All things cozy

Like I said in my last post I have been busy sewing, quilting, knitting, baking and making lots and lots of pumpkin spice lattes. First up Cierra’s vintage style dress. I love this dress and plan on making many more. Peter pan collars are my favorite. I used Tasha Noel Horsley’s “Little red riding hood” fabric. Super cute.

I also made a really sweet dress for my niece’s second birthday. Her mom is an awesome photographer and took K’s birthday pictures in her new ruffle dress. If anyone is interested I can make this dress for you in sizes 6mo-8yrs. Just convo me at my Etsy Shop.

Look how freaking cute she is!!

I had my first commissioned piece recently. My mom’s friend’s daughter was having a baby and she wanted me to make the crib set for her. I wish I took pictures of everything together. It came out super cute. The mom chose a mint, navy and grey color scheme. I am now obsessed with that color combo. I made a super cute chevron quilt using different geometric fabrics. I love how it turned out. Better yet so did the mom and her family. I hope that the little boy will get lots of use out of this quilt.

I also made a bumper and reversible and height adjustable crib skirt. So glad that set was a big hit.

I made a quilt for my best friend’s birthday. Seeing as how much I love her and how much she loves all the same crafts and photography as much if not more than I do, I had to find the perfect fabric to use in her special quilt. I found 2wenty Thr3e by Moda. It was perfect. Her favorite colors are pink and orange and to top it off it has super awesome pictures of vintage cameras on it. Absolutely perfect. Introducing “Frolic” quilt. She loved it!!

  Now that the weather has started to change her in Oklahoma, it’s gotten me in the mood to knit. That and the fact that my husband recently had shoulder surgery so I haven’t spent many days in the sewing room because he’s been home. I have to keep myself busy during doctor visits and swim team practice for Kizaiah. I have knit and finished a few projects.

Marlene Socks (ravelry link)

pattern by CookieA

yarn: Dream in color Smooshy, Butter Peeps

Yes it took me over 3 years to knit and finish these socks. Not because they were hard or anything like that. They were quite fun to knit but I lost the pattern and gave up looking for it until my sister came to the rescue.

Cadence Socks (ravelry link)

pattern: Very Busy Monkey

yarn Wollmeise in Pfefferminz Prinz

only alteration, knit foot plain

No purl Monkey socks

I love this pattern!

yarn Socks that rock in flower power colorway

Holden Shawl by Mindy Wilkes

yarn my handspun

fiber Spunky Eclectic in Acadia colorway

And last but not least ’tis the season for Pumpkin spice lattes. I have been drinking these a lot. Starbucks can get pretty pricey so I made Pumpkin spice syrup at home.

Pumpkin spice syrup for pumpkin spice lattes

punky purls original

For Syrup:

1 c water

1/2-3/4 c brown sugar

3-4 TBS pumpkin puree, (I use 3)

1/2 tsp pumpkin spice

1 tsp vanilla extract

For Latte:

pumpkin spice syrup, (I use about 5-6 Tbs. but you can use more or less)

8 oz coffee

1/2 c milk, warmed in microwave for about 1 min 30 seconds. Being careful that it doesn’t bubble over measuring cup.

whip cream and pumpkin spice for garnish, optional.

In a glass measuring cup add all syrup ingredients EXCEPT vanilla extract. Mix well and place in the microwave. Heat for about a minute and a half. Strain contents in a resealable glass jar or bottle. I strain mine twice, just in case. Add vanilla extract to syrup mixture.

Make coffee, warm milk in microwave. Poor coffee in a large cup (at least 12oz.), add milk and pumpkin spice syrup. Stir. Top with whip cream and pumpkin spice to make it extra yummy.

Place syrup in the refrigerator after using. Will keep for about 2 weeks. But if your like me you will be making a new batch every week.

**All the amounts are adjustable to taste. I like a sweet coffee, but you can use any amounts you want**Enjoy!!

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Quick Weekend Dinners and Sewing

Just wanted to make a quick post and show you what I’ve been up too. I really should be sewing Christmas gifts but for those of you that know me personally you know that I tend to have Craft ADD ;). Anyway I made a peasant dress for my daughter this week using this tutorial. I was super easy to make and turned out super cute. Next time I make it I will be increasing the flare and making it long sleeves so that she can wear it this winter.

I also whipped up a cute skirt using a headband that I bought at WalMart for $1 and some orange polka dot fabric that I had in my stash.

For dinner this weekend I wanted something quick easy and good. Every weekend the kids request pizza but this week I decided to make pan pizza. So good and easy. The only problem is the pizza is limited to the size of cake pan that you have. I used a 9″ cake pan for one pizza and then I made a hand tossed pizza so that we would have extras for lunch the next day.

I used these recipe for the pizza dough and the sauce. The only change is that you oil your 9″ cake pan, I used extra virgin olive oil, and preheat your oven to 400°.  Stretch and press the dough into the pan covering the bottom and up the sides. Top with sauce and toppings and bake for 30-35 minutes.

On Saturday night we had BBQ Chicken Taquitos. These are so good. I tried the original but wasn’t impressed but once I found the BBQ version over at Pink Parsley I was hooked. You can use pork or chicken. I used leftover rotisserie chicken. I think it would be good with leftover turkey from Thanksgiving too.

 

 

 

Baked BBQ Pork Taquitos
inspired by these Baked Chicken Taquitos (which are from Our Best Bites)

3 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature (reduced-fat is fine)
1/3 cup bbq sauce1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chile powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp liquid smoke (I omitted this, I didn’t have any on hand)
pinch red pepper flakes
kosher salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup diced onion
3 scallions, thinly sliced (I omitted this, I didn’t have any on hand)
2 Tbs minced fresh cilantro or parsley (I used a sprinkle of dried parsley, because I didn’t have either of these fresh on hand)
hot sauce (optional)
2 cups shredded or chopped cooked pork or chicken
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese (I used Colby Jack)
8-10 (6-inch) corn or flour tortillas (I used flour)
cooking spray ( I used Extra virgin olive oil spray)
Ranch Dressing and/or BBQ Sauce, for serving

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese with the bbq sauce, paprika, garlic powder, mustard, brown sugar, liquid smoke, chile powder, red pepper flakes, cilantro, scallions, onion, and 1/4 tsp kosher salt.  Fold in the pork and cheese.  Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if necessary.  Add hot sauce if you like things spicy!

Take 8-10 (6-inch) flour tortillas, wrap them in plastic wrap and microwave for about 30 seconds, just to make them pliable.

Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of filling onto the lower third of each tortilla, and roll tightly.  Place seam side-down on the prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.

Spray the taquitos lightly with cooking spray, sprinkle with Kosher salt.  Bake 15-20 minutes, or until the tortillas are crisp and golden-brown.  Serve with bbq sauce and ranch dressing for dipping.

Hope that everybody had a great weekend. Now I have to head back to my sewing room and get going on all the Christmas gifts that I have to make.

 

Putting my sewing machine to work

Well the kids started school again and this year our youngest started kindergarten. I’m sad because there are no more babies in this house. Well I’ve been trying to keep myself busy while they are all away filling there heads with knowledge. I can only stand cleaning this house once a week and with the other days I am filling my time at the sewing machine. Travis will be leaving again soon and while he is gone and the kids are at school I will be sewing and crafting my little heart out and posting new things in my etsy store. It’s been 3 years since I last put anything up in there but I am ready to open again. Now with me not working out of the home I can focus on putting lovely handmade things up for sale. This time around I will post all kinds of goodies not just punky pouches but you might see some pop in and out of there too. Plus I am open to suggestions on what people might be looking for in an etsy shop. I will post here and let you all know when things are up and running but for now I will post pictures of the things that I’ve made this last week for my daughter and niece.

as you can see my daughter loves hello kitty, but then again who doesn’t? For the pillow case dress I used this tutorial. So easy to follow and fun to make. I see more of these in the future for sure!

And now pictures of my kids on the first day of school. I can’t believe how fast they grow!