I Love Fun Mail!!

Today I got a package in the mail ...

... with wonderfully bright chiffon ...

... six wonderfully fluffy yards.

And if you're wondering what I'm going to do with it all, I'm going to make 2 of these skirts for my little girls.

Oven-Fried Chicken Parmesan

This is the best chicken parmesan you're going to get outside of an Italian restaurant. It's easy to make and then you can freeze it either before baking or after. Bonus - it reheats really well.

Oven-Fried Chicken Parmesan

1/4 c flour
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 c panko (Japanese breadcrumbs - you can find this right next to the regular breadcrumbs)
4 (6 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons olive oil
cooking spray
1/2 marinara sauce
1/2 grated parmesan cheese
3/4 c shredded mozzarella cheese

- preheat oven to 450*
- combine flour, oregano, and salt in a shallow dish; place eggs in another bowl; place panko in another shallow dish
- dredge one breast half in flour mixture and make sure it is fully coated
- dip the floured chicken in the egg and then dredge in panko; if necessary, dredge several times to get a good thick coating
- repeat procedure with remaining chicken
- heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 2 minutes. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil; turn chicken over and cook another 2 minutes.
- coat chicken with cooking spray; transfer chicken to a baking dish and place in the oven. bake at 450* for 5 minutes. Turn chicken over; top each breast half with 2 tablespoons sauce, 2 tablespoons parmesan, and 3 tablespoons mozzarella. Bake 6 minutes or until chicken is done.

Enjoy with a side of pasta, salad and Italian bread. I wish I had pictures to show you, but you'll have to take my word for it - it's delicious!

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.