Cat throws for Donation

Ive been volunteering for the Seattle Humane Society for a little over a month now, and as much as it is rewarding... its also really sad. I work in the vet services portion where the cats go to recover from surgeries or if they are sick and need special care. You never realize how much they rely on donations for food, bedding and even down to cleaning supplies. It is however, really great to see first hand how well they take care of all the animals there. They will keep them until they find a home, no matter how long it takes. I have been taking care of a cat that has been there since 2011. Anyway... in addition to my time there, I am also making some cat throws for a little extra comfortable bedding. I have been using any leftover yarn and basically just crocheting a rectangle. The cats love to snuggle on or underneath the fleece or crocheted blankets in particular.

If you are near the Humane Society, even donating a little bit can go a long way. Whether its old towels or blankets, canned or dry food, even bowls or toys. Not just for the cats, but the dogs and the little critters too.

Canning Day and Disasters

I found a great sale on Fuji apples last week and decided it was time to make some applesauce. I gave away a bunch for Christmas last year and it was a hit! Plus I made some really tasty recipes with it, and was proud to say that not only was the recipe made from scratch.... so was the applesauce in it! Its really simple to make, but terribly time consuming. I planned to take most of the day to make it. So, I got to peeling, coring and chopping 12 lbs of apples.

 Now keep in mind that I do not have one of those fancy peeler and coring contraptions. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to get through all 12 lbs. That's why its a good idea to dip the cut apples into a lemon juice and water mixture to keep the apples from browning.

I just throw as many pieces as I can get to fit into the lemon juice water and then put it straight into the pot Ill be using to cook it. That's the system that works for me :) As you can see I decided to use the coffee table as my workspace. Having some smutty TV going on in the background really helped pass the time...

 

I ended up having to use two pots to cook the apples, which can make it a little tricky when you are also trying to set up the canner and the lids on the stove as well. You boil the apples in the pots for about 20 minutes and with enough water to prevent sticking. As the apples shrunk a bit, I would add the apples from the smaller pot to the larger so I could free up a burner. Then I got my canner up and running and prepared my jars and lids.

 



See that its 12:49 there??? I started chopping the apples a little after 10. Thank you SpongeBob and Teen Mom for helping the time fly... anyhoo! Once the apples are tender you transfer them into a food processer or mill and make it all nice and smooth. It goes back into the pot and you can add sugar at this point if you want to use it. About 3 cups is the suggested amount but I used 2. You can also add 4 tsp of spices like cinnamon or nutmeg. I used 3 tsp cinnamon and 1 nutmeg. You bring it back up to a boil.

By this time the house smells amaaaazing! Yum Yum Yuuum! So once everything is prepared its time to can! ( if you do not know how to can, there are a lot of GREAT books and sites that tell you how. I am not writing an entire lesson on it this time but maybe sometime in the future...) You are supposed to keep the applesauce at a gentle boil while you can it, but keep an eye on it because its a very messy boiler. It like to pop and glug and burn you if a drop decides to land on your face. Im speaking from experience of course... so, go ahead and can your applesauce!

I used half pint jars this time, it just makes it a little easier to use up in my opinion. So once your jars go back into to canner you boil them for 20 minutes.

 

Ugh... I need to work on my picture taking... I have always been a terrible photographer. After the applesauce has boiled in its jars for 20 minutes, I turn off  the heat and let it stabilize for 5 minutes or so before pulling the jars out of the water. I find that the lids "pop" faster this way.

 

Yay! Cant wait to dig in!

 

As far as the disaster in the title goes, I was also making Grapefruit Marmalade! However, I did something wrong and burned the CRAP out of it! Its a fairly involved recipe that requires you to let it sit overnight before finishing. So of course after all the work I put into it, the second day and final step before canning is where I burned it. Oh well. Its things like this that make you learn, right?!?! So Im going to try again next week and see if I can get it to work. It sure made the house smell great though, especially right after the applesauce :) Enjoy!

Hand Stenciled Drapes

Finally! I have been working on these drapes forever! As you saw in one of my previous posts I screwed up on my last set because they were way too small. I finished them anyway and hope to sell them on Etsy, but in the meantime I got to work on the drapes I plan on keeping. Here are the drapes that came with the house...

Now, as I said in the last post, they really aren't THAT bad. They certainly do not go with our color scheme though, so I moved these downstairs and had decided I was going to stencil my own since I couldn't find any I liked.

This was pretty simple to do, but it is very time consuming, so plan on this taking several days.

What you'll need:

Plain drapes
Fabric Paints in the colors you want
stencils
sponge or stencil brush
paper plates
painters tape

I found some cheap plain linen drapes and laid them out on garbage bags in my garage.

I mentally mapped out where I was going to put my stencils and  colors. I have 4 colors; red, brown, camel and grey.

Tape down your stencil so that it 1.) stays in place, and 2.) covers up the edge and other stencil patterns so you don't get paint where you don't want it.

I ended up using a lot more tape after this picture :) Then put your paint on a plate and dab with the sponge. Make sure you dab away from your paint blob to get off any access paint. Now lightly press onto your stencil. If you press too hard or have too much paint, it can get underneath the stencil and cause bleeding or smudging. Get you paint into each hole in your stencil and take care that no spots were missed.

Now gently pull your stencil off and place in the next spot.

Isnt that preeeeetty!? I did both big and small stencils in each color. First I used a slightly burnt red.

Then an espresso brown.

A nice camel color.

 

 

 

Finally I used a grey. I made this a but lighter than the rest because I wanted it to be a little more "ghosty" in the background... if you know what I mean...

 

 

Now I really liked overlapping the big and small ones at some points. I kept all the small ones separate from each other and the big ones separate from each other. I loved the way that it turned out and it kept my eye from catching anywhere in particular, which Is exactly what I wanted.

 

After my drapes were all dry I hung them up!!! I am so happy with how they turned out!! They match my colors and they are unique and fun without being too loud. Heres the before and after...

 

and..... after!

 

Tada! It really brightens the room! I highly recommend just doing your own if you are feeling adventurous enough. There are a ton of really great stencils out there and there is even plain stencil that you can cut your own pattern into. Enjoy!





Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies

After swearing that I was going to sit on my butt and watch movies all day, something that pretty much never ever happens, I ended up making these cookies. I couldn't help it! I'm just not one of those people that can have a day of doing nothing. Honestly, I wish I could sometimes and I'm sure my Hunny would agree. I drive him crazy when he wants to relax and I'm making all kinds of noise and getting in his way all day long... oh well :)

The cookies are absolutely amazing! I love the flavor of lemon and lavender together, so I found this recipe off of pinterest. I didn't have to change a thing other than add a tad more lemon than called for. The cookies are beautifully fragrant and are quite pretty themselves. I want to imagine myself sitting in a circle of friends with big frilly hats, a cup of tea and these cookies arranged on the table in-between us.

Ingredients:

COOKIES
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar (or more, depending on the consistency after you add the lemon juice)
2 tablespoons lemon juice (or 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract)
1–1/2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest (about 2 large lemons, preferably Meyer)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cornstarch
2–1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon dried lavender flowers

ICING
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
3 teaspoons dried lavender flowers
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest (about 1 large lemon, preferably Meyer)
1–2 tablespoons lemon juice

COOKIES
1. Cream together the butter and confectioner’s sugar until smooth. Mix in the lemon juice (or extract) and zest. Set aside.
2. Sift together the salt, cornstarch and flour. Add this to the butter mixture and stir until the flour coats the butter but isn’t completely worked in. Add the lavender flowers.
3. Using your hands, lightly rub the ingredients together until the mixture is no longer dry. You will know it’s done when it forms easily into a dough ball. Try not to overwork the mixture or you will end up with tough cookies.
4. Flatten the dough out into a disc and place in a plastic re–sealable bag. Refrigerate for 30 minutes (or up to three days).
5. Preheat the oven to 325° F.
6. Take the fully–chilled dough and place it on top of a piece of parchment or a Silpat. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a thickness of 1/3 inch. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. (This dough barely spreads, so don’t worry about leaving a lot of space between each cookie.) Remove the scraps from between each cookie and re–form into a flat disc. (If dough has become too soft or warm, re–refrigerate it for a few minutes before attempting to roll it out.)
7. Lift up parchment paper or Silpat and place on top of cookie sheet. Transfer sheet to upper third of oven and bake for about 15 minutes (or until the edges of the cookies just start turning golden on the edges). Allow to cool before icing. If you already decorated the cookies with colored sugar, you won’t need to ice them (although I did both to some of my cookies and they turned out extra–special!).

ICING
1. Whisk together first three ingredients. Start mixing in lemon juice by using one tablespoon at first, then continue adding in only enough to produce a smooth, fluid icing.
2. It is easiest to ice the cookies by dipping the tops into the icing and turning them over onto a wire rack (that has a paper towel under it to catch the drips). The icing will dry on the cookie and not stay sticky.

Then.... EAT and Enjoy!!!

Super Easy Crochet Headband or Ear Warmer Pattern

I mentioned in my last post that my best girlfriends and I spent a week in Boston/NYC. A few hours before we were supposed to leave for the airport I realized I didn't really have any ear warmers or earmuffs to keep out the cold. I had a ton of beanies that I've made, but I don't always like to wear them.... I needed to make an ear warmer and FAST!

I dug through all of my handwritten patterns and even went through some books when I finally found a pattern for a super easy and fast ear warmer! This pattern took me about 45 minutes to complete with the flower included, so I made two! If I had more time I would have lined them with fleece or flannel but they worked really well as they were in the VERY cold Boston wind and snow.

Supplies:
Any WW yarn
Size H 5.0mm hook
Yarn sewing needle
One large button

Abbreviations:
ch - chain
st - stitch
sc - single crochet
hdc - half double crochet
slst - slip stitch

Gauge: 7 hdc  6 rows = approx. 2″ square

Row 1 – ch5, sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc across to end, ch1, turn. (4)
Row 2 – hdc in 1st st, ch2, skip 2 sts, hdc in last st, ch1, turn. (this is your button hole)
Row 3 – 2hdc in 1st st, 2hdc in ch2 sp, 2hdc in last st, ch1, turn. (6)
Row 4 – hdc in each st across, ch1, turn. (6)
Row 5 – 2hdc, hdc in next 4, 2hdc, ch1, turn. (8)
Row 6 – hdc across, ch1, turn. (8)
Row 7 – 2hdc, hdc in next 6, 2hdc, ch1, turn. (10)
Row 8 – hdc across, ch1, turn. (10)
Row 9 – 2hdc, hdc in next 8, 2hdc, ch1, turn. (12)
Row 10 – hdc across, ch1, turn. (12)

*for a wider headband, keep adding stiches at the beginning and end of your odd rows until your happy with the width. Ive made one with 16 stiches across and it was awesome.

Rows 11-50 – REPEAT Row 10. (12)

Row 51 – skip 1st st, hdc in next 9, skip 1 st, hdc in last, ch1, turn. (10)
Row 52 – hdc across, ch1, turn. (10)
Row 53 – skip 1st st, hdc in next 7, skip 1 st, hdc in last, ch1, turn. (8)
Row 54 – hdc across, ch1, turn. (8)
Row 55 – skip 1st st, hdc in next 5, skip 1 st, hdc in last, ch1, turn. (6)
Row 56 – hdc across, ch1, turn. (6)
Row 57 – skip 1st st, hdc in next 3, skip 1 st, hdc in last, ch1, turn. (4)
Row 58 – hdc across, ch1, DO NOT TURN. (4)

Work a sc into the side of the headband all the way around. Try to make sure you are putting one sc in the end of each hdc row. When you hit the corners use 2 sc in sts. Join with a sl st in the 1st sc, tie off and weave in your ends!

Line up your button and sew that on using your yarn needle. Tada!!! Now you can leave the headband as is, or you can add a flower like I did.

There are a ton of different patterns for flowers that you can find, but they are pretty basic if you are not looking for anything fancy.

Simple Flower:

Leave a 6 inch tail or so, this way sewing the flower on will be easy.

Ch 3, work 7 hdc into second ch from hook. Join with first hdc creating a  circle.

5 hdc in 1st st, sc in next st (creates a petal)

repeat until your back at the 1st petal and tie off. Add a button to the center of the flower and sew onto the headband!

Enjoy!!