Here are a few of the many bibs I have been working on for my sister in law. She is expecting her third little girl any day now!! I just love the way all of these fabrics look together. I love them so much, that I will be adding a set of these to my etsy shop.

Creamed Radishes?

With all attempts to not waste anything from the garden I knew these would be the hardest for me.
I don't know about you but I'm not a big fan of radishes. I don't mind slicing up a few and putting them in a salad but a whole row of radishes is just too much! I saw this recipe in The Gardens' Community Cookbook, by Smith & Hawkin and thought I would give it a shot. Much to my surprise we really enjoyed it. The cooked radishes tasted a little like broccoli.

So here is the recipe for Creamed Radishes
1 pound radishes
2 TBL butter
2 TBL flour
1/2 salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream

Cut radishes in half lengthwise. Place into a pot with 1 cup of boiling water. Simmer until radishes are pierceable and still a little firm. Drain.

Add butter to pot and melt. Add flour and whisk til smooth. Stir in salt & pepper. Whisk in cream and continue cooking until thickened.
Stir in radishes. Serve warm.

Now, what to do with all of this?

As the old saying goes, "Knee high by the 4th of July."

That is what inspired my 4th of July Mod Podged hoe. What is more American then working in the garden with a red, white, and blue hoe? Ok, so there may be other things, but how cute is this? And yes, it is practical! I used mine all this weekend.

For the complete tutorial go here.

And a cute little star.

Mod Podged Hoe Tutorial

Mod Podged Hoe Tutorial

(beginner level: takes 2 days to fully complete due to drying times.)

Here is what you need:

1 hoe: old or new (per husbands request, I bought a new one, $4.95 at Walmart).

Outdoor Mod Podge

Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic indoor/outdoor spray paint
paint brushes (I like to use a brush to apply and sponge brush to smooth).

drop cloth (I used an old vinyl table cloth, sorry about the color contrast).

Length: Cut fabric long enough to cover length of handle, and add an extra 3/4" at end.

Width: Make sure fabric wraps around hoe, but only overlaps by 1/2".

Working in small long sections, apply a thin coat of Mod Podge to part of the handle.

Apply fabric. Make sure fabric is tight to with metal hoe part. Also line up fabric so that overlapping fabric will be on the underside of hoe. Keep applying Mod Podge and fabric to top section of hoe, until you have covered the entire length of hoe.

Gently smooth out fabric. Don't push too hard or you will cause the fabric to pull and be uneven.

Time to work on underside of hoe.

Apply Mod Podge.

Gently fold over one side of fabric, do for the entire length of hoe.

Apply Mod Podge and fold over remaining side of fabric. Do for the entire length of hoe.

Hoe should be fully covered now. Again, gently smooth out fabric.

Trim loose fabric pieces.

Working on the end.

At this point, I added another fabric, but you don't need to. (Just skip this part and go to the next if you are not applying another piece of fabric.) Fabric should be about 3/4" longer then end of hoe. Apply Mod Podge and fabric same way as before.

Cut out 4 v-shaped pieces and a few slits. Apply Mod Podge and work the fabric so that it lays as flat as possible. Keep working until smooth and secure.

At this point, I added a few more pieces of fabric to end of hoe and a little star. Add any extras now.

Next,

Let hoe dry about 1/2 hour and then apply Mod Podge to entire hoe. Remember thin layers. Do this about 3 times or so, letting hoe dry 1/2 hour in between applications. When finished Mod Podging hoe allow to dry overnight. Hoe will feel tacky, that is normal. (The acrylic spray will take the tackiness away). Next day, spray with Krylon Clear Acrylic indoor/outdoor spray paint. I sprayed my hoe 4 times with allowing 1/2 hour in between applications. Allow hoe to dry a few hours before using.

How cute is this going to look out in the garden. You can apply the same technique to a broom, shovel, or any other wooden handled tools. Have fun with it!

As with all my tutorials, this is for personal use only. Any questions or comments please contact me.

For other Mod Podge ideas and a great place for reference go to Mod Podge Rocks. This is where I learned that the acrylic spray will take care of the tackiness, thanks again Amy!

Thank you for all of your emails and wonderful comments about my play tent tutorial! It is a wonderful feeling to know that there are people out there enjoying my creations.

I am so excited to have had it seen on craftzine and ohdeedoh!

Have you ever heard of ohdeedoh? I never had until yesturday when I was told I was spotted there. So I went to check out their site and it is amazing! Where have I been? I can't believe I haven't seen this site before. Their site is all about "people who care about good design, but happen to have children, kids are cute, but their stuff is often just plain ugly and it often seems as if good design and kids’ furnishings are contradictory terms. We’re here to help make the transition easier and more fun." OMG! That is why I started making my own kids stuff, I was sick of all those tacky kids accessories out there. I am be humbled and excited to be feature on such a site. Thank you ohdeedoh and craftzine! Make sure you go check out their sites!

Another tutorial is in the works. Can you guess what it is? It has to do with fabric and a hoe!

I was featured! (and an update on my hoe dilemma)

I'm really excited to be featured on kojo designs today for their fun Friday finds! Go check out their blog as those girls know how to craft!! Thanks lady's!

and an update on my mod podged hoe dilemma...

I googled mod podge and found the greatest blog called Mod Podge Rocks. I can't even begin to tell you how cool her blog is. You have to go see for yourself! Anyway, I contacted Amy and explained to her my dilemma. She was kind enough to respond to me super quick and explained that some formulas of mod podge are tacky. The solution is to apply a clear acrylic sealer. There it is, simple fix. Thank you Amy! I will be heading to Home Depot this weekend to pick some up!

Any Mod Podge addicts out there? I need your help!!

This is how it began. I was in the garden using my hoe, complaining about my hands hurting. My hoe was in major need of a new coat of varnish or paint. So I decided I would repaint it once I was finished in the garden. And then, I get the brilliant (maybe not so brilliant) idea of mod podging my hoe instead. Go ahead and laugh, I'm laughing at myself too! I have to admit I didn't really think things through before I started apply that ever so cute Amy Butler fabric to my hoe.

First of all, I should have thought of my husband that also uses this hoe. As cute as it may look, I'm sure he probably doesn't want to weed the garden using an Amy Butler fabric covered garden hoe! (In case you are wondering he does know about the hoe incident. And being the most amazing husband, he just laughed at me. I guess my crazy craft ideas are no surprise to him now.)

Second, I didn't think of what would happen if it didn't work. For some reason I just thought it would. See I used the outdoor mod podge and followed the directions on the container. It has now been over a day and the hoe is still tacky. Do any of you know if it takes a long time to dry? Should I apply another coat? Please, if you have any suggestions let me know.

Please, help me save this hoe!!

I mean how cute is this?

Go here for the update.

It's Thursday, which means its mommas day to embrace the camera.

Here's how it began,

100 balls and our play tent...

lead to a fun game of hide & seek...

which quickly lead to a ball fight...

and someone getting hurt.

But, don't let that cute face fool you, she did her fair share of throwing...

at her momma!

(I'm not sure whose great shot I am more impressed by, hers or my sons!)

She wasn't in on the madness, but she is so dang cute, I had to include her!

Hope your day is full of madness too!

refashioning for father's day

I did a little refashioning for father's day. I took one of my husbands old work shirts and turned it into a sweet little dress for one of our little girls.

I have a feeling daddy is going to love it!

We also made his favorite dessert...

raspberry squares.

We packaged up a few extras for the other special daddy's in our lives.

I found these cute round Dad tags from paper glitter.
She has a great blog, go check it out.
Happy Father's Day!