Sugar Spout

I apologize for so long in between posts. To my defense I can only say life gets in the way sometimes of everything I'd like to do! Here's a little something I did this morning.
Such nice weather outside I like to spend the day outside but I  must get back to cleaning and organizing my sewing/craft space so I can function in there. I get so involved in creating patterns I don't see the mess I am creating in the room as well!

The Blonde doll Hair

Here is the blonde doll hair hanging out on the line drying. The temps were not too cold. I guess in the 60's while it was drying. It took it a few days to dry.

And here it is ready for sale. I should have it in my  Ebay  store later today, and on my website next week sometime. This is 3 ply thick curly wool/mohair. Sells for $9.95,  free shipping within the U.S. This is the 4th color I have finished so far. More colors to come as I get them done.

Here it is another Sunday. This is one of my busiest work days. I try to get all my online stuff ready for the week to come, make any changes to my online venues, and such. But it is quite beautiful outside today. I'd say high 60's slight wind. Our mock orange tree is blooming and smells heavenly. It is attracting the usual bees and wasps but also we have quite a few butterflies too. I might have to take a very LONG break from my usual routine today. Perhaps I will plant some more veggies in the garden or just linger a little longer while hanging the laundry out to dry. Here is a picture of the mock orange.

And here is a close up of a butterfly on there. I LOVE this tree. It's a shame it is only in bloom March and April though.

Working on my spinning wheel

I had a very nice Monday. The weather was quite nice in the mid 70's. I put a little bit of fabric and crafting supplies away, got 3 loads of laundry done, caught up with my sister on the phone, then after dinner spent the evening working on my spinning wheel. It is almost as relaxing as cutting wood with my saws----not quite, but almost. Now I must go feed my addiction to words with friends! My older brother and I have 11 games going with eachother at one time! I have to get to those before I go to bed.We love the competition!

Look at that beautiful piece of furniture. I bought it unfinished and my wonderful husband stained it and put it together for me. I love what it lends to the look of our livingroom. As you can see I was working on blonde doll hair in a wool/mohair blend.

Happy Saturday

Well I figured since I had made one toilet seat cover I would make another for the master bathroom while it was still fresh in my mind. I only had small pieces of the matching fabrics left that I used for the valance. I had gotten ambitious years ago and cut it all into quilt pieces thinking I would someday make a quilt for the bed to match. After all I had made a matching valance over our bedroom window besides the shower curtain. I found the pieces all cut and half sewn into quilt blocks but no pattern in sight to know what I had been sewing. Oh the story of my life! The best plans, I get started, then life gets in the way. At least I had all the pieces together tucked in a plastic shoebox waiting to be finished. So I guess that bed quilt will probably never get finished since I used the center squares that were supposed to go in the stars and made the toilet seat cover. I got smart and drew a pattern and instructions up while I was making the second one. In case I decide to change the colors in either bathroom in the future. Here's the second one. Just goes to show you how life gets in the way...I still have yet to finish the pattern and samples of the priarie flowers I was working on a couple weeks ago! I have to admit it felt really good to make something for me and our house for a change.

Next I wanted to share a really good tasting recipe I got from the Nate Berkus show. As I removed the pan from the oven it turned out looking pretty ugly, glad they didn't taste as bad as they looked! Recipe link follows. Pecan Butterscotch Bars   Scroll down and it's the 4th recipe on the page. Mine looked like theirs only in the center square. I'll show you a picture.

                  Mine was a flop in looks but not in flavor.

Update

Ok it has been 9 days since I put the lettuce in the jars. One of the 2 darker ones---the green leaf or the romaine is not holding up. The Iceberg is great. I noticed there are a few of the darker greens that are turning dark and mushy even in the vacuumed sealed jars. Only sparsley so far. I ate salad yesterday for lunch and dinner and I had to take out about 8 little pieces that were turning of the dark greens. Next time i will do the romaine and green leaf lettuces separately to determine how long each one will last. I've had fresh salad now for a week whenever I've wanted without the dreaded work of preparing it each time. So all in all I am very happy with this experiment.On to another note....

I spent the day yesterday making  a toilet seat cover to match the valance over the shower curtain I had made a few years ago. I came across that same fabric while cleaning and had enough for that and towel accents and a small runner for the tank top. I quilted the fabric before I cut it out. I laid the fabric on the lid and cut around it. Then I cut some un-quilted fabric strips on the bias, made a 5/8" hem. Inserted 1/4" elastic, then sewed this right sides together to the quilted seat cover. I finished by making a small piece of double fold bias out of matching fabric and covered all across the back near the hinges of the seat where I inserted the elastic. Turned out great, I was quite pleased with it. What do you think? Thanks. Have a good week.

Happy Sunday, Fresh Salad Bar

Sunday is one of my busiest days of the week. I work online most all day at my website and my selling venues. I found a new place to sell my patterns and have been working on uploading those. It's called Craftsy, it has all kinds of pdf downloadable patterns. You should check it out.Craftsy
In between my work I take breaks to eat, throw in some laundry and do other chores. Well today I decided to do something with my  vacuum sealer I saw online somewhere. I'm sorry I do not remember who posted the picture but I saw it on Pinterest I believe. (I do a lot of surfing some nights.) My vacuum sealer is one of my favorite appliances in the kitchen. I have had one for about 10-15 years now. Actually wore the first one out and bought a new one a few years ago. 

 I vacuum seal my sugar, flour cornmeal, and oatmeal in 1/2 gallon size jars. All wide mouth jars. The round attachment is for the jars. The jar with the sugar in it has a plastic wide mouth screw on lid so it is not vacuum sealed. That's because I get into that jar almost everyday. And early in the morning when it's tea and coffee time I don't want to have to think about re-sealing the jar.When I use some of the other jars then I re-seal them after I get out the amount I need from the jar.

 Chocolate chips, still good and chocolatey 1 year later. (I've made a lot of sugar cookies this past year not chocolate chip.) They do not turn colors because the air has been removed. Nuts, chips, cereal, candy, cookies, fruits snacks, raisins, pretzels. You name it and I most likely seal it or have tried sealing it. I use the bags to seal meats and put in the freezer they last a good long time, much longer than wrapped in other ways. Hot dogs, I break up the pkg. into serving sizes and seal. Bacon same way. Cheese and lunch meat. As most know lunch meat freezes but I don't like it when it comes from the freezer. leftovers from big pots of soup seal well in bags then into the freezer they go. I have even vacuum sealed produce. Some worked some did not. The mixed greens or spring mix salad didn't do well, I had done it in bags. Well I saw someone had sealed lettuce in jars and thought why not? I seal almost everything else in jars. So I decided to do romaine, iceburg, and green leaf. They all seem to be hardy.  Now I have fresh salad whenever I want. Just open the jar and serve. I have to add the fixin's to it like celery, tomatoes, onions and such after I take it out of the jar because all produce seals and lasts at different rates. The biggest job is done though. I washed and chopped all the lettuce up the and sealed it in the jars. One quart sized jar makes three good sized salads. I've always wished I had a fresh salad bar in my house to eat from everyday. This is the next best thing. And the jars stand up in the vegetable  drawer of the fridge with no problem.

I hope this inspires someone else. Here's wishing everyone a good week.

This will be Primitive Prairie Flowers

Here sets the supplies I'm using for my newest pattern. I've decided to call it Primitive Prairie Flowers. Will post the finished products in a week when I get them done. Providing life doesn't get in the way.