Baby Blanket

My sister-in-law has waited a long time to become a mom...and come November, she's expecting a boy! I just finished this baby blanket and hopefully it'll make it to Utah before the baby shower this Saturday. Perfect for the baby blessing, don't you think?!

Paper Shoes

I serve in the YW program at church...and Excellence Night is less than a month away. We're busy preparing for it- I was in charge of making the invitations. We're playing on the scripture in D&C 18:10 Remember the worth of "soles" is great in the sight of God...so everything is shoe-themed. I made these great paper shoe invitations & I just added some candy in each shoe (after the pictures were taken) and ta-da- instant cuteness.

I got the template HERE.

Giveaway Gift

So I finally got my act together and delivered Lesley her gift for winning my giveaway contest...I had never made a bag before and when I saw this tutorial HERE I knew I had to try it! So I ran off to buy this fabric I had been eyeing at Hobby Lobby- such a cute, retro print in Fall-ish colors. The handbag turned out great...lucky Lesley...

Canned Pork Recipe

My project this past weekend was canning pork for the first time. I had found a recipe online that claimed to taste exactly like the Cafe Rio pork...so of course I had to try it!

The verdict- it's good...but it ain't no Cafe Rio. I will make more though to add more variety to my food storage.

For those that want to try it, here's the recipe:

Pork roast- I bought 2 pork roasts and had extra sauce left over
3 8 oz cans of tomato sauce
2 cans of El Pato (can be found in the Mexican food section at the grocery store- look for little, yellow cans)
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup water

Cut roast into small chunks (I tried to trim off as much fat as possible), like so:

Mix remaining ingredients in a pot on med. low heat. Fill (pre-washed, hot) jars with meat. Add sauce...leaving 1-inch headspace. Process in a pressure canner at 11 lbs for 75 minutes (pints) or 90 minutes (quart). Mind you I live at sea level...you may have to adjust the lbs depending on your altitude.

Ta da- they look like this after the jars have been processed. (That's canned chicken in the back...I didn't realize when taking the picture I had inadvertently included the chicken.)

When you're ready to eat...just warm in a pot over the stove and shred meat with a fork- easy!

And the Winner is...

I used a very high-tech method of drawing a winner...I wrote all of your names down on paper, cut it into tiny pieces, and drew a name. And the winner is:

LESLEY L.

Congrats to Lesley and thanks to everyone who entered! And Lesley, give me two weeks to deliver your surprise winnings...I still have to make it, ya know...

Contest!

Enter my first (and probably only) giveaway. What am I giving away? It's a surprise...but it'll be something handmade by me. Here's how to enter:

1) Simply leave a comment.

2) For an additional entry, become a follower by clicking on the "Follow" link off to the right side.

3) For an additional 3 entries, mention my contest on your blog w/a link to my blog. Just leave a comment saying you mentioned my contest on your blog (I trust you, no need to send a link as proof...unless you want to).

The contest ends on OCTOBER 8th. Why the 8th? Because it's National Depression Screening Day & I want to do my part to spread some happiness about. I'll announce the winner that day...probably around nap time (my kid's nap time, not mine...I wish...). Good luck!

PS. Really, odds are in your favor...this is only my 13th post ever on this new blog and I think there's only like 2 people reading it- so you just might win!

Reversible Apron Tutorial

Materials Needed:

1 yd (45-inch wide) fabric for apron (or if you want the apron to reverse to a different fabric like what I did, get 1/2 yd of each fabric)
2/3 yd (45-inch wide) fabric for apron ties
1 pair of 1-inch D rings
Rotary cutter/mat
Sewing machine
Iron/ironing board

Use a 1/2 in seam unless told otherwise.

Apron Ties:
1) Lay out 2/3 yd fabric on cutting mat. Cut 5 4-inch wide strips.
2) With 1 4-inch strip: Using an iron, press edges toward center of strip- about 1/2 inch wide. See Figure 1.

3) Iron one end like so...see Figure 2.

4) Fold strip in half and iron. See Figure 3.

HINT: you can use pins to help keep fabric in place if you're a perfectionist. I'm not, I'm lazy...so I didn't bother with pins.
5) Topstitch around all 4 sides of the strip, using an 1/8 inch seam.
6) Cut the strip into 2 lengths. Starting from the finished end (the one you ironed) cut a 24 inch piece & then a 5 inch piece. Set aside for now.
7) With remaining 4 strips- sew 2 strips together to create one looooong strip (it'll be close to 90 inches long. Repeat with the other 2 strips. Press open seams with iron.
8)Using an iron, press edges toward center of strip- about 1/2 inch wide. See Figure 4. Iron ends also (like in Step 3). Set aside for now.


Apron:
1) Cut 1 14 inch x 21.5 inch rectangle in each fabric.
2) Cut 1 trapezoid in each fabric to the following dimensions. See Figure 5.
(And yes, my trapezoid is not the prettiest trapezoid you've ever seen but you get the idea.)

You should now have 2 rectangles and 2 trapezoids.
3) Put 2 d-rings on 5-inch strip. See Figure 6.

4) Place 1 trapezoid right side up. Fold 5-inch strip in half and pin 1 inch away from edge of trapezoid. Pin unfinished edge of 24-inch strip 1 inch away from other trapezoid edge. See Figure 7. Place 2nd trapezoid on top, wrong side up.

5) Sew trapezoid along the top 3 sides...leaving the 15.5 inch side unsewn. Snip the corners. See Figure 8. Turn right side out and press w/iron. Top-stitch around edges*. Set aside.

6) Putting right sides together, sew rectangle along 3 sides...leaving 1 21.5 inch side un-sewn. Snip the corners. Turn right side out and press w/iron. Top-stitch around edges*. Set aside.

* Top-stitching is optional...I think it makes the apron more cute- but it's your apron, not mine! (It should be noted that for this tutorial, I didn't top-stitch... again b/c I'm lazy.)

Putting it together:
1) Lay down one long strip (wrong side up). Using the pressed open seam as a guide, place trapezoid bottom edge against folded edge of strip. Place 2nd long strip on top of trapezoid (wrong face down). Pin in place- do NOT skip the pins this time...it'll be a nightmare to sew! See Figures 9,10, & 11. Sew 1/8 inch from edge of strip.



2) Repeat Step 1 with rectangle. Make sure unfinished edge of rectangle gets pinned to the strips. See Figure 12. Sew 1/8 inch from edge of strip. Sew ends of strips closed.

Phew! You're done...now you better go cook something. Hurry, while you're still motivated...


PS. I didn't realize how involved and difficult it is to effectively communicate in writing what I'm thinking in my brain. So let me know if something doesn't make sense...maybe I can edit it and make it easier to understand. B/c honestly, it all makes sense to me...but I could be weird that way...