Red Poppies Spring Up - And Some QT With The Sewing Machine

In the midst of some freezing temperatures, rain and even snow - I find the need to make something to remind me of warmer days.



How about poppies? :)  I'm a Californian and there's something about the sight of poppies that always make me smile...

Also - new project, new tool.  I'm recently brought the Petite Press:


Love it! I tried a couple of mini-sized craft irons before and by far this one is the best.  It head tilts for different ironing angles, 4 different heat settings (though I just keep it on the highest one usually) and it's super comfortable to use.  I recommend it for any quilter or crafter out there who needs a mini-iron.

And the Petite Iron was definitely a life-saver when I had to press all these appliques in place:

There were actually 3 rows of poppies :).


And yes I finally was able to use my sewing machine :) - how long as it been??? Weeks?? :P



I feel like I need to play the song - "united and it feels so gooood"!

Ahhh - sewing at last :).

Week 5 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas - The Fabric Tree

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas :)



These small fabric Christmas trees will add some holiday spirit every space. Here's a quick picture tutorial on how to make these trees for yourself - and of course I turned to my 12 Days of Christmas Moda Charm pack.

Materials (for each tree): 

• Various sized fabric squares 2" - 5".  Need about 4-5 squares 
• Strip of fabric -  2" x 8"
• Straw
• Small Play-Doh container - emptied
• hot glue gun
• some tiny 'ornaments' to decorate the tree with - I used a sparkly paper cut out for the top ornament and some beaded string for the tree. 

1. Get your materials ready and hot glue gun heated

2. Cut each fabric square into a free form circle - you could make the edges ruffled like pictured or any other decorative edging of your choosing.  Cut out 4-5 of this circles - each one a little smaller than the previous.

3. Starting from the largest fabric circle cutout, hot glue fabric onto the straw.  I gather the fabric slightly to make it even around the straw.  Leave about 1/3"-1/2" between each piece of fabric.

4. Trim off the straw on the top of your tree - up against the fabric.  Trim off base of the tree - make sure you leave enough straw so that the tree sits nicely in the Play-Doh container.
5. Put some hot glue on the emptied Play Doh container (I use those tiny Play-Doh containers) and wrap the 2" fabric strips around it.  This will be the base of the tree.

6. Put a bunch of hot glue in the center of the Play-Doh container and stick your tree in - the straw part only not the fabric :).
7. Decorate your tree however you like.

And voila - your very own mini (fabric) Christmas tree!

Right now these has been in the possession of my 3 year old - yes these trees are very durable ;)

I will be sharing these lovely little trees at this lovely blogging sites :)

Wordless Wednesday - Almost Wordless & Stash

Chirp!  by Katie Hennigar for Robert Kaufman Fabrics
Plain Jane Lil Daisy (Grey) by Michael Miller
 

Celebrate Seuss!  by Robert Kaufman

Green Grocer Bag Challenge - For the Holidays

Every year I try to put together a package of things that I really enjoyed during the year for family and friends. It's nothing big or expensive (haha I'm not Oprah ;)), but usually something small and fun to share. So last year I put together a Green Grocer Goodies bag.



Why am I reliving this project?  I'm sharing this project at this years'


@Sew, Mama, Sew!

I think Green Grocery bags are a great way to save resources and reduce the amount of waste in landfills.  But reusable bags are not just for groceries, they could be used for ... anything you would need a bag for :) - including gift giving.

I got these from the local Whole Foods Market. It's their Sheryl Crow bag in the smaller size. They cost only 79 cents but it held a good amount of goodies. I stuffed it with my favorite teas, coffees, cookies and other treats.  The bags are sewn at the seams and super durable - and quite stylish :).

Why Green Bags for the Holidays are TOTALLY Awesome:

• The bags were tied closed with scraps of fabrics I have left over from sewing projects
• For the 'gift tag' I just used the tags that came with the bags.  It was a nice green tag printed with the why green bags are awesome :)
• For added festivities, I got some holiday ornaments to tie on the outside of the bags.  Makes the bags scream out Happy Holidays and the ornaments are totally reusable to hang on a Christmas tree later on. 
• Added bonus to the green theme was seeing these bags being used after the holidays.  I saw family members and friends use it for everything from grocery shopping to lunch bags to kid's toy/book bags.  It's great to see them make good use of the bag instead of throwing it out like every other regular gift bag.

So go ahead and raid your local grocery store for these bags - or any bag that you absolutely find to be totally awesome.  Here's my stash from last year:

I put together over 40 bags.  I wonder how many of these are still being used :).

Happy (Early) Holidays. 

Not Much Crafting...Just Baking Away

It's getting cold, the kids are inside ALL the time and it's another excuse for me to stay out of the sewing room. The 12 Weeks of Christmas posting will continue very soon...but first let me show you what I've been LOVING.



Yep - nothing to do with sewing, but brings me a great deal of joy nonetheless :).  White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cranberry Cookies - say that 3 times real fast :P.

I've been making a variation of this recipe from Allrecipes for a few years now but this is the first year I made it for my boys (3.5 and 1.5 and ready for home made cookies).  There's a lot of recipes out there for something like this and it's a very good alternative to the usual chocolate chip or oatmeal-raisin.

Recruit your little helpers and gather up your incredients:

Don't mind the mix-match containers and bags - I like to buy in bulk.  A lot of people think buying in bulk means buying A LOT of the same item, but a lot of time I buy bulk to get the EXACT measurement of an ingredient I need.  This avoids any extras of an ingredient that I don't usually cook with - in this case macadamia nuts - 1 Cup Exactly.  Places like Whole Foods even have measuring cups for you to use.

Key components: chopped macadamia cuts, white chocolate chip and cranberries.  Haha - about 10% of the white chocolate chip, and 20% of the cranberries went in the tummy of my 3 year old before it even got a chance to get mixed into the cookie dough :).

I really like the colors of the ingredients - especially the deep red color of the cranberries.

Mix in ingredients per instructions - don't mind those little hands going for the batter! Don't worry this batch stayed within the family ;).


Spoon it into a parchment lined cookie sheet - super easy cleanup - and put it in the oven:


Results - beautiful, delicious and healthy-er cookies for the little ones: haha yes if you count the cranberries and nuts it is a healthier alternative :P.


Enjoy! Promise to go into my sewing room in the near future. 12 Weeks of Christmas will resume soon.