MakingMine

You know how there are how to’s and tutorials pretty much everywhere you look on the internet? Ever feel overwhelmed with this abundance of helpful advice?

Well you’re in luck, because I’m here to tell you how NOT to make eggplant parmesan. Follow my instructions, and you will end up with some sort of weird eggplanty/corndogy/dry patty concoction for dinner - sound remotely appetizing? Yeah, I didn’t think so. 

Step 1: Find an awesome Eggplant Parmesan recipe like this one

Step 2: Ignore the aforementioned directions and mix ALL of the ingredients together - and I mean EVERYTHING - into what becomes a cement-like mixture that you’re pretty sure will have to be chiseled out of the bowl

Step 3: Attempt to salvage your breading by packing it around the slices of eggplant you so lovingly cut and let sweat for 30 minutes

Step 4: Put in oven

This is what your results should look like:

Step 6: Serve it to a loved one and watch them try to smile through dinner

Seriously though. How did I mess this up?! It really ended up tasting pretty good, but the texture was completely off. Next time I’ll have to monitor what I’m actually dumping into the dipping and breading mixtures. Oops! 

This little piggy was my first project after a major thrifting haul. He was pretty scratched up, but for 49¢ I thought he was cute enough to take home. And with just a bit of chalkboard paint and imagination, this porker now has a new home atop my stove. 

And yes, I fully realize the irony of this project given I’m eliminating animal products from my diet :)

I have several projects that I’m finishing up today. Most notably, my new “office.” Going back to school meant it was time to carve out some space in the house where I can spread out and concentrate on my studies. J and I trekked to Ikea this weekend to get new furniture. Everything is assembled, but I have a few finishing touches to add before it’s absolutely *complete.* 

In other words…. stay tuned :)

This is another DIY Christmas gift that I completed. I wanted to find a creative way to give gift cards, so I put together gift cards as 4 different seasonal surprises (date night, shopping spree, etc), placed them in fun envelopes corresponding to each season, and packaged it all together with a 2012 calendar.

I used scrapbook paper to make the envelopes. Here’s how it went down….

I then wrote out labels to place on the front of the envelopes, filled them with the gift cards, and placed them throughout the calendar! Here’s the finished package…

With more time on my hands than I expected and an excess of creative energy, I decided to make one last gift for little Mahala right before we headed home for the holidays. I thought Hoots the Owl turned out so cute, that I tried my hand at one more softie. This time I picked an adorable elephant pattern.

I completely underestimated the difficulty of this project. The pieces don’t fit together well, so it takes a lot of careful pinning to get this little guy put together. My sewing abilities on the sewing machine have definitely improved though - the curves weren’t nearly as hard to maneuver this time around. I had a minor mistake right under the trunk that I ended up just hand stitching to correct, but otherwise I think it turned out great! I hope little M enjoys adding Ellie to her zoo!

My next DIY project was also for little M. She’s a total girlie girl - loves playing dress up in her mom’s scarves and shoes. She’s also quite the fashion diva and is always dressed to the nines (thanks to her stylish mom), so I thought it would be fun to give her a collection of hair bows to complete her signature cutie pie look. She still enjoys pulling hair ties and ribbons out of her hair more than wearing them, but here’s to hoping she decides their worth keeping in her hair for more than 5 minutes :)

This project was another Pinterest find (can’t say enough good things about this site!). You can find the “how to” here!

The instructions say that the bows are too tiny to use a sewing machine. I wholeheartedly disagree. I did 95% of these bows by hand. It took f.o.r.e.v.e.r. I decided to give it a shot with the sewing machine and it was a million times better! I did, however, only use the sewing machine for the first two seams and saved the final side and loop in the middle to do by hand. Still, doing the first two steps on the sewing machine made the whole process go a million times faster!

Another thing to note: I did not secure the back of the cinching loop to the bow itself. I wanted to leave it open so that the metal clip could be taken out. That way, I didn’t have to buy tons of the clips themselves - they can just be interchanged between the different bows. It also gives you the option to slide the bow onto a headband! Clever, right?! :)

Here’s the finished collection…

I had a great time with this project as well. It was fun to pick out cute color combinations and experiment with felt and ribbon. I might even have to make myself a few bows with my leftover scraps - which, by the way, are the same scraps as I used for Hoots the owl! Those fat quarters have definitely served me well!

It’s officially after Christmas, and all the gifts have been opened. Now I get to share all the goodies I’ve been working on for the ones I love :)

First, Hoots the owl for my niece Mahala.

I found this pattern on Pinterest and thought it was absolutely adorable. M’s nursery is animal themed, so I thought this softie would be a cute addition to her collection. Since I’ve hardly dipped a toe in sewing, I didn’t have an arsenal of scraps to turn to for making this project. However, I found a great alternative. At JoAnn Fabrics they sell fat quarters in all sorts of patterns. They are super cheap and were an easy way to get a wide variety of colors and designs for this project (and my next project as well, but more on that later).

The pattern is very straightforward and easy to follow. The only thing I would change is that I would sew on the eyes and beak BEFORE attaching the two sides together. It was really tedious to do this step once the front and back were sewn together.

Here’s my finished result….

I had a great time making Hoots the owl. Everything from picking the fabric to making him perfectly plump with stuffing was more fun knowing that this was a gift for the delightful little M. I hope she enjoys adding Hoots to her family of animal toys! :)

Aren’t Christmas cards just the best? I absolutely love getting mail - especially when photos and yearly letters from family and friends are involved. And no, an email newsletter does not count :)

I decided I needed a new method for displaying these beauties, so I took some heavy red and green string and tied it to either side of the curtain rod in the living room. I then added tiny wooden clothes pins to clip the cards to the line. I think the result is really cute - it keeps all of the people closest to my heart right where I can see them :)

PS - How cute is my niece?! Love her to pieces!

With the Creighton Alumni party coming up, I knew I was going to be baking and displaying an array of goodies this weekend. I decided to add a festive touch to the normal serving platters by making chalkboard signs. I was originally planning on just using plain rectangles for signs, but then I found these awesome wooden ornament cut-outs that would work perfectly with our holiday theme. All that was left was to buy the base colors and chalkboard paint. It was all SO easy - here are my steps…

A couple of things to note:

• I used liquid chalk (shown above) because I have a set that I use for the large chalkboard in our kitchen, but you can use traditional chalk as well. This stuff is amazing though - I highly recommend it!
• Make sure to follow the instructions on the back of your chalk paint can. Mine required at least 2 coats and suggested letting the item dry for 24 hours before use.
• Before writing on your newly painted chalk surface, rub a piece of traditional chalk over the entire surface and then wipe clean with soap and water (I used Windex)

I also ended up threading a piece of ribbon through the hole on the top to complete the “ornament” look and used tiny wooden clothes pins (purchased for a different project) to hold the signs upright as displays (more photos to follow).

This was a fun project that I’m sure will get repeated use throughout the season!