Pattern: Ottobre 6/2012  #31 Prikka Blouse Fabric: $2 Dollar Fabric Store (Home Fabrics) unknown fibers on clearance Total Cost: $2.00 Size: 128cm Child's Age: 8 --------------------------------------------------------- I bought this fabric at, what I still call the $2 Dollar Fabric Store. I think it's called Home Fabrics now. They mostly carry discount upholstery fabrics and rugs.  They had this fabric on clearance in a cart outside the door.  It's very cheap and who knows what questionable, synthetic material it's made out of but hey the pattern, drape and price was right!  Especially considering the overpriced quilting cottons or psychedelic, old-lady synthetics available at my local Jo-Ann's, all of which are such poor offerings for kids clothes. This was a pretty easy blouse to make. The only thing that was difficult was gathering the edges of the neck and sleeves because the fabric frays like crazy.  This was also my second attempt at ...

Pattern: Ottobre 6/2010 #27 Vest Fabric: jersey knit in moss green from JoAnn's I think Notions: brown buttons Total Cost: don't remember Size: probably the smallest one Child's Age: 5 [Shirt: Janie & Jack; Pants: previously made Ottobre; Shoes: Gap Kids: Hat: Gap Kids] --------------------------------------------------------- So I made this a while ago but didn't post it because, I purchased the material and intended to make the whole outfit, pants and shirt.  Of course, that didn't happen and then a bunch of months go by and that's the story of my life. The vest has gone unused because, in mind, he couldn't wear it without the rest of the outfit.  Anyway, on the day of this photo, he actually put this ensemble together himself because he felt the need to be dressy. I was pretty impressed with it and didn't know why I hadn't put this together myself!  (Minus the gym socks, though).  The vest was pretty easy to ma...

I know. A half-eaten plate of food probably doesn't photograph as that appetizing.  I always decide to take a photo of my plate after I get a taste of it and it's so delicious, I want to preserve it visually. Zucchini is about the only thing that is thriving in my little square foot garden, probably because the huge leaves are killing everything else off. I had leftover lamb and rice from my husband's requested birthday dinner and I thought I would add some zucchini fritters to it. I just Googled a recipe and kind of modified it for what I had on hand. These are sooooo good. Probably too good. Everything fried is good, isn't it. I don't fry stuff often. I even pulled the never-used iron skillet out for these. I shredded the zucchini in the Cuisinart. Super easy. Everyone loved these. I also made the Savory Zucchini Pie last week. Probably a little more healthy and super delicious too.

  So this past weekend, I thought we would dedicate some time to the long list of neglected house repairs: re-painting the garage man door and trim, stripping and re-staining the front door, WEEDING, there's always weeding, replacing light bulbs in the outdoor garage light fixtures, etc.  Instead, while picking up supplies at Home Depot, I remembered one of the items in my long running, mental to do list & ideas --Replace the hideous chain link fence on my parent's side yard with a gated fence.  I've been scheming to do this at some convenient time that they are out of town (you can't do anything with my dad around, it's not fun) and we have plenty of time and the inclination to do it.  Well, it dawned on me, while carting the kids around in Home Depot, taking turns going to the bathroom, and trying to remember everything we needed for out little chores, that --Hey! They are out of town! And, we have maybe two days to do this. ...

Yes, I've been a zucchini bread making machine this week. Here's blueberry, banana, and banana with almond butter.

I got this special German edition of Burda magazine a few weeks ago, and look who's in it. This is the Godet Skirt I made last December in a fuscia stretch velvet. I left the magazine out to see if anyone would notice. Yes, people (regular, normal people that don't sew) actually do pick it up to peruse it at my house. Yeah, no one noticed. My kids were pretty excited about it though.

This is our third year of our square foot garden. It's a fun thing to do with the kids. Teaching them where food comes from. They think it's pretty much akin to magic when they see it grows from a seed and doesn't come from a box. So this year, we planted a couple of zucchini. I don't eat zucchini. I was born a finicky, picky eater. You know, like those weird people on that TLC show Freacky Eaters that only eat potatoes. It's only been a couple of years that I started eating lasagna (before this, it kind of struck me like vomit) and most recently, I've learned to eat oatmeal. Yes, oatmeal. This took several tries as I couldn't get over the slimy texture at first. I'm still not that fond of water. Enough of my weird eating habits. I could go on and on. The point is, I don't want my kids to turn out this way, so I try my best to introduce them to healthy foods. OK, and in this case ... chocolate. Anyway, now the zucchinis are reall...