Simple Cardigan Refashion

I recently ran across Tarakina Svtlana's tutorial for refashioning a cardigan that was purchased on sale. Here is the before pic:

To begin, she used blue camo fabric as a template. She wanted to use the sheer polyester fabric as her ruffle to be added to the cardigan. You could also just use a tissue pattern. No dimensions are given. You will have to freehand your own pattern (sorry).

Now, to make the flower. The tutorial for that can be found here. Basically, you will use a tea candle and very carefully melt the edges of the polyester fabric petals. You will layer the petals to form a flower. 

Next, you will need to cut out a strip of fabric to form the ruffle. Starting with the narrow end of a strip of cloth from the middle of the back of the sweater to the front placket, repeat for the other side.  You could either attach the ruffle together or you could place the ruffle from the top of the sleeve to the front.  Stitch along the edges of the ruffle. 

Then, sew the front placket with a cascading ruffle.  The fabric is laid out in a zigzag pattern. The tutorial for sewing a cascade ruffle is here. 

Hand sew the flower together and add a small brooch in the center. 

Finally, to shorten the sleeves, cut off at the desired length 

and then cut off the cuffs. Looks like she also adjusted the seams at the side for a more tailored look.

Sew the cuffs to the gathered edge of the shortened sleeve for a cute, puffed out look. 

It turned out so cute and feminine! Here are the pics of the completed make-over:

Hope you have a wonderful week!

Thanks to Ugly Bugs and Pretty Bees for the flower tutorial and to Shwin and Shwin for the cascade ruffle tutorial!

Adorable Teddy Bear Cookies!

How cute are these teddy bear cookies by the Cookie Fairy Blog?  These
are perfect for an after school snack or a Teddy Bear themed party!

Prepare two equal-sized balls of dough- Cocoa and Vanilla

Cool dough, then flatten between 2 sheets of parchment paper (no need for flour)

Cut dough into circles for face, ears and nose

Stack circles to form contrasting faces and ears, slightly push on each piece to connect

After cooling decorate with eyes, nose and mouth and enjoy!

                        Teddy Bear Cookies
                                        Makes 16 Cookies

Cookie Ingredients:

1/4 C Butter (1/2 Stick)
1 C Powdered Sugar
1 Egg Yolk
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 C Flour
1/4 C Cocoa

Icing Ingredients:
3 TBS Powdered Sugar
1/2 Tsp Cocoa
A few drops of milk or water
A handful of Chocolate Chips

For Cookies:

Beat Butter and Powdered Sugar together for several minutes until smooth
Mix in Egg Yolk and Vanilla Extract
Next, Sift in Flour until incorporated
Divide the Dough into 2 equal parts
In 1 part of the Dough mix in Cocoa

Wrap each part in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours
If dough becomes soft during preparation, then place in refrigerator until stiff
Flatten each piece of dough between 2 cookie sheets or parchment paper into a             square that is approx. 25" X 25"
Using 2 sizes of circular cookie cutters cut out small and large circles of each color     of dough
Stack the circles of dough contrasting each piece and slightly push on each piece
    to connect (2 small for ears, 1 large for face and one small for nose)
Bake cookies for 10 -12 minutes at 350 deg.
Let cool completely

For Icing:

In a bowl: 2 TBS of powdered sugar
                gradually trickle a few drops of milk or water while stirring
                just until mixture is smooth but still thick
                If icing is too thin, add more powdered sugar to desired consistency

In a separate bowl:
                Mix remaining powdered sugar with cocoa trickle in a few drops of milk                   or water while stirring

Place each color of icing in separate pastry bags with small round couplings

For Chocolate faced Cookies: Use light colored icing for eyes and add a mini chocolate chip for his pupils
Use dark colored icing for nose and mouth.

For Vanilla faced Cookies: Use dark icing for eyes and add a mini white chocolate chip for pupils. Use light icing for nose and mouth.

Have fun eating the cute and delicious Teddy Bear cookies!

Apple Pie With Cream

I found a wonderful new recipe for Apple Pie from the Cookie Fairy Blog!

Ingredients:

Crust:
50 g walnuts, lightly toasted 
180 grams (a quarter cup) of flour 
30 grams (3 tablespoons) powdered sugar 
120 cold butter cubes 
1 egg yolk 
1 tablespoon milk or cold water

Ingredients:
3 apples 
200 ml (cup) sour cream 15% 
100 grams (half a cup) sugar 
2 tablespoons flour 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1 egg 
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract 
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel 
25 g raisins

Topping:
60 g (1/4 cup compressed) brown sugar 
50 g (one third cup and another teaspoon) flour 
40 g butter 
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Tools:
Pie mold or pattern disintegrating 24 cm

Preparation:

To the kelp:
Grind the nuts in a food processor. Add flour and powdered sugar and process together. Add the cubes of butter and mix to crumbs. Add yolk and milk and process briefly until you get a uniform dough. Refrigerate for an hour. After cooling, flatten the dough with your hands on the bottom and sides of the pan. Heat oven to medium temperature 180 degrees.

For the filling:
peel, shred and slice the apples into slices, and arrange nicely in the crust. Mix the remaining ingredients of the filling and pour gently over the apples. Bake for 25 minutes.

For coating:
Process all coating materials together until rough crumbs are obtained and refrigerated. After 25 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the crumbs quickly on the pie. Return to oven and bake for another 20 minutes. Keep refrigerated. Serve hot or cold to taste next to whipped cream or a ball of vanilla ice cream.

Valentine's Day Love

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays! I'm still looking for that perfect gift for my hubby...
This is a small Valentine montage from Poppytalk blog. Enjoy!

 
Poppytalk - The beautiful, the decayed and the handmade: Today at Poppytalk Handmade:
Contributor post by Erin of  Dear Edna
1. Renee Anne  2. Golly Bard  3.  Yellow Button Studio
4. Lucy Snowe Photography 5.  Datter Industries

How To Knit A Giganto Blanket!

Christmas Eve Creamy Crockpot Hot Chocolate

Christmas Eve Creamy Crockpot Hot Chocolate - 1.5 cups heavy cream, 1 can of sweetened condensed milk (14oz), 2 cups milk chocolate chips, 6 cups of milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract. Yum!---have to remember this at christmas this year!!








And from Real Mom Kitchen:

Peppermint Whipped Cream. Perfect for hot chocolate..

My favorite way to top my hot cocoa or hot chocolate with whipped cream. This is an easy peppermint whipped cream recipe.  I love this on top of  hot chocolate.  If served right away,   the crunchy bits of candy cane add texture to the cream.  If served after a while, the candy canes completely dissolve for a delicious creamy topping.  Peppermint Cream also works well served on top of chocolate pie, brownies, cupcakes, etc.  

Peppermint Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

  6 red and white peppermint candy canes or 24 red and white mini peppermint candy canes

  2 cups of whipping cream

1. Unwrap your candy canes and place them in a blender or food processor. I like to break them into pieces as I add them to the blender.
2. Process until the candy canes util they are a fairly fine powder.
3. In another bowl, whip cream until firm. No need to add sugar. The sweetness will come from the candy canes.
4. Fold in the candy cane powder in the cream. Use immediately to top you cocoa if you like little pieces of crunchy candy cane in it (This is the way I like it). Or place in the refrigerator for 2 hours and allow the candy canes to completely dissolve.

Meet the Dubiens: make your own rainbow watercolors

Meet the Dubiens: make your own rainbow watercolors:I found the idea of making your own homemade watercolor paints on Martha Stewart and I absolutely loved it. Now that we've made our own watercolors, I'll never use anything else. These watercolors are absolutely amazing. I think they are far superior to any other watercolor paints I had previously purchased for my kiddos. It also makes quite a bit, so I bought some awesome individual containers and just close the lid after we use them and have lots leftover for the next time. I also love that you can control how bright/vibrant the colors will be by adding either a little or a lot of food coloring. I like vibrant, so that's exactly what mine are. I'm including this craft in our St. Patrick's day activities because we used our watercolors to make beautiful rainbows. Cam really wasn't interested in making rainbows, but Kirsten was really excited and did an amazing job. She painted four of them! I framed one of them and it looks amazing. Here are the instructions to make your own watercolors:

What you'll need (for each color):

2 tbsp baking soda
1 tbsp white vinegar
1/4 tsp light corn syrup
1 tbsp cornstarch

We made 6 colors - so you will need 6x the above ingredients

gel food coloring
6 bowls
spoons
airtight containers

watercolor paper
paintbrushes

* This recipe made a large batch and I was able to make a set for both Kirsten and Camden to have their own *

Directions:

1. in each bowl add the above ingredients - 2 tbsp baking soda, 1 tbsp white vinegar, 1/4 tsp light corn syrup, 1 tbsp cornstarch. Mix until everything is well dissolved. If the mixture is too thick, add a little bit more vinegar. You basically want it to be like an oobleck or gak consistency (can be formed but then melts away if you let it go).

2. add your food coloring to each bowl and mix well - we did a rainbow of colors - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.

3. pour your paint mixture into individual containers, leave the lids off and allow to dry completely - at least overnight.

4. give the paints to your kiddos (I made a set for each kid) with a paint brush, watercolor paper and a cup of water and let them paint away!