Cuddly Caterpillars

Inchworm, inchworm, measuring the marigold....is what I hear when I think of spring and gardens. The old Hans Christian Andersen movie with Danny Kay singing this little melody. 

It's that time of year again to get into the garden 

for planting and exploring.

Children are often fascinated with such natural findings as inchworms, caterpillars or butterflies. 

This would be a fun project to do with your kids for spring.

Aren't they cute?!  

I suppose you could make a pair of detachable wings to demonstrate how a caterpillar transforms into a beautiful butterfly. Happy Spring.

Yarn: Lei

    In Hawaii, May 1st is May day. It's a time for celebration and everyone knows that May day is Lei day. Leis are a special gift in which are given on special occasions such as Birthday's, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Weddings, Graduations, etc. There are many different kinds of leis. Flower are the most popular and plumeria are the most common. When I was younger my grandma would take me into her yard and we'd pick whatever flower she had blooming and teach me how to string a lei. This involved a very long lei needle and some string. I would watch her make strands of pakalana, a fragrant Hawaiian flower, and tuberose leis for many a special occasion. Later on I learned how to make a haku lei, or head lei, in which were prettiest when baby roses were involved. Unless you grow your own flowers, one must search, find and then gather flowers for their lei. There is always the option of buying one premade, which are beautiful, but making one seems more heartfelt.

       Here are some other yarn leis that have been given to us.  Aloha!

           ~Christie

Washing Day

Today I am line drying some material for 

upcoming projects.

I sometimes neglect the importance of prewashing fabrics. 

Especially if the sewing project is something that will need to be washed in the future.

My pet peeve: Putting the washed fabric in the dryer and the threads tangling up. 

Does anyone know how to prevent that one?

One to Try

Here is a favorite cornbread recipe that was passed down from my mother to me. It is more of a fluffy sweet cornbread that goes wonderfully with a bowl of chili.

Golden Cornbread

3 c. Bisquick (pancake mix)

1/2 c. cornmeal

1 c. white granulated sugar

1/4 tsp. baking soda

3 eggs

1/2 c. vegetable oil

2 sticks of butter or margarine

1 c. milk

*In a large bowl combine the Bisquick, cornmeal, sugar, and baking soda. 

Then add in the 3 eggs and 1/2 c. vegetable oil. 

In a saucepan melt the butter with the milk. Do not boil. 

Add this mixture to the large bowl mixture. 

Mix well with a wooden spoon. 

Then let the combined mixture stand for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350'F.

You may then pour the mixture into a greased 9x13" pan and bake for 30 minutes until done.

Boston Cream Cupcakes

I Love a good Boston Cream cake. 

That chocolate frosting and custard filling. Mmmm...delish! 

Here is a quick way to get that same great taste without all the fuss.

Boston Cream Cupcakes

*Prepare 24 cupcakes following the directions on a packaged white cake mix box. If it calls for eggs whites then omit the yolks. Bake and cool. 

*Prepare one large box of vanilla pudding and chill till thickened.(If you are really pressed for time you can use premade pudding cups.) 

*When cupcakes are cool fill a piping bag or a sturdy ziploc bag with your pudding filling. Cut a little bit of the ziploc point off. Insert point into cupcake and fill cupcake with the pudding. Not too much or your cupcake will split. 

*Then frost the tops of the cupcakes with a prepared chocolate frosting. And tada.....

 

There you have it! Boston Cream Cupcake Bliss! Enjoy.

Love Birds

I had to share these little darlings before 

they fly away to their new home. 

Au revoir!

Laundry Luv

A friend will be leaving on her mission soon to a faraway land. She has been our Primary chorister and we will miss her. My friends in Primary decided it would be a nice idea to make up some laundry bags for the kids to sign and give as a "luvly" gift to our Ela. They invited me to sew the laundry bags up and this is what I came up with to share with you in this tutorial.

The materials I used were: Flannel for the body of the bag. A printed cotton for the bottom section of the bag. Thread, drawstring, and yarn for embellishment. I cut two rectangular pieces out of the flannel measuring at 20" by 42". I then cut two smaller rectangular pieces out of the print measuring 10" by 20". I cut the drawstring to the length that I had wanted in one piece. I also cut two small rectangular pieces measuring 2" by 5" in which I used for the toggles.

I then pressed the fabric and proceeded to fold the printed edge over 1/2" and pressed it with an iron. I then pinned the printed piece to the bottom of the flannel piece. I did this to both flannel pieces.

Sew the pressed edge in place on both flannel pieces.

 

Then pin both flannel pieces right side together. Making sure the seams are aligned.

Pin all around the fabric to ensure straight sewing. Straight stitch the two long sides and then across the bottom of the piece. Trim seams and sew an overlock stitch along the three seams to prevent fraying.

Fold the bottom corners into a triangle matching the two seams diagonally. This is going to give the bag a flat bottom. Mark 2" from the top of the point and straight stitch across.

Trim seam and overlock stitch across. Do this to the other corner of the bag.

Turn the piece right side out and whala....a flat bottom.

Satin Stitch the trim on the laundry bag.

I like how the thread is the same color as the flannel in the trim and satin stitch. I think that the simplicity of it is appreciated.

I then folded the top edge of the piece down 5" and pressed and pinned in place. 

I marked where I would like my drawstrings to be and sewed  a buttonhole on each side of the seam. 

Note that after pressed the fabric I unfolded the fabric to sew these buttonholes

and there is a total of 4 buttonholes. 

After sewing the buttonholes I then used my footer as a guide and straight stitched rows 

around the top of the piece. 

The row stitched for the drawstring around the button holes was twice the width of the footer stitch. I then inserted the drawstring, knotted the ends of the strings and sewed my toggles in place.

I thought that I would hand stitch a letter "e" for embellishment 

and as well as identification purposes. 

I definitely love the durability of it and of course the cuteness is a plus. You certainly could make a masculine version of this laundry bag and use a variety of fabrics. All in all I think she loved it and I wish her the best on her mission! Congrats Ela!