Meet My Friend the Ruffler Foot

I love ruffles.  

Yet, somehow despite watching a million youtube videos I could never figure out how to  make a uniform ruffle using the gathering stitch on my sewing machine without the thread breaking!  So, I bit the bullet and bought a ruffler foot for my sewing machine.  It took a few hours, three ruffler foots and many broken needles to finally figure out how to work it properly.

My inspiration for my first project came from here:

 http://jonesdesigncompany.com/create/5-days-of-favorite-projects-day-3/

I decided to convert a clearance pillow from Target into a ruffle pillow for my desk chair.  

                         Before                                            After

 Tada

I LOVE it!

 Here are a few things on my ruffle list:

Ruffle Lampshade:

http://www.craftytexasgirls.com/2011/05/crafty-how-to-ruffled-lamp-shade.html

Ruffle Table Runner:

http://emmalinebride.com/how-to/decorate-wedding-tables/

and who can resist a ruffle skirt for a little girl?

http://quelinda-crafts.blogspot.com/2011/09/ruffle-skirt.html

Wish me luck!!

When You Live in Florida You Get a Lot of House Guests!

We have had a VERY busy Spring Break with LOTS of Spring Break house guests!
First on our guest list was my Minnesota friend Gina (who now lives in Texas) who came for a visit with her friend Amy.  We had a great time re-connecting and had lots of girly nights painting our nails and watching chick-flicks.  We watched one of my favorite movies Baby Mama which is a must see for all you Mommies out there!

Our next visitors were Kortni's family!  (For those of you reading this who are not familiar with our living situation - Kortni is Adam's cousin who lives with us.) Kortni's family didn't stay at our house but we had fun spending time with them while they were in Florida! While they were in town so was Kortni's college friend Brett who DID spent the week with us.  While Kortni's family and Brett were in town Adam's brother Zach, his wife Crystal and their two precious girls came for a visit!  We were so honored they took their vacation to spend time with US!  Everyone all happened to be together on Kortni's birthday so we had a great time out to dinner to celebrate Kortni's 24th birthday!

After everyones departure my parents came for a visit!  I am so thankful that my Mom is a teacher and has a Spring Break to be able to spend with us in Florida!  My parents got to experience a little of my 'normal' life since the boys were still in school.  They helped me drop the boys off in the mornings and we were able to spend one on one time with Elizabeth! 

At the tail end of their visit my brother, his wife, nanny and five kids drove down from Washington DC.  The Saturday they drove in Florida had a monsoon!  I was so worried about having all of this family in town and not be able to spend time outside.  Yet, when they pulled into the driveway Saturday night the clouds literally rolled away and not a sprinkle was to be had the rest of their visit!  We spent most of their visit at the pool yet snuck in an amazing day at Busch Gardens.  The two nights my parents and Ben's families visit overlapped we had a whopping 15 people sleeping in our 3 bedroom home!  I loved every minute of it!  Being far from family I cherish these times!  Sneeking glimpses of the cousins sharing secrets and telling jokes made the longs nights of all sleeping in the same room totally worth it!

Now, it is back to the six of us for two more weeks until the next visitors arrive.

Strawberries Galore!

Elizabeth and I joined a few friends for some Florida strawberry picking the other week!  Growing up my Dad always had raspberry bushes and my grandparents home was surrounded by blueberry bushes so I grew up picking berries.  My favorite book as a child was even Blueberries for Sal  about the adventure of a mother and her daughter berry picking with a mommy bear and baby bear.  So, it was such a joy to be able to take my little love Elizabeth on her first strawberry picking adventure!

 Once home I was neck deep in strawberries!

I made LOTS of jam.  Strawberry jam, strawberry pineapple jam, strawberry rhubarb jam and strawberry blueberry jam!  I followed this recipe.

 I froze about half of my pickings for smoothies

 I even made homemade fruit roll ups from this site!  Sadly my boys still preferred the processed kind yet I think it may have to do with the Star Wars characters imprinted on them!

Strawberry Rhubarb crisp - my FAVORITE

I even made self proclaimed rhubarb haters into lovers of this unique vegetable!

Cannot wait for Blueberry season!