Peg Doll Party

My oldest daughter, Sarah, turned 10 this week. With the confusion of starting a new school year, we opted for a quiet birthday with a couple of good friends. We chose to have a peg doll party. What is that?? We took old cloths pegs and made dolls with them. It was great fun.
First we helped them by drawing faces.

Then the girls pained on hair with acrylic paints.

Then the girls chose fabrics from my scrap bag to make their dresses. We hot glued these in place.

Here are the creators.

Anne, Sarah, Caroline, Olivia, Hannah, and Natalie.
The creations.

I know it is blurry but it was the best of the lot. No one could hold still.
The Cake

We tried to make mushrooms but got gooey blobs instead. The idea came from Martha Stewart, but I am SO NOT Martha!
I will share the frosting recipe though. It is like crack on just about anything. Holy cow! we were ready to lick our kids faces it tasted so good!
Butter Glaze
2 3/4 sticks butter (11 oz) (I always use salted, it tastes better)
3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp milk
3 pounds powdered sugar (sift it!! ask me how I know!)
Melt the butter over medium heat until good and bubbly. I found that this cooks off any funky flavor in your butter (if you happen to have that). Stir in the milk.
2. Whisk in the sugar until the mixture is thickened but still pourable and so there are no more lumps. (about 4-5 minutes)
USE IMMEDIATELY!!

You can ladle this over cookies, cakes, whatever. Place them on a rack over wax paper to catch the drips.


Little mister JEB sat down on his Lard bucket to enjoy some tasty crunchings and munchings.

August Apron Tutorial - Paint Smock

Teaser!!!
I finished uploading all the photos but have to run out the door to work for a couple of hours. I will finish posting the tutorial then. Hee Hee It is too much fun. Can you see the Kindergarten excitement on her face!

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Ok I am Back from work now and can post away. If you couldn't tell, the Apron for August is a paint smock. This is a pattern my mom made almost 30 years ago when my little brother Jonny went to Kindergarten. I was so jealous and thought it was the coolest thing ever. I loved the fabric border.

On with the tute....

Supplies:

1 yard heavy fabric (denim, canvas or a heavy twill)

narrow double fold bias binding

3/4" elastic

Thread

1. Cut out your fabric 42" by 30" (or the width of the fabric by 30")

(yes I know the photo say 46" that is ok too.)

2. Hem up the sides first you can make this any measurement just fold it under at least 1/2" and then again so that the finished width of the smock is about 38 to 40 inches.

3. Now you need to hem the top and bottom. The top is very important. This is the casing for the neck elastic. I folded mine down 1/2" inch and pressed it very hard.

Then I folded in under 1" to 1 1/4". I also pressed this very hard with the iron. This really helped when I went to sew such heavy fabric. Top stitch this casing.

Hem up the bottom in a similar fashion so that the finished length of the smock is about 25".

4. Now you are ready to make the arm holes.

Fold the smock in half from side to side. Measure down from the top 5" and in from the center fold, 6 1/2". Make a little mark.  Measure over from this dot about 5 1/2" inches (away from the center fold and also 5" down from the top). These are the two ending marks for the arm hole curve.

Now here comes in the technical tool time. Hee Hee. Get a largish cereal bowl. I use a glass bowl I found.

Connect the dots on the smock with the curve of the bowl and use a rotary cutter to cut the curve (or draw it with a pencil and cut with scissors). Make sure you go through both layers.

Now bind off the arm holes with the narrow bias binding tape. I just started in the center of the bottom of the hole and used a zig zag stitch to secure it. It was a little tricky at the corners but if you go slow it is ok.

Oops! I almost for got the elastic. Cut a piece of 3/4" elastic, 19"long. Thread it through the casing at the top. Secure the ends by overlaping and tacking down with thread.

Now you are done!!

Too Cute!

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Now for personalizing your own Smock.

On the original smock there was a pieced border. Of course I had to do the same. I took scraps of my hand dyed fabrics and made some smocking funnesss. One of these is for Hannah, One for Ana and the rest are going into my etsy and hyena cart stores. If you are interested take a look!

Here is the parade of Smocks

The backs of the smocks. It was too fun not to post.

Pancakes Worth Eating

I grew up on good whole wheat pancakes and as a kid I assumed everyone else was eating the same goodness. I was so disappointed the first time I ate pancakes in a restaurant and discovered white pancakes. They looked like pancakes but sure didn't taste like them.
I have to share my recipe with you. I hate to think of other poor children out there eating paste pancakes. These taste so good and are so easy to make. The recipe has been adapted from several sources. The original is from my sister-in-law Lee (she has lots of good recipes at her site), I added my Dad's secret ingredient (corn meal), and my sister Anne's use of 3 eggs.
Whole Wheat Pancakes
3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour (I actually use all whole wheat)
1/4 cup corn meal
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp ground flax seed (optional - this adds more nutrition and fiber)
3 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp honey
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients and whisk them together well (this is important to dissolve the honey and to make sure the eggs are mixed in).
Add the dry ingredients and mix until just mixed together. Don't over mix (mom's rules).
Heat a skillet or griddle on med heat and spoon or ladle batter on and cook until the bubbles stop popping on top (mom's rules again, helped teach a little kid how to make pancakes).
I have found that using a large ice cream scoop makes good 4" sized pancakes.
This batter doesn't make the pancakes too thick. I like it that way they don't get doughy in the middle (something that little kids just can't stand).
The pancakes aren't complete unless they have home made syrup to top them off.

Homemade Maple Syrup
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup water
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 tsp Mapleine maple extract (I get it at my local grocery store pretty cheap)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix everything but the extracts in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. (the corn syrup keeps the syrup from crystallizing). Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add the extracts. Store in a bottle in the fridge.

Apron Find

I found this fun little site last week that has some really cute and fun aprons. I thought I would share the link with you. I am loving my apron. The style is really fun and the fabric is just fabulous. I got it at Parvani Style at Hyena Cart.

July Apron Tutorial - Jeans Apron

OK I know it is the last week of the month. I have been battling what to do for the apron again. I really want to keep to my goal of reducing my stash of stuff and not buy more fabric to make aprons with. That is getting challenging, not that I don't have more stuff, but the coming up with a new idea on how to make aprons from it.
My kids said that I HAD to make a 4th of July themed apron so I used Patriotic fabrics from my stash. I also remembered seeing a Jeans apron idea somewhere and wanted to do something fun with what was left of my favorite pair of pants. (they had a major blow out and I can't wear them anymore.)
For the tutorial this month I will post how I made my version but I am also going to send you out into the net to see some other tutorials from some of my favorite bloggers so you can get more ideas and make your apron truly your own style.

Start off by taking an old pair of jeans and cutting off the waistband and the seat.

Smooth up the sides however you like. I took a plate and made a curve at the corners of mine.

Then I cut up the back seam a little way (4-5 inches or so) and overlapped the pieces so the bottom would lay flat.

Then I cut the yolk at the back of the pants under the waistband and inserted a rectangular pocket inside the apron. (there are more instructions at Betz White). You can make this pocket as deep as you want.

I top stitched the pocket down to give it more stability. ( I intend to use this for heavy crafting so I can keep track of all my tools.)
Then I finished off the edges of the jeans with Bias Tape (because I have tons of it in my stash).
You could just fold the edge under and top stitch, you could rag the edge or you could sew rick-rack down to finish it off.

Then I cut the ends of the waistband off and inserted ties into the ends and secured them. (My son Joe asked why I didn't just leave the button on there to use and then thought about it for a minute and said, "well I guess if it was too big then it would just fall of you mom and ties would be more useful wouldn't they?" Smart boy!! He will go far if he always assumes that things will be too big for the women in his life than too small.) Hee Hee Do be sure to allow yourself enough tie room. Mine are a little short so they don't make a bow.

I also added fabric flowers that I made from Patriotic fabric Bryan bought me last fall. They are so fun and fast to make. The tutorial is at Molly Chicken. If you Google "fabric brooch tutorial" or "Fabric Flower Tutorial" you will come up with some really wonderful and fun things to make.
The other place that I liked was at Kleas.

Mama Byrd Creations Dot Com

I am starting up a new Web Store Through Hyena Cart. It is called Mama Byrd Creations. I am pretty excited about it. This store will feature things that I make for Mamas and Children.

I will have

Bum Stuff

Soap

Baby Carriers

Baby Shoes

Aprons

Hand Made Toys

Dress-ups

Clothing

And other Fun Stuff

I have hired a graphics designer to help me do it all.
Here are some of the Shoe that are going into the store.

My friend Coralee makes these and I sell them for her.

Jeddie has a pair of these and we love them. They are really soft yet really protect his feet.
The design is very authentic. They are made from deer hide. My site is still under construction so I might just put a pair in etsy and see how they go.

Tasty Goodness

I tried some net yummyness this week. Bryan is nuts for good bread. My niece Katie posted a recipe for Quick Sour Dough Bread. It was quick, it does taste like sour dough, and it is very good. I added 2 Tablespoons of flax seeds. This changed it enough that I will have to do some tweaking. It was still very good!


I also went to The Black Apple and saw some yummy cupcakes.

The cup cake recipe is here. The butter cream recipe is here. My secret addition (not secret any more is it!?) is the addition of cinnamon. I added 1 tsp of cinnamon to the cupcakes and 1 tsp of cinnamon to the frosting. The cupcakes smelled just like snicker doodles when they came out of the oven. For more cupcake goodness go to 52 Cupcakes.

Potter Anxiety

Is anyone else having a really hard time finding things to do until Saturday at 12:01 a.m.?
My niece sent along this link the other day and my kids have been singing this song ever since.
If you are a fan and need some Potterness (or Snapeness) to get you through till Saturday, then check out the Potter Puppet Pals and the ticking noise.

Gloria

We have had a new arrival here at the Byrd House.
She was rather shy at first. Didn't like the camera in her face.

Then her true monkey side came out and she just got really curious. She had to check everything out and wouldn't sit still for pictures.

We finally got her settled down and ready for a nap before going to her new mommy, Gwendoline.

Happy Pinkness

I realized that I have allowed the difficulties of life interfere with my blogging. This is my corner of happiness and fun. I need to post more.

My little Hannah turned 5 this month. I can't believe how time is flying. She starts kindergarten in a month. I don't know if I can bare to let her go. She is such a bundle of happiness.
My niece Angelic came here this summer and brought her (and her sisters) a tutu. Hannah wore it non-stop for 3 days. Bryan caught her wearing two of them the other day while I was at work. I was so happy he thought to take a picture.


We also held our family reunion on her birthday. It was so great to visit with my brothers and sisters and their children again. I will post some pictures of that funness when I get my hands on some.
My niece Josie was able to come from Nigeria (too fun to see her!). She brought me a wonderful treat from the markets there.

Not only is it a fabulous apron, but it is also blue, batik , and has a tree on it. All of my favorite things! (I don't know if that was Josie's intent but it was a happy coincidence.)

June -- Clothspin Apron

June has been just the busiest of months. All 4 of the big kids are in summer school so I should have tons of time on my hands. However, I have to work more hours at the health dept and I decided to teach 4 after school classes this summer. Soooooo ...., my time is just gone. Also my FIL is getting re-married today and has sent all of my MIL's things here this past week and I am up to my eyeballs trying to sort through it and return my home to some kind of normal before the family reunion next week.
I have had this apron in my head for a long time and really wanted to make it. I saw a picture of one in the Apron Book and just loved the idea. So I thought about dimensions and drew up a pattern. I would show that but Jeddie did some art work on it yesterday and tore it to shreds. I will have to make another one now but didn't want that to delay this posting any longer.
Here are the dimensions of the pattern pieces so you can make your own.

The apron skirt is made of 2 pieces, a front and a back. The whole apron is a pocket.
To make the pattern, the dimensions are for half the apron (as you would place it on the fold).
The apron skirt is 16" tall, 10" wide at the top, and 12" wide at the widest point.
The front, or pocket, is the same size as the back and has the pocket holes cut out of it. To make the pocket holes, measure out 5" from the center and draw a vertical line. Now measure down 7" from the top and draw a line. This is your cut out area. I curved mine using a bowl or plate as a template.
The waist band is 3 1/4" tall in the center and 2 1/4" tall at the ends. I made a curve near the middle of that just for looks. You can do this any way you wish. The waist band should be 10 1/2" long. (I forgot to add the 1/2" and had some troubles fitting it on.)
The apron strings were cut with the rotary cutter. I cut them 3" by the width of the fabric. I cut one end at a 45 deg. angle for looks. (I thought this would be wide enough to gather at the waist band but it just fit. I would make the next one wider 4-5" maybe.)


Fabric Needs- (this is a great way to showcase a novelty fabric!)
½ yd of theme fabric
½ yd of backing fabric
¼ yd contrasting fabric for the ties and waistband (use some scraps you love)
Double fold bias tape


Cutting Instructions
Cut one front pocket piece on the fold
Cut one back piece on the fold
Cut 2 waist band pieces (you can make this sturdier by also cutting an inner lining out of pellon or some such stuff)
Cut 2 ties (3”X the width of your fabric)


Sewing instructions:
1. Sew the bias binding along the curves of your pockets.



2. Sew the bias binding along the outside edge of the apron with front and back pinned together. It really helps to pin the front down all over the place to keep it from shifting.



3. Pin the waist bands to the apron top. One in front and one in back, right sides together. They should overlap ½ ” on each side. Fold this overlap in so the waistband is flush with the top of the apron skirt. (remember I forgot to add the ½” on each side so mine won’t show this.) Sew a quart inch seam. Fold the waist band up and press.



4. Trim the top of the waist band with bias tape. Sew in place.
5. Fold the ends of the waist band to the inside ½”.



6. Fold down the edges of the apron ties ¼” and then again ¼” and press. Top stitch. Be sure to leave the strait short end plain.



7. To attach the apron strings, insert them into the waistband on the ends that are folded in. Gather the strings as needed to fit them in. Pin them in place and top stitch to secure them inside. (remember that I made mine wrong so I had to attach them from the back.)


Now you are done!! This was so fast and easy (for me). I hope my instructions were clear enough.

I haven't made any extras yet. If I do I will put them in my Etsy account.

The Winners

I know I was supposed to post this yesterday but I was just too sick to remember to post.

Here are the winners of the two Quilt Blocks

Block #1

... goes to ..... kaathy

Block #2

... goes to .... bethany

E-mail me and I will get these blocks off to you.