My husband was a little excited about this particular item off of my 30 before 30 list. He loves cheese as much as I do...and since we are going to be trying one new cheeses every week for the next little while I thought I'd do a little review of each cheese so we have it as a reminder of the flavor, texture, etc. We've tried two types so far, a Moroccan Spice Cheese and Beemster Graskaas Cheese. I've already learned tons about how cheeses are made and the different ways of acidifying them. (Some are acidified with bacteria while others are acidified with vinegar or lemon juice.) Wikipedia does a great job explaining a little bit about … [Read more...]

I can't believe that summer is almost over and everyone is getting their kiddos ready to go back to school. In our Back To School themed sewing camp this week I've got the girls working on their first project, a reusable fabric folder. I have to say that they are turning out fabulously and the girls are so excited to be making school accessories that aren't going to fall apart on them like paper folders will. Plus, they get to use their favorite fabrics! This project is a great first project for the 8+ age group. It's all straight lines and covers proper pressing, straight stitching, top stitching and other important techniques. Want to … [Read more...]

This weekend my husband and I had the pleasure of visiting with some of my relatives in the Oklahoma City area. We had a fabulous time just hanging out, crafting, playing games, watching movies, and enjoying delicious food! We attended a small town parade where I got to watch one of my cousins march, as well as see super patriotic things like: Darth Vader and an Imperial Guard...(I guess he's wearing red so that makes him patriotic?) and cows pulling a wagon? Well, I did enjoy cheering on the soldiers and vets in the parade! Best part: our trip only took 1 full tank of gas. My grandparents happened to be visiting as well. I feel SO … [Read more...]

As of today I have exactly 18 months until I turn 30. I wanted to create a "Bucket List" of sorts of 30 things to do/master/accomplish/see before I turn 30. I've been thinking long (since March!) and hard about the list as I wanted them to be attainable goals, but not too easy either. I'm also excited that I'll be blogging about all of them as I go along and I'll check them off my list (which will also show up on the side) as I complete them. So without further ado, the list: 1. Master the art of French macaroons. (Because unfortunately I can't go to Paris every time I get a craving for the deliciousness that is a macaroon.) 2. Sew a … [Read more...]

Though I used fabric for this project, no sewing is required! Here's what you'll need to make your own star banner: 1 package Heat N Bond (I used Heavy, but Lite will work too.) White fabric Ribbon (Cut out the length you'd like to have, plus 24" extra to allow room on both ends to tie.) Iron Fabric Scissors Star template (Click link to download.)   Decide how long you'd like your completed banner to be. *Warning:  A smidgen of math is required. You'll place stars approximately every 6", so if you want a 5' banner, you'll need 10 completed stars. Since each completed star takes two shapes you'll need to cut out … [Read more...]

This weekend I made a little needle notebook.  Now I have a cute way to store all my hand sewing needles and I just love it! This project all started with a problem: I had a whole bunch of these all over the place.  Most of the packages were half broken and not holding the needles very well anymore.  I was finding needles all over the place and was getting a little tired of it.  My solution was a cute needle notebook. For this project you'll need: 2 different coordinating fabrics (We don't need big pieces so if you have some scraps lying around that should work just fine.) 18" of coordinating Ric-Rac 1 color … [Read more...]

Wow, what a great week I've had!  I hope that yours was just as amazing!  It all started with going grocery shopping and seeing that Kellogg's is bringing back this cereal: Frosted Mini Wheats Fruit in the Middle.  Thank you Kellogg's for starting my week out right!  I remember this cereal from many years ago (which is funny since it says it's new) and my husband and I usually brought it up about twice a year as one of those "Hey Remember..." moments.  I may or may not have bought 4 boxes... Then the next day in the mail I got my latest copy of Paper Crafts Magazine and was pleasantly reminded that I had a card published in it.  … [Read more...]

At Christmas I visited with my family and my mom made a few of those cute little beaded fabric necklaces.  You know the ones where you make a small tube of fabric, put a wooden bead or marble inside, and knot between each one?  I thought it would be fun to make one with scraps of coordinating fabrics I had in my scrap bin.  After some math (lots of it!) I figured out how big to make each scrap so that it was just enough to wrap one wooden bead and hide the seam in the knot.  I LOVE how it turned out! To make your own necklace you'll need: 7- 3/4" wooden balls 2- 3" x 14" fabric strips 7- 3" x 3 1/2" fabric rectangles (These will … [Read more...]