What is this Trickery?

Don't worry, it's not just you, it's been a really long time since we've blogged here.  For awhile I thought I would start a new blog because I was a little embarrassed that it had been so long here.  Whatever!  That's how we roll!  I hope everyone has had a nice year!  We have a total of three babes in our midst now... two from me and one new little man from Megs!
We have a lot of fun stuff to share with you, and I've learned a little more about blogging.  So, please join us and have fun reading along! :)

Impossibility Remains Impossible! An Update

Tuesday, January 24, 2012


Well, for the past few weeks I have been working when I can on my Impossibility Challenge which was to sew a dress.  I decided to challenge myself a bit more and instead of a sleeveless frock I stepped it up and picked a pattern with sleeves.  I found this wonderful english tan corduroy... I was excited.
Here's what I did, it's not pressed and I didn't finish the hem

Front

Back

Looks ok right?  I was feeling pretty good about this.  That is until I tried it on, and I use "try on" here as loosely as I possibly can.  You know what, "loosely" is really the worst word I can use.  In no way would this ever in my wildest dreams fit me.  Not if I lost 15 pounds... maybe if I was Kelly Ripa, not a 5'10" size 10!  I checked again and looked at the pattern to make sure I wasn't out of my mind.  It says size 10!  Maybe it's a junior size 10!  I'm pretty bummed, but know that I tried my best and took my time to follow the instructions.  I even watched a youtube video about making sleeves five times!

I really do wish it fit because it looks exactly like what I wanted.  I'm going to have to pick myself up and try again.  Get right back on the horse.  This pattern will be shelved.

Stuffed Initials and Children's Art

Monday, January 23, 2012
One of my favorite artists of all time is Cy Twombly.  His art has a child-like freedom and abandon that I have always responded to.  It has always made me strive to reach that place in my own work.  So, when I stumbled on this picture of the interior of his home my heart just lit up.  For some reason I completely respond to this image.  I don't actually like Roman heads and pink carpets... do I?  I think what I take away most is living with your artwork and letting your personality surround you in your home.  It's not important for your room to be something others want to live in because YOU have to live in it!  You might as well be happy with you.

"Roman Classic Surprise" Vogue, November 1966
featuring the artist Cy Twombly and his family in their home

I have a shameful admission and it is that after 3 1/2 years I still have not hung anything on the boys' walls.  Well I take that back, I hung one picture above their dresser.  It's really shameful.  When we were initially getting the room ready we painted it this fun yellow/green that resembles a margarita.  It was so bright and light in there that I just found myself lost as to what to do next.  Now that my son is a drawing and painting machine I thought the most logical next step would be to display some of his work.

Little Man's new wall decor

So, I decided, along with some framed artwork, that I would make him some stuffed letters to hang up.  He's learning how to write and he loves to know all the different letters.  He's especially proud of his own initials!  Also, the Little Man's favorite color is purple so I definitely wanted to find some fabric that had some purple in it.  I went to the craft store and stood in front of their little packs of quilting fabric for a LONG time!  Then I saw a kind of tied dyed looking fabric that I knew he would love it!  I thought it would be fun to pair it with some polka dots because he already has those on his valances (and I love polka dots)!  I knew that they didn't quite match but I went back to Cy's room in my mind and said the heck with it and got both!

For the letters I  just got  8.5x11 piece of computer paper and drew and cut them out.  I pinned them to my fabric (after ironing the fabric).  I sewed them together stuffed them and finished them off by hand sewing the opening.  I wanted to kind of solidify that they were meant to go together and hide the edges by hot glueing some ribbon around the outer and inner edges.

He absolutely loves looking at all his work and his initials.  I love how bright and playful it all looks and I am so proud of his cute little drawings of an elephant and a truck with flowers!  I also left a sticker he had stuck to the wall above the "B" because for awhile that's all he had up there and he did it himself!

Link Parties:
Sarahndipities
Sew Can Do
Everything Under the Moon
The Southern Institute: CreativeMeMonday

The Blue Booties

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

My booties have brought a lot of laughs to the house.  My husband gets perplexed when I make things that most people would clearly just buy.  I laugh in my head because I know that I secretly planned to make them blue and orange (like his favorite basketball team, Syracuse) to immediately trigger his mind to like them even though it may have been ridiculous for me to make them (and he did make a comment that he liked the blue and orange)!  I must say I had an extremely enjoyable experience planning and making these and they are pretty cute!

One of the first "prototypes"

 I designed my own little pattern pieces, first out of the felt because it was just easier for me to visualize and cut them while pinning.  I had a few "prototypes" and tried to just cut the pieces down to where they looked good to me.  I wanted a "shell toe" front piece which I'm not sure actually worked out.  Once I had my pieces looking good I took it all apart and traced the pieces on paper and scanned them into my computer just in case I ever wanted to make another pair.

Orange bottom... look out le bouton

Since The Baby is just learning to walk I still needed a soft bottom shoe.  After walking the aisles at the fabric store I settled on burlap for the bottom because I loved the orange color.  There is some non-slip paste I can buy that you get if you want to make your own rug which I think I'll try on the bottom because they do slip a bit on the ceramic floor.  I also added an elastic on the inside of the shoe to try and help it stay on his foot.  He still pulls them off but he would any shoe.

I think these were successful!  I think I'd make a few changes if I wanted to make another pair, but once I got everything down it didn't take me long to make the final pair.  I hope you like them too!

Links:
Not Just a Housewife
The Southern Product Queen
Rae Gun Ramblings
It's Overflowing
Chatty Chics
The Shady Porch
Uncommon Designs Online
Clean & Scentsible

Monday, January 16, 2012
As usual this weekend had me starting a billion different projects with a completion of none!  But I'm ok with that because each activity has a promising end!  I began my Impossibility project of sewing my new dress.  Which I decided to make out of a tan corduroy.  So far so good... I think.  I know a few things that I've done wrong so far but this is a learning process so I'm ok with that.

While in the sewing room I decided I also wanted to try and make the baby some booties.  He's just starting to learn how to walk so he still needs a soft bottom shoe he's not really ready for a sneaker or anything like that.  I haven't seen anything in the stores that I feel like spending $50+ bucks on, so after a suggestion from one of the moms at Little Man's school, I thought I'd take a stab at it.  It's starting to come together.

The bootie pieces out of felt and burlap

Pretty much the only thing I finished was a pom pom for my son's hat.  If you've ever wanted to know how to make a pom pom... here's how:

Tracing a circle out of two cardboard pieces with what else? A sippy cup

With your two pieces of cardboard together you begin winding your yarn
around the circle through the whole in the middle

This is what it looks like when wrapped up

Then you put your scissors in between each cardboard
piece and cut the yarn

Wrap the end of your yarn around the middle and
tie a knot (this holds it all together)

Snip the cardboard and slide it out

fluff it up a bit and now you have a pom pom!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend!

What's Happening

Saturday, January 14, 2012 

Just a quick note on this lovely (chilly) Saturday.

The first discussion for the Happy Homeys Book Club is up.  There is still plenty of time for you to catch up and start commenting anytime.  The book is wonderful so far!

Also if you are in the Hudson Valley, stop by Millstreet Loft's Riverside Gallery to for the Preview Reception for The Big Draw from 4-6 PM.  You can see hundreds of small works by local and national artists, including mine (I submitted two so hunt them down)!  

A Keeper: Beef Burgundy

Friday, January 13, 2012 


It is safe to say that I love pretty much anything that contains wine and mushrooms. For my next cooking adventure I decided to try a stew that contained just that, Beef Burgundy. I again used a recipe from the Soups, Stews, and Chilis cookbook.

My husband and I joke because I'm actually not that great at being a chef. It's really not my calling. You have to be clean and tidy and keep your workspace workable... have a great palate and taste things... know what you are doing. I am a slob. I hate tasting hot things. I like salt. I do not know what I am doing.

So, I've been trying to go against my inner being and clean up the kitchen as I go and leave things looking not like a bomb went off but as though it took me only minutes to create dinner and not five hours. There is a problem with doing this... the husband comes home to a tidy kitchen... nothing to see here, eats Beef Burgundy and tells you to put it in the "keeper recipes" log in your brain. This keeper recipe log is really small at the moment. It contains tacos, meatballs, white bean chili, and fried chicken. To add Beef Burgundy to it would be, well, not very practical. I could see pulling it out maybe once a month (or maybe twice a year) but either way it was tasty.

There were a few things I had never done before in this recipe. Buy salt pork? Cut salt pork! It look like a hunk of bacon and my arms hurt after trying to cut it into 1/4" matchsticks. While I was cutting I unfortunately came across a surprise that let me know just what part of the piggy was going on here. That was not cool.

Make an aromatic bouquet. Well that sounds lovely! I liked this part. I really like cheesecloth and I like that these things weren't going to be floating in my beef burgundy. I didn't feel like picking the carrot out from my son's stew this night.

Buy burgundy wine. Bless his heart (I like when I say things like that it makes me sound like a great grandma), the boy at the wine store who had to give me a lecture that burgundy was just a region of France and assured me that this bordeaux wine was the same as burgundy and would be fine. Why couldn't he have just given me a bottle of wine that read Burgundy in big black letters on the front?  That's what I wanted.  And I really didn't want to argue with him but I knew it was not the same. If it were why wouldn't my trusted Cooks Illustrated say bordeaux? They would have... boy. 

I tried out my new rice maker that I received as a gift from my Uncle whose time in Japan left him as a rice junkie.

Anywho, it turned out deliciously and it will be tagged as a keeper recipe.

Et Voila: