CUSTOM ORDER --> tote bag

First "custom order" bag! I have a similar bag (mine has a flap that goes over the front) that lots of people admire. One gal liked mine so much she asked me to make one for her. She told me the colors she likes, wanted it open on the top and with lots of pockets! The "front" side has 2 small pockets, the "back" has one big pocket (great for slipping in a magazine!) The inside of the bag is lined with many different sized pockets for pens, keys, and more. I love mine, I hope she's enjoying her new bag just as much!

SCD @ RE:FRESH

It's been about a week, but I'd like to officially announce that my bobby pins are being sold at another location in Sitka, Alaska. They can be found at Re:fresh Salon located at 101 Lake St #A (below the Westmark Hotel). Got them in there at the last minute for Christmas. Hope to get some more things up there in the future.

WANTED: THESE GREAT CRAFT BOOKS

I've got a good collection of craft books going, including these . . .

- Bend the Rules Sewing
- Craft Challenge: Dozens of Ways to Repurpose a Pillowcase
- Pretty Little Patchwork
- Pretty Little Presents
- What Shall We Do Today?
- The Apron Book
- The Big-Ass Book of Crafts
- Freestyle Handmade Bags and Skirts
- Friendship Blocks: New Settings for Sentimental Favorites
- 52 Projects: Random Acts of Everyday Creativity

. . . but I'd like to add these to it!

- Sew Liberated: 30 Stylish Projects for the Modern Sewist
- Chic and Simple: Skirts, Dresses, Tops and Jackets for the Modern Seamstress
- Button It Up: 80 Amazing Vintage Button Projects
- Material Obsession: Modern Quilts with Traditional Roots
- Sew What! Bags: 18 Pattern Free Projects
- Quilts, Baby! 20 Cuddly Designs to Piece, Patch and Embroider
- Make Your Own Contemporary Quilts
- Simply Sublime Bags

(ps - they are available on my Amazon wish list)

REDESIGNED

Lately I've been wishing to rearrange my bedroom, but with all the walls/windows/doors/closets being where they are, along with all the bedroom furniture, there isn't a very good set up other than the one there is now for watching tv from bed without messing with my neck. It's just not the tv thing, it's that if I moved the bed to the few other places it could go, everything else ends up looking a little squished together. Plus, no matter how I could arrange things, I live in a rental and can't paint the walls (and I love to paint), so I will never be totally satisfied.

Same goes with the rest of the house. . . the living room has only one good layout with all the furniture and its size, the craft/guest room was just recently changed, the dining room is as good as it gets (unless I somehow come into an extra $1000+ to get a new dining set), and our roommate's room - which I would love to rearrange, but it's not my place to.

So. .. here goes a new blog. . . maybe not completely new or redesigned, but at least it's a new start. I'd messed around too much with all the formatting on my old one that it stopped listening to me. My old one was started with the idea as "crafts only", but now it'll be a "me" blog and include whatever I'm doing -- crafts, cooking, books, music, lists : )

What's going on now?
Over the weekend: lots of nothing! I did get some of Christmas project worked on, but more on that later
Tonight: there's a school Christmas concert to attend, the little girl I watch is in kindergarten and has a solo
Tomorrow: dinner with some of Chad's family at their new place (hmmm .. maybe I can rearrange their stuff?)
Rest of the week: baking, finishing up with Christmas gifts, a few movies, cleaning before my brother arrives on Sunday, reposting some favorite projects and putting up some new ones!

Have a good week!

JERK CHICKEN NACHOS

The first time I had this was at a Pampered Chef party. They are super easy to make and one of my favorites! I could easily eat (and have eaten) them more than once a week!

Nachos
-> 6 cups tortilla chips
-> 3 cups diced cooked chicken
-> 2 cups shredded cheese, mix of cheddar and monterey jack
-> 2 tablespoons Jamaican Jerk Rub

Topping
-> 1 small red bell pepper
-> 1 small lime
-> 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
-> 1 teaspoon Jamaican Jerk Rub

Directions
-> Put a layer of chips on a flat baking sheet
-> Combined cooked chicken, cheese and Jamaican Jerk rub in a bowl, mix well
-> Spread the mix over the chips and put into oven at 475 for 5-7 mins
-> While nachos are in the oven, dice the red bell pepper and mince the cilanto
-> Combine pepper, cilantro, Jamaican Jerk Rub and squeezed lime juice
-> Sprinkle topping onto nachos and enjoy!

Tips
-> I like to use the Tostitos Scoop Chips for their size and shape, it makes a nice little bowl of easy to eat yumminess!
-> I've used all kinds of different blended cheeses, Albertsons makes a Mexican Nacho blend that I like the best - I also use less cheese than what's called for
-> I really like the spicy flavor of Pampered Chef's Jamaican Jerk Rub, but for the cost and size of the bottle it comes in there's better options - McCormick makes a Caribbean Jerk Seasoning that works great and is half the price
-> Place some aluminum foil on top of your sheet before making nachos to make clean up easy!

ALPHABET PHOTOGRAPHY

This is something I've been meaning to post on for awhile. My boyfriend is a great gift giver. He always remembers things I've mentioned wanting and also loves coming up with something that I would have no clue where to start with guessing. As we were on vacation for Christmas, he saw this idea and thought it was great -- it's personal, inexpensive (made for his family and mine), and easy to bring along. I can't find the pictures that he actual took on the computer, but these are from the site alphabetphotography.com -- there are many similar sites out there.

You find things out in the world and if they resemble a letter, take a picture. I forget how, but I actual found out about the gift before I received it. He was going to ditch me because it was a nice day and he needed to get out to get some pictures. I asked if there was anything I could help with and since he was doing this as a gift for many people, I got to go along and help search for letters. It was a lot of fun and you get to exercise being creative and seeing things a little different. The playground was a great spot, as well as many old historic buildings. Great idea for a child or newlyweds!

MARTHA'S VERSATILE VANILLA CAKE

I saw this on the Today Show awhile ago when Martha was on. Found the recipe on her website (photo of her cake as well, I forgot to take one of mine). Decided that it would be perfect to make for a summer bbq celebrating birthdays of a few family members. Went with making the lemon version. Very easy to make, but had some trouble with the frosting. Cake was so yummy and moist, but the whipped frosting evaporated (best way to explain it) . . . after it sat for awhile it looked like I'd frosted the cake in foam! Still good to eat though.

SEW EASY

I'd like to start making a little bit of my own clothing, but it's hard to know where to start. I love love love going to JoAnn's and looking through all the fabric. On one of my last trips I found this fun fabric and thought about what a cute dress it would make. . . but cherries really aren't my thing and the fabric was little girls, so it would've been too short ;)

The little girl that I watch is very into dresses and will be turning 5 tomorrow, so it was perfect for her birthday! I bought 3/4 yd (really only needed 21 inches). The top was already finished with the scrunching and hem, so I sewed up the back and then hemmed the bottom. After that I added some red ribbon to tie over her shoulders just in case it were to slip down. Just for some more fun, made a little purse too.

If you ever choose to make a dress that's already a little bit finished like this and need to cut it, start cutting the scrunched side and then after cutting through that you need to rip the rest of the fabric apart. It sounds crazy, but doing this makes sure that it's all along the same thread line and keeps the "skirt" the same proportion all around.

The same JoAnn's trip resulted in lots of other great fabric that I have a few plans for. Keep checking back!

CHINESE TEA EGGS

While searching for how to dye eggs with onion peels, I came across this technique for "Chinese Tea Eggs". This is a snack in China that is actually made by soaking cracked eggs in tea . . but for Easter it was more fun to use colored dye. Instructions can be found here!

AMY BUTLER BAGS

I had an odd car problem which resulting in these fun bags -- sometimes it doesn't want to start. . . mostly when I have to run a quick errand and need to restart it within a few minutes of last turning it off. A couple weeks ago, I stopped at The Beatnik to drop off more of the bobby pins I make and sell there. Not thinking that I would be in-and-out, I shut everything off, ran in and came back to a car that still needed a few minutes.

Luckily, there is a very nice quilt shop across the street! Most of the time I will go to JoAnn's for my fabric since I get their coupons in the mail . . or even WalMart if I find something great. But this little shop is so nice and cozy and ORGANIZED!! I tried to limit myself to $10, but ended up spending $20. I bought 4 half yards of some amazing Amy Butler fabric to make these bags for my friends Kelly and Holly. Obviously it's the same pattern in different colors. And I have some of the fabric left over for another project when the right one comes along.

This is the same pattern as a previous bag I made from Bend the Rules Sewing. I LOVE IT!

BABY SHOWER THANK YOU'S

Have you ever needed something for a baby or bridal shower, but the mothers and brides to be insist that they really don't need anything (or they do and you don't want to shell out a bunch of cash)?? I think a perfect gift is thank you cards. It's not something that everyone always has on their mind after such an event. This way they are on-hand for them to use and is one less thing for them to worry about during a busy time.

I just attended a baby shower and brought these. The baby is unknown, but I found out the nursery is yellow and green. Each set that I made contains 10 cards and envelopes. I packaged them in clear vinyl boxes (from U-line) that I use when I make card sets to sell and tied ribbon around to keep the package together.

Another great idea is to make a couple extra for yourself to keep in your ready to go collection!

GREAT HANDBAG

This is a project from a new book I bought - Bend the Rules Sewing. It is called the "Charming Handbag" and was very easy to make! Outside fabric is printed corduroy, inside fabric is something I found leftover from another project. Everything I need to have in my purse fits perfectly. The pattern for the handle would be easy to change, next time I may buy an actual handle -- or make the bag bigger to use as a tote.

2 NEW APRONS

Ruffle Apron:
- Fabric from new Heidi Grace collection at JoAnn's
- 3 tiered, with brown ribbon on bottom edges and waistline



Reversible Apron:
- Fabric from Heidi Grace
- First side with red grosgrain ribbon and thin cream ribbon
- Second side with red ribbon and side pocket

I LOVE THIS BATHROOM

This is the only "finished" room in my house - the guest bathroom. It all started with this tin/neon flamingo clock. I bought it for my dorm room on the way to college somewhere between Alaska and Montana. The colors from it inspired the pink and aqua theme with a vintage sort of feel. When the pink neon light is on, the bathroom lights clashed, so I replaced them with "blush" lights that give everything a softer feel.

A few items were bought and put in "as is":

-- Rugs, towels and soap dispenser from Target
-- Candles from Cost Plus World Market
-- Silk flowers from Michaels
-- Trash can from Bed, Bath & Beyond

Projects I did:

-- Magazine rack from Ross was originally green, I repainted pink
-- Tray from Michaels, painted aqua and mod-podged paper to bottom
-- Picture frames from Michaels ($1/piece, in the kids section!), painted and put in pink patterned paper
-- Butterflies above the magazine rack are various papers I had, created a template and cut them all out (idea from Ali Edwards, she used a punch from Martha Stewart Crafts)
-- Clothespins are covered in paper and hold postcards from Perspectives and cards I've received

WELCOME CHARLIE

The family I nanny for just had their third child. His name is Charlie. As a baby gift, I made a small album for his parents to document little moments of his first year month by month. This is a DCWV 5x7 mini album. The inside paper and letter "C" on the album cover came from K & Company's Addison Collection. Each page has space for journaling the little things he learns that month.

Another Album Idea:

I did a previous album for another friend, but forgot to take pictures of the album. It was an 8x8 album with 20 pages. The beginning pages were space for immediate birth details, a page for his mom, dad and sister, 12 pages for each month, and the last page left blank for mom and dad to write a note on his first birthday.