Time To Sow

Just a few years ago (ok, a number of years ago) I was excited about spring break and hanging with my friends some place warm & sunny ... things haven't changed too much. Now I'm a SHAM in her 40's who is so looking forward to some warm weather and hanging out with my favorite people (my kids & hubby) in our own sunny warm backyard, playing on the swing set, kicking the soccer ball around, riding bikes, and hanging on the deck.

When the kids are at school, hubby is at work, working on my apron business, and my daily family chores are complete, I will spend every spare moment gardening (it is my ultimate passion). Gardening can be a costly hobby so I grow almost all of my annuals & perennials from seed. I placed my seed orders last week at Swallowtail Garden Seeds and Park Seeds. I have many many many seeds in my stash to choose from as well.

Speaking of stash - doesn't that sound familiar to all of you that sew ?!?? Admit it ... you have a stash! The 'stash' (fabric, seeds, planters, collections, toys, etc.) has gotten out of control at our house so I've gone cold turkey on the sewing projects for a couple of weeks so I can get our house in order. It started out I was going to spend a couple days organizing my sewing area which is also my seed starting area so it's a must to get that fabric organized to lend some space. Now two weeks later we're still on a mission organization frenzy. This only happened because I had to completely empty out 2 living rooms and 1 dining room in order to get our carpet fixed and re-stretched throughout the first floor of our house. The night before the carpet repair men came out, it took my hubby and I about 7 hoursto empty out these rooms. It took a lot of creativity to store the furniture and all of my junk. I have to admit I'm ashamed of how much stuff I had stashed away in corners, cubbies, china cabinets, etc. so I'm totally inspired to get get rid of junk and tidy up the house.

My one goal with getting the house organized so that I can start sowing seeds and getting ready for the gardening season. Once it gets nice outside it's hard for me to stay in the house so I hope my mission organization will help keep us on track so we can all enjoy the spring weather (when it gets here).

To help get on track I had to go cold turkey on the sewing projects for a couple weeks. I have a couple outstanding orders for some friends so I hope they understand I needed to take a break and plan to be back to sewing machine next week to finish up those orders and start on my spring aprons. And of course, I'll start to squeeze in a little seed starting as well. I highly encourage you to sow a few seeds .. it's just as fun to sow as it is to sew!

Here's a good video from Organic Gardening Magazine on how to start your own seeds:

Spring Fever ....

I can't believe it's been almost 1 month since my last post. We've been very busy with rapping up the end of the winter season with kids sports, cleaning house, organizing and buying a new van. Spring fever has set it and we are hoping it is VERY near.

Both kids have been extremely busy with school work and playing a great season recreational basketball and cheering. 'M' has improved a great deal in his basketball skills this year and has built up better confidence when playing. He really seemed to enjoy playing this season. This was the first season 'S' played basketball - she totally loved it and had a great time playing. She was also on the pee-wee cheering team and ended the season with a great show at our annual local cheering competition. Good job kid-o's! :)

Here they are playing a little one on one ...


Cheering ...


I just wanted to right a quick post to update my blog. I'll be back with more soon!

Happy Valentine's Day

Whoopie Pies & Strawberries

Some how Valentine's Day came very quickly this year. I'm not sure how that could be since most of us feel February is longest month of the year (but then again, we still have 2 more weeks of this cold, snowy, dreary long month). Maybe that's why we celebrate with chocolate on Valentine's Day. To keep the chocolate tradition going, I made chocolate covered strawberries and whoopie pies for my daughter's Valentine's Day celebration at her school.

You ask, what's a Whoopie Pie? A whoopie pie, sometimes alternatively called a gob, black-and-white, or bob is a baked good traditional to the Pennsylvania Dutch culture as well as New England, made of two small, chocolate, disk-shaped cakes with a sweet, creamy frosting sandwiched between them. In Western Pennsylvania they are known as "gobs."

They taste very much like a soft oreo cookie. Give them a try ...

Whoopie Pies
Ingredients:

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups milk
• Filling, recipe follows

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, or preheat a convection oven to 315 degrees F.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, and eggs together until well combined. Add the oil and vanilla and beat again.

In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Add half of the dry mixture to the egg mixture and beat or stir to blend. Add 1 1/2 cups milk and beat again. Add the remaining dry mixture and beat until incorporated. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups milk and beat until blended.

With a large spoon, scoop out 60 circles of batter onto a baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool.

Spread filling onto half of the circles and place remaining circles on top, to make 30 Whoopie Pies.

Chocolate covered strawberries are a must for our family on Valentine's Day!



Chocolate Covered Strawberries

1 lb Make 'N Mold chocolates (or other chocolate chips)
2 Tbps Shortening
24 Long stemmed Strawberries

In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and shortening, stirring occasionally until smooth. Holding the strawberries by the stem, dip the them into the chocolate mixture.

Vintage Inspired Valentine ...

I'm truly fond of Valentine's Day pink & red decorations, cards, wreaths, lights, etc. Most of all I LOVE Valentine's Day fabric ... I found some lovely 1930’s reproduction Valentine’s inspired fabric on Fabric.com and made this vintage inspired Be My Valentine Red Heart Apron.


Happy Valentine's Day!! Enjoy your day...

Mary's Productions

Come check out Mary Mulari from Mary's Productions. She has been sewing and designing patterns for quite a long time. She has designed patterns for the McCall Pattern Company and embroidery cards collections for Husqvarna Viking, Cactus Punch, and Amazing Designs. Two of my favorite things - patterns and embroidery designs! :)

I especially like her apron patterns. This Clothespin Apron Pattern has triggered my interest. I think I'll have to purchase this pattern for myself.



I think this clothespin apron would look adorable made with this combination of Alexander Henry's Bird Seed Aqua and Melissa Averinos' Kimono Cocoa & Tendril Jade fabrics.


This is a definite item for the Have To Do List.

Sugar, Spice & Everything Nice

My Apron is here !!

I received my apron on Monday from the Lucy & Shawnee's Sugar, Spice & Everything Nice apron swap. Guess who was my partner??? Lucky me, Shawnee was my partner. How awesome is that! The apron is just beautiful. This was my first time participating in apron swap. It was so much fun. Nothing like finding a surprise present at your door step! :)

Shawnee's combination of Paula Prass' Flight of Fancy Pary Avion and the retro colorful flowers fabrics with the pink and blue ric rac make this a very cheerful fun apron. I love it. This is my first full apron!!


And she sent me way too many goodies to go along with it - so generous and sweet. The heart shaped measuring spoons are the cutest thing I've ever seen.



Thank you Shawnee!

I highly recommend joining any of Shawnee and Lucy's future apron swaps. They did a wonderful job organizing and making if fun with all the giveaways and fun blog posts. Great job ladies!

200 Cuts

No-Sew Polar Fleece Scarf Project ...

I just finished cutting over 200 pieces of fabric for a no-sew polar fleece scarf project I will be doing with over 40 girls at a sleep-away girl scout camp this weekend!! I got the idea from this video I found on Youtube. I love the idea because the girls will get to sew their own scarves by weaving coordinating fleece up both sides of the fabric. And then they will cut and tie each end of the scarf.



The average temperature in my area has been around 5 degrees! So we figured there better be plenty of indoor activities for the girls. I offered to help out with the indoor activities since I'm not fond of the skiing portion of the day (after having my ACL reconstructed I'm a nervous to do anything slippery!)

I hope the project goes well. I will let you know next week how the girls did. Keep your fingers crossed for warmer weather and sunshine! :)

Have A Nice Weekend!

Apron ready for Swap

I finished my apron today for the Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice Apron Swap. Now I'm working on a few surprises to go with it.

I have to say I really like how it came out. I made a second one just like it for my shop at Punkie Pie's Boutique on Etsy.

Here are some more pictures of the apron ...



Leave a comment and let me know what you think of this sassy apron. Thanks!