However, when evening rolls around she can amaze guests with her Steak Au Poivre! She was kind enough to share her recipe - I hope you like it!
August 26, 2011
Steak Au Poivre ala Suzanne
My sister has become somewhat of a fabulous cook these days and I always look forward to visiting her home in Houston for craft time and yummy food. She makes the best omelette ever...
However, when evening rolls around she can amaze guests with her Steak Au Poivre! She was kind enough to share her recipe - I hope you like it!
However, when evening rolls around she can amaze guests with her Steak Au Poivre! She was kind enough to share her recipe - I hope you like it!
August 25, 2011
Jewelry Box Rehab
My mom gave me this jewelry box years ago and I've managed to fill it to the brim over the years. However, the finish did not go with anything in my house so I kept it in my closet. So, after unloading it and putting all my jewelry on my guest bed for two weeks...
August 23, 2011
Gadget Sleeves
I totally got my craft-on down in Houston this past weekend with my sister, son and his beautiful girlfriend. We started with Bunco Thursday night with a "Most Outrageous Shoes" theme, to Steak au Poivre ala Suzanne Friday night, batik styled t-shirts Saturday, a paint and drink wine class Saturday night, then rounded it off with these fabulous gadget sleeves Sunday. What a great weekend with family (o:
The idea for these computer/Ipad sleeves originally came from Katie over at Sweet Verbena. She has a wonderful tutorial that I used and improvised on. I made a sleeve for my laptop and a matching one for the Ipad!
We bought 1 yard each of "pleather" (fake leather), a liner fabric and some quilt batting. A yard is enough to make a laptop sleeve and three Ipad covers, or I guess for that matter two laptop covers and 2 Ipad sleeves, etc. There is still plenty left to make some matching eyeglass sleeves too. Quick note, the pleather I used was very soft and super easy to sew with, I loved working with it.
Other supplies: thread (machine & embroidery), embroidery needle, magnetic snap (for larger sleeves) and spray adhesive.
We spent a total of $22 at Joann's!
Use your gadget to determine the size of your fabric and add an inch all around. The fold of the fabric will be the bottom of the sleeve.
The batting should be cut smaller, just enough to wrap around your gadget because you don't want all the bulk when your stitching your seams. Spray one side of the batting and attach to the WRONG side of the pleather.
A pocket and the magnetic snap comes in handy right now. Just cut a square of either the pleather or lining fabric, iron all seams to the inside and place on RIGHT side of lining piece. (Actually, don't iron the pleather if you use that!) Stitch your pocket to the lining. Feel free to add as many pockets as you'd like for things like headphones, pens, battery, etc. The magnetic snap should also be added now if you're making a laptop sleeve.
Now place the liner RIGHT side up on top of the fitted batting, matching the sides of the pleather. Pin all in place.
Finish the top edges with a blanket stitch. I wanted a professional blanket stitch so I had my sister do it! Ha!
Now fold over the entire piece with the lining side OUT. If you want the raw edges to show just fold the other way. I did find that regular material obviously frays so the felt that Katie used in her tutorial is preferable if you want the raw edges on the outside with no frayed edges.
Stitch the sides together with a 5/8" seam allowance and trim off the excess very close.
Turn right side out. If you are making an Ipad cover to slip in your purse, you're done! Isn't it cute? There are hundreds of ways to embellish this great sleeve, just use your imagination!
Let's make some fringed handles for the laptop sleeve now! Cut two 4" wide strips about 26" long. Using your scissors cut the fringe into each end about 3-4" up, depending on how long you want your fringe. Fold WRONG edges together and stitch a seam to create a clean sturdy handle. Cut a 6" strip about a half inch wide to bundle and tie the fringed edges. The tie should be long enough to fringe it's edges as well to 'blend' or just cut close.
Stitch the handles to the sleeve as shown. I did a top stitch across the entire top of the sleeve - it would be cute in a contrasting color right?
I was so impressed with my prototype I'm going to make another set tonight!
This was such an easy project and something that I would use everyday. I guess I will have to make several!
The idea for these computer/Ipad sleeves originally came from Katie over at Sweet Verbena. She has a wonderful tutorial that I used and improvised on. I made a sleeve for my laptop and a matching one for the Ipad!
We bought 1 yard each of "pleather" (fake leather), a liner fabric and some quilt batting. A yard is enough to make a laptop sleeve and three Ipad covers, or I guess for that matter two laptop covers and 2 Ipad sleeves, etc. There is still plenty left to make some matching eyeglass sleeves too. Quick note, the pleather I used was very soft and super easy to sew with, I loved working with it.
Other supplies: thread (machine & embroidery), embroidery needle, magnetic snap (for larger sleeves) and spray adhesive.
We spent a total of $22 at Joann's!
Use your gadget to determine the size of your fabric and add an inch all around. The fold of the fabric will be the bottom of the sleeve.
A pocket and the magnetic snap comes in handy right now. Just cut a square of either the pleather or lining fabric, iron all seams to the inside and place on RIGHT side of lining piece. (Actually, don't iron the pleather if you use that!) Stitch your pocket to the lining. Feel free to add as many pockets as you'd like for things like headphones, pens, battery, etc. The magnetic snap should also be added now if you're making a laptop sleeve.
Now place the liner RIGHT side up on top of the fitted batting, matching the sides of the pleather. Pin all in place.
Finish the top edges with a blanket stitch. I wanted a professional blanket stitch so I had my sister do it! Ha!
Now fold over the entire piece with the lining side OUT. If you want the raw edges to show just fold the other way. I did find that regular material obviously frays so the felt that Katie used in her tutorial is preferable if you want the raw edges on the outside with no frayed edges.
Stitch the sides together with a 5/8" seam allowance and trim off the excess very close.
Let's make some fringed handles for the laptop sleeve now! Cut two 4" wide strips about 26" long. Using your scissors cut the fringe into each end about 3-4" up, depending on how long you want your fringe. Fold WRONG edges together and stitch a seam to create a clean sturdy handle. Cut a 6" strip about a half inch wide to bundle and tie the fringed edges. The tie should be long enough to fringe it's edges as well to 'blend' or just cut close.
Stitch the handles to the sleeve as shown. I did a top stitch across the entire top of the sleeve - it would be cute in a contrasting color right?
This was such an easy project and something that I would use everyday. I guess I will have to make several!
August 16, 2011
Repurposing Picture Frames
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| I love this idea for a different swing on chair railing from Frames Unlimited. |
August 15, 2011
Sofa Table Makeover
I bought this sofa table on South Congress in Austin many years ago and it had apparently been through several transformations. Not only the color, but the finish as well. It probably started with a stain, then painted with an oil based sherbet green, then on top of that a powder pink latex. What a mess. It was one of those pieces in my home that served as a TV stand at one point, then graduated to a home for a big bird cage, a make-do desk, and finally it actually ended up behind a sofa with a nice runner on it, well hidden. I always dreaded stripping the thing properly and starting from scratch. However, once I started understanding and reading blogs the past few months I found that I could pretty much slap Kilz on anything and just go for whatever kind of finish I wanted!
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| Before...Meet After |
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| A coat of water based Kilz |
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| Two Coats of Glidden Red Delicious Flat Latex |
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| Behr Faux Glaze with a good squeeze of basic black acrylic |
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| Rub glaze all over to desired depth of color |
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| Finish w/two coats of Poly (lightly sand with fine steel wool in between coats for more lustre) |
I'm pretty happy with my Red Delicious Sofa Table!
August 10, 2011
The Yellow Cape Cod: Bold Striped DIY Drapes
I must say I fell in love with these bold curtains. So much in fact I made my own for my master bedroom. The idea is a simple one, but I'm here to tell you that they were a lot of work! All those stripes and all that ribbon and tons of stitch witchery and a couple extra trips to Joann's for more supplies - was still well worth it! My two cents, instead of going with 14" wide stripes, if I were to do it again (which I probably will for my living room) I would cut the stripe width down a little bit so that you get both edges on the ironing board at once so it goes a little quicker and everything stays smoothly in place. The curtains I used were from the IKEA Vivan collection with back tabs for beautiful pleating and a 98" raw length so you can easily hem them with the included stitch witchery to your desired length. Oh, and a pair of them are only $14.99! I think they turned out quite fabulous!! For the original tutorial click here.
C&C: Pencil skirt from scratch, baby!
Cotton & Curls has some great fashion redo's. Love the idea of turning t-shirts into pencil skirts. I think I'll have salad for lunch today!
August 9, 2011
Recipe for Fried Ravioli at Life's Ambrosia
I don't normally blog about food but this caught my eye today:
Why boil store bought ravioli when you can fry it!
Must be a Texas thing...
August 8, 2011
Living with Punks: Tutorial: Mondo Pom Trim Pillow
Super Tutorial for Super-Sized Pom Poms on a Pillow!
August 4, 2011
Watermark Tee by Sweet Verbana
I so LOVE this cute DIY tee idea by Sweet Verbana!
August 3, 2011
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