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Reversible Placemat Tutorial

July 31, 2013 By Brandy 13 Comments

This placemat tutorial will teach you how to make a set of reversible placemats in under 30 minutes!Â Homemade placemats are incredible easy to make. They are a perfect beginning sewing project and make a great gift.

I've made lots of placemats over the years, and when I got to thinking about it I realized that most of the placemat sets that I've sewn have gone to friends and family who can sew and could easily make a set for themselves.

I think they are one of thoseÂ projects that many of us don't think about making for ourselves. So the next time you are looking for a wedding, birthday, or housewarming gift...think placemats. They make every table setting that much brighter.

This set was sent to my sister and her family as a housewarming gift. Her home is painted in cool blues and greys and I thought this fabric combination would look nice with her color scheme.

What makes these placemats so quick to make is the fact that you don't need to quilt or add batting or padding to make them sturdy. They are made with canvas (home dÃ©cor fabric). If you used basic cotton or calico, you would need something like interfacing or a light batting inside, but two layers of this nice home dÃ©cor fabric works great. You can find all sorts of fun prints at your local craft store. How much you buy will depend on how many you want to make. A yard of each will make at least 4. The fabric I have came in a 60" yard so I was able to make 6.

Reversible Placemat Tutorial

You will need 2 (14"x18") pieces for each placemat.

Lay your front and back pieces together, right sides facing.

Mark a section along one of the long lengths for turning them right-side out in a few mintues. This isn't completely necessary. You can just sew and make sure to stop with enough space to turn it later on, but if you are like me and start day dreaming while you are sewing, this will prevent you from needing a seam ripper if you sew the opening shut.

Starting at the bottom pin, stitch around the entire place mat with a ⅜" seam.

opening in fabric to turn right side out

Remove pins.

Clip your corners so that when you turn it around they will be nice and crisp. Reach you hand inside of the opening and turn your place mat so that the right sides of the fabric are on the outside. Push out corners and iron all seams nice an flat.

Fold down the flaps on your opening and pin to secure. Top stitch a ¼" seam around your entire placemat. This will keep the edges flat, reinforce your stitching, and close up the opening you used to turn it right-side out.

You now have one finished placemat. Continue on until you have 2, 4, or 6 finished placemats!

A fun set of placemats that are reversible too.

Now to decide which fabrics to use for the ones I make for our dining room!

Whether you are making a set of 2 or a set for a family, you can easily finish this project in 2 hours or less.

Nightgown Patterns for Girls: Knit, Flannel or Cotton!

July 22, 2013 By Brandy 24 Comments

Feminine, lightweight, and beautiful. These are the best nightgown patterns for girls for winter or summer. Includes cotton, flannel and knit options.

Both of my little girls love to wear dresses....every single day. I love that they want to be feminine and pretty. Last year Kaylee and I went to the Disney store and picked out a darling Rapunzel night gown. She loves it and has worn it a couple of timesÂ a week since, but I have noticed a trend over the years. Where did all of the simple nightgowns for girls go? The ones without characters all over them?

Nightgown Sewing Patterns for Girls

(Butterick. #6659)

UPDATE: Butterick. #6659 appears to be out of print. The rest of the nightgown patterns in this post are still available.

Ruffle Nightgown Pattern

What happened to the ones we had as little girls? Although, looking back, I think mine may have been made by my Grandma. Maybe that's why they didn't have Rainbow Bright or Carebears on them...although I'm sure I would have loved them just the same.

I wanted to make my girls little nightgowns that they can twirl around in and feel like princesses while they sleep. I used light cotton with the tiniest flower buds. Of course I added a ruffle to the bottom of each one. Worth the extra 10 minutes.

The hardest part was explaining to the girls that these were jammies. They wore them the entire day after I finished them. Sun up till sundown and then to bed that night.

We decided that Fluffy needed one too. My little Kaylee, who is almost 5, sewed up this little dress for her. It was our first real sewing project together and it made my heart happy! She had so much fun and kept letting me know that she could do it all by herself. She sat on my lap and fed the fabric into the machine while I controlled the foot pedal. She did a great job and I can't wait to help her sew more projects as she gets older.

We did not use a pattern for Fluffy's little dress, but you can find the pattern I used for my girl's nightgowns from Butterick. #6659. I bought it years ago for $.99 on sale at Joanns. Each nightgown took about a little over an hour to make.

1 Hour Nightgown Pattern

1 Hour Nightgown /Peasant Dress (click for more details)

This pattern is one of my absolute favorite nightgown sewing patterns for girls and comes together in about an hour. I share a couple different variations that I've made over the years in this post. It's called a pattern, but is more like a tutorial because it only has one pattern piece to cut out! So easy.

Knit Nightgown Pattern for Girls

Bellamy Nightgown Pattern (click for more details)

Another versatile pattern with a sleeveless option and varying lengths.

Flannel Nightgown With Night Cap

Nightgown and Night Cap (click for more details)

I used the same pattern as the 1 hour nightgown above to make each of my girls a Little House on the Prairie inspired nightgown and cap for Christmas. They LOVE their nightgowns, but especially the night caps!

Pillowcase Nightgown Tutorial

Upcyling standard pillowcases into dresses and nightgowns

If you are looking for a great beginner project check out this pillowcase nightgown tutorial from She Holds Dearly. I just love the vintage pillowcases that she used.

Canvas Summer Tote

July 8, 2013 By Brandy 3 Comments

I am so excited about my new summer tote. Don't get me wrong, the re-usable green grocery bag that I had been using was functional, but this one is just plain fun! It is perfect for afternoon outings when I need more space than my basic purse. It also hangs perfectly off of the umbrella stroller and stores nicely inside the cargo area on our bike trailer. This baby goes everywhere with me.

I made it with canvas so that it is nice and sturdy. It will also wash up really well and since I used a contrasting solid red for the bottom, it will hide dirt better than the floral canvas. I absolutely love this canvas fabric. I ordered a yard from Wholeport and it was plenty for the outside. I used a dark pink for the inside.

I made it an inch longer and wider than the pattern. I also made the straps 3" longer to fit my long torso. Oh, and it's REVERSIBLE. Nice.

This bag took me about an hour to make. It was so easy. Nothing I hadn't done before, but I wasn't sure how big to make the dimensions, and so I turned to Dana from MADE and used her Reversible, Lined, Color Block Tote Tutorial.Â Totally cut out all of the guess work and made it such a fun afternoon project.

***

IÂ occasionally will review an item or write a sponsored post with compensation, but only do so for companies relevant to my content on Gluesticks. In this post I received the canvas fabric in exchange for telling my readers about it.

Homemade Marinade Recipes

July 5, 2013 By Brandy 2 Comments

One of our favorite meals are kebobs.Â We love experimenting with different marinade recipes and packets for our meats and usually go back to our staple recipes.Â Â Lately my husband has beenÂ sometimes leaving the meat off of the skewers and using aÂ grill pan over the flame and they turn out just as good! I think they are fun to eat off of the stick though and the kids always seem to enjoy food from a stick.

This timeÂ I used green peppers, onions, and pineapple along with the beef and chicken breast.

Soaking the skewers overnight in water prevents them from burning when on the grill. Load them up with your favorite meats and veggies and grill to perfection!

I have a couple combinations for marinades that we have used for years.
When it comes to store bought marinades we like McCormick's White Wine and Herb and Mesquite.

Our Beef Marinade
(I use this for roasts and steaks as well)

2 c. hot water
¼ c. beef base
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. vinegar

Marinate 4-8 hours.

Our Chicken Marinade

1 c. chicken broth
½ c. soy sauce
½ c. Italian salad dressing
½ tsp. ginger
½ tsp. garlic powder

Marinate 4-8 hours

Soy Sauce

Yep. Just plain ol' soy sauce. It works great for all meats. We use it for tilapia, halibut, shrimp, chicken, and steak. Sometimes less is more.

Cardstock Busy Book {No Sewing Required}

July 2, 2013 By Brandy 4 Comments

Today I thought I would share our cardstock busy book with you! I made this several years ago for my kids and it has received a lot of use since. Some of the pieces are missing (like the snowman's mouth), but it still works and they still enjoy using it.

If you can't sew, don't enjoy sewing, or don't have time to pain-stakingly hand stitch page after page to make a quiet book, this style of book is for you. Now, this isn't to be confused with a "quiet" book.Â Since it is put together with a lot of velcro, it is a "busy" book 😉

3 rings keep it together. Nice and simple.

Each page as well as eachÂ accessory was laminated to protect it. Velcro sticky dots make attaching each piece super easy.

A manila envelope added to the back stores all of the accessories.

And there you have it! Coming up with the different layouts was so much fun. Here is a quick break down of the ones I created, but the possibilities are endless!

If you don't have a die cutting machine like a cricut you can still make one. There are all sort of fun scrapbooking pre-cut accessories at the craft store and the ones that were super basic like the stop light, you could just cut by hand!

If Â you are feeling a bit more adventurous, you can check out our otherÂ Quiet BookÂ that took a bit longer to make, but the kids love just as well.

Peanut Butter Pops {A Guest Post By My 4 Year Old}

June 11, 2013 By Brandy 4 Comments

We have a very picky toddler who doesn't care for protein and carbs. She isÂ a fruit/veggie and dairy kind of gal and so I have to try to sneak protein and good fats into her when I can. Last night I was making her a peanut butter pop (which she handed back to me) and Kaylee, my 4 year old, wanted to make one for herself.

Before I knew it, she had grabbed a spoon and was helping herself to the peanut butter. Then she said, "Can you make a video of me making a one so that I can show others how to do it?"

You'd think she was the daughter of a blogger or something.

So without further adieu, here is a guest post and video tutorial on making a peanut butter pop by Kaylee! A fun little treat that a kid can make all by themselves and customize it however they want.

Enjoy!

Baked Chicken Nuggets With Steamed Dill Potatoes

June 10, 2013 By Brandy 49 Comments

A kid-friendly dinner idea for any night of the week. These baked chicken nuggets are easy to make and made with Italian breadcrumbs for extra flavor. Serve with steamed dill potatoes and fresh green beans for a dinner the whole family will love!

I like finding ways to treat my kids to a favorite meal item and do it in a healthier way. This time in the form of chicken nuggets. Baked chicken nuggets are a favorite over here. They come together in 30 minutes and pair perfectly with our dill potatoes. My mom made Italian bread crumb coated chicken (her own version of Shake and Bake) all the time when we were kids and we loved it! This recipe is inspired from her baked Italian chicken. Only in nugget form.

4 More Family-Friendly Dinner Ideas!

Sheet pan Fajitas

Keilbasa and Potatoes

Stroganoff Loaf

Sausage and Turkey Slow Cooker Chili

plate with beans, chicken nuggets and potatoes

Baked Chicken Nuggets

scroll down for printable version AND a great side dish to accompany these nuggets!

Ingredients:

1 ¼ lb. boneless, skinless chicken tenders
½ c. melted butter
¾ c. Italian bread crumbs
⅓ c. Parmesan cheese
½ tsp. kosher salt

Directions:

In a shallow dish, melt butter.

In another shallow dish combine dry ingredients.

Cut chicken tenders into 1 ½" cubes. Toss in melted butter and dip roll in bread crumb mixture. Bake on a lightly greased baking sheet at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Steamed Red Potatoes with Dill

Cube up as many red potatoes as your family will need. I used 8 for our family of six. I have a steamer stacking pan that I use for these. You can boil your potatoes if you don't have a way to steam them. Sprinkle kosher salt on your potatoes and steam until fork tender. Toss with 3 tablespoons butter and sprinkle with dill.

Â Be sure to serve this dinner with our homemade Amish dinner rolls!

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Baked Chicken Nuggets

These baked chicken nuggets are easy to make and made with Italian breadcrumbs for extra flavor. Serve with steamed dill potatoes and fresh green beans for a dinner the whole family will love!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword baked nuggets, chicken nuggets, weeknight meal, kid-friendly

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Servings

Calories 626kcal

Ingredients

1 ¼ lb. boneless skinless chicken tenders
½ cup melted butter
¾ cup Italian bread crumbs
⅓ cup Parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

In a shallow dish, melt butter.
In another shallow dish combine dry ingredients.
Cut chicken tenders into 1 ½" cubes.
Toss in melted butter and dip roll in bread crumb mixture.
Bake on a lightly greased baking sheet at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Notes

Air Fryer Version: Preheat air fryer to 390 degrees for 5 minutes. Place in a single layer in the air fryer basket. Set timer to 8 minutes. You may need to make these in 2-3 batches.

Nutrition

Calories: 626kcal

The Perfect Ice Cream Sandwich Cookie

May 31, 2013 By Brandy 6 Comments

Crispy, chewy and the perfect cookie to stack for ice cream sandwiches! Make a batch and serve with your favorite flavor of ice cream this summer!

These are "Poor Man" Cookies. There aren't anyÂ eggs, milk, or nutsÂ in them. Just plain, basic ingredients and somehow they end up being the richest, melt in your mouth, oatmeal cookie...EVER. Crispy on the outside, soft in the center, and a hint of toasted coconut flavor, although they do not contain coconut. Maybe it's all of the brown sugar that makes them so rich in flavor? I'm not sure, but they are amazing. So if you have allergies, these cookies are for you. If you don't have allergies, add a scoop of ice cream because they make a delicious sandwich cookie!

Â They stack well and hold up perfectly to the weight and pressure of the ice cream in the center.

Poor Man's Cookies
Taste of Home

1 cup shortening**

1 cup packed brown sugar

½ cup sugar

¼ cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoons salt

2 cups rolled oats

In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in water and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in oats.

Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350Â° for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to stand 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool. Yield: 3 dozen.

My Notes & Tips for Making Bigger Cookies for Ice Cream Sandwiches:

**No-name brands of shortening seem to work better than Crisco. Don't ask me why, they just do. I've found this to be true with some frosting recipes that I make.

A cookie scoop (medium sized) works great for getting a nice standard cookie that flattens nicely. No more than 6 to a cookie sheet as they spread. This recipe will make 24 cookies using a medium scoop which turns out to beÂ a dozen ice cream sandwiches.

Make sure to allow cookies to set for a minute or two before removing to a rack.

When cookies have cooled, completely, add a small scoop of ice cream on top of one cookie and GENTLY press another cookie on top. Freeze 5-10 minutes and serve!

Here are 29 more cookie recipes that we've tried and reviewed!

Phineas and Ferb Summer Bucket List for Kids

May 30, 2013 By Brandy 2 Comments

Make your summer a bit more memorable this year with a Phineas and Ferb summer bucket list! Build a rocket, fight a mummy and give a monkey a shower!

A few years ago we had one of the best staycations for summer break! We only made one trip out of town so we had many days to hang out at our favorite local places.

phineas and ferb summer bucket list poster

I created this fun Summer Bucket List (Phineas & Ferb Style) to give us a fun jump start to summer.

Along with the suggestions from the Phineas & Ferb theme song, we added our own ie: go to the zoo, have a picnic, etc. It took us until the last day of summer to complete the list since we didn't want to rush through it and do you now what? It was one of THE BEST summers we've had!

Phineas and Ferb Summer Bucket List

Whenever I've shared this ideas with friends they've asked how we carried out each task in the Phineas and Ferb theme song.

Would you like to know how we gave a monkey a shower or located Frankenstein's brain? Keep reading!

More activities for kids to add to a Phineas and Ferb summer bucket list:

Soda Bottle Sprinkler

DIY Pocket Fan

Make Your Own Moon Sand

Homemade Bubble Gum Ice Cream

Goldfish Glycerin Soap

Phineas & Ferb Summer Bucket List Activities

Building a Rocket

For this task we made balloon rockets and shot them across the living room. I have an entire post on quick and easy science experiments for kids. You can get the details on our rockets there!

Fighting a Mummy

My FAVORITE one so far. I love when I can persuade my husband to make a fool of himself for the sake of the children. The kids were all camped out in the same room that night so it was easy to scare them all in one swoop!

Climbing Up The Eiffel Tower

This one was pretty simple. There are several parks in our town with structures like this. We simply had a day at the park and marked this one off the list! It's the closest thing to a tower as we were going to get.

Discovering Something That Doesn't Exist

It's pretty hard to discover something that doesn't exist. So we created something new. Something that hadn't existed before. This one was dad's idea and involved lots of chocolate. The kids filled up mini loaf pans with a layer of melting chocolate, then added marshmallows and a small store-bought brownie followed by another layer of melting chocolate to seal it all up. Then they added sprinkles and let it set up. These chocolate loaves were pretty good!

Phineas and Ferb Bucket List inflatable monkey in shower

Giving a Monkey a Shower

I bought this monkey on ebay from a party supply company. He was perfect and water proof. So hung him in the kids' shower before sending them to take their evening showers. They thought it was hilarious and soaped him right up.

kids playing in lake summer bucket list activity

Surfing Tidal Waves

These aren't exactly tidal waves, but we did the best we could one afternoon at a local lake. The kids loved when the boats went by and the wakes came in. They were like mini waves!

Phineas and Ferb Bucket List nano bot kit

Creating Nanobots

These cute wind up robots (nanobots) were from a kids craft kit that we purchased. They could design, add stickers and wind them up!

Phineas and Ferb Bucket List child holding green balloon that looks like a brain

Locating Frankenstein's Brain

Who knew that the location of Frankenstein's brain was actually in our house! I blew up a small green balloon and added squiggly lines with a permanent marker to make it look like a brain. Then I put it in a plastic cake saver container and hid it upstairs. Aaron randomly walked past it one afternoon and was pretty proud that he was on the one to find it!

Finding a Dodo Bird

Finding a Dodo bird was one that I had to think about for a bit. I printed Jojo the Dodo from cardstock, and he arrived in an envelope telling the kids about his world travels, where he came from, and facts about Dodo birds. He also let them know that he was pretty special since he is the only living Dodo bird (they are extinct).

Painting a Continent

The kids painted an earth on our back patio with chalk paints. Not only did they paint one continent, they ended up with all of them! They finished this one the day before school started. In the nick of time!

Driving Your Sister Insane!

Goodness, this girl makes the best faces! She insisted on sitting IN the shopping cart one afternoon, and I told her she'd get squished. I don't play around! She thought it was hilarious, and it was the perfect "Driving Your Sister Insane" photo.

And that's a wrap! Have you ever created a bucket list or summer list with your kids? What was their favorite activity?