Yummy Apple Strudel Muffins

I made these muffins this afternoon and they are delicious! Just the right amount of sweetness without being like a cake. Perfect for cold mornings or cloudy afternoons!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 cups chopped apples (I actually shredded mine so that I wouldn't have to worry about Verity getting a big piece of apple)

Strudel Topping:

• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3 cup oats
  
• 1 tablespoon melted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or put in liners.
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
3. In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in apples and gradually blend in the flour mixture. Spoon the mixture into the muffin pan.
4. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, oats, and butter. Mix until crumbly. Sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan.
5. Bake 23-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
6. Cool on a wire rack.

Quick & Cute Scarf

Some of you may have seen tutorials around the web to make freece scarves and, like me, thought "What a fun and easy idea. But .... I don't wear scarves." That's when you make your 9387th item of clothing for your little girl. So here are the changes that I made and how I made it.

Materials:

• 3 stripes of fleece (different colors make it more fun)
• sewing machine or needle & thread
• scissors or pinking shears

Instructions:
1. Cut 3 stripes of fleece into 30" x 3". {Keep in mind that I have a petite 2 year old.} Put them in whatever order you want and stack them on top of each other.
2. Sew a single seam down the middle of the strips of fleece. Make sure you reinforce the beginning and the ends of your seams.

This is what it will look like after you sew it.

3. Cut every one inch down each side of the scarf making sure that you don't go too far and snip your stitch. I used my pinking shears to make it look fancier.

I made one of these for Charissa and another for one of her closest friends. The hardest part of the whole thing was getting the pink fleece fuzzies off me.

A Fun New Baby Quilt

I made this baby blanket for a little girl that is due around Thanksgiving. All the fabrics for the quilt top are from AC Moore and then I put a fuzzy pink backing on it.



I really like the zig-zag detailing on top. It was really easy to put together; the hardest part was doing all the cutting and then ironing on the appliques with Heat 'n' Bond.

I can't wait to greet a certain little lady with this blanket!

The Cutest Broom You Ever Did See

At least that's what our friend Thomas says about it. But there is a story behind it. I don't know what the Terminix man used the last time he came, but it attracted TONS of beetles to our house, and then they would die right there on our porch. Dozens of them every night. So we had a broom on our porch all the time to get rid of the carcases. After about 3 days I was tired of staring at the ugly thing, and I decided to give it a facelift. Here's the old broom:
I spray painted the handle/stick brown ...

... and then attached these bunches of berries, flowers, and things where the straw is sewn together.

Cute huh? We don't have the bug problem anymore, but I'm leaving it out because I like it so much. After Thanksgiving I'm going to have to find a new home for it I guess.

And in case you were wondering what my kids were up to while I was doing this, here's an image:
Yup, Verity dumped a bunch of clothes out the of their hanging system. Oh well. Clothes are easy to fold and put back. :)

Freezer Paper Stenciling Tutorial

This is the second item that I taught how to do this morning. Whew - two tutorials in one day. That's definitely a record for me.

A few words on what freezer paper stenciling is: freezer paper is like wax paper with a parchment paper backing. You're simply using the freezer paper to make a stencil and then using that stencil for painting onto whatever you want. (The pictures below are from when I made shirts for the girls when Britt graduated from seminary this summer - they each saw "I love Daddy" but one in Greek and one in Hebrew. I do not recommend using tiny little words like this for your first project. Go for a bigger image that doesn't have as many details.)

Materials:

• image to trace
• sharpie
• freezer paper
• cutting mat
• exacto knife
• clothing to be stenciled on
• iron
• permanent fabric paint (I like Tulip brand)
  
• paintbrush
• cardboard or extra freezer paper for inbetween layers of fabric

Steps:
1.Place the picture under the freezer paper (shiny side down) and trace with a sharpie.
2.Tape the freezer paper down on a cutting mat. Using an exacto knife, cut the image. If you have additional images within (i.e. windows, eyes, etc.) cut those out and save them.




3.Iron the stencil onto your fabric, shiny side down. Make sure that you iron all around the edges of the stencil so that a seal is created for your image. If you have windows or centers of images (like the middle of the "a's" and "o's" below) make sure you iron those on as well.

4.Place the cardboard or freezer paper underneath your image so that the paint doesn't seep through.

5. Mix your paint to your desired color. Using a paintbrush, paint directly over the stencil, making sure that it is spread evenly. Be careful that your strokes don't go too far and get onto the outside fabric. You may need to apply additional coats of paint, but wait about 2 hours between each coat.

6.Let the paint dry overnight and then carefully peel off the freezer paper. Or in this case, let your happy little helpers have fun taking it off.



7. Put an old cloth on top of the paint and iron the image for about 30 seconds. This will set the paint permanently.
8. Done!
Again, simple and doesn't involve a lot of steps or materials. And there are so many applications - shirts, holiday themes on table runners, placemats or napkins, initials on a bag, and so many other things.

Washing instructions: Wait 72 hours before washing, and then wash inside out.

Glass Etching Tutorial

This morning I taught a session at a women's seminar about making gifts. I know it was hard for some people to take notes and I also wanted to make the instructions available for others that were not able to attend the class. So here's my tutorial!

First of all, let me explain a little about glass etching. This is not merely painting on to glass - you are actually permanently etching into the glass by using a cream that eats away a fine layer of the glass. Which means that your finished product is dishwasher safe, oven safe, and microwave safe. Now lets get to the details.

Materials:

• Armour etching cream (you can find this at a craft store for about $8)
• paintbrush
• contact paper
• exacto knife (or really sharp box cutters)
• design to etch printed on a piece of paper
• tape
• scissors
• glass to etch

Steps:

1. Adhere the printed design to the glass on the opposite side making sure that the image is seen how you want it to look (even, centered, and if it's a letter or word that you can read it when you hold your glass piece the right way).

[this picture was taken from the bottom, so the image looks the wrong way]

2. Cut the contact paper at least one inch larger than your design on all sides. The contact paper becomes your stencil on the glass so you want to make sure to press out any air bubbles.

3. Using your exacto knife, trace the outline into the contact paper. Make sure to press firmly enough to cut all the way through the contact paper.

4. Remove the contact paper from the inside of your traced design, exposing the glass.Using the paintbrush, spread the etching cream over the design in a thick layer. Wait 10 minutes and then use the brush to scrape the cream back into the jar. Reapply another layer and leave it for another 10 minutes before scraping it back in the jar.

1. 
   5. Rinse your glass in a stainless steel sink or with a hose outside (not in a porcelain sink because it can dull the finish). Remove your stencil and rinse again.

6. Done!
I love this project because you can use it to personalize a wedding gift, make fun hostess gifts, or just put designs on things you use. I have dreams of one day etching a design on the border of my mirror. {One day ... one day ... } Once you have the etching cream and the contact paper, this is a really cheap project. And you can pick up glass pieces at Wal-Mart, Goodwill, Big-Lots, and use the coupons at AC Moore, Michaels and Bed, Bath & Beyond!

I hope this was helpful! Please let me know if you have any questions!

Is there any way I can pass this off as a new fashion trend?

Yup ... sewed the skirt on inside-out. After taking all that time with the pleats, I sewed it on wrong. Me and my seam ripper became good friends that night.

Finally - Organized Ribbons!

With two girls and making lots of things, I have a lot of ribbon. But I couldn't find a way to organize it and keep them accessible. So I ended up just putting them on hangers, but they ended in disaster. Exhibit A:
But the other day I saw Create Studio came up with a brilliant idea - putting ribbon on old-fashioned clothes pins! Each one is accessible and they are all neat. I can take out any particular one and use them without all the fuss.


I'll probably end up putting them in a cute jar or something, but for now I'm totally satisfied with how neat and cute all my ribbons are.

Reusable Produce Bag Tutorial

A few months back I'd seen some reusable produce bags and I thought they were such a great idea for those who are trying not to use plastic. They came to mind when my sister-in-law's birthday came up and I thought they would be a great present for her since I know she is trying to be very environmentally-conscious. So I searched around the internet and found a place to order them from, but when I was looking at them I realized that all it was made out of was mesh and a string. Sorry - not paying $10 for mesh. Off I went to get materials to make them myself, and it was so easy! Plus I got to make them in whatever size I wanted. I think in a 2 hour period I made 12 of them.

Materials:

• mesh (from 2 yards I made 10 various size bags) [mesh generally runs around $2 a yard]
  
• thread
• draw strings
• cord stops
  

Instructions:

1. Decide what size bag you want to make. The bag below is a lettuce/celery bag which is 15 inches by 10 inches when finished. Adding a half inch for seam allowances on each side, I cut a piece of mesh 11 inches by 31 inches.

2. I folded over the piece of mesh and sewed up the two sides.


3. At the top, I folded over the top edge about 1/2 inch to make the casing for the drawstring. Sew.
4. Turn your bag right-side-out. Get your cord and inch it through the casing.

5. Pull your ends through the cord stops. And you're done.


Told you it was easy! The great thing about these bags is that you can use them for a lot of different things as well. You can use them for your delicates in the wash, collecting and drying toys in the bathtub, and my dad even said something about using it while you are camping. I made a few different sizes to accommodate different needs - 8x10, 10x12, 12x14. But of course you can do whatever sizes you want to meet your own needs.

I hope this was helpful! Please let me know if you have any questions!

Teacher Discounts at Craft Stores!

{I'm copying this from my personal blog because I wanted to share it with anyone who might read this one and not the other.}

A friend of mine recently let me in on the fact that AC Moore and Joann's give discount cards to teachers. You get 10% off at AC Moore, and 15% off at Joann's. Plus you can still use your coupons! Immediately I said, "Sign me up!" Well, actually sign Britt up.

Here's how it works. For AC Moore you just copy your teacher license or home school certificate and mail it in to this address. For Joann's you print off an application here, mail it in, and then when you receive your card you have to have it signed by a store manager before you can use it.

Isn't that a great tip for you to know?

I'm Back!

Sorry for the huge silence - there's been too much going on in my life. But I did want to briefly update with the news that I've finally listed some things over at my etsy shop. I also have a new widget that shows what is in my etsy shop, so you can take a gander at that too.

Thanks for being patient! I hope to be back here more in the near future.

15 Minutes to a New Paci-Clip

I've seen so many lovely paci-clips that people have made and I've really wanted to try my hand at it, but I could never find a clip that I liked.  I've heard that the best thing to use are those little clips from name tags that you get at office supply stores, but when was the last time I was in one of those?  But tonight while I was cleaning up the girls' bathroom I found Verity's extra paci-clip and thought "Hey - why don't I just use this?" And away I went.  So here's my tutorial for a new paci-clip.

Materials: 

• Clip (either from old paci-clip or if you're able to find one)
• about 12" of sturdy ribbon
• 1 snap set
• fray check
• sewing machine or needle and thread

Instructions:

1.  I laid the old ribbon on top of the new ribbon to give myself a guide for how long it should be.  I actually made mine about an inch or so longer because Verity tends to crane her neck in crazy angles and lose the pacifier. 

2.  Use fray check on the ends to insure that your ribbon doesn't unravel.
3.  Fold one end into a triangle and stitch into place.  
4.  Pull the other end through the clip loop making sure that the front of your ribbon is on the same side as the front of the clip.  Sew the ribbon securely.
5.  Attach your snaps to the opposite end.  Make sure that you use fray check around the area where you place the snaps so they don't tear the ribbon over time. 
Now, that's where I thought I was done.  And then this happened :

I couldn't get the snap through the hole!  What an obvious blunder!  So I did what I had to do - I cut the pacifier to make the hole big enough. 
And now it works!  
So simple, but I really like it.  And it's way cuter than the old one.