Snack Bag Tutorial

This Snack Bag is approximately 8.5X7 and can carry all sorts of dry snacks. It can be tied to wrists, belt loops, strollers, car seats, etc. I made my insides out of unbleached organic cotton for safety. Some quilting and other fabrics can have formaldehyde in them and you wouldn't want that next your kids food now would you? Now I know that organic cotton might sound fancy and expensive, but considering that you can get 8 snack bags out of just one yard and you can buy said yard at JoAnns for $9.99 (or even cheaper if you use a 40 or 50% coupon) I don't think it's that bad. I would also suggest unbleached cotton or possibly using an old t-shirt. The straps and embellishments are on the outside so use whatever you have on hand, scraps, old baby clothes, etc. I made these instructions super easy, so sorry if they seem redundant to some.

Materials needed, 2 8"x10" pieces of organic or unbleached cotton, 2 pieces of 3.5"x8" of your embellishment fabric (optional), 2 2"x12" pieces for your ties, 8" of 1/4" elastic. Now, if you are going to make more then one of these I strongly suggest making yourself a pattern out of a paper bag, it will make things go a LOT faster. You will also need scissors, iron, pins, ruler, a safety pin, and a sewing machine (or needle and thread).

Start off with strap pieces, fold both sides in 1/4" and iron smooth.

Take one end and fold it in 1/4" and and iron. Then trim each end like shown below, this will make is so that when folded nothing sticks out. You only need to do this on one end of each piece.
Then fold pieces in half, iron and pin in place.
Sew closed with about an 1/8" seam allowance (As close to the edge as you can get)
The next step is optional, go ahead and skip it if you don't want to bother with the embellishment on the front. Take you front pieces and turn the sided in 1/4" and iron flat

Pin them on the front of the 8X10 pieces about 2.5" from the bottom. Sew along each side length wise about 1/8" form edge of embellishment fabric. Do this on both pieces.
Sew in place with an 1/8" seam on both ends, repeat on both pieces.
Line up both large pieces right sides together, making sure to match up the embellishment pieces. Pin in place. Sew along sides and bottom with 1/2" seam allowance. I went around my fabric twice, once at 1/2" seam allowance and again at 1/4". Not to sure how well you can see it in the picture below. I did this for extra security. Trim the bottom corners, making sure not to cut along you seams
Fold down top of bag 1/4" and iron flat.
Then fold down 3/4" and iron flat.

Take the ties you made earlier, overlap them and insert them into the fold you just made about 2/3 of the way down (leaving room for your elastic, pin in place. Pin and sew around the top leaving a half inch seam allowance, leaving a 1" gap near one of the sides so that you will be able to thread the elastic through. When you come to where you ties are go over it several time, you want these to be really secure.
Take you elastic, attach a safety pin at one end and close it. Thread it through your opening safety pin side first.
Once you come out the other side sew your elastic together laying one on top the other. Go over this several times so that it is secure

Sew your opening closed. Take your ties and fold them back over. Making sure not to catch your elastic sew in place, go over this several times as well. Trim threads and turn right side out.
Tad-da-li-lah! Fill with snacks, attach to child and watch them skip away with glee.

45 Minutes in the Kitchen

So, yesterday after making several Snack Bags and taking the pictures for their tutorial I decided to reward myself with 45 minutes of baking. This is what I came out with:


Yummy sandwich bread for the week, with fresh ground flour and......

Delicious homemade spinach and olive pizza, the only thing that could have made this night was some feta to sprinkle on top YUM!

I am amazed at what good second hand kitchen appliances and a little bit of practice can turn into. Before I was married I would have been shaking in my boots at the thought of making these things, now I enjoy it! Crazy huh?

Pretty new bag

Here's the purse I made this week, it's actually the second, the first was to shallow and the strap wasn't long enough. This one fits be much better, I can fit a sketch pad, my organizer notebook, makeup, wallet, etc.

You can also see part of the pretty dress M bought me for our anniversary. I totally love it, it's very "50's housewife". I hoped to have a new apron to show off, but the pattern was all wonkey and it ended up being WAY to long, I'll get back to that when the inspiration hits again.

P.S. The Snack Bag tutorial is coming this weekend!

Snack Bags

So, this is something I was working on last week, some really nice snack bag. They have an elastic top and can be stretched for little hands to get in and some nice ties that can attach to belt loops, wrists, strollers, baby carriers, or car seats.. Here's P with hers, it has pink poodles on it.
This is me modeling L's, she was at a sleepover so therefore couldn't be my hand model.

This is L's laid out on the table. The inside and main part was made out unbleached cotton, so I had to throw some cuteness onto the ties and top. As soon as I get some more unbleached cotton, I'm going to put up a tutorial, yay!

Sweet Treats for Celebration

Yesterday was the 4Th anniversary of the day I married my sweet sweet M. We celebrated with true decadence. I made my love a very delicious (if I do say so myself) cake with a strawberry filling and chocolate cover strawberries on top. M showered me with gifts and a night out, I really do love daisies and he knows it.

I've been working on a new project and will post more about it in the morning hopefully.

Fantabulous day trip to Sacramento

I think this picture just about sums up how well the day went. L had an absolute blast, but apparently it wasn't the best day ever, because she didn't get to play long enough LOL. 4 hours straight is just about all the "fun" we can handle.

L's loved the Cinderella pumpkin coach, while P was in love with the art projects, I sure am glad they wore play clothes!

Aw, aren't they sweet? I'm so glad we got away today, we are feeling suffocated by the smoke and just needed a day of fun! The air is so bad, I not supposed to bake, which of course is all I've been wanting to do. Finish 2 scarves though, I will have to put those up later. It's only 9pm and I'm ready for bed....

Cute Shirt, Grumpy Baby

I made this shirt for P today, it would have been finished yesterday if P wouldn't have pulled on the thread and broken my needle when I was ironing in the bathroom (the only baby free place in the house). They aren't the best pictures of her or the shirt, but she's in kinda a foul mood and not up to modeling. Anyways, it's from this tutorial http://indietutes.blogspot.com/2007/07/peasant-blouse.html . I'm currently in love with online tutorials, so easy to understand and usually don't take more then a couple of hours, what's not to love about that?

The Begining

Yep, this is the beginning to a wonderful blog, if I do say so myself. One where I can ramble on for as long as I wish about the thing I do, the things I love, and anything else that tickles my fancy (does anyone else love that phrase?). This is mostly a crafting blog, but considering that I label myself as a amateur crafter I will probably throw in some other things about my life. Like my baking (yum), my photography, and my sweet children L & P and my delicious hubby M.

Here are some pics of what I was up to this past weekend (besides making this blog) to start things off.

An adorable Twirly Skirt I made for L from this tutorial

http://houseonhillroad.typepad.com/photos/twirly_skirt/

Delicious triple berry pie

5 cups frozen mixed berries (I used blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries)

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 cup water

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Pinch of salt

2Tbsp butter (optional)

1 Tbsp milk

1 Tbsp sugar

2 pie crust, homemade or store bought

Put berries, cornstarch, water, honey, cinnamon and salt into a medium saucepan cook until slightly thickened about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Poor into pie crust. Top with 2 Tbsps of butter in thin slices. With the second pie crust you can to lattice, or cute cute shapes out with small cookie cutters. Lay the second crust onto a floured surface and using your floured cookie cuter cute our your shapes about 1" apart in a approximately 8.5 inch circle. Then fold in half and then in half again. You may want to use a spatula to pick it up an the position it on the top of your filled pie. Cut of excess and press the edges. Then brush top with milk, and sprinkle with sugar. See, easy as pie :P