Curried Chicken Salad

This is as much for me to remember as it is to share...it was a hit among the curry lovers in this house.  Three hours later Jed walked up to me and said "Wow, I'm still thinking about how good that was"  So here we go:

Excuse the less than precise measurements...it's just how I roll.  All of them fall into the "ish" category

3 T. mayo
1 T. curry powder
cilantro, to taste
about 1/4 cup sliced almonds
a handful of golden raisins
1/2 small apple, cubed
about 12 oz. shredded chicken

Mix..Enjoy!

Genius!

These two blogs are genius.  Why?  They came up with this idea!


Because this guy gets ignored too often in my sewing and crafting.

So, for the next month, I will celebrate my boy and hopefully craft for him a bit too!

What I've been busy with...

This beautiful little girl!  

So, my crafting was momentarily suspended so that I could take care of Abigail Charis.  Who know having three kids four and under would be so much work!

Before Abi was born I was able to finish this Christmas present for Ali.  She currently loves all things Hello Kitty, so when I found this fabric, I knew she would love it.  The pink and yellow are all fabric scraps that I had.  I used some of the fabric to make a Hello Kitty face on the shirt, but Ali's hiding it!

I have a bunch of stuff cut out...I had the best of intentions for Christmas presents...hopefully in the next few months they will get done!

Muffin Mix!

For our latest MOPS creative activity, each mom was able to customize some muffin mix for a quick and easy breakfast for the family.  The basic mix was:

1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar

You can add:
1/2 to 1 cup dried fruit and/or chocolate chips
1/4 to 2/3 cup of chopped nuts

To make the muffins:
Mix together 1/4 cup oil or melted butter
1 cup milk or vanilla yogurt
1 egg

Add one package of mix.  Combine.  Batter will be lumpy.  Spoon into greased or lined muffin tins. Bake at 400 for 20 to 25 minutes.

My family enjoy cranberry almond muffins yesterday and today.  I keep thinking of other great combinations:  apple walnut, cherry chocolate...the list could go on and on!

Folding Photo Book

This was the craft we did for our first MOPS meeting of the year. If you would like to make your own, here is the tutorial. Feel free to ask if you have any questions.

Materials Needed:

2- 6x6 pieces of chipboard. I found chipboard in the scrapbook section at Joanns. If you can't find any, any heavy cardboard would work. It's purpose is to stablize the front and back of the book.

3 -12x12 pieces of paper

2 pieces of scrapbook paper to cover the chipboard. They can be any size, as long as the are bigger than 6x6

glue or double stick tape

scissors

Do the next three steps to each of the 12x12 sheets. Fold in half.

Now fold the paper in half the other direction.

Fold the paper diagonally.
Each of your 12x12's will look like this when you are done.
Glue or tape the three pieces of 12x12 paper together. Make sure the diagonal folds all face the same direction. You should be connecting on squares.

Take your colored paper and cut it a bit larger than the chipboard. There is no exact science to this. I didn't even worry if the cut was a straight line. Cut the corners off the paper as shown below.

Fold the paper over the chipboard and glue or tape in place.
Now for the trickest part...folding the book for the first time. Fold the diagonal fold in. The square should sit down on top of the fold.
Do the same to the other end of the three 12x12 papers.
Turn the 12x12 papers over and fold the last diagonal in.
Glue or tape your paper covered chipboard to the top of your folded paper. The other chipboard goes of the back of your book.

Decorate the outside of you book however you want. My four year old helped me decorate this for her to put her pictures in. She really wanted the pink circle on there. I don't know what it's purpose is. I just go with it!

I hope you enjoy making your own books! They would make great brag books for grandparents. Just fill the inside of the book with pictures of your choice!

A little rainbow

I've had the material for this shirt (based off of this post) for some time, but my wonder under had disappeared. I think my kids are hiding it from me! I finally went and bought some more, and Ali helped me make this super cute shirt. She loves it! I let her help me iron some of the rainbow. After these pictures were taken, I did stitch around the colors of the rainbow and the clouds, but Ali was so excited to wear it, she wouldn't let me do it right away.

The posing was her idea!

Also in the works in my home: A household notebook. I'm trying to streamline and organzie things so I get done what I need to and still take the time to read, craft, and do special things with the kids. I also want vital information in one place so that when Abi is born I can find things without thinking too hard! I've had the various pieces floating around, but I need to get it all together. Hopefully I'll have something to show you soon!

I'm also hoping to get an outfit made for my new niece before we go see her in August. I should have lots of time; I just need to decide what to make her!

Dropping off the face of the earth

At least that is what it feels like. We left after Easter for a two week trip. We started by spending a few days in Kansas with my family and then Jed and I left for a week long conference in St. Louis. The kids stayed with my sister and her family for the week. We've been home for a while now, but it still feels like I'm running in circles.

I've strongly hinted that I want Anna Maria Horner's new book for Mother's Day. We will see if the hint is taken. Besides making things for friends and family having babies, I think I'd like to make a few things for Baby 3, which should make his appearance in late October or early November. We will see.

I did manage to sew Ali's Easter Dress. I need to get a good picture of her in it. And, I did finally make it to Stonemountain and Daughter's fabric in Berkeley. We've lived here for almost two years, so it was about time. It was fun to visit. Ali and I really enjoyed looking at the fabrics. So many beautiful choices. Jed didn't quite get it, but that's okay, he humored me!

So, that's all for now...hopefully I won't ignore this blog for so long again.