More Christmas Preparations

  I haven't sent my family's gifts off yet.... I got confused and thought Christmas was on Wednesday, and missed the post office closing on Friday by 5 minutes... oops. But at least they are all finished and wrapped, which is light years better than I did last year. Here's a peek of the last few presents:

  Interested in the wrapping? Here's the lineup:

   First up, for one of my sisters:

  This one turned out to be the simplest of all the wrapping... I started off with some white satin ribbon, then tied on an ornament tag, and topped it off with a bow. The bow is made from paper, and I stitched a snowflake design on it with my sewing machine, using an older needle and red thread.

  This one is my favorite by far:

   I made a little double-layer box for this one, taped on some saddle-stitched brown ribbon, tied a sprig of greenery and a sprig of berries together and taped the ends with washi tape, and added a tag made with my sewing machine and packaging paper, along with some faux calligraphy. (I have real calligraphy pens somewhere, I'm just not sure where at the moment.)  I attached the tag and sprigs to the box with some brown embroidery thread.

   I love this one too! I'm afraid it's going to get smashed in shipping, since I only did a single layer box, but it's cute anyway! I taped a strip of washi tape around the box, then tied a polka-dot ribbon in a bow just beneath it. Next I sewed some Christmas-themed buttons onto a little tag and added a different kind of washi tape (which was peeling off in the photo...) and tied the tag to the bow with embroidery thread.

  This one just has a big, beautiful bow, a machine-stitched tag, and a double-layer box. Simple, but elegant.

  I taped grey satin ribbon around this one, with a layer of brown satin on top. Then I wrapped red grosgrain ribbon around in the opposite direction, weaving it under the brown ribbon in the front.  On top of the ribbons, I tied a pine-cone and a sprig of berries with brown embroidery thread, and wrote the name with faux calligraphy.

  This one has washi tape, a machine-embroidered paper 'ribbon', and a salt dough ornament, which is tied on with a strip of thin leather. It's a little more rustic than the others, but I think it fits the personality of it's recipient.

  I made a double-layered box with a separate lid for this one, and tied on some sparkly ric-rac. The tag is white card-stock with washi tape on the ends, tucked underneath the bow. I love the way this box came out.

  I also made some treats for my family, and did some fun packaging on those, but I haven't taken photos just yet. =)

  The last two I've wrapped are actually not from me... they are a gift from my mother to my daughters, and I had the fun of wrapping them.

  The one on the left has gold bias tape, some of the bias tape I made, and some sparkly gold ric-rac. The ric-rac and gold bias tape are from my Grandmother. =) And on the right, I used white satin ribbon and sparkly red ric-rac, along with a machine-stitched tag.

  I'll bet you are wondering where the gifts from me to my daughters and husband are. The truth is, I haven't finished them yet. =( I run into this problem every year! I try to finish the gifts to send, end up spending too long on them, and not having enough time to make the gifts for my favorite people. Maybe I'll go with something simpler than the dresses I originally planned for the daughters.

  So there you have it! Maybe you can get a few ideas from my wrapping, if yours isn't already finished. And since I probably won't post again until after Christmas, Merry Christmas! I hope you have a lovely blessed one, and have some quiet moments to remember the meaning behind it all.

Thanks for stopping by,

Preparing for Christmas

  Things have been a little quiet around here lately. I've been quite busy creating, but since everything I'm making is a gift for someone, and every one of those people read this blog occasionally, I can't actually share everything yet. So far, I have finished gifts for 5 people... only 8 more gifts on my list. Luckily, I'm partway done with 2 more, and I can leave 2 off completely if I run out of time. I'm not going to show any full pictures lest I spoil the surprise, but here is a peek of what I've made so far:

  I've only wrapped one gift so far... this one is for a gift exchange, so the name is blurred. =) I used a paper bow printable from Ellinee.com , a cinnamon-scented dough ornament, a little washi tape, satin ribbon, and a box I made from brown packaging paper for this gift. I love wrapping gifts, although they don't always turn out like I'd hoped. On this one, the ornament is bigger than I was aiming for, but still cute! If I like how the wrapping turns out on the rest of the gifts, I'll share those here too. =)

So if I'm completely missing in the next couple weeks, you know what I'm doing... preparing for Christmas!
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Orange Chicken Recipe

  If you know me well, you know that I love orange chicken. It's one of the foods I'm always interested in eating. =)

  Since I love it so much, it stands to reason that I would develop my own recipe. My recipe is a combination of several from various places on the internet, with many alterations of my own. Now I can honestly say that my homemade orange chicken is best I've ever tasted. Yes, it's even better than Panda Express. =) And it isn't difficult to make either, it just takes some time.

The other thing I love about making my own orange chicken is that I can freeze portions of it to reheat later, when I don't feel like making dinner. And it tastes just as delicious reheated. While the chicken is thawing, I start by making the sauce, the important part:

 Water, orange juice concentrate (you can substitute fresh orange juice for the first two ingredients, but the flavor won't be quite as strong), brown sugar, and soy sauce.

  Then add a little:

  Garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, and orange zest. You can use freshly grated, but in this recipe,

 Dried works just as well. =)

  Whisk all those together, and start them boiling. While they heat, mix up some cornstarch and water.

  Now is also a good time to chop up some green onions.

 Once your sauce is boiling, pour in the cornstarch mixture and whisk it up really well.

  Keep whisking over low heat until your sauce is nice and thick:

  Add the green onions and mix well. If you follow my recipe, you'll end up with about a quart of sauce. This sauce also makes a great salad dressing, and if you aren't into fried chicken, can be mixed with shredded chicken or beef for a lighter meal.

Now, on to the chicken! Cut it into small pieces, less than an inch each. In a separate bowl, mix together some flour, pepper, and salt:

  Crack a couple eggs too, and beat them well.

  Mix the chicken pieces into the eggs, then sprinkle a handful of pieces on top of the flour mixture:

  Shake the bowl around until the chicken is covered, and repeat until it is all coated in flour. Start heating your oil while you are sprinkling and shaking.

Once the chicken is coated and the oil is hot (about 350 degrees Fahrenheit), lift out some chicken pieces with a slotted spoon, shake slightly to get rid of any loose flour, and drop in the hot oil. If the oil is the right temperature, they will boil like crazy.

  Keep adding chicken until the pan is decently full, but not crowded. While it is cooking, line a tray (or a cookie sheet) with paper towels. You will probably need to fry several batches.

When the chicken starts to get golden, lift it out with a different slotted spoon and set it on the paper towels to drain, then mix it up with some of that amazing orange sauce.

  And serve! This time I served it with a simple salad and brown rice, but of course it is even better with fried rice and egg rolls. =)

   Are you hungry yet? I am!

  Make this, just once, and just try to tell me you don't love it.

   Here is the entire recipe:

  
Thanks for stopping by!

1st Birthday!

Gaiw turned 1 year old yesterday! =)

Gaiw now

 

Gaiw 1 year ago. =)

 I made Gaiw a fun birthday cake... fun because I enjoyed decorating it, even though my hand was shaky the whole time. Also fun because I managed to make a strawberry-flavored cake with no artificial flavors! The trick was strawberries pureed, cooked over low heat until reduced to 1/4, and substituted for part of the liquid in the cake recipe. It still needs more strawberry flavor, so next time I'll do twice as much strawberry puree, but I am so happy that it actually tasted like strawberry!

  Here Gaiw is, getting ready to try out the cake.

I think she liked it. =)

 And here Gaiw is with the gifts her grandparents got her:

 I also made Gaiw the blue dress she is wearing... up-cycled from a ladies shirt. I want to change the sleeves slightly though. =)

Covered in cake, but she is happy!

  So happy birthday to my little daughter, who is not a baby anymore. =) I love you!

Thanks for stopping by,

Sewing on Leather

 I've had some old leather boots sitting around for a couple years now... I don't wear them because the soles are broken, and I slip and fall. I couldn't just throw them away though, the leather was still in fairly good condition, other than a couple scratches. Since they were inexpensive to begin with, I didn't feel bad about cutting them apart to use for other things. For a tester project, to see how my sewing machine handles leather, I made a leaf bowl:

  I used this template, but greatly reduced the size so it would fit on a solid portion of boot. Because I shrank it down so much, it isn't as defined as the original, but it still looks like a leaf. =) It was harder than I expected, but not because my machine couldn't handle it. With a leather needle in, my machine worked beautifully on this. The hard part was holding those itty-bitty darts together while sewing them! Wonder clips might have helped, but even with those it probably would have been difficult. To give you a better idea of how small this bowl is... these are regularly sized pins:

  I have no idea what I'll use it for, since I have a lovely pincushion (from my sister) and I don't wear jewelry. Any suggestions? It was fun to make, in spite of the difficulties, and I think a large one from stiffer leather would be beautiful for fruit or as part of a centerpiece.The back is a little messy. I didn't realize my boots had so much going on inside them to retain the structure! There was glue, interfacing, a lining, and mesh support... messy. I managed to peel most of it off, but it still isn't as pretty as I would like:

  Once that was done, I cut some more pieces out and made a soft glasses case:

  At first I made it so all the seams were on the inside, but I couldn't get the back to lay flat that way. So I sewed the gussets at the bottom right sides together, and all the rest of it wrong sides together.

  It isn't perfect, but it is certainly better than having my glasses knocking around the car when I'm not wearing them! (I only wear them while driving. )

 
  These were both pretty easy to make, and fun. They really didn't take a lot of leather either... I only used about 2/3 of one boot for both. Now I'm curious to try heavier-weight leather, and see what my machine can do. =)

Thanks for stopping by!

Peplum Shirt

  I'm not a trendy person... I have my own style and I stick to it fairly well. I designed this shirt long before peplum clothing was all over the place, but I didn't have an appropriate fabric to make it from, and forgot about it until now. Several days ago I saw Disney's post over at I Am Momma, Hear Me Roar for her Refashionista series, and it reminded me of my initial design. Since I had a bunch of white knit lying around, I decided to go for it! My version is more like the one Disney's little girl is wearing.

  I did a double layer flounce, with one a touch longer than the other. Mine don't have any side seams, but are cut as single pieces. The bodice is fully lined, since I have yet to find a white knit that is not slightly transparent.

  The sleeves are 3/4 length and are gathered at the sides with some bronze rose buttons tacking down the gathers.

  To my surprise, my husband really likes this shirt! I was expecting him to think it was one of those silly women things, but he thinks it looks really pretty. =)

  I love it too. =) I like that is super-comfortable, but more interesting than a basic t-shirt.

  I also love how easy it is to dress up with a ribbon sash and corsage.

  How about you? Are you a trendy person, or do you make your own style?

Thanks for stopping by!