Felt Play Food

About a month ago some girls on a discussion forum I participate on started talking about felt food.  They were doing a "Felt Food Exchange".  I didn't join in.  I couldn't figure out what the craze was all about, but after 3 weeks of being on maternity leave, I had to see what it was all about.  Of course, Pinterest was a great resource to investigate this.  Then, a friend gave little Lucy a hand-me-down play kitchen last weekbut we had no play food to stock it with.  I figured I would give felt food production a shot.  After $6 worth of felt, some batting I already had, and one afternoon of sewing, I ended up with the above stock of felt food items and quite a bit of left over felt.  I made two main dishes- breakfast and a sandwich.  Not everything turned out how I expected, which is why there are no bread slices and the waffles aren't exactly how I wanted them to look.  I ran out of some colors so the next day I took a trip to the craft store for more felt.

 

I love how the sandwich turned out- specifically I love the lettuce and the bacon!  Since the original production, I have also created pizza slices, peas, red pepper slices, pickle slices,  a banana, and additional tortillas.  I still plan to make broccoli, bread slices, pancakes, butter, ice cream, chips, pasta, and anything else I can come up with!

If you have a kiddo that needs play food and you have a sewing machine, then felt food is a good time investment!  It is much less expensive than the plastic or wooden store bought stuff and you can make whatever you want!

Taco Chicken Casserole

This isn't the prettiest dish, but it sure was tasty!  I'm sure there is some official recipe out there for this dish, but I just threw together some stuff from the fridge and pantry that sounded good.  I layered in the order listed. 

2 breasts raw chicken- diced
1/2 jar of Salsa
1 can of corn
1 can of black beans
1 cup uncooked rice
1/2 tub of sour cream
1/2 packet of taco seasoning(mixed with sour cream)
1/2 package of shredded taco cheese

The only thing I would have done differently is either put the rice as the second layer after the chicken with a cup of water or precook the rice because some of it was still chewy even though it was bubbling in the oven.

Oreo-Peanut Butter Brownies

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and was compelled to make it last night.  Oreos and peanut butter layered and baked into brownie muffins...

Ridiculous is all I can say.  Ridiculously good!  I don't know when I will ever need to make these again, but it was fun to make them once.  If I do ever make them again, I think I would get mini-oreos and make them in mini-muffin tins.  A whole one is just too intense.   Here is the link to the original poster of this recipe: http://www.foodsnots.com/2011/10/oreo-and-peanut-butter-brownie-cakes.html

Upcycled Wool Mittens

Some of you may be wondering why I had scraps of wool sweaters lying around to make Lucy's Christmas Stocking with . . .  I have been making WOOL MITTENS!  They are so much fun to make and I absolutely love the way they turn out!  I gave a few as Christmas presents this year and some I am still working on.  They are so easy to make and it has let me fulfill my desire to discount shop, as the best place to get a variety of fun colored wool sweaters is yard sales, Goodwill, etc. 

A co-worker was recently talking about how expensive handmade wool mittens were at a local shop and that it couldn't be too hard to make a pair.  So I found a pattern online and adjusted it a bit to what worked for me and voila!  After a couple test pairs of liners to get the sizing right, I started cranking out mittens!  They are wool sweater material on the outside (after it has been washed in hot water/ soap and dried on high heat to shrink up the wool)  and the inside is new polar fleece.  So far I have made solid colored mittens with the exception of this one pair with the grey palms.  Soon I might venture out into mixing and matching sweater colors to be a little more festive.

  

Bring it on, WINTER!

Wool Christmas Stocking

Lucy's stocking last year was a cute pink "Baby's 1st Christmas 2010" stocking given to her by her Grand-dad, but this year I wanted to make her a unique stocking that had more of a Christmas feel.  I have been making things with old wool sweaters this season and had quite a few scraps left, and thought that would make a cozy, festive wool stocking!  I traced a stocking shape from one of ours that I like the shape of.  Then I cut the paper stocking into shapes for a pattern and left about a 1/2 inch around all sides for a seam allowance.  The whole process of making the pattern and sewing it together took less than an hour and was very easy.   I love how it turned out and it looked even better full of presents!

30 Sucks.

I saw this project on Pinterest a while back and kept the idea in the back of my head, knowing that I would have to have a friend turning a milestone birthday sometime in the near future.  Well, I had a friend turn the 30 last week.   So about a month ago I set out to make the "30 Sucks" sucker bouquet.  I went a fairly easy route- Bought a block of florists foam and 2 bags of Blow Pops.  Then I used 2 colored paperbags I had on hand cover the foam block.  I think next time I would use wrapping paper, but I was impatient and excited to make it and I liked the bright pink.  I used my new Cricut machine to cut "30 SUCKS." out of scrapbook paper and to make a little Happy Birthday card.  Using an exacto knife, I cut 30 slits in the top of the bags/block and stuck in the suckers.  Around the suckers I stuffed crinkle cut paper shreds(the kind you use in gift bags)... and Voila!

I thought it turned out very cute and hopefully it brightened her day for the dreadful 30.

DIY Christmas Wreaths

We offer a wreath making class at our greenhouse and I went Saturday to join in.  It was quite intimidating in the beginning.  Of course, I was late and the other ladies were deep into the process.  They were clipping greenery, bundling, wrapping with wire, using a variety of supplies and I was clueless!  But I collected all my materials, observed some of the others, and jumped right in.  It was actually a lot of fun and turned out much better than I expected!  There were some ladies in the class that have been coming to the class for years even though they are nearly wreath making experts, so that they have all the supplies provided in a festive location.  Their wreaths were incredible!

I have never bought a fresh wreath (I have a cheap fake one that I have used for years) but I don't think I ever will buy one-  I will just make it from now on!  I wish I would have taken some pictures during the process to share with everyone, but maybe it is good I didn't so that next year I can gather a group of friends to take the class with me!