Dreaming the dream....

I've been cleaning my house slowly and surely by the Flylady method for a couple of months now. Mostly my problem is clutter. I have a very small living space, three people living in it and all of us have a LOT of stuff. So it's really been a process of trying to de-clutter. So I make frequent trips to the goodwill and salvation army with stuff that we no longer need/want/know about. And slowly it's coming together. I didn't realize just how small my place was until last week. My Mom just moved and her place isn't large by any means, but it is almost TWICE the size of my place. I literally have about 600 square feet. And I'll admit, I'm a wee bit envious. She has smaller bedrooms, but really, she has LOTS of closet space. (I have 3 tiny closets. 1 is half taken up with the hot water heater, and another is filled with the CHA unit.) She has two full bathrooms, a place for her washer and dryer and a bar that separates her kitchen from her living room. Oh to have a bar. I would so own some of these

or these

for the traditional look. Or really any of the adjustable bar stools from CSN for the non-traditional/modern look.

Oh the dreams a gal can dream. :)

Traditional...

or modern?

I will just have to get my Mom a couple for her birthday maybe. :) So I can live vicariously through her. :P

Superbowl goodies.

So I made a few new things for the Superbowl. One of which was these poptarts. They were good, only to me the crust was a little dry. So changes for next time will be to use a phyllo dough instead of pie crust. oh yummy! :D Another thing that I did was make these s'mores muffins for my brother. They were very good. :) I wouldn't change anything about the recipe. The only thing I'd do is use less filling than it called for because my muffins were going EVERYWHERE.

Here's the recipes here for you.

Poptarts

Pie crust rolled out thinner than you would for a pie. Maybe 1/8th inch thick. Cut into rectangles. 3" x 4" inches.

*I used strawberry jam for some and pumpkin butter for others*

1tsp to 1 1/2 tsp filler

Place a second rectangle of crust on top of that and press into bottom. Bake for around 15 minutes on 425 degrees.

Glaze if you want or sugar up if you want.


S'mores Muffins

• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons 2% milk
• 1/3 cup milk chocolate chips
• 6 tablespoons marshmallow creme

Directions

• In a small bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Stir in sour cream. Combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and baking soda; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips.
• Coat six muffin cups with cooking spray; fill one-fourth full with batter. Spoon 1 tablespoon marshmallow creme into each muffin cup. Top with remaining batter.
• Bake at 400° for 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted neat the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm. Yield: 6 muffins.

Lil man is growing up...

On Monday morning, Lil' Mr. V woke up and asked to go to the potty. Mind you, he turned 2 two days before Christmas. We've not pushed the potty issue, because honestly, when he's ready, he'll be ready. Well, he's been asking to go ever since then. Nothing consistent, but regardless, he's doing it. :) I'm proud of him. He's growing up so quickly. Today, he requested to sit in his high chair to watch a movie in the living room. (VERY strange for him because he'll run back and forth from his room to the living room until he's wheezing) So I took this opportunity to really clean his room. I took down the pool we used for his ball pit. Now it's in storage waiting for summer. I went through all his books and toys, I discarded the broken ones, donated the old/no longer played with ones. I re-arranged his toys in their bins and cleaned out from under his bed. (OMG! Can I say land of lost toys?) It was also the day that I vacuum his room (can't vacuum with him in there because of his allergy to dust mites.) and washed his sheets. He didn't take well to putting his stuffed animals in the freezer. (kills dust mites) But this has been the pattern. He'll utterly destroy his room. I will go in there and clean it. And he'll destroy it, and it's a vicious cycle. He's showing, though, that he's growing up. So tonight before we brushed our teeth and washed our hands for bed, I sat in his floor with him and with my help, HE cleaned up his mess. :) And he did an amazing job too. :)

Man, my flash is really bright! Anyways, this is his clean-up job. :) I think he did wonderfully well! :) Can you tell he's a "Cars" fan?

Here's his book shelf. This is something I'm most proud of, because he's REALLY good at throwing them everywhere or chewing on them. He's starting to sit still for me to read to him. :) I'm so happy about that. Because I do love to read to him.

And here's a picture of the handsome little devil now. He slept through all the photo taking. :) See all his stuffed animals. He has twice that amount in the blue bin in the first picture. Every other day or so, he wants to get in there and exchange out one or two of them. There is just one consistent and that's the black bunny that is next to his face.

Well, that is all for the night. :) I just had to share that I'm a proud Momma this week. :)

Pay It Forward 2011 Blog-style!

I promise to send something handmade to the first 3 people who leave a comment here. To be eligible, you must also post this in your blog, offering the same thing to 3 other people. The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it must be sent to your 3 people in 2011.  If you're game, leave a comment and sometime this year, I will surprise you with something handmade.

I know I'm doing something similar on facebook. So if I'm doing something for you on there, you don't need to respond here. However, for the first three who do respond here, I'll make you something and send it/give it to you sometime this year. :) Don't forget, put this on your blog and continue paying it forward. :)  

Monday Musings...

So I've been mulling over this ever since the shooting in Tucson. You have people on the left saying that Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh and others of their political radicalism (and being too conservative is just as radical as being too liberal) are responsible for the shooter having pulled the trigger because of their rhetoric. The people on the right are saying that they couldn't possibly be responsible for the actions of others because they're speaking figuratively. And while there is truth to both stances, it really boils down to that words can and do hurt. Add those with "innocuous" symbols or actions, and you can really do damage. Look at a child. They are just learning language, and so they take literal meanings. If you tell them that you stole their nose, they'll believe you. Add that to the thumb between the fingers and instinctively they'll bring their hands to their face with gasps. With Lil' Mr. V, I will act like he "has a tickle" that we have to get out. And I'll tickle him from hip to rib "chasing" the tickle. Once I "catch" it, I'll tickle like we're wrestling it, then I'll pull my hand away and flick my hand as though I threw it away. He immediately pulls up his shirt looking for where the tickle was. And he asks where it went bye bye to. Also, if you don't think that words aren't powerful, go into a church. Watch the congregation. As the pastor/priest moves you through the sermon of the day, as he gets worked up the crowd gets worked up. Words have the ability to create relationships and destroy them. Simply by the power that they contain. Tell a man that he's worthless enough times, he will begin to believe it. So though there are many who claim that words have no power and while they are correct in some sterile sense. Words describe our thoughts, our wishes, our feelings. Every one of these things are powerful. Especially to someone who's weak or given to suggestion. Some people can't hear nuance, and only understand literal translation. So speaking violent rhetoric with cross hairs as markers can have a frightening impact on someone. I'm not placing blame on Palin or any of those others for that man's actions. They are his own. However, there is blame to be had on their parts for their use and abuse of language. Because Sticks and Stones DO break bones, but words definitely wound too.

A little something...

Can you guess what it is going to be from this picture?

This is the only picture of it that I'll post. Because I don't want the person who's getting it to see it too soon. So after it's given I'll post the finished picture. :) The whole thing took about a day (after ripping out half of the stitches because it was based on a photo and not a pattern). One thing I will offer up, it's completely geeky.

:)

Oh, and on not so great news. :( I am so nervous about cutting fabric. I'm always so afraid I'll mess up. And I have. I was given fabric for my BotM and I was given enough to get the cuts I needed with extra in case I screw up. Danna is very generous with her kits. Well, I screwed up cutting my sash material. So I was able to get three of the strips and not the fourth. So I'm going to have to go back into her shop and get some more fabric. I hope she has some in a fat eighth or something smaller so I don't have to cut off the bolt. *sigh* I'm such a dunce sometimes....Oh well, she says EVERYONE does it.

Crafty works.......1 complete/2WIP

My niece's Mom is having a baby in a few weeks. And Da Goob wanted to make something special for her sister. Since I needed to go to my LQS, I took her along and we checked out the fabric while we were there. She decided to make her a fleece tie blanket.

This is the front that she chose. She is a fan of rubber duckies. And the back was this pretty cream color. Here's the hand embroidery.

It was a simple project that we were able to finish the same day. She went home to her Mom yesterday. I hope she enjoys it. :) I know Da Goob worked awful hard on it. :) 

As for my WIP, I am still working on that afghan. It's grown considerably. 

Here's a closeup of the colors. 

I joined in a Beginners Block of the Month class at my LQS. I am such a beginner, it's not even funny. The only thing I've ever sewn by my sewing machine has been a test patch just to practice my straight stitches. However, for my first block I think I did ok. I had to keep my seam ripper really close by because I did all of my pieces at least twice because my machine wanted to pull my top layer to the left so it would veer off. But I'm working on that. But for my second time at trying to match my seams I think I did ok. 

And here's for my block minus sashing. 

Not bad for my first ever quilt block sewn by machine. :)