pioneer girl costume

I have been working on SO MANY projects now that I have a space to do them. Many of them might be 1/2 done, but I love being able to create again! Here is one of them completed. Gwen's Halloween costume. I think I was thinking I'd make her an apron to wear with it, but now I think it doesn't need one.

I used Simplicity pattern # 3725. I didn't find it difficult other than the waistline. It was supposed to come to a point in the center of the skirt, but mine didn't work out. That has happened to me before. I guess I need to read the pattern more closely next time. There is a pattern for a bonnet, the one we are using is store bought.

Some of the other things I've been making:

-A winter bonnet for Maggie to match a dress coat we found for her at the thrift store

-A Mary Engelbreit embroidered quilt top

-A duvet cover to go with the the down comforter Grandma is getting Maggie For Christmas

-An Alice in Wonderland Costume for Maggie (She has never seen the movie, but she thought Alice was cute when we were flipping through the pattern books at the store)

Wish me luck, I got into so many projects because life was getting frustrating. I was feeling like the hamster who looks out of his glass cage while running on his wheel never getting anywhere and I wanted an escape. But now I feel like I've made more frustrations for myself because I've been ignoring the house for a few days and it will take me a while to catch up on housework. So goes my never ending battle to find time to nurture myself.

Spaghetti Sauce Recipe-Attempt #1

I always have a hard time finding spaghetti sauce that I like (I don't like the tomatoes to overpower it and I just want the sauce my mommy made when I was a little girl.) Going organic has limited our choices to pricey and expensive jars regardless of taste. So I went on Amazon and signed up for their subscribe and save program. I'm getting a few things including basic seasonless organic tomato sauce and I'm on a mission to search the web for a sauce recipe to spice it up, because I don't really like the taste of tomatoes, but always enjoy a flavorful spaghetti dinner.

I started with this recipe I found on allrecipies.com I tweeked it a bit and enjoyed it at dinner, but thought it was a bit too hot. So I added another can of the seasonless tomato sauce and saved it in the fridge in an attempt to save the leftovers. And here is my game plan for my next attempt at some sauce. It is my version of the recipe link.

Spaghetti Sauce

3 -8oz. cans tomato sauce

1 bell pepper Pureed or minced

1 TBPS Garlic

1 tsp Onion Powder

1/4 cup Pureed Carrot or 1 carrot Minced

2 beef boulion cubes/ better than Bouillon or some meat depending on what you are serving with the sauce

1 bay leaf (To be removed just before serving)

1 tsp dry thyme

1 tsp dry Oregano

1 tsp dry Basil

1/8 tsp red pepper

1/4 tsp Black pepper

2 tsp sugar

simmer for up to 2 hours and serve or can.

Wish me luck for the next attempt!

Okay, so this may look dark and dreary, but this is my new work space at our new house. The guy who owns the house did a lot of wood working and actually built a lot of the house himself, so he has a ton of work benches and shelves down stairs in the unfinished basement. So I claimed some of them. I've decided that it doesn't look pretty, but on a hot day it is nice a cool down there and there is nothing else that goes on down there, so if I don't have time to finish my projects, I can just leave them right where I left off with out having to put them away and then pick up right where I left off when I have time for them again. And THAT is a beautiful thing.

I also got a new sewing machine with some birthday money. I agonized for a long time over what brand and type of machine to get. I wanted to get a machine that I could have forever (Bernina, Babylock, Phaff...) but they all were computerized machines and I was a little bit intimidated of that. My Mom had told me about this machine listed on Amazon and after looking into it ($167 and 700+ reviews giving it 4 1/2 stars) I decided that it would be perfect for me to try out these new fangled machines. Hopefully it will last me a while, but if it only lasts a few years like my other ones I now know that I can save up and buy a nice one with confidence.

And here is my first project on it. a Friend from Port Hueneme showed me a chenille blanket that she had made and it was beautiful, so I tried one too. I was really excited about it until my husband tried to find a nice way to tell me that it looked like a torture device to put a baby into vertigo. After taking a step back I realized he was right and decided I probably shouldn't add it to my pile of projects to hand out as gifts. But I'm glad I tried out the technique. My only complaint about the technique is probably the same of any blanket, it was so heavy that I was worried it was going to ruin the perfect tension on my sewing machine. (I HATE tension problems.) Anyway, here is a tutorial on how to chenille if you want to give it a try.

While I worked on the blanket my girls were constantly asking if they could have my extra fabric, so one night when it was just Me and Gwen in the house she found some long strips and asked if she could make a scarf out of them. I told her yes. It was easy and she was excited to help with the foot pedal.

We also put together this quiet time book. I had purchased the fabric at Jo-Ann's a few years ago, it had all the pages and the instructions on the fabric. We just had to cut it out, sew it together with some scraps of batting in between each page and it was done. It was so easy, I might do it again.

Pack out of our house in Port Hueneme

Our move has been going great,

The packers came to the house a week or 2 ago and got the house packed up by 2:30 in the afternoon. Then the moving truck came a few days after that and I was pleasantly surprised at how painless the whole thing was. I had cramps one of the days and I was actually able to lay down and take a 2 hour nap with out stressing out about all of the things I should be doing. Luckily it was a day that I wasn't having to babysit the movers.

But I still left a lot of little things to do until the last minute and I didn't get out and turn in the keys until 9:00 PM. Also, I thought I had been really good about not accumulating too many flammable items while living in Port Hueneme, but I still had so many extra cleaners/toiletries/flammable items that I had to pull out of the bathrooms, kitchen and garage.

Yet while I was cleaning the house I used mostly just powdered bleach and glass cleaner

My things to remember from this move are:

• The cleaners I used were-powdered bleach with an iron handled brush, Oil soap to get off the built up grease on the vent for the stove hood and the built up grease on top of the cabinets, glass cleaner for the windows and mirrors, also the glass cleaner pads on a stick for the outside windows worked great too. And a bucket of water with a few rags. My only cleaning problem was the outside of the upstairs windows. I couldn't remember how to clean them properly.
• try to avoid moving out during your menstrual cycle. I got lucky this time, but the next time it might not turn out so well.
• Make sure to get the baby sitters for the days the movers are at the house and at least 1 day for cleaning
• makes sure to get the hotel room starting on the day before the movers come. It makes life easier. (Note to Sam- the past 2 moves you have said you thought that it was a waste of money, and both times when the day finally came you were glad we had the room a day early so we could get our bags and stuff we don't want the movers taking to be out of the house.)
• Make sure Sam takes the time off work to help out with the move. (Note to Sam-You had me do it on my own this time and I was able to do it, but you still had to take long lunches to go and get lunch for me and the movers and you told me you wished you took the time off so you could help more.)
• You will be surprised at how much you can get done if you clean while the packers are there. Make sure to request that they start in the kitchen so you can start cleaning it by lunch time.
• We had a good bye party for the girls at a near by park and it was SO much fun. It was a great way to say good bye to friends and I didn't have to worry about people messing up my clean house.
• When people ask you what they can do to help, make dinner dates with them for the last week you are in town. It is a great way to say good bye and you can clean your appliances early. Just tell them you would be happy to bring garlic bread, or a veggie platter. (Some thing that you can just pick up at the store.) You will especially want to make sure someone will feed you on Sunday so you don't have to go out to eat on Sunday.

Good luck Bri of the Future. We seem to be getting better at this every time we do it.

This photo does not due my most recent project justice. But here it is anyway.

I made it with some blocks my sister gave me and I'm giving it to a friend. Luckily Carrie was sweet enough to let me borrow her sewing machine so it could be done in time for the baby shower on Saturday. Thank Carrie!

And here are some of the cookies I made for our ward's talent show this weekend.

Polk a Dot dresses

I decided to get some family photos done last month. I knew I wanted my husband to wear his uniform, but I didn't know what I wanted my girls to wear. Luckily my Mom had given me some cute blue fabric with bold white polk-a-dots on it. So I pulled out some patterns and made some dresses for my girls. I used Newlook 6473 to make the dresses and I wanted them to have a sleeve on them, so I used the cap sleeve on Newlook 6448. And I added a bow to tie around the waist.

They turned out great, as you can see...

I measured the girls and the dresses fit. But I forgot to check the length on Gwen's and it was a little too short. (It looked fine for the photos, but she won't be able to wear it for very long.) Also, my machine is still broken, so this was another by hand project. It went fine, but I am really ready to stop doing everything by hand. I like to do some things that way, but not everything.

Also I was so tired of the project that I did a really sloppy job on the buttons so I could get done faster. I used those clear plastic rubber bands for hair as button holes. It did the job, but I think it would have been better if I had just done it right.

Another funny thing about making do in a bind is that this photographer lives near our old base, so we scheduled the photo shoot for a time when we were there for the weekend. Sadly I forgot some of the things I needed for the project and the material I used for the tie around the waist is actually material from a pillowcase I stole from the hotel. I guess I should call them and make sure they charged the missing pillowcase to my room. :)

Rachel's Whole Weat Bread

Here is a yummy bread recipe I got from a friend in Ridgecrest, CA. It makes 2 delicious loafs of bread. (This used to be posted on our family photos website but I needed to move it here for convenience.)

2 1/2 Cups Warm Water
1/4 cup sugar
1 TBSP Yeast
1/2 cup Powder Milk
3 TBSP Oil
2 1/2 tsp Salt
3 cups whole wheat flour

3 cups bread flour

1. Mix water, Sugar and yeast together. Let sit for a minute.


2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. If you don't have a stand mixer you'll need to get your hands dirty because it's too thick to do this just with a spoon. (This is the California recipe, but while living in Maine I've been needing to add an extra cup of flour for it to pull away from the sides of the bowl.)


3. cover dough with a towel in a warm place and allow to rise until double in size, about 30 minutes.


4. grease your hands and a surface to kneed the dough on. Kneed dough for just a minute to make sure the airbubbles are out. Form dough into 2 loafs and place into greased loaf pans (I ALWAYS use shortening to grease with because the bread NEVER sticks when I use it.) Put loafs in a warm place, cover with towel and allow to rise until double again (about 30 minutes.)


5. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes and let cool. (If using a glass pan decrease oven temperature to 325 degrees.)


6. When bread is cooled, place in an airtight bag. Store in the fridge to prevent premature molding.