Jezebelle Sauce with Cream Cheese

We went to a friend's this past weekend for a dinner party. We were in charge of bringing an appetizer. I decided to make Jezebelle sauce, a recipe that comes from my mother in law.  It's a sweet sauce with a kick, served over cream cheese and eaten with crackers. Yum! 

One friend thought it was really weird I was taking pictures of the food.

Jezebelle Sauce

1 jar pineapple jam
1 jar apple jelly
1/2 small jar of mild horseradish
1 tbs dry mustard
dash of pepper

Pour all ingredients into a bowl. Mix well. That's it.

I put the mixture back into my jam jars for easy storage. There will be a little left over for immediate snacking :) 

I used one jar at the dinner party and I'm saving the second one for an appetizer at my baby girl's birthday party. She'll be two soon. Unbelievable.

Thanks for reading!

My Flowerbeds

When Marc and I moved to our current home five years ago, there were virtually no plants, flowers or shrubs. The few flower beds we had were filled in with river rocks.  Slowly, our outdoor space is getting greener and more beautiful.

The hostas are already getting huge.

These are my only early spring flowers. I don't even know what they are.

Here's a close-up. Their colours are gorgeous!

These are also coming in nicely.

Finally, look mom! Is this my Clematis? I thought it was dead since it didn't come in last year.

This post has made me realize I don't know the names of my perennials. I know I have a dogwood bush and some hostas... the rest? I'll have to take notes next time my mom comes for a visit!

Thanks for reading!

It's finally time for gardening!

I was starting to doubt the weather would ever warm up. It finally has, although we haven't seen much sunshine yet. I believe our weatherman stated recently "April showers bring May showers."  I don't think that's how it's supposed to go :)

Now that we have had our May long weekend, I am finally able to start gardening. 



Here's the beginning of my vegetable and herb garden.  Tada!

Some cilantro

some basil

One of my tomato plants has even started to flower!

cucumber

I have two major gardening obstacles to overcome this year. The first hurdle is the city issued outdoor water ban as they replace a water main. It will last through to the end of July. Luckily, we found a water barrel, which will be enough to water my garden. Besides, it's been raining almost constantly, so it hasn't been a problem.

The bigger obstacle? My husband's obsession with running out of storage.

Yup. Really cute. Do you see the nice rich soil under that shed? That was my vegetable garden. Thanks hon.  At least I won't need to weed it anymore.

Receiving blanket

I made my first handmade item for the shop. 

It's a mitered corner baby blanket.  It's a nice light-weight for summer since it doesn't have batting like a quilt.  The top layer is from a vintage sheet, the backing is kona cotton. It is quite large at approximately 31" x 43".

I plan on making a few more for my etsy shop and see if there is any interest. I'm also thinking of making square ones since they are practical for swaddling a baby.  I would love some feedback! What do you look for in a receiving blanket? Do you love large blankets or prefer smaller ones?

Thanks for reading!

Why is my vacuum so heavy?

But wait a minute...

There's room for two!

Lola will mount anything like it's a horse.  You should see her ride the potted tree in my living room.

Gotta know when to fold 'em..

For day 4 and 5 of the Kids Clothes Week Challenge I spent way too much time on a pair of failed shorts for Lola.  Sometimes I can be a little stubborn. Or maybe it's denial. I should have walked away long before I did. I (tried) to make my own pattern but the proportions were not right and they are way too long.

I also didn't sew the right pieces together so one leg of the shorts is bigger and longer than the other.  Nice.

Refusing to let the poor shorts die, I thought "What if I made a nice large cuff?  That might fix them!"

Umm, no. It won't.

Poor shorts. My mom must be proud. Have you ever insisted on finishing a project that just was not going to work? 

I did cut out and iron the next dress I will make for Lola. Here's hoping for success tomorrow!

Thanks for reading!

KCWC Day 3

I had a productive day and made two skirts for my baby girl. 

The first one is made with the bottom of a pair of jeans and a strip of dark blue jersey from a t-shirt.  The bonus is I can now make myself a pair of capris with the rest of the jeans.

The second comes from a vintage sheet.  The top hem was beautifully detailed and even had a bit of eyelet trim.  I simply made a tube, created a casing and inserted an elastic. Done.

What to make tomorrow?

Thanks for reading!

Day 1 and 2

Yesterday was the first day of the Kids Clothes Week Challenge.  I finally made Lola's peasant dress.

I used the sweet little dress pattern from Leila and Ben, size 2. I have made several peasant dresses before but it was my first one using this pattern.  It was really easy to follow and I love the dress.

As for sizing, I will need to unpick the neckline a bit and shorten the elastic.  I plan on making a second one, but I'll adjust the pattern to make it a bit slimmer.
More to come soon!

Thanks for reading.

Lola's closet

I have been the very lucky recipient of many hand me downs for my kids, which is fabulous.  Children go through so much clothes due to changing seasons and growth spurts.  The baby stage is especially bad as they seem to outgrow an outfit after wearing it just once or twice.  It's easy to get carried away and spend a small fortune on children's clothing.  Everything is so cute, so small, so colourful. 

Since we already have so much, I have been making a conscious effort to not buy my children any clothes unless it's an item they really need.  Since Christmas, I've only bought two Toy Story t-shirts and a light spring coat for Charlie. Grand total spent?  7 dollars.  I'm really trying to reduce the amount of "stuff" we have and help the planet, and my pocketbook, by reusing as much as possible. 

I have been inspired by Lindsay at The Cottage Home to go through my children's clothes to see what they have for spring and summer in order to fix and re-purpose what I can.  Here are my first few items.

Let's start with my baby girl's clothes.  One item I pulled out of a box of hand-me-downs for Lola is this pair of jersey knit shorts. Can you see that little hole on the back of the shorts?  No? It's there, you'll have to take my word for it.

I simply cut out a small heart shape from an old t-shirt that was beyond repair and stitched it on. Done.

Next, I had this long sleeve t-shirt.  The once white sleeves were horribly stained from the elbow down.  Solution?  Make it a short sleeve shirt.

Now Lola can wear in all summer long. 

Now for a real challenge.

I had nothing to loose with this one.  It's still a work in progress but here's what I have so far.




Still two little stains. Suggestions?

More girl's clothes to come soon.

Speaking of summer, the weatherman is finally announcing nice weather.  It's been raining and cold here for days. Some areas of Manitoba had snowstorms earlier this week. Some sunlight would be nice! It would at least make for better pictures.  : )

Thanks for reading!

I won!

Wow! I won a giveaway on Life Made Lovely  for a gift certificate from the Pleated Poppy.  I love Lindsey's clutches and bags.  I picked out a zippered pouch for myself.

Too funny. I just noticed it matches my blog. :)


A peek inside. I love the lining.


It is beautifully made. Goodies in the mail are always fun.

Thank you Heather and Lindsey for a great giveaway!

A fun challenge

I've decided to challenge myself and participate in the Kids Clothes Week Challenge over at elsie marley.




It is a one week challenge to spend one hour  per day sewing and creating clothes for our kids. I love creating children's clothing and believe this will help keep me focused on a goal.  Meg has great links to tutorials and beautiful pictures for inspiration.  I've also joined the elsie marley flickr group where all participants post pictures of what they've made.

Now to start my list of what to make!  I know I need to make some baby bloomers to coordinate with some of my daughter's dresses. Maybe I'll finally try Dana's tutorial found here.

 Time to go rummage through the kids' closets to see what they needed for this season and gather materials!

Thanks for reading.