Word Blocks

Wonderfully Wordy sells some really cute word blocks. She has some already made or you can custom order whatever you would like. I wanted to see if I could make some myself, and this is what I came up with. It's just one set of blocks and says "SNOW" on one side, and "LOVE" on the other. Fun little decorations to use for January and February. We are doing these as one of our Super Saturday crafts next month.

Maddy Dress

Isn't this a darling dress? Used this pattern: the Maddy Dress. They are perfect summer dresses, or you can throw a short- or long-sleeved shirt underneath for cooler weather! The pattern calls for way more fabric than you actually need. For the two dresses I made (size 3T & 4T), with contrasting fabrics you maybe need 1 1/2 yards main fabric and about 3/4 yard contrast fabric.

Canning Peaches Tutorial

This is mostly for me so I have it on record, but if it helps others out there...great! This is my method for canning peaches. Last week we went down to my parent's house and raided the peaches from their fruit orchard for canning. We were able to get 30 jars done, which is about 2 1/2 bushels.

After picking the peaches (or buying them), place in a sink of water. Blanche peaches: place a single row of peaches in a dipping basket or pot, and submerse in boiling water for about 30 seconds. Rinse. Blanching the peaches, allows you to be able to slip the skins. If the peaches are ripe enough, the skin slips right off. Otherwise, peel the skin. Slice. You want your jars warm, so I usually just wash them in the dishwasher. If they are already clean, fill with hot water until ready to use. Pour some syrup into the empty, warm jars. To make the syrup, I like a medium recipe: 2 cups of water to 1 cup of sugar. Heat until sugar is dissolved and keep warm on stovetop until ready to use. If that's too sweet use a light syrup: 3 cups of water to 1 cup of sugar, and if not sweet enough...use a heavy syrup: 1 cup of water to 1 cup of sugar. Fill jars with peaches. Now you kind of have to smash the peaches down into the jar. I use a butter knife or narrow spatula to do this and get all the air bubbles out. Fill as many peaches as you can, adding syrup and peaches as necessary. Leave about 1/2" at the top. Wipe clean the tops of jars and threads. During all of this, lids should have been softening. Just place in a small pan and simmer on stovetop until ready to use. I ALWAYS use new lids. Place a lid and clean band on jar. Fill bottom of canner with water. Place on stovetop. Place jars in canner and put lid on. You can do 7 jars in one batch. If you don't have 7 jars, just make sure the jars are balanced (Ex. 4 jars - 2 on one side, 2 on the other). Turn burner on. Once steam comes out, steam for 10 minutes. I put a little mirror next to the steam hole, so I can easily see when the steaming starts. After it's been steaming for 10 minutes, set timer for 25 minutes. This is when the actual processing of the peaches begins. If you don't want to double set your timer, you can just set it for 35 minutes once it starts steaming...the 10 and 25 is just technical. So anyway...after the processing time, remove from heat. Uncover and set jars on towel to cool. Leave for 24 hours, then wash and put away. I may be a big dork, but I love to hear the pinging of the jars as they seal. All right...so that's how you can peaches!

For the Basketball Lovers Out There

Do you love basketball? Look how cute these are. A tie-appliqued onesie and matching diaper wipes case.Several people have suggested that I should sell some of the things I make, so after a lot of toying around with the idea, I've decided to go for it. This was my first sale. I'm still in the process of making my inventory and getting my shop set up, so keep watching for that. This is really scary for me, so we'll see how it all turns out. Hopefully, I can get everything up and running within the next month or two. In the meantime, if you see something you like and want me to make it for you, please contact me sewdangcute@gmail.com.

Bubble Dress

Isn't this dress adorable?Got the idea here. It was a good guideline, but I had to pretty much figure out most of it on my own. If you want to make one, you kind of have to figure out your own pattern, but don't be scared...it's still a really easy and quick sew. I bought way too much fabric. You only need 1/2 yard of the solid colored fabric, and then a little over a yard for the patterned fabric. (I needed 1 1/8 yd for my two dresses). I used 1/4" elastic and cut it the same length as the chest measurement, and liked the results. Another thing I learned...when you sew the straps on, just top stitch the entire top of the dress at the same time. I think they turned out really cute and my girls love them!

Before and After

I've been working on my front room for a while. I have a really pretty window treatment, but it's an odd color and therefore, hard to match things. (I don't have a pic because the sun is always causing a glare, and I keep forgetting to take one at night). Anyway, I'm still working on the walls so I don't have the room completely redecorated, but here are some of the things I've done.

Coffee and End Tables

I was given this coffee table and matching end table eight years ago. They are a little tattered, and I didn't know where to put them in my house. So they've been sitting in my garage collecting dust. I decided to refinish them. I sanded them down, sprayed them with Kilz primer, painted them black, then finished them off with a coat of polyurethane.See the gold trim. I don't love gold, but I had a bad experience with the chrome spray paint which involved me having to remove it all with lots of Q-tips and paint thinner. So it's still gold. Oh well....still much better.

Shelf

We got this shelf as a wedding gift, seven years ago. I painted it black and distressed the edges three years ago, but I couldn't ever figure out how to decorate it. See... Solution? Scrapbook paper, distressed ink, and Mod Podge. Add a decorative plate I won at Bunco, and voila!

Wreath

I actually like this wreath. I made it four years ago, but the flowers just didn't quite match. They were a little too orangeish. I found some new flowers and swapped them out. I like the original flowers better, but the color of the new ones match better so the overall look is improved.

Throw Pillows

I detest these pillows. Always have. Besides the fact that they are hideous, I made them before I knew about things like seam allowances, so they are poorly sewn. So you are probably wondering why they have been sitting on my couches for two years. Well, it can pretty much be summed up to the fact that when I was at the fabric store two years ago, both my kids were screaming and this was the only fabric that matched my window treatment. (Remember it's an odd color). I was sick of looking, and the thought of going to more stores with my kids stressed me out. So I grabbed the fabric, got home and made the pillows, and just haven't found new fabric to match since. A couple of weeks ago, I found some plain fabric that was the right color, so I made black pillows to accent with those. Also, here is a clock and FHE chart I made a couple of years ago. The clock was originally green, so I painted it black and distressed the edges. To tie in the burgundy/purplish color, I found some ribbon and used that to hang the little houses on the FHE chart.

So there you have it. Black and burgundy/purplish color themed. Like I said, I'm still working on the walls. I have some fun vinyl frames of my last name that I made last October. I'm trying to figure out how to hang those with a photo collage of our new family pictures. Then the room should be just about finished, and I'll put up a before and after pic. Stay tuned...

Hammer & Dinosaur Applique Templates

Remember when I made this, and said I wanted to make one for my son. Then remember when I made my first set of applique onesies. Love the dinosaur and guitar ones, but don't particularly care for the truck. Solution: take the truck off and put the hammer on. Much better!

Want to make one of these? Download hammer template here. Download dinosaur template here. If you need help with actually making the applique, see this fabulous tutorial.

Hooded Towels

Ever since I saw this tutorial, I've wanted to make these for my kids. My girls picked out their fabric. I found some matching terry cloth and whipped all of these up yesterday afternoon.

Lemon Cream Dream Bundt Cake

Well I finally tried it out. The lemon cream dream bundt cake. It was yummy. My friend, Ashlee, made it and suggested putting raspberries in the center. I copied her and love the color it adds, as well as the taste of the fresh berries. I highly suggest doing the same if you make this.