Mens' Shirts to Apron!

 

I always get sewing and quilting books out of the library to look at, so when I got this book, I saw a project that I had the perfect shirts for!

    My hubby was getting rid of these oldies but goodies. 

Notice the top shirt pocket in the middle of the apron bib, the neck strap buttons to make it fit and the bottom of the apron has pockets that make use of the button front of the shirt!

The apron was easy and I love the look of it. Maybe this will turn me into an apron wearer! 

P.S. My camera will only take one pic then it has to rest a couple of hours... I think it's dead.  (Yes, it has new batteries!)

Glitter Lights

O.K., I’m new to the blog world and can’t remember to take pics while things are going on.   But I have learned that phone pics aren’t good and even my old point and shoot camera beats the quality.  On to the project!

I always look at my niece’s blog-- Sugar Bee Crafts--  and especially on Tuesdays when there is a party—which I actually joined in on with the gingerbread house—and check out what’s being done.  (I type like I talk—all run on sentences and lot’s of bad English—oh well!)  I loved these glitter lights!  Maybe I should class them up by calling them 'vintage', but we were just using them a few years ago.   

Now that we no longer use them, it was time to do something with the bulbs. And really old Mod Podge—it has a price sticker! And glitter and my Martha Stewart little ball glitter,Metallic glass Microbeads. I’ve been waiting to use it! 

This is with the little beads...

Anyway, my 6 year old granddaughter was the only one to want to do this at first. She LOVED the glitter and little balls! I got busy cooking the Sunday dinner, and she went to work. Imagine a kid turned loose with glue, a paint brush and glitter. If I were doing them, I would choose just one or two glitter colors, but she loved mixing it all. My only rule was that each glitter got their own paper plate to sprinkle over so I could put the extra back.                                         

Here is the finished product—minus the ones that got taken to the teachers for a Christmas gift. 

They will get wire twisted around them to hang on the tree, when I'm done with this blog!

More Paula Deen

I promise you that I don’t even know when her show is on, but I caught another one!  This time I was week for the cookies she made.  They looked delicious!  So I just had to make them minus the crushed peppermint, but adding the toffee bits and a sprinkle of Christmas sprinkles.  They are a keeper for all times of the year.  

YUMMY!!!

Kids Gingerbreads

After I cut out my gingerbread house, I also cut out four smaller basic ones for the grandkids to decorate. I just made up the pattern, and I hope next year I will remember to make it a bit smaller. I always run out of gingerbread before I get them all cut out, so one roof is actually cardboard. But, what are you going to do?

I try to be organized, so of course we had extra people over for dinner, then as soon as they left, it was time to cut the cardboard for the base. Then the 11 year old and I got all the houses with the houses standing, and call in the other three kids. While they yip about and start to grab candy, we just have at it. They decorate, and they always have more fun doing the yard, than the house.

 Here are the finished products. Toward the end of decorating and snacking on candy and frosting, make sure you have pretzels to eat—you need the salt!

Mmmmmm, they smell so good!! 

Paula Deen and I

O.K.So, I turn on the TV the other day, and there was Paula Deen’s show.I am very suggestible to her cooking.She made this Ooey Gooey Butter Cake.When all is said and done, there was five sticks less butter in the home.I don’t know if I am just lowbrow enough to not know good cake when I eat it, but the cake was kinda dense.The filling to die for and her cream cheese frosting is the one we always use.Yum!

I was going to put her picture of the cake, but I can't find one!

Gingerbread House

I make one of these most years.  It should not be as stressful by now.  When the kids were little, I did it after they were in bed each night, so each morning there was something fun to wake up to.  Who am I kidding, I did it after bedtime so I didn’t have any help.  I don’t decorate cakes, so I rely upon the snow and cuteness to hide all the flaws. 

About Oct, I start thinking about what I want to make… this years’ house I made years ago, and remembered how fab it was, but couldn’t find the pattern anywhere.  It came from Good Housekeeping Magazine sometime around one of my daughters' high school graduation.  I kept a lot of the old Christmas issues, but couldn’t find it anywhere.  Sooo, on to Ebay, where it was for sale—Dec 1995 issue. YAY!!

Then onto making the dough—not their recipe, but one that I got I don’t know where, but like better.  When I make my dough, I put lots more cinnamon, cloves and ginger in it so it will smell good for the month.  No, we don’t eat it, after it sits out a month, its’ dusty and dry and the candy is bad.  Who eats gumdrops, anyway? And gingerbread?

When I start cutting out the patterns, I always wonder how and why I get myself into this…there are like a million pieces and I don’t know what I’m doing. But it smells so good while it’s baking. Because I tell everyone that I am making one, there’s no quitting! And I make some more houses—just basic ones for the grandkids, cause I’m that crazy. Cutting it out and baking takes all day.

   After that, I get to trim all the pieces to get them to the real size.  With the same razor knife, I scrape the edges until they are the size of the pattern.  Some houses this is more important than others.  This house has a lot of different roofs and porches, so, once again, I am left wondering, why I put myself thru this???

Next look at the instructions and see what I’m supposed to do.  What actually am I gooing to do??  I don't decorate like a professional!  Anywho, I get to stucco and put the windows in while the walls are flat.  And decorate trees and the greenery on the house.  The trimming and decorating are on day two.

Now comes the building phase… first the walls are put up, with  canned goods holding them.  Go away for a couple of hours—the walls need to dry real good—is that English?—before the roof goes on. 

Before the roof, I need to make sure I put in the Christmas tree and the lights. Put the roof on, making sure it isn’t sliding off. The roof will dry overnight. Then, on to decorate the roof. Since this house has stucco on it, it is mostly decorated except the roof. After putting the red hots on by the hour, or so it seems, finish up the outside, and PRESTO, all done!

Don’t forget to hide the magazine so no one can compare, and everyone will think it’s the most fabulous gingerbread house ever.  And if they don’t, tell them it is!  After the season, we burn it up in the fireplace—it’s loads of fun.  More pics later of that.