Sunday, April 29, 2012

Recyceld Wool Sweater Throw

Once again I have been pinspired by a blanket that I saw, made from old recycled wool sweaters. 
So I finally made one for myself. I started with about 6 wool sweaters and then quickly realized I needed at least 6 more. I washed all the sweaters and dried them on high to shrink and felt them. 
 Then I started cutting my squares. They are 5 x 5, and I ended up with 192 total squares. I had it laid out on the floor for weeks as I kept adding to it, making it bigger and re-arranging the squares.
Then I decided that it still needed something. I originally had hoped to find a sweater with some fun striped print, but there was no such luck. So I made some fun owl appliques from other sweaters. 
Once I added them in, it still felt like it needed something more. I decided to get out my wool roving and needle felt some of the squares. And then my boys wanted to help, so I taught them how. They had so much fun, and all of our squares were done free hand. They did great! When they finished I used my sewing machine to sew their names on each square that they made. 





Finally I was ready to start putting it all together. I stacked each row and began sewing. It only took me about 2 hours to get all the squares sewn together. 
I bought a microfiber blanket for the back and a layer of batting for the middle. 
I stacked my layers and sewed it all together. Then I turned it inside out and realized that I had my stack layered wrong, and the batting was now on the outside. So I had some wine. And then grabbed the seam ripper. This took days.
I had to seam rip each stitch, there was no pulling it apart since it was all made from sweaters. 
The kids helped me "un-sew" it. I had been working on a little bit each night, and then one day I came home and my hubby had finished it for me! 
So today I was finally able to put it all back together. 
 I am very happy with how it turned out!
 So is Zach!


This is by far the warmest blanket I own! It was fun and easy to make and is now an amzing family keepsake. I love the art my boys added to it. 
Happy Sunday! 



Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Let's pretend this never happened


I started listening to the audio version of this book today. I began reading her blog after the giant metal chicken story, this book is written & read by the bloggess herself & it is by far the funniest book I have ever read! I highly recommend it. I was laughing out loud all day! 

Oh and one more thing:



Congrats Jenny!! 

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

 I had some bananas that either had to be used or tossed. So I went to my favorite site & I found a recipe on pinterest, but quickly made some changes to make it my own! 
I have eaten 2 since they came out of the oven, and am guessing that after my kids & hubby have them for breakfast, they will be gone! 


Here is how:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 medium bananas, mashed
1 egg
1/2 cup milk 
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 packages (individual serving size) Quaker apples and cinnamon instant oatmeal
3/4 cup sugar
1 pkg mini chocolate chips


Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375*F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners and set aside.In a bowl, with an electric mixer on low, mix together butter, bananas, egg, milk, cinnamon, vanilla, baking soda, powder, and salt until well combined.In another bowl, mix together flour, oats, and sugar. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix together until just combined, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. Add 3/4 bag of mini chocolate chips & stir by hand.  Scoop batter into the 12 muffin cups. 

Bake for 18-20 minutes until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 
Cool on a wire rack. 

Enjoy!!!