Another Shirt Dress

My husband had this shirt that I loved because it is soft and huggable, sadly, he decided that it was time for the shirt to find a new owner. He gave it to me so I could bring to Goodwill, but then I told him about this cool idea of making dresses for the girls with his old shirts and he wanted his shirt back!!!  he he he, I said, too late, because I made this for Estrella ....

I used the same collard from the original shirt, and put some ribbon at the bottom.

she loves it cause it twirls....











and twirls!!!!

I had enough shirt left over to make Isabella this skirt, but I don't like it much, she likes it, even though she looks mad, she loves it! just for the fact that I always make things for Estrella and nothing for her cause she will wear it anyway when she is bigger, right? 

 I put a ribbon at the waist cause I didn't have more fabric, the bottom part is the bottom part of the original shirt. I added the same ribbon, it has pink ladybugs, the girls love that!

they like to pose for the camera!

 Well, it turned out ok, it is so soft, Estrella didn't want to take it off at bed time. It is warm also, so it is good for this Chicago winter. It is not a dress for parties or Church, but a home dress, one she can wear to relax. Everybody has those kind of dresses right? In Guatemala we call them mumus!






How do you sew ruffles? I found it a bit hard. any tips?

Dinner Tonight

Today the hubby is at school. Usually I do not cook on the days he is at school, but today I let Estrella cook with me since she was so eager to. I decided not to follow the recipe I had plan for  today. Instead I wanted to use some left over uncooked Fettuccini I had and some sour cream. Here is what we made.
Fettuccini with Creamy Spinach and Tomatoes
 4 portions
Cooking Time: with a child doing almost all the cooking, 25 minutes! just you, probably 15 -20 min.


Ingredients:

6 oz. fettuccini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium red onion thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
4 cups of baby spinach
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup sour cream (I like Daisy, best flavor)
1/4 grated pecorino
grated parmesan for serving
Salt, pepper
1 envelope of seasoning Goya, cilantro & achiote


1. Cook the pasta according to package, I put some salt on the water so the pasta has some flavor.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until beginning to brown, stir. Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Add the tomatoes and cook until they begin to soften tossing frequently. Add the sour cream an the seasoning Goya.
3. Add the Pecorino and the pasta, toss to combine.
4. Serve with some parmesan.
5. Enjoy!

This picture is nothing compare to the flavor of this meal, Estrella was so thrilled that she had cooked the whole thing, she ate it all and she doesn't even like onions!! but she overlooked that and thought it was delicious, it was!!!  She even served it and shredded the parmesan by herself. The only thing I did was to chopped the onion and the garlic, then handed her the ingredients as I explained and be sure her and Isabella didn't burn themselves on the skillet. That's why I didn't take any pics. I can't believe how much making a meal made a difference in how much they ate, Isabella had a big bowl of this meal and previous to that she was "helping" Estrella to stir but really she was getting little pieces of this and that on her spoon and eating them. She loves onion. Anyway, I thought it was an easy and child friendly meal, they loved doing it and they loved eat it. Hope you try it. Do you let your 4 year old cook with you? What are some good child friendly to eat and to cook recipes?

My inspiration came from the Real Simple recipe Whole-Grain Spaghetti with garlicky Kale and Tomatoes, on the February issue, you can totally try that one as well, it is fast and easy. I like to follow the recipes from the Real Simple Magazines, Cooking Light or Food & Wine. I make my menu once a week and go to the store with my list of ingredients for the recipes that week, sometimes I have all the ingredients but one at home, so my shopping list is not too big, sometimes I can't find one thing at one store and then I forget to look for it on the other one (I know, too much for a list) We have found this to be the best method for us, it helps us to avoid wasting food, we eat all the left overs in the same week we made the meal, and the best part, we don't spend too much on groceries. You won't believe it,  but I usually spend between $50 and $60 a week. I think that is a good deal, don't you think? How do you plan your meals? weekly, monthly?

Seeds for jewelry!

I haven't updated my blog for quite a while because I had a very sick child, she got a virus in her stomach and it was a nightmare of a sickness, we didn't sleep for 7 days in a row. She is lots better now!!

My brother used to live in a house in the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin, there was a three with the weirdest seeds I've ever seen, but beautiful, they look like wood gems. I picked some of them and decided that I will find a way to show them off. Well, Chris found a way to drill a hole in them and I made this set of necklace and bracelet as a Birthday present. I have a close up picture of it, but it s not in my computer, as soon as I can scanned I will post it. (if you click on the picture you can get a close up look of the pieces) I used green stones and silver beads. I really like the contrast of colors. My friend really liked it. I wish I would know the name of the tree, I need to do some research. I know this has nothing to do with sewing or knitting but it is one of my creations, so I wanted to show it to you. Do you think is too ordinary to make jewelry out of something so common?

Winter Flowers in a Purse!!

I took a little break from hats to make this purse. I used chunky yarn and circular needles #8. I started at the bottom the same way I started the socks from the toe up, which I know I still have to post a picture of. This purse was incredible easy to make. Although I think I want to try a different way of making the handles.

This is my own creation so I still need to write down the pattern, play with it a little more. I put a lining of brown fabric (no picture sorry) Do you think little girls would love one of this? What are your thoughts on the flowers? a little bigger, put more than two, in a different position, maybe thicker ribbon? Please leave your comments!!

Winter Flowers in a Purse!!

I took a little break to make something different from hats. I made this purse for my niece. I used chunky yarn and started in the bottom, so it has no seams, I used circular needles #8. I took me about three nights to finish it. I lined it with some brown fabric, (no picture sorry) But I think I need a better way to make the handles. This is the first time I made a purse so I have to write down the pattern. Do you think little girls like to have one of these? Do you think the flowers should be bigger, in a different position? leave me your feedback.

More Winter Flowers Hats

Happy New Year!!! Hope this year is full of crafty, creative creations! Well, I didn't think that trying to make everybody a Christmas present was going to take me soooooo long! I didn't even have time to update my blog, until today. I wanted to post some of my latest hats just to show you the colors,

and I tried putting two flowers in one, unfortunately my camera was uncharged and I had to use the little one that doesn't take good pictures. Sorry the pink one is upside down. I made that for a 4 month old.

What do you think of the two flowers? This ribbon was super gorgeous, too bad the picture doesn't show it. The yarn I used is a non-pill kind super soft.

This two are the adult girl version.

 

Anyway, what do you think of this color combinations? do you have any good color combination ideas you want me to try? by the way, I know I owe you the pattern, working on it.  I am working on some brick color, (I am not sure what color that would be) with a blue ribbon and some baby size ones using organic yarn, bamboo, super soft!