Friday, January 11, 2013

Mountain Trip...

We took a trip to the family cabin at the beginning of the week. There was lots of snow still on the ground and cold air. It was fun and relaxing, even with the outhouse (yes, outhouse) and the skunk that we knew was spending the winter under the cabin. We had beautiful scenery, lots of time to read and play cards, lots of snacking, a nice warm fire 24 hours a day, snowman building and sledding and fun walks. I love family vacations...

{hugs}
Laura

What the mountains across the valley from us looked like the day we got there...

Beautiful scenery...




Lots of firewood...

Sledding...

Winter flowers...


Me and my hubby...

Fun walks...

My sons snowman...

Card games...

Beautiful sunsets...

S'mores every night...

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Crochet Flower...

I just saw this tutorial video to make this cute little flower and wanted to share it with you. It's from Mollie Makes.

{hugs}
Laura


Saturday, January 5, 2013

Rice Bag Heating Pad...

I posted earlier about making Rice Bags. They are wonderful. I use mine every evening to keep warm and then at night in bed. And, if you have an ache or pain and need heat for it, it's perfect.


I made a lot for family and friends this Christmas, and have had fun doing it. So, I thought I would do a tutorial on how I have been making them. It's really very easy and I have done them all by hand too (my sewing machine is not working right now).

Below you will find pictures and instructions of what I did. But, there are many ways to do this and you can modify what I have done to better suit you. Have fun and enjoy your rice bag.

{hugs}
Laura


You will need these supplies for your rice bag.
- Fabric. 100% cotton works best, you can get a fat quarter or just a 1/4 yard of fabric.
- Heavy duty thread.
- DMC Cotton Perle 10g.
- Whole grain white rice.
- Scissors, straight pins and a needle (I used an embroidery needle).

For this bag, I cut my fabric into a 14 inch by 9 inch rectangle. I wanted it to be more long and narrow than square. But, for most of the rice bags I have made, I use a fat quarter and cut it into two pieces for two rice bags.

Fold the fabric in half with right sides together. Now, fold over the two long sides and pin the fold in place. I folded mine over twice so there is no chance of any rice getting out.


When you are done pinning the sides, use your heavy thread, doubled up and tied with a good knot, to sew a running stitch down each side.


When you get to the end, back stitch a couple of times and tie a really good knot.

When both sides are sewn, turn your bag right side out and you are ready to fill it with rice.

I fill my bags about 2/3 full with rice.


Now, fold the raw edge of your fabric in about 1/2 to 1 inch.

And then, fold it over and pin in place.

Sew along the edge with nice small stitches. I even stitched up the small sides of the fold.

When you get to the end, tie a good knot.

This is what the back of mine looks like...

And, the front...

Gotta love a rice bag.

I found this fun fabric for my daughter...

And this Star Wars fabric for my son.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

A New Soup Recipe...

I love Pinterest - a lot.

And, I love to find new recipe's. We eat dinner at home every night and very rarely go out to eat (like once every two or three months). So I am happy to share with you a soup recipe that I found on Pinterest and tried last night.

This is Mom on Timeout and she has a wonderful recipe for Olive Gardens Zuppa Toscana Soup.  I did make a few alterations (ground turkey with Italian seasonings instead of Italian sausage) but it was delicious and I will be making it again, a lot.

{hugs}
Laura