Gifts for New Boys

I can't believe it's already Saturday, and what a Saturday it's been! Beautiful here - 70 degrees and super sunny. We still have snow, but a lot less than before. I predict some hardcore flooding pretty soon if this nice weather keeps up.

Yes, these two silly little girls ARE missing a pair of pants, a shirt, and their shoes, but at 70 (after being 35 for flipping ever) it was HOT to them, so I didn't mind. They played in the running snow water, wrote with chalk on the driveway, and even stomped in the mud a little - just like kids should do.

And with spring always comes new babies! I love babies. Big, fat babies are my favorite. They're are lots of baby girls in my life, and not so many baby boys, so it's kind of tough to come up with a new baby gift for little boys.

Then I had an idea. I've seen these cute necktie applique shirts everywhere, so I decided I would make a necktie applique onesie for each of the new cute, fat, little boys. Here are a couple of tutorials I found to help me along:

The first tutorial is one from Pinspiring, a cute little blog inspired by fun finds on Pinterest.

This second tute is from CrapI'veMade.com. The name of the site is a little crass, but the idea is cute, so why not.

I haven't made the onesies yet, but I will tonight. Look for an update tomorrow if I can get some good pics.

Off Topic Tuesday - Let's Talk About the Weather

Weather is a topic people often revert to when they need some small-talk to fill a little bit of awkward silence. But around here, the weather is usually an actual topic. We get a lot of it. And we've been getting a lot of it lately.

Here are Duluth's fun weather facts:

• Not only is this snowiest April ever recorded in Duluth, it's the snowiest month ever recorded in Duluth.
• We've had 51" of snow this April, which is more than we got last year total.
• Our seasonal snowfall this winter is 129.4" (so far), making it the 3rd snowiest winter recorded.
• We're less than 3" from being the 2nd snowiest winter, and 6" from being the1st.
• The snow-depth currently stands at 22" which is a new record for late April.
• We've had 91" of snow since February 1st, another new record, beating the previous record by 25" (in 1950).

Here's what we're expecting:

1-2" on Wednesday, and highs in the low 60s on Saturday. Spring *might* be on its way (finally!).

A Good Long Day

Baby Ivy and I got up bright and early this morning, packed up our fancies and headed to the Coppertop Church for the Duluth Birth and Baby Fair! Grandma Renee came with us to keep us company and help hold down the fort.

We had a fabulous time and met some amazing people! We picked up a cute little monster toy from Wynne's Knits, checked out some amazing artwork by KMG Artistry, explored fun and one-of-a-kind items from Double Dutch, and made friends with super sweet and outstanding photographer Michelle Littler. Check 'em out!

Off Topic Tuesday! - Maltese Macaroni Recipe

Happy Tuesday, everyone!Let's get a little off-topic.

My dad is from Malta, which makes me half Maltese so today I'm going to share a family recipe: Maltese Macaroni.

It's savory, a super tiny bit spicy, and a little sweet, too. And it's basic enough that you should have pretty much everything on hand.
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What you'll need:
-1/2 pound of ground beef
-1/2 pound hot Italian sausage
-1 large onion, chopped
-1 can of tomato paste
-1 tsp sugar
-1 1/2 cups water
-1/2 - 1 tsp curry powder
-dash oregano
-1 T flour
-8 oz elbow macaroni, cooked

What you'll do:
Cook macaroni and set aside in large oven-safe bowl.

Brown the beef and sausage. Add the onion until softened and translucent. Drain. Add in the tomato paste and sugar. Add 1 C water, curry powder, and oregano. Add flour and 1/2 C water. Simmer 3 to 5 minutes. Stir into macaroni and bake uncovered at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Alternatively, you can substitute tomato soup (or sauce) for the tomato paste and omit the flour and water. I add about 1T of curry 'cause we like it so much.
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Give it a whirl. It's delicious. :) And then let me know what you think of it, or what your version would be.

The Duluth Birth and Baby Fair

I was having some trouble coming up with what I wanted to talk about today because I've been preparing for the Duluth Birth and Baby Fair next Saturday. And then a light went off (or on) *ding* and I knew I had to tell you about the upcoming show. I'm pleased to tell you I snagged the *very last* 4 foot table for the fair.

The Duluth Birth and Baby Fair happens twice a year: once in April, and again in October. It features a wide range of service providers like photography outfits, local private schools, local hospitals and lactation specialists, chiropractics, doulas and midwives, and more, and retailers who sell cloth diapering and supplies, knitted items, baby bundles, and even a baby boutique gets a space at every fair. They also do short workshop sessions in which people can learn about the advantages of therapy techniques, birthing options, and so much more.

My table will be host to some of those cute dresses you can see on Etsy. And there will hopefully be lots of shoes and headbands to look at (if I can get in gear!) - and even a couple of giveaways! I'm getting nervous because I don't know what to expect. I've been to the fair three times, but only as a mom looking for information. This is new territory.

But check out the fair if you can. It's fun and informational and you won't go away empty-handed.

Introducing Off-Topic Tuesday!

I really want to start sharing more, but who wants to be so heavily buried in one topic? Not me! Creativity comes from all kinds of places - and likely from places we don't expect!

So for the first Off-topic Tuesday, here's what I've got!

April (snow) showers bring May (frost) flowers? Earlier the snowflakes were 2+ inches in diameter. This was taken Saturday. I'm not sure how I feel about this HAHA

Baby Ivy Turns 3 months!

A few days before Easter, Baby Ivy reached three months old. We had SO much going on that pictures had to wait until this weekend. So we did Easter and "birthday" all at once - time saving!

I made a crochet "Easter Egg" hat and bowl set for her as well as a matching birthday dress and and headband set. I got 24 great pics out of the photo session, but only shared a few here because I know you're busy, too!

Enjoy the photos!

Ruffling Foot Attachment - A Review

**This article has been updated. Please see end of post for updates.**

In December 2012 I finally bought a little gadget for my sewing machine that I'd had my eye on for quite a while. It's called a ruffling foot and it's kind of scary looking, like it doesn't belong anywhere near a sewing machine. I got mine at Hancock Fabrics. It's made by Creative Sewing Solutions (but you can only get it through Hancock's).

Crazy, right?

But as I started using it, I realized how ridiculously amazing and time-saving this foot attachment could be. The first project I tested it on was a rather small one - a set of decorative holiday trees to sell at a local craft shop.

It did an amazing job and made super fast work out of making smaller pleats in long strips of beautiful (and thick) jacquard. I think they turned out rather pretty, if I do say so myself (and I do, of course!).

But then I stuck the contraption in a drawer where it patiently waited to be used again. Two months went by and I got it out once again to use on Liv's Sassy and Classy Tutu Dress.

Again, it just amazed me how easy it made the task of ruffling up some tulle for the tutu dress. And tulle is a completely different animal than the jacquard I used on the trees, so I was even more impressed.

You can see the ruffles made with the ruffling foot here.

And all was well and good until I noticed something rather disturbing. I'd gotten something in my hand while I was working on the tutu ruffles and it just kept getting more and more irritated. So I looked at my hand and there was a tiny splinter. I kept looking at it trying to figure out where I'd gotten a splinter and I was thinking that it didn't feel like a wood splinter (do different kinds of splinters feel different to you?), but it did feel like a metal splinter.

So I began to examine my machine and noticed tiny metal shavings on the platform between the throat plate and the housing. "Where the heck did those come from!?" I internally shouted. By now I was actually kind of panicking because I have no idea how to repair a sewing machine with a computer. Then I found it.

This.

And from another angle:

That's my needle clamp screw housing and I'm pretty sure it can't be replaced. How did this happen? Well, in order for the ruffling foot to ruffle, that 'C' shaped part goes on the needle clamp screw housing. As the needle moves up and down, it hits the 'C, which causes the ruffling foot to do its thing. Unfortunately, it really wore on my machine. This is after about ... maybe about 40 yards of tulle ruffling.

And not only did it damage the needle screw clamp housing, but because the table top machine is so lightweight and can't be secured to the surface it's on, the foot actually caused enough vibration to
break the needle loose once or twice. Luckily - as far as I know - it didn't cause any damage to the bobbin area. In addition, the ruffling foot vibrated so much during use that the settings actually changed themselves while I was working so the ruffles would be more like tiny pintuck pleats than ruffles.

Negative stuff aside, I REALLY LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea of using a ruffling foot, but this one just doesn't cut it with regard to my machine.

Please learn from this - ALWAYS READ THE REVIEWS BEFORE YOU BUY - if you can find them! It look like this foot has been discontinued by Hancock's. Maybe lots of people have had the same problems.

I would love to hear any feedback on how YOUR ruffling foot does for you!

Good luck with your ruffling adventures!

**Right after I wrote this post, I contacted Hancock Fabrics about the problem. I promptly got a response and they worked with me to find a solution to my problem. In the end, they decided I bought the wrong foot (pretty dang sure I didn't, btw) and told me they wouldn't repair my machine. But they did exchange my ruffler foot for one they said is the right one. It doesn't look different to me. And it didn't look different to the wonderful ladies at my local Hancock store, either. Once I get my machine repaired, I'll give the new foot a go and see if the same thing happens. Then we'll know for sure.**