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. 

Mini Chocolate Cupcakes with Blackberry Buttercream

I found this recipe on The Crafty Penguin, and the color of the frosting was what inspired me to make these delicious cupcakes. There's no added food coloring, just the blackberries! There are a few added steps in the cupcakes, but it's worth it, they're so fluffy and moist.

Mini Chocolate Cupcakes

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, chopped up

1/2 cup boiling water

2-1/2 cup cake flour (I used all-purpose flour)

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup butter (salted)

2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs (separated)

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

Prep: Line mini muffin pan with mini cupcake wrappers. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

1. Sift the flour and backing soda in a separate bowl and set aside. 

2. Separate the egg yolks and egg whites and set aside. 

3. Pour the boiling water into a bowl with the chopped up chocolate chips. Continue to stir until all of the chocolate is melted. Put the bowl in the fridge to cool the chocolate until you are ready to add it to the batter. 

4. Cream the butter and sugar in your stand mixer for about 5 minutes. 

5. Add the egg yolks and vanilla, just until combined. 

6. Slowly mix in the chocolate. 

7. With a spatula fold in a 1/3 of the flour mixture. Fold just until combined. Fold in 1/2 of the buttermilk. Fold in another 1/3 of the flour. Fold in the other half of the buttermilk. And then the rest of the flour mixture. 

8. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with a whisk until medium peaks form. (This may take about 10 minutes). Then fold the egg whites into the batter. Do not over-mix. 

9. Scoop the batter into the mini cupcake tins with a small ice cream scoop. Fill up about 2/3 high. 

10. Bake for 12 minutes. Check with a toothpick, it should come out clean. 

Blackberry Buttercream

1/3 cup butter

2 cups blackberries (1 cup for the buttercream, and 1 cup for decoration)

4 cups powdered sugar

Cream the butter and mix in 2 cups of powdered sugar. Add the blackberries. Slowly add the rest of the powdered sugar until it has your desired thickness. Frost your cupcakes, and add a blackberry on top! Delicious and beautiful!