Summer Lovin' Roundup

It's been sort of dreary and rainy this past few days and over the weekend. It really makes me nostalgic for changing seasons on the way to summer and those half warm/half chilly spring days in Kentucky. Here's a little Summer Lovin' to fuel your cabin fever.

1. Scallop Hem Shorts
2. Old-Fashioned Stripey Paper Straws
3. DIY Summer Tent for Kids
4. Color Block stripey T
5. Beach Umbrella Art Print
6. Delicate Silver Sandals

Hand Embroidered Baby Pants

My sweet friend C had her baby a couple of weeks ago, so I got busy working on a little gift for him. This Handcut Chenille Baby Blanket and little bitty pair of soft, gray, wide wale corduroy pants.

They have a comfy elastic waist and they're long in the rise so there is plenty of wiggle and diaper room. I used Made by Rae's Basic Baby Pants Pattern (free HERE), but I added a little to the length because she only calls for a 1/4" hem and I like a wider hem. I also topstitched the side seams and rise because I like the look and makes them a bit more sturdy.

I decided to personalize them, hand embroidering little man's name along the hem.

I added a little twill tag in the back. I've learned from experience that new dads do not appreciate having to guess which is the front and which is the back when dressing a squalling little one.

I used a disappearing marker to draw the letters, emroidered the main outline in white then added a little extra so that I would have some areas to fill in with color. These were just free hand for me, but you could play around with fonts on your computer or sketch them out until you have what you want. I was envisioning bright, vintagey circus posters when I did this. Boys clothes need some color too!

Can't wait to meet this little guy in person!

Chevron Faux Chenille Baby Blanket

I love a good chevron print! This one is home decor weight cotton from Hancocks (scored on sale!). After seeing a few great examples of these faux chenille baby blankets (HERE and HERE), I dcided to give it a try! Blankets are such a traditional gift for a baby, but this one seems to have just a little something different and special about it. I absolutely love the way it feels, kind of heavy like a quilt, but soft and fluffy because of the flannel. I will be making more and doing a couple of things differently, even though I am really happy with how this one turned out!

All you need for this project is a rectangle or square of home decor weight fabric in your chosen size (don't pre-shrink), 3 pieces of flannel in the same size (also, don't pre-shrink) and a piece of bias binding long enough to cover the edges of your blanket.

Layer the cotton and flannels together and pin every few inches so that they don't slip as you are quilting. I recommend a walking foot. If you use a patterned fabric, like I did, just stitch with the design, the rows need to be no more than an inch apart. This step takes a few hours to complete.

Next, put on a good movie, grab a really sharp pair of scissors and cut through the 3 layers of flannel between every row of stitches-be sure not to snip the home decor weight cotton.

(These next two pictures show rows that were much too far apart, I explain later that I had to go back and fix that. Still, it gives you an idea of what you're going for.)



Now bind the eges of your blanket. I used flannel, but I'll probably use cotton next time. I stitched over the binding 3 times just because I like the way it looks.

Next, you just wash it in the washing machine (I used those Shout "Color Catcher" sheets, since I had light, dark and bright red fabrics and it worked really well, no bleeding). Then throw it in the dryer on high heat. When you pull it out....ta da!! It's a miracle, soft, evenly frayed and ready for some baby love.

TIPS:

1) Next time, I will range my flannels from lightest on the outside to dark the closest to the cotton (I did gray, red, blue from the bottom up, but I wish I had done gray on the outside). The gray (which I love paired with the mustard yellow) got a little lost against the back of the cotton. I think that would also have given a little more depth to the overall look. I like the idea of neutrals with pops of bold color peeking out.

2) Flannel worked ok for the binding, but it didn't wash quite as well as I had hoped. It pills a bit.

3) I started out with my rows of stitches WAAAy too far apart, so after washing it looked ridiculous. I had to go back and sew two more lines for every row already there, holding the flannel down as I went. Miraculously it still turned out (flannel is very forgiving and the fraying covers a multitude of evils), but it was a pain in the you know what!!

This is by no means a perfect example of a faux-chenille blanket, but hopefully it gives you the basics and some food for thought. I know I would be ecstatic to get one of these as a gift, heck, I'm ecstatic to GIVE one of these as a gift!

Donuts

Last week, I ran across a neat recipe on Pinterest, easy homemade donuts using canned, Pilsbury biscuit dough. I guess they're more of a semi-homemade item (See the original post HERE) I like to do fun things for breakfast on weekends, so we gave them a try!

They were gooooood! Just be sure to eat them while they're hot. They definitely lose the magic after they cool off and the texture gets heavy, they're light and tender right out of the pan.

Here's the bad news:
You fry them up in about 1 inch of oil then you dip them in melted butter, then sprinkle liberally with cinnamon and sugar. Keep these in the "Only in Moderation" section of your recipe box.

Also, they make your house smell like a roller skating rink, something about that hot oil/frying smell takes me right back to elementary school birthday parties at Champs. Let's just say, not the best memories, I was not a cool kid.


All you need for these are:
1 can of Pilsbury "Grands" biscuits (you don't want flaky)
Cooking oil
1 stick of butter
Cinnamon/Sugar

Tips:
Use the donut holes for practice while you're getting the oil to the right temperature. Too hot and the middles will be raw, too cool and they will be greasy. I burned one or two...

I got it eventually...

Cool enough to cook about 3 minutes on each side and hot enough to bubble. Pop them out and onto a paper towel lined plate then dip in the butter and sugar.

Yummy, yum!