Fall Printable Subway Art

These free fall subway art printables are floating all over Pinterest. I know. BUT, I wanted one that was special for me. That listed all the things I like about fall. A more personal one.  And, I had a whole day of holding and feeding a needy baby in which to make one. 

I printed it on some white cardstock and threw it in a dollar store frame that I sanded up a little to make it more rustic. 

I still have a few more pumpkins for sale in the shop, too, if you are interested.

AND, if you want, you can print your own copy, too. Just save it as a .jpeg file and print a full-page copy. It should work. If there is a fancier way to do this, just let me know and I can work that out.

 Happy Fall, Y'all! :)

Turtleneck to Maxi Skirt Tutorial

This one has been a long time coming! I finally got some cute pics of my daughter in her maxi skirt so that I could finish up this post!  Last spring, when I was on my maxi skirt sewing kick, my 5yo had requested a RED one. Well, I thought I would just pick some fabric up at a nearby Walmart, but they no longer carry ANY knit at that store! :( So, I wandered over towards the clothing and found a Women's XL red turtleneck on clearance for $1!

This was a super cheap and easy project. I even had enough left over to make her a headband (which we forgot about when taking these pictures- that is what happens when you wait all summer!) and a matching skirt and headband for her doll (see THIS post if you care.)

I am not sure what she is doing with her hands here...

This skirt is so comfy (not that I actually wore it, but, you know, she did) and it doesn't slow her down and keep her from playing hard- which is a must for kids' clothing. Are those enough selling points for you? Well, they should be. If you make one, pretty please show me some pics! OK?  Good.  Here is your free tutorial...

I thought the neck looked like it would fit her waist so I had her try it on. It was a perfect fit! (My kids might think I am crazy. You know, "Here, honey. Put this turtleneck on, but put the neck around your waist. OK?") If it is too big, you can just take it in after you cut it off. You want it to fit snugly, so it has to be a little smaller than the actual waist measurement. (I guess I could have just measured instead.)

Anyway... cut the neck off, then fold the shirt in half. Measure the height needed from waist to ankles.  Starting that distance from the bottom, draw a line that is one quarter of the total measurement of the neck/waist/whatever. Then, draw an a-line to the bottom of the shirt. You are keeping the original hem of the shirt (SWEET!) I hope this step is not too confusing.  Just follow the picture...

Sew the side seams of the skirt, right sides together.  You can use a zig-zag or stretch stitch or a serger. I used a stretch stitch and then overlocked the edges for extra durability.

Pin the neckband to the inside of skirt.

Sew it together. This is what it looks like, inside out.

Flip it around and press.

TADA!  It really only took about 15 minutes to make.  Definitely a hit!

As always, this tutorial is for personal, non-commercial use only. No copycats. Got it? Thanks!

Easy Cheesy Eggplant

My family LOVES eggplant. As a kid, I turned my nose up at it just because it sounded gross. It really isn't. You just have to know how to cook it- which I didn't, until recently. This cheesy eggplant tastes like a mouthful of butter and cheese. Yummm... And I can justify it because eggplant sounds healthy. Wanna' know how? Good. I took pics...

Start with some pretty eggplant. Any color is just fine.

Peel and slice 3/8" thick. Not 1/2". Not 1/4". 3/8". Got it? Good.

Place the slices on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with sea salt. If you are smarter than me, always use parchment paper underneath for easy cleanup. Then, put a little dab of butter on each one.

Broil until they turn golden brown and are tender. If you don't cook it long enough it will be bitter. I do mine on low.

Put a little cheese on each one. You can use any cheese you want. Here I used American...

...and here I used a Monterrey Jack & Cheddar blend and Mozzarella (and I was smart enough to use the parchment paper.)  Cheddar is pretty good, too. Make a variety and taste-test if you want to.

Put it back in the oven to broil again until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

That is it! Easy, right?

For my Eggplant Parmesan post, click HERE.

I LOVE Baby Girl Sewing!

I absolutely LOVE sewing cute baby things! Especially baby girl things! :D

So, do you remember the Easter dresses I made this year? (If you don't they are shown at the end of THIS post.) I also made a matching tie for my son later this summer (shown in THIS post) but he didn't want the "girly" yellow I picked out so I used grey instead.  That meant I had a half yard of coordinating yellow polka dot fabric just waiting for Hannah to be born. I guess it was meant to be. ;)

So, I whipped up an Itty Bitty Baby dress (free pattern available HERE) and then went overboard with a Peekaboo Bonnet (pattern for sale HERE). 

I know, I almost never ever buy patterns, but I have always wanted to make a bonnet and this was my last chance! Oh, it is sooooo cute, too!  I am super pleased with how these turned out. I love piping and eyelet lace trim. (And tiny little baby feet, too!) LOVE!

I also love the sunshiney yellow color, and it matched the dress I wore for a pic taken 12 days before she was born when I was ginormous, so we did a little "after" pic to go with the "before" one.

Before...

...After.

Actually, first I made another dress for my niece so that they could match. The cousins were born two days apart and we all got to hang out at the hospital together. How cool is that? Of course, my niece was a big girl, so I made her dress in the 0-3 month size instead. Since this was my sister-in-law's first girl, I knew a little pink was in order, too. :)

I ran out of piping to do another bonnet, but I also made her a crocheted bear hat (using my free pattern HERE) that should fit her this fall and increased the size on that one as well.

I know I used the word "LOVE" an awful lot in this post, but making things for baby girls, especially girls this cute, really does that to me!

Freezer Jalapeno Poppers

OK. So, I took these pictures last summer. I mean, I DO plan on making jalapeno poppers but not just yet. I am supposed to be taking it easy (which is killing me!) Instead I am just gonna' sit here holding this super cute baby and blog about it.

The ingredients...

24 jalapeno peppers
12 oz. softened cream cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4-1/2 cup crumbled, cooked bacon or bacon bits
2 cups milk
1 cup flour
2 cups bread crumbs

The directions...

Wash your jalapenos. 

Put on some gloves if you know what is good for you.  Cut off the tops.

Slice 'em down the middle.

Scoop out the seeds.

Look how pretty!

Mix up softened cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and crumbled bacon or bacon bits.

Fill each pepper half with the cheesy mixture.

Lay them all out on a cookie sheet covered with paper towels.

Now, here is the secret to these... a triple dipping process! It gives them a lovely coating. So... dip in milk...

...then flour.

Here they are all spread out on the cookie sheet to dry a bit.

Dip in milk again...

...then bread crumbs.

This is how they look after one bread crumb coating.

Not good enough. When they are dry, do it again.  Milk, then bread crumbs.

Much better.

Then, just pack them in freezer bags. All done!

Yes, the triple dipping is tedious, but worth it.  When you want to cook them, just throw 'em in the deep fryer until they are golden brown and crispy.  We have tried grilling and baking them, which is OK, but frying works best.

It is so nice to have something quick and easy to make in my freezer (which is not often the case since most of our food is home-grown) and these are much, much, much cheaper than the store bought ones!

One of these days, when I fry some up, I will take a post-cooking picture and update this post.  Right now, I am too busy holding this sweet little baby!

Jungle Star Quilt

It only took a little over five years, but I finished it! :)

You see, I pieced this quilt top for my 5yo daughter before she was born. We like to leave the baby's gender a surprise, so I was going for something bright and fun and gender-neutral.

After the top was finished, I was afraid it was too girly and made another one. That one isn't very neutral either. I was thinking "rubber ducks" when I made it, but all the blue made it a little more masculine and, of course, we had a girl.  I should have just stuck with this one.

I made a lot of sawtooth star blocks back then, too.

Lots and lots of star blocks.

The finished quilt is pretty big, so the back was pieced to make the leftover jungle fabric work (it isn't like I could buy more now!) I usually don't like to piece backs, but that is growing on me, too.

The I am pretty new to machine quilting, but I really love the texture on this one! I didn't know what to do with those large jungle print blocks, so I decided to quilt the entire thing using long, random, "organic" wavy lines.

I watched a video tutorial HERE that was very helpful.  When it was all washed it created such a lovely, crinkly texture. I tried to capture it with a picture, but this doesn't do it justice.

 So, I guess this quilt is a mixture of my old style and new style. I suppose that is what you get when you wait so long to finish something. I am really happy with the way it turned out, even if I did struggle with my sewing machine and all of the tension issues. I am just hoping that it comes back working better than ever because I would love to try something like this again.

I don't know what I am doing with this quilt now. I might sell it or give it away. I guess it depends. I still can't decide if it is gender-neutral or not.  Anyway, I am just glad to have it finished. :)