Christmas gifts and such...............

It has been way too long since my last post. Since my having had vertigo http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=6129 for three weeks among other things its been pretty hectic.  Recently I have been working on Christmas gifts and rethinking some. I had originally thought I would make pot holders using this tutorial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS-jIr5rTM0 Thanks Whitney for this great tutorial. Then I realized I have so much to do and the vertigo didn't help much when some days it was so bad the couch had a permanent dent. I decided to try knitting again. Just sitting there was not that fun especially when I wanted to be productive. I took out the knitting needles my mother in law had given me and some yarn that was also tossed my way. Put that with some fun fur and I made my first scarf of the year for my niece who is 20 months and a true diva.

After that I decided to make another one for my older niece.

On the days I was feeling ok I made an apron out of a hand towel, seem binding and a pillow case.

After I resolved the vertigo I decided to hit up the fabric store and take advantage of the fleece scrap table. So I made a scarf out of that. Then I decided since I am so far behind I will grab some more fleece. This table saved Christmas for me. It was so incredibly cheep to use the scraps for scarves this year.

So I will be seeing a lot more of this.....

And this.......

Oh and since I last posted I have been given a little bit of a sewing stash. This wonderful woman was 93 when she passed and her family new that I loved to sew. I now will not have to buy any class 66 bobbins for my Singer and I also got some vintage sewing notions.

So that is just a little of what I have been up to.

Awesome blogs to check out..........

Ok so I thought I would show some love to the blogs that I follow. One of them is Naughty Shorts. She is a fab seamstress and never runs out of great ideas. She is an inspiration to me every time I go to her blog. He is the link http://naughtyshorts.blogspot.com/
She is also hosting a giveaway that I think is well worth the checking out. When you check her blog you will know why I love it so much.
The next blog I love to check out is Whitney Sews. She is a talented person who does video blogging. This is very innovative because I have not seen another blog like it. I have learned so much in my year an a half of sewing from her. Here is the link http://whitneysews.blogspot.com/

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Thanksgiving and stuff.......

Well we have been busy here. I have been washing vintage linens, selling a broken sewing machine and having the 401 looked at, recovering the highchair and celebrating out wedding anniversary. Looks like my loving husband will be working on Thanksgiving day as well so we will make the best of it. The thought of trying to prepare the entire feast for just three people (my children and I) seems a little much. My daughter suggested chicken nuggets. This idea comes from the Thanksgiving at preschool. I will think of something that I don't have to spend so much time preparing and so much time cleaning up after. I.E. Picking the turkey and not to mention getting up early to put it in the oven. Here are some pics from the short time since my last post.

Thanksgiving at her preschool.

 The two cushions with their new gingham covers and the PVC to go over that. The Singer 401A sewed over it nicely. Thats the machine I had out since the repair man came to visit. Of course I had to put some masking tape on the bottom of the sewing machine foot so it would not stick to the PVC.

Hand sewen the closure to the new covering.

 Small square table cloth with apple applique.

 This looks to be a dish towel but has a very vibrant print.

Linen doily with hand embroidery.

One of my favorite pictures. We got married in a chapel that was 96 years old at the time. Very pretty with a working bell that I made my brother ring after the ceremony was over. He thought he would get in trouble for it but of course he didn't. What would they have done kick us out. The ceremony was over. Either way it all worked out.
                    Thank you to all who visit my blog and thank you to all who voted for me at craftster. 

           Please become a follower so I can host a give away.

Sneek Peek and Chicken Cream Cheese Enchiladas........

Here are my infamous Chicken Cream Cheese Enchiladas. They are very simple to make and sooooo tasty. If you are lactose intolerant I do apologize.
You will need...
4 cups of chicken (any will do but I like the breast tenders cause its faster)
1 cup chunky salsa (I use Pace)
1 cup graded cheese (any that you prefer, I like Monterey Jack)
1 block cream cheese
Enchilada sauce
Corn tortillas
(I also put a tiny bit of cumin and some garlic powder. Cumin is a strong spice so I only put I little dash)
Big dish to back the masterpiece in.
I am telling you its sooooooooo good.

Boil chicken till cooked through and chop. You can also shred but its time consuming. If your chicken is already cooked like maybe you are using left over chicken skip the boiling.

Put salsa, cream cheese, shredded cheese, spices( if desired) and chicken in the pot that you boiled your chicken in. I put it back in the same pot so I don't have to wash 2 of them. Reduce reuse. He He. This picture is a before the chicken was added shot. Stir the ingredients over some heat but not too much till they are combined. You put it over heat to melt the cheese.

Sorry no shot of the filling part. Gummy hands ya know. So basically I filled the corn tortillas with the chicken mixture then rolled them and put them in a pan. Be sure you put a layer of enchilada sauce on the bottom before placing the enchiladas in there. I then topped the dish with enchilada sauce and cheese.

Bake it in the oven till the cheese bubbles and voila. You now have dinner. Its not super fast but its soooooo darn good.

I started working on Christmas presents like I told myself I would do months ago. :) This one is a scrub top using Superman sheets. I am totally not finished but when I get finished I will post some pics.

Last but not certainly not least. Since I have buttered you up with my secret weapon recipe I need a huge favor. I have put this costume in a contest and I am asking for you wonderful people out there to vote. Here is the link http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=391946.0
Please Please Vote for "Lady Gaga Octopus". You will have to join the site but you do not have to pay for anything. Its just a crafting web site that is a great one with all kinds of ideas and contests. When you join there will be little circles next to each costume name. Just click on the circle next to "Lady Gaga Octopus" then cast your vote by clicking the button at the bottom of the list. I think it says vote. This contest only lasts until the 17th of November so please vote for me soon.They changed the end date. One more day yay.
                                                         Thank you to everyone who visits.
                                              I read every comment and love the feed back. 
                Better Still I hope to one day host a give away. Well as soon as I get some more followers.

Lady Gaga Octopus

She was Lady Gaga Octopus for Halloween this year. Very interesting choice when I had no idea that she knew who Lady Gaga was. All of this except for the shoes and leotard are home made. This is my very first sewn together home made costume. I guess next year we will have to top this and it will be talked about for days.

She really liked the photo op.

She is showing off the detachable tentacles. They are filled with poly fill and the suction cups are felt circles.  I sat and cut them out for hours.

                        Can some one say Rock Star. She even had a headband to complete the ensemble.

      These are the shoulder pads. I made them detachable as well and they are secured with bobby pins.

                                                         Skirt without the tentacles.

 I decided to take a pic like this so that I could have one of the full costume.

Show and tell..... and a good deal

 Today I was not really wanting to go to any garage sales because I didn't really want to spend any money but I am glad we stopped. We picked up this tree and the woman wanted to get rid of the fabric remnants she had so badly she gave some to me for free. Awesome I know.
I have been looking for one of these trees for a very long time but hardly find them and when I do they are priced really high.

 When I came across this one I just had to ask how much. I got it and took it home because I only paid a dollar.  Fantastic find at a garage sale. 

This thing is over 30 years old and it only has this broken part on the bottom. Most of the ones I see at a persons home usually are cracked in an obvious place or broken and glued. This one is in fabulous shape.

 Cool gingham.

 Harry Potter.

And a very small but cute piece with puppies on it.

And last but not least the flannel I am using for my husbands pj pants. Now I will say I did not get this for free but from a fabric store earlier this month. I found it on the red tag wall that was also 50 percent off. It was originally 8 dollars a yard I paid 2 dollars a yard. It does pays to bargain shop and hold of for good prices.

Happy sewing and bargain hunting to all of you out there this weekend.

RIP toaster oven..........

This is what happens with 2 kids and cooking while half asleep. My son loves to put the remote controls to the TV and Blue Ray player anywhere they do not belong. The toaster oven was stored in the pantry on the bottom shelf because thats where it fit.Yes I almost started crying because I could not believe this. Since there are things going on beyond my control right now this took the cake.

Yes the toaster oven looks dingy because it was well loved until today. :) RIP toaster oven.
The highlight of our week however was a good one. Last night was meet the teacher night. My daughter was so excited to be there she could not contain herself. This is her music and movement class. Seems to be everyone's favorite. We visited her teacher who is  truly awesome, checked out the discovery room and Bible study room. My daughter also has a best friend there who she loves to be in class with.

And I must say that I am so thankful for my family and life even though we may not have an expensive home, expensive cars and don't have extra money most of the time. While visiting my daughters school it was evident that most of the parents there could afford alot more than us. Of course this made me feel a little self conscious but its not all perfect. As we where walking out a family that looked to have it all really didn't. The dad was saying goodbye to his children while the mom stood and watched. He said he would see them tomorrow as he walked away alone. So the next time I feel self conscious about my children wearing hand me downs or something I made, I will remind myself of that moment and remember to be thankful. I hope that family finds a way to heal and be whole again even if the parents don't reconcile.
I guess the moral of this story is that you never know what is really going on so don't compare yourself to other people and be thankful for what you have.

Back to basics.....

Its that time again. Last year I mad a couple of pj pants for my daughter. This year I have vowed to make some for the whole family. Yes its going to be quite an undertaking. So this is the first pair of the season. Pj pants are a vary basic project that the beginner could definitely do as a first project. Just go pick out a pattern that says easy, quick or you can make your own pattern using an existing pair of pants.

I just finished these yesterday. My daughter picked out the dragonflies and wanted them on it and after being laundered they are starting to come off. That won't be too bad of a fix. She also got diaper rash cream on the leg as you can see. However I am very proud of my first pair this year. It was a different pattern than I am used to. It uses 4 pieces instead of 2.
So I encourage everyone to get back to basics or even try it out for your first project. The best part is that no one really sees them except you. Great practice.
Go check out Whitney Sews for a video tutorial here. (She does use a different way of putting in elastic instead of making a casing, which I found pretty cool.)

Vintage patterns.......

I have fallen in love with vintage patterns of all eras. Just recently I was given a box of vintage patterns that are so delicious I just have to share. There where also a couple of things here and there that pertained to embroidery. So I have included pics of the embroidery patterns as well. Sadly non of the clothing patterns would fit me but They are sooooooooo cool.

 I had thought that the pattern in the middle could fit me but I highly doubt it.

 Brace yourself for this one. The wedding dress pattern (Right upper corner) is uncut. However it is so tiny that It had to be meant for a very small woman.

The one on the upper left corner with the pic of the person in pj's is my fav.

Zippers and things...........

Today I decided to go to the thrift shop after dropping off my daughter at school. Usually finding  I don't have very good luck there finding sewing notions because they are the first thing to go as soon as the doors open. So this time we where the first ones this morning. I found 11 zippers and 2 bias tape. Eleven zippers. Woo Hoo. The best part is that they where 50 cents a  piece. Then I snatched up this vintage wall hanging that was also 50 cents. On a rollllll today. :)
Oh and they had kids clothing for half off which made them 50 cents as well. So ya I was on a roll.

 Of course I had to sneak in a pick of this beautiful vintage sheet with a nice floral 70's print. It was found very cheap in a thrift store not too close but it was way worth it. I believe I saw 1977 on a part of the design. And the cat wanted to be in the picture too. Bottom right hand corner.

Cloth diapers........

Ok so I have recently come to the conclusion that it is now more expensive initially to cloth diaper your baby. So out of my frustration I have gone on a search that will last a while. This search includes the best way to make a diaper, the best materials and the fastest way to do it. Here are some pics of diapers I have made before. It is a diaper cover and the inside has a prefold inserted into a built in pocket.

I have also decided to make something out of those scraps that are too big to just toss. They are burp cloths for a baby shower. There will be more as I am still in the process of cutting and sewing. :)

If anyone has any ideas for cloth to use or a better way to make them I am all ears. Please comment.