Chair Make Over

I've had this chair, $20 from a yard sale, for over a year. I was afraid to try and cover it- it just seemed like too big of a job. Well, finally I attacked it. It didn't turn out exactly as I envisioned it, but it's done! The patterned indoor/outdoor fabric is from Ikea clearance $1.98 a yard. The pillow fabric is from Hobby Lobby. The bedroom it is in is green with touches of black and pink- (oooh, carpet needs changed). I sewed, stapled, and glued the fabric where I wanted it.

Book Lovers Online Shopping

Our daughter Ceptember suggested this website, sortfloor. She is gathering books for her classroom and ordered several books. One had a bent cover, and the others were in perfect brand new condition. The prices were good.

The site is a little difficult to navigate. I pulled up Amazon and typed in interesting titles that I had found on this site. By doing that I could get a book description, rating and reviews. I found some fun ones and am happily waiting for them to arrive.

Simple Christmas Quilt

This was a quick and simple Christmas quilt for the kids to snuggle under while they watch all of those cute Christmas movies. It's just five fabrics, 36 nine inch squares, one six inch square with embroidery doodles and a pom-pom frame.

Just sew the 36 squares together to make a big square. Embroider some doodling on your six inch square and sew it onto your quilt top. Sew on your pom-poms. Then to cheat and make it really simple sew it together like a pillow cover; layer fabrics right sides together and place batting on top. Then sew all around the quilt (through the fabric and batting), leaving about a foot open- turn inside out. Hand sew opening shut and then tack quilt together at random spots with embroidery floss. Not perfect but so easy!

Christmas Ornaments

I'm doing Christmas projects. Fun! I bought some plain brown ornaments at Michael's. Then I used Martha Stewart glue and gold and brown glitter to doodle on them- a few ended up with polka-dots. This was a fun project that gets glitter everywhere- prepare to sparkle.

Christmas Tree Cross Stitch

This little tree was a lot of fun. Decorating it was kind of like doing the real thing in miniature. There were so many beads, threads, and fancy stitches to choose from. I think I'll turn this into an ornament, but a framed "forest" of trees might be kinda fun, too.

A link to the pattern is listed on the right.

Easy Baked Chicken

I tried a new recipe Sunday. It is SUPER easy and yummy too. I found it on allrecipes.com and a reader suggested substituting the oil and garlic with Italian Salad Dressing- which is what I did (I used Paul Newman's low fat Italian dressing).

Garlic Chicken

2 t. crushed garlic
1/4 c. olive oil
OR 1/4 c. salad dressing

1/4 c. dry Italian bread crumbs
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese (green can)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Warm the garlic and olive oil to blend the flavors OR skip this step and just use salad dressing. In a separate dish combine crumbs and cheese. Dip the chicken in the salad dressing (or oil), then into the bread crumb mixture. Place in a shallow baking dish. Discard remaining salad dressing and crumb mixture.

Bake in the hot oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear (mine took just under 30 min.) Serve warm.

Favorite Christmas Albums

My current favorite Christmas CD's:
#1 Silent Night by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, $3 plus shipping on Amazon (not available at Deseret Book). This album has relgious songs, like Joy to the World, Little town of Bethlehem, etc. as well as white Christmas, Silver Bells, and so on. It's a nice combination.


#2 I also really like Christmas: 16 most requested songs, a Columbia recording (also about $3 Plus shipping at Amazon. This album has Gene Autry singing Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman, Doris Day singing Here Comes Santa Claus. Lot's of old favorite songs sung by the artists that I remember from my childhood.