Valentine's Day Decoration

I am always trying to hang decorations above my kitchen sink for birthdays and holidays so I finally made a permanent way to it with out using tape!

I measured a line from point A to point B and snapped a chalk line. DO NOT SNAP A CHALK LINE. It made it really easy to measure but it did not come off the flat paint of my ceiling. Do it the hard way with a level and a pencil. Be careful!!

Then I measured every 10" and placed a white cup hook in the ceiling.

Wah La!! Cute decorations that can be removed and no mess to clean up later. Plus now I have a designated place to hang my other decorations. (BTW those are just hearts out of heavy construction paper glued together on fishing type line)

Sew I've been Sewing!!!!

I think this has been the funnest project I have done in a long time!!! My friend Jona at Fabritopia.com has a new pattern out, "Slipcover Chic for your folding chair." I was able to get a sneak peek at it and made this little beauty.


It really took no time at all. You only need a little over 2 yards of fabric per chair and it turns out soooo beautiful!!! Run over to her store or her blog and check it out!!! This really makes me want to have a girls garden party and make more slip covers!!! Thanks Jona this pattern is so fun!!!

Gingerbread Pancakes!!!

So here is the scoop. In our family we have a tradition of a really yummy Christmas Morning Breakfast!!!! (Yes, I know I am a little late with this!!!) They are sooooo DEVINE!! My sweet husband grinds the flour fresh that morning and makes these from scratch. Soooo here is the recipe!!!

Gingerbread Pancakes

2 1/2 cups flour (we use whole wheat with barley)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 to 1/4 tsp ground cloves (we use 1/4 tsp)

3 eggs

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup water

1/4 cup brewed coffee (we use Pero)

1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:

Combine the first 8 ingredients; mix well, and set aside. Combine eggs and sugar, beating well. Add buttermilk, water, coffee (Pero) and butter; mix well. Add buttermilk mix to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened (batter will be slightly lumpy). For each pancake, pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto hot, greased griddle or skillet. (If you use whole wheat and barley make the temp a little lower, we used our electric skillet and didn't have to grease it). Turn when the tops are covered with bubbles and edges are slightly dry. Serve with warm applesauce or maple syrup, if desired. (We used Archer Farms (Target Brand) berry syrups and maple syrup and just for the kick of it whipped cream on top!!!)

Makes 16 pancakes.

Seriously it is really worth all the work. They turn out sooooo fluffy and delicious. We made them for our neighbors the other day (one of whom had pretty much written off pancakes because he had had them sooo much growing up as a kid) and they LOVED them!!! This might be a fun treat for Valentines Day!!!

Enjoy!!!

My Latest Fun Project!!

I saw these super cute place mats on clearance ($2.78 a piece) at Target and thought "those would make a really cute bag!!" So you know what I did.........
I used some fabric that I had in my stash and made pieces for the sides and the bottom and also pieced together the handles. (Sometimes I just hate it when a fabric is directional, I didn't want a seam in my handle but I had just enough when I did it that way so it has a seam but you really can't tell).

So what do you think!?! I love it and took it to school this week. It came in very handy to have some more room for an umbrella with all the rain we have gotten lately!!!

And there was a bonus....... the place mats were almost the exact size to make a really cute sewing machine cover!!!! So now I have my eye out for some more clearance place mats so I can cuteify my sewing machine!!!! I just love being crafty!!!

The Christmas Gift of Relaxation

I wanted to make a gift this year that I knew my mom could use and came up with this idea. I made a buck wheat hot pack out of buck wheat hulls, and got a flexible ice pack and made covers for them.
I wrapped them up in a cute Christmas bow and viola! an great handmade Christmas gift that will be used for years to come!

I will post a tutorial later on how to make these great little gifts!

Denim Christmas Stocking Tutorial

So this is it. My Denim Christmas Stocking Tutorial. I LOVE to recycle and reuse things and this is one of my favorite reuse projects. So here we go...........

I am on the "hand me down" list of a couple of great "cowboy" types who will give me their old Wrangler jeans when they have seen a little too much time in the saddle. So take an old pair of jeans and cut up the legs of the INSIDE leg seam.

Open the pant leg and trace a pattern from your favorite stocking or use a pattern that you already have. Place the front pattern piece on the right leg of the pants and the back pattern piece on the left leg of the pants.

Make sure that the center of the pattern is on the OUTSIDE seam of the pants and trace and cut out.

Follow the same steps for the back using the left leg of the pants.

Then closely trim out a pocket from the pants. I like to use the one with the tag on it but you can use what ever you prefer.

Then flip the pocket over and remove the inside piece to leave only the stitching and the front piece. This will reduce the weight and bulk of the pocket.

Then pin the pocket approximately 2 1/1 inches from the top of the front piece of the stocking.

Start stitching the pocket to the front piece just below the grommet of the pocket with dark thread in the outside seam so that your stitching doesn't show. Go all the way around the three sides of the pocket and then go to the top of the pocket and stitch just to the left or right of the grommet to secure the top portion. Part of the fabric next to the grommet can be hand stitched later if desired. I leave it undone.

Then pin right sides together matching up seams from the pants.

I use a 1/4 inch seam allowance so that there isn't a lot of bulk inside of the stocking. Seam all the way around the three sides of the stocking being careful of the original pants outside seams. It will be VERY bulky and you will need to take your time to go over it. You may wish to clip the seam allowance on the curves of the stocking to make it easier to turn right side out. Turn stocking right side out and smooth the seams with an iron.

At the top of the stocking trim the seam allowance at an angle to reduce bulk.

For the loop to hang the stocking remove a belt loop from the pants.

Pick out the stitching from the top and bottom of the loop where it was attached to the pants but leave the other stitching.

Attach and sew the loop as shown. Make sure to sew over the loops several times for strength.

Add a cute bandanna for fun and you are done!

This stocking can also be adapted for a girl by removing the pocket and cutting an extra toe section. Add lace to the toe section and double stitch for decoration. Then add lace at the top and use a double strand of ribbon for the loop!

I am in my Happy Place!!!

So here in Crafty Camper Girl Land it has been a balmy 65 to 70 degrees. This is perfect ironing in the garden weather. I hate to iron clothes. It is my 2nd to least favorite chore (#1, cleaning bathrooms!). So I decided a few years ago that it would be a happier chore if I could do it outside in my beautiful garden.
So when we remodeled our back yard I had an electrician come in and put an outlet in the garden for Christmas lights and for me to iron in the garden. (Yes I know that this was a ridiculous expense but, the fountain had to have electricity anyway so it wasn't much to just run a line so that I could enjoy being outside in my Happy Place.)

So I enjoyed my ironing in the garden (which could have only been better if my water fountain was working but it is temporarily out of order), while my sweet little girl took her quiet time in the play set watching a movie. It was such a fun day and I got my chores done too!!!