Bakeware Set

This is a fantastic Bakeware set I won back in November from Kitchen Daily.  It arrived on New Year's Eve in perfect timing to cook up some yummy food for a small get together. I won it from a contest entry form on one of their blog posts. This was one of the first of many prizes I've won online and I thought I might start documenting some of them here to give a shout out to the folks that do the awesome giveaways and to swoon over my winnings.  ;)

This prize was especially awesome because our bakeware was lacking and old! This covers just about anything we need for casseroles and baking!  We use the red casserole dish a lot for large portions of green beans and the large white one on the right is used for double batches of casseroles  that I make - generally Enchilada Bake.

Here are the details on each casserole dish as per Kitchen Daily:

1. Le Creuset Heritage Square Casserole
2. Juliska Small Casseroles
3. Elizabeth's Everyday Essentials Casserole Dish by Revol
4. Rachel Ray Bubble & Brown Rectangular Casserole
5. Sophie Conran Portmeirion White Mini Casserole (2)

More Charity Bears

I made three more Charity Bears to give out to my girlfriends for the big University of Louisville vs University of Kentucky basketball game over the weekend. I think they turned out so cute! Now I just need to make a UofL bear for myself!

Making these bears has been a great way to get me some extra practice in on the machine and working with curves. These were made with team themed fleece I came across, felt for the muzzle and eyes and large black button beads for the eyeballs.  Photos of the girls with their bears are here.

"Hear Doggy" Dog Toy

This week my pups were lucky enough to receive a Hear Doggy "squeaky" toy...but the beauty is, they hear the squeak and we don't! At first I wasn't sure how well that would work, but sure enough when we squeak the toy we just hear a poof of air, but they tilt their heads like something very interesting is going on! We owe thanks to Go Pet Friendly for giving us the opportunity to try out the Hear Doggy. Lois Lane and L.B. are having some issues sharing so we may need to get another one (even though they will still want the same one).  We got the purple elephant, but there are several different animals to choose from and they are all very cute! Great toy for the dogs!


Hear Doggy Purple Elephant Toy

L.B. likes trying to "kill" it

Is that a smile, Lois Lane?

And the bickering begins...

Buddy doesn't know what all the fuss is about (he doesn't know what to do with a toy).

Sewing a Charity Bear

Today I sewed my first stuffy, which will be a Christmas gift for Laila, my one year old granddaughter. I needed something simple for my first stuffy attempt, so I opted for the free Charity Bear pattern by Shiny Happy World.

Laila loves soft fleece so I cut the main body pieces from a tan fleece blanket I had laying around the house but never use. I used lavender felt for the belly and black felt for the nose. I also used black and lavender embroidery floss to applique the belly, nose and sew on the eyes and mouth.  ( If she was older I would have used button eyes, but didn't want to risk a choking hazard. )

This was my first time sewing with fleece so it was a little bit of a different experience for me, but I managed and it turned out so cute!  The bear is currently sitting under the Christmas tree waiting to be wrapped up for her to open in a couple of weeks

Our New Camping Rig

Yesterday we finally got to pick up our new fifth wheel camper we purchased before the Thanksgiving holiday. We had to wait to bring it home until we were able to get the fifth wheel hitch installed in Big Nasty (our Ford F-350). So now it's home and in the driveway waiting to be leveled so I can start stocking it up for our spring camping adventures!

Here she is just after getting the hitch installed and awaiting our final walk through.

These are Derby City RV dealership's photos. I will be updating with my own once I get it stocked, decorated and personalized a bit.

Exterior w/ awning. The slide is on the other side.

Superslide w/ dining room table & chairs and hidabed couch

Full kitchen

Entertainment center with tv (to be replaced with LCD) and surround sound speakers (installed in ceiling throughout) Hallway to bedroom & bathroom

Hallway stepup to bedroom and bathroom

Queen bed w/ nightstands on both sides

Full stand up shower & sink

Bedroom closet storage & tv shelf

Water closet (literally!)

Brass to Bronze

When we bought our house over four years ago all the light fixtures were cheap, gaudy brass. Every. Single. One.  Shelling out money for new light fixtures when the ones we had worked flawlessly wasn't an option we wanted to choose. So, out came the DIY in us and we painted them! And while we were at it we also painted the floor vents, the wall intake vents, light switch covers and plug outlet covers. Now the house looks much more updated and modern for well under the price it would have cost to replace all of those things.  We used Universal All Surface Spray Paint by Rust-Oleum in the color of Oil Rubbed Bronze Metallic. This stuff is awesome. It stinks to high heaven, but it's awesome. Here is a small sample of our before and afters. We'll be working on the ceiling fans next.

Dining room chandelier:

Bathroom Fixtures:

Hallway Light:

Envelope Throw Pillow Cases

We recently purchased a new area rug, swapped out curtains and painted so now my old red throw pillows did not match at all. Rather than spending $60 on four new ones, I decided to spend $20 on fabric and make my own covers that can be slipped off and thrown in the wash if needed.  I'm still new at this whole sewing thing, so, yet again, I perused PInterest and came across a few tutorials by searching "sewing envelope pillow cases" that walked me through making envelope pillow cases for throw pillows. I'm not up for trying  a zipper yet, but it will come in time.

I purchased fabric from Wal-Mart since they had a pattern I liked.  It's called Abstract Blue/Brown by Kentshire Home Collections. I completed two of the pillows and had intended to do two more - one for each recliner chair - but I may mix it up with a different pattern for those pillows.  I haven't quite decided yet.  I also would like to get a couple smaller solid pillows to put in front of these to tone down the pattern a little bit.  The color does match the new area rug quite well - though I didn't get a complete photo of the rug.

Here are the pillows in place on the couch:

And here are some up close photos of the front:

And the back where you can see the envelope section:

Lois Lane approves!