American Baby

(Photo courtesy of Love Stitched)

Um hello.

Can you say cute?

Do you love America?

Do you not love this little cutie?!?!

I saw this picture and was so struck by it’s adorableness, I decided these shirts would make my boys look, hopefully, just as cute for the 4th.

Aww, matching “his” and “his” cuteness.

These were a snap to make, thanks to the amazing step by step tutorial by Cheri at I am Momma Hear Me Roar, found here and here.

Seriously, awesome. I can’t wait.

Thanks Cheri! You’re awesome!!

Mod Monkey Attire

I wanted Ian to have a special birthday outfit, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I thought about appliqués and I saw some really sweet personalized Onesies online. I figured that would probably be the way to go. So I did some designing and made some Onesies. I had to test it out before I made the official shirt, so I made these.

I think they turned out darling! And here is the OFFICIAL BABY BIRTHDAY SHIRT:

Can I just say I am loving the whole Mod Monkey theme?! I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to keep my house decorated with it for awhile…okay maybe not. But it’s still cute!

I also decided that I wanted to fit in with the whole monkey movement, so I whipped up a little something for myself.

I know, it’s been a year and there’s still baby chub on there. Pay no attention to that!

I used a pattern I got at JoAnn’s for a buck. It’s not my favorite, but all the other apron patterns were gone. Are you kidding?! At $.99 I’m lucky I got one at all! Still, I think it turned out pretty cute and I love the fabric. Come on! Does it get more Camie than this?!

I think not!

And sibling rivalry doesn’t exist in this house. Nope. Not one bit! My oldest child was not super dooper jealous of all the attention and preparations being made for his baby brother’s party. No. He didn’t try to squeeze his way into one of the Onesies I made. Not a chance.

Okay, can you sense the sarcasm here?

So I made him a shirt of his very own.

SUPERMAN!

Call me thrifty, call me cheap, I don't even care. I will not spent $17 on a paper-thin, barely holding together by a thread Superman costume.
Not gonna happen.
So what's a crafty mom to do in such a situation?
We improvise, that' s what!
Long sleeved T shirt: $3.
Sweat pants: $3.
Rit Dye: $2.
Felt: $.25.
Yellow Fabric: $1.
Superman costume that will keep baby man warm and NOT fall apart the second time he wears it: PRICELESS!

I found the Superman logo on the Web somewhere, printed it, cut it out and traced it onto red felt. I then placed red felt over yellow fabric and cut it along the edges and sewed it together onto the front of the shirt.

I dyed some of daddy's socks and an old pair of undies in some red Rit Dye.

Then I sewed a belt to the front of the undies and attached the back with Velcro. I also added red "belt loops" to the front, just for show.

I made the cape out of some scrap red I had left over from bridesmaid dresses I made a long time ago, used ribbon as a tie.

I stretched the now red socks over a pair of winter boots.

Done and done. My son loves to wear his shirt all the time and is begging me to make a Batman one.

Whew, maybe next year, after the holidays are over...

Christmas 2008

Here are some fun things I made for Christmas of 2008.

I searched high and low and could not for the life of me find a pink tree skirt. So I made one. I used light and dark pink felt and, using another tree skirt as a pattern, and cut pie shapes of both. I sewed them together and then sewed lengths of black ribbon over the seams. I then cut black felt to match the perimeter and sewed it on, again, covering the seam with black ribbon. I then tied pink ribbon into bows and hot glued them over the ribbon/seams. Then I hot glued black ribbon to form closures. It turned out fabulous.

I also made my son a Christmas outfit for church. Please oh please disregard the messy face and sweat pants.


Here are some gifts I made using pre-cut wood crafts.The nativity came as a set, and I painted it and put it together using hot glue and wood glue. I sued burlap and satin for the head covers.

The stockings and heart wall hanging I used wire and plaid fabric, which was ripped into 1"x6" strips. I painted the wood pieces and attached them to each other with hot glue, then hung them with wire. The heart says, "The stockings were hung by the chimney with care" and I just used a paint pen to apply the words, although I think it would have been amazing with vinyl lettering.

Family blocks were painted, sanded and have vinyl applied.

The other decoration was painted and the smaller pieces attached with curled wire. I tied a ribbon to act as a hanger on the top.

Let's not forget about the candy I made for my neighbors. Yum, yum!

Mexican Wedding Cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, divided
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
2 cups finely chopped pecans (optional)
(I made mine without pecans. They were heavenly)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add 1/2 cup of the sugar, vanilla, nutmeg and salt; beat until well blended. Stir in flour and pecans. Shape into 1-inch balls. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 15 minutes. Remove from baking sheets. Immediately roll hot cookies in remaining 2 cups sugar. Place sugared cookies on wire racks to cool. When cool, roll again in sugar.
Divinity
(or "fairy poop" as my brother calls it)

3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2/3 cup warm water
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract (or other flavor of your choice)

Prepare a cookie sheet by lining it with aluminum foil and spraying the foil with nonstick cooking spray, or lining it with wax paper. Combine the sugar, corn syrup and water in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves. Continue cooking without stirring until the mixture reaches 250 degrees, firm-ball stage. In the meantime, beat the egg whites in the bowl of a large standing mixture until stiff peaks form. Slowly pour about half of the sugar syrup into the egg whites, beating constantly. Continue to cook the remaining syrup until it reaches 270 degrees, soft-crack stage. Stream the remaining syrup mixture into the egg whites while the mixer is running. Continue to beat until the candy is thick, shiny and holds its shape. Mix in extract until fully incorporated. Drop by the teaspoonful onto cookie sheet, and let cool until full set.

Variation: Divinity can be poured into a 9-inch square pan, cooled, and cut into small squares instead of being dropped from a spoon.

Fudge
1 1/2 c Milk
4 oz Unsweetened chocolate (sqs)
4 c Sugar
3 tb Light corn syrup
1/4 ts Salt
3 tb Butter or margarine
1 1/2 ts Vanilla

Combine milk and chocolate in medium-size heavy saucepan; cook over low heat until chocolate is melted. Add sugar, corn syrup and salt and cook, stirring constantly, to boiling.
Cook, without stirring to 234F on a candy thermometer. (A teaspoonful of syrup will form a soft ball when dropped into cold water.) Remove from heat at once. Add vanilla and butter or margarine, but do not stir in. Cool mixture in pan to 110F, or until lukewarm; beat with wooden spoon until mixture thickens and begins to lose its gloss. (This will take about 15 minutes.)
Spread in a buttered 8x8x2" pan. Let stand until set and cool; cut into squares.

Grandma Cannon's Carmels
2 cups sugar
2 cups Karo syrup

Stir together and continue stirring and boiling until it begins to thicken. Add 1 cup butter a little at a time while stirring and boiling. Add a few grains of salt. Very slowly pour in 2 cups whipping cream, slow enough that it never stops boiling. Keep stirring until it reaches a soft firm stage, 230-234 degrees. Add vanilla and pour into buttered 8"x11" pan. Let cool, cut and wrap in waxed paper. Enjoy.