Time for Tea

Posted by PersimonDreams on Jan 31, 2010 in Uncategorized | 1 comment

I was very happy to get the mail the other day as there were some dress from my favorite dress shop, allthenumbers, waiting for me (actually for the girls).  Cedi was ecstatic!  She is really into being a ‘princess’ ALL THE TIME right now and, “You know mommy, princesses wear dresses.”      So far, Cedi has attached herself to this adorable Time for Tea dress.  We still have two more to wear and model, but we’re going on day two and we’re still in the same one.     Cedi had to do the twirling test on her dress.  Her report, “Papa, it’s a good twirler”

Capri wanted her picture taken too..this is the picture taking spot in my house now

Make sure you stop by allthenumbers’ shop soon as she’s currently running a SALE and ready to ship section.  Lots of great finds!

A Great Giveaway Over on One Bored Mommy

Posted by PersimonDreams on Jan 27, 2010 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I rarely do the blog post entry to different giveaways.  This one I truly believe in (and want!) though.  One Bored Mommy though is hosting a giveaway from www.GummyLump.com and it’s for a Melissa & Doug Sandwich Shop Play set!  My kids LOVE Mellissa & Doug products and always have an amazing time making sandwiches!  You can never have too much play food, ecspecially with two girls 15 mo apart. 

Check out how you can get entries for this giveaway by clicking HERE.

What child doesn’t need their very own Sushi Slicing Play Set?  PS.  My kids have on of those ‘clever’ toys and it’ takes a little getting use to…but they have fun!

THE CHALLENGE…the Amazing Ribbon Quilt

Posted by PersimonDreams on Jan 25, 2010 in quilt, quilt challenge | 4 comments

Someone my mother-in-law, Diane, knows called her up to see if she could make a quilt for her daughter’s high school graduation.  Her daughter is really into horses and had lots of ribbons, so the mom thought it would be neat to have a ribbon quilt made.  Diane said okay.  Little did she know that a LARGE tote full of ribbons would make it into her craft room and she would have to come up with a design.  (Unfortunately we did not get a picture of the original tote but it was quite an overwhelming and daunting task).

After staring at the tote for hours waiting for inspiration, Diane decided to do some googling and see what else was out there.  She finally decided on a ‘bargello-like’ design.  You will see from the pictures below, that not only did Diane complete the challenge given to her, but she did it with flying colors!

an overview…

Diane took some of the blank ribbons and wove them to make a upper and lower border for the quilt.  I just love the dimension and effect it adds to the completed quilt.

A zigzag stitch down the line of each ribbon creates the quilting for this quilt.  Much more would’ve hidden what the ribbons have to show.

Even her corners are perfect!  AND she managed to use the ribbons for the binding…looks and works perfectly!

A flannel is the back of the quilt.

The Reorganization is COMPLETE!

Posted by PersimonDreams on Jan 16, 2010 in Uncategorized | 5 comments

I know!  Can you believe it!  I am actually done reorganizing my craft area…I never thought it would happen.  I usually get about 1/2 done and then get too distracted by other projects.  This time I really stuck to it and my quarter of the basement looks great (I haven’t created anything in yet though…) This picture show’s half of the shelving filled with my standard cotton and flannel fabric for quilting and bag making.    The other half of the shelving holds the fleece, random clothing for applique, towels, miscellaneous fabric for added texture or crazy quilting. These  shelves are home to boxes full with many miscellaneous supplies from beading supplies to quilting fabric scraps, to scraps of felted wool, to yarns, to completed projects, to you name it – I probably have it somewhere! The metal shelve is home to my beads (lower half), books, and random glass vases for various projects that are still in my mind. Here is my ribbon organizer and some more beads.  I also hung a spool hanger…maybe I should put my thread there…  The cupboards hanging are from our old house that we had to tear down.  We pulled everything remotely salvageable out and reused in in our new house or one of the sheds.  I covered a counter/cabinet section with material you can iron on to make it rather large ironing board. You can actually see the table! 

An overview of my ‘clean’ workspace.  Not the pretties area but it works just like I need it too!

Resolutions and a Great Recipe

Posted by PersimonDreams on Jan 16, 2010 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

Along with millions and millions of others, one of my new years resolutions is to lose weight.  Of course.  So, how do I plan on doing that?  With weight watchers, the Prairie Athletic Club and Hungry Girl.

I attend a weight watchers meeting every week which I find extremely helpful and supportive.  I am addicted to food and it’s nice to see that I’m not alone out there.

The girls’ and I currently have a membership to the Prairie Athletic Club.  It has a FABULOUS day care program to leave the girls at while I work out – Cedi always has stories of the fun things she did while she was there.  I try to do the inclined treadmill and Kick Boxing.  The trick is to have three healthy enough people to go there   We’ve started to get back into a routine this past week so hopefully everyone stays healthy enough to continue that for awhile.

And lastly – Hungry Girl.  I have the Hungry Girl Cookbooks:

Hungry Girl 200 under 200

and

Hungry Girl Survival Strategies for Guilt-Free Eating in the Real World

I am currently in the process of trying out different recipes to see what I like and will make again.  I do have a problem actually ‘following’ a recipe so I’ll be sure to share my little tweaks with you all.  Here’s one I made this morning (it’s from Hungry Girl 200 under 200):

Creamy Hot Apple Breakfast with Pecan Crunch

light meals

POINTS® Value:    3
Servings:  1
Course: light meals

Ingredients

1 small apple(s), peeled and chunked (any sweet, not tat, variety)   

1 bar(s) Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bar Pecan Crunch Granola Bar  (recipe called for Maple Brown Sugar)

2 tsps  SPLENDA No Calorie Sweetener

1 1/2 tsp. sugar-free fat-free cheesecake instant pudding mix (recipe calls for Vanilla)

1 1/2 tsp clear gel (recipe called for cornstarch but I don’t have that…just clear gel)  

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon   

1/3 cup(s) water, cold   

Instructions

In a micro-wave safe bowl, place pudding mix, sweetener, cornstarch, and cinnamon. Add water and stir until blended.
Add apple chunks to the bowl and toss them in the liquid mixture. Cover bowl and microwave for 2 1/2 min. Allow the mixture to thicken and cool for a few minutes before removing from the microwave.
Meanwhile, place the granola bar in a sealable plastic bag. Place on flat surface, ad use a rolling pin or a can to crush the bar through the bag until you have small crumbly pieces (super easy!).
Once bowl containing apple mixture is cool enough to handle, stir in granola pieces. Devour immediately!

I actually really enjoyed this meal.  It was a bit like oatmeal but creamier – which was actually okay with me since it was so good it tasted like a yummy, hot dessert.  I will definitely be making this again.  The one thing I didn’t like was all the prep time involved…sort of a pain.  Maybe I’ll take some time and pre-mix the dry ingredients so I don’t have to spend so much time finding each thing and measuring it out.  That would probably be a must if I wanted to enjoy this during apple season.