One way to beat the long winter blahs is to have growing plants indoors.  A suggestion is make a terrarium, time required an hour or less.

What is A Terrarium? A terrarium is a miniature landscape with living plants and even sometimes small animals like lizards or turtles.

A terrarium is a miniature ecosystem which is a complex system of relationships between organisms and resources of different types.  If you have a good balance of plants, soil, nutrients, and water in your terrarium you will be able to seal it up and watch it grow and thrive for very long periods of time – sometimes even years.

It’s quick, easy and doesn’t have to be expensive. To save money, on your terrariums, look around your house for a container or shop discount stores, flea markets or consignment shops to find glass containers, jars or even goldfish bowls. The plants you’ll use are generally small houseplants, which can often be bought for a couple of bucks each, so the whole project, depending on the size of your jars, can be made for well under $20. Terrariums also make wonderful and impressive gifts, even for people who consider themselves plant-challenged.

There are lots of tutorials online to help you along the way, here is one I found that has very specific easy to follow instructions.  Kerry Michael at about.com has a great tutorial with lots of pictures..here is an example of her finished project.

When your done send me a picture and I will post a picture of mine.

Reminder:  Leave your comment this week and tell us what is your least favorite chore around your house.  Your comment will enter you in the drawing for this cute embroidered towel.

I was blessed recently to have a lady in Canada want to purchase 15 little girls aprons for favors for the guests at her daughter’s birthday party.  We worked out a special pricing for her based on using 2009 leftover fabrics and remnants to allow me to price them within her budget.  Thought you might like to see what the birthday party girls will be wearing.

This apron was especially made for the birthday girl!  I hope she loves it.

What a great idea for a gift that has so many purposes…I hope each one will wear them and remember the fun they had at the party.  And the birthday girl, well of course I had to make her’s special.  Mom said she is a girly girl so to me that meant ruffles and more ruffles, bright colors and all the trim…I hope she loves it.

It is always my prayer that the person receiving something we have made will sense the love we put into our craft of making something special and unique for them.  I hope that is especially true of these little girls aprons.

My 13 year old grandson, Kaleb,  lives in the city, loves button down shirts, hunting, fishing, all sports but especially basketball.  He has never had a male role model so I think it is in his genes to be so “all guy” and love guy things…For Christmas he told me he wanted cowboy boots and a cowboy hat…

Wearing a button down shirt the day he told me all of this, he crossed his arms and said, “Grandma, when I grow up I am going to be a Texas businessman.”  I had to smile and tell him, “you can do whatever you set your dreams on” and hope his dreams come true…

This picture was taken Christmas day when he opened his cowboy hat…at 13 he is 2″ taller than Grandma and wears a man’s size 9 shoe.  But isn’t he handsome and oh that smile.

I couldn’t find boots that fit I could afford so I went online and ordered boots and then they were back ordered until April!!!!!!!!!!!  I was somewhat put out because when I ordered online it said, “in stock, ships next day.”  So last weekend I finally canceled the order and hit the local stores and found a pair of boots that fit his wish list, (with some extra funds from Mom and his Christmas money he received).

Then I forgot to take pictures of him in the boots but trust me he loved them.  He made me go for a walk on the walking trail so he could get used to walking in them ..he climbed up four flights of stairs several times….he made those heels smack when he walked…he was all smiles, all day….  Way to go cowboy Kaleb, you are my partner for sure.

Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.  Many of you may be aware Deb and I have an online store at CreativeChics.com. Recently she had finished up several new napkins patterns and brought them over for a photo shoot utilizing some of my dinnerware that would help pick up the colors of the napkin fabrics.

So today I don’t have a tablescape for a meal but thought you might feel a touch of spring from some of these beautiful new designs and photos.

The beautiful flower pot in these photos is another story…take an old clay pot glue some moss to the outside of the pot for a beautiful old aged look…fill it with flowers, in this case pink anemone’s and you have a marvelous arrangement that just keeps getting prettier with age.

Surely these are giving you spring fever, they sure did me….

Here are just a few others, she did a super job of getting wonderful spring colors and I can’t wait to use some of them, after all they match my dishes:)

Orange the new “hot” color…is too retro for me…. but these are beautiful.

Spring Fever, yes I have it.

How about you?

Check out all of the beautiful tablescapes at Susan’s it is time well spent.  If you like Deb’s napkins there are more at CreativeChics.com.

The 96″ tie I turned and told you about yesterday….  Today you are in for a treat of treats…  Please hold the applause until the end

The apron is finished and I cannot resist showing you pictures, not because the apron is so swell….but the model…she is super, fantastic, fun, beautiful, and I am so glad I can call her my daughter.

Now you have to admit she is absolutely gorgeous!!!!  Not because of her attire but inside and out.

Get a load of this one I took while she was trying to give me instructions…

Now that was a shot we laughed about and loved…. We had so much fun.  She came prepared with white clothing knowing it would show well with any of the aprons she was modeling for me and get a load of those heels….I think my comments were, “where did you get those gorgeous shoes”, her answer to those kinds of questions is always a beautiful smile, and “I don’t remember.”

Check these out…

Now who could resist a cookie from that girl?

Then she really got domestic on me and wanted the swiffer, not like she is really cleaning folks, just having fun with me…I have to admit she definitely entertained me…  And you want to see the model’s shoes for this outfit..

It didn’t matter what we put on her, she looked great in everything…beautiful little girls are like that..

A wife and Mother to the nth degree with four beautiful children, a grandmother to one, a retired Sprint Director, former Hallmark computer wizard, a tech savvy lifesaver to the whole family, loves family, friends, home and garden, and most of all a special friend to her Mother….

I know all of you who have girls no doubt think they are the most beautiful but my three girls….they are so gorgeous, so special and I am so proud of all of them…  Thanks for letting me boast a little…

No, not a man’s tie!  An apron tie… I decided to try some new patterns out the first of the year.  I took a pattern idea out of a book and threw a few of my ideas into it and I am in the process of sewing it up after a day of figuring out the cutting…

The ties to the apron are 96″, yes that is ninety-six inches, long…why, because it wraps around and ties in the front.  I have observed the ties wrapped around to the front is a new look that is catching on and I wanted a shot at doing it.

This morning I put the ties together, two fabrics, one front and one on the reverse side.  Then it was time to turn them.  The ties are 3″ across but it still took me forever to get those long girls turned right side out and almost as long to get them to lay flat under the iron.

In the picture to the left the ties are folded in eighths.

The next picture on the right is in fourths.

And this picture on my 3 foot by 4 foot styroboard I use for photography!!

Big!!

And the one in the center of the board; that is the one I have left to turn and press. I was hoping someone might want to come help me

I hope the new apron is worthy of the price I will be putting on it to account for all of my labor not to mention the three yards of fabric!!  And I can already say, “I won’t be making it again, at least not this pattern!”

As Deb would say, “Go Sew Girl” and quit your whining, it’s a joke between us!

A favorite soup of my family is potato soup.   In my single days, potato soup would be on the menu if I cooked for a man because I knew they would love it.  Serve it with a salmon steak, grilled asparagus, and a hard roll and you will win hearts, my husband loved it.

Today I made potato soup and wanted to share with you how it was made.

The ingredients

2 medium sized baking potatoes

1 cup of diced ham (purchased diced so I would not have to chop ham and as a substitute for bacon, cholesterol  and weight issues)

1 cup low fat sharp shredded cheese, (low fat substitute for Velveeta, same issues as bacon)

2 stalks of celery

6 green onions

1 teaspoon (or more, I didn’t measure) fresh ground black pepper

I wash the potatoes and leave the skin on because that provides better nutritional value, then I chop into bite size chunks, (every kitchen requires a good chopping knife).

Chop the celery and onion and set aside enough  of the onion tops, and cheese to garnish 6 servings.  Place the chopped potatoes, celery and onion  in a pan of boiling water, adding a heaping teaspoon of sea salt.

Cook until potatoes are still slightly firm and never mushy!

While the vegetables are boiling take a small saute skillet on medium high heat sligthly brown the ham.  This process will bring out the flavor and juice in the ham better than just putting it into the boiling water.

Doesn’t that look juicy and yummy?  Set the ham aside to enhance flavors.

Drain the potatoes and add 3 cups milk (2% milk and no butter, those same issues with cholesterol and weight just kept coming up.)

Add the ham (setting aside some ham for garnish if you want) and cheese and stir until melted and smooth, won’t take long if you use shredded cheese.

By the time I got to this stage my mouth was watering….

Next we have to add the absolute must for me but you can go lighter than my preference, fresh ground black pepper.  I use a lot!

Once the cheese has melted serve in soup bowls and garnish with the onion, ham and cheese to suit each individual’s taste.  If you prefer to have the soup thicker take a tablespoon of flour and mix into a small amount of milk,maybe 1 tablespoon, less than a 1/4 cup.  I never measure but you want a runny paste.  Stir into the soup and allow to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring to be sure you don’t scorch it and until it thickens slightly.

Trust me it was delicious….I decided 6 cups even with all the good health choices I made for ingredients was probably still more than I needed to be eating so I took a couple of bowla next door for my neighbors and “yes, they loved it.”

Now if any of my kids read about me giving potato soup away and not calling to invite them first, well…..I may have to make more!

Remember the book I mentioned I needed to read “A is for Apron” by Nathalie Mornu?  I loved the material in it, not to mention the 17 patterns that were included.  The patterns are on 8″ x 8″  pages and require you to increase them by 400%.  First thought is a photocopier but the pattern is too big for that idea.

I remember watching my Mother cutting patterns out of newspaper so I decided it shouldn’t be too difficult for me to accomplish the same and began to gather my tools.  The most important one is the calculator!  Tissue paper leftover from a Christmas gift was perfect as it measured 24″ x 24″.  The tissue  paper  became the perfect element to draw the pattern on as the widest width measurement I would need was 18″.  I used transparent tape to put two sheets together giving me plenty of room for the entire project.

First step, measure the fold line length of the apron body as shown in the diagram and take it times 400%.  That calculation told me the length of the apron from neckline to hem would be 29″ at the center fold line.  Once I had this measurement I continued around the page as shown above  making notes of measurements at specific points, every 4″ to 9″ getting width measurements, etc.  I then was able to transfer those measurements to my tissue, making dots that later would be connected by free hand.  End result….a book that cost me $15.00 will reward me with 17 patterns if I elect to use them.  If you have purchased a pattern recently you know the savings using this method is big!  The project took me less than an hour and most of that time was spent on my calculations and measuring the dots on the tissue.

Notice how wrinkled my tissue paper is; my Mother would frown at me over that, she pressed the paper before she cut her patterns…  I have fabric in mind for the new pattern so keep coming back and I will show it off

Note:  Visit www.creativechcis.com to see all the new aprons added online this week…that is how I spent my cold vacation days, doing what I love most, creating.

It has been several years since we have had a winter as cold and icy as 2009 ended and 2010 is showing off in it’s first week.  Single digit temperatures, snow piles everywhere from the heavy snows last week.

Perfect weather for staying in with a hot homemade soup, movie, good book, hot chocolate or whatever it is that makes you feel warm and comfy.

For me it is a time of reading some long past due

material, “A is for Apron by Nathalie Mornu”  and my

December BH&G.  I think I will make some oatmeal

cookies to go with my chocolate.

If you are lucky enough to live in a warm climate I would sure love an invitation to visit

Recently I had an inquiry asking what are sack towels, what is the fabric like, do they wash easily?  It made me decide a little Sack Towel History might be enjoyable for everyone. Here are comments from AnnTheGram website in September, 2008.

“Flour sacks are originally from the old flour sacks and feed sacks.  Back in the 30s, women started utilizing the empty sacks and made clothing from them, dish towels, pillowcases, clothespin bags, etc.  Times were bad with the depression.  “Sack dresses” originated during this time period.  They came back in the 60s again too.  The women begged the manufacturers of chicken feed, horse feed, flour and sugar to please make the sacks softer to the touch and try to add some color to them.  Hence, the feedsack quilts of the 30s originated with beautiful colorful prints.  Win/win situation.  Chickens ate well and you had a purty new dress.

The sizing on these towels are irregular today because they are still holding true to what a grain sack was back when.  The grain sack was sewn on one side and bottom and then, the ladies removed the stitching and viola, 30 x 29 inches, etc.  In fact, if the stitching was left in place, it was a perfect, already made pillowcase.  Also, in the 30s, they saved the thread from the side seam and later used to hem any of the items.”

Think how many trees were saved with sack towels…guess that is another subject!  We love sack towels at Creative Chics, check out just a few of the new designs Deb and I have online at www.creativechics.com.