I recently did a custom order inspired by my patchwork mug rugs… patchwork placemats. I thought these would make a wonderful beginner project. So … I’m going to give you a quick introduction to the full DIY post I’ll be sharing later this month {May 30}. As with my previous posts, my goal is to give you the confidence to give sewing a try and ENJOY it. Or if you already sew, the encouragement to not just dream of projects, but actually SEW them! The patchwork placemats are::

• Perfect for a beginner … lots of straight line sewing
• Quick … even quicker if you already sew
• Fun … a relatively easy and quick project that you can smile at and enjoy every day!

If you want to gather supplies {to make 4 placemats) to be ready for the detailed DIY post, you’ll need::

• 4 Print Fabrics {1/4YD each}
• 1 Back/Binding Fabric {1 YD}
• Cotton Batting {enough for (4) 13×18 rectangles}
• Coordinating Thread

 That’s it! See you in two weeks with a project that I hope you’ll love. For more Knitty Bitties, you can find me rambling on my Blog; trying to keep connected on Facebook; tweeting on Twitter and most assuredly pinning on Pinterest! Or check out my previous 30days posts here.

It is the perfect addition to any meal as far as I’m concerned. The only downside to fresh, homemade bread is that it can take a bit of time. Proofing, rising, rolling, rising etc. Today’s recipe is a quick and easy one. It may not be quite as quick as the 30 Minute Roll recipe I have on my blog but it is pretty close. This recipe makes one nice size loaf or two smaller loaves. I usually make two. We enjoy one and I give the other one away. The dough is mixed up with a bread hook in your Kitchen aid or other mixer of choice. Then I just leave it in the bowl, cover it with a towel and let it rise until doubled – about 20 minutes or so depending on how warm my kitchen is. It’s pretty fast. At this point if I am in a generous, sharing mood I will divide the dough into two pieces so that I can make two loaves. If I’m not in a generous mood I roll it out in one big piece using my rolling pin. Be sure and flour your counter enough so that the dough doesn’t stick. Then roll it up jellyroll style and place the seam side down. With a sharp knife cut three slits into the bread. Be sure and only go about 1/4 inch deep. If you go too deep your bread may look a little funny after it rises the second time. (Ask me how I know this!)

Give the bread a nice little bath in an egg white wash (just add 1 Tbsp water to 1 egg white and mix together) Heat up a pan of water on the stove until it boils. Have your oven preheated to 300 degrees and TURN OFF. Then place the pan of boiling water onto the lower rack of your oven and place your loaf of bread on the rack above. Allow the bread to rise until double (about 20 minutes or so).

Please excuse my dirty oven. The steam that is given off from the water helps the loaf get that nice crust that a loaf of French bread has. Remove the pan of water from the oven and turn the oven onto 425 degrees. Bake bread for 10 minutes and then turn heat down to 375 degrees and bake for another 8 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy a nice, warm loaf of home baked bread with dinner! Easy French Bread

yourhomebasedmom.com

recipe slightly adapted from Cooks.com

1/4 C warm water

2 1/2 tsp dry active yeast

1 tsp sugar

3 1/2 – 4 C flour

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 C plus 2 Tbsp warm water

1 egg white and 1 Tbsp water

Combine water, yeast and 1 tsp sugar in a bowl. Allow to stand until bubbly. Add in sugar, salt and water. Gradually add in flour, mix well and knead for 5 minutes. Let rise for 15 – 20 minutes in a warm place. If you want to make two smaller loaves, divide dough in half. Flour a surface and roll out the dough with a rolling pin. Then roll up the dough jelly roll style and turn ends under and place seam side down onto a greased cookie sheet. Cut 3 diagonal cuts into the loaf about 1/4 inch deep. Combine water and egg white and mix. Brush onto loaf. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Boil a pan of water. Pour water into a shallow dish and place on the lower rack in oven. TURN OFF OVEN. Place sheet with bread on the rack above the water. Let rise until double and then take out the pan of water. Turn oven onto 425 degrees and bake 10 minutes. Turn heat down to 375 and bake for 8 more minutes or until golden brown.

Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed with everything you have going on?
How do you unwind?

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The Rules:

• Link to a specific post, not your blog in general.
• Please only post your ideas, not round ups or guest posts.
• Only link up 2 posts.
• No links to shops, products or giveaways please. (They will be deleted)
• Be creative- a craft, tutorial, recipe, anything you want!
• To add your post please link to 30days somewhere on your post or grab a NEW Pity Party button- thanks!
• Visit other links and leave them some love.
• Join me on Twitter, Facebook & Pinterest as I share some of my favorites throughout the week.

CRAFTS

• Luggage Tag & Business Card Holders from My Sister’s Suitcase
• Trip Fun Binders from Jengerbread Creations

TEACHER APPRECIATION

• Grilling Kit (fabulous for guy teachers!) from Mom On Timeout 
• Teacher Appreciation Ice Cream Social from Uncommon

PARTY

• Simplified Pirate Party from Allora Handmade
• A Very Hungry Caterpillar Play date from Dukes & Duchesses 
• Airplane Baby Shower from I’m Topsy Turvy

FOOD

• Pretzel Rolls from Your Homebased Mom
• Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes from Bear Rabbit Bear Crafts

This week’s post with the most views:


Mother’s Day Card from Love Stitched
{I’d love for all of you to grab an I’ve Been Featured Button}

Mother’s Day Quote Printables from Simple As That

Amazing Mom Card from Paper & Pigtails

Best Mom Ever Medallion from No Biggie

Mama Day Gift Box from sissyprint

Today I am going to share a quick tutorial for making this sweet embroidered thank you card. It’s a great way to practice stitching letters while using up some of your scrap stash.

Supplies:

• small pieces of fabric
• note cards
• embroidery thread
• not pictured: twine, sewing machine, scissors, Scotch tape, printed letter pattern

My “pattern” for the lettering on my card was made in Word. I just picked a simple font that I thought would be easy to trace and embroider.

Trace your pattern onto your fabric using a light source and a water soluble pen. I have a light box that I use to trace embroidery patterns, but a brightly lit window with your pattern and fabric taped up would do the trick as well. If your fabric is light enough that you can see your pattern through it, you might be able to trace it with no light source behind your work.

After you’ve traced your pattern, it’s time to stitch. I just used a simple back stitch, but if you’re feeling ambitious, you could try a chain stitch or stem stitch.

Take your stitching out of the hoop, iron, and cut your fabric down to the size you’d like. My card was 4.25″ x 5.5″ and I wanted a half inch border around the edge of my fabric, so I cut a template (that yellow piece of paper) that measured 3.25″ x 4.5″. Once I had my template cut out, I used it to cut my fabric.

Stitch down the fabric to your card. I found it helpful to use a bit of Scotch tape around the very edges of my fabric to hold it to the card and prevent shifting while I sewed. Make sure the tape is close to the edge of the fabric so that you don’t sew over the tape. Also be aware that sewing through paper can dull your needle, so you may need to change your needle after. I find it useful to keep a designated paper sewing needle so all of my machine needles aren’t ruined when I work with cards.

Tie on a bit of ribbon or twine and you have a sweet card ready to send! This would be a perfect way to add an extra something to a teacher appreciation gift or Mother’s Day card.

I’d love for you to come visit me at my blog, little lovelies. You can also find me on facebook, twitter, and Pinterest.

Happy stitching!

Download your own Guide to Technology for yourself or
to give to your mom for Mother’s Day!
For 30days subscribers and personal use only. Thanks so much!

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The Rules:

• Link to a specific post, not your blog in general.
• Please only post your ideas, not round ups or guest posts.
• Only link up 2 posts.
• No links to shops, products or giveaways please. (They will be deleted)
• Be creative- a craft, tutorial, recipe, anything you want!
• To add your post please link to 30days somewhere on your post or grab a NEW Pity Party button- thanks!
• Visit other links and leave them some love.
• Join me on Twitter, Facebook & Pinterest as I share some of my favorites throughout the week.

CRAFTS

• Ava Rose Halter Dress Tutorial from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom
• White Ruffles Jacket from Kiki & Company

DIY

• Master Bedroom Makeover from How to Nest for Less
• Luke’s Nursery (including cute sign tutorial) from Pretty Providence

FOOD

• Nutter Butter S’mores from Something Swanky
• Cherry Almond Cupcakes from Baking with Blondie

This week’s post with the most views:

10 Tips for Saving Money from Saving 4 Six

{I’d love for all of you to grab an I’ve Been Featured Button}

Are you ready for me to rock your hair world?  Here it is:

I have before you 3 different ways you can fix your hair at night so when you wake up you have beautiful curls in less than 5 minutes.  Apply makeup & you’re done. 

Yep.  What, you don’t believe me?  It’s true, ladies.  And to make it easy for you, I have put them all together in this post, with a video including all three.  It works for me every time and have heard others love it as well.  It really is worth giving a try!

• First up – the “no heat headband” trick.  You might have seen this look around before, and there is good reason, it works.  In the video I have at the bottom, I explain how to get your hair into the headband and a few tricks to get the curls you want.  Here is an example of how my curls have come out:

That took me absolutely no time at all and I have straight hair.  And guess what the added bonus is?  They last all day.  I get more compliments when I wear my hair like this than when I sit for an hour and curl it.  Compliments like “oh my gosh, what did you do to you hair?  I love it!”  and “how long did that take you?”  Well, here’s what I did:  I woke up this morning.  

• The next trick gives you a big of a funkier feel, but if you are like me and like funky, big hair from time to time, this one is perfect.  Specially for the summer when messy, crazy and effortless is totally ‘in’.  This is called ‘no heat: little buns.”  You will see why in the video.  If you want to skip to this section, it starts at 4:45.

yep, that's a Transformers shirt. I am a mom to two boys!

• This last look is the simplest for the night before but the outcome is still wonderful.  It gives a beachy waves type feel and at the very least it gives you a great base for some other styles.  To finish this look off, all you need is a 3 barrel curling iron just adding a bit at the roots.  If you just want loose curls you can try adding a few beachy curls with a one inch curling iron.  I have a tutorial for this type of beach curl here.  If you want to go directly to this tutorial in the video it starts at exactly 8 minutes!  

I added the dutch braid in front for a different look, but you get the idea.  Like I said this can be a great base for a lot of different looks. 

And now I put together a little tutorial for your benefit, so you can see more specifically how it works.  I hope you enjoy it!  And seriously, this is the best thing that has ever happened to my hair/getting ready regime.  It’s incredible.  Just in case you want to jump to a particular tutorial, No heat curls with a headband is first up.  Go to 4:45 to see no heat – little buns.  Go to 8:00 to see the braid.

Thank you so much for reading, and seriously, give them a try!  Specially during summer when the last thing you want to do is bust out a curling iron!

Have a great day!

We had friends over for a barbecue this weekend and it wouldn’t have been the same without my mom’s Pasta Salad. It’s easy. It’s light.  And it always tastes great.  It makes for great leftovers too! We normally don’t like leftovers around here, but I’ll eat this for a week straight.

It’s perfect for summer ….which is right around the corner!