Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Reagan at 5 Months

Five months old and as cute as can be. Still easy going, still smiling at everyone, and still giggling at her siblings crazy antics. No teeth as of yet, and I still haven't started her on baby cereal or baby food, and no nap schedule yet either, but we're working on it.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Slow Cooker Potato Soup

This is my absolute favorite soup to make, it's not only incredibly delicious but it goes together quite quickly. And it's made even better and easier since it's cooked in a crock pot. I especially love it with a few dashes of hot sauce stirred in and copious amounts of french bread to dip in it. This is the perfect recipe for a hearty soup sure to chase any chills and hunger pangs away with the first spoonful. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Potato Soup

7-8 lbs. potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 small onion, chopped
2 TBSP. butter, softened
1 tsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
6-7 cups water
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 -2 cups milk
1 lb. Velveeta, cubed (optional)


Place the potatoes, onion, butter, chicken bouillon, parsley, salt and water into a slow cooker. Set on low and let cook for 6 to 8 hours. At least 30 minutes before serving, whisk the milk and flour together until there are no lumps and mix into the soup. Cook for 30 minutes or until the soup is thickened. If you want a cheesy potato soup, right before serving add the cubed Velveeta, stirring until it's melted and well combined. Serve the soup with crusty french bread for dipping. 10-12 servings.
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Saturday, October 13, 2012

KCWC #5 Lewis from 'Meet the Robinsons'

This 'KCWC' go round I decided to work on one of the boys Halloween costumes. Mathes decided this year he wanted to be Lewis from Meet the Robinsons, and since he has the perfect hair for it already, I figured why not? Add to that the fact that Lewis wears a simple enough outfit consisting of red shorts, a blue sweater vest and white shirt and I knew I couldn't refuse.
 It didn't take long to make, and I rather like the end results.
I made the shorts using a light weight canvas cotton, with an elastic waistband, and patch pockets on either side of the leg.
  For the blue sweater vest I took a blue t-shirt and cut off the sleeves, folded in the hem and stitched it down all the way around. Since it had a crew neck, I then carefully cut the neckband out and removed all of the loose threads from it and set it aside, cut the round neckline into a v-neck, then re-attached the neckband all the way around finishing off the new v-neckline. It looks great, and it was so much easier to find a plain blue t-shirt than it would have been to try and track down a plain blue sweater vest. And the t-shirt was only $3.50, even better. I also have a plain white t-shirt to layer underneath it to finish off his 'Lewis' ensemble.
Now to start working on Noah's costume, which frankly I have been dragging my feet over starting. It's going to take more than a few evenings to do, but I had better start now if I'm going to have it done in time for him to wear to the family Halloween party next Saturday.

Friday, October 12, 2012

KCWC #4 More Upcycled Baby Leggings

For my 4th 'KCWC' project I made a second pair of leggings for Reagan upcycled from a pair of Haven's leggings she outgrew. Little girl has outgrown her clothes and I'm just trying to boost her wardrobe a bit.
 Once again I used Lil' Blue Boo's Lil' Leggings pattern again, like I said a heavy favorite.
My next projects are Halloween costumes for two of my boys.


Thursday, October 11, 2012

KCWC #3 Baby Leggings

Any chance of sewing yesterday was a total bust, but I was able to get in a little bit of time at my sewing machine tonight to work on a third project for KCWC.
I made a sweet little pair of leggings for Reagan from some long sleeves cut from an upcycled pink and cream print adult sized t-shirt. I also stitched a little flower from the scraps that can be attached to a little baby t-shirt to complete the "outfit".

I used Lil Blue Boo's pattern for Lil' Leggings (a heavy favorite and well used pattern around here) and I just winged it with the fabric flower. I think these would look adorable paired with either a black or brown long sleeved tee. Cute and comfy, my favorite kind of clothes for little ones.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

KCWC #2 Re-purposed Baby Dress

Well, my 'KCWC' project time has been cut short, it seems I am needed as a mother more than a seamstress tonight so my plans were shortened and I was only able to finish this.
I had a great little tiered denim dress of Jensen's from last year was too cute not to re-purpose for her to use again this year..
 So with one cut just below the armpits at the sleeves, I was left with the tiered bottom half of the dress. I serged the top edge then folded it over to make a casing for the elastic, stitched it, threaded the elastic through, stitched it closed and I was done.

The entire project took about 15 minutes start to finish, and that included a good pressing. So now I have a cute little skirt for my little Jensen, perfect for the Fall and Winter months ahead and ready to be paired with some cute tights, boots and a funky cardigan.

Monday, October 8, 2012

KCWC #1- Old Jeans to New Patchwork Skirt

So for my first project for 'Kids Clothes Week Challenge' I decided to re-purpose a pair of too-short jeans into something new for Gracen. I turned the outgrown jeans into a knee length skirt by cutting the jeans off below the knees, unpicking the inside leg seams, laying it flat and using the leftover bottom leg pieces to fill in the spaces and stitching it all back together.

 Then I added the patchwork pieces of fabric to liven it up a bit, sewing the fabric pieces even to the bottom edge of the skirt, and leaving it bottom edge unfinished for the frayed effect (which will only get better with each wash). My cute little 7 year old recipient is in love with her new colorful denim skirt, and I am thrilled that I was able to sneak in some time at my sewing machine.
Now to decide what my next project is for KCWC...

Sunday, October 7, 2012

KCWC is starting!



Yep, I am so totally doing this.
I got so excited to sew that I started a day early.
Loving it!