Wood Stove and Slate Hearth

Yowza! i've been really busy the past month helping to build a hearth for our new wood stove! Here's the finished product:

i read online that it takes 4 times as long to grout slate tile. As i was up until 2:30 one morning doing this, i now believe it! But it turned out well. Just have to finish the trim on top.

And since we passed the building inspection, we now have fire:

Ahhhhhh! This feels good on those brisk Colorado nights.

Yesterday-Today: 6 Random Memories

i love the Big Picture Scrapbooking class: Yesterday and Today. Here's my layout from week 3, in which we had to write down six random childhood memories.

More Chickens!

i love making these so much that they have become my standard gift for all our little friends who turn 3 (and invite us to their very fun birthday parties with cake & frosting for my little guy to enjoy)!

This one is for a very sweet little girl named Noelle, who had a ZOO birthday party. Her whole basement was converted into a zoo, complete with streamer "cages" for her (stuffed) animals. This batik patchwork chicken will be perfect in the (psychedelic) petting zoo, don't you think?

Pattern courtesy of Tania Ennor at www.myrtleandeunice.com. i made the patchwork out of batik charm squares, then cut it out in the pattern shape.

Peach Blueberry Pie

Recently, i found out i am "sensitive" to many different foods. But not peaches and blueberries, thank goodness! Hooray! Especially when the peaches are from Colorado's Western Slope. Seriously the best peaches ever. We joined a CSA and get a fruit share, too. This summer, the peaches are a-plenty. So here's a peach pie recipe that has worked well for us to share at potlucks. (i made my own crust based on a Better Homes & Gardens recipe, but you can use your own or a refrigerated store-bought crust.)

Peach Blueberry Pie
-Better Homes and Gardens, September 2008

Prep: 30 min. Bake: 50 min. Oven: 375 F

2 Recipes Single Crust Pie Pastry, or 2 rolled refrigerated unbaked pie crusts (15-oz pkg.)
5 cups peeled, sliced fresh peaches or frozen peach slices, thawed
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. bourbon (optional)
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F. Prepare pastries. Line 9-inch pie plate with one crust. Trim edge of crust to ½ inch beyond pie plate. Set aside.

In large bowl, combine peaches, blueberries, 1/3 cup brown sugar, cornstarch, bourbon, and cinnamon. Place filling in prepared crust. On lightly floured surface, roll remaining crust to circle 12 inches in diameter. Cut 1-inch-wide strips. Weave strips over filling in lattice pattern. Press strip ends into bottom pastry. Fold bottom pastry over strips’ ends; seal and crimp. Sprinkle lattice with 2 Tbsp. brown sugar.

Cover edges with foil. Bake on baking sheet 25 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 25 minutes more until filling is thickened and crust is golden. Cool on rack.

Makes 8 servings.
Each serving 319 cal, 13g fat (3g sat. fat), 120 mg sodium, 47 g carbo, 3 g fiber, 4 g pro. Daily Values: 9% vit. A, 12% vit. C, 2% calcium, 9% iron.

Mermaid Pillow

My little boy has a very vivid imagination. Ever since he saw a Dora episode where she cleans up the ocean to save the mermaids (and then we all went on a cruise), he has been fascinated with mermaids. So much so that he pretends he is "Taylor the Girl Mermaid" about 50% of the day, and then all night. How does he pretend he's a mermaid at night?

He sleeps in his mermaid costume: a pillowcase.


The pillowcase is getting a bit stretched out, so i thought up a new project to do. i found perfect Batik charm squares in my stash and started cutting and sewing. i didn't really have a pattern, it was just in my head and changed as i went along.

Tada! A new Mermaid Pillowcase!

i left the one side completely open, as it is a pillowcase, and on the opposite side i left it open about 12 inches in the middle so he could get his feet through and not walk on the pillowcase, which makes it very dirty. But to him, the beauty of the mermaid pillowcase is that it is completely closed on the bottom. So he considers this costume a "snake" because you can go through it like a tunnel.

i have to remember that my ideas will not necessarily improve the imaginative life of my 4 year old son.

But it is really pretty and i'm hoping he'll wear it for Halloween. Especially if i can get him some blue or green Crocs. Or he can wear his blue snow boots. It usually snows on Halloween here.

My husband & i had a good laugh when he suggested i sell Mermaid Pillowcases. Does anyone else pretend they are a mermaid by getting into a pillowcase? So far, he's the only one i know.

Old Doll Blankets

i was in Chicago recently, visiting my best friend from 5th grade, when she showed me her daughter's doll bed and blankets:

My mom made the pillows and top blanket about 23 years ago for Cindy's birthday. It was like a time warp to see her daughter playing with them. Let's not get into the psychology of 5th graders still playing with dolls-it was just a simpler time and we loved it. Anyway, my mom made lots of gifts, and as you can see, they have stood the test of time. Cindy even made another one the exact same size for the bottom bunk-it was her first sewing project! Yeah! She did a great job completing the bunk bed set.

i'm attempting to make something right now, i hope to have it finished this week. When i saw how these simple flannel blankets were still being used and that they inspired a "non-sewer" to sew, i knew i had to get home and turn the machine back on.

Wish me luck!

Birthday Layout

Just a 12x12 layout i did in kind of a grid of circles. i punched parts of cards & photos from my birthday, arranged in a grid with a smaller circle "belt" to hold it to the page, then journaled around the orange paper.

It was great to celebrate 36. i usually let my birthday pass without fanfare, but this birthday i felt like celebrating! And it was fun to celebrate with some creative friends.