Year of the Mouse - PPP - Pincushion

Year of the Mouse 2008

This year is the year of the rat/mouse. I thought I would do something with that theme. Then I realized that I am a rat/mouse born in 1972, so is my son Joe born in 1996. You can check out the links to information. It was a fun read.

On to the tutorial. As I have said before, this year my tutorials are going to be PPP's, pincushions, potholders and pies. I started in on this project the day my dad had his heart attack and now I finally have a free minute to get back to it and finish it.

Mouse Pincushion

Materials:

6 inch square of fabric

felt scraps

yarn

stuffing

black purl cotton

Instructions:

1. Take the 6" square of fabric and cut the corner off. I measured in 2 3/4" from the corner in each direction and cut it off.

2. Fold the square in half to for a triangle and sew along the long open edge. Turn right side out and poke out the tip with a sharp object.

3. Fold the top edge under and stitch by hand with a gathering stitch.

4. Stuff firmly with batting and draw the gathering up tight.

5. Insert the tail and stitch in place. If you are not able to stitch the hole up tight you can cut a scrap of the felt and tack it in place.

6. Cut out some little ears from the felt scraps. Stitch them to the head and add eyes and whiskers with the black purl cotton.

You're Done!

O Mio Babbino Caro

O my Dearest Daddy

My Dearest Daddy passed away past last night.

My father was almost 86 years old. He was born during the early 1920's.

By age ten he was the head cook and bottle washer at his father's farm out in the Utah Desert.

I love this picture. You see the concern for his responsibilities in his face. My son is much like him.
He served a Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints in the Minnesota and Canada.

This is his mission photo. Wasn't he handsome?
He served stateside in the US army during WWII. His older brothers were overseas.
He married my mother in the Salt Lake Temple in 1949.

They had 13 children. (I am number 12). I was the daughter of his old age. He was 50 when I was born.

(that is me and our donkey Jenny)
It was pretty wonderful to come at the end of such a large family. I got to share many things with my brothers and sisters but got a lot of my parents later time to myself. This was pretty special.
Some of the driving forces in his life were his love of the Lord Jesus Christ, and his family.
Most of my favorite memories of him involve him reading to us from the scriptures.

Another passion in his life has been the Boy Scouts of America.

He participated in the program and loved telling stories bout a scouting jamboree in Washington DC. He worked with most of his sons and some of his grandsons with the scouting program.

Here he is with my little brother Jonny at a scout camp. My dad was a master fire builder and taught me how to successfully build a fire with one match by the time I was eight.
He passed this information on to my son Joe.

My son finally mastered it the week before my father passed away and was thrilled to be able to tell him of that before he passed.
My favorite memories of my father of him with my children.
Twelve years ago my father suffered a massive heart attack and had to have 7 bypasses done. I remember the doctors saying that if he didn't find a purpose to live, that he would not live long. We all loved him and liked having him there but none of us NEEDED him like he needed to be needed. Two months later my oldest son was born and my father was NEEDED.

You can see the scar on my father's chest from the heart surgery.
When Joe was six weeks old, I had to return to work as a school teacher. My father was his primary care provider.

He took care of Joe everyday until he went to Kindergarten.
To keep himself healthy, my father would walk at least a mile everyday all year round.
Right up to the last, he walked to keep his heart going. It worked.
Last year Joe was home schooled and would walk every morning with his Papa.

This is one of my favorite pictures of my dad and Joe.


They had great times together. My dad was the best story teller. He loved to read stories to the little kids.
My father, being a college professor, always used big words with Joe and all my children. My son had a very large and interesting vocabulary. My father loved Geology and taught it for many years at BYU. My son loved paleontology and the two of them loved to identify rocks and fossils.

My father continued to help care for the rest of my five children. He was great to hold them, love them, and sing to them. He sang my children a special lulluby that his mother sang to him more than 80 years ago.
Wind of the Western Sea,
Blow, Blow, breath and blow,
Wind of the Western Sea,
Over the rolling waters go,
Come with the dieing wind and blow.
Blow him again to me,
While my little one,
While my pretty one,
While my little one sleeps.
(this is the poem by Tennyson)


I think though the best memory we will have of my father is his last day here. He was moved from ICU to a private room before hospice took him home. Bryan was able to bring the kids up to see him that morning. He was rallied himself and really had a good time with my children. He told them he loved them, cheered them up and gave of his great kindness to them. My little Hannah is only 5 years old and it just broke her little heart to see her Papa so sick. He called her over to him and she crawled up with him and he took time to comfort this little girl. It was a pretty tender moment in our family.

I appreciate the concern voiced by my blogging friends that have taken the time to track my down and find out where I am. I am sorry that I haven't been here to post for a couple of weeks but dieing isn't an easy thing to go through.

PPP - Pincushions, Pot Holders, and Pie

This year I am going to be posting new tutorials. Last year was aprons, and this will be pincushions, pot holders and pies. I will still be aproning all over the place but most of my tutorials will be for the PPPs. I will be posting this months Pincushion, pot holder and pie very soon.

Sassy Apron Swap - Spring 2008

OK, I have been sitting on this bit of information for about as long as I can.
I am going to host 4 apron swaps in 2008. I am so excited about this, I can't stand it!!
The swaps will be run though my new Apron Swap Blog.

The first swap is due in March and the aprons are to be made with a Spring Theme. For all the details go here to read up on them and sign up. I can't wait to see all the aproning friends that come!!
*(The very talented Deanna of Domestic Chicky Designs created the lovely button for me.)

Gyoza Soup

OK, I am so trying to South Beach it right now with my Prairie Hen Promise and all. I have a hard time coming up with recipes that are edible. Today my nieces Rebecca and Amanda came over for a Henna day and we (with the help of Miyuki) came up with the most marvelous low carb soup. We wanted Gyoza really bad but that involves carbs and some frying action. I can't have that so we turned it into the soup.

So here is how we made this carb friendly.

Gyoza Soup

Meatballs:
1 pound breakfast sausage (you can use ground pork)
1 inch of fresh ginger grated
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1/4 head cabbage shredded
1-2 green onions chopped
Mix together and make into balls and drop into boiling water in a large stock pot.

To this pot now add:
Chopped cabbage (we had about 1/4 cabbage left but more would have been nice)
3-4 chopped carrots
2-3 ribs celery chopped
(any other veggies you happen to have that you think would taste good)

To make the stock tasty add:
6-8 tsp chicken bouillon
1 tbsp miso paste (optional but sooo good)

Boil this together until the veggies are at their desired softness.
When you are ready to serve it add:
1 tbsp soy sauce
a big drizzle of toasted sesame oil

Enjoy!!

Just For Me! Hee Hee

As I was out shopping for last minute supplies last week, I found this wonderful combination of fabrics.

I screamed BUY ME LUCY!!
So I did what all self respecting fabric addicts do, and bought it.
No it wasn't on my list, nor was it in the budget but it had to be mine.
I did do good things with it though. I had my sister Eileen of Oregon for Christmas this year so I made her a most marvelous apron from it.

I had to make one for myself at the same time. I would take pictures of it on but it drowned my daughters and I can't take pictures of myself very well. Besides, I have bed hair and am still in my Jammies and you don't need to see that. hee hee
So.... here are the other shots of it.


up close

Those fabrics just make me happy. I am in apron love.

December Apron - Repurposed Skirt

OK here is the quickest Apron Tutorial yet. I wanted something that would be fast and easy and require little sewing skill.

Materials:
-One thrift store skirt
-scrap fabric for ties (unless you use the skirt)

Directions:
1. Go to the thrift store (or your closet) and find a skirt that you like but don't want to wear as a skirt. Choose something out of cotton if possible. A denim skirt makes a good heavy apron and is a great way to re-purpose and out of fashion skirt.


I found this apron in a box of fabric at my mom's house. It must have been a costume that belonged to one of my older sisters. My girls thought it looked very Cinderella-ish and want it for an apron.

2. Cut the skirt up the back, removing the zipper or buttons or what ever is there to close the skirt.

Use a rotary cutter and ruler to even up the edges if necessary.

3. Make the ties.
Option 1 - Cut two strips from a coordinating fabric. I cut mine 4" by the width of the fabric (about 42").

Option 2 - If the skirt has ample fabric, you can cut two strips from the back when you cut the skirt open. You can cut them about 2-4 inches wide by the length of the skirt.

Which ever you choose, you will then need to hem the edges and ends as you desire. I folded mine under and top stitched them.
4. Now finish off the edge of the apron. I just folded the edges under and stitched them down.

Then I attached the ties at the top of the waist band.

Now you are done. You can add a pocket if you like. If the skirt already has side seam pockets you already have some.

Prairie Hen Promise

Whew! Christmas is over, again. I love Christmas but usually feel like I am crashing the day after. After weeks of living on adrenaline and no sleep and being hopped up on all kinds of Christmas candy, I am ready for some sleep and nothingness.
It usually motivates me with thoughts of "this won't happen next year!" and the like.
I do look forward to the new year. It is fresh with no mistakes in it. I love the chance we get of making our lives over once more and the hope to get it together better this year.
On that note I wanted to tell you about the Prairie Hen Promise. The Hens and I got together here at my house yesterday. We talked about what worked this year and what didn't. We found that when we are called upon to do something we usually are able to pull it off, even at the last minute because we are pretty smart and talented. However, when we promise ourselves that we will do something, we rarely do it. There is no accountability and we find ourselves shoved to the back burner for other's more pressing needs.
This year we are making the Prairie Hen Promise to stick to our goals. Since each of us in the group are house keepingly Challenged, we have set some specific goals to help us conquer the chaos and give ourselves a peaceful Christmas next year. This year I am going to work on a Christmas project each month so that I am finished by Dec 1st and can enjoy my family the way Christmas was intended.
I have broken my promises up into some categories. Each month I will set new promises on my Hen Day and will return and report my progress.
Here goes for my January 2008 Prairie Hen Promises

1. The Home - I promise to shine my sink every night before I go to bed.

2. Organization - I will start at my front door and organize one closet, cupboard, drawer, or shelf at a time. You can't clean clutter. I will Give away what I don't need, Throw away what is beyond help, put away what is out of place, and store what I want or need in proper storage areas.

3. Food - I will fill out and stick to a monthly menu plan for dinners. another meal planner

4. Finances - I will not impulse spend in January. If I really want something, I will add it to my list and save for it.

5. Physical - I will return to my South Beach Diet for the whole month of January. I will also work out at least 5 days per week.

6. Spiritual - I will read 5 pages of the Book of Mormon every day.

7. Preparedness - I will purchase 800 pounds of wheat.

I am so excited to have someone to be accountable to for the goals I want to accomplish.
I have some goals I want to accomplish on my blog here as well but you will find out about them soon enough. hee hee ... It's gonna be great in 2008!

Gingerbread Hot Cocoa

I thought I would share some of our family's Christmas Traditions. (I hope I get more than just this one posted.)
Every Christmas my children and I usually make hot cocoa mix of some sort to give to our friends and family for gifts. A couple of years ago we stumbled onto a recipe for a spiced hot cocoa. It has quickly become a family favorite. It tastes like gingerbread Cocoa.

Here is the recipe:

Gingerbread Hot Cocoa Mix:
1/2 cup sugar (we use sucanant)
1 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
Blend the mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container with a lid until ready to use. Makes 3/4 cup mix.

To make hot chocolate, add 3/4 cup mix to 2 cups water and simmer for about 4 minutes. Stir in 6 cups milk and reheat. Add 1 tsp vanilla and serve.

For single serving:
Add 1 1/2 Tbsp mix to 1/4 cup water. Boil until thickened. (I don't think it need the full 4 minutes here) add 3/4 to 1 cup milk and reheat. Add a bit of vanilla and enjoy.

We like to package this up and send it with Christmas goodies to those choice friends that love spicy things.
Check out this link for many more hot cocoa recipes.

More Ornament Fun

I received three more ornaments this week from the ornament exchange.

First I got this stocking from Jennifer of Jennifer Yellow Hat from London.


Next I received this Octopus Fun from Jennie in Brooklyn, NY.


Finally I received this fun ornament from Camilla in London.


This has been so much fun. I can't wait to see what else I get. I am expecting 5 more ornaments in the next week or so.

Monkey Love

I do follow in the footsteps of my mother from time to time.
I too make Christmas ornaments for my children. I know that someday soon she will not be here to make ornaments for them. I wanted this tradition in place so that when that day does come it will already be in place and the transition will not be as hard.

This year I made Monkeys. I couldn't decide what to make and then saw Jeddie put my little Ivan monkey on the tree and I decided to make a tiny Not So Sock Monkey.

I did not make 99 like she did but I did make 30 of them.
I also happened to participate in a couple of swaps this Christmas that made in necessary to make a few extras.

This is Hannah's White Monkey. I let each of the kids pick out which monkey they wanted. It was funny to see them pick the ones I had actually made with them in mind.

I have 4 extra monkeys over at my Etsy Shop. If you want one before they are gone, go snatch it up.