Ice Cream, Sugar Hand Scrub and Hot Dogs

Here we go...I'm going to use this to catch up through Day 12 (minus Day 8's project, I can't post that until the weekend).  Day 9 through Day 12 involved ice cream, hand scrub and hot dogs.

Day 9 - Sugar Hand Scrub

Spring means allergies and allergies means sneezing and itchy skin for Heather.  When it's allergy season, I get really dry and itchy hands.  I haven't found anything that helps heal my hands.  I was looking around online to find a hand scrub just to try get rid of the dry skin.  I found a few recipes for some hand scrubs and thought I would try one.  For the one I made, I used 3/4 c. brown sugar, 3/4 c. white sugar and 1/4 c. olive oil.  I mixed everything in a canning jar.  I added a little more olive oil after everything was combined in the jar.  I tried the scrub on my hands and it was okay.  It made my hands nice and smooth, but didn't help with the really dry patches.  This scrub can also be used as a body scrub, which I haven't tried yet.  But I'm sure it will work great.  And if any of you have suggestions on how to help my hands, please share.  I would love to hear them!

 Day 10 and 11 - Key Lime Ice Cream

Jeremy and I were given an ice cream maker right after we were engaged, about four years ago.  We never used it.  Sad, I know.  I was going through google reader the other day and saw a recipe for key lime ice cream.  I love anything key lime, so I knew I had to try this.  It was super easy, just add the ingredients to the bowl of the ice cream maker and run for about 25 minutes.  It didn't fully freeze the ice cream, so I put it in a freezer safe bowl and froze over night.  This ice cream is delicious!  And now I want to try some more ice cream recipes.

And now I think I need some ice cream. :-)

Day 12 - Hot Dog Johnny's

I really don't like hot dogs.  I'm not sure what it is, I just don't like them.  But on Sunday, we went to Hot Dog Johnny's on Route 46 in Buttzville, NJ (yes, there is a Buttzville in New Jersey).  Hot Dog Johnny's was founded in 1944.  The menu is simple - hot dogs, french fries, pickles, soda and milkshakes.  Their birch beer is awesome!  Since they only sell hot dogs, I ate one, with lots of ketchup, mustard, relish and onion.  I didn't get any pictures of the food, but I took some of the building and signs.  If you're in the area, definitely stop by.  It's a pretty cool place and right on the river.  Great place to stop!

30 Days of Creativity

I was going through all the blogs I follow on google read this morning, and something caught my eye (thanks Chris!)...a challenge to create something everyday for 30 days in the month of June.  I asked myself if this is something I could handle.  I admit, I'm lazy and a procrastinator and really the only time I ever 'create' is when I need a gift for someone or a party coming up.  When I think about creativity, I only think about sewing or scrapbooking, things like that.  So I looked up the meaning of creativity and I liked this one the best:

Creativity is when a person creates something new (a product, a solution, a work of art etc.) that has some kind of value. What counts as "new" may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the novelty occurs. What counts as "valuable" is similarly defined in a variety of ways.

I went on over to the 30 Days of Creativity blog.  30 Days of Creativity is described as a social initiative encouraging people to create stuff (anything) every day for 30 days in June.  I think I can handle that!  So I decided to take on this initiative and we'll see how it goes.  Check back to see how I spend the next 30 days creating.

Before the whole 30 days starts, a warm-up exercise was given.  And here it is (don't laugh!).  It's my picture with a thought bubble.  In the thought bubble, I put the words that I think make me creative and most likely the areas that I will be using to complete the 30-day initiative.

Another Handmade Gift Exchange!

I just signed up for the spring/summer gift exchange held by Linda of Craftaholics Anonymous.  This will be my second one.  I participated in Christmas gift exchange this past year, and it was so much fun!  I loved trying to come up with a cute, creative gift.  In return, I received a handmade gift as well (a personalized mug rug, some awesome fabric fat quarters, and pretty little magnets).  Can't wait to start working on a gift!

Hand Warmers

I don't know about you, but my hands are always cold.  Especially at work.  I did a little searching online and found that it was pretty easy to make some.  I looked at several different tutorials and came up with my own. 

First, I cut four pieces of fabric (I used flannel) in 5-inch by 5-inch squares.  

With wrong sides together, I stitched all the around, leaving a little opening one side.  I clipped the corners, turned the squares inside out and poked the corners with a crochet hook (it was the only thing I could find!). 

 

I filled each hand warmer with about 2/3 cup of rice.  This seemed to be just the right amount for a 5-inch by 5-inch hand warmer.  I sewed the little opening closed and was ready to heat them up in the microwave!  I tried a few different times to see what worked best and found that 45 seconds in the microwave was perfect.  

I actually used these at work today.  Our office is quite chilly and my hands are always cold.  I'm also going to be giving these as some Christmas gifts as well.  I just need to make up a little tag with instructions on how to use.  These little hand warmers are great way to use up scrap pieces of fabric and super easy to make.  I know I'll be using them a lot this winter!

Faux Caramel Apples!

I saw these last year, but never got around to making them.  Then, a few weeks ago, I was going through Google Reader and spotted this tutorial.  I ran to the store, picked up some styrofoam apples (Walmart had nice ones for only $1).

I changed up the tutorial that I found since I didn't want to buy a massive amount of popsicle sticks or a huge bag of corn cob litter.  Instead, for the handle of the caramel apple, I used sticks that I found outside.  For the nuts, I used pieces of cork that I found at Michaels a while back.  The pieces came in a little bag, and I thought it would look just as nice as the corn cob litter.

To make the apples was super easy.  First, I put a stick in each of the apples.  Then, I mixed together some mod podge and caramel-colored paint.  After I got the right color, I poured the paint on top of the apples.  Once all the apples were covered with paint, I sprinkled the cork pieces to the wet glue/paint.  I set aside the apples overnight to dry and then sprayed them with glossy finish.  

I am quite pleased with how they turned out and they look so real!  I posted some in my etsy shop and will definitely need to make some more for myself!

What I've Been Up To

I've been slowly starting some Christmas gifts.  I actually finished one project!  Right before our trip to the Jersey shore, I made some headbands following this tutorial.  The only thing I changed up was instead of using elastic, I used 2 hair elastics.  The hair elastics didn't pull my hair and kept the headband in place.  I also wore the headband during the 5K I wogged (walk/jog, I decided what I really did was not running at all, so I can't call it wunning...so it's now known as wogging) last Saturday. 

The one Christmas gift I finished was for our nephew.  After looking around on some blogs and websites, I came up with a fishing set.  I sewed up some fish.  Added button for eyes and sewed in some washers for the mouth.  I then made a fishing hook out of felt and put a strong magnet inside the hook.  I made the pole out of a wooden dowel and string.  I wrapped felt around the handle to give a good grip.  I really like how it came out! Check out my model... ;-)

The other project I've been working on, but haven't finished, is some felt food for our 4-year old niece.  She is always playing her in kitchen and 'cooking' up some meals for everyone.  As of right now, I made about a dozen raviolis, four strawberries, two carrots and one bean.  I want to make a few more beans and then some more fruits and veggies.  I love making the felt food!  It's so easy to make and everything is super cute. 

And that's what I've been up to for the past few weeks!  Hopefully I will finish up a few more things this week to post soon. 

As for my cooking...not too much going on with that.  But I am planning on making some pot roast this week!

Strawberries and Watermelons

I finally got around to making some more bowl fillers.  I wanted to make some summery decorations to have around our apartment and to sell at my etsy shop.  For the strawberries, I just followed the basic felt food pattern of sewing up the sides of a half circle, stuffing it, then stitching it closed.  For the watermelons, I looked online for some ideas and came up with my own pattern.  I did both slices and wedges for the watermelons.  Everything is made out of muslin and then hand painted.  I'm really happy with how these came out!

New Items at Etsy!

I finally posted some items on my etsy shop, Handmade With Love.  I'm in the process of coming up with ideas on what to make and sell on there.  I would love any suggestions!

Conversation Hearts

When I first started working on these, I wasn't super happy with how they were turning out.  I'm a beginner when it comes to sewing and still have trouble with certain things.  But after I painted the hearts, I was really liking them.

First, I cut out heart shapes out of some muslin I had left over from another project.  I then sewed the hearts, leaving a two-inch opening on the side so I can stuff them.  Then I hand sewed the opening.

After I finished sewing everything, I used some bright colored paints and painted the muslin.  I only did one coat, but I think two coats would have been a lot better.

For some final touches and to give them that conversation candy heart look, I used a white paint marker to write the words on each of the hearts.  And has anyone noticed some of the new sayings on those hearts??  "Sweet Pea", "Love Bug", and "Text Me" are some of the new sayings for 2010.  These traditional Valentine's Day candies date back to 1902!

Some of my creations

This was my first big project.  The rag quilt on the back of our living room couch.  I also made the three throw pillows in the middle.

Here are some strawberry bowl fillers, inspired by my cousin.  She called me up one night going on and on about these bowl fillers she bought online.  When I went to the site, I thought to myself, hey I can't make those.  So this what I came up with.  Since the creation of these, I have come up with a much cuter and much easier way to make them!

Here is a tote bag that I made for my cousin's high school graduation.  She loved the colors!  And I loved how it came out.  The inside is a blue paisley sort of design.

This is the very girly rag quilt I made for my cousin.  She had her second child, a girl, in August.  And I wanted to make her something.  I had a lot of fabric left over, I made her tons of burp cloths as well.

My sister-in-law put together a benefit for her mother-in-law, who has been battling lung cancer for several years now.  Shed asked if I put together a basket for a silent auction.  I came up with doing a kitchen goodies basket and made this table runner and four placemats.  I also included some Tastefully Simple products (which I sell) and some candles.  It was quite a successful night and I'm glad I was able to help make something to raise money for her mother-in-law.