Bib-How NOT to!

So I thought that it would be a great idea to take the extra vinyl and the extra fabric that I had from redoing the highchair, and make a bib out of it.  Well it was a good idea in theory but let's just say never again.  It may have been because I have no brain currently (since I am currently pregnant again, with a nursing 7month old), but it was definitely an epic fail.

So I took one of Elijah's bibs, and traced it out on the fabric making the neck hole slightly bigger since his are getting a bit tight around the neck area.  I also made it longer than usual so that I could make one of those bibs with the fun pockets on the bottom.  I also cut vinyl out in the same way.  I had some leftover Velcro so I decided instead of buying snaps to put on it I would just use that since I had it sitting around the house.  So I was so proud a bib for free! hahaha funny stuff.  Not a good idea to use iron on Velcro on vinyl it starting smoking and obviously burnt through the vinyl.  So now the Velcro does not stick quite well, but it is fairly functional.  But anyway that is not how you make a bib. 

I also must add that the vinyl did not work quite well because we bought the cheapest one, and it worked great for doing it one sided on the high chair not great at all on the bib, lets just stay that it sticks like saran wrap to itself and nothing else!  So that was also a nightmare. 

Soo needless to say I do not plan on making this again since it was a total fail, but I thought I would let you know what not to do when making a bib! Hope that helps if you are ever going to make your own bib don't melt the vinyl and don't use the cheap vinyl as it will be a pain in the rear to try and work with!

Ranch Chicken

Ranch Chicken:

This is another one of my husband's favorite recipes and it is so easy to make. 

I usually freeze all my meals so that they are easier to just grab and throw in the oven.  So with this chicken before I put it in the freezer, I put one piece of chicken(my husband and I always share a piece since a portion size would be 3oz) in a freezer bag and the pour ranch in it.

When I am ready to use it I take out the chicken that morning to let it thaw.  I then roll it in bread crumbs.  I put it in a baking pan and bake in the oven for about 20-25 min at 350.  Since Ranch dressing has buttermilk in it this makes the chicken stay super moist and it doesn't dry out. 

Super yummy and easy!

High Chair Redo

I am trying to fix up some little things around the house and I noticed how yucky the highchair looks.  This highchair has been very good to us for the 1 month we have been using it but it is blue with little rocking horses and bears on it, not really my thing and it does not match the dining room.  I love for things to match so it was sticking out like a sore thumb so we decided to do something about that.

I went to walmart and found some fabric that wasn't too expensive I think it was $4/yd, but we only needed a yd so not too bad.  I bought a 1/2 yd of some red, green, and brown fabric and then a yd of the brown fabric with wonderful green circle/ovals on it.

So I took the high chair apart, and deep cleaned the whole thing again, scrubbed it down with bleach and then with some shower cleaner and it cleaned up quite nicely again.  I then took the top and bottom cushions and laid them out on the fabric and cut two pieces of fabric about 1/2 in bigger then each cushion. 

I then took my lovely accent fabric and measure the outside edge of th cushions and cut my fabric accordingly.  This highchair was not one with fabric cushions on it, it had a cardboard like piece that ran on the backside of both and then it had a seam on the sides of it so I did that in the different color, just for fun.

Oh I forgot I also bought some vinyll.  I got the really cheap stuff it was 97cents a yd so we got 1 yard of that and I still have a ton leftover, especially since I decided to only cover the top pieces in vinyl so they could be easily wiped down when my hansome lil' man was done making a mess.  So I cut one piece of vinyl out for the top piece and one for the bottom.

I then took the bottom piece layed the vinyl over top of it and then I sewed the trim to it.  When that was done I took the other bottom piece and sewed it to the trim but I left one whole side open.  Since it was not just a cushion I could squish back inside of it, it had cardboard so I needed a big hole to be able to put the cushion inside of it.  I then did the same for the top piece.

I then stuffed the cushion in them and hand sewed up the last side.  I put it back on my highchair and voila I have a brand "new" highchair that I got for about $7 dollars.  Did I mention that the highchair was given to us for free.  So not a bad deal to spend $7 on it and making it look like brand new again, and I even got to pick whatever pattern I wanted I didn't have to just buy one I kinda liked at the store.

Pretty neat huh?

Sour Cream Muffins

Alright I am going to share the recipe for my husband's favorite muffins. In his mind there is not much that beats a good muffin (probably has a lot to do with his mother who is the Muffin Queen)

1c Sour Cream
5TBSP Melted Butter
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Almond Extract
1 1/2 c Flour
2/3 c Sugar
3/4 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
Filling of your choice (choc chips, blueberry, raspberry, etc)

Now you mix all the dry ingredients together and then in a seperate bowl you mix all the wet ingredients together. You then add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until well stirred may have some lumps but not many. 

Then add whatever "filling" you want, my husbands favorite are the blueberry ones (the choc chips ones are sweet enough to be a desert seriously). 

You then either grease a muffin pan or line it with cupcake/muffin liners.  Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full and then you will back at 400 for 18-20 min. 

We like things always a bit on the underdone side so we go for about 17-18 min and they turn out so perfect.

These are an absolutely amazing treat, they are great for breakfast or as a bread to go with your lunch or dinner, but seriously if you make the choc. chips ones you will be in for a real treat as they are so sweet and rich.

ENJOY!

Beach Bag

So we were headed to the lake with the youth from church, and of course we could not find a bag that was big enough to fit everything that we needed to bring. May I just say that our beach towels are those nice oversized ones, great for lounging on the beach, not so great for trying to fit in any normal sized bag.  After doing several tries in other bags that we had around the house I decided to check my scrap fabric pile to see if I could find any peice possibly big enough for a new beach bag...and I did YEAH!

So I took the whole scrap piece of fabric and folded in it half so that it would be a bit thicker so it could stand the weight of everything.  I then looked for some other scrap pieces so I could make some pockets on the inside (I love pockets and lots of them, I don't like when things just float all over the place).  So I cut out some scraps and sewed all the edges so they looked nice, and pinned them into place.  I unfolded the big piece so you wouldn't be able to see the pocket stitchings from the outside and placed my pockets onto the fabric.  With the small polka dot fabric I also sewed vertically right down the middle and it is the perfect size for a wallet and a cell phone so they don't get lost in the mess of everything else.  On my tall skinny pocket I actually sewed the bottem and two sides together and then just sewed the top seam under so that is was open still.  This turned out to be a great idea because then when I attached it to the bag I know had 2 long pockets perfect for sunscreen, hair brush, hand sanitizer, lotion, and a small bottle of aloe.  The last pocket I made was the big pocket.  I made this pocket specifically for the bathing suits so we didn't have to dig through the huge towels to have to find them.  It worked out perfectly.  I then folded the fabric in half again, so it was the size that I wanted it.

 I cut out some fabric to make some straps for the bag. To make the straps I just cut the fabric about 3.5in in width and the whole length of the fabric.  Once it was cut out I put the right sides together and sewed up the side.  I did not bother to sew up either end as they would be inside the bag seems so you would never know they were not finished. I then turned them so they were right side out and ironed them so they would stay flat.  (the picture was taken before the ironing)

SO before I added the straps to the bag I turned the fabric so the insides were facing out and I sewed up both of the side edges.  Note:  I did not need to sew the bottom of the bag since I just folded it in half, it made for a nice short cut.  I then pinned, along the top of the bag, where I wanted my straps.  I folded about 1/4 in of the fabric in so that I had nice straight edges and sewed in up all around the outside (be careful that you are sewing one side up at a time or you will sew the bag shut, which won't do you much good).  After that I turned it right side out and look a great beach bag and it took me about 1.5 hrs to make, this included all the ironing and the hunting of the fabric.

My finished bag worked amazing.  It held three swim suits (one pint sized on), snacks, two oversized towels, one baby towel, sunscreen, and personal items.  Not too bad for a last minute project and it held up super well with all the weight.  Very proud of it and I'm sure it will have many more uses as I am always in need of a good sized bag to haul things around in.

Getting Started

This blog is basically about our life.  We will be posting what we like to do or have done.  It can range from working on cars to fixing things up around our house, or on learning how to be parents since we are fairly new at it (we have a 7month old.)  I am really looking forward to getting to share our ideas on things and getting to see what ideas you have, as I am always looking for something new to create.  So lets get started.