Jersey Maxi Dress

My Pinspiration

Given my sewing prowess on things of the accessoried nature, I knew that sewing a knit maxi dress would be super facile (please tell me you understand the sarcasm here!!!) To tell you the truth, I have no idea what made me think I could create something like the above out of a fabric that is notoriously difficult to work with (!!!! or any fabric for that matter!), but stinkin' Pinterest makes everything look SO FREAKIN' EASY that I had to give it a try. I had been keeping several jersey double sheet sets in my linen closet from house to house to house, never using them. I'm not sure if I have hording tendencies (yes, I do...), but I always thought I'd have a use for them, although I haven't had a double bed in my house since we got rid of my husband's university hand-me-down futon in 2006 (seriously...I MUST HAVE A PROBLEM WITH HORDING RIGHT????) I opened up said linen closet, pulled out my purple sheets and got ready to make something special!!!!

The pin sent me to THIS blog, where the photos lured me right in. Her skirts/dresses are so super cute, I couldn't really convince myself to NOT do it. The tutorial is called the Versa Dress, so named because this dress is two: 1) a strapless dress and 2) a maxi skirt with yoga band. The tutorial is two separate parts; one for the skirt and one for the top, and there were no specific measurements to either piece which I figured was great for me (easy for modifications, no?). In addition to the two pieces, the sewing itself seemed pretty simple, as it really was one seam along the back of each piece, to be matched up, and then sewn together. Easy peasy, right?

So, I got my stuff ready for action. I had read a couple of things about sewing knit fabric. It's a stretchy material, and doesn't always go through the sewing machine's "feed dog" easily (doesn't it sound like I know what I'm talking about??? Don't be fooled!) In addition, a lot of people wrote about sewing jersey with a zig zag stitch as to give the seam a little more movement. Now, I don't know what you think I am, but it's certainly not a professional sewer. So far, I've only used one stitch...the straight up regular ol' stinkin' stitch (that's the technical term, right?). I've never changed any settings on my sewing machine...never adjusted the tension or any such thing...Now, how the heck was I going to pull this off?

I think what saved my booty on this project was the fact that I just don't care. If it doesn't turn out, I'll grab my handy-dandy stitch ripper and try again. No harm done, right? Won't know if I can do it unless I try...

After I had ironed and cut all my pieces, I just changed the stitch selection to zig zag and I was off to the races. I had zero problem sewing the dress/skirt. I had pressed, cut and sewed the dress in an hour and a half (which is a miracle in my book), I experienced zero bunching and the material fed through with no issue at all. I made the top part of the dress super long because I figured the extra fabric would bunch enough to cover up any lumps and bumps in my body (no, no, those aren't stomach rolls, that's just the extra fabric...)My major issue, however, lied in the seam of the skirt. How could this be? It's one cut, right? Well, the issue is this...I had to measure and cut the skirt to mimic the shape of my body (ugh...the shape of my body...) I'm definitely no Marilyn Monroe. I'm more of a pot-bellied Peter Pan shape, to tell you the truth...but I still couldn't get it right. The seam is wonkier than Willy Wonka himself AND because it's right up the back of the dress, it's VERY obvious.

Needless to say, I like the versatility of the dress, though, I'm not much for strapless, myself. Perhaps when the cooler weather hits, I'll try out a sweater or cardigan over top, just like the original blog pictures show. I like the yoga banded skirt the most, because not only does it cover up the Mother Gunt I've been hanging on to, but it also sucks that pooch in a bit. It's also extremely super comfy to wear, but not as ghetto as wearing jogging pants out and about everyday...which I generally do...(although you feel like you kind of are...)And I liked the pattern so much, I took the grey jersey sheet set I had in the linen closet and made another. This time, however, I learned my lesson. I made two seams (up each side) so that my terrible sewing isn't so obvious.

What do you think?

Those aren't stomach rolls...right?

Here's the skirt. I don't wear it like this, I just pulled my shirt up a bit to show the yoga band (unsuccessfully...)

One day, I'll get my husband to take a picture of my second try, so you can check out any improvements I've made. I also have oatmeal and navy sheets that are waiting for their turn. Perhaps by the time I get to them I will have perfected this pattern!

Shout outs:
Delia Creates for the wonderful skirt tutorial (there are more tutes, recipes, etc...so check it out!)
If you like my tribute to Tom Hardy's Bane, you too can have this shirt...Order it from Etsy here. I did!

Hoppy Beerthday!



Pinspiration #1





Pinspiration #2

Birthday Time is here. A friend of mine was celebrating his 36th Birthday (Ew! Old!) and I wanted to get him something that he would like for his birthday, but he's the type to just buy whatever he wants whenever he wants, leaving zero to actually get him when his birthday comes along. I was pretty sure a hand-made change purse was not the kind of present he would use...So I had to come up with another idea. Of course, beer is a gift he ALWAYS welcomes, but who wants to show up with an unwrapped 24 in hand. Not overly personal, right? Then I remembered a pin that I had seen...PERFECTO! A welcome gift given in a creative way...can't go wrong, right? RIGHT!

I checked out the pin's blog and they were using this wonderful beer cake as a centerpiece, using cake boards to stack the cans on top of each other. This would be great if my friend was having his party at my house, but that wasn't the case. I had to transport that heavy and enormous sucker in my car from my place to his, without dropping them or rolling them around getting shaken can syndrome. Sure, I could've assembled it at the party, but then it would've lost the element of surprise...

So, I modified (me? modify? never!) the idea a little bit. Luckily I had three different sized spring-form pans in my cantina (that's another word for "cold room" for you mangia cakes out there) that were perfect for the task. I wrapped each of the pans in some red wrapping paper and put a little bow on each "layer", then stuffed as many cans as I could in each tin. Et voila! Portable beer cake!

YAY ME! I hope he liked it!

I also promised to make him a cake so I thought that this would be a great time to try out a new recipe that had piqued my interest... I have a serious problem when it comes to scratch cakes. I'm VERY particular. They have to be super moist and fluffy...I feel like I've said this before. It literally is my mission to find the perfect chocolate cake and the perfect vanilla cake. After that I can fiddle around with each recipe and try out different flavours. Until then I will try anything and everything out there until I get it JUST RIGHT.

Well, guess what? I FOUND THE CHOCOLATE ONE! Call off the hounds! Yes, ladies and gents!!! This recipe is THE PERFECT CHOCOLATE CAKE (for recipe click HERE) I followed the directions exactly and out came the most wonderfully moist chocolate cake ever.

Don't get me wrong,  I was initially VERY apprehensive, of course, because anything I try is too dry. I don't know why it's always dry, but it is. And if it's not dry, it's not chocolatey enough. All I could do was cross my fingers and HOPE that this would work.

The recipe also called for extra strong coffee. What???? Yes, coffee. EXTRA STRONG COFFEE.

I HATE COFFEE. I love the smell of it...but I HATE, HATE, HATE the coffee. Even a hint of mocha totally sets me off.

So, I was truly, madly and deeply concerned that this cake was going to be a bust.

NOPE. Not a chance. It was delish.

The blog was right, though; the cake batter was definitely thin. And there was a LOT of it. Enough for me to make two layers and 12 cupcakes, which was great, because the birthday party had adults AND kids, so I knew the cupcakes would be a hit for the little ones. Cupcakes also gave me the opportunity to test it out before I served it to everyone.

Now, I didn't use the recipe for the ganache on the blog. I just thought the ganache wasn't the look I wanted for a birthday cake. AND, I need all the practice I can get on my buttercream icing piping skills (you'll understand why shortly when you see my finished product...)

So, I turned to my next favourite website: allrecipes.com, of course, to get my "go-to" buttercream icing recipe (click here for THAT recipe). Now, this recipe, I modify (surprise, surprise!). I don't use shortening, but rather replace that with butter (so, I use one full cup of butter). I also use three times as much vanilla. AND...I only use three cups of icing sugar (so basically I just made up my own recipe, right?)...but this was a good base to start.  I made two batches of this icing. One vanilla (as directed above) and one chocolate (I used the vanilla as directed above and then added 1/2 cup of cocoa). I put the chocolate icing in between my two layers of cake, and then iced the outside with the vanilla. Then I made half the cupcakes with chocolate icing and the other half vanilla (and let the kids pick their fave). I didn't get one complaint about the cake and I'm going to eat another piece tonight as I watch The Bachelorette finale! (I'm keeping my fingers crossed for JEF! Love him!)

Here's what my cake/cupcakes looked like (again...I am NOT an expert cake decorator, but take every opportunity I can to practice, so don't judge!)



If you're looking for the perfect scratch chocolate cake, I really do recommend this one. I wouldn't steer you wrong! This is the cake for you. It tastes like Duncan Hines (if you added dry pudding mix and sour cream to it). It's truly what Pinterest advertised: THE MOST AMAZING BUTTERMILK CHOCOLATE CAKE EVER!

Shout Outs:

For other cute ideas, (just like the beer cake), check out: Sweet 'N Treat's blog. But don't compare my decorating to theirs...they ARE professionals...

For crafts, tutorials and The most AMAZING buttermilk chocolate cake EVER recipe, check out: Paperseed!

For all sorts of delicious recipes, always search: Allrecipes! They have everything (and it's all rated!)

Garbage Bag Re-Org

Brilliant Idea!

At this point, I'm sure you're aware that my life is in complete and utter disarray. My under sink cabinet in the kitchen is no exception! It's basically a catch-all for anything and everything, including those dastardly plastic grocery bags. Isn't this 2012? Don't I have reusable grocery bags? The answer is yes! I have so many reusable grocery bags that I could make another one of these kleenex boxes to contain all of them! But that's another issue entirely. In all honesty, the reason I have so many plastic bags is because I'm an impulse buyer. Initially I go into the grocery store with the intention of buying one small item (why would I bring my reusable grocery bag when I could simply fit that ONE SMALL ITEM into my purse, right?)...and then at the end of the trip, I have a cart full of ridiculousness, which wouldn't even fit into my Mary Poppins purse if I tried. Thus, my endless supply of plastic grocery bags. Make sense now? Hardly an excuse, I know...but this is my life.

So now that I've explained myself, you'll understand why my under sink cabinet looks like this:

Gross!

When I saw the kleenex box photo above on Pinterest, I was instantly inspired to transform my under sink cabinet from kitchen hazard to kitchen harmony. I clicked on the pin to find that there weren't really any instructions (although I figure they just wanted you to stuff the bags in the open slot and be done with it.) I knew that if I was going to spend the time and effort pulling these bags out from that hellhole, I might as well do it right! I flattened each one out and folded them in half, then rolled them one in to the other to create an almost "baby wipes" type of effect (when you pull one out, another one follows, ready for it's turn). This is what it ended up looking like.

A little extra work at the beginning will pay off at the end I hope...?

I repeated this until all the bags had disappeared from the cupboard. YES! I shoved my bag roll into the kleenex box opening, et voila!

Now I had to move on to mounting this sucker to the inside of my cabinet door. The blog suggested that I use thumbtacks on the inside of the box, but I wasn't keen on putting holes into the doors (even if it was on the inside). I did, however, have some double sided tape, so I made a big square outline along the backside of the box and presto-chango, I had a lovely, recycled plastic bag holder!

Ingenious!

Ten minutes later, the double sided tape was no match for the weight of the bag holder. I knew it seemed too easy! I might have to go against my better judgement and just put some thumbtacks in...but I'll think about it a bit and see if I can come up with an alternative.

I showed my husband and he thought it was great (of course, he laughed at me initially because he knew that I'd been trolling Pinterest...), but he came up with a good point. What happens when you get another bag? Crap! I hadn't thought of that. If I'd stuck to the original blog's instructions, I could just stuff bags in at any point, but because I tried to be neat and tidy, that wasn't going to be the case. I think I'll just start to keep a new plastic bag roll and switch it up when the old one is done...(otherwise read as, stuff the bags under the counter until it gets crazy again...then I'll try this again? LOL!) We'll see!

Shout Out:

Find other cool DIY tips and projects (like this one) at The Family Handyman

T-shirt Re-org

I dream of being this organized

Value Village is one of my favourite stores. It's an amazing resource for buying fabric. I've bought unused upholstery fabric for $3, and you can get a double jersey sheet for $2 (I used this for an upcoming project - stay tuned!). Anyway, this week at VV (Monday, July 16 - Wednesday, July 18th) if you donate 2 bags or boxes full of clothes, you get a coupon to save 20% off your next purchase. That's a great deal! So, because today was laundry putting away day, I thought it would be great to go through the drawers to find any old clothes that I was no longer wearing (or no longer repurposing for that matter!). As I was going through stuff, I realized that I have an abundance of t-shirts, most of which I just can't fathom parting with... but I figured since I was going through the drawers anyway, I should really consider reorganizing the contents. This is why:

It's almost as if the Tasmanian Devil whipped through here looking for a garment...

Not that I need to look good at my job. Being a stay-at-home allows me the luxury of wearing jogging pants and grubby t-shirt most days (unless I have to go out in public...then I tidy myself up a bit...) I mean, I'm lucky to find the time to brush my teeth most days, so a wrinkly shirt isn't the end of the world. My current folding (LOL!) style, however, sure makes it difficult to open and close my dresser when I have clothes randomly rammed into it!


That's what brought me to this pin: Wouldn't it be wonderful to open up your drawers and instantly see all of your t-shirts at once without having to pull each one out, find the one you want, and then stuff (literally in my case) all the others back in, eventually looking like my photo above...? I sure think so.

I have all of my clean shirts set aside from laundry day, and all of the "never gonna wear agains" have been dumped in a "donate to VV" pile on the ground. Now it was time to start folding. The blog told me that the best way to fold one's t-shirts was to fold the shirt in half down the middle and tuck the sleeves in. I HATE DOING THIS. I like to be able to see the shirt's image in its entirety (yes, it's all part of my OCD), so, of course, I modified the fold. Here are my steps:

Step 1: Fold both sleeves behind shirt



Step 2: Fold shirt in half (image facing upwards)

Step 3: Fold shirt in half again

I did this to each and every t-shirt that I owned (and there are a LOT!), and slowly began to fit them into the drawer in a nice, orderly fashion. When I was finished, it looked pretty good!

Looks nice, right? Although anything is an improvement to what I had before!

Still, I wasn't sold on this method just yet. I was mostly concerned because the shirts still stuck out a bit at the top...

...but maybe my drawers are exceptionally shallow...? I just wasn't sure. I took a look at my husband's chest of drawers and his were super deep, but I checked back to the original blog and her drawers seemed as shallow as mine. Anyway, I thought I'd give it a try and put the drawer back into the chest to see how it would fit.

AND...I ...HAD...TO...PUSH...THAT...MOTHER...THROUGH...LIKE...I...HAD...JUST...
THROWN...A...PILE...OF...T-SHIRTS...INTO ...THE...DRAWER...WILLY...NILLY...!!! ARGHHHHH!

I see you peeking, ya bastards!

Well, that was a colossal waste of time...but at least when I pry the sucker open, it looks nice and orderly. I wonder maybe if I should try to fold the shirts as instructed in the blog...maybe that was my downfall? Or maybe I just have really long shirts? Or maybe my drawers really are shallow? I have an internal bet, no matter, that even if I get them to fit nicely, this stint in drawer organization will last up until the next laundry putting away day....after that it'll go right back to normal. Oh well. It was worth a try, right?

Shout Outs:
Original pin lead me to: Darkroom And Dearly
Another blog that explains t-shirt organization in detail: Simple Organized Living with its own video tutorial on how to fold the t-shirt properly

World's Best Chicken

This recipe has A LOT to live up to...

How can you NOT repin something that says "THE WORLD'S BEST CHICKEN. Others have called it, “So Good it Can’t Be Described, Explosion on Your Taste Buds Chicken. so, so yummy and easy". It's a no-brainer right? Being a mom, I'm always looking to broaden my dinner repertoire with new foods that will go over well with my husband AND kids. Not an easy feat. My kids are picky meat eaters at the best of times....beef - NO, pork - SOMETIMES, chicken - MOST TIMES. So I figured I might as well give this recipe a try to see if it could go in my monthly rotation of tried and true mealtime options.

I really love to cook. I find it to be a nice way to unwind (away from the children), but weeknight dinner preparation tends to be a bit chaotic. Daddy isn't home yet, and giving my children an hour of TV to watch only buys me a little bit of time before someone starts poking someone else, if you catch my drift. I find weekends to be the best time to try out new recipes. That way my husband can distract the kids while I can dedicate some time to focusing solely on my new kitchen creation.

Being a vegetarian, however, causes problems for me at mealtime. I never really like to serve people food that I haven't tasted before. I like to be able to suss out the seasoning, and see if I need to add anything before it gets served. Meat, as you can imagine, never gets tried before it's plated, and my family ends up being the guinea pigs firsthand. I'd like to think my husband is an honest judge of my cooking, but he's the nicest man in the world and would never give me constructive criticism. The food I serve is always great, and he always cleans his plate, even if it's GROSS! My kids, thankfully, are cut from the same SEVERELY HONEST cloth that I'm made of. If it stinks, I know.

So, back to the World's Best Chicken...(for full recipe, click here)

The ingredients seemed to be pretty standard. I worried, though, that the dijon mustard might be a little too potent or spicy for the kids. Rather than use the entire amount of dijon, I rather halved it with regular yellow mustard, and put in another 1/4 cup of maple syrup, just to sweeten it up a bit. As you're aware, modification is my favourite, and no dinner would be complete without a heaping tablespoon of minced garlic. Beyond that, the recipe remained true (with the exception of my cooking temperature - stinkin' double oven... I baked the chicken at 435)

My "before" chicken - Look at that heinous pan!!!!

I paid close attention to the reader comments below the post, because I'm always curious as to how other people find the recipe. A couple of people suggested greasing the pan before putting the chicken/sauce in...which I did, but after all was said and done, I would've been better off foiling the pan (my pans are terrible to begin with...this just created a soaking/washing disaster)

So, dinner is served:

My "after" chicken

And what did the peanut gallery think? Well, there was no forcing food down anyone's throat (a dinnertime staple) AND ALL THREE PLATES WERE CLEANED!!!! My four year old said to me, "Mommy, I don't like this chicken...I LOVE IT!". If that's not the world's best chicken...I don't know what is!

Shout Out:
Rachel Schultz. Amazing recipe! Check out her blog for more!

Green Weed Removal

I'm melting...melting.....Oh, what a world!

My family moved into the house we're currently in about a year ago. We love the house! It's a great place with lots of space, mature trees, and most importantly, a safe and friendly neighbourhood. We bought the house in the winter, so I wasn't sure what to expect with the garden. The previous owners were avid gardeners, boasting about all the beautiful plants they had growing. In the spring time (before we moved in) the owners were even kind enough to photograph some of the beauties that we would miss, as we were moving into the place in the summer. I love the idea of gardening and have grand plans on the worst of days on what I would like my property to look like, but I thought that having an already landscaped yard would be amazing. Just move in and enjoy! Well, when we moved in, I did enjoy. There was a variety of perennials, beautiful colours and an abundance everywhere. Unfortunately, there were lots of things to do on the inside of the house, so 1) I didn't really get to enjoy the out of doors all that much and 2) I wasn't able to keep up with the maintenance such a lovely garden needed to keep it looking beautiful. When fall rolled around I didn't want to start moving stuff around because I wasn't sure what was planted where...so I told myself that I would keep track of all the beautiful things that were growing and by the next fall, I would know what to remove and what to keep.

Well now I'm paying the price. Everything is overgrown, and much of the perennials are self-propagating and are finding ways into the weirdest of places. I can't do much right now because the weather is SO hot, if I moved anything, they would instantly die. So I have to wait, and barf at how ugly the garden is. I'm sure the previous owners of the house must drive by and have a heart attack as they see what I've done to their precious garden (or not done, really...). Anyway, in addition to my overrun garden, I have a concrete slab patio in the backyard that is to weeds as bees are to honey. Each crack is a veritable garden of its own. Those self-propagating columbine have also found new homes in each of the cracks, and because my free time is so minute I just can't find the time to make it look nice (the heat is a HUGE deterrent as well!).

I probably should be embarrassed at how bad my patio looks...rather than advertising it.

My aunt suggested I use "Round-Up", but I wasn't keen on using something chemical based because I have two kids that play in the backyard ALL THE TIME. It probably wouldn't be so big a deal except for the fact that one of my children seems to put EVERY SINGLE THING SHE CAN FIND IN HER MOUTH. "Round Up" just wasn't the answer for this particular problem. So, what I needed was a quick fix. One where I didn't need to be on my knees for a whole afternoon in the blazing sun, pulling each flower and weed out one by one. That's when I came across this pin. Advertised as a natural weed killer, this seemed like the perfect solution. I had a look at all the ingredients, of which I was sure I had all, but I started second guessing my regular vinegar. The post suggested using pickling vinegar because of the higher acetic acid content, and I definitely didn't have that. So, I grabbed my bag and ran up to the grocery store at the top of the street. When I was there I came across ANOTHER kind of vinegar, one with an even higher acetic acid content: Cleaning Vinegar, weighing in at 10%!!!! This was gonna kill those weeds DEAD! 

When I got home I gathered all my ingredients together (for full weed killin' recipe, click here) only to find that the only kind of salt I had on hand was sea salt....and not even fine sea salt, but the super course rock kind...GAWD!!! Why don't I do a proper material check BEFORE I START THESE STINKIN' PROJECTS???? I had my mind set on getting this job done, so I was going to do it with the rock salt...

Here are my weed killin' ingredients...Hope this works!

 ...so I put everything together and shook that spray bottle, and shook it and shook it AND SHOOK IT. The rock salt sounded like sand in there, shifting around to and fro...I was hoping that once the vinegar hit it, it would instantly dissolve, but that wasn't to be. I continued to vigorously shake my bottle until my arms started to hurt. That's gotta be good enough, I thought! I took a step outside and was instantly floored by the heat and humidity outside. This day is JUST PERFECT!!!!  I sprayed that mixture like a crazy lady. Nothing was going to stop me now! Then back inside I went (THANKFULLY - I was sweating buckets out there!) and waited an hour for this magic potion to work!

After the hour had passed I was a bit apprehensive as to whether or not this stuff did the trick. Was the rock salt going to foil my plan??? When I came out, this is what I saw:



Gotcha!

 My before and after shots weren't as obvious as the blog's, but those weeds certainly looked like they were having a hard time surviving. I grabbed my yard bag and started pulling. For some reason I thought they'd come out almost instantly, and a lot came out with ease, but some I had to fish out with my weeding tool. I just hope the mixture got to the root of the problem and I won't have to be doing the same thing again in a couple of weeks.




Looks pretty stellar, if I do say so myself!


All in all, this was a success to me. It was minimal effort for a maximum return (for now anyway). The patio looks great (as great as a concrete slab patio can look, anyway)...and it's one thing that's now checked off my ENORMOUS outside To-Do list! YAY ME!

Shout Out:
Get some more frugal ideas/projects from: Full of Great Ideas

Change Purse

This stunning clutch was the inspiration for my "change purse"

After bag and clutch making, it only seemed natural to try out a change purse, no? Especially after the "success" I had sewing my wedding flip-flop holder. Anyway, Pinterest always seems to make it look easy. So easy, in fact, that I convince myself that I can create these masterpieces while my children have their afternoon nap (one hour - maybe two if I'm lucky)...So not only am I making these things with a severe sewing handicap, but I'm also trying to beat the clock. Phew. No pressure, right?


Well, I had some great fabric that I picked up at Walmart (what? no Fabricland? They're gonna pull the plug on my sponsorship...shhhhh!) and set forth making my tiny change purse. I loved the zippered pocket and credit card slots so much from my clutch tutorial, that I thought I'd include them in this project as well. Of course, before I finished this work of art, I'd decided that one of my good friends was going to be the recipient, as this kinda present was right up her alley (when it was done properly, of course!) and her birthday was just around the corner. Plus, I was going to be seeing her at my "girls' night"....so it seemed that all the pieces were falling into place.  UNFORTUNATELY, I had no idea whether or not I was actually going to be able to make this stinkin' thing, and if I was actually able to put it together, was it going to look good? Your guess was as good as mine!


So, I followed this pin, to teach me how to create a clutch. Now, of course, you know my success with clutches...I didn't need another as I'd already created a wonderfully wonky one. My intention this time was to modify the tutorial to suit my needs. I ordered some purse frames from Hong Kong (as directed in the tutorial), but of course, I ordered ones that weren't too big, so that they would suit the change purse sized bag that I was creating. Using the frame's measurement, I created the bag fabric and lining measurements to follow suit. What I didn't realize, however, was that the frame mechanism that I bought was a little different than the ones that are used in the tutorial. Of course, I only noticed that when it was time to attach the already cut/sewn purse and lining to the mechanism...and at that point it was too late to change what I'd done...so I had to improvise a little (This is where the trouble really started...LOL!)


While I was following this clutch tutorial, I was going back and forth to my trusty soy clutch tutorial, so that I could create my zippered pocket and credit card slots. I was hoping this change purse was going to be used on a night out when you only wanted to bring a couple of things with you (driver's license, credit card, debit card, some cash and a cellphone), so I made sure that this change purse would accommodate all of the above. In all honesty, after I had finished sewing it together, it looked pretty darn good (maybe I was getting the hang of this sewing thing after all?????)


Now comes the disastrous part...the purse frame. I had change purse material in one hand and clutch mechanism in the other, and was watching the video tutorial over and over again, trying to understand why her frame seemed to fit nicely and mine wasn't making any sense. Then I noticed that the material for her clutch only needed to be inserted onto one part of the frame on each side of the bag...mine, on the other hand, had to be fit all the way around the frame. So, what does this mean for the hero of our story? Mostly that I had to jam that stinkin' fabric into the allotted area, even though it was cut to fit into the "proper" tutorial frame. What a disaster!!! I used my Gem-Tac (fabric glue) like it was the only thing between me and death. Glue was oozing out of every opening in that stinkin' change purse and when I eventually had one side of the material into the frame just right...the other side would inevitably pop out. So, out came the Gem-Tac again (I may have possibly used an entire bottle of the stuff, when I really should've used a couple of lines!!!) QUELLE DESASTRE!! It was a gong-show! Of course, I tried my best to clean up all the excess glue that was oozing out, but 1)I'm not meticulous 2)I'm lazy and 3) I kept adding glue every two seconds in hopes that the thing would stick together. My saving grace would be trying to get the glue off post dry (could I do it? Only time would tell)


So, I let the glue dry overnight, as directed in the tutorial and in the morning I checked out my creation. It was a disgrace. I could barely open the change purse, as the glue inevitably caked the clasps together. After a little effort, I eventually got it apart. I checked out the Gem-Tac website to see if they had any brilliant ideas on how to get the stuff off, and of course, if one was on top of things, the glue could be removed with soap and water...but I was NOT on top of things, let me tell you. I tried soap and water over and over again, and one layer would disappear, only to reveal another thirty underneath. At this rate, I was going to have to give this gift to my friend next year for her birthday. There must be another way, I thought...so I skimmed google and came across a suggestion to use nail polish remover. I wasn't sure if it was going to tarnish the clasp's metal, but at this rate I surely wasn't going to do much more damage than I'd already done.

This is my ugly gluey mess post soap and water

So I scrubbed and scrubbed, and it seemed to be coming off (I wouldn't say easily, but it was definitely much more easy than just the regular soap and water route!). Then, of course, once the glue was gone on the purse frame I now had to deal with the extra glue (and now nail polish remover paper fluff) that remained on the material itself. Of course, the lining material was black, so it showed everything. I scrubbed with soap and water and a toothbrush over and over again...but it never really came clean (and I was at my wit's end at this point), so I gave up. I let the bag dry, wrapped it in tissue paper and shoved it in a gift bag. I also made sure that when it came time for my friend to open up her present that the lights were as dim as possible (LOL!) Anyway, again, no one laughed at me (although she may be laughing now - and hiding the purse in the back of her closet), so maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought...?


 I've learned a couple of things this time. Watch the tutorial and understand it completely BEFORE you start the project. Cut the material according to the purse frame's measurements (with "seam allowance" of course!) and use the glue SPARINGLY, cleaning up the mess along the way. I will definitely attempt to make this again, only to see if I can make one properly, and if it turns out, I'll gift my friend an early Christmas present (although she may be crossing her fingers that I never make her anything again!)


Take a look at the end result:

Looks pretty good from far away (LOL!)

Shout outs:

Wonderful clutch tutorial from: Cleverly Inspired. She's got all sorts of wonderful posts on food/decorating and sewing, so check her out.
My tried and true soy clutch tutorial from: All Wrapped Up

PARTY TIME!

 

GIRLS' NIGHT IN! Yes!!! I love a girls' night in! Lots of good peeps, amazing gossip and fantastic food! This weekend was girls' night in at my place, so I thought it would be a great time to try out some fan favourite Pinterest recipes as well as one new one (risky, I know!)

My friends are amazing! The group I had at my place last night are a mixed bag of friends from my life. One of them I've known for almost 25 years (GOOD LORD!), 3 of them I've known for 20 years and 2 of them I've known for 15 years. And best of all, we can all get together and create one group of girls who can be friendly, speak freely and by the end of the night we know each others' business (as well as everyone elses!!!!) One major thing we have in common is that we all love to eat (especially me). Good excuse for me to make a ton of food (of which I have an abundance of leftovers, you bi*&#es!!!)

Anyway, I went to the grocery store and bought some easy stuff (chips, fruit) but I thought I would make a couple of things that I love, too; two that are currently my go-to sweet recipes:  1) Homemade Twix Bars 2) Lemon cookies. I also have a love affair with salty dips, and saw one on Pinterest that piqued my interest, and thought I'd give it a try.

HOMEMADE TWIX BARS

The first time I saw these homemade Twix bars on Pinterest I died. My mother and I have been super big Twix fans from my earliest of memories. What could be better than making them yourself ?? These of course, aren't surrounded by chocolate, but rather Twix squares, per se. When I make these (and I make them often) I NEVER veer from this recipe. It's just perfect the way it is. It's a little bit time consuming, as each layer has to be prepared separately and then cooled, before the next layer can go on, but the wait is WORTH IT! The one stinky thing about it, is that it needs to be kept refrigerated, or the caramel layer shifts/melts, making it a silly mess to eat. Definitely not an outdoor picnic kinda treat, that's for sure.

My version of the Twix Square

LEMON CRINKLE COOKIES - Click HERE for the recipe

I love all things lemon, and saw this pin once and thought it looked good, but it wasn't one I needed to try right away. Then it started coming up a hundred times in my feed, each time someone would comment about how they made them and they were absolutely amazing...Now I was curious. When I clicked on the pin it took me straight to LDS Living (which is a website for Latter Day Saints). Now, I don't know much about their religion, but I do know this...

Mormons are hot (have you seen Jef from the Bachelorette????)



Yum!



and Mormons make one heck of a cookie!

Anyway, I tried my best to follow the recipe as closely as I could (it is an award winner, after all!) , but I sometimes don't read the entire recipe through before I start...and miss an important step...as I did in this case. When it told me to add all the dry ingredients together, I did...without realizing that I was supposed to save the confectioner's sugar until afterwards...so, in it went and out some came...Not all...Ooooopsies! Oh well. They turned out so good that my husband and I ate the entire sheet of cookies in one night (with a sugar brick in my stomach). My husband told me that he thought they may even be his favourite cookies of mine ever...which is HUGE, since he's been a staunch supporter of my double chocolate chip cookies (sorry ladies, this recipe is under secret protection) for a decade.  Now that I've been making these cookies for some time, I've, of course, modified the recipe a little bit. I DO NOT add lemon rind. It's just a personal preference of mine (I don't like finding hard nubs in my soft, chewy cookies unless they're chocolate chips...sorry). So, instead of putting the rind in, I replace it with more lemon juice. I usually use a whole lemon squeezed in this sucker. Again, I like lemon. I also add a tidbit more vanilla. As a general rule, I make my cookie dough more wet than normal, and I always underbake my cookies. Just a thing I do. I don't like cookies that are dry and crumbly. I prefer my cookies to be soft baked, so I find that if I make them a little wetter and undercook them only slightly, I always get them just right for me.

Now, because then end result of my icing sugar gaff was delicious, I tend to recreate it, by adding a 1/4 cup of icing sugar to the original recipe (mixed with the rest of the dry ingredients). Finally, my last modification is done only because I have a double oven. My stove has a split oven, so I find that when I bake things at the recommended temperature, they get overdone. So, I've learned to adjust the cooking temperature by about 15 degrees less, so that I get the right stuff. That's just my oven, though. Everyone's oven cooks a little differently, as I've learned thoughout my years of baking.

My version of the Lemon Cookie:

Before



After




















TEXAS TRASH (aka - Warm Bean Dip)

Here's the recipe that I'd never tried before. Could be a bust, right? Well, it wasn't. It was delicious. It was also great, because I was able to prepare it beforehand and pop it in the oven once the ladies arrived. In addition to being daring by making this without a trial first, I testing my luck by modifying the original recipe too...Playing with fire, I know! Anyway, I really didn't do anything other than switch the sour cream to greek yogurt (makes it healthy right? LOL!) I did, however, have an issue with the refried beans. I'd never used refried beans before, and was a little turned off, because the consistency and appearance was basically dog food as it sludged out of the can. This recipe was yummy, but it really needed to stay warm. As it cooled, the layer of cheese became almost too thick to scoop with nacho chips...I was using my chip like a knife to slice through it...Anyway, it tasted good, and that's all that matters!

Warm Bean Dip (Before being warm)...No photo of the during or after...but it looked good and tasted great.

The night was a blast, we stayed up late, talked a lot and ate a bunch (not enough!). And the best way to measure the success of the night was being asked for the recipes...So, here you go ladies! Enjoy! xoxo

Shout Outs:

Twix Bars: Sugar and Spice By Celeste. She's got lots of other yummy recipes to try out too! Have a look!

Lemon Crinkle Cookies: LDS Living.

Texas Trash/Warm Bean Dip: Life As A Lofthouse. Even more delicious food!