Making Kombucha

If you're not familiar, kombucha is a fermented tea. It's tart and it's alkaline and probiotic with a whole slew of other health benefits. It can be fizzy which helped me kick my diet soda habit.  It tastes similar to a wine cooler (it can be mildly alcoholic, although some say the buzz you may experience from kombucha is actually from one of the acids produced and not the marginal alcohol content - so marginal that I drank kombucha while pregnant, if that's any indication).  My not-very-alternative husband swears by it for stomach aches and general digestive discomfort.  At around 3 bucks a bottle its handy if you can make your own.

New In My Etsy Shop - The Bryn Romper by My Little Plumcake!

This is another baby shower gift I made for BFF... The adorable pattern is from My Little Plumcake (an instant download found here on Etsy) and it was very easy to follow and make up. She generously allows the garment to be sold, so I'm excited to announce that it is a new addition to my Etsy shop! I can't wait to make up more examples in different fabrics... I have so many ideas brewing! (Update: I've added pictures of different fabrics at the bottom of the post).

Sewing For Baby Girls - Summer Bonnet And Ruffly Diaper Covers

After having my baby boy almost a year-and-a-half ago, I'm very excited to be sewing for my BFF's baby girl due this summer. I didn't sew when I had MY little girl 8 long years ago, so I have a lot of catching up to do.  Since this is a summer baby, I thought these prints with bright juicy lemons and cherries with polka dots were fitting.  I love how the reversible bonnet goes with both diaper covers so you get two different "outfits".

$1 JoAnn Fabric Swatch Sale: Make New Pillow Covers For $5

 

I had to do this quick write-up to go with a sale JoAnn is having on their home decor fabric swatches - they're just $1! Of course I bought several for a super secret project when they were $2 each - grrrrrrr (you'll hear all about the secret project in a few months). One way to use these swatches is to make pillow covers and update your couch, bed etc. You need two swatches ($2) and an invisible zipper ($3) which will cost around $5. Hopefully you have a pillow to recycle and you don't have to go buy a pillow form, otherwise this is not a $5 project. Sorry I don't have a nice photo of an actual pillow but I wanted to get this published so that you might take advantage of the JoAnn sale.

Easter Birthday Bunting Cake

This year my husband's birthday fell on Easter. I thought it was a good excuse to make this cake I saw on Pinterest, which reminds me of a great big basket full of candy...

Vegan Coconut Curry Recipe

Lately I have been craving FLAVOR. And curries have flavor. I don't know much about curries except that there's Thai and Indian and that I prefer yellow and red curries. When I had my youngest, my BFF brought a yellow curry with chicken that I are everyday for a week. I'm not vegan or vegetarian but I am interested in eating meat/dairy-free more often. You could easily do this with meat as well. You could also change up the veggies to use what you have in the fridge.

Flavorful Vegetarian Better-Than-They-Sound Bean Patties

I'm not a vegetarian but I think it's good to go meatless a few days a week, and I'm a big fan of beans since they have protein and fiber (they're high in antioxidants too). Not to mention great finger foods for babies and toddlers. When you combine beans with rice, the amino acids make a complete protein. I came across Martha Stewart's recipe for black bean and brown rice patties and saw lots of room for improvement. I found that it needed some egg to hold together better, and that it was better to cook it in a pan vs her oven method. Plus a bunch of additions to the preparation... This would be great for hiding kale (chop finely and sauté with the onion).

My (Better Easier Faster) Way To Make Little Boys' Suspenders (And The Tale Of An Etsy Copycat)

My best seller on Etsy is the baby flat cap. You know, the Irish hats that 90% of old men (and hipsters) wear - also called newsboy hats as well as other names. I made the first one for my son because they're pretty hard to find, which is why they've been selling pretty well, I suppose. They've evolved over time, and I take great care in the details that make them special.

I kind of prided myself on not being an assembly line kind of shop and offering all the same stuff in all the trendy fabrics (ahem *chevron* cough). BUT I love requests for custom orders and that is how I made my first pair of suspenders! They are so darn cute and go so perfectly with the hats... So now they are a permanent fixture in my shop!

How To Turn A Long Skinny Tube Without Special Tools

I hate turning tubes so much that I almost used potty mouth in the title of this post. It's those long skinny tubes (less than 1") that are a real pain in the arse, like when making suspenders or the neck strap of a bow tie which I have been doing a lot of lately. I bought one of those tools with a latch hook on the end which is useless and pokes holes in your fabric. I've tried the safety pin thing, and the trick where you sew some string to one end inside the tube and pull it to turn the tube... nothing has really worked for me.  I really want to get that tool that looks like a giant pair of scissors, do you know what I'm talking about? Anyway I've found a decent way that has been working for me with a minimal cursing. All you need is a couple of pencils!

Homemade (Raw, Probiotic) Pickles

It is SO easy to ferment pickles, and they're so healthy. I got into fermented foods with the whole Weston Price thing, and pickles were something my family would actually eat (and salsa!). Recently my youngest had to go on antibiotics for an ear infection, so I was trying to think of as many ways possible to get probiotics in him to offset the damage. Which brings us back to pickles.

It sounds gross but you leave the cucumbers out (unrefrigerated) in a brine solution for a few days and (good) bacteria starts to grow, while the salt prevents them from spoiling. I use pickling spice for a familiar dill pickle flavor but you can use fresh garlic, dill etc. The whole process takes a few days, or longer depending on how sour you like your pickles.  Mo' sour is mo' betta, nutritionally speaking.