Blogging Blues

Remember when I used to blog?  Yeah, me niether.

My husband just graduated from University which meant we immediately moved back home to Calgary.  Only since he's job hunting we couldn't really commit to paying rent somewhere so we opted for the nicest basement we know, my in-laws.  We kept only the essentials and put everything else in storage.

Of course essentials included my entire craft shelf and my sewing machine, I wanted to be able to keep up this hobby while we're here.  I was sure we'd move in and I'd just pick right back up where I'd left off on my crafts, I hadn't expected to feel in such a creative slump.  I tried to work on a couple projects but just really wasn't feeling it.  Tonight though I had finally pulled myself out of it and was excited to work on a baby gift I started weeks ago.  I pulled my sewing machine out of the trunk of the car (where it's been for the past two weeks) and went to grab the necessary additional parts only to discover that the power cable is missing.  I'm pretty sure it's somewhere in our tightly packed storage unit in some random box.  If I knew what it had been packed with I'd go find it but I don't have a clue where to start.


My Mother-in-law has a sewing machine that's far nicer than mine and she's very willing to let me use it but it's not the same.  I'll use it eventually and be happy for it but for tonight the missing cord took away all of my incentive and now I'm feeling crummy.


I'm sure there will be no new posts for a while, I hope your crafts are all doing better than mine.




p.s. Is anyone else starting to hate the Silhouette after all the ridiculous amount of rhinestone projects they've seen in the last week?

What Catie Wore Wednesday #32

This week could be a record for the least amount of pictures I've shared, just a measly two.  I think I have a pretty reasonable excuse though, we spent all weekend moving into my in-laws basement while we wait for Brad to get a job.  I'm sure I'll get back into the swing of things but for now I feel very thrown off my usual routine and the blog is sure suffering.  Give me some time, I'll get better and in the mean time enjoy these two photos (I have no idea what days they're from.)  

Long Sleeve White Onesie - Carters
Han-kerchief Hem Dress - JC Penny (At least I thought it was a dress.  It's a 2T yet still pretty tight on her and not long enough to wear without pants.  I loved it on the hanger but I'm pretty disappointed by the size.)
Black Pants/Tights/Leggings/Hot pants?  What the heck do you call what she's wearing? - Children's Place

White Onesie - Carters
Angled, Striped Tank - Walmart
Skinny Jeans - Children's Place


The chances of me linking up to the Pleated Poppy this week are real slim.

Paper Quiet Book

I loved this Paper Quiet Book idea from Sew.Craft.Create and Brynn needed a birthday present, it was the perfect fit.

I used Heidi's tutorial so my book looks just like hers except for the different paper.  I did leave out a couple pages and I'm glad I did because this book was really fat in the end, it definitely needed a ribbon to keep it closed.  

Here are my pages.

Linking To Monday - C.R.A.F.T., Making The World Cuter, Polly Want a Crafter, Simpsonized Crafts, Sugar Bee Crafts, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, The Girl Creative   Tuesday - All Things Related, Creative Itch, Domestically Speaking, Ladybug Blessings, Sassy Sites, Today's Creative Blog, This & That, Topsy Turvy    Wednesday - Blue Cricket Design, Me and My Bucket   Thursday - A Glimpse Inside,  House of Hepworth, It's Sew Stinkin Cute, Somewhat Simple, The Train to Crazy, What Allie's Making Now   Friday - Creation Corner, Finding Fabulous, Tatertots & Jello

First Haircut

Things have been quiet on the crafty front lately because we're getting close to the move this weekend.  I've hardly done any projects so don't expect anything great to read for the next little bit.


One fun thing I documented was Catie's very first haircut.


She's 19 months old now and doesn't have a ton of hair but it was becoming a little bit like a mullet in the back.  I trimmed only the very back but I cut off about an inch.


Here's the before (super frizzy from her nap)

and the after

Much better hey?

What Catie Wore Wednesday #31

It's still Wednesday, I made it.  Here is my last minute What Catie Wore Wednesday.


Wednesday

White T - H&M
Pink Hoody - Superstore
Skinny Jeans - Children's Place


Thursday

Brown T - Annabanana
Pink Tank - Annabanana
Jeans  - Old Navy



Saturday

We like to call this her secret agent outfit.
Black Sweater - Children's Place (those are bows down the arms)
Jeans - Old Navy
Yellow Boots - Walmart


Sunday

Sweater - Mexx
Navy Corduroys Skirt - Gap
Tights - Sears
Red Sparkly Shoes - Target



Monday

White T - Gap
Plaid Capris - JC Penny
Pink Tennis Shoes - Gap
Purple Necklace - The Dollar Store


A closer look at those awesome shoes

And one more photo with the sweater I paired it with

Tuesday

White Short Sleeve Onesie - Carters
Yellow Tank & Pants - Walmart


Since I'm posting this so late I'm not going to link to the Pleated Poppy this week.

Cream Cheese Ice Cream

3 food posts in a row, sorry if I'm overdoing it but this is what I've been up to lately.


I read a blog called The Gourmet Project where Teena is cooking her way through The Gourmet Cookbook.  I love the blog and since she's getting close to the end of the book most of the food is strange.  It's fun to see what she cooks but my favourite part is when she finishes a chapter she'll list her favourite recipes. 


Recently she finished the Frozen Desserts and Sweet Sauces and she listed Cream Cheese Ice Cream as a favourite,  I thought it sounded like a brilliant idea.  She didn't give a recipe so I Googled and used this one.

Cream Cheese Ice Cream

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup heavy cream

Blend cream cheese, milk, lemon juice, sugar, and salt in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, then stir in cream. Freeze cream cheese mixture in ice cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, at least 2 hours. Let ice cream soften 5 minutes before serving.


It turned out delicious and I'm sorry I haven't tasted it earlier.

We ate it with angel food cake and a little chocolate sauce though I felt like the ice cream out shined everything else.  It's lovely and tangy and not overly sweet, try it and I bet you'll like it too.

Angel Food Cake Conquered

I like to think that I'm an above average cook.  I like to eat good food so I like to cook good food, there are very few recipes that intimidate me and I'm not afraid of complicated ones.  There are however two foods that history has proven I can not cook, angel food cake and shortbread.  We'll talk about the cake today and the shortbead some other day.A few years ago I decided I wanted to make an angel food cake since I hadn't ever done it before.  I found a Brown Sugar Angel Food Cake recipe from Martha Stewart that looked delicious so I made it.  The process seemed just fine and I looked forward to the finished product only when I pulled it out of the oven it was super thin and dense.  I'm not used to cooking failures so it wasn't too long before I tried again with the very same result, a very thin, flat, dense cake.  Not what I was hoping for.  I can't remember if I tried a third time or not but I never succeeded so I got rid of my pan and resolved to buy them pre-made in the future.  That was at least 4 years ago and I've never made one since.Flash forward to last week when I made Creme Brulee with a friend, we made two batches so we ended up with 12 egg yolks (they were delicious by the way), that just happens to be the perfect amount for angel food cake so I figured I'd give it a go.I borrowed a pan from my Mom and used a regular recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook and I won!  This cake was delicious.  It was slightly dense and I would have preferred a tad less almond extract but otherwise it was a success.

Despite my success I'll be returning the pan and I won't be making another any time soon, I'm still just as happy with store bought cakes but it's nice to know I overcame my failure.  

One day I'll work on the shortbread.

Balsamic Brussel Sprouts

Not too long ago Brad went to donate blood and they wouldn't let him because his iron was too low.  He's donated lots of times and never had a problem so before we resorted to a pill we decided to add some iron to our diet.  He eats a lot of Shreddies and our green vegetables and red meat have really increased.  I saw this recipe a while ago and now that we needed some iron this was the perfect time to make them.

Now let's be reasonable, if you don't like brussel sprouts then this recipe is not going to change your mind but if you love them like I do then be prepared for a new favourite preparation.


I won't give you the full recipe because you should go to Our Best Bites to find it but it's super easy and involves 5 ingredients: olive oil, garlic, pepper and balsamic vinegar (and brussel sprouts of course).  You should make them this week and add a little iron to your diet in the process.

(photo from Our Best Bites)

Jenn's Car Seat

Did you see yesterday's post about the stroller?  And you came back to see part two?  In case you missed part one I needed a stroller and car seat for my sister.  I knew I'd re-cover it so I bought a used one and ended up getting the set for $15 since her cat had kittens in the stroller.  I cleaned up the stroller, re-covered it and it looks amazing.


Once the stroller was done I moved on to the car seat.  It was definitely more complicated and included some small pieces and then I ran out of fabric.  I bought more fabric, finished the job and came up with something I'm really happy with.

Remember how it started?  Faded, plaid, gender neutral and what's with the dorky animals?

I took the seat apart and used the pieces for a pattern.  It was my first time re-covering a bucket car seat like this and I think my next one will be even better but this one is super cute.  Here's a side shot so you can really see the sunshade.

And here is the set, a before and some after's.

 I love that this little lady has a custom stroller and I can't wait to meet her.
 
Allright, I've had a couple comments concerning the safety of my car seat and so I thought I'd address that a little.  My car seat cover is exactly the same as the original, I used the same batting, the backing fabric and all the same supports.  The fabric thickness is the same so I didn't add any bulk or anything that would shift around the baby.  It will perform just like the original seat.  I understand that some people won't agree but I'm am completely confident in the safety of this seat.




Linking To Monday - C.R.A.F.T., Making The World Cuter, Polly Want a Crafter, Simpsonized Crafts, Sugar Bee Crafts, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, The Girl Creative   Tuesday - All Things Related, Creative Itch, Domestically Speaking, Ladybug Blessings, Sassy Sites, Today's Creative Blog, This & That, Topsy Turvy    Wednesday - Blue Cricket Design, Me and My Bucket   Thursday - A Glimpse Inside,  House of Hepworth, It's Sew Stinkin Cute, Somewhat Simple, The Train to Crazy, What Allie's Making Now   Friday - Creation Corner, Finding Fabulous, Tatertots & Jello

Jenn's Stroller

Remember the stroller/car seat combo I bought for my sister back in July?  The one for $15 that the cat had kittens in (still so gross), the stroller just waiting to be re-covered?  Well the worst happened and my sister miscarried.  We were all so sad about it that the stroller went into my parents basement out of site.  I'm happy to report that not only is my sister expecting again but she's having a girl, her first after 3 boys.  To say we're excited is an understatement and Mom and I went and found some adorable pink fabric, no gender neutral here. 


Today we're going to look at the stroller and tomorrow you can see the car seat.

Here's the finished stroller and a reminder of what I started with.

I can't really tell you how gross this stroller was with a very pink kitty birth stain over most of the cushion.  I threw it in the wash and then Proxi'ed it multiple times and was really surprised just how clean it came.  I didn't think I'd be able to use any of the batting but it all came clean enough to use except a little bit of binding that I could easily replace with bias tape.  

Once the cushion was clean I started in on the sunshade.  I had decided to keep all of the browny-beige fabric but it all felt so dirty I wanted to wash every scrap of fabric, it's a good thing I had decided that because it turns out the fabric was all one big piece so it all had to come off anyway.  Once I took off a very large pile of screws I was left with this.

I washed everything, replaced the ugly, faded plaid with the new flowers and then re-attached it all.  The cushion took a lot more time with a ton of unpicking but as usual the end result was worth the trouble (sorry there's no photo of the cushion on it's own).


This project came together surprisingly easy with very few problems, just the way I like them to go.


Here are a bunch more photos just because it's so beautiful.

So come back tomorrow, see the other half.



Linking To Monday - C.R.A.F.T., Making The World Cuter, Polly Want a Crafter, Simpsonized Crafts, Sugar Bee Crafts, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, The Girl Creative   Tuesday - All Things Related, Creative Itch, Domestically Speaking, Ladybug Blessings, Sassy Sites, Today's Creative Blog, This & That, Topsy Turvy    Wednesday - Blue Cricket Design, Me and My Bucket   Thursday - A Glimpse Inside,  House of Hepworth, It's Sew Stinkin Cute, Somewhat Simple, The Train to Crazy, What Allie's Making Now   Friday - Creation Corner, Finding Fabulous, Tatertots & Jello