What I've been doing

This is the only "crafty" thing I've done in two months:

They are two little Nutcracker ornaments that I painted during a craft day with some close friends. The reason? We're expecting again in the Spring, and I have played the tired pregnant card more times than I can count. Thankfully, I've had help from my wonderful husband keeping the house in order and keeping my wild toddler child in check.

Speaking of our the Wild Child, he's exploring more and developing quite the charming personality. His favorite activities these days include eating, playing outside, and running amok. It's been a while, so how about some adorable photos of the little guy?

First leaves of the season

Grapes!

Brushing teeth after a long day

Enough photos.

Baseball Burp Rags

My machine has been collecting dust, along with the rest of my house, these days. But I finally felt good enough to finish an order for a friend. How cute is this fabric? We didn't really do a themed nursery, but maybe we will this next time around. For the tutorial, see this post.

Autumn Wreath

I was feeling a bit crafty this weekend, so I made a wreath for our front door that had a Fall feel. This cool weather has been so nice, so I made a cup of tea and this is what I came up with.

I had a plain wreath in the shed, though I have no idea why, so I just bought a few little additions. At the craft store I got a little box of Styrofoam pumpkins in various sizes with a few pine cones thrown in and a few bits of garland that are usually used in floral arrangements.

What a mess, right?

I moved to the floor in the living room to craft so I could watch a movie with the husband at the same time. So, please excuse my awesome living room rug. Arrange  your pumpkins and pine cones in your wreath before you glue them so you have an idea of your design. I pulled the little orange sprigs off of the floral picks because I didn't want a lot of green in my fall wreath.

Then, you'll want to take your handy hot glue gun and get to work finalizing your design. Make sure if you put a bit of paper or an old folder down so that you don't drip hot glue on your wooden floors. That's a lesson I don't want you to also have to learn the hard way.


After you've glued all your bits together and onto the wreath, find yourself a bit of ribbon to tie on the top to  hang it on your door or you can just do what I did and hang it directly on the hook. Here is the final product:

Frozen Meals

Things around here have been busy lately. This last weekend I took some time to ease into this new phenomenon I read about called "Once a Month Cooking." The gist of it is this: You buy all the ingredients you need for a month's worth of meals and then marathon cook for a weekend, freezing meals or using what you cook wisely throughout the week.

This is too much for me to handle. So I decided just to cook enough that I could bring some frozen meals for a friend of ours who is expecting this week. I ended up making a freezer full, saving a few meals for us. This is what we ended up with!

Taco Jumbo Shells
Lasagna Rolls
Crock pot Chicken Dinner
Enchilades
Chicken Bundles


Our freezer is packed to the brim with "just in case" meals. When the time comes, just take a meal out of the freezer, pop in the fridge to thaw and then cook as directed an hour or so before dinner. Make sure you label your meals with the contents, date and cooking instructions before you freeze them. I made the mistake of trying to label after a casserole was frozen and just made a mess of ink. Oops!

Clearly labeled meals.

Lots of ready made meals!

I managed most of this while the Wild Child napped, but when he was awake he "helped" me cook. It was just too adorable. Here's proof!

Embroidered Burp Clothes tutorial

It's that time of year: Baby showers and Christmas gifts. This is a quick and classy way to jazz up those everyday burp clothes. Here's what I did:

Pick some adorable fabrics that you think the gift receiver will enjoy. I made these for a lady in my husband's shop who did her daughter's nursery in very bright colors.

Take the edges and pin them, ironing the seams to make them easier to sew.

Lay them on top of the burp cloth, right down the middle. I used Gerber prefolds, which aren't absorbent enough to use as cloth diapers but work great to wiping up all those other baby messes. Pin them down and you're ready to sew.

Choose a zigzag stitch and make sure that your needle and stitch goes through the fabric and over the seam into the burp cloth.

I attached my quilting foot and embroidery attachment and added the Baby Girl's initials to some of the clothes. If you don't have an embroidery attachment, you can choose your button hole stitch and you can free hand it. It won't be as neat as a machine embroider (unless you have a steady hand, and I do not) but it still adds a very personal touch.

This is the finished product! You can make as many or few as you want. I added a little ribbon to the bundle and you're ready to give a personalized gift.

Peanut Butterfinger Bars

It's my turn to bring a treat for our Bible study group tonight. I decided on a recipe of my mom's that I found in an old church cook book. I didn't have everything required, so I adapted it with what I had in the pantry. Here's the recipe!

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 cup oatmeal

topping:
1cup chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips

Cream the butter and sugars together. Add the egg, peanut butter and vanilla and mix well. Sift together the soda, salt and flour and add to mixture. Add the oatmeal and mix well. Spread into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350* for 25 minutes. Your knife should come out clean when you put it in the middle. When you take them out, sprinkle the chips on top. They will melt a bit, and even after cooling they will stay gooey.

Here's your finished product!

You can take the girl outta Texas...

...But those hurricanes are sure to follow! Last week as a weird one for weather. We experienced our first earthquake and then a few days later Irene came up the East coast. Thankfully, we only had a little damage to our screens and shutters. Here are a few photos of the Little One playing in the water before the worst of the rain hit.