~More Laundry Soap~

About a month and a half ago, I made my own laundry soap, following this recipe. It has worked really well! I'm so happy that I can make my own soap at home. It will really save a lot of money.

A few notes:
---I have found that laundry can't stay as long in the washing machine as it can with regular detergent. It starts to smell "sour" sooner. That's easy to remedy, it just means I need to trek down to the basement when I hear the washer beeping! (I should do that anyhow! LOL)
---I haven't had trouble with staining, or the laundry not smelling clean. It works very well.
---As I mentioned before, I do have to use liquid softener, to keep static cling at bay. I use scent-free softener.

My batch from last time was running low, so I made a double batch today. It ran out faster than I thought it would. I must have miscalculated the number of loads, or maybe I didn't use enough water in my first batch, because I really don't think I've done 64 loads in 6 weeks. Hmmmm.

~Coupon Code~

Through November 30th, use the coupon code BLOG15 in my Etsy store Treasures by Tammy when you check out, and you will receive 15% off your entire order.

~Beaded Socks~

New, in my shop:




Beaded socks! There are two sizes available.

And through November 30th, get 15% off your order (before shipping) when you use the code BLOG15.

~The Little Red Hen~

My daughter has a book called The Little Red Hen. It's a familiar story: the Little Red Hen finds a grain of wheat and asks Duck, Goose, Cat and Pig to help her as she goes through the process of planting it, reaping it, taking it to the mill, making the dough, and baking the bread. At each turn she asks for help, and is refused help. "Not I", said the Duck, etc. Then when she pulls the bread out of the oven, she asks, "Who will help me eat the bread?" and of course the Duck, Goose, Cat and Pig all say they will. But she ends up eating the bread by herself because they didn't help her. So there.

So what exactly is the moral of the story? The Little Red Hen was asking for help with jobs that she clearly could accomplish by herself. Just how many farm animals does it take to plant one grain of wheat anyhow?

~Blogger Meetup~

I have "known" Melody of With the Fruit of Her Hands for a long time. I started reading her blog over five years ago. When someone you know online lives a long distance away you don't really expect to ever meet them. So I was very pleased to have the chance to meet Melody!



We met up yesterday for lunch, and ended up chatting for quite a while! As I was on my way home, my husband called to make sure I was still alive, I was gone that long. ;-)

Melody is a lovely Christian woman and I so enjoyed our visit! I'm hoping we can meet up again in the future!

~Turkey~

How do you roast your turkey? The first year I roasted a turkey I dumped a bunch of water in the roaster oven and plopped the turkey in. It was...blah. LOL By the time the next Thanksgiving rolled around I had read a better way to roast turkey so that's what I did. :-) I patted butter on the turkey and then liberally rubbed it with turkey rub, from McCormick Spices. It was great! That's the way I've been doing my turkey ever since.

Until now. Because I couldn't find turkey rub at the store. What? The gal stocking the spices said they must not be making it (or my guess is that the store isn't buying it to stock). So now what am I going to do??????

Freedom from Want Giclee Print by Norman Rockwell at AllPosters.com

~Why, Hello!~

It's been a little while since I updated my blog. I guess I've been a bad blogger, eh? There's nothing too new going on, just life. :-) I was thinking today that I no longer blog in my head as I go about my day, so in part that would be why there are less posts than I've previously put up!

So now that I've opened this post...hmmmmm, what to write about? Well, here are some little snippets from my life right now. :-)

My daughter loves to wear my shoes:


I've taken an interest in using Kevin's big, scary camera (as opposed to my trusty little Canon point-and-shoot). I've been experimenting a little bit, but I really want to read the manual and get better acquainted with the camera and all the functions.

I found this super neat tool for saving web pages, called Evernote. It is amazing! You can do so much with it, so far I have saved all my bookmarked recipes. I had so many recipes bookmarked that I had forgotten about half of them. Now they are all in one spot, tagged appropriately and searchable. Since downloadking Evernote, instead of bookmarking a recipe, I now copy it to my recipe notebook. It's easy to use, and I really love it. The only problem I have had is that with a free account you can only save so much each month before essentially locking your account.

Lastly, I was recently contacted by Lil' Sugar. They asked permission to use my picture from my mini deep-dish pizzas. I was pleased to say yes. :-) My pizzas are featured in a muffin tin lunch idea post, found here. There are four other recipes as well.

Have a good day! And I hope to be blogging more regularly! :-) Thanks for stopping by!

~Stitched Notebook Tutorial~

This is a fun little project. Maybe tutorial isn't the right word, perhaps crafting inspiration would be a better way to describe this post? Whatever term you choose, I hope you enjoy crafting a notebook! It is relatively easy, and if you are a scrapbooker, bonus! You'll be more imaginative than me. :-)

You'll need:
a spiral-bound notebook, with a light-weight cover (I got mine at the dollar store)
card stock
scrapbook paper or any other decorative paper
ribbons, buttons, or flowers
a sewing machine
scrapbook glue
Tacky glue for adding buttons or flowers

My notebook:


Papers and ribbon:


Using scrapbook glue, put glue on your notebook cover, close to the edges.


Press your cover down on the card stock.


Cut around the notebook cover, using the cover as your guide.


Cut and arrange your papers and ribbons (I created my saying in a Word document and printed it on a nice piece of paper):


I sewed along the edge, and used zigzag stitches to hold the ribbon in place. To help hold your stitches in place, use a needle to thread the tail, bring the thread from the top through to the back (through the first stitch hole). Tie threads in a knot and cut. (This picture shows the knot at the straight stitching which did not need to be threaded to the back since it was right by the edge).


One at a time, glue each paper in place, then sew around the edge as desired. Note: this will dull your needle, so you'll want to use a new needle next time you sew with fabric. You can use an old needle for your paper crafting and save it if you plan on doing a lot of sewing through paper! :-)


After I got everything stitched, I decided it needed a little something more so I added a button with ribbon.


This notebook is available in my shop. Here are a few others that I did, as gifts:

~Ruffle Totes on Sale!~

Today only, snap these up for $10 (previously $12). For details, click the link below the picture.


Gingham Ruffle Tote


Floral and Gingham Ruffle Tote


(sold)

~Precious~

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. (Psalm 116:5)

A week ago Sunday, my precious grandmother, my mom's mother, slipped from us and entered into Heaven.

I have so many beautiful memories of her. In fact, the night after she passed away, I was laying in bed thinking about all my memories, and it dawned on me: I do not have any negative memories of my grandma. Wow...I'm pretty sure that people can't say that about me! My grandma was so kind, so loving and thoughtful. She had a true servant's heart and a deep love for the Lord.

My grandma taught me how to sew. When I first started, I broke machine needles every time I was there! She had a ready supply of sewing machine needles though, and I just had to replace the needle I broke. One sewing lesson I broke two needles, and another lesson the needle went through my finger--straight down through my nail! She clipped the thread and pulled the needle out! We went over weekly for "sewing lessons". One of the things Grandma taught me was to read the instructions for myself. I remember from the first lesson on, she always had me read the instructions and try to follow them. If I needed help, or couldn't understand the instructions, she would help me. But I always had to start out by reading the instructions. Grandma was encouraging. She wanted sewing to be enjoyable for me. If I made a mistake and had to rip out a seam, she would hand me the seamripper. But sometimes if the mistake was big and it involved a lot of work with the seamripper, she would pick out my stitches for me, so that it wouldn't be discouraging for me.

Oh...I could go on and on. I'll miss my grandma so much! I know I'll see her again, and I know that she is free from pain and in the presence of the Lord Whom she served so faithfully! It's sad to think of her not being here on earth with us, but my heart rejoices so much to know she's in Heaven!

~Laundry Soap~

Well, the day finally came! I ran out of laundry detergent! Right around the time our daughter was born (19 months ago!) we hit on some really good sales on the detergent we used, so we stocked up.

After learning about natural cleaners last April, I really wanted to make my own detergent. But I still had plenty to use up, so I determined that when I ran out, then I would make my own! =)

You'll need water and these three ingredients:


The soap looked so pretty all grated and ready to go:


I used this recipe here. For soap, I used Dr. Bronner's bar soap. It would have been cheaper to use Fels Naptha, but (according to the class I took last April) Dr. Bronner's is more natural.

This soap is quick and easy to make! I really can't believe how easy it is to make! I will be making my laundry detergent from now on. Next time I'll probably make a double batch since I have a 5-gallon bucket.

I broke the costs down and for one batch (64 loads) it cost me $1.97. That's a mere $.03 per load! The soap I used did raise the price a little, I'm pretty sure Fels Naptha is less expensive. Also, I've heard that Ivory or other natural soap bars work just as well as Fels Naptha.

~Fabric Acorns~

A few weeks back, I followed this little tutorial on Everything Etsy, to make these fabric acorns:


Halfway through the process, I realized that the slashes in the circle (see tutorial) really weren't necessary. I could have folded the circles and sewn without the slashes.

After making my first acorn I realized that they needed some weight in the bottom in order to keep them from doing this:


Yes, they all flop over, so they lose their cuteness, since all you can see is the bottoms. While I was making them I thought perhaps some rice in the bottom would keep them upright. But I was too lazy didn't feel like getting up to try it.

We were on a walk the other day and Kevin spotted some acorns. He asked me if I wanted the acorns to make more fabric acorns and I said, "no, I wasted enough time making the ones I have." =P It was a fun little project though, just not a super productive project. They would probably be cute if they were glued onto a wreath or something. Hmmmm.

~8 Questions Meme~

Melody tagged me for a meme. I thought, "why not?" It's been a while since I've participated in a meme! :-) The way it works is she answered 8 questions asked by someone else, then wrote 8 questions and tagged 8 people to answer.

1. What is your favorite hot beverage? Coffee? Tea? Hot chocolate? Something else?
This really depends on my mood and the time of year! I love coffee and drink it every morning. There's just something about starting my day with a cup of coffee! In the fall and winter, in addition to my coffee, I drink quite a bit of herbal tea.

2. What is your favorite season of the year?
I would have to say spring. Everything starting to bloom, the snow melting, the sun shining again...so much to look forward to!

3. How old were you when you accepted Christ?
I was almost 4 years old. I remember praying with my mom. It was right before bedtime, and instead of my normal prayer, I prayed and asked Jesus to save me. :-)

4. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?
If finances weren't an issue, I'd love to go to Europe.

5. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Night owl, unfortunately. My daughter does not take after me so this sometimes makes for hard mornings!

6. Do you have a life verse, or one that is really special to you?
Through my life different verses have been near and dear to my heart, but my life verse is Proverbs 3:5,6: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

7. If you had a couple hours to do anything you wanted, what would you do?
Clean my house! I know that several years ago I'd probably have said something like knitting or sewing, but having a little one underfoot changes my perspective! As my daughter is getting older it is getting easier to clean but even yesterday I was making applesauce and she was laying on the floor right by my feet! LOL So yeah, cleaning for a few hours straight sounds great! :-)

8. Do you have someone in your life who has been a Spiritual mentor for you?
In the true sense of the word, not really. There have been people though who have greatly helped me in my Spiritual walk, at various times in my life.

Now it's my turn! :) I had the hardest time coming up with these, for some odd reason!

Here are my 8 questions:
1. Do you like to journal (on paper)?
2. What is your favorite fall activity?
3. What is your favorite time of day?
4. Do you enjoy exercising?
5. Did you play sports in school?
6. What Bible verse is special to you right now?
7. What is your favorite food item during the holidays? (Thanksgiving/Christmas)
8. If you drink coffee (or tea), how many cups do you drink per day?

Now the thing is, most of the people I would have tagged have already been tagged! So if you'd like to play along, please grab the questions and go for it! =D Be sure to leave a comment if you participated!

~Skirt Refashion~

One of my sisters gave our daughter this skirt:


It was really cute but it was too short. She only got to wear it a few times, and as I was putting away the summer clothes I was going to put the skirt in with the other clothes and then I had the thought of adding a ruffle.

So I got out my scrap bin and decided on a red plaid. I cut two strips, sewed the seams and hemmed it. For the top, I pressed it under about 1/2" and sewed one row of basting stiches.


I didn't cut the skirt, I just pulled the basting stiches and pinned the ruffle in place. I sewed right over the basting stitches.

Ta-da! A simple and quick project!


I had planned on making this during the Kids Clothes Sewing Challenge Week, but it didn't happen.

~Socks~

This week has been, hmmm...unproductive? Or not managed well? I think more of the latter than the former. It feels like I've done a lot of wheel spinning this week.

Anyhow, this week is the week that I signed up to do Kids Clothes Week Challenge. One hour a day. I've done one hour of sewing so far (Monday), which resulted in my dining room being a disaster for three days. Ahem.

One of the more productive things I did this week was complete an order for 15 pairs of socks. I already had 8 of them crocheted, but I still had 7 to finish. They are in the mail and winging their way to Australia, as we speak. =)


I decided after all that crocheting that my daughter needed some socks too. And for the challenge, crochet and knit projects count too! One of my sisters gave my daughter a pretty fall outfit, and I had the perfect color of crochet thread to match it.




And I made two beaded pairs as well.


I'm happy that I have a finished project for the KCWC!

I'm planning on putting some of these in my shop soon.

~Mini Deep-Dish Pizzas~

I saw this idea on a blog post somewhere last week. The recipe wasn't included with the post, and I didn't bookmark the post either. But I really wanted to make them, so this is what I came up with!

You'll need:
muffin tin
pizza dough (one pizza's worth)
pizza sauce
your choice of toppings
cheese

I made my pizza dough, then rolled it out in a rectangle and cut it in 12 equal pieces.

Grease muffin tin, and put each square of dough in the muffin tin, working it in so it makes a well and covers the sides:


Put a spoonful of pizza sauce in each pizza, then use a pastry brush to spread it around:


Put your favorite toppings in the pizza. I chose olives and turkey sausage.




Top with cheese:


Bake at 450* for 10 minutes.
ENJOY!

These would be fun in a lunch box, as appetizers, at a potluck, or really anytime! Pizza is always good!

~Paint Project~

We had one room remaining in our house which we hadn't painted yet: the bathroom. It's a little tricky, because the claw foot tub is too close to the wall to paint around, yet the wall surrounding the tub needed to be painted, because you can see it. So we've lived here for five years and just left it "blah white".

Here's a before/during shot, which shows the tub disconnected from the wall, and the color of the paint.


And the finished room, looking in from the door:


Looking to the left:


Looking to the right:


At first I wasn't thrilled with the paint color but it's really grown on me. :-) We discussed painting the bathroom a bolder color but decided with a neutral so that we don't have to paint again any time soon!

Oh, and I want to say I'm so proud of Kevin for doing all the plumbing work of detaching and attaching the tub himself! :-) He did a great job with the paint job too!

~Green Chicken Enchiladas~

I mentioned in a previous post that I made my own green enchilada sauce. I liked it ok, once I got past the smell of the bell peppers, but Kevin loved it.

Tonight I made green enchilada sauce, following this recipe. It called for roasted, skinned, and seeded chilies, which I have never done before. So I did a quick search and found these directions.

Oh my. Yum, yum! Kevin liked it, but I loved it! LOL The recipe made enough for two meals.

I also made my enchiladas differently tonight. Instead of rolling the burritos, I cut them up into 2-3" pieces. In baking dish, I layered 1/2 of the cut burritos, 2 cups cooked chicken, 1 cup grated cheese, and 1/2 a can's worth of enchilada sauce. (One large can is 28 ounces.) Then I topped it with the remaining burrito pieces, remaining sauce, and 1 cup cheese, and baked it for 30 minutes. This method makes more of a casserole, and the whole thing is moist and you get chicken and cheese with every bite!

I'm still going to play around with the green sauce, till I come up with a sauce that we both love! :-)

~Bean Bag Tutorial~

Here's a very simple and fun project that you can make for your children or little friends, or help a young child make. Perfection isn't necessary at all. :-)

First, cut squares. I cut my squares 4 1/2 inches wide. You'll need two squares for each bean bag.


Next, put two squares right sides together. Put a pin in each corner:


Sew around the outside of your bean bag, using a 1/4" seam allowance (if a child is sewing these, cut your squares a little larger and use a 1/2" seam allowance), backstitching at beginning and end, pivoting at the corners, and leaving an opening along one edge about 2" wide.


Turn right side out. Use a pair of closed scissors, a chopstick, or a pencil to gently push the corners out.


Fill about 2/3 full with rice or beans. A funnel is a great help in getting the rice in. Pin the opening shut, with seam allowance folded inward.


Sew along the edge of the opening, making sure to catch both sides as you sew.


Now go find some games to play with your new bean bags!

It's a rainy day here, hence the darkness of the pictures. Also, I would like to note that I just washed my ironing board cover so it is clean, it just has mysterious stains on it. ;-)

~Kids Clothes Week Challenge~

Next week is Kids Clothes Week Challenge at elsie marley. I decided to jump in! The challenge is to spend one hour each day sewing, kid's clothing obviously. This week I plan to spend some time cutting out several projects, so I can sit down and start sewing on Monday.

I went through my daughter's clothes and she has plenty of play clothes in her current size for fall and winter, but she has only one nice dress for church. So I would like to make some church clothes for her.

I'm excited about this challenge!