Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Minecraft Crafting

Do you have a boy in your life who has gotten sucked into the wonderful world of Minecrafting? I do. It doesn't make me happy. But I suppose it's better than shooting games and blood and gore. If you aren't familiar, you can read about it here. It's quite the "movement."

This school year we have a new rule. No screen time during the school week. Can I tell you how much this has improved our evenings? Well, at least mine. Ethan thinks I'm torturing him, but it has made a huge difference in my stress levels. It's so quiet in the house now! Do you have school age kids? How much electronic entertainment do you allow during the week? 

Even though I think Minecraft is terribly boring, I get that Ethan and all his friends enjoy it. Since a couple of boys have birthdays this week I decided to do some Minecraft crafting of my own. I've been using this Interfacing Piecing method to make blocks with 2 1/2" squares. (I have a few more projects in line to be blogged)

Minecraft Pillow

This is the front and back of the pillow. The front character is called "Creeper" and the back character is called "Enderman." I used five different colors of green, plus black to make creeper. Ethan L.O.V.E.D. it. He didn't really want to give it away as a gift, but I assured him more would be coming. I have plans to make other characters too.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Let the Fall Sewing Begin!

Fall is in full swing here in Germany! It is COLD. That's ok though, because that means I can start sewing fall clothes. 

I'm not finished with the Washi Tunic yet. I feel like there are a few more things I can try with it. This one is rayon and I added sleeves. Oh, and pockets! Even though the pockets are intended for the dress length I decided to see if I could make them work. I little resizing so they didn't hang too low, and it worked!
The pattern doesn't come with a sleeve (just the cap one) so I drafted this one. I used a combination of the School House Tunic sleeve and a bell sleeve from this shirt. This is my favorite one so far.

Fabric: Valorie Wells Novella Rayon
Pattern: Washi Tunic

I never blogged these pants, but they are part of my "PJs I can Wear to Work" series. *wink*
It's a nice stable knit with a pinstripe pattern. From a distance most people can't tell they are knit! But they are like wearing sweats to work. Love them!

Next up a blouse from Hilco's Knip Mode magazine. This is my third time to make this blouse, and my favorite version. I did the sleeve cuff in linen and then used the "J. Crew sleeve roll." That cracks me up. They have their own brand of sleeve roll!
Fabric: Blythe from Robert Kaufman
Pattern: Knip Mode blouse (no name)

I also made another knit pencil skirt. I'm loving these! So comfy and cute and easy! (not such a good hair day...)
The knit pencil skirt is just a tube! So easy. This one is one tremendously long tube folded in half. The single layer of knit wasn't thick enough so I doubled it, which meant I only had to hem the top since the bottom is folded. SO.EASY.

So those are my first fun outfits for this fall!

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Progressive Dip Party

So if you follow me on Pinterest you might have been wondering what I've been up to with all the food pins! Tonight at church Rob and I organized a "progressive dip party." It was my night to do the snacks and I have a bit of a reputation for being the American who always brings the cupcakes and cake. So I thought I would surprise everyone with something completely different.

So each table got a different dip, and then every few minutes we rang a gong (yes I have a gong) and everyone had to change tables. It was more like musical chairs than a progressive dinner, but we thought calling it a progressive dip party was fun.

So of course I forgot to take my camera and got zero pictures. OH, I forgot to mention the most fun part. Our church is German, so there was only one other American family there. Everyone was from other countries, so all these were brand new to them! It really went awesome and everyone had a great time!

Ok, so since I have no pictures (shame on me) I am using the pictures that I pinned to show the dips. I wanted to share because they were all really yummy. Links go to the recipes.



A classic. We served it with Fritos scoops and blue corn tortilla chips.



This dip was pure genius. It's everything you put on a baked potato, and then you use potato chips as the potato. Delish.



This was fantastic! This one got the most votes for favorite. I served this with Ritz crackers and butter crackers. 



I had this for the first time about a year ago, or maybe longer. A customer brought it to a craft class. It is yummy. I have made this many times since then. It's great for a light snack on summer nights. I serve this one with Tostitos scoops.


Whoever pinned this one just pinned the whole recipe! I used this recipe instead of the one on the artichoke can and it was yummy. I split it between two bread bowls to serve. One table got bread and one table got crackers. I made all the bread too. 



I used the recipe above and have used it several times. I got a Dutch Oven for Christmas last year and it works really well. 

But I decided over the weekend I need to step up my bread making game. So I decided to dive in and begin a sourdough starter. I'm using this recipe. I'm two days in. We'll see how it goes when I have to remember to "feed" it during the week... I'm completely fascinated by the idea of growing my own yeast cultures. 

Ok, so like I said NONE of these are my pictures. But I wanted to share that all these recipes are winners. So if you are heading out to a party, I recommend any of them.