Monthly Weigh In - December

Hazzah for Jenny Craig. When I went home for Christmas, my mom and sister were doing JC and let me do it with them. So, instead of gaining round abouts of 10 pounds, I actually lost weight over the holidays! Go me!

Last Month's Weight: 184 lbs
Current Weight: 170 lbs
Monthly Weight Loss: 14 lbs
Total Weight Loss: 43 lbs

Fat Quarter Friday: Super Simple Dog Bandana

Who doesn't want their pets to look festive this time of year? Well, I'm all for putting your animals in ridiculous outfits for the holidays, but if you don't have the money or time to spend on silly dog accessories, you can make bandanas! I know we're all a little busy during the holidays, so this fat quarter friday is mega easy.

Materials:
1 Fat Quarter
Pinking Sheers (Scissors that do the zigzag cut)

Step 1: For smaller dogs, have your long edge of the bandana along the short side of the fat quarter (the side that is 18 inches long). For larger dogs, your long edge should be along the long side of the fat quarter (the side that is 22 inches long). If you want your triangle to be symmetrical, you can fold the fabric in half before you cut it with the pinking sheers, otherwise you can just wing it like I did (hence my lack of pictures). I made mine for small dogs, so they measure 18 in long and 6 in tall. If you are making them for small dogs you can make 3, but if you're making them for bigger dogs you can only make 2 out of the fat quarter.

 Step 2: Put them on all the silly dogs you know. Here's Ditto (my sister's dog),

 Goomba,

 and Hobi!

 Make sure to pay them in treats after their fashion shoot! Yum!

Fat Quarter Friday: Headband

This week I whipped together a simple and sweet little headband. To learn how to make the flower that I added to it, check out my other tutorial on shabby roses.

Materials:
1 Fat Quarter
Needle and Thread

Step 1: Iron your fat quarter and cut two strips 6 x 18"

 Put them right sides together and sew along one of the short ends.

 Iron the seam open.

 Step 2: Lay out your long strip of fabric with the wrong side facing up. Fold up the side closest to you so that your strip is folded in half hotdog style.

 Now grab the end of the fabric on your right hand side and fold it over on to the left side (hamburger style). Your fabric should now be folded so that there are four layers and that the folded edges are facing you and the right side.

 Step 3: On your folded fabric, draw where you want to cut. You may want to make the right side go in a little more if you don't want such a thick headband.

 Cut off where you marked and keep the excess because you can make the rose out of these scraps.

 Step 4: Open up your headband part way so that it is still folded in half hotdog style with the wrong side facing out. Sew along the edges where indicated, leaving one end open for turning inside out.

 Turn inside out and iron with the seam centered up towards you.

 Step 5: Make sure you sew closed your open side. I turned under the edges and just sewed it closed on the machine.

 Lay it out flat with the top side (the side without the seam) and iron it again. Use steam so that your edges get nice and crisp and stay that way.

 Step 6: Attach something cute like this rose!

 Personally, I think this thick of a headband would look better on someone with long hair, but it's still pretty cute!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

I love Christmas! Decorating the house every year is one of my favorite things. Here are some of the decorations we have up around our house.

I love this wall hanging, the felt and chunky embroidery thread give it a fun and funky feel. Plus, I got it for free since my mom had an extra set!

This simple table runner looks cute and was a piece of cake to make.

Oh Christmas Tree!

I love this santa quilt because you can actually put thing in the bag! I think this will be mega fun for Ada in a couple years.

Who doesn't love Willow Tree figurines? It makes for a very sweet and simple nativity scene. You can also see some stockings hanging off to the side. We made them last year out of scrap fabric; they're a little shotty since we made it up as we went, but we got the stocking hangers at Kohls for dirt cheap!

The lamp posts and wreath were decorations at Brian and I's wedding, oh memories. I got the sleigh bells from an antique store this summer, two sets for $16. A pretty good deal if I do say so myself.

Happy decorating everyone!

Cinnamon Swirl Cookies

Uh, yum. These cookies are super tasty. They take a little while to make, require a rolling pin, and two sticks of butter, so if you're not feeling your inner Paula these might not be for you. I do promise that if you do make them them, you won't be disappointed! These would be perfect for a Christmas party; they're light but with a rich flavor, plus they're darn cute!

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter
1 8oz package of cream cheese
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Step 1: Cream together butter and cream cheese. This goes much easier if they are both room temp.

Step 2: Gradually add in your flour and salt.

Step 3: Pull out your dough and separate it into two. Form little rectangles and wrap them up tightly in plastic wrap. Freeze for 30 min or refrigerate for 1 hour. While you're waiting, you can mix together your cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.

Step 4: Pull out one of the dough bricks and roll it out to about 12x15". Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Step 5: Start at one of the long sides and begin to tightly roll up the dough. Use a little bit of water to seal the ends when you're done rolling. Cut the log in half and repeat with the other dough brick. Freeze them for 45 min or refrigerate for 2 hours.

Step 6: Preheat oven to 400. Pull out the logs (one at a time) and begin slicing little discs off about 1/4" thick. Place the cookies on an ungreased pan and bake for 10-12 minutes. Enjoy!

Fat Quarter Friday: Shabby Roses

This week I made a set of shabby roses. They are kind of tedious to make if you don't like hand sewing, but they aren't very difficult. Plus, they look super cute! I looked at Create and Delegate to learn how make these (I switched up some things, but it's pretty similar). If you don't like hand sewing, but want to make one of these, check out this tutorial, I didn't try it because I don't have any fabric glue, but it looks pretty good!

 Materials:
1 Fat Quater
Needle and corresponding thread
Optional:
Scraps of felt
Hot glue gun

Step 1: Take your fat quarter, and on one of the short sides make little slits 2 inches apart.

 Then rip down the length of the fabric, ripping the fabric will give the roses their shabby look. You should end up with nine strips.

 Step 2: Lay one of the strips with the wrong side of the fabric up. Take one of the corners and start rolling it up like so. Roll it pretty tightly to start with.

 Continue to roll the fabric until the whole strip is done. The tutorial that I looked at said to use fabric glue to hold the rolled up strip, but I decided to use little alligator clips instead. Less messy and less likely to come undone as you're hand stitching the rose.

 Step 3: Get your needle and thread ready. take the end of the fabric roll that you started with and make a little S. Pinch it together.

 Choose one of the sides to be the underside of your rose and thread the needle through the three layers near the bottom. (I used a contrasting colored thread so you could see it, but you should use a corresponding color.)

 This is the important part. Thread the needle back through the same spot again. This will ensure that your fabric won't come undone as you go.

 Step 4: Now you're going to wrap the fabric roll around the little S you made twisting it as you go. On the underside of the rose you will need to do that double stitch thing from step 3 to hold everything together. The remainder of the rose will follow the same pattern. Switch up the way you turn the fabric roll while wrapping it around to give your rose interesting petals.

 Continue rolling and stitching until you're finished. Tie it off. Now repeat to make up to nine roses.

 Admire your pretty roses.

 Step 5: This step is optional, but I think it's pretty important. Take some scrap felt and cut it out to fit on the underside of the rose without being seen. Put some hot glue on the underside of your rose and stick the felt to it. This will help keep your rose from unraveling.

 Now you can figure out what to do with all your roses. Here are some ideas I came up with in 5 minutes. Spice up a bland pillow.

 Put some new life into an old purse.

 Put them on a skirt. (I don't actually like the way these look on this skirt, but you get the idea.)

 Attach to a headband or clip. This one is my favorite!

Happy embellishing!