I bribed Campbell with a trip to Kneader’s to get him to poop this morning.  Don’t  judge…if your kid had gone 13 days without pooping last year, you’d resort to bribery too!

They screwed up and gave us an extra sandwich.

Bennett begged for it: “PEAS MAMA!”

I should have known.

Let’s have a closer look in that drawer:

That’s a fried egg.  And those of you that know me well are laughing your heads off right now.

I HATE eggs.

No, seriously…I can’t even smell them without dry heaving.  (I blame my mother.  She referred to them as “chicken periods” when I was a kid.)

I may have worn that orange rubber glove in the first picture to pick up the egg.

I’ve got a giveaway or 2 lined up for when I’m out of town later this week.  Stay tuned!

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I was browsing Country Living (one of my top 5 magazines ever, $10 for a year on Amazon…just sayin’…) in the carpool line at the school the other day when I came across these:

Cute, right?  And $8?  Not bad, but I wanted to see if I could make them myself for less.

Supplies:

Baby wipes, metal stamps (I already had some from the washer necklaces), old silverware, a Sharpie, and a hammer.

Apparently no one in Utah throws out forks or spoons because knives were all that I could find at our local thrift store last Saturday.  Maybe you’ll have better luck?

Using the hammer and the stamp set, stamp the name of your herb/vegetable/whatever on your silverware.  I’ve found it works best to do this outside on concrete.  There are no pictures of this step because it was 28 degrees outside.

Using a Sharpie, color over the letters you just stamped.

Grab a baby wipe and wipe off the excess.  If the letters aren’t dark enough for your liking, do it again.

How cute would one of these be in a pot with a fresh herb as a hostess gift?

And if you don’t want to make them?  You can always go here and buy the ones from Country Living.

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Let’s say you were headed to Pittsburgh next week with only your oldest 2 children (yay for not wiping anyone’s bum for a week!) to stay with your favorite (hint: only) brother and his family.

What would be on your can’t miss list?

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(Seriously…if someone has a better name than that, PLEASE tell me and I’ll change it!)

Print off a copy of the worksheet, found here.

Measure the waist of the intended wearer.

Measure from where you’d like the top of the waistband to sit to where you’d like the drop waist panel to end and the skirt to attach. This is completely personal preference! Leave the top of your tape measure where it is and measure what you’d like the completed length of your skirt to be.

Enter all 3 measurements on the worksheet.

Multiply your waist measurement by 1.5 (for example: 26” waist X 1.5 = 39”). EVERY piece you cut for this skirt will be this width. From here on out, this will just be referred to as your width measurement.

Cut one piece your width measurement by your drop waist measurement + 1.5”. My drop measurement was 4”, so I cut this piece 5.5” tall.

Cut 2 pieces for your underskirt from contrasting fabric (see directions on worksheet).

Cut 2 pieces for your overskirt from same fabric as waistband (see directions on worksheet).

That’s it. 5 rectangles, all the same width.

All seams are 1/2” unless otherwise noted.

With right sides together, sew the short ends of the drop waist panel together.

Unfold your overskirt pieces and stack them right sides facing. Sew short sides together.

Unfold your underskirt pieces and stack them right sides facing. Sew short sides together.

Now we’ve got 3 tubes of fabric.

Finish your seams (serge, zig zag, pink, whatever), press to the side, and topstitch.

Turn your overskirt tube right side out (make sure your print is facing the right way if there’s an up and a down) and measure over 1/4 of the way from the left hand side. (Macy wanted her skirt split on this side. If you’d prefer it on the other side, measure from the right edge instead.)

See the crease? That’s the half way point. 1/4 for me will be about 9.5”. Yours will be different. Draw a line there.

Take a pair of scissors and cut on that line, THROUGH THE TOP LAYER OF FABRIC ONLY!!!

Now we’re going to hem the edges we just cut. Turn under 1/4” and then another 1/4”. Sew in place.

Next we’ll hem the bottom of the overskirt. Turn and press under 1/4” and then another 3/4”. Sew in place.

Do the same to the bottom of the underskirt…1/4” then 3/4” and sew in place.

Put your underskirt inside of your overskirt, matching seams and lay it flat. You’ll have a gap where the underskirt peeks out. Pin all the way around the top edge.

Take your giant pinned tube over to your machine and do a long gathering stitch (stitch length 5 on most machines) about 1/4” from the top/pinned edge.

I did the front and stopped and cut my threads. Then, I did the back the same way. I don’t like to gather the whole skirt at once, but you certainly can. You can also do another row of gathering stitching about 1/8” from the first if you’re worried about threads breaking. I like to live on the edge, so I usually skip that part.

Turn your giant tube inside out. This will leave you with the bobbin thread (aka the one you’ll pull to gather) facing you. I also think it’s easier to have your gathers facing you instead of crammed on the inside.

Grab your drop waist panel and turn it upside down (but right side out). Insert it in your underskirt/overskirt tube.

Pin, matching seams, middles, etc.

Now’s when you’ll pull your bobbin thread only and gather. I find it easier to way over gather and then ease it out as I pin. Evenly distribute your gathers and pin every couple of inches.

Sew your skirts to your waist panel.

Finish the edge (serge or zig zag).

Press the seam towards the waist panel and top stitch.

To make your casing for the elastic, fold and press 1/4” along the top edge and then another 3/4”. Sew in place, leaving a 2” opening in the back.

Thread your elastic through the casing and stitch the ends together. Sew the rest of the casing closed.

Try to get a better picture than this one in the dark with a flash:

You’re done!

If you make one, be sure to add it to the Crap You’ve Made Flickr group. I’d love to see it!

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Hopefully this weekend.

It may take a day or two for me to translate my chicken scratch on an envelope into an actual tutorial.

No, really.  And my kids stepped on it.

See?

Stay tuned.

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There’s probably an actual name for this, but I don’t know what it is. And I didn’t make it up. My mom’s been making this pie as long as I can remember. However, everyone I’ve given the recipe to in the last 15 years or so has just started calling it “Char’s Pie”.

Crust:

1 1/2 c oats
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c chopped pecans
1/3 c melted butter

Press (lightly) into the bottom of a 10” springform pan. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Cool completely.

Filling:

8 oz cream cheese
1 c powdered sugar
9 oz Cool Whip

Beat together. Spread over cooled crust. Be sure to get it all the way to the edges to seal things up.

Top:

Strawberries
Danish Dessert, preferably raspberry flavored (strawberry has a weird after taste, but it’s fine if it’s all you can find)

Wash and hull strawberries. Dry thoroughly. Place points up on the filling. Prepare Danish Dessert according to “glaze” directions on package. Stir and let cool to lukewarm. Sometimes I sit the saucepan in a sink of ice and stir to speed this part up. Spoon it over the strawberries — be sure to cover each one. Fill in any gaps on the filling, too. Again, be sure to seal the edges.

Refrigerate until set. Take off the springform part of the pan.

Here’s what you’ve got:

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