Who doesn’t love all the pretty holiday decor out in the stores right now and all over the web? I love prints and holiday sparkle as much as the next gal, but I hate buying these things knowing I could very well make them. I know, I know, here comes that curse again. I had quite a bit of holiday fabric left over from my Advent Calendar adventures and decided to turn it into something useful.
This is attempt #1 – a candy covered dish towel. My mother and mother-in-law have gotten me hooked on fancy and pretty dish towels. I never thought much about the dish towels I used – always picking up a pack at Target until we bought our current house. For some reason, it clicked and I started to look for more intriguing patterns, motifs, and holiday-themed prints.
Simply use an existing dish towel in a size you like as a pattern. Trace around it, or use the measurements. Cut the fabric and then using an iron on high heat, fold and press the edges once and then once again to prevent fraying and then sew edges. See two photos below if you need a visual.
I used gold metallic thread and gold ric rac for a little extra flair on this towel’s edge. These would be great homemade extras for hostess gifts, stocking stuffers, wine bottle wraps, or just for sprucing up your own kitchen.
The top seam is frayed and needs to be finished. The far left seam has already been finished.
The bottom seam here has been pressed and sewn once. The seam on the left has been pressed, sewn once, pressed again and sewn a second time. With slick fabric, like this satin, I like to sew twice. You will only see the last seam on the top side of the fabric.
This sparkly number is all set to grace a table.
Table runners are an easy way to add something extra to a table. They work really well in houses with young children – we keep this on the end of the table away from Greta. It is currently under the table top tree.
This was Monday night dinner for us – Chick’n Stir Fry. That’s fake chicken stir fry. It was Monday night, so I heated up the skillet and didn’t even bother to get the wok out.
Heat a couple tablespoons of peanut oil. Then, stir fry 1 bag of frozen mixed stir fry veggies plus 1/2 a bag of frozen broccoli florets.
When the veggies were hot, I added in 1 bag of Gardein Chick’n Strips. Cook until hot.
Meanwhile, bring water in a sauce pan to boil. Add 1 serving Soba noodles and cook for 3 minutes. Drain noodles.
Add soba noodles to veggie mixture. Mix well and add sauce of choice. Serve hot.
I used a sauce packet that came with the Gardein chick’n strips – it was too sweet for my liking though. Next time, regardless of the day of the week, I will just make my own sauce.
Bluebird Hill Art 