Idea Queen Tips & News

It’s that time of year again! Time to pull out the fabric, hunt for deals on sewing supplies, and make a list of who’s getting what. As much as I dread this time of year, I do enjoy making all kinds of different projects.

For the last few years I’ve been sewing pillows for my kids. It started with just picking up fabric of their favorite characters, but now it’s taken on a life of its own. Last year I took quilt blocks and made pillows out of them, which they thought was pretty cool (for my daughter I had found a block that looked like a cat, which she thought was special). This year I thought maybe they were getting tired of the pillows, and thought maybe I should do something else. Imagine my surprise when my daughter says to me one day “Am I getting another pillow for Christmas? I want another one!”. So that sealed it. What started as just a neat gift idea has turned into a tradition.

This year I found Hanna Montana fabric, and decided to make a heart-shaped pillow out of it. It didn’t turn out perfect, but I think she will like it all the same. I folded both sides of fabric in half and traced a tear-drop shape so the heart would be even, so that part was fine. Actually it did come out pretty good, and I may just post pictures.

For the boy I haven’t decided yet. Since he’s now eight, it’s hard to find fabric that’s “cool”. He’s informed me he’s too old for Disney’s Cars, and I assume Spiderman as well. So what I put together for him will most likely be solid shapes in some unique fashion. I may end up doing another quilt block pillow for him, since that would be the easiest way to make something “cool”.

My mom told me she wanted a new purse made from old blue jeans. I went on a hunt last night for a pattern or instructions, which I did find. Actually it was so simple that I had it done in just a matter of minutes. All you do is cut off the top part of the pants, sew the bottom, then use the extra fabric left over on the legs for the strap. It’s a bit difficult to sew on the straps because the fabric is thick, but a hot glue gun works nicely to secure lose ends.

The majority of our family is getting something my daughter found in her Highlights magazine. I’m sure most of you have heard of gift jars, which make excellent gifts. This is the same concept, but uses a paper bag that the kids decorate and a hot cocoa mix (2 cups instant dry milk, 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, and 1 cup sugar with a recipe card that says 3 Tablespoons of the mix with one cup boiling water). I’m taking this a step further and will be sewing gift bags and putting the mix inside them. We’ll use an easy gift bag that uses a pretty bow around it.

That’s all I’ve got on my list so far, but I’m sure I’ll be adding to it!

Do you have a baby from newborn to three? If so, this parenting video contest from The Baby Formula is for you. Those expecting are welcome to join, too!

The Baby Formula is seeking how-to video on babies, with a grand prize of $1000. The instructional videos can be about anything, just as long as they are related to parenting babies up to three years old. Entries should be in an instructional format and 6-20 minutes in length. You can see current videos here: Children & Parenting videos.

The deadline to upload a video is November 17th, and winners will be announced on December 2nd. Prizes include a $1000 Grand Prize and a $500 People’s Choice Award. All the videos are free to view on the site during the contest for voting purposes. Users can vote once per week until November 14th, and then daily until November 28th.

While my kids are too old for me to enter, I figured I would pass this opportunity on so that someone else could win some serious Christmas shopping cash.

Good luck!

I’m on a mission.

Since it’s fall, I have a sudden interest in sewing again. Right now, I really want to make a diaper bag. Not for me, but for someone else. I’ve searched the internet high and low for a really good diaper bag.  What surprises me is I haven’t found much.

I’m not looking for something “different” and “stylish”. Regular diaper bags are invaluable, and in my opinion, nothing can top them. I like pockets and lots of them. I also like easy to sew stuff. So you can see why I’m having problems here.

There was one style I really like, although I’m not sure I can sew it based on the instructions. I read over them carefully last night and *think* I can do it, but it makes me nervous. But I really, really like this style, and want to give it a try. (If you have experiences with the Bundles of Love pattern, please let me know how it went).

The other one I found that would be acceptable was a Simplicity pattern for sale. The price on it was $12, but a quick search at Ebay and I found it for $6 (including shipping). That’s more than acceptable for a pattern I’d probably use again that also includes patterns for other baby items. I almost bought it, but figured I had better give the other free pattern a shot.

If you know of any others, please feel free to post them in the comments. Just know that I’m kinda picky and the bag has to look nice but easy.

After changing his mind several times, my son finally decided he’s going to be Garfield for Halloween. We had already decided to make our costumes this year, but this one we really had no choice on. Sure we could probably find one if we looked hard enough, but why bother? It shouldn’t be that hard to make (although I said that about the airplane cake, and it really wasn’t).

Luckily, so far, it’s been pretty smooth. I went on a hunt earlier this week for a large orange t-shirt or sweatshirt, and did a little happy dance in the middle of Target when I found one on the discount rack for $2.50. HURRAY!  The plan with the shirt is to strap a pillow under him and put the shirt over top. I just have to figure out what we are going to do for stripes, but it will either be fabric paint/markers or black fabric.

Next I went looking for mask ideas. What I ended up finding was a wooden zombie mask with a handle, and foam craft sheets in orange and yellow. I used the orange to cut out the face that goes over the wood mask, then the yellow as his mouth. Then I painted his eyes white,  nose red (I know it’s pink, but I didn’t have any), and used permanent marker to draw on the details.  I’m not the greatest artist, but it worked. It doesn’t look exactly like him, but there’s no mistaking it’s Garfield, and the kid is happy.

Finally, I got orange fabric for the tail.  This was so super easy and again, the kid was pleased. I just took a strip, folded it in half, sewed it together and turned it inside out. Then we stuffed it, sewed the end, and used a marker to draw on his stripes.  On Halloween we plan to safety-pin it to his rear.

Now all that’s left is deciding what to do with all that extra fabric. I got a yard of the orange and only used one small piece, so I’m thinking of attempting my own quilt block. The boy absolutely LOVES Garfield, so I’m going to try a quilt block Garfield on a pillow or wall hanging. I drafted the block already, and it just might work. Should it come out the way I hope it does (and I’ve got my doubts), I’ll post pictures and maybe even the pattern. Crossing my fingers it does work!

Hope you are finding everything you need for Halloween!

After making the airplane cake a few months ago for my son’s birthday, my daughter something special for her birthday as well. Thankfully she chose the castle at the time, and has not changed her mind. This should be a whole lot easier than the airplane was.

I’ve looked at a few ideas from Family Fun, and should be able to come up with my own based on these. Today I ran to the store and picked up the cake mix, frosting, sprinkles, ice cream cones, and gummies. It should be all I need, but I have my doubts I’ll get off that easy. Most likely on Sunday I’ll be running to the store for a last minute decorating detail.

The thing I like the most about this particular idea is I can go anywhere with it. Should I decide just to make a square cake, that’s fine. If I want to stack them in the middle to make a slightly different design, that’s fine too. Bottom line is there should be very little cutting and shaping involved, unlike the last one.

I’m also a little more experienced, and know how to handle the decorating a little better. Let me share with you what I learned from the last disaster.

The cake must be completely cooled and actually cold to start. I’ll most likely make the cake early in the day on Saturday (the day before the party), and stick it in the fridge.

The frosting needs to be warmed up before you start, so it’s easier to frost corners and edges. Just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds, repeating as you get further down into the container if need be. Just as long as the cake is cold and the frosting is hot, it won’t stick to the cake.

Use an idea that has few frosting colors, unless you are an extremely good artist. I am not, as we have learned in previous years. Most of the detailed decorations will be done with candy and cookies. Sticking something in the right place I can handle.

For the extra decorations that can be done with candy or any kind of writing, use the gel decorating stuff or food decorating markers, NOT the frosting decoration. It may be great for little flowers and suck, but not for drawing or writing names.

Something new I’m going to try this year is using cookie cutters as somewhat of a stencil. I’m hoping I can just press the cutter into the frosting ever so slightly, making a design that’s easy to trace. Again, I’ll use either food decorating markers or gel. That frosting decoration stuff is pure evil! (But I won’t deny it tastes good!)

If you are searching for cool cake ideas, I hope you find one that works for you!

I was at Walmart the other day, walking past the Halloween fabric yet again, thinking how absolutely adorable it was and how badly I wanted a project to use it for. Actually, it wasn’t even really that Halloween specific, but was black with little crescent moons and stars in a yellowish-orange, but it was CUTE.

Then, it hit me. Halloween candy bags.

By the time I actually bought the fabric, it had been marked down to $2/yd.  SCORE!  So I bought it, and am planning to make the bags.

I hunted for awhile for a good tote bag tutorial, but didn’t see one I really liked. I suppose, if you sew, then making a tote isn’t that big of a deal. All you need is 4 sides and a handle, then sew it all together. The size is going to depend on how much candy your kid rakes in, so really I guess you don’t need one.

Point is, if you had  your eye on Halloween fabric and didn’t know what to make, now you do. Just make a tote to hold all that candy!

I’ve been pulling out recipes tucked away lately, deciding to try some new dishes. While some have been absolutely horrible, there’s been others which were really good with some tweeking.

A new favorite of ours is “Grilled B&T Sandwiches”. The original recipe title was Lasagna Sandwiches, but I have no idea how they thought it was anything like lasagna. This was more of a cheesy BLT, minus the lettuce. Either way the kids LOVED it!

What you’ll need:

Sandwich bread
Bacon
Tomato, sliced
Sliced Mozzarella cheese (I bought a brick and sliced it)
Sour Cream (about 1/2 c)
Onion (about 2 TBS, or one slice)
Butter

Mix the sour cream and onion together according to your taste. Spread on bread. Cook bacon and add at least 4 slices to each sandwich, followed by 2 slices of tomatoes and one slice of cheese. Butter the outside of the bread and cook in pan on med heat until cheese is melted (this part is similar to cooking a grilled cheese sandwich)

The original recipe had us melting the butter in the pan and then grilling the sandwiches, but the bread was much too soggy in some places. Best to cook it like you would a grilled cheese sandwich, putting the butter directly on the bread so it cooks right.

These were absolutely awesome, and we’ll be adding it to our regular recipes!

Yes, we are getting close to that time of year again! I couldn’t be more excited, since it’s my favorite holiday. Halloween is coming soon! Hurray!

This year, my daughter tells me she wants to be a “dead bride”, which she came up with on her own (she’ll be 6 in a few weeks). I am so very proud. *sniff*

Now I could go out and look for a costume, but why do that when I can just make it? For the last week or two, I’ve been working on the dress and snagging the accessories when I see them.

The pattern for the dress - Simplicity 5645, in case you want it - was a little more expensive than I wanted it to be ($5.97, although it was still cheaper than the ‘real’ costume patterns), but that’s alright, because we decided to make more dresses with the same pattern.

To go with the dress, we picked up white gloves for a buck, cob webs as a veil for 75 cents, and white face paint with fake blood (I forgot how much those were, but I’m sure it wasn’t much). The fabric for the dress was cheap, costing us only $1.50 for 2 yards. Would I use this fabric for anything else? Probably not, but it’s perfect for a costume (real flimsy, almost sheer, white fabric with a glitter glue design of flowers - yeah, costume is all it is good for).

In all, we’ve spent less than $15 for her complete costume, with the bulk of the cost in the patter which will be used again.

Now we just have to figure out how to make a zombie out of the other kid, and we are good to go.  *GRIN*

No worries, I’m not throwing any recipes on you. Nope, I think we all have enough for the time being. I don’t know where they all came from, but my drawer is absolutely stuffed with various meal ideas (and for some reason, an abundance of dessert recipes I will NEVER make).

That’s why I decided to do something last night that was long over due. I sat down with a small stack, pulling what I thought we might try over the next week or two. But I didn’t stop at just pulling out a few recipes - I wrote down a list of ingredients we would need as well.

See, this is how we get into a rut. When I go to the store, I rarely take a list. Most of our favorite recipes I know by heart, and can remember exactly what I need. For example, if I think “I’ll make pizza sometime this week”, I’ll pick up a few bags of cheese (even though we ALWAYS have some type of cheese on hand), pepperoni, and whatever else trips my trigger (sausage, hamburger, whatever…..based on what I feel like making). The crust I make and the sauce too, usually out of Italian diced tomatoes we always keep on hand as well.

Well, I’m tired of making the same thing. I’m also tired of picking up various meats (like chicken breasts), thinking “I’ll figure out something to make with this”. Not a bad idea, but I always end up making the same thing based on what we always have in the  house. *YAWN*

So that’s why I sat down last night and made a list. What’s funny is, I didn’t have to write down a whole lot of “extra” ingredients, since I already had a lot in my kitchen. But I’m excited to try these new recipes, and possibly share a few we liked!

No Tidy Tuesday Tip today - my house is still being worked on and new carpet is going in next weekend. The house is in pieces still, so cleaning is somewhat of a lost cause right now.

What I thought we’d do instead is leave today open for discussion. The question is, how clean is your house? Don’t be afraid to be honest, because I’m sure mine would put yours to shame even if it wasn’t under construction.

Let’s hear it!