And the winner is . . .

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Did you watch the Oscars last night?  We went to our friends’ party and it was so fun!  I enjoyed seeing the winners announced, but my favorite part was the food as I mentioned in the last post.  So here are our 2 dishes revealed!

Please tell me that someone out there has seen “The Help.”  No one at the party had seen it!  So the joke fell a little flat.  Don’t worry, I left out the special ingredient.

I used this recipe which I think is the one they used to make the actual pies in the movie!  It came out pretty good, I think, though I’m not sure what it was supposed to taste like.  It looked like a big fudgy brownie in a pie crust, but it was actually quite soft (not dense, like a brownie).  I’m not a huge chocolate pie fan, so I probably won’t make this again, but if you’re into chocolate pie, I’d recommend it!  It’s not the prettiest looking thing, but I do think it looks like the one they had in the movie, so points for authenticity! 🙂

This one was Hideko’s idea.  We haven’t even seen The Artist, but we couldn’t resist making The tArtist.  I considered doing a black and white chocolate tart (since the movie is in black and white), but a fruit tart seemed so much yummier.  Plus I was already making the chocolate pie.  I used this recipe from Paula Deen.  It was easy to make, SUPER yummy and the presentation is pretty impressive, if I don’t say so myself!  I’m definitely going to make this again!

We didn’t win for best dish, but we certainly had a delicious meal last night and tried two new great recipes.  Next year I’ll try to start my planning earlier and might even ask for your help for ideas.

The other contest for the night was to predict the winners for all the categories.  I didn’t realize The Artist was a favorite for so many of the major awards!  I’m tempted to see it just because it won so much, but I’m really not so sure I’d like it.  I’m into some artsy stuff, but silent?  I dunno bout that . . .

We don’t get out to see movies in the theater very often, but in a last ditch effort to see as many Best Picture nominated movies we watched 4 movies in the last week or so!  In total we watched 5 of the nine nominated!  We saw The Decendants, Hugo, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, and Moneyball.  Not bad!

Did you watch the Academy Awards?  Any surprise wins for you?  What were your favorite movies of last year?

Oscar Party 2012

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Tonight is Oscar Night!

Every year, friends of ours throw an Oscar Party.  Before the show we fill out ballots to predict who will win each category and as the night progresses, the hosts keep track of how many correct answers each guest has.  At the end of the night the person with the most correct predictions wins a prize.  I take it pretty seriously and try to get as many right as possible by 1) watching as many movies as I can and then 2) doing research on the rest, especially the categories I have no clue about (like short film animated and short film live or sound mixing and sound editing).

But the other really fun challenge is that everyone has to bring a dish to the party that is inspired by a movie, actor, director, etc. that is up for an Oscar.  It could be a play off a name, or something from the story line, anything really, as long as it’s related to a nominee.  At the end of the night, all of the guests vote on their favorite dish and there is a winner/prize for that too!  I’m proud to say that we’ve won twice!

I love thinking up all the ways we can turn movie titles or actors’ names into yummy dishes.  I love trying to think of the best way to present it and I also take the time to make little name cards using movie poster fonts and/or graphics to make the connection really clear.  I love it.  I’m such a nerd.

We’ve attended the party the last 3 years and here are our past food entries.  I regret not taking pictures of our dishes each year.  I had to ask my friend to send these to me.  I’m so glad she had them!

2009

H and I were a little obsessed with Wall-E that year.  We loved the movie.  We also love deviled eggs and meatballs, so this was perfect for us.  I tried to make the meatballs in the shape of cubes and they were supposed to resemble the cubes of trash that Wall-E was building towers of at the beginning of the movie.  Unfortunately, they barely look like cubes but this dish won the food contest!!  The D’EVEled Egg dish was Hideko’s idea.  She even made 3 little Eves out of eggs!!  The middle one looks evil cuz it’s deviled!!

2010

Did I mention we like meatballs?  At one point, we thought we might bring meatballs every year and just try to find a way to make it fit. 🙂

2011

We just bought the calamari at a restaurant instead of making it ourselves.  It was pretty good!  This picture is of a half eaten plate 🙂  The Black Flan (which came with a bottle of Natalie Port-wine) was just a regular flan recipe with black food coloring.  It tasted good, but I’m sure it was hard for some people to get past the color.  But this dish won!

If you’re curious about the nominees for this year, you can find them here.  Usually we think about our dishes in the weeks leading up to the party but this year we didn’t get to see many movies and we didn’t have time to even think about our dishes till yesterday.   We’ve decided what we’re going to make and bought all of the ingredients, but I’m not going to reveal the dishes until after the party.  Don’t want anyone stealing our idea! 🙂  I’m totally kidding.  I like the dishes we’re going to make but I can’t say they’re totally creative.  In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone else showed up with one or both of the same dishes.  We’ll have to wait and see!  I’ll be sure to take pictures too.

So what do you think we’re going to make?  Anyone else going to an Oscar viewing party?  What/who do you think is going to win??

Tutorial: Twisted Petal Flower

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Yes, another fabric flower!  This is the one I used to decorate Yuki’s Blossom by Blossom Dress.  I just made the flowers and stitched them directly to the dress, but you can use this to decorate just about anything – a shirt, a bag, or you can stitch it to a headband, a pin backing, etc.  It’s called the Twisted Petal Flower because you make it by cutting out petals, twisting them and stitching them together.

You’ll need:
Fabric
Scissors
Thread and needle

I used a sheer fabric and I would recommend something thin (though sheer is not necessary).  Since you’ll be twisting the fabric, both right and wrong sides will show, so you may want to keep that in mind when choosing your fabric.  Also, depending on what kind of look you want, you may want to pick something that won’t fray too much since you’ll be leaving the edges raw.

Here we go!

First you’ll need to cut 2-3 fabric squares about the desired size of your finished flower (yes, there is only one here, but you will need 2 or 3.  If you cut 3 squares you will have more petals.  More on that later).

Take one square and fold it in half and then in half again, so it is in fourths.  Making sure the folded tip is in the bottom left corner, draw and cut out a petal shape like so.

It should look like this when it is unfolded.

Next you will need to cut petals from the other squares.  Start by cutting the squares in half so you have rectangles.

Fold the rectangle in half and cut it out in the shape of a petal again.

So you should have one 4 petal piece and two or four 2 petal pieces.  In the flower I’m making here, I only ended up using 2 of the petals.  But if you want a more full flower, you’ll use all four.

First you’ll want to thread up your needle and tie a knot at the end.  Then take one of the 2-petal pieces and twist it in the center.  You only need to twist it 180 degrees so that one side will be right side up and the other half will be wrong side up.

Do the same with another 2-petal piece and place it on top of the first one creating an X.

Place that X on top of the 4-petal piece at an angle so that all 8 petals are showing (no twisting necessary).  The two twisted petal pieces go on top of the 4-petal piece.

Just to show how the petals should be place on each other, I’ve drawn Xs.  The blue X is the 4-petal piece on the bottom.  The pink X is the 2 twisted petals on top.

Starting from the back of the flower (ignore the picture), put your needle through the center of the flower and stitch it 2 or 3 times.

It will look like this, and you could very well be done . . .

but I wanted the flower to have even more dimension, so that all the petals would stick out from the dress.  So, fold the whole flower in half (doesn’t matter which way) and stitch the center of the flower a few times (where my thumb is).

Open the flower and fold it in half the other way and repeat.

By pinching the bottom of the flower and stitching, you’ll get the whole thing to pucker up a little bit.

At this point, I decided I was done with this flower and just hand stitched it onto the dress with the remaining thread.  If you want to add more petals, just repeat what you did with the first two petal pieces (twist them in the center and make an X), and stitch them on to the BACK of the flower making sure to place the petals at an angle where they’ll be seen best.

And that’s it!  Like I said, you can easily stitch these onto clothes, or attach them to a pin, or a headband, a purse, etc.

Here are the flowers in action.  Some I made just like this, some with more petals and some were just single petals stitched on.

Hope you have fun adorning things with flowers!  I sure did 🙂

Project Run & Play Sew-Along Recap

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I know this is a little late, but I’ve been meaning to recap a bit about my Project Run & Play experience.  Season 3 is officially over.  And it was awesome!!  All the competitors were fantastic and I was inspired every week.  The ladies over at Simple Simon and Co. did an AMAZING job organizing the competition and running the blog and because of the sew-along opportunity they created, I was very much involved for the last 8 weeks or so.  I had a great time participating in the sew along and although I miss it, I’m definitely ready to get back to all the things I was putting off for so long.  But before I do, I wanted to look back on the things that I’ve made and all the things I got out of these challenges.

First and foremost, IT WAS FUN.  I loved having a theme for each week’s project, brainstorming ideas, and searching the web for inspiration.  I loved seeing everyone else’s outfits pop up in the flickr pool and ooh-ing and ahh-ing over how unique and creative all the designs were.  And I loved giving and getting feedback from other people and making new connections, being introduced to awesome new blogs and “meeting” fantastic people.  Seriously, it was so. much. fun.

Week 1: Junebug Remix
Winter Romper

It was great being pushed to try new things.  And I tried a lot of new things!  Like sewing with knits.  And sewing a real jacket with facing.  And trying an illusion neckline.  And lots more!  I loved having a reason to challenge myself week after week.  And it was fun sketching out an idea and coming up with a way to make it happen.  It wasn’t always a complete success, but I learned enough to have the confidence to try again and try other new things too (cuz what’s the worst that can happen?).  I feel like it’s opened up a whole new world of possibilities.

Week 2 – Boys
Boy-cycle Wear

Other benefits – Yuki got a whole bunch of new clothes AND I got a bunch of fun photos of her!  And I feel like I’ve started to define my signature look!  I’m still trying to figure it out, but the more I make clothes, the more it’ll naturally emerge and evolve and that’s kind of exciting.

Week 3 – Sewing Through the Decades
60s Flower Child

Before the season started, I thought it would be great if I could participate in all 5 of the challenges and I did!  PLUS the signature look challenge they added at the end.  There were other goals I set for myself that I met, which was a great feeling.  Two things that were confirmed though were is that I’m indecisive and I’m a procrastinator.  Every week I’d spend most of the time trying to come up with what I wanted to make.  Then I’d rush to the store to get fabric and stay up REEEEALLY late trying to finish in time.  I’d have to cram in a photo shoot in there somewhere and although I got it done, I always felt I could have done better with more time (I guess we all do).

Week 4 – Outerwear
Gray Day Peacoat

While I loved the experience and am so glad that I did it, it’s definitely time for me to move on.  I have been putting off tons of projects, house work was constantly neglected (not that it isn’t normally, but it was especially bad).  My work suffered.  I was sleep deprived, always busy and pretty much obsessed.  There were some moments when I thought that it probably wasn’t healthy.  AND I WASN’T EVEN AN ACTUAL CONTESTANT.  I’ve thought about what it would be like if I was actually competing and trust me, it wouldn’t be pretty.  Plus, I am very competitive, but also very sensitive and the idea of putting such personal work out there for people to judge freaks me out!  I don’t think I’m ready for that yet, so although it’s so great that PR&P is doing open auditions, I’m not planning on trying out.  Maybe in a few years 😛

Week 5 – Special Occasion
Blossom By Blossom Dress

There’s no way I could have participated the way I did without all of the patience, support, encouragement and hard work of my amazing partner, Hideko.  I’m soooo lucky and so grateful!  I also appreciate all my family and friends who have been behind me this entire journey (not just PR&P but for the last half year) and all the people who have reached out to leave feedback and just say hello!  That has truly been one of the best parts about participating in the sew along – connecting with people, making new friends and feeling like I was really joining the blogging community.  So thank you – to all of you!

Week 6 – Signature Look
Starry Beachwear

Ahh – my daughter scribbled all over my notebook!

Project Run & Play may be over, but you can bet you’ll be seeing a lot of kids clothes from me year round.  And I would love to do some tutorials for the pieces I made for the sew-along.  I’ve already had some requests, and really, I’d do it all if I could – but it’s just a matter of finding the time!  But please look out for several tutorials coming up in the coming weeks.  There should be some good ones (I hope)!

Nesting with Delia – my first guest post!

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Good morning!!!  Guess where I am today!?  That’s right, I’m doing a guest post, and not just anywhere, but for Delia from Delia Creates!

I’m am so honored and thrilled to be an add-on to her fantastic Nesting series with my spin on fabric wall decals.  Delia’s blog is one of my absolute favorites and you’ll see why if you take a few minutes to browse around.  I guarantee, you’ll be hooked!

Check out the tutorial and you can download my first free pattern for this sweet hedgehog and mushroom decal set!

So what are you waiting for?  Come join me for some nesting with Delia!

Signature Look for PR&P

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It’s done!  Finally!  I finished my outfit for the Project Run & Play Sew Along.  The theme was Signature Look.  Like every other week, I thought and brainstormed and mulled for a loooong time and then finally made a decision and ended up cramming in late night sewing sessions just to BARELY get it done in time.  I’m a procrastinator, through and through.  I think THAT’S my signature style!

But really, I think this outfit captures a lot of my signature styles.  Most of my children’s clothes is inspired by adult clothing.  I tend to like clothes that doesn’t look like it’s for kids, but is still totally wearable and appropriate for little tykes.  I like to make clothes for Yuki that I would wear myself.  I think my style leans towards classic, simple, and modern, but can also be soft and feminine.

I decided on three pieces: pants, a top and a light pullover.  Although it’s still on the chilly side here in San Francisco, in my head, I’m in spring mode.  I’m ready for warm weather and wanted to make something for a day at the beach.

We totally lucked out with AMAZING weather today for our photo shoot.  It was perfect for a day at the beach and I had so much fun taking a ton of pictures.  Get ready for a photo overload!!

I’ll start with the top.  Besides some issues with the fit, I really like how it came out.  I was inspired by the fabric.  I had this GORGEOUS double gauze fabric by Nani Iro that I bought awhile back and when I noticed it in my stash I thought it’d be perfect for a spring/summer top.  Double gauze is amazing fabric.  It’s super soft and light and breathable.  It’s meant to help you keep cool in hot weather.  If you ever see some at the store, please buy it and make something beautiful with it.  It’s pricey, but so worth it!!  I can’t find a link to any of this particular fabric online, but just do a search for “double gauze nani iro” and you’ll see some of the stuff I’m talking about.

Anyways, back to the top . . . I just threw in some fun elements like the pintucks and the keyhole in the back to add a little interest to an otherwise simple piece.  I wanted it to look soft and clean so I made sure to have no visible stitches.  It was a fun challenge and I like the finished look.

The second piece is the pullover.  I actually LOVE the way this came out.  I don’t think I’d change anything about it.  I used a cotton/linen blend and wanted to make something to wear in the spring/summer as a cover up when it gets chilly or to put on over a bathing suit.

I decided to line the hood with linen stamped with stars.  Yuki is OBSESSED with stars right now, it’s her favorite word and every time she sees the shape or anything that vaguely resembles it she says, “staaa!  STAA!”  I think it’s awesome because I LOVE stars and had a slight obsession with them myself when I was in high school/college.

So I carved up 2 star stamps and mixed some fabric paint to match the pants fabric and stamped it randomly on some white linen.  I cut out one of the extra stars and appliqued it to the pocket.

I don’t really know what to say about the rest.  I like the loose fit and the star and stitching details.  I can imagine Yuki wearing this a lot.

As for the pants, they came out ok and I love the color, but the fit is not perfect.  They are a little too skinny and might be better in a knit fabric so they don’t feel so tight or restrict movement.  I did have a lot of fun with the details on these though, like the pocket stitching and the faux fly.

Super HIGH rise for that diaper booty 🙂

High rise pants provide full diaper coverage!

And that’s it!  The three pieces that make up my “signature look.”  I’ve had a ton of fun sewing along with Project Run & Play for the last 7 weeks and will probably talk more about that later, but it feels good to be done with my final outfit.  I hope you like it!

Here are my bloopers from today’s shoot.

Ewwww!

And I can’t even tell you what’s going on in this photo sequence, but this is her new favorite move.

Our little yogi/dancer 🙂

I just have to say a huge THANK YOU to Hideko and Yuki for being such big helpers and super troopers through, not only this photo shoot, but the whole Project Run and Play season.

And thanks to you for stopping by and checking out my sewn creations week after week!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Happy Love Day.  Sorry I haven’t posted any awesome Valentine’s Day projects or fun activities.  Truth is, with my kid being too young to know about holidays yet, we don’t really go all out.  In fact, we don’t do anything (Christmas was the exception).  No decorations, no new outfits, no gifts and no valentines.  I know that will change real soon, but I’m kind of enjoying the holiday freedom while I can.  Next year, I swear, my blog will be full of holiday goodness.  Until then, I’m just going to eat a bunch of strawberries and chocolate and say I celebrated 😛

New Tutorials Page!

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I made an easy-to-navigate tutorial page!  Before, the tutorials link on the menu bar would just pull up all the posts marked as a tutorial, but you’d have to scroll through all of them just to see what was there.  I’m thinking this will make it much easier to see what’s available and find what you’re looking for.  I realize that there isn’t much there now, but posting more tutorials is a goal of mine, so hopefully I’ll fill that page right up!  If any of the thumbnails don’t link to the correct page, please let me know and I’ll fix it immediately!

Yipee!

In other news, I have not sewn ANYTHING in over a week!!  I think I really had some sewing fatigue, but now I’m rested and ready to get back to it!  I have an idea for my Project Run & Play signature look and I have all the fabric, so I just need to get started!  Wish me luck!

Snappy Toddler Top for Saya

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Have you ever tried the Snappy Toddler Top pattern from Prudent Baby?  I highly recommend it.  It’s free!  And so cute.  I made one for Yuki awhile back and it’s been one of our favorite tops for a long time.  Unfortunately, this is the only picture I could find of her in it!

Haha!

Anyways, I made this other one for Hideko’s cousin’s baby, Saya, who is about to turn one next month.  It’s a really simple pattern that produces a very cute top – what more could you ask for!?

I like it as a tunic or a top, but if you add a little extra length to it, it can easily be made into a dress!

(back)

I’m also going to try make this top for Yuki’s cousins, who are 7 and 9, so we’ll see if the pattern can be converted to larger sizes.

Anyways, if you’re looking for a quick top to make for your little one or a nice present for someone else, this may be the perfect pattern for you.  Try it out!

Sewing vs. Sleeping

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I am POOPED.  I’m not sure what’s come over me.  Maybe I’m fighting a cold or maybe Project Run & Play fatigue has hit me (I love that I’ve been so involved and I’m NOT EVEN A CONTESTANT!  Hah!).  For the last few days/nights, I’ve been choosing to sleep instead of sew, which is pretty uncharacteristic of me.  I’ve got a huge list of projects that have been piling up for weeks and I was finally getting around to starting them.  But I have no energy!  When I’m at work, all I want to do is sleep!  And at home after Yuki goes down, I just want to sleep!  And in the morning, instead of getting up, I just want to sleep!  (I think you get the idea).

And then, there was THE ANNOUNCEMENT.

Project Run & Play is extending the Sew-along to include a signature look as well!!  And we have until February 16th to submit it.  Part of me just doesn’t know if I can do it (I have mad respect for the actual competitors who have been giving it their all for so long)!  I was definitely sad to see it end, but I had accepted it and was ready to move on to other projects.

But part of me cannot resist.

And that part will probably win.  So now I’m trying to figure out what my signature look will be.

And all those other projects will have to keep waiting.  I’ll try to share a project or an update or a tutorial over the next week, but between sleeping and sewing, I can’t promise you anything.

Except that I love you.  I can promise you that. 🙂

(I think I’m a little delirious :P)