Sewing: Owlet Totes

Aloha!

  These little Owlet Totes are a perfect fun project for fall. Especially when warmer colors are used to sew them up in a jiffy. I had a lot of fun sewing them up as teacher gifts. The outer material is semi-waterproof. The lining I chose was a polyester green gingham. Very durable and super cute.I did a freehand design and appliqued the pieces in place.I let the edges of the appliques fray a bit. I also did a little gathered pleat at one side of the handle.

~Christie

Jaboticaba Jelly

Aloha!

Hawaii is known for its macadamia

nut trees, coffee trees, mango trees, giant avocado trees, papaya, pineapple, lilikoi, and breadfruit trees. But, the great thing about this Hawaiian tropical climate is that most anything will grow here. Even these Brazilian Jaboticaba trees.

Recently we had an abundance of Jaboticaba fruit on our backyard tree. If you are unfamiliar with this fruit then you should know that it grows on the trunk and branches of the little tree. The fruit itself is plump like a grape or plum and dark purple in color. It has the taste of cherry grape and the texture of a grape. It is very interesting.

 My girls and I decided to pick the fruit off of the Jaboticaba tree. With the mountain breezes and shade of the tree it was a nice experience. Picking the fruit was like picking a plum or plucking a grape...it's almost as fun as pulling carrots. It took 2 hours to yield 2 full pans of fruit. The tree still had fruit left that needed to ripen before being picked. We were glad because we had picked enough! We rinsed the fruit and dried them on large towels.

 I thought I'd try to make some Jaboticaba jelly. Sounds easy, right? Except, I had never really made jelly or jam before. This was going to be a learning experience.  So, I juiced all of the fruit and made 20 jars of jelly out of half of the juice. After a water bath, the jars were sealed, cooled and ready to store. Being too tired to make another 20 jars, I froze the remaining juice for a later date. Which I think was a super clever idea. Great flavor and great in a pb&j sandwich.

~Christie

Getting Ready For Spring.

Aloha!   
Spring is on it's way and it's time again for that special holiday. It comes earlier this year...this month! St. Patrick's Day and Easter in the same month. I don't know whether to put up shamrocks or bunnies. I found this really cute bunny and chick template over at Willowday. It would be super cute to cut out in pastels and string up as a garland. I've been shredding a lot of carrots lately in my good 'ole Kitchen Aid mixer. With Easter on its way...a good homemade carrot cake with cream cheese icing seems like a good choice. I love how quick this machine makes shredding carrots. And the uses for shredded carrots...in salads, cakes, muffins and in this yummy roll up.

I seem to be preparing and eating a lot of vegetables lately. One of my new favorites are blanched and sauteed brussel sprouts with garlic and onions. Ooh, and lots of green salads with feta cheese and walnuts. Don't forget the spinach, mushroom, tomato omelets either. I must be turning into a vegetarian or something. All I know is that the older you get, the healthier you seem to eat. Which is great when you realize that healthy food really tastes best. Although, I will never be able to eat raisins without making a face of disgust.Ick. I just don't like them. Anyway, there are so many fun ideas for the upcoming holidays this month. Here are some of the ideas I have posted in the past. Enjoy.

Click on the pics to go to the links.

~Christie

Sewing: Refashioned Skirt

  Sometimes it is really amazing to make something new out of something discarded. It's curious and wonderful all in the same action of figuring out how to transform a piece. When you start to look at items of clothing as pieces of fabric then you can really see the potential. This is a simple refashion project...almost a no brainer. 
  I found this really easy to sew pattern. It only has three pattern pieces. The skirt front, back and waistband. I had a beautiful ribbon accented skirt with a broken zipper. I did not want to fix the zipper and little girl needed another skirt...so, I decided to refashion the skirt.

  I began by cutting off the waistband and across the top of the skirt to eliminate the pleats that were sewn into place. Then I cut along the side seams of the skirt until I had two perfectly useful pieces of fabric. Then I proceeded to lay out my pattern and cut it out accordingly.

  Since I had decided to use the already sewn hem on the skirt, I placed my pattern edge along the bottom of the skirt. This way I would only have to sew the side seams and waistband.

  The side-seams are sewn and trimmed. The pattern calls for a gathering stitch along the top of the skirt. This gather allows for a fuller skirt and a smaller waistband. The waistband is pinned and sewn onto the top of the skirt with very easy instructions. There is a small slit left on the inside of the waistband for the elastic. Then once the elastic is fitted and sewn, the slit is then sewn by hand. And whala...the skirt is finished and ready for embellishments.

  I had some flower sequins that I sewed in place by hand. I think it turned out quite nice. I also made up a couple more skirts in which I did different embellishments on. On a blue plaid skirt I embroidered flowers. And on a batik ombre skirt I highlighted certain designs with a gold fabric glitter paint. 

  Refashioning is an easy and practical solution to the old adage, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do with out." It is also very satisfying to give new life to something that wasn't being used. So, don't throw out those old clothes that might not fit anymore or have a broken zipper. Repair them or refashion them. Not only will it save the environment but it'll make your wallet fuller too!

Happy Sewing! 

~Christie

Crafts: Valentine's Day

Oh yes.

Valentine’s Day.

  Hearts, hearts, and more hearts. 

Ooh and chocolate too! 

  Yesterday the girlies and I crafted some quick and cute Valentine boxes for their class valentine share. We took a shoe box and cut a slot in the top for the cards to fit through. Then the girls cut out various hearts and used glitter to decorate their boxes. 

It was totally their idea and handiwork.
They were quite pleased with their project.
{Glitter Glitter everywhere!!!}

  If you search my blog there are other posts containing valentine ideas. 

Our craft group of girls sewed up some heart felt garlands that turned out really cute.  

We found that idea over at MADE.

 Aloha!

~Christie