Kitty Yoga Fabric

I decided to make pajamas with my kitty yoga fabric.  I have had this pattern forever and I finally made something with it!  The top and bottom were easy.  I think the biggest problem I have with any pattern is finding the pattern pieces I need and folding the rest and getting them back in the pattern envelope!  I like the shorts in this pattern.  They are the right length without me having to adjust them.  Pretty snazola if I do say so myself!  I definitely won't be seeing them anywhere else!  Oh and the shirt I mentioned that I had to have: 

I tend to wear shorts and camisoles to bed year round, but in this neck of the woods, it is nice to have another warmer option come January!  I figure I can throw this on with the shorts.  I just felt I had to have it after I had purchased the yellow fabric!   

I also was very excited to make smores in my oven.  I know it is probably not new to many of you, but it was news to me!  We have bonfires frequently during the summer.  For some reason, we haven't had as many this summer.  We were all missing smores.  I saw a recipe on a box of square graham

crackers that showed how to make them in your oven.  Just lay them out open-faced on a cookie sheet and bake for about 3 minutes at 350degrees.  So easy and barely any clean up!  My family was pretty happy!  We have had them a few times already.  I had a few left over last time and my 17 year-old ate them the next day.  It is kind of like eating a pinwheel cookie or Mallomars-yum!  I can't wait to have them this winter with homemade hot chocolate.  

I wanted to apologize for my lack of contacting those of you who have left comments.  My computer has been giving me trouble with my email.  It is hit-or-miss.  I have tried and I often get a message that it wasn't sent because something timed out.  When I email my sister, I sometimes have to resend it three times.  It is getting annoying.  Perhaps a new computer is in my future!  But I want to say thanks to everyone who leaves me a comment.  I read and enjoy every one of them.

Well, I hope everyone has a great week.  Things will start getting a little hectic here as I try to fit all my appointments in before I get back to work and my boys get back to school.  My oldest is in his third year of college and my youngest is going into his senior year.  Once August 1st is here, the month flies by!  Take care.   Nancy    

Finally a Sprocket!...and yet another pizza

I finally got around to sewing a sprocket pillow.  I had a blast picking the fabrics and it came together quite nicely.  I bought some fat quarters that had the colors I wanted and played with how they looked next to each other.  It was alot of fun and the instructions from Cluck. Cluck. Sew.  were well-written and easy to follow.  I would definitely make another one.  Right now it is on my screened in porch, but in the winter, it may find a new home on the chair outside the door of my craft room.

Please excuse the messiness of the above plate, but this pizza was so yummy, we almost ate it all before I realized I had not taken a picture!  As you know, I love trying new pizza recipes and this one was so easy, it was hard to believe that I hadn't come up with it sooner!  I started as I usually do, with a Freschetta crust(or Boboli-whichever you prefer and can find).    Then I covered it with shredded mozzarella.  I washed and thinly sliced Campari tomatoes and placed them all over the top of the cheese.  I then drizzled the tomatoes with sun-dried tomato vinaigrette but I was thinking next time I would maybe use a balsamic dressing.  If you beat me to it, let me know how it was!  Sprinkle liberally with grated parmesan cheese and bake according to the crust directions.  It was particularly delicious.  I call it my tomato pizza(very creative on my part!).  

  Look at this adorable fabric I found.  I LOVE cats and cats that are wearing people clothes are my all-time favorite!  These cats are doing yoga poses.  I was going to make a yoga mat cover but I thought that was too predictable.  I have decided on something else.  Soon, I can show you.  I think it will turn out cute.  I have had this pattern for a while and I am finally going to use it.  After I decided what I wanted to make, I found a t-shirt in a catalog that had three cats doing yoga and it said "kitty yoga" on it.  It was on clearance, so I ordered it. I am such a sucker for a matching set! 

I hope everyone has a great week ahead and is enjoying beautiful weather wherever you are.  Take care.  Nancy 

New Shutters

Last year, before I started my flower garden at the back of my house, I mentioned my talented hubby had  promised to make me some shutters.  We hadn't decided what style we wanted.   He made one of a style he saw on the internet and it wasn't what I had in mind and it was back to the drawing board.  As you can see from the picture above, our original shutters were about 20 years old, the vinyl had become brittle and they had been three different colors.  We even lost one in a wind storm from the above picture window.  When we found it in the woods near our home, it was cracked and not fixable.

This year we noticed a house right across from the school I work at had the perfect shutters for our style and taste.  My husband can just look at something and pretty much build it(he is that awesome!).  So, he measured our windows and built 26 shutters for our 13 windows.  What do you think?  

   

The garden also makes a big difference but I am loving the shutters.  The black hinges alone would have cost us several hundred dollars but we bought galvanized metal ones and he spray painted them.  Boy did that save us some dollars-you have to figure that for 13 windows, that was 52 hinges!  Sometimes it is the hardware that gets you!  Here is another picture from the front of our home.                        

Have a great weekend everyone and take care.   Nancy

Accessory for Cart Cover and Some Yummy Copycat Pizza

First of all, let me start off by saying good morning and happy Monday everyone!  I wanted to share my new birdbath for my perennial garden.  I am trying to learn the names of all the flowers I have and these(I believe) are coreopsis.  I kind of have a sunflower theme in this garden and I was excited to find this birdbath in Cracker Barrel.  I water my flowers most evenings and I am surprised at how warm the ice cold well water from my hose becomes by the next morning in this bird bath.  I haven't caught birds actually using it, but they do hang around this garden so I am hoping they do.   

I was very excited when I came up with putting a bunting I made over the top of the canvas cover I sewed for this cart.  In the last few posts, I showed you how faded my first cover became.  I was sad because I loved the fabric(Mary Engelbreit) and I had gathered it so it looked so cute originally.  I made this outdoor canvas one more tailored and felt it needed a little something something.  I am happy with what I came up with.  I made it detachable because it will fade, unlike the outdoor canvas so I can sew a new one when it does without replacing the whole thing.

We went to our local Olive Garden several weeks ago and my youngest ordered a pizza.  It was good(he let us all sample) but very expensive for what it was.  I knew I could recreate it at home and sure enough, I did!  I thought mine was even better(tooting my own horn!) and it was super easy.  Just buy a crust like Boboli or Freschetta and buy a jar of Alfredo(I got the parmesan garlic Alfredo).  I used rotisserie chicken breast meat that I had shredded and shredded cheese blend.  Spread some sauce on the crust, top with chicken and cheese.  Bake according to crust directions.  Warm some of the sauce to serve alongside.  Unbelievably good! 

I hope everybody has a great start to your week.  I have something fantastic to share with you later on in the week(I am so proud of my husband).  Take Care.    Nancy   

Finished Cart Cozy

Do you remember this?  I said I was making a new cover for this cart to replace this very faded but much loved Mary Engelbreit gathered skirt.  Well, I decided to use outdoor canvas which I was assured would not fade.  I have alot of colors in this back porch(as you saw in my last post) so I went with a bold stripe.  The canvas was stiff, so I felt it would be better to go with a tailored look because I didn't think it would gather very well. 

 So, here it is.

I feel like it is missing something.  Maybe it would look nice with some trim around the top.  I will have to put some thought into that and get back to you!  At any rate, it is not faded and functions well-it hides the stuff I store on the shelves of the cart!  I have enough striped canvas fabric left to make some cushions or cover the foot stool seen in the picture below that is presently covered with Mary Engelbreit fabric but is not as faded as the cover was.    

  

I am thinking of making one of those sprocket pillows I have seen around blogland for my porch next.  

Enjoy the rest of your week.  Take care.                        Nancy 

Triple Chocolate Poundcake

I know-the words made me swallow hard!  Happy 4th of July everyone.  I hope you all get a chance to get together with family and friends or do whatever you want to do on this beautiful Monday(you can tell I am on vacation!)  I wanted to share this decadent and easy dessert with you.  This cake almost qualifies to be on 5 Ingredient Fix with Claire Robinson on the Food Network(I love that show).  Let's get started: Preheat your oven to 350 and spray a 9x5 loaf pan with nonstick spray.  In a large bowl combine a 16 oz. pound cake mix, 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, and 2 eggs.  Beat with electric mixer 30 seconds or so.  Add 3/4 cup chocolate milk and beat for 3 minutes more.  Stir in 1 whole package (12 oz) mini chocolate chips.  Pour batter in pan and bake for 65-75 minutes.  Cool on rack.  Frost as you would like.  I made a cream cheese frosting but a purchased can of fluffy white would also be good.  It was very good but very rich and it tasted better the next day.  It was easier to cut the next day also!  Enjoy! 

These are pictures of my screened in porch.  I spent yesterday cleaning it up so we can use it.  In the winter, it becomes a catch-all.  It isn't insulated so we use it as a mudroom and a place to put things we don't know what to do with.  Come summer, we love it for relaxing and eating our supper. 

My husband used our cedar siding on the walls when we went to vinyl siding.  I love the rustic, woodsy feeling.  We have several seating areas as you can see by the pictures.  We also have a dining area and the cupboard next to cute bench(also made from a picture by my talented hubby and painted by me) holds swimsuits and towels for our pool which is pretty much right outside the windows of this porch. 

When I furnished this porch several years ago, I mistakenly thought that because there was a roof on this porch and walls, the sun would not fade anything that wasn't directly in the window.  WRONG!  My cushions are all faded.  I may replace them one by one, but I kind of like the cottage feel they have.  I wash the cushion covers every spring at the beginning of the season and they are getting more comfortable and lived in.  I like that welcoming feeling.  What I didn't like was this

This is a cart type table with wheels that was my Mom's.  I used velcro to attach a skirt I made with Mary Engelbreit fabric.  I loved it at first but it is horribly faded and lost its charm.  I purchased some outdoor canvas that the ladies at the fabric store have assured me will not fade.  I have decided not to try to gather it because it is stiffer and I think will look better tailored.  That is my next project.  Fingers crossed-I hope it will look nice on my porch.  I will pop back in later in the week and show you a picture of it. 

Have a great day and take care.  Nancy