DIY Wednesday: Burp Cloths

Hi Everyone!

I have a much more fun project to show off, but I left the pictures at home. It will have to wait until next week. This is a little project I worked on for myself. My husband and I found out a few months ago that we're expecting our first child. It was quite unexpected since I am still in school, but the timing worked out alright. I'm due May 21st, and I'll graduate on May 7th with my JD.

Anyways, I'm going to try to craft many things for the baby so I don't have to purchase them. Plus, it's nice to have some homemade things to pass along. These were my first project. I decided to try this new method of sewing burp cloths. I started out by sewing about an inch in and then tucking the ends in & sewing a 1/4 to make a nice pretty hem around the cloth. I used my favorite fabric and flat fold cloth diapers.

It's an odd mixture of fabric, but it was all the fun fabric I had sitting around the house.



The new cleaner way I made the hems.




Fun Fabric!



Finished burp cloth and soon-to-be-made ones.

DIY Wednesday: $10 Backsplash

Hi Everyone,

I did a little project last Monday night as a breather from school work. It seems like I clean quite a bit during finals, because it's a good way to avoid studying. ha ha. This DIY Wednesday is for last week. I'm finally done with the bulk of finals, touching up some pictures and finally found the time to post something.

I did two things. I started painting the island my husband built for me. I also installed my own back splash in the kitchen. About 2 years ago, we took down all the wallpaper in our kitchen and painted. The area under the cabinets also had wallpaper. We had just left it stripped with the idea we would do a back splash eventually. Well, I got sick of waiting on the men to figure out what tile to use and decided to try something I saw on a home improvement show. My HGTV obsession finally did something for me.

The sheet of plastic tile cost about $10.00. I cut everything to size and attached it with some adhesive caulk. If I would redo it, I would have been a better about cutting. I'm not the best measurer. Oh well. So here's the new back splash. It will really pop when we redo the counter top. This might be the plan for a DIY counter top. I just have to figure out what color is going to look the best with an orange kitchen. That's very hard for me.







This is the "back splash" before. This is what was left after removing layers and layers of wallpaper.






This is the "after." The counter tops are quite ugly, but that's another project for another day.





This is how they look with all the junk added to counter.

DIY Wednesday: Bridal Shower Food

Hi Everyone!

This is the last installment of bridal shower DIY Wednesday posts. Since I will be busy with school, packing and driving tomorrow for the holiday, I thought I would go ahead and post this today. This post is going to center around the food I created for the shower.

First of all, I'm not a foodie. At all. I'm not a good cook either. I am competent (most of the time). However, these recipes are very easy and taste great (according me...a not foodie).

The Menu



The first item on the menu is the Garden Salad. I was going to be all creative and do a plated Caesar salad. Then, when I evaluated the time I had, I decided to do something fast since I was going to be cooking all the food. So, I got Dole salad, used my salad spinner and put it in some nice bowls. I favor more modern clean line dishes so all my serving dishes are white. Most were gifts as part of my Pampered Chef bridal shower a few years ago.



I tried to make signs to go with all my food. I used the same fonts and colors as previous posts, and I cleaned everything up with my round edge paper cutter.


The meat of the meal was a tenderloin recipe I found. I served it on a white serving dish.

Pork Tenderloin Crusted in Italian Seasonings
Recipe comes from All Recipes

Ingredients

• 2 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 pounds pork tenderloin

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Mix bread crumbs and olive oil in bowl to reach consistency that would be moist enough to stick to the meat when pressed. Place pork on a shallow cooking sheet. Press the crumb mixture onto all sides of the meat until there is no pink showing, usually 1/4 inch thick.
3. Bake for at least 35 minutes until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees F (75 degrees C) or until there is no pink when the pork is cut. Let the pork rest for 10 minutes, then cut into 1/2 inch slices.

After the Pork Tenderloin, I found a recipe for mashed potatoes. This recipe is a bit heavy on the garlic, so when I made it for the shower, I didn't use much at all. I served this in a round silver chaffing dish.

Garlic-Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
Recipe is from Food Network.

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
• 16 fluid ounces (2 cups) half-and-half
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 6 ounces grated Parmesan

Directions

Peel and dice potatoes, making sure all are relatively the same size. Place in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce heat to maintain a rolling boil. Cook until potatoes fall apart when poked with a fork.

Heat the half-and-half and the garlic in a medium saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove from heat and set aside.

Remove the potatoes from the heat and drain off the water. Mash and add the garlic-cream mixture, salt, and Parmesan; stir to combine. Let stand for 5 minutes so that mixture thickens and then serve.

I couldn't decide between two green bean recipes. I did a modified version of both mixed together. I personally liked the blue cheese recipe more, but I know blue cheese is an acquired taste.

Blue Cheese-Walnut Green Beans

Recipe is from Delish.

Ingredients

• 1 pound(s) green beans, trimmed
• 1/4 cup(s) water
• 2 teaspoon(s) extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) freshly ground pepper
• 1/3 cup(s) crumbled blue cheese
• 1/3 cup(s) toasted chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Bring green beans and water to a boil in a large skillet. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the beans are just tender, 3 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the water has evaporated, 3 to 4 minutes more.
2. Add oil, salt, and pepper to the pan and cook, stirring, 1 minute more. Transfer the beans to a large bowl and toss with blue cheese until well coated. Sprinkle each serving with walnuts.
   

Green Beans with Bacon and Hazelnuts
Recipe from Delish.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon(s) canola oil

• 1 large shallot, minced
• 1 pound(s) green beans, trimmed
• 1/2 cup(s) water
• 2 slice(s) bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 2 tablespoon(s) chopped toasted hazelnuts, (see Tip)
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) salt

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallot and cook, stirring, until starting to brown, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add green beans and cook, stirring often, until seared in spots, 2 to 3 minutes. Add water; cover, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes for tender-crisp or 6 minutes for tender. Remove from heat and stir in bacon, hazelnuts and salt.

In addition to these recipes, I did get a few things from the store (including the salad). I got the rolls and brownies from a local grocery store bakery. The punch was a simple mixture. I got Dole fruit juice (I believe Pineapple-Orange juice) and mixed it evenly with ginger ale. I added fresh fruit to the juice to add a bit of decoration and flavor.