100 Followers (and Potato Cheese Soup Recipe)

My little blog has reached 100 followers through Google Friend Connect! It's so exciting to me- just a few months ago nobody was reading except my mom, my boyfriend, and my aunt. Thanks to everyone following through readers or subscriptions other than Blogger, too. I absolutely love reading all your comments- it's so encouraging to me, and so much fun to meet you all and follow your blogs, too!

Now, on to another fall recipe. Like I said in my last post, I've been at my parents' house for a few days, and today my mom tried a recipe that she saw on Mr. Food: potato cheese soup. We love having soup on crisp fall days, and this one's very tasty.

Potato Cheese Soup

2 tablespoons butter
1 celery stalk, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 ³/4 cups chicken broth
3 large potatoes, peeled and diced
2 teaspoons white vinegar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 ¹/2 cups milk 
¹/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

In a soup pot, melt butter. Add celery and onion and sauté 5 to 7 minutes, or until tender. Add chicken broth, potatoes, and vinegar; cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 20 to 25 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Add flour, milk, salt, and pepper; cook until soup is thickened and heated through, stirring constantly. Add cheese and stir until melted. Serve immediately.

Mr. Food tops his with bacon. We didn't, but wished we had!

Click here for the original recipe on MrFood.com.

Also, here's a fun fact that I learned in library school: recipes aren't copyrightable (and some people think that's the only reason the cookbook industry can exist!). So in case you've ever wondered, we can all feel free to repost away, but of course, it's always nice to give credit where credit's due. :)

Featured Posts!

While I've been busily enjoying a few days back at home, a couple of my projects have been featured on some of my favorite blogs, which is always so exciting!

A Little Lovely featured my simple flower bobby pins, as well as some other really fantastic projects.

Allison at Catch a Glimpse featured my sweater dress. Check out her blog, and the other features this week by clicking her button below!

Thanks, ladies!

Tutorial: Make an Upcycled Sweater Dress from a Men's Sweater

I was going to wait another day or so to post this, but I just couldn't wait!

Not only is this one of my favorite projects, it's also my entry for Fireflies and Jellybeans' Iron Crafter: Sweaters contest. This was the perfect opportunity for me to custom make and upcycle my own sweater dress, because I have several problems with the ones in stores. They're never warm enough for winter, and usually have short sleeves and thin material. It never seems worth the money to me. I've always thought about making one from a man's shirt, but couldn't find a tutorial I liked. Now I've finally made my own!

1.Start with a sweater that's too big for you. It's easiest if you pick one that doesn't have defined shoulders, but with seams running diagonally from the underarms instead.

This one's an Old Navy men's XXL that I got from Goodwill for $3. I'm about 5'9", so I really needed the XXL in order to get it long enough, and it's still a pretty short dress. It's really the length you're going for with the extra sizes, but I was able to use the excess from the arms and sides to make the cowl neck, so a little extra width's not bad, either.

2. Turn it inside out and lay it flat on the ground. You may be able to combine these next steps (similar to the t-shirt refit tutorial), but I sized the arms and the body separately.

3. Pick a sweater you already own that fits you well, and lay it over the big sweater, lining up the shoulders and the top edge of the arms. Pin down along the bottom edge of the arm.

 4. I did the same thing for the body, but chose a knit sundress that I know fits me well, and pinned all the way down the sides. See how it flares out more than the black and white non-dress sweater does? If you don't already have a dress to use as a pattern, consider how much you'll need it to flare to stretch across your hips and backside. Remember that you can belt it later if you want, so a bit of a loser fit in some areas isn't a problem.

 5. Sew along the line of pins on each side, making sure to follow the line of the underarm. If your underarm seam is too angular, it'll pucker and be uncomfortable.

6. Try it on! Mine fit really weirdly at this point, because there was so much excess fabric still inside. It was almost hard to turn it right side out. But I was still able to see that it probably would fit the way I wanted once I cut that excess out.

7. Trim the excess away, leaving a small seam allowance. Go ahead and try it on again. Does it fit? If it's still too big, you can take more in.

8. Finish the inside edges. There are a lot of ways to do this- I went ahead and zigzag stitched as close to the edge as I could. Here's a pic- I know it's not pretty, but it'll do the job.

Essentially, you're done right now! If your sweater has a busy pattern, you might not even want to embellish it. But if you have a lot of excess fabric like I did (or your sweater's a boring gray, like mine is!), then consider what you might want to add. A belt is one easy, fashionable solution, but here's what I opted to do.

9. Roll up the sleeves and add buttons to the cuffs. The sleeves were unbelievable long on the sweater, but I didn't want to trim them and have to worry about finishing the edges nicely. So I rolled them up, folled the edge over, and sewed two button to each.

10. Make a cowl neck. Mine's just a little one, but if you have loads of extra fabric, you could make it as big as you want.
Use the extra fabric to make a tube (sew the rectangle closed with right sides together, leaving the ends open, and turn right side out). 

I hand sewed the circle closed, tucking the raw edges inside, and then hand sewed it to the dress neckline.  Let's look at another after pic!

That's it! Pair with thick tights, and you can keep wearing dresses all winter long.

UPDATE: My sweater dress was chosen as a finalist for the Iron Crafter competition! Please head on over to vote by clicking the button below!

Vampire Cape and Headband!

I know I haven't been getting on the seasonal craft bandwagon (which has totally kept me out of the pumpkin themed link parties!), but I did sit down and do some really quick corner-cutting projects in order to turn my LDGD (little dark grey dress, haha) into a vampire costume. Combined with black tights and the right makeup, I just might pull it off.

The outside of the cape is black costume satin, and the inside lining is red organza. There's also a layer of a stiffer black material in the collar. I didn't make a tutorial for the cape, because I really had no plan at all in mind- as you can see, since this is what I started with:

I did a lot of things that I probably shouldn't have, like using a sheer material for the lining. Red costume satin would have been much easier. I tried to use only leftover materials from previous projects, however, and I succeeded- I didn't buy a thing for this project. But the organza made hiding unfinished edges a pain, so I just didn't hide them at all. I figured that for a one-night-wear, I could let it slide. If you look closely, you can see where they're tucked under through the organza. Oops.

And also, since I'm all into using my glue gun to make hair accessories now, I made a gothic-inspired headband to go with it. That's craft lace stuffed with the trimmings from the cape organza. Some stitches (the lace hides them really nicely), but mostly hot glue holding it all together.

Guest Posting on Happy Homemaker and Momma!

If you missed my Placemat to Apron tutorial, I'm guest posting about it over on Happy Homemaker and Momma today! Head on over and check it out! :)

Check These Out!

If you love Iron Chef, or sewing, or sweaters, check out Fireflies and Jellybeans' new contest. The secret ingredient is sweaters, which is so perfect for fall. Link ups start TODAY and are open through 10/29 when judging begins. Click below to check it out!



Also, Emily at The Boy Trifecta announced today that there's only nine weeks till Christmas- and she's going to make a handmade gift every week till then. I don't know if I can commit to a project like that, but I might join her for one or two weeks! Check it out here!

Flower Stretch Headband

This weekend went by super fast, but I did manage to get a few fun things done, including a start on my vampire Halloween cape, and another coil flower creation.  I'm not entirely sure how much I like this headband, but I think it's got some charm. You'll have to let me know what you think. I used the scraps leftover from my t-shirt refit project and based it on the easy flower bobby pins I made a few days ago.

The flowers are just stitched right on to a stretch headband that I already owned.  It looks better with my hair down, but I couldn't quite get a good picture. Either way, I'm really into fabric flowers right now and looking forward to developing some new kinds.

Weekend project plans

I'm excited to have a weekend without much on my plate. I've got the crockpot cooking a new recipe right nown (braised chicken with cannelini and fennel...mmm), and a bunch of projects on my mind, as well as a lengthy homework list. I'd like to make a few more projects like the flower bobby pins, and maybe a few zippered pouches, too. A visit to Anthropologie this afternoon definitely got me feeling inspired to tackle some knock-offs. I'd love to make another ruffled scarf, but more like this one:

And of course, with Halloween coming up, I may try my hand at whipping up a short vampire cape to go along with my lazy "just wear a little black dress and accessorize" costume plan. Martha's got a really cool tutorial here, but it looks pretty involved and fancy- I might just have to wing it with what I've got on hand. If it works out, I'll try to get a tutorial up in time so maybe someone else can get some use out of it this year, too.

And most of all, thanks to all of you guys for continuing to follow my blog! I love reading all of your comments and checking out the sites of my blog's super followers. I'm thinking about starting an etsy shop at some point thanks to all of your continued encouragement, and that's something I never thought I'd do!

Crockpot Applesauce

We've been having some beautiful fall weather in Madison, as you can see from this picture I took at the arboretum.

It's been sunny, but not toooo cold- I can still wear a skirt if I want, but it still feels like the perfect time for hot drinks and apple pie. I finally got around to making the crockpot applesauce, and it was absolutely delicious, and made the apartment smell wonderful, too. Definitely a recipe to make again.

I started out with a recipe from my crockpot cookbook, but changed it a little as I went. I think you'll enjoy it, too.

Recipe for Crockpot Applesauce

3 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (9 or 10 medium sized)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
1/4 cup lemon juice
6 inches cinamon stick, broken to 1 inch pieces

Combine sliced apples, brown sugar, water, apple juice concentrate, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Cover and cook on low heat setting for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3-4. Remove and discard cinnamon. Use a potato masher to coarsely mash apples.

If storing for later use, cool slightly. Store in airtight containers. Chill for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 8 months. For me, this recipe made just over enough to fill a 36 oz jar.

Tutorial: Easy Flower Bobby Pins

I absolutely love all the cute flower pins and headbands everyone's been making lately, and I decided to whip up my own little how-to today. There are so many different ways to make fabric flowers. I think this is probably one of the most simple. I whipped it up in just a few minutes after a more involved project went sour this afternoon.

1. Cut a strip of fabric. I used a strip of a t-shirt that I'm going to do something with...someday.

2. Wrap it around itself into a spiral. If you want to shape it a bit more, do so...I kind of liked the simple uniformity of the plain spiral.

3. Add a few stitches. I went in one side, straight through to the other, and again on the other side of the circle, finishing off with a few stitches in the back center.

4. Glue it to a bobby pin. I used a glue gun. If you would like to, glue a small circle of felt to the bottom, covering the unsightly glue mess. I think three of these little flowers glued in a row to a headband would also be really cute.

That's it! Super quick and easy!

Purse Week Winners!

I'm a couple days late thanks to a no-internet-access trip out of town, but if you haven't seen the purse week winners yet, head over to A Lemon Squeezy Home to check them out! And if you loved purse week, she's always got other neat challenges going on- like Craft With Your Kids Week- so make sure and check that out too.

No-Egg Cookie Dough!

My original plan was to make chunky applesauce in the crockpot this week...but the crockpot had a bit of a mishap and was unusable. A bowl got stuck inside and it was a few days before we could get it out. So stay tuned for the applesauce.

In the meantime...check out this awesome no egg cookie dough recipe from My Computer Is My Canvas. She dips hers in chocolate, which sounds amazing. I've got mine in a bowl in the fridge for eating by the spoonful. It's safe to eat raw since there's no eggs, but totally unhealthy...two sticks of butter! It's also totally delicious.

More Thrift Store Finds!

Okay, I'm addicted to thrifting. That's become pretty apparent by now. Last week I went to the St. Vinnie's "Dig and Save" which has clothes for a dollar a pound. And literally...you've gotta dig, through huge cardboard boxes that are not remotely sorted. Worth it? Yes. If you're not a seasoned thrifter, the Dig and Save just might scare you away, so shop there at your own risk. Here's a couple of my finds. And in case you're curious...I bought 3.80 pounds worth of clothes.

This one's my favorite. It's a polyester JCPenney top from some other decade...I'm not sure which.

Although I think it looks better with a belt (a red one would be better), and best with a jacket.

I also found this great Western shirt.

This brown sweater has so little going for it: ugly color, shapeless, too big...but I can use the upcycling and refitting practice- and for literally pennies, it was worth a go, especially because it's super soft and cozy. You can expect to see more of this guy. If worse comes to worse, there's some great tutes for sweater leg warmers out there!

And of course, I can't turn down a cardigan.

That's just a few of the finds. I also nabbed a red dress that's super ugly but has some promise, and a few other things to practice my sewing skills on. I've been so inspired lately by Grosgrain's Thrift Store Thursday and Verity Clothing's projects that I can't wait to rip apart a few things myself. And if they don't work out, well...I'm sure I'll be thrifting again soon!

Tutorial: Quick Refit for a Too-Big Top

I recently received the top on the left from a friend. It's shapeless style, combined with the fact that it's a size too big, wasn't very flattering, as you can see, though I love the detailing at the top.  Really, I just wanted it to be narrower, and that's where this tutorial comes in; you can see the before and after above. This kind of fix is worth remembering, especially if you often pass up tops because they're a bit too bulky. Obviously,  if you're having trouble with fit in the shoulders or bust, you might need a bit of additional tweaking, but for an easy fix, these steps should help you out. 

1. Lay the top out flat, making sure the bottom edges, underarms, and shoulders are matched up, and over the top, lay a shirt that is of a similar material. Mine are both t-shirt knits, so they have a similar stretch. Match up the underarms of the two shirts.

2. You can see that I've pinned around the edges of the white shirt, creating a line so it will be the width of the red shirt. Again, since my shirts are both knits, they're pretty stretchy, and I don't have to be too exact. Here's a closeup of the pinning.

 

3. Remove the top shirt, and go stitch down the line of pins. After the first side, it doesn't hurt to try the shirt on quick- being careful of the pins. Make sure it's starting to fit right. If you don't like it, now's the time to use the seam ripper and try again (I did!).  Make sure you follow the curve of the underarm. If this seam is too angled, you'll have ugly, uncomfortable puckering. Here's a picture of the underarm of my shirt; I know the seam's a bit difficult to see, thanks to the matching thread!

4. Do the same for both sides. When you've done this, try it on. Is it better? I had a good 2-3 inches of excess on the sides, so I went ahead and trimmed them off.

And here's the after shot again. Okay, it's a little wrinkled right now, but a vast improvement, I'd say, and definitely a much more wearable top.

Purse Week Finalists Up!

Expect a project post here later this afternoon, but first, head over to A Lemon Squeezy Home to see the 10 purse week finalists! My Ruffled Clutch didn't make the top ten, but the finalists' projects are just beautiful, so make sure you vote for your favorite one. :)

Envelopes from Magazine Pages

 

This project is so easy, it's hardly a project at all. I'm always looking at magazines and wishing I could do something really cool with the neat pictures. I just got some old Martha Stewart mags, and there's some really nice page designs and photography; it seemed a shame to throw it out. Sometimes I save them for things like this (my closet door):

Or my bulletin board, for lack of any better ideas:

Today I figured, why not make some envelopes. They're clearly pretty simple, but the pages, like I said, were worth more than just the recycling bin. I used a glue stick, and double stick tape to add on the labels (scraps of cardstock). Here's a few of them.

And the back (a little less cute):

It just takes a few seconds to whip one of these up, but here's a link to a how-to video by Amy at Angry Chicken, whose main goal was to quickly make envelopes for her kids' letters without leaving her chair. Even if you don't need a tutorial, it's a great video, and a fun reminder that it's okay to cut corners and even be little lazy in making any kind of projects.