Patriotic shirts

Since I forgot to get elastic yesterday when I was running errands I can’t do much on my tankini.

Instead I started prep work for patriotic shirts that my kids and I will be making soon. In fact we will probably be making them on Memorial day.

I read on several sites found through Pinterest that the waxy side of freezer paper can be ironed to fabric, painted over and removed leaving a blank spot the original color behind.

Since I wanted patriotic shirts I picked up plain white ones. You won’t see those today, however I did cut out the freezer paper shapes.

I traced a star shaped cookie cutter and cut several layers at once.

I also cut a bunch of stripes, in 2 lengths.

Then I played around with possible layouts, I will probably do something like this.

I have no idea how the kids will lay theirs out but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was similar to mine.

Shotshell candle

I have yet to craft today, but have no motivation it is hot, humid, and I had a long weekend. Excuses aside my husband and I went to shoot sporting clays yesterday not only did I get a new high score (yay me!) and pick up a bunch of empty casings for my husband to reload, but I also helped the newest member of our usual shooting group pick up shells for her project.
She will be making candle holders similar to, http://pinterest.com/pin/182606959860717703/

I believe these are 12 gauge shells (my guess is based on color and size) but we picked up 410 gauge. (410 gauge is much smaller diameter than the 12 gauge)

Please note, we had full permission to pick up the shells we picked up, when we asked we were told they would be thrown out anyway. Knowing that they would be tossed we picked up as many as we could fit/find into our shooting pouches as we emptied them. And I will certainly be making more spent ammo jewelry in the future even if I have to wait for some that are broken and can’t be reloaded.

Tankini top part 2

I started by sewing the yoke onto the front of the tankini.

Then I sewed the front to the back.

This fits great at this point but without the elastic for the self bra I don’t want to go any farther on this because I want to do that step next.

Tankini top part 1

I finally started sewing the tankini top. I already had it cut out and sewed the bottoms.

I might not be sewing this according to the directions but how I am sewing it makes sense  to me and all the steps will get done the right way even if it’s not in the correct order. I don’t know how many times I have modified the directions and done stuff in a different order or completely different way but still had my projects turn out.

I started by sewing the yoke piece to the bra front.

Then I sewed in the bra cups with a zig zag stitch. I bought the bra cups at a craft store, but did read (in a sewing forum) that you could also cut up old bras, or use pads from old swimsuits or ask at a fitting room counter for “spare bra cups” .(how much you pay will probably vary by store)

I probably should have switch to white thread, but it will be on the inside and no one will see it anyway. The placement does look a little off in the pictures but it is placed correctly.

Then I sewed the bra front to the bra back.

I forgot to buy the elastic for the step I was planning to do next. (the bra band) But I did try it on anyway. With the adjustments I made after making the tank top muslin with this pattern. The adjustments weren’t noticeable once it was sewn. (I took in the top of the front, back and bra pieces to better fit my bust) Best of all it fit perfectly!! Well, as perfect as it can fit at this point in the sewing process.

 

 

Nutella fudge crumble bars

These look really good.

http://www.nlrockrecipes.com/2012/05/nutella-fudge-crumble-bars.html

I hope I can work on the tankini top of my swimsuit this afternoon, running errands took longer than I anticipated.

Finishing the curtains

The white stars showed up much better than the glow in the dark paint did. When the white was dry I painted over it with the glow in the dark paint randomly placing the 4 glow in the dark colors.

I couldn’t get any good pictures of the stars glowing but they do glow.

Doritos chicken strips

I saw this on Pinterest and used my own version of the recipie.

It said to use 4 chicken breasts sliced into strips and soak it in 4 cups of butter milk for 2 hours or more. I used half of the chicken and butter milk but kept the times the same.

I then dredged it in flour and eggs, then Doritos crumbs.

Then baked at 400 for 15-20 min. It was closer to 20 min in my oven.

They were good but time consuming and kind of expensive to make, (it took almost a whole bag of Doritos) and not very healthy. I am not sure when I will make them again but I am sure the kids will ask sooner or later.