STASH

I saw a recipe for a dump truck cake back in December. It made me laugh and I wished my son was into dump trucks so I could have an excuse to make it for him. But, he's been wanting a Thomas the Train cake from HEB for EVER. I hate spending that much money on something that is so not good for us. Thank goodness he met a friend at a park with a dump truck and he fell in love with the toy. Finally my excuse to use my stashed recipe. This was delicious and so so so so easy.


Recipe:
1 box of cake mix (make it into a 9x13 cake according to directions)
1 1/2 cup of whipped cream (measure before whipping)
1 box of chocolate pudding mix (the bigger one)
1 package of oreos.

Make and cool the cake, pudding, and whipped cream separately. When it's almost time to eat, cut the pieces of cake into 2 inch squares. Fold the pudding and whipped cream together. Crush about 10 oreos. Layer as you would a trifle. Make sure each layer is a few inches back from the lower one, so it looks like layers of dirt. If you want your pudding to be darker, just don't add as much whipped cream. I liked the light frosting quality of the creamy one but it's not as much like DIRT if you do it like that. We all loved it!

My last Stash Challenge project

I have really enjoyed this challenge. It made me not only finish things I started, but to look around my home and see what I can use from what I already have. I hope that this new outlook will stay and I will continue working on things I have - actually, I am hoping I will not have so many unfinished projects around from now on-  instead of dashing to the craft store for supplies. So technically, this is not my last Stash project, just the last one that is posted under the challenge.

 I finished the pair of socks I started so long ago and were on my list of things to do for this year. I know, here in the South spring has arrived and I will not be able to wear my wool socks until next winter. It is a good feeling to be finished with them though. Plus, should another freak freezing weather should come, I will be set! Now, I am ready to turn my attention to the next challenge "That's Not Trash".

 By the way, I used Lorna's Laces Roadside Gerry.

Contact Paper On Canvas Wall Art- STASH CHALLENGE

I have been hoarding 2 canvas boards for a few years now. My oldest got them as gift from a friend, but he is into drawing, not painting.  They started to get pretty dirty, so I had to do something with them. I am no artist, so painting a landscape or still life was out of the question. First I had to do something about the dirty smudges on them. I painted them white with acrylic paint, but the dirt still showed. Even after several coats of paint. Still not sure what direction I wanted to go, just aiming for getting rid of the spots, I painted one canvas red. That got rid of the dirt, so I was going to paint the other canvas red too, when my husband suggested a different color, like green. That's all I needed. An idea started to take shape, I wanted something Hungarian (again), we could put in our room. Folk art, but with a modern feel. At first I was going to use contact paper as a stencil and designed a motif with a lot of flowers. I spent 2 days cutting out the stencil and it was useless. As soon as I removed the backing, the little intricate lines got torn off or stuck together, even before I could put it on the canvas and paint inside the lines. OK, stencil idea had to go. Unless the design was simpler, and large. Then I thought, why am I going to fuss with making a stencil, and paint? Why not just use the contact paper itself as the design?  I was tempted for a moment to go back to the original, detailed motif, but my finger was still sore from working on the first, so large flower it is. I chose white contact paper to make the motif out of. You can find it at Walmart.

 I made the design, scanned it on the computer, and printed it off on the contact paper itself. (On the paper side.) To help my printer with the slippery contact paper side, I taped a sheet of paper there, and it went through really easy.
 The blue paper is covering up the vinyl side.

 The design printed beautifully on the paper side.

 After I cut out the design and  removed the paper backing, I just stuck it on the canvas. Nice and crisp lines.

Next I had to figure out what to do with the green canvas. I remembered an old Eastern European house blessing. It used to grace homes in forms of tapestry or it was painted right on the wall. I remember seeing it in a lot of homes in Hungary, usually a framed cross stitch or embroidery. I typed it up, made sure I checked 'mirror image' before I printed...

 and I started cutting. With scissors. (Take that Silhouette machine!) The letters were large enough that it was not a problem, Just took a while.

 I only measured out how far the lines needed to be from each other, and just the ruler to help with placing the letters.

 It went fairly fast.

Here is what it says:

Where faith is,

Love is,

Where love is,

Peace is,

Where peace is,

Blessing is,

Where blessing is,

God is,

Where God is,

There is no Need.

I uploaded the flower to Google Documents. You are welcome to download it.

Folk Art 1

Folk Art 2


A cheap alternative to an expensive machine. You can use contact paper on many different surfaces! Wood (your cupboards) or even the wall! Have fun with it and tell us what you did in the comments so we can visit your blog too!
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Butterfly Cupcakes

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>here<

How to make a Pillowcase Nightgown

Hi, my name is Emily, aka Idealeon, on Show Tell Share blog. I regularly post my projects on the blog along with a few other friends. I have a side business on Etsy selling mainly Nursing Shawls, and also Boo-Boo Bug Patterns. I enjoy making simple patterns and clothes for my 3 kids.

What is the traditional present that everyone opens on Christmas Eve? Pajamas. Here is a tutorial on how to make a pillowcase nightgown from fabric, not a pillowcase, for your kids, grand kids, niece, or anyone! Use holiday fabric or just her favorite licensed design.

Materials needed for size 10-12 girls:

• 1 yard 45"(or wider) or 1 1/2 yard 44" fabric for body
• 8" of 45" or wider fabric for top edge
• thread
• 1 yard 1/2" wide elastic OR 1 1/2 yards ribbon.

This shape is so simple, adjusting to make larger or smaller sizes is very simple. Add/subtract 1/2" or so for each size larger or smaller, taking into account height.

Finished garment

measurements are:

34"long

22"across

8"armhole length

Fits a size 10/12 girl.

1)I found a piece of fabric that looked like it would fit my daughter well- make sure there is space for the body AND the arms to go through.

2)I cut a rectangle out of the folded fabric.

22 1/8"x33 5/8" you can round up or down.

(44 1/4"x 33 5/8" unfolded fabric measurement)

3)I found another fabric to add to the top as the casing for the elastic. You can use ribbon or cord, too. I put it next to the length of the first peice to match the length and folded edge next to folded edge and then cut it to allow for the width of the elastic with 'gathering space' x2 and then add 1/2" seam allowance.

(I only use 1/4" seam allowances- if you are not experienced in sewing I recommend you use the standard 5/8" s.a. Added up it would be 1 1/4" s.a. onto the width of the casing, not 1/2".)

My elastic is 1/2" wide. My casing is 2 1/4". I allowed a lot of gathering space.

4)Sew 'right sides together'.

5)Iron upwards toward casing.

6)Turn under raw edge of casing 1/4"if this is the size of s.a., or 5/8" if that is the s.a. you are working with. Stitch.

7)Mark your armhole length down the sides. Fold your s.a. around armhole and iron. Stitch. Stitch side seam.

*On the folded side of gown, mark the line to cut down the side from the top. Fold over about 1/4" around armhole and use a wide sitch (zig-zag) to 'enclose' the raw edge.

I forgot to do this step BEFORE sewing the casing down. Boy, that was annoying!

8)Fold the casing in half and pin.

9)Stitch next to edge. (HINT: I use a wide decorative stretch stitch because it hides imperfections in stitching straight.)

10)Finish the bottom by folding it 1/4" and folding it one more 1/4" so it is rolled inside its self. Pin if necessary or just stitch as you roll.

11)Use a safety pin to move the elastic or ribbon through the front and back casing. You may want to put 2 ribbons through so you can tie them at the shoulders to look cute, but my experience is that they quickly come untied.

12)Keep the elastic 'too long' until you fit it. Add length to overlap elastic and cut. Add cute decorations, flower shapes, pockets, anything you want- just make sure it's still comfortable to sleep in!

Here is another great tutorial on how to make an 'Elf Cape'. It uses simple shapes. It fits 4t to size 10 girls. Imagine using green knit and faux fur edging around the hood... Perfect for your little elf!

STASH CHALLENGE: Graham Crackers

A few months ago, I found a new food blog to love: Two Peas and Their Pod. A lot of their recipes appeal to me. Their Homemade Graham Cracker recipe is one of the recipes I printed and STASHED during the busy Christmas season. So, for the STASH challenge, I figured I'd get the recipe out and make a batch. I've never made or eaten homemade graham crackers before, but my whole family LOVES graham crackers, so I had to give them a try. Plus, I had all the ingredients on hand. Go here to see the original post and the recipe. Here are some pictures I took of the process. This is what the dough looked like in my Bosch when it was finished:


The recipe says to refrigerate the dough for one hour. I put it in the fridge overnight. It was very firm and hard to work with until it warmed up and softened. Next time, I will only refrigerate it for one hour.

We made heart shaped-crackers in keeping with the love theme for February. Some, we sprinkled with cinnamon sugar; others, we left plain. We liked them both ways. Next time, we'll have to make some S'mores out of them like they did at Two Peas and Their Pod.

Here is the finished product.

My children raved about the crackers, and I will definitely make them again. I especially appreciate the absence of preservatives and high fructose corn syrup in the homemade version!

STASH CHALLENGE: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

This is another recipe I printed from Two Peas and Their Pod and STASHED for a few months until I had time to make it. I did not deviate from the recipe. They were very simple to make.
These are delicious, too! A great, healthy snack. We ate them up! Click here for the recipe.

MARCH 2011 CHALLENGE - That's NOT Trash

This pair is looking for a good home.

They were long-lost identical twins, separated at birth, who have just found each other here in my home after years of searching and they have decided to move somewhere creative, cosy and loving to spend the rest of their days together. (Actually, they are outgrown baby tights, but I haven't the heart to tell them.)

If you are interested in taking on this responsibility, you'll have to participate in the March 2011 Challenge:

That's NOT Trash!
- our opportunity to create new life from the stuff that we generally consider trash
(i.e. food & juice containers/netting/bags, used packaging material/bubble wrap, mail-order catalogs, styrofoam, socks with too many holes in them, TP/paper towel/wrapping paper rolls, aluminum/tin cans, old magazines/newspapers/telephone books, corks, lids, etc.).

The trash item(s) is/are to be the lone material(s) of your craft. You may use other things like agents for combining pieces of trash (glue, scissors, needle and thread, nails), or basic decorating (paint, markers), but that's it.

This challenge is NOT about repurposing existing things, altering clothing, remaking some actual object into another one, etc. We shall be purists here (as much as possible) and let's just deal with the trash!

Note: there are fantastic ideas on blogs like Michelle Made Me, but also an astounding number of videos of ultracool projects on YouTube, etc. (enter the name of your trash, as in 'bottle caps' to see what turns up!) Look around and let's play with this one, but let's also come up with some brilliant ideas of our own :) If you get inspired by an idea somewhere else, please mention where in your post. Please show a photo of your trash items before they get converted!

The prize: those happy little stripy guys above.

The judging: hmmmm, perhaps by the number of comments or maybe my totally subjective choice of what I find coolest... so, TBD.

The challenge starts now and goes until March 26th. I'll make my choice on the 27th. Good luck, have fun and let that creativity flow!

Warm & Fuzzy Valentines

I know it's past Valentine's Day, but since it's still February, I thought I'd post this Valentine idea.

It's tradition to make homemade Valentines at our house. It's most fun when we get to use candy, but no candy is allowed at the school Valentine parties, so we have to get extra creative. A candy example would be to attach a Valentine note to a fun-size Milky Way that says something like, "I hope your Valentine's Day is 'Out of this World!'"

Here are the results of this year's Valentine creativity:

I helped my daughter make "Warm Fuzzies" to hand out to her classmates and friends. We bought large pom poms, cute googly eyes, and Valentine-colored foam sheets. We cut hearts out of the foam sheets for the Warm Fuzzies' feet, glued the pom pom to the feet, then glued the eyes on.

We attached the Valentine message to the bottom as shown above. The message is shown below ("Have a WARM and FUZZY Valentine's Day!"):

CRAFT SWAP SITE & NEWS

I found this site through another blogger. The idea really is genius. You make something, you post it, you get credit (no money involved), more credit if someone requests your item, you send it and then you use your credit (whoops) to "buy" something.

                                                                       Whoopdwhoop

Check it out, it looks really fun! By the way, we are going to be hosting our first Giveaway  for our readers soon, so check back here next week!

Warm and Cold Colors Necklace and Bracelet Set

I was hooked from the first moment I saw the few Red Magma Swarovski crystals I ordered.  After I used up my meager stash, I wanted more. I have been thinking about what other colors I could pair it with. Most of the time, when it comes to jewelry, my color choice is 'safe'. I usually do not take risks, and try to stay away from anything that would really stand out or attract attention. I play it 'safe' by using earthy tones or using colors that are similar to each other. I pair browns, reds, tans & copper for example. Lately though, I am more and more willing to get out my comfort zone. I have had this set exists in my imagination for a while now. I even had all the beads I needed.  But something had to 'click' for me sit down and bring it to life. Not sure what it was. I just felt ready, almost antsy for the last few days. I kept looking at the cabinet I keep my beading supplies in. I have not had a chance to sit down and take my beads out. But finally, I could not stand it any longer. I had to do it, and I would not wait until the kids were in bed. Thanks to my almost 2 year old son's 'help' it took me longer and I still have stray beads I need to find. But it is done. It feels really good. And I love the colors. They work together really well.

Here is a list of what I used:

Red Magma Swarovski crystals
Crystal Silver Shade Swarovski beads
Crystal Silver Night Swarovski beads
Light Grey Swarovski pearls
Midnight Swarovski pearls
Gunmetal plated chain, spacers, beads, bead caps, clasps



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Hand Painted Yarn

My Mom is a knitter and she loves colorful yarn. In Hungary, the yarn selection does not even come close to what is available here in the States. I took her to our LYS (local yarn store) not to Joann's or Hobby Lobby. She had such a great time looking at all the beautiful yarns, I knew she would have fun coloring her own yarn. But not just one color, I showed her how to paint yarn with many colors. You can make your own hadpainted yarn for under $10/skein, versus buying one for $20 or more! It is really very simple and fun to do.  I have done this several times with my boys and we have used plants, Kool-Aid and food color. This time though, I splurged and got some Jacquard acid dyes. These steps will show you the basic process to paint wool yarn.

 Top left: The wool yarn soaking in a solution of 1 part white vinegar and 3 parts water. I filled the bucket with the liquid first, then added the yarn. I let the yarn soak for about 2 hours. Actually, 30 minutes would have been plenty, but my kids took longer to get into bed as I hoped. Squeezed water out of the yarn, enough for the yarn to be still damp. (When you discard the water/vinegar solution, add about 1-3 Tbsp baking soda per cup of vinegar to neturalize it. Your pipes will thank you.)

Top right: Covered the table with plastic, and tore off large pieces of Saran Wrap. My mom laid the skeins of yarn on top of the Saran Wrap. One for each skein. (I got the yarn all tied together like this from Knitpicks, but you can find pure wool at Michaels and Joann's too. ) Tip: you do not need white wool. You can overdye any pale colors, like grey or pink or baby blue! If you use grey, the colors come out more muted, not as bright. I have not tried using light pink or blue yet.

Bottom left: Started mixing the dye. I used about 2-4 tsp dye for 2 cups of water. Sometimes even more, depending on how intense I wanted the color. I kept testing it on paper towel. I even mixed some of my own colors, since I only got the primary colors, plus black and gunmetal.

Bottom right: Just used large foam brushes to apply the dye solution. Literally, it was painted on the yarn. Make sure you flip the yarn over and go over the other side too, otherwise you will be left with a lot of white areas.

Then the yarn was rolled up in the Saran Wrap, placed in a colander over a large pot of water. I covered it, heated the water to boil and let it steam for about 20-30 minutes. I used tongues to remove the very hot bundles, and put them aside to cool.

 Once the yarn cooled down, I removed the plastic wrap and rinsed out the yarn in a bowl full of water, (not under running water, you may end up felting your yarn!) squeezed as much water as I could and hung them up to dry.

 A few hours later we could admire our very own, colorful handpainted yarn.

You can follow the same steps and instead of using commercial acid dye, mix together some food color or Kool-Aid (makes yummi smelling yarn) in the desired colors (I would add a bit of vinegar to the dye solution too, just about 2-4 tsp/cup) . As long as you are using wool yarn, you can even use an  Easter Egg coloring kit to dye yarn with! It is really that easy. As long as you soak the wool in the vinegar/water mixture and then set the colors by steaming the yarn, you will not be disappointed. My favorite was using  Neon Food Colors.  You can see here how it turned out, although I dyed wool that was spun into yarn later.  I used the guide on the back to mix colors. For 1 skein of yarn, I would use 1/3-1/2 c water and add food color to desired color depth, plus a splash of vinegar in each color I planned to paint with. Remember though, where the colors meet, you will create a new color. Which can make for some beautiful effects!

Here are some links to yarn dyeing. Come back and let us know if you have dyed  yarn, so we can check it out!

http://www.knitpicks.com/tutorials/Dyeing__L100503.html

http://www.gfwsheep.com/rov.inst/rov.inst.html

http://kathrynivy.com/patterns/extras/dyeing-yarn/  check out the gorgeous colors from an Easter Egg Dye Kit!

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall02/FEATdyedwool.html

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer03/FEATaciddye.html

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring06/FEATKSdishwasherdyeing.html




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Handmade Paper

This is what I did last Friday with my Activity day girls at church. It's so simple and fun to do. For video step by step instructions go to http://www.maryjanesfarm.tv/ and click on the DIY magazine projects, then scroll down to Issue #21 and click on Jaime makes paper.

After the paper was dry the girls made the wall adornment that lists 5 things they can do to help out at home. We discussed the importance of work and the satisfaction that comes from it. We also included the scripture Ephesians 6:1-2 on the paper to remind the children of the Lord's commandment to obey, honor, and respect their parents. I emphasized the importance of happily helping and quickly obeying. This activity was a ton of fun for us all!

Ring Bearer Pillow

My dad is getting married this weekend and Jason and I took on the responsibility of making the ring bearer pillow. Our son Josef will be the ring bearer and our daughter Clara the flower girl. They requested Clara to wear a black and red dress to match the groom and we felt this pillow, although very sexy, would be a good match to Clara's dress. We are glad that my dad and his fiance are not very particular, the only request was that nothing was white.
Once upon a time this was a night robe minus the lace and bows. I actually can't take any credit for this project. Jason had the vision and I think he did a beautiful job. So first he cut a large heart template out, then cut the material, and sewed it like you would a pillow, leaving a gap for stuffing. He stuffed it with cotton filling from an old pillow we were about to toss to the trash. Then he hot glued the gap to close it completely. At that point we both agreed that the edges of the pillow were too uneven and lumpy so Jason picked up the black lace and mini bows from the craft store on his break between shifts at work. This was hot glued on too. He also hand stitched on the black ribbons which were also from the robe. There is also an elastic band that was hand stitched on the back for Josef to slip his hand in for a better grip. I'm so impressed with my husband!!!

January Garden

Here is the garden I started in January, these are the pictures I took when I first planted the seeds. The rows in the top picture are planted with herbs and peas and the rows in the bottom picture are planted with a variety of greens. I was just too anxious to wait till the last frost hit and because I planted early my husband and I had to cover the rows with leaves and tarps two separate times. I will keep the pictures coming as my garden flourishes. If any of you ladies live locally and are ready to start your garden I would be so happy to help you till the soil and plant your seeds. I have a small gas tiller that makes the work much easier. Remember the prophet said to plant a garden.

Stray Sock Doll Tutorial

First off, I'll say that this is not my invention and I recommend you buy the book 'Stray Sock Sewing' not just because it then gives credit where it is due, but also because his creatures are super cute AND he does a lot more than just the one-sock version that I make. I am not going to go into great detail on the style from the book, but will show a quickie run-down before showing a variation that I came up with the other day in more detail.
Above are some before&after socks, one with 'cat ears', one with bunny ears, and my variation.

Okay, so here goes!

Materials: a sock, stuffing, thread, needle, scissors, embroidery floss, beads and/or buttons.

1. Take your sock and trim off a little bit of the toe - this is where the stuffing will go in.

2. Turn the sock inside out and at the ankle end of your sock, cut a line down the middle for two longer bunny-type ears. The heel is where the face will be. Sew around to make your ears (sew VERY well because these socks really stretch and you can really stuff them with lots, so have a good seam here), turn right side out, stuff the ears with equal amounts of stuffing then stuff the body with a huge ball of stuffing. (Into a baby sock, I put in a non-smoshed ball of stuffing about the size of a cantalope, or more!)

3. The next fun part is deciding on and sewing the face.

4. Finally, sew the bottom closed with a running stitch that you then gather tightly and then stitch closed. (see the pink ones!)



















On this cute yellow guy, I basically did everything the same, but instead I did not turn the sock inside out to sew the ears. About halfway from the ankle to the top of the heel, I did a running stitch around the sock, gathered and tightened this to close off the top. Then I cut some slits to give it 'hair' instead of ears. After that, it was the same procedure.














































On the little pink one with the 'pigtails' I decided to try an even lazier version and didn't cut away the toe, but just stuffed that baby right off, cut a slit where I wanted the two separate pigtails to be, then did a little sewing (running stitch around each pigtail and then closing stitches in the middle) to keep them in place. I don't think this version stands as well, but I do like the pigtails!
Have fun! - Janice















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