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Sweater Pants

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Sheesh, it’s getting harder and harder to capture good pictures of Jackson. This kid doesn’t sit still. Ever. Had to eventually bribe him with “Mama’s Forbidden Music Machine”. Can you see the look of victory in his eyes in that second picture? Ah, the things I do for this blog.

After pulling out one of Jim’s old sweaters that doesn’t fit anymore for the Ice Pack Cover Tutorial, I figured I might as well use up the rest of it. I’m not sure what to do with the main body of the sweater but the arms got transformed into pants for Jackson. They were super easy to make and took maybe 20 minutes to complete from cutting to the final stitch. It helped that Jim’s old sweater was tightly knit so I didn’t have to worry about hemming the pant legs.

As for online tutorials for making kids sweater pants, there are a million. Google it, you’ll see. I kinda followed one from Green Kitchen except I just used a pair of pants that fit him decent as a template, folded them in half and cut around the edge of them (instead of ruining them). I also wanted the pant legs to be wide so I made sure to cut off the bottom portion of the sleeve.

The resulting pant are super cute, I think, and I somehow managed to get the stripes to line up further adding to the cuteness! Wonderful pants to wear when we’re just hanging out around the house. These look so comfortable, I wish I could find a sweater large enough to make me a pair. Maybe Hagrid has some old sweaters he wouldn’t mind me cutting up?

Icepack Cover

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Ok, here you go. Here’s the tutorial for the “Easiest Icepack Cover Ever!”

Materials:
– old sweater (or any other knit fabric)
– sewing machine and other basic sewing supplies

Directions:

1. Measure the size of your icepack (ex. 11×5)

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2. Double the length (11×2=22) and add an extra inch (22+1=23). This will allow for the opening overlap. I didn’t add anything extra to the width because I wanted the cover to be nice and snug. Because sweaters give quite a bit, I wasn’t too worried about exact measurements!

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3. Right sides facing, sew along open edges.

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4. Flip right sides out and insert your ice pack! Super easy, right?

Icey Cold Icepack

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I am happy to report that the Disdressed icepack worked like a charm! I wanted to seal mine with my new Food Saver so I originally froze the alcohol/water mix in a small ziploc bag and let it freeze over night. The following morning, I added a little bit more water (mine wasn’t slushy enough) and refroze it. By mid-day, the icepack had the perfect consistency so I transferred and sealed it in a small Food Saver bag. Worked perfectly and now I don’t have to worry about turning around to find my 1 year old downing an alcohol slushie! 😀

I loved the cover Liesl made on Disdressed but with all my major sewing supplies out in the studio, I needed something a little bit more elementary. I’ll be posting the tutorial for the “Easiest Cover Ever” later today!

Easy Rice Pudding

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I didn’t used to like rice pudding, must have had something to do with the texture and consistency. A few years back, while on vacation, I gave it another try and whoa! Rice pudding is amazing. I guess I can add it to the ever growing list of “Foods You’ll Like When You Grow Up.” Who knows? Maybe beets will even someday grace that list. Probably not, though.

Here is my recipe for the easiest and yet still tasty, brown rice pudding. I like that, other than the maple syrup, there’s no sugar added and if you decide to add roasted bananas (bake, uncovered in oven at 375 for 15 minutes), you can omit the syrup as well. Roasted bananas are my new favorite thing! So sweet and gooey, thank you Tyler Florance for the suggestion.

Brown Rice Pudding
Ingredients:
– 2 c Water
– 1 c brown rice, rinsed
– 1 1/4 c soy milk
– 1/3 c raisins (I usually omit since we never have them at the house)
– 1/3 c maple syrup
– 1 t vanilla
– 1/2 t cinnamon
– 1/4 t ground ginger
– 1/8 t nutmeg

1. Bring water to a boil in a saucepan
2. Add rice, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 35 min. or until all water is absorbed and rice is soft.
3. Add remaining ingredients and cook on low for a few more minutes.
4. Transfer to bowl and allow to cool in fridge. (or if you’re like me, burn your tongue trying to eat too soon)

I like to transfer immediately to small single portion bowls so that I can quickly grab them from the fridge while balancing a baby on my hip. I would suggest making sure they’re covered or the pudding might dry out. If this does happen, just pour a bit of soy milk over the rice pudding before you reheat. Jackson is a huge fan of this snack!

Cracker Jack Birthday Party

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Well, we survived our first birthday party for Jackson. Just barely, though (check out my personal blog, Indie Shopper, for a full lowdown on the craziness of that day!) We went with the semi-theme of Cracker Jack and kept the decorations somewhat low key. Seriously, we had just finished putting away all the Christmas decorations and since he’s only one, we figured a few hanging flags here and there would do just fine. I tried to find the site that I got the idea for the rectangular pennant flags from but I can’t find it anywhere! Any one remember the website? I think she used mostly yellow fabric for an outdoor wedding? Sound familiar? I also tried to recreate the look of baker’s twine with yarn, like I saw on Between The Lines. Did not go so well, it kept unraveling but the flags held it in place fairly well so it ended up working after all.

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Of course, I also waiting until the last possible minute to whip up his birthday t-shirt. It was fairly easy since we had already cleaned up the image of Cracker Jack and his dog for the invitations. A little altering in Photoshop, printing on iron transfer paper and tada, we’ve got a cute first birthday tshirt. Of course, it won’t last past the first couple of washes but the photos from his party sure looked cute!

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For the favors, I made homemade Cracker Jack to pass out to the adults. There were mostly babies in attendence and I couldn’t think of a small toy to include as the secret prize that wouldn’t be a choking hazard, so instead I printed up small magnetic photo frames for people to use on their fridges. The recipe from Savory Sweet Life worked really well. The only thing I messed up on is that I completely burned the first two batches and the results were totally inedible.  I really need to get an oven thermometer. Also, don’t forget to put the secret prizes in the bags before you seal them up. Taping them to the back of each bag just doesn’t have the same feeling as if they were inside!

Well, there you have it. Between losing power for most of the day and having to run out for more ingredients after burning all my Cracker Jack, the day was absolutely crazy and I don’t know what we would have done without my mom and sister helping out! The party itself went well and we were overjoyed to celebrate a year of Jackson with all the people we know and love.

Now, what should next year’s party be themed? ;D

Update: Here are all the free printables!

Cracker Jack Prize Envelopes

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Can’t talk for long, took way too much time converting this file into a free print but I really wanted to share these Cracker Jack prize pockets with you all.  Now you can really make your own Cracker Jack, secret prize and all!

Easy Peasy Instructions:
1. Print out T&T Print and cut out all 5 envelopes.
2. Fold down the center.
3. Apply glue to outside edge of one side (we found glue tape to work the best).
4. Insert prize.
5. Fold shut.
6. Use a rotary perforator to score along tear line.

Easy, right? The only thing we had to be careful with was making sure the prize fit inside the envelope. We had to position the glue tape applicator half off the paper so that we could have a little more room inside the envelope.

Hope you enjoy!

Red & White

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bakerstwine2I’m throwing the first of many birthday parties this weekend and since it’s kinda Cracker Jack themed, I’ve been stocking up on red and white supplies. I have no idea what I’m doing with all of it yet but I’m sure inspiration will strike an hour or so before the party (isn’t it crazy how things always work out that way?) I got the baker’s twine (swoon), the polka dot packaging tape and striped ribbon in the holiday discount bin at Micheal’s. The paper everything is sitting on is meant for scrapbooking. I may not be one of you scrapbook crazies but I sure do love your products!

I’ll be making some homemade “Cracker Jack” to give out as favors and I’m still trying to figure out packaging options. I would loooove to find some glassine bags but I’m afraid I’ve backed myself into somewhat of a time crunch. No way I’m going to have time to order them, receive them in the mail and still have time to fill them with popped yumminess. Anyone know where I can possibly get some locally? My back-up plan is to use bags that look similar to these. Jim thinks they’re a perfect fit but I worry that they look too carnival-y. We’ll see, I’ll probably talk more about the grown-up favors later this week.

Tomorrow, I’ll post about the favors for the babies that will be joining us!

Fabulous Felt Food!

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You know how accomplished you feel after completing a project you’ve had on the back burner for years? Felt food is “that project” for me. Ever since I started noticing felt food on the internet a few year ago, I knew I was going to make them for my children. There are so many things in this world I won’t be able to give my children (elephant, anything knit, good eyesight) but sewn gifts? I got that covered! So, until Jackson becomes annoyingly mature enough to ask me for anything else, I’ll be blissfully sewing him felt food and other little goodies.

I went with Ume Crafts for the pattern and I was pretty much satisfied with both the directions and the final results. The only change I made in some of the patterns was to enlarge them just a bit. The yellow bell pepper was the first veggie I completed and it was just a tad too small for my taste so for some of the rest, I added .25″ to the pattern edge. Worked fairly well until I came to the eggplant. For some reason, my eggplant came out looking more like a purple pear than anything. Oh well, I’ll just tell him it’s from the farmer’s market. 😀 In the end, I would have no problem recommending the pattern. The number of different veggies you get for under $15 is quite the deal!

Next up…felt fruit!

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