Resale Finds

 

I found this adorable romper today when some girlfriends and I left our Littles and went out to a local resale shop, Mama & Papa’s. It says O’Neill Sister’s on the front and the fabric feels like its probably from the 30′s or 40′s. I am totally in love with it, as is Q.

I would love to see a picture of the original O’Neill Sisters. I am imagining a whole line of little ladies all in their green rompers, embroidery covering their bellies. I also found this really cute little vintage bonnet for PZ. She is over the moon and can now pretend play Little House, her current favorite show.

 

Strawberry Freezer Jam w/o the Pectin

We picked a bunch of strawberries at Krugers’ on Thursday and I finally got around to making some jam yesterday. (I also finally got around to picking some of the roses that are growing rampant in our yard. See below.) After misreading the pectin directions and ruining about 5 jars of jam (total bummer!), I found a recipe for pectin free jam. Here’s my version with just a little tweaking. Enjoy!

3 cups smooshed strawberries (that’s 3 cups AFTER smooshing)

5 cups sugar

1 fl oz lemon juice

Hull and smoosh your strawberries. Pour the puree into a large pot. Add sugar and bring the mixture to a boil. Stir pretty much constantly for 10 min. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice. Stir for a few more minutes to thicken. Let the pot cool to room temperature, then store in refrigerator overnight to thicken even more. Put the jam into jam jars (makes 7 jam jars full) and freeze.

Good for 3 weeks in fridge after opening.

I’m a little bit country…

Yesterday, the girls and I were at our local library. While they hurled the gargantuan pile of books down the Book Return slot I took a step into the cooking, baking, and craft books isle. Just a peek. My eyes landed on the title southern plate, by Christy Jordan. On a whim I picked the book up and went back to check on the girls. I figured I’d end up returning it without ever trying any of the recipes. That’s usually the case with the how to books I borrow.

Pure dumb luck. This book is great! She has a website, too. We went to the first farm picnic of the summer tonight and I made FIVE recipes from this book. They were, each and every one, delicious. I made the Baked Ham, Biscuits, Sweet and Sour Green Beans, Aunt Loony’s Macaroni Salad, and the Lemon Meringue Pie. I didn’t get any photos, unfortunately, but I promise it didn’t look nearly as good as it tasted.

Christy breaks the recipes up seasonally and intersperses interesting stories about being Southern and her own family experiences. I really liked her writing. I’m from Kentucky originally and my Mom and Dad’s families are all Southern. I found Christy’s stories really relatable and entertaining.

I’m so glad I got the cooking bug today! Now I want to try a few more recipes out before I have to, sigh, send it through the Book Return slot. Maybe I’ll renew.

shabby apple winner

We have a winner! Random.org chose comment 28 – Kayla Lyons , “My favorite vacation experience – there are so many! Like the time I won tickets to see West Side Story on Broadway? Or the time I got paid to go on a Mediterranean Cruise? Or the time I went swimming in a waterfall in Hawaii!? How can I choose just one!!! In any case, a Shabby Apple dress would have made each experience that much better. =)”.

Congratulations Kayla! Maybe you can wear it on your next vacation! Thanks everybody for commenting and remember there’s a 10% off coupon code for use on anything in the store for a few more weeks. handmadeexperiment10off

My SMS Giveaway Dress

Shelly, from That’ll Do, was kind enough to share this cute-y picture of The Wee One in the dress they won from my Sew, Mama, Sew May Giveaway Day.

Thanks Shelly! So glad she likes it!

*Note – I LOVE to see kiddos in the clothes I’ve made. So if you’ve got some pictures (or pictures of something you’ve made from one of my tutorials), please share!!

Last Week (before the trip)

We were still sick with the stomach bug last week before my parents came and we took off for Seattle. Let me rephrase, Hubs and I were sick. The girls were fine. All you parents out there know, this makes for a strange situation. All you want to do is lie down and die or at least sleep. All they want you to do is PLAY! We compromised with crafts and games that could be played from the couch.

We played with the girls’ paper dolls of themselves. This is a cute little project that both girls did with their wonderful preschool teacher, Bonnie. 

I had the girls go in the yard and collect flower petals off the ground. We made fairy princesses out of them. Of course!

We drew the things around us. This is PZ’s drawing of Wicked.

Quinby made lots of playscapes with her new magical creatures figurines. As you can imagine, there were a lot of saltines around the last few weeks.

Don’t you like a Minotuar sandwich?

We did a LOT of laundry. Holly Dolly liked taking a nap in the fresh, clean clothes.

We did our last load of cloth diaper laundry. Quinby is completely potty trained! Bye Bye diapers!!

Now we’re back and you’ve got 7 hours left to enter my Shabby Apple dress giveaway. Don’t miss out and hope you had a great week!

 

Shabby Apple Giveaway!

* This giveaway is over.

I’m off for a bit to spend some time with my folks. Thought I’d leave you guys with something special while I’m on a blogging hiatus. As you may remember I did a Shabby Apple dress review and that green dress has become one of my go to’s when I want something simple, but lovely and comfortable to wear.

Well, now I’m giving you lovely readers a chance at winning your own beautiful Shabby Apple dress. It was hard choosing which one, let me tell you, but I finally went with this one and I’ve completely fallen for it. I think you’ll fall for it to, Overboard!

“Embrace your inner 50′s hostess in the Overboard dress.  Piped with perfect details, this blue and white gingham doll of a shirtdress will have you serving up trays of lobster rolls and summer punch and charming the masses in no time. The full a-line skirt falls just to the knee from the defined waistline, and a row of oversized buttons rises up the shirt front with bright white piping keeping them in line. Slip it on and set sail for the perfect summer getup.” – from the dress details.

For those of you, like me, who go to the ShabbyApple.com website and fall in love with more than one of their wonderful women’s dresses, they have given me (and all of you!) our own coupon code for %10 off! Just type in handmadeexperiment10off sometime within the next 30 days.

Alright. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty. If you’d like to be entered to win the Overboard blue and white gingham dress from Shabby Apple all you have to do is tell me your favorite vacation experience.

For a second, LIKE Shabby Apple on Facebook and comment here that you did so.

For a third, HEART my etsy shop, Sew Flippin Cool  and tell me that you did so.

For more opportunities to win, spread the word! If you blog about, tweet (#flippincool), comment on facebook (@Sew Flippin Cool), etc. Just comment here for each thing your do and you’ll have a separate entry for each one.

Good luck! I’ll announce the winner next Thursday.

Lovely and Clever

These are two VERY cool ideas. If I can get my stuff together I’m totally going to attempt both of them. When I do the merit badges, I’m thinking I might incorporate  a summer journal idea I’ve been batting around.

The Crafting Chicks’ Summer Skill-Builder Merit Badges

Mom Bucks by BlueBird

The Mom Bucks idea is brilliant! I like the commenter’s suggestion to put the kid’s picture on the bill, too. We’ve got a sticker chart going right now, (like our 5th one). It gets enthusiasm up for a day or two and then it is quickly forgotten. I’m hoping the Mom Bucks might solve that issue.

What ideas do you have for getting your kiddos to start taking some initiative in their household responsibilities and for keeping the “I’m bored, Mom” ‘s down to a minimum? Just in case you missed it, check out my popsicle boredom buster idea previously posted here.

Must Make Monday – Fairy Princess

Q will be turning 3 at the beginning of next month. The girl eats, sleeps, and breathes fairy princess so I thought doing a fairy themed party would be the natural thing to do. We’re going with a “tea party”, outside kind of affair (weather permitting) and I’ve been researching all kinds of yummy foods, decorations, crafts, and party favors.

I’m betting more than one of you have a fairy princess that lives in your house, too. If you’ve been searching for some great party ideas, your wish is granted!

Parents magazine has a great diy cupcake stand and an easy toadstool cupcakes idea.

Diane from Becoming Home made these great little fairy peg dolls for her daughter’s fairy party. She has several other cute party ideas in this post, too.

Martha Stewart’s continuous flower petal method

Pick Up Some Creativity‘s Fairy Wand tutorial

My Homespun Thread‘s rock candy tutorial

Mommy Blessings‘ fairy wing tutorial

I got this great egg carton fairy light tutorial from the norske interior blog.

Martha Stewart‘s flower cake

5 Orange Potatoes shows us how to make a portable flower press which I think would be either a great party craft or a fun, handmade party favor.

Mowielicious‘ pink meringue – could this be any prettier?

And if you’re still looking for more great ideas, check out this post for some inspiration.

Sunday’s Scribbles

I’m going to attempt a drawing every Sunday. We’ll see how it goes. I saw this little froggy guy in a vintage origami book. The likeness isn’t too bad, if I do say so myself. Hope everyone had a good weekend!