Updates

A few updates to take care of. First I am so excited about the response that I have gotten for my giveaway and the super kind comments. That makes a pregnant girl with morning blahness galore feel really good. I originally set the closing date for the giveaway for Friday or was it Thursday? Well anyway I wasn't sure I was going to get any takers so I was giving myself lots of time. But heck, why wait that long to give away these great baskets? I have decided to have the giveaway finish on Tuesday night instead. Sorry if this is not proper giveaway procedure but it is my giveaway so I will just do it how I want. I don't like giveaways where your chances are 1 in 100 or whatever. Lets keep it small. So Tuesday night will be the last chance to leave a comment and then when I awake on Wednesday Smallfry and I will do the draw for a winner. I can't wait.
In other update news, for those of you losing sleep wondering, my nose is better. The pain went away and I feel much better. Just a weird pregnancy thing I guess. Unfortunately my creative juices are not flowing as they once did but I am forcing myself to do some crafts at least once a week and hopefully I can return to normal soon. It is hard to want to craft when all you want to do is sit on the couch and eat salt and vinegar chips and oreos. Don't worry I have not let Oreo's enter this house because I know they would be gone in a day. That is my biggest pregnancy craving. Last pregnancy it was McDonalds french fries, this time it is Oreos, and well ya, just Oreos. That is also making it really hard to want to try new recipes. Well maybe I need to search for Oreo recipes and prefect those for a while. Okay well that is it for the updates. Make sure you check out the blog on Wednesday to find if you are the lucky winner.

Announcing a Give O' Give Away

This giveaway is now closed. Thanks a million for everyone that commented.
Yep that is right, my first give away. I have wanted to do one for a while but couldn't come up with anything that seemed just right to give to possibly a perfect stranger. But thanks to my new inspiration from the blog Pink Penguin I think I came up with a perfect prize. The winner will receive this set of 2 black and white fabric baskets. They are perfect for holding sewing supplies, or craft supplies, they would make great baskets for in a bathroom or on a nightstand beside your bed. I took a couple of pictures of them with stuff inside. The larger one would be perfect for DVD's and the smaller one for CD's or DVD's also. The only thing they would not be good for holding is magazines or heavy books. Both have been sat on, twisted and turned and tossed across the room by small fry so there is no question about their durability. If you would like a chance to win leave a comment. I will choose a winner on the 2nd of April (1 week from today). Feel free to tell others about the give away too. And to my fellow Canadians (yep, I am originally from Canada) don't forget to post a comment too. I will gladly ship across the border if you are a winner. Thanks!!!

Inspiration in the form of a pink penguin

Well actually no real pink penguins were involved in this creative process only a new blog I found called Pink Penguin. I can't remember how I came across this blog but I am so glad I did. This fabric basket tutorial got my juices flowing and I am so grateful. After I first saw these I spent a few nights thinking up all the great things I could do with these and then finally yesterday I just had to take a little time and get started. You can click the link above to go straight to the tutorial for how to make one. I altered her tutorial somewhat because I wanted to make something that would be fairly quick and easy to make. Here is what I came up with.

For my first try I used up the rest of the Easter fabric I had left over from my other Easter Basket project. I thought this size of basket would be really cute for Easter too. I am not sure even what size this one that I made is. I just cut fabric and followed the general instructions in the tutorial for how to put it together. It turned out kind of small but is actually perfect for a little basket to put on my desk to hold cards like these Easter cards I just made. Fun idea isn't it. Thanks a million Pink Penguin for helping me out of my creative slump.

Inspiration update

I felt like I should check in and explain my recent lack of creative posts. I have just not been feeling well with this pregnancy and feel currently like I am in a creative slump. For some odd reason my nose hurts really bad with this pregnancy. Now isn't that just the strangest thing in the world. Feels like I have been punched in the nose but I haven't and it is causing a major creative block (well at least I am blaming it on that). So I promise creative things to come, hopefully soon.
In other news I have recently been featured on FaveCrafts.com. This is a way cool thing for me and I love having my ideas reach more people. I tried forever to add their "I've been featured button" but it is not working, or I am not working (we will blame the nose once again) so I will have to try again later. I don't think the feature has been published yet, I just got a e-mail to review it. I will link to it when it is published. But go and check them out in the mean time. Lots of great craft ideas. Hey I think I will spend some time searching for inspiration there later.

More bunnies

I got this pattern from the March 2007 issue of Paper Crafts magazine. They called it a bunny tag but I think that it would make an adorable Easter card as well as a gift tag for an Easter basket. They are super simple to make. We don't have a scanner but if any one is really interested in getting the pattern and you don't have or can't find the magazine drop me an e-mail and I would be glad to send it to you via snail mail.

Also to help you get in the Easter spirit here are a few pictures of a cute little bunny we had hopping around our house. She is a bunny of many moods: happy, crying, cheesy grinning.

My First Blog Award

Well this was one of the coolest surprises in a long time. Katie from Katies Nesting Spot included me in her top 10 favs to get this award. How great is that. Thanks a million Katie. The award is for people who do inspiring projects/work and generally make me smile and laugh. I am so happy to be included. I thought that I would like to take a moment and pass on the award to a few bloggers that I have found. I don't think that I have 10 to share it with but I wouldn't feel right not passing it on at all. So here we go:

1. This and That. This gal is a woman after my own heart. She is a mother and I am sure as busy as any of us moms and yet she makes time for creative things which I think everything mother needs to be well rounded. I can't narrow down one specific project I love of hers most, I just love everything she does and recommend her blog as a favorite.

2. Homemaking Fun. Again I can't say that I love this blog for any one project because they are all inspiring and amazing. Here is a lady with a ton of creative talent. I love this blog and can't get enough of her great ideas.

3. Paper Cakes. Here is a gal with a ton of creativity. I love all the little details she puts in everything she makes. Again there is no one particular thing I love most I just think that everyone should check out her blog if you haven't already.

4. Bake at 350. Lastly if you are addicted to cookies like I am then this is the blog for you. Cookies, cookies and more cookies mixed in with a few other sweet treats. This woman is amazing. I think she makes the best looking sugar cookies in the world. If only I could taste through my computer.

5. I also want to give a shout out to Sweet Mady's Paper. I found this blog because she left me a comment is how it all started I believe and she has amazingly cute stuff. I just went to check on her blog and she posted that she accidentally erased all of her posts. Oh I would just cry. She does have a link to her new store website so you can still check her stuff out. So sorry about the posts, but I love your blog just the same.

Glorious Gardening

I wouldn't say that I am an expert gardener but I have definitely been bit by the gardening bug since I got married and this year I am just bursting at the seams to get my garden started. Lucky for us it is time to start planting some things here where we live so let the season begin. I have some seeds started indoors and we have planted potatoes and peas outside in our garden spot. We started a big compost bin last fall and have the most beautiful compost to put on our garden this spring. The bulbs I planted last fall are coming up and ahhhhh it is just awesome. I think it is one of the best feelings in the world to plant seeds and watch them grow. Here is the list of what we will be planting this year:

Tomatoes: cherry, beefmaster and early girl (I make a killer salsa so we need lots of tomatoes plus I can eat them by the handful)

Peppers: Jalapeno and bell

Cabbage

Broccoli

Cilantro

Corn

Carrots

Cucumbers

Squash

Onions

Peas

Potatoes

Lettuce

Beets

Here are our potatoes and peas (nothing up as of yet but they will come)

The beginnings of a beautiful tulip or daffodil.

My little cilantro sprouts

My indoor seeds: tomatoes, peppers, broccoli and cabbage. The peppers and cabbage are just barely starting to poke out.

My little garden marker standing valiantly in his place. I found these at Michaels Crafts in their under $5.00 section. I got a pack of 4 for $1.99. Seemed like a good deal to me and works much better than the empty seed packet stuck under a rock.

Small fry has some big news

We just barely found out that I am pregnant with our second child. We are super excited. Baby #2 is due in November (something to definitely be thankful for).

Cupcake Apron

Well I was long over due for a new apron. The one I have been using has been with me for a lot of years and a lot of recipes but it was time to retire him. I have seen so many amazing aprons on different blogs and websites and I keep telling myself that I just have to make one. Well I finally just bit the bullet and did it. Since there are so many apron tutorials and patterns out there I am not going to overwhelm everyone with yet another one. What I did for my apron was used my old one as a pattern (because I like how it fits me) and then I embellished it with a ruffle on the bottom and the cupcake applique. I decided that I would include the cupcake tutorial here though because that is the totally cute part anyway.

To find a pattern for the cupcake I did a google search with the words "cupcake template". Some great stuff came up by the way so if you are a cupcake fan and have some free time that would be a really fun activity. I found the template that I used here. You could easily make your own but I wanted to find one that I could link to so that others could use it too. I copied and pasted it into Word to allow me to resize it.

So 1st: Print the template twice.

2nd: Cut out the piece for the cupcake top and the bottom(from seperate pieces of paper). For the top I cut out a section that will lay beneath the bottom of the cupcake and for the bottom I cut it up slightly higher than the bottom of the cupcake top (this allows you to overlap as you applique the pieces on and makes life a whole lot easier for you).

3rd: Next pin these to your fabric (I used polar fleece) and cut. You will cut one top piece but cut the bottom piece twice.4th: Pin the two bottom pieces together and sew the cupcake liner lines. You need to back stitch at the top of each row but not the bottom.5th: Trace the pattern pieces onto your piece of Heat N Bond paper. (For a more detailed tutorial on appliqueing with Heat N Bond the small fry way click here. ) Cut the pieces out so that they are smaller than the fabric pieces (except on the cupcake liner piece, you want to have the tops match and just the 2 sides and bottom smaller).6th: Before you iron the Heat N Bond onto the fabric add any embellishments that you want. I used some mini buttons to be my confetti. I sewed them on with clear quilting thread.7th: Iron the Heat N Bond onto the wrong side of your cupcake pieces. On the cupcake liner piece line the tops (top of the fabric and top of the Heat N Bond piece) up before ironing the Heat N Bond down. After you have ironed the Heat N Bond onto the liner piece notch the top to look like a cupcake liner. You could also do this with pinking sheers (I however don't have a pair sharp enough to use on fabric).8th: Peel the paper backing off of each piece and position both the cupcake pieces on your apron. Cover with a press cloth ( I just used an extra piece of fabric) and iron until it is bonded to the apron.9th: Finally using a small width and length (My width was 2 and my length was 1) zig-zag stitch, sew around the edges of the cupcake. I changed my thread color in between the top and bottom of the cupcake. You don't sew along the jagged top edge of the cupcake liner. And that is that. Enjoy!!

Brown Sugar Zucchini Bread

This is a great new recipe that I found on a great blog: Everyday Food Storage. This website is loaded with recipes, tips and ideas for using food storage items. I had some zucchini in the freezer from our garden last year and I needed to use it up. I have another zucchini bread recipe that I normally use but I saw this one and thought it sounded super. And let me tell you it is. I am no longer going to use my other recipe. This turned out light and fluffier than the other kind and the taste is amazing. I kind of went a bit over board with the lemon zest (cause I like my lemon zester and rarely use it) but it added a nice freshness to the bread and it wasn't too sweet at all. Click on the link to go right to the recipe and then stay and search some because there are great things on this website. If you are a zucchini bread fan you have to try this and if you are not this will be the converting recipe. No longer will you run when a woman comes walking up the street with zucchinis in hand.

Happy Birthday Banner

Small Fry will be turning 1 next month so I am trying to get some things ready. I wanted to make a Happy Birthday banner for the party. I have seen all kinds of styles and ideas for these on different blogs. I came up with a simple way to make one for our party. I used felt and iron on fleece. I cut out triangles of each then ironed the fleece onto the back of the felt triangle. I then stitched around the edge of each of the triangles. Next I made my applique letters (see the following post for a tutorial on how to do this). After the letters were all sewn on I attached the triangles together with a long white ribbon. I had some ribbon on a spool and so I just kept pulling more off the spool until they were all sewn on (this saved a measuring and cutting step). I folded a loop on the ends of the ribbon for hanging before I sewed it down. Finally after all the triangles were sewn to the ribbon I added some buttons which I just hot glued on to add a little embellishment. I am super happy with how it turned out. You will have to wait until the B-day party to see the complete project but here are a few snap shots.