New favorite! Scrap vintage patchwork belt!

Ok, so I had a bunch of vintage fabric rectangles that a friend had given me a few years ago and thought they would work perfect for this project. The belt I was going to use was pink so I picked out some cute pink pieces and layed them out to make sure it would be long enough. I think I added a few extra to make up for the seams... I am NOT a well schooled sewer, so please, bare with me!!

Now I got them all in order and started sewing right sides together to make the front of the belt.

Now please forgive me , but I got so excited about this belt that I forgot to take a few pictures. After I got them all sewed together, I realized that some of the pieces were very thin and see-through and that the lines on the belt would show through. SO, I got some thin white fabric scrap and , doubling it, I cut a piece as big as the strip I had. Then I sewed wrong sides together to make a thicker, non-see through strap.

Now I realize how very non-perfect this is, but I am quite the lazy sewer and HATE pinning things unless absolutely necessary! SO, I just moved it as I went to make sure it was basically right...ish:)

Now it's a lined strip with raw edges.

So now I folded the ends and sewed them.

Then fold as you go and sew up one side.


Now I checked to see where I need to fold up the other side to so the belt would be the same size as the striped belt.

Then sew up the other side, folding and sewing as you go...if you can handle that. It's kinda wrinkly underneath and not perfectly aligned... I'm ok with that, but I know some of you just want to make it just right, that's ok too! I'm just way to impatient.... I'm working on it...:)

Now at this point, I'm starten to think, "WOW, this is gonna be a seriously thick belt...ummmm, maybe just MAYBE, I could make this a stand alone belt, without the thrift store one????

Then I realized I would have to back it cause of all those raw edges... So , more rectangles:)

Do pretty much the same things as with the other rectangles. Like sides together then flip and sew all the sides.

And there you have it...

Now the two shall become one!! Sew it on the back:)

And there it is!! cute!!

Now, I snagged the D rings from the thrift store belt. I did I small fold then a larger one with the D rings inside and then I sewed it shut. I sewed this by hand rolling the machine. This was pretty thick and this is my LAST needle!!!! So I really didn't want to break it!

And there you have it!! Cute and fun, a couple hours and done! Now there is risk in not using a pattern or directions.... being that this is a D ring belt, I forgot to add cute scraps to the back of the end of the belt. SO, the backside of the belt will show when on...but, oh well, I still think it's cute and funky!!
ENJOY!

Left over Chicken Casserole!

We love chicken around these parts and I had 3 left over chicken breasts from chicken salad a few nights ago. Sooo , I decided to make up a casserole! Before going into it, I wanted to share a tip. ALWAYS roast more chicken then you need!!! This makes things LOADS easier the rest of the week!! I roasted 6 good size chicken breast Friday or Saturday last week. I used 3 for a nice summer chicken salad ( we have alot of these during the real hot months), and put the other three in the fridge for something later on. Now is the time! The oven would have been on forever today if I had to roast these then cook the casserole! So, I guess I'm saving on gas too! yippee! Ok, now for tutorial time!

First things first. Shred those carrots. I used two medium ones.

I cute my carrots in half and then in half again and then in small cube-ish shapes. The smaller they are, the faster they cook!

Then cut up some onions. However much you like will do. If you hate them you could just put in a teaspoon more or less of onion powder.

Now for the celery. Wash, and cut up. I used the heart of the celery. I think its the best for soups and casseroles, leaves and all. Next time I will use green beans instead I think. This is more of a chicken soup casserole. With green beans it would be more of a chicken pot pie casserole! Add what veggies you like!

Now, get your pot on medium hi and take some olive oil and give it a few turns around the pot... maybe a tbsp or 2. As your veggies soften, they will soak up the oil, so if it looks to dry, just add alittle bit more! Stir here or there for awhile till they soften.

Now for the garlic!! YUMMO! After the vegetables have softened a bit... maybe 6 minutes or so, add the garlic. I use a good amount, probably 2-3 big cloves ( about a heaping tablespoon of minced), but use as much as you would like. TURN DOWN the heat now so the garlic doesn't burn and taste bitter. Keep stirring here and there.

Salt and pepper to taste. I'm a bit of a pepper monkey, but you add as much as you like. REMEMBER, you can always add more so go slow.... a bit hard to pick out the pepper and salt later!!

Now I added a can of cream of chicken soup. After that, I filled that can up again with milk and added that!

stir the yumminess!! Let it bubble slightly!

Now for good measure, I added a tablespoonish pat of butter. So yummy butter is!

Now comes herbs.... I happen to have some fresh rosemary which goes GREAT with chicken, so I added a spring ( or 1/4 to half a teaspoon of dry). You can add whatever you like, or omit it all together!! Don't you just love cooking!!! FUN FUN!

Now, if using fresh rosemary, grab the tip, pull the leaves off the twig and chop chop chop! I don't like HUGE pieces of rosemary floating around in my food, so I get these pretty tiny. Leave that aside.

Now time for the chicken. When I roast a big batch, I usually add salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to them. If you can, buy bone on. More flavor and still real easy to prepare. Plus , always cheaper!

Rip off the chicken from the bone.

Chop all up in cub-ish pieces.

Poor into the yummy bubbley goodness!

Add the herbage.

Stir it all up!

Now, grab a big handful of your fave cheese ( this is colby and jack shreaded mix), and dump in. Stir it up!

Now, spray your favorite casserole dish to make things a bit easyer for your kiddos to clean! OH yes, they do the dishes!!

Poor in the mixture!

Fun part! Grab a package of bisquits ( we got these for 30 cents on sale at price chopper!!)

Lay them out. Now I chopped these into four pieces each. Just makes it stretch a bit and fits all the spots on the dish. You can leave them whole if you like.

Now I squished them a bit, and placed them all over the top of the dish.

Well...ofcourse....more cheese! One more handful!

Place in the oven ( pre-heated to whatever temp the bisquits require), and cook for as long as the bisquits need or till the top is browned a bit!

It's done!!

But wait!!! For some fun.... grab some chives from your garden if you have some and snip your way to the fancy finish!

Ta da!!! And what does the family say?
Ya or Nah?
This one is DEFINETLY a keeper!! I just love making things up on the fly... the risk is, sometimes it's good and sometimes , not so much!
This time everyone really loved it, even my hubby who is feeling icky right now, ate a big bowl and actually loved it and wanted more!!
Play around with this one, I can see alot of versions that could come from the basics here.
ENJOY!!

A couple new CLUTCH purses / Handbags !

These are a few more hand bags that I have made. These are so fun and easy. I really liked how the patchwork starbust wrapper one worked out. I can't wait to have the time to start doing some more. I'm thinking ribbon edging would really make these that much better. I also want to sew on the Velcro, hot glue is a bust!! The snap works good, but I need to get a bit more skilled with that tool! The button closure works, but want something a little easier and faster for these. Any suggestions?

New creations: Book Purse!

Here is my version of a book purse:) I used black felt for the interior and the sides. I used a lot of hot glue as well:) I chose a sewed on button and string closure ( drilled the holes to sew on the button). I took some really cool leather tube type string I got at the thrift store and braided it and used that as the handles (which I used duct tape to hold in place). As you can see, my daughter has already got it a little weathered! I got this cute idea from the REMODELAHOLIC blog sight. There are LOTS of tutorials out there, try it out!