Poinsettia Pillow Tutorial

I cannot wait for Christmas.  The music, the tree, the ornaments, the music, the food, the cookies, the music...  Seriously, the music was worth mentioning three times.  I love it.  I am also excited for Christmas this year so I can legitimately display the Poinsettia Pillow I created for... $3.  Yep.  The inspiration came from a Pottery Barn pillow in the most recent catalogue.  The PB pillow is $29, which in my opinion is expensive for something that can only be displayed for one month of the year. 

Here's Pottery Barn's Poinsettia Pillow:

Anyhow, want to make your own Poinsettia Pillow?  Here's how:

First of all, you'll need :

1/2 yard of ivory felt  (from this cut 2 16"x16" squares)

1/2 yard of ruby felt 

coordinating embroidery thread

5/8" hem tape (aka fabric tape, fabric fuse tape, etc.)

20 6mm bells

sewing machine (for sewing pillow)

pillow form or poly-fil

pattern

And before we get started, here are a few things I'd like to share.  First of all, I did not include my pillow form in the cost of the project because it can be reused year round with other pillow covers. It's a multi-tasker.  Second of all, I bought all items on sale at my fabric store or with coupons.  Stores like Jo-Ann offer 40% coupons frequently and even allow you to use competitor's coupons in the same transaction.  Lastly, the amount of fabric will be enough to complete two pillows, but in order to have enough height to cut the 16x16 pieces needed for the pillow "background" you have to buy at least 1/2 yard.

You'll need 10 small petals, 10 medium petals and 5 large petals. 

Get a feel for how you want it to look--and appreciate how quickly the project is coming together!

Use Elmer's glue to adhere two small leaves to each other for some thickess.  Do this with all of the small leaves so that the 10 you cut out turn into 5 thicker leaves.  Do the same with the medium sized leaves.

Once the glued felt leaves are dry, use your embroidery floss to backstitch up the center of the petal for visual interest.  I think you'll agree that this is a worthwhile step.  It doesn't have to be perfectly straight--in fact it looks very charming with a little bit of veering off here and there.

Cut a 2" circle from your ruby felt and use a running stitch to affix it to the center of one of your 16x16 squares. 

Lay out the first round of petals and adjust them to your liking. 

When you're happy with the placement of your first later of petals, fuse the sides of the petals down with your hem tape.  Leave the center of the petal free of hem tape to make embroidery easier.  (It is next to impossible to stitch through the hem tape adhesive--I would avoid it at all cost!)

Now that you have fused the leaves to the ivory felt pillow front, use the same backstitch method that you used on the small and medium-sized petals to affix the petals to the pillow.

Next, use hem tape to affix second round of petals. Use a running stitch in the center to further affix the petals to the pillow front.  Repeat step for the small petals, too.  Then stitch bells into the center.

Sew pillow as you would any other pillow.  (If you're new to pillow-making, check out HGTV's Pillow Making 101.)

Wasn't too hard, was it?  Please let me know what you think!  As always, your constructive comments and questions are sincerely appreciated.

Interested in having one of these handmade pillows made by yours truly?  Click here for more information about a Poinsettia Pillow Giveaway!

Simple and delicious pickles

I love pickles and have yet to try my hand at canning pickles.  In the meantime, how about some refreshing homemade refrigerator pickles?  They're simple and you probably have most of the staple ingredients on hand.  I saw this recipe in Real Simple this month, and after not being able to find one of the ingredients, dill seed, I picked up pickling spice and changed the recipe slightly. 

Here's what you'll need:

4 Kirby cucumbers (about 1 pound), quartered lengthwise

3/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 small sweet onion (such as Vidalia or Walla Walla), thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons pickling spice
kosher salt

Directions:


Place the cucumbers in a 1-quart jar or some other container with a tight-fitting lid.

In a bowl, combine the vinegar, onion, garlic, sugar, pickling spice, 2 teaspoons salt, and ¾ cup hot tap water. Stir until the sugar dissolves.

Pour the vinegar mixture into the jar with the cucumbers, cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 day before serving. The pickles will last up to 1 week.
 

Pretty simple, huh?  They're good, too! 

My only compaint is that I am not loving the cinnamon/allspice flavor that came from the pickling spice and am still in search of "dill seed".  I am usually pretty good at finding obscure items--but this one has me flustered.  I mean, dill weed is easy to come by--but dill seed?  Suggestions?

The Easiest Chicken Stock Ever!

Hello fellow Spartans! 

I can't wait for Fall weather--can you?  I am looking forward to Fall cooking, too--chili and soups and stews, and slow cooking.  Ugh.  I'm hungry already. 

One of the things I like to do to make my dishes even more delicious is to make my own chicken stock. When whole chickens go on sale ($ .69/lb. or less is the bargain I look for) I buy several and roast them, and pick the meat and place it in portions in the freezer.  Then, I take all those leftover chicken bones and make several gallons of chicken stock.  It's an all day process that I enjoy, but I understand that not everyone has time for such a task--and not everyone would find the enjoyment in it either. But everyone likes homemade chicken stock, and so I am going to share my simplified version of homemade chicken stock with you!  The best part?  It starts with the bones leftover from a rotisserie chicken--so don't throw those bones away! I hope you'll give it a try.

What you'll need:

One leftover rotisserie chicken carcass, meat removed  (weird to use the word carcass-but that's what it is!)

1 carrot, rinsed

1/2 onion, skin still on, rinsed

1 stalk celery, rinsed

1 bay leaf, 4 or 5 peppercorns, pinch of thyme (optional)

1 tsp salt, give or take

cold filtered water

Simply place all ingredients in a stock pot that accommodates all ingredients and fill with cold water until everything is covered.  On your stove, bring the ingredients to a boil, and once you've reached a boil, reduce heat to a simmer.  Let simmer for an hour or so, uncovered and you'll have gorgeous chicken stock.  Much of the water will evaporate--this is what you want! (I normally end up with just at a quart of stock after simmering for an hour.) Strain your chicken stock through a sieve and discard of solids.

I like to refrigerate the stock so that I can remove the majority of the fat/impurities.  Professional chefs would hover over their stock as they made it and skim the top to remove impurities.  Well, I'm not a professional and with a baby toddling around, I have better things to do than to skim the surface of my stock--don't you?  So, I refrigerate the stock for a few hours and let it "set up" and all of the fat and impurities rise to the top and congeal.  Then you can easily remove it with a spoon-- ta da!  (Your refrigerated stock will be the consistency of soft jell-o, don't let it scare you!  That's how it's supposed to be.)

Refrigerated stock with fat and impurities:

Yuck!

Officially "skimmed"!

Not perfect, but much better looking, huh?

Now, go and use your homemade chicken stock for something delicious! 

Soon I'll be sharing how I used my batch of the easiest chicken stock ever... but you'll have to come back to see!  And please remember that the $40 Cookware.com giveaway is still available!

Oh and want a preview of the Saturday's sweet treat of the week? 

It's my favorite homemade cinnamon rolls...  Mmm, mmm...

Top 6 Handmade Baby Gifts

Shopping for babies is so much fun--way more fun than shopping with babies.  And if you have the time, making gifts for babies can be a lot of fun, too.  In the past I have made many baby gifts and even some things for my own little one.  It's so special to give (and receive) handmade gifts so I am sharing my top 6 favorite handmade baby gifts with links to patterns, tutorials and instructions. 

1. Nursing Cover - All moms who nurse need one of these.  They're $30 at many stores, but you can make one for a fraction using fabric of your preference!  (This is the only craft in this post that I have not made--but I do have one of these nursing covers and it was one of the most essential baby items I received!)

2. Diaper Cake - Perfect as a gorgeous gift or as a unique centerpiece at a baby shower.

My mom and I made this as a centerpiece for a baby shower. Well, she did all the work really, but I contributed. Isn't it awesome? We decorated the "cake" with crepe paper ornaments that I couldn't resist at an after-Christmas clearance at World Market.

3. Burp Cloths - This is a great sewing project for beginners and the results are professional and oh-sew-satisfying!  (Forgive my pun...)

4. Appliqued Tie Onesies (or try my no-sew version)

5. Itty Bitty Baby Dress - A sewing project suitable for "advanced beginners".  I made this one for my sweet little Elliott.  She wore it once.  Go figure.

6. Stardust Shoes - Cute little accessory!  Use coordinating fabric from your tie applique onesies or itty bitty baby dress to make the perfect gift set for a little boy or girl.

Happy crafting!

Homemade Maple Syrup

Last Thursday night, James asked for waffles for dinner.  I'll admit, waffles are not a favorite of mine so they're rarely on the menu--but ask and ye shall receive!  I have never found the "perfect" waffle recipe so I have also lacked motivation in the waffle department knowing that most of my waffles are a disgrace.  I tried a new recipe for Belgian Waffles and have found my winner!

Anyhow, being that we so infrequently consume waffles (and even pancakes, for that matter) I didn't have any syrup on hand.  But I did have maple extract left over from my bout with the Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls--so I did what any mom would do--improvise. 

All you'll need to make a 16 oz. bottle of maple syrup is:

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 tsp maple extract

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, bring water and sugar to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Let simmer for one minute and then remove from heat.  Add extracts and stir to combine.  Voila, maple syrup!

To me, this was fantastic syrup and tasted just the same as if I had purchased it.  I normally purchase Log Cabin brand syrup because it's one of the few brands that does not use high fructose corn syrup.  At this point I also feel obligated to say that I am a "food snob" about many things--but not syrup.  I just can't stomach the cost of real maple syrup when I use it so infrequently.

How about a cost analysis?

Log Cabin syrup costs $3.49 for a 24 oz bottle. (roughly $ .14/oz)

My homemade syrup?  $1.18 for a 16 oz. bottle (roughly ($ .07/oz)

Ounce for ounce, my syrup is a better value, offering a 50% savings over the middle-of-the-road "fake" syrup.  Plus, there's the added satisfaction of knowing the ingredients and having created something from scratch!