November 17th Local Craft Sale! Come Join Me!

So, on November 17th, I will take the plunge...

And participate as a vendor at a local craft sale!

The sale will be held from 11-2pm at Marva Jolly's house, 4596 S Jason St, and there will be homemade soap vendors, handmade cards, handmade jewelry, and more!

I am so excited!

I thought I'd give you a sneak peak at what I intend to vend!

This is sort of a last minute opportunity, Marve had a vendor cancel and asked a friend of mine if she knew anyone who would be interested..

Me!  Me!  I'm interested, pick me!

but since this is somewhat last minute, I have a limited amount of time to build up my stock!

I will be suspending several items that are currently for sale in my Etsy shop in order to display them at the craft sale.

 Items like these sweet and sparkly infant headbands...

And these sassy little hair clips...

And I'm really excited to be able to talk about and demonstrate my reusable snack bags in person!

 And I thought I'd bring along my cozy cowls as well!

I hope to have enough time to make at least one more, but 3 is a good start and they can always be special ordered!

And since this guy was so fun and easy to make I thought I'd bring him, and create a few friends for him as well!

5 ought to be enough to start, don't you think?!

 And then there are the dresses...

I haven't decided how many or even which ones I will bring to sell yet, but I plan to have a decent variety!

Of course, my yarn beckons and I will have to try to get at least a couple of baby leg warmers completed for the sale...

 Not to mention my irresistible collection of fabric, just begging to be made into all sorts of sweet and sassy things!

This is a fantastic opportunity to gather unique, and locally handmade Christmas gifts and ideas!

Please make an effort to stop by on November 17th to check out the craft sale, and to say hi!

Remember, 11-2 on Sat November 17th... 4596 S Jason St on the corner of Jason and Tufts!

And naturally, I will be blogging my progress as I kick myself into high production gear!

Wish me luck!



Philly Cheese Steak...Pizza!

I'll get to the recipe in just a minute, first, a story...
So yesterday was Gigi's 18 month check up, and it started out well enough, the kids played fine in the waiting area and had no problems once we were taken to the room...
The trauma  started when we tried to weigh Gianna! 
She screamed and screamed and thrashed and kicked and in general freaked out!
And again when the nurse tried to measure her length and her head!
I mean you would have thought we were applying baby torture techniques to the child!
She calmed down with a snack once the nurse left, and remained calm while the Dr. and I talked, but the freak out began again with the introduction of the stethoscope, and the attempt to look in her ears etc. etc. etc.
And you can just guess how well the shots portion of the appointment went...sigh.
On a positive note, Noah sang his heart out for her trying to calm her down :)
By the end I was so exhausted I could barely see straight, and I was more traumatized than Gigi!
When it was over she gathered her lovey, her sippy cup, and her prize from the box (a soft football) and marched out the door communicating clearly that she was not planning to ever return!
Please tell me I am not alone, other kids hate the Doctor this much too, right?!!
Problem: Rough day - Solution: Comfort food!
Before we begin I must tell you, I did not set out to make this a pizza...

I actually intended to make sandwiches but forgot the bread!

Oh happy accident!

Let me tell you about my secret weapon...

This is my go to pizza crust mix for those days when I didn't plan ahead and make my own (which I will admit is most days)

Note the brand, Kroger...

I have tried many other store brand and name brand pizza crust mixes and this one is the best!

It is also the cheapest, retailing for a whopping $.79 or $.63 on sale!

 

Ingredients:

1 package pizza crust mix

1 green bell pepper

1 onion

3-4 tsp McCormick's Montreal steak seasoning

salt and pepper

2-3 cups mozzarella cheese

3 tblsp olive oil

 



Begin by preparing your crust as instructed on the back of the package...





While that sets up, slice your pepper and onion into long thin strips...

I like to cut the pepper into long strips and then cut those strips in half, they cook more evenly that way and it's easier to eat them on the pizza.

Now it's time to retrieve the pizza dough.

I use a little olive oil on my hands to keep the dough from sticking to me, and then I spread the dough thinly on my pan.

I like a crispier crust, so I poke the dough with a fork, but that's optional!

Once you have it spread to your satisfaction, put it in the oven for about 7 minutes.

While the crust is baking...

Heat 2 tblsp of olive oil over medium heat and add the onions and peppers!

lightly salt and pepper the vegetables, cover, and cook until soft stirring occasionally

When the crust is done...

Take the remaining 1 tblsp of olive oil and brush it over the crust.

Then give it a light dusting of the grill seasoning...

Now for the steak!

You could prepare steak especially for this pizza, but

I recommend buying a large steak for steak night ensuring that you will have leftovers and thus an excuse to make Philly cheese steak pizza!

(Clearly I bought way too much steak, and we will have to have another clever steak leftover meal tomorrow night)

Cut the steak into thin strips, and then into bite sized pieces!

Then toss it in with your pepper and onions!

Toss in 2 tsp of your grilling seasoning and cook until the meat is heated through.

Retrieve your pizza crust and top it with the mozzarella cheese (provolone is probably more appropriate, but I had motz so motz is what I used)

spoon your meat and veggies evenly over the top, and once again sprinkle lightly with the grilling seasoning...

And pop it in the oven for another 8-9 minutes!

Lets see that again!

100% YUM!

 

What a HOOT! It's SEW cute!

Owls are everywhere lately!

At least in the stores that is...

And while I must admit that I have never considered the owl to be my favorite animal, I find myself falling in love with all the owly cuteness available these days!

With Christmas just around the corner, I have been trying to stock my Etsy shop with fun gift ideas.

To that end, I decided to make my own version of an owl lovey...

I combined all sorts of materials for the face and body, several different textures of fabric, felt for the eyes, and my favorite brain storm...

The ribboned feet!

And if you have ever had the opportunity to feel this minky material, you know how incredibly soft and cozy it is! 

This owl is just begging for a hug, and he's available now in my Shop!

I love the way it turned out, and I can't wait to get to work making more!

Next time I will try to remember to document the steps so I can put together a tutorial for you!

 



But, MOM! That's My Favorite Shirt!

Witness a problem that occurs frequently in our household...

My children have the super-human ability to outgrow clothing at the speed of light!

Grrr!

Of course, I am the bad guy, arbitrarily packing up, donating or otherwise disposing of the too small clothing, and naturally, everything I get rid of is Noah's favorite!

Sigh.

So today I found a solution, at least for those graphic t's that are most often mourned! 

I found a plain white shirt that does, currently, fit.

(It's white which means not white after the first few times he wears it, making it the perfect candidate for my project)

I carefully cut out the image on the front of his "favorite" shirt...

And pinned it in place on the shirt that fits!

Then I zigzag stitched it in place, adjusting my stitch to a .9 length and a 4.5 width.

It's not perfect, there is a little bit of a wave where the two fabrics meet, but now I'm the one with a super-human ability to save beloved shirts from becoming too small!

And what did Noah think of all this?

He was pretty skeptical about my ability to save his shirt, and at first he didn't even want me to try...

I think it's safe to say that he is no longer a skeptic!

MOM!
The doer of laundry...
The finder of lost toys...
The maker of dinner, and now...
The savor of favorite shirts!



Trick-Or-Treat...Smell My Feet!

It is unbelievably difficult to get a halfway decent picture of the whole family together!

Witness failed attempt number 1,525...

or maybe it was only number 3.

We eventually got one...

And then we were off for a fun filled evening of accepting candy from strangers...

Known as Trick-or-treating!

 We went with a group of friends from playgroup, and it was too cute to watch the kids running en mass toward the next house...

Where they would proceed to shout "TRICK-OR-TREAT!!!" over and over and over in unison until every child received a piece of candy!

Gigi was actually really into it...

Until she discovered a crunchy pile of leaves was much more fun!

At any rate, we came home with way more candy than we will ever eat!

But we made good use of our costumes even after collecting our buckets of candy...

By taking advantage of Chipotle's offer of $2 burritos to anyone in costume!

This is Noah standing in line and showing off his wing span!

Now that's my kind of Trick-Or-Treating!

YUM!