Made with Moxie: December 2013

December 10, 2013

Mocha Cinnamon Salt Dough Ornaments

Salted Cinnamon Mocha Dough Ornaments || They smell heavenly and are a fun new family tradition.

Confession time: I am a complete control freak about crafting with my kids. I don't care how big of a mess they make...so long as they don't mess up mine. Sigh. It's horrible, I know. I'm the mom. They have to learn. Who really cares?!?

I'm working on it. Really. This fall when we were carving pumpkins I kept getting twitchy each time Jane reached her sharpie over to try and put a scribble on my pumpkin. It was ridiculous. I eventually gave myself a lesson in letting go and let her draw on my carved pumpkin. All over it's face.

Then I had a beer.

Salted Cinnamon Mocha Dough Ornaments || They smell heavenly and are a fun new family tradition.

Last week Jane and I made some salt dough ornaments. I admit to purposefully waiting until Jimmy was taking his nap to roll them out and paint them. Hey, I let them help mix it all up with me. (And what a mess of baking supplies that was!)

I changed the recipe up a bit though because salt dough is stinky. So I added some chocolate and some cinnamon and some coffee. When you bake these puppies your house will reek of lovely yummy baked goods.

Salted Cinnamon Mocha Dough Ornaments || They smell heavenly and are a fun new family tradition.


Disclaimer: Do not try to eat these salted cinnamon mocha dough ornaments after you have baked them. They will break your teeth. And taste like crap. Better then plain old salt dough ornaments, but still, like crap.

Salted Cinnamon Mocha Dough Ornaments || They smell heavenly and are a fun new family tradition.


Salted Cinnamon Mocha Dough Ornaments:

1 cup flour (use what you have, AP, wheat, etc. I used bread flour.)
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp coffee (use the leftovers at the bottom of the pot. Or water.)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Mix all your ingredients together. Get fancy. Break out the stand mixer. Use a spatula to make sure all dry ingredients get incorporated. Mix for a few minutes until dough is smooth. Resist the urge to pop a bit into your mouth. These are the best diet cookies!

Roll out dough 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out your favorite holiday shapes (skull and crossbones are Christmas-y, no?) Once you get all your ornaments cut out and on baking sheets, take a drinking straw and poke a hole in the top of each ornament. If you want to stitch up an ornament like the stars, poke more holes.

Bake ornaments at 200 degrees for three to five hours. Yeah, hours. You want to bake this puppies until there is no moisture left in them and they are completely hardened. Don't sweat it tough because for three to five hours your house will smell like heaven. Seriously. My husband came home from work during this step and got all excited thinking I had baked something for dessert.

Salted Cinnamon Mocha Dough Ornaments || They smell heavenly and are a fun new family tradition.


After your salted cinnamon mocha dough ornaments cool completely it's time to decorate! Any acrylic paint will work on your ornaments. Acrylic paint is good because it will dry fast. Children have little patience. (Okay, fine. Me too.) I painted mine with gesso which is white acrylic paint with a polymer added. It's intent is to prime canvases for artwork, but it works fantastic for these. I like it because it is very opaque. And Jane's monstrous glops of it dry out fairly quickly. You can find it at and crafting or art stores.

Once your paint is dried, paint or spray your salted cinnamon mocha dough ornaments with a clear coat. Make sure to cover all surfaces. You want to seal the ornament from getting any moisture in it. After Christmas store your ornaments in a cool dry place.

Salted Cinnamon Mocha Dough Ornaments || They smell heavenly and are a fun new family tradition.

Thread yarn, embroidery floss or ribbon through the holes in the ornaments and you're done! Hang on the tree or even use as fancy schmancy gift tags. Jane is still super excited about them on our tree. I think salted cinnamon mocha dough ornaments will be an annual tradition in our house.

Enjoy!

December 9, 2013

The Moxie Fat Quarter Pack: Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Week!

I'm going to keep this short and sweet so you can enter my giveaways and then hurry back to Sew, Mama, Sew to enter rest. Good luck and thanks for stopping by!

One fat quarter of each of my favorite skull fabrics from my personal Made with Moxie fabric collection.
The Moxie Fat Quarter Pack:One fat quarter of each of my favorite skull fabrics.


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Don't forget! I have three other giveaways here:
Three Hand Stamped Sea Bee Bar Towels
Bundle of 7 Indy Sewing Patterns worth over $85
Quilting Isn't Funny digital book by The Bitchy Stitcher

Thanks for stopping by and good luck in the giveaways today! Drawing will be pulled Sunday December 15th at 5pm EST.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway

Favorite Indy Patterns Bundle: Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Week

I'm going to keep this short and sweet so you can enter my giveaways and then hurry back to Sew, Mama, Sew to enter all the rest. Good luck and thanks for stopping by!

Made with Moxie: Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway: Favorite Indy Patterns Bundle
Seven of my favorite Indy Sewing Patterns. Worth $85 value.

Clockwise from top left:
The Reversible Zippy Hoodie (18m-8y) by Amanda of Kitschy Coo
The Go To Cape for women by Andrea of Go To Patterns
The Bimaa Sweater for kids by Sarah of EmmylouBeeDoo
The Prefontaine Shorts for kids by Jill of Made with Moxie
The Commuter Cowl by Shannon of Very Shannon & Luvinthemommyhood
The Aragon Bag by Sara of Sew Sweetness
The Meridian Cardigan for women by Rachael of imagine gnats

a Rafflecopter giveaway Don't forget! I have three other giveaways here:
The Moxie Fat Quarter Pack
Three Hand Stamped Sea Bee Bar Towels
Quilting Isn't Funny digital book by The Bitchy Stitcher

Thanks for stopping by and good luck in the giveaways today! Drawing will be pulled Sunday December 15th at 5pm EST.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway

Three Hand Stamped Sea Bee Bar Towels: Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Week!

I'm going to keep this short and sweet so you can enter my giveaways and then hurry back to Sew, Mama, Sew to enter the rest. Good luck and thanks for stopping by!

Made with Moxie: Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway: Hand Stamped Flour Sack Bar Towels .
Set of Three Hand Stamped Sea Bee Flour Sack Bar Towels.


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Don't forget! I have three other giveaways here:
Bundle of 7 Indy Sewing Patterns worth over $85
The Moxie Fat Quarter Pack
Quilting Isn't Funny digital book by The Bitchy Stitcher


Thanks for stopping by and good luck in the giveaways today! Drawing will be pulled Sunday December 15th at 5pm EST.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway

December 6, 2013

Quilting Isn't Funny by The Bitchy Stitcher

Here's something you may not know about me: I love to read. Books, magazines, blogs, you name it. Other than the board book I just fished out of my washing machine, I love books. (Thank you, children. It was really no longer a book but millions of effing pieces of wet cardboard all over flannel, fuzzy knits and tulle. Yeah, tulle.)

What you do already know is that I have a love of the bitchy. The boat shakers. The people who don't really care what "people" think. You should know that I love Megan Dougherty, aka The Bitchy Stitcher. Megan writes a funny ass blog about quilting. Because quilting is funny. And frustrating. And Megan writes some funny stories. So many so, that she wrote a book.

The funniest quilting book I've ever read. Thank God someone has a sense of humor around here. Enter to win a free copy of Quilting Isn't Funny by Megan Dougherty The Bitchy Stitcher.

Quilting Isn't Funny is a self-published book of awesomeness. If you quilt or someone you know does, you need to get a copy of this book. Once I started reading it, I couldn't stop. I was laying in bed reading it on my Nexus, snorting and giggling. Sadly, my husband doesn't get quilting humor so I was left to keep it all to myself. I wish I could have read it with like minded quilty folk, like yourselves. (Megan, I'm thinking you need to do a book reading tour. All beatniky with a black turtle neck and a beret though please.)

Consider getting yourself this book as a stocking stuffer. They even come autographed! Buy one for your mom and mother in law. (That is, if your mother in law didn't already buy herself a copy, like mine did!) You can grab your own right here. If you are a husband or boyfriend looking for another great gift idea, I highly recommend the Quilter's Shirtless Man and A Spicy Burrito Calendar, or QSMASMC 2014. Yes, I'm not joking, it is a real thing. I have my own copy, thank you very much. It is a beautiful calendar chock full of lovely, mostly naked men with gorgeous quilts and scrumptious burritos. What more could you want?

I can't wait to get my own signed copy. It's going right in my bathroom. Hey, it's where all my favorite books go.

Be sure to check out the rest of the reivew on Megan's Quilting Isn't Funny tour:


Dec. 2 - Maddie Kertay  - Bad Ass Quilter’s Society

Dec. 3 - Sam Hunter – Hunter’s Design Studio

Dec. 4 - Carla Crim – Scientific Seamstress

Dec. 5 - Scarlett Burroughs – Craft Gossip

Dec. 6 – Jill Dorsey – Made with Moxie
           

Dec. 9 - Victoria Findlay Wolfe – Bumble Beans Inc
           
Dec. 10 - Lynn Harris - Little Red Hen

Dec. 11 – Teresa Coates – Crinkle Dreams

Dec. 12 - Joshua Helms - Molli Sparkles

Dec 13 - Liz Kettle – Stitch Journeys

Dec. 14 - Leah Day – The Free Motion Quilting Project


Dec 16 - Lisa Sipes – That Crazy Quilty Girl
           
Dec. 17 - Charlotte Newland – Displacement Activity

Dec. 18 - Teri Lucas - TerifiCreations

Dec. 19 – Cheryl Sleboda – Muppin.com

Dec. 20 – Kelly Biscopink – Stitchy Quilt Stuff


Jan. 6 – Generation Q

Jan. 8 – Rose Hughes – Rose Hughes – Quilt Artist

Jan. 9 – Janice Ryan – Better Off Thread

Jan. 10 - Flaun Cline – I Plead Quilty



Jan. 13 – Heather Jones – Olive and Ollie

Jan. 14 – Meg  – Without A Stitch On

Jan. 15 – Laura Lochore – Quokka Quilts

Jan. 16 – Elaine Wong Haselhuhn – Dashasel Sews

Made it down this far, eh? Want to win your own free, digital copy of Megan's book, Quilting Isn't Funny ? Leave me a comment here and tell me what you want most for Christmas. Contest ends Friday, December 13, 2013 at 12 pm EST and will be drawn at random. If you are a no-reply blogger, please leave your email address in your comment, too. Not sure if you are a no-reply blogger or not? Do you never get replies from bloggers or never win contests? Go read this post about how to fix your No-Reply Status.

I was given a digital copy of this book for free so that I might review it. All opinions expressed here are my own. I have also ordered my own physical copies before Megan asked me to be on the tour. She's that funny and you know I love to support small, local and handmade.

December 3, 2013

Best Felt Russian Stacking Doll Ornaments

Everything I do I must make more complicated. I decided to make these little Russian doll ornaments to add into a Christmas gift for a friend. Then I thought, hey, I should make them into a blog post. Then I thought, hey, I should make a tutorial for these ornaments. Then I decided to get super crazy and thought I should make a pdf pattern to share with you all. I like to make it easy for you and do all the work. Or I have control issues.

So, without further ado, I present:
Felt Nesting Doll Ornaments | Sweet and easy. Use as Christmas tree ornaments, gift tags on packages, or as adorable dolls for your little ones to play with.

Step 1: Print out the Matryoshka Ornament Pattern below. It should fill one sheet of printer paper.
Matryoshka Doll Ornaments Pattern

Step 2: Cut out each pattern piece in felt of your choice. Cut two of each main body piece. I found it easiest to keep each doll's patterns and felt together in a ziplock bag until it was time to sew. Mostly to keep Jimmy from mixing them all up.

Felt Nesting Doll Ornaments | Sweet and easy. Use as Christmas tree ornaments, gift tags on packages, or as adorable dolls for your little ones to play with.

Step 3: Stack hair and face piece and stitch onto one body piece. I used a basic running stitch, but you can get super fancy here. Or even use a sewing machine. Heck, you can make these ornaments without sewing at all. Just glue them. Hot glue, Elmer's glue, Arlene's glue. Sky's the limit.

Step 4:Stitch dress piece and kerchief tie piece to the same body piece. I added a lazy daisy stitch with a french knot center. You could stitch a heart. Or a button. Or embroider a name. Again, go ahead and run with it.

Felt Nesting Doll Ornaments | Sweet and easy. Use as Christmas tree ornaments, gift tags on packages, or as adorable dolls for your little ones to play with.

Step 5: Stitch on a face: two french knots and a curved stitch. I think I will make a man one next with a mustache.

Felt Nesting Doll Ornaments | Sweet and easy. Use as Christmas tree ornaments, gift tags on packages, or as adorable dolls for your little ones to play with.

Step 6: Align the front body piece (the one you stitched all the parts to) with the back piece. Starting at the lower left hand corner stitch up the left side, around the head and back down to the lower right corner. Make sure you add a loop of ribbon so your ornament can hang. I cut my ribbon to 7 inches to make a nice big loop. Little kids can struggle with these things.

Felt Nesting Doll Ornaments | Sweet and easy. Use as Christmas tree ornaments, gift tags on packages, or as adorable dolls for your little ones to play with.

Once you stitch your way back to the right corner, stuff your doll ornament. I used Pellon Perfect Loft which I must say is just lovely to use. It's light and fluffy and easy to stuff. I have also stuffed little guys like this with felt scraps too. It all depends on how finicky you want to get about it. Stitch the remaining bottom edge closed.

Admire your handiwork.

Felt Nesting Doll Ornaments | Sweet and easy. Use as Christmas tree ornaments, gift tags on packages, or as adorable dolls for your little ones to play with.

Happy Holidays, ya'll.