Wedding/Party invite idea.

I came up with this a long time ago and just came across it again. If you like playing cards or gambling or as in my case just like the look of playing cards, than this is kind of a cool idea for invites or favors.

I cut a King of Hearts and a Queen of Hearts in the same zig zag pattern and then attached them to each other. They blend well. 

You can see by the back that it's basically seamless. 

Simple easy, nothing to it. 

Patriotic Earrings

Not really an experiment as I've made earrings before, but I used stronger wire. (Sorry for the poor pictures.) All have fresh water pearls. 

Patriotic dangle post earrings. 

Slightly more elegant patriotic dangles on hooks. 

Itty bitty patriotic dangles on posts.

For the nonconformist, completely untraditional patriotic dangles on hooks. 

Posable doll

This was going to be in the pocket of the activity quilt, but then I decided to include clothes and house stuff, and so...it will be a future Christmas gift. Mady wants one too, and of course I already planned to make her one. This one (first try) is so ugly that I think it is going to be my mannequin anyway.

I've had this book for years, and my mom had it before me. It was published in 1953 and I've always planned to make these dolls, but was just to dog gum lazy to do it. I even promised my brother when he was like 4 to make some to ride in his trucks, and never did it. He is now 17 and at boot camp. 

It says to hand sew with tiny even stitches. Total sign of the times, no way would most kids do that nowadays. I did though, as it's so small, it was easier than with a machine. 

The skeleton is made of pipe cleaners so that the doll can bend and sit on furniture (or in trucks).

Then lay it out and draw around it on the fabric. 

Pin the fabric and sew around it BEFORE you cut the doll out. Leaving a hole in it's head you put the skeleton in and then use a skinny object to push cotton down around it. 

I used embroidery thread for the hair and used that to sew up the "skull" so that I didn't have to be too neat with the seam. I also gave her a little bow. Told you she was ugly. :)

The back, with a toothpick to remind you how small she is. 

Decided to try to make her some clothes. 

Looks cute, but I picked the wrong fabric cause all it does is fray...so this dress is no more. 

Trying again....

So there you have it! Perfect little doll house doll. She can actually go into a quiet book as well, which is kinda what I'm thinking.

I (eye) spy/activity quilt finished!

OK, before you go on, remember these things: I can't sew well (no straight lines or anything like that), I don't plan, I don't cut straight, I change my mind and add things when it's too late, and I don't pin (I did this time, but only at the end when it would have been really stupid not to), but considering all that...I am SOOOO proud of this thing! And excited and just down right giddy!

Remember the previous post, this is for a child who's parents are very much waste not want not people. Everything must be useful and take up as little space as possible. This would cover a newborn, but would only be a lap blanket for your average child.

The first part I did is the I/eye spy part. A bunch of squares with different things for the child to find. The back...the back! Is an activity quilt. It may not look like much (remember what I said to remember above) but it's still the bee's knees as far as I'm concerned, and I'm going to make something similar for Mady too.

The close up pictures were pretty much all taken before the main thing was sewn together.

From left to right. Learn to button, braid, and lace/tie a shoe. 

Same

Under the shoe laces is a sleeping Pooh Bear. (He was a total after thought. I ended up adding him after the rest was sewing together. Not the easiest way to do it.)

Learn to zip and snap pants. 

Inside the pants. (Another total afterthought. The idea that the pocket should actually have a back. When it's closed you can see it sticking out since it sewed it on after the fact.)

A pocket for storing letters for another activity. 

Snap on letters to learn to snap. I didn't do the whole alphabet, just enough to spell the child's name. (Here is where my lack of planning bit me a little.) The spotted fabric is stretchy, and when you pull the letters off...you risk ripping it. So...to remedy that I coated each snap with Elmers GlueAll, thereby making them strong and no longer stretchy. That stuff is awesome. :)

Learn to velcro. 

One of the velcro shapes is a book that opens with a few kinds of animals written inside. 

Little pocket to store the velcro shapes. (And learn about putting things in pockets.)

Learn to buckle a belt!

Here it is all laid out before I sewed it all together. The backing is an extra baby blanket I had. 

Here with some of the stuff out. 

FINISHED!!!!!

And the other side that you've seen already, with the new edging. :)

So happy! ;) Told you it wasn't pretty, but for someone who doesn't do any of the afore mentioned things, I'm dang proud of it. :)

Experimental Pork (Yummy!)

Complete Experiment, but it turned out really good.

Boneless pork chops
Soy sauce
Brown sugar
Cinnamon
Ginger
Ground Cloves
Potato(s) (Peeled and cubed)
Pineapple or apple or pear or whatever. I used Pineapple. (Optional*)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place the chops in an 8x8 glass baking dish, add potatoes and fruit. Put on soy sauce, sugar, and spices and place in oven for one hour. Put them in a bit longer if you want them super tender.

I baked them for an hour and then since Chris was late getting home stuck them in for another 15 or so minutes to reheat. He isn't a fan of the fruit with meat as it makes it sweet, but my baby loves pineapple with some flavor, so that was more for her. He said they were good in spite of the fruit though.

I don't typically measure anything, especially when it's 100% experiment, so just put on what looks good to you. They fell apart in our mouths. Yummy!

Solution to unwritable calendar tiles.

As promised I said I thought I had a solution to the cookie sheet calendar conundrum of not being able to write on the tiles and I do. Took me a while to post even though the tiles themselves have been done for several days as it is so hard to find certain things in this town.

Tada! Chalkboard paint, balsa wood squares already precut to the right size and magnets. 

Per instructions two coats of paint and then cure with a coat of chalk wiped off with water. 

The thing it took me so long to find was the chalk. Walmart is always out of stock and I finally got Roseart from Target. I'm not a Roseart fan, I'm a diehard Crayola girl, but had I not settled, this would never have been done. 

Isn't it lovely!? 

Several new experiments

Made this for my pumpkin to wear at her party. 

No, I don't like beer that much, those are really her initials. 

Mady painted this. It's a 6"x6" canvas. She also ate it, and wasn't pleased. 

These were last minute. I didn't have anyone to help me do pictures and we tried to do them inside first and that didn't work out. Outside worked like a charm. While she played I cut these out of a cardboard box and modge podged scrapbook paper on them. They were ready to go after her nap. 

We did this on her birthday and the other ones (painting) the day after.

So cute!

This is an idea I got off of pinterest. She really loved it. She only stuck her hands in the paint while sitting on the canvas so I picked her up and helped her and she really got into it then. Slipping and sliding and squishing it in her toes. She loved it. We had such a good time. We did this while Daddy was at work and had the finished product hanging on the wall above his chair when he got back. 

I had the kitchen sink filled with water ahead of time to just bring her in and wash her off without having her run paint all over the house. 

Quiet Book is done and a success.

She actually looks at it a lot more than I expected. It always takes her a bit when I make her something, but this she took to right away. I go over the colors with her and she says, "Blue" pretty clearly. I'm sure it's because it's the easiest color, but still cool. :)  


I used binder style rings from the embroidery section at Michael's. I reinforced the two cover pages cause they are just single sheets, but the others are double with glue in the middle so I just cut holes in them.