Extra Ordinary Bree: Extreme Makeover: Fabric Edition WEEK 2

Extra Ordinary Bree: Extreme Makeover: Fabric Edition WEEK 2

A Linky Party!!

If you would like to find a GREAT project from Blogland to try yourself go here.  It's Funky Polkadot Giraffe and there is LOTS of AWESOMENESS there!!



My Garden Growing

Despite the drought, my garden has been growing ( I know, shocker, right).  Today, while watering, I found a red (fine, almost red) cherry tomato.  YAY!!

Also, my Auntie Jill and Aunt Meisha let us thin out the okra plants in their garden.  Their L had helped plant it and there were between 5 and 10 plants clumped together.  My Sweet Momma thinned it out for me and I planted it on the outside row of my garden.  I hope it makes it. Here's a pic two of them in one:

More good news, My peppers are appearing too.  YAY!!  Here is a pic of one of my pepper plants and if you look closely, you can see the baby peppers.  Awwwwwwwwwwwwww.

My strawberry plants are producing fruit for the second time now.  SWEET!!

Here are some then and now pics of my garden.  You cannot see the okra but it is on far left in the after pic.  (And the wind had tangled the scarecrow cans.  Need to unravel them, AGAIN.)





 

Till next time.........

~Be Inspired~

Keeping My Word

First of all, I would like to say that I hope everyone had an AWESOME Easter!!  We had a GREAT day together and with family and I hope you can say the same!!

Secondly, in a recent post, I said I would post pics of Our G in her Easter Dress.  I have one for you and also, I made a fabric flower (using this tute) to go on it and a bow (using this tute) except I made three and put them together.  The flower ABSOLUTELY made the dress and I liked the bow too.  Both were EASY to make but making the flower was tedious.  Anyway, here are the pics:

Lastly, a couple of posts ago I posted pics of a breezy Warhol Dress I made but no pics of Our G in it.  I said I would try to post some when I could and here is one:

So, I have kept my word.  ( :  

~Be Inspired~

Easter

As I said in the previous post, I am using a pattern to make Our G's Easter dress.  Well, the dress is finished.  It went pretty smoothly considering it was the first thing I have ever made from a pattern entirely by myself.  There were a few times I had to sit and think, "How should I do this so it turns out looking right?", but other than that it was smooth sailing.
Not to toot my own horn or anything, because I know there are tons of people out there who sew and create better than me, but I must say YAY ME!!  I keep looking at it hanging there and all I can think is, "Did I really do that?!?".  I mean, I think it looks really GREAT!!  I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the fabric.  The yellow and pinks remind me of pink lemonade.  I am calling it G's Pink Lemonade Easter Dress!!  I cannot wait to see it on Our G!!  Here are a few pics of it hanging and of course, I will post pics of Our G in it when I can.

My Wonderful Mammaw

I remember when I was little being at my Mammaw's house.  I would play under the quilt that she had hanging in her living room as my Momma and/or others quilted.  Every once in a while she would let me make stitches on the quilt also.  It made me so happy when I was able to quilt like the adults. 
My Mammaw was always sewing.  She was either quilting, altering clothes for someone, or making clothes for her grandchildren.  Most of the time, she had all three going simply because that's the way my Mammaw is. 
There are twelve grandchildren, including my self.  Thirteen if you count the exchange student we had my senior year (and we do).  My Mammaw quilted us all a blanket by hand when we were little.  Our exchange student received a quilt also but I am thinking Mammaw had her quilting machine by this time. 
I remember her sewing us all Easter dresses and shirts for the boys.  Usually this was done just a day or two before Easter. 
My Mammaw gave me my first and only sewing machine.  It's a Bernina 830.  She bought it in 1981 for $1200.  This sewing machine is almost as old as me (I was born in 1980) and it still runs GREAT.  My Mammaw is the reason I sew.  She is a lot of the reason for all the good stuff inside of me.  She has done so very much for all of us.  I am so very blessed to have her. 
Now, usually I make things from patterns I find on here.  I would like to buy store patterns but I cannot seem to pay that much money for one.  I know I sound cheap when one at Walmart is only $3.50 but still, I am unable to buy one.  My Mammaw told me a couple of weeks ago that Hobby Lobby had McCall patterns on sale for $1 a piece (limit 10 of course).  Ummm, you KNOW I went and bought some.  Most of the ones I wanted were already gone but I did manage to get four (and the prices on them are $11.99 and $13.95) including one that I wanted to use to make G an Easter dress. 
When I opened the pattern and looked at the directions I was completely and utterly OVERWHELMED.  I made a vest from a pattern in high school but that was 14 years ago (OH MY!!) but other than that I have never used a pattern to sew.  Off to Mammaws house I went. 
She told me she has NEVER used the directions in a pattern, she just does it however seems easiest to her.  YES!!  I LOVE YOU MAMMAW!!  When I asked her if she could tell me how she said no because she doesn't know how to give directions but she would be more than happy to show me how.  GREAT!!  An extra dress for G, spending time with my Mammaw and I learn how to make a dress using a pattern!!  We cut out the pieces and she made the top.  I made the skirt, ruffled it and sewed it all together.  The dress is so cute and now, I know how use a pattern.  THANK YOU MAMMAW!!  Not just for this but for ALL you do and have done!!  For being your GREAT self and teaching me so much about life, including sewing!! 
Here are some pics of the dress and Our G in it:

Now, on to making G's Easter dress with some ADORABLE fabric my (you guessed it) Mammaw gave me!! 

Warhol Dress @ Made......Again

Awhile back I made a dress for Our G from a tute that Dana did at Made called the Warhol Dress.  I absolutely LOVE the yoke on this dress and had some really cute fabric that my WONDERFUL Mammaw had gave me so I decided to make another one for G.  Here is the result: 



Because the fabric I used was so light and airy (which means see through) I decided to make a diaper cover out of the same material also using a tute/pattern that Dana had done at Made.  I really thought it was going to be hard but it wasn't.  It was very quick and easy.  Now, I want to make a lot of diaper covers.   Here is a pic of the diaper cover I made:

Sorry, no pics of G modeling, forgot to take the pics when she wore the dress.  Busy day, lots of forgetting.  Maybe will post some in the future. 



"No Pinching" Bandana Dress at Living With Punks......Again

Previously I made a dress out of bandana's for Our G using the tutorial from Living With Punks (http://3punkmom.blogspot.com/).  It was so very cute and SO EASY to make that I asked Our KK to pick out some bandana's so I could make her one.  She was all to happy to do it and picked out the CUTEST bumble bee bandana's.  It took me about 3 hours total to make hers and again was SUPER EASY!!  She wore it to school the next day and looked SO ADORBS in it!!  Here are some pics of her modeling it for us:

My Love picked out some flame bandana's for G another dress.  A post of that will come when it's finished.  Working on pillow tute and easter dress also.  Till then, Get Inspired!!

Homemade Pop-Tarts @Prudent Baby

While  visiting Prudent Baby (http://www.prudentbaby.com/) a while back, I saw a post Jamie (buy her book, http://prudentadvice.com/) had done on making homemade pop-tarts (http://www.prudentbaby.com/2010/05/homemade-pop-tarts.html).  The recipe Jamie used was from Smitten Kitchen (http://smittenkitchen.com/) and looked super easy and delish!!  Te best part is that they are MUCH healthier than the ones you buy in the store.  YAY!!
I started making them back then except I took a much easier approach to it.  I never tried making them with the homemade pastry or the filling she makes.  I use store bought pie crust (the cheap is just as good as the Pillsbury) and a jar of whatever flavor fruit preserve we are in the mood for.  I did try using my own pie crust recipe once but My Love says that he likes the store bought better and even though I am a homemade junkie, I agree.  All you have to do is roll out  the pie crust, cut whatever shape you want out, place them on a pan, add filling, cover with another cut out, press edges, poke holes in the top, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.  VERY easy and DELISH!!  I make them ALL the time and they are a GREAT, little snack for everyone, especially My Love!!  Here are a few pics from my latest batch: 

Inspired By........ELmer's Party @ Positively Splendid

I just wanted to share this and say, "DO IT!!  ENTER TO WIN!!"  Oh yeah, and "THANKS AMY for an AWESOME chance to be super creative!!"  Here's the link:  http://www.positivelysplendid.com/2011/04/its-elmers-party-and-youre-invited.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PositivelySplendid+%28Positively+Splendid%29

Don't miss YOUR chance to attend the Virtual @Elmer's #CraftandTell Party at Positively Splendid!

Inspired By........The "No Pinching" Bandana Dress @ Living with Punks

One of the blogs I follow is Living with Punks (http://3punkmom.blogspot.com/).  The lady that does this blog is obviously AWESOME.  I say this because she has AWESOME tutorials.  One day she posted a tute for an ADORBS dress made out of bandanas(http://3punkmom.blogspot.com/2011/03/tute-no-pinching-bandana-dress.html).  AWESOME!!
Bandana's are a dollar a piece at our local super center and if you have not noticed, they have some really cute multicolored ones now.  This makes the tute even more AWESOME!!  So, I bought 3 bandana's as instructed and some elastic thread. VOILA!!  G has a new dress.  False, G has a new ADORABLE dress!!  I did mess up because I started making it before I refreshed myself on the instructions but the mess up was not so bad that I could improvise and make the dress anyway.  However, next time I WILL make it the way instructed because Susan's way is MUCH easier then the way I did it. 
Here is G in her new dress:

Inspired By.........Joy The Baker

Last week I was blog jumping through the blogs I follow.  Sew Homegrown (http://sewhomegrown.blogspot.com/) is one of these.  She posted about things that had inspired her(http://sewhomegrown.blogspot.com/2011/03/inspired-homemaking_31.html).  One of the links she posted was for some yummy looking cinnamon sugar bread. I clicked on it and of course, it lead me to Joy The Baker (http://www.joythebaker.com/).  Let me just say she has some AWESOME recipes.  Of course, on the day I found her I was only interested in one and that was her Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread. 
As I said before, this looked SO DELICIOUS!!  After I read the ingredients and instructions I knew I HAD to make it.  After all, I had everything to do so except yeast.  So, off to the store G and I went.  We got the yeast and returned home.  So began my love affair with this bread.
How easy was it to make you ask??  SO EASY!!  I did it while G was awake.  That is how quick and easy it was.  I made another one later that night.  THAT is how easy it is.  And let me tell you, this bread is even more DELICIOUS then it looks.  Thank you to Sew Homegrown and Joy the Baker!!!  Here is how my bread turned out (the second loaf because the first loaf did not last long enough to take pictures):

I encourage you to make this for yourself/your family.  You will NOT regret it!!

Inspired By........The AMAZING Way Plants Grow; Garden Update.....

As seen in a previous post, I went on a planting spree.   I was waiting until I put my plants in the ground to post about them again.  Well, weekend before last my Aunt M used the tractor to disc up a garden spot for me.  Four days later, Pop came and tilled it.  My Love and I made rows and got my tomato, pepper and strawberry plants in the ground.  My Love even made me an AWESOME scarecrow.  He says it is OUR garden, not just mine anymore (this makes me SO HAPPY).  He even wants to plant corn now.  WOW!!  Guess you just have to know My Love to be impressed.  Here are some pics of our garden, the plants in it and our scarecrow: 



 



Anyway, (as seen above) what we put in the ground only takes up a row and a half.  This means we have three and half rows left.  My mom wants two of them for okra so this means I have a row and a half left to fill.  YAY!!  More planting!!  So I bought more tomato and jalapeno pepper seeds.  Organic this time so that I can put seeds up for next year (or in case of a Zombie apocalypse).  These seeds are currently in pots, hopefully growing their little seed butts off and I am anxiously awaiting the day they pop through the soil to show their self's.  Will post pics of these when I see them!!

Here are some pics of the baby spinach I planted.  It is growing good and getting close to being ready to pick (that is IF I can hold My Love off for that long):

Also, here are some pics of the flowers I have started from seeds.  They have started to show themselves.  YAY!! (yes, I know they are small but they will grow):