I am really proud of this baby boy quilt. Andrew’s Godmother is having her virtual baby shower this weekend due to the pandemic. Because of the pandemic, I wasn’t going to be able to go buy new fabric and thankfully have several plastic tubs full of unfinished projects. The fabric came from the burb cloth project that I never go to when Andrew still needed burb cloths. Maybe that is why I love this quilt so much; it all came from fabric I had picked for Andrew.

I cut the seven quilt fabrics into 5 ½” thick strips of fabric and sewed them together. I then cut the sewn together rows vertically into 5 ½” thick strips. This made a vertical row of the seven different fabrics all sewn together. I would then remove one or more sewn squares and moved it to the next vertical row and sewed in place. This created the pattern I wanted most easily, even though it doesn’t seem like it. After all the new rows were completed, I sewed them all together, creating the front of the quilt. I then sewed a thick border of fabric all along the side of the quilt.

I used temporary fabric adhesive spray to stick the front of the quilt to the back before sewing in place. I sewed lines along the seams of all of the quilt squares, making sure not to put any stitches on the border.

Once I was finished I folded and ironed the unsewn edge of the border, folding the iron edge over on the backside and sewed it down to create the quilt border.
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The mommy and daddy-to-be loved the quilt which is so awesome and the bonus was it only cost me a few hours of my time, not to forget a little less fabric in my storage bins!

I have been cleaning out my unfinished project boxes where I have tons and tons of new fabric. Maybe the quarantine has affected me in that I want to clean and purge and go back to my homesteading roots, but I have been sewing up a storm the last week! I made five beautiful aprons, these are very high-quality fabric and has a front and back fabric. Each apron has lovely matching ruffles and pockets and ties. They are all now available on my Etsy shop and would make a great Mother’s Day gift for the cook or baker in your family!

It’s Mimi’s birthday today and that means a handmade project with Andrew.  Usually, not a problem to go run to a craft store to the supplies we need, but in the middle of everything going on its really hard. Stores are closed or crazy so I had to get really creative. I happened to have stain glass paint leftover from a jewelry project and an unused picture frame. I knew she would appreciate a cross the most and it would be easy to paint. I used painters tape to create the cross in the center of picture frame glass and gave Andrew a paintbrush. I put some purple, white, and blue paint on a paper plate and held it while he dipped the paintbrush and painted. He had a lot of fun with painting and didn’t want to stop once the glass was painted so I gave him a piece of paper to paint while I cleaned up. Once the paint was dried I removed the tape and glued it into the black frame. I had to glue it in place since the back wasn’t going to be able to hold it in. The glue worked great and to finish I added a ribbon using a staple gun and a little more hot glue to hang it.

I love how easy and beautiful this gift was and I now Mimi is going to love it!

​My mother’s birthday was yesterday and I wanted to have Andrew make her something special for her. Since he is still too little to make much I needed to get creative. Last year he made her handprint flowers out of paper and I framed. I searched through Pinterest and saw a couple of flower pots that had kid’s footprints in the shape of a butterfly and thought that it was perfect. We picked out a terracotta flower pot and a can of clear spray paint, along with a plant. I already had the paints and the cute little feet.
 
Jack had to help me with this since it was a one-shot type of thing; we put Andrew in his highchair along with some snacks and turned on his favorite cartoon. I painted one of his feet with the colors and pattern that I wanted, Jack then helped me press his foot onto the flower pot. We gave it a few minutes to dry to prevent the paint from dripping. We repeated with the second foot, making sure to place it in the right spot to create the butterflies wings. We completed the flower pot with a fingerprint caterpillar on the other side. I set the flower pot in the sun to dry and once it was fully dried I used a Sharpie marker to create the body and antenna. Next, I sealed the pot using the clear matte spray paint and put it back in the sun to dry. Lastly, I planted the beautiful plant in it and wrapped a bow around it.
 
My mom totally loved it and even took her a moment to realize the butterfly was made by his feet! Andrew even drew her a special birthday card!

I heard a study recently that said women spend less than $25 on their guys for St. Valentine’s Day but expect their guys to at least spend $250 on them. Seems a little unfair right? I’m sure that counts dinner, but still. Jack and I keep this holiday fairly cheap and we never go out on that night. He usually buys me flowers or a pair of repli-Kate earrings (one’s I don’t make, of course) and I usually get him chocolate or make him some homemade ones. I wanted to do something a little different this year and I decided to make him a candy vase. The ones in the stores are so expensive and not even his favorite candies. I bought a few packages of his favorites, as well as, a few mini bottles of his favorite alcohol. I placed the bottles in a tall vase I already had. Then put some of the fun-sized candy around the bottles to hide them. Next I taped some of the candies to small dowels that were cut at different lengths. I placed those in between the mini bottles. To complete the candy vase, I added black and red tissue paper to make it look more like a flower arrangement. It was a fun gift to make and Jack LOVED it!

Last night I found out one of my cousin that lives out of state would be coming to another cousin’s 30th birthday party that was tonight. I haven’t seen this cousin since they have had their second child and part of my tradition is to make a blanket for all of my second cousins. Their first son got this really cute western quilt, but I was in serious time and budget crunch this time around! I figured the best option would be to do a quick applique blanket. I looked through my tubs of fabric and found some really cute green striped flannel fabric and I just happened to have a soft baby blanket in my future project bin. I always love to pick up these blankets from Ross for quick DIY baby gifts for things just like this. 

I decided to keep the blanket simple and just go with a capital “W” for his first and last name. I printed out a few “W” using different sizes to choose from and went to work. I used Heat N Bond Iron-on Adhesive to glue the cut out “W” to the baby blanket before using my sewing machine to sew it in place. I know I didn’t need to sew the letter in place with the iron-on adhesive, but I like the little extra detail the stitches give the blanket. In under an hour, I had a perfectly adorable blanket to give to Wyatt! 

I love getting to make gifts during Christmas and this one was so cute and fun! It also was technically free to make. I had the black fuzzy fabric leftover from Halloween customs, leftover flannel fabric from baby quilts and I already had the fun ribbons. Oh and I already had the reusable plastic bag!
I cut the fuzzy fabric, the flannel fabric, and two pieces of the plastic bag into a square 10 inches by 10 inches. I then cut the ribbon in different lengths and folded them and pinned them in the place. I screwed up the first attempt at sewing this, the plastic would have been on the outside and not the flannel. I blamed it on being tired and rushing.

Thankfully it was an easy fix when I reattempted it the next day. Once almost all of the four sides were sewn together, I turned it right side out and ironed it smooth, folding the unsewn part. Lastly, sewing all along the four edges to give it a clean look as well as, preventing the ribbon or fabric messing up over time.
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It was a really fun toy to make and I can’t wait to see if my niece likes it as much as Andy and I do!

This is my mother’s first birthday as a grandma, or “Mimi” as she likes to be called and I wanted to make something special for her. The problem was I decided on the day of her birthday and didn’t have time to go anywhere. After scrolling through Pinterest for a bit I thought making a handprint flower would be cute. However, instead of using paint, I traced Andrew’s little hand on a regular piece of white printer paper and cut it out. I then traced the handprint on some fun scrapbooking paper I had. I then created a flower pot, stem, and leaves with different scrapbooking paper. I glued all the pieces on some white cardstock, letting it fully dry before putting it in a frame, which I happened to already have.
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The artwork came out super cute and my mom loved it. Happy Birthday, Mimi!

It seems stamped jewelry has made a comeback again. For a few gifts this past Christmas I made personalized necklaces and bracelets with a phrase or word that reminded me of that person. I even gave on to Christy Wright during the Business Boutique VIP lunch and another when I got Rachel Cruz to sign her new book for me.
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I decided to also make them available in my Etsy shop. You are able to choose the metal and chain color, the phrase or word, and even add a jewel or other pendant. These are one of a kind gift for anyone special in your life or even as a daily reminder for you!

A few years ago I got into knitting. I could never figure out the needles, but I loved working with the loom. It was so rhythmic and didn’t really need to think about what I was doing. It was a nice way to calm my mind and relax. For a Christmas gift for Amber, I got out my old loom and made her a scarf. Not just any scarf but one that looked like Harry Potter’s. I used maroon and golden rode yard and before I knew it I made an awesome scarf! She really loved it and now thinking about selling them in the Etsy Shop.

Need a quick and one of a kind baby shower gift? My standard baby shower gift is an original baby blanket. I have shared several of the baby quilts I have made in the past and this time I wanted to try something different. I found a great quality blanket that was plain and a few different fat quarters of fabric. A fat quarter is those precut squares of fabric you see on the shelves at crafts stores. I found an image I wanted to use to match the nursery, this time a whale. I cut the pieces of the printed whale out and then traced each piece on the fabric I wanted.

​I ironed the fabric onto double-sided iron-on material, then after they were cooled, I cut out the whale pieces and removed the second paper backing 

My mom has been wanting a large art piece for above her bed and I thought that it would be the perfect gift to give her for her birthday. Have you seen how much large wall art cost these days?! I don't know about you but I can't afford $100 plus for wall art so I decided make my own, again. I made one of these large art pieces a few years ago for our bedroom that you can see here. Follow the steps below to create your own masterpiece! I purchased a large poster on Zazzle (using a 50% off coupon), a canvas a little smaller than the poster (also using a 50% off coupon), Mod Podge, and a paint brush. 

Step 1:  Apply a thick layer of Mod Podge all over the canvas. It needs to be thick so it won't dry before placing the poster in place.

Step 2:  Lay the poster ontop of the canvas and carefully smooth out any bubbles starting from the center and working your way out.

Step 3:  Flip the canvas over and apply Mode Podge to the sides and wrap the the poster.

Step 4:  Using painters tape hold the sides taught in place. Using a hand staple gun, staple the edges in place. For the corners fold carefully in place like you would do wrapping a present. Flip the canvas back over and staple the corners in place.

Step 5:  Let it dry completely before adding picture hooks on the back.

The project came out so awesome and only cost me around $45. My mom is going to totaly love her birthday gift!

These homemade chocolate truffles are not only super easy to make, but better than anything you can find at the store! To make the homemade ganache you only need 8 oz. of cream, 8 oz. of chocolate chips, and a tsp of vanilla. Slowly bring the cream to a boil in a small sauce pan, do not walk away because the moment you do it will boil over. Place the chocolate chips in a heat resistant boil and slowly pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and add the tsp of vanilla. Let the cream start to melt the chocolate chips before stirring. Once room temperature, cover and refrigerate a minimum of 24 hours. The longer the time the firmer the ganache gets.

​Once the ganache is fully firm, use a melon baller and create round balls of chocolatey goodness. If your hands get to warm cool using ice, if your chocolate get too warm place a bowl of ice under the bowl or pop in the fridge for 20 minutes. 

After all of the balls have been rolled place in the fridge for 20 minutes to rechill. ​

​My aunt and uncle decided to have a day after Christmas family gathering because their new grandbaby was in town and wanted the family to meet him. As loyal readers know my standard baby gift is a homemade baby quilt. Even thought this was short notice I didn't want the new mom and dad feel left out. A few days before Christmas I ran to the fabric store and found some fun cowboy prints and decided on a quick and easy quilt.

I cute the two cowboy prints into strips. The buckle print was cut into four inches strips and the rodeo print was cut in two 10 inch strips and one 5 inch strip. I then sewed the strips in an alternating pattern. Next I sprayed Quilt Basting spray all over the red flannel backing and laid the front on top, smoothing out the wrinkles as I went. The spray is washable and helps hold the two pieces together while during the quilting.

The border was created with a four inch strip of cowprint. For a baby quilt I buy 1/2 yard for the border and cut it down in the four inch strips before sewing each piece together and ironing a double fold. This fold hides the edges and creates a clean look to the quilt. 

​Whatcha Makin'? Fruit Cake. Does anyone know that song by  The Superions? They play it every year on the local radio station and every time I say the fruitcake, it instantly pops into my head. But yes today I made a fruitcake and no it will not last the end of the world. Heck I don't even know if it will last the end of the day, because it is that good! Seriously! I have never made a fruitcake before and I know it is my Dad's favorite holiday treat, so I thought it would be a great gift basket item. I used an adaptation of Alton Brown's Good Eat Recipe, I use a lot of his recipes because they call for best quality ingredients. I dear you to try this recipe and tell me that fruitcake is horrible and can only be used as a door stop!

Ingredients
 
1 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup sun dried cranberries
1/2 cup sun dried blueberries
1/2 cup sun dried cherries
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
Zest of one lemon, chopped coarsely
Zest of one orange, chopped coarsely
1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
1 cup gold rum
1 cup sugar
5 Tbsp butter
1 cup unfiltered apple juice
4 whole cloves, ground
6 allspice berries, ground
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 chopped pecans
Brandy for basting and/or spritzing

Instructions

1. ​Combine dried fruits, candied ginger and both zests. Add rum and microwave for 5 minutes to re-hydrate fruit.
2. Place fruit and liquid in a non-reactive pot with the sugar, butter, apple juice and spices. Bring mixture to a boil stirring often, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for at least 15 minutes.
3. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Combine dry ingredients and sift into fruit mixture. Quickly bring batter together with a large wooden spoon, then stir in eggs one at a time until completely integrated, then fold in nuts. Spoon into a 10-inch non-stick loaf pan and bake for 1 hour.
4. Check for doneness by inserting toothpick into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. If not, bake another 10 minutes, and check again. Remove cake from oven and place on cooling rack. Spritz top with brandy and allow to cool completely before turning out from pan.
5. When cake is completely cooled, seal in a tight sealing, food safe container. Every 2 to 3 days, feel the cake and if dry, spritz with brandy. The cake's flavor will enhance considerably over the next two weeks. 

​I am the supervisor for nine, really awesome ladies. They work so hard and I thought I would throw them a little Christmas party during our weekly staff meeting. I brought cider, eggnog, cookies, and scones. I even surprised them with a personalized stocking with their name on it and filled with homemade:  lotion, lip gloss, coffee soap; and each with a custom bird's nest necklace.  I was actually surprised how easy these were to make and I already had all of the supplies! To make them I used either gold or silver jewelry wire and wrapped it around two fingers until I got the thickness that I wanted. I then would wrap the wire between the hole and the outside and added a bead or several as desired and ending it with another wrap to hold in place. I would add a loop for the chain to connect to before cutting the wire and tightening it in place. I used jewelry rings to attach the loop to the chain and added the clasp. To make all nine of them it took under two hours, and that was only because I was watching The Santa Claus, one of my favorite Holiday movies. Each of the ladies loved their homemade gifts and was totally surprised with the team Christmas party. I hope your Holiday Season is full of fun surprises! 

Tomorrow is our annual Winter Warmer at work and we are all very busy getting it ready. Each division is asked to donate a raffle basket by the Winter Warmer Committee, the basket that receives the most raffle tickets earns a week of wearing jeans. Last year our team was second place with our Lucky Tree, so I knew we could win this year! We wanted to do something that we haven't seen at previous events, and knowing that gift cards/certificates are usually the biggest winner, I came up with the Best of Our Hometown idea. We selected several of the best known locally owned restaurants, businesses, mall, and museums and purchased gift cards/certificates to display in a basket.

I purchased a fun basket at the local craft store and added Styrofoam to the bottom to help keep the dowels in place.  I then covered the Styrofoam with pretty snowflake tissue paper.

Next I added red package confetti and added pictures of all of the gift cards/certificates location along the sides of the basket. I wanted it to look like those vintage suitcases with all of the travel stickers. 

For the gift cards/certificates I taped them to the outside of their envelopes, so everyone could see where they were for and how much they were. Once taped, I taped each envelope to a dowel to stick into the Styrofoam on the bottom of the basket.

Lastly after all of the gift cards/certificates were in place, I added a few more hometown themed gifts:  map, key chain, magnet, and coffee mug, that I picked up at our local gift shop and covered it in a heat shrinking bag. Once the bag was shrunk into place and I tied a pretty bow. 

Are basket came out so great and  am really proud of all of the wonderful locally known places in my hometown. I'm know we are going to win best raffle basket!!

UPDATE:  I'm so excited that we won the best basket!!!

Today I was able to do something that made my heart burst with emotions. I was sad, happy, inspired, and humbled all at once. Today I put a lock with Serenity’s name on the Ponte Des Arts in Paris. Serenity’s dream was to go to Paris and today I hope I was able to give her at least a little of that dream. I cried as my cold hands trembled trying to lock the lock in place. By the time I threw the key into the Seine, I lost it and Jack had to hold me until I calmed down. It was a really rough week and I felt like it finally came to a head. So I stood there in Jack’s arms sobbing in the middle of Paris. 

I made a necklace out of the that I didn't throw into the river, for Serenity's mother and my good friend. I added charms that made me think of her including the infinity symbol that matches both of their tattoos. This was a small gesture I could do for a grieving friend and I hope that I brought at least a little peace for both of them. Rest In Peace Serenity.

Who’s there? Candy Gram. Every time I hear that phase I think of that famous SNL skit with Jaws. At work we wanted to update our annual Halloween Candy Gram fundraiser and I came across popcorn hands on Pinterest. I presented the new idea at our committee meeting and everyone loved the idea so we decided to do both popcorn and candy grams and call them Handy Grams. Well 410 Handy Grams later I think I switched my opinion on how cute they were! These are cute if you have to make 30, not as many as we had to make. Thankfully there were a lot of us and we were able to get them completed in a few hours. The committee heard a lot of great feedback after all of them was delivered, everyone loved them and it helped us earn a lot of money towards our Winter Warmer coming up in a few weeks!

I'm not afraid to admit my mom loves her dogs more than me, after all they mind better and they don't back talk! The perfect gifts for my mom always involve her dogs. Since we are still currently paying off all of our debt we have been keeping our gift cost low and reasonable. I found this cute idea on Pinterest where it was a frame that held four pictures with kids spelling out the word LOVE. Well since my mom has four dogs I thought it would be the perfect gift for her. Once day while she was at I would I went to her house with four half sized poster boards spelling out LOVE. I posed each dog and added one of the letter poster boards. After taking as many pictures as I could with each dog, I headed back home to start editing. I knew I wanted the photos to be in black and white, but since they are black dogs it took a while to get the shading and contrast to be just right. Once completed I sent them off to be printed. She was totally surprised and loved the framed pictures. Mothers are special and the original idea behind Mother's day was to acknowledge how special they are, try not to get to consumed in the commercialism of the holiday and take time to do something special and unique for your mother.
Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mothers out there!!!

I have shown you a few quilts I have done in the past; a wedding guest quilt and a bridesmaid dress quilt. These are two simple easy baby quilts I did for two baby showers. These simple and adorable baby quilts are my traditional baby shower gift. For a basic square quilt I suggest anywhere from 8 to 15 different cotton fabric, depending on the pattern 1/4 to 1/2 yard for each. You will also need 1 1/2 yards of cotton fabric for the back of the quilt, I suggest a flannel fabric. Lastly you will need 1/2 a yard of cotton fabric for the trim. Cut out all of the quilt fabric into squares and decided on your pattern. I like to lay all of the squares on the ground in the desired pattern until I am ready to sew. I start with sewing a small row at a time, 1/4 inch seam. After two rows are completed, I align the seams together and pin in place. You can skip this step, but I don't recommend it because if your squares don't line up correctly it can ruin the symmetrical look of the quilt. Once all of the rows are sewn together I use a quilt   binding spray to help keep the front piece to the back piece. Sew the two pieces together in the desired pattern; rows along the seams, diagonal, or random. If you don't want to sew them together you can use a needle and a very thin ribbon to knot the pieces together. I have also in the past sewn buttons to hold together. Once the two pieces are attached sew on the trim. There are several steps to making a quilt and can be broken down to a step a day, but in a rush you can easily accomplish your very own baby quilt in just a few hours! I hope if you have a baby shower coming up you skip the registry and make a special and personizled baby gift. I promise you the mom-to-be will be mood by your precious keep sake!

​One of the big things that I have done over the past few years is make and sell chocolate covered strawberries. The profits in the past would help go towards my spring tuition fees, but now that school is completed the money will be going to pay off our debt! I'm really excited about the idea of being debt free by the end of the year and each time a make a cake or sell a box of chocolate covered strawberries it takes us a little closer to achieving that goal! The key to making perfect chocolate covered strawberries is the strawberries and timing. First when shopping for strawberries try to buy as close as possible to when you need them and buy local! Local is always picked fresher and they last longer than the store bought ones. Wash and completely dry each strawberry. Chocolate will not stick to wet strawberries and if they are too wet could possibly ruin the chocolate. Never get chocolate wet! I like to use a double boil when melting chocolate; it makes it easier for me to manage the temperature of the chocolate. If your chocolate is too thick add a little vegetable shorting and stir in. Dip each strawberry into the chocolate by holding onto the leaves and lay flat on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. If you would like sprinkle with crushed nuts, sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, or drizzle a different color of chocolate. Once all of the strawberries are dried it should be easy to remove from the wax paper. Place a small piece of wax paper in a dessert box and cover with a dollies; the wax paper will prevent leaks from ruining the box, the dollies dresses up the box. I hope you take the time to make these sweet treats for your Valentine Sweetie!