Flower Easter Basket Tutorial

I really wanted to make my own easter baskets for the girls.  Since felt is so cheap and easy to work with it became the obvious choice.  

Supplies Needed:

 - 1/4 yd felt (multiple colors if you want to)

- Empty cereal box or similar food box (Mine is a graham cracker box)

- Hot Glue

- 1 Pipe cleaner (6 1/2" long)

- Piece of plastic canvas

- Pattern Pieces (when you look at the doc it shows blank, but when you go to print it's fine)

Cut out 1 circle in felt and one out of your box.  Cut 7 petals.  Cut 2 1" wide strips for your straps in felt and 1 1/2" wide piece of plastic canvas.  I cut out a 2nd 1" piece in pink and glued it around the inside of my basket for extra security.  I don't think it's needed.   Using the petal pattern provided, put straight pins in at the marked points on 4 of the 7 petals.

Glue the circle felt to the piece of cardboard. 

Put a line of glue along the bottom of the first petal with pins in it and attach to the side of the circle.  Put a line of glue along a 2nd petal (one with no pins) and put it on the circle overlapping the first petal by 1/4".

After you have your 2nd petal attached, put a line of glue up the side of the pinned petal stopping where the pin is.  Lift the petals up and push them together where its glued.

Repeat the last 2 steps until you are around the whole way.  You'll have to glue both sides of the last petal.

It should look like this.  You can now remove the pins.

Take the first handle piece and run a strip of glue down it.  Attach the plastic canvas to it.  Then glue the other strip on top of the canvas.  (sorry I don't have pictures of this)  Glue the handle to the inside of the basket.

FOR THE BUTTERFLY:

Cut 2 wings out of felt and fold the pipe cleaner in half.  Twist the pipe cleaner together leaving the top  3/4 inch untwisted.  put a line of glue along the tab part of one wing and overlap the wings at their tabs.  Glue your twisted pipe cleaner on top of the center of the wings.  You can then curve the open ends of the pipe cleaner to make the antennae.   Glue the butterfly onto your basket wherever you want it!

Fill it with any easter goodies you want and enjoy!

I'm participating in a Spring Link party at

Shadow Puppets

These are the shadow puppets I mentioned in a previous post. My step mom suggested that they'd be perfect in a vase.  I don't have a vase, so this spaghetti sauce jar will do.  I plan on decorating it in a future post.

These are the bugs and flower I made for the "Grasshopper lost his hop" play I made up

This is Goldilocks and the 3 bears the modern version.  I didn't have porridge, beds, or chairs, so I went with ice cream and boots instead.

These are the other ones I made to do random stories with.

I really do think the cricut worked really well.  I had a lot of fun finding shapes to do and it was easy to do 20 (the number of dowel rods I had).

Picket Fence Centerpiece

Other than the cookies turning out not so great, I really love how this turned out.  I love all my little flowers and I think it has a great picket fence look.    

So, here's how I did it:

First I painted the top and insides of my crate.

Then I glued popsicle sticks on the sides.  The long sides are a 1 large 7 small pattern and the short sides are a 1 long 11 small pattern.

Then I painted it all white. It took 2-3 coats.

I used paint pens to paint flowers and grass all around

Here's the other side

I used the wilton's cookie pop pan to make the flowers and a not so great sugar cookie recipe.  I only used that recipe because I didn't have the butter most commonly found in sugar cookie recipes.  I plan on trying the recipe that came with the pan in the near future.

Jigsy's Old Forge Pizza

Jigsy's Old Forge Pizza is in Enola, PA.  It is an amazing and unique pizza.  They say the pizza style is from up in Scranton, PA.  I can't vouch for that, but I don't really care either way.  I LOVE this pizza.  It is something I've really missed since moving to Michigan.  My parents came up to visit this past week and were kind enough to bring me some.  Needless to say, it was everything I had hoped it would be.  I can't wait to visit PA and eat some more!

Tutorial: Cutting Craft Foam with the Cricut

I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a Cricut for a few days this past week.  There were two projects put on hold by the unfortunate demise of mine.  The first was shadow puppets for Peanut's puppet theater and the second was foam easter egg magnets for her to decorate.  So, after doing the projects I can now share how I managed to cut craft foam with my cricut using a deep cut housing and blade.

Set the speed to 2

Set the pressure to 4

Set the blade number to 5 (more than 5 cuts into the mat)

After its done cutting you'll need to pull apart the shape from the leftover foam.  With the blade set at 5 it wasn't very hard.  Its not perfectly smooth on the edges, but plenty smooth for my needs.

Sorry I don't have any pictures of the process.  One of these days I'll be able to replace my broken camera.

Pasta Roni with Chicken and Peas

It looks and tastes pretty good considering what it is.  It's a box of angel hair and herb Pasta Roni mixed in with some Blue Ribbon Naked Nuggets and frozen peas.  We got the naked nuggets at Costco and they're tasty.  They're little nugget shaped pieces of breast meat that have been pre-grilled.  All I have to do is saute them in a pan for a few minutes to heat them up.  Anyway, as far as a meal while on my own is concerned, this is pretty fancy.  I'll probably do it again some time.

Pasta Roni with Chicken and Peas

1 box Angel Hair Pasta with Herbs Pasta Roni
10 Blue Ribbon Naked Chicken Nuggets
1 cup frozen peas
2 tbsp margarine
1 1/3 cup water
2/3 cup milk

Heat up margarine in a medium skillet. Saute the chicken nuggets in the butter for 4 minutes on each side, until warmed.  Add in water and milk; bring to a boil.  Stir in pasta, seasoning packet and peas; return to a boil.  Simmer for 5-6 minutes, until pasta is cooked.  Remove from heat and let sit 3-5 minutes so sauce will thicken.

Sneak Peak

This is the start of a project I'm entering into a crafting contest.  The paint is taking a while to dry so this won't be done for another day or two.

In other news, I broke my Cricut. Unfortunately, there won't be any new cricut posts for a while.

Honey Glazed Pork Chops with Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Broccoli

I found this recipe a couple weeks ago in the Sunday paper.  I really like pork tenderloin and I have yet to be disappointed in a recipe I've tried.  I did my standard "that's not enough garlic. I'm going to double it" adjustments.  I also don't have an oven proof pan so I cooked the pork in a skillet and transfered it to an 9x13 pan for cooking.  I over cooked the broccoli and undercooked the potatoes, but it was still amazing.

So, Here's the recipe.

Honey-glazed Pork with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Broccoli
Serves: 4 / prep time: 25 minutes Total time 50 minutes

1/2 cup apple juice
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced, divided
1 1/2 lbs pork tenderloin
1/4 tsp cayenne
4 cups broccoli florets
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1/2 tsp salt, divided
1 1/2 lb yukon gold potatoes
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped broccoli

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine apple juice, honey, soy sauce and half of the garlic in a small bowl.  Sprinkle pork with cayenne.

Place the broccoli on a baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tbsp of the oil, toss to  coat and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp salt.

In a medium ovenproof skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Add the pork and cook, turning once, until browned, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat. Pour juice mixture over pork and transfer to oven along with the baking sheet of broccoli. Bake until pork and broccoli are done, 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into slices and put them in a medium pot. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove the broccoli, but leave on the baking sheet. Remove the pork and transfer to a cutting board. Return the skillet to high heat and cook juice mixture until a thick glaze forms, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat.

Drain the potatoes and return to pot. Add sour cream, parsley, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining garlic. Mash until smooth.

Slice pork on a diagonal and put on plate. Drizzle with glaze and serve with mashed potatoes and broccoli.

Adapted f rom Prevention magazine, March 2011 issue.

A Little Piece of Blue

My first dress is listed on Etsy!

I'm still here!

I haven't forgotten about this.  I haven't even been side tracked by other things.  I've been working diligently.  Unfortuntely, I just don't have anything to show for it yet.  I've been attempting to make a bunny pattern similar to the owl.  After 2 attempts, it's still a failure.  I'll keep trying, but for now I've started making dresses to sell on Etsy.  I almost have the first one done.   So, keep a lookout for it!

- J

Introducing Oliver and Olivia

These little owls are now for sale on Etsy!  Well, the pattern is.  You too can make your very own owl plushie!  Took me a few days longer than I hoped, but I finally got the pattern made, and boy, aren't they adorable?  So, go quick and buy yours today!

Dresses!

I am in love with these dresses!  I used a pattern I found online and I think they turned out beautiful!  Some people prefer the bigger one, others prefer the smaller.  I love them both, but I think the bigger one is just amazing.  I've already emailed the person who's pattern I used and she gave me permission to make and sell them on Etsy!  I cannot wait to get started and I hope that they sell!  Since these are a gift for my friend's children I need to make a pair for my girls.

Some Bunny to Love

This is my submission to the Makia Contest.  It would be very cool if I won.  If not, you'll probably see this little guy on Etsy.

Pizzaiola Style Steak

On Saturday when there was nothing else to watch, we turned on Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals.  She made Pizzaiola-Style Flank Steak Pinwheels.  They looked so good that I wanted to try to make them.  As an FYI, my first rule when making one of her 30 minute meals is, it takes me way longer than 30 minutes to make.  Also, butterflying a steak isn't as easy at it looks.  So, here are my modifications to the recipe:


I used pizza cheese and grated parmesan in place of the shredded provolone and Pecorino.  I also couldn't find canned plum tomatoes and so I used a can of italian seasoned tomatoes.  I had to use curly parsley instead of flat leaf because I couldn't find flat leaf in my grocery store and I didn't think it warranted searching for it.  I didn't do the garnishes because Papa B and Peanut couldn't care less about that stuff and why spend money on things like that?


The Verdict:


This meal was DELICIOUS!  That is a picture of what I had on my plate and it filled me up along with some frozen snap peas I cooked(microwaved).  It was a little spicy, but not too much and full of flavor.  The only issue I had while cooking it was that the meat took an extra 5 minutes.  When I first took it out and cut into it some of the middle was still raw.  I'm all about pink inside, but not raw.  We will definitely be keeping this recipe but saving it for special occasions because of the cost involved.


-J

Secret project

I'm still catching up on Christmas gifts. Fortunately my friend is very forgiving. As soon as I give it to her I'll be sure to post pics. I think it's the prettiest thing I've ever made to date.

Konbit Sante finished product

Here is a completed birthing kit for Konbit Sante. The blankets are 2 sided. The side you see is flannel and the other side is solid cotton. I bought 1 yard of each, squared them, and then just sewn around the edges leaving a hole to flip them. Then after I flipped it right side out I did a top stitch around the edges to close up the hole. Easy Peasy.

Konbit Sante

As mentioned in my previous post, we are working on birthing kits for women in Haiti. These are the stuffed animals I made for the kits. I made my own pattern for the owls using the ones I found here, on Etsy. I then got bored making owls and drew up my own pattern for the bunny.

Peanut's 3rd Birthday Party

Here are the pics from Peanut's birthday party! I love how everything turned out. The cake was amazing and everyone seemed very impressed. The flowers were made using Martha Stewart's tutorial. Each one is actually 2 pom poms that were then attached to a piece of dried bamboo. The tissue paper came from the dollar store and the bamboo from my Stepmom's gardening supplies. My Stepmom and I used plaster paris to put the bambo into the flower pots (Target, 2/$1.00). The cake was home made using a bundt cake pan, 2 boxes of white cake mix, and food coloring. The balloon rainbow was 6 dollars from a party store and the white balloons are filled with regular air. We had rainbow chip keebler cookies and hand dipped chocolate covered pretzels. The pretzel rods were from the dollar store (2 bags at $1 a piece) then, we rolled them in melted white chocolate chips and rolled them in sprinkles. They were delicious.

The favors were plastic totes from Michales ($1 each). In each tote was a twisty straw (bag of 6 at dollar store), a kleidoscope (1.74 on clearance at target), a big old fashioned rainbow lollipop (dollar store), and a little baggie with pony beads and a piece of elastic to make bracelets. I also put their names on the front with paint markers to make them more personal. When the kids first got there they sat at a table and made rainbow bracelets with the beads. The other activity I had planned was a color treasure hunt. The premise was that the cake was white and the kids had to find an object in each color in order to fill the cake with color. I made two part clues to find each object. The first part was to figure out what color they were looking for and the 2nd was to find out what object they were looking for. We had a red flower, an orange pig, a yellow bird, a green present, a blue crown, and a purple birdhouse. Here is a picture of the flowers. I thought I had pics of the others, but I can't find them.

Birthday Banner

This is the banner I made for Peanut's birthday party using the circut. I'm going to use yarn and a hole punch to hang it by punching holes in the sides and stringing the yarn through. I can't wait to see what it looks like hung up.

Birthday Cake Topper

I was very inspired by the little girl cake toppers you find on lots of blogs these days. Specifically this one: http://buggieandjellybean.blogspot.com/2010/04/its-official-i-am-mommy-of-4-year-old.html. So, I decided to try my hand at making my own. The dress is a lot harder to make than what I thought it would be at first glance. I'm still really happy with how she turned out and I can't wait to put her on top of Peanut's cake.

Birthday Party Invites

I can't believe Peanut is turning 3! We will be heading to PA to throw a birthday party so our families can attend. This is the front of the invitation I made using the Cricut.

Baked Potato Soup

I've wanted to try baked potato soup for a long time now. Papa B was not excited but willing to try it. He ended up really liking it. Here's the recipe I used: http://diaryofarecipeaddict.blogspot.com/2011/01/baked-potato-soup.html

Craft Hope

Craft Hope is a great organization. Nothing better than the combination of charity work and crafting! My friend is organizing some people together to make birthing kits for women in Haiti. Here's a link to the project on Craft Hope: http://crafthope.com/2011/01/project-11-konbit-sante/. I'm working on fabric combinations for the baby blankets right now. I can't wait to get started!

Hockey

The in-laws are visiting right now to play in a pond hockey tournament with Papa B. I've been spending all my time getting ready for the visit and I'm sure I'll have a lot to clean up after they leave.

French onion Soup

I love using the crockpot. In my life it always seems that the girls get needy, clingy, or fussy right around 4 pm when I need to start working on dinner. This is one of my favorite crockpot recipes these days. I'm amazed by this woman's creativity in cooking with the crock pot for a whole year! You can find the recipe here: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/03/french-onion-soup-crockpot-recipe.html

Catching up on Christmas

With all the drama surrounding the house buying and moving, I didn't get all the Christmas gifts done. So, as I'm seeing family members again I'm giving them their gifts late. This is for the in-laws. I used the tutorial found here at Explanation Required: http://explanationrequired.blogspot.com/2010/07/messy-masterpiece.html and my Cricut. I love finding new and creative ways of using it.

PIzzas

Not a lot of crafting going on. We went to PA for a week right after Christmas and now I'm trying to get us settled in the new house. In hopes of keeping Peanut busy and enjoying life we made English muffin pizzas for lunch.

Merry Christmas!

Since we moved in to our new house last night, Christmas was small this year. I quick put up the tree after Peanut went to bed and wrapped all the presents. Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Ornament Contest

Papa B's company had an ornament contest for their tree at the office. We didn't have a lot of time to come up with an idea, but I thought doing something with the company logo and Christmast was sure to be a winner. This isn't the only thing we made, but this is the one we submitted for the contest. I had never worked with salt dough before, but I'll be sure to do it again. It was easy to make and easy to work with.

Update on Fishing set

Here is the completed fishing rod. I bought little magnets at the craft store and slipped it into the hook while stuffing it. It works really well catching the fish.

Practical gifts for Peanut

I'm all about practical gifts for people. I know that Peanut will be getting a ton of toys for christmas from other people and so I wanted to make her some things she needed. The pants were made using an old McCall's pattern borrowed from a friend. The Belt was super easy and I'm sorry I don't have a link to the tutorial. If you want one just let me know and I'll look for it.

For baby H

My Neice, H, lives in California. She'll be one just a few days after Christmas. I'm very grateful for that because it means I get to make her a Christmas gift and a birthday gift! It was really hard narrowing down all the choices. This dress and headband make up the Christmas gift. The dress tutorial is by Homespun Threads and can be found here: http://myhomespunthreads.blogspot.com/2010/08/free-reversible-smock-pattern-12-24.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed:+homespunthreads+(HomeSpunThreads). The headband tutorial is by Make it Love It and can be found here: http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2010/08/blog-post.html. I can't believe how well they turned out!

freezer paper stencil pillows

Papa B's extended family does a gift exchange every year. Everyone draws a name and they buy a gift for that person only. I got one of Papa B's aunts. I had a hard time coming up with an idea for her. I finally settled on decorative throw pillows. I figured the safest way to make some that would match her decorating style was to make them seasonal versus everyday.

I used my Cricut, fabric paints, freezer paper, cotton fabric, and throw pillow inserts to make these. The Cricut was able to cut the freezer paper easily and saved me a bunch of agony trying to design and cut out my own images. I made the pillow cases first and then painted them. They're the kind that overlap in the back.