This is why I LOVE The Dollar Tree...

Where else can you spend $3.00 on this...

and turn it into this?

 

I wanted a fall door hangy wreath doomajig but after looking in the stores, I didn't want to pay $$$$ for one.  I'm really not that crafty but I thought how hard can it be?  Joann's and Hobby Lobby were selling similar stuff for about $10-$15 total.  Which isn't much, really, but I am WAY frugal or ::coughcheapcough::

So I waltzed into my local Dollar Tree.  I absolutely LOVE this place.  Everything is a buck!!  A BUCK.  It boggles my mind.

Say hello to my little friend...

I received it in the mail Tuesday via Amazon!  I'm so excited about this machine.  It has 70 stitches and came with 10 presser feet and a large quilting table attachment.  There is a lot that this machine can do that I don't know how to yet, but the manual seems to be pretty easy to understand.  I"m not sure what the deal is with the puppy dog photo...I guess you can add your favorite photo in the frame...that's kinda weird but whatever.   I bought refurbished to save money and I was hoping I didn't get suckered by that move.  So far I haven't noticed anything off so YAY for a GREAT deal! 

I had some baby gifts to make and I need to get started on Christmas gifts so I've been sewing all week and here are the results so far:

Taggie Blankie

Baby boy matching flannel bottoms:

So far this machine is great!  It's quiet, it's smooth.  It's electronic...  With so many stitches to choose from I didn't quite know where to begin, but I basically just used my straight stitch and the zig zag.  The machine came with an over-stitch presser foot so I can get a Serger like look for a finished edge.  I LOVE it.  It even has a blind hem stitch presser foot for hemming. 

My next project is Addy's Thanksgiving jumper.  I want to try to add applique and am a little nervous about that.  But the machine is supposed to have a monogramming foot and monogramming stitches so I guess I'll have to learn fast. 

Morning adventures..

I'm always late.  I blame my father.  It MUST be genetic, because I really am responsible. I swear!  So why is it that the morning I am super duper late, my kid decides to be a little diva.  And by diva I mean...

First, she decides that she is NOT going to potty this morning because it's such a CHORE so she proceeds to run around the house in her diaper screaming "NOOOO DON'T WANNA POTTTTTYYYYY!!!!!.  DON'T DO THAT MOMMY!!"  So now I"m chasing a pissed off kid, hoping that she doesn't lose her bladder functions before I can wrestle her on the potty. 

Okay.  Potty is done.  Whew.  I"m already exhausted and have decided that I'm not really a fan of potty training... she can totally wear a diaper until she's five. 

NOW we have to get her dressed.  She's still naked at this point because she doesn't want to wear Dora underwear NOR does she want to wear a pullup.  Greeeeeeaaat..she's perfectly fine going to school without underpants, nice.  So now I have a completely naked toddler taking Addy's Last Stand over getting dressed for school.  FINE.  Let's do this, kid.

So I put on Mickey Mouse to distract her whilst I try to slip (wrestle) a T-shirt over her head.  I'm met with "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS DON'T WANNNA WEAR DIS!!  WANNA PRINCESS DRESSS!!  NOOOOOSSS!!!!!" *insert smushy face sad cries and ninja arm blocks* 

....and she's off.  She's a pretty fast runner.  So NOW I'm REALLY late and chasing a completely naked toddler around and around and around our living room and kitchen, which I now realize is kinda roomy and could in fact double as an indoor track if I ever needed a good workout on a rainy day.  By this point she's laughing hysterically because isn't this fun??  Mommy chasing Addy is always her favorite game! 

Finally.  I catch the kid.  Plop her on the couch.  Explain to her that this T-Shirt is in fact a beautiful princess T-Shirt and she can even wear the beautiful princess pony tails too.  She seems to accept this.  I'm safe for now. 
But wait...now we actually have to GET IN THE CAR and GO to SCHOOL.  OMG. 

"NOOOOOS DON'T WANNA GO SCHOOL!!!  DON'T WANNA SEE FWENDS!!!  WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!11!" 

...Aaaaaaaand we are off again.

Really.  How do you explain this to your boss? 



 

Zucchini Lasagna

I made this pasta free lasagna tonight because I'm back on the eat right, eat clean kick so I thought I'd share.  It's actually quite tasty!  I didn't even notice there was no pasta in it!

Ingredients
2 large zucchini cut lengthwise
8 oz part skim mozzarella cheese
2 cup low fat cottage cheese
2 egg white
Ragu light tomato and basil
1 pound of lean turkey, beef, or chicken.  I used Turkey.
garlic, salt, pepper


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut your zucchini lengthwise in 1/4 inch strips so that you have 18 strips total.  This is your pasta.  Season with garlic, salt, pepper, and sprinkle with olive oil then cook in oven for about 15 minutes.
Cook meat and sauce until done
combine cottage cheese, egg whites, and seasoning in separate bowl, set aside.
In a 9x13 pan, spread 1/4 cup of meat sauce on the bottom
Layer with zucchini
Add a layer of cottage cheese mix
Add a layer of meat sauce
Sprinkle with mozzarella
Repeat two more times

cover with foil and bake in oven for 30 minutes.  Remove foil for the last 10 minutes of cooking.
Makes 9 servings

Then you can ruin the whole eat healthy process like I did by adding fattening garlic bread. 

And some pics:

 

Nutritional info:

  1 serving = 190 calories, 7 grams of fat, 10 g carb, 21 g protein





The end. 

Gearing up for Christmas

I can 't even believe September is almost over.  What the hell is happening to this year?!  It's flying by WAY to fast.  I wish I had that awesome stop time ability like on Sabrina the Teenage Witch so I could just do the shit I need to do and not have to rush around like a crazy person! 

So I'm already (a bit late) gearing up for Christmas.  This is the year I finally get to host...I've been dreaming about hosting Christmas since I was a little girl..some girls dream of their wedding..I dream of hosting family Christmas Griswold style.  My grandmother hosted the BEST CHRISTMASES ever known to man and my best memories are from cooking with her and my mom, and preparing to feed a large family.  We had great times and wonderful traditions.

I am so.flipping.excited about this.  BUT this means I have to move my ass on making Christmas gifts!  I"ve made my list, checked it twice...but last time I checked, I don't have any stinkin elves hiding in the closet so it's just me and my sewing machine.

Here is a little sneak peak at what I'm inspired by...

 

Beautiful Vera Wang Wool Nylon...DROOL.  I wonder what this is going to be and who it's going to be for?  

Plaid Christmas taffeta with metallic threading...This is going to be Addy's Christmas dress...I'm inspired by a couple of looks but I'm mainly looking at copying the design this dress from Crazy 8:

The rest is going to be a secret...I do have at least TWO people who read this blog and those two are probably family and thus recipients of my attempts at sewing.  And I never like to give presents away early.  :D 

The hard part about this process is figuring out exactly what I want to make for everyone because I keep changing my mind whenever I come across a new pattern.  NOT to mention I still want to make A's halloween costume and Thanksgiving dress.

Maybe I"m taking on too much and SHOULD in fact hire some elves.

Cheers,

Liz

My Vogue book

So I found these books at half price yesterday during my lunch break.  All day long I was thinking about that Vogue book and couldn't wait to get home to go through it.  I was like a kid anticipating Christmas.  Not only am I a freak about fabric, I'm also a freak about books- especially old books.  Not sure why- the smell maybe?  There is just something about books that bring me comfort and happiness comparable to the buzz you get from a good glass of Pinot.  

I get home, immediately pull out my "new" vintage sewing book and discover that it is a first edition print in PRISTINE condition.  This book has never been used.  It smells so amazing I want to sleep with it.  The pages are perfectly stiff and make that wonderful whoooshing sound when they are turned.  This book has EVERYTHING a person ever wants to know about garment construction.  But now I face a dilema.  I can't obviously pour through this thing and use it as my textbook as originally planned when all I want to do is wrap it in plastic and lock it away....Is it worth anything?  Not really.  But it is to me. 

Off to Ebay where I discover that I can get a used copy for about 2 bucks so I guess I will just have to buy two. 

Cheers,

Liz

The Uniform Skirt...

...is done!

I used THIS tutorial and modified it a bit to create Addy's uniform skirt.  I decided to add shorts underneath so I used this tutorial for the shorts and then combined the two right before I added the elastic waistband.

Let me just say, pleating is hard for me.  I had to take this thing apart and rework the pleats quite a few times until I got it right and even then, after I sewed the side seams, I had to rip them out and rework the pleats...alot of ripping and resewing...but I'm learning!

I'm quite pleased with the end result and am glad I used the elastic waistband because it's very easy to get off and on for quick changes..especially since we are in the midst of potty training hell.

Addy loves her "princess" skirt and enjoyed twirling around the living room in it!  I had to bribe her with a jellybean to get a decent pic.  Whatever works, right?

Have a great day!

-Liz

Total Score!

I just found both of these books at Half Price Books for $17.00 total!!!

I'm so excited!

Sneaky peek

>

> :). Almost done!!
>

My first pattern!

I finally bit the bullet and tried a pattern.  I only had to read the thing 1347384 times and look up most of the lingo but I DID IT! 

Addy needs to wear a uniform for school and finding uniforms for a 2T are hard and can get expensive so I decided to try and make one myself.  I chose this pattern for my first time.  It looks uniformy to me.

Simplicity It's So Easy 2511 at the local WallyMart for a nice $3.00.

I picked up some nice durable twill khaki fabric for $1.50 a yard!  I <3 my local Walmart. 

And here's the result.

That is ONE LONG SKIRT!  I had to take that part up a bit but if she has a ginormous growth spurt this year we are covered. 

I'm quite pleased that I was able to finish and learned a ton..like how to use the zipper foot and put in a zipper.  The lingo and directions threw me off and the pattern symbols look like chinese but I used online websites like http://www.threadsmagazine.com/ for helpful tutorials on how to do crap.  I'm so thankful for the internet.

 I plan on making some more skirts and maybe another jumper so Addy's school wardrobe this year will be set...all for under $20!

Now if I could just figure out how to sew a polo shirt...

Conversations with Addy...

Addy:  Mommy!  I watch Dinosaurs??  Pweeeeze?  ::insert sweet Addy voice here::

Me:  We will- but first we have to brush our teeth and get ready for bed.

Addy:  NOOOOOOOoooos!  Don't wanna brush teef and ready for bed.  Watch DINOSAURS MOMMY!!!

Me:  Addy, I said we WILL but you have to be patient.  Do you know what patient means?

Addy:  Yup!

Me:  Oh really?  What does it mean?

Addy:  Dinosaurs!!!



Fine.  Dinosaurs wins. 

Low fat chicken salad recipe

Ok my dieting friends, I made up this recipe last night and it's actually pretty tasty so I thought I'd share.

 I've cleaned up my diet a LOT and have omitted processed foods and even *gasp* cheese.  For anyone that knows me, cheese is a staple in my life and always has been.  I thought I would never survive without it, but amazingly...I feel GREAT eating like this.   I hadn't realized that diet had such an effect on mental well being.  I can't even begin to describe how my moods have evened out, I have so much more energy, and I just feel good.  Eating cleaner has really changed how I look at food.  Here's a reference if you are interested:  http://www.eatcleandiet.com/


Anyway- here's the recipe.  Enjoy!

  

2 chicken breasts (about 6 oz a piece) 

1/4 cup celery- diced

1/4 cup pecans- chopped

2 TBS of reduced fat olive oil mayo

2 TBS of non fat plain yogurt
Salt, pepper to taste

Cook your chicken with Pam and coarsely chop or put in the handy chopper

dice your celery and pecans and add to chicken

add rest of ingredients

mix it all up and season to taste!
Makes 4 servings

Nutrition per serving
Calories  217

Fat  7.5g

Sat Fat 1.1g

Cholesterol  43.9mg

Sodium  152.6

Potassium  355.5

Carbs  19.8g

Fiber  1.8g

Sugars  13.7g

Protein  18.7g


No pics because I ated it.  :)

It was good!  I paired it with a low carb pita pocket and spinach and it's very fulfilling!

I really think I'm going to experiment with this next time and sub Greek yogurt and remove the mayo completely.   

Latest project...

This is my first attempt at making a baby toy.  The little boy who will be here soon has parents who are huge Star Wars fans and have decorated his room in stars, moons, and rockets...so I decided to try my hand at making a plush baby taggy toy in the shape of a rocket! 

I set off to Hobby Lobby land and found some great fabric that matched the colors of his room and then went off to find (or pray to find) and online tutorial of sorts...you know...since I have no blasted idea what I'm doing. 

Wouldn't you know it?  I found a GREAT tutorial!!  The Long Thread is a wonderful site full of cool and interesting projects so I used the easy to follow tute and came out with this:

 I have a super cool neighbor who loves sewing as much as I do and has WAY more experience, so I bribed her with some wine and she helped me construct this thing.  We used minky and fleece as well as felt and cotton and then attached taggie ribbons on the bottom.  I'm so excited about this little toy!  At the last minute I decided it needed more fun so I ripped one of Addy's old jingly toys, stole the jingly, and stuffed it inside.  I then decided to make a moon, sun, and star to match.  I didn't have a pattern for that...as you can see from that wonky star...I'm not sure what happened there.  :)

I was so excited when the mommy-to-be opened it and loved it!  And we had so much fun at my impromptu sewing party, that I'm pretty sure it's going to become a regular event.  The husband will have to get over it.  haha.

For my next trick I'm for real going to try sewing from a pattern.  Addy needs some uniforms for school and finding a uniform for a toddler that is cute as well as cheap isn't the easiest task... so I'm gonna make it myself.  Hmph.  :)

Happy Birthday dear Husband! Happy Birthday to you!

Someone turned the big 4-0 this year.  He's not a fan of surprises so I planned a family BBQ with friends and family. 

He does forty well doesn't he?

We had a great time, and I had a great time preparing TWINKIE and OREO cupcakes!!!  YUM.  Complete with filling!  They went pretty darn fast too. 

I promised no tacky over the hill decor so all I had was this little cake topper.

 The food table!

Frozen tropical lemonade for the adults...

Now it's a real party! 

I think the kids had the most fun.  LOL.

Oh.My.Goodness.

I really suck at keeping up the blog.  So.  Let's start with the most pressing piece of information that has happened in July. 

I GOT A JOB!!  YIPEE!  Not that I didn't love love love spending time with Miss SassyPants, but I'm much better as a working mom.  For some reason, I'm just way more efficient with a forty hour a week job added to my plate.  The problem I faced staying at home was that the days I spent accomplishing my list of ToDos- A was left to watch TV and color and pretty much just hang out so I felt miserable guilty for not stimulating her better.  And then the days that I devoted the day to Addy- I felt horribly guilty for not being able to keep up with the normal day to day things.  It was weird.  I had soo much time on my hands, but I didn't know how to use it efficiently.  The time I got to spend with Addy is so precious to me.  Losing that job I hated and that company I won't name was the best thing to ever happen to me this year.

And now I have a great job with a fabulous growing company doing something I love.  Life is good. 

Now if I can just get the blogging down.  :)  Next up:  Hubs' birthday bash and our trip to the beach!!

We've had a great summer.

Fourth of July!

Finally! A got a chance to celebrate the fourth of July!  Last year she was very sick with a virus- which was really not fun at all.  This year- we decided to stay local and take it easy.  I felt that she needed a festive July 4th outfit and had some cool fabric given to me by my neighbor so I made her this:

This is what I get for sticking the camera in her face.   You have to be sneaky when getting pics with this one.

Okay much better.  

First tailgate experience!  I think she liked it.

And now for her very first fireworks show!!!  I was way more excited than she was...

As you can tell by the look of disgust on her face....

Here is how the conversation went:

Me:  OOOOOOHHH look at the fireworks!!!!!  DO you like the FIREWORKS??!!!!

A:  NOoooo.  Want go night night!!

Hm.  The ONE time my kid wants to actually go to bed.

Oh well. At least I had fun.

I made the outfit using a combo of a pillowcase dress pattern and a shorts pattern.  Then I just shirred the bottom of the shorts to create the bloomer effect. 

Hope everyone had a happy 4th!

Summer means...

SHORTS! 

I decided to try and make A something besides a dress and settled on shorts.  Of course, the normal sewing novice would research patterns and follow some sort of direction...not me.   Nope.  I have to do things the hard way.  I took a pair of A's shorts that fit and traced around the pattern. 

My first attempt:
I love this fabric...but not sure what's going on with the crotch...

Um.  Yeah.  Not the fit I'm looking for and those teeny tiny ruffles?  TEDIOUS and may cause random acts of cussing.   But overall a meh sewing performance, and are great night night shorts.

Attempt Two:

Let's just take a moment to appreciate what an ADORABLE and hilarious kid I have.  .......
Okay the shorts.  Attempt two was much better, but the crotch was still weird and the back wasn't high enough to cover her diaper butt.  A toddler in low riders is not high fashion in my humble opinion.  And diapers don't come in low rider cut.  So we need to try again. 

Finally.  I came to my senses and googled a tutorial.  WHAT I was thinking by trying to do it on my own is anybody's guess.  So I found this tutorial at Crafterhours.blogspot.com and went to work. 

Attempt three:

Ahahahaha getting better!  You can see from the huge cheese grin on A's face that she likes her flower shorts.  She is obsessed with flowers so these were kind of special to her.  Please ignore the huge ski foot in the picture.  It's not mine.  I have sweet perfectly pedicured dainty feet I swear.  The back of these were still a little short because I didn't follow directions exactly and forgot to make the back crotch longer.  So onto attempt four.  Good thing I have a lot of time on my hands.


And I decided to make a full summer outfit!

 Walmart had this fabric on sale for really cheeeeap.  The top half was green with frogs, bugs, and rainbows, and the bottom half was the blue plaid.  I used this tutorial for the top and then made some shorts with drawstrings to keep them from falling down.  For some reason when I'm using elastic thread it isn't as elasticy as I thought it would be so the drawstring is helpful.

She wore this outfit to school today!  She loves the frogs and bugs.  I can't stop LOLing at her cheese grin.  So funny. 

So that's the end of my experience with shorts sewing.  Finally I feel confident to whip up a pair quickly if needed.  I know I could always go to Target or WalMart and buy shorts for the cost of making them, but what fun would that be? 

The Garden Tote

I made my sister a garden tote for her birthday.  She just took up gardening and loves purses so I found some all weather fabric for pretty cheap and used This link from JCaroline Creative as a guide.  I decided to modify the pattern but use the tutorial as a guide on how to put the thing together.  I wanted her to have outside pockets to store her tools and then the lining would be waterproof so she could fill it with plants or whatever.  Anyway- here it is.  I'm actually quite proud of it despite the fact that my side pockets don't match up with my front pockets, which totally annoyed me at the time.

It's actually quite big so I hope she can fit lots of stuff in it.  I didn't realize until after I had attached the sides that the fabric was mismatched.  LOL.  But the outside is a heavy duty upholstery fabric and the inside and the pockets are a waterproof outdoor fabric.  I think I should have added some bias tape to the top, so if I make this again, I might do that.

Haaaaaaaaaaaapppy Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dads out there, especially my awesome husband who is a phenomenal father.  Sometimes I really feel like I won the husband lottery. 

I've been truly blessed with the men in my life- two great fathers, a doting husband, and a wonderful father in law.

Playdate!

Since I'm currently jobless....my new job is to score interviews and to spend time with my baby girl.  I am really so very thankful for this extra time I'm getting with her.  She loves it too, especially when we get to do fun stuff like have play date pool parties!  I met a good friend and her adorable little girl for a pool play date and A had a blast.  She was fearless in the water and loves that she can be mobile.  She even tried a little to swim on her own!  Her little friend T is the sweetest little girl ever.  Those two together were so cute!  I think they had a blast together.

She was so excited to "swim" by herself!

    

Playing before lunch time!

 

This is the look I get everytime I tell her to smile for the camera.  LOL.

Sharing secrets!

She's such a little girl.

And now back to the kid...

From birthday parties to pool parties, A is already have quite the summer.  Since her Grandma Thelma passed and left her a little something we decided to get her a swingset and a little wading pool for the backyard.  Which has turned my backyard to the local hot spot for the neighborhood toddlers.  LOL.  She's getting so big. 

She loves her new swingset!  It's a little big for her which is great so we can get a couple of good years out of it. 

This is the look I get for asking her to smile for the camera and look at mommy.  AGAIN.  

 I really don't think it gets much cuter than this.  I love the hat. 

We have quite the summer planned for her, and now that's she's older seeing her react to things like the pool and swings just really takes me back to the best times I had growing up.  Such a blessing.

My first name is not Dooney

I made a purse.  My little sister graduated recently so I decided to try and use my new found skilz to make her something.  I decided on a hobo bag with a laptop sleeve and I was inspired by this tutorial from JCaroline creative.com.  There are really some amazing tutorials on this site so I decided that because I have no experience what so ever making a purse I might as well just jump into it. I picked up some very cute fabric at Wal Mart (and very cheap which is what I like) and started my project.

First, it's not like I cut the fabric, sat down, and tra la la a purse was made.  I poured over that tutorial forever before I could make a cut because I was so scared to screw it up.  Then I decided that I wanted a little bit different pattern so I made a square bottom vs. the rounded bottom thinking it might be a bit easier.  Cutting the pieces is definitely the easiest part.  LOL.  You can't really screw up a rectangle.  I also made this thing HUGE so it would carry a laptop.  I did okay with attaching the lining, but sewing the sides and bottom to the main pieces was a pain.  And I screwed that up.  Twice.  So the handy dandy seam ripper came in handy.  Finally I realized that my seam allowances were waaaay too small at the very bottom of the bag so I had to improvise and sewed a piece to the very bottom from the outside vs. sewing it and attaching it to the inside.

Anyhoo.  I finally finished the shell and started on the interior which was a bit easier because I had learned from my mistakes.  But I did sew the interior pocket (with my first zipper!) on crooked.  By that time I could really give a flying farkus so I went with it and decided that the mistakes would just give it character.  My sister just received it and said she loves it so I guess it's a win!  Yay!

And here it is: 

The bottom picture is actually the laptop sleeve that I just cut two rectangles out of each fabric and sewed together.  It's very basic with no bells and whistles but I did add extra lining in between the two fabrics to create padding.  I didn't use a tutorial for this so I just used my laptop sleeve and tried to recreate it.  Oh and again my seam allowances were too small so I had to sew from the outside in some places.

This was actually a great learning experience for me and my next project was a garden tote for my older sister's birthday so she could keep her tools in a cute bag.  It turned out better than above and I'll post about it later.  I'm thinking I"m gonna do the hobo again for myself.  Hehehehe.