TaylorMade

DIY, Home Decor & Sewing

Rawr! Dino Pattern

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Last week I got the chance to be a Pattern Tester for See Kate Sew‘s latest pattern. Jealous? Cause I was so excited, I love Kate’s Blog. She has original ideas and she has great tips for sewers of all skill levels. So I opened the pattern that she emailed over and it was a cute little Dino… presh! Here is how mine turned out…
Isn’t he so cute? His name is Hippie and Clyde loves him.The pattern was fun to make and simple. Quick too, you know how I love a quick project. I also added a hand embroidered a peace sign and Clyde’s initials.
You can check out See Kate Sew’s Shop for the pattern and check out her Blog too, cause its awesome :)
I will leave you with this…
Cute boy.

 

Asparagus Egg Casserole

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So far, I am sticking to my new goal of four healthy and vegetable loaded dinners a week. So, I made this last week- Asparagus Egg Casserole. Really it’s the Asparagus, Egg, Feta and Tomato Casserole but that is a little wordy. I just kind of made this recipe up. I wanted some vegetables and I wanted eggs as the main protein one night because healthy food gets expensive y’all – eggs make for a cheap night :) 
Ingredients:
8 eggs
milk
celery
yellow onion
asparagus
feta cheese
tomato
salt and pepper
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 450. Saute yellow onion and celery in a little olive oil. I added some salt and pepper. Let them cool.

Wash, trim your asparagus into 1/2″ sections. I used the whole bunch. Then, blanch the asparagus.

Beat 8 eggs and add a little milk, salt and pepper. 

Make sure the onion/celery mixture and the asparagus are not too hot and add them to the eggs. Add half of your feta cheese.

Mix and add the mixture to the casserole dish. Slice your tomato and place on top of the egg mixture. Top with more feta.

I baked mine at 450 for about an hour. But I think my oven isn’t as powerful as most…? Just keep an eye on it.

Serve with a side salad and Enjoy!

Do you have any healthy casseroles that I should try? They don’t have to be super low fat but they have to have a bunch of veggies… I just made that rule up, I think its appropriate. 
Also… don’t forget to go enter the Digital Scrapbook Giveaway HERE that is going on through Sunday! 

Baby Onesie Refashion

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Take plain onesies and turn them into a baby fashion statement.
Babies need a little refashion sometimes too. These onesies were originally embroidered with a little “baby saying”… cute but I thought the colors were a little too girly for my Clyde. He never wore them, I refashioned and re-gifted! I just used some fabric scraps and some imagination.
Before:
I made two; here is how I made the first one:
I started by embroidering the letter “f” on my fabric, I just penciled it freehand right on the fabric.
Next step is to iron interfacing to the back of the fabric. I went for the raw edge look and this way the fabric won’t fray as much.
Next, line the fabric up to the onesie and  mark with a pencil where you will cut.
Sew around the new fabric that you are attaching.
Onesie refashion number 2…
Add interfacing to the back of the fabric again and cut out some pieces of the pattern.
Pin the pieces on the onesie so you cover the old design.
And sew. I again went for a messy sewn look. If you like a neater look you could do a tight zig-zag stitch around the perimeter of the fabric.
I added my fabric label…
and wrapped them up in a cute little package. Add some clips and you have a perfect baby gift.
There are more Onesie ideas HERE and HERE.

Brobee Shirt

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Last Yo Gabba Gabba Birthday post, I promise. I had a hard time finding anything for Finn’s party so, maybe this will help a fellow searcher.

All of the Brobee shirts I found were far too expensive for a boy. If you have a boy you know what I mean, after about 3 times, there will be a stain for sure. I also like any excuse to try new craft supplies and I have never used Iron-On Vinyl.. so, lets do this.
Inspiration: This $4 shirt from Target; Perfect Brobee

I used my favorite Silhouette feature and “traced” a Brobee Face that I found online. This file is specific to the Silhouette Software and I am super cool so I you can download it for free HERE :)

Just cut the different “facial features” in the three different colors.

Now… per the instructions on the Vinyl Packet, iron down the cut pieces with the shiny side up and press while gradually increasing the pressure of the iron. Only iron down the “first layer” of pieces.

Then pull up the plastic coating and add the “second layer pieces”.

Ok… sick of Brobee yet or will you miss him while he is gone? I’m sure he will be back, and Finn won’t miss him cause check out his new shoes… hehe.

More YGG posts HERE, HERE and HERE.

White Wine Sangria

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As promised, White Wine Sangria. I figured if you had to come to a two year old party, the least I could do is serve Sangria, right? And its just too hot for red wine so, White Wine Sangria it is!

This batch I made was simple, refreshing and low cal because it is made with Fresca. 
This recipe makes a ton so you can always cut it in half. Add more or less wine to make it as strong/weak as you like.
White Wine Sangria:
– 1.5 L. Bottle White Wine (I actually used Chardonnay)
– 1/2 L. Fresca 
– 1 can peach nectar
-1/2 c. limeade
-fresh fruit (I used lemons, oranges, strawberries and peaches)

A Yo Gabba Gabba Birthday Party

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It’s a Party, It’s a party for my Finn.
This past weekend, we had a few of Finn’s friends over for his 2nd Birthday.

Brobee and Muno were there in cupcake form :) I didn’t want to go too over the top with decorations because he is only two and how can I out do myself year after year? So, I kept it pretty simple. My best decision was ordering pizza instead of trying to cook and heat my kitchen up. I also made some White Wine Sangria – tutorial HERE. 

Like any good hostess, I enlisted help. My amazing mom did such a great job on the cupcakes. She didn’t just draw on a face with icing, everything was made from real food. Muno’s teeth are pieces of banana chips. Couldn’t you die over the Brobee one?

In my opinion, you can’t have a party without streamers and balloons. They are cliche for a reason.

We had to have some healthy snacks for the kids so they were too sugared up from the cupcakes.
I saw these fancy fruit ka-bobs on Pinterest. These are just cute for life, I don’t need a party to make these again.
Another Pinterest find… these DJ Lance Rock Radio party favors. The radio is a free printable from NickJr.com and you just tape it to a box of animal crackers. Yes please!
I came across a few birthday banners with the YGG faces but I changed mine a little and had just used their eyes.
I also made the Birthday Boy a shirt. Which didn’t stay clean or on for long. Tutorial HERE. 
(on his new trampoline)
I would say it was a great time. Any party that ends with eating a cupcake in your underwear is a success in my book.

Margarita Pie

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I had you at Margarita right? If you know me at all you know how I feel about Margaritas.  Not only do I love Margaritas… I also love anything made with Greek Yogurt. So, I whipped up a pie. The recipe is from Oikos (the Greek Yogurt lid), I just added some Triple Sec :) 

Ingredients:

1 graham cracker crust
8 oz low fat cream cheese
1 cup  Vanilla Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Margarita Mix
3 Tbs. Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
1 Tbs. Triple Sec Liqueur 
 

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, lime juice, margarita mix and Triple Sec and stir. Then, fold in the yogurt. Pour into a pie crust and freeze a few hours or until firm. I added sliced limes on top for funsies.

On the topic of cold food… anyone have any good recipes for “cold” dinners. I can’t think of anything to make lately because it is so hot here that a hot dinner sounds… hot. All I can think of is Greek Salad which we had tonight by the way. I can’t live of Greek Salad every night… ideas anyone?

Binky Bag

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Is it baby/wedding shower season for your too? Our calendar is packed over here with showers and weddings (and I like it). 

A common phrase at my house is… “where is the binky?”. So, I actually though about making something like this months ago for Clyde and his Binky Love (more of an obsession that I will regret later). We were invited to a diaper shower a few weeks ago and I always like to add something handmade. So I made a Binky Bag. 

It is so easy I can barely even call this a tutorial- but I will :)
All you need is:
– a small piece of fabric (mine was 14″ x 10″)
– small piece of boning
-a ribbon

Basically all you do is create a pocket that is sewn on 3 sides and a 1″ hem on the 4th side so you can insert your boning inside and your bag will always be open. There are a ton of ways to modify it, here are the bare bones of the Binky Bag.

1. My piece of fabric was 14″x10″ and I folded it in half, right sides together, and stitched around 3 sides; leaving an entire side open
2. On the open side, serge around the top (or sew a hem)
3. With the bag still turned inside out, fold 1″ down
4. Sew around the fold leaving an opening
5. (the opening)
6. This is the boning that you will insert into that opening
7. Flip the bag right side out and pin a ribbon to the top of the bag
8. Make sure to leave a gap (about 1″) on the back of the bag so the ribbon doesn’t touch
9. Sew the ribbon to the bag

Lastly, insert the boning into the opening and stitch it closed.

Make sure to leave the gap in the ribbon so you can tie it to the side of the crib or changing table.

No more “where is the binky?” Happy Mommie, Happy Baby.

A Yo Gabba Gabba Invitation

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It’s a Party, It’s a Party for FINN!
It’s almost here… my little baby is turning two. I know its super cliche and everyone warned me but I literally can not believe how fast he is growing up. I can remember every detail of his birth and feel like it was just a few months ago. At the same time it is hard to remember my life before he was here. If you are a parent you know I can’t begin to explain what he has taught me. I have learned to savor every moment with my 5 month old even more now. Uh enough with the “Mom” moment… :(
On to the Par-tay!!
Please excuse the next few posts if Yo Gabba Gabba creeps you out. Finn is obsessed so naturally it is the theme for his birthday party. We are having a “friend” party the evening of his birthday and then doing family stuff separately. I finished his invitation and sent them out a few days ago.

It is actually kind of hard to find Gabba stuff. I found some clip art and made this invitation and then I ordered some napkins, plates, streamers and balloons online. I am not going super crazy because he is only two (and wont even remember this anyway – isn’t that a bummer)

Finn loves Brobee the most so I am also making him a Brobee t-shirt. (You can see his Brobee pillow here). There are also some really cute ideas on Pinterest so I started a Yo Gabba Gabba board. I am going to do the DJ Lance Rock Radio favors. I found the wording for the invitation on Gabba Friends. Its pretty simple but if you would like to personalize it I am putting the file under  the “Freebies” menu or you can click HERE
You just need to fill in the name and info…

He is excited.

Chicken Pitas and Tzatziki

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Once again, I have another recipe for you from Real Simple. I am pretty much obsessed with their recipes. I like the magazine but I love their recipes. We make something “Real Simple” at least once a week. And this is definitely simple. Here is the link to the recipe online:
Chicken Pitas with Tzatziki
 I usually amend to our liking but I pretty much follow this one exactly. I do add lemon juice to the Tzatziki Sauce. And my pitas have pockets but that is about it. You will love these! 

Chicken Pitas with Tzatziki:
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 8)
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • kosher salt and black pepper
  • 1 cup low-fat Greek yogurt
  • 1 cucumber, seeded and grated (about 1 1⁄4 cups)
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
  • 1/2 small clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 4 flat breads or pocket-less pitas, warmed
  • 1 small romaine heart, leaves torn if large
  • 8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
  • (I add lemon juice)
 
Directions:
  1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with the cayenne, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Cook until cooked through, 6 to 7 minutes per side. Cut into bite-size pieces.
  2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix together the yogurt, cucumber, mint, garlic, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper (and lemon).
  3. Top the flat breads with the romaine, chicken, tomatoes, and tzatziki.
 
It makes a ton of Tzatziki and I always have leftover sauce so we use it as veggie dip for the next few days. So good! Last night I served our pitas with Couscous and Sauteed Garlic Zucchini. Lovely summer meal :)  

 

 

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