Think Bigger: Little Dresses for Africa

It's really easy to get caught up in our own little world, our own needs, our own wants.  I find however, that my life is so much better and I am happier when I am helping those outside my immediate circle.  So with that in mind, I will be focusing every Thursday on one charity that requests or accepts crafted items for those in need.  I'm calling it Think Bigger. 

Little Dresses for Africa is a non-profit 503c organization that focuses on delivering hand made clothing to children in Africa.  The group asks for pillowcase dresses for girls and simple shorts for boys.  They have patterns and directions available on their site if you need them.

The dresses and shorts are distributed through orphanages, schools, and local churches to the children.  Little Dresses for Africa hopes that by giving these items to the children they will feel loved and worthy.

I love the mission of this group and I love the photos on their site of the beautiful little girls in their new dresses.  If you have an extra hour of time and a yard or so of fabric, you might consider making something for these special little children.  

Felt and Ribbon Garland

 This project took me a bit longer than I like my midweek projects to take, but I'm happy with the results.  I don't have a lot of Christmas decorations, so I decided it was time to make something for my home.   Something quick and easy that I could make without a pattern or a lot of effort.  A felt and ribbon garland:

 decorating my antique Victorian piano (it's not really worth that much, but it's pretty, don't you think?)

I started with three 9x12 pieces of felt and 2 yards of ribbon.   I used red, green, and white, because I do traditional colors with my decorations.  The fun part about making decorations yourself is that you can customize them to fit your home.

As always, I started with a sketch.  In this case the sketch also turned out to be my pattern. I went with a candy cane, a tree, and a present for my shapes.  You can do anything you like:  Santa heads, ornaments, snow flakes, bells.  Look around at the decorations you already have and incorporate those themes into your garland.

If you have a plotter cutter machine, like a Cricut or a Silhouette, this will be even easier for you.  Let the machine cut all your pieces and parts.   (If you do have one, I'm jealous.  Those machines are so handy for crafting.)

I sketched them out on my cutting mat so I could have the grid as a reference.  The present is 2x2" and the others are about 2x2.5".    After getting my shape patterns settled, I folded the felt in half and cut out the candy cane and tree each five times (so 10 of each) and the present 6 times (12 presents.)   Then you have to cut out the accents.  You'll notice I tried to do a bow thing on the present.  Yeah.  It was ugly so I got rid of it later.  For the presents, I just needed two narrow green strips per present.  Don't worry about making them the right length, at this point it's easiest to have them a little long.   For the tree I cut three white circles for each one.  And the candy canes got three stripes each.  Those are just strips I cut long on purpose.  

Next, I used fusible webbing to fuse each of the decorations in place.  This was the process that took the longest for me.  You need to trim the webbing down smaller than the decorative strip.   Follow the manufacturers directions to fuse it down, but keep in mind felt is pretty thick stuff.  You may need to turn your iron up and keep it on longer than the package recommends.  Experiment on a scrap to see what works for your stuff.   Also, don't forget the press cloth.  You need to sandwich the felt pieces between two pieces of fabric to protect your iron and ironing board.  I'm also using the ugliest towel in my linen cupboard as an extra precaution.  That fusible webbing loves to get stuck in your ironing board and then melt right onto your favorite top the next time you iron it.

So you've got everything fused down.  Now turn them over and trim off the long pieces using the backside as a guide for the cut.

See?  All neatly trimmed down and ready to place on the ribbon.

First you need to prep the ribbon.  Trim the ends and then melt them.   If you've never melted a ribbon end before, you've been missing out.  I've never found a better way to halt fraying.  I put too much time into this garland to have the ribbon go ugly on me.   Just hold the edges of the ribbon close, but not in, a candle flame.  The heat will melt the polyester ribbon, fusing the threads together so they don't fray out.  If you are using a cotton or silk ribbon, you'll have to use another method to fix the ends.  (I hope you are also using nice wool felt, because otherwise, save the nice ribbon for something else.)

Now it's time to place your felt pieces.   I put mine about three inches apart.  I allowed for a little bit of overlap and did 3" from the center of each shape.   I put mine pretty much centered on the ribbon.  They are kind of overbalancing as it hangs though, so you might want to place yours so the ribbon is nearer the top of your felt shapes. 

Once all the shapes are pinned on, sew around each one with a zig zag stitch, leaving a gap in one end for stuffing.  It's best to work on all the shapes of the same color at once so you aren't switching thread quite so much.

I found that cute little wooden stick in the package of stuffing the other day.  It's been very helpful in filling small shapes like these.  Using a stuffing stick, or a knitting needle, or a chop stick or other small instrument, lightly stuff each piece.

With the candy cane, you need to leave the top of the hook open so you can get all the way down both sides of the cane with the stuffing.

Once you've stuffed, sew the gap closed.  Finish the rest of the felt shapes,  and you're done. 

Isn't it cute?

A monstreous pencil sharpener

Thursday I had time to make a monster before my kids came home from school. I got out the monster drawings, the tracing fabric, my tape measure, all of that stuff. I need a pencil to draw the monster pattern, however, so I went looking for a sharpened pencil.

And I looked.

And I looked.

There were none in the kitchen junk drawer.

There were none in the kids craft box.

There were none in the desk drawers.

There were none under beds or on the floor in the kids' bedrooms.

There were un-sharpened pencils aplenty. Brand new pencils just mocking me with their perfectly square, virgin wood.

And none of that would have been a problem if my children hadn't lost the pencil sharpener a month previous. They like to take it around with them as they do their art projects. They carried off to parts unknown and neither threats nor bribery could uncover it's hiding place.

No sharpened pencils.

No pencil sharpener.

I did what any reasonable person would do. I bought a new pencil sharpener. The kind that attaches to the wall and can not be carried around by young children. It's a manual sharpener so it will last for decades. I ordered it from Amazon.com with two day shipping. I came very close to paying for overnight shipping. (I have a Prime account, so it would have only been $4.00.)

It arrived on Saturday and was installed on the pantry shelving within five minutes. I sharpened a full box of Dixon Ticonderogas with a very happy smile on my face the whole time. The musky smell of pencils shavings has never smelled so good.

Which means Monday I could make this guy:


My husband thought I should show you one of the sketches these monsters are coming from. This was done by our eight year old. He loves drawing these monsters and has done dozens of them for me. This one is his favorite.You'll notice I made a few changes here and there to make it easier to sew. I shortened the legs and the antlers (yes, those are antlers and horns. He knows animals don't have both, but he also knows monsters have different rules.) I simplified the mustache curls a bit and smoothed out the arms as well. He still went much more quickly than I expected. I was worried about the mustache, but felt and super stiff interfacing solved that little dilemma for me.

By the way, Monday afternoon the eight year old found the electric pencil sharpener . . . in his closet.

Caramel Chocolate Shortbread

You want one don't you? Be careful. Once you've had one, it's very, very difficult to stop. This is one of my very favorite cookies. The chocolate, the caramel, the perfectly textured shortbread. Sigh. So lovely. It's perfect for gift giving and for cookie exchanges. It's also super simple to make.

The caramel is made from scratch, but don't let that worry you. It never sugars on me. I don't even have to take the precautions I normally take with candy. (Like sweating the pan, using clean spoons, not scraping out the pan, etc. ) It's simple and can be made while the shortbread bakes.

To start, dump 2 cups of flour, 1/2 c + 2 T brown sugar, and 1/2 c cold salted butter into the bowl of your food processor. It works best to cut the butter up into pieces first. Pulse until the butter is fully worked into the flour, about 12 pulses.
(If you don't have a food processor, you can do this by hand with a pastry blender. You might want to start with room temperature butter in that case.)

Dump the shortbread out into your oldest, ugliest 9x13 pan. Do not bake these in your brand new Williams-Sonoma Gold pan. These cookies are hard to cut and require a sharp knife. A sharp knife that will leave lovely cut marks in the pan. Please use a pan you won't feel bad about ruining when you bake these. Or you can line the pan with a foil sling. Whatever works for you.
So you've dumped it out and now you press it down firmly. Pack the shortbread down well with either your hands or the bottom of a measuring cup.
Now put it in the oven to bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, you get to make the caramel layer. In a 3 qt pot, stir together 3/4 c salted butter, 1/2 c brown sugar, 3 T light corn syrup, and one can of sweetened condensed milk. Cook over medium heat until all the butter is melted and the candy is smooth.
Like this. Now turn the heat down just a notch.
This stuff scorches easily, so stir continuously making sure to cover the whole pan with your stirring pattern. If it scorches lightly, don't freak out. Just stir it in and turn your heat down a bit. Cook until the candy comes to a full rolling boil. Like this:
Boil for 6-8 minutes. This is a loose number because it doesn't matter that much. You want it to reach near soft ball, but the exact temp is not a big deal. If it's a little softer or a little harder it's ok. You just want it soft enough it's easy to eat and hard enough it doesn't drip on your fingers. There's a lot of leeway there.

The shortbread layer should just be finishing up around the time your caramel is getting done. When it's baked, it should be lightly golden brown.
(Yes, I know that's an ugly pan. My children do the dishes and there are some things that are worth comprimising on for the sake of not having to do the dishes myself. )

Pour the hot caramel onto the hot shortbread. Feel free to scrap every last drop of caramel out of the pan. It's lovely stuff. Don't let it go to waste.
Let it cool for 5-10 minutes and then put it in the fridge to finish cooling. I always protect my glass fridge rack with a hot pad under the pan. It works fine.

When the caramel is firm, melt 1 1/4 c chocolate chips and spread that over the caramel.
Use milk chocolate or dark chocolate your choice.
Isn't that lovely? When the chocolate is spread evenly, put it all back in the fridge for another hour or so to firm the chocolate. You can cut into squares as soon as the chocolate is hard, but it will be easier to cut if you let the pan come to room temperature before you cut them. I don't do that because I've already waited three hours for these cookies and I'm not patient enough to wait any more. You can wait. You're much better than I am at waiting for cookies, I'm sure.

There. The best cookies on the planet. You're welcome. Now go forth and wow the other bakers at your cookie exchange.

Caramel Chocolate Shortbread
1 c salted butter
2 c flour
1/2 c brown sugar

3/4 c salted butter
1/2 c brown sugar
3 T light corn syrup
1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 1/4 c chocolate chips

Pulse first three ingredients in a food processor until the butter is fully worked into the flour. Dump out into a 9x13 pan and press firmly and evenly into the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until light golden brown. Meanwhile, mix the next four ingredients in a 3 qt sauce pan. Stir over medium heat until the butter is melted and the candy is smooth. Turn the heat down a notch or so and continuously stir until the candy comes to a full rolling boil. Boil while stirring for 6-8 minutes, until the caramel is very thick. Pour out onto the baked shortbread layer. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and then cool in the refrigerator until the caramel is firm. Melt the chocolate chips and spread over the caramel layer. Refrigerate again until the chocolate is firm. Let rest at room temperature for another hour before cutting. Cut into 48 squares. Serve. Try not to eat all of them yourself.

Farmhouse Doll beds and a mattress pattern

They're done! Aren't they so cute? I'm very happy with how they turned out. Ana White's doll bed instructions are really well done. Easy to follow and they build up quickly. Well once you've got the sanding done anyway. I didn't get full feeling back in my right arm for about three hours after sanding all this wood with a hand sander. It probably didn't help that I was using B grade lumber. It's cheap, just like me. And apparently, just like me, it's got some heavy duty rough spots.

I decided my girls needed mattresses for the beds so I sketched up a pattern for those.

Just a quick aside: if you want to make something and you aren't quite sure where to start, start with a sketch. Draw up what you want to make and put dimensions on it. It helps you picture the parts you need and know how big everything needs to be. It's also great for knowing how to put it together. I always start with a sketch.

Ok, so here's my sketch for the mattress:
I decided that I wanted to sew this out of one piece of fabric. I used the dimensions on the sketch to figure out how big of rectangle I needed to cut out of my fabric. However, my first mattress was a bit skimpy. Don't cut your fabric that size.

cut your fabric 33"x22". not the numbers in the sketch there. The larger piece will make a nicer fitting mattress for the bed.
Big rectangle. I use quilt cutting tools for projects like this. I get perfectly straight lines and square corners. So much easier. I almost never quilt but I use my cutting mat and rotary cutter all the time.

Next step is to fold the fabric in half so it creates a rectangle 16.5"x22". Sew a 1/2" seam all the way around, leaving a 4" gap on one side. I left the pins in the following photo so you could see the gap.
Trim your corners.
Now for the trick. The mattress stands about 1" tall. Match the seams together at the corners so the seam is directly in the center. Like this:
Then measure with a measuring tape 1/2" from the seam to the edge of the fabric on each side. This should create a straight line. (It's hard to explain, but the picture shows pretty clearly how to do that step.) Then draw a line along the measuring tape. This is a seam line.
Sew across that line. Now do this on all four corners.
Press the seams open and turn the mattress right side out. If you want the tufting to be perfectly even, measure and mark out six spots on the mattress to tuft. They should be evenly spaced across the mattress. Stuff it and sew the gap closed. I like to sew it closed by hand, but you can top stitch if you don't mind visible stitching on that section.

Next you get to tuft the mattress. I did a simple stitched tufting, but you can use a fabric covered button if you wish. On each mark, go down with a needle and thread all the way through the mattress. Pull through just enough thread to make a single 1/4" stitch (slip a button on if you wish) and send the needle back through the mattress. You should come up about 1/4" from where you went down. This will take a bit of maneuvering. Don't push the needle through until you've got that right.

Now, slip the needle between the threads right near the knot like this:
Pull it tight. The thread is now looped and will hold. The look of the mattress depends on how tightly you pull the tufting. You can leave it a little loose or pull the top and bottom fabric right up against each other. Tie off the thread and cut it close. Do this on the other five marks.



finished tufts. And you're done! How easy was that?

Canning Turkey

One of my favorite things about November is the super cheap turkey. I never actually have to roast a turkey for Thanksgiving, but I buy several turkeys anyway just so I can do this:

Canned turkey and broth! It's like having my own soup starter in the pantry waiting for some noodles and carrots. It's also super cheap to do it myself. The turkey costs me 39 cents/lb this year. I got a 12lb turkey and ended up with 12 cups of meat from that. I can it in 3 cup jars so each jar costs me $1.17. It's the perfect amount for one meal for my family. The broth is basically free because I have to boil the carcass anyway to get all of the turkey off the bones. You will probably want to use pints for your turkey meat unless you have a large family, then quarts might be more useful for you. If you are lucky enough to have pint and a half jars like I do, then those are perfect. (Pint and a halfs are rare because they are no longer made. You might be able to find some around, but don't stress about it. The other sizes are fine.)

Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that turkey is of course a low acid food and that means it absolutely no questions asked must be canned in a pressure canner to be safe. You can not safely use a water bath or steam canner to do any kind of meat. I use one like this: Presto 23 quart pressure canner. Please follow the instructions on your particular canner. I will not be giving specific numbers because it's important that you follow the time/pressure rating/water amounts for your elevation and equipment. All of that can be found in the instruction manual for your canning equipment or at the Ball Home Canning website. You can also use the Ball Blue Book as a reference.

OK, done with the warnings. Just so you know, as long as you follow directions, canning is perfectly safe and a great way to preserve foods. Don't be scared by your equipment or the process. Just read your instructions thoroughly and don't rush through the process. You'll be fine.

Do go to the Ball website and read through the process of canning low acid foods before you start your turkey canning. Be familiar with the steps because there are some basic canning steps I will skip in these instructions. I will only be giving instructions that are specific to canning turkey.

To start you need to have a thawed turkey. Plan ahead just like you do for Thanksgiving because even a small turkey takes several days to thaw. I like to put my turkey in a pie plate while it's thawing so it doesn't make a mess in my fridge. Once your turkey is thawed, open the package in a clean sink and remove the neck and little sack of nasty turkey parts. Save those for later. Next, place your turkey on a kitchen towel on a large cutting board. My cutting board is 2' square, yours doesn't have to be quite that big; I'm just bragging. It's a pretty awesome cutting board.

With a sharp boning knife, remove the skin from the turkey. I like to start at the back. Pull the skin away from the bird, cutting the connective tissue as you go. It's a pull-cut, pull-cut motion. This is easier on some parts of the bird than others. I completely skip skinning the wings.

(I want you to know that I did take pictures of this whole process. I had pictures of raw and skinned bird on my camera. I didn't think anyone really needed to see pictures of this. You're welcome.)

Now get your big chef's knife out. It's time to cut the breast off the turkey. Cut right down next to the breast bone cutting down along the skeleton of the bird. You'll cut down and then curve under the breast. This will mostly separate it. Then pull up and cut off the rest. Wrap the breast pieces in plastic wrap and set them aside in your fridge.

It's time to cook the rest of the turkey. It's very hard to get all the dark meat off the bone while it's raw, so you get to boil it off. You'll need a large stock pot. Drop the bird and the neck and other turkey parts in the pot along with some carrots, an onion, celery, and whatever herbs you like including salt. Follow the recipe for broth in your favorite cookbook if you aren't familiar with making it. You may have to increase quantities because you're making such a large pot of broth. (Most poultry broth recipes are sized for chickens.) Add enough water to the pot to cover the bird. Well as much as you can. My stock pot is just slightly small so the ends of the legs stick up out of the water just a tad. It's not a big deal. Get the water boiling and then turn it down to a simmer. Let this cook until the meat is falling off the bone. Remove the carcass from the broth and let it cool for 10-15 minutes.

Now get your turkey breast out of the fridge and cut it into roughly 1" cubes. They don't need to be exactly the same size, but they should be close. Stuff these into the jars. When the jars are full with one inch left at the top of the jar, pour in some broth from your stock pot. You'll need to run the wooden handle of a spoon around the inside of the jar. Just gently shift the meat back and forth in different places to work the broth down into the jar. The top of the jar will have about an inch where the lids screw on. At the bottom of this is a small ring of glass. This ridge is used to lift your jars with jar lifters. Fill the jars only to this ring, both meat and broth. You may need to add a bit more broth at this point to fill them to the right level. You can also add in a little more salt to your breast meat, maybe 1/2t-1t depending on how much salt you use in your cooking and how much salt you put in the broth.

When the turkey is cool, pull the meat off the bones and stuff it in your sterilized jars. You can cut the bigger pieces at this point but you don't have to. Most of it will come off the bones in bite sized pieces. Fill your jars in the same way you filled the breast meat jars.

Most canners will fit 7 quarts and some will fit two layers of pints. Fill (within 1" of the top edge of the jar) as many sterilized jars with broth as you need to make a complete batch to process. I was able to do three more quarts and two pints. Use whatever sizes of jar you have. What's best depends on what you want to use it for. If you want to make soup with it, then quarts are nice. If you use it in other recipes in smaller amounts, you might want to do pints. (Whatever you have left in the stock pot at this point you can either turn into tonight's soup or you can put it in freezer bags in 1-2 cup amounts. To fill freezer bags, set open bags in a 2 cup measuring cup and then pour in the broth. The measuring cup holds the bag upright.)

Top your jars with sterilized lids and rings. Process the jars according to the directions in your canner manual. Do not leave the canner unattended. Keep a good eye on it. You should start the canner on high and then turn it down to medium high after it's vented. Turn it down again when it reaches the proper pressure. You may have to turn down the stove gradually to maintain pressure. Don't just turn it down to low right off. Keep an eye on the pressure. It's ok if it goes a little over your target PSI, but it is not ok if it goes below. You will have to start the processing time all over again if it does drop below that PSI (you won't have to start all over with the proccessing. Just turn up your stove, leave everything else the same, and restart your timer.)

When the jars have processed for the specified length of time, take the canner off the stove. It will be heavy, so have your hot pads/trivets/whatever ready right next to the stove. You can just pick it up and shift it over a couple of feet rather than trying to carry across the room. Leave the canner alone until the pressure gauge reads 0. Do not attempt to open or remove the pepcock until this point. Removing the pepcock will cause a pressure difference between the inside of the jars and the inside of the pot, sucking half the broth out of your jars. It's not good. It can take over an hour for the canner to get down to 0 PSI, so be patient and don't try to rush it.

When the canner is cooled down to 0 PSI, you can open it. I like to use a jar lifter to take my jars out. If you don't have one, you can use a standard pair of tongs, but they will be slippery. Be sure to support the jar on the bottom with a hot pad so you don't drop it. Set the jars on a kitchen towel to cool. When they are cool, test the lids to be sure they sealed tightly. The lid should be concave and not pop back when you press on it. If any jars did not seal, put them in your fridge and use within three days or freeze the contents in a freezer safe container.

When the jars are cool, they are ready to store. You may remove the rings before you store them or leave them on. Your choice. Enjoy your turkey and broth! I love having mine ready to use at any time.

Monsters Again

I'm still working on my my monsters projects. I've finished seven. Two got given away as gifts before I could get pictures of them sadly. These two are going to cousins on Christmas Eve.

The fin on the orange guy was sewn the same way I sewed the fins on the turquoise dude. After I stuffed the monster, making sure to lightly stuff the fin thing, I sewed the dividing line between the fin and the body. Then I sewed down toward the body several times to create the fin definition lines.

I think the green slug guy is my favorite monster yet. I'm pretty happy with the monsters my kids have drawn for me. They are pretty easy to work from.