Sunny Sunday Dress

I bought this precious fabric a while back and everytime I opened my sewing cabinet it screamed at me to make it into something way too cute for the baby girl.  So a few Sundays ago during naptime, I did just that! I LOVE making things for the girl because I can make them out of material that isn't the typcial pink baby stuff.  Now don't get me wrong, I love the typical pink baby stuff, but it seems like from the time they are born until they are like 2 EVERYTHING IS PINK! So here is a quick how to for a dress that you can make whatever colors your heart desires!

I picked up a plain white t-shirt at wal-mart for $2 and used 2 coordinating fabrics for the skirt and ties.

First cut out your materials.  I used a simple A-line pattern for the skirt (18" across the top, 22" across the bottom and 11" long).  The ties (2) are 4" wide and 25" long.

For each tie, fold 1/2" in on either side...

Then fold in half and pin all the way down.

Cut a triangle off one end.

Open your tie up and fold the top 1/4" in, fold it back in half and repin.

Then sew all the way around the tie (I top stitched along the folded edge just to make it look nice.)

*Note: The other end of the tie does not have to be finished because it will be sewn into the seam of the dress.

Once you have sewn both ties, place the front and back of your skirt WRONG sides together and sew the first part of a french seam with a 1/4" seam allowance.  (HERE is a tutorial on the french seam)

Now turn your skirt inside out (right sides together)

Pin your tie into the seam about 5/8" from the top of the skirt. This 5/8" will allow for you to finish the top later without folding up the tie.  Sew the 2nd part of the french seam with a 1/2" seam allowance.  Make sure to do some back and forth stiches across the tie to reinforce it.

Now that your ties are sewn into your side seams, fold the top 1/4" then again 1/4".  Here, you can just leave it pinned or you can sew a basting stitch to create your ruffles.

Now to attach the skirt to the shirt to make a Dress!

With the shirt RIGHT side out and UPSIDE down and the skirt INSIDE out and RIGHT side up...(this sounds way more confusing than it is...)  Match up your side seams and pin the skirt on about 4-5" from the bottom of the shirt. You can change where you attach the skirt to change the look of the dress!  4-5" made it a high waisted style for my 10 month old.

Be sure to pull your ties down through the bottom of the skirt so they don't accidently get caught up in the seam!

Sew your skirt onto you shirt, then cut off the bottom of the shirt!

Now finish the bottom hem of the dress with a double fold...

Flip right side out and ENJOY your Sunny Sunday (naptime) dress!

Sew.Sweet.

Game Day Dip

Yesterday was another game day here in Aggieland.  Now that we have the baby-kid, we don't do much tailgating or actually go to the games, but I still get really excited for game days.  The town floods with Ags of all ages, there are A&M flags flying everywhere you look and you can see the jets flying around waiting for the traditional fly over before the game.  And football means fall, and fall is pretty much my favorite time of year. (Hopefully someday soon it won't be 100 degrees outside...)

Anyway, yesterday we went to a friends house to eat burgers and watch the game.  Here is the recipe for a quick and easy gameday dip that is sure to please! Enjoy!

You will need:

16 oz. cream cheese

1 lb. sausage

10 oz. Rotel

Cook and drain the sausage

Cut the cream cheese into small squares

Add Rotel to cream cheese and microwave until all the cream cheese is melted (stirring every minute or so)

Add the sausage to the cream cheese/rotel mixture...

  

Ta-Dah!  Serve with potato chips and enjoy!

Snickerdoodle Truffles

For all you SNICKERDOODLE fans... This one is a keeper!

You will need...

For cake

2 cups white sugar

1 stick of butter

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 tsp of vanilla

1 tsp ground cinnamon

For icing "glue"

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

For outer coating:

white candy coating (Almond Bark)

* I adapted my recipe from this one I found online*

Cream together the sugar, butter, vanilla and 1 tsp of ground cinnamon.

Add eggs one at a time and mix throughly between each addition.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to sugar mixture, alternating with milk, with dry ingredients as your last addition.

Pour into greased 13x9 pan and bake for 30-35 minutes at 350*F.

Golden brown and set.... Tooth pick came out clean.

You could always stop here, make some cinnamon icing and be on your way... but here's the truffle part. Mix 1/3 can of vanilla frosting with about 1 tsp of cinnamon.

Once completely cool (~30minutes) crumble the cake, removing the well done crusts so that the consistency is the same throughout.

Mix with cinnamon icing until an even dough forms.

Use your play-doh skills and make balls about the size of a ping pong ball. I was able to get about 30 cake balls from this recipe.

Put into the freezer to quick set for about 5-10 minutes.
 (good opportunity to clean the kitchen!)
Then I put them in the fridge to keep them cool while I dipped.

Melt your candy bark (white chocolate) in the microwave so that its smooth and easy to stir. Plop a cold cake ball in the candy coating and cover all sides. Using a fork to work off the extra coating, pull it out and place on wax paper.

Quickly sprinkle your cinnamon sugar (1/2 cup of sugar with 1 tbsp cinnamon).

Allow to set for 10 minutes and then take a bite!!! I recommend these truffles served slightly chilled so that the candy coating has a little crunch. But they are great at room temperature also!

Enjoy!!! (and share if you must)

Sew. Sweet.

Check out this great collection of recipes at Lady Behind the Curtain!

http://www.handymancraftywoman.com/

http://thetrendytreehouse.blogspot.com/

S'more goodness!

So this recipe is right off the back of the 17.5 oz Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix. It looks like it might be a special edition type thing, so I'm documenting it for all eternity! I wanted to do a taste test, so I took pictures just in case it turned out good... critics agree!

Here's the recipe for the Winner's Circle S'more Bars:

1 pouch (17.5oz) Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix

1 cup of graham cracker crumbs

1 cup of butter (2 sticks) - it's worth it!

3 cups milk chocolate chips

4.5 cups miniature marshmellows (not all pictured below)

Heat oven to 375*F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix and graham crumbs. 

Stir in softened butter (2 sticks) until soft dough forms.
(one stick of paper wrapped butter in microwave for 10-15 seconds)

Soft dough forming....

Spread and press into UNgreased 13x9 pan.

Bake 18-20 minutes until set and golden brown on the edges. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over crust.

Let stand 3-5 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt. Spread evenly with a knife.

Set oven temperature to broil. Sprinkle marshmellows over melted chocolate. 

Broil bars, 5-6 inches from the heat for 20 - 30 seconds or until marshmallows are toasted (mine took more like a minute but I was on LO broil). Watch closely, because the marshmellows brown QUICKLY. I left these in just a few seconds longer...

Ah yes! Golden brown...

I couldn't wait and I had to eat one after waiting only 5 minutes... I do recommend allowing them to cool for at least 10 minutes so the bars stay together (like in the first picture). Delish and I recommend to all! The broiling does give the marshmallows the characteristic campfire taste. mmm good.

Sew. Sweet.