Wednesday, August 26, 2015

DIY Cover-Up

Hey there! 
This morning's cooler air has put me in the need of a little something for my shoulders. My summer dresses a tops are just needing a little more. So I decided to make this little cover-up.

My inspiration came from a cover-up purchased by my daughter earlier in the Spring. I have looked at it many times on the hanger thinking I needed something similar for myself and also at how easy it would be to mock it.

The material I chose to use wasn't a lace but it was very sheer and kind of gauzy material.

Using the other garment as a guide, I folded my new fabric in half and laid  the other on top 

against the fold.
After cutting out. I ended up with a 12" X 33" rectangle.
My cover-up is sized small. If you feel you need a larger garment add a 1/2 to 1" to the size of your rectangle.

I chose a piece of satin material for the armholes and the edge. 
I cut 2 piece 4" X 18" for the armhole, doubled it and base stitched it.
For the bottom edge, I  cut 2 pieces 4" X 30" and also doubled and base stitched.

If you already had a piece of trim or notion you could definitely use it instead of the satin material.

Sew it along both long edges of the material and center it on the sides. 
When you're done you'll have something like this.
Fold fabric with right face together and pin and sew your side seams.

Turn it.
That's all there is to it!

I think I have another piece of lace that would work great for this garment.
I think I need at least one more.

Thank you  for stopping by and checking out my 
DIY for today.

Be Blessed!

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

X's & Heart's for These Fudg-y Black Bean Brownie


Good Tuesday Morning! 
I couldn't resist sharing this awesome brownie recipe I found on Pinterest yesterday;
 Fudgy Black Bean Brownies. 
This recipe comes from Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch .
Yes, I know..Black Bean Brownies! Well eating is believing! 
The awesome picture she shared with her recipe got me right over to her sight and with one 
look-at-this to the Ole Man. I was digging out ingredients. I did have black beans in the cabinet but I have to say I improvised on some of the other ingredients. I was short on brown sugar. I only had about a half a cup of brown sugar, so I made up the difference with regular white sugar a teaspoon of molasses. I didn't enough all-purpose flour so I used self-rising flour which probably made mine a little more of a cake-like brownie. The nuts for ice cream topping isn't the ones I would generally prefer for baking either
 but
 I'll tell you when the pan came out of the oven last night no one shied away. 

While I was basically killing time until the brownies came out of the oven I read further into Serena's blog post and on down into the comments. I was aggravated by some of the comments. While some folks were very nice; some folks I thought were down right rude. I'll also add, if your brownies didn't come out well from this recipe it maybe that you just don't cook a good brownie. 
Everyone in this house went back for a second helping of brownie!

I'm not sure if there's a real nutritional benefit from them or not but it does make for a rich brownie.

Pop over to Serena's Blog   for a wonderful tutorial and the recipe.

Thanks for stopping by for some rambling,
Be Blessed!

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Life-Size Board Game Birthday Party


Hey everyone!
Tuesday was Jack's birthday. As usual, we celebrated on the weekend. Birthdays for us is all about family. Well, family, friends, hot dogs, and potato salad. Jack's only request was potato salad. 
You know that's a country kid

Lately, Jack has been into making his own board games. That sparked Jack and his Dad deciding it would be fun to have a life-size board game. 

They cut out game pieces and made a big dice to roll and with some orange marking spray paint, they drew out their board. They called it 4 X 4. Everyone was a truck. It was full of obstacles like Stuck in the Ditch and  the Stump Jump.

I think everyone's favorite was Stump Jump!
Mine, too!
After crossing the finish line you had to holler out,
"Winner, Winner, Hot Dog Dinner!"


Needless to say,  we had a blast and a whole lot of giggles 
Thanks for stopping by for a little
4 x 4, some hotdogs and potato salad 
Letting me share some of the birthday fun.



BE BLESSED!