Toddler's Breakfast

My son has had a weak digestive system from day one. All foods resulting in gas have to be limited. I had to use fennel water for a long time to make his formula. Yesterday I came across this simple recipe in a magazine. It was much needed as I am running out of ideas for breakfast time.

Rusks in Fennel tea with Apple Purée
You need:

• 2 Rusks broken into pieces
• Fennel Tea 5 tablespoons ( I used a tea bag, you could add boiling water on fennel seeds and strain it)
• Apple Puree add as much as you think would make a good portion.

Pour the warm fennel tea over the rusks. Add apple puree freshly made or packaged on top.
Serve warm or cold. My son liked it warm.

Fitted Sheet hits the Street

I have discovered a hidden super power inside me. Wanna know what that is? I can bend the tips of my fingers without bending the rest of the two sections on the fingers! My husband can't and he feels terribly intimidated by my super powers lol  Another super power I have recently discovered is to stare at things and break them, not like David Blaine would do on the streets..but by breaking the Trash and reconstructing it into Treasure! Simple and frugal!

See this tragic fitted sheet.. I got it at a crazy low price and in my excitement to quickly snatch it before someone else does I got the wrong size. Tragedy of errors.

White, stretchy, T-shirty material..what better use than turning it into a new chic top! But wait..I can't sew a top..my comfort zone is just a pillow case..nevertheless I went for it and used an existing top as my template. Don't ask me why I didn't take any pictures because boy I had no clue what I was upto!

This is what I ended up with..nothing with a wow-factor but surely a fun first-time attempt.

•  For the sleeves I reused-another top that was way too small for me. I just took the cuffs with some charming crochet lace off and attached them to the new one. (All white pictures make little sense there)

• For the neckline I got inspired by Bill Gates :

 Instead of making a bias strip I used the elasticated trim of the fitted sheet. Easy to bend..and it gave a ruffled effect for free too!

 The armhole was the hardest part and I messed it up too. I made it way too big for my size which is already L ..so I tried to fix it by adding two darts at the shoulder..it didn't solve the issue but I could not figure out anything else and my mom livese 3000 Miles away!

A bit of hard work there but I'm happy that I tried. A new all-white top that can be spruced up anyway I like!

P.S. My other super power!

Partying at http://igottacreate.blogspot.co.uk/

Revamped Flip Flops

Summer Calling! Put on your sun glasses, grab a tote and there you go flip floppin' to the grocery store...aaahh well you could go somewhere more exciting too but hey doesn't it feel liberating to just slide your feet in some bright and airy foot wear and hop out. I have some really cool ideas for upgrading a boring pair of flip-flops.

Just for an example..the ones above are called 'kaula-puri' and look great just the way they are but if you want to move a step further and add some twist you could add those baby pom-poms made out of yarn in bright colours...

Or you could use felt balls to prettify them. .Although I stole these from my sister but they are do-able.

All you need is some hot glue and some creativity!

Cumin Biscuits

Sugar, Spice and everything nice...no no we're not making the power puff girls..its these light aromatic biscuits I made with a dash of salt. I had a craving for these biscuits while I was expecting my baby. These were my childhood favourites. I searched for them here in Germany but I could not find them in any bakery or super store..so I made my own!

You need:

• Flour 1 and a half cup
• Caster Sugar 1/2 cup
• Cumin Seeds 1 tablespoons
• Salt 1 teaspoon
• Butter 100g
• Baking Powder 1 teaspoon
• 1 Egg..or more if the egg is small

1. Mix all ingrediants together leaving the egg.
2. Kneed with the beaten egg
3. Cover and leave for 30 mins
4. Roll the dough out about 1/2 inch thick.
5. Line a baking sheet with paper
6. Cut into shapes with a cookie cutter and bake for 10-15 mins or until Just golden brown
7. Bake on 150-!80 degrees in a preheated oven.

Painted Pillows

Happy Monday! I'm still trying to shudder off the Monday Syndrome.

This post was sitting on the back stove for some time now. I started off with two plain pillow cases which I picked up on my trip back home. I wanted something sharp, geometric and modern. So, I made a stencil in a pattern which was a cross between a Moroccan tile and quatrefoil pattern.

To make the stencil..I just used a regular sheet of paper folded in quaters. I marked my shape and cut it..I got my stencil. Sorry no picture but you can get the idea from the following pictures.

I traced the stencil onto the pillow cover. Its better to start stencilling from the mid towards outside.

After I was done with the traces I used this outliner that I got from Pakistan. It made things soooo much easier to work with. Its called a GUTTA. It gave me solid lines on the pattern and because I don't have a stable hand I could not paint neatly without it.

I let the outliner dry..it took just about 8-10 minutes..and then filled in the pattern with black acrylic paint. If like me you're using an already stitched pillow don't forget to lay newspapers in between!

 

My new pillows!

 

Muffins in a Jar

Psssst..Should I let you in on a nasty secret....I have always wanted someone to give me a gift in a Jar.
Ok skip the first line, what you read here stays here. This is a simple one, just a plain muffin recipe with oats in it. I made this for a soon to be mom so I filled in some healthy handfuls of walnut and almonds too. The layers include:

•  1 Mug Flour (Sorry I'm a Mug kinda person no grams and scales)
• !/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/4 Cup White Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla 
• 1 and half tsp baking powder
•  1/2 Cup Oats
• 1/2 Cup Walnuts
• Optional: Slivered Almonds

For the instructions label that goes at the back of the bottle:

• Pre Heat oven.
• Line and grease a muffin tray
• Empty contents of jar in a bowl
• Add 2 Eggs + 150 g or half a block of melted butter
• Mix with a wooden spoon.
• Optional : 1 Grated Apple.
• 15 mins in the oven at 180 degrees.

For the label on the Jar I searched and came across this lovely place Limeshot.

Task Organizer

I have a thing with scribbling notes and reminders. No, don't mistake me for a highly organized person, I'm not..but still I find it impossible to just stumble through life without making lists and writing down things. I had a personal diary ever since I was 11..it had fine details like how the dentist tortured me and how a bug found its way into my eye..that kind of stuff. I tried making reminders and notes on my iPad but..for some reason I was not satisfied..I wanted to WRITE them down with a PEN on a PAPER.

I was feeling rather frugal and looked around for options to make an organizer. I tried a shoe box..but it was too big for my ordinary plans for every day chores. So the next thing that came into mind was a cereal box. I had this unopened box..I cut it open on the longer side of the box.

Then,I just eye-balled a mail box sort of shape and cut it..like this.

I had this adhesive decal that I used to cover the box.
I used dividers to sort:

• Days of the Week ( 4-5 tasks a day)
• Monthly and Biweekly chores
• Passwords
• Receipts
• To Buy
• To Do
• Menu
• Extra's

Kids Art Caddy

I have created more sewing disasters in the history of sewing and ironing than there possibly can be. I once wasted yards and yards of cloth while trying to cut a sari petticoat. I got it right on the 4th time. I have burnt new dresses while ironing, I even forgot a hot iron on a folded pile of luscious black silk that was laying near by. I can't help it. My love-hate relationship with sewing continues...

I love to pin sewing ideas..like this drawing caddy that I saw and wanted to make. It seemed all straight lines and easy peasy japanesey..until I tried. My thread broke at least half a million times, my son wanted all the crayons and my husband was worried about the neighbours getting disturbed because of the humming noise of the sewing machine late in the evening. (German neighbourhood laws are practised religiously) somebody with efficient sewing skills could whip it up in half an hour but it took me alot more.

I gathered my supplies. I made a short trip to the fabric shop (one lonely fabric shop in the area where I live) I chose vinyl sheet for the outer cover because the selection of girly prints there, were not very pleasing. Its a gift for a girl.

I measured the vinyl sheet by using a drawing pad as my size guide. I cut 3 pieces each of the vinyl and the lining fabric. Leaving 1 inch seam allowance all around.

Next, I cut two pieces of plain white fabric to make the pockets for markers and crayons. I used a marker as a guide for size.

Ironed everything smooth ( except the vinyl, what a disaster that would've been!). I folded and ironed the edges of my pockets.

Started pinning the pockets on one of the 3 lining sheets of fabric.
On the second piece I marked and cut a straight line in the fabric to insert the drawing pad.

On the third piece I pinned a ready made case with a zipper on it. You could make a pocket too.

For the pockets, I first did a top stitch on the upper part of the pocket. Then stitched on 3 sides to attach it to the lining fabric. After that I marked sections for the crayons and markers 0.7 inches each, and sewed them.

Sewed the pinned pieces onto the lining. Next, I placed the outer sheets and the lining sheets right sides together and pinned. Sew the edges leaving space to turn them inside out. I inserted batting inside the piece with the pockets on it to give it form.

After that I joined the 3 pieces together. You could do a top stitch all over the 3 pieces but I only
did it on the area where I had left the opening for turning over. It didn't look neat but hey I'm an amateur!

Added a self adhesive Velcro for the closure of the folded caddy.

I finished it off by putting the girl's initial and a pink bow on the cover. To make the initial, I used fuse able paper to cut out the alphabet and glued it on the cover.

Not the neatest gift I could make, but still I would appreciate a handmade gift anytime! I hope my friend's daughter likes it too.