Top

2 Little Hooligans

Giveaway from my new etsy shop.

After much debate I decided to open my etsy shop again. But this time instead of selling my handmade baby items I will be selling some cabochon jewelery. I have had such great feedback and requests for selling them, so why not. Hopefully in the near future my shop will turn back into what 2 little hooligans first was…selling accessories for baby and mom. And who knows maybe someday I will have two etsy shops. I really never ever would have thought that I would be reopening my etsy shop to sell jewelery, but here I am. Funny how life changes our plans sometimes, isn’t it?

So If you like cabochon jewelery as much as I do, please check out my etsy shop.
Then come back here and tell me what your favorite item was.
Because I will be giving away any item currently in my shop to one lucky winner.

And just in case you were wondering, all of my jewelery will come neatly packaged in a sweet little homemade drawstring bag…because I just can’t help sewing something.
Hope you all can find something you would love to wear!

Giveaway ends July 21st, 2011.

Beach Robe {take 2: upcycled}

After making my first Beach Robe I knew there would be many to follow, plus I had to redeem myself and get the bias tape on the tie right. So a few weeks ago when my sister in law’s mother brought me an old bathrobe to use for the material, I knew immediately what I was going to make with it…the Beach Robe from MADE. It was perfect timing since my little nieces first birthday was coming soon and plus it was her Grammy’s old bathrobe. Love it, an upcycled beach robe from Grammy’s old bath robe!

The fluffiness of the material was so perfect and luckily lightweight. It was much easier to work with then the beach towel I used for the first one. I didn’t even pin the bias tape on ahead of time and that seemed to work much better for me. I just took my time and sandwiched the robe in between the bias tape and sewed as I went along.
For some reason I ended up only buying 2 packages of bias tape instead of 3. So I didn’t get to redeem myself and couldn’t add the cute little tie. So instead I decided to make and add some buttons. This time I also trimmed out the hood on the inside seam and think that made the robe look much cuter and more put together. Now I’m wishing I did that with my first one too.
Look at the top of the robe, can you see the cute little design in the material? When I saw the design on the bath robe I knew that I had to incorporate it into the beach robe…it is just so sweet!
My little girl was pretty happy to model it for me, but had a hard time parting with it.
I love how the material and fabrics look so sweet together.
But what I love more, is that Grammy’s old bath robe is now a sweet little beach robe for her granddaughter. Now three more beach robes to make…for my kiddo’s this time.

Fat Quarter Friday

Unfortunately I don’t have a tutorial to share with all of you this week and its not because I haven’t been sewing…because I have. I have been making the ultimate handmade baby gift for my sister in law who is due with baby #5…that’s right five…FIVE! It’s going to take a bit for me to finish up all the tutorials, plus I still have a few more things to make. Believe me, you will all know once it is finished. But for now, if you didn’t get a chance to see my guest post with Nature’s Heirloom this week, head on over there and have a little peek at one of the many goodies I have been making for my new niece or nephew. Make sure you take a little time to check out the other cute tutorials that Nikki has shared this week while getting ready to welcome her 3rd little one.

Have a great weekend!

Lots of fun news.

First off I want to thank my buddy Amy over at Buggie and Jellybean
I was the winner of her blog-o-versary giveaway and scored some major loot…I mean major loot! Thanks girl you already know how much I love your blog and think you are one amazing girl! And if you haven’t been to Amy’s blog yet…whatcha waiting for? She always knows of the coolest blogs, cutest etsy stores, and is one crafty-sweet momma ta boot!

And speaking of crafty and sweet mommas, I’m over at Natures Heirloom today to partake in Nikki’s mini people series. She is due with her 3rd little one any day now and is dedicating the next few weeks to celebrating all things baby. So head on over to check out what I’m sharing today. And while your there take some time to peruse Nikki’s blog. It is super cute and filled with lots of crafty eye candy!

And lastly, this part of our the house is all wired, framed and is being spray foamed today! I’m trying not to get too excited since i know we are still months away from moving in, but it’s still exciting nonetheless!

More garden pictures.

I have had lots of requests for more garden pictures, so here are a few…ok, here are a bunch! I’m so excited that you are enjoying all of the photo’s of my garden. I love my garden almost as much as my kiddo’s…almost. Even though this is my 7th year growing a garden, I am still amazed by how fast those tiny little seeds turn into large plants and then veggies for us to eat. For those of you that have never grown a garden and want to, just give it a try. It really is so easy and you will be surprised how much better veggies straight from the garden taste. Really, they taste so.much.better.

This is our main garden. We also have another garden for all of our fall squashes, pumpkins, gourds and peas.







We will be lucky if we end up with a red tomato this year. This little munchkin loves picking them when they are green.
It’s so hard to get mad at something this cute.



The corn is already high enough to hide in.

Aren’t these tendrils just so beautiful?!

Of course we couldn’t have such a big garden without this beauty…our tiller!
We bought it 6 years ago for $50 buckaroos from one of our neighbors. Runs great…once it’s started.
Because I can’t help but share some more flower pictures with all of you.

Oh and I know you all want to see Wilbur and Ray again. These are the funniest two pigs ever! They love running through the “sprinkler” and good thing, cuz this little guy loves spraying them with water.
They act more like dogs then pigs.
I can already tell we are going to have a hard time sending them to “the fair.”

Chickens, eggs and rubby red shoes.

The other day I made some eggs cleaning cloths. Seriously, cloths for cleaning eggs? Yes. We have a relative that is raising layers for the first time and I cannot help but love her excitement over these chickens…and for all chickens in general (close family members you know what I am referring too, dontcha?) Well anyways, I saw this fabric the other day and had to have it. I knew that some cute little wash cloths were in order. After making them I realized that I’m going to have make myself some now, how cute are those little chickens?!

I made a few tiny ones for scrubbing eggs.

Two larger ones to dry the eggs on.

And one large one, because I know that one of these days she is going to give those chickens a bubble bath! So now every time she washes those eggs she will think of us up here in NH and will be reminded of her favorite “holiday”!

And since we are talking about eggs, my little missy girl was asked to gather the eggs the other day and when I opened the door I found these.

Now this is a first. I have never seen eggs collected in ruby reds shoes before!

But make sure you only take the eggs and do not touch the ruby red shoes!

What was your first sewing project?

This little quilt was my first sewing project some 16+ years ago. I never would have imagined way back then, that someday one of my littlest would be laying on it out in the grass. Nor would I have thought that this little quilt would still be in one piece.
It’s funny how one Home Economics class in high school inspired me so much.
Two of my most favorite creations together!

So what was your first sewing project?

Strawberry Lemonade {Recipe}

Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate {Recipe}

(Recipe adjusted from Smith & Hawken, The Gardeners’ Community Cookbook)


*2 quarts strawberries, washed & hulled
*2 cups fresh lemon juice (about 20 lemons squeezed)
*2 3/4 cups of sugar
*1 1/2 quarts water
* you will need a large nonreactive pot

Wash and hull strawberries, then place them into a food processor. Blend berries until smooth. Place the pureed strawberries, lemon juice, sugar and 1 1/2 quarts of water into a very large nonreactive pot. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally until mixture reaches 165′. Make sure you do not boil. Skim off any foam from the top and allow concentrate to cool completely before transferring to canning jars. You may want to strain the concentrate through a strainer before putting into jars. There will be a lot of pulp and seeds.

Before serving concentrate mix 1 part concentrate with 2 parts water, or go by taste. Concentrate can be stored in the refrigerator for about 1 week or place into the freezer for longer storage.
Makes about 3 1/2 quarts.


If you like strawberries and freshly squeezed lemons, then you will LOVE this!

Enjoy!

Fat Quarter Friday {Cooling Mat Tutorial}

This week I’m sharing a tutorial for something that I desperately needed. Most of you know by now that when I bake or preserve our veggies and fruits, I do so in large quantities. That means my kitchen usually becomes a huge mess and I end up using every pan and bowl in sight. The only problem that I usually run into is the lack of cooling racks and the size of the racks. I get so irritated because even though I have a bunch of cooling racks I still never have enough cooling space. I knew there had to be an easier way of cooling pans and that’s when my crafty mind came up with some cooling mats. The cooling mats are made the same way as hot mitts or hot pads, just increased in size to 24″ x 14″. Can I tell you how much I already love these mats!! Seriously! I made the mats big enough so that I could place two muffin pans or two pie pans side by side. The mats will also fit one large jelly roll pan, perfect for when we make pizza’s. These mats are also going to work great for canning. And for those of you that are lucky enough to eat at a dining room table how fabulous would these work for putting your hot dishes onto the table? I made one mat with bias tape and two without. I love the looks of the bias tape trimmed cooling mat, but love how much quicker the other two mats without bias trim came together. Of course you could really spice these mats up by quilting them before adding the bias tape. Ok, I think you all get the point…I love these mats!

Cooling Mat Tutorial

(allow 1-2 hours depending on which mat you make)

Materials Needed:

*2 large pieces of fabric (a little larger then a fat quarter) to your desired size for your mat.

I cut my pieces 25″ x 15″ to give me a 24″ x 14″ mat.

*Insul-Bright (same size as fabric pieces)

*Warm and Natural cotton batting (same size as fabric pieces)

*Bias tape about 85″ long (about 1-2 packages if store bought) I made my own bias tape.

Cut your two pieces of fabric, Insul-Bright and 2 pieces of cotton batting to your desired sized. I cut mine a little larger then a fat quarter 24″ x 14″.

Layer all of the pieces together like so: Fabric piece right side down, cotton batting, Insul-Bright, cotton batting and then the other piece of fabric on top, right side up.

Pin pieces together.

Trim any uneven edges.

Grab the bias tape and start pinning onto the fabric pieces, just until you get to the first corner.

If you are using homemade bias tape make sure you sew in a little from the middle of the crease in the bias tape. If you are using store bought tape, make sure you pin the smaller side onto the pieces of fabric first. This will keep you from seeing the stitches on the other side of mat.

When you get to the corners, take your time and square the corners off like shown here. This is a great tutorial if you are new to using bias tape.

This is what the front looks like when the bias tape is sewn onto the front.

Flip mat over and fold bias tape over and under. Start pinning bias tape in place again. The more the pins, the better! Top stitch bias tape and that is it!Super easy, right?!

Now, the next cooling mat is for those of you that do not want to take the time to sew with bias tape. Follow the first few steps above. Except this time you only have to cut the top piece of fabric to the size you want. You are going to use that top piece of fabric as your guide when sewing the pieces all together. Then once the pieces are sewn together you can trim the excess fabric off. I have found it much quicker to do it this way, less cutting and easier to do because you dont have to keep the edges lined up perfectly when sewing.

You will still need to cut two pieces of fabric, two pieces of cotton batting and one piece of Insul-Bright. I cut mine 25″ x 14″.

This time you are going to layer them a little different.

Layer the pieces like so: cotton batting on bottom, Insul-Bright, cotton batting, One piece of fabric right side up and then the last piece of fabric ontop right side down.

Pin all the pieces together.

Sew all the pieces together, leaving a 2″ opening for turning right side out. The pieces don’t have to line up perfectly at this point. Just make sure the cotton fabric piece on top is the size you want your mat to be. Another little trick I do is make the sew seam a little bigger on the side you have the opening on. That way when you go to tuck the opening in it is easier to sew shut when your top stitching.

Trim off excess fabric, but leave a little extra fabric at the opening. This makes it easier to fold the opening in when top stitching.

Turn right side out.

Iron flat and top stitch and the edges two times.

And that is it, your finished!




**Please feel free to use this tutorial for your personal sewing projects. You may link this to your blog and use any photo’s. Just please be kind and give credit where credit is due.**

Any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me. If you make one using this tutorial, please add it to my flickr group. I would love to see it and you just might see it featured on my blog someday!