Me and the Applique Bird

I love birds... Let me rephrase that... I LOVE birds... all the little fabric birds in blogland make me a weak in the knees...

This is where my quest to make an applique bird for an outfit I was making for Hope started...

My whole family including myself are artists... and I thought it would be simple to draw up a little bird to transform into an applique... but when I started... I couldn't make my hand do what my mind wanted and my bird drawing turned into something very unbird like...

So I asked my second oldest Adam to draw a bird for me... (He refused to be photoghraphed for this post... even though he is 20 years old...Kids!)

This is what he came back with:

Needless to say, I had to explain this wasn't quite what I was after... and so here is his second attempt. (According to my instructions.)

I then took and made a pattern from the drawing.

I used iron on interfacing to stabilize the bird fabrics... and cut them out.


I zig zagged around the bird pieces, and made little feet... Here is the finished pocket... I would have been happier with the whole project if the pocket fabric had not been so thin and stretchy... But that whole train wreck is for another day...


It has been a long, long time since I have appliqued... I want to do more... Adam got so into the whole drawing thing he made me the cutest panda bear that I want to make something with...

I hope you are all having a great week:)

Important Question

I am really new to blogging... and I have a question. When I receive a comment and I try to reply... via email... I don't think people are receiving and answer... Often times their email address shows as their name and then <noreply-comment@blogger.com> I am not sure what to do about this... How do I respond to someones comment? I really could use some help... it took me so long to realize that people aren't getting my emails... That might be a lot of you... I am so sorry... Anyone have an answer on how to reply?

A Pile of People

When I was at the thrift store a couple of weeks ago... I bought what at first glance looked like a pile of pipe cleaners... This is what I found when I took them out of the bag....

A Great BIG Pile of People

There were 78 pipe cleaner people in total...

Some of my favorites:

(Sparkle guy)

(Fluffy Muscle Man)

(The Twins... I love the colors)

(The Ski Instructor)

(The odds and ends)

I have no idea what these people were made for or why they were discarded... but they are fun to think about... I am not sure what we will do with them... I have thought about taking them apart and reusing the pipe cleaners... but I haven't been able to bring myself to do it...

Crock Pot Banana Bread

Too Many Bananas

Not long ago, I made a cake mix in the crock pot. So, when I had too many bananas I decided to see if I could make banana bread in the crock pot too... This is how it turned out.

I placed a very tiny loaf pan in the bottom of the crock pot (You could use a sturdy cookie cutter or two. Then I placed the lid on the top and let it heat up as I was making the banana bread.


Then I chose a loaf pan that would fit inside the crock pot, on top of the little pan and allow for the lid to go on, as well as, expansion of the bread as it cooks.


Place lid on crock pot. Turn to high and allow to heat as you are making the banana bread.

This is my banana bread recipe taken and adapted from my La Leche League cookbook "Whole Foods for the Whole Family" I love this recipe because it is adaptable to what I have on hand...

Banana Bread
1 cup mashed bananas (3 medium)
1/3 cup oil or melted butter
1/2 cup honey or brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 3/4 cup whole wheat or unbleached flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup hot water
1 tsp nutmeg

Beat oil and honey together. Add eggs, mix well. Stir in bananas. Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with hot water; mix until smooth. Bake in greased loaf pan at 325 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes. Cool on wire rack for a 1/2 hour before slicing. Freezes well. This recipe can be doubled or tripled.
(I have used this recipe many times and it is always yummy. When I was making my loaf in the crock pot I also baked 2 loaves in the oven to compare it with.)

Once the bread was mixed I placed it in the heated crock pot and waited :) The took a little more then twice the time of the bread cooked in the oven.
The bread will brown lightly on the sides but will not get as dark as bread cooked in the oven. Test bread with a toothpick in center. It is finished when the toothpick comes out clean.



The following is a comparison of the bread cooked in the crock pot vs. in the oven.

Bread on left was cooked in crock pot.



This is how the crock pot banana bread looks when cut.

This is the oven banana bread.

The crock pot banana bread was very moist and it cut well. My family had varying opinions on which version of the bread they liked best. All of them liked the crock pot bread well enough to eat over and over again... The best part is you could cook the banana bread out on the porch in the summer so the house does not heat up.

Basket Remodel

I have a weakness for orphan baskets... Baskets that have had hard days and been tossed aside... I found this one at our Goodwill... and my boys thought I was crazy... The pictures don't show how dirty it is, but the plastic cover on the gingham is filthy... They were also concerned that I hadn't "noticed" the missing lid...

I noticed the missing lid and the cat chewed handle... but it was only $1.99 and I couldn't pass it by... I could see how useful it could be with a little remodel.

(Cat Chewing)

(Half a lock... clearing pointing to the fact that it was missing a lid)

The first thing I did was remove the old cover and then the half a lock... Look at how they held the little lock on... brads that look like rivets. (Isn't that clever.)

I cut apart the cover to form a pattern. That way I could make a new lining...

I already had this white fabric... so I decided I would use it to line the basket... I have a hard time chosing a print when I know something is going to serve a useful purpose. I am always worried that I will grow tired of a print over time...

I sewed up the four side seems and tried it on the basket... Even though I used the original as a pattern the new cover seemed a bit small. At first I was going to make a ruffle... and so I cut strips of fabric to gather... I changed my mind about a ruffle and decided I would just make a turned edging instead.

(Oh my, my ironing board is icky and needs a new cover... it is amazing what you see when you take a photo of something you look at everyday.)

After I removed the gathering, I realized the fabric I chose really had the tendency to fray... But with a completely finished edge it won't matter, no matter how much use the basket gets.

Ta Da... it is finished and ready to start a new life... Don't pass by that ugly basket... it could turn into a wonderful addition to your storage...

Roosters-N-Rickrack Pinafore GIVEAWAY!!!!

Roosters-N-Rickrack Pinafore GIVEAWAY!!!!

Look at the next cute giveaway that Kathleen is having on Grosgrain! I want to win this for Hope so bad... it is so cute....

From T-Shirt to Capri Pants

I have been toying with remaking clothes out of old clothes and this is my first attempt to turn an old T-shirt into a pair of capri pants for Hope. I used a simple Little Vogue pattern.


I decided to cut it a bit longer so I placed the cuff of the pattern on the bottom of the shirt. This saved time on having to hem the bottoms... They were really easy to sew together...



They turned out well... However, I didn't realize she had grown so much since last winter, so they are too small in the torso area ... All in all, I will be making a lot more with a larger pattern. This would be a really good way to make little capri pants for babies and small toddlers because a pattern would easily fit on most size t-shirts or sweat shirts:)
P.S. Look how messy my sewing area is... I think it is time to clean and organize... How does it get messy so fast:)~