Santa in Burlap and Canvas

My cute Sis-in-law found a fun Santa Project on pinterest.  The original was done on a board painted white. You can see the post here.  I decided I wanted to do mine on Canvas and Burlap.  There are two Santa's shown here and I've given you my favorite images I found on Google Images.  Coloring pages work the best.  I followed the same method as shown here.

Except I attached my fabric to my quilting stands to get it pulled taut.  Again I just used a sharpie to outline the image.  For the Wall hangings I added red fabric to the edges to frame Santa.  I also added a small sleeve at the top to be able to slide a dowel through for hanging.  I wanted a happy Santa and these were my favorite images.

 He sure looks handsome there on my wall.  A quick easy project, and 

Oh, So, Festive!

Pillow Bed Tutorial

My friend asked me to make 5 of these Pillow Beds for her for Christmas gifts.  

We scoured the internet for a good tutorial and came up empty.  

I came up with this pattern and it's super easy.  

All you need to know is how to measure, cut, and sew a straight line.  

Easy Peasy!

First you need to get a twin sheet.  You can do it with fabric but it will cost you a ton more and the sheet is the perfect size.  My friend bought 5 different sheets so the photos are of a few different ones, but the process is exactly the same.  

I just assembly lined them. 

 I would suggest washing and drying your sheets before cutting.  

I didn't and had to iron all of them before final assembly.

Lay out your fabric.  You need a piece that measures 65 inches by 76 inches.  The great thing about the sheet is that it's already hemmed at 65 inches.  That will totally save time hemming the sides.

 She bought standard pillows to fill the bed, so you can see the dimentions.  Since I want them to be tight and full, I'm going to make the finished size smaller than the printed pillow size.
Trust me.  This will turn out awesome.

 This is how I got the 65 inches.  You want the fabric to overlap in the back to keep the pillow snug, but still allow you to take out the pillow in case the bed needs to be washed.

You can see the hemmed finished sheet is exactly the width we need. 

I cut off the top cuff from the sheet.  Then measure the total length from here.

To get the length, I measured 19 inches for the pillow height and times that by 4 since there are 4 pillows in each bed.  for a total of 76 inches.  Trim the length of the sheet to 76 inches.

 I marked the sheet in several places at 76 inches then cut along the line to make sure the length stayed straight.

 Now the bottom edge is cut off, I have some scrap left.  I want to add a stripe to the bed so I cut about 4 inches of the width of the fabric.  I usually cut about 6-10 inches, then fold up the strip and use that as my cutting guide, moving the strip up the fabric as I cut.  It's an easy way to keep things mostly straight and I don't have to get out my quilting grid.

At this point you can add any embellishment you want to the large sheet piece.  I'm just adding one stripe.  Polka dots would be fun too or a monogram.  Do any embellishment now because it will be next to impossible once you have the bed assembled.

 Next I ironed the heck out of all of it.
The strips I folded over the edges like shown.  This will make adding them easy.

 Pin the stripes in place and stitch down either side.  I placed them about 6 inches from the top of the main piece.

 Now lay out the sheet right side up.  I layed my pillow in the center to decide how wide the opening needs to be.  I measured 25 inches width for the pillow.  Pin the fabric at 0 and at 25.  I eyeballed where center was and measured the 25 inches there.

 This is a better picture of where to place the tape measure.  Late afternoon sun shining on my work.

 Fold over one side of the fabric at the pin at 0 all the way down, keeping everything flat.  Do the same with the other side, folding at the 25 inch pin.  This creates your envelope closure.  Pin in place.

 Serge or Zig-zag the ends closed.  Then turn right side out.

Lay out the bed making sure everything is nice and flat, no wrinkles or puckers.
Now mark the fabric at 18.5 inches, 37.5 inches, and 56.5 inches like shown.
I put several pins along each stitch line to hold everything in place and make sewing a straight line easy.
Sew the lines, back stitching at the folded over piece to keep it secure.

Stuff your pillows inside and you're done!
Here are the other color combinations of beds I made for my friend.
All sheets are thanks to Walmart at $4.50 a piece.
Not to bad!
Plus the color combinations are super cute!

I asked my kiddo's to try it out and they loved it.
I may have to make a few more for them for Christmas.
Sshhh don't tell!

 Thanks little guy!  

Rolls and Pies. Oh Yeah!

It's that time of year again, and once again my assignment is rolls and pies.
I don't mind one bit.
I love baking!


I just wanted to share what I'll be making tomorrow in preparation for the Big Feast on Thursday.


We are actually going to both sides of the family so I get to do double duty on my share of the fixin's.

This first one is hands down, my husband's favorite.

As long as there are Orange rolls and ham, he's happy.


1.  Whole Grain Orange Rolls



2.  Strawberry Rhubarb Pie



3. Apple Pie



4. Dinner Rolls

Plus this year I'm going to add a Fabulous Coconut Creme Pie, and a Pumpkin Pie.

I will definitely share.

But of the 4 already pictured which one has your mouth watering?

Rolls... pie... ???

As we say in my family, "I"ll have a little bit of each!"

A Scrapy Turkey Lurkey

I finally got my little Turkey Lurkey finished.

I knew I had posted the pattern for this cute little guy a while ago but when I went back through my blog post list, I realized it was in 2009 that I originally posted the pattern.

2009.
I can't believe it.

You can see it here.

Well he's finally done.

I used several of my scraps to make the feathers, and added some fun elements to the finished project.

Let me show you.

 Here's a close-up of his face.  I used some small black buttons for his eyes, and a soda pop tab for the buckle on his hat band.  Each of the pieces were ironed on with interfacing, then hand stitched in place.  You could also easily use a sharpie to get a similar look.

Here's his scrawny Turkey legs, hand stitched.

I used the remaining scraps to make the binding around the edges.

There is a dowel at the top to keep him flat and some scrap burlap for the ties.

Turkey Lurkey says,

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Be sure to stop back tomorrow.  I'll be sharing what I'm making for Thanksgiving. ;)

My Pita Jungle

I recently went to lunch with a friend to Pita Jungle.  While the food was good and it was nice to reconnect with my friend, I thought I could make this at home.  I love pitas and hummus and after going to Shar's class, I now know how to make them at home.  Plus now I know exactly what goes into it and I can make it as healthy as I want.  I will share the recipe for Pitas, and Hummus.  

Seriously, both are Fabulous!

Honey Wheat Pita Pocket Bread

Makes 9 pockets

In your mixer combine the following:

2 cups warm water

1 Tbsp honey

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp Dough Enhancer

2 Tbsp Dough Relaxer

2 cups high gluten flour or 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten

2 Tbsp yeast

1 cup fresh ground whole wheat flour

Mix gently.  Add enough flour, wheat or white, to gather dough into a soft ball.  

Knead 8 minutes to develop gluten.

Remove a golf ball sized piece of dough and place on a well floured surface.

Roll out into a disc from the center out.  Do not roll to the edge.  This allows the pocket to form.

Place dough on parchment paper and let rest about 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees with pizza stone in place.

 I doubled the recipe since I have a large family.  Plus they freeze well, so make extra to save for later.

Bake for 4 minutes.

 Remove and quickly put in a heat proof plastic bag and let them sweat a little.  If too much moisture accumulates in the bag, open it and let dry.

Let cool and cut to fill.

Aren't they beautiful?

 Cilantro Lime Hummus

First we need to cook the garbanzo beans.  You can use canned if you want.

I used my Kuhn Rikon Pressure cooker.  If you soak the beans overnight, it only takes 15 minutes at pressure.  Otherwise it takes about 60 minutes.

In pressure cooker add 2 cups dry beans with 6 cups water.

 I use about 1 tsp of Crystalized Ginger when I cook the beans.  It helps decrease the Fluffy-Tummy effect beans can have.  

I always use it when I cook beans, any kind.

Bring to pressure, set timer, and reduce to low but still maintaining pressure.  When timer is done, remove from heat and let presure drop naturally.

 In a blender combine:

3 cups soft cooked Garbanzo beans, drained, but reserve liquid

Juice and zest from one lime

1 fresh clove garlic

1/2 cup tightly packed chopped cilantro leaves

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp granulated garlic

2 Tbsp Tahini paste (ground sesame seeds)

1/4 - 2/3 cups bean liquid

Blend well to desired consistency.

Store in airtight container in the fridge.

Serve with pita chips, or fresh vegetables.

So Yummy!