We have had a busy weekend, although it did involve sleeping in a lot. Apparently Fancy was very upset this morning when I was still sleeping and she couldn’t cuddle with me. 

She probably hasn’t had as good of a weekend as we have. Her weekend involved lots of baths. This was her before one of these baths. She’s probably wondering why her treats were going into the bathroom. 

She’s normally pretty good with baths. We have given her lots and lots of treats during them, but this is probably too much for her. Luckily, the smell is going down so we should be able to cut down on the baths for now. Hopefully she’s learned that the stripey kitties are no good!

The Husband and I had separate fun things to do on Saturday. He went to a friend’s house for video games and I had some ladies over for crafting fun. K brought her sewing machine and B brought scrapbooking. S helped me make Harry Potter wands for our party in October. They turned out so cool. It was definitely a group effort, as K brought the chopsticks we used, and B helped pick the end stones. Here’s some pictures! 

The bottoms of the wands. It was fun to use up bits and bobs from my bead box. 

A fancy styled shot. This banner turned out to be a very tiny banner, perfect for a little space, or a dollhouse. I got it online and it’s a reminder to check my sizes before I buy it. I was expecting it to be bigger. We made the wands with hot glue, paint, chopsticks, and beads. 

I also made faux Mercury glass vases for a multi use decoration. 

Sewing wise, I have also made a few things that haven’t been blogged about. I made a pair of white cotton lycra shorts to go under dresses. Specifically this dress:

The fabric is from Girl Charlee and I think is a rayon spandex. It’s very light and silky. I haven’t worn it yet because all my shorts are too dark to wear with it. I’m excited to finally be able to wear it. This was one of my floral fabrics that was on a massive sale a few months ago. It’s hard to resist fabric that is $3.00 a yard!

I made this floral dress too. This one is out of DBP- double brushed poly- from So Sew English. I quite enjoy this one too, although it can be a little hot sometimes. 

I can’t stop making these shorts! I think I’m up to 10 pairs? I have a maroon pair. I don’t have good pictures of them though and they are currently wrinkly from being worn. My latest pair is made from lightweight denim, with both front and back pockets.

I got brave and tried a pair of pants from this pattern and I adore them. They look spiffy and are super comfy. They are a black rayon linen blend from Fabric.com. 

I used a yoga waistband, because why would I use anything else? They are super comfy. I will probably get some other neutral colors of linen. I like these pants. 

Speaking of pants, this fabric was running through all my sewing groups and I finally succumbed. Who doesn’t need Marauder’s Map leggings?

I enjoy wearing them and will have them for the Harry Potter Party. I have enough scrap fabric left to make a cute tank or shirt from them. 

In non clothes items, I made a little progress sewing on the star quilt. Fancy likes to cuddle with me while I’m quilting, so I haven’t worked on it in a little bit. 

I made some pattern weights, but seem to have lost the picture. I used a bunch of scraps and they have been very useful. Much better than using random things like cups, canned goods, and dog toys. 

Foodwise, I thought it had been a bad month, since I had several weeks where I didn’t make anything new, but it turned out to be a pretty good month. The party and canning recipes helped. 

My favorite recipes this month were the cardamom plum jam, chocolate bundt cake, Dilled green beans, margarita shrimp. 

Misses were the Basil Pecan Pesto, which we had with a chicken leg over pasta. I don’t think I ever had a picture of it up, it was kind of a greyish looking paste. I used a recipe from Southern Living Small Jars, Big Flavors. 

Everything else was pretty good. My numbers overall were 36 recipes with 23 new recipes. I have a lot of things canned for the winter, which is nice. Yesterday I canned a Chunky Tomato Salsa and a Roasted Garlic Pizza Sauce both from Better Homes and Gardens Canning. 

I am running out of time before work, so will have to report my goals for the month later. I’m not sure what to do with my food side of things, especially if I am still in a food rut. Please bear with me as I experiement with different food ideas. 

Have a great week!