I Need. A Nap.

I love a good bargain.  My husband teases that he is cheep, but I disagree.  He is frugal, and so am I.  Frugal is sooo much nicer-sounding than cheep.

I want my kids to wear clean pajamas to bed every night.  I just think it is icky to put on previously worn clothes on freshly washed skin.  That said, I simply CANNOT bear the thought of spending money on multiple sets of new jammies every six months.  Then I remembered THIS blog post I saw back in September from Making the World Cuter.  (Check out this blog - It is really fun and of course, CUTE!)  In this post, Tiffany shows how she made pajama pants for her children from used sheets.  Sheet fabric is awesome!  It is ideal for making sleepwear because you were sleeping in before anyway!

I thought, "Hey, I've got a ton of old sheets.  I can sew.  I'll just make my children new sleep shorts for summer.  I can get them all done in a day."   HA HA HA HA!  Ahem, sorry.  I usually have big ideas that take vastly more time in the execution than I originally estimate.

Super Sleepy Shorts

Seriously, this was a totally easy project.  It just takes time to crank out 18 pairs of shorts.  (At least it took me some time.)

First, make a pattern.  Trace a pair of shorts that fit.  *Be sure to leave enough space around the pattern pieces for seam allowance!*

I first drew out the pieces on freezer paper.  Then, I cut out a demo pair and got to sewing.  Naturally here the tweaking began.  My son's shorts fit him, but just barely.  He loved them and insisted on wearing them to bed that night.  My daughter's shorts were way too tight.  I fixed the demo pairs  by trimming the side seams and adding a contrasting stripe of fabric all the way down.  (As I said before, I'm fugal, and I wasn't about to toss two pairs of nearly useable shorts.  You can see them in the photos at the bottom of this post.)

Once I adjusted the pattern pieces, I began cutting them out of the sheets.  For my son's shorts, I used a fitted sheet from his bed that had lost its elastic. For my daughter, I used a fitted sheet from my bed that had been artistically embellished with a completely indelible ink, (Seriously, these are my favorite pens EVER!) but what really did them in was when I tore a pillowcase one morning as I was changing the sheets.

After all of the pattern pieces were cut out I decided to embellish the  fronts of my daughter's shorts for two reasons: first, I wanted to make them cute and two: I needed a way to distinguish the front from the back.  I mean, who wants to wear their shorts on backwards.

My sewing machine is big and clunky and doesn't sew small seams well so I decided to put on the appliques before I stitched the pieces together.

The finished applique'

I poked holes in the wing to get the correct placement.

I stitched around the outline of the bird after I attached the wing.

I trimmed around the stitching leaving about a ¼" of extra fabric.

Once the applique's were done. I put together the shorts.  Here is where the really scandalous part begins...I didn't finish the edges of the pattern pieces before I sewed!  ACCCK!  There, I admitted it.  Sigh!  It feels good to get that off my chest!  You see, I was taught to zigzag around each piece before I started to sew to avoid having my hard work literally unravel in front of my eyes.  I just didn't want to take the time to do that over, and over, and over again for 18 pairs of shorts so I faked it.  I sewed the seam and then zigzagged down the raw seam to finish it off.  Um, can I just say that I LOVE IT!!  It made the process so much faster, and I do believe that the finished shorts look a little less homemade.  Here are the steps:

Sew the outside seam and the inseam of both the legs.  Then zigzag to finish the seam!  :)

 Then zigzag the bottoms of each leg before you roll the hem.

Hem each leg. 

I opted to hem each leg before I attached the legs together because these shorts are not intended to be seen by the public.  I just needed them to be hemmed .  Amazingly, you cannot even tell that I didn't meticulously measure and remeasure before sewing.  

Slide the legs into one another right sides together.

Sew the crotch together. 

 Zigzag the crotch seam and then around the top of the shorts.  This finishes the edge before it is enclosed in the casing.

Sew a casing for the elastic.  Make sure you leave a space to thread your elastic.

Feed the elastic through the casing.

When I am feeding elastic through a casing, I have learned to pin the tail end to the fabric.  I have had many a tail end slip inside the work forcing me to start over. 

Stitch the ends of the elastic together and sew up the hole. 

You will notice the crotch seam.  I made sure that I kept the seam direction uniform as I sewed around the waist.  I didn't want it to be strange and twisty.

Here are some after shots:

Here's that bird again!

Faux chenille - My daughter says these are her favorite!

These use a reverse applique' process where I sewed the contrasting fabric to the back of the pattern pieces and then cut away the white.  I like this look, but I didn't leave enough of an edge and some of the pieces needed to be repaired after washing. 

My son got striped shorts!

My kids absolutely love these shorts.  It is a challenge sometimes to get them out of their sleepy shorts and into "real clothes" in the mornings.  My son's only complaint is that he can't tell which way is the front on his shorts.  He wants me to sew in a tag.  I'll have to come up with something, I guess.

Here are a few shots of the finished shorts...

The "O & X" shorts gave me the most trouble.

My favorite applique' is this flower.  The edges ravel nicely after laundering.

My daughter loves the HUG and KISS!

All in all, this project took me about a week to complete.  I am still amazed that I thought I could finish in a day.  Believe me, you can totally do this project!  The hardest part for me was making sure I was sewing the applique to the "right" side of the fabric.  I messed that up once which set me back several hours while I picked out the mistake.  (See the "O & X shorts above.)  I'll be honest, though, it wouldn't be a sewing project of mine if there wasn't some picking out involved! 

These shorts were nearly free.  I needed to replenish my elastic stash and get a new spool of thread.  In all, each pair cost around $1!  I paired them with plain cotton t-shirts like THESE.  These summer pj's totally fit my frugal nature.  Plus, I have tons of fabric left over.  I used two pillowcases and a full fitted sheet for my son's shorts and not even all of my king-sized fitted sheet for my daughter's shorts.  I already have plans for the remnants!

Here is an International Shout Out!

My son is six.  That being said, he LOVES geography.  He knows more about how to read a map and world geography than some of the eleven-year-olds that I taught.  One of his favorite things to do is to check the Stats on my blog and see that there has been a visit from a new country.

He has been delighted by South Africa (where his grandparents were when he was born), by Germany (where his other grandmother lived as a child),  by Brazil, Italy, and Russia, by Japan and the United Arab Emirates.  The list truly is endless.  Today we had a treat to get a new country - Mauritius!  Talk about excitement!  Let me officially give all of you international visitors a big SHOUT OUT!  Thanks for visiting.  Thanks for looking around.  Thanks for sharing.  In fact, Iceland is sharing right now.  Click HERE for the link. 

We love your visits, and feel free to come back again - anytime!

Let's Make A Statement (Ring)!

My three-year-old daughter is all girl.  Her dress-up trunk is full of frilly, sparkly, lacy things (along with the fire helmet, a pirate sword, etc.).  Last year I got an email from Etsy titled "Girl's Best Friend."  In it there was a link to a completely cool statement ring made out of white leather.  It was shaped like a diamond and embroidered with black cord.  Now, as I write this the ring has long since been sold so I don't have the original photo to show you, but trust me when I say it looked really neat.  I almost bought it for myself.

Well, it immediately gave me an idea for some dress-up accessories for my daughter.  I used felt, embroidery floss, and little ponytail holders to make her some jewels of her own.  They were a big hit!

She loves the bling!  (Notice the wings in the background.)

You can make some for  your little gal!  Here's the how-to...

The Materials

• Felt 
• Black Embroidery Floss
• Ponytail Holders & Elastic
• Needle and Coordinating Thread

Paper Patterns

You could use any sturdy type of material you want (such as leather), but felt is soft, readily available in lots of colors and patterns, and  very inexpensive.  The ponytail holders are the perfect size for little fingers.  Even I can slip one on without my hand getting too uncomfortable. This is a great project to do to use up felt scraps. 

Choose what type of jewel you want to make and pick the appropriate color of felt.  I went online and did some research about diamond cuts to get a basic idea about facets for different  styles.  I blew each of them up to approximately 2 inches across to make my patterns.

Cut two of each shape out of felt.  Using the thread, sew a ponytail holder to one of the felt pieces.
Use the embroidery floss to stitch facets into the other piece of felt.
Stitch the two pieces of felt together to make a ring. (You could also try using fabric glue to attach the two sides of the ring together.)

Stitching the facets.

 I did not try to transfer the facet pattern to the felt before I stitched.  I just eyed it.

The finished top of the ring.

A look at both sides of a ring.

Sometimes the ponytail holder matched the jewel color (like the topaz below), and other times I tried to pick something close.)

A close-up look at the collection.

Notice the "diamond" pictured above is much simpler than the one above.  I learned that it is best to keep the facet stitching as simple as possible.  

The entire collection!

There are diamonds, sapphires, amethysts, emeralds, topaz, rubies, and pearls.  The pearls in the necklace were stitched to a long elastic cord. 

She loves to wear her baby bling.  She eve went to church a few weeks ago wearing the "amethyst marquise" ring.  It really complemented her outfit!

Here is one last look at the hardware!

COOL! THANKS, MOM!   (Even Pink Woobie thinks so!)

Have fun making your little one some bling of her own!

6-year Easter Eggs

O-K!  One of the reasons that I started this blog was to finish all of the projects that I had laying around.  (Believe me when I tell you there are A LOT.)  This particular project I began when I was staying home when I was home on maternity leave after my son was born.  He is six.  That's right, six.  SIGH!  I got the idea for this project from my Martha Stewart Magazine.  There was this completely cute arrangement of thread-wrapped carrots, bunnies, and eggs.  I knew that I could do that!  HERE is the link from Martha's website. (I still have the pages from the magazine that I pulled out for reference.)

I spent several days wrapping eggs - 40 of them.  Then, I moved on to another project before I could finish decorating them.  SIGH!  Fast forward several years.  I was finishing my old projects, trying new recipes, blogging about my efforts when I was pulled up short.  Decorating these eggs was on deck waiting to become my next accomplishment when I got strep throat.  Everything came to a crashing halt.  After that, it seemed pointless to finish an Easter craft after Easter so I put it off again.

Now,  I can finally say...HOORAY!  I finished another one!  Of course, I readily admit that I am about six years late with this project, but it is done and that is really all that matters right?  Right!

Eeek!  Huge thumb!

I don't have any photos of the wrapping of the eggs because I wasn't thinking about blogging then.  I will tell you the technique that I used to wrap the eggs.

• Start by putting a straight pin in one end of the egg (or sphere).  
• Brush around the pin with a thin layer of glue (I used white glue) about a half and inch or so.
• Leave a tail of thread about 2 inches long.  Brush it with glue to secure it to the side of the egg.
• Begin wrapping the thread around the pin.  The first few wraps are the most difficult.  
• Continue wrapping around the egg until you get to the middle.  
• Stop wrapping and begin again at the other end of the egg (or sphere).
• Finish the wrapping in the middle.

Make sure you keep the glue layer very thin.  While it does dry clear, too much glue will saturate the thread fibers and affect the sheen of the thread.  This cannot be fixed once it is done without removing the bad thread and starting over.  This would not be as much of a problem when using larger cord or yarn.  I used embroidery floss so it was a definitely something I had to think about. 

Once your eggs are dry (no need to wait 6 years)....DECORATE!

I used both white glue and hot glue to stick down the decorations.  I used various small ribbons, trims, and other embellishments to decorate the eggs.  Here are some photos...

Gluing on the decorations.  I got the above bag of tiny trims for $5!  Amazing!

I had some "help."

Lots of "help."

(I still haven't finished organizing my ribbons and things after all of this help.  :) I see a post in that mess somewhere!

Now...the moment you have all been waiting for...here are the finished eggs!

I cut the long ribbon of trim into individual daisies. 

I like the effect achieved by the flash off the corner of the glass.

More "help."

You can see darker spots on the upper blue and green eggs where the thread got too saturated by the glue.

Here is a favorite.

You want to use flexible trim to decorate the oblong shape of the eggs. 

You can add screw eyes to either the top or the bottom of the eggs to make them suitable for hanging.

I really like the look of this bow on the top of the egg,

Here I used a vintage button.

Well, that's it.  These are my eggs.  I am glad that they are done (finally), and I am pleased with the way they turned out!  I can now truly enjoy the fruits of my labor instead of feeling guilty about the bag full of undecorated eggs lurking in my craft closet year after year patiently waiting for me to get my act together. 


Finish a project that you have been putting off.  You'll be glad you did!  I know I am!

I would love it if you became a follower of my blog.  You can also find men HERE on Facebook and HERE on Pinterest.  

If you enjoyed this springtime post you might enjoy this post on Making a Fabric Flower Wreath or this post to make a Bunny To-PEEP-ary.  You could also try this post fora fun Teacher Pencil Bouquet. 

An EGG-cellent Sandwich!

I love, Love, LOVE a good egg salad salad sandwich!  I remember one outing I had with my husband to a little deli on Saturday.  I ordered the egg salad sandwich.  It looked soooo good, and I had a craving.  Well, imagine my disappointment when I took my first bite only to find the egg salad had NO FLAVOR AT ALL!  SIGH!!!!  I was so upset.  I couldn't even finish my food.

Well, when I make my own egg salad sandwiches - they are GREAT!  See...

DELICIOUS!

You want one of these right now, don't you?  (Nodding) I thought you did.  As promised, here is the recipe...

Tanya's EGG-cellent Egg Salad Club

Ingredients:

One recipe of egg salad (ingredients listed below)

• 6-10 hard cooked eggs (either BAKED or STEAMED)
• mayonnaise
• yellow mustard
• dill pickle relish
• salt 
• pepper
• celery salt

Throw a little bit of everything into a bowl and mix it up to your desired consistency.

• croissants
• bacon
• tomatoes
• leafy lettuce

DELICIOUS!

Here are a few photos!

Celery salt is especially delicious with eggs!

Grate the eggs for a nice consistency.

Slice your tomatoes, sprinkle them with salt, and let them sit on a paper towel for 10 minutes to draw out some of the moisture.

Bake your bacon!  I ALWAYS bake my bacon. 

This is uncured bacon from our local market, but any favorite bacon will do.  To bake your own bacon, Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and top it with a rack (this allows the fat to drip off the cooking bacon).  Bake your bacon for at least 20 minutes.  Keep an eye on it.  You don't want it to burn.  Baked bacon is less messy because you don't have the fat spatters all around your frying pan do deal with.  Baked bacon is easier because you can cook an entire package at once.  AND... Baked bacon is better because the smell of cooked bacon will only linger for a few hours instead of a few days.  Plus, you can't beat this clean-up...

Wad up the foil and throw it away!

 To assemble your EGG-cellent sandwich, slap all of your ingredients on a fresh croissant.  

These babies were mere hours old when the became dinner!

 Voila!  Dinner is served, or lunch, or breakfast if your feeling adventurous.  You really can't go wrong with egg salad!

Serve your sandwich with whatever sounds good to you!

Here is a close-up!

Here is another view...MMMMMMM!

Okay, now I'm hungry!  I'll get back to you later.  My kitchen is calling! 

I. Am. STEAMED!

Way back last year I made a big batch of potato salad for a family party.  I decided to write up a little post on my alternative (thanks to Alton Brown) method of cooking eggs.  I baked them.  I pinned my post to Pinterest HERE and went on my way.  Well...last week someone, or should I say, LOTS of someones began pinning and pinning and re-pinning my post.

Baking eggs is a marvelous way to cook LOTS of eggs.  For me, it is the ONLY way to cook lots of eggs.  However, there is another way to cook eggs that can accomplish the same result, perfect eggs, in half the time of baking.  (Also described by Alton Brown in his book I'm Just Here for the Food)  If you only need a few eggs cooked quickly...try STEAMING them!

Alton Brown's Steamed Eggs

Prep time: 5 min.
Total time: 17 min.

Ingredients:  less than a dozen eggs - do not overcrowd your pan

Special Equipment: A saucepan with a metal steamer basket and a snug lid. 

Directions:
1.  Fill a saucepan with 1" of water.
2.  Place the steamer basket into the pan.
3.  Bring the water to a boil over high heat.
4.  Place the eggs in the steamer basket.
5.  Cover the pan and lower the heat to medium-high.
6.  Cook the eggs for 12 minutes.
7.  Use tongs to remove the cooked eggs from the steamer basket.
8.  Place the eggs in a bowl of ice water.
9.  Peel the eggs when they are cool enough to handle.

Here are the steps  - in pictures!

You need three things:  A saucepan, a metal steamer basket, and a lid.  These pieces are all part of the same set, but I have used a vegetable steamer basket to steam eggs in the past.  You just need a snug fitting lid for the saucepan. 

1" of water in the bottom of the pan.

Bring the water to a rolling boil.  This takes approximately five minutes.

I made eight eggs.  I have a stockpot with a larger steamer basket that holds more, but if I need more than a few eggs I bake them.  Again, this process is best for cooking a few eggs.

Place the eggs over the boiling water.

Cover the pan, lower the heat to medium-high, and steam for 12 minutes.

Remove the eggs from the pan with tongs and place in ice water.  Peel them as soon as they are cool enough to handle. 

You don't need to stir the eggs, but I had a helper that wanted a job. 

Now it is time to PEEL the eggs...

This is VERY hard to see, but crack the egg on both ends and roll it around to put little cracks all over the shell.  This will help the shell to come off in a long roll like an orange peel.

Like this...

Steamed eggs are faster to prepare and easier to peel than the Baked Eggs, but there are a few trade-offs.  The yolks of steamed eggs are not as creamy and delectable as their baked counterparts.  Also, steamed eggs give off a more sulferous odor than baked eggs.  However, both Baked and Steamed eggs are vast improvements over improperly boiled eggs.   

Once you have your eggs you can slice them up over chef salad, eat them with a little salt and pepper as a snack, or whip up a to-die-for egg salad sandwich.  Like this one...

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

 Check back in a few days for the recipe.

In other news:  I just received the April 2012 issue of Food Network Magazine today in the mail.  To my amazement Alton Brown was featured on the cover with his guide for cooking...you guessed it...EGGS! ( To find his recipes that are included in this issue, type "Alton Brown" in the search box.)  In it he gives a new third way to prepare hard cooked eggs!  Pick up your copy today!

OH WOW!

I have been on blogger hiatus for the last several months.  I have been crazy busy helping my husband as he has opened his own law practice.  (I am learning more about being an office manager than I ever thought possible.) It is going well.  Every once in a while I have a spare five minutes or so, and I think, "I have a pile of projects, I should get one out and get working."  Then the next mini-crisis arises.

Periodically I check in here at Greetings From the Asylum to clear out the spam in the comments folder and smile at some of my favorite posts and comments.  Last week something amazing happened!  (Thank you Pinterest!!)  One of my blog posts from last year Got EGGS? started getting pinned - A LOT!  I have had several thousand hits a day!  I am getting new followers both here and on Pinterest.  All I can say is WOW, THANK YOU!

If you are looking for some other fun recipes check out my Food tab.  Click HERE or on the link at the top of the page.  OR if Easter fun is what you are looking for...Check out my large-scale PEEP decorations.  HERE is the link to my Bunny To-PEEP-aries.  They are super fun and super cute!

Again,  thank you so much for your visits and support!  I am looking forward to finding some time to get back to blogging regularly in the next few weeks!

UPDATE:  My baked egg post was referenced on lifehacker.com!  Click HERE to read the story!

Now the story from Lifehacker was picked up by KOMO News in Seattle, WA.  HERE is the link.