Simply HomeMade

New Beginnings

2012-01-31T12:15:00.007-05:00

The house from the driveway

If you follow me on Facebook then you know that we moved the end of November, if you don’t then you might have wondered what happened to us. It has been a long journey but after living in a motel room for 6 weeks we finally got to move into our new house on the 13^th of January. From the time we left West Virginia to the time we spent our first night in our new home we encountered countless frustrations and disappointments but I’ll save those for the book- haha.

So here we are in the Tennessee Appalachia Mountains, no TV, no internet, no friends or family, no cell signal and until Friday no phone. Since we have no internet I will try to post here once a month or so when we can pick up free Wi-Fi in McDonald's parking lot or play land.

Our new place is everything we wanted and more and in hindsight worth the wait. We have less land than we had hoped for but what we do have is not only the house with 2 full bathrooms but a garage with a carport, a barn, a large creek running the length of the property and walking distance from the very small school all 3 of the big kids attend. The best part is that it is bought and paid for!!!!!

So far we love it but much as I love it here I have to admit I'm getting a little irritated with my living conditions...

The house needs work (it sat empty for 2 years with a leaking roof) and progress is going well. Thanks to my amazing husband we have everything we need to live. However as he tears out yucky carpet, lays new wood floors, hangs doors, paints, and fixes everything that leaks, breaks, or falls apart along the way I try to keep up on the everyday tasks of laundry, cooking, homework and keeping little Fred-Fred out of his way. I have a temporary kitchen to work in including a mini fridge that can hold essentials and nothing more, which is so frustrating to try to get things in and out of. Also, I have one electric burner, an electric skillet, no oven and what I am convinced is the smallest kitchen sink I have ever seen, oh and a microwave. On the plus side I do have a decent dish washer that we picked up for $15 at the local Goodwill!! I have to say the electric skillet is worth its weight in gold, I have used that thing every day!

before

after

What I've been up to...

2011-10-13T10:59:00.004-04:00

Some Christmas gifts...

trying to fill orders before we move...

and making apple sauce.
You can't even imagine how excited I was to realize I had this veg & fruit strainer... I didn't even know I had it!! Boy oh boy did it make making apple sauce so much easier!!!!!

Another Homemade Birthday Gift

2011-10-05T21:56:00.008-04:00

A pretty pillow

When I go through the gift giving process I always start by thinking about that person, I think about what he/she likes and what makes him/her happy. I then decide what I would like to make for him/her and start scouring the net and books for ideas. Sometimes... ok usually for hours. I will almost always obsess over photos, patterns, and ideas until I find exactly what I want then I will change it and make it my own...

Here's my version of this fun pillow

(front)
(back)
For this gift I decided what I wanted to make, found a pattern, chose the material, then chose the yarn to match. I was so excited to find these absolutely gorgeous wool yarns to match the colors I wanted in the fabric.

Semi-Homemade Broccoli Cheese Soup

2011-09-22T10:33:00.006-04:00

I love broccoli cheese soup and wanted to find a recipe as good as Panera Bread's so here's my semi-homemade version...

2 cans of cheddar cheese soup
2 cans of milk
1 can of cream of broccoli soup
1 can chicken broth
carrots- shredded
broccoli- chopped up in the food processor & par-cooked (I used fresh but you could use frozen)

In crock-pot or your favorite soup pot, whisk together soups, milk & broth until smooth. Add shredded carrot and broccoli. Cook until broccoli is soft, I cooked mine in the crock-pot on high for about 2 hours then turned it down to warm until we were ready for dinner. Top with a little shredded cheddar and fresh bread, enjoy!

Crochet Mens Slipper Pattern

2011-09-21T12:50:00.009-04:00

I wanted to make my brother some slippers for his birthday but couldn't find a pattern I liked, free or otherwise. So, I came up with my own and thought I would share it with you all.
***Updated 12/24/01***

I had to make a 9.5 wide so I found the measurements here for length and here for width. So start by determining what measurements you need and work accordingly.

I/9-hook, worsted weight yarn

Sole:
Working with 2 strands together in the color you want the sole of your slipper.
Ch 7
2 sc in 2nd chain, sc in next 4 chain, 2 sc in last, ch 1, turn (8 sc)
Keep increasing rows by putting 2 sc in first and last sc until you get desired width, (I went to 12 sc. to get 4.1 inches.) Continue adding rows until you get to last 2 inches.
Sc2tog, sc in ea. sc until last 2 sc, sc2tog, ch1 turn, continue until you have sc2tog, 2 sc, sc2tog, tie off.
With 1 strand
sc around the sole, join with ss, ch 1 turn
In back loop only, sc in ea. sc, join, tie off.

Sides:
This is where you will change color if you want the slipper to be a different color than the sole.
Row 1-in back loop only, sc in ea. sc, join, ch 1, turn
Row 2- in both loops, sc in ea. sc, join, ch 1, turn
Find the front center 33 sc and mark with stitch markers.
Row 3- sc in ea. sc till you get to the marked stitches, ss in those, back loop only, sc in the rest, join, ch 1, turn.
Row 4- repeat row 3
Row 5/6- sc 1, sc2tog, sc in ea. sc, ch ,1 turn when you get to ss,
sc in ea. sc till you get to the last 3, sc2tog, sc in last sc, join, ch 1
see picture, DO NOT TURN
sc 1 sc2tog, sc in ea. sc ch 1, turn when you get to ss,
sc in each sc till you get to last 3 sc, sc2tog, sc in last sc, join, tie off.

Top:
Find center 7 ss at toe, working from right to left with the toe of slipper facing you. ~ With toe end facing you, find the 7 slip stitches at the center front of the top edge of the toe end. Beginning on right hand side, join yarn with a a slip stitch in back (inside) loop of the first of the 7 central slip stitches.
Row 1- In back loop only, join with ss at first of 7 center, hdc in next, sc in next 2, hdc in next, ss in next 2, turn, ~ at the first of the seven center join your strand of yarn with a slip stitch then work a half double in the next slip stitch, work a single in the next 2 slip stitches, half double in next then slip stitch in the next 2 slip stitches. Now your first row will have 7 stitches- (ss, hdc, sc, sc, hdc, ss, ss) this row is in back loop only
Row 2- *in both loops* sc in hdc, sc in ea. sc across, sc in joining ss, skip next back loop only (inside loop) ss on top edge, ss in next 2 ss , turn, ~ this row you are going to skip over the 2 ss you did in row 1 and work a single in the half double and single crochet in the next 4 stitches, skip the next slip stitch (from top edge) and slip stitch in the next 2 slip stitches in back loop only, only the slip stitches are in back loop
Row 3- sc in each sc, sc in joining sc, skip first ss, ss in next 2 ss (blo), turn ~so now you are doing the same thing as row 2 skipping the slip stitches and working singles across, skipping the next slip stitch from the top edge then working slip stitches in the next 2
Continue repeating rows till you have reached end of ss.
Add 3 rows of sc to make "tongue" join,
ss all the way around opening of slipper, join, tie off, weave in ends.

*Please note this is a new pattern and has not been tested and may contain typos. If you find any typos or have any questions please feel free to email me cjcosper@live.com.

HaPpY BiRtHdAy!!

2011-09-16T09:15:00.009-04:00

This week was Freddy's, JoLee's my brother's and my Grams birthdays!!Freddy turned 1!!

Here he is in the hat & jacket I made him... poor little guy was sick on his birthday.

Since their birthdays are next to each other this shared birthday cake was the first of many to come!!

JoLee turned 10!!!

She is such a big girl now and so much help to me, I can't believe he's 10 already.
Here she is right after her dedication when she was just a few months old... boy how time flies!! And here she is in her "Birthday Outfit" I make one for her each year... she helped me pick out the material and she said "mom adds the magic"... lol she so funny!!
But boy-oh-boy has her style changed!!

And some slippers for my gram, this is a great pattern and they work up fast. You can find the pattern here.

Thanks so much for reading!!

Homemade Birthday Gifts

2011-08-22T12:49:00.008-04:00

We have 5 birthdays coming up next month, including JoLee's 10th & Freddy's 1st!! We have 3 in October and 3 more in November including a "sweet 16", not to mention Christmas will soon follow... ughh, I don't even want to think about Christmas! Christmas = winter! So with all these birthdays coming up I've been thinking about gifts. We do mostly only homemade gifts which isn't too much trouble for the girls. There so many great things to make for little girls.

JoLee especially loves the tiered skirt & baby doll clothes I made her last year. Which happens to be the only thing I've made her that she has worn over and over. Chica & Jo is a great site that makes making a tiered skirt super easy. It has a very handy "skirt measurement calculation tool" that tells you exactly what size to cut your strips!! It's a-MAZ-ing!!! (Shhh, don't tell but Jo will be getting another one this year.)

So far I have made this cute fall jacket & hat for Freddy. I love the blue fleck yarn I got for $1 Goodwill, I wish I would have put green stripes in it but there is so much orange in the blue yarn that orange seemed to be the best choice and there's no way I changing it now!!!!

The original pattern for the jacket came from Crochet Me but I altered it a bit, the hat's my own pattern with a button so he can't pull it off.

When I can't come up with my own ideas I look to other blogs for ideas and inspiration. Here are some of the things I'm going to... err, hoping to be working on in the next few months... Molly Monkey , by mmmcrafts

Tic-Tac-Toe, by turtle weenies

And I'm going to try some freezer paper stenciling & bleach pening, I am Momma-Hear Me Roar has some great tutorials for both. She has tons of great ideas for the boys in your life!!

If you have any ideas for homemade gifts, I would really LOVE to hear about them!! Thanks for reading!!

This is how we...

2011-08-12T12:44:00.012-04:00

keep things separate with NO fighting.
Whenever we have to buy things in 3's (or 4's now) we have always bought in "colors" that way there's no fighting about who's-who's! It's always
orange= BJ
pink= JoLee
red= Max
and we have decided that
green=Fred-Fred Orange, pink, red & green balls so there's no fighting!

Backpacks, so no one grabs the wrong one on busy mornings.

Colored towels saves on laundry, they know which one's theirs and they can use them 2 or 3 times before they need washed.

If we are going somewhere crowded I always make sure the have their "color" on in case they get separated.

Sometimes we have to substitute and use blue. I hope this tip was helpful, as always thanks for reading.

School Shirts

2011-08-08T17:37:00.007-04:00

I know I said I wasn't going to make JoLee any more clothes but technically I didn't make these. I got some plain ol' t-shirts and girlied them up a little so she had some super cute one-of-a-kind shirts for school.

This was just a plain white t-shirt with a bow made from some extra wide ribbon and a cute pink button with a little "diamond" for fancy factor!!

This one's a nave blue t-shirt with applique butterflies & some buttons, two butterflies in the front and one in the back. So cute huh? I got the template here for the butterflies.

This one's her favorite, it's a black t-shirt with a simple fabric corsage. I created the flower from a piece of scrap white material sewed long and narrow, gathered and rolled up, I put a cute yellow button in the center but it wasn't fancy enough for my fashionista so we had to use an antique button instead. (I liked the yellow one better but she's the one who has to wear it...)

This one is my favorite I got the inspiration and the template from one of my fav-o-rite blogs MMMCrafts. You gotta check out this blog, it's filled of great ideas and free templates & patterns!

Thanks so much for reading and stay tuned for matching hair clips & shirts for the boys!! I know it's hard to wait...

Anniversary

2011-08-04T11:55:00.010-04:00

Yesterday was our 15th anniversary, Hubby came home from work early and surprised me a beautiful card and a huge bar of chocolate (which I'll admit, I ate half of before the night was over). Then the kids presented us with this lovely Lego card, they said the heart was "really hard".

We celebrated by going out to an early dinner, all 6 of us!! -Because it's impossible to find a sitter for 4 kids and let's face it, it's cheaper to just take them with us! I'm sure the waitress thought we were crazy!!

(Notice hubby's beard, I'm still trying to figure out how to get rid of it!!)

Then we hit up our favorite thrift shop... because sadly that's what we do for fun!! But boy oh, boy did we find some great steals!! I guess it does pay to go mid-week.
We picked up this wood, real solid wood, TV cabinet for $30- which is perfect for our TV, we don't have cable but it's great for all the boys game systems and all the stuff that goes with them.
I love that I can shut the doors and not have to see it! I hate seeing the TV, it's like a black hole in the room. I'm hoping it will also help to keep Freddy from messing with everything.
I also found this supper cute denim trench from Chadwicks for $5~ score!!!
We found some other great deals but I'll save them for another time, let's just say I'll be returning that waffle maker I bought last week... :-/

I hope everyone's having a good week, next week we will be getting ready to go back to school. Thanks for reading!!!

More Baby Gifts

2011-07-27T10:25:00.009-04:00

Remember the little girl owl I made for a special order, well how cute is this little boy owl, also for a special order.

Here he is sunning himself before he gets shipped off to a special little guy in Philly.

He even has his own matching tote bag...

Now he's all ready to go and is very excited to meet his new friend!!

Waffle Maker

2011-07-26T10:39:00.003-04:00

I just (after over 15 years of having my own kitchen) got a waffle maker! I have been wanting one ever since I had a pecan Belgian waffle at a little roadside diner about 5 years ago. We always try to find things used on Craig's List, thrift stores, yard sales, or our local penny saver paper but we weren't able to find a round one... I wanted a round one. So we broke done and bought a brand new one, pulled it out of the box and made waffles for dinner Sunday. They were good but not great so I have been looking around for some recipes to try, if you have one I would love to try it!

I don't like to gather "unitaskers" in my kitchen so I have to find other ways to use my maker besides waffles, so far I have found these great ideas, waffle iron pizza, and cake mix waffles where they made yummy ice cream sandwiches with them. These are great ways to make something yummy without heating up the kitchen.

So what do you make with your waffle maker?

Update

2011-07-22T13:22:00.003-04:00

I'm still here!! I realized I haven't posted anything all week so I thought some of you might be wondering why... Well we went camping last weekend and came home with a very sick baby. He is feeling better but still cranky and demanding!! I have had very little restful sleep this week so my productivity has been minimal!! My week has been spent soothing and calming little Freddy, not to mention trying to stay cool!! Hopefully next week I will have something more exciting to share with you all.

Skirts!!

2011-07-15T14:51:00.009-04:00

I wear mostly only skirts and dresses, I make most of them and a lot of JoLee's too so I won't bore you with pictures of all of them but here's a couple of my favorites I made this week.

Do you remember this thrifted vintage sheet that I got for $2 and was still in the original package? Well...I made this Circle Skirt for JoLee out of it, isn't it cute?! The tutorial was on the blog MADE and I finally decided to try it out... EASY PEASY with her very clear directions and my serger!!! MADE is one of my far-o-rite blogs, she had all kinds of great free patterns and tuts!!

She loves how she can spin in it...
and feels just like a ballerina, however I can't get her to actually wear it because she's afraid of getting it dirty.

I made this one for myself, also from a thrifted vintage sheet, I just love the colors together and you wouldn't believe how soft it is!!

JoLee was my photographer...

Okay, just one more pic, a close up so you can see how pretty it is. I know I'm a dork (Brian remind me all the time) but that's ok, I love that the Lord blessed me with so many wonderful talents and I'm proud to show off His gifts in me!! Not to mention all the money I save!!

Alright I'll show you one more...

We were being silly, JoLee did a good job huh?

Mango-Strawberry Jam

2011-07-14T10:49:00.001-04:00

There's a little produce shop downtown called The Produce House, they always have a wall of produce marked down for quick sale, $1.50 a basket. The baskets are filled with everything from completely rotted fruits and veggies to things that just need used and overstock items. I check it out whenever I'm in town and sometimes I get really great deals. For the past several years in the spring I have gotten mangoes, 9 in a basket... that's 9 mangoes for $1.50!!! At best you can get 1 mango at the grocery store for $1. So I buy up as many as I can and take them home to freeze and use for smoothies and mango-strawberry jam.

This is the recipe for my mango-strawberry Jam, this is one of my most popular jams so I thought I would share it with you!... Isn't it the prettiest color?!

4 1/2 c. smashed mangoes & strawberries
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 package powdered pectin
5 1/2 c. sugar
Combine fruit, lemon juice and pectin in a large saucepot. Bring slowly to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust two-piece lids. Process 10 minutes in water bath or 20 minutes in a 250 degree oven.
Makes 7 half-pints

ENJOY!!

The (New) Kitchen Sink

2011-07-13T21:15:00.004-04:00

Before

After

Brian got this sink at a yard sale a couple of weeks ago for $50, brand new!! The stickers were still on it.
The faucet he brought home from a job, FREE!

Some people may laugh but the sink was the one thing we couldn't afford to replace when we remodeled the kitchen, and boy does it make a big difference! The new sink is much bigger and matches the beautiful tile on the counter perfectly!

Now Freddy has a nice place to take a bath too!!
Thank's Honey!!

About that owl bag...

2011-07-11T14:39:00.003-04:00

A lot of you are asking me about the owl bag I made. Well it was a simple project that I first saw on the Vintage Sheet Blog. I thought I would create one of my own for my owl order. Mine is a little different than the one on the one shown on the VSB, if you would like to read more check out the link. You can also buy the pattern here on Etsy.

HOOT-HOOT!

2011-07-04T16:46:00.006-04:00

This is what I've been working on this weekend, aren't they cute??!! These were for a special order for an owl themed baby shower, and my first time making each one of them.

I participate in Skip To My Lou Made by You Mondays

Bread Machine Pizza Dough

2011-07-04T15:52:00.009-04:00

Who doesn't love pizza? And if you make it yourself you can save a bundle as well as use up all the leftovers in your fridge.
This is the best bread machine pizza dough I have found, I can't remember exactly where this one came from but I love it. I have made this lots of times and it's always good. The best thing about it is that it makes enough for my big family, I don't have to double it or make 2 batches. I can get 2 or 3 pizzas from this recipe depending on how thin I make the crust.

2 c. water
5 c. flour, part whole wheat
1/4 c. oil
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
3 tsp. rapid rise yeast

Put the ingredients in and set the machine for quick dough. Roll dough out, top with your choice of toppings, you should have enough to make something for everyone, bake @ 425.

We have pizza once a week, this week we had...
peperoni, basil, green peppers, black olives & mushrooms

cheese & peperoni

basil, spinach & mushrooms.

Sometimes I give the kids their own glob of dough and let them make their own mini-pizzas. This recipe makes great calzones too!

Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls

2011-07-01T21:36:00.006-04:00

My mom loves homemade cinnamon rolls so I always try to make some when she's here to visit. I made these for her yesterday. They look yummy don't they!!??

I use my bread machine (of course) but I'm sure you can make this by hand or with your stand mixer. This recipe is for a 2 lb. capacity machine.

Dough:
1 c. milk
1 large egg
3-1/4 c. flour
4 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. butter
2 tsp. rapid rise yeast

Filling:
3 Tbsp. melted butter
sugar
cinnamon

Set the machine for the quick dough setting and allow it to do it's job. When it's done roll the dough out to a rectangle about 1/4 inch thickness. Pour melted butter over dough and sprinkle sugar and cinnamon, be generous, it's okay!!! Cover and let rise until doubled. Bake @ 375 until golden-brown, I never set the timer, maybe 15-20 mins.?

I always make a maple glaze with confections sugar, maple syrup & milk to pour over the top.

Enjoy!!

Triple Berry Muffins

2011-06-25T11:08:00.006-04:00

These muffins are perfect right now with berry season upon us.
I can not leave a recipe alone, if there is a chance I can improve the wholesomeness of it I will at least try, these were a HUGE success! I found the original recipe at augustfirst.com, doubled it and made it healthier. They are moist & delicious!!

Preheat oven to 375

6T unsalted butter

3 T oil
2/3 c milk

3 egg
1 t vanilla

1 1/2 c flour

1 1/2 c whole wheat flour

1 c sugar

3 t baking powder

1 t salt

3 cup mixed berries (if using frozen berries be sure to rinse them)

4 T jam (any flavor I used my homemade blueberry-lime)

Wheat germ

______

Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Remove from stove, whisk in milk, eggs, oil and vanilla.

In large bowl, whisk flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add milk mixture and stir. Fold in berries and jam.

Fill lined muffin pans full with batter, sprinkle wheat germ. Bake 20-22 minutes, cool in pan on rack.

Thirty-One Giveaway

2011-06-21T19:18:00.007-04:00

My friend Monica sells Thirty-One and last month I was finally invited to my first party. She has so many beautiful things to chose from but I fell in love with the Large Utility Tote which happens to be on special this month, for every $31 that you spend you can get it for $9!! It's normally $30!!! I also love the Lil' Expressions Tote, that's going on my Christmas list for sure, *hint hint, Mom*!
Another great thing about Thirty-One is that you can have your items personalized for $6, yup you read correctly six bucks!!!

I asked Monica about her business and this is what she had to say...

"I started selling Thirty-one just to make some extra money. I'm a stay at home mommy and I just wanted some "me" time, Thirty-One was the perfect choice to me. My favorite part of selling is because I love to see customers chat about how they will use their thirty-one product. Its nice to hear everyone's ideas. My favorite item is the large utility tote. Its big and it folds flat for storage. You can put anything in it, groceries, sports equipment, pool stuff, laundry, etc. It's uses are endless."

If you have never seen Thirty-One head on over to Monica's web site and check it out, you are going to LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!
She is offering you, my lovely readers, a chance to win a Mini Zipper Pouch.For your chance to win check out the catalog and leave a comment here of what you would love to have. For extra chances to win "share" this post on FaceBook, and leave a comment there.
We will draw a winner on Saturday, June 25th.

Happy Birthday WV!

2011-06-18T17:12:00.007-04:00

Yesterday we celebrated West Virginia's 148th Birthday.
The kids had a blast checking out all the booths set up from local business and the free goodies they offered.

I had a booth set up and sold lots of my scrubbies.
The half cotton half scrubby ones were popular.
My friend Marilyn from L&M Farms was there too, she and Freddy had fun dancing to the live music. Sorry, I forgot to get a pic of that!!
But you can find her at the Clarksburg Farmers Market, she always had beautiful fresh produce and eggs from the prettiest chickens around, tell her Cody sent ya!!

I took my friend Marie with me too and everyone loved her cute little kitty toys!!

**Oh, and Max was interviewed for the paper. It was printed on the front page of the Exponent Telegram. The writer misspelled our last name (Cosber) but he was quoted as saying "I am here to see all the beautiful stuff and to celebrate WV's birthday" -so cute!!

Diaper Sprayer

2011-06-13T12:59:00.004-04:00

For those of you who use or have used cloth diapers you know what a hassle it is to get the "poopy" out of the diaper. Even with the flushable liners I was still having to do the "dunk-dunk flush" in the toilet. Sooooo, after doing some research and 2 trips to Lowe's my amazing hubby came up with this...

and unless you have done the "dunk-dunk flush" you don't know how excited I am!!

Summer Meals

2011-06-10T15:53:00.005-04:00

Dinner is always on my mind, I cook dinner 6 out of 7 nights a week for my family and I'm running out of ideas. I need some recipes for these hot summer days. The grill is where I try to do most of my cooking these days. I also like to try to cook early in the day then just heat up later for dinner. Lately I have been trying to spend 1 day cooking for the rest of the week.
Okay, so what are your go-to recipes for these hot days. Post them in the comments or send me an email, I'll try them out and share them for all of you to try! Remember that I like most of my readers are on a tight budget.

Daisy Square

2011-06-02T13:50:00.008-04:00

I saw a post on Red Heart's Face Book page about a really cool pattern for a daisy square motif. I like working with motifs simply because they work up quickly and are way more portable than a entire afghan. So I followed the link and found Krochet Krystal's blog.
The cool thing about this pattern is that once you join her Yahoo group (linked on her blog) the owner will email you a pdf file with the pattern for free she only requests that you make at least one square with either white or black back ground and mail it to her. She takes the squares that have been sent to her from all over the world and makes beautiful blankets, then donates them to different charities.
I LOVE this and wanted to get involved right away. Each square is labeled with a city, state and/or country that it came from. I can only imagine the joy this might bring to someone. I know I would love to look at each square, read each label and think about the person who made it.
.
This is a great way to use up scraps. Here's my first 2 contributions.
The pattern challenged me a little bit at first but she has lots of resources for help.

I've been linked here Creation Corner

Bags!

2011-05-25T08:15:00.012-04:00

I went to a 31 party last weekend and was inspired to make some new bags, you know because I NEED more bags!!I love to re-purpose things and when I find a steal I can't help but grab it and find a use for it. I made this green and navy bag from a table runner I found at Pier 1 a couple of years ago for a buck maybe $1.50. I'm not really a table runner type of girl and I didn't even care for it but I knew it would make something great and I LOVE it as a bag!!!
And it's HUGE 9" x 9-1/2" x 13-1/2"!

This one is made from some leftovers, it's 13-1/2'' tall and about 24'' around- super easy!!!.

I was busy yesterday trying to solve my yarn problem. (Along with my fabric hoarding I have become a bit of a yarn hoarder.) The trouble with yarn is that it takes up so much space and becomes a tangled mess.

So I put my new bags to use.

This one is holding 11 new skeins!! I see a future tutorial for this bag!

and this one is a great place for my scrubby making materials.

I crocheted this bag/basket to keep a project in progress in.

Ok, so it didn't really solve my problem, but it helped...

and it gave my a break from working on my "secret project".
An empty oatmeal container makes a great yarn holder, just make a little hole in the lid and it will hold even a super saver skein and keep the yarn you are working with nice an tangle free.

Remember if you see anything here on my blog that you would like me to make for you just send me an e-mail and I would LOVE to create something just for you!!

Changed, Again!

2011-05-23T12:37:00.003-04:00

Sorry for all the changes here but I am still trying to figure all this bloggy stuff out and have been playing with third party templates & backgrounds. I get board easily and have no control on the changes (or lack there of) in my life so I change my blog... sometimes daily, sorry but I think I'm finally getting it figured out. The only thing I can't seem to get is my red heart on the title, I'll keep working on that.

What do you think, do you like this layout?

I'm still here...

2011-05-20T15:17:00.004-04:00

and working my fingers to the bone!

I know you haven't heard from me in awhile I have been very busy working on a top secret project, these 7x7" squares are a little hint, but that's all I'm sayin' about that!!! You will have to wait and see.

I saw this cup cozy here and thought it would make a great teacher's gift for the end of the year. So I took a break from my secret project and made one for JoLee's teacher, she is a tea drinker so I think I will stick some special teas in the cup.

I think it turned out really nice!

Happy Happy Me!!!

2011-05-11T17:49:00.007-04:00

I have to say, the the day I finally get my rhubarb is one of my favorite days of the year. I just LOVE LOVE LOVE it and look forward to it from the time I use my last stashed bag in the freezer. This year I had a little more trouble finding it but boy did I score BIG! A sweet women I don't even know blessed me with more than 7 pounds of it, cut up that was over 20 cups!

Here in WV it's not as common as it is in PA where I grew up. I start my hunt in late March and have even knocked on stranger's doors. But my friend Marylin always comes through for me, she always knows someone who knows someone or she knows them herself- lol!! THANK YOU MARYLIN, YOUR THE BEST!!! If I would have known 8 years ago that we would still be living here I would have planted it a long time ago.

The other thing here that makes me happy today is the beautiful cutting board I am using. My amazing hubby makes these and he finally made me one!!! Yaaaah, Isn't it gorgeous??!! And for that I will make him is favorite desert strawberry-rhubarb crisp.

If you are interested in a custom made cutting board contact him at cospershome@yahoo.com

The NEW Winner...

2011-05-11T11:56:00.004-04:00

I never heard from Pat so I drew another name and the NEW winner is...

Angie who said

"This is great. I really love these. Now if I ever get time I can make some. I love to crochet."

Congratulations Angie!! Send an e-mail with your address to cjcosper@live.com!

Thrifting!

2011-05-10T18:10:00.015-04:00

A church in out little town has flea market every spring, JoLee & I found some great treasures there Saturday. We spent $3 and walked away with these 5 vintage half aprons and 2 vintage tablecloths!!! Yup, you read correctly THREE BUCKS!!
Old tablecloths make great cloth napkins and usually that's what I have in mind when I buy them but these are way to nice to cut up and they fit my table perfectly!!

I LOVE to make something new out of something new and sheets are a great way to get a lot of yardage for next to nothing. Vintage sheets are the BEST!!! I scored these 2 queen size vintage sheets and a pillow case at my favorite thrift store for a total of $6 last weekend. The striped sheet was still in it's plastic, from 19-- who knows!!! and has a pretty islet trim. It stunk like old starch when I opened it and the fold creases stayed even after I washed it, not sure what I'm doing to do with it yet but I have plans for this pretty flowered one and pillowcases make great girls dresses, light summer tops for me or maybe an apron or tote bag... the ideas are endless!! Hmmmm I might see the next giveaway. But for now it looks like I may be ironing for awhile!!

WINNER

2011-05-07T14:02:00.004-04:00

Thanks to all of you who linked, liked, & followed me this week!!

The winner of the dishcloth scrubby set is.....

Pat who said...

Thanks my girlfriend showed me ones like this she got while she was in Canada. Now I can make some too!!!

The problem is I have no contact information for you Pat so if you could please e-mail at cjcosper@live.com or leave a comment here with your e-mail address. If I haven't heard from Pat before Wednesday May 11th I will draw a new winner.

Stay tuned for more giveaways!!

Another Birthday Here

2011-05-03T15:41:00.005-04:00

Today is BJ's (our first born) birthday and the vow of homemade gifts is a difficult task when the recipient is a 12 year old boy!! Girls are so easy when it comes to "homemade". However BJ did like his baby brothers afghan and mentioned that he would like one. So along with some birthday cash, what? money is "homemade" too, I am working on this afghan for him, made with his favorite colors.

I spent hours looking for just the right pattern and then, of course, modified it. So far I'm happy with it but I'm not even a quarter of the done with it... I showed it to him today and he liked it!! Sorry about the poor quality of the pic, no sun= crappy pics, and it's a dreary rainy day!!!

Scrubby Tutorial/Pattern

2011-05-01T16:03:00.014-04:00

Here is my first tutorial.

These amazing little scrubbies are the reason I taught myself to crochet, that and to pass the hours, days and months of endless morning sickness!!!

I start by cutting nylon netting into 1-1/2 to 2 inch strips, depending on the stiffness of the netting I'm using, stiffer = thinner strips. I bag all the strips and tie them together as I go.

I usually use an I hook, but for the sake of the pics used a K hook for this tutorial.
Here's the pattern...
Ch 6,
Round 1) Join to make a circle, chain 2, 11 dc in circle, join - 12 sts

Round 2) ch 2, dc in same dc, 2 dc in each dc, join- 24 sts
Round 3) ch 2, dc in same dc, 2 dc in each dc, join - 48 sts
Round 4) ch 1, sc in each dc
Make sure all the knots from where you joined the pieces together are facing you the right side will be the inside of the scrubby.

Now start decreasing (you will now be working on the backside of the scrubby) by *sc in the next 2 sc, skip one, sc in next, skip one, repeat from *until you have closed it up, tie it off and stuff the left over inside.

Make sure if you are stuffing your scrubby you do it before you close it up. I stuff mine with the leftover pieces of netting.

Front

Back

Of course if you don't crochet you can always order these. The scrubbies are $3 ea. or 2/$5 and the dishcloth/scrubby sets are $8.

Spring Break

2011-04-28T08:47:00.004-04:00

With the kids being home all week for spring break, a wonderful trip to my brothers for the weekend and finishing the planting, I haven't had much time for creativity this week. I did bake my sourdough bread and it turned out beautiful!! JoLee is my biggest critic and she said it was very yummy...

Baby Afghan

2011-04-18T18:02:00.004-04:00

I finished Freddy's blanket today, it didn't take long to work up and I think it turned out pretty good. This is my first attempt at an afghan, it's not perfect but I'm happy with it! Freddy seems to like all the pretty colors and I think my Gram would be proud!!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp

2011-04-12T12:42:00.005-04:00

If you have been reading this blog for very long you know I love rhubarb and last year I was so excited to get my bundle just to find out I couldn't eat it at all, it didn't agree with my pregnant tummy... so with rhubarb season right around the bend I thought I would post this very yummy recipe.

Crust:
2 c. flour
1-1/2 c. oats
1-1/2. c. brown sugar
1 c. soft butter

Filling:
1-1/2. c. chopped rhubarb
1-1/2 c. sliced strawberries
1-2/3 c. sugar
2-1/2 T. corn starch
2-1/2 c. water

Combine crust ingredients, press half of mixture into a 9x13'' greased pan. Top with berries and rhubarb.
Stir together water, sugar and corn starch. Heat until thickened, pour over fruit, sprinkle with other half of crumbs.
Bake @ 350 for 45 mins.

This is my hubby's favorite dessert and I had saved enough rhubarb in the freezer to make it. I enjoy it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream but it's just as good cold the next day. I usually half the recipe but use the whole amount of fruit.

Spring Set

2011-04-08T14:52:00.005-04:00

I am working on some new patterns to use up some of my fabric stash and since Brian won't let me dress Freddy up in dresses so this one's for sale. This set includes a size 3-6 mo. dress, a bow with clip, & a matching Sweet Baby Molly $22.00
Linked on Skip to my Lou
Custom ordering available from sizes infant- 14.

Sourdough

2011-04-05T16:35:00.004-04:00

I have this (ridiculous as it may seem) idea that I can't buy something I can make and I love sourdough bread so I've decided to make my own. The problem with sourdough is that you have to start with a "starter" and let it ferment. I have tried this once before with no luck but that was awhile ago and I am ready to try again. After all we have successfully made wine, beer and cheese which are on the same lines of fermenting. I've been doing some research and looking for an easy fool-proof starter recipe and came across this web site http://www.io.com/~sjohn/sour.htm.
The idea of taking a few simple ingredients that alone are okay but then letting them sit out on the counter and "spoil" so to speak and make something really yummy out of it is really appealing to me for some reason. But don't worry friends I am not talking about the dreaded "Amish Friendship Bread", I won't be begging all of you to take some home.
So here's a pic of what I started with 1 cup flour and 1 cup water. I'll update when I start to see fermenting progress.

A Servants Heart?

2011-03-31T09:11:00.003-04:00

Hubby and I have been thinking of some ways to help our children have more of a servant's heart. I know I will sound old if I say "when we were kids..." but truly my parents gave my brother and I lots of opportunities to serve. Now we are looking for ways to give service, and even though both Brian and I are very creative people we have been stumped on this. With the crises in Japan being very big news right now we thought of focusing on that, but we prefer to keep things local, within our own community. I know I don't have many "followers" but I know you are reading this, so if you have an idea for us leave a comment, reply to the e-mail or email me at cjcosper@live.com.

Homemade Cream Cheese

2011-03-18T17:33:00.006-04:00

My cream cheese turned out perfect! I was worried though last night when I went to bed. So much in fact that I dreamed about cheese.
I put my mother cultures in the cream at about noon yesterday and the directions say to leave it sit for 12-15 hours. At 11pm when I went to bed my mixture showed no sign of solidifying, so I prayed and left it sit longer and at 3:30 am... yes I was up in the middle of the night making cheese... my prayers were answered. Thank You Jesus! I love how He is concerned with the things that are important to me. So I scooped it into my cheese cloth and hung it to dry for about 12 hours. I can now say I have successfully made cream cheese. Now I need to make some more bagels.

If you would like to read more about how to make your own cream cheese check this out.

Island Revamp

2011-03-17T14:59:00.007-04:00

Brian built this island for me on afternoon a couple of years ago from some scraps he brought home from a job. I needed more counter and cabinet space and he delivered in just a few short hours.

This is what it looks like now! He built this beautiful butcher block top out of raw wood and painted the bottom to match the rest of our cabinets it is beautiful!!
I am a very blessed woman to have such an amazingly talented hubby!!

Say Cheese... and Beer

2011-03-17T13:31:00.011-04:00

As part of a self-sustainable lifestyle we are trying to live I am becoming interested in cheese making and Brian has become interested in beer making. So just like everything new we try we started our research.

For Brian's birthday I ordered him a beer making kit which included all the materials we needed except the bottles and ordered all the ingredients for the beer and cheese from Austin Home Brew Supply. Then called, emailed all our beer-drinking friends and posted on freecycle to gather bottles.

His first and second batches of beer turned out great and the kids and I had fun watching the fermenting process. We now have a short life times supply of beer in our little spare fridge.

And as for the cheese...

Our first try at mozzarella turned out crumbly and too salty but was great on pizza . Needless to say I was a little disappointed so I did some more research, watched some more youtube, tried again. This time it was perfect... well almost. The biggest score was that the kids loved it!! I sliced it and they eat it like string cheese.

With a few simple ingredients, a gallon of milk and about an hour anyone could do this!! I even made my own mother-cultures and am currently working on cream cheese... I'll let you know how that turns out tomorrow. I also made buttermilk which when added to my multi-grain pancakes were delicious.

I am hooked and can't wait to try my hand at some hard cheeses, I am just waiting on Brian to build me a press...

Time Continues to Fly By...

2011-03-16T13:31:00.002-04:00

The last 3 weeks have brought sick kids, vacation, sick hubby, sick kid (again), sick kitty, sick self, and a brand new tooth!!

We returned from vacation Saturday afternoon tired and motivated at the same time. While we were gone we had 3 showings on the house which after nothing for the past 4 months made us optimistic.

On our way home from vacation we picked up our little bus in beautiful Jonesboro, TN and did some house and property scouting in TN and VA. While Brian followed Lesley (what he calls the GPS) in the bus and I followed him in the van (with a not-so-happy baby and a little boy who was upset there was on wi-fi signal) we drove to what I am certain was the top of the world and back. A million miles from anything! Right when I was thinking about stomping Lesley to bits just as soon as I could get my hands on her we rounded yet another u-shaped curve in the road this time finally in a downward spiral we saw this...One of the most stunning views I have ever seen!!! It made the 1 1/2 hour drive completely out of our way with a screaming baby completely worth it!! We would consider ourselves blessed if we one day called Tazewell, VA our home!!
Silly me didn't think to roll the window down to take the picture so you can see the reflection of my pink jacket.

Cosper Mobile...

2011-02-25T22:20:00.004-05:00

My new ride... We just won an auction for this mini bus. We have been looking for months for a bigger vehicle, but never did I think this is where our search would lead us. However, it will accommodate all of us leaving room for whatever the Lord may hold for our family!!

Time Flies By...

2011-02-24T23:02:00.004-05:00

Max is getting the hang of this big brother thing and decided it was time Freddy learn something very important...

how to play the DSI!

**************************************************************************************
Freddy and I had fun last week making bagels with our friend Tracy and her sweet little girl, Maddy. I have been helping Tracy learn how to make homemade bread and she is doing great!!!

I have more pics of this fun time but blogger is being difficult. But here's a link to the bagel recipe I use.
http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/09/bronx-worthy-bagels/

New Pot Rack & Light

2011-02-14T15:36:00.002-05:00

Brian built this pot rack and hung new lights over the kitchen island. This is going to make someone(else) a great kitchen!! Can't wait to have my own kitchen!!

Ainsley's Closet

2011-02-14T14:11:00.002-05:00

Check out my friend Denise from Ainsley' Closet. She makes the sweetest things for little girls!! JoLee has several of her hair bows. Here's a pic of her little girl wearing a hat I made for her so she could wear her beautiful bows even when it's cold out!!

Simple Things!

2011-02-14T13:44:00.004-05:00

I know it's not really that exciting for most of you, but these measuring cup & spoons I found at the kitchen store at the mall made me so happy. The cups measure from 1/8 of a cup to 2 cups and everything in between!! The spoons measure from 1/32 of a tsp. to 1 tbsp. This is EXCITING to me!!! I know, I know, I'm a dork!!

Looks like Wal-Mart might be bringing their material department back??? I found these 2, 5 yard bolts for $3 each!! *SCORE*

Cabela's

2011-02-14T13:20:00.001-05:00

"Are these animals real Mom?"

Last Saturday we drove Wheeling and spent the afternoon at Cabela's. The kids loves seeing the "animals".

SO BIG!!

2011-02-02T15:51:00.002-05:00

Freddy is growing like crazy and now that he is learning to get good sleep he is even happier than usual.

Bread Machine Pita Bread

2011-01-31T13:04:00.004-05:00

As most of you know I LOVE LOVE LOVE my bread machine, not for baking (I always bake my bread in the oven) but to take the work out of bread making. If you have one in a cupboard or closet somewhere for heaven's sake TAKE IT OUT and USE it!!! If you don't have one that's okay just dig that dough hook for your stand mixer out of the drawer and let it do the work for you.
I have been looking for and trying some new recipes for my machine and found this one for pita bread. So yummy so easy and a nice change for Hubby's lunch, nothing like the cardboard pitas from the grocery store!! I (of course) changed it a bit by using whole wheat flour.

1 and 1/8 cups water
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons sugar
3 teaspoons instant yeast

Put everything into the bread pan of your bread machine, select dough setting and start. Let dough going through first rise. (If you're using a stand mixer use warm water and mix with the dough hook until dough is formed, you may need to add a little extra flour. Once dough is formed let the hook knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Let rise for about 20 minutes.)

Turn dough out onto a floured counter. Knead dough a few times then divide into 8 equal pieces with a sharp knife. With a floured rolling pin, roll each piece out into a 6" circle (dough will be very thin). Lay circles on lightly floured surface and cover with a dry light-weight dish towel. Let it rest for 30 minutes or until slightly puffy.

In the meantime, heat your oven to 500 (yep! 500) and place a wire cooling rack into your oven (set it right on the oven rack...no pan please). Place a circle of dough gently on the hot cake rack (bake 2 at a time). Bake for five minutes until they are puffed and lightly brown. Remove gently with tongs and place in a brown paper bag, (don't know why, just do it) make sure you seal up the bag well and let the pita's cool in there.

They will look like this: Mmmmmmmmmmmm!

Now if it were only summer so I could stuff these full of fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, & spinach... well a girl can dream!! Instead I will have a little tuna salad. I found this recipe and lots of other bread machine recipes on TipNut.com check it out.

For Sale

2011-01-24T14:31:00.000-05:00

...again!

We are back on the market and in comparing the pictures from last year we have come a long way baby!! Brian has worked very hard to make this house a wonderful home but now we must move on. Check it out and let me know what you think. Click here to see the listing and click on the pictures to see them bigger.

Granola Bar Recipe

2011-01-14T13:51:00.001-05:00

Okay, I mentioned to a few friends that I was thinking about posting my "top secret" granola bar recipe and they were very excited. I have tried LOTS of granola bar recipes and finally came up with this one. I just ask that if you share it please link back to this page. Thanks and enjoy!!

2c. old fashioned oats
3/4c. wheat germ & wheat fiber flakes (combined)
3/4c. raw sun flower seeds
1c. crushed peanuts (I use the food processor)
Mix and bake on a cookie sheet at 350 until toasted, about 15 mins, stirring every 5 mins.

While that is toasting combine:
2/3c. brown sugar
1/2c. honey
2 tsp. vanilla
4 T. butter
in a sauce pan and heat until just boiling.

Put everything into a large bowl and mix together; add
1/2 tsp. salt
Optional
1c. dried fruit (I like cranberries)
1c. chopped nuts (I use pecans or almonds)

Press firmly into a 9x13 baking dish lined with parchment paper * do NOT use wax paper it will stick!!
Sprinkle top with a few mini chocolate chips and cut into bars before cooled.

You can mix things up and combine flavors you like. Dried blue berries go great with almonds. Also if you don't have fiber flakes just use wheat germ. I also like to add a handful of flax seeds in the oat mixture.

Bathroom!

2011-01-12T08:04:00.002-05:00

My bathroom is finally finished!! Well except for the base board. I love the $5 paint color!! Ignore the wrong date on the photo.

HATS!!

2011-01-11T08:43:00.001-05:00

JoLee's hat finally finished, it didn't take me long to make she was just last on the list. Sorry about the grumpy baby, he just wouldn't smile for us. As you can see he's still wearing his camo hat.

This was a happy accident. I was fallowing a pattern for a mans hat and halfway through it just didn't look manly so I made a few changes and added the flower- voila, a pretty hat for me!! I have been meaning to get around to making myself one but you know how it is... BTW, Brian hates the flower which I put it on an alligator clip so it can be removed.

This is my new favorite crochet hat pattern and it was free!! You can download it here. I have made 7 of these so far, 3 boys size, 1 teen size, and 3 mens size. I have one more to make, for my brother. The only thing I did to change to size was use a different size hook. They work up quickly and easily. They are also a lot of fun to make, if they weren't I would have gotten bored. Both Grandpas liked them so much they each requested one... should be in the mail today!!

Christmas

2010-12-26T19:12:00.001-05:00

Homemade toys, Daddy made this beautiful wood rattle and Mommy made the Teddy.

Christmas morning... even though the camera says it's Christmas Eve. Can you tell the kids were tired of us taking their picture??

Freddy's first present... lights & sounds only Grammy can get away with!!

This Week

2010-12-10T11:03:00.001-05:00

Freddy's Teddy!!
I am so proud of this crocheted Teddy and can't wait for Freddy to carry him around.

Dishcloths done!!! I had 12 dishcloths to make for some orders and they are finally done. Now I have to finish those 18 scrubbies...

Freddy loves to hang off our arm which as you can imagined makes our arms tired. So Daddy hung the Johnny Jumper yesterday and Freddy LOVED it!! He's too little to touch the floor so he just "hung out". Too cute!!

This is a cute child's apron I made for a customer out of a men's shirt my Dad gave me. I used the collar for the neck band. This is a great way to reuse an unused shirt. I made an adult one to match.

Toothless!!

2010-12-09T16:38:00.001-05:00

All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth!! -Max

The Tooth Fairy is going broke this year with all the lost teeth in this house.

Update

2010-12-07T08:36:00.001-05:00

So it was late last night when I published that last blog and in review found more than one type-o I also noticed that my links were not showing as links. The words "Etsy Shop" and the word "here" and "web site" are linked in the posting below, just click on them...

Busy, Busy, Busy!!

2010-12-03T14:45:00.001-05:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at the Cosper home and we haven't even opened the Christmas boxes yet. For us with Christmas comes the sounds of the sewing machine and power tools and this year I have added the quiet task of crocheting. Crocheting is something I can do while spending countless hours rocking, nursing and cuddling baby Freddy. Grandma Hawk would be so proud!

Okay so I know I haven't been posting much but all 4 kids got sick landing Little Freddy in the hospital for 5 days. All is well now but as you can see we have been super busy making gifts for our friends and family as well as all the holiday orders we have to fill for our customers. We have always given homemade gifts but this year we be giving only homemade gifts to everyone on our list, with the exception for a few things for our kiddos.

Here's some things we've been busy working on this fall/winter, for more check out our web site, it's under construction but there are lots of pictures there.

Little Freddy's feet will stay warm... once these Buccaneer Booties fit him that is.

I really wanted to make this hat for Max for his birthday but the first one was too small the second was too big :( so I gave up. But they are super cute!!

I found the best Etsy shop with the BEST crochet patterns... these are for my niece, can't wait to make some for myself!! To all my crocheting friends check out her shop!

Here is one of the head wraps I made... one of the most difficult things I have crocheted!! I tore out more stitches than I put in... but I would not give up. The second one was much easier.

Brian has made some gorgeous cutting board made with local wood from a very interesting man in Weston, WV. Check out our web site here for more of these, they make great gifts and we still have some and are still taking Christmas orders.

I have been working on lots of pajamas here's the matching night gowns for JoLee & her baby.

Mom

2010-11-06T06:59:00.001-04:00

I'm up super early to get ready for the craft show today and try to get a few things done at home before I leave that have been neglected in the past couple of days. I can't help but think about my mom today. I miss her extra hands. Preparing for this craft show would have been a whole lot easier if she was still here!!! The 3 big kids have learned to go with the flow of my insanity but little Freddy would rather I give him 100% of every waking and some sleeping of my moments and Memaw is the only substitute.

Most of the items I make are from recycled things... anything I can find I will find a use for. I have to credit mom for that. She will say "I thought you could use this for something" and I will!! We can make somethin outa nothin!! She taught me how to use a sewing machine and a glue gun. She taught me how to rip out a seam and hide a flaw. I can't give her too much credit for my cooking ability but she taught me sew, load a dishwasher and clean a house (a skill I seldom use these days)!! These are 3 life skills I use the most! THANKS MOM, I love and miss you very much. (P.S.) Sorry mom if you don't like this pic, I do!!

Oh, and mom will also notice all my spelling and grammatical errors here.

Craft Fair

2010-11-05T19:01:00.001-04:00

Here's a sneak peek...

I am so excited, I am getting ready for my first craft fair tomorrow!! I have been very busy in the last 2 weeks getting things finished up. I don't have everything I wanted to done but I have enough. This is just a few of my things you'll have to come by to see the rest! We'll be at the community building in West Milford from 9-3.

This is my finger getting re-acquainted with my hot glue gun.

Freddy's New Hat

2010-11-03T08:26:00.001-04:00

My crocheting skills are improving and I made my first hat, now all the boys want one including Daddy!

Pumpkin Bread

2010-11-02T21:15:00.003-04:00

As most of my friends and family knows I can't leave a recipe alone. I have to at least try to make it healthier. This one was a winner on the first try!!! These are super moist and even better the next day. I have also baked it in a bunt pan and tossed in a handful of mini choc. chips and baked them in muffins. Just be sure to adjust your baking time!!

Pumpkin Bread-
3- 1 pound loafs

15 oz. pumpkin
4 eggs
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. unsweetened apple sauce
2/3 c. water
2 -1/3 c. sugar
1 c. whole wheat flour
2-1/2 c. white flour
2 t. soda
1-1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. clove
1/2 t. ginger

Mix together pumpkin, eggs, oil, apple sauce, water, and sugar. Sift all the dry ingredients together, slowly mix into pumpkin mixture. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes.

Birthday

2010-10-24T19:40:00.001-04:00

Okay this is a little late, since her birthday was the 15th of September but I was a little busy that day so better late than never right?! The only thing JoLee asked for was a birthday shirt but I had to take it one step farther so I made a matching skirt. I made the skirt from pieces I had in my scrap stash and a pair of shorts that were to short to wear another year, my good friend Angie shared some of her scraps too. Notice the super cute matching hair clip made by the above mentioned friend... miss you Ang!!!

... and a little something for her baby doll.

Sweetest of All

2010-10-21T15:49:00.001-04:00

My family... I just couldn't resist!!

Library Bag

2010-10-21T15:01:00.001-04:00

After seeing the super cute library bag on another blog I just had to make one. I knew it would be the perfect Christmas gift for my mom... the ultimate "Bag Lady" and the queen of the library. The kids hard a hard time keeping the secret so I slipped it into another one of her bags before she left from her visit today.
Follow this link for the tutorial

My Cool Pin Cushion

2010-10-21T14:52:00.001-04:00

I just had to show you this cool pin cushion I found at my local thrift store for 50 cents! Can you believe I have never had a pic cushion??

Breast Pads & Birp Cloths

2010-10-21T14:33:00.001-04:00

These homemade breast pads were so much easier to make than I thought they would be, I love that they are reusable!!

These burp cloths are so nice because they fit right on my shoulder and they match the waterproof changing pads I made.

Pillow Case Dress

2010-10-21T14:03:00.001-04:00

Several special little girls got these sweet dresses for their birthdays this year. They are super easy to make and even easier if you really use a pillow case. I made 6 of these and each one was cuter than the last!! They are great for a hot summer day or pair them up with a turtle neck and a pair of legging and they are perfect for a cool fall day.

Baby Stuff

2010-08-26T10:44:00.001-04:00

Ok so I haven't posted anything since June. I don't really have any good excuse just that I have been busy with lots of home made projects the biggest being making a baby. With 2 weeks till the very "unofficial" due date I figured I better get you all caught up.

Diapers
My biggest sewing project this summer has been making diapers... I still don't have enough but every time I think about buying them and add up the cost I head back to the sewing machine. I have made them virtually free, with a small cost of the pattern, water proof PUL material, and some elastic, velcro and snaps. I have found the rest of the materials laying around the house, from friends and for nickles and dimes at yard sales. I have used all the flannel scraps and old t-shirts I could get my hands on as well as stealing my hubby's "Sham Wow" knock-offs and any worn out receiving blankets I could dig up. The finished product is pretty good.
With the flannel scraps that have been too small to use for diapers I have cut into squares and made wipes and wash cloths. I don't have a pic of that but I will post one later.

Boppy Covers
I have also made some Boppy pillow covers, a soft fuzzy brown one for me & baby to use and a soft colorful fleece one for a friend that's having a baby girl. I was surprised at how easy these where, I made them in about 15 minutes. The backs are made out of a couple of pillow cases no longer in use, the brown was a $1.50 remnant from JoAnn's that is teddy bear soft and I could not resist. and the pretty striped is from a fleece blanket.

Laundry

2010-06-06T21:00:00.000-04:00

In my endeavors to live more simply along with doing my part to "save the earth" not to mention save some money I decided to try my hand at making my own laundry detergent and liquid fabric softener.

The detergent...

I found lots of liquid detergent recipes but I figured that by adding water I was just adding balk and since the ingredients were the same and I am putting it in a washer with water did I really need to add water? Not to mention I really don't have room for a 2 and a half gallon bucket beside my washer or anywhere else for that matter. Sooo, here's what I did...

1 bar Colgate's Octagon Bar Soap, grated or other laundry bar soap (found in the laundry aisle
1 bar Ivory Soap, grated
2 c. Borax
2 c. Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (NOT baking soda!! also in the laundry isle)

Mix all together in a container (I used an ice cream bucket) use about 1/8 cup per load. You could also add a few drops of essential oil if you want a scent. But I chose to make scented fabric softener instead.

The softener...

The fabric softener recipe was a different story, not so easy to find, dryer sheets, yes but not liquid. I wanted liquid, after all I don't really use the dryer much, so sheets wouldn't work for me. I wanted something to softened and smelled nice. I finally came across this recipe. I found it on onoldcentennialfarmhouse.blogspot.com which got it from fromathomewiththefarmerswife.blogspot.com but I'm not sure where it originated.

2 c. hair conditioner
2 c. white vinegar
6 c. water

Mix all together, shake well. Shake before each use.

I used Suave Ocean Breeze because I wanted a fresh scent and it was on sale. You could use any scent you want or use unscented if you like and add a few drops of essential oil to match your detergent. This is a great way to use those bottles of conditioner you bought and didn't like too. Also, don't worry about the vinegar leaving a vinegary smell, it won't. Vinegar not only helps to soften your clothes but will also rinse residue from your washing machine.

Rhubarb

2010-05-25T18:33:00.001-04:00

I came home this afternoon with an excitement most women would have after a day long shoe shopping spree. Only instead of hundreds of dollars worth of shoe boxes I carried a $3 bag of skinny green and pink stalks some people mow down with the first grass. I couldn't wait to get my precious bounty in the kitchen. Rhubarb, something I anticipate every spring since I was a little girl and my best friend gave me my first lip puckering bite. As far as I'm concerned the true taste of summer. I kick myself every year for not planting it, every year vowing I will and every year not.

After having combed the farmers market and local produce shop this weekend I found only a few gross, slimy stalks that weren't worth the effort it would take to clean and salvage them. And then, at long last, I was promised the first of this years spring crop from a sweet friend. Today a 3 pound bag of sour deliciousness, now the possibilities are endless. I cleaned, chopped and tucked them away waiting for the timeless combination of strawberries, coming into season in just a week or two. But tonight we will have rhubarb-blueberry turnovers with a cream cheese crust- mmmm!!

Homemade Bagles

2010-05-22T12:11:00.000-04:00

Second try with this recipe, first ones were good but after tweaking the recipe to make it a bit healthier these were perfect!! Whole wheat plain & apple cinnamon.

Spring Projects

2010-05-11T12:54:00.001-04:00

In our attempt to be more green we have eliminated paper napkins and now use cloth napkins that I have made from recycled materials. We stopped using paper plates a few years ago and only use about 1 roll of paper towels a month we also use t.p. made from recycled materials. Brian is working on a windmill design for generating our own electricity.

After my dear friend Angie sent me a dishcloth she made, I was inspired to teach myself to crochet. I needed a distraction from all day morning sickness and this did the trick!!

Here are a few of the dishcloths and the famous scrubbies I just can't live without!! These took me awhile but finally I got it and I haven't been able to stop churning them out, these are a MUST have for anyone who does dishes or scrubs a dirty stove top!!!

Clothes Pin Bag

2010-05-11T10:43:00.001-04:00

After getting incredibly frustrated with my store bought clothespin bag I made this one. I need something that would stay on the clothes line and slide along while I moved without falling off. I made this one yesterday in about 20 minutes. You can have one too, $6.00

Simply HomeMade

New Beginnings

What I've been up to...

Another Homemade Birthday Gift

Semi-Homemade Broccoli Cheese Soup

Crochet Mens Slipper Pattern

HaPpY BiRtHdAy!!

Homemade Birthday Gifts

This is how we...

School Shirts

Anniversary

More Baby Gifts

Waffle Maker

Update

Skirts!!

Mango-Strawberry Jam

The (New) Kitchen Sink

About that owl bag...

HOOT-HOOT!

Bread Machine Pizza Dough

Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls

Triple Berry Muffins

Thirty-One *Giveaway*

Happy Birthday WV!

Diaper Sprayer

Summer Meals

Daisy Square

Bags!

Changed, Again!

I'm still here...

Happy Happy Me!!!

The NEW Winner...

Thrifting!

WINNER

Another Birthday Here

Scrubby Tutorial/Pattern

Spring Break

Baby Afghan

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp

Spring Set

Sourdough

A Servants Heart?

Homemade Cream Cheese

Island Revamp

Say Cheese... and Beer

Time Continues to Fly By...

Cosper Mobile...

Time Flies By...

New Pot Rack & Light

Ainsley's Closet

Simple Things!

Cabela's

SO BIG!!

Bread Machine Pita Bread

For Sale

Granola Bar Recipe

Bathroom!

HATS!!

Christmas

This Week

Toothless!!

Update

Busy, Busy, Busy!!

Mom

Craft Fair

Freddy's New Hat

Pumpkin Bread

Birthday

Sweetest of All

Library Bag

My Cool Pin Cushion

Breast Pads & Birp Cloths

Pillow Case Dress

Baby Stuff

Laundry

Rhubarb

Homemade Bagles

Spring Projects

Clothes Pin Bag

Thirty-One Giveaway