Ruffle Art

Wool Felt Flower Headband

2011-06-25T19:59:00.000-07:00

My friend Jen (and for a while the only follower on this blog) had her 29th birthday again this week. I decided to make her a cute little headband (and ended up making two).

For the wool felt flower headband, I only needed a few things:

Few square inches of wool felt (I bought a 4" strip at Joann's fabric for $1)
Embroidery floss
Coordinating fabric for the bottom
Headband
Fabric Glue

Step One: I found a flower shape in clip art, and cut my flower around that.

Step Two: Using two threads of some off-white embroidery floss, I did a saddle stitch around the edge, as evenly as I could manage.

Step Three: Cut out a small yellow circle for the center, and saddle stitch around that on top of the red flower.

Step Four: Glue a small circle on the bottom of your flower to cover up some of your threads

Step Five: Glue to the headband, and it's all done! Wait until it's dry until you wear it!

Note the weird people sitting behind us... they didn't speak to each other.

For the big flower headband, I used the directions here. It was very easy!!

I don't know if Jen knows how close she came to only getting one headband - or none!

Easy Huevos Rancheros

2011-06-20T05:49:00.000-07:00

This is a protein packed breakfast! It's easy to make, and actually pretty healthy. Here's my version. There's lots out there, but this one is simple; pre-made guacamole and canned black beans get this to your table quickly.

Ingredients:
1 Can of black beans
1 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Guacamole (I used a 100 calorie pack)
Tortillas
Eggs
Shredded cheddar cheese
Salsa
Sour Cream (optional)

1. Empty contents of black bean can into a pan with the cumin, garlic powder, and a bit of salt and pepper. Bring the liquid to a boil, and keep on high heat until most of the liquid is gone. Keep on very low heat while you work on the other steps.
2. Char your tortillas by dragging over the stove top.
3. Cook your eggs like you prefer; I did sunnyside up with some butter-like spray. 2 per big person, 1 for the little person (her yolks get cooked through). I've done scrambled before, and that's just as yummy.
4. While the eggs cook, spread your guac over the tortilla, followed by your black beans, and a spoonful of salsa.
5. Layer the eggs on top of all the other good stuff, and top with cheese & sour cream if you want (and I always do).

My husband always asks how it's supposed to be eaten. I prefer fork and knife, but he ends up making a burrito. My toddler loves beans, and enjoyed this dish. She dropped some, and said, "Uh-oh beans!"

Father's Day Banana Split Waffle Sunday

2011-06-19T16:40:00.000-07:00

I'm so exhausted after Father's Day! No wonder Shawn took me out to breakfast instead for Mother's Day. This year Shawn requested a waffle with ice cream and strawberries. I decided to try it with a twist: mix bananas in the waffle and make it a Banana Split Waffle Sundae!

I started with a standard buttermilk waffle recipe, and added 2 mashed bananas. I cooked per the waffle maker's instructions, about 3 - 3.5 minutes. On top of the waffle I added a scoop of ice cream, strawberry sauce, whipped cream, and sprinkles. It was such a decadent breakfast!

This is the waffle maker we have, I love it!

After breakfast, Shawn requested to go to the flea market a few towns over. We walked up and down the aisles, no big finds. We did get Finding Nemo for $4, and I bought a couple of frames to practice my antiquing skills on.

We stopped at a favorite farm, and picked strawberries. Fiona picked them off the ground, and we'd have to toss them back when she wasn't looking. This was a great opportunity to show her where food comes from, and how we get it. Not sure how much she got out of the experience, but we all enjoyed it.

While Shawn and Fiona watched Finding Nemo, I worked on dinner: Tempeh burgers with cheddar cheese, BBQ sauce, and balsamic caramelized onions, corn on the cob, and roasted potatoes. For dessert we had strawberry shortcake with our own strawberries. What a day!

Strawberries from farm to table

Here are some more great books on buying foods from local farms:

Father's Day Memo Board

2011-06-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

My Dad has always collected stamps. He's got an entire room at the house devoted to stamps, and goes to stamp shows and the whole thing. I don't see the appeal, but it makes for some easy gifts. I had bought (many years ago) some stamp fabric, not knowing what I'd do with it. I somehow got the idea to do a memo board, and was all set to start from scratch when I saw this one at Michael's for only $4.99!

Here's what you need:

Memo Board
3/8 Ribbon
Fabric to cover
Glue Gun
Fabric Glue
Staple Gun
Pliers if necessary
Tape (optional)

I first decided to see what was under the black felt in the back. I was in luck, because everything was glued on and easy to peel off! I had to unscrew the hooks as well. I pulled off the buttons and put them aside for later. I also pulled off the ribbon. I left the blue fabric as is, and just worked on top of it.

Me & "Burnsie" the Glue Gun

To start, I covered my board with my (ironed) fabric. I taped it as I went until I was satisfied - then glued it down with the glue gun. Next was the ribbon... I had tried to mark where the ribbon originally went, but inadvertently covered my marks with the fabric. Where the buttons had been were divots, so I was able to use those as my guide. I taped those down as I went, then stapled where the button would go. I glued the ends of the ribbon on the back with the glue gun as well.

The buttons came next, and they are the hardest. I was able to disassemble them into three pieces - fabric covering, metal button top, and plastic bottom. Cut out a small circle of your co-ordinating fabric and cover the button. This is where I used a bit of fabric glue and just worked it until it was smooth. They do sell button cover kits, and that might have made it easier:

After I had my buttons covered, I glued those on with the hot glue gun as well. I screwed the hardware back on the back and glued down the felt. Voila! This project only cost me $5.49!

**Update - I gave this to my Dad today when we saw him, and he told me the stamps on the fabric are real stamps, and not just a design! Very neat!

Fourth of July Rag Wreath

2011-06-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

What could be easier than a rag wreath?

All you need is a coat hanger, scraps of fabric, and a ribbon to hang it. I also used pliers to shape my coat hanger. My only cost was the ribbon at $2.50, since I already had a pile of fabric to work with.

Here's a quick tutorial on how to put this together. When I do this myself, I actually skip around with the steps. I get really bored of doing the same thing over and over and over.

Step One:

For a patriotic look, pick reds, whites, and blues. I really like to play around with colors and textures here. I especially love pairing whites and ivories. When you step back and look at your finished product, you won't be able to tell the individual fabric patterns, but a whole wreath. It's a great place to use up scraps, and a great place to hide that fabric that you brought home and then realized it was really, really ugly.

Step Two:

Use some pliers that you can form your hanger into a wreath shape. If you want, you can add a little masking tape if the edges are sharp.

Step Three:

Cut your fabric into strips. The strips can really be any size - play around with it and see what length looks good! Mine were generally 1" to 1.5" wide and around 10" to 12" long. You end up trimming anyway, so don't worry about the length too much. This is a project I try not to fuss too much with - I just guesstimate and see what looks good to my eye. Knot them on one by one.

Step Four:

To make it look very patriotic, I made red and white stripes, and then a blue and white section. When you think you've got enough on, squish the fabric together and add more. I like a fuller look to my rag wreaths, so I added as much as I could. When you're satisfied with the amount of strips on there, trim it up.

Use a coordinating ribbon and hang yours up. I decided it looked simpler and cleaner without a big bow, and just letting the ribbon drape.

This is a fun project that you can really do anytime. I did mine mostly while watching TV, but I contemplated also doing it in the car.

Have a happy and safe fourth of July!

Four Steps to Perfect Green Beans

2011-06-15T04:43:00.000-07:00

I always thought I hated green beans. Growing up we had them only one way: straight from the microwave into the freezer. As an adult, and as a vegetarian, I've tried to find more vegetables that I like and that means trying the really weird looking or sounding ones, weird smelling ones, and ones I hated as a kid.

Last summer I discovered that I really do like green beans! I had just not cooked them right before! Sorry, Mom...

There are FOUR easy steps to the perfect green beans:

1. Rinse and trim your beans

2. Boil for 3-4 minutes

3. Plunge them in an ice bath

4. Saute with enough olive oil and garlic (a little or a lot, your choice), season with salt & pepper

*Optional, add red pepper flakes in step 4 to kick it up a little.

When you blanch a vegetable, you are just halting the cooking process by boiling for a brief time and placing the veggies in ice. You can keep them in their ice bath for a little while if you've got other things cooking.

This is the best way I've found to cook green beans. Now I've got to step up the other parts of my dinner!

Pick Me Ups

2011-06-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

We all have those days that really seem to get us down. Here's a great collection of websites to get you to crack up. Careful, not all are work appropriate!

Awkward Family Photos - A Collection of funny and extremely awkward photos. Be sure to check out the AFP Hall of Fame!
Cake Wrecks - When good cakes go wrong.
Take out your frustrations on bad spelling errors on Facebook from Some E Cards.
Also on that site, bad parenting examples posted on Facebook for all of us to laugh at.
Damn You Autocorrect is hilarious. Rarely work appropriate!
The Mompetition is for all of us that just aren't perfect, and are really ok with it.
I usually throw out my failures before anyone can see it, but Craft Fail is such a better idea! I LOVE knowing that my failure isn't the worst out there!
Passive Aggressive Notes - Funny notes/signs
Read some misheard lyrics at Kiss this Guy. I'm guilty of quite a few.
People of Wal-mart. Classic. May you never show up on this site.

Check out their books for more funny items!

Raspberry and Chocolate Chip Pancakes

2011-06-13T04:43:00.000-07:00

On our way home from a camping trip we had breakfast at this diner in Vermont called the Blue Benn. It was a tiny place with a long counter and jukeboxes at each table. We had a group of 10 and had to eat in scattered places, but that was ok.

Our table spent the time picking songs to play from Elvis, to Jimmy Buffet, to Ernie's "Rubber Duckie." Oh, the joy 75 cents can buy you!

The menu was so interesting and varied. The fun thing about VT is that most of the restaurants I've encountered there have interesting vegetarian items on their menus. The Blue Benn was no exception, and I saw lots of really neat dishes. Ultimately I had to go with my sweet tooth and pick the raspberry and chocolate chip pancakes, with home fries on the side. These were probably the best pancakes I've ever had! Even though I was full, I made sure I finished every bite. Topped with VT maple syrup, how can I go wrong?

I thought I could duplicate this at home. I must say, I got pretty close. It's never quite as good when someone else makes it for you, brings it to you, and cleans up after you!

Here's what I used:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup white sugar
Large pinch salt
1 cup - 1 1/4 cup milk (I used whole milk since that's all I had on hand
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tablespoons honey
2 eggs
Frozen raspberries, thawed out
Mini chocolate chips

1. Mix your dry ingredients together: flours, sugar, baking power, salt.
2. Scramble your egg, and mix in the other wet ingredients: milk, vanilla extract, and honey. I started with a cup of milk, and then decided to add in another quarter cup.
3. Heat up your griddle, and grease with butter or spray
4. Working with a couple pancakes at a time, drop by roughly quarter cup batter onto a hot griddle (temperature should be medium at most). Immediately put a spoonful of the raspberries and a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips on.
5. When the tops of the pancake get dry and bubbly, flip over and cook the other side
6. Keep warm in the oven while you continue with more pancakes

Serve with the best syrup you can get, maybe some butter or whipped cream. We also made some hash browns on the side. I had some doubts about how to most effectively get the filling in the pancake. I also tried out mixing the fillers in the batter. My tester (hubby) said both were equally as good, but with the mixed in version the raspberry flavor was equally distributed. With the original version, there was a "raspberry explosion" that was very yummy.

One of my favorite Fiestaware colors- Paprika

Someday I want to get a big electric griddle!

Fun with canvas, part 1

2011-06-12T03:49:00.000-07:00

My daughter, only at 19 months, has already amassed a large amount of hair bows and clips. I was inspired by this one and have had it on my to-do list for a while. I bought two canvases at Michaels when they were on sale at 50% off. I had grabbed this teal fabric at Joann's Fabric in their remnants bucket for a deep discount. I liked it so much I would have paid full price! In my ribbon drawer at home, I had a perfect pink which contrasted nicely with the teal.

Here's what I used:
1 canvas, 11" x 14"
Fabric a few inches larger than the canvas all the way around
Staple gun
Ribbon

To start, wrap the fabric around the canvas and staple into place. I'm not showing the back of mine because I was a bit lazy and it's messy. I was so excited to get it done and in use! Take care with the corners, as they can be tricky.

I then used three ribbons and measured out exactly where to put them so they were all equidistant. I had my helper (hubby) staple them all into place. My husband told me he didn't want me to use the staple gun, for fear that I'd see how fun it was and never let him use it again. Personally, I don't mind and he can have all the staple gun fun he wants!

After I finished my daughter's hair clip holder, I ended up making one for myself! Not sure, but I think I like the small purple one best!

Grab your own hair clips and get going!

Hot nights mean cold sangria

2011-06-11T05:31:00.000-07:00

The weather in New England has been beyond hot... Weeks before the official start of summer we've already begun to see temperatures in the nineties. A few days it was at 97 degrees - ouch! NOT a good week for my car's air conditioner to break down.
So what's a girl to do? When life gives you lemons, throw them into a pitcher of red wine with some other fruit!

Here's what I worked with:
2 of the cheapest bottles of red wine I could find, Sweet Red at Wal-Mart cost $2.77 a bottle
3 each of limes, lemons, and oranges (rinsed)
Some pineapple
White Sugar (or sugar substitute)
*This tastes better made at least a full day in advance. The more these ingredients sit together, the better flavor your sangria will have.

Very quick steps:
1) Pick a pitcher to use, and empty your wine into it
2) Add the sugar; I used about a quarter cup
3) Squeeze as much juice out of your citrus fruits and pour into the pitcher. You get a ton of juice with a reamer. I saved a few slices to put on top for show.
4) Put in pieces of pineapple, I used maybe a quarter of the pineapple
5) Let it sit until you just can't take it anymore! Pour over ice, garnish with fruit, and voila! Instant refresher!

My closest pitcher was a bit small, and it overflowed a little! The hardest part is waiting a day to drink it.

Cheers - and stay cool!

Here's the reamer that I use, and I LOVE it! It's cheap, and gets so much juice out of your fruit for you:

While you're at it, grab a new set of glasses and make it fancy!

Embellished lampshade

2011-06-10T12:33:00.000-07:00

When I was pregnant with my daughter, we chose to decorate her nursery with ladybugs. It cascaded everywhere in our lives... It seems that every time we see a ladybug themed item, we scoop it up! Ladybug flags, welcome mats, clothes... you name it, it's got a ladybug on it. Even now, when she's a toddler, we still scoop up the ladybugs!

I found a way to quickly and cheaply embellish a lampshade for her room. I purchased some iron on patches and fabric glue. Simple as that! I just figured out the layout I wanted and glued them on. It's unique, and can be personalized just for you.

Ladybug fun fact: Ladybugs are the state insects of Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, and Tennessee.