Ribbon Hair Bows

My sister and I were walking around Hobby Lobby the other day and we were in the gift bag section when I saw some ribbon bows that I thought we could totally make cheaper and better than what they looked like. So we walked over to the fabric section to look at ribbon and I got to work.

We started out cutting ribbon strips to the desired size. Depending on how puffy you want them depends on how many you cut. I cut 24 pieces of ribbon.

Then start layering your ribbons. Lay them curl side up and curl side down.

Once they are all placed I picked it up and got it to crimp the way I wanted and then added a twist tie to hold it in place while I tied and elastic around it.

I clipped the ends of the elastic and then glued a clip on and you are finished. Super easy and you can get several bows out of one thing of ribbon. Here are some different styles we came up with:

My Grandmother's Blanket

For March's Relief Society activity the theme was about tying the past and present together through Relief Society. We were asked to bring a quilt made from an ancestor if we had one. I mentioned it to my mom and she told me about a blanket my grandmother had done.

My grandma died a year before I was born so I don't know her but I would imagine that I received some pretty awesome crafting genes from her! My mom brought over this blanket that she had made.

I am completely humbled by her amazing talent. She made this blanket in 1965 and won a blue ribbon for it in 4H. She did everything herself.

All the quilting is done by hand and the stitches are incredible. They are tiny and so perfect and even.

The front part of the binding is done by machine but the back part is stitched by hand. I can't even imagine hand sewing the binding on a queen sized blanket. I don't have the patience for that!

I would love to hand quilt a blanket some day and get as good as her. This blanket is amazing and I am glad that we have it. It makes me want to challenge myself to be better about exactness and detail in my projects like she did. This is amazing and she did an amazing job.

Odd Pillowcases

My sister found this pillow a while ago and called me to see if I could make her some pillowcases for it. I agreed having not seen the pillow.

Well I got the pillow and some scrap fabric from my mom:

and said "You want me to do what?"

I think this is the oddest request I have had from her yet. I left it to sit for a few days not knowing how I was going to attempt it. I called my mom to see if she could talk me through it but she couldn't. So I just decided to make a test pillowcase to see if it would work. I started by taping a bunch of papers together and tracing the pillow. Then I did sides to the pillowcase of 4 inches and made a cuff for a finished size of 3 inches. I got to sewing and I just kept my fingers crossed that it would work.

Well it did and it fit perfectly. This is one of those times where I jump and shout because it actually worked the first time! So I duplicated my process and so that she would have two. It was exactly what she was looking for and that was music to my ears!I stuck my pattern away for the next time I would be requested to do this for her only to have my mom go out and buy the exact same pillow and then request some for her. So I made her two pillowcases as well.

Only problem was her pillow cases weren't so easy. Her fabric didn't have a right side and a wrong side so I started sewing the 4 inch strip on inside out and didn't realize it until I had sewn it all together on one side and got half way done with the zig zag stitch around the seam. So I had to unpick it all and start over.

I now have reminders on the pattern to check the direction of the fabric next time!

I {Heart} Cheesecake

I am a sucker for cheesecake big time. I could eat a whole cheesecake by myself and I do on occasion. Not all at once though but I have been known to have it gone in a few days. I love the one my mom makes and it is so easy.

So here is the recipe:

Mix together:

8 oz Cream cheese (regular not the reduced fat one)

1 tsp Vanilla

1 can of Sweetened condensed milk

Juice of one lemon at room temperature

Tip: It helps to have the cream cheese at room temperature so that smooths out and doesn't have lumps

Once creamy pour into

1 Graham Cracker premade crust

Let it sit over night in the refrigerator to set up and then it is good to eat.

We also add different kinds of toppings such as cherries, raspberries, blueberries etc. My favorite is cherries.