I have been working on my first dress from scratch for a while now, Continue reading
My first fashion creation: Almost done!
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Survival 101: Make your own butter! (and buttermilk)
While browsing articles on the web, I found this article; http://www.thethriftymama.com/easy-homemade-butter.html
on how to make your own butter. I love Continue reading
Survival 101: Making bread starter from scratch without yeast
There are some things that I think everyone should know for the sake of knowing, and how to make bread without more than very basic ingredients is one of them. These days everyone relies on store-bought goods, but whatever happened to the methods used by ancestors in the past? Making your own bread may sound like a challenge, but it is not really rocket science. What would you do if you could not go to the store and buy bread? What if you can’t find dried yeast, or you do not have refrigeration to keep your yeast? I have been doing a little web surfing and wanted to share this information on how to grow your own yeast.
I learned that even though most people buy powdered yeast from the store, there is wild yeast on wheat and in the environment that can be utilized for bread making. Once the yeast has grown well enough, it will eat up any other bacteria growing in your starter. What a great science experiment, right? I think everyone should try this at least once, and it could be a great science project to do with your kids! If you enjoy it, you keep some of your starter and make more bread each week. Starter dough was precious to people in pioneer times and often families were using the same starter generation after generation.
The website I found with the simplest and most complete instructions was http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/blueroom/sour.htm. I am following this method for my starter. Today is day 1. I just mixed my day 1 starter half an hour ago. I’ll keep you all posted on how it turns out.
Basically, you take equal parts of warm water (not hot) and wheat flour, and mix in a glass jar. Then, each day, you “feed” your pet (starter) equal parts of warm water and flour until it becomes frothy and bubbly (approximately 7-10 days on average). After your starter is formed, you are ready to make bread! Left over starter can be refrigerated to slow feedings after your first loaf of bread. I have even seen recipes that state you can freeze your starter and then when you are ready to us it again, just thaw it out for 3 hours before use. Comment below if you decide to give this a try! Good luck!
Draping your dummy: for the average crafter! Part One
Draping, the process of pinning material to a dress form and then shaping a pattern out of it, is a technique used by fashion designers and pattern makers. It is typically learned at a design school, however, in my case, I saw a few pictures on the internet and read about the term and decided to teach myself. I like to take the “How hard can it really be?” approach, to, well, just about everything. In the case of draping, not very hard, as long as you get your ducks in a row first. So, I will share with all of you how to DIY. I’m going to break this up into several, digestible sections. Here we go! Continue reading
Where did I go?
I’ve been absent this week! Why? I am working on an epic project… Continue reading
I do love a good deal!
Yesterday was the last day of the Presidents Day sale at Joann Fabrics, so naturally, I had to go. Cutting costs of supplies by snagging things on sale is what keeps my crafting habit alive! Here are some deals I wrangled yesterday:
Americana Dining Room Shelf
Since we moved into our apartment here on post, I have not felt very inclined to decorate. I guess I just feel like it’s hard to make an apartment, that is temporary, a homey place. This is my latest attempt.
Welcome to the new site!
I have been a busy bee the last few days! After some good advise from my friend at Honey, I AM the help (fellow blogger and an innovative quilter!), I have moved my blog to this custom page with more options and ease of use than my previous blog page.
I have not tinkered with owning my own web page previously, and had to learn everything as I was going, which was a little challenge to me. I’m glad I did it though, I love to learn new things and I am continuing to learn more every time I log on! I’m hoping to re-learn some of my HTML coding skills, which I have not used since the myspace days of designing backgrounds and changing font colors (lol)!
I hope everyone enjoys the new page and finds it much easier to navigate and view!
Another update- I do have another new project post coming up later today, but first I must run into town for some hardware 
Stay tuned!
Easy D.I.Y. Decor: Starfish Wall Art
I was recently made aware of the fact that I do not have very much decor in my home. I already knew this of course, but had not bothered to do much more than the few sturdy pieces I own. We have moved a lot in the last few years and I have lost decor due to me not liking it well enough to move it, so I gave it away, or damage. Well, I decided I had better do something about it, since it’s not really acceptable for a mid-twenties couple with kids to rock the ‘bachelor pad’ style.
This is my starting project- a super easy wall hanging for my bathroom. Here is how you can make one for yourself in less than 2 hours!
Baking: The messy craft.
Sometimes in my whirlwind of crafting, I feel inclined to do a little baking. These are the moments my husband both loves and dreads the most. While I can turn out some tasty treats, I am not fond of the cleaning up portion. By the end of a good baking spree, the kitchen looks like Siberia in a snowstorm from all the flour and I have dirtied pretty much every utensil I own.
The last little baking spree I went on was for a bake sale to support an FRG event. Here is how it went…