Perfect Thrifting Karma

I found this awesome needlework the other day. I had a Chai in one hand and 9 minutes left on the meter but decided to pop into a thrift store I hadn't noticed before next to the post office. It's everything I like about Christmas decor, I love it so. According to the tag, this beauty had been there since 2007 and had been marked down to 75 cents. A dollar bought it along with half a roll of red and white striped wrapping paper. Score!

Christmas Elves

Christmas crafting is in full swing around these here parts, though I'm having to seriously revise my list of critical, must-be-done-in time projects. I did manage to carve out some time to make three little elf dolls as a thank-you gift for another triplet family that has passed on a ton of clothes and other items from their girls who are almost exactly one year older than mine. Let me tell you, triplet moms are awesome. They've all been there, they know what you need and they tell you you're going to be just fine. None of that "OMG, I don't know how you do it" or "I could never manage" nonsense that you hear from every stranger that comes within 50 feet of the triple stroller.

I used the free pattern that Hilary so generously posted a couple of years ago and stitched them up on muslin. For the back I used some retro fabric that I have been hoarding, thinking I would back a quilt with it. They have been tucked into a box and are on their way to three little girls who I hope will love them to pieces.

Grasmere Apple Cake

When Grandma was visiting a few weeks ago, she reminded me about her favorite cake recipe. She's been making it as long as I've been around. It originally was published in our home town newsletter and then reprinted as my contribution to Mrs. Ferraro's third grade class' Mother's Day cookbook circa 1979. Oh, the things I have to look forward to when the girls are in school, like receiving my own recipes in a kid-decorated leaflet as a gift.

We had just gone apple picking and had 25-ish pounds of fresh McIntosh, Cortlands, Empires, Galas and Honeycrisps sitting on the kitchen counter. Mom got right to work cutting the apples and removing the cores in preparation for grating them into the cake. We used Empires, McIntosh and Cortland but you can use your favorites. When I made the cake again a few weeks ago, I was lazy and didn't cut and core the apples first. It was actually easier to hang onto them when they are whole and you end up with a tidy little core at the end. Sorry about that, Mom!

I gathered the rest of the ingredients and started putting the dough together. As always, I used the recipe as written but substituted my favorite gluten-free flour.

It is delicious when still warm, and (according to my husband) even better when chilled. I left off the glaze because I didn't have any lemons and didn't miss it, though it is apparently my mother's favorite part. It's a crumb cake and the gluten-free version is excellent even after several days in the refrigerator.

Grasmere Apple Cake

4 c. flour (I substituted the Gluten-Free Pantry All Purpose Flour)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 c. sugar

3/4 lb. butter

2 eggs, beaten

6-9 apples, washed

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cardamom

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients and cut in butter until mealy texture achieved. Add beaten eggs and blend with your fingertips. Divide dough in half, pat into bottom of a 9x13 inch pan (I lined mine with parchment paper). Grate apples over bottom layer. Spring with the sugar and spice mixture and pat remaining dough on top. Bake 325 degrees Farenheit for ~55 minutes, or until golden brown.

Cool, then glaze if desired with the following:

1 c. icing sugar

juice of 1/2 lemon

Baby Burritos

The week before the girls were born I waddled into my sewing nook and made a dozen large colorful swaddling blankets from Anna Maria's Folksy Flannel. I purchased a yard of each and squared them up with my rotary cutter and finished them with a rolled hem using my trusty serger. The remnants were also hemmed and added to my basket of wash cloths and burp rags so I literally used every square inch of fabric for this project. They were by far the easiest and most useful items I made for the babies. The Folksy Flannel is a wonderful weight for this sort of application and the colors are simply gorgeous; I can't tell you how many compliments I received.

The only thing I would do differently next time is to make them bigger. We swaddled our girls for a long time and once they got to be about 13 pounds they started to bust out of them. I made a few more from 1 1/4 yard pieces and they worked until we stopped needing them at about 6 months old. They are still in great shape (even after many washings) and I'm sure I will be able to re-purpose them at some point in the future. For now I'm keeping them in the bin with the teeny-tiny premie clothes that I can't bear to part with.

Let the Mommy blogging begin

The Bean, the Bear and the Bandit*

So, that pregnancy thing I was working on? It turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. It also turned out that having three newborn babies living in your house is a lot of work. Now that we are eight months out and the babies go to bed at 7:30 pm and I am back at my job where I get an actual lunch break, I have time to make stuff again. And, possibly, hopefully, blog about it.

*Not their real names, obviously, but how they will be know here in Blogland. Bean because she was such a teeny tiny bean when she was born, Bear because she's such a squishy sweet Gummy Bear of a baby and Bandit because she had colic and ruled the house for months.

Plus One

Take one adorable couple then add one gorgeous baby boy and what do you get? The plus one baby boy quilt, of course!

I knew I wanted to make Mr. E a baby quilt to welcome him into the world but I struggled with what it would look like. I wanted it to have meaning and not just be useful. Luckily, the internet is jammed packed with inspiration and I found mine at Film in the Fridge.

For me all those plus signs speak not only to the addition of a family member but also the addition of immense amounts of love to your life. It is the addition of a connection between mom, dad, and baby E. It is the addition of the best kind of chaos. The addition of rough and tumble play and scraped knees. It is the addition of memories just waiting to be made.

A new baby is so much more than the seemingly simple addition of one.

Kindergarten!

For more than a year now Little Miss Lou has been talking about when she was little. Because you know that at 4 going on 5 you are all grown up and ready to take on the world. Or really just take on kindergarten. And that’s just what she started doing last week.

As a complete, rambling aside….How did this happen? It was but yesterday that I met her for the first time. She was tiny little thing, only slightly bigger than a five pound bag of flour. Her car seat seemed to consume her and her beautiful, pink baby flesh. And poof, overnight, she’s five and getting ready for her first day of school. I certainly don’t feel five years older but one look at her and I realize time has been marching along. And in that gap of time a beautiful kid emerged, full of energy, imagination, politeness, and the occasional bad joke.

So, what was I to do but make her a kindergarten wardrobe? I may not be able to stop those hands of time but I can certainly turn out a handmade wardrobe special enough to mark this amazing milestone.

Of course, the patterns are from Oliver + S. They are simple, classic silhouettes and they’ve never let me down. I picked the jump rope dress (because I not so secretly wish they had an adult size), the Sunday brunch jacket and skirt, and the 2 + 2 blouse and skirt. For fabrics I wanted a palette of red, orange, turquoise, and blue. That led me to prints from Joel Dewberry, Heather Bailey, Cosmo Cricket, and Anna Griffin. And because not everything can be a print I chose some red broadcloth and red fine wale corduroy that feels as soft as velvet.

I couldn’t be more proud of the wardrobe I came up with. It’s perfect for a girl her age and will take her from late summer through fall and early winter. Imagine the dress on chilly days with tights and a cardigan. Or those blouses with a cute pair of cords and a long sleeve T underneath. And then there is the brunch jacket with a dark pair of jeans, some wild socks, and a pair of brown mary janes.

But all that pales in comparison to how proud I am of Little Miss Lou. Though she was a bit nervous she handled herself with such confidence that first day. Congratulations, my sweet Lou! I hope you enjoy every day of this new adventure.