Remember I said I won a blog contest that involved a crafting book? Well this is what I won! It's so awesome and I'm so happy to have gotten it.
Added to the blog to do list is a review of it after I make something.
Between work and the kids birthdays things have been crazy. Wee Rose's 1st birthday party is on Saturday. I can't believe its almost been a year already.
This week I didn't get to finish completing any project but I did work on Wee Rose's baby blanket some more. I'm glad I decided to make a more toddler sized blanket because of how long this is taking me. I swear I'm closer to done then is in that picture.
Instead I made my first good apple pie. I love apple pie and I've always been good at the seasoning but not so much at the top pie crust. Well I got it figured out this time. I also took pictures because I was so proud. I used this recipe for the pie crust and this one for the apple filling.
I think next may be a berry cobbler. I've tried it in the past to minimal success, now to find a good recipe.
The blog Happy Together has put up a great tutorial for an adorable nursery item. She does such great things. I only wish I could sew like her. She is awesome at altering clothing. The project includes a tutorial and print outs for the background. If Wee Rose's walls weren't already full I'd be so tempted to make this myself. Umm.. maybe as a future baby shower gift for a crafty mom.
Check out her site though, it's adorable.
I have a large amount of WIPs (work in progress) laying around I realized. This past weekend Hubby and I worked diligently on tidying up and organizing the house some. In doing that I came across an almost completed project. It was a modification from this pattern at MyGurumi. Everything for this crocheted flower was done except it wasn't put together. I had made the stem, all 5 petals and the 2 leaves but they were just sitting in the box. I just finished putting it together and then took apart a wire coat hanger to add into the stem so that it would be stiff.
What is worse is this project was intended as a gift. Yes yes I know really bad of me. But not it will make its way to the intended recipient and I hope they like it.
This got me thinking though. I have a laundry list of intended projects or in progress projects. So each week I'm going to either finish a project or report on the status of one. I have one or two I expect to take longer than a week to complete so I must at least show you all what I have gotten done.
In a way this is to make me accountable. After I have completed my intended projects I'm going to move on to creating at least one thing each week out of my craft supplies stash. This includes my fabric stash and my yarn stash. I can not buy any new primary supplies to create a project, notions will be allowed though. I really don't have that large of a stash of them and things like interfacing. I can not buy any fabric to complete it though. And I hope to continue this through the and of the year.
I guess we can call this a mid years resolution since I never made one in January.
Wee Rose appears be starting to wean herself. She has little interest in her bottles anymore and the only good size bottle she will eat anymore is at about midnight everyday. We think that one is out of hunger. We're trying to adapt to giving her more solids, specifically finger foods that are good for self feeding. Unfortunately her skills there are still developing and it's looking like a mix of spoon fed food and finger foods is best. Well to give her a bit more variety to her diet I went on an Internet hunt for suggestions and recipes. I found this site aptly labeled Homemade Baby Food Recipes.
This morning I put forth on of the sites suggestions in regards to sticky fruit that is hard to pick up. I cut up some peaches and dusted them in baby oatmeal. I'd only call it a so so success. Yes she was able to pick up the fruit easier and eat it better but boy was it a mess. She had this sticky oatmeal on her fingers which she got all over her face and into her hair. We finished off the peaches with just a bowl of oatmeal. I think it worked pretty well as a breakfast. At least she still lets us spoon feed her. When Lil' R switched to finger foods he refused anything but that. He's always been an very independent sort where Wee Rose is much less.
This site has this recipe up which I really want to try. It looks like it's something I could make in bulk and freeze the extras.
Infant finger food recipes - Butternut Squash Ravioli (age 6 months+)
2 oz (1/2 cup) flour (unbleached)
2 oz (1/2 cup) semolina flour
2-3 fl oz (1/3 cup) very warm water
1 tbsp olive oil
around 6 oz (3/4 cup) butternut squash, peeled, cooked and mashed
pinch of sweet paprika (optional)Mix the flours together, then slowly add the oil and water, mixing well (this is easiest to achieve with a food processor set at the lowest speed).
The mixture should become a ball of dough - if it seems too dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time until a ball is formed.
Knead the dough thoroughly, then divide into two pieces.
Roll out each piece VERY thinly.
Stir the paprika into the butternut squash.EITHER
Take heaped teaspoons of the butternut squash and place at intervals along 1 sheet of pasta.
Place the other sheet of pasta over the top and press down around the 'mounds' of butternut squash.
Next, cut around the butternut squash mounds with a very sharp knife.
Create a decorative edge for your ravioli by pressing all the way around the edge with the wet prongs of a fork.OR
Splash out on some ravioli moulds.
They are inexpensive and make it much easier to create perfect ravioli shapes!
NEXT...
Bring a large pan of water to the boil, then carefully slide in your ravioli shapes (we find it best to cook just three or four at a time).
When the shapes rise to the surface of the water, they are ready. Carefully remove them with a slotted spoon.
Serve as they are - with a fresh tomato sauce for babies already enjoying tomatoes - or even with a sauce of another veggie puree thinned with a little stock!
I'll let you all know how it goes.
So remember awhile back when I started my Organizational series? I wrote one on Evernote and Part 1 of a group on Google products. Well I've been diligently trying to work on the the next one on Google Calendar but I use it for so much it's pretty complicated because I use it for a lot. Insert curve ball though in that Evernote just did a major update to 4.4 and it looks like I'm going to adjust a bit how I organize my meal planning. There has always been a kink in my process in that I have always desired a place to have a single list of our favorite recipes to easily reference. Well I've figured it out by combining my use of Evernote with Google Calendar.
I encourage anyone who is constantly bookmarking sites for inspiration in any manner but would love to add notes on top of it then Evernote is the greatest your best friend. I have recently started using it to help organize things in my office and it's streamlining things so well. No more trying to find that single note file I saved on how to do something, now it's at my finger tips, literally, since it have it both on my Android Smartphone and my Nook turned Android Tablet. (oh yah that's another post idea!) So to add to my too do list, my Google Calendar blog post, my Evernote part 2 post and turning my Nook into a full Android tablet.
I know I haven't sewn or made anything in a bit, though I did make my android a case but I really don't like it much. At least not enough to show it off. Maybe I'll try it again and show it off. I've been all about technology recently either regarding the Android, Evernote or searching out new blogs. If you go over to Treegold & Beegold I've added a Blog bundle of all the awesome Pagan blogs I've been reading recently. It's a pretty decently length list and I'll hopefully keep adding to it.
Is there any interest in my discussing Android apps I find useful for organizing crafts & family also? I'm forever hunting out new ones and trying them out. I don't know how many people have smart phones now and are specifically Android ones (though some of the bigger apps are on multiple platforms). If you're interested in that idea either leave a comment or just click the "interesting" box.
Okay well I'm off to make some notes and update my to do list.
In the past few weeks I've won contests at 2 blogs, go me!
The first was over at a friends blog Uniquely Normal Mom, she was having a giveaway for Skoy Cloths. I've started using them around the kitchen for general cleaning, and spills. They really do work well. I won a pack of 4 and I'm sure they are going to last a long time. It's just breaking my paper towel habit that's going to be harder.
The second contest I won was over at Whipup.net. She was doing a multi-day giveaway of Family friendly books and honestly I'm not sure which book I won! Yes I know that's pretty bad but I'm excited to see which comes in the mail soon.
