Jam!

Ben and I went strawberry picking with some friends a couple weeks ago, and needed something to do with our vast bounty.

I decided to try making freezer jam, since I really love strawberry jam, but feel a bit too intimidated by the actual canning method (lots of boiling, worrying about botulism, etc.)... maybe someday, but not today!

I picked up the pectin and some "special" freezer canning jars at the local grocery store. Other than that, all that was needed was a TON of sugar, and the berries. It was very easy!

And I yielded 9 yummy jars of jam. Minus the cost of the actual plastic jars, they cost me about $1 each... which compared to the $4/jar I spend on jam at the store is a pretty good deal.

And I used enough pectin! My jam jelled... and has been enjoyed on many sandwiches and english muffins since!

I also used the remainder of my leftover pectin to make some hot pepper jelly... the verdict is still out on that one. It didn't jell within the week the pectin said it might take, so I threw it in the freezer anyways, and have yet to try it.

Ben's Room! Again!

I have been doing more crafting for Ben's room! I made this bedskirt for his crib, which finally matches the rest of the stuff in his room, and is actually long enough to hide the stuff under the bed. I also made this "fake quilt", called such because the "quilted" fabric is really just one piece of fabric.

See? I think it's cute, and matches the farm theme of the room. Maybe someday I'll be bold enough to actually make him a real quilt!

Up next for his room? Farm-animal-izing this light:

 

And making a cow print pillow for his "lounge" corner:

Lemon Cupcakes

Occasionally, I do make cupcakes that aren't from Martha. Often I don't have the ingredients on hand that she wants me to use, or I think she's doing something the hard way. I usually turn to the internet for recipes at that point, and found one I liked from Better Homes and Gardens.

Yet these cupcakes almost didn't happen. I was making them to bring to a friends house a couple weeks ago, when the weather was REALLY hot, so I decided to make them the night before, since running the oven in the middle of the day didn't seem like it would be the best idea. It was 9:30 pm, and I had the batter all mixed, the oven preheated - and the power went out. I put the batter in the fridge, hoping it would come back on, and 13 hours later, when it finally did, that batter was yucky. Thankfully I still had enough of all the ingredients on hand to make another batch. That's one of the things that I like so much about baking - you can take a common set of ingredients, and combine them (with the addition of a few other things unique to each recipe) and make so much! I always have those basics on hand, and since I love lemons more than the Pope loves Jesus, I had plenty of those too. So the cupcakes happened, and they were yummy.

I used a melon baller to take out little pieces from the middle, and filled those with lemon curd, then added the cream cheese frosting.

They would've looked cuter with some yellow sprinkles on the top, but I didn't have any on hand. They were quite good though, nevertheless.

New Crafting Space!

My crafting has been on hold for a bit because I have been organizing my new crafting space! Gabe built this for me for Mother's Day, and while it's not completely finished (I have to put the edging on the unfinished edges), I figured I would post a picture anyways.

It now resides in our basement, which is not the most cheery location, but it will be nice to not have to clean my stuff up all the time, and to have everything in one place!

Ben's Room!

I've been redecorating Ben's room. Out with the sweet pastel frog set, and in with something more boy-ish.


I love farm animals, so that's what I decided to go with. I think it will last him a while, at least until he can decide on his own if he wants a robot room, or a monster truck room, or something like that.


These wall hangings were made with some 6"x6" canvas panels that I bought at Dick Blick.


The animal silhouettes were actually from a Martha Stewart project (animal silhouette pillow), and worked perfectly with a little resizing.


The tractor and barn silhouettes were found with the help of google image search. :)

And finally a "matching" switchplate cover. Mod Podged fabric onto a plain plastic cover. I also plan on using this fabric as trim on his new bedskirt when I finally get around to making it.

Super Hero Cape!

This was made as a birthday present for a friend's little boy whose name starts with J. :)

I love the lining fabric! I have some left over, and may use it as part of a quilt, if I ever become motivated to make one. :)

2 Small Projects

Hello, clothespins!

We recently (finally!) got ourselves a clothesline. And because I tend to do Ben's laundry only about once a week or so (that kid has too many clothes) there are a lot of little shirts, pants and socks to hang up at once, so I need a lot of clothespins. I wanted something cute to hang them all in, so I made this little bag out of some of the leftover fabric I had from my stupid bag (which I actually use everyday). It wasn't very well thought out, but it came out ok never the less.


These hand towels were a last minute addition to a friends wedding gift (which also included a motion detector hand soap pump, and some Vermont Organic hand soap). It was fun to play around with all the different stitches on my machine, and while they're not perfect, I think that they're cute, and will hopefully be appreciated!