Lava Bloom Blouse - A Michael Miller fabric

2 week project - I kept having to stop and start with customer orders in between...

Handmade blouse in a lovely "Lava Bloom" fabric by Michael Miller.

This is a 4T, sewn with 1/4 in. seam allowances rather than the 5/8 in the directions. She is 4 so I was scared it wouldn't fit after I cut it out and looked at it.  But it does!  I never make a muslin of something first - I guess that I should. Does everybody else do that?

I used a McCall's M5794.

I have made the top and the pants before and they are both great.

About this style:

There is an elastic casing around the bodice.  The neck opening is wide enough for their head to slip into. So because it is a woven fabric and doesn't stretch, this pattern really works as a blouse with no button placket.    That yellow piece shown on the pattern picture is an additional tank top made with this pattern.  I did not make one.  We will just wear a shirt we already own underneath.

I was really afraid it was going to look like scrubs when it was all finished.  Because actually that is what my husband said it looked like!  Bless him for being so honest.  But this is just one of those garments that don't look cute on the hanger, but look much better on a person.  I think it was because of the green fabric with the pink bias tape around the neck opening.  Scrub-like.

But actually I really like it and I would make it again.

Valentine's Tree Craft Project Inspired By Southern Living Magazine

Aren't these Valentine cookies adorable and yummy looking?

Too bad I won't be baking any!  You see, I'm not much of a baker, so I may not get to baking some of these.

But my daughters loved the images of them as well as I did.  So we decided to make something like these that we could save for a much longer time than if they were real cookies.

We decided to use felt to make the cookies.

We tied them with ribbon and made a Valentine's tree.

Here it is:

 

  

  

We set out around the neighborhood to find the perfect fallen branch to spray paint white for our tree.

We found the pink bucket at Joann's craft store.  I stuffed the inside of the base with the leftover felt scraps.

I'll be honest.  We did the felt cookies for about 2 hours one night, continued the next morning for another hour, and then finally got it all together on day three.

Yep!  Three day project.  But so worth it.

Skip to a different project.  While I'm at the posting thing:

I must add that I was able to applique a shirt for my 8 yr. old daughter that suited her tastes for Valentine's.

Easy Homemade Play Dough

 

Ever made homemade play dough?

It is really easy and so cool!

You have one wacky ingredient you may have to visit the store for: cream of tartar

Other than that you use a great deal of salt, and then flour, vegetable oil, cream of tartar, water and food coloring.

My daughter's preschool asks each mom to make some for the class when it's their month. 

I got February so they asked me to make pink.  It took 6 drops of food coloring to get this pink.

I'm assuming it lasts about a month and it is stored in a ziploc bag.

Playdough:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

1 cup water

2 tsp. cream of tartar

2 T vegetable oil

food coloring

Stir contents together and pour into pan before turning on heat.

Turn on stove to medium heat and stir like crazy.

If you are making more than one batch, then it is recommended to make separate batches rather than doubling recipe to achieve the correct consistency needed.