purse that holds all my scrapbook paper).

4. Next attach the other end of each yarn to the braid maker. You do this by pushing up on the back of each prong to open the metal hook. Put the yarn in the hook, then let the hook spring back down to hold the yarn in place.

5. Now, pull the yarn taught and push up on the button toward the #1. Do this for a long time to make the rope be tight and really twisted when it is finished. 

 NOTE: For this part you want the yarns to spin individually, NOT TWIST TOGETHER. If the yarn is twisting together run your fingers along while you spin so they don't twist.

6. Keep the yarn taught, and now push the button down toward the #2.  Do this for as long as it takes to get the rope to look the way you want.  

Note: If the yarn is twisting too much at one end, gently pinch the rope while you spin and guide the tighter part up to the other end till it is evenly twisted.

7. Lastly, pinch the part of the rope that is closest to the braid machine, take the yarn out of the machine, and tie a knot.

TA DA! YOUR DONE!

It's all in the family

Just take a look at these lovely parties my sisters threw for my nieces and nephews.

This party is one my sister D-lyn put together. The fish are so totally awesome, right?! I love the fabric choices. I am a lover of new spins on the flag banner or bunting; a party must! And just look at that spread! The cupcakes aren't your normal cupcakes either; they are key lime and pink velvet, YUMM!

And this party is one my sister Mer threw. I love the idea of a cereal bar! This spread is so sophisticated but add cereal, pj's, and cartoons and it becomes so relaxed. I love the challenge of planning a designer party around the kids' random requests and Mer did a great job!

spinach smoothies

We are trying to have more healthy habits at our house so a spinach smoothie was a good way to get our sugar fix. All I did was put milk, bananas, frozen strawberries, and a huge hand full or two of fresh spinach, in the blender and we were set. Super easy! And super YUMMY! :) 

( P.S.you cant taste the spinach, it's like its not even there.)

Making progress

I am making progress on this bunting / pendant quilt for my daughter. Piecing it is turning out to be pretty time consuming though. Since this is my first quilt I probably should have made a more simple pattern. :) You know, one where you use short cuts and sew more than one block at a time. Here is picture I took after I put all the colored pieces out on the back of another quilt to see what order I wanted to put them in. I really like how it is turning out. :)

Fresh whole wheat waffles

I have never really celebrated St. Patrick's Day and I'm not really in the decorating mood right now; maybe it's the spring cleaning bug that makes me cringe. The thought of filling my house with more pointless junk, especially for a holiday that I am not really familiar with, is not very motivating.

So I started thinking of different ways to celebrate St Pat's Day, and with the earthquake in Japan reminding us how life can change drastically in 30 seconds, my first thought was... 

  (I decided to make a poster for you to download if you want. I made two color schemes for fun, two with a scripture and two without. Click images to save larger files.)

 

With "luck favors the prepared" as my theme I thought I could share a few ways to be a little more prepared for whatever the future has in store for us. After the quake in Japan I am even more aware of the five or so fault lines that Cache Valley is sitting on, and it almost makes me want to hide under our dining room table or stand in a doorway all day with my kids. Scientists say we have been overdue for a big quake for awhile. : ( I want to be ready for whatever comes our way but I want to live each day to it's fullest.

So, we wanted to get ourselves prepared, one step at a time..."baby steps", as Bob says in "What About Bob" (great movie, by the way):

"Baby steps, get a wheat grinder,"

"Baby steps, grind the wheat..."

etc, etc...

To be prepared for a power outage, we chose to get a hand-crank grinder. We've read that you get what you pay for when it comes to these things, and we paid about $65 for ours. It's a good one.

After finding out that flour loses 100 percent of its nutrients 30 days after it is ground, Trent and I have been trying to eat freshly ground whole wheat foods more often.  We also wanted to find more ways to eat what we store. We store salt, baking soda and powder, canned tuna, canned fruit, oatmeal, pizza/spaghetti sauce etc.. and eat it just fine; it was our wheat that was never ever used.  First, because we didn't even have a wheat grinder, but also because we had no idea what to make with it besides bread. Well, we finally got a hand crank wheat grinder and I have to say that we love it!  The kids love helping grind; also, starting the day grinding our wheat is really rewarding, and the repetitive motion is actually quite soothing. :)  (It takes us about 10 minutes to grind 4 cups of flour. The photo below shows Trent reading the morning paper while grinding wheat).

Today I am sharing our yummy recipe for whole wheat waffles made using freshly ground white wheat. I don't consider myself a waffle expert but I have never tasted waffles this good! Seriously, the best waffles we have ever had! Before we got the grinder we had been putting whole wheat flour in our pancakes, but only half whole and half white flour because they are too heavy and taste dry and like cardboard. But with freshly ground wheat you can use 100% whole wheat and they stay fluffy and moist, and taste like heaven! :)

Before giving you our waffle recipe, I want to mention that I realize that not every ingredient is in a typical long-term food storage pantry; but we raise a few chickens for the eggs, and a family goat or cow would supply more than enough milk (we're just thinking ahead here...y'know, more "baby steps", although buying a cow is a bit of a bigger baby step).

MATERIALS:

Belgian Waffle iron
Wheat grinder

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of fresh whole wheat flour ground from white wheat

4 eggs

1 3/4 cups milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons of granulated or brown sugar

3 teaspoons of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt

Preheat your waffle iron.

Put all ingredients into large bowl and stir till well mixed.

Pour batter into hot waffle iron and cook till golden brown. (About 3-4 min. for mine.)

Be sure and spray iron with cooking spray between waffles or they will stick.

* * * 

Every step we take towards preparedness makes a noticeable difference in how secure we feel. Taking a single "baby step" empowers us so much, and makes the other steps so much easier to envision and accomplish. Try it out!

...Coming up soon: "Baby steps: make a passive solar space heater out of aluminum cans"