DIY Bleach Stenciling

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Samantha

I’m pretty geeky and my fandoms are enumerable. One of my greatest loves is Doctor Who. Aside from the fact that Ten is nummy to look at I really like that I can share it with my children. Unlike some of the other geekeries I enjoy I don’t have to worry about blood and extreme violence. The Doctor is pretty tame in that respect; he also has a genuine appreciation for all life forms and looks for civilized ways to resolve conflict. Not to say he won’t blow up your spaceship if you don’t give him any other choice, but he’s pretty respectable. The boys love him and they like to make jokes and quote lines and are always willing to cuddle on the couch with a bowl of popcorn for “WHO time!” Making memories for them to carry into adulthood, I am so blessed to live a simply life and be able to teach my children what really matters.

Now that the holidays are upon us I really need to get my rear in gear and work on presents. The boys are lucky they have a pretty awesome set of grandparents who are willing to go a little crazy for the holidays. It’s nice for me because I don’t have to feel bad that the kids would otherwise get a really sparse holiday (yes, they know the real reason for Christmas, but as an adult it’s really sad not to have presents to open, so I can only imagine what it’s like for kids). I try to make them each a couple cool handmade gifts and I’ve been making the jammies for years, but I know they still enjoy having something materialistic. You know; your bio dad dies, your emotional dad abandons you, you eat ALOT of rice and beans, your clothes are second hand and often patched, you deserve at least one day where you get to be like all the other kids, even if your mom manages to make it work on less than $800 a month. But at least they are learning to be frugal, creative, and self sustaining.

Handmade gifts get harder as the kids get older I think. The littles are thrilled with blankets and stuffed animals etc. The older boys appreciate things, but it’s harder to impress them. Yet, I’m still making child of the eldest variety clothes. I’ve been wanting to try bleach stenciling, but had hit a creative block, until I saw this blue shirt sitting in my pile of blanks.

Really bad blurry picture, but still blue!

Ok so it’s not TARDIS blue, but that’s what it makes me think so it’ll do.

I cut my design out of freezer paper. I just love freezer paper it is a must for every crafter! So many uses! I cut it down and print on it using my printer and then just cutout the shapes. I have a Silhouette SD™ too, but not everyone does, so make friends with your printer.

Once I have my shapes cut out I place them on the shirt and iron them down. I’m sure you can use regular paper and just lay it on the shirt, but I don’t like the idea of things shifting on me.

You could use the reverse stencils and fabric paint to paint a tee too.

Remember that you may have to flip your images to get the glossy side to be the right way when you iron it down. Where ever you put the shapes down is where the color of the shirt will stay and not be bleached. I have a piece of cardboard in the shirt to keep it from soaking through. Spray the mist kinda up in the air and let it fall to your shirt. Spraying directly at the shirt will give you bigger blotchy spots, though that may be the look you’re going for.

I think I got a little trigger happy and sprayed too much. So next time I’ll do a little less of the spraying. I later learned to drop the whole thing into oxy-clean or peroxide to stop the bleaching process BEFORE removing the stencil. It works quickly so once you’ve sprayed be prepared to move to your neutralizing/ rinsing phase once you get your desired bleaching. I was winging it and had to go get the rest of the stuff and it faded more than I would’ve liked and I got some bleeding, I think because I removed the stencil before the peroxide dunk.

I ended up going back and spraying on the back a little to lessen the obvious edge on the sides, but I still think it’s cool. I know D will too. I think I can do a version using the kids’ hand prints to send as Christmas gifts; It’ll match the ornaments they made their dad last year.

 

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What’s a Loser?

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Samantha

My posts are a bit personal lately, but it’s these thoughts that disrupt my daily routine and slow my progress. It’s hard to work when your mind is busy. The past week I’ve used the word loser 3 times in front of my children and each time I was referring to myself. There may always be moments when as a parent you doubt your ability to get the job done, but I never want my kids to see it. They should never think of a woman as a loser, never see themselves as one and should never allow someone to think of themselves that way and I realized the disservice I was doing to their little hearts by openly saying that out loud. It’s hard not to feel that way sometimes when you’re working so hard and seemingly failing at doing it all.

The first moment came to me when I heard my son, my sweet 4 year old boy tell his teacher and classmates that he didn’t have a dad. He was so adamant, so sure, he didn’t falter he didn’t doubt it he believed he didn’t have a dad. In my last post I explained why I still honor the covenant of marriage and I take that same attitude with my kids. They have pictures of their dad and we talk about all the great things he used to do, why he’s a hero and can’t be with us, we pray for him, etc. I’ve done everything within my power to keep him a part of their lives and yet I couldn’t protect them from the reality. How do you convince them someone cares when he can go up to 9 months without ever talking to them? At this moment it has been over 8 weeks since our son has talked to his father. He’s called, but he’s refused to talk to him, sometimes because he’s too mad at me or sometimes because he’s too busy, but always an excuse. Though now I couldn’t make our little boy get on the phone with him. He refuses and I don’t have the heart to force him to hold on to a man I myself should have given up on long ago.

How do you convince your kids they mean the world to someone, when that person spends their money on trips, dogs, guns, jewelry, flowers, dinners out, new clothes, a car, at least two iphones, complete furnishings for a new apartment, and the list goes on. His budget easily allows for enumerable items that bring him joy, yet today he is $9761.49 in arrears in child support and owes over $600 for his half of our son’s therapy expenses. He hasn’t paid the full amount he owes in over a year. Then cites that arrears as the reason he can’t have a relationship with his kids. Not that he refused to follow the court ordered Skype sessions, not that he doesn’t call for holidays. Not that he’s taken 3 trips out of his state of residence, but hasn’t used his allotted visitation. Not that he was 6 hours away from us this week and still couldn’t be bothered to stop and see his children. Because there’s always an excuse, and the excuse is that everyone in his life ranks higher on his list of priorities than a couple little boys. This is made worse by the fact that the kids have to witness how hard their mother works to make up for it and all the things she’s had to sacrifice and sell and give up to provide for them when their dad refuses to meet his responsibility to them.

Maybe the problem lays in the effort a 3 year old makes in coloring birthday pictures for his dad; (or the christmas ornaments we made last year, or the father’s day packages we’ve sent, or the DVDs with pictures every month)

only to have them returned like most of the mail he sends that his dad says he never gets because it gets screened by his girlfriend and his girlfriends’ mom before it gets to him.

Blurred to protect addresses

Sure he wishes I’d move on a find a new guy “who’ll be good to you and the boys”. And maybe that would make him happy and release him from the guilt he feels. Or maybe it’s because he’s just repeating history. Maybe because in his whole life he never really felt loved, never really learned what it means to stay, maybe b/c there is one person in the world who believe in him unconditionally and knows he’s capable of great things, yet he can’t become that person again. He doesn’t see he used to be the guy who put his family first and treated his kids’ mom like a queen. He doesn’t remember being the man who refused to kiss her goodbye because her kids were watching, or that he asked her boys if he could marry her long before he ever proposed. He doesn’t remember being a guy who would give his shirt off his back to someone in need and put himself on the bottom of the list. Instead he’s angry, he can’t see that he’s become everything he hates in his own father and he refuses to make the changes in his life to save his relationship with his children.

This is what I’m trying to avoid having my own boys turn into. I don’t want them to carry the burden of this much hate. I don’t want them to be incapable of forgiveness. I don’t want them to perpetuate the cycle and go on to be the third generation to abandon their sons and leave them to find their own way. I want them to be men worthy of honor and respect. I want them to see the good and to stand for what’s right. I want them to give of themselves because it’s best for someone else. I want them to not wait for a stranger to fill the shoes they should be standing in. I get tired of hearing how much the man I married loves and misses his kids when he refuses to show it to the people who need to see it the most and then I’m left feeling like a loser b/c no matter how I try I can’t make my boys feel the love of the second parent they don’t have. I couldn’t explain away why daddy never showed up to see them, but then they had to sit in the window and watch as he played with the kids across the street, his new family. Or why they would wake up and find daddy home in the morning making breakfast and holding mommy in front of the stove, but then have to explain that he wasn’t home to stay. I couldn’t rationalize all the things that confused even me, so I moved thousands of miles away in the hopes that it would offer them the stability they needed and it works for chunks of time. Then we get pulled back in. But this mama knows enough not to tell them daddy will call b/c she knows he’ll forget. I don’t tell them he’s going to come visit because I know his plans will always change. I act as a buffer, so they only feel partial hurts and parts of me weather away in the storm, so that they can rest safer on the shore. I carry as much of their aches as I can so that maybe just maybe they’ll have the chance to love a man who forgot to love them. I stand on the vows of marriage, so that I don’t fill their hearts with a man who isn’t their dad. When he asks to earn their love, when he finally tries to be their dad, when he stands up and says I have a job to do and it’s a mission only I can accomplish, my boys won’t have to say “you aren’t my father I have a father and he was more a man than you.” Instead I hope they can say “I love you and I forgive you because mommy showed us everyday to never give up on you and she sacrificed of herself and her own happiness, so that you would shine.”

I am a lot of things; I’m cute, I’m witty, I have a great sense of humor, I like to cook and clean and run a home, I like to put on my sexy jeans and go dancing or sing karaoke, I like to sleep under the stars, I can kill and clean a deer, I like the feel of earth in my hands and the way they wash your hair at a salon, my moral compass points to God, but I’m not afraid to admit when I’ve made a mistake, I love too hard and I forgive too easily, I can eat a whole pecan pie and run a 6 minute mile, what I offer the world may not be much, but I’ve realized the actions of someone else do not make me a loser.

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All that’s left is a band of Gold

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Samantha

It’s been a roller caster lately. Itsn’t there a saying about things happening in threes? I generally tread lightly when it comes to the topic of the man I married. His condition is a sensitive subject to him and it’s all a sensitive subject to me. On the other hand it’s one of those things we can’t hide from even if we try. And really if you know me well enough you already know the details and IF you know him enough to know who I’m talking about then you’re already aware of all this too, so it’s not really an over share.

Have you ever met a hero? Not just “oh I think this person is great”, but a real hero; someone where other people can say “I’m alive because of them” or someone who can regale stories that make you shiver at the thought, but swell with the pride of selfless actions. But those are his stories to tell and this is mine. I didn’t just meet a hero I fell in love with one and built my life with one and then the very same things that have found him decorated in bronze stars and purple hearts broke him to the core. “Destroyed my life”, his words, not mine. “Trapped” his words, not mine. But knowing that somewhere hidden inside a shell is the hero is the biggest part of the answer to why?

My wedding band has garnered a lot of attention lately for some reason. Some are surprised I still wear it. New people comment on how pretty it is. Then for some it elicits a questioning gaze, but most know not to ask or know enough to know the answer. But the basics are yes, I still wear my a wedding ring.

I know you’re probably thinking “wow, this chick is pathetic! How long has she been divorced?!” It doesn’t come from that place though. Sure I’d love to see my family restored. I had a friend recently remind me that God is in the restoration business and it made me smile. But I’m not living my life waiting for a dozen roses with a single white one signifying our love. I know sometimes some people become so damaged they must wait for heaven to be healed.

We had the kind of marriage everyone wanted. Even the neighbor girl had to have it for herself. We never fought until the day he said he was leaving. Did we disagree? Of course, but mature conflict resolution with respect to each other is how we handled it. That was only a small part of a Godly covenant we committed to when we swore forever. I’ve listened to the tape dozens of times and no where in there did we promise just until battle wounds ripped us apart. We live in a world where we swear to anything and vows of any kind mean next to nothing. For me “till death” means just that. By living accordingly I get to teach my children the value of marriage, the importance of commitment, and that it doesn’t end just because someone thinks it got hard.

When I found myself suddenly alone I hit my knees hard and then I found the answers I needed in God’s word. Several years of reading and I’ve nearly memorized every verse on marriage, love, forgiveness, and the expectations of a spouse. That is why I still wear my band. It reminds me now just as it did then that I made a promise sanctified by God. It symbolizes to the world that I’m not available because I have chosen to love another. It’s not lust or infatuation it’s a daily decision to accept someone the way they are, to forgive them their struggles, and to wake up each morning no matter how angry or hurt you may feel and make the choice all over again. It’s this choice to love that means I listen to complaints of unhappiness, accept half sincere apologizes, and never give up.

My band is a reminder that I am someone’s helpmeet. I was hand picked by God to complete someone else and it’s my responsibilty to live my life as a Proverbs 31 woman. In some ways I struggled with submissiveness as a young wife and when things fell apart I took bad advice from wolves in sheep clothing. I’m not proud of the way I sometimes handled the hurt, but now I find it’s so much easier to be the pillar of strength my family needs because I’ve rooted myself in mine.

Maybe it’s old fashioned, but there is a peace and satisfaction that comes from living my life to honor the man I married. He may not walk through the door at 6 o’clock, but if he did he would find dinner ready. He may not leave whisker shavings in my sink, but if he did they would be cleaned in the daily wipe down. He may not pile his dirty socks under the eastern end of the bed, but if he did they would be picked up when I make the bed and start the laundry for the day. Before he got hurt he had this idea of the woman I could be, but I was busy and I had a plan. I’d grown a lot, but nothing like what I’ve experienced the past year and I wish I had known that I had it in me to be the wife he believed I was capable of being. God knew and he molded me and I’ve seen how the bar has been set and that no matter how one looks no one will ever fill my shoes. My ring reminds me that in a covenent with God our potential in infinite.

I put my ring on and I remember that I am someone’s bride. I won’t remarry as I could never ask someone to sin just to ease the loneliness I sometimes feel. I dress modestly and do my best to reflect well when in the world. First, I want God’s light to shine through me. Second, I want people who meet me to think well of the man I married because of my actions and poise. I’ve never considered myself to be a head turner, but I know men have always envied what my husband had.

Sounds like I’m a doormat right? I’ll admit there are moments when I feel like maybe I am. He swears I’m not, but he says a lot of things that don’t always fit. But I had a friend say the most amazing thing to me this week. “Queens hear the complaints of the common people, and even respond with grace and compassion while at the same time being secure in their position & worth. That’s what you are doing!” Aside from being the sweetest hing I’ve heard in a while it really gave me some perspective. I am the daughter of the King, I am royalty and I honor Him by desiring His will and depending on him to still my tongue, speak through me, and grant me strength. I find His grace and peace by living in accordance to His will and though I may not be winning the man I married over I have a peace in my life that I wouldn’t know otherwise. Living God’s way has garnered me more than anything I have ever done my own way. And that is why I wear my ring.

“After all this time?

“Always”, said Snape.

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Pumpkin Spice English Muffins in Fun Halloween Shapes

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Samantha

Sometimes I have a genius idea, you know a total epiphany. How do I know it’s a good idea? It’s something I haven’t already come across on pinterest. If it’s out there don’t burst my bubble. We’ve been out of English muffins for a while and I was due to make another batch. With fall upon us we’ve entered the season of the pumpkin flavored everything and I decided that I must have pumpkin spice English muffins. Plus we still have several jars left from last year and soon it’ll be pumpkin slaughter time again. I also decided that to increase the fun factor I needed shaped English muffins, round is boring this year. I did a quick recipe search and after looking at a half dozen reviews or posts about the brand name English muffin in a pumpkin spice flavor I gave up. Besides after years of watching Alton Brown I understand the science behind food and can make things up as I go along.

You might remember this post in which my Better Homes and Garden’s Cookbook really failed me, but their English muffin recipe is pretty straight forward and I’ve used it before so this is my adaptation.

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups WW flour
  • 4 1/2 tsp yeast
  • 1/2 tsp each ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, cloves
  • 3 1/4-3 3/4 AP flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 2 TBS sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • cornmeal for sprinkling
-Mix WW flour, spices, and yeast in mixing bowl.
-In a microwave safe bowl combine milk and butter, warm to about 120-130 degrees and        butter just melts, whisk in pumpkin, sugar, salt, and vanilla.
-Add milk mixture to WW flour mixture, stir.
-Add AP flour until soft dough forms
-Place in greased bowl to rise about an 1 hour till doubled
-Roll dough to 1/2 inch thick and cut with floured cutters.

-Cover both sides in cornmeal, I wet my finger with water and rubbed it then sprinkled cornmeal on both sides
-place on baking sheet to rise, about 30 min
-Cook on griddle over medium heat. If you have an electric one, it’s 325°. it takes about 25 min to cook through and you have to turn often to keep from burning them.
While you are carefully watching the griddle your helper will go behind your back and attack the bread you made that morning.
We ended up with 28 English muffins, but I’m sure it depends on the size of the cutters you use.
They aren’t as pumpkiny as I was hoping, so I might try again upping the pumpkin amount and lowering the milk. But they still taste nummy and were great with the apple butter we made.

The best bakers wear the flour.

 

 

 

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How to Tuesday – Homemade Cake Mix

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Samantha

Crumbly goodness

In my old life we used excessive amounts of boxed cake mix. Cakes, cookies, muffins, and the list goes on. So many recipes based of those cheap little boxes of processed numminess. As we’ve turned to a life of homemade we’ve laid of the boxed cake mix, but I still found I needed an alternative. I could make cakes from scratch, but sometimes you just need the powdered mix as a base. Just click through pinterest for a while and behold the fabulousness that is things you can make with a boxed cake mix. Some of you may remember the cherry pineapple mush cake that had a crunchy bottom. It was a homemade cake mix fail that has now been remedied.

I tried a few and my main complaints were the dryness and that they didn’t taste like a box mix. Homemade is great, but I just wanted that cake mix flavor. I’m sure it comes from all sorts of something fake in the boxed stuff, but I want that in my cake mix. So sue me! Then I found this cake mix recipe and now I’m a happy camper. My only complaint is that my food processor isn’t big enough to make a double or triple batch, so I can make in bulk and store it to have on hand to make things like cake batter milk shakes. Instead I have to make one batch at a time. Woe is me, right?

So here it is:

Like the author I usually don’t have cake flour on hand, so I used her substitution 2 3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour and 3 tablespoons cornstarch in place of the three cups of flour

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 16 tablespoons butter (2 sticks), cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Before adding the butter

DIRECTIONS: Process sugar, flours ( flour and cornstarch substitution),dry milk, baking powder, and salt in a food processor for 15 seconds to combine. Add butter and vanilla and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Freeze the dry mixture in a zipper-lock bag for up to 2 months or use immediately.

If you need to bake a cake this makes a 9×13″ cake or a 9″ 2 layer round. Add 2 eggs and 1 1/4 cup warm water. Bake on 350.  I’m mostly interested in using this to mix with other things and not really bake a cake. However I did make a cute little rainbow number for the Turkey’s birthday last week.

Crummy late night picture, but look pretty colors!

 

 

 

 

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How to Replace Goodmama Elastic

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Samantha

There are few things sadder than beautiful diapers with dead elastic. It can bring a tear to a mama’s eyes to hear that sound of elastic going “crunch.” What’s a girl to do?! You can of course send your fluffs off to be repaired. I do several a week and am happy to treat your diapers to a spa weekend, but if you’re a bit handy in the sewing department you can easily do it yourself.

Materials:

  • seam ripper
  • sharp scissors
  • small safety pin
  • 3/8″ elastic
  • thread, I prefer white or natural
  • needle for hand sewing
  • sewing machine

Each elastic is attached with two rows of stitching.

I start by going around the diaper and undoing the outer stitches on both ends of each elastic. If doing several diapers I do this on the whole batch. We work smarter not harder and assembly line fashion is an effective way to get your work done. It’s easy to see the stitches on the outer, however, if you rip the stitches on this side you run the risk of snagging your fabric. Unless you are on good speaking terms with your seam ripper and have come to an understanding I recommend going at the stitches from the inner. But it’s your diaper, so continue as you see fit.

The stitches are easier to see if you fold the diaper over your finger and stretch a little using the rest of your fingers to hold it back.

Now we take a deep breath and open it up. Using your sharp scissors make a small snip in the seam you’ve just unstitched. I cut this as small as I can while allowing for the elastic to still slide through; about 1/4″. Cut from the INSIDE. Do not snip your pretties. Repeat at each elastic end. You should have 6 little holes if you’re replacing the back and leg elastics.

Then we’ll work the little elastic ends out. Sometimes you’ll find the serging has gone through the elastic, so you’ll carefully cut the elastic to free it from the sergin stitches. Don’t cut the serging thread. You can re-serge, but that’s a whole other tutorial.

I cut my leg elastic at 6″ and my back elastic at 4″ this gives me extra to hang on to while working and leaves the right amount in the casing.

**********************************************************************************************

Place one end of your new elastic on the safety pin then pin it to the old elastic still in the casing. Now rip the second seam at the same end where you’ve pinned the new elastic. The safety pin will keep the elastic from sliding through until you’re ready. Now we go to the opposite end and carefully unstitch the last row of stitches holding the elastic in place. Keep hold of the elastic end just in case it tries to run into the casing. If you’re really worried about it you could take a second safety pin and fasten it to the diaper, but I don’t find this nessecary. Once freed you can push the safety pin into the opening and pull on the old elastic to guide the new elastic into place.

Keeping the two pieces attached we’ll go back to the first end and stitch down our elastic. We’ll sew back and forth a few times right along where the original stitches were and leave about a half inch of elastic past the stitches. Pull the elastic through and bunch up the gusset around the elastic and repeat the stitching process, securing the elastic in place. You can now reomve the safety pin and the old elastic.

****************************************************************************************************

*Repeat this section for each elastic.*

Stop and give half naked toddler child a snack so he quits jumping up and down while squaking at you. How does one ever accomplish anything?

Now you should have happy new elastic and not so happy little holes. Make sure your elastic is tucked back inside then take your hand sewing needle and thread that coordinates with your inner material. I like to use an “invisible” stich like a ladder stitch to hand sew the little holes back together.

Looks like the earlier picture where we tried to find the stitches.

It doesn’t take many stitches since we made our opening so small. Once you’ve sewn up all the holes on the inside you can go around and sew along the first row of stitching that we removed in the beginning.

Tada your fluffies are as good as new!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in cloth diapering, DIY, how to, How to Tuesday, repairs, sewing, tutorial | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Samantha

We’re poor. Funny how easy it is for me to say that, yet I can barely mutter the word divorced. Oddly enough the later is more socially acceptable than the former, seems the destruction of a family is of little importance, but your monetary worth means a lot. Anything wrong with this picture? If you do the math we live below the poverty line and part of making it work on sometimes less than $100 a month for groceries means eating cheap. This does not mean overly processed foods that come in boxes for less than a $1 a pop. Broke or not it’s still important to me that my kids still eat well and having a warm breakfast before school tops that list. We do a lot of baked oatmeal. Oatmeal is low cost, but filling and full of heart healthy fiber.

I don’t always have the time in the morning to bake, but if made ahead baked oatmeal reheats wonderfully. Add a little milk and a side of fruit and the kidlets are ready to fill their brains cause their bellies are fully too. Despite the 90 degree weather we’re nearing fall and pumpkinish thoughts. Last year we canned all our pumpkins and I still have some in store, so I was excited when a friend shared a baked pumpkin oatmeal recipe. I was even more excited at the price tag of said recipe. The original author estimate their cost at $2.77 and I knew mine had to be less, what with the canned pumpkin, homemade vanilla, homemade brown sugar, etc. And a batch of this provides 3 mornings of breakfast for the boys. Sounds good right!?

The plus is it’s easy. Whisk everything together and then add the oats. I did find that mine didn’t have the bright orange coloring as the original author, but I figure that’s due to the non-commercially processed pumpkin.

 

Copyright Tukr and Bean 2012

Even in a crummy cell picture it looks yummy.

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Self Cleaning Oven – Tricky Tip Thursday

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Samantha

I learned a lesson this week about my tendency to me on the lazy side. We ran out of whole wheat flour. Blasphemy! I know. But I suppose it happens to even the best of us. I know a more motivated person would’ve gone on a hunt for a highly rated white bread recipe or even taken their existing recipe and made a few changes to compensate, or better yet trekked the 8 blocks to the grocery store. But me? Why when I have my ever faithful Better Homes and Gardens cookbook sitting right on my shelf. We quickly whipped up their white bread.

Oh Better Homes, you steered me wrong! I have to say the loaves baked up nice and fluffy and they sliced well and even seemed moist. And that is where this seemingly good bread ended and we realized we might as well be eating cardboard. The stuff was completely flavorless! My poor kids! They all swarmed as it cooled on the counter just waiting for the tester slices. Then they were sorely disappointed. Usually freshly baked bread is met with “oooh”s and “aaah”s and at least one ravs about “the best bread ever.” They tried to be nice “oh this is good”, but all the honey and butter in the world couldn’t save this bread. I’m hoping that if I make french toast or similar out of it then maybe I can still get my labor’s worth out of it. Next time I’ll be running up to the store for real flour.

Lesson learned; being lazy does not help in baking. But I do know where being lazy can be helpful. Housework! No one should ever scrub harder than they have too. Elbow grease shmelbow grease! Enter my oven, which we used to bake said “bread”. Unless you use you kitchen as an extension of your closet and the oven just stores shoes, then odds are you have to clean it. Better odds are you don’t enjoy it and for some of you it probably only gets cleaned if you’re moving or your mother/mother in law comes to visit. It’s ok; I don’t judge.

Now I share my tip for making this incredibly lame task all the easier. Tin foil!

Before I cleaned my oven:

Eew! Charred cheese carcasses!

After I cleaned my oven:

Ooo shiny!

By putting foil in the bottom of my oven it catches all the ickies and when it needs cleaned I can just pull it out and put a new one in and my oven bottom stays clean.

Aren’t we glad we get to just throw this away rather than scrubbing out? I don’t tend to advocate disposable items, but given that I don’t have to do this very often and we throw away so little I don’t feel too bad about this little bit. Now quick everyone run off and line your ovens. You can thank me later.

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Gimme a Break

Posted on September 2, 2012 by Samantha

Feel free to burst into song about a certain candy bar. Dang now I think I need one! I’ve been feeling a little burnt out lately. At 18 months the bean still doesn’t sleep all night every night. When he does something else manages to keep me awake. It’s been ridiculously hot again and the cheap-o in me refuses to be running the A/C in September. Somewhere amidst 8+ hours a day trying to rebuild a business and then the rest of my time running a home and raising four boys I guess I forgot that one needs to have a day off.

Copyright Turk and Bean 2012

5 quarts of applesauce and 7 quarts of spaghetti sauce

Yesterday, my aunt came over and we spent the day canning. I had recently been given apples and corn and tomatoes on top of the ones from our own garden. I love FREE! It does, however, mean you have to do something with your loot or risk it all turning on you. Thursday I processed all the corn and yesterday spend the bulk of the day making apple sauce and then spaghetti sauce. It’s been along time since I’ve spent 7 hours on my feet. At one point I got all light headed and had to sit. Either my tendency for anemia was rearing it’s head or I had forgotten to drink enough water. Combined with breaking my seam ripper the night before surely the universe was dropping me a hint.Copyright Turk and Bean 2012

Today we loaded up the zoo and hit the lake with family. It’s a little against my normal state to sit and do nothing, but it was nice. The boys got to go out in the canoe and we roasted weenies and made s’mores. We soaked up lots of vitamin D and came home filthy, but happy. It’s been two long, but good days. A bit of hard work followed by a bit on fun. I imagine most are going to be enjoying the holiday tomorrow, but I think I’ll be ready to get back to productive mode, but I don’t think I’ll let myself go so long without a break again. Maybe it’s time to institute a regular day off. Hmn, what’s that?

 

 

 

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Little Man Bow Ties – How to Tuesday

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Samantha

My first post on the shiney new website. Really seeing it all come together makes me giddy. I had a request to make this fabulous ruffled dress. I’m pretty sure I need something like this for myself, maybe a skirt, if I can pull it off without looking like I’m 8.

Mama of the birthday girl decided she was also giong to use said dress for pictures and wanted bow ties for the boys to wear, so we had to whip up some bow ties using coordinating scraps from sister bear’s dress. Yay bow ties! ‘Cuz as the Doctor would say, bow ties are cool. In case you want to make some too I’m sharing the process.

Materials:

  • fabric
  • scissors or rotarty cutter & mat
  • 1″ hook and loop tape, I like Velcro®
  • Fusable interfacing or felt
  • thread and sewing method
  • wooden dowel for turning

Our fabric has already been washed and ironed since these are scraps from a previous project. Although I don’t know how often you’d have to wash these, so it may not be as important as with other items, but I pre-wash everything. (even my notions)

Cut the fabric. We measured the intended wearer over a collared shirt to figure out how big it needed to be. Then we added 2 inches to this measurement to allow for closure placement and seam allowance.Copyright Turk and Bean 2012

  • 1 Strap piece – 3″ x measurement+2.5″
  • 1 Fusable interfaceing piece if you have it -3″ x measurement+2.5″  (my tutorial doesn’t since I couldn’t find the package)
  •  2 Bow pieces – 3″ x 10″
  • 1 Bow inner piece – fusable interfacing or felt (see above about lost interfacing)
  • 1 Center piece – 2.5″ x 4.”

If using interfacing go ahead and iron it to the wrong side of your strap and one of your bow tie pieces. This is my preferred method.

Fold strap piece in half and sew down long edge, use a 1/4″ seam allowance. Turn rightside out and fold ends in and press. When we sew the hook and loop on the ends we’ll sew up the ends.

Copyright Turk and Bean 2012

*This is where the camera batteries die and I have to start taking crummy cell pictures*

Copyright Turk and Bean 2012

Lay your bow tie pieces right sides together. If using a felt piece then place the felt under the fabric pieces against the wrong side on the bottom fabric. Sew around using a 1/4″ seam allowance, clip corners and excess fabric.

Turn right side out, making sure the felt is on the inside and the right side of the fabric is ending up outside. Then we iron again.Copyright Turk and Bean 2012

Use a zigzag stitch to sew the edges together. You have to sort of pull the other side of the loop up and away from the sewing area in order the sew straight down the seam.

Copyright Turk and Bean 2012

Fold in half with the seam on the outside and then sew a 1″ line in the middle about a half inch from the folded edge. I switch to a leather or denim needle because the felt makes it pretty thick to work with.

Now we take our center piece, fold right sides together and sew it down the long side. I iron it presing the seam open and running down the middle, then turn rightside out. And press again. Yea, I iron a lot, but the clean lines make me happy. Keep the seam centered, so it will be hidden inside.

Turn one end under and press. Then we’re going to tuck the unfolded in inside the folded end and sew together forming a little loop.

Accordian fold the bow bringing the top and bottom towards the middle with the stitching to the back. Then it gets a little fiddly because we have to wiggle the bowtie into the center wrap piece.

 

And then thread the strap through too. I like to run a couple stitches through by hand to tack all the layers together in the back.

Sew on your hook and loop tape and then you’re all done!

Happy lil bow ties!

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