T-Shirt Refashioning

My husband had a shirt that was now too small for him. I had always loved this shirt. I couldn't bring myself to giving it away. So I decided to do a little refashioning. This was the XL button up:

These were the cuts I made to make the shirt work for me. I made sure to leave about 1/2" for seam allowance. I also removed the pocket.  

I sewed in the sides, re-hemmed the bottom, took in the sleeves, and sewed the sleeves back on. I used the strip of fabric I cut off the bottom of the shirt as my ruffle.  

 Viola! Good as new. 

Black Friday

Selected styles will be on sale for Black Friday!! If you're not out with the crazy shoppers, you can stay home and be on you computer and still be a crazy shopper. 

Sale will be on selected styles and until supplies last. 

The Reward

I had one of my customers email me this cute photo of her little girl sporting my Millie boots. I just think she is the cutest thing ever.

(Photo used with permission)

Even though some days I feel like all I do is boots boots boots - I have absolutely loved having this little business. I have an amazingly supportive husband - who probably wouldn't want me posting about how he even helps cut out fabric for me!! And I definitely wouldn't be able to do this all without my mother - who would take pride in me posting about the many boots she's cut out, and buttons she's sewn on. A big thanks to all of my customers - I couldn't do this without you! Bring on Christmas rush!!

White Bean Chicken Chili

This is one of my new favorite dishes. It does have a little heat - but I like to think the spicier the better! It's great for the winter months. Enjoy!

White Bean Chicken Chili

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 medium onion, chopped

1-1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 cans (15-1/2 oz.) Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (14-1/2 oz.) Chicken Broth

2 cans (4 oz. each) Chopped Green Chilies

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

3/4 cup fat-free sour cream

1/2 cup skim milk (recipe calls for whipping cream, but who needs the extra calories!?)

In a large skillet, saute chicken, onion and garlic powder in the olive oil until the chicken is no longer pink. Add the beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and milk. Serve immediately. 

Come One, Come All

The Bijou Market starts tomorrow morning at 10 and goes until 8. Then Saturday from 10-5. Come check out all of the cute and fun handmade goods. Just in time for Christmas gift shopping! 

Make sure to find my little baby boots!

100th Sale Discount

Believe it or not, I just made my 100th sale! And I want to celebrate by giving all of my friends and family a big ole' discount. For 100 hours (starting tonight at Midnight...and going through Wednesday morning at 4:00 am), I am selling these boots for only $14!!! That's a savings of $8!

 If you live in Utah and would like to pick them up and save on shipping cost, then email me and I'll give you a coupon code so shipping won't be included. 


Promotion will end on Wednesday morning, or while supplies last. Promotion will end when the boots have been sold out. 

The Bijou Market

I have the privilege to sell my cute little boots at the Bijou Market this November! I'll be at the Provo location, and I can't wait. It's so fun to see everything that the vendors sell. You wont' be disappointed, you'll have to come to check it out. It's also perfect time to buy all of your Christmas gifts. I'm so excited to be a part of it. 

Cowboy Caviar

I didn't name it, but somehow the name sticks.

Cowboy Caviar

1 can of black beans

1 can of Green Giant  White Shoepeg Corn

1 avocado

1/2 cup salsa 

2 diced Roma tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

Dice the tomatoes and avocado. Mix it all together, let it chill for a few hours before serving. Serve with tortilla chips, YUM!

Crunchy French Toast

Crunchy French Toast

For 6 slices:

6 Texas Toast Bread Slices

3 Eggs

1/3 Cup Buttermilk (or regular milk if it's all you have)

2 cups Corn Flakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray non-stick cooking spray on your cookie sheet. 

2. Whisk eggs and add milk. Smash corn flakes. 

3. Take a slice of Texas toast and dip both sides in the egg and milk mixture. Then dip in smashed corn flakes, you may need to pat the bread down into the flakes to make sure some stick to each side. Place on the cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 9-10 minutes. Take the cookie sheet out and flip the bread over and cook for another 9-10 minutes on the other side. The corn flakes should brown slightly.
5. Serve with this caramel syrup.

Enjoy!!

The Q

My husband works for Qualtrics. His boss just had twins... I couldn't resist. 

Boots Boots Boots

My Etsy Shop has caught on like wildfire!! It's a great thing, but I'm so busy I don't have time to do other cutesy things! But there's always time to eat and try new recipes - I'll see what I can come up with!

Quiet Book: Reveal

It was my goal to finish this book by my daughters first birthday, and I finished with 2 weeks to spare! I spent under $25 for all of the supplies, and more than 25 hours making it. I am excited to have this for all of my children (it better last that long!). I decided to name it 'Our' Quiet Book, so when there are multiple children trying to play with it, the word 'My' won't be part of it.

Everything is cut out by hand, then glued or sewn together. It's all made out of a heavy felt (cheap and soft). 

Red: You have to collect all of the apples and place them in the basket.  

The pages are made from a durable apparel cotton-weight fabric. Then there is a layer of interfacing to make the pages a bit more durable. Then there is also a layer of quilt batting to make the pages a big more cushy. They ended up being thicker than I wanted, but it works!

Orange: The fishes snap on and off.  

To do all of the words, I used Microsoft Word, found fonts I liked, then printed it out. Cut the words out by hand, then slowly traced them onto to felt and cut them out from there. It was tedious, but so worth it!

Yellow: The flowers button on and off. 

To finished the edges of the pages I just used store-bought bias tape.

Green: The tent zips open and shut. The fire also Velcros on and off.  

The biggest help in making this book was actual Felt Glue. It doesn't seep through the felt, it doesn't make the felt super hard after it dries, you can't see the glue through it, and it works like a charm!

Blue: Learn to lace up a shoe, and practicing tying a bow/knot. 

The thing that took the longest while making this book, was finishing every single piece that wasn't glued to the page (ie., all of these grapes, the fishes, the cupcakes, etc.). The felt would pull and fray if you don't finish the edge. 

Purple: The grapes Velcro on and off. 

One thing that helps make this book more neat, is doing two layers for the pieces that have Velcro or a snap on the back. It looks tacky if you can see the stitching for something like that. 

Pink: The cupcake tops snap on and off.  

A project like this may take a long time, but by breaking the tasks up into pages you still feel like you're accomplishing something. I always tried to work on one little thing while we were watching a TV show or a movie so that I felt like I was taking advantage of the time I had just sitting there. With something like this that you're going to have for your family for a long time, it's OK to take a long time making it!

Black: Play tic-tac-toe!  The X's and O'x Velcro on and off. 

To attach the pages, I decided just to do button holes, then slip in a 3 inch metal ring to keep them all in place. That way if one of the books gets damaged I can simply take it off and fix it or replace it. I can also add pages this way! I'm excited to actually put this to use!

White: The snowman's hat Velcro's on and off, and his body buttons on and off. 

Fresh Summer Tortellini

Fresh Summer Tortellini
1 Refrigerated Cheese Tortellini package (9 oz.)
2 cups of chopped tomatoes
3 ears of corn (or an 8 oz. frozen corn bag - thawed)
1/4 cups fresh minced basil (you need it fresh, it makes such a yummy difference!)
12 Spears of asparagus
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
2 tsp. olive oil
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

Cook you tortellini according to the package directions. When there is 5 minutes left, add the corn. Once it's finished cooking, drain and rinse with cold water.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put tin foil on a cookie sheet and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Spread out asparagus, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for about 12-14 minutes. Chop up spears in 1 inch pieces.

Chop the tomatoes. Mince basil, and mix with the tomatoes. Add the asparagus and Parmesan. Add the olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix and combine with the corn and tortellini.

Enjoy!

The Winner is...

Marie Green!*

Congrats Marie, and thank you to everyone who entered into the contest! For those of you who entered, I'll send you an email with a coupon code to get a pair of boots of your choice for 30% off! 

They come in sizes:

0-3 months

3-6 months

6-9 months

9-12 months

and a bigger size with a "Non-slip" bottom upon request. 

Here are a few new styles:

Check out my etsy shop here.

*For those of you wondering how I chose the winner...I took all of the entries and put them in an excel spreadsheet, so that each entry was given a number. Then I went to www.random.org, and used the random generator. Marie was #26 and that's the number that the generator popped out! Try again next time!

Giveaway: beck-a-boo Baby Boots

I've had so much fun making these little boots, so I decided to sell them! To get the word out, I'm going to give away this pair for free. Free. No delivery fee. No nothing. All you have to do is enter to win! Even if you don't have a baby of your own, enter for the give away and you can give them to your friend, adorable niece, granddaughter, neighbor or whoever as a gift. 

Here's how to enter:

Comment. Leave a comment with your email address. Easy as that, you've entered into the giveaway!

For 2 bonus entries:

 Follow this blog. Leave an additional comment telling me your a follower and you have another entry into the giveaway!

Blog/and or Facebook about this giveaway. Leave another additional comment with a link to your blog. 

Good luck! 

The contest ends a week from today, Wednesday, September 7th at midnight MST. e

Quiet Book: Sneak Peek

I started making this Quiet Book a few months ago, and I'm almost done! I only have two more pages to go, then I have to figure out how to put it all together. In the mean time, here's a little sneak peek of a few of the pages I've completed: 

Stay Tuned!

Two-Handed Hot Pad

Two-Handed Hot Pad

Heat-resistant fabric (or Insul-Brite batting)

Fabric (I actually used an outdoor canvas type of fabric to make it a little less resistant to kitchen messes).

Bias Tape

1. Cut.

(1) 6-1/2" x 50" piece of Fabric

(1) 6-1/2" x 50" piece of a different Fabric

(1) 6-1/2" x 50" piece of Insul-brite (if you have a heat-resistant fabric then you won't need one of the other pieces listed above). 

(2) 6-1/2" x 8" piece of Insul-brite

(2) 30" pieces of bias tape

(2) 6-1/2" piece of bias tape

(1) 5" piece of bias tape

2. Sew Fabric to Heat-resistant batting

To keep you heat-resistant batting place and to prevent from bunching you need to sew a checkerboard pattern to connect (1) piece of cotton and (1) piece of heat-resistant batting. The right side of the heat-resistant fabric goes to the wrong side of the cotton. Sew diagonal all in one direction about 2" apart. Then turn it around and go the other way. 

3. Extra Protection.

Take your small piece of heat-resistant fabric, measure 8 inches in from the end of the large piece of heat-resistant/other fabric and pin on the top and bottom edges. Sew in place only on the top and bottom edges. Complete on both sides. 

4. Attach other cotton fabric.

Sew the two long pieces of fabric together, wrong sides together. I sewed them together with a 1/4" seam allowance, and then zig-zagged the edges (or you could hem them with a serger if you have one). 

5. Sew bias.

Take the 6-1/2" piece of the bias tape and sew it on the end of the hot pad. Do this for both sides. Then fold in 8" and pin in place. 

6. Loop.

Take the 5" piece of bias and fold and pin in the middle of your hot pad. 

7. Finish.

Sew on the long pieces of bias on each of the long sides of the hot pad.