Recipe: Café Olé

I love a plain cup of coffee, but some days it's fun to put a little something extra in it.  I've been making Café Olé for years but I have no idea where I got the name or the idea... which probably means my sister taught it to me at some point!

Ingredients:
Coffee
Cream
Sugar
Cinnamon
Cocoa Powder

Pour yourself a cup of coffee and prepare it to taste like you usually would (cream, milk, sugar, Splenda... whatever you like).  I always use Half n' Half and sugar.

Stir in some cinnamon and cocoa powder to taste.  I don't measure mine but I probably use about a 1/2 tsp. of each.

That's it!  One of the great things about Café Olé is that it's fast and flexible.  Some days I only use cinnamon or only cocoa powder, and right now I'm drinking a mug full made from yesterday's coffee.  Normally I hate leftover coffee but we're out of coffee beans and when I turn it into Café Olé I can't tell that it's not freshly brewed!

See Kate Sew Sew-A-Long

I'm pumped!  I was checking out See Kate Sew today and saw that she released a free tutorial with pattern pieces for her "Sweet Scallops Tote".  AND she's creating a link party so that anyone who makes one can link up and possibly be featured on her blog!  Look how cute this bag is!

I think I'll accept the challenge. 

To put my own spin on it, I'm going to use all scrap fabrics that I have.  I have so many scraps that I think it will be really doable.  Especially if the straps are made from the khaki I used in my reversible tote.  Maybe I'll even try to add a fabric flower to it - I've been wanting to learn to make those for a while now.

I'll let you know how it goes.  Anyone else going to make one?

Tutorial: Sweater Scarf

For my mother-in-law's birthday I made her a scarf from one of my husband's old sweaters and one of his old t-shirts.  We thought she would enjoy the sentimental value of a "hug" from 5 hours away!

I considered making an infinity scarf using this tutorial from Vixen Made, but ended up just using the idea of a two-sided scarf since I thought it'd be too bulky made from a sweater.

 Here are my steps:

1.  Cut long strips of sweater material - the width should be equal to the width you'd like the scarf to be (plus a seam allowance).  Mine were 6 inches wide.  The strips should add up to the length you'd like the scarf to be with a couple inches extra for overlap.

I planned on using the bottom of the sweater for the ends of the scarf, to take advantage of the texture.  After cutting out two strips I realized that the scarf wasn't going to be long enough, so I cut two more strips out (but only ended up using one).  Then I evened up the strips by laying the thinnest over the widest and cutting off the extra.

2)  Pin the strips of sweater together.  I had three strips so I put the shortest in the middle and the longer two (which had the textured ends) on the sides.  I put the middle strip right-side up, then laid the side strips on it right-side down with raw edges touching.  Since my sweater is striped, I had to fuss with where I attached them a bit so that the stripes would be even all the way down the scarf.

Sew strips together using a half-inch seam allowance.  Trim extra fabric and finish seams with a zig-zag stitch.

3)  Cut out strips that are equivalent width and length to sweater pieces from second fabric (I used an old t-shirt).

Repeat pinning process and sew seams together.

Finish seams with zig-zag stitch and iron flat to reduce bulk.

4.  Place fabric and sweater strips together, right-sides facing.

5.  Pin strips together.

 6.  Sew along one short side and both long sides using a straight stitch.  Then finish seams with a zig-zag stitch.

6.  Turn scarf right-side out.

7.  Iron scarf flat.  Pin open end closed, tucking raw edges under.  Sew around all four sides of scarf using a 1/4 " seam allowance.  I used matching thread on the sweater side and contrasting thread on the t-shirt side.

8.  Admire scarf!

Recipe: Easy Chicken & Rice Soup

We've been feeling pretty under the weather lately and have turned to an old staple to battle our colds - chicken and rice soup.  Not feeling up to going to the store for lots of ingredients I decided to use what I had on hand and ended up with something pretty yummy.  I've been making a big batch each Sunday night and we reheat it for meals throughout the week.  My hubby usually hates soup, but he actually likes this one!

Easy Chicken & Rice Soup

Ingredients:
Cooked rice (I use a mixture of white rice and a brown rice/ whole grain mix from Trader Joe's)
Shredded chicken (I boil and shred this in bulk and keep it stocked in the freezer most of the time)
water
poultry seasoning
black pepper
dried bay leaves
onion powder or onion flakes
salt
optional:  sliced veggies such as carrots, celery, onion, etc.

Directions:
Fill a large pot 1/2 full with water
Add shredded chicken and rice
Add seasonings to taste - more poultry seasoning than anything else (I just eye-ball it and use caution.  I add salt to taste in individual servings.)
Bring to a boil, then remove lid and let simmer until soup reduces to desired thickness. 
Remove bay leaves.
Serve with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top if desired.  Olive bread makes a great accompaniement!

This really is a no-fail recipe.  I never measure anything - I just sort of add it whatever amounts I have of the rice and chicken and the approximate ratios of seasonings that I prefer.  And since I like veggies in my soup but my hubby doesn't, I put in really big chunks of carrots that he can easily pick out.  That way everyone wins!

My Favorite Books

From time to time I update my Favorite Books page - and I just finished writing about one of my favorite authors, James Harriot.  If you love animals, or books, or know someone who is or wants to be a vet, check it out!

Baby Ball Toy

I can't remember where I first saw the idea for making these toys - but it's pretty simple.  You take 8 surfboard shaped pieces of fabric (mine were approximately 6" long but they could be any length depending on the size of ball you want to end of with), sew them together along the edges, and then cover the ends with fabric circles.

The original tutorial I looked at suggested using wool, but I made mine out of some t-shirt scraps (pink and navy/plum) and linen scraps (navy/green) from my reversible tote.

I sewed the edges together by hand using a blanket stitch for the pink and navy/green balls, and with my sewing machine for the navy/plum ball.  It was much faster using the machine, but sewing by hand is fun sometimes too.  For all three I had to sew the circles on by hand at the end.

I also added some loops of ribbon that I had on hand to two of the balls for some tactile interest and maybe a way for a baby to pull on or pick up the ball. 

I used fiberfill to stuff all of them until they were firm but not hard. 

Bookcase Makeover

I love books - and I love books with lovely covers.  But for the longest time I didn't have a lovely bookcase to put them on.  Since we're both book-lovers, my husband and I have "his and hers" bookcases.  

His is an old one that was his grandfather's - made of pretty dark wood that has some character to it.  Mine is from Target, made of particle board, and void of character.  

For a long time I'd lamented the ugliness of my bookshelf.  But I couldn't justify buying a new one.  We try not to spend money on furniture (almost everything we own was a given to us) and the bookcases that we did find in stores (that weren't as characterless as my current one) were way too expensive!

Thankfully I came across this post from Young House Love.  I never would've thought of redoing my bookshelf myself!

The first issue that needed to be addressed was how weak the bookcase was.  After being moved to 4 different locations and holding lots and lots of books, the shelves were warped and the whole thing was leaning to the side. 

We went to Home Depot and bought four 2" x 4" x 6' boards.  My husband nailed one board on each side of the bookcase and two boards on the back.  He strategically placed the nails so that they lined up with the shelves, thus reinforcing the shelves as well.  It worked wonderfully and made the bookcase very sturdy - no more swaying and bowing!

While at Home Depot we found 2 small containers of paint in the "oops paint" section.  They were only 50 cents each!  After lots of time spent painting and some spray-on lacquer we ended up with this:

And here's a close-up:

The whole project only cost us around $40 (much less than we would've paid for a new bookcase!).  I love having a custom-made bookcase that I know will last for years.  And I love how lovely my books look now!

Ready for a before and after?