The End of the Yellow Oilcloth

When I was little, I once had a school picture, taken in a yellow dress. It was quite possibly, one of the worst pictures taken of me. I looked so jaundiced and pale. Eeek! (If only I had that picture to scan in...but then again, wouldn't want subject you to that.) From that day, my mother declared that I looked terrible in yellow. And so for 30 some years, I didn't. Then last year, I went out on a limb and bought a yellow cardigan. And realized that I actually look nice in yellow. My love affair with yellow had begun. It's a hot color this summer. So, when I can across the yellow oilcloth in my stash, I knew I had to put it to use. I decided to make a large tote. Thought it would be useful for my upcoming travels, I'm told that there will be some pool visits! And in the very least, can be used for toting produce at the farmer's market. I also decided to make a couple of more little zipper pouches. You can never have too many of those!

Christmas in July

As a follower of Craftaholics, I was compelled to join in on the Christmas in July Gift Exchange. I love to make stuff, but there are limits to how much stuff I need/can use. So, I thought this would be a good outlet. And you get a handmade gift in return. But what does one make for someone they don't know. At all. It was suggested to contact the recipient and just ask, if you were unsure. But I just decided to make a couple of really useful items. (I also wanted to make things that I already had all of the supplies for.) I ended up with a zipper pouch made of oilcloth-could be used to hold just about anything, everyday, for travel, for makeup, as a small wetbag. I thought it would be good to hold sunscreen and other runny summer items. And a fabric basket. I didn't use a tutorial for the pouch. I used a method that I learned somewhere along the way, maybe in a book? I couldn't remember. But it was very quick and easy. Definitely took less than an hour to make. The second thing I made was a fabric basket was made from a tutorial found on Pink Penguin. I have made the quilted version before. In fact, I keep all of my camera, ipod, etc cords in it by my computer. I made a slightly bigger version this time and didn't do all of the piecing work. I used some Anna Maria Horner Drawing Room scraps and think it turned out so cute! Can't wait to see what I'll get in return.

Bloomin' Onions?

I hate raw onions. Don't put a raw onion ring on my burger-it ruins the whole thing. But a cooked onion-that's an aromatic and can add a lot to a flavor to a dish. So, from time to time, I'll buy a small bag of onions at Trader Joe's. Has about 4-5 onions and will last for months. Or so I thought. I peered into my little basket that I keep my onions and garlic in, this morning, only to find this. Two of the onions had sprouted! I had only bought these last week. Are they old? Can they still be eaten? I'm going to keep this experiment going.... Wonder if they'll flower? While I'm at it, thought I'd mention a healthy recipe. I had a craving for BBQ pulled pork this week (I am a Kansas City girl, after all), but let's be honest, not a very figure-friendly dish. I searched and searched and finally came across this recipe from Eating Well-Barbeque Pulled Chicken. It's cooking away in my crock pot as we speak. (I've since eaten the aforementioned pulled chicken. It was pretty good. I would definitely recommend dialing up the heat a little.)