I'm a Loozer!

If you were my swap partner and you got this apron.....

...... would you truthfully say that it was better off LATE than never??

Yes I am a late swapper. I will not tell you which swap it is for because my partner would know and because then you would know how big a LOOZER I am. Life jumped up and BIT me this summer and fall and things are not happening as I had hoped.

The apron was very fun to make and I think should be sized up so some of us chubby chickas can wear it too. What do you think?? yes that means I am asking for comments.....

How To Prepare for Sewing

One of my bestest frineds at Quilt Guild brought in this quoat for us. We all laughed so hard we were dieing. It was great!

Does this describe your preparations for sewing time?!?!?



(an excerpt from: Singer Sewing Guild: A Complete Reference Guild to Sewing first published in 1949)

"When you sew, make yourself as attractive as possible. Go through a beauty ritual of orderliness. Have on a clean dress. Be sure your hands are clean, fingernails smooth --a nail file and pumice will help. Always avoid hangnails. Keep a little bag full of French chalk near your sewing machine where you can pick it up and dust your fingers at intervals. This not only absorbs the moisture on your fingers, but helps to keep your work clean. Have your hair in order, powder and lipstick put on with care. Looking attractive is a very important part of sewing, because if you are making something for yourself, you will try it on at intervals in front of your mirror, and you can hope for better results when you look your best.
Again, sewing must be approached with the idea that you are going to enjoy it, and if you are constantly fearful that a visitor will drop in or your husband come home and you will not look neatly put together, you will not enjoy your sewing as you should. Therefore, “spruce up” at the beginning so that you are free to enjoy every part of any sewing you do. "

I have not laughed so hard in months! French chalk? Maybe some French Chocolate. My favorite is the "... you can hope for better results when you look your best." Hey when I am in my sewing room in full sewing mode, I don't care who comes to the door, they better not bother me. hee hee

I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did!

OK OK!!! This post deserves a give away. I don't know what yet, I will think of something tomorrow but post your comments. I what to hear you all giggling. I will pick a lucky giggler and send her something really fun. You have until next Thursday to post a response and let me know your favorite bit.

Ok I have a plan and it is coming together so here is a hint as to part of the give away.

My niece Rebecca and I came up with this give away. A wonderful red lipstick is the perfect give away to help you "make yourself as attractive as possible" hee hee. And Rebecca assures me that this Apple Berry lipstick is one that is designed to look good with all skin types. What is even better is that when you buy a Apple Berry lipstick from now till December something they will give all of the profits to the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation. They provide monies to breast caner research and to break the cycle which fights domestic violence.

So the give away is a lovely Apple Berry Lipstick and some French Mint Chocolates from my good friend Rachel's Bakery Shop AND a little sewing treat, all to fit in a lovely Mary Kay bag.

You get an entry for posting here and you can get an additional entry for the drawing by going to Rebecca's Mary Kay site and registering there.

Retro Day

Our quilt guild, The Newtonia Battlefield Quilters held a mini retreat today. It was called Retro Day. The theme of the day was projects from the 1930's and 40's.
There was a gorgeous table runner with a wonderful vine and flowers made from 30's fabrics. There was a really fast and simple quilt made from 30's fabrics too. Of course I was too dumb to take pictures.
The other project just so happened to be an apron pattern made from vintage apron from the 1930's taught by yours truly. It was so cute and yes I took pictures. Each lady took her own spin on the apron.

These are four of the sweetest ladies I know. It was so much fun working with them today. There were several others there today too but they didn't get to making the apron.

We also had to bring our finished blocks for this year's raffle quilt that we sell chances for to make money for the guild to fund things like our Project Linus quilts and quilts we give to our community members when there is a need. (several went out with the tornado we had here and we will be making several more to donate.)

Aren't they gorgeous! I am so excited about this year's quilt. I love 30's fabrics.

Happy Blog Day To Me

I have been blogging for a year now. I can't believe it. Last week was my actual blog day but I was too busy to post then.

Here is where I started.



This this post about my Halloween costuming attempts.

I have done so many things. It is amazing to look back over the year and see an actual record of what I have done. Here are some photos of my favorite things.

My first quilted post card.

My first "Not So Sock Monkey".

My Soft Baby Shoes

My first apron tutorial.

The ice storm.

Cooking with my kids.

My first Tie One On Apron.

Cloth Diapers.

A Hogwarts Birthday.

Mama Byrd Creations.

My Ipod winning Mother's Day Apron.

My first tutorial on Whip-up.

The Peg Doll Party.

The starting of Prairie Hen Day.

My recycled Jeans Apron tutorial.

Sexy Apron Day.

Four Seasons Doll Quilt Swap.

Henna Hair

and Train Love.


In Honor of my very First Blog Day I would like to give away some things to my blogging friends.

First off is one of my Ozark Patchwork Christmas Stockings.

Second is on of my Original Mama Byrd Aprons.

And third is one of my Recycled Jeans Aprons.


How Do You Get One of These??
Enter a comment telling me something new you did this year. This will get you one chance one win something. If you blog my give away and post a link to your post in a comment, your name will be entered again. (thanks Domestic Chicky for that idea).
The deadline to get your name in the drawing is Midnight Saturday November 10th. I will put all the names in a hat and draw 3 lucky winners out.

I just wanted to say to all of you that come here that I have really enjoyed blogging with you this year. I was so nervous to start. I didn't think I would have anything to say or share that anyone would want to read. I have learned so much this year and have made some really good friends. I would list them now but the list would be long and I would just die if I left someone off the list. I love you all and thank you for stopping by and brightening my day with your comments.

October Morning

I love fall! Yes I know those trees are still green in late October but there is an almost imperceptible line of color change in them. The air is finally crisp here in the morning. Time to pull out jackets and make hot cocoa. In Missouri the fall lasts for weeks. I love how nice and cool it is. I think Bryan and I are going to go out and start shopping for a wood stove. We have so much wood this year, thanks to the ice storms. If you look closely at the tree line above you can see some of the skeleton trees left from that storm.

We made hot cocoa and toast this morning in honor of the cold weather. The kids were most happy. Fresh hot cocoa and toast made from home-made, whole grain bread is just one of those things that make this life the best. The only thing that would have made it better would be to have the milk come from our own cows. (next year! maybe)

Here is my hot cocoa in one of my favorite mugs which my brother Joe made.


This is our basic cocoa recipe

6 cups milk
3/4 cup cocoa syrup

Mix and heat in a pot.

Variations:
Mexican Cocoa - add 1 tbsp cinnamon and a pinch or two of chili powder.

Flavored cocoa - add a tsp of your favorite extract like:
almond
orange,
mint
rum
etc.

Cocoa Syrup
1/2 cup sifted cocoa powder
1 cup sugar (we use sucanant and it can be cut to 3/4 cup)
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup boiling water
1 tsp vanilla

Combine the cocoa, sugar, and salt in a sauce pan. Add the water gradually, stirring until the mixture is smooth.
Cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Boil 1 minute and remove from heat and cool.
When it is cool, add the vanilla. This makes about 1 1/4 cups syrup.

Hen Day - Book Group

I totally biffed it and didn't take any pictures at hen day. I just wasn't thinking. I had to beat it back home to get my Hannah Baby when she got off the bus all by her 5 year-old self. (I just made it before the bus turned down our dirt road.)
All is not lost thought! Jill Blogged Hen Day. We made diapers for Jill and had yummy home made Pizza. Rebecca Made the Pizza and should post the recipe on her blog!

Today I went to Book Group. I have wanted to do this for months but never got the time off to go. I don't work of Fridays now so (if I can remember to) I can go.
For today's meeting we were to read The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy.

(I cannot recomend this version of the Scarlet Pimpernel. It doesn't follow the book and was so dissapointing. The old 1935 version was much better.)

I have to make one of those real life confessions here. I happen to have a learning disability.
I don't read very well. I am really slow at it and have to kinda fight my way through books. I was very fortunate to have a mother that picked up on this at a very early age. She too had the problem. She read to me as often as possible. She also purchased books on tape for me. At age 9, I could barely read Dick and Jane, however, my interest was much higher than that. My favorite books to listen to in 3rd grade were Robinson Crusoe, The Three Musketeers, The Sea Wolf, and such. Thanks to the books on tape, I was able to enjoy the literature I craved.
Anyway, my point is that I didn't have time to read the book so I looked for it in an audio form. I also didn't find out what the book was till Sunday and didn't have time to go out and buy a copy. I got lucky and stumbled on Libri Vox. It is wonderful. People all over the globe are working together to get free audio books out there. I am so thankful. I found the Scarlet Pimpernel here. I was able to down load it chapter by chapter and listen to it as I had time. My kids were so excited. Some of them have inherited forms of the reading problem and all love literature.
Today I also have the DVD arriving from Netflix. I can't wait to indulge in the romance of it all.
Next moth, the book group is coming to my house. Since it is November, I chose the Scarlet Letter. Something good and Puritanish in time for Thanks Giving.
I found a public domain recording here. You can download it chapter by chapter.

Hen Day - Weeding and Henna Dye Tutorial

Today was a very eventful Prairie Hen Day. We went to Vea's house. She worked really hard sewing up some great shirts for her daughter's shop.
We came over to help her clean out her flower beds.

We weeded for a couple of hours and things were greatly improved.


My kids had a short day at school so they came over and helped weed too.
Joe made a pretty great find.

It's a good thing Miyuki couldn't make it this time. Hee Hee
We also had some Good Food.

It was my turn to fix the food and I chose a South Beach Friendly recipe.
This was originally a Flank Steak recipe. I didn't have any Flank Steak so I used chicken.
Here is the Marinade.

Marinated Flank Steak Salad (only it's chicken today)
3 garlic cloves crushed
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1-2 tsp. hot sauce
1 tsp thyme
Mix and put it in a bag with your meat (chicken, beef or pork).

Cook it up in a frying pan with all the sauce. Let it cool just a bit and slice it up and serve it on salad with a little ranch dressing.
It is sooooo good.

NEXT we had quite an adventure! I dyed my hair!
My fellow Hen, Jill, is a proficient Henna hair dyer.
I mixed up the dye last night and let it set to get the henna to work.

It has the consistency of a fresh cow pie. (smells like one too)
Here it the recipe I used.

Emma's Henna Hair Dye Recipe
250 g henna powder
10 black tea bags
2-3 Tbsp ground cloves
2 Tbsp paprika
1 2/3 Cup lemon juice
Olive oil (some)
Mix all the ingredients together until it is the consistency of yogurt. (that is where I add the oil till it gets that way). Leave this to sit and work for 12-24 hours. The henna needs time to activate and has to have an acid to do that.

You can get more detailed and better information at Henna for Hair.

This morning, before we started weeding, Jill put this stuff on my head. It was a bit thick so she added some water to thin it out.

Really work it in all over.

(yes it felt as nasty as it looks)
TIP You can put a thick layer of petroleum jelly around your head to keep from having an orange ring of skin around your face. I don't have any as I detest the stuff and refuse to buy it. You could also maybe use those strips of cotton that they use when you get a perm.

Next we bagged it up to let it set.

Then we had to wait. Weeding took up most of that time but we finally quit waiting after about 3 hours. (they recommend at least 4)
Then we had the chore of washing the gunk out. That was a chore! The recommended way is to use about 1/2 a bottle of cheap conditioner to help you get it out.
Well, I left that home so we had to improvise. Shampoo helped a little.
Then I had the brilliant idea to use Vea's marvelous hand-made Lye Soap. It did the charm. It really lathered up and got all the gunk out. The I rinsed my hair with about 1-2Tbsp of vinegar in about 2 quarts of water. I rinsed it with water again after that. All the gunk came out. I was very impressed.
It took an eternity to dry as I have hair that is thick enough for about 3 people.
Her is the finished result.

Inside, it just looks auburn. Outside in the sun, it is very red.
I like it. (jumping and giggling) Bryan likes it too. :o)
It has the wonderful aftereffect of making my hair smell like gingerbread.

Brave Hair Day

How brave are you?

I chopped off my braids today! I couldn't stand it one more day.

I cut off a bit more than I planned on and had to have it fixed.

I actually like how it turned out.

To celebrate, I made myself a head band.

You can get instructions here at Pink Chalk Studios, or here at KC Quilts.

Tag You're It

I just got tagged by Jessica on her blog (Zakka Life) and it's my turn to return the favor.

This is a fun Internet Tag game.

The rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

7 Facts About Me
1. I am the 12th of 13 children.
2. I have a BA in Early Childhood Education.
3. I am a very part time Breastfeeding Peer Counselor at our health department.
4. I live on a small farm next door to my parents and raise chickens and goats.
5. My dream was to live on a farm in Missouri, raise exotic poultry, run a berry farm, and raise Welsh corgis.
6. I teach Sunday school.
7. I am terrified of heights and can't climb stairs that have open backs.

(That was really hard! Either I am really boring or I talk too much and have already given you too many details about my life.)

Tagging 7 People
1. Alisa of Iron Springs Art is about the coolest school art teacher ever! I wish my kids were in her classes. Her new blog is filled with the projects she is doing with her new job.

2. Angelic at No one listens to wise old me has a great outlook on life and just makes me smile. She also takes the most beautiful pictures. She also makes some pretty tasty food at Tasty Temptations.

3. Deanna of Domestic Chicky does wonderful graphics design. She also happens to be one of the Apronistas.

4. Alice of Future Girl has wonderful information on sewing with felt.

5. Michelle of Greeting Arts has all kinds of marvelous crafting information.

6. Kathy of Pink Chalk Studios has very exciting quilting related projects for you to check out.

7. Jeanne of Jeanne-b has a very new blog. It is wonderful though, full of quilting, brownie, and family goodness. (she is also my big sister)

I got a package!

I love to get packages. It makes my day to find one in the mailbox or see the UPS or FedEx truck drive up. I sell just enough in my etsy store to buy things from other etsy stores. That wasn't my plan but it works.
Today I got a package that I have been wishing for for months. I got a Snap Press!

What is a snap press you ask? It is for putting snaps on things that you want to have snap. I got it because I make cloth diapers and I want to put snap closures on them instead of using diaper pins or Velcro. (actually you can't use diaper pins on the diapers I make) I will be having a diaper making marathon in a little while with Rebecca and will post some pictures of the diapers and the wonderful snap closures. I can't wait.
I did get out the smock aprons I made and put snaps on the back of them instead of buttons. It was so fun and easy. I am searching the house for things that NEED snaps. The press resides in the living room and everyone bows to it as the pass because they know how happy it made Mama Byrd. Actually they just can't leave the thing alone. It is so shinny and new and fun to play with.

Pinewood Derby

This year was Joe's final pinewood derby. He turns 11 in April and will graduate on to the scouting program. I can't believe he is that old already.
This year he put a lot of effort into his car and had a lot of fun working on it.
(it was a great incentive to get him to finish his home school work)
Joe didn't win (I think the track we were using had a problem with high centering because his car would shoot off way ahead of the others and then slow way down when it reached the 1/2 way mark.) He did have a ball though. He won the award for sportiest car. His did look the most like a car. I was glad that he had done it all himself. He got a kit and found some cool things to add onto his car and really had fun cutting, gluing, sanding, and painting his car.

Here Joe is trying desperately to NOT look like a nerd. He is old enough now to be self conscious and is aware that when he gets in front of a camera that the nerd comes out in him from time to time. :o)
His mother thinks he is handsome.