A Victorian Necessity

The Bike Seat Cover!

Because this is CUTE!

And this is not!

Leather Fun Afternoon

New Wallet!!

 So. I hate my wallet. I used to hate my wallet and now I LOVE my wallet.
I have always felt some strange aversion to paying a lot of hard earned money for a wallet to hold all my hard earned money. I have a similar problem with buying purses & bags; however since they typically carry more than just my money I manage to find ways around it.

Aside from spending the money on one, wallets also never seem to have the right combination of what you are looking for. Example: they will be small enough, but not have zippered space for change; OR they will be have all the card and bill space you need but be gargantuanly huge as well. I need a wallet to fit in my pocket if it needs to, have zippered space for change (because lets be serious change sucks, but it sucks more if it's falling out everywhere every time you open up to get a bill), it needs to have quick access room for cards and a bill fold large enough for those other random bits of paper, etc than inevitably end up there.



So to fix all these problems in one I decided I would make my own and then I couldn't complain about hating my current wallet anymore.
It cost me about $7.00 to make.

• Genuine Leather (scraps in two tones!) - $5.00
• Sweet Zipper (just happened to match) $1.95
• Fun afternoon of time on the sewing machine - Free!

 7 step Tutorial to make your own:

This wallet is 5 x 8 inches opened wide with three double card slots, a zippered change pouch and bill fold.

Supplies needed:
5 x 13.5 darker leather
5 x 8 lighter leather
5 x 3 darker leather
5 x 2.5  lighter leather
5 " zipper
Dark thread
Heavy duty needle
Sewing machine

1. Cut all your pieces
2. Sew Zipper onto the "bad" side of your largest piece of dark leather.
3. Line up your 5 x 8 piece on top of your largest piece leaving the zippered edge with a 3.5" flap to fold over and create your change purse
4. Fold over outside piece and sew opposite side of zipper onto the good side of your lighter piece of leather
5. Line up your smaller pieces to create the overlapping pockets and fold over remaining edge.
6. Sew around the outside edge to hold everything together. *helpful hint Go slow when you hit the thickest parts. My sewing machine didn't love me for it, but we went slow and got through with a relatively straight stitch.
7. Cut off loose threads and Voila! You have the perfect leather wallet!

*** I've added a ivory ribbon tag into mine to personalize a bit, but you could play around however you like to have fun with it!

Finished Product!

And The Pears Just Keep Coming!

 So I leave town for about 10 days to visit family and I'm dreading the look of the patio when I get home because I know it will be covered in pears starting to over ripen, full of fruit flies, and not an altogether lovely sight. However to my surprise its not so bad. There are a few over ripe pears, a few flies, but not the festering mess I was expecting. The tree however is still FULL of ripe pears and they are getting BIG! I climbed up a picked a few with the help of my sister and now between those and they rest I hadn't processed from before I left I once again had more than I know what to do with... SO

Puffed Pear Pancake (childhood favourite!)

• Pre-heat oven to 425 F
• Fill a greased frittata pan (or glass pie plate) with enough sliced poached (or canned) pears to fully cover the bottom - we used about 6/7 I think  but they were on the smaller side
• Beat two eggs
• Add 1/2 cup all purpose flour - whisk in
• Add 1/2 cup milk - whisk in slowly
• Add 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, and 1 tsp cardammom
• Pour mixture over top of pears.
• Bake for 20 minutes
• Remove from oven and flip over (by placing a plate on top, flip the pancake, then slide it back into it's dish)
• Sprinkle with sugar and cardamom and voila!

AND

Ginger Pear Marmalade

• Zest three limes and set aside
• Juice three limes and put in large bowl
• Peel, core, and thinly slice 8 cups of pears
• Coat with juice from limes
• Add 3 tbsp of minced crystallized ginger
• Add 4 cups of sugar and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour

***meanwhile prepare canning jars

• Add zest to 1 1/4 cups of water and stirring frequently let come to a boil until liquid is reduced by half
• Remove zest and add water to pears
• Stirring frequently, boil pears for approximately 15 minutes
• Add zest back in and continue boiling for another 5 minutes or until mix reaches a gel stage
• Spoon into your canning jars leaving 1/4" room at the top, add sterilized lids and rings, and place in canner for 10 minutes

Enjoy!

Saturday Scrumptious Snacks!

Peppery Pear Salsa (courtesy of my mom)

1 cup vingear
8 cups chopped pears
3 finely diced red peppers
3 finely diced green peppers
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp salt
2 tsp dry mustard powder
1 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

- Bring everything to a boil and simmer for at least 5 minutes or until liquid thickens a bit.


  *Optional* I also added 2 jalapenos and 1 red onion to this recipe for a bit more of a kick and less sweet salsa 


Honey Almond Flax Granola

1 cup coconut
5 cups rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1 1/2 cups almond meal
3 tbsp flax seeds
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 cup dried blueberries
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil

- Pre-heat oven to 350 F
- Mix together all dry ingredients EXCEPT the dried fruit
- Combine honey, cinnamon, oil in a saucepan and bring to just boiling.
- Coat dry ingredients with honey mixture and spread out evenly in a cookie tray (or two)
- Bake in oven for 20 minutes (or until golden brown) stirring halfway
- Cool and add in dried fruit


Enjoy some Scrumptious Saturday Snacks!

Loves,
Sarah

So I Have a VERY Productive Pear Tree... Now What?

Now what you ask?

Jam! Jelly! Pearsauce! Oh My!

So much thanks to my mother who canned all sorts of goodies when I was younger and a bit of how to/follow the pictures help from Pick Your Own and I was all set to make up some lovely pear jam this evening. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at this batch of 14 jars didn't even put a dent in the massive amount of pears I still need to process (and there is still more on the tree!) But the Jam is ultra tasty and we'll be enjoying it all year long! 

Final Product. Yummy!!

Summer Bounty

 Summer Bounty.... wonderful!

I love fresh flowers, and they are the most satisfying when you've picked them right from your own garden (or perhaps stolen some from the neighbour across the street... ssh don't tell)

DIY Glassless Photo Frame

Cute as a Button Creations

Okay, fresh start. More than two years since I've last posted but since I've been hooked into some "Pinteresting" things lately I thought I'd share some of my craftiness this summer.

Latest and Greatest: DIY Glassless Photo Frame

Supplies:
- Old Picture Frame (or window could be cool) - without the glass
- 10-15 wooden clothespins
- Jute Twine
- Sandpaper
- Staple gun
- Stain/Paint
- Paint Brush
- Old Rag
- Wood Glue (for repair of frame if required)

Start with ugly old broken frame...

Exhibit A

Fix up as required. This one need some serious corner attention as you can see. Follow with a light sanding and then paint or stain your favourite colour. I choose a nice dark walnut stain that managed to cover the original dirty dusty rose with a few coats. Since I had the stain out anyways I also did a quick coat on my clothespins so they wouldn't look so new. If you have nice old ones that a bit used that would be ideal!

Once your frame is good and dry (best to let it dry overnight so you're not dealing with any sticky paint or stain) you can staple on your jute twine (or hemp, or heavy yarn could work too) At the spacing you require for your photos. And Voila! A unique way to display your pictures and a reason to get some prints too and not just leave them stuck in an album on your computer that no one ever gets to see anyways....

Enjoy!