A Dozen Paisley Napkins

Napkins and napkin rings for my future Aunt. I love this pattern and color scheme so much that I want to make some for myself!

Made out of a thick cotton, sewing the corners was sometimes difficult with so many layers to sew together, but my mom and I managed. I had a lot of help from her, since I am not exactly proficient at using the sewing machine or undertaking sewing projects. I can pretty much go forward and backward on the machine, but that's all! It's a good thing my mom knows more and is willing help me even though she has a lot of other things to do. She is the best! 

Doll Operation 101

Several years ago, after much longing and deliberation, Soph worked all summer saving up her money to buy an American Girl Doll. She bought a Kirsten doll off of Ebay and Soph enjoyed many days of playing with her. But time took its toll and poor Kirsten lost a leg, then another! My mom and I found a "remedy" for  "broken" or loose doll legs. We fixed her up, and she was good for another few years of play, till now, when she was in really desperate condition. She has gotten a complete overhaul!

The night of the "operation" Soph got all of the tools and the doll in readiness. We had many little helpers who sat around the table watching- and commenting and offering suggestions :) - with great interest.

Now, if your dolls limbs are very loose, they will look like this:



And if the limbs are very, very loose they will look like this, with the stretchy band visible.



To take the limbs off, untie the string that holds the doll's head to its body.



The doll's body is filled with stuffing, so go ahead and pull all of that out, but save it, because you'll need it to stuff her back up once you're done.



Then cut the stretchy band that holds all of the limbs in place.



The limbs will come right out, like so.

Then we washed the limbs with soap and water, being carefull not to get water inside of them. You can see the drastic difference!

Cut the new elastic hair ties once so that they make one long strand instead of a circle. It's important to use new hair ties because they are not stretched out and have more elasticity in them.

Inside each limb will be a little plastic "cup" like the one shown below. You will have to take them out gently with a pliers, so as not to break or twist them.

You should have 8 little "cups" all together- four from the inside  of the limbs and four from the outside of the limbs.

Put one end of a elastic band into a "cup" and tie a knot near the end, as pictured.

Pop the end you just knotted and the "cup" into a limb.

Thread another the band through the appropriate socket in the doll's cloth body, then thread the "cup" onto the elastic band, positioning as shown.

Stretching the band tightly, tie another knot as close to "cup" and limb as possible. The tighter your knot and the closer you position the knot to the limb and firmer and more stable the limb will be. 

Attach all of the limbs this way, taking care to make them as tight as possible.

Stuff the doll back up, taking some time to make sure that the doll's body is smooth and free of lumps and bumps.

We carefully wiped off Kristen's face and brushed her hair. We also trimmed the ends of her hair and the stragly bits in her bangs and then did her hair in her traditional braided loops. Her head was then put into position and the string tied tightly to keep it on.

Dressed in her freshly laundered clothes, and now able to stand on her own solid legs, Kirsten has made a full recovery and is now ready for more long hours of play!

Babies in the Strawberries

If you were to come and give a casual glance at our vibrant strawberry bed, nothing extra-special might be noticed, except perhaps the abundance of green berries.

 But if by chance you looked in the right spot, a surprise would await you.

And if you gently moved the fluffy gray fur aside, 8 little pairs of fuzzy ears would peep up at you. Less than a week old, these baby bunnies don't have their eyes open yet. But it won't be long- they are getting stronger and bigger every day and the small nest hardly seems big enough for 8 growing rabbits!

 Somehow, my mind cannot grasp the fact that these cute, soft babies will soon be eating our kale and fresh spring lettuce- just like their mother!

Completed: Ellie's Sweater

Ellie's knitted sweater is finished. However, due to some slight problems in the pattern, it turned out wider than she is! I liked how simple it was to work with its
easy garter stitch and basic shaping of the rectangles, but it turned out just barely long enough for her and much to big for her, as you can see in the picture.



I did do a colored pattern to make it prettier, and I think that turned out well. It was good practice for me even though it didn't end up perfect. I am now in a "knitting fever" and will have another project to show you soon!

Glass Harps and Canon in D

We found this super cool instrument on YouTube- it's called a "glass harp." This man plays songs by filling assorted sized glass goblets with set amounts of water to produce different notes when he rubs his hands across the tops of them. It is so amazingly beautiful that I almost want to make one of my own!

http://youtu.be/UGftsRH7A2w

Recipe: Cream Cheese Flan

Ingredients

3/4 cup white sugar

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

5 eggs

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a small, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, cook sugar, stirring, until golden. Pour into a 10 inch round baking dish, tilting to coat bottom and sides. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated. Beat in condensed and evaporated milk and vanilla until smooth. Pour into caramel coated pan.

Fill a jelly roll pan halfway full with water, and place pie dish into jelly roll pan and put in oven. Bake in preheated oven 50 to 60 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool one hour on wire rack before serving. To unmold, run a knife around edges of pan and invert on a rimmed serving platter.

Serve and enjoy!

Cookies

Chocolate Oatmeal Raisin cookies anyone? Soft oatmeal cookies, I might add, due to a minimum baking time and the addition of a tablespoon of lemon juice. Delicious!

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1 and 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup softened butter (1 1/2 sticks)

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups coarsely ground old-fashioned oatmeal, uncooked

1 cup raisins

1 package chocolate chips

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two large cookie sheets. In small bowl, with wire whisk, stir flour, baking soda, and salt until blended.

2) In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat white and brown sugars with butter until creamy, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Beat in eggs, one at a time, bating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and lemon juice. Reduce speed to low; gradually beat in flour mixture just until blended, occasionally scraping bowl.

3) With wooden spoon, stir in oats, raisins and chocolate chips until well combined.

4) Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake cookies until tops are golden, 12 to 14 minutes. With a wide spatula, transfer cookies to wire racks to cool. Repeat for any remaining dough. Enjoy!