Wednesday, June 20, 2012

FATHERS DAY APPLE CRISP AND LO MEIN

Sunday, we spent Father's Day at home.  We finally had a day w/out having a schedule and that is always a treat for us.  In the morning everyone pitched in and did a few chores and by mid-day, my husband got to relax and watch the NBA finals....Heat versus Thunder  (go Thunder!). 
As every Father's Day and his birthday, my husband always requests for steak
Seasoned beef ready for the grill!

and grilled veggies
Gettin' ready the veggies
so that was a given for his Father's Day menu.  My daughter pitched in with her Chicken Lo Mein (for recipe click here).  

We opted to leave the chicken out of the noodle dish and make it more of a vegetable dish so we added more veggies instead.  She substituted the angle hair pasta and used spaghetti instead since that's what we had on hand.  My son purchased a bunch of apples from the local wholesale store so he pitched in with the Apple Crisp (for recipe, click here) dessert. 
Fresh Apple Crisp with brown sugar/oatmeal topping

A scoop of macadamia nut ice cream topped with whipped cream on the warm apple crisp was the icing on the cake for the evening.

Hope you had an enjoyable Father's Day.  There are those who do the double duty as a single parent 365/24/7, and there are those who cares for children as if they were their very own.  Some of us were blessed to have fathers from the day we were born and care for us in every way all parents should, and for that I am extremely grateful.  In anycase I hope everyone had a chance to experience a real dad, even if it was only for a little time.

“Any man can be a Father but it takes someone special to be a dad.” -Anne Geddes

Did you have a special menu for that special dad today?

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

T-Shirt Bag

There are so many way to re-cycle and up-cycle T-shirts.  personally think its an awesome way to remember the memories they come with.  Most of my T's comes from places I've visited, concerts I've been to, favorite logos, (to name a few) and when I look at them, they just bring back happy times w/my favorite people!  Well, the T-shirt blankets have been so much fun do to for my kids.  This time, I'd like to do something for ME!  Let's see....There's always a NEED for one more bag, right gals?  Thank goodness for this blog called A Very Purple Person, there's an awesome tutorial for a reversible bag.  You can see more inspiration of her reversible bag here on flickr.  So, here are my version of the reversible bags using interfaced T-shirts:
T-shirt tote #1
This one is a beach bag:
T-Shirt Tote #2
This one's my fave!  It came from a family owned surf shop in a sleepy little town on the Big Island of Hawaii.  To my surprise, when I used this tote, I had a lot of compliments and interest! 
T-Shirt #3
Interior pockets were added and the pattern was adjust slightly making it a few inches longer and wider.  Another wonderful bag from a wonder tutorial!

Any other suggestions for up-cycling/re-cycling T's?

Monday, June 4, 2012

BABY BOOTIES

A friend is expecting a baby girl...how exciting is that?!  Oh baby things are so small, so cute, so adorable but can be so expensive.  I was motivated to make a baby gift  that would WOW the mom and give myself another challenge to find that perfect gift to make.  Oh the wonderful world of the world wide web, I found the cutest bootie pattern at I Think Sew's website here.  Honestly, I had the hardest time selecting just one pattern because they are all amazingly adorable!  So, to make a long story short, this is the end result of my first ever bootie project:

Suede pink/black cheetah print with zebra faux fur baby booties and a matching gift bag
Black faux leather with animal print fleece baby booties and a matching gift bag
I couldn't stop with those two cuties...had to make just one more set:
Fagitues baby booties with matching gift bag
Had to give this little one his own onesie, too!
So, let me take this moment and give a few credits....you can find the adorable and oh-so-easy to make gift bag tutorial here at In Color Order's blog and the odorable onesie inspiration came from this blog.  Thank goodness for talent bloggers out there who unselfishly share their ideas with people like me....THANK YOU! 

Wait, got one more to show you....this was a special order and I was honored to make it for "Chaun" that has a friend expecting:
Faux zebra fur with pink trim baby booties and matching gift bag
So excited to know these little thingies will soon have an owner.
Hmmm, wouldn't these look cute on an adult, like say....ME?  Oh, oh, I just got a thought (again)...Maybe mama will want a matching pair for herself.  What do you think?