Sweet Bird's Nests

It's almost Easter! Time for sweet treats. I'm bringing these bird's nests to Mya's class for her "Easter party #1." They're super simple to make. Mya even helped me with them.

Ingredients:

Chow Mein Noodles (the cracker-like stuff - not real chow mein)
Butterscotch Morsels
Cadbury Mini Eggs (yes, we got into our bag before making this)

Step 1: Melt the butterscotch morsels. I use the double boiler method since I don't get good results with my microwave oven. But if you're comfortable with your microwave oven, by all means, go for it.

Step 2: Add chow mein noodles. We added about half a package (or 8 oz.) of noodles.

Step 3: Mix. It's more like folding. You don't want to break up the noodles too much.

Step 4: Make nests. Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper. Using a tablespoon, scoop the noodles into little piles on the lined sheet. Using your fingers, manipulate the noodles so that they become nest-like.

Step 5: Add eggs. Add the candy eggs while the butterscotch is still melted and they will stick to the nest when it's cooled.

Step 6: Allow to cool and harden. You can either leave them out or do what I did and stick them in the fridge.

And that's it!! Easy peasy. I've got more to make this week–Treats for both kids and adults.

Ortwine's - Going back in time

When I first got my driver's license up until her passing, I used to take my grandma to Ortwine's (or as she would say, "Ornshwines") to get craft supplies and yarn. Ortwine's is a hardware/general/craft supply/sewing supply store that's been around since the 60's or 70's. It's located in an older neighborhood of South East San Diego. My friend, Phuong, found the store a few weeks ago and I was surprised that it was still open. I decided to take a trip there on Saturday, lugging along my two girls. I really wanted to show Mya where "mommy used to go when she was a little girl."

Once we stepped in, it was just as I remembered it - hardware and some general items to the left, craft items to the right and in the back, fabric, yarn, trims and notions. The aisles were tighter than I remember (maybe it was because I was smaller back then) and it was still disorganized and dusty. The best part... they don't update their inventory unless there's a need to. So the store was stuck somewhere between the early 70's and mid-80's and so were their prices. I think their inventory of fabric trims and zippers is a lot larger than Joann's (although it a much smaller space).

I took a few photos of the craft and sewing items with my camera phone:

Their yarn inventory - this is what I remember the most since my grandma loved to crochet.

Rotary phone in the back.

Zippers galore!! They also had 50 cent zippers up front.

Every color and size of bias tape that you can think of!

Their trims, trims and trims! (Sorry for the fuzzy photo)

Stacks of vintage fabric - lots of cotton. Notice the pipes and hardware in the background.

These creepy doll-making faces. Yikes!

There were lots of other interesting things, like paper napkins and tablecloths from the 70's, serving and warming pieces from the early 80's, pea shooters from who knows when, and lots of general hardware supplies. It's worth checking out if you like that kind of stuff.

Ortwine's Hardware & Appliance:
4715 Federal Blvd
San Diego, CA 92102

Back from a hiatus - Brayden's Quilt

Yes, I know it's been months since I've last posted something. But I promise you that more things are coming!! I've been on hiatus since having the baby, the holidays, then a crazy hectic schedule with some church events and work. But I promised myself that I'd find time to work on a project during my down time.

I had little bits of down time last week and have been intermittently working of this quilt. This quilt has a story...

My good friend, Mary, was having a baby boy and I had offered to help plan her shower along with her friend. Needing inspiration, I looked towards fabric and found this super cute Michael Miller fabric called "Silhouette Boys." It had coordinating fabric and everything! So I started pulling together some ideas and came up with the inspiration board below:


So the party ended up revolving around the blue and brown color and this "Boy" fabric. I even made invitations to match (A brown ribbon was tied to the top):


I bought the blue boy fabric and the brown fabric with the blue dots to use as decoration for the party. I turned them into table runners and wrapped some cylindrical flower vases with the fabric. Unfortunately, I was so busy at the party that I forgot to take pics!!

I had the intent of using the fabric to make a quilt... and I actually did - in record time!! This came out to approximately 36" x 46" - a good crib quilt size. I had the blue "boy silhouette" fabric, the dots and even the white fabric was the tablecloth at the party. I went to my friend, Pam, again to dig through her stash and found a black fabric with gold printing for my border. I was afraid that it wouldn't really match up since the silhouettes were a very dark brown but I think it worked out quite well.

I machine-quilted this bad-boy with my 301. It was the first time I tried stippling (thanks to Crazy Mom Quilts for giving me courage to try it). Some areas were looser than others but overall it turned out okay.

My favorite part is the back. I messed up my measurements, cutting 2.5" strips instead of 1.5". So I had a whole bunch of 1" strips laying around after fixing my mistake. I pieced those strips together to make the band on the bottom half. I pieced the rest of the leftover fabric and I nearly used up all my fabric! I love it when it works out that way. The quilting really stands out on the black fabric - you can see my stippling and crosshatching on the squares. Oh, and of course, I had to label my quilt. I finally bought muslin and freezer paper - now I have to label Mya's quilt, too.

Well, this was quilt #3 for me. I'm getting the hang of it. I still have to work on pinning my "quilt sandwich." I had a few areas that were bunched up and was real frustrated with myself. One day, I'll have a totally flat quilt... one day.

Oh, I have to add... Brayden was born this past Monday, March 30th. The quilt was finished on the 29th. Good timing, eh?

Next up on my project list:

• Easter's coming!! It's one of my favorite times of the year since I can make Spring treats!
  
  
• I went to an awesome garage sale and bought a Bernina serger for $50!! I'll show you an easy grocery bag using one piece of fabric (no serger needed for it, but having it is nice).
  
  
• Mya needs jeans. Pam recommended a good pattern and I'm going to face my fear of making pants (story on that to come).

I'm one of those moms...

Do you remember when you were a kid, you had that ONE classmate whose birthday you looked forward to because her/his mom would bring a pretty cool treat to class? Well I think I'm turning into that mom. I always sign up to bring snacks for Mya's school parties. For Valentine's day, I brought nicely decorated heart-shaped sugar cookies, on Halloween, I brought Bakerella-inspired pumpkin pops. So I signed up again for the Thanksgiving party and brought these turkey cookies.

I've seen these done before in various ways. But I liked the contents of this version - not too many candy corn (which I have a love-hate relationship with) and lots of chocolate! Mya actually helped me with this. It's basically a fudge-stripe cookie, a peanut butter cup, candy corn, and a Dove chocolate piece. I melted two Dove chocolates in a sandwich bag and used it for "glue."

Mya was able to help me with this, I piped on the chocolate "glue" and Mya put all the pieces in place. The key to getting the Dove chocolate to stick to the bottom is by attaching it while the turkey is still on it's back.

The kids in her class LOVED this. What a departure from... whatever they were getting before!

Pizza with Mya

Mya attends school for 3 hours in the morning. I picked her up one day realizing that I had some pizza dough sitting in the fridge that was one day past it's "use by" date. So we stopped by Fresh & Easy (my new favorite store) and picked up some pepperoni and mozzarella cheese to make a pizza for lunch.

I pulled out the pizza dough and it was about to burst out of it's bag - they weren't kidding about the "use by" date! Mya helped to flatten it out on a well-floured pizza stone and helped spread out the sauce. I let her put on the cheese and pepperoni, which surprisingly, she was meticulous about. She evenly spaced the pepperoni and used just the right amount. We topped it off with dried oregano and drizzled it with olive oil and into a preheated 450 degree oven it went.

8 minutes later, it was done. 10 minutes later it was half gone. It was a pleasant and headache-free way to cook and eat with a kid.

Mya 4.0

As you can see in the previous post, Mya was a robot for Halloween. She also wanted a robot birthday party and has been talking about it since August. I have to admit, this was the least planned party that I've ever thrown. Usually I'd be up on every detail but I didn't get to most of the planning until two weeks before the party. The only thing that was ready were the invitations. Thom made the invitations since I was busy with the new baby. It was a CD with a recording of a robot voice inviting guests to the party with the song "Mr. Roboto" closing the message. RSVPs were done via website.

We had about 50 guests RSVP through our website - which was when I realized that I needed to make an emergency call to dad to help out with food. He really came through with all the food - it fed everyone and there was enough for "to-go" containers.

We had a few games and activities for the kids and parents. There was the limbo, "Robot Says", musical chairs with parent/child pairs, the chicken dance (per Mya's request).

Kids made robot costumes with their parent's help:

Thanks to Mr. Jerry, we had computer parts and discs, Thom raided Costco for their cardboard boxes and we used part of our mega roll of aluminum foil to make the robots. We had glue and tape available to connect all the parts

We had a robot parade once all the costumes were made. The parents were real creative!!

Kids made robots out of marshmallows and toothpicks. It's interesting how robots compare from child to child:

Next was cake time! Due to time constraints, I couldn't make a whole robot like I I originally planned. So she just got a big robot head.

Just for the record - some kid put that tiara on Mya - She's not a "princess" type of
kid at all.

Kids left with a goody bag containing "robot parts" such as wires (string licorice), buttons (M&Ms), circuit boards (Andes mints), Nerds and this plush robot that I sewed up and stuffed with the help of Phuong:

All in all, it was a great party despite us cleaning and prepping from the moment we woke up until an hour into party time. Mya had fun as well - you could tell since she didn't mind having her shoes on the wrong feet for the entire party, she got grass stains in her jeans and muddied up her nice white top. Next time we'll try not to plan on having a baby so close to another birthday. Maybe we'll be more prepared next time.

My Little Robot

Mya wanted to be a robot for Halloween this year. She's been talking about it since August. I was quite excited to hear about her costume. I've always wanted to do something with cardboard boxes.

I made her costume out of a kitty litter box, silver wrapping paper, thumb tacks, circuit boards, dryer ducting, $2.75 worth of stretchy silver fabric, an old headband and of course, aluminum foil. I ended up having to modify the costume last minute to make it more comfortable for her. I just added some cotton batting to the inside of the box so that it balances better and pads her shoulders.

Big thanks to "Mr. Jerry" for the motherboard and sound card. It really made the costume!


Unfortunately, Mya wasn't really in a good mood that day. She had a pain in her right leg and some rashes - which we found out later was shingles. She didn't feel like dressing up at school but reluctantly dressed up for trick-or-treating at the mall. She was a hit, though. Everyone commented on what a great costume it was.

What a trooper - I wish we would have known about the shingles before Halloween.