Weather stuff you're probably tired of by now.

I am sure you have all had your fill of Facebook photos of temperature gauges and forecasts, but I wanted to add my small contribution to the pile before the thrill is gone.  I am in Pa on the east coast.

This is my bathroom window.  The inside. 

It is pretty, I will say that.

This is my back porch windows.   On the inside. 

 

While on our little snow/cold day hiatus I finally got up the nerve to try my hand at cold-process soap.  Seemed fitting.   I'll post the process I used in the next two posts this week.

Keep warm everyone.  

Happy 2014!

Here's wishing you the best of health, happiness, and prosperity in 2014!

Friday find photo

I just have to share this one!   Check out what I picked up for my classroom?  Isn't it awesome!?

I'll call him George.

Any suggestions how to hang him up??  I have no clue!

Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas - My favorite Christmas movie of all time.

It's December.   It's time!



My favorite Christmas movie of ALL TIME.

Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas

Good Friday morning

Good morning to all of you sitting in the comfort of your own homes this Black Friday morning.   If you are like me, there isn't a herd of buffalo left on the planet that could drag me out of the house to the stores today. 

In that spirit let me offer you this! a coupon code to my Etsy shop just to fill out your lists for the big day today. 

Just type in blackfriday2013 at checkout

I Make Stuff on Etsy

Happy Friday

Vanilla, rum, and a quilt.

 Oh how I wish I could say I drank this and then started sewing!  That would be dangerous!

  No, actually I made some homemade vanilla this weekend with that bottle up there.   And this photo down here in the last of my custom orders shipping out this morning for it's destination.  

That means I have the month of December to devote to my family.  Just what I planned to do.  Oh, I will be doing some crafting in the days I'm sure.  Some new directions for my shop I Make Stuff.   It's time to narrow my focus to things I really enjoy making.  If it makes me smile, I'll continue with it.

Happy Monday Everyone and to my USA readers, I'm wishing you a lovely and happy Thanksgiving week as well.

Om Baby Handmade Baby Fair

Have you ever used a sugar scrub?   I have and I just love the soft, smooth skin I get after I use it!   A bonus is one with a delicious fragrance.

I'm working on a few scrubs, bath salts, and more lotions to be available through the website (just send an email my way) or through the Etsy shop, and at my next crafting event, the OM Baby Handmade Baby Fair. in Camp Hill, Pa.

Because mom's need a little pampering too. 

Here are some other things you'll be able to find!

A Thanksgiving primer recipe for busy week nights.

 I did not get much crafting or creating accomplished this week but I did play my clarinet quite a bit :)    Today's plan included a bit of grad show framing, getting a few more lines quilted on my custom order t-shirt quilt, plus paperwork, laundry, and bills. 

 Don't be jealous of me.  I bet you have laundry to do too. 

 In the meantime, here is a quick weeknight meal idea for Recipe Tuesday.

Looking for a quick weeknight meal with that savory Thanksgiving flavor?  Try these ground turkey patties.  It's full of the savory sage goodness you would expect with turkey.

In a bowl with the ground turkey I've added celery, carrots, onions, a little garlic plus salt and pepper to taste along with a good couple of teaspoons of sage. 

To hold it all together I chopped up some leftover bread and added two eggs to the bowl.

Using an ice cream scoop for even sizes, I browned them on the stove with just a little olive oil and butter.

trying to catch my breath

If the end of this semester is any indication of what next semester's doubling-up-with-two-courses plan, I'm doomed. 

I'll put that out there right now. 

Getting a show up and ready PLUS an on-line regular course and it's workload?  I'm going to request wine for Christmas this year.   Lots of it.

Did I mention we hatched a dinosaur egg this weekend?

Weekend in pictures

 Oh what fun we had this weekend! 

Here is a recap for you.  

We tested the new kids toy I worked on for my shop... (results?  big hit!  4yr old called it "the best game ever")

Finished the layout and piecing of this next t-shirt quilt custom order.  (it's currently at the machine for the final quilting and will be shipped out about a week earlier than promised)

Made crunchy granola bars (Pioneer Woman recipe adaptation)

And worked a little more on my own art for my graduate show.    Here is a detail.

I hope you have a wonderful middle-of-the-week!

A stringer of fishies...

...for a new item this week.

I am hoping for a nice, quiet, slow weekend where I can sew or sit and just be.   I don't really know if that will happen but I am hopeful.  That's close enough some times.

Polenta with roasted vegetables

A few posts ago I gave you my secret to a simple, roasted chicken (it's the lemons) and as a side to our delicious main course I roasted a ton of vegetables.  Red beets, butternut squash, and brussel sprouts this time since I had them on hand.   I made sure to make extra because I wanted to have leftovers the next day for lunch. 

There is nothing better (in my opinion) than warm, cheesy, smooth polenta with roasted vegetables for a lunch on a dreary day.  Only two out of the four of us will eat this so I save it for my lunch when I know I'll have time to myself.  They just don't know what they are missing!    

Bring a saucepan of chicken broth up to a rolling boil.   Pour in stone ground cornmeal, using a whisk to stir constantly while adding the cornmeal.   Please take care to turn the heat down to medium before this step or the polenta can start to bubble and burn you as it thickens up.

To serve, I stir in butter, thyme, and Parmesan cheese and place a scoop of the roasted vegetables on the top. 

Simple, delicious and satisfying! 

Monday morning sewing monster

I can't keep my boys in jeans for long.  Not that they go around wearing nothing, I mean they are forever ripping out the knees by skidding, sliding, rolling, or roughhousing in the grass or on the floor.

This will either fix the torn knee issue, or cause new ones because they want cool things sew on.


I have already had a request for a ninja next.

It's been a busy week

Blogger hates me today.   I've uploaded close-ups of the Leafman and Sonic at least fourteen times and every time the photo is flipped sideways.  Half of those times it's flipped in the opposite direction of itself too.  I cannot for the life of me, get it to be upright so I give.  Despite the rain and winds we managed an 8-9 house Trick or Treat night.  They loved it regardless of weather so that makes me happy.

I made some small items for the Craft fair this weekend.  A few more pendants (below) drying on the work surface.   The pieced trees (above) I hope to have framed individually for the show as well.  That is, if I have the time to work on them this evening.  As I left the house this morning I already noticed two large branches down again and the forecast is calling for 45-50 mile per hour winds.  I may be chain-sawing all night. 

Magic wands, poof those branches away for me please???

Unveiling a new product joining the I Make Stuff line-up!

Aren't they pretty?   (It's the dots, I know it.  I love polka-dots)

You are looking at 4oz of lovely, soft, aloe-based lotions with delightful scents.  Not too strong though, there is nothing I dislike more than a greasy hand creme you can smell from five miles away. 

These are scented just enough to be enjoyable but not enough to be overpowering.
 

Scents included in the new line are-

*fresh clean shave
*cranberry apple
*Christmas candy
*spiced pumpkin
*white tea & ginger
*oatmeal & honey
*sandalwood
*chai tea
*mocha
*spice
*almond
*fruit & almond

Look for them soon at the Line Mountain High School, Mandata, Pa.  craft show (this Saturday Nov 2nd from 9-3) and at the Handmade Baby Fair in Camp Hill, Pa at OMBaby - December 7th 9-5)

Also coming soon to the Brickhouse Craft Shop in Millersburg, Pa.

Calzones and kid-made pizzas

 You'll remember a few weeks ago I posted a new pizza recipe we tried out.  It was a big hit and here's what we made with it....

While the dough was rising I whipped up a quick ricotta cheese filling for calzones and also chopped up some various ingredients for toppings and the calzones.

The ricotta mix was 1 C ricotta cheese, salt, pepper, granulated garlic, plus one egg.

For the filling we used some salami, imported ham, smoked turkey, mushrooms, onions, spinach, and I slices tomatoes as well.   There is also shredded mozarella of course.

In a small saucepan I used some homemade tomato sauce (from my canning this summer)  and I added a secret weapon....

 I picked this up locally at a craft fair I attended.  It is amazing.  I have no clue how someone goes about smoking honey but I don't need to know.   Adding this to the sauce gave it such a nice flavor and sweetness!

Self assembly is the best part of the job.
 

Calzones

Pizza with tomatoes.

It was a soft crust, not thin but not what I would call super thick either.   They all liked it.

This year's Halloween costume attempt.

 

This is a Leafman from the movie Epic.   

This is my attempt at Leafman armor.   Please do not tell me it looks like a ninja turtle.  We have been over that.   Although adding the embellishments to the armor made it look less shell-like and more ornate.   If I was a better whiz at my sewing machine, I would have considered stitching on the designs, instead I used a sharpie.  Don't judge me. 

 This is Sonic the Hedgehog's hair..... things.  It's not purple, it's blue. 

This is what I have as of 8:00pm last night.   Now I need to find some red sneakers and white gloves, plus rig up a mask of some sort to help hold all that head-stuff on the hood up on his little head.   Plus the leafman needs a ridiculous looking pointy helmet thing.   See above picture if you don't believe me.

Question is, can I finish by Wednesday?