New Outfits!

New outfits for the girls. I haven’t been able to sew as much as I would like, because it seems like I’m always busy with chores, or work, or commuting, or you know… sleeping. My projects are starting to pile up like crazy.

I was able to squeeze out two outfits the other day, of which I am very proud. It doesn’t look like much, but that’s two t-shirts and two skirts… and even though I sew them assembly-line-style it still takes, um, twice as long. It’s a lot of work, but I like it when they match.

Nothing you don’t already know — pretty much the only t-shirt pattern I make anymore.  This time I put the seams inside and did a bound neckline.  Skirts are the beloved swingset skirts. My swingset skirt pattern only goes up to size 5, so I widened that pattern by about an inch total, and lengthened it by about 2.5”. I omitted the drawstring this time (Charlie’s always ends up untied, anyway) and just did elastic in the waist.

One of the hardest things about making the matchy clothes is keeping them straight, so I use ribbon as tags and Phoebe gets purple, Charlie blue. That helps out. In the skirts, though, there really isn’t a place to put a tag, so I got super crazy and embroidered their names (with my sewing machine!) into the lining. You just need to check the inside to see what’s what. Cute, yes?

Love, love.

Pinterest Review: YOU GUYS. I MADE SOAP.

There’s this pin that I pinned to Pinterest (for good measure: pin, pinny, pinnalator. there. I’m done.) and I kept thinking how fun it would be to make soap. Then I thought about it some more, and didn’t really do much with it.

Part of my aversion to soap making is that, Hello! You can buy soap at the store for, like, a dollar. So it’s not really saving me a whole lot of money, and if you’re buying all these fancy-pants oils and whatnot then it doesn’t really make sense. That crap can get reeeeeaaaaally expensive.

Then I read a post that basically said the same thing, but in the entry she said that she doesn’t do it to *save* money, she does it for the joy of having this made-by-her beauty in her home that she and her family can enjoy. Ok, that makes more sense to me. Still expensive, but if I really enjoy the process then maybe I can make something lovely and not mind investing the money into it.

I wanted to start with something pretty easy, and I was super scared of the whole lye thing. I didn’t want to burn off my eyeballs or anything. So I decided that making a simple recipe that I could use for laundry and dishes was the best plan.

I bought a can of vegetable shortening at the store for $3. I ordered the lye online (but have since found if for way cheaper here). I settled on tea tree oil as the scent, since it’s for laundry and dishes it didn’t have to be fancy. Then I bought a scale, a handmixer, and some dedicated soap-making supplies.

It was a little spendy for all the startup, but I can use the scale for other things, so I guess it’s not that big of a deal.

The actual soap making process was a snap. So easy. Really. I used the exact recipe and tutorial from this video, and it worked like a charm. I may have over-blended it sightly, since my trace was a little thicker than her video, but whatevs. I figured if I royally screwed it up I was just washing dishes and laundry, so what did it matter?

Well. I poured the soap into a plastic-lined cardboard box, and let it sit for two days. When I took it out and cut it up I was feeling very pleased with myself. I totally did it, you guys. For realsies, all by myself. The hardest part was leaving it alone to cure for 3+ weeks, but that part is finally over, and I think it was worth the wait.

Since the soap has cured I’ve been using it for dishes (I haven’t made laundry soap with it yet, but I’ll keep you posted when I do). You only get a crappy iPhone camera picture because I haven’t taken any real pictures, but it’s soap. There’s not that much to see. The real magic is lathering that stuff on a sponge and washing up some dishes knowing that I MADE THAT. I did that. It’s functional, it works well, it smells great, and it gives me no small amount of joy to see that bar get used up.

I can’t wait to do it again, and this time I think I’ll do something citrus-y like lemongrass or grapefruit. I’m so proud of myself, and it will actually be very cheap to do again since I have already bought everything. I’ll just need another tub of shortening ($3!) and it will yield a heck of a lot of soap.

I have my eye on a shampoo bar next, I think. I’ve been fascinated with shampoo bars ever since I bought one from Lush. I can’t wait to try it.

Pinterest Review: White Chicken Enchiladas

I hate to post two cooking reviews from Pinterest in a row, but I am so happy with how these turned out.  No pic this time, but you can get the recipe from Joyful Mama’s Kitchen.

My mom makes these same chicken enchiladas, and I’ve wanted her recipe for years.  They are incredible — she bakes several pans at the same time and they’re always gone in a day or two.  I’m happy to say that this recipe is just as good as hers.  One pan fed all of us, with a little leftover for my lunch the next day.

NOMS.

Pinterest Review: Miracle Cake Release

So, one of my New Year’s resolutions was to post more on my blog — I miss chronicling the stuff we’ve been up to. Unfortunately, as you can see, it’s January 22nd and this is my first post.

*sigh*

I did have one idea, though, that I think may work well: doing a sort of Pinterest roundup or review of some of the crap I pin that I actually make/try. Short and sweet, and if I don’t have to post many (or any!) pics then that might make it easier to write a few entries now and then.

Onward!

First up, I want to talk about the Miracle Pan release. It sounds sort of boring, but I effing hate it when cakes stick to the pan. It hurts my feelings and makes me want to punch things. Especially when it’s something like Pineapple Upside Down cake, and the presentation hinges on the damn thing coming out of the damn pan.

I tried this stuff, and seriously. It’s amazeballs. We don’t bake anything without using it. You just paint it on using a pastry brush, and it’s worked on everything we’ve thrown at it, including the deadly upside-down cake.

Very simple to make: equal parts shortening, vegetable oil, and flour. I store mine in one of those glass gravy jars (after I washed it, though…) and even the husband uses it. He actually stopped in the middle of making brownies so I could make more cake release because he didn’t want to cook the brownies without it.

Awesome.

I recommend you give it a shot — takes about 30 seconds, and will make your baking life a whole lot easier.

Get the full tutorial from Apronofgrace.com.

Mostly a picture post...

I can't believe it's almost the end of November already. Time has flown by so fast, and we've been busy little bees in our new neck of the woods. I sometimes miss our old life, but looking back through our pictures I can see that the girls are, in fact, adjusting well here, and we are (mostly) happy with our day-to-day.

In October, Bryan turned 30(something), Thea turned two, we had a several-days-long power outage, and then Halloween festivities.

The girls were sugar skulls, and not to toot my own horn but DAMN. I did a good job. Costumes, flower headgear, and face painting all made by me, by hand. I'm nothing if not dedicated.

Most recently, of course, was Thanksgiving. We were blessed to share the day with my best friend and some of her sidekicks. :) It's nice to have such good friends so close by, and it makes the holidays even more special to be able to share it with them.

I wish I had more time for my poor little blog, and more time for sewing and some of the crafts I love so much. With my work schedule and new commute there is less time than ever before, and I'm still (after 6 months!) trying to adjust. One day, I'm sure, I'll find that balance.

In the meantime, thanks to those of you that still swing by from time to time: I'm glad I'm still able to share what we've been up to. ♥