Yummy Dip!

I could tell you how funny it was that there was a whole block of frozen-thawed spinach in my fridge, but after typing the story, it wasn't that funny. 

So, in need of not wasting the $1 thawed spinach, I bought artichokes, alfredo sauce and cheese to make:

Creamy Spinach Artichoke Dip

1 package of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 can (14oz) of artichoke hearts, drained
1 can of Alfredo sauce (I used the Classico brand)
1 cup of Italian cheese blend (mozzerella & parmesan)

Chop the spinach and artichoke heart up.  Mix everything together in a casserole dish and bake for about 20 minutes at 325 until it's bubbly and browning.

Serve with some crackers or chips! We love it with pita chips or Costco's multigrain tortilla chips!

Toddler Purse

I made this purse for my niece for her birthday.  She's really into girly things, like princesses, right now.  Landen loves to carry around things in my purse, so I thought she would really love this.

I started with a pattern for a scripture case, but of course I didn't follow it. This tutorial from Make It and Love It, is a great idea for a basic bag.  Seriously, it's like cut 4 rectangles (I think mine were 12x9). Sew the bottom and sides, make the corner and add the strap.  I didn't add any pocket, just a magnetic clasp- which I think the hardest part was thinking through which directions the magnets went so they didn't repell each other!  I don't think it took more than and hour or two!

And from what I hear, she loves to play with it!  Can you think of a little girl that would love this for Christmas?  I can think of another niece that might!

Burp Cloths

So, the other day the DH had a little talk with me about FINISHING my projects instead of getting involved in too many more new ones. I guess I just see things, get ideas and then get excited to start them without finishing the one I'm working on. On my list was to make some "good" burp rags. With Landen I had a few cute ones that were totally impractical at catching his spit-up and then I had cloth diapers. I really wanted something in between for Baby Girl.

I found a few tutorials online and they all seemed pretty basic. I basically followed this one. I did make one that was shaped more traditional, but decided it was easier to just use the rotary cutter instead of cute out all the layers with a pattern.

So, here's a run-down of what I did. I bought 1/2 yard of pink chenille. So the tutorial called for pieces that were 10x16, but I figured that if I did mine 9x15 I could actually get 8 instead of 6. I cut my fabric the same size, and then decided I wanted to round the corners because I hate trying to get good squares.

Then I sewed it together leaving a gap. Turned it, pressed it and top stitched it. After I was done, I realized I wanted just a little more padding, and decided to put a piece of batting between the layers. I had some warm-n-natural laying around, so I just used that because it was nice and thin, but absorbant. So, the other 6 had some padding. I also ran a seam down the middle just to keep it from twisting in the wash, because it will probably be washed plenty!

And there they are! Hopefully they are as useful as they are cute!

Ahhh...

There is just something about getting a quilt put together. You work on all the squares individually and that's nice, but there is something about having the whole thing done (or almost done). A sense of accomplishment and excitement to get it finished!

Isn't it cute? I just couldn't resist the puffy quilt. I think I'm going to find a bright pink or purple minky fabric for the back and to give it a nice thick binding and then tie it with some ribbon?

At first, I was thinking that these squares were a pain, but I think they are totally worth it now. I wouldn't take on a full sized quilt, but a baby quilt was quite practical. Want to make your own? I used the tutorial at honeybearlane.

Monkey Bread

It's funny... When I think of monkey bread, it brings me back to high school with friends at Wendy's and yet it also brings me back to my Grandma's kitchen.

Today, I'm sharing my Grandma's recipe. It's more of a dinner roll recipe and less of a dessert. I was thinking about making her rolls for dinner but didn't want all the work and the great big batch, so I was thinking about another roll recipe that was a little easier. Thumbing through her cookbook I found the recipe for Monkey Bread and knew this was the perfect compliment to our dinner.

Monkey Bread (click here for print-friendly version)
2 cups warm water
1/2 cup sugar
1 TBSP salt
1TBSP yeast
2 eggs slightly beaten
2TBSP oil
1 cube margarine (1/2 cup)
About 5-6 cups flour

Add sugar, salt and yeast to warm water. Let sit about 10 minutes or until nice and bubbly. Stir, add oil, beaten eggs, and 3 cups of flour and mix well. Let sit about 10 minutes. Add rest of flour mixing with spoon, kneading until satiny. Cover and let rise. (about 1 hour)

Roll out dough about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Cut in 3” circles. Melt margarine and add half to bundt pan. Stand circles in bundt pan like a pinwheel. Pour rest of margarine on top of circle. Let rise to top of pan. ( about 20-30 minutes, I turn the oven on to preheat and set the pan on top of the stove so it's nice and warm and rises faster!)

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes

Happy Baking!

I'm not so Very Talented..

I used some scraps from my guitar strap to make Landen a new t-shirt. And, I messed them up a little. They aren't sraight and in the wrong order! I was trying to put the odd one in the middle.



Oh well!


He still looks cute!

Guitar Strap Tutorial

I started making my guitar strap by following this tutorial. But I wanted to use only 1 piece of fabric. So I made my own tutorial to share with you!


Supplies:
About ¼ yard of fabric,
Strip of fusible fleece or fusible batting
Thread and sewing machine

Step 1: Measure your guitar strap. Mine was 2" wide and Michael keeps his strap about 45" long. So I decided I wanted my strap to be 3" wide and 43" long. I would recommend going at least an inch wider than your strap. Double that and add ½ inch on both ends for your seam allowance. So, I used a strip of fabric that was 6 ½ inches wide and just went salvage edge to salvage edge. I then cut a strip of fusible fleece 3" wide.

Step 2: Press your fabric. I was trying to follow a pattern, so I ironed along the lines in the fabric, making my pattern 3" wide and ironing the rest under. The fabric should overlap about 1/4inch. This would put the seam going down the middle of the back. You could also just fold it in half and make the seam along the side.

Step 3: Fuse Fleece/Batting to strap. Open the fabric up and fused the fleece to the wrong side of the fabric. The fleece should go down the middle between the two presses. If you were doing a side seam, I would line the fleece up along the fold in the middle and place the fleece ¼ inch from the edge and press.

Step 4: Hem the short ends. Since my ends were both salvage edges, I just folded it up and hemmed. If you wanted any decorative quilting on the top of your strap, this would be the time to do it.

Step 5: Pin along the long side (right sides together) and then sew. Use a 1/4inch seam allowance. Press seam open.

Step 6: Turn. I then sewed along the long side edge to give it some stability so it wouldn't twist. I tried to do mine a little less than 1/4, so it was just slightly shorter than my foot.

Step 7: Slide over guitar strap. This took a little bit of time to jimmy it on, but I wouldn't have made it any wider to make it easier to get on. It fit about perfect!


Ta Da! We're done! Brand new guitar strap! It made a great Father's Day Present!