Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday!! He turns 49 today. He doesn't like extra attention or when we make a big deal of his birthday so hopefully I can keep him in good spirits with the delicious dinner we are making for him tonight. On the menu is a big, fresh salad to start, then a nice flank steak prepared by a very seasoned chef (my hubby Jessie) along with homemade spätzle (made by yours truly using my dear Oma's recipe), and then the grand finale:



This was made using the Wilton giant cupcake cake pan. It looked bigger in the store but I'm still pleased with how it turned out. I made the extra cupcakes to fill the empty space on my lovely Fenton cake stand. Again, I apologize for the quality of the photo but this is reason I was stuck in the kitchen last night! Not to mention all the time I've been spending on making all my Christmas presents....

What's For Dinner?

Last night was pretty much a wash with the nasty weather and the knowledge that there was another work/school week to prepare for. The only dilemma was what to make for dinner. Nothing was defrosted and I didn't particularly care to do anything complicated so we decided on pasta. I did take the time to make a batch of my homemade sauce and it was so delicious. See for yourself:

I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures - I took them with my phone because I was busy last night.

Rain, Rain Go Away!

It is a very cold and very rain Sunday here in my area today. This morning when I took my dogs outside, I literally skated over a thin sheet of ice straight across my patio while my 13 lb. dog Bianca pulled me with her leash. Thank goodness for the patio furniture!! That's how I stopped myself before falling. As a result of this nasty weather I am having a difficult time finding the motivation to do anything productive. Pretty much that means I've been laying on the couch under a blanket watching Myth Busters and Dirty Jobs since noon:) Such guilty pleasures!

As usual, my brother Jeffrey has been hogging the computer for a few hours and just walked away so it was a good opportunity to post another hint for a lucky recipient of my homemade Christmas goodies. Take a look for yourself :


What do you think? If you have already seen the finish please don't give away the surprise!

Just a Peek!

I know I said I would post again last weekend but it just didn't happen. Time got away from me and I can't believe how fast Christmas is approaching.

Did anyone see The Office this week? I just love their Christmas episode every year - it's just hilarious. It gave me an idea about my posting because in the episode, Dwight's Secret Santa sends him a part every day until he has enough pieces to put together his mystery machine. In the spirit of Dwight, I thought I would post a few hints at some presents I've been making but I won't post the complete finish until they are gifted.

For your viewing pleasure, this photo also features beautiful Fenton milk glass rose compote. I scored this lovely piece at an antique store this summer for only $10. It is not part of the gift.

For those of you keeping track, this is post 2/25. Until next time, happy crafting!

I'm Back!

After a very long break from my thus far meager attempt at blogging, I am back and I have loads to post. The holidays are fast approaching and I've been busy with making lots of homemade gifts and surprises for my friends and family. I manage to squeeze this crafting in between the kids sports and school events and my hectic schedule so it gives me great pleasure to have so many finishes to post:) Some of my upcoming posts will be just a peek at gifts I have in store for a few lucky people (and I don't want to give to much away!).

By far the largest finish I have completed was upholstering a chair that I bought at a church thrift store for only $10. Originally, I intended to finish this and give it to a friend who recently bought a house and had no furniture (literally) besides her bed! She's one of those people who likes to take great time and consideration before making big decisions like picking furniture which is very unlike me - when I see something I like I can make up my mind in an instant. But I digress ... As it turns out, Andrea decided that she wanted the chair for her room and begged me to keep it. This is what the chair looked like the day I bought it:

What you can't see in this picture is that the chair had decent structure and the previous owner had taken good care of it. It had clearly been recovered at least once and I suspect that the springs in the seat are newer (not original). My favorite part of the chair is the heart shaped back. It's a dainty lady's slipper chair and I love it! It took some time, but I removed every staple, nail, and fiber right down to the wood and springs. Then I recovered it with new foam, batting and muslin. It was a lot more work than I thought it would be! I found a really cute fabric to slip cover it with and it was a bargain at only $1.50/yard. *Keep in mind that I did this freehand with no pattern. Here is the finished product:



Isn't it cute? The fabric is a crushed velvet with roses embossed all over it. I love it! To cover the imperfections, I also made a little pillow to cushion the back of the chair. What do you think? I would love to read your comments. It fits the shabby chic decor in Andrea's room perfectly and she's pretty happy with how it turned out. It's her new reading chair.

Stay tuned for more posts to come this weekend and in the upcoming weeks. I am thinking of rising to the challenge posted on Coleen's blog over at Cha! Cha! Gigi and I might just post for the 25 Days of Christmas. I can't make any promises though because the kids are usually online all night working on their homework, so I'll have to wait my turn to get on.


Until next time, happy crafting!

Yuck

That just about sums up my mood today. I have no new finishes to post and I didn't get to work on any of my projects this weekend likeI had planned. Instead, the last few days have been hectic with doctor appointments, back to school shopping, helping a friend move and mother nature wreaking havoc on my immediate area. Also, unfortunately for me, I dropped and broke my camera this morning so I won't be able to post any photos for a while until I have it repaired or buy a new one (speaking of which, I can't decide what to do because it's a $100/fix or $150/new camera). I am especially sad about this because the camera was my birthday present and I was planning on using it for our family vacation this weekend:(

Helping my friend move wasn't so bad except that her new place has a very narrow spiral staircase and she's on the third floor!! No matter how hard we tried, we girls could not move her queen size mattress up the stairs. We even tried to sit on the mattress and fold it with bungee cords (it was the end of the day and we were very low on strength, lol). I brought my hubby back the very next morning and within minutes he had the mattress folded in half and up both flights of stairs. Thank you Mr. Verizon installer who helped with this major feat. We couldn't have done it without you:)

My entire area had tremendous flooding from all the rain that dropped over the weekend. Firemen were out with boats and rescues were going on all over the place. One rescue in particular hit close to home - my stepmother had to be rescued from my father's BRAND NEW car that she sunk in the flood water. It took a few firemen arm-in-arm to get her out of the car because the force of the water was preventing her from opening the door. Sadly for my dad, it was the first new car he has ever owned. Ever. He pretty much never lets her drive his car. I don't know why he would let her take it in the middle of a flash flood watch, but he did. She sunk it and I have never seen him so angry. I felt so bad for him - it was really depressing. I'm sure it's totalled but he's still waiting to hear from the insurance company. On the bright side, at least my stepmom made it out safely and no one else was injured during her rescue.

That's all for now (and that was a very abbreviated version of events from this weekend!). Hopefully I get my camera situation sorted out soon.

Busy Busy Me

Things have been busy in our house this week. Soccer practice, basketball playoffs, summer reading and computer problems are just a few of the things that have kept us preoccupied. I have quite a few projects in the works and so little time to work on them! Right now I have an assortment of different projects that need my attention like needlepoint, quilting, crocheting and a re-upholstery project. It's hard to choose what to work on when I do have spare time because I enjoy each one. You may wonder why I have so many in the works - but then again, if you are an avid crafter like me, you probably have just as many (if not more)! I really just like having a variety of stuff to work on. I can pick and choose depending on my mood. In all honesty - I tend to avoid all of the real work I need to do like hemming and sewing up holes in my brother's jeans (he only dropped his clothes off 2 months ago!!).

I did manage to finish one project earlier this week and I would have posted it sooner but my computer was suffering from major problems. And it's really not 100% finished but it only has a few stitches to go. This is the baby blanket that I quilted for the newest addition to our family - my brother's second child Ryan. He's such an adorable baby! The colors of the blanket match his nursery. I especially love the backer - it's super soft chenille and the dots match the border fabric from the front of the quilt. Here it is:

I picked busy patterns for two of the fabrics and I just wish that I had spent more time figuring out the best placement to isolate the different characters. That would have taken me a lot longer and I probably would have had to sew individual squares together and it would have been hard to keep straight, etc. Keep in mind that I am self taught, haha! Hopefully Ryan likes it:) That's all I have for now. We have an early appointment with Andrea's hearing specialists in the morning and we have to be up and out of the house before 6:45 am. I hope to have another finish posted by the end of the weekend. We'll see...