Ranch Oyster Crackers

Just made these the other night and they are addicting. So addicting, they can be dangerous to a girls curves. LOL

I tripled my batch because I have a lot of munchers.

Here is what you will need for a double batch...because one is just never enough. ;)

2 bags of oyster crackers (about 10 cups)

2 packages of dry ranch mix

1 tsp of dill weed

1/2 tsp of lemon pepper

1/2 tsp of garlic powder

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

First....preheat your oven to 250˚ F

Second....in a large bowl, add in ranch mix, dill weed, lemon pepper and garlic powder. Mix in vegetable oil. Then stir in your oyster crackers until all have been coated with seasonings.

Third...place on baking sheet evenly and put in your oven for 10-12 minutes. Stir the crackers. Then continue cooking for an additional 15-18 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Enjoy with soups, salads or just for snacking. They are a hit! I think these will be a go to snack for the kiddos! A great snack for holidays too!

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Sibling Shirts

I love to make shirts for my kids...and just clothes in general. Having a new baby sister was a GREAT excuse for me to make some shirts for my kiddos. I thought for weeks about what kind of shirts I wanted to make for the kids. I thought about each of them having a number, doing their initials and many other things. Tara sent me a few ideas and I liked the bodyguard shirt idea that she sent me (from cafepress) and so I started turning that over in my mind because I really liked the idea. So, I made the bodyguard shirt for Micah and then I figured I could do the bigger girls as part of the fan club. To differentiate Naomi and Hannah's shirts I added in the President and Vice President. I love the idea of the shirts but the execution of the shirts its not my finest work. But the kids really liked their shirts, it was easy for me to do and they made for some good conversation starters at the hospital. So, here are the shirts I made for my kiddos!

 My iron-on paper was pretty old and didn't work great...so it looks faded even though it's brand new.

 I also made this for Abi right away too. I saw this photo that was on pinterest and thought it was a great idea. If I had a cricut machine I would've used freezer paper and paint to make these shirts, but since I don't and didn't feel like cutting out the letters by hand I decided to just use iron-on transfer paper.

And one more shot of my fan club and bodyguard!

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Guest Post - Pumpkin on my Bumkin

Hi, I'm Tricia from Made By Me. Shared With You, a little sewing blog that I try to keep up.  I'm excited to be here sharing one of my favorite projects, the Lil' Pumpkin appliqued bodysuit.  Being a mother of two little ones, I like projects that are quick, simple, and easy on the budget.  This little appliqued bodysuit can be made up during a nap time, and will have your little bundle of joy ready for Fall.

I call it the "There's a pumpkin on my bumkin applique".  There are very few times in life when it's okay to have pictures or words plastered on your bottom, but the baby stage is one (if not the only) acceptable stage. Having boys, I don't get to indulge in ruffled bottom tights and bloomers, so an appliqued onesie will have to work.

It's a simple little applique that I designed.  I'll share the file with you so long as you respect that it is for personal use only.  The template is designed to fit a pre-washed Carter's 0-3 month onesie.  You can feel free to adjust it to different sizes.

My applique is done with some scrap knit fabric that I have had stashed away, heat and bond fusible adhesive,  some embroidery thread, and lightweight fusible interfacing.

Begin by applying the heat and bond to the wrong side of the fabric.  

Next transfer the image to the front side of the fabric using pattern marking/transfer paper. Cut out your pieces.

Adhere the applique pieces to the onesie.  I had the small pumpkin in the front, and the large pumpkin on the behind.  It should fit right in line with the seams and snaps on the onesie.

 I used my embroidery thread to do some hand stitching.  I feel that it adds some visual interest to the applique.  You could do some machine stitching around the images if you prefer.  If you are using a fabric that frays (knits generally won't) you will want to ensure that you either satin stitch (tight zig zag) around the image, or apply some sort of fray check or fray block to the raw edges.

Once I was done with the applique and hand stitching I used some fusible interfacing to secure the embroidery threads, and prevent the thread from irritating babies chest.

That's it.

A fun little applique for the season.

You can find the template here.  Once again, the template is for personal use only.

Thank you so much Tricia for sharing this adorable lil bumkin with us today! We loved having you.

Please make sure you stop by and thank Tricia for sharing this with you. You can find her HERE.

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Number 2 shaped cake

Hello friends, I hope that you are doing great and had an incredible week!! We are still waiting on the little lady inside to make her appearance but things are moving along! 

Yesterday (Friday) was my little girls 2nd birthday! I couldn't decide what kind of cake to make for her...not which flavor but which design/character/etc. My husband had a great idea (again! he's been on a roll lately)! He said, "why not make a "2" cake?" I thought that was a great idea!! So Thursday night at 10:40pm I put the cakes in the oven (nothing like waiting till the last minute). While the cake baked I sewed the 2 on little Hannah's shirt!! Procrastination at its finest!

I wanted to share here how I made the 2 because it took some thinking through in order to make it happen. Yes, it was easy to make but just wanted to save y'all the hassle of thinking ;). Here's how I made her 2 cake!

I baked the cake in my grandmas old jello mold and a loaf pan. The jello mold took 22 minutes to bake and the loaf pan cake took 30 minutes so make sure to check with a toothpick and don't assume they'll be done at the same time.

I traced the jello mold and then folded the circle in half 4 times then I cut a two part section off hoping it would be a good size to make the top curving part of the two! Lucky guess, it worked great!

I used the little cut paper piece as a cutting template for myself. Then I put the cake on my foil lined baking sheet and made it look like a 2.

I took the loaf cake and cut it in half the long way and cut each half in half. I put the top halves aside because they were uneven and I knew I wouldn't need them. Then I put frosting between the two layers of the bottom of the 2 and a little frosting between the parts where the curve met.

I then put the cake in the freezer for a bit so I can frost it without a ton of crumbs. 

One trick I've learned is to put some wax paper under the edges of the cake so that the frosting doesn't get on the plate. 

I do a crumb coat...it's just a thin layer of frosting so that the crumbs that will inevitably get mixed into the frosting come up into the frosting. After the crumb coat is on I put it back in the freezer for about 30 minutes and then I'll put the final layer of frosting and decorations on the cake.

Just had to share this photo! A good way to remember my little girls birthday...my huge belly and her 2 cake!

I added one more layer of frosting...smoothed things out the best I could and added a few pink decorations. I was finishing up the decorating AT my parents house right before dinner...again, procrastination at its finest!

My awesome crazy family at Hannah's birthday party!! My parents cooked one of my favorite meals and I'm so grateful...it was a great way to celebrate Hannah!!!!


Just wanted to show you how to make a number 2 shaped birthday cake! Hope it can come in handy for you and your 2 year old sometime! Have a great weekend!

Oh and if you didn't see it, I have a SHABBY APPLE $50 Gift card giveaway going on at my blog. Giveaway ends Sunday night and entries are LOW so head over there and enter today!!

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Been A Busy Bee

We have been busy little bee's lately! I wanted to share some of the things we have been working on.  I plan on also making some tutorials for a couple of these photos that I am sharing today.

First up is our tie dye fun! The volleyball team wanted some tie dye shirts, so we made some with them. We had some extra dye, so we made some more things with my kiddos at home.

I also made a cute outfit for my youngest daughters friends birthday! I added scraps to a skirt, a butterfly to the back of the shirt and I also made a headband and bracelet to match.

Here is another scrappy newborn dress I made for an Instagram Friend

My niece asked me to make her a headband.  Here it is. I loved it and I made one for the birthday gift outfit. I love them and plan on making a lot more!

My last share is some bracelets I made for my Grandad who is battling cancer right now. Please say a prayer for him as he continues his treatment.

And here is a pic on me wearing my 3 bracelets. Once for my husbands Godfather that we lost to cancer (you are always in our thoughts, we love and miss you) my Grandad's bracelet and the Heaven is For Real and You're Gonna Love It bracelet!

I played with some apps on my phone for the bracelet pics. I am in love with my apps. LOL

Happy Monday everyone! Be back soon!

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Matching girls dress and American Girl Doll dress

My kids got invited to a birthday party for a little friend from church. I love when I get to create little gifts for their friends! It's always fun to sew for my kids but I love when I get to share my limited sewing skills with others as well. So I decided to make a pillowcase dress with a small dress to match for her American Girl doll as well. Pillowcase dresses are pretty easy to make...and there are a ton of tutorials out there so I'm not going to post a full tutorial just some of the things I do to make it easier on myself!

I always fold the fabric in half and cut BOTH the front and the back at the same time. Saves me some measuring and cutting and then I'm sure my pieces match (maybe everyone does that, I don't know)

This was a size 8 dress and I measure the top part to be 8 inches (folded) the length was about 27 inches and the bottom of the arm cutout was at 23 inches.

Then I sew wrong sides together (right sides out) and then the top layer of fabric close to the stitch line.

Iron the longer piece just to the stitch marks

Then fold over again and sew (does that make sense?). This is so that you don't have any unfinished raw edges!!

And I just wanted to show you that you CAN make a pillowcase dress without using bias tape! I just folded the edge under twice and sewed it down!

I made a little hair clip for the birthday girl (that's my daughter in the pic, not the bday girl)...and I decided to try something new and added this ribbon behind the "flower"

Here's the finished dresses!

Dresses for a little girl and her doll, and matching hair accessories too!

Here's the birthday girl and her doll Kit!! So cute!

She really seemed to like the dress and is excited to match her doll!!

I haven't listed these in my etsy store yet but I will be. If you're interested in buying a set for your daughter or a loved one they are $30 per set (which includes 4 items). Email me to start the fabric conversation (I don't have anymore of this fabric and couldn't find it where I found it the first time)! purejoycreative at gmail dot com. Hope you had a great weekend!

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